Her smiled brightened and instantly, she was distracted with a topic more enjoyable for us both. Fashion. Hope hung up the garment bag she’d tried to sneak in earlier on a nearby rack and unzipped it, revealing at least half a dozen nightgowns. “It’s a little different. but I’ve been working like crazy on it and I think—I hope—you’ll like it.”
“Then let’s see, shall we?” I rounded the counter slowly, taking in all the colors shouting at me as I drew closer. There was silk and lace as far as the eye could see in a variety of sexy and vibrant colors. “These are amazing, Hope.” It was a rainbow of sexy and sassy for all types of women. “These will sell with everyone. Young and old, conservative and adventurous. Especially online.”
“Really? You don’t think it’s too much and too different, too soon?”
“Not at all. I’m more of a ‘strike while the iron is hot’ kind of girl myself, and right now, you are on a roll.” Hope had quickly learned the ropes and found her voice, slowly growing her business. Her big green eyes were wide. And wary. “What?”
“I don’t know, this is all just so unbelievable, I guess. This is going better than I ever imagined, even in my silly girlish dreams.” She shook her head, a pretty blush staining her cheeks. “I owe you so much.”
“Seems to me this isn’t the only dream of yours that’s going better than you imagined as a girl.” My eyebrows arched in a quirk and she laughed.
“Okay, so you have a point,” she conceded with a wide grin.
“And you don’t owe me anything. We make a good team.” At my words, she flung her little pixie body at me and I gladly wrapped her in my arms. It was nice to enjoy this type of female friendship, especially after realizing how one of the most important relationships in my life had meant less than nothing to the other person.
“We make a really good team, but without your encouragement, I’d still be slinging hash at Big Mama’s.” Her phone vibrating on the counter stole her attention and Hope groaned. “Speaking of, I promised Big Mama we’d go over the inventory to see how much it’d cost to update a few menu items. Gotta go!” With another hug, Hope took off, smoke kicking up off her feet.
It was nice, helping another woman achieve her goals, and a warm satisfaction suffused me as I got back to work, taking the box of skirts to the back so I could put them on hangers. Getting lost in work was my superpower, putting in hours and hours of inventory, bookkeeping, marketing, and online order fulfillment allowed me to think of nothing but my business. Nothing but making Pretty Feathers a success. It was the perfect distraction whenever my mind decided to wander to thoughts of Mama and Daddy, Mississippi, Charla and Mitchell. Nonna and Rocky.
The bell sounded in front, indicating someone had entered the store. It was early for shoppers, but as long as they stopped by during operating hours, every customer got a smile and excellent service. “Welcome to Pretty Feathers, I’ll be with you in just a moment!” When they said nothing, I carried on. “Feel free to look around, there are some great clearance items near the fitting rooms!”
The customer continued their silent routine and I shrugged, clipping the last of the skirts to the hangers and eventually making my way out to the front, where I promptly froze at the sight of the last person I expected to see in my shop. Ever. “Are you lost, Nate?”
He had the nerve to look at me and flash one of those smiles I used to think was so charming, until I realized it was just a mask. “Nope. I found just who I was looking for.”
I didn’t bother to return his smile—that would indicate I was happy to see him, and I wasn’t. “You must be mistaken.”
“I’m not.” He frowned, confused that a woman couldn’t possibly be happy to see him, I was sure. “I came here to see you. Why else would I be here?”
That was a loaded question if I’d ever heard one, so I shrugged. “Maybe you’re buying a gift for someone, how would I know?”
“Dammit, Mikki.” The words came out on a low, frustrated growl that may have sent a little shiver of lust through me, but I was a strong and independent woman and ignored it. Completely.
“What are you doing here, Nate? Really, this time.”
“Go on a date with me.” His tone was serious and firm, gone were the charm and the gleam from his eyes.
But I wasn’t sold, not even a little bit. “No, thanks.” There was no way I’d give him—or anyone else, for that matter—a chance to play more games. “You got what you wanted, Nate, there’s no need to make this out to be more than it is. Was,” I quickly corrected.
