Amaya“My sister used to live there with me,” I began, burbling so fast, I didn’t have time to think about how I barely knew this man I was spilling my secrets to. “She has a lot of issues. Physical ones. I was caring for her for a long time, but then I finished up grad school, and I needed a job. I couldn’t be there for her as much as I wanted, so I found this place for her, a facility where they can look after her, but it’s so expensive.”“What about your parents?” He frowned. “Can’t they help you out with her?”“My parents …” I trailed off. I never wanted to have to say what I knew I needed to. I didn’t want to tell him the truth, but I knew I had to if I was going to convince him I was serious about this and that I needed his help. I guessed he would have to hear the truth about me and everything I’d been scrambling so hard to keep under wraps all this time.“My parents died a long time ago in an accident,” I continued quickly, bluntly, hoping if I just got these words out sooner
KristoWhen she’d told me the truth about her sister and her parents, I couldn’t help feeling a deep pang down in my soul. I wasn’t sure what it was at first. Maybe it was sadness, sympathy, something deep and dark and gloomy stirred up by her story. Maybe it was the fact that I didn’t even think to doubt or second-guess her. As she spoke, I knew the story was true, that she would never try to deceive or lie to me. She didn’t look me in the eye, but all I wanted to do was pull her into my arms, to console her and let her know that no matter how bad and how difficult things got, I would be here. At least for this year.I promised her the contract and gave her some privacy, but my mind was racing as I stepped out of the room. What if I was being taken for a ride? I barely knew this woman. For all I knew, she could be trying to con me out of a huge pile of cash. Maybe that story was well-rehearsed and completely fake. But then I thought back to the way the tears had shone in her eyes as
KristoEventually, she emerged from the bedroom again. She had told me she was just about to start work as a librarian, and she looked quite the part that day. She was wearing a deep red wrap dress that showed just a hint of cleavage, her hair piled haphazardly on the back of her head in a bun. It was far removed from the pure glamour and sex appeal of the outfit she’d been wearing to the gala, but I didn’t mind. She looked sort of like a teacher, one I wouldn’t have minded rolling in the hay with.“Hey.” She smiled at me, touching her dress nervously. “Do I look all right?”“You look great,” I promised her, and I pushed the dirty thoughts firmly out of my mind. She had a hell of a lot going on, and I didn’t need to add my libido to her problems, that was for sure. I would keep my attraction to her under wraps and keep this firmly a business transaction. It was the right choice for both of us, no matter how hot I thought she looked in that dress. At least I would get the pride of havi
Amaya“Amaya.” The woman at the desk—Marjorie? I was pretty sure that was her name—greeted me with a sweet, broad smile. And then her eyes slid over to the man beside me.“And this is …?”“A guest of mine. Kristo,” I replied, glancing over at him. I could leave the husband explanation for later. “How’s Jolene doing today?”“She’s good.” Marjorie nodded. “She missed you while you were away, though.”“Yeah, I missed her too,” I replied with a broad smile. No matter how much I knew this was costing me, how much I was aware of the strain on the meager budget we already had, I loved Jolene too much to let that overtake me when I was thinking about spending time with her.“You ready to head up?” she asked, and I nodded again.“I’m ready to go when you are,” I replied. I glanced over at Kristo. “You?”“Sure.” He nodded, and I wondered how this was going to go down. I had taken one guy to meet Jolene before, and I had been sure he’d been the one, that I had been in love with him, but then I h
Amaya“We should do lunch.” Jolene clapped her hands together. I couldn’t help but giggle. Sometimes, I knew she went out of her way to sound grown-up, especially when she was around new people, but she was still my baby sister more than anything else, and it was cute to hear her speaking in such an adult fashion.“That sounds great.” He glanced down at her chair. “Does this place have a way to get the chair out of here, or how does this work?““Yeah, we can’t fit it in the car,” I reminded her, and she waved her hand, ever the optimist.“Yeah, I know that,” she replied, shooting me a look. “But they have a van we can use to take the chair out and about in. We could do something next week if you want.”She was glancing up at Kristo nervously, and I could tell this meant a lot to her. She was playing it cool, but it was clear to anyone paying attention that she was a little nervous at the notion of him turning her down. But he nodded at once.“I’ll need to call up work and make sure I
Kristo“You’re sure this is the dress you want me to wear?” she asked, plucking at the dark green fabric clinging to her hips. I nodded.“Trust me. You look perfect,” I assured her. She had before, as well. That wrap dress had been stunning, and I loved the way it had caressed her curves as though it didn’t want me to forget about them. But she looked like a teacher. Hell, for all I knew, she actually had been a teacher at some point—she had talked about studying at the university, and she could have covered classes as part of that. My family, though, would want something a little more impressive. And it was easier to sculpt her into the vision of what my family would want from my wife than to argue with Amaya, so I picked out the dress from the boutique, and she gamely changed into it in the back room. I tried not to linger on the thought of her stripping down in there, forcing the image out of my brain, but as soon as she reemerged it was replaced.She looked good. She had looked am
Kristo“Your what?” Leda shrieked at the top of her lungs.“What’s going on out there?” I heard Nonna Balaban’s voice float through from the kitchen, where she was no doubt holding court.“Kristo’s married,” Leda yelled back, and I was sure I heard the entire house take a collective gasp of shock.“Bring him in here,” my grandmother ordered, and I took Amaya’s hand and led her through to the kitchen. Lunch was nearly on the table, but the entire house virtually came to a halt at the news.“Uh, hello.” Amaya waved, managing a smile. Nonna eyed her with an inscrutable expression.“And this is your wife?” She turned to me, eyebrows lost in her carefully done gray hair.“Yes, this is my wife Amaya.” I realized I didn’t know her last name, so I decided to forgo it.“Your wife,” Nonna repeated again and then turned to the scattering of cousins in the kitchen. “Go, take the food to the table. I need to talk to Kristo.”“I can help with that if you—” Amaya tried to offer, but Nonna cut her of
AmayaI tugged at my dress, pulling my hair up and letting it down again. I wasn’t sure if I looked right yet. I was just going to the library, a place I’d been a dozen times before, but I still wanted to look right for work.I finally let my hair down, allowing it to flow over my shoulders. Sexy librarians were a thing, right? Yeah, a porn category, I replied to myself snarkily. I quickly pulled my hair up and tied it into a ponytail and checked for the thousandth time that everything was in place for me to head to work. I finished up the last of the coffee I had been sipping on. Kristo had made me a pot, the same as he had on my first morning here, and I was surprised at how quickly I was growing to love the bittersweet darkness of it.It was odd, getting ready in an apartment that wasn’t my own, but I supposed I was going to have to get used to it now that I had officially moved in with him. I was hoping I wouldn’t have to see his family again soon. That dinner had been way more th