The Prince Charming Hoax (16 page)

Leah stared at him for a moment, trying to take it all in.
“
Tom?
”

“
Yeah, I
’
m Tom.
”

“
I
’
m so sorry. You
’
re right. It was rude. I guess I wasn
’
t thinking straight.
”
Leah wished the ground would open and swallow her up.
“
Something happened, and I…I guess I didn
’
t think at all.
”

“
Sounds to me more like you were just thinking about yourself.
”

Leah rarely found herself at a loss for words, but Tom took her breath away. Lydia had been less than truthful again. Tom was not merely good looking. He was gorgeous. His green eyes snapped under dark eyebrows as he stood there glaring at her. He was tanned, and she caught sight of straight, white teeth as he snapped at her.

Leah bit her lower lip.
“
Look, Tom, I know I haven
’
t exactly made a great first impression, but if you
’
ll give me another chance…
”

Tom looked into her eyes, but didn
’
t say anything.

She held out her hand to him.
“
Hi, Tom. I
’
m Leah. Thank you for coming to meet me.
”

His entire posture relaxed. Tom had been keyed up, ready for a fight, but Leah seemed to knock the wind out of him. His mouth softened from a straight, angry line to a grin.
“
Nice to meet you, Leah. I probably shouldn
’
t have told you off like that. It
’
s just that…I haven
’
t been having such great luck lately with women, and I guess I took it out on you.
”

“
Actually, it was my own misfortunes with men that had me leaving so soon.
”

The two stood in silence for a moment, just looking at one another.

“
Would you like to go back inside?
”
Tom asked.

“
No!
”
Leah answered.
“
But tell me, how well do you know Lydia and Philip?
”

“
Not very well. I met Lydia at the gym and I
’
ve done some printing jobs for them—programs, flyers, and things. I
’
ve met Philip once or twice when I dropped off their orders.
”

“
You
’
re a printer?
”

“
Yes, I have a shop in Pompano. How about you, Leah? Where do you work?
”

They stood in the parking lot talking, not paying attention to the darkening sky or the time passing. Leah was so engrossed in their conversation that she was suddenly startled to hear Ali calling her name from a distance.

“
Mom, what are you doing out there?
”
Ali stood in the theater doorway. She made her way to Leah
’
s car.
“
I was looking all over for you when I came out of class. Why are you in the parking lot?
”

“
Ali, this is Tom Ryan. Tom, my daughter Alison.
”

“
Hi, Ali,
”
Tom extended his hand.

“
Hi, nice to meet you,
”
Ali said as she shook his hand. She turned to Leah.
“
Can we go now? I
’
m starving.
”

“
All right, Ali. Get in the car. I
’
ll be right there.
”

Leah winced as Ali slammed the car door, but smiled at Tom.
“
Thanks again for coming tonight. I
’
m glad you followed me out here, even if it was to tell me off!
”

“
Leah, here
’
s my card. Maybe one of your customers will need some printing.
”

Leah was disappointed. She was hoping he
’
d ask for a date.
“
Great. And here
’
s mine, in case one of your customers needs some copy writing.
”

Tom looked at her card, then back at her.

“
Nice to meet you, Leah.
”

“
Well, good-bye.
”
Leah opened her car door slowly, giving him one last chance to say he
’
d call.

“
Bye.
”
Tom walked back toward the building. Leah sighed and got in her car.

“
Who was that?
”
Ali demanded as Leah started the car.

“
A friend of Lydia
’
s.
”

“
What were you talking about? I was calling out to you for five minutes before you even paid any attention to me.
”

“
Nothing. Everything. You couldn
’
t have been calling very loudly, Ali, or I would have heard you.
”

“
I was looking all over for you so I could tell you all about the auditions next week.
”
Ali chattered on, but Leah was thinking about what went wrong with Tom. She probably talked too much, as usual. She should have asked more questions and let him talk. People like to talk about themselves more than they like to listen
. Why did she always forget that?

Leah
’
s cell phone rang.
“
Hello.
”

“
Leah, it
’
s Tom.
”

A huge grin brightened her face.
“
Hi.
”

“
Do you want to go out for dinner on Friday? I
’
d ask you for tomorrow night, but I see my kids on Thursdays.
”

“
Sounds good.
”

“
Don
’
t want to talk in front of your daughter?
”

“
That
’
s right.
”
Leah was glad he understood.

