Nice Girl (24 page)

“I’m never doing shots again.”  I mumbled.

“That bad, huh? Do you feel like you’re going to be sick?” Vinnie sounded concerned.

“No, I’ll be fine as soon as I get off this elevator.”

We reached my door and I could barely swipe my key card.  I’m sure Vinnie attributed it to drinking too much.  I knew the real reason my hands were shaking.  This was going to be it.  I was dressed in a sexy dress with the perfect lingerie underneath.  It was time for us to progress from just holding hands.

“Okay, you’re safely in.  Now I feel better.”  Vinnie stood by my door.  He actually looked nervous too. 

“Come in for a minute.”  And I grabbed him by the shirt and shut the door.  Damn, that was bold!

“What?”  He looked at me with amusement probably because no one has ever shoved him anywhere before.

He was leaning against my door.   I put my hands on both sides of him like I was being so intimidating by blocking him in. 

“Before you leave.”  And then I stopped talking.  I didn’t know how to say it.  I suck at seducing.  I thought the alcohol would help but now I was losing my nerve. 

“Yes?”  Vinnie leaned in to me and grinned.  I’m sure he was pleasantly entertained on how I was trying to trap him at the door.  What a picture with his six foot four frame being blocked by my five foot three body.    “Finish what you were going to say, Grace.”

Yep, I lost my nerve.

I brought my arms back.  “I was going to thank you for always looking out for me.”

“I like looking out for you.”

“Why?”  It just slipped out. 

“Because.”  He said and then he was at a loss for words. 

I just stared at his mouth.  I wanted so bad to kiss him right there. 

I put my hand around his neck and practically whispered “Just one little kiss goodnight, okay?”

I lightly touched my lips to his.   I didn’t know what his reaction would be.  I pulled back and looked into his eyes.  “Good night Vinnie.”

That was all it took.  He grabbed my neck and pulled me towards him forcefully.  He groaned as his lips met mine again.   This time it wasn’t a delicate little peck.  It was a firm almost bruising kiss. 

For such a tough guy, he had the softest lips ever.  And he knew how to use them.  This man could kiss.  My legs were turning to rubber.  If he hadn’t had such a strong hold on me, I would have collapsed from his kissing me alone.  When I moaned, he used the opportunity for his tongue to explore my mouth.  Playfully teasing, he was indulgent yet domineering at the same time. 

He had my whole body on fire. 

I felt I couldn’t get enough.  It was almost as if I wanted to crawl up him.  His arms engulfed me.  As I leaned into him, I felt his erection rock hard against my stomach.  It was that friction that caused him to moan.  The fact that he was as turned on as me made me bolder.  I felt his rock hard chest muscles and started traveling up and down with my hands.  I wanted to feel him so bad.  He must have felt the same because he grabbed one of my hands with his.  He led it down to his pants and what I felt with my hands made me momentarily gasp. 

He was huge.

I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised.  He was definitely the big and tall section at the clothing store.  Why would anything else on his body be small?

In my limited experience with men, though, I knew this was going to be more than I could handle.  And handling seems to be exactly what was on his mind.

He let go of my hand when I started to stroke his erection.  But then, he shocked me by taking his hand and putting it on top of my head.  He began pushing my head down.  Forcefully.  At the same time, his other hand undid the button of his jeans.  At that moment, as my head was being led down, I knew exactly what he wanted.

“No!” I cried out and then started to sob.

“Oh God, Grace.”  He snapped out of it. 

I was on my knees, hunched over, and crying.  He went to his knees and hugged me.

“Grace, I’m so sorry.  I don’t know what came over me.  I didn’t mean it.”

“I thought I was different.”  I wept.

He picked me up like I weighed nothing and walked to the couch with me.  He had me on his lap.  I was trying so hard to stop crying.  I felt like I was out of control.  He just held me and rocked.

When it seemed like I was started to calm down, he spoke.

“Grace you are different.” 

“Is that what you want from me?”  I hated the whining in my voice.

“No, dammit.  I got lost in the moment.  I wasn’t thinking.”

“But if that is your reaction to me, then it is what you want.”

“I don’t want to treat you like that, Grace!  Oh god, I told Anthony.”  And then he stopped.

