And my female turned to face Rhonda, cheeks scarlet.
“Gray’s right, I wanted to finish school,” she repeated in a low voice. “I’m working on my BA.”
Shit, finishing school was unlikely because she was probably pregnant already. With a ripe, fertile, eighteen year-old body? Oh yeah, my sperm was having the time of its life.
But my mom was here, and it was important to keep up appearances.
“Like I said, school,” I reiterated in a deep voice, grabbing her hand. “My wife is a star student, straight A’s all the way.”
And that part was true because despite the fact that I keep her up all night with bedroom games, Kitty is really smart. I never see her crack a book, I never see her on her laptop, but she pulls rabbits out of hats. The girl’s brilliant, Dean’s List every semester, and I don’t know how she does it. My chest practically exploded with pride, and I kept going with the charade.
“Hotel management,” I ground out again. “My wife’s major is hotel management, so she’ll be doing another internship at the Milano. After all, when your husband owns the place, you can get whatever job you want. Except cocktail waitress,” I grunted. “No way in hell you’re putting on that tiny dress for a bunch of drunk guys again.”
Kitty blushed.
“Right, no more waitressing,” she said in a soft voice. But straightening her shoulders, she turned to my mom with a genuine smile.
“Rhonda, you’re welcome to come visit us any time you like, whether or not we have kids. The grandchildren don’t have to be an excuse, we enjoy your company.”
I goggled. Was Kitty crazy? Rhonda would drive me batshit crazy hanging around the apartment 24/7.
But my mom just laughed and waved her hands.
“Oh honey, thank you for the invitation but I wouldn’t, not when you’re newlyweds. You and Gray clearly have the hots for each other and I don’t want interrupt while you’re, you know ….” Her eyes twinkled mischievously.
Kitty grew slightly red but then she got over it, and both women burst out laughing suddenly.
“That first time was bad, wasn’t it?” giggled Kitty, covering her mouth with her hand. “It was really bad, I can’t imagine what you thought of me.”
My mom chortled even harder.
“Well it’s not every day that you meet your future daughter-in-law with her clothes off,” she said with tears in her eyes, narrow shoulders shaking. “But it’s fine, honey,” she said, trying to catch her breath. “It’s okay because you ended up getting married, and now there’s going to be the pitter-patter of small feet. My dearest wish is going to come true,” Mom sighed, patting her hair. “I’ve wanted this for so long. Gray’s forty-five you know,” she said in a confidential voice. “And I was starting to think it was never going to happen.”
“Ma,” I interrupted in a warning tone. “This is our wedding brunch.”
But Rhonda has always been unstoppable.
“Oh Gray, the women you dated before were so terrible, I never even knew what to say. So I didn’t say it. But I can say this with no reservations. Your new bride is exactly what you need, and I couldn’t be more excited for you. Welcome to the family honey, welcome.”
And the women embraced, warm and tender. I sat back with all sorts of emotions pounding through my chest. Because shit, Rhonda adored Kitty, that was clear. The two women were already in cahoots, giggling about this and that, BFFs forever.
But it sucked too, because this marriage has an end date. As soon as the funds were released from my late dad’s account, we’re gonna file for divorce. And for some reason, my chest grew tight, heart constricting like a snake was squeezing the daylights out of me. Because I’ve found a new kind of peace, a new kind of satisfaction, even a new kind of love with Kitty. So how the fuck am I supposed to let her go?
CHAPTER TEN
Kitty
I wandered about the nursery. It’s the biggest nursery I’ve ever seen, twice the size of my old apartment and filled with everything a baby could need.
Or two babies because of course, Gray ordered doubles. After we sexed it up in the furniture store, that was his way of saying thank you to the staff. Or more like, Sorry, not sorry, I got the girl, and I got the cash too. So it was double commission for them, double the sales, and as usual, Gray came out on top.
But right now, none of that bothered me. Because I was walking slowly around the sunlit space, hand trailing the edge of a crib, caressing the head of a toy pony. Gray had probably bought every stuffed animal in the kids’ section and now a zoo lived here, including a five-foot elephant, an eight-foot plush giraffe, and of course, two little kitties, kneeling at the foot of each crib.