“You feel so good,” I spoke against her breasts as her movements increased.
She was lifting herself up just enough to push me even deeper into her core when she came down. I was quickly losing my mind from the fervency of our coupling. Before I knew what I was doing, my hands were gripping her hips hard. I brought her down roughly, rapidly, slamming her pelvis against mine. She screamed my name and I felt that tightening that told me she was going to come. The excitement of her nearing orgasm spurred me on and I took over the thrusting for her. When her core gripped me, I was done for, my seed spilling into her, my heart racing.
“What an awesome way to wake up,” she cried and collapsed on top of me, her breathing as labored as mine.
Her fears seemed to be gone this morning and I wasn’t sure what to do with that. Did I bring it up? Did I just go with it and pray that she knew how I felt? I was never really good with this whole figuring women out stuff. I was going to have to consult the Oracle...My mother. Later. I was totally not thinking of my mom while I was still inside Stevie.
Stevie exhaled once more and said, “And on that note, I need a shower.” She kissed me and hopped off the bed, skipping over to her bag then into the bathroom. She was gone about twenty seconds when she came out a little more reserved and she sat down on the bed next to me.
“I forgot to actually say good morning. And thank you.” She leaned over to kiss me and I pulled her into me.
“You’re right. You did. And I’m not ready for the hard-core cuddling to end just yet.” I kissed her and felt her smile against my lips before she relaxed into me. She covered me with her body and I stroked her back.
“I guess we know we’re compatible in the morning,” I spoke against her hair. I felt her breath on my chest and it warmed me.
“I guess so,” she answered back quietly.
I wrapped her in my arms, willing time to stop so I could hold her like this forever. But the day had to start. I looked at the clock to see it was 7:30. Breakfast was served at 8:00, for a few more days anyway. When the twins went back to school, we’d eat earlier. I couldn’t believe they were about to be seniors! It was time to start taking them to visit colleges. I was deep in this thought when Stevie started to move.
“Hey,” I said, holding her tighter. “You’re trapped here until you tell me how you’re feeling this morning and how you slept.”
She chuckled. “What if I never tell you, will you hold me all day?”
Talk about perfection! “Mmmm, that is a tantalizing proposition. But I really do want to know.”
She looked up at me and rested her chin on her hands on my chest. “I feel optimistic this morning. Maybe still a little nervous. Physically, I feel incredibly good. I slept great. Any further questions?”
I raised an eyebrow at her. “Nervous? Anything I can do to ease the nerves?”
She shook her head. “Nope. So what’s the plan for today? Do you need me to take off? I don’t want to be in-”
“Stevie? Can you lose that phrase from your vocabulary? You are never in the way. On the flip side, please don’t feel like you have to hang around if you need to leave. Just know that I’d keep you here permanently if I could.” Shit, was that too much? I searched her eyes for her reaction. The timid smile I got in return said I had a long way to go in proving to her that I was serious.
“Permanently, huh? Be careful what you wish for, Aaron. I don’t want you to regret it.”
Now what the hell did she mean by that?
We opted to shower together, even though I warned her my shower was pretty tiny. There wasn’t much room to maneuver, but we managed to have fun. I loved washing her hair. There was so much of it. She said she had been thinking of cutting it, that it was getting to be too much to take care of.
“You could share some with me, but I don’t know that I could pull off the curly red-haired look.” I held her hair up to my skin and she threw her head back laughing.
“Yeah, I don’t think so. Why did you start shaving? I love it, by the way. It’s very sexy, very you. Just curious.”
I lathered up my hands and turned her around so I could massage her back. She sighed happily under my hands, which of course made me smile. “It got really thin, probably from the twins and the stress of my old job. I started shaving it, I guess when I turned 30. I was tired of trying to piece it together every morning. It’s much easier now. Unless, of course, you want me to go Hair Club for Men or get a hairpiece. I’d do it for you.”
