Charity's Secrets (12 page)

We hug
for another moment, and then she straightens up. "Now, where is this man?
I
have
to meet him!"

Justin
is right behind me, waiting. He puts his hand out to meet her. It's so obvious
that he doesn't know her, or he would have known better. Melissa swats his hand
out of the way and hugs him, making him smile.

Instantly,
I'm laughing at him. There is nothing formal about Melissa.

"Thank
you!" she says before she lets go of him. "Thank you for bringing my
friend home today, and for getting me."

That
reminds me about her bags, and I start dragging them in. "Getting
you?"

"That's
part of the surprise, she's flying back with us—tonight," Justin reveals
with more of that bubbling pride in himself.

I pull
her back to me and hug her again, I'm just too damn excited.

Melissa
whispers in my ear, "Oh my fucking God—he's a pantry-dropper!"

We both
turn and look at him.

"He
is, isn't he?" I agree.

"What?
What am I?" he asks, curious.

We
laugh at him instead of answering. He turns back to my parents. "I'm in
trouble here, aren't I?" They laugh and nod.

"Come
on all the way in. Let's finish the presents," my mom orders.

For the
next few hours we catch up over a few glasses of wine and then some coffee.
Eventually, a car arrives and it's time to go. The hugs take a long time, and
they are bittersweet. At least I don't have to say goodbye to Melissa, not yet.

Shain
and his lady are waiting when we arrive. Justin in his JP personality moves
right past them to his seat without a word, but Melissa says hello as she
passes, and I ask his fiancé how her afternoon was.

"It
was wonderful," she exclaims excitedly before I notice Shain signal her to
be quiet.

I wave
him off. I want to know. "It's okay," I demand. "Tell me, what
did you guys do?"

She
checks nervously with Shain. He doesn't know what to tell her now, he's never
been in this position in front of us and so he shrugs absently and keeps an ear
on us as he prepares the plane. Now she becomes a waterfall; obviously it was
killing her to tell someone. She describes in detail all about the private dinner
that was waiting for them. And after that, their driver took them around to see
some amazing light displays and finally to the Hampton Inn where they had a
room waiting with champagne and flowers, and private use of their indoor pool
that had been surrounded in candles.

I
winked at Justin for that one. He tries to pretend that he didn't see it.

They
had an amazing time, and so did we, and that was all that mattered. Shain got
the Hawker cleared for takeoff, and we were headed back to New York with my
oldest friend beside me.

I need
her so much, more than they know—more than Justin can know.

"
S
o the place is all yours," I
announce to Melissa, showing her around my apartment. "Just don't let
anyone from back home know I'm living with Justin. I'm not ready for that
yet."

Justin
and I brought her upstairs just for last night making her feel welcome and at
home. The three of us drained a bottle of wine while we caught up and she got
to know Justin. When I could tell she was getting tired, I had her crash in a
spare room.

Today I
brought her down to my apartment. "It's still mine, I just don't sleep
down here anymore." I checked even though I'm sure Justin would have
planned well. Everything is stocked and ready to go. The cabinets are loaded,
and so is the refrigerator. "Everything in here is yours. Don't ask, just
use it or eat it. I'll probably crash here with you once or twice just to have
some extra girl time. But now you can come and go without worrying about
us." I turn to her with a wicked smile. "And down here, you won't
have us waking you up at night."

"Oh
my God, you're
so
bad—and lucky! Could he be any hotter?" she
croaks.

"No,
I don't think so," I laugh.

"I
need to find me one of those while I'm here."

"My
friend, Trisha, is already working on that," I joke. "She's dying to
meet you, says we have to hook you up while you're here."

She
laughs at me again.

"Seriously,
Charity, he seems so wonderful and he literally worships you. You can see it in
his eyes when he looks at you. I couldn't be happier for you. And your mom,
holy shit! I think your dad needs to be worried—she was totally smitten."

I
snort-laughed so hard I'm worried Justin heard it upstairs. With Melissa, I
couldn't be more comfortable, even with my snort.

"Gawd,
Woman! I missed that laugh," she sighs, hugging me for like the hundredth
time since we've been together.

"Did
you see how much my dad likes him?" I asked. "I wasn't expecting that
to come so easy."

"Right?"
Melissa agrees, her eyes wide. "It was like Justin was his younger brother
or something. But, it's a good thing."

"Absolutely,"
I agree. "It's early, I know, but I really think this is it. I can't ever
see myself without him. You should see me when he travels—I'm a complete
wreck."

"You
know I'm totally jealous, right?" she admits.

"Yes,
I love it!
"

Her
laughter bursts through the warm room. "You're such a bitch."

"No
worries, I'll set you up. You're not the only one I'm working on right now
anyway."

Melissa
looks confused. "Oh, yeah?"

I shrug
her off. "I'll fill you in later. I'll need your help with it when the
time comes."

"Anything
you need," she says. "Just make sure mine is hot," she jokes.

Justin
does have a few very good looking friends, but they are all part of Panther one
way or another, and we agreed they can't be on the menu for Melissa. There's
too much risk of her finding out more than she should.

I'm not
sure how I can keep some things hidden from her; she knows me too well—and
she'll be helping me with some things I can't trust to anyone but her. It may
come to me telling her what Justin really does—as long as I can find a way of
doing that without her putting it together with Steve and his disappearance.

