by Vi Keeland
“So what are we watching today?” It was Shauna’s turn to pick the movie, so I knew it was a b horror flick without asking.
“Evil Ranger.” Shauna smiled. “It’s about a park ranger that kills campers in the state park and blames it on wild bears.”
“Sounds riveting.”
***
It was almost nine before my phone rang and I was glad that he hadn’t called while Shauna was still here. I didn’t want to see the disappointment in her eyes if things didn’t turn out according to her grand scheme.
“Hey.” I said quietly into the phone.
“Hi.” His voice was low.
I rehearsed what I was going to say to him in my head for the last hour, but the words were lost when I heard his voice. “I saw the paper, I’m so sorry. It wasn’t what it looked like…not at all.”
“Hope…” My stomach dropped as he said my name. I knew what was coming next. I loved this man, I had to try.
“Kennedy, he did ask me out, but I told him I had a boyfriend and then he said my boyfriend was a lucky bastard and they took that picture when I laughed at him calling you a lucky bastard because he didn’t know I was the lucky one and, and.” I was rambling. “and I don’t want to lose you over a picture of something that didn’t mean anything to me but somebody made look like something and…”
“Hope.” He interrupted me and I swallowed my thoughts. “I’m sorry.” God no, he can’t do this to me. He has to believe me. I waited for the rest of the speech. I knew what was coming… I’m sorry I don’t want to see you anymore. He continued. “I’m sorry I accused you of something you didn’t do.”
He’s sorry he accused me? Not sorry he was breaking up with me? I started to cry. “I’m sorry I stayed, I should have left when I saw Jeremy brought a friend.”
“Fuck, Hope. Please don’t cry. I was an asshole.”
“I deserved it.”
“No, you didn’t. I’m sorry beautiful.” His voice softened.
We talked for a while longer and when we hung up relief flooded over me. Is it possible Shauna was right?
Chapter 17
My flight to Chicago the day before Thanksgiving was early. We were meeting in the terminal and I couldn’t wait to see Kennedy. So much had happened in the ten days we were apart and I was anxious to see if what I thought we had was still there. We had almost four hours before the flight to Oregon and our plan was to get some lunch and hang out in the executive lounge, where Kennedy was a member.
Two steps into the terminal from the gangplank and I saw him. He was standing at the counter and two attractive flight attendants were talking to him. I suddenly panicked. What if things were different? What if our fight and the time we spent apart had made things change? My heart raced and I could feel my knees tremble. He turned and saw me. The flight attendants didn’t notice that they had lost his attention. Our eyes locked and he smiled at me. The bright full on dimples smile that stopped my heart the first time I saw him. He lifted me up and held me so tight I could barely breathe. Then he kissed me, right in front of the gawking flight attendants. Not a hello kiss, but a Hollywood movie kiss. The kind that makes fireworks go off in your head and people stop and stare wishing it was them. By the time we came up for air, I wasn’t worried that things had changed anymore.
“Let’s get out of here.” His voice was gruff and sexy.
I smiled and shook my head. We took off through the airport in a sprint. I had no idea where we were going, but I wanted to get there with Kennedy. As we were about to go through security, I stopped, “Wait. Where are we going? We have to go through security again for our next flight.”
“There is a hotel and conference center attached to the terminal. I’ll order us room service in between fucking you the first time and making love to you the second.” His eyes were dark with need.
One eyebrow arched, “We can eat on the flight to save time.”
A crooked smile and one deep dimple. “That’s my girl. Let’s go.”
***
We were barely inside the room when we began tearing off each other’s clothes. I didn’t want him, I needed him. I needed him inside me so badly it physically hurt. He unbuttoned only enough buttons on my blouse to reach my bra. He quickly pushed the silk back with his thumb and freed my nipples. He took one nipple into his mouth and sucked hard and then bit down before releasing it for the next one.
