Gabe pressed the length of his body against mine and lowered his mouth to my ear. “How long before your client’s dome-looking thing goes off?”
“I’m not doing this with you now or ever, Detective.” Too bad he could feel the way my body betrayed me by trembling with want.
“Why so formal after we’ve been so intimate?” he asked hotly against my ear before he peppered my neck with kisses. “I’ve had your dick in my mouth so I would think we should be on a first-name basis.” He pulled back and looked into my eyes. “In fact, we’ve been as intimate as two people can be except for having my tongue in your ass.” I swear to God that I nearly whimpered. “Is that what it would take for you to go to dinner with me? I’ve missed you, Josh.”
I wanted to believe him, but the memory of his rendezvous with the club owner was still burning in my mind. It gave me the strength I needed to resist him. “You didn’t look very lonely last weekend.”
Gabe straightened to his full height. His furrowed brow formed a deep V over his dark eyes, and he frowned as he looked down at me. “What did you just say?”
“I said that you didn’t…”
“I heard what you said,” Gabe told me.
“Then why’d you ask me to repeat myself, dumb ass?” There was no mistaking the annoyed sarcastic tone of voice I used on him, and I could tell he didn’t like it at all.
“What were you doing at Vibe?” Gabe asked, not even trying to deny he’d been there.
“That’s none of your business,” I said huffily enough to make any soap opera actress happy. “You have some fucking nerve asking what I was doing there when you were hooking up with that sleazebag club owner.”
“I wasn’t hooking up with Nate,” Gabe said calmly. “He called me there to get professional advice.”
“Yeah, that’s why you both looked so chummy when he greeted you at the bar.” I narrowed my eyes at him. “Is that how you treat everyone who asks for your opinion on a legal matter?” I had urged myself to calm down because I was giving too much of my feelings away, but I felt like I was on a sinking ship and about to go under at any moment.
“You sure are awfully curious about what I do with other men after you made it clear that you didn’t want anything to do with me.” Gabe placed his hand on the side of my neck so that his thumb rested over my pulse point. “I don’t think you’re as indifferent to me as you’d like to be.”
“You wish,” I said childishly.
“You’re right, I do.” Gabe lowered his mouth to kiss me, but I turned my head away. I would not be his fucking plaything. He grabbed my chin lightly with his hand and turned my head, so I was looking at him again. “I had sex with Nate once, and it was over a year ago. He called me and asked me to talk to him because he’s getting death threats through his email.”
I gasped in surprise at what Gabe confided in me. “Why would he call you?”
“He’s looking to keep things quiet and avoid police involvement,” Gabe replied. “I told him he needed to contact the police and that I couldn’t help him.”
“But why the need for all the touchy feely shit?”
“It was an act so that his patrons wouldn’t suspect anything, especially if the person who wanted to kill him was watching.” Gabe’s eyes were so earnest when he looked into mine. I wanted to believe him, but I didn’t know if I could. He must’ve seen the slight softening I felt because he lowered his head and captured my lips with a kiss. It felt like he poured every emotion he’d felt during the time we spent apart into that kiss; I did the same.
The desire to be one with him, to lie naked beneath him and welcome him into my body got stronger and stronger every time I was near him. Even stronger than the sex was my longing to know more about the man. My hands had been resting on my thighs, but they wanted in on the action. I slipped my hands inside his leather jacket and beneath his sweater to feel the warmth of his taught skin. I slid my hands up between his shoulder blades and raked my nails down his back.
Gabe quickly broke our kiss. “Fuck,” he whispered against my lips. “Have dinner with me tonight.”
The loud knock on the door I had been leaning against startled me. “Jazz, do you have my client in there with you?” Josi asked loud enough for the entire fucking salon to hear. “I have places to be tonight, so I’m going to need you to turn loose of him so I can work my magic. You’ll thank me for it later, sweetie.”
