Keeping Secrets

by Parker, Weston

  When she opened her door, she just blinked at me for a few seconds, as if she was trying to make sure I wasn’t about to disappear and that I really was here.

  I smirked. “Told you I’d make it up to you soon.”

  She gaped at me, but then her full lips spread into a slow smile. “You did. I wasn’t expecting it to be quite so soon, though.”

  “Yeah, well.” I shrugged. “I figured I’d strike while the iron was hot. So are you coming?”

  “Coming where?” She looked down and motioned to her torso. “I’m not exactly dressed to go anywhere.”

  She was wearing black yoga pants and an oversized black T-shirt. Her hair was pulled up into a high, messy ponytail, and she didn’t have any makeup on. She also wasn’t wearing any shoes, and her toenails were painted bubblegum pink.

  “You’re perfect just the way you are. We’re not going anywhere fancy.”

  It took another minute to get her to agree not to change, but then she went inside to grab shoes and her purse, and we were off. She turned in the passenger seat of my car to look at me. “Where are we going?”

  “You’ll see.” I grinned and shifted gears, driving out to a picnic spot I’d looked up online.

  It wasn’t far from her house and overlooked the ocean and a park. Moonlight broke through the clouds occasionally, and the orange glow of the streetlights nearby provided the only other light as we made our way to a grassy patch on top of a small hill.

  I spread out the blanket I was carrying and set down the basket of picnic stuff I’d picked up on the way to her house on top of it. Tiffeny arched a brow at me, a smile playing at the corners of her lips.

  “I don’t know if I took Mr. Tattooed Rock Star as a romantic picnic under the stars kind of guy.” She sat down with her legs crossed and watched as I did the same. “I have to say, though, I’m impressed. I’ve always wanted to do this.”

  “You’ve never had a picnic before?” I reached for the basket and unpacked the contents while she leaned back on her hands.

  “I have, but not like this. I’ve always wondered why people insist on going to restaurants for dates when they could be doing something like this. It’s more personal, you know?”

  “Agreed.” Spreading out the containers with the food, I pointed at each one as I went. “So we’ve got Asian chicken lettuce wraps, mini crab cakes with horseradish sauce, and lemon garlic orzo with roasted vegetables.” I smiled as I pulled out the last container. “Also cheesecake and berries for dessert.”

  Tiffeny rubbed her hands together, reaching for one of the small cheesecakes first. “Why save the best for last?”

  “Apparently, you don’t.” I laughed, shaking my head as I uncorked the bottle of champagne I’d brought along. Unfortunately, I hadn’t thought of everything. “I just realized I don’t have any glasses. We’ll have to drink out of the bottle.”

  “I don’t mind.” It sounded like she meant it, which was just another example of why this woman was different from so many others I’d met in the last few years.

  She didn’t put on any airs and graces, despite her privileged upbringing. She was genuine, real, easygoing, and was perfectly happy to eat out of cardboard containers and drink from a bottle. My kind of girl.

  “What made you decide you had to make up for last night as soon as tonight?” she asked, her head cocked as she took small bites of her dessert. “I meant it when I said there was no rush.”

  “I know, but I didn’t want to wait,” I said. “I felt bad about last night. I didn’t want you to think I wasn’t interested or that I was just trying to use Winter as an excuse.”

  “I knew you weren’t using her.” She lowered her head and looked at me through thick, dark eyelashes, humor lighting her eyes. “Was that your way of telling me that you’re interested, though? Because that’s kind of smooth, saying it without really saying it.”

  “Guess I’m just a smooth guy then,” I joked. “But yeah, I am interested. I thought I’d made that clear by now.”

  “You have, but it’s still nice to hear it.” She tucked an escaped tendril of hair behind her ear and pointed at me with a crab cake. “In case you didn’t already know, I’m interested too.”

  “Good. Glad we got that out of the way.” The truth was that I was more than interested in her. I was starting to have feelings for her. But luckily, I was good at hiding those because it was way too soon to tell her how I felt.

