Craving Her Curves (15 page)

“You really like working with him, don’t you?” Izzy asked.  I smiled and nodded.

“It’s nice not having someone second guess everything you suggest simply because you’re not a photographer.  He takes into consideration my suggestions, and a lot of the time, he’s thinking what I’m thinking anyway,” I said.

“The photos that your articles have now are better, more you, I think,” Jacinta said.  I smiled across the table at her as I hit send on the message and slipped my phone back into my purse.

“We work really well together.  And, we go through the photos together, too, so I have more input in regards to what goes into print,” I said.

“And he’s cute.  And French.  He’s like kryptonite to your resolve not to be a slut,” Isobel laughed while I tried to hide the blush as I remembered what he’d done to me in the stock room earlier that day.  Jacinta laughed at Izzy.

“You have no resolve,” she said with a smirk.  Izzy made a face at her and I laughed at both of them.

“Regardless, can we take Sunday off?  I have a lunch date,” I said.  Hugo and I had decided to go see a new sci-fi movie that had just opened, but he wanted to grab some lunch first.  This wasn’t the first “date” we’d been on since we’d started sleeping together.  We still weren’t in a relationship, and what we had was still simple and well-defined for both of us.  This was us enjoying each other’s company, which we did.  And since neither of us knew anyone else who liked sci-fi as much as we did, we indulged our geeky natures together.

“I was going to drive down to see my parents Sunday, so I was going to ask the same thing,” Jacinta said.  Izzy grinned.

“I was going to be lazy and not move until noon,” she said, inciting a round of laughter around the table.

“So, we’re doing the piece on the match-making thing Friday, possibly with a visit somewhere else afterwards.  Then Saturday, we have the new club that’s opening.  Sunday, we rest,” Jacinta said.  Izzy and I nodded and I checked my phone quickly.

“Hugo is in for Friday night,” I said.

“Perfect,” Izzy said with a grin.

“Have you talked to Joey?” Jacinta asked.  Izzy shot her a harsh look across the table as I paused, my breath caught in my throat.

“No,” I said softly.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Isobel hissed across the table at Jacinta.  I sighed.

“It’s okay,” I said, making myself smile as I looked up at my friends.

“No, it’s not,” Izzy said, putting her hand gently over mine.  I continued smiling as I put down my fork and started rooting in my purse.

“What are you doing?” Jacinta asked as I placed a twenty dollar bill on the table.

“I’m going to head back to the office.  I’m not really hungry anymore.  Sorry, ladies,” I said, standing and walking away before either of them could say anything.

“Damn it, Jacinta!” I heard Isobel squeal as I walked.

T
he match-making event was being held at a small, upscale bar tucked in one of those shopping centers that had stores which the average person couldn’t afford and was topped by apartments that only lawyers and celebrities could get into.  The bar itself was nice, and I made note of the name and location so that I could check their website for events.  There was a sign for prohibition night the next weekend, and I had a flapper dress that I’d been dying to wear.  Plus, there was something about a man in a zoot suit...

“So, we are here to take a bunch of shots of all the lonely losers in the area, yes?” Hugo asked.  I rolled my eyes.  He’d been getting on my nerves more and more lately.  I wasn’t sure what had changed, but I was pretty certain it was him.  I couldn’t remember him being such a jerk when he’d first started.

“Are you trying to offend everyone here before the event even starts?” I asked with a harsh look.  Hugo held up his hands in mock surrender.

“Fine, I’ll behave, I’m sorry.  I’ll just go sit at the bar with a beer and you let me know when you want pictures,” he said with a frown.  I rolled my eyes and turned away as he walked off.  Ugh!

“Are we ready? What’s wrong?” Izzy asked, slipping up beside me.  I shook my head: it wasn’t even worth going into.

“Nothing, I’m fine. Is the guy who runs this thing here yet?” I asked. Izzy frowned, knowing that there was obviously something wrong but that I had no intention of talking about it.

“He’s over there, talking to the bartender,” she said, motioning to a ruggedly handsome redheaded guy at the bar.  I nodded.

“What’s his name again?” I asked.

“Seth Commings,” she said.  I nodded as we began making our way over to where he stood.

“Seth?” I asked.  He turned and smiled with a nod.

