I pulled into the parking lot of Tabu. I got out of the car and slammed the door. Even after a two hour drive I was still pissed at Nick. Sure I wasn’t exactly honest with him, but it was because I didn’t want to hurt his feelings. No matter when I would have told him the truth, his male pride would have gotten in the way. Nick was hot tempered when it came to his manliness.

I made my way to the front of the club. It was early evening so the club wasn’t open yet. I figured I could forget the fight by doing some work.

“Hey there, Emma. What are you doing here? I thought you had the day off.” Derek inquired from the bar.

“I was bored and figured I could get some extra work done.”

I walked toward the office. I prayed that Howie wasn’t inside. I really couldn’t deal with any friend of Nick’s. I just wanted to be alone and get myself involved in my work. I wanted to forget about Nick at the moment.

After about three hours, I managed to complete every task on my list. My bad mood hadn’t lifted. In fact, I think I was even madder than I had been before.

I understood why Nick was mad, but I wasn’t trying to be heartless. I didn’t want to hurt him. I loved him enough to fake an orgasm during sex. If only I didn’t cry each time we had sex. What was wrong with me?

I stood up and went into the storage room. I grabbed a bottle of wine and took it back into the office. I sat on the couch and poured myself a huge glass of wine. Maybe it would relax me. Maybe it would help me forget my problems.

I gulped down the wine and poured myself another glass. I leaned back into the couch and tried to pretend my life was normal. I was so into my thoughts that I didn’t hear the door open.

“Emma what are you doing here?” Howie questioned as he looked at the bottle of wine on the coffee table.

“I needed to get some work done.” I didn’t even look at him.

“Since when did drinking a bottle of wine become work?” He sat down in the chair next to me.

“I was thirsty.”

“Really?” I opened my eyes and looked at Howie. “Wouldn’t a bottle of water been a better choice?”

“Right now water isn’t strong enough.” I blurted out. I had no intentions of letting him know about my relationship issues.

“Apparently. I thought you and Nick were spending a romantic day on the boat.”

I took a swig of wine and grabbed the bottle to pour another. Howie gently took the bottle from my hand. Then he took the cup and placed it on the desk, far away from me.

“What you do that for?” I whined. Howie was ruining my pity party.

“Because getting drunk isn’t going to solve whatever is wrong.” Howie moved next to me on the couch.

“Who said anything was wrong? Can’t a girl just come to work on her day off?” I teased.

“I don’t think Nick would let you leave him on your day off.” Howie said softly. It was a stark contrast to Nick’s booming voice.

“Nick is more than happy with me leaving him alone at the moment.”

“What happened?” He scooted closer to me. There were mere inches between us.

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“I respect that, but it might help to talk about it.

We sat in silence for a while. I didn’t want to tell anyone about the fight. It would embarrass both Nick and me. I couldn’t do that to Nick. Plus, I didn’t want anyone to know how incompetent I was in the bedroom.

The wine was starting to affect me. My mind was feeling fuzzy. My body was relaxing.

“Does Nick know you’re here?”

“No.”

“Did you get into a fight?” He sounded concern. I really didn’t want him to care.

“Why does it matter to you?” I groaned. I wanted to forget, not keep rehashing it.

“I care about you Emma. I can see something happened.” He took my hand in his and started massaging it. It made my body settle down.

“Nick and I got into a huge fight.”

“About what?”

“I’ve been faking it when we have sex.” I said bluntly. I don’t know why I was being so honest with Howie.

“Can I ask, why?” He asked nervously while continuing to massage my hand.

“You really want me to embarrass myself.” I giggled. At this point I may as well lay it all on the line. I’m sure Nick would be telling all his friends about how awful I was in bed.

“I can’t help you if I don’t know the whole story.” His placed his arm around my shoulder. My body was filled with a zing of electricity. I chose to ignore it, figuring it was the wine making me feel that way.

“Who said I needed your help?” I paused. “Anyway. Nick was the first man I ever had sex with. From the first time we made love I didn’t have an orgasm. I was embarrassed and cried. He thought it was because I was so moved by the experience. I felt horrible.”

“It’s normal. Not all women do on the first time.”

“We continued having sex, but I never did. I just pretended I did so I wouldn’t hurt his feelings.” I looked away from Howie. “It made me cry every time. This afternoon he called me out on it. I told him the truth and flipped out on me.”

“Emma, I’m sorry. I understand why Nick is mad, but I understand how you’re feeling. Look at me.” I refused to look at him. Gently he turned my face to his. “You are a special woman. You deserve to feel the pleasure of making love.”

Howie pulled his face to mine. His lips were on mine before I knew what was happening. Howie’s lips were soft and kind. My body shuddered as his lips moved onto my neck. I heard myself moan. Howie brought his lips back to mine. Slowly, my tongue opened his mouth. Quickly our tongues were swirling together in an erotic dance. My hands went to Howie’s shirt. Slowly I started to unbutton his shirt.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” He asked soberly. I nodded at him and shoved his shirt off his arms. Howie was making me feel things I had never felt sexually before. It was like he was awakening my body.

Within in seconds Howie pulled my shirt off my body. He lowered me onto the couch. He cupped my breasts as he kissed my stomach. Slowly he unzipped my jeans and pulled them off my body. He stood up and undressed. Hello, he had a body any women would want. I was excited and could feel my insides stir with anticipation. I quickly took off my bra and panties.

“You’re absolutely beautiful Howie.” He blushed.

“I was going to say the same about you.” He kissed my nose. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

“I’ve never been more sure in my life. You just do something to me.” I barely got out.

Howie lowered himself onto me. I was nervous and excited at the same time. Howie made me feel things I always had heard of, but didn’t think I was ever going to feel. Slowly he placed himself inside me. We moved together as one being, matching each other thrust for thrust.”

“Are you okay?” He breathed heavily.

“OH HOWIE!” I screamed. “It feels so good.”

I was feeling inhibited. Our bodies were gleaming with sweat. For the first time I could feel that my orgasm was near. Howie continued to kiss me as he got me closer to orgasm.

“Ohhh Howie.” I screamed as my body started to quiver. My insides tightened around Howie. My eyes rolled back and I felt fireworks. Howie’s body crashed onto mine. We laid there as we attempted to catch our breaths. I never knew it could feel like this.

“Emma that was heavenly.” Howie sat up next to me.

“Wow! That was amazing.” I kissed his cheeks, then his lip.

I was incredibly happy and sleepy. My eyes fluttered closed as I fell into a peaceful slumber.