“What?” Mallory asked, sounding shocked. “She just left him there? An infant?”
“Yeah, she wrote a long-ass note about how she was sorry she had to do this and how I could put Booker up for adoption if I wanted to, but how she thought that I deserved to know, I don’t know, the misery that I had caused her, I guess.”
“Jeez,” Mallory said, shaking her head. She paused and then cleared her throat. “Are you sure that Booker is even actually yours? Sorry if that’s another question I shouldn’t ask, it just sounds like, I don’t know, sketchy.”
I glanced over at her and shrugged, not offended that she had asked. She wasn’t the first person to wonder if I was really Booker’s dad, after all. He definitely favored his mother in terms of appearance, and it wasn’t like Gina, and I had been exclusive. The timing lined up, but for all I knew, she could have been sleeping with someone else before, during, and after we quit seeing one another.
But in my heart of hearts, “He’s mine,” I said simply.
“Did you have a paternity test done?” Mallory asked skeptically.
I shook my head. “I didn’t and don’t need to,” I told her. “Call it a father’s instinct, maybe. I don’t know. I just know that Booker is mine, somehow.”
Of course, there were plenty of people who thought I was crazy for taking Booker in like that when I didn’t know for sure that I was even the kid’s father. They didn’t believe me when I said that I just knew. But there had never been a shadow of doubt in my mind that Booker was mine.
And honestly, even if he wasn’t, what was I going to do? It was clear that not only did Gina not want her son anymore, but she wasn’t really fit to be a parent if she could just abandon him like that. So, here was a little baby boy who had done nothing wrong but had nowhere to go and no one to take care of him.
I would have had to be the most heartless bastard in the world to get rid of him.
Besides, having Booker had saved me from the self-destructive path I’d been on myself. It had been a huge wakeup call, one that I’d sorely needed. So, at the end of the day, whether Booker was really my biological son or not, there was no question of whether or not I would keep him. We needed one another, he and I.
And I had gotten lucky with him anyway. Gina’s letter had me worried about him, like he was a real handful or something. Oh, it wasn’t easy raising him. Especially not when he was as high-energy as he could be at times. But I wouldn’t change it for the world.
We arrived at the restaurant, and I could see from Mallory’s face that she was impressed just from the décor of the place. “Just wait until you see the wine list,” I murmured, and she laughed, shaking her head.
“That’s risky,” she joked. “Taking a wine-maker to a place and bragging about the wine list.”
“You’ll like it,” I said, confidently.
Mallory smiled over at me, and I could see a deeper feeling there. “I’m sure I will,” she said.
We talked about lighter topics throughout dinner, and again, I had to marvel at just how easy it was to talk to her. It felt like the night passed by in the snap of my fingers. All too soon, we were finishing up the last of the dessert and putting on our coats.
But Mallory leaned into me as we headed out to my car. “So, Booker’s over at Ace’s house?” she asked. “Is that for the whole night?”
“Yeah,” I said, my cock twitching at what she was suggesting. “He’s taking Booker into school tomorrow morning, too. Although, I do have to be to work by nine. My boss might get frustrated if I’m late.”
Mallory laughed musically and drew to a stop, grabbing two handfuls of my jacket and pulling me into a kiss. “I don’t think she’ll mind too much,” she breathed against my lips.
I groaned and kissed her again before practically dragging her over to my car.
Chapter 22
Mallory
Reckless.
That was the way that Hayden made me feel. It was as though every logical thought flew out of my head when I was around him. I knew that I shouldn’t have had sex with him before. I knew that I shouldn’t have agreed to this date. There was a reason I hadn’t been impressed with him on that first date, and there was a reason I had hesitated to hire him even though Charlie said he could be the answer to our problems. He just wasn’t the kind of guy I wanted.
But as he pressed me back against his car, kissing me hard, I was having a hard time remembering why I had objected in the first place.
I wrapped my arms around him, sliding my hands into the pockets of his fitted, dark-wash jeans. He nipped at my lower lip, and I moaned, tilting my head to the side to allow him even better access. His tongue brushed along mine, sending jolts of molten lust coursing through my veins.
If we didn’t get in the car now, I knew we weren’t going to make it back to one of our homes before we fucked again. It would be just like before, in the office, unable to help ourselves.
And for some reason, that wasn’t what I wanted from him. I wanted to take our time, to explore each other. The sex had been incredible last time, but imagine how much more incredible it would be if it wasn’t hurried at the office or done in the cramped backseat of his car.
Reckless. That’s what this was. I was letting myself get my feelings all tangled up in what we were doing. Letting myself promise that there would be another time, and another after that. Eventually, something was bound to bust.
But for now, I pushed Hayden back a little, keeping my hands on his shoulders so that he would know that I wasn’t pushing him away. “Your place or mine?” I asked in a sultry voice.
“Mine,” Hayden all but groaned. “It’s closer.”
I gave him a slow smile, and we hurriedly disentangled ourselves so that we could get in the car.
Watching Hayden on the drive home was something else. I could tell just how turned on he was by the fact that he could barely sit still. His fingers kept tapping out a staccato rhythm against the edge of the steering wheel. Then, he would reach over towards me, his hand resting on my upper thigh, teasing me with its warmth. Retracting it as though he had been burnt, it seemed as though the teasing was too much for him to endure.