She was giggling like crazy and she turned around. “No way,” she said and looked me up and down. “I like you au naturale. Besides, you have hair in all the right places. Enough for me to run my fingers through.”
And boy did she. She made a liar out of me when she caused me to rise to attention.
“One-trick pony, eh? That looks like a Thoroughbred stud right there!”
I slapped my hand over my face, once again shocked by something that came out of her mouth. She took her turn with the soap, washing my front and then turning me to massage my back. Her hands were magic. And there was not enough room in this damn shower.
“Are you finished playing in here? Because I want to play some more.”
Her eyes flared and she turned off the water. And we played for so long we missed breakfast. When we finally got around to getting dressed I said, “I’m sure there’s leftovers or we can grab something on the way to the shop. I need to be there by ten to open up. And really, you don’t have to hang around all day. I usually stay until the late afternoon on Saturdays.”
She shrugged as she tugged on a pair of jeans. Suddenly I forgot what I was doing. She looked stunning. It reminded me of the show where I had to pat her down. I wished I could have taken my time that day and now I was faced with having that gorgeous body in front of me at work. I was grinning like mad and she stopped dressing to frown at me.
“What are you smiling about,” she asked, hands on her hips, her breasts barely covered by a navy lace bra.
“I’m smiling because this will likely be my best day at work ever if I get to admire you in those jeans all day.” She blushed and I couldn’t resist. I backed her into the wall and my hands caressed her breasts through her bra. Her head fell back and she moaned. “When you blush like that, love, it spreads right down to your lovely breasts and it makes me want to just bury myself here.”
She sighed happily and said, “Well, heaven forbid you hold back, baby.”
I could almost feel myself getting ready for round three when my phone started buzzing in my pocket.
“Shit. We were almost going to go for the record.”
Her hands came up to her mouth and her eyes flared as she looked down at my reaction to her and giggled.
“Schroeder. What’s up?”
“You coming in today, McShane? Because I’ve got time booked at the studio and Callie’s busy at the tattoo shop.”
“Yeah, I’m coming in a bit.”
Stevie giggled and I felt my cheeks get hot at the double meaning there. I cleared my throat and said, “Hey, thanks for watching the twins yesterday. How did they do?”
Schroeder was quiet for a minute. “They were fine, a bit nervous and down. What the fuck happened?”
I told him I’d give him the whole story later, but for now I needed to get Stevie fed and over there.
“She’s still there? On her own volition? Damn, McShane. Nice work!”
I told him what he could do on his own volition and he was laughing as he hung up. Unfortunately, I’d missed watching her finish getting dressed. She was wearing a gorgeous navy blouse with just enough skin showing that I knew I’d be sporting a semi all day. Life was good.
Stevie
Aaron was a god. That much was made perfectly clear the second time he rocked my world this morning. He tried to blow it off and say he had a lot of built up tension since he’d met me, but I knew things were only going to get better in that department. He was so strong and passionate. And patient. God! I w
as torn between feeling really at ease with him and worrying about when the other shoe was going to drop.
We wandered over to the big house and I pointed out where I had planted the bulbs yesterday. His father had a lovely garden going, but there was a lot of real estate that could be given some TLC. If the McShanes let me stay around for a while, I intended to have at it.
“I see you eyeing the yard. I’m sure it would make my father very happy if you wanted to garden with him. He was very disappointed that he couldn’t have a vegetable garden this year. He bitches every time he has to go to the Farmer’s Market.”
I had stopped walking and was looking around. I noticed a sunny patch on the side of the house with the remains of a garden from last year. I blew a curl up out of my face and smiled. Oh, this could be fun.
“I haven’t been able to really garden since I lived at home with my parents. I loved spending hours outside, planting flowers and food. In college I helped start a community garden near the UC Santa Cruz campus and worked there every weekend. I bought a townhouse after I graduated in Palo Alto with the money from the sale of my parent’s place, but it only had a deck in the back so I had to settle for container gardening.” I looked up at Aaron and gave his hand a squeeze. “I could really have fun back here.”
