by K. M. Scott
“So you don’t want to sleep with me? Is that what you mean?” she asks with such innocence that I realize I’ve gotten myself into a hole I need to get out of quickly.
Shaking my head, I work to change what she’s thinking before she bolts as soon as the elevator doors open. “No, no. That came out wrong too. Let me start again. I’d love to spend all afternoon in bed with you, but that’s not all I want to do with you. Yeah, that sounds closer to what I meant.”
For a few moments, I watch to see if that made things any better, and finally right before the elevator stops on my floor, Hailey gives me one of her sweet smiles. “I knew what you meant. I was just playing with you. You’re cute when you’re like that, though.”
“Like what?” I ask just as the doors open.
“Sweet. Thoughtful. You don’t look like you’d be that kind of guy, but you are, and I like that.”
The doors begin to close as I lower my head to kiss her, but one of my neighbors stops them and marches into the elevator, interrupting us. It’s that guy from across the hall who likes to wear Hawaiian shirts all the time and pulls his hair back into a man bun.
“Oh, sorry. Didn’t realize it was that late in the day.”
Hailey’s cheeks turn bright red, and she hurries out of the elevator while I give him a nasty look on my way out. “Yeah, like there’s a time when a guy can kiss someone in here. Aloha, dude.”
By the time I get down the hall, she’s giggling uncontrollably. “Did you just say aloha, dude to a guy wearing a Hawaiian shirt? What did he say back?”
“Nothing. He’s an asshole. Like this is some puritan building that doesn’t allow me to kiss you in the elevator. That guy needs to get laid and change his clothes. The seventies want their look back.”
As I open my door, she whispers next to me, “Don’t be mad. I don’t think he meant any harm.”
I turn my head so our mouths are just inches away from one another. “He ruined a sexy moment on me. He’ll pay in the future. I’ll make sure of that. It will be painful and torturous. Maybe it will involve a wreath.”
“If I kiss you now, will that spare that man all that pain?” she asks with a gentle smile.
“No, but that’s because he’s been a Hawaiian shirt wearing dick for years,” I say before leaning toward her and kissing her on the lips.
“Hell hath no fury like a man denied a kiss in an elevator,” she says as she walks into my place.
“Othello, right? Or maybe Hamlet? Sounds pretty tragic, so I’m guessing one of those,” I joke before following her into the living room.
Wrapping my arms around her, I snuggle up to her back and press a kiss to her neck. “So did we decide if we’re staying in or going out? I don’t remember.”
Hailey slides her hands out from beneath mine at her waist and pretends to weigh the choices. “Hmmm…go out and possibly get killed by a maniac driver on a jet ski or stay in and have sex. What’s a girl to choose?”
“Just one question before we decide. Am I the maniac driver?” I ask before nuzzling her neck.
Giggling, she wriggles out of my hold and turns around to face me. “Yes, I’m sorry to say you are, so that only leaves us with sex. I hope you aren’t too disappointed.”
I reach out and pull her back to me, loving how her body feels on mine. “I’ll get over it. I can go jet skiing with one of my cousins or my friends.”
We stand there with me holding her to me for a while, neither one of us saying a word, and I can’t remember the last time I was this quiet with anyone, but especially with a woman. I use talking to get what I want. Always have. It’s just how I am.
But with Hailey, I want to be quiet sometimes. Like now, when we’re standing in my living room and her eyes are closed and I have a feeling she wants to run.
I have to make it that she can’t, though, and I have a feeling that isn’t with anything I can say right now.
Finally, she whispers into the silence we’ve created together, “So you got quiet there. Everything okay?”
“I was just thinking the same exact thing.”
She looks up at me and nods. “Yeah, everything’s okay.”
“Good. I liked that, though.”
With a smile that lights up her beautiful blue eyes, she says, “I liked it too. It made me feel calm.”
“I thought maybe you might want to run there for a few seconds.”
Before she says another word, I know by the look in her eyes she did feel like running. But she didn’t, and that’s all that matters.
“I did, but I remembered what my therapist told me to do and made a list in my head of all the reasons I shouldn’t. Want to know what was on the top of that list?”
For a moment, a flash of doubt crosses my mind and I wonder if I actually do want to know the most important reason why she stayed. That passes, though, and I say, “Yeah.”
Taking my hand, she begins to walk us toward my bedroom as I wait for her to give me that reason. When we reach the doorway, she turns around and says, “The number one reason I had for not leaving is after last time, I’d be crazy not to sleep with you. Any man who can do what you did with your mouth has to be good in bed.”
I nod, smiling at how cute she is. “Well, I’m glad you liked my skills. I think you’re going to like what I can do with the rest of me too.”
“I’m sure I will.”
“So what was reason number two?” I ask while I begin to strip her out of her pink T-shirt and jeans shorts.
Looking up, I see her smiling at me when I tug her shorts down her legs. “I’ll tell you later.”
I don’t know why whatever this is between us feels so easy, like it’s right that she’s here and we’re about to sleep together. When I’ve been with other women, it’s never felt wrong but it didn’t feel like this.
Sweet. That’s what this feels. Sweet, like two people who make each other smile looking to find happiness in one another.