“That’s me,” he said, holding his hand out.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Charlotte Rivera,” I said.  He smiled, his face lighting up with recognition.

“Right, from 
Pinks
.  I apologize, I’ve been so busy making sure that everything was just so that I hadn’t even had a chance to see if you were here,” he said.  I laughed.

“That’s quite alright.  This is Isobel Dents; she’s writing the article with me,” I said.  He turned to give her a hand to shake and stopped.  I saw it, but I didn’t think Izzy had.

“Pleasure to meet you, Ms. Isobel,” he said.  She smiled, shaking his hand.

“Just call me Isobel: there’s no need for titles,” she said.  I smirked.

“Shall we take a seat somewhere and converse before the event gets into full swing?” I asked.  Seth smiled and nodded.

“Of course,” he said.

It turned out that his company held these match-making events twice a month for executives that might not normally have the time to go out and meet someone, but who still wanted to.  Seth always made sure that the locations were upscale and welcoming, the type of place that you’d want to come back to on your own, perhaps with your date or with friends.  Usually, the owner of the venue was thankful for the exposure, so he wouldn’t have a problem discounting drinks during the event.  Seth had a very trustworthy vibe happening, so he was very good at networking.  He said it was one of his gifts.  And one of the gifts that a lot of people in business lacked, but needed sorely.

Hugo eventually wandered over to the small lounge area that we were sitting in and began taking pictures of Seth, Izzy, and I as we spoke.  I’d pretty much resigned myself to not having any pictures if that meant that I could leave him over by the bar, being an ass by himself.  Jade wouldn’t be ecstatic about it, but she’d get over it.  I just wasn’t in the mood to deal with his random attitude tonight.

Instead, Isobel and I mingled as Hugo got himself together enough to take photos of the event without bothering me too much.  By the time the night was over, I was tired and ready to take my shoes off, and maybe read a book or something, but I was happy with the article we had in mind.  Top it off with the fact that we’d actually enjoyed ourselves, and we were happy as we went our separate ways to our cars for the night.  We’d opted not to go elsewhere.  Once we’d finished there, it was late and we were ready to go home.

He messaged me about ten minutes after we all left the event.

Are you coming over?

Romantic.  I rolled my eyes and tossed my phone back in my bag as the light turned green and I turned into the parking lot of my apartment complex.

I
was annoyed.  So much so that it was apparently all over my face, and my waiter had decided to leave me the hell alone.  I was seated at a small table by the window, in the little Italian place that Hugo and I had decided to meet at for lunch before the movie.  An hour ago.  I sighed and did my best to stop making murder faces at the patrons and staff, and waved at the waiter.  I was going to eat and have a few glasses of wine.  Then I was going to go see my damn movie.

“Yes ma’am,” he said.  I smiled.

“Look, I’m so sorry.  My friend stood me up, and this isn’t the first time, so it’s getting to me.  But it isn’t your fault, so I’m sorry for sitting here looking like I was going to go postal,” I said.  The waiter seemed to let go of a breath that he’d been holding and grinned.

“It’s okay.  It happens.  For what it’s worth, he’s an ass,” he said.  I laughed and nodded.

“That he is.  Either way, I’m going to enjoy myself,” I said with a determined nod.  He smiled and whipped out his notepad.

“In that case, what can I get you?” he said.

“The shrimp Alfredo to eat, and a glass of the house white, please,” I said.  He nodded, took the menu, and winked as he walked away.  He was awesome.  I had to remember to tip him more than my usual 20%.

The food was excellent, as was the company of the waiter; Thomas was his name.  He checked up on me every few minutes with a smile and a laugh, and once things slowed down a bit, he slipped into the seat across from me and kept me company.  Half a plate of food and several glasses of wine later, I paid my bill, tipped generously, and left the restaurant with a wave on my way to go see the movie alone.

I’d tried Hugo’s phone just before I walked into the movie theater, but he hadn’t answered.  So, I headed over to his apartment to make sure that he was actually alright.  One of the times he’d stood me up, he hadn’t been.  He answered almost as soon as I knocked.

“What are you doing here?” he asked.  I sighed.

“Hello to you, too,” I said.  Hugo shook his head and smiled, motioning for me to come in.

“I’m sorry, 
ma cherie
, how are you?” he asked.  I set my leftovers down on the counter and turned to face him with a slight frown.