His expression was loving as he scooped me up against him and kissed me. And kissed me. And kissed me until we heard a throat clearing behind us.
“Morning, Pops. Sorry we missed breakfast.”
Mr. McShane was standing on the back porch with a glass of iced tea in his hand smiling down at us. “Not to worry, son. I’m glad the two of you had some time together. You working at the shop today, yeah?”
Aaron nodded, leading me up the steps toward the kitchen. He stopped in front of his Pops, who looked really excited for us.
“Stevie’s going to come with me. Do you need anything today? I thought we could take a walk after dinner-”
“It’s alright, son. Your mother and I are going out on a date tonight and we plan to do some walking. You two just enjoy yourselves. Stevie, thanks for humoring an old man yesterday. I hope you are right about those Asiatic lilies you talked me into.”
I beamed at him. “Care to make a wager?”
His eyes narrowed and he grinned wickedly. “Be careful, lassie. This old dog used to be quite a gambler.” He was such a flirt, much more outgoing than Aaron.
I raised an eyebrow at him and said, “If I’m right about the lilies, how about you let me get you some produce growing on that side over there.”
His eyes lit up and he turned to see where I was pointing. “That sounds like a winner for me. What do I get if I win?”
I looked at Aaron and shrugged, not knowing what he would want. I narrowed my eyes at him and asked, “What do you want, McShane?”
He laughed out loud and slapped at his thigh. “How about ye let me take that car of yers for a drive. I used to have one back before Aaron was born. I wouldn’t mind getting under that hood again.”
I don’t know what it was about these damned McShane men, but I was completely unable to resist.
“You can take her out anytime you like, Mr. McShane. She needs a little tune-up. I haven’t had the right tools to do it. Her timing’s a little off.”
He frowned and looked down at my car with me. “I’m sure I’ve got what ye need, Stevie. Whenever ye’d like to work on it, let me know. This could be fun.”
I gave his forearm a squeeze and turned to Aaron to find him shaking his head at me with that astounded look on his face. Had no one ever been good to his family before? Had he dated such callous, self-centered women it was so unbelievable that I would want to know these people? They were important to him! Not to mention they were just great people! I’d somehow managed to get Grandma Samadi to talk to me about her life in Afghanistan. I’d learned how to crochet from Grandma McShane, something I’d always wanted to learn. And I got to garden and maybe even work on my car with his father! This was a dream come true for me! It was in no way a burden or something I’d have to put up with to be with him. I needed to show him this. Somehow. Right now I needed breakfast.
Aaron opened the back door and ushered me inside. He pulled out a chair for me, humming the whole time.
“You are adorable, you know that,” I asked him and he kept humming, pulling out food from the fridge, and making us plates. He heated them up in the microwave and handed mine to me first.
“Eat, love. You’ll need your strength. You have a full day of mindless shop keeping to look forward to.”
I laughed and thanked him for the food and juice he set before me.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing your store. You really put your heart and soul into this place, didn’t you?”
He smiled and kept chewing. “Mine and Schroeder’s, yeah. And a shitload of dough. It’s doing ok, mainly because of the online auctions, the instrument sales and rentals. Music sales come and go. We’ve been looking into ways to get the community more interested. We sponsor an Open Mic night at the Bistro next door each week and I’m looking into having some in-store events. It’s just hard. We’re in a strange locale for music. We’ve even looked into stocking DJ equipment.”
Listening to him talk I could tell he had a real mind for business. “You were insanely successful in venture capital, weren’t you?”
He shrugged. “I did ok. I brought in a lot of deals. I like working with business plans. But the stress of it, the selling of the soul required, and the family stuff...I am less stressed now and I love what I’m doing so it’s worth it, right?”
I touched his hand and said, “If you’re happy, it’s worth it. You deserve happy.”
