“Yes. Of course.” I bobbed my head like an idiot. Because what else was I supposed to do? Ask her to stay? Ask for more?
No. I could not have more.
I’d already blurred the fucking lines. If word of this got out, no one would shut up. We both had clearly needed this, and it was done now. It was enough. Ithadto be enough.
She headed to the door and pulled it open with a soft creak.
“Octavia ... you will not tell anyone about this ... right?”
She looked me over as I stood half naked in the middle of the room. “No,” she responded. “This stays between you and me.”
“Okay,” I whispered, relieved. “Well, good night.”
“Good night.” She took off, closing the door behind her. I waited until I could no longer hear her footsteps trailing down the staircase before I left the room and went to one of the guest bedrooms in the back of the house.
Through the window, I watched her walk across the lawn, still holding her bra and panties close to her chest with one hand while the other carried the straps of her heels.
As she went, there was pep in each step. She crossed one foot in front of the other, then threw her head back briefly to look at the sky. I was almost positive she was smiling.
I turned away from the window when she finally made it to the guesthouse. I did not know whether to smile like her or to feel disappointed in myself for caving to my desires.
Nineteen
Octavia
I woke up the following morning with way too much anxiety—well, a mixture of that and excitement.
I was anxious because I didn’t know what the new day would bring. I’d just had sex with Javier Valdez ... the man who paid me to take care of his daughter. There was no way this was going to end well.
Regardless, I’d gotten exactly what I’d wanted the night before, andwow. It was incredible. The things he did with his mouth and his dick ...whew. I didn’t have the words to describe it. One orgasm would have been more than enough, but getting two in one night? Hell, it was possible he’d just ruined me for any other man.
Not even my ex was that good. Luther was selfish in bed. He only cared about getting himself off. But not Javier. I told him to prove how much he wanted me, and he did that plus more.
I decided that in order to spare any awkwardness when I went to his house, I could make a couple of breakfast sandwiches. So, I popped some biscuits into the oven, then whipped up some eggs.
While heating the sausage, I read over Naomi’s text again.
Naomi: Hello to you too. Why do we hate men?
Right. I’d told her the night before in my text that I hated men. I wasn’t sure what to tell her now. I mean, technically, I still didn’t care for the male mentality. Especially when men were full of toxic masculinity. But how could I despise a man like Javier? A man who’d just marvelously dicked me down less than twelve hours ago.
Me: I did something bad
Naomi responded in a matter of seconds.
Naomi: Oh lordy. What did you do girl?
Instead of texting it, I called her.
“You had to call me?” she answered. “This must really be bad.”
I laughed. “I’m calling because I’m not leaving proof on my phone about this conversation.”
“What happened? Come on, stop leaving me in suspense! You know I can’t stand it.”
“Well, I maynothate men as much as I thought ... for now, at least.”
“Oh. So the date went that good?”
