Page 22 of Forbidden

“Why wouldn’t she? She clearly needed it.”

I toss a clean tea towel at Lorenzo, and he catches it with lightning speed. Next, he turns those dark eyes on me.

I step closer, as if pulled in. My heart pumps hard, and his eyes are almost scary. They make my heart pump, and he is starting to look like another man. Hot. Hungry. Commanding.

“You are a wicked man, Lorenzo.”

He finishes his coffee, calmly, with his eyes holding mine. He then leans down, close. “You have no fucking idea.”

Before I can say anything, he grabs his sandwich bag, winks a thanks, and walks away.

Quickly, I grab my lunch bag, and I walk to my bicycle, that’s next to the elevator. It’s a cool type, and like a beach cruiser.

As my job is a few blocks away, it gets me there and fast.

I hit the elevator button, and I wait as Lorenzo walks out of his office, with his navy jacket. He holds his packed lunch including his apple, just like mine.

Even if it looks way out of place, I know he likes it. He even told me no one ever made him lunch to take to school.

As I spin my bike, to enter the elevator, Lorenzo smiles.

“What?” I ask.

Lorenzo shakes his head, and he holds the elevator door for me. I walk in wearing my short, pleated skirt, and long white socks, that go to just above my knees. We stand side by side against the far elevator wall.

The door closes, and its mirror finish dominates the room.

We end up looking at ourselves, and we smile, and shake our heads. We really do look like an odd couple.

Lorenzo, like some kind of banker, and me, like some kind of goofy girl. Who is an actual woman… with needs.

“Get over here,” he says, before I lean in.

Lorenzo wraps a strong caring arm around me, like a friend’s big brother would. I lean in against his big chest, and it feels good.

He feels good, and he also feels protective, and dependable. As if everything will be alright.

At the endof the week, I’m in my bedroom, about to have a long hot bath and finish a great book. There is a polite knock at my door, and I roll over on the bed in my black boxers and singlet.

Lorenzo leans in, and he stands in a suit, sophisticated, and clean cut. “Any plans for the long weekend?”

I double blink. “Long weekend? Oh shit.”

“Yes, nerd,” Lorenzo says crossing his arms. “Now, would you like to see another side of the city?”

“Called?”

“The Hamptons.”

“Is it a long drive?”

“It can be, but we won’t drive.” Lorenzo looks at my bags in the corner. “Pack, we leave in ten.”

I leap up, excited and move fast.

I’ve never been in a helicopter before, and as I walk towards the sleek chopper, I see Lorenzo preparing to pilot it. I nervously climb in, before he closes and locks my side door.

Lorenzo puts our bags in the back cabin, and he slides into the pilot’s seat. We are leaving from the rooftop, and Lorenzo seems calm, cool and controlled.