Ruined Promises

by Stefanie Jenkins

  Ben sets his large cup in the cup holder and starts the car. “Ready to go?”

  “Yes!”

  Two and a half hours later, Ben is pulling off the highway, and a giant wooden sign with CrossRoads Vineyard with black cursive letters appears.

  “Oh my God, it’s gorgeous,” I say as I stare out the window at the acres and acres of green fields. We have been lucky that this winter has been a very mild one, almost as if an extension of autumn.

  When I look back at Ben, he has a massive smile on his face that matches mine. He knows he did well.

  Ben pulls into a spot in the parking lot and leans over the center console. “Was it a good surprise, baby?”

  I close the distance between us and brush my lips against his. He coaxes his tongue between my lips, devouring my mouth. When I thread my fingers in his hair, keeping his mouth sealed to mine, he emits a low groan and pulls back, resting his forehead against mine.

  “While I would love nothing more than to keep kissing you, I didn’t drive two and a half hours just to do that. Come on.” Ben gets out of the car and comes around my side, helping me out. With his hand still in mine, Ben retrieves the bags from the trunk, his slung over his shoulder and mine wheeled behind us. We take in the beautiful scenes in front of us that look almost out of a painting while we make our way to the hotel on the property. The main building’s architecture resembles that of a castle. Its vaulted ceilings and archways give a regal feel to it.

  Once checked in for the night, we are shown to our room. A spacious one-bedroom suite with a bathroom that both mine and Hadley’s could fit in.

  The balcony overlooks the vineyard that reaches the far distance—a beautiful escape to the constant busy city life. I am currently perched against the railing, taking in the scenery, when Ben comes up behind me, wrapping me in his arms.

  “Did I do good?” he asks, pressing a kiss to my shoulder.

  “So good. I never want to leave. I may just have to call my boss and tell him I quit and tell Hadley she’s on her own with the rent.”

  His deep laughter vibrates through my body with his closeness. “Hmm, well, I can’t speak for Hadley, but I think your boss has no problem since he would be here with you.” Ben rests his chin on the top of my head. “I was going to take a quick shower, rinse off the drive. Care to join me?”

  “Why, Bentley—” I know that he hates his first name, but I think it’s sexy and love the way it sounds. “—I think that’s one of the best ideas you’ve had all day.”

  The website for CrossRoads Vineyard for sure did not do this place justice. It is more breathtaking than I ever imagined, and the smile on Lexi’s face since we arrived made the drive so worth it.

  After a supposed quick shower that turned into two orgasms for her and one for me, we are almost ready to explore the property and have a picnic.

  The bathroom door opens, revealing Lexi wearing tight black pants, a white top, and an open olive-green button-up shirt. The long, draped necklace brings my attention to her supple breasts.

  After our shower, Lexi went searching through her bag, and hot damn, it was like a Mary Poppins bag of never-ending clothes. Was there anything left at her apartment? Maybe she wasn’t kidding when she said she was going to move here.

  I’m currently perched on the edge of the bed, rolling up the sleeves to my black dress shirt that I have paired with a pair of dark jeans. I know that Lex loves when I show off the colorful designs inked on my arms. I’ve found her eyes lingering on them more than once, just like they are now. I would definitely feel objectified if it didn’t turn me on so much with the way her eyes darken as she wets her lips.

  I push off the bed and stalk over to her. Her back is now to me as she applies color to her lips in the mirror above the dresser. I love the way we look together. Her eyes never leave mine as she drags the tiny stick along her lips, leaving a pale pink color in its wake. I can’t help but imagine dragging my cock over her lips, teasing her.

  “Baby, you better stop looking at me like that, or we’re never going to get out of here, and I’m going to have my dessert first.” My voice is low and breathy.

  She visibly swallows, and her breathing changes. She spins in my arms and rises to place a kiss on my lips gently and slips out of my grasp before I can deepen the kiss.

  “Come on.” She tilts her head toward the door.

  I adjust my pants and grab the room key from the top of the dresser, shoving it in my pocket before joining Lex by the door.

