Infiltrating Your Heart (15 page)

I must say that’s a good idea. I make
note of it.

“Anything else?”

“You could challenge him to a round
of strip poker. Or to play pool. It’ll let you flash your hypnotizing cleavage
while acting the innocent.”

“He’ll probably guess what I’m up to,
but it’s not a bad idea. Lucky I’m good at pool.”

“Cook something delicious for him
too,” Lynette says. “Men love a woman who can cook.”

“I bake yummy cakes. And I cook mean
enchiladas. Is that good?”

“Great! I think most guys like spicy
stuff.”

I chuckle at the double meaning.

“Any other ideas?”

“What, apart from doing a striptease?
I guess you could compliment his car…
if it is nice
. Don’t go praising a
tin can from the forties!”

“Ha! Of course not.”

Lynette looks at the time on her
phone.

“I need to go now, girl. If you’d
like, we can talk later.”

“Sure. I really want to crash now.
See you later.”

“Have a
good night,” Lynette says. She walks away. I get inside my car, driving back
home.

~*~
Gabriel

Not long after I finish omelets for
breakfast next morning, I get a phone call. I walk to the living room to grab
my phone from the coffee table. I look at the photo on the caller ID. My lips
turn up into a smile.

“Hi, sweetheart,” I answer.

“Morning, Gabriel,”
Evelyn replies.
“Are you ready?”

I run my hand through my hair. All my
thoughts about Mercedes almost made me forget that Evelyn and I have to go see houses
today.

“I am. Should I pick you up now?”

“Yep. I’ll see you in a few.”

“See you,” I say, and hang up. I go
to my bedroom to grab my keys. Once I’m ready, I head out.

During the drive, I remember that I
reserved an engagement ring. I make a mental note to go by there later. I still
have to think about how and where I’m going to propose to Evelyn.

She’s outside when I pull up in front
of her house. Evelyn walks over to me. I walk outside and open the passenger
door for her to get in.

“Thanks,” Evelyn says. I get back
behind the wheel.

“Did you bring the printouts?” I ask.

“Yes,” Evelyn says. She pulls a few
folded pages from her purse. “I want to see this one first.”

Evelyn shows me the details of a
house to the northwest of the city. I take note of the address and head that
way.

“How about we have lunch after this?”

I look at Evelyn, and then back at
the road. I’m supposed to have lunch with Mercedes. I know it makes me sound
bad that I’m hesitating to take my own girlfriend out. Why does Mercedes have to
be so attractive? Thinking of her makes me long to touch her skin.

“Do you have somewhere to be?” Evelyn
asks me.

“No, baby. I have the whole day
free.”

For good measure, I smile at Evelyn.
She does the same. I hope she didn’t notice my hesitation.

We arrive at the house Evelyn wanted
to see. I step out of my car after her. When we both look toward the house,
we’re impressed.

“It looks smaller in photos,” I
remark. Evelyn agrees.

“Let’s see if the realtor is here. I
called her after I asked you to pick me up.”

Evelyn walks ahead of me. I can’t
help but admire her body, and the way her hips sway a little. What the hell
does Mercedes have that my girlfriend doesn’t?

When we approach the front door,
someone exits the house. A woman in her late thirties walks out. She notices us
approaching and stops.

“Hi, ma’am. Are you the realtor?”
Evelyn asks.

“Yes. My name’s Laurie. You must be
Ms. Carroll?”

“Indeed.”

Evelyn shakes hands with Laurie. I
step forward to do the same.

“I’m Gabriel O’Hara, her boyfriend.”

“Nice to meet you, Mr. O’Hara. Follow
me now. I’ll show you both through the house.”

In the next couple of hours, Laurie
gives Evelyn and me a tour of our favorite houses from the list we made. We’re
quite tired by the time Evelyn and I head toward the restaurant.

“I really liked the balcony on the
third house,” Evelyn tells me when we’re at our table. Our food is to arrive in
a few moments.

“You’d like a two-story house?” I
ask.

“Yes, baby. Don’t worry about the
money. The house will be for the both of us.”

“I know. I’m just learning what you
like. What else did you find nice about that house?”

“The kitchen! It’s gorgeous, and it’s
got all this great stuff. Did you see the cabinets?”

“Yeah. I think I liked house number
two, though.”

“That one was great. What did you
like about it?”

“The bedrooms. I like the mix of
modern and futuristic in their design.”

“They were nice. But the house’s got
a misery of a yard. I want a decent backyard where you can grill beef.”

“I like the sound of that. In that
case, we could settle for the third house. It’s also got nice bedrooms.”

“Let’s wait a little before we make a
decision. There are still a few houses left to see.”

I blink twice.

“There’s over a half dozen houses
left in our list.”

Evelyn smiles in amusement.

“Is that too much for you? Roderick
criticized me on that, too. If it was for me, I’d go see every nice house
that’s for sale in the city.”

“Let’s just focus on the cream of the
crop, okay?”

“That’s just what we’re doing.”

The food we ordered arrives. Evelyn
and I dig in.

“You know what I’m thinking? If we
like a house, but just not enough, we could alter it,” Evelyn says.

“We’d have to hire an architect.”

“I have a friend who knows the best
one in the city. I’m sure he’ll give us a recommendation discount.”