Jesus, I would never be able to face the people in my salon again. I stepped away from the door and turned to open it, but Gabe’s hand snaked out and grabbed my wrist to stop me. “Gabe, I…”
“Have dinner with me,” he repeated. “I told myself I was done with your hot and cold personality. I promised that I’d look for someone who wanted to be with me. But you know what?” I shook my head because I didn’t know. “I missed you. I learned that I’d rather be insulted by you than flattered by someone else. Everything inside me screams for me not to give up on you. So, what do you say? Will you have dinner with me?”
“Okay.”
I told myself that I only agreed to get him out of my prep room and out of my face, but I wasn’t fooling myself. The happy smile that spread across his face made me glad that I accepted. Fuck it! We were just talking dinner.
“What time will you be ready? I can wait around here for you or meet you at the diner.” He pushed up against me and lowered his voice. “You better show up if you tell me that you’ll meet me at the diner. I’ll come looking for you if you don’t.” The dark promise in his words thrilled me more than they should.
“I’ll meet you there at six thirty.”
Gabe studied me closely, looking for any hint that I wasn’t telling the truth. He must’ve liked what he saw because he pressed his lips against mine before he let go of my wrist. I stepped aside, and Gabe opened the door.
“You must be Gabe,” I heard Josi say.
“Yes, ma’am,” I heard him say as they walked away from the door.
I looked at the clock on the wall and saw that I still had at least ten minutes before Mary Beth’s hair was processed and ready to wash. I thought I’d hide out in the prep room for the remainder of the time to have a bit of quiet and find my center. My two best friends weren’t on the same page as me.
They practically got stuck together in the doorframe as they both tried to walk through the door at the same time. Watching them untangle themselves and fight over who went first was enough to help take my mind off my predicament with Gabe.
“So,” Meredith breathlessly said once she freed herself from Chaz. “Did you guys have a quickie in here?”
“Is that hair color in the sink or was Gabe happy to see you?” Chaz nodded toward the sink. One of the bowls from earlier tipped over, and the creamy white hair dye had splattered all over the bottom of the black porcelain sink and did resemble cum.
“I’ll never tell,” I replied playfully. “Why don’t the two of you get back to work and stop harassing me?”
“Fine,” Meredith said with an exaggerated eye roll.
“We expect details after the salon closes,” Chaz said, retreating from the room backward.
“I can’t,” I replied. “I’m having dinner with Gabe.”
Meredith and Chaz stopped in their tracks and stared at me for a few moments then looked at each other. They wore matching dopey grins on their faces when they focused back on me.
“Upstairs?” Meredith asked.
I shook my head. “Nope.”
“At his place?” Chaz asked.
Again, I shook my head. “Negative.” I paused for effect to watch them squirm. “I’m meeting him at the diner at six thirty.”
There was no immediate reaction from them for several seconds, maybe a full minute, then they looked at each other and let out girlie squeals before they clasped hands and jumped up and down. Their reaction was hilarious, but I wasn’t about to let them know it. I nudged—okay, kicked—the door closed in their faces, which only made them laugh and squ
eal harder.
“What have I done?” I asked out loud once my two friends had moved on.
“Given yourself a fighting chance at happiness,” Mere said through the door.
I whipped the door open and found them still standing there. “I thought you’d gone back to the salon.”
“We know, that’s why we waited in case you slipped up and mumbled something juicy,” Chaz replied.
“There’s nothing juicy to confess,” I told them. “It’s just dinner.” The disbelieving looks on their faces would’ve been comical if panic hadn’t started to move in.
“Just breathe, baby,” Meredith said, reading me so well.
“It’s just dinner,” Chaz said, repeating my words.
It’s just dinner. It’s just dinner. It’s just… Dear Lord, what have I done? I prayed that Emma wasn’t working in the kitchen that night because news of it would reach my mother before the dinner rolls made it to the table. It was too late to back out, and I surprisingly didn’t want to anyway.
