Never Just Friends by Katerina Winters
Chapter 10
Following Cade off the elevator, Maritzia sighed at the familiar smell of her apartment building's hallway.
"Good Lord, that was your third heavy sigh in a row." Cade looked over his shoulder at her with a smirk.
Wearing a white polo and khaki shorts. Cade was still dressed like a man on vacation and not a man preparing to work a nine-hour shift tomorrow. Memories of waking up next to him each morning danced in her head, teasing her with something she would never have again. Images of Cade ordering her breakfast each day and serving it to her in bed as he climbed in next to her and propped himself up against the headboard added fuel to her fire of longing. Or worse—the memory of them having dinner at the resort's restaurant that night only to come out to a tropical rainstorm. Being the quick thinker he was, Cade had left her under the awning and rushed back inside before coming back with one folded piece of plastic. Spreading it out, he pulled the clear plastic over her head and arms, revealing it to be a rain poncho.
"But you only brought one," she exclaimed, not understanding how this was going to help them both.
Cade had simply grinned at her before grabbing her wrist and jerking her close. Placing a kiss on her forehead he left her dazed and a little weak with no time to react as he bent down and wrapped his arms around her thighs. Like a father carrying a child high in his arms, Cade carried her back down the flooded paths and back to their bungalow.
Now, it was all over. Their tropical dream was at an end and they were back to reality.
"I know," she groaned as they turned the corner down the long hall to stop at the alcove where her door was located. "I'm just trying to prepare myself to see how Victor left my apartment," she admitted. It was a thought that occurred to her on the car ride over. "I doubt he would trash it on his way out so that leaves me with two thoughts. He is either still there waiting to ambush me, something he loves to do," she added, as she fished out her keys from her purse, "or he has left me another note filled with subversive blame like he did at the resort."
"Well, don’t worry about that, Sunshine, because those keys." He pointed at her keys while his mouth twisted in a wry smile. "Are not going to work."
Producing his own set of gleaming silver keys from his pocket he jingled them before turning towards the door and inserting one into the lock. With a simple turn, the door opened.
Walking into the darkened apartment, Cade looked back at her confused face. "Before I got on the plane that day, your brother and I stopped by your apartment to make sure Victor hadn’t gotten back and changed the locks. I left Carlos here, who was later joined by Luis, Pedro, and Valerie who waited for Victor to show up."
The familiar cool air of her apartment settled over her and she felt her shoulders relax a little despite the alarming revelation. "Oh my God, you didn't," she said, barely stifling a laugh at the thought.
"Indeed," he confirmed happily as she closed the door and he turned on the living room light. "And, as per Carlos's text, he said they were all as polite as they could be, which I believe since Valerie was there. He said they simply watched Victor pack his stuff and even helped him carry some of it back down to his car."
Standing next to her suitcase, Maritzia scanned the room and stopped at the door. The blue wool peacoat that Victor never put in the coat closet was missing from the hook. "So…he's gone. No ambush, no note, just my apartment again."
A pair of warm hands rested on her shoulders and Maritzia closed her eyes as Cade pushed his thumbs into her tight muscles, rolling them gently upward. In silence, they stood there just like that as his fingers worked their heat into her tense shoulders, forcing her to relax.
"He's gone," Cade finally spoke in a voice so deep she felt its vibrations more than she heard it.
Nodding, she exhaled the last of her tension and opened her eyes. Surveying the empty apartment around her, she smiled. He was really gone. And for the first time since she woke up to that note in the bungalow, she felt absolutely guiltless about the idea.
Turning in Cade's arms, she flashed him a huge smile that she truly felt deep in her heart. Searching her face, Cade returned the smile and pulled her by the shoulders until he had her wrapped in his arms. "Fuck, I love seeing that smile. It gives all the meaning to my nickname for you."
Blinking, she thought of the name Sunshine and smiled. She never really knew why he started calling her that. Smiling even bigger into his chest, Maritzia gathered her overwhelming happiness and stepped back.
Avoiding his piercing gaze, she looked down at her watch. "Well, it's still early. If you want, I can order some-"
A loud clap of thunder shook the air. Going to the window, Cade parted the gauzy blue fabric with one finger and looked out.