I can’t remember any time with a woman before that felt so comfortable like this.
As she steps out of her shorts and kicks them off to the side, I move to her T-shirt, pulling it over her head. She’s left standing in matching pink bra and panties, there in front of me with innocence in her blue eyes.
“Not that I wouldn’t do this, but I didn’t wear these thinking you and I were going to sleep together today. I wish I was that kind of woman, but I’m not that coordinated in the morning.”
Glancing up and down her body, I nod my approval. “Whatever reason you did it, I like it. Then again, I’d like you in seaweed underwear and a coconut bra, so keep that in mind.”
Hailey scrunches up her face like she just sucked on a lemon. “Seaweed underwear? That sounds gross. I think you might have just ripped me out of the mood.”
I wrap my arms around her and pull her against me. “Then it’s my job to get you back in the mood because there’s no way we’re wasting a fine coordinated underwear and bra day.”
She looks up at me like she’s studying my face for a long moment. “Are you always this cute?”
“Pro tip: men like to think they’re masculine and tough. Being called cute makes us worry we’re like puppies, and no guy wants to be like a puppy.”
While her fingers fumble with my zipper, she says, “Well, I’m sticking with cute. Funny, cute, and sexy. Any of those work for you, He-Man?”
“I hear women love funny guys. You make a girl laugh and boom! Her panties fall off. So I’ll take funny and definitely sexy.”
When she reaches inside my pants and palms my cock, I see a sly smile form on her lips. “Still thinking I’m just cute?”
Her tongue glides along her bottom lip and she reaches inside my underwear. The first touch of her hand on my skin makes me hard as a rock, and at this moment, I wouldn’t care if she liked me because I have straight teeth.
“Maybe not just cute. You do have some fine attributes. I’ve got one in my hand right now.”
She strokes it from bas
e to tip, making my eyes roll back in my head. “I don’t think anyone’s every called my cock one of my fine attributes,” I croak out, barely able to form the words this feels so fucking good.
I watch in amazement as she lowers herself to the floor and kneels in front of me. “I figure since you did me last time, I should return the favor. You know, since your attribute is so fine and all.”
A second later, she wraps her pretty little mouth around my cock and her tongue hits the underside of the head to send me straight to heaven. Instinctively, I stuff my hands into her hair and tighten around the soft blond strands, but then I remember this is Hailey and not one of the usual women I’ve been known to sleep with.
When I release my hold, she looks up with confusion in her eyes. Leaning back, she eases my cock out of her mouth and asks, “Did I do something wrong?”
“No, not at all. Definitely not. I just didn’t want to…”
“You don’t have to treat me with kid gloves, Cade. I’m okay.”
“Trust me. You’re better than okay.”
Hailey smiles, and then she returns to sucking my cock. I watch, amazed at how she can be both so sweet and so good at giving head both at the same time. The combination excites me more than I ever imagined possible.
As much as I love the way her mouth feels on me, I want more for our first time together. Next time, she can finish me this way.
Tilting her head back gently, I smile down at her. “Time to switch positions.”
Again, she looks confused as I help her up. “Something’s definitely wrong, right?”
“No, definitely right, but I have something else in mind,” I say while I strip out of my clothes.
“Something else?”
A couple seconds later, I get those pretty pink panties and bra off and kiss her deep, tasting that tongue that made me feel like I’d died and gone to heaven. “Something else, as in you against this wall and me fucking you.”
Those innocent blue eyes seem to get a wicked twinkle in them now, and when I lift her up, she wraps her legs around my waist. She’s sexy and beautiful, and when she looks at me as I ease her down onto my cock, I’m not sure I can handle how sweet she is.
More times than I want to remember, fucking a woman was nothing but a physical act. A way for me to get off. A good time had by all, but that was it.
With Hailey, this feels different. More, like something was missing all those other times and now I just realize it.
I want something more than just getting off. I want what Hailey makes me feel right now.
Her lips brush the shell of my ear, and she moans softly when I ease out of her and fill her again. “Mmmm…that feels so good. I knew I wasn’t wrong about you being just as good at this as you were with your mouth.”
Kissing her neck, I say against her skin, “Hold on because you ain’t seen nothing yet.”
She rakes her fingernails across my shoulders, turning me on even more, and my body kicks into high gear. I thrust into her and she meets my need with her own, rolling her hips and taking all of me. Her body feels fucking incredible, like her cunt was made to fit my cock like a glove. We rock back and forth, in and out with a perfect rhythm like we’re in sync from the start.
Our bodies are damp with sweat, but I could fuck her all day. She kisses me hard on the lips and moans into my mouth, and a second later, that snug cunt of hers tightens even more around my cock and she comes with a squeal of satisfaction that sounds like music to my ears.
A few thrusts later, I come and then sag against the wall, holding her to me as we both fight to catch our breath. Our fucking was all I had hoped for and even more because of Hailey.
Gently, she runs her fingertips over the back of my neck, teasing the drenched ends of my hair. “That was incredible. I don’t think my legs work, though, so you might have to carry me over to the bed.”
