RECKLESS — Bad Boy Criminal Romance (6 page)

“Babe?” she asks.

“Uh huh.”

She gives me a long kiss on the lips.  “I need you.”  She kisses me more aggressively and pulls off my shirt and unbuckles my pants.  Stripping off her tank top and bra, she moves down my body and kisses my lower abdomen.  Soon she straddles me and grinds into me – first slowly, then more and more quickly.  At one point she slows down and leans her upper body down toward me.  She kisses me deeply, then holds her face about an inch from mine.  I can feel the warmth from her breath as she looks me closely in the eyes.  “You love me?”

“Yeah.”

“We’re meant to be together, right?”

“Definitely.”

Maya kisses my ear.  Softly she says, “Tell me how I’m yours.”

Afterward we lie together on the bed, sweaty and exhausted.  She holds my hand.  We say nothing.

Much later Maya walks to the kitchen and boils water.  She cooks spaghetti with meat sauce and we eat a late dinner.  We don’t talk much though Maya seems content.  However, I still fear some residual tension from what she heard from Wyatt.  I think about what I can do – something to further prove that I care about her.

When we’re finished eating she takes our plates to the sink.  She rinses them under the faucet.  I walk past her, putting my hand on her waist and kissing the side of her neck along the way, and return to the bedroom.  In my suitcase I rummage through my possessions.  I find the diamond dolphin earrings I stole from Nikki, Jen’s roommate at the hotel.

Back in the kitchen I see Maya.  The earrings clenched in my palm I say, “Hey, I bought you something.”

She turns to me, cracks a half smile, and asks, “You did?”

“A few days ago.  I was trying to find the right time to give them to you.  But tonight feels right for some reason.”  I place the earrings in her hand.

Her eyes widen and she says, “Oh my god, these are gorgeous.”

“I was hoping you’d like them.”

“Are you kidding?  They’re amazing.”  Her hands around my waist she hugs me tightly, kisses me.  “Thank you so much.  I love you.”  She inspects the earrings more closely.  “God.  How much did you these cost you?” she asks.

“It doesn’t matter. I wanted to do something nice for you.”

“I love you so much, baby.”

On an early August morning, a knock at the front door wakes both Maya and me.  We look at each other.

“Let me check who it is,” Maya says, getting out of bed.  “Stay here.  It’s probably my mom or dad.”  She closes the bedroom door on her way out.

I hear her greet her father.  They walk into the living room.

“Is Tom here?” her father asks.

“Uh, no, he’s not,” Maya says.  “Why would you think he’s here?”

“I remember him saying he drove a little blue Toyota.  The night we were over for dinner I saw it parked down in the lot.  And it’s parked down there right now.”

I sit up out of bed.  A pair of my blue jeans and my T-shirt are strewn on Maya’s bedroom floor.  Quickly I dress myself in them.

“It can’t be his,” she responds to her father.  “Maybe someone else has the same car.”

“The same car?”  he asks, doubtful.  “The same year?  The same color?  On a car that old?  Not likely.”

“I don’t know.”

“Why is your bedroom door closed?” he asks.

I look around Maya’s bedroom.  I pocket my wallet and watch and look toward the walk-in closet, wondering if I need to hide.

“I always close my bedroom door,” Maya says.  “Don’t you remember when I used to live at home?  My door was always closed.  And locked usually.”

“I thought that was just to keep away from your mother and me.  What’s the point of closing it when you’re living alone?”

“I don’t know.  No reason.  Just habit, I guess.”

They’re both quiet a moment.

“You sure Tom’s not here?”

“What’s your deal?” Maya asks.  “Do you want to look around and dust for fingerprints?”

“Young lady, watch how you speak to your father.”

“Well, it’s hard when I’m being grilled first thing in the morning.”

“Your mother and I pay for this place, so you’re still living under our roof as far as I’m concerned.  You’ll have respect.”

“Is this the only reason you came over?” Maya asks.  “To give me a hard time?”

              “No, the opposite in fact,” he says, calmly.  “I have something for you, a surprise I think you’ll like.”

              “What?”

              “A big fashion show is happening this Saturday.  I got reservations for you and a guest.  I thought you’d want to go.  And you can take Tom with you if you want.”

              “I’d love to.  How’d you get the reservations?”

              “I pulled a few strings.”

              “Thanks.  I’ll call Tom and tell him.”

              “I thought it might be a nice time for you two,” he says.  “Well, I need to get to work.”

              “Yeah, thanks … Oh, by the way, I remember now.  About Tom’s car.”

              “What about it?”

              “He took me out to dinner last night and was complaining that he was having car troubles.  About getting it started and stuff,” Maya invents.  “It was fine when we went out.  But I bet he couldn’t get it started when he went to leave.  He probably just called a cab and left it here.”

              “I guess that what he gets for having that ugly, old car.  I told him he needs to upgrade and drive you around in something prettier.  Now he’s putting your safety in danger with a car that won’t even run.  I won’t have it.  Tell him I said to buy something new immediately.”

              “Sure, Dad, I’ll make sure and tell him that.”

              Her father leaves and she closes the front door behind him.

              Maya returns to the bedroom.  “This is stupid having to be secretive like this.  I’m a grown, twenty-one year-old woman hiding things from my dad.”  She shakes her head.  “I know he’d flip out though if he knew you were staying here every night.  He’d threaten me since he pays for the condo and say we need to be married if we’re living together.”

              I nod.

              “Maybe it’s not a bad idea,” Maya says.

              “What?”

              “Getting married,” she says, closely studying my response.

              “Yeah …” I look at her, then force a smile.  “I definitely see that in our future.”

              The fashion show Saturday night is held in the gardens of a ritzy hotel which doubles as a hot nightspot with three on-site bars, a sushi restaurant, a pool, and a private beach area.  Maya and I arrive about twenty minutes before the ten o’clock show.

