Cappuccino Kisses

by Yahrah St. John

  She turned when she heard footsteps and accepted the glass of red wine that Everett held out for her as he joined her. She took a sip and swirled it around in her mouth so she could have time to formulate her thoughts, and turned back to face the city lights. “This is good.”

  “It’s a good vintage,” Everett said from her side.

  “So, how long have you lived here?” Mariah asked. She was ready to hear more about Sara if Everett was ready to share it.

  * * *

  Everett shrugged. “I don’t know. Nine years or so.”

  He felt fidgety and restless, as he had ever since his mother had brought up Sara’s death in front of Mariah the night before, making him relive the aftermath of the accident. It was as if he’d time-traveled back to that awful place five years ago when his whole world had turned on its axis and he’d become a widow and a single father all in one breath.

  He knew Mariah’s leading question meant that she wanted him to open up about his past, about Sara, and he would. It just wasn’t easy going back down the dark road, but last night Mariah had shown him that no matter how bad it was, she wasn’t running. In fact, she’d run after him when he’d begun to retreat inside himself, and kissed him until he’d remembered that he was in the present. A present that included Mariah, a woman he was falling in love with.

  * * *

  Mariah sipped her wine.

  Everett turned to her and leaned his back against the stone frame of the balcony. “What’s on your mind, Mariah? You have something you want to ask me. Questions. Ask them and I’ll try my best to answer them honestly.”

  Mariah noticed that his voice was thick and unsteady. “All right.” She faced him. “Are you still in love with Sara?”

  His dark eyes never left hers for an instant and he didn’t hesitate when he said, “No.”

  She felt reassured and nodded. “But you don’t like to talk about her? About the past?”

  His gaze bored into hers. “No, I don’t, but I know that when you’re in a relationship, sharing your past and what’s shaped you is important. I’m willing to do that for you. If you’re willing to do the same.”

  Mariah blinked and focused on his enigmatic face. He was challenging her. If she expected him to reveal all, it would be a give and take. He wasn’t going to bare his heart unless she, too, was ready to talk. “All right!”

  EJ stepped into the terrace doorway. “Are we going to eat now? I’m starved.”

  Everett turned to his son. “Of course. Let’s go.” He held out his hand to Mariah and she took it.

  Later, after they’d finished dinner and watched a television show together and put EJ to bed, Mariah started to follow Everett into his bedroom, but stopped short at the door. She had felt more at ease in the living room, especially with a young, impressionable child in the house, but Everett had been afraid that EJ might overhear them talking and didn’t want him to get hurt, so she’d acquiesced.

  She stood in the doorway for several moments. When he saw that she hadn’t moved, Everett came toward her and said, “It’s not the same bed. I had it changed.” He pulled her into the bedroom.

  “Oh, okay.” She hated that he understood part of her unease and insecurity. He began removing his shirt and unbuckling his pants. So she did the same, easing her sweater and tank over her head and sliding her maxi skirt down her legs. When she spun around in her bra and panties, she found Everett’s hungry gaze on her. “C-can I have a T-shirt?”

  He blinked several times and asked, “What was that?”

  “A T-shirt?”

  “Oh, yeah, I’ll get one for you.” He stepped toward another door that Mariah could see led to a large walk-in closet. He returned a few seconds later with a T-shirt in hand and held it out to her.

  He didn’t turn away as she undressed, and instead watched her unlatch her bra and place it next to her clothes, which she’d folded across a nearby chair, before slipping the T-shirt over her head. “I like you in my shirt,” he murmured, throwing the covers back so they could get in.

  “And I like wearing it.”

  He grinned as he pushed the pillows up against the headboard, turned on the lamp on the nightstand and slid into bed. Once he was settled, he held his arms out to her and Mariah slipped under the warm covers and into his embrace. They sat there in silence for what seemed like an eternity before Everett spoke. She was in no rush. She wanted him to talk when he felt ready, and she would listen and be patient, the same way he’d treated her from the beginning.

  “Sara and I grew up together,” he began. “Our families had known each other for years, but we just saw one another as friends. Until we were older. And one night, after we both had broken up with our respective partners, we were sharing our woes over a bottle of wine and one thing led to another. Sara was worried that it would hurt our friendship, but it didn’t, it only added to it. And so, after a year of courtship, we married. A year later, she was pregnant with EJ and we were over the moon.”

  Everett let out a long sigh and Mariah curled her arms tighter around him, letting him know that it was okay. She was there for him.

  “The day EJ was born was one of the single greatest moments of my life.” Everett’s voice was shaky. “I loved our son and Sara was so happy. We thought we had an entire lifetime ahead of us with our boy, but three years later, she was taken in a blink of an eye.” He snapped his fingers.

  Mariah slid her hand into his. “What happened?”

  “A drunk driver ran a red light and h-hit her head-on. Sh-she was still alive in the hospital and I raced to get to her.”

  Mariah sat up and looked at Everett’s ravaged face. “And did you make it in time?”

