Babygirl and the Mean Boss (16 page)

He tried to read her expression. 
“I know the face I show to you and the rest of the world.  I didn’t think I could ever
want anybody close to me
again. 
Today I can see how much of a prick I’ve been to the people I care about.  I’m going to change that, Baby Girl.”  He whispered.  “Even if you don’t like me, I’m still going to make it up to you.”

Another tear
rolled down her cheek.
  And because of it she could no longer hold onto her anger.
             

Marty moved tentatively to her
and she didn’t retreat
.  Hesitantly he pulled her into his arms.  Nicole sighed
, relaxing the tension from her body
.  Marty sighed
, feeling his fears fall behind him
.  They
had both reached out in the only way they could, and despite how hard it had been to take that first step, they held on to each other
now
.

“I can’t stand to see you in pain.  Nicole, it just makes me crazy.  I…”
  Those tears in her eyes crushed him.

“Don’t feel sorry for me-”
s
he looked at him sharply.

His lips pressed against hers cutting off that statement as if he wanted to wipe it out
of
existence. 
Her body began to shake and s
he sighed against his lips.  He opened his mouth and accepted it.  Tentatively she touched her tongue to his and felt him shiver
; a shiver that ran
down to his toes.  He closed his lips gently on her tongue capturing it and letting his lips glide sensually over it as he slowly pulled away.
  He had dreamed of his lips on hers for so long…how those beautiful full lips would feel.  And now he knew; it was like heaven.

Damn…was all she could think.  That hadn’t been
a kiss.  That
had been
a
landslide…

Marty’s eyes remained closed as he inhaled a deep breath.  Then he looked at her carefully contemplating something.  “I know this is not the right time to ask this but Nicole, I need to know something.”

Nicole’s eyes were dazed from the brief kiss.  “Okay.
  What?”  She replied perplexed at his serious tone.

“Where’s your daughter?  Alicia?”  The question stunned her.

“How do you know about Alicia?”  Her surprise cleared her head.  Did child welfare contact him, or the court…the judge…
?

“
In the hospital you called for her.  And your wallet had pictures of her...”
  She had to be hers.  She was beautiful just like Nicole.

Nicole closed her eyes. 

“My daughter
is dead
.” 

And before that very second she had never said those words
out loud
.

Marty groaned then stroked her arm tenderly.  “I’m sorry, baby.  I’m so sorry.”

She waited for the familiar breaking of her heart.  But this time it didn’t happen, just the lingering regret.

He gave her a solemn look.  “I’d like to hear about her one day.  Will you tell me?”

Then she felt something too long locked inside slip away
;
much like a weight on her chest.  She could suddenly breathe.  For the first time in two years, Nicole could breathe.  She’d never talked about her baby to anyone.  She realized that she had been hoarding Alicia’s memory—but also the pain
; s
he had never released the pain.

Nicole
slowly nodded her head.
“
Y
es…I’d like to talk about her.”

“I want to take you home
; my home
.”

“Marty.”  She shook her head.  “I can’t keep taking
from you
.
  It’s not my way.
”

“Nicole, I want to make love to you.”

“Oh.”

The drive to Marty’s house was silent but not uncomfortable.  She thought about the look of pure dislike on Kendall’s face when they left together.  Everybody looked at them.  There was no more hiding what either of them was feeling
, especially not after that argument.  Marty’s office was private, but when
you’re screaming at each other, that’s not so private.

Marty pulled up into the drive-way.  Nicole looked at the familiar home.  “I missed being here.”

Marty watched her.  “I missed you being here.”  They looked at each other and both got out of the car, Marty tossing her the keys while he wheeled her bike into the house.

Nicole slipped off her shoes and shrugged out of her jacket hanging it in the closet.  It was like she had never left.

“Do you want something to drink?”
  He asked.

“No.  I’m going to the restroom.”  Marty left for the kitchen while Nicole went up the stairs.

Her face was tear streaked.  She splashed herself with cold water and it helped her to feel better.  She smoothed a few stray strands of hair back, then opened the bathroom door and was about to go downstairs when she heard Marty speak from his bedroom.

“Nicole.  In here.”

She went into his bedroom. 
She had never been in there, though she’d passed it
often
.  His room was very minimalist, but in a polished, very male way.  He had a plush white rug over hardwood floors.  The walls were painted a deep hunter’s green and he had mar
o
on accents
that drew
from an oversized abstract paint
ing over the bed.  The only other piece of furniture
besides the bed
was an arm chair and a dresser.  The bed wasn’t even very big, maybe just full sized. 
Marty was sitting on
it
, expression serious.  “Come here.”  He gestured for her to sit next to him and somehow the invitation wasn’t at all sexy.  Something was wrong.