“A little irritated.  See, I was supposed to have lunch with this guy and then go see this movie that I wanted to see...” his face went from quizzical to arrogant.

“Something came up,” he said.  I nodded.

“And then your phone broke, so you couldn’t even call and let me know that you weren’t coming, right?” I asked.  Hugo sighed and ran his hand through his hair.

“You’re right, I should have let you know.  I forgot, it’s just that simple,” he said.  I just stared at him.  He was kind of a jerk, wasn’t he?

“Right.  Well, since I’m already here, can I use the bathroom before I go?” I asked.

“You aren’t staying?” he asked.  I blinked at him.

“You stood me up and you think I want to stay?  I just came to make sure that you were actually okay.  You are, so my concerns have been laid to rest,” I said, brushing past him on my way to the master bathroom.  The hall bathroom never had toilet paper in it for some reason.

“You know, I don’t really appreciate this whole turning me down thing that you’ve been doing lately,” he said, following me into the bedroom.  I slipped into the bathroom and shut the door in his face before he could follow me in there.  I didn’t respond until I’d locked the door as well.

“What difference does it make?  This isn’t a relationship, Hugo.  It’s sex.  And sometimes, I don’t want to have sex with you,” I said.

“Who doesn’t want to have sex with me?” he asked incredulously through the door.

“Me, more often than not lately,” I said.  There was silence for a bit.

“You know that I care about you, Charlotte, right?” he said softly.  I sighed and rolled my eyes as I washed my hands.

“You pull this weirdness out of your butt whenever you’ve messed something up and you think I’m going to walk away,” I replied.

“I mean it,” he said.  I snickered as I opened the door.

“No, you don’t.  You just want to keep the sex around.”  I said.  I walked out into the bedroom and sat down on the corner of the bed.  He had a habit of blocking me from leaving when he was like this, so I’d learned that it was easier to just let him get it out of his system, and then leave.

“I do like the sex, but I like us being together, too,” he said.  I scoffed.

“Hugo, if that was the case, you wouldn’t stand me up as much as you do,” I said, flopping back on the bed.  My hand slipped under the pillow as I stretched, touching something that wasn’t normally there.  It was the side of the bed that I normally slept on.  And wrapped around my finger was a red satin pair of high-cut panties.  I sat up and smirked at Hugo, holding them up.

“Really?” I said.  Hugo seemed stuck for a second.

“She meant nothing, Char,” he said.  I laughed.

“Under the pillow.  Dirty underwear.  That’s gross, Hugo,” I said, standing and tossing them down on the bed spread.

“I’m sorry, 
ma cherie
,” he said.  I nodded.

“Yes, you are.  But I’ve become even sorrier for letting you disrespect me like this,” I said.

“I... what?” he said.  I turned and walked out into the living room.  That was his normal response when he didn’t know what to say: he asked ‘what’ again.

“It’s not that you had sex with someone else, Hugo.  I never expected monogamy, and we were very clear about what this was from the start.  I don’t even really care about that.  It’s more the fact that you’re more moody than a chick on her period, and like to make plans and then not show up for them.  That’s annoying.  That’s disrespectful to me as a friend, screw as a lover,” I said.  He was completely at a loss for words now, standing before me with his mouth practically hanging open, but nothing useful coming out of it.

“Wait, Charlotte, I don’t want this end between us,” he said.  I smiled and sighed.

“I love working with you, Hugo.  I love slipping out of the office for lunch and spending hours walking through the fantasy section in the book store together.  But this, making plans outside of work, getting naked and rolling around, quickies in the stairwells... That part is over.  I’m better than this, even when the relationship is physical,” I said, slipping around him and striding toward the door.

“So you want the friends and colleagues part, but not the sex?” he asked. I turned and nodded.

“Yes. But if you are more of an all or nothing man, then nothing.  Your choice.  I’m mature enough to be cool just at work: are you?” I asked.  He didn’t respond.  I smirked and turned, walking out of the apartment.

I
’d taken the train to the restaurant, because parking was horrible down there and Hugo had said that he would drive.  That meant that I had to take the train back home with a lap full of food and a head full of... Joey, actually.  Why was my mind always on him in some way?  I sighed and shook my head as my train pulled into the station and I got off with the others who lived nearby.