"It's starting to come down pretty hard out there," he observed.
"Would it be terrible if I still ordered some food?" she asked as she walked over to the side table and pulled out the stack of magazines that Victor missed.
Of course he would not take these stupid things, she thought as she flipped through the motorcycle magazines. She had been hinting for months for him to cancel the stupid subscription since he never read any of them. But no, every time, he claimed he was reading them and hoarded them underneath her side table.
"No, not at all," Cade answered as he went to the other side table and pulled out another stack of the infernal magazines. "I'm sure whoever is delivering still needs the money one way or another."
"True," she called back from the hallway closet. Finding an empty box, she brought it back to the living room and set the magazines inside of it before grabbing her phone. "Chinese, Thai, barbeque…what do you want?"
Cade was at her TV stand pulling out some of the drawers. Without the need to confirm which was which, he began picking out huge sections of DVDs and transferring them to the box. "I guess Thai. Get me something spicy."
Smiling, she began placing the order as she walked into her bedroom. After a few minutes, Cade found her in the bedroom angrily ripping off the sheets. With the comforter in a pile at the base of the bed, she was silently cursing at the sheet snaps that held the linen in place.
Finally, she got the plastic snap to unhook and ripped the fitted sheet off the bed. "You know," she began. "I never wanted this ugly bed. I never wanted a lot of this shit," she growled as she balled the sheets into the comforter on the floor. "But when Victor moved in, he wanted a more homey bedroom. He actually laughed and said that the way I had it was too cold and girly."
Thunder rumbled outside as rain pelted against the glass of her bedroom windows.
"Fucking hell, I hate him," Cade cursed as he watched her drag the dirty linen behind her towards the living room. "I cannot see what you even liked in him."
"Just like I can't see what you liked in Bethany," she countered, shutting the linen closet door with a forceful snap and looked at him.
She could see him tense at the fire for a fight burning in her gaze and he held up both hands and gave her an apologetic smile. "Touché."
Stomping past him with the stack of fresh linen, she flapped out the fitted sheet across the expanse of the bed. Catching the other end from where he stood on the other side of the bed, Cade pulled the sheet taut and tucked it under one end before replicating the movement on the other end.
Standing straight, he gestured to the bed. "Then why don’t we sell it or, hell, just donate it? As long as it’s gone. Then you can start over and design the room just how you want it."
With the new comforter spread out on the bed she paused and looked around the room. Her eyes lingered on the matching nightstands and the stupid wingback chair in the corner. "You're right," she breathed, her mind racing as the thought took root in her mind. "I want every memory of him stripped from my mind and my place. I'll have everything changed, all the way to the carpet. And I'll just sleep in the guest room. It still has my old bed and old furniture crammed in there," she reasoned.
"I forget you have that room," Cade mused as he sat on the corner of the bed.
"Yeah, I know, I did too sometimes," she agreed. "Maybe it was a psychological thing. Maybe seeing that room with all my old stuff in it was like a reminder on how far I deviated off my life's track for that man."
"I can see some of your psychology degree poking out of your head right now," he teased as he stood up with a grin.
"It was only my minor," she corrected with a laugh.
A loud clap of thunder made her jump. With a flicker, the lights went out around them, casting the room in darkness.
"Well damn," Cade murmured from the other side of the room.
Using a little bit of the nocturnal light peeking through the window, Maritzia made her way to it and pushed back the black-out curtains to look out at the rainy street below. As far as she could see the lights were out. Only a glimpse between the buildings allowed her to see lights on a few blocks away in the distance. Lightning flashed like veins through the sky as thunder followed right behind. Looking down at the street, Maritzia could see the heavy pelt of rain shining in the light as cars slowly drove by.
Cade's warm presence stepped up behind her and she imagined him leaving to go back to her brother's place.
"You can't go back to Carlos's apartment in this," she began softly, not bold enough to turn and face him as she spoke the next words. "Just stay here tonight," she said, hoping it sounded like a suggestion and not the all-out plea it really was in her mind.