He rolled his eyes and he when he spoke again, sarcasm dripped from his voice. “And what was it, Mikki? Please, tell me.” Arms crossed, he looked like every condescending man I had ever encountered in my life, so smug and sure that he knew it all.
“A good time and nothing more.” As I’d fallen asleep that night with his arms wrapped around me, maybe, for a moment, I’d pictured Friday night dates and stolen kisses—and, okay, even when I’d woken up the next morning. But the moment I’d felt the cold bed and called out to him in an empty house, I’d banished it all from my mind. It was too soon, and I wasn’t interested.
“Bullshit.”
“Wow, okay. I’ll tell you what’s bullshit, Nate. You, coming in here and acting like you’re doing me some big favor by deciding that you’d like to take me somewhere other than bed. We had a good time—a really good time—but any thoughts I might have had about a date or another round of sex flew out the window about the same time you did.”
“So, that’s it?”
I shrugged. “What else should it be? You’re not even really interested—if you were, it wouldn’t have taken you a full month to seek me out.” I figured he assumed I’d be the one chasing him and, when it was clear that I wouldn’t be, his ego had been bruised.
“I was giving you time to cool down.”
“To forget, you mean. Well, I didn’t forget, Nate, and more importantly, I’m not interested.”
Now came the smirk, slow and sensual. “I bet I can prove you wrong.”
Chemistry and lust, that’s what he was talking about. I laughed as it all became crystal clear. “Sex. Of course, that’s why you’re here.” I folded my arms and took in his big, muscular body—covered in jeans that were a little too baggy and a t-shirt that was just tight enough. He had the whole sexy lumberjack-cowboy thing going on that was pretty damn irresistible.
“There are worse things than sex, Mikki.”
Men. They were all the same, didn’t have one thought didn’t start and end with their dicks. “You want sex, Nate? That’s why you’re here.” It wasn’t a question and if there was any disappointment I felt, I tamped it right back down because there was no place for it here. “Why didn’t you just say so? I’m not opposed to another night of carnal pleasures, but I don’t need the pretense of something more.” I’d had it, bought it and lived to tell the tale of how it bit in the backside. Spectacularly.
“You don’t?” His confusion would have been funny if it weren’t so dang maddening.
I shook my head. “Nope. It keeps things more honest this way, don’t you think?” He looked stunned and I laughed again. “Of course you do,” I told him and added a little extra twang just to see the heat flare in his eyes.
“So, tonight?”
“I’ll be here until seven so if you come over at eight, that’ll give me plenty of time to get ready. Sound good?”
Nate still wore a stunned look, but eventually he nodded. “Great,” he said absently and walked out of the store like he’d just been hit by a car and I watched him go, cataloging his ultra masculine features until my mouth began to water.
“Oh, Mikki, what in the hell have you gotten yourself into?” I had no idea, but it was just going to be a little no-strings sex, I planned to enjoy the hell out of it.
Nate
I found myself standing on Mikki’s doorstep once again, feeling nervous. I didn’t know what it was about this woman, but I constantly felt off-kil
ter, like I was always trying to keep up. Like today in her shop, I’d come in to do the honorable thing—the gentlemanly thing—by asking her out on a date, hoping we could get to know each other and she would change her opinion of me. But what did she do? Turned the tables on me and turned our date into a booty call.
Still, I stopped by Texican’s for dinner and a bucket of strawberry margaritas, then grabbed some flowers from the market and a pack of condoms before coming over. Because no matter what she said, I wouldn’t treat her like that—her or any woman. The women I messed with knew the score and expected nothing more than a good time, but Mikki was different. Everything about her screamed love and marriage and commitment, no matter what she said.
That thought had my finger pressing the doorbell and waiting while my heart beat like it was the lead drummer in a rock band. I had on a nice shirt, clean jeans, and un-scuffed boots, all for tonight. All for Mikki.
The door opened and slowly revealed miles of smooth, tanned legs that led up to red silk at around mid-thigh. I knew when she turned around there would be a golden dragon stretched across her back, but I was interested in the hint of lace that peeked out between her tits. I was hard almost instantly at the sight, the feminine scent of her.