Under the starlit sky, the runway is a stone walkway lined with glowing candle-lit lanterns.  The models premiere the Grecian-inspired new Fall clothing line of a popular, young Miami designer.  He has no last name, nor a first name.  He goes simply by the letter Q.

              The after party is by the pool and in RedBar, a velvet-colored room.  DJs spin tracks poolside, mostly mixing hip-hop with ‘80s music.  Maya wants to meet the designer, so we approach Q who stands in the gardens right outside the door of RedBar and smokes a cigarette.

              He’s a thin Spanish man, scrawny actually, wearing worn blue jeans and a tweed jacket over a white V-neck shirt.  He has a sharp, handsome face with a thin moustache and a soul patch.  On his head is a black scally cap.

              “Amazing show,” Maya says to him.  “I really love what you do.”

              “Honey, those are my favorite words to hear.  They hit all my pleasure centers.”  He shakes her hand.

              “I’m Maya,” she introduces herself.  “This is my boyfriend Tom.”

              “Boyfriend?  Damn,” he pouts, shaking my hand.  “I was hoping you’d set me up with him.”

              Maya giggles uncomfortably before asking, “What’s your inspiration?”

              “I just try to stop my brain and let it flow, honey.  Once I get going, I don’t even feel like I’m designing my pieces anymore.  It’s like they all have their own life essence and they practically design themselves.”

              “Wow,” Maya remarks.  “That sounds almost spiritual.”

              “Totally, honey.”  Q touches her arm.  “It’s like God’s working through me and I’m just the vessel that breathes life into the work.”

              Unable to endure this conversation I politely excuse myself and go inside to the bar.  I order a J&B.  The bar maid serves me and says, “Eighteen dollars.”

I stare at her, blink a few times.

She stares back before repeating, “That’ll be eighteen dollars.”

“Seriously?  I thought you were just fucking with me.”

“Please watch your language, sir.”

“Alright.”  I begrudgingly hand her eighteen dollars from my wallet.  I take a sip of my J&B.  Suddenly, from behind, someone covers my eyes with her hands.  “Guess who?” a female voice asks. 

I think I know who it is.  I turn around as she removes her hands. 

It’s Jen, wearing a strapless yellow cocktail dress with a pleated bust and a ruched bottom.  “You never called or texted me.  I thought we had something special,” she whines jokingly.

I chuckle.

“Actually I’ve only been back in Miami since last week.  I ended up spending almost two months in Europe.  Italy, mostly.  I’m here tonight because I have some friends that were in the show.”  She smirks and asks, “What are you doing here anyway?”

“Just here at the bar getting a drink, getting ripped-off.”

“Speaking of getting ripped-off, me and Nikki, that girl I was rooming with, had our hotel room robbed right before we flew out last time.  So did Giselle next door.”

I feign surprise.  “You’re kidding.”

“No, they took all our cash and jewelry.”

“Any idea who did it?”

“It had to be the maid.  Our rooms were locked.  None of us lost our keys.  She was the only one who could get in.  We told the manager and he confronted her.  The bitch didn’t even speak English.  She acted all confused and denied it.  Total bullshit and we never got anything back.  I think we got her fired though.  Whatever.  The whole thing was a nightmare.”

“That sucks.”

She shrugs.  “So who are you here with?”

I look around.  “Um, I don’t see her at the moment but she’s around here somewhere.”

“Ah, the same wife-girlfriend you would always run off to after seeing me?”

“One in the same.”

“You never clarified that, by the way.  Is she your wife or girlfriend?”

“Girlfriend wanting to be a wife.”

“Got ya.”  She giggles.  “Well, you’re young.  You owe it to yourself not to get married and end your life now.”

“Maybe you can tell her that for me.”

At the bar Jen orders an Absolut Vodka and cranberry.  She drinks about half, holding the glass in her left hand.  She looks into my eyes and places her right hand on my chest.  “Do you think there’s any way you could get away from her for a while tonight?”

“Tonight?”  I furrow my brow.  “Tonight might not be the best time.”

“Yeah, I figured.”  She sighs, running her hand down my chest and abdomen and off my body.  “Explain it to me.  Of all the hot guys in Miami why do I feel the need to be with you so much?”

“Good question,” I say.  “Of all the hot guys in Miami, you’d have to sort through them all until you found one that isn’t gay.  So maybe you’re just saving yourself time.”

She laughs and thinks for a moment.  “There has to be somehow you could slip away.  Let’s get a room here.  They’re beautiful.”

I smile at her and shake my head.

“I bought this dress while I was in Italy,” Jen says.  “What do you think of it?”

I look her over and say, “It’s stunning.”

“Don’t you want to take it off me?” she asks, taking a step closer to me, her face inches from mine.

I look her closely in the eyes.  Beyond her ultra-confidence I notice a tinge of desperation, her need for me partly fueled by knowing she can’t have me.

“Hey, what are you talking about?” Maya asks, suddenly by our side.

“Oh, hey.  Jen, this is my girlfriend Maya,” I introduce them.  “Maya, Jen.  She’s a model.  I met her once when I first got to Miami.  She spent the last couple months in Europe.”

“Cool,” Maya says.

I look at Maya closely and realize she’s wearing the dolphin earrings I stole from Jen’s roommate.  “Hey,” I say to Maya.  “The drinks are overpriced and I think this party’s going to die soon.  You want to leave?”

“Do you?” Maya asks me.  “It seems fun to me.  And I don’t think the party’s ending anytime soon.”

“No way,” Jen interjects.  “And of course the drinks are overpriced, we’re in Miami.  But hey, let me buy both of you a drink.  I want to get to know your girlfriend.”  She smiles at me, taunting.  “What do you want?” she asks Maya.