Cade didn't argue, stepping back from the window he walked deeper into the bedroom's darkness. "Good thing I parked in your second parking spot and not out on the street," he said cheerfully.
"Oh, I know," she replied just as happily as she made her way to follow him through the dark bedroom towards the hallway. "You would've gotten soaked if you-" a deep-sounding thunk cut her words off. "Oww," she groaned, lifting her hand to her throbbing forehead.
Cade's hands shot out from the dark hallway and she squinted through the darkness of the room. With only the moonlight peeking around the window's curtain, the whispery light barely grazed his figure as he pulled her towards him in the dark. "What happened?" His voice was serious, losing all the playfulness he just had.
"It's fine," she said with a grimace. "I just bumped into the wall," she laughed, though she felt like an idiot.
Reaching out a hand to pat him reassuringly on the arm, it made contact with the hard wall of his chest and she paused. He was much closer than she thought. Tilting her head back, she could only make out a faint outline of his towering figure in front of her.
Warm, calloused hands smoothed up her shoulders and around her neck, sliding upwards until he cupped both sides of her face and paused. For a second, Maritzia just stood like that completely unsure of what was going on until she felt the soft warmth of his lips press against the center of her forehead. Just like the first time at the resort, his lips made contact with her and she felt herself grow a little weak.
"That's the second time you kissed me," she confessed in a tone she hoped was light and not as tremulous as she really felt at that moment.
"Is it?" His deep voice taunted in the dark and Maritzia tensed.
She knew that provoking tone. He was going to do something any second.
The hands on her face tightened a fraction and she flinched at the second contact of his lips against her cheek and then a third back on her forehead and fourth at her neck, followed by dozens of others that made her too tight nerves vibrate with ticklish tension and a laugh to escape her lips. Placing a few more all around her face as she squirmed and laughed in his arms, Cade finally pulled back and Maritzia was grateful for the consuming darkness around them. She was breathing hard and smiling like an idiot.
"Now you can’t keep count of them," he told her, his voice huskier than before.
Leaning against the door frame behind her she smiled into the darkness, feeling a little bold by its concealment. "Oh, are you sure? I think I can count them up."
"Mmm, okay then." His hands, which never left her, slid to her waist and the boldness Maritzia felt evaporated into thin air. "Do I need to place some more?"
There was a pregnant pause in the darkness as she felt his heavy words thunder through her. Every part of her wanted to say yes and that left her a little dazed.
Cade's fingers flexed against her as he waited for a response.
"No," she swallowed thickly. "We need to get ready and go to sleep. We have work tomorrow," she added lamely.
By her command, the hands at her waist slid away from her. Pain lanced through her at their loss.
"I'll go take a shower then," she murmured and Maritzia inwardly cursed. In the blasted dark, she couldn't read his voice nor see his face. She had no idea what he was thinking. Dammit! She felt like the world’s biggest idiot.
The food arrived just as Cade was stepping out of the guest bathroom. Fresh smelling steam filled the darkened living room as she tipped the grateful delivery girl.
Taking the plastic bags to the couch, she looked up to see Cade walking towards her and immediately averted her gaze. Even through the dim blueish gray light filtering in through her living room window, she could see the rippling strength of his bare chest as he dried off his hair. Tossing the towel on the back of the sofa, he sat down heavily on one end of the sofa and took the carton of food she handed him.
"Thanks, I'm hungry as hell," he said, leaning back into the cushions while cradling his food with a sigh.
She was going to miss the routine they made while on the trip. For the past week of him lying on the bed wearing nothing but a pair of sleep pants with an arm folded behind his head as he waited for her to come out of the bathroom and get settled for the night. She would miss the odd indescribable look he would give her as his eyes traced over her scrubbed skin and wrinkled pajamas before coming back up to meet her gaze. That look filled her stomach with butterflies and shot her nerves to hell each and every time, but she would miss it.
Ensconced in darkness, they sat and ate their food, both debating on how many cases would be piling their desks tomorrow.
Finishing their food, they cleaned up the best they could in the dark.
