by Natalie Ann
“I’m over it. Now I just do it on my own first so I can see what my idea will look like before I even show them. I’m not saying they won’t have a good suggestion, but I want to see my plan all laid out first.”
“I like your thinking a lot. Just let me know when you’re ready and I’ll get to work on something.”
“Sounds good. And Alex,” Ella said before she left. “If you see Cade, don’t tell him.”
“When would I see him?” she asked, hoping she kept a straight face.
“Oh, I don’t know. Sometimes I get these thoughts in my head. Just ignore me.”
There was no ignoring it though. She doubted anyone in the Fierce family would know she and Cade were going to be having a casual relationship, and she definitely couldn’t ignore the excitement at starting what she so brazenly asked him for.
Individual and Cliché
Alex finally worked the courage up to take that next step with Cade.
Between work, the guilt of Ella’s comments, and her own cowardice, she was pretending to be on another planet where the only thing that existed was ice cream and peanut butter cups. Two of her favorite things in the world that she turned to when she needed a pick-me-up. They were even better when mixed together.
But there was only so much Reese’s and Ben and Jerry’s she could shovel in her mouth before she had to back up the words she blatantly threw down in the heat of her hormones.
That Cade was giving her space could mean one of a few things. He wasn’t as interested in her as she was him. Since that last kiss he’d given her was full of promises and steel body parts, she was thinking that wasn’t really the case.
That Cade was busy. That one was plausible, but since she wasn’t reaching out to him, she’d have no way of knowing.
Or that Cade was being considerate and letting her set the pace. She was thinking that might be the case with everything that Ella had said.
Heck, even if Ella hadn’t said those things, Alex was likely to believe that was what he was doing. After all, like Cade said, she’d kissed him twice, not the other way around.
So here she was, telling herself not to dress up too much, but finding she was lying to herself again as she got ready for the date of dinner and dancing that she’d chosen.
Just in case Cade wasn’t really into her, she wanted to make sure he knew what he was missing if she got the vibe that she’d be going home alone tonight.
She’d zipped up her little green dress because she knew it’d bring out the color of her eyes. Then she slipped on a pair of black heeled sandals showing off the fresh pedicure she’d gotten this morning. Even though it was a waste of money, and would be ruined her first day back to work, she’d gotten a manicure too. She went French with both of them, keeping it simple when she’d normally go for a splash of color on her toes.
Cade was picking her up and since she said she’d like to go out and listen to some music tonight, she let him pick the place. She looked the venue up and saw her dress was definitely appropriate for their second part of the date.
There was a knock at her door, so she walked forward to get it, opening it wide.
Cade put his hand to his heart, saying, “Shit, are you trying to put me in the grave before I have a chance to get my hands on you?”
“Smooth, just like I’ve said before.”
He laughed, then handed her over a single orange rose. It was individual and cliché at the same time, which suited Cade, and she was a sucker enough to fall for it...or so her racing heart told her. “Thank you.”
“The other eleven are in my car.”
“Oh. Cade, you didn’t need to do that.”
“I didn’t but I wanted to. Don’t you want to know why I chose orange over red?”
“Sure,” she said, holding it up to her nose and inhaling.
“Because you were all nervous asking me what you did a week ago. You admitted you hadn’t before. An orange rose means passion and desire, enthusiasm, fascination, and pride. There are a lot of other meanings, but those are the ones I’m focusing on tonight.”
If her heart was racing before, now it was taking off in a gallop. “I get the passion and desire part, even the enthusiasm. Why fascination and pride?”
“You fascinate me. There are a lot of sides to you and your personality, and I can’t always get a read on you. I’d really like to get a read on you.”
“Maybe after tonight you will,” she said, hoping her voice sounded more confident than she was feeling.
“I’m hoping that’s the case. And the last one is pride because I can see you’re trying so hard to do the right things in life. Coming back here to help your mother out with the business. Putting everyone else before yourself and not wanting to fail. And asking me to take you out tonight when I know deep down you’re nervous and it took a lot of courage.”
Guess she wasn’t hiding all that much. “It’s that obvious?”
“Don’t think about the other night. Remember. I told you, this isn’t friends with benefits. Nothing has to happen tonight other than two people who look pretty damn magnificent going out and listening to music, maybe dancing together a bit, then calling it a night.”
“Really?”
He reached his hand up and traced her jaw. “Alex. What do you take me for?”
“A playboy?” she said, laughing.
He held his smile, but she could see his eyes changed briefly. Cooler now, but only for a moment. “I’ve been called that a time or two, but not recently. Shall we go?”
“Yes,” she said, slipping her arm through his like she had once before.
***
He was pulling out all the stops tonight to calm her nerves.
To ease her mind.
To get her to see him as something more than a friend.
If he went home alone tonight, then so be it. Then she’d know it wasn’t him that was pushing things. And if he stayed, she had to be the one to ask for it. He wasn’t assuming.
