by Mary Potter
“It was risky and foolish,” she says. Sarah moves to the far side of the queen-sized bed and climbs out. She collects her clothes from various points on the floor. We aren’t careful about clothes or our feelings.
“I loved it.” I’m not afraid to say it. “I need you.”
She smiles at me, rolls her honey-golden hair behind her ear, and grabs at her shirt and bra. “I need your bathroom.”
“Shower’s hot, and there’s extra soap, take your pick.”
I watch her hips and ass as Sarah pads across the bedroom and into the bathroom. She closes the door, and I hold my breath. I know if Sarah locks the bathroom door, she doesn’t feel the same way I do. I have to wait and see.
SARAH
Waking up in Benjamin’s arms is better than anything I ever thought possible. I’ve had boyfriends and lovers, a few one-night strangers I care not to remember. With Benjamin, it is a living experience, something fresh and unusual. He’s unbridled and unpredictable. I’m in his bathroom, a place where men are free from the burdens of the world. I see an immaculate setting with clean folded washcloths, hand towels, and a large bath sheet. He has a small linen closet. I find another soft bath sheet and a nice bottle of conditioner on the bottom shelf.
Before I use his toilet, I notice he keeps both toilet seats lowered. It’s something I wanted in a man but never saw in the wild before. Perhaps Benjamin’s sedentary behavior is as perfect and unpredictable as his lovemaking. Before I climb in the shower, out of reflex, I reach for the door lock. I stop, fingers stretched. I reconsider, and I jump into the stand-up shower. It’s hot and powerful, pulsating over my body as I remember Benjamin’s body pounding me just hours before.
After a few minutes and a lot of lather, I feel Benjamin’s hands on me. He’s climbing into the shower to share a morning soak. I see him in the bright bathroom light. A handsome and trim gentleman, who has a great body and troublemaker smile, he lathers my breasts, and I love the feeling of his hands on me.
His hands run over my body. His fingers probe me. I sigh and whimper. I want him again, and I touch his growing cock.
“You’re incorrigible,” I say.
Benjamin snickers. “It’s you, not me. I can’t get enough of you.”
His length in my hands is too much not to have inside me. I turn away from him after a long kiss under the showerhead. I press my hands against the cold tile wall and bend at the hips. I feel Benjamin behind me, his cock slick between my legs. Under the pulsing sensation of a great shower, I am overwhelmed by the intimate grasp of his hands on my breasts and his thrusting hips. I match his rhythm and speed, and we reach climax together, forever, and ever.
Chapter 9
BENJAMIN
Never let go of something important, that you cherish in your heart. That’s what I think as Sarah wears my robe that’s too big for her. She sits across from me in the breakfast nook.
“You’re a cop?” she asks.
There is a look on her face that balances between shock and being impressed. Sarah takes the half slice of buttered toast with her as she tours the rest of my studio apartment.
I see her scanning the rest of my tiny apartment. It’s self-effacing, all I can afford on my modest income. But I love the place and the view. I know the studio apartment has room for one and no space for two people. I see the girl in the daylight. She’s the girl from the night before. Sometimes that changes when attraction and heat make for bad combinations. I watch Sarah’s profile as she sees the rest of who I am in the stark daylight, and I know what happened last night can only get better, if she wants it to.
“How did you guess?”
I leave the utility belt where I can find it. I lock up my sidearm. But the uniform and the bulletproof vest, both take up valuable space on a coat rack. I clean, iron, and have the pants pressed, and the shirt creased. Sarah looks at my San Francisco police department badge. There’s a smile on her lips. I join her, staring at my academy picture, standing with Jeremy.
“He’s the man from last night. The one who broke up the fight on stage,” Sarah says. Her eyebrows rise in appreciation. “He’s cute.”
“He’s available,” I say.
Sarah shakes her head. “I have my cop right here.”
“You don’t mind?” I ask.
“Were you expecting a different reaction?”
