He’s looking at the black box sitting between us this whole time. For the first time I’m scared. I’ve put all my faith in a fragile piece of plastic. One good thwack and I’ve got nothing but 10-15 years in lock-up to look forward to.
And all this because I wore jeans to the office today.
The silence in the air seems to amplify my heartbeat. I wonder if Officer Peety can hear it from across the table.
“But the difference between me and Officer MrRoy is my belief that nothing beats an objective witness. And a camera is about as objective as they come.” These words make me breathe a sigh of relief. But it’s the next sentence that sets my brain reeling at a million miles a minute. “If there’d been a witness when my son was killed in a hit and run, maybe he’d have gotten the same justice I’m betting you’re going to see.”
Chapter 11
Kate
After the incident on the beach come hundreds of tears and some of the hardest days of my life.
After the black box clears Brad, Trevor is put on trial. He’s found guilty, of course. I have to testify, but it’s over much more quickly than I expected. The video is all the proof needed, really. When Trevor is sentenced to just six months, I can see his smirk. He think’s he’ll be out soon enough. And I can see it in his eyes that he’ll come after me. But the moment he’s sentenced, he’s arraigned for a crime he thought he’d gotten away with.
This time, my testimony is everything. I know that Officer Peety, the father of the boy Trevor hit with his car that fateful night, is counting on me. And I might have broken down any number of times while on the witness stand, but Brad is always out in the audience. His goofy thumbs-up signals always makes me at least smile for a half second before the reality of the situation comes crashing back down on me like a freezing wave.
Trevor’s phone is brought into evidence, and that’s what really clinches it. GPS data shows that I’m not lying. It puts his car at exactly the scene of the hit and run.
The new sentence Trevor gets added to his old one doesn’t even offer the chance for parole until he’s well into his fifties.
That night is emotional. Brad wants to be with me, but I choose to hole away in my apartment. Drink a whole bottle of red wine by myself. And wonder if it’s really all over.
The next day brings with it a dry mouth, a headache that has me barely able to open my eyes, and the light of a new day. A day without Trevor out there hunting me down. A day where I’m free to meet up with the guy who literally saved me.
My knight in cheap polyester.
Brad.
Only, when I meet him that evening for dinner, he’s not dressed in clothes from the sales rack. His suit looks like it was made just for him. And knowing how much he got as a payout from the city after one of their own dragged him through the mud for coming to my rescue, I know that suit very well may have been made by hand in Italy.
“Tonight, we’re celebrating!” he says when he stops by my place to pick me up. He’s standing outside the door, and it’s not until I step out that I notice he’s not driving the ancient rattling piece of hunk that got us through that first, frightful day together. He presses a button on his keychain, and a brand new Mustang chirps back. “It’s a little flashy, but I’ve wanted one since I was a kid. And now that I’ve got an actual job, I can afford the insurance on it.”
“You got the job!” I wrap him up in a hug. And before I know it, we’re kissing. Unfortunately, I’m also crying. Dabbing at the tears with tissues I placed in my purse in case this exact scene played out, I say, “Sorry.” I then blink back the rest of the rogue tears. “This is a happy cry, I promise. I was so sure that I’d ruined your life back then. But everything’s turning around.”
Brad leans down and kisses me. It’s soft and sweet rather than passionate. “The only way you could ever ruin my life is by not being in it.”
A hiccup of barely contained emotion is all that I allow to get through my defenses, even though it’s the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me. Hoping to change the subject, I ask, “So the interview went well?”
“You’re looking at the new sys admin for Vector Inc. I’ll be heading up a team of twenty to start with. It’s double the salary I would have gotten at the job I lost the day we met. Plus, the dress code officially states I can wear jeans to work!”
I shake my head at this and look him up and down. “Shame. I like this look.”
“Enjoy it. After tonight, this thing goes in the closet and the jeans come out.”
I stand up on my tiptoes and kiss his earlobe. Then I whisper, “Even if seeing you in a suit turns me on?”