“
What’s wrong, Baby
?” 

He closed his eyes and sighed.  “That sounds so good.  Say it again.”

Nicole smiled
.  “Baby…”

“God, do you know how much I
’ve
want
ed
you?” 

“How much?”

He cradled h
er face and kissed her urgently, restlessly.  He stroked her hair, her back, sent his fingers gliding down her neck.  He sucked her lips, teased her tongue.  It was as if he couldn’t get enough of her. 

She couldn’t breathe and it wasn’t because he was there, it was because her heart was slamming in her chest and her limbs had grown weak.

She reached out and let her fingertips graze the length of him through his jeans. 
Marty moaned softly in the back of his throat.  Then he stopped her hand.

“I have to tell you something.”

She let out a breath.  “Now?
  Because-
”

             
“It’s about my ex-wife.  I have to tell you now before we go any further.”
 
She watched him silently, expectantly, his anguish seeping into her.
 
He stood up and moved away from her, stroking his goatee and seemingly in deep thought.

“When my wife left me I remember wanting to punish her for what she’d done to us.  I swore that I would never forgive her.  I divorced her quickly, destroying all of her belongings.”  He paused becoming glazed eyed as he looked back to the past.  “I got out of paying her alimony by threatening to smear her name.  As for my partner, I sold my shares to our biggest competitor for half its worth
.
”  He looked at Nicole again.  “As if that wasn’t enough I went on a crusade to win her back so that I could dump her.  I was consumed with hatred, all I could think of was ways in which I could hurt them; my ex-wife and my ex-best friend.”

“She was probably in her 6
th
month of pregnancy when she
finally
conceded to leaving her lover to be with me again.  I painted a pretty picture…and when she got to the house…”Marty swallowed stiffly,” she had been roughed up by him.”  Marty looked down.  Nicole covered his hand with hers.  “I was supposed to run over to his house all enraged and kick his ass…Instead, I looked down my nose at her and told her that it was all a set up…and that she disgusted me.  Then
I made her go back to him
;
the man that had just beaten her.”  He looked at her then.

“It felt good Nicole.  I didn’t have one bit of remorse.  The woman that I had at one time loved with all my heart, I now hated furiously.  And I didn’t regret a thing.”  He looked into the distance again. 

“Well, the next day I got a call from my ex-wife’s
mother.  My ex had been killed,
beaten to death by…her lover;
m
y best friend.”

Nicole gasped.  “Oh my g
od, Marty.”

He looked at her again.  “He was furious
at my crusade to destroy them and he was furious at her.
He…turned a gun on himself.”

Nicole blinked in disbelief.  Marty’s eyes were shiny with unshed tears.  She went to him but he turned away from her touch.  Still she would not withdraw, placing her hand on his shoulder
allowing him to know that she was still there
.  He shivered then turned back to look at her.

“I still loved her when I sent her away.  God…”  He shook his head.  “If I hadn’t…I sent a pregnant woman back to her abuser…I hated her so much
but yes, there was still love
.”

“Love and hate are two sides of the same coin.”  It was her turn to look into the distance.  “We hurt the ones we love and it’s the strangers that get our best.  When you saw me after the accident it opened up all those memories of your wife, didn’t it?
  Seeing me hurt?
”

Marty stared at her, eyes still sparkling. He shook his head.  “
Seeing you hurt wasn’t some Knight in shining
armor
syndrome.  I just knew that I didn’t want to turn my back on someone else that I cared for.
”

Nicole looked him deep in the eyes.  “You never let me know that you felt that way.  I had no idea.”

“That was by design. Mean Marty was not letting anyone in.”  Briefly his expression appeared amused.  “It used to kill me when I’d see Fred and the guys hugging on you and calling you Baby Girl.  I’d get so jealous. 

She shook her head slowly.  “Marty, I can’t believe this…”
  He really hid it well.

“You really didn’t know?  I mean I couldn’t help it sometimes when I’d be staring at your ass
and…I tho
ught it was so obvious.
Every time you bent to clean that fridge it would take all of my resolve not to…
”
he just shook his head.

Nicole looked at him amazed.  “Frankly, I thought you were an asshole.
”  She scowled.  “
Remember the tomato incident?”

He half smiled.  “Yeah.  I remember there being two crates of tomatoes in the walk-in and you sent someone to the store to buy fifty dollars worth of puny hot houses.  Did I ever tell you I hate hot houses?
  About as much as I hate
canned soup.
”
 
She felt her cheeks warm.  He put his arm around her shoulder.  He was grinning.

“I’m sorry I was an asshole.”
  He kissed her lips lightly and her breath froze in her
chest
.  She pulled back suddenly.