  We walk hand in hand over the property on our way to the barnlike building where the tastings are held and where the bistro café is located. After tasting eight different wines, Lexi decides on her two favorites, a sauvignon blanc and merlot. We purchase two bottles and a deluxe picnic basket, including an assortment of cheese and crackers, two wineglasses, and a picnic blanket.

  I carry everything while Lexi searches for the perfect spot.

  “Here is perfect.” She glances over her shoulder at me.

  I arch a brow at her, a playful smile on my lips. “Are you sure because you said that about the last three spots we stopped at?”

  Lex gives me a look that tells me I should stop talking if I want to survive the weekend. “Yes, Ben, I am sure,” she mocks back before sticking her tongue out at me.

  I grab the blanket from the basket and spread it out over the grass before taking a seat. Lexi kicks off her shoes and joins me. I work on getting the wine open while she sets up the food. With it being winter, the grounds are not as crowded as I imagine they would be during warmer months, but the weather is perfect right now. Mother Nature must have taken the day off because I expected it to be much colder than it is.

  Lex accepts the glass before leaning back with her palm splayed across the blanket, holding her up. She closes her eyes and soaks in the sunrays beaming down on her. I am distracted by her beauty and end up overflowing my glass.

  My commotion causes her to jerk her head up, and she laughs as I fumble to lick the excess dripping down the glass and clean the mess.

  “I can clean you up but can’t take you out, I see.” She giggles, hiding behind her wineglass.

  Moments later, I’ve cleaned up my mess and place the wine back in the basket.

  “Here, try this.” I turn to find Lexi holding a cracker with a slice of cheese on it.

  I open my mouth and accept the snack. “Mmmm,” I mumble with a mouth full of food.

  “It’s so gouda, right?” Her whole body vibrates as she laughs at her joke.

  Once I swallow the last bite, I wash it down with a sip of wine and wipe my mouth with a napkin. “The snack was delicious; however, that joke was terrible.”

  Lexi’s hand flies to her chest as if shocked by my comment. I am used to her quirky humor, but now, it’s rather cute. And it gets even better under the influence of alcohol, so I know that this will not be her only lousy joke of the weekend or night.

  After dinner at the small restaurant on the premises, we work our way back to the room on the trail lit up with rustic lanterns when we pass the hotel bar. A sign out front reads “Karaoke Night.” I cringe while Lexi’s face beams. Fuck me.

  “Oh, come on, Ben, it will be so much fun,” she pleads, batting her eyelashes.

  I grumble as I allow her to pull me into the bar. I wince as we hear the sounds of what can only be described as cats dying as we enter the darkened room. The room is no bigger than our conference room. For as empty it was on the premises today, I am shocked to see it busy here. These people must have appeared from nowhere.

  I snag us a table and two drinks while Lexi disappeared, claiming that she was finding a restroom; however, the devilish smile upon her face as she sees me afterward tells me that may not have been the case, especially when the guy running the DJ booth calls Lexi to the stage.

  After a quick kiss to my cheek, she hurries to the stage like a little kid entering a candy shop.

  The TV monitor reads “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” by Wh
itney Houston. I’ve learned this to be one of her favorite songs even though it is not by her favorite band, Pentatonix, who she listens to faithfully. Her dance moves along with her barely looking at the screen with the lyrics is a dead giveaway that this is her not her first time performing this song. But the crowd eats it up, as do I, and I’ve never felt prouder of her.

  Once she exits the stage, I stand, and she jumps into my arms, wrapping her arms around my neck. I bury my face into her neck and lift her off the ground. “Are you a professional karaoke singer or something? I don’t think anyone can compare to you up on there.”

  She swats at my chest when I set her back on her feet. “You’re just saying that because you’re my boyfriend and you don’t wanna tell me that I suck.” Lexi laughs as she takes a seat, and I drag her chair closer to mine.

  “Baby, I promise to never lie to you, and as much as I love it when you suck—” My pants growing tighter at the very thought of her pretty little lips wrapped around my cock. “—you definitely did not suck there.”

  “Will you get up there?” she asks, resting her head on my bicep.