I shrug. “Sometimes, people are a little funny about dating a cop.”
I see that smile form on her lips. “Are we dating?” she asks.
“Maybe,” I say.
“You think you want someone like me?” It sounded like a loaded question. It’s as if Sarah burdens herself with some clandestine means, and the playfulness breaks through in the suppressed grin.
“I want to wake up beside you until the sun stops rising in the sky.” I see that look on her face. I know I caught her off guard with a passionate statement. She’s at a loss for words again.
“That’s the second time,” she admits. Sarah shakes her head. “Are you for real?”
“As real as you need me,” I say. “If you want unreal, we can try naughty things.”
“Easy, tiger,” she says. “My little whisker biscuit needs a break.”
I laugh, and Sarah looks like she loves the sound of my voice. I can’t believe she’s unapologetic and frisky. I love that about her. It’s only a small part of all the things that make Sarah unique. I know if I need to spend the rest of my life convincing her that I want her, I will gladly do it.
SARAH
How do you say ‘no’ to a man in uniform? A man as tall and handsome as Benjamin, he’s more than anything I ever expected. He holds me in his arms. He doesn’t care about the butter or crumbs on my fingers. I feel him against me while I wear his robe. It smells like him, musky and clean. I love that smell. It’s as if Benjamin was someone missing in my life I didn’t know I missed.
He holds me as tight as I held him last night, afraid if I let go, I’ll fly off the world. I’m not someone who has low self-esteem. I know I’m smarter, sexier, and a better lover than most flat women with zero personality and no tits. I’m healthy, curvy, and beautiful. Being an introvert doesn’t change how I am inside, only that I don’t need an audience to live my life. It comes with the territory.
Reality sets in, and we must deal with our lives. At this point, I know for me, if it is a glimpse of bliss, a happy transgression that happened once, I will relive it again and again. Yet, I see the longing in the old-world blue eyes. He has eyes like the ocean at dawn. It is hard to pull away because I feel my life and Benjamin’s life suddenly intertwine, and I wonder as my heart finally steadies, is he around forever.
Back in the bathroom he shaves, and I am mesmerized by him standing before a cloudy mirror, a soft bath sheet around his narrow waist. I see the flat stomach, the lean torso as Benjamin leans against the sink. I sit on the toilet seat in the bathroom, my feet up, arms around my legs. He knows I’m watching and doesn’t tease me about it. Instead, he talks to me about plans for the future. He’s making plans, and what makes me brim with happiness is how he includes me in his strategy.
Benjamin dresses for work. It is ritual and elegant. The clean lines, dark blue shirt, black braid, and brass buttons, I see the “SF Police” and city seal. The dark blue slacks and shiny black shoes make him look regal, important.
“You think you’re okay with all this?” he asks.
Benjamin unlocks the small safe where he keeps the sidearm. I feel a kick of reality again. There’s something dangerous about him. He checks the weapon, cleans it, and holsters it against his hip like a professional who has done it a million times. It’s natural for him, relaxed, and practiced.
I have my clothes from the night before. I gather the shirt, panties, and pants. I find a few of the errant buttons from Benjamin’s shirt, and I collect them from the floor, souvenirs if our tryst isn’t a repeat.
“You have something on your mind,” he says.
“I feel like we live
in two worlds,” I say. It’s honest and to the point.
I find my clutch purse. It has my phone that I use for everything, including the notes for the band article that never was, and I see a few missed calls. I scan my social media out of habit. Benjamin finishes his measured dressing for work. I see the police radio in a charger by the door. I imagine what a character he is and how he lives a life that totes danger. Benjamin wants to include me, but I still don’t know how much.
I read my emails as he cleans the dishes from earlier. It’s fluid and routine. The clean house, I think, is something that’s part of his character. I realize that if we have something between us, I’ll need to clean my apartment before Benjamin ever comes to visit.
Then I see it.
