by Holley Trent
“And probably go work in the family business.”
Caught short on words, Tim closed his mouth. He had thought that for a long time, but as Kevin had approached his high school graduation, it didn’t seem likely. Kevin hadn’t seemed to want to do anything at all, so of course, Tim and Heidi had tried to plant some seeds that he should thinking seriously about adulthood. To no avail, of course.
“Would that be such a bad thing, though?” Tim asked. “People fight to give their kids security so they won’t have to struggle so hard and so they can have more than they did. All the work I’ve done in the past twenty years was so that you would have a legacy.”
“You mean the kids from your next family.”
“You’re still my kid. You’re not going to stop being my kid just because I happen to think one isn’t enough. Me thinking that doesn’t mean in any way that you weren’t enough.”
“Whatever.”
“That’s your answer to everything you don’t want to confront, isn’t it? Whatever. Instead of just putting together sentences and hashing it out with me—letting me be your advocate—you prefer to make me play these guessing games. I try my damnedest to know what’s going on with you, and I shouldn’t have to get all my information second- and third-hand when you live in my house half the time.”
Kevin shrugged again.
Tim gripped the steering wheel harder and ground his teeth, stilled his tongue. So often, Kevin made him so impotently angry in a way no other person on Earth could, but he was his father and he didn’t want Kevin to ever think he couldn’t speak his mind and say what was in his heart, even if it was dead wrong.
He dropped Kevin off at the probation officer’s building and waited for Kevin to walk past security, then parked the truck near the entrance.
Tim fished his phone out of the pocket of his khakis and, letting out a long, ragged exhalation, typed out a text message to Valerie. He’d promised himself he wasn’t going to one to keep pursuing, but given the circumstances, he didn’t see where he had a choice.
Is there some sort of letter I need to pick up for Kevin? he sent.
I’ll give it to him when I see him next week. The deadline isn’t urgent.
“Fuck.” He’d gotten absolutely no information out of that. He decided to try a different tactic.
This isn’t for his probation officer, is it?
No. I don’t know anything about that.
“Dammit.” Tim drummed his fingers along the windowsill and came up with one other bone of contention.
Was that Carine driving Kevin’s car? The Camaro?
I don’t know anything about it being Kevin’s. She said it was a loaner and that it had been delivered to her by a tow driver with the documentation.
And where did she think it’d come from?
She didn’t think. She gets stuff sent to her all the time from people who want to be her sugar daddies, I guess.
Tim scoffed, but he had to admit that sounded a lot like Carine. She tended to be a fairly independent woman, but she wouldn’t turn down gifts that would make her life easier if they landed right in front of her face. “Why struggle when what I need is there with no strings attached?” she always said.
He fired off a text message to Heidi next. Really? You loaned Kevin’s car to Carine?
He could just imagine her sigh as he read her response.
Temporarily. I plan on selling it and tucking the money into savings until he screws his head on. When he’s gotten some things figured out, I’ll help him get something else—in his own name.
“Ah.” She’d always been a smart cookie. As far as wives went, she was hard to top.
A message from Valerie came in on the tails of that. I hate to ask, but are you free for a conversation?
Why would you hate to ask?
No response came quickly, so Tim unfastened his seatbelt and slumped lower in his seat. He pulled up the weather forecast on his phone and pondered a trip out on the boat, just to clear his head. The salt air was always good for that.
Valerie responded, Are you free?
Not presently. I’m waiting for Kevin.
Again, he waited. There was no precipitation forming anywhere near the coast so it might have been the perfect time to sail before the business got slammed with fall promotional events, races, deliveries, and all sorts of circumstances that would require that he, the sales team, and admin team be everywhere at once. By October, he’d want to clone himself in triplicate.
He texted Heidi, I think I’m going to sail tonight.
’K. I’ll be home by the time Kevin will.
Do you know anything about him needing a letter for something?
A letter? No, why?
“Dammit.”
Valerie responded, Later?
What do you want? He winced as the little bar indicated the message was in the queue to be sent. He’d typed it without thought and from a place of hurt, and they weren’t the diplomatic words people expected from him. But he wasn’t really in the mood for diplomacy. He was in the mood for action, and he was weary from the will-she-won’t-she nonsense.
I want to tell you some things. To explain some things.
Why?
Because it’s important.
“Fuck.” Tim let out another long breath and straightened up as Kevin’s bright white shirt appeared in the municipal building’s doorway. He had to find out what Valerie needed to say. The curiosity would eat him alive if he didn’t hear her out.
I’m going out on the boat tonight. Meet me at the dock at nine. He wanted to type “take it or leave it,” but decided it’d be a hair too aggressive and she was skittish enough that she’d probably choose the latter. In spite of everything, he didn’t want her to leave it.
Should I bring anything?
He suspected she was asking if she was spending the night. He could read between the lines well enough.