  “How was your day?” I asked instead. “Do anything interesting?”

  She shook her head and swallowed the bite in her mouth before answering. “It was Sunday. Sundays were not designed to do interesting things. They were designed to be lazy and not feel bad about it.”

  “True story, but only until you have kids. Once you do, you’ve got to figure out interesting things to do every day. Sundays included.”

  “Isn’t it good for them to be bored sometimes?” she asked, narrowing her eyes in thought. “I read somewhere that it is.”

  I nodded. “Sure, it’s supposed to be good for them because it forces them to think of creative ways to keep busy, but it still doesn’t mean you’ve got the day off.”

  “It doesn’t seem like parents ever get the day off,” she said, her teeth tugging at her bottom lip. “I think I’m still too selfish for all that. I love my days off. Sometimes, it feels like my shop is my child, but at least I get to lock the doors whenever I want and walk away.”

  “Maybe, but the constancy of parenthood is totally worth it.” I popped another bite into my mouth, chewing as I thought. “You do want kids though, don’t you? I know we touched on it the other night at your mom’s, but we never actually had the conversation with each other.”

  Her eyes widened, but her tone was teasing. “Isn’t it a little early in our relationship to be talking about this?”

  “We were on the topic.” I shrugged. “But fine. Let’s talk about something else then. How do you feel about the state of global politics?”

  “I’d rather talk about kids.” She laughed. “Like I said, Sundays are for being lazy. Debating global politics is not something one does while being lazy. I will tell you this, though. Overall, global politics is becoming increasingly dysfunctional and there’s so much at stake that I really feel like a lot of leaders need to get their shit together.”

  “Sometimes, I forget that you’re actually really smart,” I said with a smile.

  She rolled her eyes. “What? Because I own an ice-cream shop and never finished law school?”

  “No, because you don’t feel the need to show off your intellect by rubbing it in people’s faces or walking around with an overly inflated ego because of it.” Another thing I liked about her.

  “You’re one to talk,” she threw back at me. “You’re smart, rich, and literally famous, but you’re not a cocky dick. Why is that?”

  “Hey, I can be as much of a cocky dick as the next guy. I just choose to focus on what’s actually important rather than superficial material stuff.”

  She paused for a beat, her head dropping to one side and her eyes on mine. “What do you consider as being really important then?”

  “Who a person is over what they have,” I said. “Staying true to myself and being around people who do the same. Winter, obviously. Keeping my feet on the ground and my head on my shoulders for her. What about you? What’s important to you?”

  “The same stuff, but also friendship, following my heart, and seizing every day.”

  “Even the lazy ones?”

  “Even the lazy ones,” she confirmed with a smile. “Speaking of friendship, I’m assuming Julia is watching Winter?”

  “Yes, she is. Those two get along like a house on fire. I just hope they don’t literally set mine on fire with whatever it is they get up to together.”

  “They won’t.” She laughed. “I’m kind of jealous of her for getting to spend the time with Winter, but I’m also really happy to be here with you.”

  “So am I.” We chang
ed the topic to lighter things for the rest of our dinner, then packed up after lingering for a while once we were done.

  It was a Sunday night, after all. Tiffeny had to open up her shop early in the morning, and although I wasn’t ready to end our night and take her home, that was exactly what I did.

  I walked her in, holding her hand as we entered her dark entrance hall. Expecting her to tell me goodnight, I could only stare when she suddenly released my hand to put both of hers on my chest. She pressed her body flush against mine and looked up at me with an entirely different look in her eyes than had been there earlier.

  There was only desire there now. Pure, raw lust that slammed into me and turned my brain to its most carnal setting.

  “So are you going to make up for what we missed out on last night now?” she asked, her voice low and husky and a sexy smile lifting the corners of her mouth.

  “Yes.” I needed to fuck her. Hard. My brain was repeating that sentence as if it had adopted it as its new mantra. We’d had a good night together, talking and getting to know each other, but we’d changed gears now.