He lifted my skirt up and it bunched around my waist. One tug and he ripped my panties from my body. I gasped. His fingers quickly dove into my pussy. “Jesus Christ you’re so wet for me already.” He lifted me up and carried me over to the desk and cleared it with his free hand with one swoop. Everything fell to the floor. I finished unbuttoning his pants and freed him. He was hard as steel. I stroked the length of him and he let out a low groan. The sound was deep and erotic and my body reacted to just the sensation of his need.
He positioned me on the desk, the height of the tall desk aligned perfectly with his hips. His lips covered mine hard and I could feel the tip of his wide head against my clit. He turned his head slightly and deepened the kiss while his hips circled and then in one long stroke he buried himself until the root of his cock was pressed up against me. I whimpered with the pain of sudden fullness stretching me to my limit and my hands on his shoulders tightened, my nails digging into his back. He cursed under his breath and stayed planted deep inside me for a while before moving. His hands held my hips tightly in place and began pumping into me with a fury. I moaned and he sensed I was on the edge. “Look at me Hope, I want to watch you cum.” I opened my eyes. His face was inches from mine. He looked so serious and beautiful as he stared into my eyes. My orgasm didn’t have time to build, it hit square on like a ton of bricks. His strong hard strokes, his wanton need and his commanding voice were all too much. I moaned as it rolled over me. It felt so good I didn’t want it to ever stop.
“Please don’t stop, please, please.” He moved with such strong rhythmic pumps that I didn’t have time to recover from the first one when the second one rolled on top of the first. “Fuck Hope, I’m going to explode, I can’t hold back.” He came with a ferocious growl and I felt him arms tighten on my hips and then loosen with a tremble. He continued to thrust into me for a minute, but the thrusts softened and he found my mouth once again. He kissed me softly, tender and full of emotion. A tear escaped my eye before I could pull it back. He ended the kiss and rested his forehead against mine. Both of us still breathing ragged. I watched him follow the path of my tears down my face. He brushed the hair off my face and his thumb gently wiped the tears.
“Jesus, Hope.” He studied my face and it made my heart do a flip. His emotions were on display on his face and he wasn’t trying to hide them. It made my heart swell.
I smiled . “That was amazing. You are amazing.”
He pulled me into his chest and squeezed me so tight it hurt. But I didn’t care, I didn’t want him to move an inch. He kissed my neck and I could feel his breaths slow down my back. We stayed that way a few minutes and then he pulled back and looked at me. “I need to feed you.”
He ordered room service and when it arrived there was enough food for six. I looked at the food and then to him. “Umm, Kennedy, are you starving or something?”
He looked at the food confused for a moment. “Damn, my brain wasn’t functioning yet when I ordered. I don’t even remember ordering any of it.”
We both laughed and then we ate too much and Kennedy kept his word and made love to me for round two.
***
We barely made it to our flight on time. I wasn’t surprised when we boarded the plane that Kennedy had upgraded my ticket to first class. Aside from the fact that it must be difficult to fit his six foot two body in a regular seat, I’d already learned that when Kennedy bought things, he bought the best. As we entered the cabin the flight attendant did a double take when she saw Kennedy. “Good evening Mr. Jenner. We don’t usually see you on this route. Can I take your coat?”
Always the gentleman when outside of the bedroom, he turned to me. “Hope, can I take your coat?” He handed both coats to the attractive woman. She did her best attempt at a smile, but seemed put off at having to take more than Kennedy’s coat. She turned to me with a sugary fake smile “Oh, I didn’t realize that you had an assistant joining you today.”
Kennedy started to speak but I beat him to it. “The only assistant he has on this flight is you.” I smiled back with all the sugar I could muster as I took his hand and we made our way to our seats.
When I finally noticed Kennedy was watching me, he held my eyes and leaned in. “That little attitude you threw just made me hard. What the hell are you doing to me?”
I smiled at him and arched one eyebrow. I didn’t look away while I motioned for the flight attendant and spoke. “M’aam, may I have a white wine and Kennedy will have a Scotch, no ice.”
