The Plug's Wife (4 page)

“Lina, I’ll call you in a few days.  I just need some time,” Summer said to her friend solemnly as she stepped inside the Suburban.  Caralina’s eyes went dark and flat. 

“Okay, but you are not alone. You don’t have to be so tough. You’re allowed to cry for your husband, you know.”

“I know,” Summer murmured, parting with a halfhearted smile.  Settling into the back seat, she closed her eyes and let out a long, exasperated breath.  Suddenly, she felt a body abruptly slide into the seat next to her.  Startled, Summer inched her body into the corner, preparing for an attack. 

“You scared me!” she wolfed when she saw that it was just Mitch. 

“Didn’t mean to do that.”  He didn’t sound very genuine.

“Why are you here? I need to get home,” Summer said with a frown.

“Did you really think I was going to send you home alone?” Mitch answered sternly. 

“You’ll probably need to get permission to take a piss until we feel shit is safe.  You do realize your husband was just shot down in cold blood and you were shot too.”

Summer sighed and rolled her eyes.  She needed a damn break from everything and everyone.  Aside from the ride over, she hadn’t had a minute alone to breath or sort out her next move for that matter. 
Why are they watching me so closely? What do they want? 
Her mind raced; paranoia was getting the best of her.  It had been a natural defense mechanism since childhood.  She was always suspicious of people and their motives. Everyone seemed to have an agenda these days, even Jesse. 

“You don’t have a problem with us looking out for you, right?” Mitch asked, interrupting her thoughts.  Summer didn’t answer. 

“Well if you do, then I’m sorry.  This is how we roll baby girl, so get used to it,” Mitch told her. 

Summer turned her face towards the window.  The only constant Summer knew in her life had been change.  And Summer knew firsthand that was never easy getting used to.

Chapter 4
Picking Up the Pieces

“So Miss Cuban Not Interested, tell me about yourself,” Jesse joked, flashing a gleaming, perfectly white smile.  Summer blushed.  It was their first official date and she was still embarrassed at how rude she had been during their first encounter.  After all, she had been the one to hit Jesse’s car.  Jesse had been kind and generous enough to pay for the damage to Rex’s car, so Summer felt obligated to give him her number.  She felt even more obligated when he sent three dozen huge, pink, white, and red roses to Rex’s office for her along with an invitation to dinner.  The entire place had been abuzz with speculation about the secret admirer who’d sent Rex’s personal assistant those gorgeous flowers.  Rex wasn’t very happy about it either.  He could be quite territorial at times.

“Was that such a hard question?” Jesse followed up, when he saw the blank look on Summer’s face.  She jumped a little. 

“I’m sorry, what? And my name is Summer. Please stop calling me Cuban Not Interested,” she chuckled, batting her eyes flirtatiously.  “Well, there’s not much to tell.  My life is pretty boring. I mean, I am here in New York working for that monster Rex McKenzie while I attend Columbia University.  I work and go to school more than I enjoy my life.  I have nobody here except a few people that I’ve met and I don’t really consider them friends,” Summer said, telling half-truths.  Columbia University was far from her what she had been doing with her time in New York.  The only school she had attended since leaving Cuba was the school of hard knocks. 

“Now, your turn.  Tell me about the big, bad businessman Jesse Banks.” 

“Well, clearly you’ve done some research on me if you know that I’m a big, bad business man,” Jesse repeated her trite assessment of him.  They both laughed.   “I have a company that mainly brings goods here from overseas.  I’ve done pretty well for myself over the years.  I’m currently single, with no prospects of a girlfriend, unless, of course, I am sitting across from her,” Jesse said smoothly, also telling half-truths.  Summer blushed again.  

“How come a good looking man like you wearing those big watches and a pinky ring that’s been blinding me all night doesn’t have a girlfriend?” Summer asked, balling up her toes in her borrowed stilettos.  She tilted her head and took a good long look at Jesse.  He had the most gorgeously dark eyes.  His dark hair hugged his scalp in tight curls that complemented his dark chocolate skin.  She had often fantasized about a man like Jesse being hers, but never thought it possible given her history. 

Jesse seemed to contemplate her question for a few minutes. “Honestly, I’m not impressed by many women.  The ones I meet bore me to death most of the time.  They’re all the same to me—dying to be rich, dying to wear the latest fashions, dying to spend money to look like someone they’re not, and dying to have a baby as a come up.  Over and over, I meet the same person, just in a different body with a different name.  Not impressed at all by most of them.  Not impressed enough to make any of them mine,” Jesse said honestly. “I could ask you the same question.  No boyfriend as beautiful as you are?”