He wanted her to. He wanted to hold her, fuck her, and—yeah—see what she had to say that would make any difference, but that was all on her. He wasn’t going to beg—he’d never had to with anyone else.
As Kevin climbed up into the truck, Tim typed, If you want to. I’m pushing off from shore by ten. I’ll be back Sunday night.
He didn’t bother adding “If you don’t go with me.” She was smart enough to read between the lines, too.
He tucked the phone into the door pocket and pulled the seatbelt across his body.
“How’d it go?” he asked Kevin.
“Fine. They might cut me loose from probation early.”
“That’s great news. How’d you swing that?”
“You don’t think I’m capable of good behavior?” Kevin groused.
Tim groaned. He didn’t know what he could do to get Kevin to stop assuming the worst of him, except to be patient. All he could do was try. “I know you’ve been good. Frank said so.” Tim backed out of the diagonal space and headed toward Heidi’s. “I know that it’s in the best interest of the county to keep you hooked as long as possible so they get their probation fees, so the fact they’re going to let you off means you’re doing great.”
“Yeah.” Kevin put his head against the window and closed his eyes.
“Not gonna elaborate?”
Kevin said nothing.
Tim didn’t either.
They rode in silence to Heidi’s, and said nothing more, even when Kevin hopped out.
Heidi walked to the driver’s side and Tim let down his window.
“See if you can get some words out of him,” Tim said. “Maybe we can compare notes when I get back. Between the two of us, we might get an entire story.”
“What specifically am I fishing for?”
“I know Valerie is supposed to be writing some kind of letter for him, and that he might be released from probation early.”
“Could those two things be connected?”
“I don’t know but I’m going to see Valerie tonight. I’ll see what I can find out from her.�
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Heidi pushed up an eyebrow. “And not just about Kevin, I bet.”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Right, Tim. If you think it’ll help your cause any, I’ll hogtie her the next time I see her and not free her until she sees reason.”
“I regret ever teaching you to tie knots.”
“Well, you got a good lesson in trade, didn’t you?” She wriggled her tongue at him, clasped her hands behind her back, and backed away.
“Yeah, it was a good lesson.” He smirked. He didn’t regret that getting that lesson one little bit.
___
Parked at the waterfront at 9:05, Valerie sat in her car, gripping the steering wheel, staring contemplatively through the windshield.
She was having serious second thoughts. Tim hadn’t seemed all that enthusiastic about seeing her, and she could hardly blame him. No one wanted to be strung along and he’d been clear about what he wanted. But it hurt that he could go cold so quickly.
She was about to lock her car doors, put her seatbelt back on and leave, but she forced herself to grip the steering wheel tighter and stay put. Leaving would have been cowardly, and she knew she was just looking for one excuse to run away and not confront Tim in the way she needed to.
He’d been honest with her, so she’d do the same with him. She didn’t know what she expected to come of the conversation, but she hoped he’d at least be gentle with her. Patient with her. She’d never been in a situation before where she’d even considered making room in her regimented life for someone else, but men like Tim weren’t exactly a dime a dozen. Letting him off the hook would be reckless, even if she wasn’t completely ready for the same things he wanted.
Concentrating so intently on the situation at hand, she nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of the knock against the window beside her. She clutched her heart as her vision focused on Tim leaning down and staring into the dark car. Memories flashed of the first time he’d leaned down to see into a car she was in. He didn’t look so curious now. Just impatient.
She pulled her trunk lever and got out, meeting Tim at the back of the car.
“Thanks for meeting me here. I—”
“Do you need that?” He pointed to the tote in the trunk.
“Um…do I? I mean…”
“Are you spending the night?”
“Are you inviting me onto your boat?” She hadn’t wanted to be presumptuous. For all she knew, he was taking his parents out for another spin. He hadn’t been especially talkative during their last conversation.
“If you come onto my boat, you’re spending the night. I’m not coming back tonight.”
“Well, I don’t have any plans for tomorrow, so…” She shrugged.
He grabbed the bag and shut the trunk. “Lock up.”
She did and followed him onto the pier and down to his boat’s dock.
They didn’t talk, beyond polite utterances like excuse me and sorry for bumping you and watch your step.
He stowed her bag in the bedroom, gestured to the fridge as if she should help herself, and made his way to the front of the boat, likely to prepare to launch.
She stood in the galley, clutching her hands in front of her belly and staring at the moon’s reflection on the gently rolling waves. The moon reminded her of another tough conversation she’d had to have recently. She’d been at Shora near the boat ramp, talking to the Paulsens about various and sundry things, including how they sometimes entertained outdoors at night. The habit made the deck Valerie had added to their home plan that much more important to them, but it also made her think about lifestyle and habits and how Valerie had yet to develop any of her own.
