“Hi Stephan.” She slurs her words and smiles through it.
“Hello Valentina. Are you okay this evening?”
“Yup.” The P pops off her lips and her eyes close longer than a blink. “It’s okay if he helps me up. I had a little too much magratitas. Margitas. Marga…oh you know.”
Stephan, as I learn his name, laughs and quickly covers it up. “Yes ma’am. I know what you mean. As long as you are okay being escorted by…”
“Nico Loving,” I remind him.
Apparently he’s not a football fan.
“If you’re okay with Mr. Loving escorting you up to your apartment, I will get your car parked and store your keys.”
With a loopy smile, she pats his cheek and wraps a weak arm over my shoulder. We stumble through the lobby to the elevators and I press the call button. The doors open and she trips over her heeled feet stepping in. My grip on her makes sure she doesn’t land on her face. When I stare at the floor buttons and I realize I have no idea which one to press.
“Hey beautiful. What floor do you live on?”
She focuses on the buttons and reaches out, her long finger depressing the number seven. Her body falls back against mine and I gulp down the growing attraction.
Valentina San Ramón is everything a man could want in a woman. Beautiful, intelligent, sexy, successful. But the one thing she is not interested in is me. Why would she be? I’m the younger, cocky man who likes a different woman every night. Not to mention my secret addiction, and a woman like her would never give me a second look. I’m positive that if she weren’t trying to “fix me”, she would never even bother nor care to know who I am.
I look down the long halls in both directions, once again not knowing where to go.
“Val. I’m going to need you to help me out a little. I don’t know where you live and I’m going to need your keys to help you inside.”
She takes a deep breath and lifts her chin, and spinsto her right. Too quickly, I may add, because she puts her arms out to the side and says, “whoa.” With my hands on her waist, I follow closely behind her as she guides us to her apartment.
We come to apartment 718 and she presses her thumb to a black pad on the door where a lock should be. She tries once and it beeps with a red light. She tries a second time, getting the same result. Her face contorts, her brows knitting together with frustration, and she narrows her eyes at the door.
“Oh. Oops.” She laughs, throwing her head back against my shoulder. “Wrong one.” Her head swivels over her shoulder and mine and points. “It’s that one.”
Apartment 721 sits across the hall and we spin. She gives it another go and this time, the door unlocks and I push it open for her.
We walk into a dimly lit foyer and shuffle the short distance to a large open room. Instead of a wall on the far side, windows highlight nighttime downtown Houston with all of the twinkling lights of buildings. Her apartment is very sleek and cool with a pretty solid white color scheme, but in a sophisticated way.
I don’t have time to really focus because Valentina goes limp in my arms and I catch her, noticing she has fallen asleep. Or passed out. I don’t really know.
I cradle her in my arms and she rests her head against my chest. I take a moment to study her face up close like I never have, and probably never will. There isn’t one thing about this woman that doesn’t completely entice me. Not even her sour attitude towards me. If I’m being honest, I kind of like her short fuse. It turns me on to know that I can get under her skin, a little.
My eyes scan her place and see a hallway to the right, behind the kitchen, that must lead to rooms. Allthe doors are closed except one, and I peek in to find a warm bedroom. Very opposite of her living space.
A large four poster bed sits with fluffy blankets and pillows on top. As best as I can, I open her downy comforter and throw a few pillows to the side. Gently laying her down, I move to remove her high heels and ponder the dangers of removing her clothes, for purposes of making her comfortable. It can end in two ways; me sticking my hands down my pants to contain my raging erection from seeing her smooth body, or a foot to the face when she sobers up and assumes I’m taking advantage of her.
I decide it’s best to leave her as is and let her wake fully clothed.
When I tuck her in, I long to lean down and kiss her cheek but think better of it. Nothing good can come from that. Instead, I back out of the room slowly, my eyes glued to her the entire way.
I need to get out of here, and quick. I can’t trust myself around her. Desire burns inside of me, and not even an innocent sleep on the couch will cool it. That would only tempt me more with her just feet away.
My phone sits in my back pocket and I reach for it.
Me: Yo. I’m going to drop you a pin so you can come pick me up. I’ll wait in the lobby.
Chase: Oh…okay. I kinda assumed you would be staying there.
Me: No. Valentina passed out and I think it’s best if I leave.
The dots bounce and disappear, unsure of what could be taking him so long to respond.