I looked up at him.  His eyes were looking away from me.  I grabbed his face.  I’m sure I looked a mess with my mascara stained eyes but I wanted the truth.

“You told Anthony what?”

“I told him I wasn’t capable of having a normal relationship with a woman.  I have too much anger thanks to my wonderful mother.”

“Stop it Vinnie.  You have always been gentle and kind to me.  How can you say that?”

Then his voice turned cold.  “I don’t want to tell you what I was planning to do with your head at my dick.  I know how to humiliate a woman.  It scares me that I was leading you down that same path.  It just proves that I have no control. “ 

He lifted me off his lap and stood up.  “I’m not the one for you Grace.  You deserve better.”

“Vinnie stop.”  I grabbed his arm but he wouldn’t look at me. “You’ve already proved to me that you can have a normal relationship with a woman.  Didn’t you enjoy all the time we have spent together?”

“Yes, I did.  More than you can ever know.  But I won’t hurt you Grace.  I’m afraid if we get this close again, it won’t end well.”  He turned to me then.  He used his thumb to wipe off a tear.   “There is a side of me that I try to conceal.  When I’m aroused by a woman, I feel almost provoked.  I can’t control it.  You are too sweet.  I won’t ever see you hurt by me again.  We have to be just friends, Grace.”

And then he walked out.

I curled up on my couch and cried again.  I didn’t think I had any more tears left. 

I was wrong.  I cried myself to sleep.

Chapter 27

I woke up on my couch Sunday morning.   I had the headache from hell.  I wasn’t sure if it was from a hangover or the sheer release of my emotions. 

I let myself fall for a man.  Fall hard.  So much for strong, confident woman.

My phone buzzed with a text message.  That helped me decide what I needed to do right now to get back on my feet.  I was going to text my girlfriends and set up an emergency web chat date.  Whenever I needed strength, my girlfriends were the only ones that could give me that kick in the ass.   

I didn’t know who would be available to talk this morning.  Eve was the one I was hoping was around.   Dee was too obsessed about sex to give me the encouragement I needed to drop my fantasy about Vinnie.  I was still unsure about Janie’s emotional state.  But Eve was the brave one.  She would be able to tell me to fuck all men.  She would convince me that I didn’t need a man to complete me.  She would remind me that my career goals came first and lust came after I accomplished the first.  She would set me straight.

I looked at my phone.  There was a series of text messages.  I scrolled down to the first one.  It was at 5am this morning.   It was from Eve.

Eve:  I just won the orgasm pact.

That was all I needed to read.  I didn’t bother checking the rest of the messages that followed.  I’m sure they were all from Dee wanting the details.  I was happy for Eve but I didn’t want to hear about her glorious night of sex.  I also wasn’t in the mood to hear Dee start plotting who would be next. 

I turned off my phone and decided to be miserable for the rest of the day.

I ran out later and got one of those huge cinnamon rolls that had enough calories for two meals.  I asked for extra icing on the side.  I went back to the dorm and rented horror films to watch all day.  I definitely was not going to watch anything that was remotely connected to romance.  I had one week left of vacation before summer school started.  I decided to treat myself by being a slug for the entire day.

By 7pm, I felt guilty I was ignoring my girlfriends.  I turned my phone back on.  Of course, women have to be so dramatic.  There were texts from all three of them demanding to know where I was and why I wasn’t responding. 

I quickly made up a lie that my phone died and it was now finally charged.  I conveniently said I couldn’t web chat because I left my laptop at Ivy’s apartment.  They knew I was staying there over the weekend for the bachelorette festivities. 

Don’t worry, I texted and copied to all three of them.  I will make sure I get all the details on Monday. 

That will buy me a little more time to bask in my depression.

I went to turn my phone off to discourage any chances that I would be roped into conversation about orgasms.  It rang and I hesitated.   The caller ID flashed Jamie’s name.  Something told me to answer it.

“Hey gorgeous.  I couldn’t wait until Monday for the details.”  As soon as I heard Jamie’s sweet soothing voice, I lost it.  “Oh my god, Grace. What’s wrong?”