  The time for talking was done.

  I reached behind me and pulled off my shirt, dropping it on the floor before hauling her against me and crashing my mouth down onto hers.

  Chapter 20

  Tiffeny

  Callen kissed me like he was on fire and I was the only one capable of dousing it. Or maybe the analogy had just come to mind because I felt like I had flames licking under my skin and I knew he could put them out.

  I ached for him, needed him more than I’d previously have thought it was possible to need another person. My hands slid across his broad shoulders, my fingers meeting at the nape of his neck. I toyed with the short hair I found there, tugging and holding him to me at the same time.

  He kicked my front door shut behind him, then turned us around and walked us backward until my back was pressed to that same door. He didn’t stop kissing me, his tongue twisting and stroking mine with expert-level technique. God, he’s good at this.

  I moaned into his mouth, arching my back to bring my body even closer to his. One of his hands was on the wall slightly above us, caging me in like I used to see boys do to girls back in high school. I’d never been one of those girls, though. This was a first for me and I liked it. A lot.

  Then again, I liked everything he did. Especially when it came to more intimate activities.

  His other hand had been on my hip, but it slid underneath my shirt now, and his fingers splayed across my rib cage. His thumb brushed the underside of my breast, and I gasped, another moan escaping right after.

  He did it again, the corners of his mouth curving up against mine. “You like that, huh?”

  “Yes,” I practically hissed.

  When I ran my fingers into his hair to bring his lips back to mine, he resisted and lowered his head instead. He nipped and sucked at the skin on my jaw, my neck, his hand staying maddeningly still and not moving to touch me in any of the places I wanted to be touched—except for little brushes he kept giving me.

  “Callen, please.” I knew it wasn’t exactly sexy that I was this desperate already, but I was. Really desperate.

  My clit throbbed painfully, and since my yoga pants didn’t have much of a seam, there wasn’t any relief to be found in friction there. I squeezed my thighs together, and Callen noticed.

  “Callen, please what?” he growled against my collarbone, sliding his strong, thick thigh between my legs and making me cry out when he pressed it firmly against me. “You want to come?”

  I nodded, my eyes shut against the pleasure of having his leg where it was. If I wasn’t careful, I was going to grind myself to orgasm right there. Now that would be embarrassing.

  But I was so ready for him that it was a real possibility if I didn’t watch out. Biting my lip, I felt him sliding his hand out from under my shirt and touching his fingers to my chin.

  My eyes flew open to protest against his hand now being even farther away from anywhere I so desperately needed to be touched, but then I saw the look in his eyes. They were half-lidded and pools of molten, liquid heat, his pupils dilated, and his breathing labored.

  It seemed he had been waiting for me to look at him. “If you want to come, all you have to do is say so.”

  Say so? As in, say it out loud? Okay then. I could talk dirty if I actually gave it a try. I was sure of it. Forcing my mouth to form the words turned out to be rather easy, considering what the prize for doing it was going to be. “I want to come, Callen. Please.”

  That was shockingly easy. Unfortunately, the empowerment that flowed through me for having told him in so many words what I wanted got me even hotter and more desperate. Note to self: practice dirty talk so as not to get turned on by the power of your own words.

  As I bucked my hips against his leg, he pulled it away. A groan tore out of my chest. “I thought all I had to do was ask.”

  “It is, but I’m not letting you come by getting yourself off on my leg. We can do better than that.”

  “We can? Because that felt pretty damn good to me.”

  “But this will feel better. I promise.” Callen smirked and dropped to his knees. My heart started pounding when he hooked his thumbs into the waistband of my yoga pants and panties. He rolled both off at the same time, removing my sandals when he reached my feet.

  I kicked the clothes free, extremely self-conscious of the fact that there was a very hot, very talented man kneeling in front of me, face to face with my pussy. And I’ve been in yoga pants all day.

  Before I could cringe or even try to warn him, he let out a sharp groan, followed by an unsteady breath. “Jesus, Tiffeny. I want to live down here. Do you know how fucking beautiful this pussy is?”