“You can strip down to your undies or nothing at all,” Josi told me. “You’ll be covered with a sheet, so you do what makes you feel comfortable. You’ll lie down with your face in the hole here,” she pointed to the massage table, “and pull the sheet up to your lower back.”
“Got it.” I gave her a thumbs up.
“I’ll just step out for a few minutes,” she said before she ducked out of the room.
I removed my clothes, folded them, and laid them on the chair. I didn’t have a shy bone in my body, so I didn’t hesitate to remove my boxers before I positioned myself on the table and pulled the sheet over my legs and butt.
“Come on in,” I said after Josi knocked on the door and asked if I was ready.
I heard Josi sorting through bottles of what I presumed were massage oils then I heard her rubbing slick hands together as she got into position beside the table. I expected it to feel weird having a stranger’s hands massage me, but I quickly got past that as soon as she began rubbing my neck.
“Someone has been under a lot of stress,” she said softly. “It feels like I’m trying to massage rocks instead of muscles.” She dug her thumbs in a particularly troublesome spot, and it felt so good that my eyes rolled up in my head. I made an incoherent noise that made her laugh. “Just close your eyes and relax,” she told me. “I’ll have you sorted out in no time.”
I did as she suggested. I closed my eyes and silently gloated that Josh was finally going to have dinner with me. I meant what I told him too; I would track him down if he stood me up. Josi spread out from my neck to my shoulders, and I felt the tension escape my body with every second of the hour-long massage that Sally Ann gifted me.
Josi worked her way down my spine to just above the sheet and then she moved down to my feet. I’d never had anyone massage my feet before, but knew that I could easily become addicted to it. I was almost sad when she finished my feet and began working my calf muscles with her capable hands. My eyes started to get heavy, and I fought to stay awake.
I must not have been successful at it because the next thing I knew Josh was standing beside me giving me a gentle shake. “I’m starting to get really hungry, sleepy head. Someone promised me dinner.”
“Hmm,” I said when his hand on my back switched from nudging to massaging. “So good.”
“Yeah, Josi has mad skills,” Josh said, his voice laced with humor. “I’m going to have to pour you into your car.”
“I was talking about you.” I was starting to wake fully, and his hands on my bare skin had a completely different effect than what Josi’s had. More than just my brain was coming alive. “If you want to eat dinner, then you might want to step back and take your hands with you.”
“Are you enjoying my hands on your body, Detective?” Josh dug his hands into my flesh and muscles a little deeper instead of stopping.
I rolled over on my back. “What do you think?” The way my erection tented the white sheet indicated just how much I liked it.
“What do we have here?” Josh slid a hand down my chest and beneath the sheet to fist my cock. “Mmmm, so hard.” Josh pulled back the sheet to my knees and stared at my obvious desire for him. “We can’t have you walking about in public like this, all cocked and ready to fire. You might scare the good citizens of Blissville.”
“What do you suggest?” I asked playfully.
“We need to release the pressure built up inside you, and then you’ll be presentable for public.” Josh began working my cock with sure strokes while I stared up at him. His face was etched with a serious expression as he focused on giving me pleasure.
After several strokes, he released my dick and reached for the oil that Josi had used on my skin. His eyes took on a wicked gleam as he rubbed the slick oil into his hands. My body tensed with anticipation of having his slick hands back on my cock. Josh fisted my dick with one hand and cupped my balls with the other. I gripped the sides of the table hard as my body jerked with pleasure as he began stroking me again while massaging my balls at the same time.
“Josh… So good.”
He laughed in evil delight, causing goose bumps to pebble up all over my skin. I kicked the sheet off my legs and spread them a little to give him better access to my balls. Josh leaned over my body and took advantage of the invitation. I felt his slick finger press against my puckered entrance. He teased me by circling his finger around a few times then pushed lightly against my hole, but didn’t penetrate me. I ached to feel the friction of his finger rasping over the sensitive nerve endings. Josh looked at me for permission, and I nodded.