“What’s wrong?” he asks. Benjamin saw the change on my face. I read the email and feel as if the dream of last night somehow carried over, and I am still in blissful reverie.
“It’s an email from a literary agent,” I say.
He feels my happiness burst. “Is it good news?”
“Oh, yes.”
Epilogue
BENJAMIN
How did I go for so long without this woman in my life? It seems impossible to believe we’ve been together for the last year and a half. It is a glorious summer night in a high rise hotel ballroom that overlooks Oakland Bay Bridge. I’m part of the ornamental furnishings for the moment because we’re at a gala event hosted by a publishing company for Sarah’s benefit. She has her literary agent tugging at one elbow, and a producer at the other. I witness this from a distance, near the balcony. I have a drink in my hand but haven’t tasted it. I’ve had my fill for the evening; I’m relishing the joyous experience of Sarah and her newfound notoriety.
“She’s a great girl,” Jeremy says. He’s sipping at the alcohol-laced drink, but not interested in it any more than me. We’re witnessing Sarah’s explosive debut for her first novel.
“If it wasn’t for that stupid band at the nightclub, I’d never have met her,” I say.
I can’t take my eyes off her as she’s whisked around shaking hands, laughing gleefully with her agent and his friends.
“Just think if I saw her first, I’d have her on my arm, not you.”
“I don’t have her on my arm right now,” I say. “She’s mingling with the Hollywood posse. They’re planning a movie deal.”
“A debut book party and a movie?” Jeremy says in disbelief. “All I got was five guys who couldn’t play their instruments that night. You got the girl.”
I lift my glass to Jeremy. It clinks against his glass. “I got the girl.”
“Is Sarah going to Hollywood now? Are you staying here?”
I shrug. “We’ll talk about it. I’m not leaving the Boys in Blue,” I say. “I know she loves me being a cop. She says it gives her inspiration and gets her wet.”
Jeremy laughs. I glance at him as the liquor glass lingers against his mouth. I know he’s playing out a fantasy in his head, staring at my girl. He’s thinking about what’s under that spicy black dress with the sexy drop neckline and the curve-hugging skirt that fits Sarah like a silky envelope.
I know what Jeremy’s thinking about my girl, and I’m proud of her. I don’t mind that he’s looking. I know Sarah has eyes for me. Those winter-green eyes find me across the room.
I see her break from the group. She saunters toward us.
“Yup,” Jeremy says with a sigh, “Should have been me.” He moves away from my side to greet Sarah with an embrace.
SARAH
My life is crazy. Everything happened at once. First, I miss the music critique on a band that broke up the night I went to see them play. Now I’m in a rented hotel ballroom in the penthouse, and there are people all around me. I only know a few people. The critical people I know; my literary agent, and my lover, Benjamin. Our closest single friend, Jeremy, enjoys the atmosphere and the Hollywood presence occupying the space. All of it, I know, I feel in my thighs when I look at Benjamin. It’s all for him. He’s my man, and we’re together.
Jeremy intercepts me with a hand around my hip and a long embrace. I know he’s mildly jealous of what Benjamin and I have; I know he gives me long looks. I don’t object because I know Benjamin doesn’t mind. It’s flattering, and we’re not indulgent, just friends. I feel him take a deep breath, his mouth close to my ear.
“I wish I had someone just like you,” he whispers.
I tap his chest. “You will, Jeremy. You’ll find someone who makes you feel like I feel when I’m around Benjamin.”
He smiles and bows, and moves away while I close in on Benjamin near the balcony. He takes my hand, his fingers pinching my knuckles lightly as he leads me through the billowing white sheer drapes. We stand together, watching a sailboat in the harbor near the bridge. It’s still early. There are nighttime sounds of traffic and the distant buoy bell somewhere out in the dark water. I smell the sweet, salty air that washes over us; my hair caught by the draft swirls like the linen curtains.