“Nate.” She grinned. “Right on time. Come in.”
This definitely wasn’t the same woman from earlier today. This version of Mikki was happy to see me, even if she was underdressed for dinner. “You, uh, need more time to get ready?”
She laughed. “Do I need to be more ready than this for the night ahead of us?” Batting her dark lashes prettily, she put one hand on her hip and my hands itched to be right there, too, pulling her closer and pressing my cock between her thighs.
“I brought dinner.” Because that was a date: dinner and some other activity before you got down to the getting naked part.
My words caught her off-guard and she fumbled, but only for a second before regaining her composure. “Oh, okay, maybe later. After we’ve worked up an appetite.”
“Dammit, Mikki. What in the hell is going on?” I might not be the smartest guy in the room, but I didn’t like feeling confused. Like I arrived in the middle of the movie.
She blinked, confused—as if she had any right to be confused when I was the one who had apparently took a wrong turn somewhere and ended up in the Twilight Zone. “We’re going to have sex. Again. Unless you’ve changed your mind?”
“And if I have?”
She could play these games if she wanted, but I wasn’t in the mood. Women were too confusing as it was, and this one had me all twisted up.
“Then I’d say good night and maybe I’ll see you around town.”
She was serious. Well, if she wanted a good hard fuck, then I’d give her one. “You sure?”
When she nodded, I walked inside, handing her the bag of food and the flowers. “I know my own mind, yes.” Her tone was sure and just a touch snooty as she walked away towards the kitchen.
“Good.”
“I’m glad you agree.”
“No more talking, Mikki.” I knew that would get her to shut up, if only for a moment. I smiled and tugged on the hem of my t-shirt, pulling it over my head and tossing it somewhere behind me.
“Excuse… me.” Heat lit her hazel eyes, the gold threads burning so bright I had to hold back a groan. “I guess we’re gettin’ to it, then.”
I wouldn’t admit it to her now, but that sexy twang did dangerous things to my libido. My cock strained against my zipper as Mikki tugged on the bow, keeping her robe mostly closed but opening it up enough to reveal perfect pinkish-brown nipples sitting on a shelf of black lace. “Fuck, Mikki.”
Her grin was saucy but the pink on her chest, neck, and face told me everything I needed to know. “That’s the idea here, Nate. Try to keep up, sugar.”
The way the word ‘sugar’ rolled off her tongue had me crossing the room in three strides, then grasping the back of her neck as I hauled her to me for a kiss so fierce it stole my breath for a few seconds. I didn’t miss the way she melted against me or the little moan that escaped when my tongue plunged deep in her hot, wet mouth. If she wanted something cold and impersonal, that’s exactly what she would get. My tongue plunged in and out in hard strokes, dominating strokes that had her delicate hands wrapped around my biceps to keep her on her feet. “Dammit, Mikki.” Somehow, I tore my mouth from hers with a growl and saw that her skin was flushed, her lips swollen and ready for more.
“I would’ve gone for ‘wow,’ but I guess ‘dammit’ works, too.” She shrugged off her robe completely and let it fall to the floor.
Fuck me, she was sexy as hell. And so infuriating. “Just sex, you said?” I needed to clarify because I wanted her too bad right now to be soft and gentle, I couldn’t take another mixed signal. My need was strong, almost primal.
Mikki said nothing, giving just a nod in answer.
“Excellent.” I walked her back until we were inches from the sofa and turned her around, bending her over the arm so I could gaze my fill at her fine, heart-shaped ass. It wasn’t enough and I slid her panties to the side, giving me the perfect picture of plump pink lips, swollen and slick with desire. “Fuck.” She was perfect. And pulsing and wet. So, so wet.
She arched her back as the cool air hit her pussy and a shiver tore through her. “Yes,” she groaned when I slid a finger between her folds, testing if she was as ready as I suspected. She was. “Nate,” she moaned, and that was all it took.
