Page 29 of A Treasure To Keep
Chapter 31
Marco
Igrab my pants after leaving Andrea in the dressing room, heading down to see James. When I walk into alterations, I notice James is bent over, her tits practically falling out of her top. Several months ago, she had a baby with her husband, and I swear they’ve never been bigger. She flips up her curly, dark hair, instantly noticing where my eyes are focused.
“Marco, that’s not where my eyes are.” She stands up, eyebrows raised and a fake smile on her face.
“You’re fucking telling me. Congratulations to Oliver.” Normally, when I come down here, I have to go home and jerk off. After my session with Andrea, Little Marco does nothing. That's new.
“Shut up and give me what you brought in. Also, if you make another perverted comment about my infant son, I’ll sic El on you.” I hand her the jeans as she grabs them by the legs, noting how torn they are, and laughs. “What did you do?”
“To summarize everything, I found out I can do the splits, but these jeans cannot. Can you fix them?”
“Do you know me at all? Of course I can. I’ll need about a week with this amount of damage. When I’m done, I’ll give you a call.” I nod my head, but other than staring at her tits, I don’t flirt otherwise. I notice the mother’s intuition in her eyes, and she crosses her arms.
“What’s wrong? Since I’m back from maternity leave, I assumed you’d have all sorts of comments about my body. The comment about my boobs is minuscule.”
“I’m in a relationship. Kind of. A situationship?” Andrea, El, and I haven’t had a full conversation about how we would address this publicly. If we ever did.
James slams the jeans on the table, gaping at me through her lashes. “You? Marco Cornado is dating someone? That’s new.”
“I don’t know if I’d consider it dating. We’re fucking a lot, though.”
“I’m sure you are.” She instantly sees that I won’t elaborate, deciding to wrap up the conversation. “Do you want to pay when you pick up your jeans, or should I put it on your account?”
“Put it on my account and give me a call when you’re done.” I turn around to head out the door when James calls for me.
“And Marco, enjoy yourself. Even though you’re a pain in the ass on a good day, you still deserve to be happy with whoever you choose.” If only I could explain that it’s two people.
I go to leave the room, smirking as I tease her. "Yes, Mommy.”
She grabs the handle of her shears tightly, pointing the blades in my direction. “You ever call me Mommy again, and I’ll toss my shears in your direction and see where they land.”
“Okay . . . Mommy.” James wasn’t lying. I realize that when she pulls back her arm, tossing the shears. Theythunkinto the wall as I’m running out of alterations while laughing.
She’s right, though. I need to enjoy them while they’re around.
Chapter 32
El
It’s almost closing time at work, and I’m finishing up with my last client. Holy shit, that was a hard one. Nothing I chose was good enough for her. ‘Too short, too long, too tight, too loose, blah blah blah.’ Finally, we find a mid-length dress that’s fitted on top and flowy on the bottom. I wouldn’t be surprised if she returns it. These types of clients normally have something going on internally, preventing them from being happy with anything they wear. She also prevented me from going downstairs to greet James, who is back from maternity leave. The only time I saw her was the morning after we went out to the club, trying to put together any missing details of that night. She’s sent me plenty of pictures of Oliver, yet avoided telling me how she’s doing. Every new mama needs someone to check in on her.
When I’m scanning through my numbers for the day, arms wrap around my center, and I know exactly who they belong to. My love. The arms I’m the safest in. Andrea’s arms. He kisses me gently on my shoulder, going up my neck and behind my ears, before he whispers.
“Mon trésor, tu es à couper le souffle aujourd’hui. Incroyable.” Ugh! This man.
“I have no idea what you said, but the way you whispered it in my ear made me need new panties.” Andrea drags his hand up the outside of my thigh, spinning me around when he notices I’m wearing bikini-cut underwear. Also known as my version of period panties.
“You wore something other than a thong today?”
“Yeah. I’m having my first period in months. I had to buy new underwear here. You know it happens every once in a while. It’s a period from hell, though. Cramps, cravings, bloating, the works. I wanted to punch my last client. You and I both know I’m mellow when it comes to my clients.” Since I get the shot, my periods have been few and far between. I can have no periods one year and three the next year. I decided to use the shot as a form of birth control after a pregnancy scare with Andrea early in our relationship. Andrea and I fought that entire time until I started my period. We chalked my bitchiness up to PMS. Now that I think about it, I chalked it up to PMS, and Andrea quickly agreed with me before moving on. I should have seen that as a sign. Hold on. Chill out, El. We’re trying to be stronger as a couple, not rehash the past.
“How about we get takeout tonight, mon trésor? I’ll take you to as many places as you want to fill those cravings.” This man is perfect.
“Chinese food from the mall, garlic knots from next door, and ice cream on the way home?” I know Andrea will say yes, but I still smile and bat my eyes at him. I wrap my arms around his neck, and he wraps his around my waist again, holding me close as he kisses me. When I nibble on his bottom lip, I taste something different, something salty, something oddly specific. “Why does your mouth taste like cum?”
He takes a step back, whistling as he runs his hands through his hair. Whistling from Andrea is never a good thing. It usually means he’s going to tell me something that will piss me off. It’s his only strange habit. “Umm. Marco came by. I-I gave him head in the dressing room.” He must notice the expression on my face when he continues. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think about it. That won’t happen again.”