Josh took his time teasing me open while he continued to stroke my dick. My hips reacted to his touch automatically as my body craved more friction on my cock and a deeper penetration in my ass. The devious smile that spread across Josh’s face told me he was quite aware of the tormented pleasure he was giving me.
He slid his finger all the way inside me and crooked it up to hit my prostate just right. I drew my knees up and ground my hips down on his fist pressed against my ass. It had been too long since someone touched me so intimately and it drove me insane. I wanted Josh to be naked, so I could see how much he enjoyed pleasing me.
I shifted my hand from the edge of the table and rubbed it over his erection. Josh’s moans encouraged me to free his cock, but it wasn’t easy to do when he wore such tight jeans. I didn’t stop until I had his velvety hardness in my grasp.
“Unh,” Josh groaned as I began stroking him at the same pace he worked my cock.
Josh closed his eyes and tilted his head back as pleasure rolled through his body. The only sound in the room were soft moans and the slick sound of his oiled hands working my flesh. I wanted to drop to my knees and take him to the back of my throat, but I was unable to move; a slave to the sensations he gave me, especially when he began working his finger in and out of my ass. It felt so damn good, and I greedily wanted more and more from him until there were no boundaries we didn’t cross.
Josh opened his eyes, and I saw so much lust and need in their hazel depths. “I’m going to come.”
“Right there with you.”
I kept my eyes on him until I saw his body tense and felt the warm splash of his cum on my thigh. I lowered my eyes and watched as he emptied his balls all over my leg and hand. Then I let my body relax and stopped fighting the urge to come. My back arched off the table from the intensity of my orgasm. Josh kept massaging my prostate, causing me to come harder and longer than usual and didn’t stop until the last of my seed spilled onto my stomach.
I lay there breathing heavily on the massage table and absorbed the blissful expression on Josh’s face. I wanted to hold onto the moment, store it in my memory bank in case he decided to shut me out again. I inherently knew nothing was ever going to be easy with Josh. He was a complex man who held me at arm’s length when all I wanted was to hold him in my arms. Something about him made me want to push away every bad memory he had and replace them with happier ones o
f us.
He could hurt me really bad, in fact, he already had. There was no guarantee that he wouldn’t again, and I needed to prepare myself for it, but not that night. Nope, I was getting dinner with him after he blew my mind with a hand job to rival all others. He definitely would’ve received the gold medal if hand jobs were an Olympic sport.
“Give me a minute to clean up, and we’ll go get some dinner.” I sat up and swung my legs over the side of the table. I saw Josh stiffen like he was having second thoughts about having dinner with me. My hand snaked out and wrapped around his arm. I tugged him to me until he stood between my legs. “Please.”
He thought about it for a while, but this time he kept his eyes locked on mine rather than close them or turn away from me. I saw the apprehension in his eyes and wished that I could say something to ease the doubts he felt. I didn’t know who or what caused him to be so gun shy, I only knew I wanted to make it better; if only he would let me.
“Dinner at the diner with you.” Josh leaned forward, balancing himself on my thighs. “This doesn’t mean that I like you yet or that we’re going steady.”
“Going steady?” I couldn’t help but get a kick out of his old-fashioned phrasing. “And here I hoped to woo you.”
Josh rolled his eyes and tried to step back from me, but I gripped his wrists and held him there. I needed a quick taste of him. His eyes watched my mouth as I slowly approached him. His tongue darted out and licked his lips in preparation or excitement. A soft snarl of need had escaped my throat seconds before I captured his lush lips with mine.
Josh didn’t bother to fight me either. Instead, he pulled his hands from my grasp, fisted my hair, and became the aggressor in our kiss. He pulled back after our long, passionate exchange and looked into my eyes as he panted against my lips. “You better get cleaned up, or else we won’t be leaving here anytime soon.” He reached down and tucked his semi-erect penis away then he pulled a towel off the shelf and handed it to me. “You might need two towels.” His eyes roamed all over my chest.
Welcome to Blissville Page 18