Kennedy laughed and shook his head.
The flight was uneventful. Kennedy and I talked quietly for the first hour. He told me about his trip to London and the deal he was working on and I told him about Shauna’s latest conquest. When the captain dimmed the cabin lights, I snuggled into him and he put his arm around me. I rested my head on his chest and his heartbeat soothed me as I lay there feeling warm, happy and content.
I must have dozed off for an hour, because the next thing I knew the captain was overhead asking the flight attendants to prepare for landing. “How was your nap, sleepy head?” He kissed my forehead tenderly.
I righted myself in my seat and started to think of the eminent visit with my dad and step mother. I was nervous about bringing Kennedy home and afraid being around Candace and her girls would tear any confidence I had developed to shreds as soon as I was back in their presence. Would Kennedy see what they saw when they looked at me? Kennedy saw New Hope and I didn’t want to disappoint him when he discovered the real Old Hope.
I shifted in my chair, unable to relax at the realization of what was soon to come. “What are you nervous about beautiful?” He was already so good at reading me.
Luckily a good explanation came to mind. One that was not totally a lie. “Umm…I’m about to see my dad for the first time in three months and I have no underwear on and I’m afraid I look like I just had three hours of mindblowing sex.”
“You look beautiful. Like the angel that you are. But every time I look at that skirt I remember you have no panties on and I picture that skirt bunched up around your waist. Your dad has a gun. I think I am the one that should be nervous.”
***
“My house isn’t exactly the luxury you grew up in Kennedy.” I looked out the window as we drove through the small town of Florence. It was odd to be back home, even though I had only been gone four months. The houses all seemed so small and rundown now, although I had never noticed it when I lived here. New York was so filled with life and luxury, and it made the empty streets lined with small houses seem worlds away.
The homes were small but quaint, spread out between lawns that were now brown. The trees were already bare and summer flowers long gone. Driveways were made of rocks, not bricks, and were lined with old cars. A few houses had run down old cars on the laws between houses that looked like projects long forgotten. I wasn’t sure if Kennedy didn’t notice or if he just didn’t mention it.
“I don’t care if you grew up in a cardboard box, Hope. Besides, growing up with money isn’t exactly what it’s cracked up to be. My father was always at work and my mom was always out on the society or charity circuit playing a part. The size of a house doesn’t really matter when it’s always empty.”
I had warned him that my Dad would be apprehensive about him. Being in the service had made him wary of people and it took him longer than most to offer trust to people’s intentions. And, being that he was coming home with his only daughter, I expected my dad to be more apprehensive than usual. He would be polite, but he wouldn’t get the same warmness that Dad reserved for me.
I told him a bit about Candace and her daughters, but I didn’t tell him about how much she really hated me. I left him to assume that any tension between us was probably because of how close I was to my Dad and that she was my step mother. I wasn’t ready to share the whole story of her years of torture and I might never be.
We pulled into the driveway and I looked at the house. Everything looked the same but yet it all felt so different. I didn’t live there anymore. It was the first time I was going to be a guest in my house. I took a deep breath in and exhaled slowly. Dad walked through the front door and out onto the big white wraparound porch. He smiled at me. “You going to sit there and look at the house or you going to come in baby girl?” He took a swig of his beer, smiled and headed toward the car.
At fifty four, my dad could still pass for forty. Six feet tall and lean with an athletic body that he worked hard to maintain. He wore his usual jeans and t-shirt and his feet were bare. He had the start of some grey in his dark thick hair, which would soon turn into salt and pepper. Like me, he had green eyes and a pale complexion. He held himself like he was still in the service and had a naturally quiet demeanor that worked in his line of business because it kept people talking and allowed him to take it all in.
I hugged Dad and he lifted me up and spun me around. We’d been doing that dance since I could walk and I had forgotten how good it felt. I suddenly felt like a little girl again. Kennedy walked around the car and introduced himself, and the two shook hands. Kennedy caught me smiling looking at the two of them together and gave me a quiet smirk and head shake.