"The bed in there," she said, pointing to the guest room before realizing he probably could barely make out her figure in the dark, "has clean linen. There should only be a basket of sweaters on top of it and maybe something else. Just throw it all in the closet."
"Will do," his deep voice confirmed somewhere to her left, deeper in the room where the window's light barely reached.
Unsure of his exact location she nodded before turning to go back to the master bedroom. "I'm going to go shower."
Setting her phone on its face she laid it on the bathroom counter, using it as a lantern. Alone now, she allowed herself to take a deep breath and indulge in her new reality. She was free. Pulling off her shirt and pants, Maritzia's eyes settled on the rim of the tub. Only a few months ago she was sitting right there taking stupid quiz after stupid quiz trying to gather up the courage to tell Victor she wanted out—and now here she was. Stepping into the shower's hot spray, she allowed herself to smile. No guilt, no what-ifs, no wondering about Victor's feelings. She was done. God, she wanted to let out a whoop of celebration. She wanted to jump up and down and punch the air. No more catering to his needs, no more having to defend him to her parents, all of it over and done with.
Getting out of the shower, she chuckled silently to herself. Damn, she was happy. Pulling on a black and yellow Batman racerback tank-top with matching shorts with the Batman logo patterned across them, she turned off her phone light. It was already at twenty-eight percent and she had no idea when the power would come back on. She needed to conserve what little she had.
Reaching for her nightstand, she planned to toss her phone on the bed and go say goodnight to Cade, but she stopped. Staring at the heavy wooden bed, she frowned. She had hated this bedroom set from the moment they bought it, though there was nothing actually wrong with the solid Montauk wood. The seamless horizontal wood pattern of the head and footboard along with the matching nightstands gave it that new-age hipster farmhouse look that a lot of people were looking for. In a different scenario, she probably would have liked the set. But now everything about this room symbolized something she never wanted to acknowledge—her defeat.
Turning, she left the room. Grabbing a stack of sheets from the linen closet, she marched into the living room and nearly stubbed her toe on an end table. She breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay, slow down, Maritzia, it's still dark as hell in here," she mumbled to herself.
Setting the pile on the sofa, she began pulling off the decorative pillows.
"What are you doing?" Cade's voice demanded from the shadows.
Maritzia jumped. Snapping her head towards the sound of his voice, she assumed he was standing in the doorway of the guest bedroom.
"Jesus, Cade are you trying to kill me?!" she growled, putting her hand on her heart. "I'm making up the couch. I don't want to sleep on that bed anymore," she confessed, reaching for the bright white square of fabric in the darkness. "I don't want any part of Victor even near me anymore, to be perfectly honest."
"Something I agree with wholeheartedly, Sunshine, but I'm talking about this," he said. There was an odd pause and she could only assume he was pointing at the couch. "Why the hell are you going to sleep out here?" he clarified.
For a moment his words slowly filtered through her head until finally she discerned his meaning. Her heart hammered against her breast bone. "Well…because my old bed is only a queen and I thought I would give you space," she tried weakly.
"Put down the damn sheets and come in here, Ritz. We have slept next to each other for six days. Hell, some days I woke up with you in my arms, because who the hell knew you were a snuggler in your sleep?"
His words stung and for some reason, she wanted to apologize. "I'm sorry, if-
"I wasn't sorry." His tone was unreadable and she wished the fucking power would turn on so she could see his face and see what he was thinking. "I'm not going to tell you again, put the sheets down and come in here."
She felt her whole body flush at that deep command.
Letting go of the sheets, she obediently walked over to where he stood in the dark. Feeling the heat of his body, she walked past him into the room. Behind her, she heard the door click shut. She felt nervous as if she was the guest and this was his home. She felt him move past her in the room, a small disturbance to the air as he moved to the other side of the bed.
Painfully in need to break the tension as she pulled back the cold sheets, she threw him a smirk in the dark. "But seriously, what is with this dom voice you keep doing with me?"
The bed dipped to her left and she heard his chuckle vibrate the air. "It's not so much a dom voice, Sunshine. It's just the only voice that works with you. Now get in the bed and let's go to sleep."