“
No problem. I
’
ll call you tomorrow.
”

“
Great. Tomorrow, then. Bye now.
”

Ali shifted sideways in her seat and leaned closer to Leah.
“
That was Tom, wasn
’
t it?
”

“
Yes.
”

“
What did he want?
”

“
If you must know, he asked me out. Ali, what
’
s your problem? You
’
ve had an attitude ever since you came out of class.
”

“
I thought maybe you and Philip would go out, that
’
s all.
”

“
Philip is Lydia
’
s boyfriend. I guess you didn
’
t know that either.
”

Leah gave Ali a short version of how she had been set up.
“
Eew,
”
said Ali.
“
How sleazy.
”

Leah smiled. It always amazed her how Ali could be so grown up and childlike at the same time.
“
Yup.
”

“
You like Tom, don
’
t you?
”

“
So far.
”

“
No, you really like him. I can tell.
”

“
I guess I do,
”
said Leah. She turned the car and parked in the driveway. She looked sideways at her daughter before exiting and smiled.
“
Is it that obvious?
”

“
Only to me
‘
cause we are so much alike.
”
Ali gathered up her books and backpack, getting ready to go in the house. She followed behind Leah up the walk to their townhouse.
“
Mom?
”

“
What is it?
”
Leah turned while fumbling in her bag for her house key.

“
He likes you, too.
”

“
How do you know that, Ali?
”

“
I could tell by the way he looked at you. You
’
ll see.
”

Chapter
15

Despite twenty years in Florida, Tom Ryan retained the street-wise toughness he learned growing up in the Bronx. Just as he had come after her that first night in the parking lot, he always said what was on his mind. Sometimes he was honest to a fault, and Leah was rendered speechless more than a few times by his blatant statements. But, even when she didn
’
t agree with him, which was much of the time, she admired his absolute confidence about his convictions.

Their strong physical attraction overshadowed everything else for Leah. She found it easy to overlook their differences. Tom said and did things no man had ever done to her before, and if they had, she probably would have either laughed or slapped them. But everything Tom did excited her, and she suddenly found herself doing and saying things she
’
d never done before.

On their second date, they sat in his car, making out like teenagers in the parking lot of his rental complex.
His kisses were passionate and hard, and she felt herself wet with excitement. He slipped his hand down her pants and slid his finger up and down inside her and she came quickly. As she gasped for air, Tom drew his finger out and sucked on it, never once taking his eyes from hers.
“
I knew you would taste good, baby.
”

Leah felt a wave of passion well again within her.
“
Let
’
s go inside so I can taste you, too,
”
she whispered.

Tom was outside the car, opening her door within seconds, and the two of them ran to his door with their arms around one another. Once inside, they pulled off each other
’
s clothes as Tom led her down the hall toward his bedroom, stopping at the doorway to kiss her deeply. He swept Leah up into his arms and carried her to the bed, placing her down so she was seated at the edge of the mattress. He dropped to his knees and put his face between her legs. Spreading her open gently with his fingers, he began licking her, then placed his mouth firmly against her. Leah braced herself against the bed with her elbows and lifted up her bottom for him. He put his tongue up inside her and she fell back on the bed, shrieking as the contractions within her escalated.

When Leah was finally quiet, Tom stood up and grinned as he lightly wiped his lips.
“
You have one great tasting pussy, woman.
”

Leah pulled him down on the bed next to her. She turned over and slid on top of him, then moved down and put her face between his legs. She took his erection in her mouth slowly, licking the tip and moving her tongue around the sides. Then she placed her lips around his hardness and took it into her mouth as far as it could go. She stroked him with her fingers while she moved up and down on him with her mouth.

Tom moaned, groaned, and gasped. Finally, he started yelling,
“
Fuck me, Leah. Fuck me.
”
She relaxed her mouth and moved slowly off him, licking as she released him.
Pulling herself up on her knees above him, she pushed herself down on his erection. She began to move up and down—slowly at first, then increasing the rate of repetition until she felt him twitching and heard him scream out in pleasure. She let herself explode as she bore down for the last time, pushing him deeper inside her than she had thought it possible to go. Then she collapsed on top of him, sliding her sweaty body against his until she came again from the friction.

Each time they were together, it happened again. She was carried away by his intensity and desire as he continued to bring her to new levels of passion and pleasure. She hadn
’
t known it was possible for a man to bring forth the depth of emotion she felt.

Leah became consumed by her desire for Tom. She lived for the weekends when Ali was with her father, and she could be with Tom alone. She longed for his touch, his kiss and craved him inside her constantly. Her heart raced just to think about him, which she found herself doing every minute they weren
’
t together. Often her daydream visualizations about them making love got her so excited, she would have to take a shower and relieve herself with the pulsating stream of water from the handheld shower massage device.

Leah loved that the passion never cooled between them, it only increased. She had felt hot and excited about a new man in her life many times, but the attraction would always diminish after a period of time. Not for her and Tom. She would come to his apartment door on a Friday night after not having seen him for two or three days, and their passionate first kiss would lead to them ripping off each other
’
s clothes and doing it on the floor in the doorway.

They spent most of their time together in bed. They would have plans to see a movie or go for dinner. But more often than not, they never made it. It amused her to come out of his bedroom in the morning and find their clothes strewn all over the apartment. They
’
d find their shoes, socks, underwear, tops, and bottoms in the most unexpected places.