I told him what happened in my dorm room.  It felt good to unload it all.   I couldn’t believe I was able to give the details as in Vinnie wanting a blow job and all that followed.  I guess this conversation was probably easier over the phone than in person.  I don’t know if I could have looked Jamie in the eye and explained the direction Vinnie was trying to move my head.  Jamie and I have had some graphic discussion about sex but this time it involved me. 

When I finished talking, he couldn’t have been more understanding.

“Grace, Luke and I want to come over right now.”

“No Jamie, that’s silly.  It’s getting late.  I’ll be okay.  I feel much better after talking this out.”

“Don’t give up on him.  I watched Vinnie over the past month.  There’s a huge change in him, Grace and it’s all because of you.”

“He was adamant when he left that we would just be friends.  I have to move on.  I refuse to hope for something more and then get hurt.”

“Are you kidding me?  He doesn’t want to be friends.  Do you think a guy who wants to be friends spends every free minute thinking of you?”

“Now you’re exaggerating.  Every free minute?”

“Think hard, Grace.  For the past month, you have been with Vinnie whenever he wasn’t working.   For Christ sake, he walked you home from work almost every day.  If we had a meeting scheduled, we had to wait for him to get back.”

“I heard that the other day from Ivy.  I didn’t know that.”  I said softly.

“And heaven forbid if he couldn’t get out of an appointment fast enough.  One time, Anthony actually shouted at him in front of a client that Grace was a big girl and could get home on her own.”

“Oh shit.”

“Yeah, oh shit.  Remember the time Luke and I took you to that gay bar?  Apparently, he lost it.  Anthony didn’t want to let him leave the surveillance but neither he nor Jamal had seen him so agitated so they finally let him go.  Grace, he is head over heels for you.”

“That’s easy for you to say now, Jamie, but Vinnie is the one that told me that from now on, we are just friends.  So, it looks like everything is going to be different.  I’m sure he will be much easier to work with.”

“Oh, please.  I think everything is going to get worse.”

“What do you mean by that?”  I suddenly became alarmed.

“He’s not going to want to be just friends.  Take my word for it.  Now, are you going to be okay?  I hate to hear you cry.”

“I’m much better now.  I wouldn’t lie to you.”

“Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow.  Luke and I will take you out to dinner tomorrow night.”

“You’re working late tomorrow night.”

“Fuck, you’re right.  See how much I need you.  We’ll go out for coffee then.”

“Sounds like a plan.  Good night Jamie.”

I wasn’t sure if I in the right frame of mind to go back to work tomorrow.  I know I was being a total chicken.  I still wasn’t ready to see Vinnie.  I needed one more day.  I don’t know why.  I would eventually have to face him.

The way I saw it, since I started at A and V, I hadn’t missed a single day of work.  I deserve a day off I told myself.  Screw both Anthony and Vinnie.  They can hold down the office for one day without me. 

Today all I did was lay around.  Tomorrow I was going to go shopping for my dress for Ivy and Jamal’s wedding.  I remember that feeling when I tried on that little red vixen dress.  I felt beautiful and sexy and wild all at the same time.  I was going to find another dress for the wedding that gave me that same power.  I don’t care what it’s going to cost. 

I quickly texted Anthony that I wasn’t feeling well and wouldn’t be in the office tomorrow.  Jamie was going to be mad at me but he’d get over it.

Tomorrow strong confident woman was going shopping like she didn’t have a care in the world.

Chapter 28

A car alarm going off woke me out of a deep sleep.  I was confused for a minute when I glanced at my alarm clock and saw nine am.    I haven’t slept this late in weeks…..and it felt awesome. 

I turned my cell phone back on.  Within minutes it rang.  I picked it up with a feeling of dread that it might be A and V.  The caller ID said the Criminal Justice division of John Adams.  Huh? 

I quickly answered it.  “Hello?”  My voice was still groggy from sleep.  How embarrassing at nine am.

“Is this Ms. Grace Locke?” asked a very professional woman’s voice.

“Yes it is.”

“Hello Ms. Locke.  I am calling from Professor Kade’s office.  I hope this is a good time.  I called you at the work number you provided but I was told you were home today. “  

She called A and V?  Not good.   

“No, it’s fine to talk now.”

“Great.  The reason for my call is that we were reviewing our applications for research assistantships for the fall semester.  We were wondering if you are still interested in a position for the fall.”