  He nodded as tears slid down his sculpted cheeks. “Long enough for her to tell me to take care of our son, to give him all the love sh-she wouldn’t be able to. I—”

  Mariah gulped hard and shook her head as tears welled in her own eyes at seeing her man in so much pain. “You don’t have to tell me any more.” She couldn’t bear to watch him to relive the worst moment of his life.

  “I have to,” Everett murmured, “because you—you have to know what else she told me.”

  “What did she say?” Mariah wiped away his tears with the palm of her hand, and then her own.

  “She told me not to be afraid to love again and that she was giving me her blessing. Can you believe that?” He cried openly, weeping aloud. “Even when she lay there dying...Sara was thinking of me and telling me that she was giving me permission to love again.”

  “That was incredibly selfless,” Mariah said. “Sounds like she was an amazing woman.”

  * * *

  Everett swallowed hard and bit back more tears. He didn’t like what Mariah had just said. “She was, but so are you, babe.” He turned slightly so he was facing her and could look into her beautiful brown eyes. “I don’t want you comparing yourself to Sara. Because there’s no comparison. You’re your own woman and I want you for you.” He wanted to say more, but didn’t, because when he said he loved her, he wanted her to believe it, and not think he was placating her.

  “You mean that?” she asked.

  “I do.” He leaned forward and kissed her forehead, her eyelid, her nose, her cheek before finally brushing his lips across hers. “I do.” He wanted Mariah to know he was genuine.

  He reached under the covers for the edge of her T-shirt and lifted it over her head. Then he bent down and began kissing his way to her breasts. He looked up at her again and repeated, “I do.” Then he took her nipple in his mouth and suckled, while he palmed her other breast, alternating between firm and gentle squeezes.

  Mariah began moaning as he laved the turgid bud with the tip of his tongue, before taking it fully into his mouth and sucking hard. “Yes, Everett, like that.” Her head fell back on the pillows.

&nb
sp; Everett didn’t stop there. He made his way from her breasts to plant tender kisses along her abdomen, stomach and the curve of her hips. He scooted farther down the bed and when he reached the waistband of her bikini panties, grasped hold and slid them down her legs. Mariah lifted her feet so he could toss them aside. And that’s when he took over, spreading her legs wide, so his eyes could laser focus on the patch of curls between her thighs.

  “Look at me, Mariah.”

  She opened her eyes and stared at him.

  “I want you for you,” he said, and then darted his tongue inside her moist heat. He took his sweet time going for the prize. Teasing her until she whimpered in protest. He lifted his head. “And I want you to come for me. Come for me.”

  “Yes, for you,” she cried.

  Like a missile heading toward its target, his tongue went straight to her clitoris and when he reached the nub, his tongue ran over it with gentle sweeps at first. And then he sucked, causing Mariah to cry out as her thighs began to quiver uncontrollably. Everett felt the power of her orgasm hit her, but he didn’t stop, just kept sucking until she fell backward on the bed. Only then did he raise his head, remove his boxers and glide atop her body. But instead of stopping their lovemaking, he lifted her legs over his shoulders and slid inside her wet heat. He felt as if he was home when Mariah welcomed him, her body stretching so he could fill her completely.

  Everett grasped both sides of her face and plunged his tongue inside her mouth while his erection thrust deep inside her. He could see she was loving the angle because she undulated against him, and Everett was lost in the sweet sensation of being inside her, having her muscled walls contracting all around him. It didn’t take long for him to come with a roar, his own release triggering another contraction from Mariah as ripple after ripple of pure pleasure soared through them.

  * * *

  “Everett,” Mariah said a while later, after they’d both recovered from the mind-blowing sex. “It’s never been this way for me before.”

  “You mean our lovemaking?” he asked, peering at her, where she was lying on his chest.

  She nodded. “In my marriage, it wasn’t this enjoyable.”

  “You have no idea what this is doing for my ego,” he said, smiling down at her.

  “It was just routine,” Mariah admitted, glancing up from under hooded lashes. “But with you, it’s intense and passionate and I can’t count how many orgasms I’ve had while we’ve been together.” Since he’d been so open and honest, Mariah wanted to share more with him, be more open herself.

  “I’m glad you shared that with me.”

  She wished she could reveal more, such as her struggles with getting pregnant during her marriage. Or that one of the reasons sex had become so routine and boring was because of her infertility issues. But her relationship with Everett was still so new, so young. She didn’t want to introduce this kind of drama, at least not yet. She just wanted to be with him and enjoy the moment. But in the back of her mind, Mariah knew it was just a matter of time time before her past came back to haunt her.

  Chapter 16

  “Belinda, it’s so good to hear from you,” Mariah said several nights later, while she munched on some popcorn at her apartment. She was on her own tonight because Everett had a parent-teacher meeting for EJ. They’d been spending almost every night together since their return from Bainbridge Island.

  Mariah hadn’t minded, because she needed some time to assess everything that had happened between them in the last week. She and Everett had gone from two people attracted to each other to lovers all in the span of a month. She hadn’t moved this fast in her prior relationship with her ex-husband. They’d taken things much slower, but look where they’d ended up! The extra time had meant nothing because they’d still broken up.