If after tonight she decided this was a huge mistake, well, then he’d have to work extra hard to change her mind...somehow.
They arrived at a restaurant that he’d never been to before. One that had a wait list more than a month out and he pulled some favors. The last thing he wanted to do was be accused of bringing her somewhere he’d brought someone else.
He’d been down that road years ago and wasn’t doing it now when it mattered so much.
“I’ve heard about this place. How did you get reservations so fast?”
“It helps to have a James Beard Award-Winning brother in the family.”
“I really don’t know what that means,” she said, wincing.
“Aiden is pretty well known. He made a call and got me in.”
“So your brother knows we’re on a date?” she asked, looking nervous.
“No. I just asked him to get me reservations. I didn’t say who I was going with and he didn’t ask. Just so you know, I’ve never done that before, nor have I been here before.”
He wouldn’t admit how Aiden was grinning like a fool when he’d asked and said he’d love to help out. Aiden had never been that accommodating before, but Cade was just going to brush it off and call it his lucky night. He hoped.
“Oh. You really are putting a lot of effort into tonight. Do you do that often when you’re dating someone?”
“I don’t date often. Not like you think.” He was going in being completely honest since she’d been too. “But this is different so I’m going to treat it differently.”
She nodded her head but didn’t say anything else. She kept him guessing on if that comment helped her or hindered him.
They both had a nice white wine with seafood dishes fit for a king. She was slowly relaxing, her shoulders not so tense, her smile contagious and flirtatious. He’d never been so happy for the last minute running around he did to get those flowers and this reservation. He’d been prepared to beg Aiden and was glad it didn’t come to that.
“If you don’t wan
t dessert, then I think we can go listen to some music. Or we can do something else? It’s your night.”
“My night, huh? Does that mean I’m making all the decisions?”
“It does. Whatever you tell me to do, I will.”
“So my wish is your command?” she asked, her eyes deepening to the point he thought the tablecloth might shift with the change of his body. These bodily responses were worse than when he was thirteen and fantasizing about his new English teacher that was fresh out of college.
“If that is how you want the night to go, I’ll gladly comply.”
“This is going to be fun,” she said, laughing now.
He was glad someone was thinking that.
His Rules
Alex never had any doubt she was going to be spending the night with Cade tonight. She wasn’t a tease and she’d never be one.
By agreeing to tonight, she knew that the chances of them seeing each other naked was damn close to ninety-nine percent.
The fact that he was hinting it might not happen, that it was completely her decision, pushed that percentage up the final one.
He was everything she never expected to find in a man and always wished she could have.
One that saw her working in the shop with grease or ink on her, or dressed up now in a short dress and sexy heels. And he liked both.
She’d seen him casual, soaking wet, embarrassed, and now taking her breath away looking like he belonged on the cover of GQ.
She hadn’t seen Keith in as many different lights in the three years they dated as she had Cade in the several weeks they’d known each other.
Maybe that was why it seemed so easy to ask him what she did. To say she wanted a physical relationship with him. Friends with benefits, she supposed.
He’d told her no.
He’d told her it’d be his rules and his only.
She agreed.
But then tonight he was saying it was all back in her control. She wasn’t sure what to make of that other than the words Ella had said to her before. That Cade was the softest and the deepest of the group. That he could break the easiest. She’d have to keep that in mind.
But now they were going to dance at another bar they’d just arrived at, because to her, dancing was her thing. Those pageants she was in—ballet was her talent. Her mother always had her in dance classes and she’d loved it. She loved feeling the music in her soul, guiding her body in all directions.
When they’d listened to blues that first night, she’d held herself back from swaying too much to the music. To let him see how it pushed and pulled at her. How sensual it made her feel.
She never missed the dance itself when she stopped. What she missed was how it made her feel. In a world of her own guided by what she felt deep inside that only a dancer could understand.
Maybe sharing that night with Cade weeks ago listening to the blues was the start of all these crazy thoughts she’d been having.
Tonight though, she was going to let the music guide her body with Cade’s because she had every intention of asking him to get on the dance floor with her.
“Since it’s all about my wishes tonight,” she said, holding her hand out to his to stand from the small table they’d been sitting at in the back. “I’d like this dance.”
He smiled and said, “Then I’ll be glad to give it to you. Any reason to get you in my arms tonight.”
“You always know the right thing to say,” she said.
“My family would disagree with that.”
“I don’t know. I think Ella pinned you well.”
He leaned back. “When did you talk to Ella about me?”
“She was in my shop the other day when I got back from your place. I didn’t tell you?”
“No,” he said, whispering in her ear. Chills just spread through her body, erupting like hot grease in a pan, but rather than jump back from a possible burn, she inched in closer. “We haven’t talked much since you left my house that day.”
“She didn’t say much,” she said. She’d promised not to tell Cade about the reason for that visit and didn’t know how to get out of this now.