“Same answer for me.  I’m not impressed by most men I’ve met.  I work hard and it seems like here in New York men don’t expect to find a woman who works hard and is not just after their money,” Summer said candidly.  She couldn’t exactly tell him that she didn’t trust most people, especially men or that she was working to pay debts owed back in little Havana and in Cub so she could one day be reunited with her family.  She couldn’t tell him that every night she prays for her family and every day she works towards the goal of one day seeing them. 

Jesse lifted his wine glass and took a gulp.  He liked this girl’s honesty. It was refreshing.

“I know you won’t like me saying this, but you look more Puerto Rican than Cuban.  You’re almost as light as a white person.  All the Cubans I know are darker than me,” Jesse whispered, leaning in to the table so he wouldn’t offend any of the restaurant’s snooty white patrons. 

Summer twisted her lips.  She’d heard that comment about her fair skin so many times before.  “You mean you think I’m too light to be a poor Cuban? Of course, most people think that in Cuba the darker you are the worse off you are.  Americans are so skin prejudice.  There are light and dark people in every country in the world, even Africa,” Summer replied with attitude.  She was one hundred percent Cuban and proud of it.  She had the scars and nightmares to prove it too. 

“And your family?” Jesse probed.  “You said you were here alone.  I mean, everybody comes from somebody. Do you have family nearby?”

“My parents are dead.  My grandparents raised me. I have siblings still in Cuba.  I have lost contact for now,” Summer said, her tone turning icy.  She immediately wanted to kick herself for revealing that much.  She didn’t know this smooth operating stranger and she was not ready to divulge her dark secrets just yet. Nevertheless, her mind wandered to her baby brother Juliano and her sister Carrera.  She ached just thinking about them.  She missed them dearly. They were the only reminder of her parents she had left.  She hadn’t seen her brother and sister since she’d left in the thick of the night on a smuggling boat that had taken her to America…the land of the free.  Summer shuddered. Her freedom had come at a very steep price.

“I’m sorry,” Jesse said, touching the top of her hand. 

She pulled her hand away like a snake had bitten her.  Jesse’s eyebrows shot up. 

“For what?” Summer snapped, her voice quivering.  Jesse’s eyebrows furrowed. 

“About your parents.  It seems like you got upset thinking about them and about Cuba.  I’m sorry I brought it up.”

Summer exhaled.  This was their first date and already she felt like he was probing too deep.  Summer shifted in her seat, uncomfortable with the direction of their conversation. 

“What about you?  Where’s your family?” Summer switched it up.  She had always been good at thinking quickly.

“My family consists of all dudes.  No living mother, she died of cancer ten years ago.  Never had a father.  My business partners are my family.  I consider very few people my family,” Jesse replied sincerely.  Summer nodded. 
Impressive.
 
A self-made man
. 

“Maybe talking about our families was too heavy for a first date.  So, on a lighter note,” Jesse sighed, smiling in an attempt to lighten the mood.  “Your birthday, when is your birthday?” Jesse asked. “I think that’s a relatively safe topic, right?”

Summer laughed.  “Your questions go from one extreme to the next.”  She was thinking, buying time while she did the fast math in her head. 

“March third nineteen eighty-three,” Summer lied.  She’d already made the mistake of revealing things about herself that she didn’t want anyone to know.  That was a slip she wouldn’t let happen again. 

“Three, three, nineteen eighty three.  Hah! That sounds like a good safe combination baby girl!” Jesse joked. 

Summer picked up her glass of wine and took a big gulp.  Jesse watched her intently and with definite male interest
.

Summer bolted upright in the bed, her nightgown slick with sweat.  She wiped the sweat off of her forehead and flopped back down on her fluffy, down pillow.  The dream of Jesse had been so vivid she felt like he’d come waltzing right out of the master bathroom flashing his signature smile.  Summer looked over at the clock on the side of the bed, which read 03:24 am.  She patiently waited for the time to change. She wanted to make sure she was indeed awake.  Her shoulders slumped when reality was confirmed.  One part relief.  One part grief. 

Summer clicked on her nightstand light and looked around.  This wasn’t how she’d imagined spending the weeks after her wedding.  All her life, she’d wanted her own house with a spacious kitchen where she could cook her grandmother’s authentic Cuban recipes—possibly for her husband and children. Now that dream had been crushed as well.

Summer always wanted her own things—clothes that she didn’t have to borrow; shoes that fit her feet; money that she could spend without having to give up her dignity to earn it; and most of all she wanted a man of her own, who would love her without any strings attached.  She’d been so close to having it all.  But now, even the newly decorated bedroom brought her little comfort.  She hadn’t had a good night’s rest in the bedroom since she’d come home from the hospital.  Summer scrubbed her hands over her face.  Summer considered changing the bedroom décor, but she didn’t want to erase Jesse from the house just yet. 

