His lips curled into a playful pout. “Oh? We can’t shower together?”
“No,” She said firmly, “or we’ll never get to work on time.” She hurried to the bathroom to pee, admiring Lee’s perfect physique as he trailed in after her and turned on the shower. Once upon a time, Tory would have been too embarrassed to use the toilet with anyone else in the room. But Lee thought her modesty was silly considering their level of intimacy. He also had to remind her that he couldn’t see what she was doing on the toilet anyways. She quickly flushed and washed her hands and he glanced at her over his shoulder.
“You sure, querida?” He was holding back the shower curtain and looking towards her expectantly. Mmm mmm mmm, she thought. His unruly hair was tousled about his head and his morning stubble made him look rugged. The muscles in his toned body stood out like he worked out every single day even though he didn’t. Her eyes lingered on his heavy manhood. Damn…
“Okay,” she relented. She was addicted to him. Sometimes she felt as if she had to grab as much joy from him as she could because somehow she would be awakened from this wonderful dream and she wanted as many memories of him that she could gather. He held out his hand to her and she took it as she joined him in the shower. He positioned her in front of the spray and stood behind her, his hands traveling over her front, helping the water to wet her. He picked up a sponge and applied her body wash and then proceeded to wash her thoroughly. His hand trailed over each curve, each fold and each dimple of her larger than average body.
For a moment she held her breath and tensed before remembering that she had no need to be ashamed. He found her weight to be a plus and not a negative. She watched him as he lovingly washed her body and knew that he didn’t just accept her fat as ‘something to be ignored or dealt with’. Lee liked her extra bits. She smiled and sighed. He urged her to turn so that he could wash her back, being careful not to get her hair wet. He had to be taught that black women did not wash their hair every single day and if it got wet then out came the blow dryer and the curling iron.
He turned her again and pressed against her back. She felt the sponge slipping between her thighs and then he was lathing her there, causing her body to tingle again. He was very thorough until she had to take the sponge from him with a giggle.
“Okay baby, I think it’s clean now.”
He blushed and grinned sheepishly. “I can’t get enough of you Tory.”
Her smile fell from her lips as she watched him. “Then I truly am the luckiest woman in the world.” He shook his head slightly and she didn’t understand what it meant but she applied his body wash and began to wash him in turn.
She took pleasure in noting that he was again erect, and it wasn’t her fault that she was compelled to spend a great deal of time making sure that portion of his body was clean until he could take no more and cried out in release. She gripped him in her soapy fist and pumped her hand rapidly until she had worked every last drop from him. Lee slumped on his feet, panting.
“Now you-” His fingers slid along the crease between her thighs and she gripped his wrist with a gasp and stopped him.
“Baby, raincheck.”
“Are you sure? I don’t want you at work all day thinking that I’m a selfish bastard.”
She grabbed the handheld shower and rinsed the last of the suds off their bodies. “I think about you all day every single day, and I promise that I’ve never thought anything remotely close to that about you.” He was the most insatiable man, and she loved every second of the attention! There wasn’t a day that went by that they didn’t have sex in one form or another—even when it was time for her monthly cycle.
When she felt that they were sufficiently clean she leaned forward and kissed him. He pulled her possessively close and enjoyed her mouth before swatting her lightly on the ass.
“Okay, okay, enough. We are going to be late.” She scowled and he chuckled. She wrapped her robe around herself and then hurried into the kitchen to start the coffee and to heat up the last of the tea ring that they had bought over the weekend.
While he shaved she went through the closet for one of the dresses she had brought over. In order to remain impromptu, she had a selection of clothes at his place and he had some at hers. It wasn’t uncommon for either to spend days during the week at the others home, however because Cat still needed to be tended to it was generally his place that they ended up at. They hadn’t slept apart in months. She found herself wondering if he would invite her to live with him. She would. She wouldn’t hold out for a ring or anything.
This was the real world and she was an adult in an adult relationship. She didn’t need the fairytale; she just needed to be in the NOW. Her mother had asked tentatively if she was living with him because she had called the apartment instead of her cell phone on several occasions…or perhaps her mother was just testing her—trying to catch her. Why did that thought make her blush? She was an adult and there was nothing wrong with having a sexual relationship with her boyfriend!
When she returned to the kitchen, Lee had already prepared her coffee just the way she liked it and was waiting for her so that they could enjoy their breakfast together. She paused and watched him move confidently to the cat kibble to fill Cat’s bowl. He was blind but more graceful than a lot of people she knew; including herself.
“I’m going to go back to my place after work, babe.” She said. He raised a brow at her. “I have to get more clothes.”
“Okay, I’ll pack a bag and swap out some clothes, too.” They finished their coffee and tea ring and then left the loft apartment hand in hand, a backpack over his shoulders containing his fresh clothes and some of her dirty ones.
