Getting Some. Kayla Perrin

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СКАЧАТЬ time I’m around Dominic, I want to touch him. Literally, I can’t get enough of him. I’m like a teenager in heat.

      I run my hands through his black hair. “I know something else that would make you feel way better.” I wink at him. “But I’d have to get down on my knees, right here in the doorway. The neighbors might talk. But, hey, I’m game.”

      Dominic shakes his head as he looks at me, a smile playing on his lips. “You’re a total nymphomaniac.”

      Am I? I certainly am not the same woman I was when I was married to Charles. But almost a year and a half of no sex will make any woman a sex-crazed maniac.

      Of course, a guy like Dominic does wonders for a woman’s libido, as well.

      Dominic gives me a soft kiss on my forehead. “I’ll see you later.”

      “I’ll be here.”

      * * *

      For about a minute after Dominic leaves, I wonder if he’s being truthful. Or if he’s keeping something from me that I need to know. Then I brush those thoughts aside.

      “Don’t bring your baggage from your marriage to this relationship,” I tell myself, thinking of the advice the Oprahs and Dr. Phils of the world would dole out. The truth is, Charles did a number on my self-esteem when he didn’t touch me for nearly a year and a half. But just because Charles was a liar doesn’t mean Dominic is. I have to take what Dominic tells me at face value, not start questioning anything unless there’s a real reason to.

      I busy myself with household duties like dusting, laundry and cleaning the toilets. And as I do, a smile creeps onto my face. No, I’m not trying to set the feminist movement back forty years. I’m just saying that it feels right, being in Dominic’s home, doing housework like we’ve been together forever.

      And maybe, just maybe, that’s what’s at the heart of my insecurity with Dominic. I don’t know him well enough to know all his quirks and nuances. The two weeks we’ve officially been a couple is hardly enough time to discover all that.

      And not enough time for me to be totally secure about where our relationship will head, no matter how much I know I’m totally into him.

      “You know he’s into you,” I assure myself as I head to a large, leafy plant with a duster. There haven’t been any middle-of-the-night calls, any hushed whispers as Dominic talks to a mysterious person on the phone. And perhaps more important, I haven’t had any hang-ups when I’ve answered the phone.

      The telephone rings and I jump, then chuckle at the coincidence of having thought about telephone calls before it actually rang. I hurry across the living room to answer it.

      “Hello?”

      “Annelise?”

      “Yes,” I answer, somewhat guarded.

      “Annelise, it’s Nick Foster.”

      “Oh, hello.” I settle into a leather armchair, wondering what my divorce lawyer has to tell me.

      “Do you have any time to come and see me today? Say in a couple hours?”

      “Sure,” I answer. “You have news?”

      “I think it’s best if we talk in person.”

      I can’t imagine what my lawyer wants to tell me, but already I’ve got a bad feeling. The fact that he wants to see me in person probably means that he’s got bad news for me.

      I wince. Damn, this isn’t what I was hoping for. I need money. For my business and my day-to-day life. Yes, my friends have helped me out, and because I’ve been staying with Dominic I haven’t really needed much. But still. I want to be able to make it on my own. No more relying on a man.

      The next two hours pass in slow motion, with me dreading going to my lawyer’s office but knowing I don’t have a choice. Even when I arrive at his office, I have to encourage myself to get out of the car.

      “Bad news or not, you have to get this over with,” I mutter.

      I finally open the door and exit the car.

      “Annelise.” Nick Foster, a tall and attractive black man, stands when his secretary ushers me into his office. He pumps my hand from across his desk. “How are you?”

      “Truthfully? I’m a little bit stressed about what you’re going to tell me.”

      “Stressed? Don’t be stressed.”

      “I am…unless you tell me otherwise. That I don’t need to be.”

      Nick cracks a smile as he sits in his chair. He opens a folder on his desk and says, “You don’t need to be.”

      Now my heart leaps with hope. “Are you saying—”

      “I’ve got great news for you, Annelise. Your portion of the house—it’s all yours.”

      My hand is shaking as I raise it to my mouth. “Oh my God. This isn’t a joke? This—it’s for real?”

      “It’s for real. The matrimonial home will be sold, and you’ll get exactly half of the proceeds.”

      “And Charles?”

      “His half will likely have to go toward repaying the Wishes Come True Foundation, but I can’t be sure about that.”

      “And my half is absolutely safe. The courts or whoever can’t change their minds tomorrow?”

      “Basically, your house was a joint asset before Charles’s fraud. You aren’t guilty in that crime, and the courts agree that you shouldn’t have to lose what is rightfully yours. Charles has victimized enough people. You can put your house on the market as soon as possible.”

      I blow out a shaky breath. “Wow. So this is over?”

      “Not entirely.”

      My face drops. “No?”

      “Your divorce still needs to be finalized.”

      “Oh. Right.” I chuckle. Compared to getting over this hurdle, the dissolution of my marriage seems like a minor detail to deal with.

      “And, to that end, I’m meeting with the judge next week. I’m going to ask that he expedite the process, given everything. You were married to a liar, a cheater, a thief. Clearly, you want the union absolved as soon as possible.”

      “Exactly.”

      “I think this will go our way.”

      “I wish it could be over tomorrow.”

      “Understandably. But at least we’ve gotten past the biggest hindrance.”

      “Thank God.”

      “Now, there’s still the issue of Charles’s other assets. Until the state has figured out what it’s doing, I can’t make you any СКАЧАТЬ