  Stunned that he could just say stuff like that so naturally and casually, I was still trying to process when he suddenly licked me. His tongue was soft when I needed it to be and speared when I needed that.

  It didn’t take long before he reduced me to a shaking, moaning mess as he sent me skyrocketing into the abyss. Exquisite pleasure spread from my pulsing core to the very tips of my damn hair, curling my toes and making me feel like my knees were no longer strong enough to support me.

  Callen’s strong hands held me up, his mouth staying on me until he’d seen me through to the other side of my spectacular orgasm. Then he stood up. Without a word, he slid one hand behind my back and the other behind my useless knees, then lifted me up like I weighed nothing.

  “Which way is your bedroom?” he asked, his voice rough.

  I pointed a shaky finger down the hall. “Second door on the left.”

  As he carried me, he looked down and raised an eyebrow. “What’s the verdict? That was better than just grinding against me, right?”

  “Definitely. You know you don’t have to carry me, though, right? I can walk.”

  “I don’t have to, but I want to. Also, I prefer to think that I just rocked your world so hard that you can’t.” Effortlessly moving us into my room, he laid me down on my bed and stood at the end of it.

  The way he looked at me lying there, half-naked and probably embarrassingly soaked down there, made me feel like some kind of Queen of Seduction. Like I was so damn irresistible that a man like him had to clench his hands into fists and bite his bottom lip to keep from attacking me.

  “What?” I asked, feeling his eyes on every inch of my exposed skin. Emboldened by the way he was looking at me, I decided to expose more. I sat up slightly, tugged my T-shirt off over my head, and quickly unhooked my bra.

  Callen was still frozen, the ripped muscles on his stomach dipping as he watched me. There was a massive bulge in his pants, but he didn’t seem to be in any hurry to get to it. He swallowed, then gave his head a little shake. “Nothing. I was just taking a very detailed mental picture because I don’t think I have seen a sight this sexy for a long-ass fucking time.”

  I got up on my knees and moved over to him, looking into his eyes as I
reached for his belt. “Really? How about now?”

  “Holy shit.” He swallowed, his Adam’s apple rising and falling as he did. “Yep. Getting even sexier. Fuck.”

  Fingers on the buckle of his belt, I undid it as fast as trying to be at least a little sultry would allow and unzipped him. He stepped out of his pants once I pushed them past his hips and stood in front of me in nothing but black boxer briefs.

  I rolled them off next, careful when I freed his raging erection. The tip of it was already wet. Without even having to think about it, I leaned forward to take him into my mouth.

  The sound he let out was borderline animalistic. His hips thrust forward, and his hands wound into my hair, holding it so tightly that it was right at the edge between pleasure and pain.

  Encouraged by his reaction, I took him deeper. My hand came up to wrap around his thick shaft, covering what I couldn’t fit in my mouth.

  “Fuck, Tiffeny. I—” Breath left his lungs in a hiss and his head tipped back as he sent a piercing glare to the ceiling. Watching him made me ache all over again, my sensitive skin humming to be touched.

  Before I could second-guess myself, my free hand was between my legs while my tongue swirled around his tip. His head fell forward, his eyes raking over me.

  As he noticed the ministrations of the hand not on him, he moaned so loudly, I was afraid my neighbors might have heard him. “As much as I want to see that, your pleasure belongs to me tonight.”

  He pulled out of me the next second, pushing my back to the mattress more gently than I’d have thought following a statement like that. He had his wallet in his hand faster than I knew a person could move, extracting a foil packet.

  “I hope it wasn’t too presumptuous, but I bought these after our first time. Figured it was better to be prepared.”

  “Preparation trumps presumptuousness.” I took the condom from between his fingers and ripped it open with my teeth. Letting the foil fall, I unrolled the latex onto him and smiled when I met his eyes. “Well, what are you waiting for?”

  His eyelids flared. Then he covered me with his big body and thrust into me without any further ado. Thank God.