“Ella always has something to say.” His lips were at her neck now.
“I’m losing my train of thought,” she mumbled.
“I don’t want to talk about my family anyway.”
“Neither do I,” she said. “I could stay like this all night.”
And they did. They stayed on that dance floor, her in his arms, hips swaying together, songs and words changing, but not the tone of the music. Not the atmosphere and definitely not her mind.
“I’m ready to go when you are,” she said.
“Back home?” he asked, stepping back and threading their fingers together.
“How about back to your place? Your bed is bigger than mine.”
“We can do that. If you’re sure?”
“My wish, your command.” She leaned in. “Take me to your place, Cade, and show me how well you can work with your hands.”
She swore she saw the tremors wash through him. Then he pulled her through the crowd and to his car. Though it was hot and muggy out, he didn’t mention putting the top down and neither did she.
He drove faster than normal back to his place. “Nervous?” he asked. “You’re awfully quiet right now.”
“Just thinking of all the things I’m going to tell you to do to me.”
“Shit,” he said. “You are going to kill me.”
“I don’t want that to happen,” she said, laughing.
When they were entering the lobby, she started to go toward the stairs. “Where are you going? You’ll break your neck in those shoes climbing the stairs.”
“You said you liked the exercise,” she reminded him.
“I’ll be getting plenty of it shortly.”
“I like your thinking.”
In the elevator, she reached for him. She kissed him hard. She kissed him fast. And she said, “I wanted to do this on the dance floor, but didn’t want to be one of those couples. But I can do it here.”
He cupped her ass and pulled her in, grinding her against the member in his pants. “I wanted to do this and held back too.”
“I don’t want any holding back. Okay?”
She’d jokingly called him a playboy, but playboys didn’t put this much effort into a night knowing they were getting the prize at the end. No, there was definitely more to Cade than she’d thought, making her believe that everything she’d heard about him before had been completely false.
“You have my word,” he said.
***
He hoped to hell he survived this night.
He couldn’t remember the last time that he put this much effort into a night and didn’t know what the outcome would be.
Did he want to bring her home and strip her naked, then feast like there was no tomorrow? Hell yeah! Was he planning on it though? Not really.
But she just said she didn’t want him to hold back and that she’d been thinking of all the things she wanted him to do to her, so it was going to be his night too.
It had to have been the slowest the elevator moved in the four years he’d lived here. When it finally dinged and the doors opened, he grabbed her hand and pulled her out, then down the hall, punching in his code and closing the door behind them.
When he would have taken her straight to his room, she turned him and had his back hard against the door, her hands on his shirt and her mouth all over his.
“I’m not normally like this, but there is something about you that’s bringing out all sorts of urges.”
If there was a better compliment to hear, his ears had never heard it before. “Whatever the reason, I’m all for it.”
“I want wild. I want crazy. And I think you’re the one that can give me what I want.”
“I am,” he said, his hands going to the zipper at the back of her dress.
Once that was released, he pushed the clingy material down and around her sho
ulders, letting it lay at her hips. She had a nude-colored bra on that was pushing up what God had generously given her. His eyes went right there, his lips following the swell spilling out.
“I don’t know what to do first,” he said, talking more to himself than her.
But she answered. “Put your mouth on me. Anywhere, everywhere.”
“Gladly.” Her bra was unhooked and tossed somewhere in the room, his mouth going right to one rose-color hardened peak. He pulled it in between his lips, he sucked, he nibbled and when she reached her hand down and grabbed him between the legs, he bit her.
“Now I know what I need to do to you to give me what I’m looking for.”
The rest of her dress was removed in record time, keeping her standing there in a white thong and her heels. Just like he wasn’t sure there was a better sound when she’d said her words earlier, there was no better vision than Alex standing in front of him almost naked, her large breasts just overflowing his hands, those thin toned legs in heels and her lady parts all yelling at him, saying “Taste me first. Me, me, me.”
Decisions, decisions. He was never good on his feet like this, so he did the only thing he could. He switched their positions and put her back against the wall and just buried his face between her breasts. They were so big and luscious and driving him insane with need. He could stand here all night and just touch them, taste her, make her his.
“Tell me you’ve got a condom on you right now,” she said.
He barely heard her, but when she started reaching her hand around to his ass and moving in his pockets, it finally registered. “The front of my wallet. Just pull it out and look around.”
His shirt was lifted out of his pants, her warm hands moving everywhere on his back, then inside his pants, cupping his rear.
“That isn’t my pocket,” he said. He was sure his mouth was muffled since he wasn’t moving his lips from their current location.
“Nope, but I needed to return the favor.” Then she moved her hands to his pocket, pulled out his wallet and she must have found the condom because she was pushing him away from her chest and slapping the foil wrapper in his hand. “Put it on fast while I take care of my thong.”
