Because Of Love

“I almost slept with him.”

Talia made the announcement in the dark and noisy dance floor of the club to Carrie. After agonizing and overthinking about what had happened on DeLuca’s yacht the previous night, she’d decided to join her friend on her weekend club hopping, hoping the loud music and dancing, and of course the alcohol, would help take her mind off things, but she just couldn’t get over the frustration of that night. What annoyed her most was she wasn’t sure what frustrated her most: the almost that never happened or what happened that led to the almost.

“I’m sorry, I don’t think I heard you right.” Carrie stopped bobbing and turned fully to face her, her brows raised right up to her hairline.

Talia took a sip of her martini and said again, “I said, I almost slept with him.”

Carrie’s head reared back and she blinked several times before she chuckled, an evil snarky laugh, her shoulders bouncing in her mirth. She shook her head, waved her hand in front of her face and said, “Okay, before we dissect that, I’m going to need to know which direction we are going. So who did you almost sleep with?”

Talia turned to look straight at the mirror set behind the shelves of different alcohols at the bar and silently chewed on her inner cheek.

“Mama, you brought up the conversation. Don’t be going silent on me now.”

Talia winced, leaning away when Carrie half yelled close to her ear, presumably to be heard over the music, but she was sure it was more from the alcohol and the excitement of gossip. Maybe not gossip, but the fact that she had come close to breaking her vow of abstinence before marriage. Yeah, Talia could see how the hypocrisy could be amusing.

“Hold up. You left the office like the devil was nipping at your ass to find Delicioso about your proposal, so… it’s him isn’t it?”

Talia took a frustrated sip out of her martini glass and said, “He’s Italian.”

“Reigning from the same hot species. Is it him or not?” she shot back.

Talia cleared her throat, turned her head away to the side, her left hand rising to rub at her cheek and ear. She jumped when Carrie screamed, quickly turning to face her.

“Damn girl!” she giggled, beyond tickled. “What? He said no to reassessing your proposal so you decided to take Triple D’s route?” She shook her head in a mockingly disapproving way. “She is not going to like that. Be careful, she might just charge you with copyright infringement.”

“Ha ha, very funny!” Talia retorted as Carrie doubled over in a fit of giggles.

“Okay, I’m sorry, but I don’t understand why you are so bothered by it. You saved yourself from what you would call a mistake and what I would call the best ride of my life. Damn, why wasn’t I the one who almost did the boss?”

Talia chewed over her decision before she finally decided to admit that embarrassing little truth she’d been keeping inside. “It wasn’t me.”

“It wasn’t you what?”

“I wasn’t the one who cooled the train tracks.”

“Huh?” Carrie exclaimed with a pinched brow. When the lines on her forehead straightened and her mouth dropped open, Talia felt the knob of embarrassment turn up a dial.

“Wow. Okay… wow. Sweetheart, you need another drink?”

‘Nope,” Talia pouted, but refused to be pitied.

“You know what?” Carrie began, rubbing Talia’s bareback. “Forget him. I bet you all the straight men in this club would give up a limb to do the dirty dance with you.”

Talia just snorted at that. If only it was that simple. The draw she felt to DeLuca wasn’t the one night stand kind of itchy lustful feeling. It was… she couldn’t explain it in words, but it had more weight than that.

“Did he at least say why you two shouldn’t get naked?”

Talia shook her head, feeling a little more depressed as she remembered how quickly he hurried her away.

“He couldn’t possibly be married could he?”

Everything inside Talia stilled. There was no way! He would have mentioned that… and especially since his life was practically at par with a celebrity, it would have been mentioned somewhere on a society rag, wouldn’t it?

But how would she know? She didn’t subscribe to those kinds of newspapers or sites. Maybe she should Google him? She shook her head no, shivering at the thought of happening on a blow up picture of a sexy Italian wife and perfect kids. She was just going to go by the office gossip and live in ignorance for a while. She wouldn’t be able to take it if he was married.

“No, I don’t think that’s it. His cult following would have opened a hate page on her on Facebook already.”

Talia relaxed at Carrie’s nod, confirming her thoughts.

“But Talia… maybe it was for the best.”

For the first time since her confession, Talia turned to look at her friend, meeting the worry written all over her face.

“You don’t know him well enough, and you seriously don’t want to cross more lines than you already have since he came here.”

Talia nodded solemnly. She was right. She’d worked way too hard to risk her career and professional future on a dalliance.

Remember Talia, he isn’t here to stay. Her heart plummeted to her feet with that thought.

“Tell you what, I’ll hook you up on a date,” Carrie said cheerfully. Talia groaned, turning away from her friend. “No, no. Hear me out.” Talia faced her friend again. “I know a guy whose cousin is a doctor. And the best part is, he’s local.”

Talia snarled at the jab.

Carrie smiled cheekily. “He might help you get your mind off…” she tilted her head to the side. “What was it you called him again, the first time he came?”Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

Talia smiled quietly. “Baby shark?”

She laughed. “Right. Every shark movie ever made can testify that a human and shark mix never ends well. That kind of relationship just isn’t meant to be. And besides, your mama loves doctors.”

Talia groaned, reaching for her glass. “She has the misconception that a man who is a doctor is always honest. They took an oath.”

Carrie snorted. “Yeah, to do no harm in their profession.” Lips twisted in disgust, she added, “I dated a doctor once. Slept with all willing hospital staff.”

With a slow nod, Talia took a sip out of her glass, not at all surprised. Carrie had dated almost every profession under the sun.

“The men too.”

Talia spat out half the sip she took and choked on the rest. Her eyes watered and her throat burned as she tried to catch her breath.

“At least he stayed away from the patients… I think.” Carrie patted her back hard as Talia’s coughing fits subsided. “And leave your mother be. We are all allowed our delusions in the pursuit of happiness.”

Talia nodded wordlessly. She just wished her own delusion wasn’t six foot something, olive skinned, dark haired and mysterious with a heavy dose of sex appeal. Nothing good ever came from falling for your boss.