It was kind of a novelty for me. Not that I hadn’t had guys interested in me before, but Hayden wore his emotions on his sleeve when it came to this kind of thing. He wasn’t trying to cover up the fact that he was into me. And that made me want to show how into him I was as well.
So as he fumbled with the keys to his house, I leaned up against him, stroking his bulging cock through the rough material of his jeans. He swore as he nearly dropped the keys, and I smirked, my lips pressed against the back of his neck.
“Minx,” he said huskily, but it didn’t sound like he minded.
Nor did he seem to mind as I pushed him back against the wall inside the front hall. I kneeled down in front of him on the soft rug, making quick work of the buckle on his belt and tugging down his jeans and boxers in one easy motion. I nudged his dick with my nose, watching as it bobbed with interest. Then, I lowered my mouth down his length.
Hayden swore again, this time with a sort of reverence that made me want to giggle. Meanwhile, I was making a mental tally of all the things I could tell that he liked. The slow drag of my tongue up the underside of his length; the twist of my palm against his base as my mouth reached his tip before I plunged back down again; the feeling of his slit hitting the back of my throat over and over again. He tangled his fingers in my hair, and I looked up just to see the expression on his face.
Oh yeah. He liked this a lot. I couldn’t help but feel smug.
He grinned down at me, like he knew exactly what I was thinking, but his grin faltered as he caught his breath while I fluttered my tongue against his tip. He let me keep going for a minute, until my jaw was just starting to ache, before saying, “You know, there’s a really nice bed upstairs.” He was trying to sound casual, but I could hear the lust in his voice.
I snorted and pulled off from him, getti
ng easily to my feet. I walked backwards towards the stairs, tugging my black dress off as I did so and reveling in the way that Hayden’s eyes darkened. I discarded the dress halfway up the stairs, and Hayden caught me, pressing me back against the wall and kissing me, his fingers trailing across the soft lace of my bra and down along my curves.
Letting him kiss me for a moment, I then turned my head to the side. “So where is this bed?” I asked, smirking at him.
He laughed and caught my hand, fingers twisting in mine as he led me up the stairs and into the bedroom.
He pushed me down on the bed, wasting no time before crawling on top of me. I was still wearing my bra and panties, he was naked from the waist down, but I started working my fingers on the buttons of his shirt while he reached around behind me and undid the clasp of my bra. We hadn’t gotten to this point last time and seeing each inch of his tanned skin revealed only stoked my desire higher and higher until it was a wonder that I didn’t burst into flames right there on the bed.
He kissed along my body, while I arched against him, mewling out little noises of encouragement as he explored my tender spots. Like last time, he pushed his fingers into my pussy, and I rocked down on them. Much like last time, I was wet and wanting, already totally ready to have him inside of me.
I wrapped a hand around him and tugged him back to full hardness, and a moment later, he was sheathed inside of me, thrust deep down into my core. I wanted this to be slow and steady, but neither of us could hold back any longer. Our bodies worked against one another, my legs wrapped around him to pull him closer with every quick movement.
Powerless to quiet the noises that fell from my lips, I was vaguely glad of the fact that we weren’t at the winery this time. No, here in the privacy of Hayden’s home, with Booker gone for the night, I could be as noisy as I wanted.
And Hayden seemed to like that.
He kissed along my jawline and toyed with my breasts until I was mad with the need to come. Finally, one of his hands came down between us, thumb rubbing at my clit, giving me all the stimulation that I needed and then some. My body trembled as I climaxed, my hips quivering to meet his final thrusts before he was overcome as well.
He pressed me even further back against the sheets, his body hot and heavy against mine, the weight somehow comforting as I flew apart into a thousand pieces. He finally rolled off to the side, and I dragged in a deep breath, a smile on my face as I quivered with the final tingles of my orgasm.
For a long moment, we both stared up at the ceiling, breathing ragged. Slowly, I came back to myself, then felt my uncertainty grow. If we had been in my house, things would have been easier. It would have been up to him to make the next move. But as it was, I was acutely aware of the fact that this wasn’t my home. I kind of wanted to cuddle, but I knew I should probably get out of there. This wasn’t a cuddling kind of relationship. Just sex.
Reckless, meaningless sex. Before, the recklessness of it all had been exciting. Now, it felt sort of stupid. I had no right to be sleeping with this guy. He worked for me. He was a father. And I had totally scorned him at first, both on a date and then at work. I had a dozen things that I needed to focus on right now, and sex wasn’t one of them. I shouldn’t have done this.
As though on cue, Hayden rolled off the side of the bed and to his feet. “Be right back,” he said, disappearing out into the hall.
I winced and slowly sat up. Well. That was as clear a sign as any I could get.
In my mind, I started to tick off all the reasons why Hayden wouldn’t want me to stay. He had a kid. He didn’t like me any more than I liked him. This was just sex. And anyway, it was me. I knew that Mom always told me that there was someone out there who would love me, curves and all, and it wasn’t like I had low self-esteem or anything. But Hayden was Hayden. Maybe not quite as muscular as his brother Ace, but he was definitely right up there on the hotness scale. I was a willing body for sex, but that didn’t mean he wanted me to stick around.