I lean back and smile at her compliment before pressing a soft kiss onto her forehead. “That was incredible. Next round will be on the bed then so your legs can recover.”
Her cheeks pinken from a blush at my mention of us going again, and when I lay her down onto the bed, she pulls me down on top of her. “Time for round two?”
“Definitely.”
I ease into her again and roll over onto my back so she’s on top of me this time. She looks like a fucking goddess sitting on me with my cock inside her. Setting my hands on her hips, I keep her still for a moment so I can take in how beautiful she is.
Pulling her mouth down to mine, I kiss her and whisper against her lips, “Promise me you won’t run.”
Her hair drapes over me, tickling my skin, and she pushes it off her face so I see the fear in her eyes. “I’ll try not to. I can promise that.”
“I’ll take it.”
It’s a start to something I can’t believe I even want, but with Hailey, everything seems different. Good. I’ve had enough of the way my life was going.
Chapter Nineteen
Cade
My father beams a smile that could light up a small city as he explains to the crew for the night that this fifth anniversary celebration is going to be the biggest ever. Some local media is due to arrive at any minute, and people are already lined up on the sidewalk outside dying to get in here and drink until they black out.
“So I want to see you have a good time tonight because without you, Club X wouldn’t be here. Smile, enjoy yourself, and make those customers see why you’re the best in the business, okay?”
Everyone around me yells and claps, and I join in when I see him looking at me like I’m ruining his big night by not being as enthusiastic as the rest of these people. Why not, right? I’m happy and loving life, so why not give my father some bit of happiness too?
“Any problems, you know to see your section leaders or me, but see them first,” he says, and everyone laughs.
“Okay, have a great night!”
More clapping before the crowd of my co-workers breaks up and people start their prep to get ready for opening. Even though I made it for his nightly pep talk, I don’t know where he’s got me scheduled, so I follow him into his office.
“Cade, what can I do for you?” he asks as he rifles through a stack of papers.
“Not sure what you want me to do tonight.”
He looks up and smiles like he’s thrilled about what he has to tell me. “Oh, I want you up at the main bar, for sure. I want you playing to those people here from Tampa Scene Magazine. Lots of smiling and do that thing you used to do with the bottles. People love that.”
“I didn’t realize people still read magazines.”
My father rolls his eyes. “It’s online. They just call it that, I guess. I don’t really know, to be honest. I just know that the publicist I hired for this has all these people coming in to take pictures and record videos of the crowd to put all over social media. She also has them doing other things I don’t really know about, so if someone sticks a phone or a mic in your face tonight, turn it on like only you can, okay?”
Thank God I had six cups of coffee today or I wouldn’t be of any use to him for this anniversary shindig.
“Got it. Turn on the charm. Anything else?”
He thinks for a second and shakes his head before something comes to him. “Oh, yeah. Is that girlfriend of yours coming tonight?”
Something in the way he calls Hailey my girlfriend makes me bristle at the very sound of it, and I shake my head. “She’s not coming, no.”
“Fine. Then you’ll be able to be the guy you were last summer?”
I nod, not really sure what he means by that. “Yeah, I guess. I might be a little taller. I think I had a growth spurt this year.”
“Stop busting my chops, Cade. I’ve got about three million things going on right now. You know what I’m talking about.”
Yeah, I know. I didn’t want to think about it, but I know.
“Sure. I’ll be that guy for you tonight.”
“Great. Now have a good time and c
ome find me if you run into any problems. I put Maya at the back bar and made sure we’ve got a bunch of promo shit going on back there, so she’ll be happy. Cici and Cam are at the upstairs bar that gets the least amount of business. And you’re at the main bar with the twins.”
“Katelyn and Kalli?” I wonder aloud, not sure those are even their names. It’s been a few months, and everyone just calls them the twins.
My father thinks for a minute, as if he isn’t sure of their actual names either. “Kalli? I think it’s Kylie.”
“So Cade, Katelyn, and Kylie at the main bar. Going for a theme?”
He shakes his head, clearly not amused by my question. “I’m going for the two most gorgeous females behind the bar and the one and only Cade March. Your reputation precedes you. Use it to your advantage.”
“My reputation precedes me? I haven’t tended bar on a regular basis here for nearly a year, Dad. I doubt anyone even remembers me. You’re going to have a hell of a lot more success with the twins, I think.”
“Don’t kid yourself. I’ve been in this business a long time. I know when someone is memorable.”
Now it’s my time to not be amused. “I think you might be biased then. Put your faith in the twins.”
As I make my way toward the door, he says, “One of the people from that magazine or whatever it’s called remembered you, so I think you made an impression on her, at least.”
“I think she has me confused with someone else. No matter. Everyone will get the guy they’re expecting, and the twins and I will have the main bar rocking.”
“Good! See? You’re a natural at this.”
He wishes I was. I wish I was back at my place with Hailey. Neither one of us gets what we want tonight.
My father didn’t exaggerate when he said it would be a celebration. By ten o’clock, people stand shoulder to shoulder in front of the bar, and the twins and I barely have time to catch a breath between customers. I see a hand go up at the end of the bar and hurry down to find the March and Jackson family contingent fresh in the door and thirsty.
