Although it was too dark to see clearly, he was fairly sure she smiled up at him as she unbuttoned his pants. Then she knelt down and put her mouth on him, and the intense pleasure that brought destroyed the rest of his common sense. His knees nearly buckled, and he had to lean against the building for support. But before he could lose control, he brought her to her feet. He didn’t want to come that way; he wanted to be inside her when they were face-to-face. So he made quick work of helping her remove the thick black tights she wore beneath her skirt, and then he found the condom in his wallet.
As he lifted her up against the building, he could hear his fellow townspeople singing carols around the big Christmas tree in the park a block over, but he didn’t care. He had to have her now, right in the middle of Victorian Days, because nothing else in the world seemed to matter.
Maybe it had to be like this with her, he decided. Otherwise they’d overthink it, second-guess what they were doing. When it was over, Kyle was breathing too hard to speak, but he wasn’t willing to release her too soon. He continued to hold her up against that building, feeling his heart pound as he buried his face in her neck and struggled to catch his breath.
She didn’t seem any more eager to separate. She kept her hands in his hair and her head resting against his as if these few seconds were as important as everything that had happened before.
When he finally set her on the ground and they hurried to dress and straighten their clothes, he also tried to help fix her hair. The way it fell about her face made her look thoroughly ravished and he didn’t want that to give them away.
He was afraid she might say something, might want to “talk.” But he wasn’t interested in trying to figure out what the hell was going on. What was the point? It wouldn’t change the facts. He didn’t put her anywhere near the “you’ve really fucked up your life now” class of mistakes that Noelle fell into, but he knew he was asking for more disappointment and pain. When it came to Lourdes, he just couldn’t seem to stop himself.
Fortunately, Lourdes said nothing. She simply stared up at him as he did his best to take care of the small things she wouldn’t be able to see without a mirror. “There you go,” he whispered. “You look great. Fine. No one will notice.”
She allowed him to take her hand. He was about to guide her to the edge of the celebration, where he hoped they could slip into the crowd, but a bitter voice he knew all too well broke the silence.
“Well, that was entertaining.”
*
Lourdes felt her stomach drop. Kyle’s hand tightened on hers, and he turned to confront his ex-wife. “What are you doing here?” he demanded.
“Certainly not what you’ve been doing,” she countered.
Lourdes cringed. She had never had sex in public before—couldn’t believe she’d been caught the first time. Did Noelle have pictures?
She doubted it. Fortunately, there wouldn’t have been enough light.
“You’ve been following me again,” Kyle said.
“Because I need to talk to you.”
“No, you don’t. We have nothing to say to each other.”
“Yes, we do! I was your wife. Can’t you at least give me...give me a few minutes?”
“For what?” he growled.
Lourdes could feel Kyle’s anger. She knew Noelle had to feel it, too. It seemed to take her off guard, was probably something she’d never seen before. With the fire, he’d finally lost all patience.
Noelle’s eyes darted in her direction, even though she addressed Kyle. “You have to quit telling the police that I’m the one who set fire to your plant, Kyle. It’s not true.”
“Don’t try to tell me you didn’t do it,” he said. “I saw you there.”
“Because I heard the sirens and...and I wasn’t far away. So I drove over to see what all the excitement was about. But I was just as shocked as everyone else when I saw those flames.”
“Which is why you left in such a hurry? Because it came as such a surprise? Funny, but everyone else who came by actually stuck around to watch.”
“I was afraid you’d see me! I didn’t want you to know I’d been driving past your place again.”