  “Oh, hell no, I don’t do that.”

  “Please,” she pleads, pursing her lips together in a pout. Whining has always been a turn-off to me, but when Lexi does it, it’s cute. Too bad there is no way in hell I’m letting her convince me to get up there.

  By the time we fall into bed, Lexi had me on stage with her singing two duets as well as one by myself. I consider myself rather outgoing, but that may have been the most daring thing I have done in years. Even from the stage, I could see the bright smile on her face as I had the crowd singing along with me with my rendition of “Sex on Fire” by Kings of Leon, which made it all worth it.

  I pull Lexi closer, and she wraps her arm around my waist while tangling her legs with mine.

  “You know, I’d say that you set the bar pretty high for first dates,” she says, looking up at me.

  I think of honestly admitting that I don’t plan to go on any more first dates after this. Instead, I hold her face in my hands and kiss her fiercely. Her lips part, accepting my tongue. Actions speak louder than words, and I plan to show her how much she means to me instead of just telling her. But while I may have set the bar high on dates, she has set the bar high for women. If, God forbid, we don’t work out, I feel that I will always compare the way I feel to the way I feel with Lexi. Every kiss will be compared to the feeling of her lips on mine. Her kiss both drowns me and revives me at the same time.

  The next morning, we savor our time together before heading back the real world, where our lives aren’t as simple as they were the past twenty-four hours, where we can just be. But the more time I spend with this woman, the more I know that anything we endure is one hundred percent worth it. This is a risk worth taking.

  I slip out of bed, leaving Lexi passed out. It was hard to go, but I figure this way, I could get some work done and fall back into bed before she wakes. This girl sleeps like the dead, and her postorgasmic coma should have her still out cold for the next few hours.

  After we joined her friends for brunch today, we christened the new couch and spent the afternoon getting lost in each other. I carried her to bed once we were spent and passed out with her in my arms.

  I reach for the jeans on the floor beside the bed and quietly put them on, not wanting to disturb her, and pad my way down to my home office. We’ve been splitting our nights back and forth between her place and mine. Asher has been spending more time not home. I want to ask where he spends all his time, but he’s an adult, and as he said before, as long as it’s not illegal, he’s free to do whatever he pleases.

  I sit down at my desk, flip open my laptop, and get to work.

  A short while later, a shadow in the door drags my attention away from the computer screen. I smile at the still freshly fucked bed head that Lexi has. She rubs her eyes, and I see that she has changed from the camisole top she had on earlier to one of my T-shirts. I wonder if she has anything on underneath my shirt. I adjust in my chair as I continue talking on the phone to Tom Abrams, the owner of Abrams Jewelry downtown and a lifelong client of Maritime. Per their sales rep, Tom had some interest in upping their donation to a sponsorship.

  I wink at her before focusing on the screen again, swiveling the chair side to side. The chair jerks around to a stop, and I am met with the most beautiful green eyes looking up at me. Lexi places her hands on the arms of the chair on either side of me. Her eyes never leave mine as she slowly sinks to her knees.

  I cover the mouthpiece on the phone and softly ask, “What are you doing?”

  She ignores my question, but a devilish smirk appears on her kissable lips as she reaches for the button of my jeans. I reach for her hand to stop her, but she swats it away.

  My jaw clenches as I try to focus on the voice on the other end and not the sound of the zipper unzipping. A blast of cold air forces me to suck in a breath as she frees my already hardening cock from the confines of my jeans. I didn’t bother with putting my boxers on earlier.

  It’s not until Tom mentions Lexi that my focus is back on the call.

  “Yes, I’m quite impressed with Miss Baker as well. Her skills are a great asset to our team.” Lexi’s eyes brighten at my compliment, and her smirk widens as her tongue skims the underside of my cock before swirling around the mushroom tip. I hiss out a breath, and I relax back into my chair.

  Focus, Ben. But whether it’s focusing on the brunette with her head between my legs or on the phone call, trying to secure us a top sponsor for the Best of Willow Creek event, I’m not sure. Both of my heads are battling it out.