Brad’s breath catches for a moment before he says resolutely, “The suit stays.”
It’s not until we’re on the road that I realize how strange this all is. The last time we were driving anywhere together, it was our escape from Trevor. The roads seem calmer now. That might be because Brad’s actually following the speed limits this time around, but the whole atmosphere is calmer too.
Then again, maybe it’s just me who’s more comfortable. And to be comfortable with any man after how Trevor treated me is a miracle. But when we hit the highway, instead of heading downtown to the restaurant we talked about on the phone, we’re driving the opposite direction. A moment of fear jumps up my throat before I remember this is Brad, not Trevor.
But when the coastline comes into view, I can’t help but chew at my lips. Is he really bringing me back to where I was nearly assaulted and then had to watch as he got arrested? He can’t possibly imagine that would be a good site for a date, can he?
Thankfully, we blow past the exit that would have placed us back in that empty tourist town. I breathe a sigh of relief and look over to Brad. He’s trying to hide his excitement, but his nostrils flare in this cute way when he notices me staring sidelong at him.
“Where exactly are you taking me?”
His only answer is a wide smile.
Chapter 12
Brad
“How did you ever find out about this place?”
“Like it?” I ask after swallowing the last bite of steak.
“It’s amazing.”
I went all out this time, splurging on a five-star resort. We’re eating out by the poolside, the lights from inside the water bouncing shadows across our faces and the backside of the hotel. Just beyond the patio is the ocean lapping at the tranquil shores. There’s some kind of soft, melodic music that seems to come from everywhere.
After three courses, red wine, and finally champagne served with a slice of cheesecake better than any I’ve ever tasted in my life, we’ve come to the next step in our schedule. The one I haven’t mentioned, but I hope she’s been smart enough to figure out.
“So, should we take a stroll on the beach before heading home?” she asks and begins to get up from the table. In a flash, I can see this whole night ending with me dropping her back at her house. My imagination tortures me further by imagining that she won’t return my goodnight kiss. She won’t invite me in. We’ll grow distant and months and months from now, I’ll realize we haven’t spoken in weeks.
“Actually,” I say, drawing the word out as I think of how to propose what I’ve been planning all along. “It’s a pretty long drive home. And I’ve actually got a room booked. I didn’t want to assume, or anything, but—”
Kate leans over the table and kisses me. It’s not a friendly peck on the cheek, but a quick, passionate touch on the lips that promises more to come.
“I’m just teasing you. But you should have seen your face.”
I breathe cartoonishly out of my mouth like I’ve just narrowly avoided a nasty death. “You should go into professional poker or something. You’ve got a killer straight face.”
She takes my hand and leads me towards the beach. “Still,” she says. “I’d love a little stroll before we take this upstairs.”
The sand is cool under our toes. The ocean freezing. But the company is warm, and soon heats up wh
en I hold her waist as we stare out at the moon hanging over the horizon. I’m not sure who pulls who in first for the kiss that ends with us wrapped around each other, but it’s definitely Kate who pulls away first. But it’s only to take my hand and literally drag me back up the beach and into the hotel to wait at the elevator with tapping feet and biting lips.
When it arrives and we step on, we’re alone. And that’s all the invitation I need to throw myself back at her. My hands slide up the back of her shirt, and Kate licks at my earlobe again while standing on her tiptoes. When the elevator dings and opens on our floor, we no longer have the focus to put on an act like we did when coming up through the lobby seconds earlier. We alternate between passionate embraces, kisses that elicit moans, and pulling the other down the hall.
Kate pulls us past our room, but I stop her and fumble in my pocket for the keycard. It’s up against my rock hard cock, and it takes all of my willpower to look away from Kate and open up the door.
Once we’re in, the clothes fly off.
Kate pushes me against the wall as she goes to unbutton my shirt. She gets halfway down before I’m pulling it over my head. Then we’re kissing again, and I spin us so that it’s her against the wall this time. Her blouse comes off in an instant, and a simple flick of a few buttons has her skirt crumpled at our feet. I pull away only enough to admire the black lingerie she chose to wear for this event. And even though she couldn’t have known what I had planned for tonight, Kate came prepared.