He smiled and leaned in to kiss me. “I’m very happy now, love.”
We were still smooching when the grandmas came in.
“Oh! Sorry to interrupt. Just wanted to make sure you were eating.” Grandma McShane had such a knowing look on her face. She was probably going to head out and start crocheting baby booties. Grandma Samadi was going to have invitations to the baby shower written out. I felt a chill and shivered, hugging myself. Aaron quirked his lips into a smile, probably understanding just what my shivers were about.
We finished eating and Aaron ran upstairs to check on the twins. I washed our dishes and chatted with the grandmas. Why did this feel so normal? So natural?
“You ready to go?” Aaron’s smile was infectious.
“I am. Do you mind if I use your computer while I’m there at some point? I need to post my review and check my email.”
“Of course. You can spend as much time as you need. The computer is in my office in back. Oh, and I hope you don’t mind the walk. I’d rather not have your car parked downtown. I’d feel terrible if anything happened to it.”
Always looking out for me. “I don’t mind walking at all. Let’s get to it!”
He held my hand as we walked down B Street, across Foothill and past several shops until we came to Vinyl Mine. His storefront wasn’t fussy or slick. It was vintage, old school, classy. I was in love already! We walked around the back of the store and Aaron unlocked the door. He told me Schroeder lived upstairs as he turned off an elaborate alarm system. I was a little disappointed I wouldn’t get to meet him today. He sounded like the Yin to Aaron’s Yang. Kinda like me and Maryland, who I was missing something fierce. I definitely needed to send her a message today and update her.
The back door opened to a short hallway with doors on either side. One led to storage, one to Schroeder’s office, one to a restroom and lounge area, and one to Aaron’s office. I couldn’t wait to spend some time in there and see what I could possibly learn about him.
I forgot all of that when I saw the store. It was a music lover’s dream. Aaron’s dream. Racks of vinyl and CDs on one side, instruments on the other, a baby freakin’ grand piano? Trade counter to the rear, register up front. The high walls and open ceiling allowed for vintage posters and merchandise to be hung. He even had listenin
g stations set up in various spots so buyers could try out their music first.
“It’s awesome! Aaron, I love it!”
He wrapped his arms around me from behind, kissing my neck. Yes, I purposely put my hair up in a messy bun so he’d have access.
“I’m glad you love it. Now let me get things going here and unlock the front. Feel free to browse.”
“Don’t mind if I do,” I said as he went about his business. I got lost for a long time, browsing his inventory, running my fingers over the guitars and basses he had for sale. The store was perfect. The dark wood he used for his cases and shelves, the hardwood floors...It was old and beautifully restored. A short time later, Aaron’s two employees came in and then they were open for business. They turned on some music and I recognized it as Faith No More’s album Epic. Nice. I watched him go over the day’s duties with the two youngsters who he referred to as the Js-Jared and Jessica- and then he took my hand and led me to his office. It was small! All there really was room for in there was his desk and chair and a stool next to a guitar on a stand. The walls were covered with clippings and old concert posters. He had shelves of books and some vinyl, which I assumed were part of his collection.
“I know it’s tiny,” he said as he sat down in his desk chair and pulled me down onto his lap. “So what do you think,” he said, very interested in my reaction.
“It’s brilliant! You’ve got a great mix of music, the rare stuff and the popular stuff together. I love the display of instruments. Do you play?”
He nodded. “I play guitar. I’m not accomplished or anything. I can keep up.”
I smiled. He did have very long fingers. I liked those fingers. I shook myself.
“So what do you do when you’re here all day?”
He told me about the online piece and that he backed up his employees if things got busy. There was a chime ringing each time a customer came in. After hearing the chime four times, he patted my thigh to let him up from his chair. He motioned for me to take his seat. Once I was situated, he said, “I better get up front. Take your time. The password is P-E-E-P-E-E-1-9-9-6.” Once it was typed in I looked up at him with a snicker.
The Rock Season Page 16
