JonathanWhen we get back to the house, Eva decides she wants to take a shower. Trying to clear my head of images of the curvy girl naked, soapy, and wet, I let her go. I walk to the fridge and pull out a beer, taking a long gulp, but it hardly helps quell the ache in my pants. What’s wrong with me? I’m acting like a teenager in heat.“Jesus,” I mutter out loud. After all, I almost lost control on the beach. That’s never happened before. Yet I’ve just met this woman but I’m already more attracted to her than any woman I’ve ever dallied with.“Steady, old boy,” I warn myself. “Keep it on an even keel. Don’t freak her out by being a caveman.”Turning back to the fridge, I begin pulling out supplies for dinner. I find myself calming down while washing and then cutting vegetables. It’s a nice routine. I enjoy cooking but hardly ever get a moment to myself to do it and to be frank, there’s no one interested in eating my cooking either. The last few women barely ate, to be honest. They pic
“There’s not a whole to know. I’m a pretty simple guy when it comes down to it,” I mumble while taking a few bites of stew.Eva smiles sunnily.“I don’t know, but something tells me there’s more to you than you’re letting on. I don’t know what it is yet but I’ll figure it out.”“Well, what about you?” I ask, trying to change the conversation.She looks up from her stew, startled.“Me?”“Yes, I mean all I know about you is that you’re a photographer, a glutton for punishment, and apparently a really good swimmer.”Smiling, Eva sits back sipping her beer.“There’s not a whole lot to tell to be honest. My parents live in Florida, which is where I keep an apartment for when I’m not traveling. I was on vacation for the first time in two years, but you see how that’s turned out. I love my job and my family. The end.”I go along with her, grateful for the change in subject, but also genuinely curious.“But you’re brave. Where did that come from?” She gives me a look and I laugh. “I’m serious
Tom and I make love several more times after dinner. He’s insatiable but then again, so am I. I want him so much, and I’ve never felt this way before. It’s not just the way he knows exactly what I need, but also the way he talks to me and makes me laugh. The way he runs his hands over my body and tells me how beautiful I am. He makes me feel complete, and like I deserve happiness.I know this is totally bonkers because we just met. Again, he could have an extensive criminal record, and I wouldn’t know. But something in me tells me that it’s not true. Sure, Jonathan can be domineering, especially when he’s throwing me around on the mattress, but he’s also a softie too. Only a man with a sensitive side would cook up omelets and watch with satisfaction as I wolfed them down like a hungry hippo.Now, I watch him sleep, still blown away by how sexy he is. I run my hand over his chest, feeling the muscle there and smiling as his skin erupts into goose bumps at my touch. Contentment runs th
EvaMy brain is whirling and I stumble to a chair and sit. I don’t know what to say, I don’t even know where to start.“But why lie? What’s the point of that?” I ask finally. “I was going to find out sooner or later.”He handsome man shrugs and looks uncomfortable.“Because this way, you know me for who I really am. I’m not Jonathan Masters to you, I’m just Jonathan.”That gets me really angry.“I have no idea who are you are! You lied to me from the very beginning. All the things we talked about…said to each other…was it all fake?”Jonathan takes a step forward, as tears begin to course down my face. I hate myself for crying, but I can’t stop. I flinch away from him and he halts, his expression torn. My heart breaks a little more because this is a huge mess."No, everything I told you was the truth. I just left out who I was,” he tries again.“Which is the most important part! Don’t you get that?” I’m yelling now. “I’m stuck here with someone I thought I could trust. Now though, I re
One month later.There’s a knock on my door, which startles me. I wearily drag myself off the couch and trudge to answer it. I never realized how tired depression can make a person because my legs feel like they’re made of concrete, even as a five-hundred-pound gorilla sits on my shoulders. Opening the door, I lean against it as Jeon holds up a pizza, a worried expression on her face.“Hey girlfriend. You look bad. Have you been eating?”“Yes,” I say shortly, standing back to let her in.“Sure you are,” she responds, waltzing in. Her brown eyes scan my apartment.“You bought a TV,” she asks incredulously.I shrug. “So what?”“You hate TV, Eva. You’re so anti-technology that you wouldn’t even watch the TV at my place. But what do you have on?”She walks over to my couch, pushing my pillow and blanket out of the way, and grabs my remote before pushing the green “Info” button.“Friends and Lovers. Interesting. I had no idea you were into stuff like this.”I sigh and sit down heavily next
Jonathan One month later.“Jonathan, focus, my man, focus!”I look up from my steaming coffee into Raisa’s irritated face. Oh shit, was I distracted again? Nonetheless, I glare at my agent, not caring that he’s been talking at me for the last half hour. My mind is totally on Eva, the way it has been since she sailed away a month ago.“You’re thinking about that chick again, aren’t you?” Raisa sighs.“That chick has a name and it’s your fault I lost her in the first place,” I growl.“My fault? I don’t think so, pal. I’m not the one who was masquerading as a janitor.”I roll my eyes.“For your information, I was the caretaker. And I wasn’t masquerading, I just didn’t tell her everything.”He shakes his head with disbelief.“Yeah, and this is my fault. Okay.”“Alright, alright I know,” I sigh, clunking my head down on the table in the diner. “You don’t understand Raisa. She’s special.”My agent snorts.“No my friend, she’s not. She’s just another woman who’s taking advantage of you to ge
Eva“Eva, I’m at the store. Do you think yellow is a good neutral color for a baby?”I sigh into the phone and smile.“Ma, stop buying clothes! You’ve already clothed my baby for the next two years. I’m running out of storage space.”“Oh, it’s okay honey! Just one more item for my new grandchild.”I can just picture my mom in a high-end baby boutique, holding clothes and gossiping into the phone in her Cuban accent.“No Ma, if you want to help, please buy diapers.”“Eva, your father is hoarding all the diapers in the city. You don’t have to worry about that,” my mom scolds.I hold the phone to my ear with my shoulder and finish smearing cream cheese on my bagel. Now that I’m about two months into my pregnancy, I can’t stop eating and devour everything in sight.“Then buy me maternity clothes, extra-large, Ma. I’m ballooning,” I say with a wry smile. My mom merely coos.“No, my love. You are beautiful. You are growing my grandchild. Eat. Eat!” I take a bite of my bagel to oblige. “I lo
“Well, I still have a while before the baby’s born. I finished pulling the photos for my next book together, and it’s in production now. I think we’ll be able to launch pretty soon, and that’ll be a whirlwind. But after that’s over, I can take some time off and hopefully get back out there and start shooting again. I’ll probably do more local shoots until the baby is old enough to travel.”Jeon nods, sipping her tea.“So you’re going to take the baby with you when you’re working? To Africa and South America?”I merely shrug.“Yes, that’s the plan, but we’ll see. Maybe not super far-flung locations at first, but eventually yes.”My friend nods thoughtfully.“And is the father okay with this?”I sigh. I knew this was coming.“You know I don’t want to talk about the father.”My friend lets out an exasperated sigh.“I just don’t get it, Eva. You’re always so careful, so what happened? Plus, why all the secrecy? Are you going to leave “Father” blank on the baby’s birth certificate?”I shru