I grasped one hip in my hand and the back of her neck with the other, holding her exactly where I wanted her as I lined my cock up with her soaked center. Shock coursed through my veins when she didn’t protest and instead arched against me. And then I was there, buried to the hilt as a low, keening moan stole from her lips. “Oh, fuck.” She was as tight and hot and wet as I remembered, and just as responsive, too. “Fuck, Mikki.”
A sexy, throaty moan erupted from her lips and she pushed back against me, urging me to move. “Nate, please.”
I don’t know how she knew the begging would be my weak spot—hell, I wasn’t even sure I knew it—but that guttural plea tore through my body and stripped away all the polite, gentlemanly parts fighting to come to the surface. I kept my hands where they were, on her hips and the back of her neck, and I plunged deep. Hard and deep, in fast strokes that produced a thick coat of sweat over my body, sending a few drops sliding down my back. I gave Mikki exactly what she wanted—hard and fast and impersonal, waiting for her relent, to give up this foolishness.
Instead, she moaned and pushed back against me, silently begging for more with her body. She pulsed and groaned every time my cock slid deep, so deep she shivered and her legs started to buckle. “Nate, yes! Just like that. Just…” Her words trailed off when I slammed in hard and deep. “Yes,” she cried, clutching the fabric of the sofa as pleasure overwhelmed her.
For my part, all I could do was focus on the small cluster of freckles at the small of her back as I gave her exactly what she wanted. That little cluster was like a constellation of stars that made some shape or message I couldn’t quite figure out, not when she began to clamp down on my cock and moisture flooded her thighs. “Mikki.”
“More, Nate. Please.”
Any resemblance of control I might have had snapped and I tilted her hips just enough to change the angle so I could go even deeper, lifting her feet right off the ground. Suspended in the air with my hands on her hip and now the middle of her back, Mikki was completely at my mercy. And it turned me the fuck on. Big time.
Mikki, too, apparently, judging by the cries of pleasure coming from her sweet mouth, the way she kept tightening and fluttering around my cock as it pounded harder and faster, like an animal, into her wet heat. Deeper and deeper I thrust into her, and all she did was moan and beg for more. Like this was enough. Like a good hard fuck was all she deserved.
It pissed me off for her, that she didn’t want more, and I fucked her even harder. The harder I pounded, the more s
he moaned, and that only made me pound harder. In anger and in lust.
“Nate,” she cried out breathlessly and a second later, I slid as deep as I could. She began to shake, hard and fast, as a violent orgasm ripped through her. “Nate,” she said again, this time on a growl.
My hand left her back and went to her other hip, holding her tight while I searched for my own pleasure inside of hers. She pulsed tight around me, her pussy squeezing me until my own orgasm came hard and fast, exploding out of every pore in my body. It was hard and intense and more impersonal than I’d ever experienced. “Mikki.” Her name came out on a harsh, satisfied, but somehow still frustrated breath.
She collapsed over the arm of the sofa, sinking into the fabric with a soft, nervous laugh filled with satisfaction. “That was… amazin’!”
It was, dammit. But it was also so far from what a woman like her deserved from a man, it was maddening. And now, I was mad.
I took a step back, and then another, until the cool air in the room hit my soaked cock and a groan stole from my lips. “Glad I could be of service. Hope you’re happy,” I growled as I pulled my pants up and took another step back.
“I am,” she replied, completely unaware of my distress until she turned around. “You’re not.”
“You wanted just sex, right? A good hard fuck?”
My tone must have given away that it was anger I felt and nothing else. “That’s what you wanted, too, Nate.”
She was wrong, but I didn’t bother to correct her because I was too damn angry and because it wouldn’t make a damn bit of difference. “See ya around, Mikki.”
With that, I stomped to the door, feeling out of sorts. Feeling like a petulant child who’d just had my ball taken away because I was losing the game. Aw, hell, I was feeling like an asshole as soon as the door shut behind me.
I turned, ready to go back inside, but the sound of two locks engaging told me it was too late for that. Instead, I went to my car and sat inside, trying to get my head screwed back on straight.
Misters of Love: A Small Town Romance Boxset Page 5
