Chapter 6

In spite of our busy schedules, Anita and I did our damnedest to make up for all that time together we'd miss out on. While the ménage à trois was incredibly exciting and an experience I'd treasure forever, it wasn't the way I envisioned my first time with her.

Well, it was too late to change that, but shortly after Denise left my apartment, I took Anita by the hand and led her back to my bed. We spent much of the day making love the way lovers make love; sweetly, softly, gently, and bound up with mutual adoration.

The graduating P-school class was well into their celebration when I walked through the door of El Gato Negro. There were twelve students in the class and they'd pulled four tables together for the party. Ed Muñoz, the owner, even provided a free feast of Tex-Mex foods for the occasion, knowing full well that he was locking in a new crop of regular customers. Nobody ever accused Ed of being dim.

I pulled up a chair and squeezed in between Anita and Denise. Pitchers of beer circulated around the table while shots of tequila arrived in a steady stream from the bar. I could see it was going to be a rowdy evening and decided to stick around just long enough to offer my congratulations, buy a round and smooch my two favorite girls. I'd just gotten off an eventful shift in the ER and I was ready for a quiet evening at home, listening to music and reading a good book.

Word of the budding relationship between Anita and me had already begun to make the rounds, but I guess some people either hadn't heard the rumors or they didn't take them seriously. The guy sitting on Anita's other side already looked like he'd had a couple too many and kept casting lustful and very obvious glances at her boobs. I couldn't blame him too much for that; even in the loose uniform shirt, they were prominent and something to behold. I could blame him for flirting so openly that he was being blatantly rude. She tried to be gracious in her rebuffs, but he didn't seem to be getting the message. I tried to hold my peace, knowing she was quite capable of dealing with jerks, but he went one step too far when his hand slipped under the table and started rubbing her leg.

I'd been watching him, so I saw it immediately. Before I could even give it any thought, I reached across her lap, grabbed his wrist and squeezed hard. He glared daggers at me and jerked his hand away. I scooted my chair back in case he wanted to do something physical but it turned out not to be necessary. Anita looked at him with a sweet smile on her face and said in a tone that only the three of us could hear, "Mark, this body belongs to me and the good doctor and nobody else touches it without my express permission. If you ever do that again, I'll rip your balls off! Comprende?

His face went pale as he looked at her, then me, and got the picture. "Um, I'm sorry, I didn't know you two had a thing."

Still smiling, she said, "It doesn't make any difference whether we have a thing or not. A gentleman doesn't touch a lady unless he's invited to do so. Didn't you mama ever teach you that?"

He blushed and turned away, mumbling, "I said I was sorry! Jeez!" He got up and headed for the restroom.

I don't think anybody else at the table, other than Denise, was even aware of what was going on. I leaned over and kissed Anita's cheek. "You do good work, girl."

Denise leaned past me and said, "Don't worry about that creep, sweetness. There's no way in hell he'll ever work in my division."

I knew my girl was in safe hands and stood up to take my leave, suggesting, "Come by the apartment after this breaks up, if you feel up to a little private celebrating."

Anita took her state certification exam three weeks after the course ended. When she got the results four days later, she'd passed easily with a 96%. Awesome! Denise said she wasn't the least bit surprised and began the paperwork to get her hired on officially. Our girl was now a paramedic, something she hadn't even dreamed was possible two years earlier. Her arrival at the hospital with a bad case of PID was nearly a disaster but it wound up opening doors that neither of us could have imagined.

Her first six months on the job was all day shifts because she was required to work with field instructors. She rotated between four of them, and they would all have to sign off on her competence at the end of the six-month internship before she was taken off probation and allowed to ask for a partner of her own choosing.