My momentary happiness came to a screeching halt when I walked in the door. Candace stood there eyeing me in between my dad and Kennedy with a murderous look on her face. She looked more glamorous than usual. Tall and thin with big blue eyes, a straight nose and mounds of well dyed blonde hair. Her lips were pink and pouty and her cheekbones were model high. She had a full, gleaming white smile that showed perfectly straight teeth when she turned her attention to Kennedy. “You must be Hope’s friend. Welcome to our home.” He accepted her hand and I wasn’t sure if Kennedy had noticed that his handshake was more contact than I had received from her.
Dad asked Kennedy what he was drinking and I was surprised when he told him beer. Dad brought me a glass of white wine and Candace requested water. We all stood around while dad and Kennedy talked about the flight and I watched as Candace eyed Kennedy. Her eyes studied him up and down and I was disgusted to see a look that said she liked what she saw, and not in a motherly sort of way.
After a while we all sat in the living room and I poured myself a second glass of wine. Kennedy seemed relaxed and comfortable and sat next to me on the couch with his arm casually around the back of my seat. His presence and the wine were helping me to relax me until Candace decided it was time for her interrogation to start. “So Kennedy, how did you two meet?”
“I was a guest at The Monet, the hotel where Hope works.”
“A guest? Don’t you live in the city?”
“Actually, I live in Chicago.”
“Chicago? Well that must be difficult for a relationship.”
“It’s not the best situation, but we seem to have managed okay by taking turns flying on the weekends.”
I felt dad’s eyes on my face. I knew he wouldn’t be happy with the idea of my traveling to Chicago all the time. “Kennedy picks me up at the airport in Chicago and has his driver take me to the airport in New York, Dad.” I spoke directly to Dad, even though he had not asked a question. I knew from his face that he was concerned. He did his best at a small smile and nodded his head once.
“Well, that must get very expensive for you two to be traveling all the time.” Candace wasn’t going to give up until she founds something wrong.
“Candace….please.” I felt the flush spread up my face.
“What, I’m just concerned for you?” Yeah right. Like there was ever a day where you had concern for anyone but yourself.
“It’s
okay Hope, I understand why she might be concerned. The truth is money isn’t an issue. I have a successful business and a trust fund that will support my great grandchildren some day.”
It was Candace’s turn to turn pink. Only she wasn’t embarrassed she was pissed. I knew exactly what she was thinking. Why would this gorgeous wealthy man be with me?
I turned to Kennedy. “You don’t have to explain any more, I’m sure my Dad already knows more about your finances than I do.” Kennedy looked at my Dad and met his gaze. Something seemed to pass between them, although no words were spoken. It was a male language that women were never taught. But I could tell Kennedy was okay with whatever Dad had told him.
***
Thanksgiving morning was a blur of cooking and cleaning up and Candace and I managed to work in the kitchen for hours with only a few snide comments thrown my way. Dad and Kennedy were in the den watching football when Ashley and Amanda made their grand appearance. I was busy stuffing the turkey when Candace ran to the door to greet them. I could hear her fussing about how beautiful they looked and how excited she was that they were home for the entire weekend from graduate school.
Ashley burst into the kitchen a few minutes later followed by Candace. They must have gone into the den to say hello to my Dad and met Kennedy. “Oh. My. God. Mom, why didn’t you tell me that you were having a gorgeous man for Thanksgiving? I look a mess!”
“Are you talking about the guy sitting with Dad watching the game?” This was going to be fun.
“Umm…yeah, did you look at him?”
I smiled smugly. “I look at him all the time Ashley, that’s my boyfriend.” I had never actually called him my boyfriend out loud, but I liked the sound of it.
Ashley’s mouth was actually hanging open. I looked at Candace who looked as if steam was about to shoot from her ears. “Close your mouth Ash, you might catch a fly.” I smiled and twisted the tops off two beers to bring my men.