Their life together outside the bedroom did not fare as well. Ali and Tom did not hit it off. Leah suspected they each were jealous of her affection for the other, but hard as she tried to build a comfortable atmosphere for the three of them, it was always awkward. Finally the pressure she felt when they were all together was so stressful, she stopped planning activities for the three of them. She was either with Ali or with Tom, and she minimized the time they were exposed to each other.

Tom seemed to prefer to keep their families separate. He rarely invited Leah to join him when he was spending time with his children.

“
Are you ashamed of me?
”
she asked Tom one Sunday morning when he getting ready to leave her house to be with his children for the day. She was sitting cross-legged on her bed, watching him pack up his things.

“
What do you mean?
”

“
We
’
ve been dating for almost two years, and you never ask me to come with you when you see your kids. I was wondering if you were ashamed of me, or if maybe they don
’
t like me.
”

“
No, no,
”
Tom assured her, with a dismissive wave of his hand.
“
It
’
s nothing like that at all. It
’
s just that I miss them so much when I don
’
t see them. When it
’
s my days with kids, I want be alone with them. I know when they get older, they
’
re not going to want to spend time with their old man any more.
”
He smiled at her.
“
It has nothing to do with you.
”

“
My being there won
’
t necessarily detract from the time you spend with them.
”

He started to collect his keys and looked around the room, as if to make sure he wasn
’
t leaving anything behind.
“
Look, Leah. Their mother is giving me such a hard time with our divorce. I don
’
t want to put them in the middle of it. They
’
ll innocently mention you were with us and the next thing you know, I
’
ll get a letter from her lawyer.
”

“
What are you talking about?
”

“
Barbara is paranoid about those kids. She
’
ll want a complete dossier on you to make sure I
’
m not exposing them to harm.
”

“
And what you do you think that lunatic would find if she had me investigated, Tom? I promise you, I don
’
t have a prison record.
”

“
Leah, come on. I know that. Look, it
’
s hard enough right now just trying to get through my divorce. I don
’
t want to complicate it any further.
”
He leaned over to kiss her.
“
I gotta get going. I
’
m late.
”

Leah followed him down the steps and stopped him before he opened the door.

“
It
’
s just that sometimes I feel we lead such separate lives, Tom. I
’
d like to feel more…whole. Like you and I have a life together.
”

Tom pulled Leah close to him.
“
Look, we both know how difficult it is with the kids. You don
’
t have me here unless Ali is at a friend
’
s or her father
’
s house, do you?
”

“
Well, no.
”

“
And I wouldn
’
t be comfortable staying over if she were home. Let me get over this huge hump and the rest will fall into place, you
’
ll see.
”
He kissed her.
“
But I have to go now. Call you later.
”

From her kitchen window, Leah watched him get in his car and drive away. She tried to push away the nagging fear that one day there wouldn
’
t be a return visit.

* * *

Leah shared her concern with Roxie when they met for lunch later that day.
“
What have I gotten myself into?
”

Roxie leaned back in the booth and sipped her Diet Coke.

“
Rather late to be asking that question, isn
’
t it, Leah? You have to admit, he was upfront with you from the very beginning about not wanting an involved relationship.
”

“
What do you mean?
”

“
Didn
’
t you tell me that on your first date he said he
’
d rather stick pins in his eyes than get married again?
”

“
Well, yeah, but I figured it was because he was going through a difficult divorce and that he
’
d get over it.
”

“
Big mistake.
”
Roxie dove into her cheeseburger and fries.

Leah sighed. She knew Roxie was right. If Tom was anything, he was always honest. And he never spoke to her about a future together.

Leah pushed her salad around on her plate. She had lost her appetite.

“
Oh God, Roxie. I wanted to believe it would all work out. What I am going to do?
”

“
Have you talked to him about any of this?
”

“
Not really. You know how it
’
s the kiss of death with guys when you try to talk about commitment.
”

“
I honestly don
’
t think this is a good time to plead your case. When is his divorce going to be final, anyway?
”

“
I think they have another hearing next month. This has been going on for so long, it
’
s ridiculous. It
’
s not like there
’
s some huge estate to split up. His ex is so unreasonable, she won
’
t agree to anything.
”

“
Leah, you
’
re only hearing his side of the story.
”
Roxie had finished her lunch and reached over to examine the dessert menu the waiter had left for them.

“
That
’
s true,
”
Leah said.
“
Why is it every divorced woman I know got screwed in her divorce, and every man I meet has an ex who got everything?
”

“
Like I said, it depends on whose side of the story you
’
re hearing.
”

“
I guess I
’
ll just have to wait it out.
”
Leah sighed.
“
As angry as I get at him, he still leaves me weak every time I look at him. You know, I keep telling him that no other woman will ever want him the way I do, but I don
’
t think he believes me.
”

Roxie lifted her eyes from the dessert menu.

“
What do you mean?
”

“
I have a suspicion that he may want to check out his other options before settling down. I don
’
t know, maybe I
’
m paranoid. I just feel like I
’
m waiting for the other shoe to drop.
”