I tried not to feel disheartened by it all. I knew what this was going in. I remembered that Leslie had warned me not to get too involved with him, and I wondered for the first time if maybe I had. If I had created some fantasy in my head through the tree-top picnic and tonight’s date. This wasn’t a relationship. It was just sex. Just convenience.
Just recklessness.
But as I started to get out of bed, sure that was what he would want, he came back in the room, putting my folded dress down on the top of the dresser. He blinked in surprise when he saw me and then came over to the bed, sitting next to me. And it was only too easy to let him curl his body around mine, his arms holding me in place. “Stay the night,” he said, kissing along my neck.
“It’s okay if you don’t want me to,” I said, confused.
Hayden shook his head, though. “It’s not that I don’t want you to,” he said. “I just didn’t want to leave our clothes strewn down the hall from the front door. Booker’s at Ace’s for the night, but on the off chance that he’s forgotten something that he needs for school, I didn’t want this to be too obvious. Mainly because Ace would tease me about it until the day he died.”
I frowned, wondering if that could really be the reason. I just couldn’t help running over all those protests in my head. Maybe the only reason he wanted me to stay was because he had driven me here and didn’t want to deal with driving me home tonight. “I could get an Uber,” I said, wondering if he could hear just how much I didn’t want to do that. As if in response, his arms tightened around me.
“Or you could stay the night, and in the morning, I’ll drive you back to your place. Or straight out to the winery, whichever you prefer,” Hayden said. When I didn’t respond, he sighed, releasing me but looking me deep in the eyes. “It’s up to you,” he said. “If you want to go home tonight, I’ll throw on some pants and drive you. But I really would prefer for you to stay.” His eyes twinkled. “For several reasons, not the least of which because I’m sure we can get you off once or twice more. What do you say?”
Reckless, was all my mind had to say. But I found myself believing him when he told me that he really wanted me to stay. Even if it was just so we could go for round two once we had both recovered, but well, was that really so bad?
I slowly smiled at him. “All right,” I said.
Hayden grinned back as he tugged me back onto the bed, curling his body around mine and covering us in the duvet.
Chapter 23
Hayden
On Monday morning, I smiled upon waking up and finding Mallory still in my arms. It was sort of a novelty for me. I had never kicked a woman out of my bed before, but at the same time, I had never really taken home the kind of women who wanted to spend the night. They were just as ready to get back to their own beds after the sex was done. Mallory was the first person I had actually asked to stay.
I still didn’t know why I did it. But waking up next to her was comfortable. It satisfied some craving in my soul, one that I hadn’t even been aware that I had.
I watched as Mallory slowly woke up, shifting her body against mine and then rubbing at her eyes. She blinked up at me, looking surprised to find herself there. Her sleepy confusion melted into a smile. At least until she looked at the clock on the bedside table to see what time it was.
She swore and sprang away from me, looking scandalized. “Why the hell did you let me sleep so late?” she asked, already rooting around on the floor for her discarded panties and bra.
I blinked in confusion, my mind struggling to keep up with her. It wasn’t quite seven-thirty, so she had plenty of time to get to the vineyard. “You’ve got well over an hour until you need to be there,” I said, frowning. I figured we still had plenty of time for me to drive her home to get ready, and maybe even to grab a quick breakfast to go. Maybe she was one of those women who took a little longer to get ready in the morning. But she didn’t strike me that way. She was usually so no-nonsense, and she was beautiful just like this, with only the barest hint
s of yesterday’s make-up on her face.
Mallory glared at me, as though I was being deliberately dense. “There’s over an hour until you need to be there,” she said. “Most of the employees come in around nine. But I need to be there to open up the place and get the coffee going before anyone else shows up.”
“Right,” I said, feeling immediately guilty, even though it hadn’t been my plan to make her late. I hadn’t realized she started that early.
I wanted to say that if she had said something the night before, I could have set an alarm. But I knew that was water under the bridge now. The best thing to do was to salvage the situation as best I could.
“Well, is there anything you need from home? That dress you were wearing is neutral enough that you could wear it to the winery, right? I could give you a ride straight there. It won’t take long.” As I said it, I was already out of bed and starting to get dressed, trying to demonstrate that it really would be no time before we were driving up to the winery.
But Mallory gave me a look. “We can’t show up together!” she said. “Everyone would know about us if we did.”
I knew she didn’t mean that she didn’t want to be seen with me or anything like that. It was just that it was her business, and she was the boss, so it would look unprofessional if everyone found out that we were sleeping together. But I had to admit, the words hurt a little bit. I tried not to let it show, though.
“All right,” I said. “Here are my keys. Drive yourself there, and I’ll get a ride with Ace. Then we’ll figure something out tonight.” Mallory looked like she was going to protest, no doubt about the fact that it would still look strange for her to show up in my car. I interrupted before she could say anything. “If you go now, you’ll be the first person there, so no one will see. And since we’re always the last people working in the evening. It’ll be fine,” I promised her.
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