Jesse had commissioned two of the best interior decorators in New York to outfit the bedroom to match their tastes.  She and Jesse had spent hours picking out the fabrics, colors, and artwork. Looking at the customized black hardwood floors, the tufted grey suede headboard with its rhinestone accents, and the one of a kind, silver and black, Italian silk window treatments, only reminded Summer of what she was missing—Jesse. 

Summer felt a warm feeling envelop her body and an involuntary smile spread over her face, remembering the day the designers put the final touches on their bedroom. 

Summer protested when Jesse pulled her away from a meeting with her wedding planner.  “I don’t have time for surprises!” Summer argued. 

Jesse wasn’t listening to her.  Jesse covered Summer’s eyes with a blindfold and led her into the house and up the stairs. 

“Stop trying to peek,” he joked, guiding her by her shoulders.

“I’m not! I’m not!” she laughed as she stumbled forward.  Jesse guided her with a hand on her back until they reached the intended destination.

              “You ready?” Jesse asked.  Summer bounced on her legs like a little kid at Christmas waiting for Santa Claus.

“Yes! Yes!” Summer exclaimed.  Jesse stopped her at the doorway.  She could tell that much when she reached both arms out and touched either side of the doorway frame.  Summer inhaled.  “Hmmm,” she hummed.  She could smell the strong, piney scent of the hardwood floor stain.  Summer felt a rush of excitement. 

“You sure you ready?” Jesse teased, watching as the anticipation mounted inside of her.  

“Oh my God!  Jesse…¡vamos!” She exclaimed.  “Deja de jugar conmigo!”

“Now you speaking Spanish?  Shit, you know how much that turns me on!  Maybe I have to get something before I make the big reveal,” Jesse laughed, stalling. 

Summer let out a long breath.  Jesse moved in front of her, the heat from his body hovering close.  Summer felt something melt inside of her.  Her stomach quivered.  Jesse slowly and gently pulled off her blindfold.   Before she could see anything, he blocked her view and roughly placed his lips on hers.  Their tongues danced.  Still kissing her, Jesse walked her backwards as he pulled her inside the room.  Abruptly, he ended their embraced and stepped aside. 

“I want to give you this and more,” he said honestly, opening his arms wide.  Summer’s mouth gaped opened.  She had never had anyone give her anything without asking for much more in return.  Summer whirled around like a kid inside a candy store.  The room was spectacular.  There was a huge professionally commissioned portrait of her hanging behind the bed.  That let Summer know that everything in the room belonged to her, including Jesse Banks. 

“I love it,” she gasped.  “It came together much better than I expected!” Tears fell freely down her face like the sweetest rainfall.  Jesse couldn’t have known how badly Summer needed his love.  Growing up hand to mouth, this was more than she ever expected out of life. 

“And I love you,” Jesse whispered as he pulled her down to the gleaming hardwood floors.  Summer couldn’t control herself.  Overwhelmed with emotion, she straddled Jesse.  Breathing heavily, she grinded her pelvis against his as she clawed at his shirt buttons.  It was best way and only way she knew how to express her gratitude. 

“I want you, now!” Summer urged.  Jesse let out a gust of breath, turned on by her assertiveness.  Summer leaned down and forced her tongue into his mouth, grinding into him harder. 

“I like when you take charge,” he moaned into her mouth. 

“Take off your goddamn clothes!” Summer ordered, her voice throaty and harsh.  She didn’t know what had come over her.  She wanted to give him something.  Needed to give him something in return for what he’d done for her.  It was how she’d learned to show her appreciation. 

“Hurry up!” she demanded, her eyes a bit wild.  Jesse smiled as he unbuckled his pants and slid out of his boxers.  He was aroused.  Thrilled.  Taken aback.  Summer licked her lips, crawling towards him.  She grabbed Jesse’s manhood roughly and tugged on it. 

“Whoa! That thing is connected to me,” Jesse winced at the rough handling.  Summer didn’t care.  She was possessed as she took him into her mouth. 

“Shit!” he hissed.  Summer was ravenous as she moved her mouth up and down on him.  She could feel the swell of blood rushing through his vein.  That made her work her jaws harder, faster.  The slurping sounds were driving Jesse crazy.  He grunted like an animal.  Sweat glistened at Summer’s temple and saliva trickled down the sides of her mouth.  She moved to his balls and took them into her mouth. 

“Damn, this is something new,” Jesse murmured, his legs beginning to shake.  Summer gently sucked, then blew air on them.  She did that over and over as she moved her hand over his shaft. 

“You fucking me up, baby girl,” Jesse gasped on the verge of exploding.  Summer knew she had him now.  She stopped.  Jesse’s eyes popped open incredulously.