  While her relationship with Everett was progressing quickly, the chemistry between them was palpable and all-consuming. They’d moved well beyond the physical when he’d opened up to her about losing his wife. Mariah had watched him struggle with his emotions, and though he’d been open and upfront with her, she hadn’t done the same and she felt guilty. She’d wanted to tell him all, but was scared of how he might react.

  “Well, I figured I had to check on you,” Belinda responded from the other end of the line, “because you’ve been MIA for weeks. Last I heard, you were opening a Myers Coffee Roasters in the bakery. So imagine my surprise when I hear from Grandma that you’ve created a new pastry sensation and didn’t even share it with me.”

  Mariah sighed. “I’m so sorry, Belinda, it’s just been crazy around here. Everything is happening so fast.”

  “Is that because of a certain owner of Myers Coffee Roasters? I know he was coming on pretty strong.”

  Mariah chuckled. “You know it is.” She smiled, thinking of her man.

  “So dish,” Belinda exclaimed. “Catch me up on everything I’ve missed.”

  Mariah filled her in on how well the construction of the Myers Coffee Roasters’ on-site café at the bakery was going. She told her cousin how Everett made his presence known not just for the café, but because of his personal interest in Mariah.

  “So eventually I gave in and agreed to a date,” Mariah continued, “because he wasn’t going to give up.”

  “He’s a smart man,” Belinda replied. “You just needed to be courted.”

  Mariah laughed. “Something like that. And our relationship has blossomed from there and...” She paused for several beats. “Last weekend, we went away together.”

  Belinda giggled like a schoolgirl. “Oh, and how was that?”

  “Scary, exciting, thrilling,” Mariah answered. “It was more than I could have ever imagined. And between us girls, better than any sex Rich and I ever had.”

  “Well then!” Mariah heard Belinda snap her fingers. “So what’s next?”

  Mariah hunched her shoulders as if her cousin could see her. “I don’t know. Everything is going great. I’ve met his parents and and his son, and he’s opened up to me about his deceased wife, but...”

  “But what?”

  “He doesn’t know.”

  “That you might not be able to have kids?” Belinda offered.

  “Yes,” Mariah said, as a solitary tear trickled down her face. She wiped it away with the back of her hand. “What if he wants more kids? What do I do then?”

  “Have you guys talked about children?”

  “No, but—”

  Belinda interrupted her. “No buts. Don’t look at the cart before the horse. If he hasn’t said anything, there’s no reason for you to get upset about a phantom baby.”

  Mariah tried taking a deep breath, but it didn’t work. “You say that now, but Everett is a good man and a wonderful father. I can’t see him not wanting to expand his family.”

  “When the time comes, you guys will talk about it calmly and rationally. You’ll share with him your struggles, and if he’s the man you think he is, the man I suspect you’re falling for, he won’t care.”

  “I hope you’re right,” Mariah said.

  “I am,” Belinda stated emphatically. “You’ll see.”

  As she hung up with her cousin, Mariah certainly hoped she was right, because Belinda was correct about one thing. Mariah was starting to fall hard for Everett and it would break her heart if he turned his back on her. But wasn’t it inevitable, when she was less than a woman?

  * * *

  Mariah stared at the café. They were three weeks into construction and already had framing and rough-ins for the ceiling, electrical and mechanical completed and had received their building inspections. Drywall was now being hung and taped so the seams wouldn’t be visible.

  It was really starting to come together and in a couple more weeks they would be open. Mariah moved away from the storefront. Mariah was heading tow
ard the kitchen to bring out more pastries when to her surprise her father walked in.

  “Daddy!” Mariah rushed toward him, enveloping him in a hug. “What are you doing here?”

  “Well, I thought I’d see how business was coming along.” He glanced at the plywood door covering the café’s entrance. “What’s going on here?”

  “Remember, I told you about it a few weeks ago?” she said. “We’re partnering with Myers Coffee Roasters and we’ll have a café on-site. Isn’t that great?”

  “You got Everett Myers to contribute to this place?”

  “Don’t sound so shocked,” Mariah replied with a frown. Was it entirely out of the realm of possibility that Everett could see potential in Lillian’s?

  “It’s not that, baby girl. I just don’t want you to fail and get in over your heads,” her father said.

  Mariah folded her arms across her chest. “So Mother’s been whispering in your ear.”

  “Oh, now, don’t go harping on your mother. She and I only want what’s best for you, for all of you.”

  “I know, but we have it under control. How about I show you around?” She linked her arm through one of his.

  When they entered the kitchen, Jackson was just as surprised as she was to see their father. “Pops!” He greeted him warmly with a handshake.

  Graham looked around the kitchen with its gleaming ovens, stoves and mixing equipment. “It’s quite an impressive operation you’ve got going on here.”

  “We try,” Jackson said with a sly grin. “Would you like something?” He gestured toward the chocolate chip cookies that he’d just taken out of the oven and were cooling on the racks.

  “Oh, I don’t know.” Their father rubbed his stomach. “You know your mother doesn’t like me eating sweets.”

  “It can’t hurt this once.” Jackson reached over and grabbed a cookie. “Try one.”