To call it underwear would be a gross miscalculation. Its DNA is more closely related to lingerie with its sheer fabric and lines that lean more towards the sexy than the comfortable. Her nipples are just barely visible, as is the hump of her pussy, which I waste no time in sliding my fingers down to meet.
Kate groans and grabs me by the shoulders. I’m all too happy to let her walk me backwards until I fall back on the bed. The only clothing I’m left wearing are my boxers, but she gets rid of those without hesitation. My cock aches as it’s revealed, and the primal side of me is begging for her to take my length in her mouth.
But she doesn’t.
What she does instead is to crawl on top of me slowly, kissing and licking, tickling her way up my body until her lovely breasts are hanging just over me and her lips meet mine. She then grinds against me, and I can’t take it any longer. I roll us over and take control, stripping her of her last vestiges of clothing and tasting those nipples I so dearly missed. She spreads her legs and pulls me towards her. With one hand between us, she grabs my cock, places the tip against her pussy, and then uses her legs to pull me in.
Chapter 13
Kate
When Brad’s dick enters me, a world of lights flashes through my mind. It’s not even close to an orgasm, but the sensation of being filled, of having him on top of me and inside me, erases every other thought from my head.
Not that there were many left floating around after our romp through the hallways to get here.
I can’t help but flash through mental images of the last time I had sex with Trevor. He always took me when he wanted, not caring the slightest in whether it hurt or brought me even the slightest twinge of pleasure. But I push those thoughts back to the deepest recesses of my skull. These past few months have seen me wrestling with my demons and memories plenty, and I refuse to allow them to ruin this perfect night.
Besides, Brad is as far from Trevor as humanely possible.
Trevor never would have cared about my side of sex. When he finished, that was it. No attempt to get me to an orgasm. No words or cuddling. It was like some gross habit he needed to fulfill, and I was simply the easiest tool available to accomplish it.
With Brad, I’m in much more caring hands. Literally. After two minutes, we change positions so that I’m back on top. While I’m pulling my hair out of my face, he slides a hand underneath me so that his thumb can rub against my clit. I throw myself into grinding against him, and he matches my rhythm. When I start to lose control of myself, nearing the edge of the canyon that will have me falling into an erotic abyss, his hands cup my breasts and he says, “You’re gorgeous,” among other lovely tidbits that send me hurtling off the edge.
I cum first, which is a new thing for me, but I’m not about to just throw my exhausted body down on top him. As I quiver against him, Brad grabs my ass and pounds in and out of me until he too shudders and falls back into the pillows.
I’m lying on top of him, catching my breath, my mind blank but also humming with excitement. This is what I’ve been missing all this time. This is what a loving relationship is supposed to feel like. All this time I thought there was something inherently flawed with me, but it’s the guy currently behind bars who was the weak link in our relationship.
Brad is anything but weak. And neither am I anymore. After all, I gathered the courage it took to stand up to Trevor in court. To tell my side of the story and watch him burn as his sentencing came down.
And if I was tough enough for that, maybe I can be strong enough to try this whole love thing again. Because even though I’m nowhere near ready to say those three words, my heart is filling with something I won’t be able to contain for long.
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The Nude Artists Series
The Nude Painter
The Nude Writer
The Nude Musician
Sweet, Sexy Shorts
Falling For Joy
Under His Care
Driving Under Pressure
The Perfect Stranger
The Sergeant’s Roommate
A Drink in London
The Kitten Next Door
Road Trip Romance
The Rebound Bet
The Billionaire’s Swipe
Kaylee Spring writes what she loves: steamy romance that ends happily ever after, but not before exploring unexpected paths and lusty embraces. She lives and writes in the South with her husband, two cats, and a growing collection of books.
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Running Away With Him: A Suspense-Filled, Instalove Romance (Sweet, Sexy Shorts Book 12) Page 4