Once in the elevator, they took the familiar route to the subbasement parking area. Tory still couldn’t stop the smile of joy that covered her face when she set eyes on the vehicle parked all alone in the large underground parking area. They had only been dating a few weeks when Lee had her take a look at some research that he was doing on the computer. He announced that he was going to buy a car. She remembered laughing but he was very serious.
“I can’t drive, querida, but you can. You do have a driver’s license, don’t you?”
“I do…but-”
“Then it’s settled. The choices are between these three and I need you to tell me which one you think looks best.”
She had given him a strange look, not sure how to take the information. She couldn’t tell him that he couldn’t buy a car, and obviously she wouldn’t tell him that she wouldn’t drive him places…
She had looked at the computer and then her brow had shot up. “Uh…that’s a Mercedes Benz.”
“Ah, yes; the E-class. It has rear collision and side airbags, collision warning, night vision, and lane departure warning.”
“Ok…” The next car was a Volvo and was very sporty. Lee announced that it had several alerts that he liked including a driver alert system that detected tired drivers. She giggled wondering if she would have to wear some type of monitor when driving it. The final car was an Audi A6. It was a tough decision but she told him that she preferred the looks of the Volvo S60.
He had closed the lid on the laptop and said no more about it. The next day they took a cab to the dealership and then later they drove home in his brand new car. She knew that Lee wasn’t hurting for money but she just didn’t realize that he had it like that. She got the pleasure of selecting a beautiful caramel colored car with tan leather interior. It felt wrong but she couldn’t deny that it had thrilled her at the same time.
Tory popped back to the present and watched Lee move to the back of the car. She popped open the trunk for him and then he stowed the backpack there and climbed into the passenger seat. No sooner did she have the car started before he was fiddling with the iPod player. She was suddenly hearing the relaxing sounds of Júlio Pereira’s mandolin and she couldn’t help but marvel at how much she had learned about the Portuguese and specifically the Azorean culture in these brief three
months.
A short time later she dropped him off in front of his office and sat in the car watching him use his cane to tap out his location. Incredibly he moved directly to the entrance and disappeared into the building. Lee didn’t understand just how amazing it was that he could find his way nearly as good as any sighted person. She sighed and then hurried off to her own office.
CHAPTER 11
“It’s Monday. The Jewel is going to be serving seafood cataplana today,” Lee said later that evening. Cataplana is what they called paella. Tory had intended to head straight back to the apartment. She was a little tired. Mondays were always rough because she hated leaving behind their lovefest weekends for the reality of the real world. Mmmm but the cataplana at the Jewel of the Azores was the best thing in the world. And it also meant that she wouldn’t have to cook. Tory had gained a renewed love for cooking since being introduced to the das Torres family. Their lives revolved around food, which is the reason that even though she had dropped several pounds she was destined to remain a ‘big girl.’
“Mmm that sounds good, baby. Let’s do that.” They had to search for parking. The Jewel had been featured in the city newspaper and now reservations were a must—well at least for anyone other than family. One of the nephews had designed a website and the traffic there was unbelievable. There was even talk of starting a second location. Tory couldn’t be more proud of her ‘sisters’ accomplishments.
They walked quietly to the restaurant, holding hands. “Are you okay, honey?” he asked. She smiled and leaned her head against his broad shoulder as they walked.
“Yes, it’s just optimistic Monday.” They had donned a new phrase for Mondays so that they could keep in mind not to be too negative. Mondays didn’t have to be viewed as the mark of impending Armageddon, it was just another day in the week. He placed his arm around her body and gave her a gentle squeeze.
“Honey, I know that you aren’t happy with your job.” She wanted to deny it but didn’t. “Please think about going back to school.”
“Yeah, but I don’t know what career I want.”
“Well, maybe you can just get a business degree, eh?”
She shrugged. “I guess I could make that work for me. I’ll think about it.” She didn’t want to admit that she liked the little world that she existed in with Lee and his family. She just had no desire to change anything, not even to venture off to school and spend valuable time studying instead of making love and dancing and eating with her man. She had new best friends, a new boyfriend and a life that she loved. True she didn’t like her job but she needed it to pay her bills and that was that.
They reached the restaurant and as usual, Rosalind was the hostess on duty. As normal the two women ignored each other and the couple moved to take seats at the bar. Tory was aware that Lee and Ros had begun speaking again but that was normally when she wasn’t around. She’d asked him about it once but he dismissed it by saying that Ros knew not to say a word to her unless Tory was ready to approach her first. Thus far she had no desire to do that. Tory realized that just because Ros was a part of the lives of the others didn’t mean that she had to be friends with the woman. Besides, it still smarted that she had deigned to call her home dirty. She had tried very hard to embarrass her in front of her man, and it had all back fired on her.
