Page 44 of Your Every Wish
“What’s wrong with it?” He gives me a sideways glance, then shakes his head. “You’re letting this woman suck you in. What do you really know about her other than this cock-and-bull story she’s told you about her mother? How do you know she won’t steal from you, Emma? Let’s face it, you’re an easy mark.”
I stiffen. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You can be gullible and too trusting.” He turns right at the light and hops on the Third Street Bridge. “All I’m saying is you’re too nice for your own good. And this Kennedy is a shark. Take it from me, I work with people like her.” He puts his hand on my leg.
“You’re wrong about her. She may have the exterior of a shark but on the inside she’s vulnerable. Kind.” Her tough schtick is an act. I can see it with the way she interacts with the folks at the trailer park. For all her I-don’t-give-a-shit bravado, she cares.
But I don’t want to fight with Dex on our one night together. I had hoped he would come to Ghost more often but with his demanding job and busy schedule, it’s difficult for him to break away. I’m trying to be an understanding girlfriend but sometimes I feel like I’m the one doing all the work. I wish he would try a little harder. Love me a little more.
When we get to his apartment building, he slides into his parking space and opens the passenger-side door for me. Always a gentleman. It’s a perfect October evening, still warm enough for an evening stroll. And Dex lives by the water.
“Let’s go for a walk,” I say. The truth is I had high expectations for this night and after our little argument over Kennedy, I’m not feeling particularly amorous.
“Nah, let’s go up.”
“Come on, Dex. It’ll be romantic.” I tug him away from the elevator and toward the exit door of his underground parking structure.
“All right. But only for a few minutes.”
There are quite a few people out on the street, spilling in and out of the restaurants and bars. I wonder if the Giants have a home game tonight, though it must be nearing the end of the season. I like baseball because Dex does but don’t follow it religiously.
We stroll in the direction of the Mission Creek boat launch. There aren’t any kayakers on the bay tonight. On game nights you usually see them paddling in McCovey Cove, enjoying their waterside seats and trying to catch stray balls.
My heart gives a little kick with homesickness. I love this city. But I love Ghost, too. The towering pine trees. The giant rock formations. The mountain peaks. The creeks and rivers and lakes. The countryside where you can breathe and feel at one with nature.
Here, it’s car exhaust, honking horns, and endless throngs of people. But beautiful just the same. The sun is starting to set and it’s making interesting shadows on the water.
We stop to take it all in and I let out a sigh. “What a magical night.”
“Can we go home now?” Dex drapes his arm over my shoulder and leads me toward his apartment building.
Well, that was short-lived. His strides lengthen and since his legs are twice as long as mine, I find it hard to keep up. I want to sayWhat’s the rush?
His arm slips down from my shoulder and he grazes my breast. “Hurry up, Emma.”
And then I know exactly what the rush is about and feel a smile blossom in my chest. By the time we reach his building lobby that smile has spread all the way down to my toes.
* * *
“I thought you wanted to spend the day with Dex,” Kennedy says as we zip across the Bay Bridge in her BMW to make our two-hour-and-twenty-minute trek to Ghost.
“He had to work.”
“On a Sunday? I thought you said he was a trader on the stock exchange.”
“There’s a ton of research that goes into it. He usually spends the weekends analyzing price patterns. There’s a lot of metrics involved in trading. It’s not just buying and selling.” But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed. I’d planned to spend the day with Dex and leave for Ghost sometime after dinner.
We’d had a good night, though. Perhaps absence really does make the heart grow fonder because Dex couldn’t get enough of me. It was as if his sex drive was on steroids. We did it three times. He even woke me up at five in the morning for a marathon lovemaking session, before he went to the gym. I spent the rest of the morning luxuriating in his nine-hundred-thread-count Frette sheets.
Luckily, Kennedy had to check out of her hotel at noon and hadn’t made any plans for the city. We both agreed that instead of tooling around downtown, we’d head back to Ghost, do some grocery shopping, and maybe catch dinner at this café with outdoor seating on the river I read about.
“You hated him, didn’t you?” I don’t know why I care. I don’t need Kennedy or anyone else’s approval.
Kennedy glances over at me. “He’s kind of a dick, if you want to know the truth.”
“He’s just awkward around new people.” When she responds with stony silence, I say, “What?”
“Fine, I can accept that he’s uncomfortable around me. That he probably doesn’t like me because of my current . . . uh, situation. But I don’t like the way he treats you. ‘Emma, stop fidgeting like a child and order already.’ ”