“Which house are you thinking of
modifying?”

“The third one. You said that you
don’t like the bedrooms much. Unfortunately, I don’t think the patio on the
second house can be expanded. We can’t just kick out the neighbors and purchase
their land.”

“That’d be quite rude,” I say in
agreement. “Let’s wait until we see more houses, and then we’ll decide if we
are going to need an architect.”

Gabriel

After we leave, I drop Evelyn off at
her place before I drive back to mine. I feel tired enough that I almost want
to nap. I’m just not accustomed to sleeping during the day. So I pour myself a
cup of coffee and go to my bedroom. My computer is there. I switch it on.

Just as I’m about to check my
Facebook updates, I hear my doorbell ring. Wondering who it is, I stand up and
go answer the door. I open it with my left hand, as I’ve got my cup of coffee
on my right.

“Patrick!” I say when I see who’s
outside. “Come on in, brother.”

Patrick thanks me, and walks inside.
I close the door.

“Will you be busy tomorrow?”

“No,” I reply. “Why?”

“I wondered if you’d be up to go to
the beach. We haven’t been there lately.”

“I know. I’ve just been busy.”

“We could bring the Jet Skis. Maybe
do a little race or something. Are you up for it?”

“Sure, that sounds fun. I’ll just
have to give my Jet Ski a little checkup. I haven’t used it in a while.”

Patrick nods.

“Would you like something to drink?”

“A cup of coffee would be great. I’ve
got plenty of work tonight.”

I walk to the kitchen to pour another
cup of coffee. Patrick’s kind of a contradiction in the way he likes his
coffee. Looking at his bad boy attitude, you’d assume he prefers black. Patrick
actually drinks his coffee with plenty of cream, but just a little sugar.

I return to the living room and hand
Patrick his cup. He thanks me, stirring the liquid and blowing air to cool it
down.

“So, Jet Ski race in the morning?”
Patrick asks.

“I’m in. Are you inviting anyone
else? Evelyn?”

“Unless I’m wrong, she’s going to be
pretty busy. It’s cruise season.”

“Yes, but tomorrow’s Sunday.”

“You know the way Old Carroll is.
They love what they do. If the week had an eighth day, Evelyn’s father would
still spend it on work. She likes to follow his example.”

I take another sip of my coffee. The
cup’s less than half full now.

“You’re not bringing, I don’t know, a
girlfriend?”

“Nope. I still haven’t found Ms.
Right.”

Patrick doesn’t look disappointed
about that. He thinks he’s not exactly a diapers kind of guy. None of his
relationships have lasted more than a month. He prefers being with women than
fathering children with them.

“Who knows? Maybe we’ll meet some
women at the beach tomorrow,” Patrick adds. “I fucking love living in this
city. With the sea just around the corner.”

We both
laugh.

~*~
Mercedes

Even though it’s Sunday, I wake up early
the following morning. Patrick called me during the night to tell me that he
and Gabriel would go to the beach. Patrick wants me there. I want to go not
only because it’ll help me with my mission. I do look forward to seeing
Gabriel. I wonder if he’s as muscular as I imagine. Wolverine-esque. Okay, that
may be too much to wish, but a girl can dream.

When I check the time on my phone, I
see that it’s eight twenty. I get ready for the day and then go to the kitchen.
I’m going to have a light breakfast today. I’m going to the beach at ten
thirty, and I don’t want to go with a full stomach. I heard that it’s not a
good idea to swim in that condition.

After eating breakfast, I kill some
time reading a book. When it’s almost ten, I go back to my bedroom. I take off
my blouse and stand in front of the full-length mirror on the closet door. I
check myself from all angles.

Wow. No wonder men desire me so much.
I’d be eager to date myself.

My breasts are big, but not too much
for my frame. I’m slender, with curves to drool for. There’s slight muscle tone
in my abs, legs, and arms. My cream skin is pretty much tan-proof. I swear I
can sunbathe in any beach and my skin won’t get much darker, if at all. Some
men like that about me, so I can’t complain.

Once I don a turquoise blouse and
black shorts, I check myself in the mirror again. I’m definitely beach ready.
Gabriel won’t be able to resist me.

I’m not exactly pleased that he stood
me up yesterday, though. Patrick worked hard to convince me to accept the beach
invitation. Okay, I’m exaggerating. All Patrick has to do to make me do
anything is threaten to send me to jail. Anyway, I can’t reproach Gabriel for
choosing to spend time with his girlfriend instead of me, though. That speaks
good things about him.

Clearing my head, I grab a long,
round black box and open it. Inside are my new prescription glasses, courtesy
of Patrick. An employee at the store helped me pick the ones that best
flattered me. I put them on, liking how I look with them. They’re eons better
than my old ones. And I got a backup set of glasses for half price. Yay!

As I dab on a little perfume (yeah, I
don’t know what for considering where I’m headed) someone knocks on my front
door. I give myself a last look in the mirror and go see who’s looking for me.

When I open the door, I see Nadine’s
smiling face looking back at me.

“Friend!” I say. We both hug each
other. I called her last night, thinking she’d like to go to the beach. Nadine
came dressed just for the occasion, with an orange blouse and white shorts.

“Looking forward to the beach, girl?”
she asks.

“Sure am,” I reply. “You ready?”