“Hey you, two!” They turned to see Kaye and Paulo heading for them. Everyone hugged and before she knew it almost all of Lee’s brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews were there hugging and kissing them. Wow, she knew the paella was good but, wow…
Macey grabbed her hand. “Come, we have a big table.” She looked at Lee who didn’t seem to think anything was strange about their ‘family’ table being used on a Monday. She couldn’t remember an occasion when the family had ever held a gathering on a Monday. Lee and Tory were seated next to each other and then the wine began to flow. A cheese tray moved up and down the table along with other tapas trays. Francie joined them a short while later carrying a huge paella pan nearly overflowing and bubbling with spicy goodness.
Lee cleared his throat and tapped his wine glass with his desert spoon. “Before we dig into this delicious meal, I wanted to thank you all for coming together on a Monday. I know you all partied pretty hard over the weekend.”
There were loud shouts of agreement and Tory found her brow knitting. What the…he called the gathering?
Lee turned to her and she could see him swallow past a lump in his throat. All of a sudden she understood and her eyes grew wide. Oh my god…
He took her hand in his and squeezed it gently. “Tory, since I’ve known you, I’ve been so very happy. I used to think that I knew what happiness was but I was completely clueless.”
Tory thought she was going to have a heart attack. How was it possible that her heart could be beating so hard in her chest?! She stared at him with a shocked expression on her face; happy that he couldn’t see it even if his family could.
“Tory, I love you. I want to live with you for the rest of my life. I want us to make a family together and have a houseful of brown and tan skinned children. I want to take care of you. And I want to marry you.”
Her palms were soaking wet and she was shaking like a leaf. She snatched one of her hands from his to cover her mouth, eyes stinging as she rapidly nodded her head. The cheers went up around the table, as well as around the restaurant where the guests had apparently stopped what they were doing to listen to the proposal.
She noticed that even though everyone at the table had stood, Lee was still seated and watching her expectantly, unable to ‘see’ her response. She dropped her hand from her mouth and felt tears splash from her eyes, plus she knew that her damned nose was running. What a sight she made but she managed to squeak out; “Yes. Yes, honey, Yes.”
He visibly relaxed and a broad smile spread across his beautiful face. How could he be so tense? Didn’t he realize how much of a catch he was? Tory threw her arms around his neck and hugged him. The man of her dreams had just asked her to marry him. She was going to be his wife! She was going to be Victoria das Torres! She laughed against his neck, feeling his hands stroking her back, but then he pulled her back.
“I know I’m supposed to put a ring on your finger…but I wouldn’t dream of trying to pick out your engagement ring. Maybe we can do that this weekend.”
His brothers were there slapping him on his back and joking that he would have to do the entire thing all over again. Lee’s sisters were kissing her and wiping the tears from her cheeks and then someone thrust a telephone into her hands. What the-?
She heard someone speaking rapid Portuguese and she knew that she was speaking to Lee’s mother. Anxiously she covered her other ear and strained to hear the woman who was speaking to her from thousands of miles away.
“Victoria?”
“Yes, ma’ame. How are you?”
There was a pleasant chuckle. “Congratulations. I am very pleased to have an addition to my family. It makes me proud and I’m so happy that Leandro has found someone special.”
Tory blushed. “Thank you Ma’ame. Would you like to speak to Lee?”
“Yes, please. I’ll talk to you soon.” Tory put her hand on Lee’s upper arm and instinctively he seemed to know her touch and turned to her.
“Lee, your Mom is on the phone.” His face brightened and he accepted the phone from her. The family slowly returned to their seats and the cataplana was served while Lee spoke in rapid Portuguese to first his mother and than his father. When he finished talking he returned the phone to its rightful owner and grasped Tory’s hand, holding it on his lap. She knew she had a stupid grin plastered on her face. She even heard someone say; ‘Awww.’
And then she felt someone kneel between them. The smile froze on her lips when she saw Rosalind place a kiss on Lee’s cheek.
“Congratulations, brother,” she said quietly, a gentle smile on her lips. The conversation around the table quieted and all but stopped.
Lee patted her hand
which rested on his shoulders. “Thank you, Rosalind.”
She turned to Tory next. “Please accept my congratulations.”
“Of course,” Tory responded, embarrassed that everyone was assessing her response for later analysis. Rosalind nodded and then turned to leave. What did it matter anymore? Lee was hers and she didn’t care about any of her prior insecurities. “Would you like to join us?”
She stopped and glanced back at the hostess station. “Uh, I better not. I’m still working-”
“Nonsense!” Francie said. “I brought in extra help today to cover every station. Tell Armand to take over host duties and then join us, sister!”
Rosalind glanced at Tory hesitantly. “Please do.”Tory said. She felt Lee’s grip tighten gently. He approved.
A smile spread across the other woman’s face. “Okay.”
Before long the ruckus resumed and the atmosphere once again resembled a party. They ate, they drank, they hugged and kissed and Tory had never felt more loved.