Benjamin faces me. His fingers trace my cheek. Strands of hair caught in my lips he pulls away gingerly.
“We need to find Jeremy a girlfriend,” I say.
“He’ll do fine, you’ll see.”
“I bet the girls go crazy for him during the summer because he’s got nice legs in the bike cop uniform.”
“I can transfer to park patrol, too, if you want to see my legs.”
Sarah laughs. “I don’t mind, but I worry the girls will chase you down.”
“You’re the only girl I want chasing me down, Sarah.”
He makes me giggle.
“Are you happy?” he asks.
“I am unbelievably happy.” I press against him and feel his strong arms around me. I know with him holding me, I won’t float away. “I can’t believe all that has happened.”
“You’re incredible. Your book is amazing, and if your agent and those producers come to terms, it will make a fantastic movie.”
“It’s surreal. I don’t know how I deserve such happiness.”
Benjamin catches my chin in his hand. He turns up my face to look into his eyes. “Don’t do that; don’t look for something bad. You’re incredible, and I am so lucky to have you with me. I’ll do whatever it takes to make you believe that I’m here to stay.”
“You are doing it, lover. I can feel that right now.” I smile and press my thigh between his legs. The thick swelling of his perfect cock rides against my leg. I reach down in the dark, alone on the balcony with him. I’m not shy, and I don’t care about all the people in the penthouse. “I love this, and I love you,” I say. Words so easy to say sometimes don’t mean as much to some people.
“I love you, Sarah.” I see it in his softening eyes. We’ve shared the professions of love long before this night. But it’s Benjamin’s mouth, and the moonlight, and the nighttime breeze that makes me know deep in the core of my heart that he means it.
He kisses me with those firm lips. I feel that light scratch of his whiskers on my chin and cheeks. I can’t imagine a day going by for the rest of my life, not touching those whiskers.
We watch the city below. We stare at the water and the sailboat at rest in the bay overnight. Benjamin’s arms are around me, I’m against the railing overlooking the streets. He’s against my back, that familiar swell in his pants press against my lower back. I long to have him inside me, but it must wait until we’ve concluded our business.
“What’s next?” Benjamin asks.
“We’ll wait and see. I’m happy right where I am. We need to think about looking for a house.”
Benjamin’s eyebrows rise, his forehead creases in surprise. “You want to look for a house?”
I nod. “Don’t you?” I ask.
“I thought taking turns at each others apartments was a trendy thing people did.”
“Not when we want to think of the future.”
“I think about the future every day with you.”
How can I not grin again? He�
��s incredible, sexy, and daring. Benjamin’s my savior, my protector. I can’t keep thinking about his cock or hips because my lacy panties are paper thin.
“There’s a Realtor I know, Victoria Frye. She can meet us at any time and take us around to look at houses.” I snap my fingers. “I think Jeremy might like Victoria. She’s really nice and sweet, and a little like me.”
“You want to stay here in San Francisco?”
“Of course,” I say. I frown. “Why would I want to go anywhere else? This is my home, and you’re a police officer here. This is our home.” I find his hand and lace our fingers together. “I want to spend the rest of my life here with you.”
“I want the same thing.”
“I don’t care about all the glamour of Hollywood.”
“You say that now, you’ll get a taste of it.”
“I got a taste of you, that’s all I need. Your career is here, and my inspiration is here. That’s all I need. The book’s still on the bestseller’s list. The movie will probably flop at the box office.”
“Somehow, I doubt that,” Benjamin says.
Want to know a secret? He’s right about the movie. It’s a big hit. And so are we.
A Teeny Favor To Ask
Thank you for reading this book. I hope it took you off to a wonderful, romantic place in your mind.
If you enjoyed it (or even if you didn’t) please do me a favor and CLICK HERE to leave a review. Reviews on Amazon are the bread and butter of self-published authors, so it would mean the world to me if you could take just a couple of minutes and leave an honest review of this book.
Thank you in advance.
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