Naomi was worried about how I’d cope with having a kid involved in my life, but she just didn’t get that I wanted both her and Shanti—the Kelly team—and I couldn’t imagine life any other way now.
FIVE
Naomi
“Hey, Naomi,” a voice greeted as I crawled under my desk to find the grape that’d rolled off it.
I hadn’t been expecting anyone, so it made me jerk, and the top of my head met the underside of my thick wooden desk with a loud thunk.
“Holy shit, I figure it’d take four people to move this thing, but she actually made it shake.”
Slowly making my way back out and trying to shake off the effects of the impact, I held onto my chair to keep my balance as I stood up.
“Girl, you okay?”
Turning around, I took in the four women lined up waiting for me. Jacinda, Evie, Sayla, and Heidi all looked perfectly put together, whereas I probably resembled roadkill. Scratch that, two week old roadkill on the Pan American Highway.
“Did I miss something?” I mumbled, wincing when I pressed on a particularly sore area on my scalp.
“No, we just figured we’d come in and surprise you.” Jacinda grinned at me, her eyes twinkling about something. “But now that we’re here and it’s lunchtime, why don’t we go for something to eat.”
My best friend in the world, Heidi, crossed her arms over her chest. “She’s awful at this. Basically, we all want to know what’s going on with Carter. Word on the street is that y’all were spotted smooching in the kitchen.”
I should have seen this coming. With Evie married to Alex, it never would have stayed a secret.
“I’m all for foreplay, Chica,” Jacinda said, leaning on a hand on my desk, “but almost three years of it?” She fanned her face with the other hand. “You must be wound tighter than a…” Her mouth opened and closed as she tried to think of something.
“A yoyo?” Heidi suggested, rolling her eyes.
“A clock?” Evie added, shrugging a shoulder when I raised an eyebrow at her.
Sayla took a little bit longer, but finally, she suggested, “A slinky?”
Glaring at them, Jacinda rapped her knuckles on my desk. “Whatever. But your engine must be revving. You sorted that out yet?”
This woman. I’d had quite a few heart-to-hearts with her since we’d become friends. I didn’t know her full story, but I knew enough for me to feel protective of her ninety-nine percent of the time. The other one percent, I wanted to throttle her. I just hoped one day she took Canon up on his offers because there was no way someone should go through life pretending to be someone they’re not, just to protect who they really were under the façade.
“No, I haven’t.” As she opened her mouth, I lunged over the desktop and slapped my hand over it. “And no,” I hissed, looking around us, “I haven’t used those toys you gave me. I have a kid in the house, so I’ve had to hide them on the top shelf in the closet.”
That was a small lie. They were hidden in a box in one of the closets because I really didn’t want Shanti running around, pretending to use whatever sized dildos Jacinda had given me as a sword with Nemi. Those stories were cute with other people’s kids, but not my own!
Pushing my arm away, she whispered, “You’ve seriously never used them? Naomi, what the fuck? How do you exist?”
Begging Heidi with my eyes to help me, I stayed mute, unwilling to delve any deeper into this while I was at work.
“Let’s go for lunch. The salon’s closed until one o’clock, so we’ve got time to talk.” Then, looking at the others, she warned, “We’ll talk about what Naomi’s happy to discuss with us, you dig?”
When they all scowled at her, she shrugged. “Okay, so you guys can go back to the salon until you realize some people don’t want to reveal every single detail of their personal lives.”
Seeing that she wasn’t going to bend, all three of them sighed, and their shoulders slumped slightly as they nodded.
I loved having these guys, but I didn’t even know what was happening, so how was I meant to talk about it?
“He said that?” Sayla asked, her voice sounding like I’d just told her the most romantic thing ever.
“You know, I’ve always thought of Carter as one of those alpha males who likes to dominate,” Jacinda murmured, her eyes unfocused as she stared at the wall behind me. “That’s hot in itself, but hearing him laying it out? How are you still breathing?”
I didn’t get a chance to answer because Evie told them, “Alex said he was smiling for the rest of the day. I saw him for, like, ten seconds, and a smiling Carter should be one of the wonders of the world. If I had to spend a whole day with him doing it, I’d probably end up in a puddle.”