  “Uh-huh,” I more or less moan, unsure what I am even hearing. All I know is this phone call needs to end.

  I run my fingers through her brown locks and pull it away from her face, happy she did not have a hair tie wrapped around her wrist, so that I can watch my cock disappear in her throat. Her cheeks hollow as she moves up and down. A few loose tendrils fall from my grasp and tickle my lower abdomen. I use my palm on the back of her head for her to take me deeper. Drool drips from her mouth down to my balls as she gags slightly but doesn’t pull back. Instead, her lips lock tighter around my shaft as she continues to suck. Lexi Baker is sexy as hell, and having her on her knees like this is a dream come true.

  “Hey, Tom, I have another call coming in. Can I call you back on Monday?” I quickly say as Lexi cradles my balls in her hand.

  “Yeah, sure. The wife is giving me a dirty look saying we need to leave for dinner anyway!” I hear him mumble something to whom I am assuming is his wife on the other end.

  “Great, talk soon.” I hang up the phone and toss it on my desk.

  I tangle my fingers in her hair and pull her off me with a loud pop.

  “Hey, I wasn’t done,” she whines.

  I pull her to her feet and lift her onto the desk. The T-shirt rides up, and as I suspected, nothing on underneath.

  “Oh, you’re right. You’re not done.” With my hands still tangled in her hair, I trail soft kisses along her neck. “But now, it’s my turn. Spread your legs, Lex. Let me see how much sucking my cock turned you on.”

  Her green eyes darken from an emerald green to almost jade hue. Leaning back with her palms splayed flay on the desk, Lexi spreads her legs, exposing her bare, drenched pussy, begging for my tongue to taste it.

  I crouch down in front of her and inhale her sweet scent. I run my nose along her outer lips and skim the soft skin above her clit.

  “Ben,” Lexi pants.

  A smile tugs from my lips as I hook my arms under her thighs and pull her closer. “Hmmm, it’s not so fun to be teased, is it?” My hot breath on her pussy causes her to thrust toward my face.

  “Please, baby.”

  I drag my tongue along her slit up and down. When I reach her clit, her thighs begin to tremble, and when Lexi tries to close her legs around my head, I force them to stay open.

  Her eyes meet mine as I continue to
lick and suck.

  Her thighs shake, so I quicken my pace and add pressure.

  “You’re close, baby. I can feel it. “

  With her head thrown backward, Lex moans, “Yes! Fuck! I’m so close.”

  I know exactly how to send her over the edge. I insert my forefinger into her slick opening and pump in and out in a twisting motion. I feel her pussy walls flutter around me.

  “That’s it, Lex. Give me what I want.”

  Her pants and moans fill my home office as I bring her to climax, lapping up her juices.

  Before she gets a chance to come down from her high, I shed my jeans the rest of the way down and slide into her swollen pussy, my own orgasm not far. Lexi reaches up and pulls my mouth to hers. I massage her tongue with mine, and I know that she can taste her sweet tang on my lips.

  “Mmm…” she moans in my mouth as I pound harder into her.

  “Do you like tasting yourself when you kiss me?”

  “God, yes!”

  I fuse my mouth back to hers, and with two more pulses, I come undone, filling her to the brim. My orgasm sets off another one from her.

  A slight sheen of sweat is now covering our bodies as we both try to recover our breathing.

  “You know you potentially cost us a sponsor, right?” I pant, my head resting on her shoulder.

  She lifts her head back up, still propped up on her elbows. “Baby, your cock is still hard inside me, and you want to talk about sponsorships?” She arches an eyebrow, but a glint of mischief shines in her eyes. She presses up on her palms so that our chests brush against each other. “I’m sure I can fix any issues that arose during that conversation. Just like you said, Mr. Harrington, I am an excellent asset to the company.” The way she accentuates arose—just like my cock had—and my name in a seductive manner has my cock throbbing.

  I withdraw from her, and with my hands under her thighs, I scoop her in my arms. “How about I show you how much of an asset you really are.” I wink, and she giggles as I make my way back down the hall to my bedroom.