Today
she looks so beautiful in the Michael Kors turtleneck sweater that I just gave
her for Christmas. She had called me when she opened it to protest about its
price, but I had quickly pointed out that she would have gotten it for me and
would want me to just accept it. As hot as she looks, we're not going to have a
problem hooking her up.

The
girls from the office are excited to meet Melissa. I texted everyone last night
and arranged for us all to have lunch today at Delmonico’s. I'll make sure John
is all set for the day, and then I'll show her around.

I want
her to meet Lena most of all.

MELISSA
LOVED THE PANTHER
office,
and loved John even more. She'd thought I was full of shit when I told her how
great a guy he is. She still thinks it’s partly because I'm sleeping with
Justin. I love her bluntness, but I assured her John was a sweetheart before
that.

Delmonico's
is so elegant inside; all dark wood, soft table lamps, old portraits hanging on
walls covered with old style wallpaper under a tin ceiling. I was here once
with Justin, Trisha and Sam. The food was incredible, so I'm really looking
forward to this today.

Our
waiter came to the table to greet us and ask if we wanted drinks.

Duh!

He's a
stunning young man, and he catches Melissa's eye immediately, at least his ass
does.

"You
wanna see if you can order that?" I ask her after he walks away.

"Ah—shit
yeah!" she breathes.

"Can
I have one?" Jennifer asks politely.

Everyone
smiles, but Lena's looks forced. I strategically sat Melissa between us,
wanting her to get to know Lena better. She is as much Justin's sister as
Melissa is mine, and I want us all to be close.

"So,"
Lynda turns to Melissa, "has Charity told you all about how she stole
Justin from me?"

Melissa
is shocked. Clearly, she has no words. Her jaw flaps silently.

"Yeah,
I had him all lined up too. I think I was second in line," Jennifer adds.

Lynda
continues. "Then this young little thing swoops in and screws it all up
for the rest of us."

Melissa
understands the joke now. "Yeah," she shouts, "she did that shit
back home too."

"I
knew it," Lynda snaps, laughing.

Melissa
rolls with it, "Yeah, we all hated her there too. She just gobbled up
every decent guy that came along before anyone else had a chance."

"Seriously,
guys. I wanna know who called dibs on the waiter before he comes back?"
Jennifer demands.

"Home
team advantage," Melissa giggles. "You guys get him."

Lynda
turns to me. "You see? You see how it's done? Your friend knows."

Clarice
and Cathy are hysterical at this point, mostly because they can see the waiter
has heard a good chunk of the conversion. He smiles nervously back at us from
the bar, looking like a turkey on Thanksgiving. The bartender is smiling with
him, too.

Holy
shit, we are loud!

We
compose ourselves quickly and begin talking about the
real
menu.

Lena is
still quieter than usual, she still hasn't been herself in a while and that
breaks my heart. When our drinks come, I find a way to get her and Melissa
drawn into a conversation. This gives me a moment to take care of something
important, casually slipping my phone from my bag and typing out an email.

"Let’s
meet for a drink tomorrow night. Manhattan Grill 5:30. I'll be with a
girlfriend, but it will be safe."

I sent
it and waited.

It
wasn't long.
"I'll be there."
That's all it said.

I relax
now, ready to enjoy our lunch with that part done. Tomorrow was going to be a
real test of my new skills.

AFTER LUNCH WITH THE
girls, I took Melissa
New York
shopping. It's a
whole new experience for a girl that has never been outside of her small town.
We made our way uptown mostly on 5th Ave, freaked her out in a squealing subway
car and I took her breath away with the view from the Top Of The Rock.

Justin
met us at the Boathouse for dinner. It reminded me of our gondola ride, where
he confessed his love for me for the first time. I decided not to embarrass him
by telling Melissa all about it right in front of him, but it makes me warm
inside remembering that day. Of course, we stopped at Junior’s for cheesecake.
That has a whole new memory for me now, Justin's hot mouth licking it off my
sensitive body, rubbing my swollen clit with it.

Yum!

I can see
that I've worn Melissa down successfully enough for today, and I want her to
get some rest. We have a late night planned for tomorrow, so Justin has Tony
bring us home. Melissa, exhausted, bails off the elevator at my apartment,
insisting I don't need to show her in. The doors shut, and I'm alone with
Justin. He grins at me like he knows something.

"What's
that smile about?" I ask playfully.

He
snickers lightly. "You look tired. I think you ran yourself down
today."

"Yeah,
a little bit," I breathe, suddenly feeling it. "It was thrilling to
show her around and see the fascination on her face as she took it all in for
the first time."

"I
remember when that was you, when I was showing you everything," his
gorgeous face lights up.

"You
still show me new things all the time," I remind him.

The
elevator opens to the penthouse, and we step out. Our apartment is quiet. A
pile of gift boxes still covers the floor around our tree. Justin wanted to put
them all away, of course, but I wouldn't let him. It has to stay Christmas for
a few days longer.

We start
getting ready to go to bed. He lets me in the bathroom first like always, and
he kisses me, knowing I will be out fast asleep before he gets done brushing
his teeth. I watch him walk away in his boxers, muscles covering the back of
him, and I feel an urge that I don't believe I have the energy to satisfy. My
heavy eyes close when I can't see his perfect body any longer.

I don't
know how much later it is, but I'm suddenly being tossed around like a ragdoll.
The room spins as my eyes try to open, trying to figure out what is happening,
why I'm upside down.