She didn’t entertain because she had no life and no home. Her lifestyle—or lack thereof—had never bothered her before, but watching the Paulsen kids chatter excitedly about the next phase of their lives and their new home had broken her heart in unexpected ways.
She wasn’t usually so susceptible to sentiment. She’d trained herself not to be, but she was tired of chasing the brass ring at the expense of a gold one. She wasn’t going to give up—and that was what she wanted to tell Tim. She wasn’t going to give up on making a name for herself, but maybe he would be open to a bit a compromise. It didn’t have to be all or nothing.
She grabbed a bottle of water out of the refrigerator then rooted through Tim’s book drawer. She found the novel she hadn’t gotten a chance to finish the last time she’d been aboard and headed into the bedroom.
She curled up on the bed and let her gaze track across the lines of the story, fighting her sleepiness admirably, even if she found herself reading the same paragraphs over and over.
She probably made it down one whole page before she fell asleep.
The next thing she registered was an iron-strong grip on her ankles and being tugged down the bed.
She opened her eyes to the dark and found Tim standing at the foot of the bed, unfastening his belt.
The gentle bobbing of the boat indicated they were on open water and the near-blackness of the room that the hour was late.
Tim discarded his polo shirt and pushed down his pants, but not before pulling the belt free from the loops. He wrapped the long strip of leather around his fist and leaned onto the bed. His pale gaze held equal parts hunger and dare.
Her pussy dripped for both.
“What are you wearing for me, pretty girl?”
Her hand went reflexively to the tie at the side of her wrap dress, and she swallowed hard.
“Did you dress the way I like with easy access or are you all sewn up today?”
“I was sewn up…until I changed. I put on something else.”
“And you kept your hair down for me.”
“I hoped you’d like it.”
“Why the sudden interest in impressing me?”
Because she was desperate for his attention and wanted to make sure she got it.
She couldn’t say that, though, not with any degree of decorum.
“I hoped you’d…want me.”
He drew in a long breath through his nose and dragged his gaze down her body. “What do you want me to do to you?”
“Whatever you’d like.” Just touch me.
“Maybe you should be a little more specific,” he said. “If you leave me up to my own devices, you might get more than you bargained for.”
“We can bargain if you’d like. Is negotiation what you want right now?”
“I don’t want to negotiate. I want to take what I need.”
“So do it.” She shrugged off her dress and let it fall back onto the bed. “You wanted to see. There you go.”
He raked his gaze down her torso and leaned in to push the fabric away from her hips, exposing her hips and thighs for his scrutiny. “No panties.”
“You wanted access.”
And she wanted to be touched. She wanted to make that unambiguous and easy.
He looped his arms beneath her knees and dragged her farther down the bed so her ass was at the edge. He pushed her thighs as far apart as they could go and knelt in front of her, his gaze heated, but his expression was so neutral.
She bit down on her bottom lip to keep the words at bay so she wouldn’t accidentally say anything to discourage him. She wanted him steering the ship, in more ways than one, and wanted to give him her compliance. She craved his satisfaction.
He skimmed the end of the belt down her cleft, tickling her swollen clit and making her hole quiver with want. “I don’t know what I want from you tonight.” He skimmed the belt end down again.
She bit down even harder and tried her damnedest to not close her knees at the excruciating teasing.
“I want to put you through your paces. I want you on your knees and so fucking uncomfortable. I want to see tears beading at the corners of your eyes and your forehead creasing with desperation. I want to hear you panting for relief and also because you want my cock in you so bad.”
Standing, he threaded his fi
ngers through the back of her hair and pulled her head forward, crushing her lips against his erection and creating friction against the fabric of his boxer shorts. She wanted to taste him, but not through that fabric…and not without being told she could.
Please let me.
“I want your cheek to the floor, your arms tied tight, and your ass presented to me so I can whip it hard and watch your juices slip down your thighs. Would you like that? You want me to slam my fingers into you in between lashes of my belt?”
“Yes.”
“Or maybe you’d like me to stretch your ass and shove my cock into it until you can’t even remember your name, much less why I’m so angry.”
He dropped the belt to the floor and let out a long, ragged exhalation.
“And I am angry. Maybe it’s not right that I am, but I’m never going to be anything but honest with you. Do you want to know why I’m angry?”
She nodded, but she already knew. Tim was angry because he was unsatisfied. He was angry because he thought he was being barred from having something that that should have been easy to have.
He stood and dropped his boxer shorts. He left her at the foot of the bed and opened the dresser drawer she knew contained paraphernalia. However, he didn’t grab a toy or implement, but just a condom which he put on himself without delay or showmanship.
Grasping the undersides of her knees again, he draped her legs over his shoulders and then pressed his hands flat to the bed on either side of her head. “I’m a man who knows his worth and my value doesn’t have anything to do with the balance of my bank account, how many businesses I own, or what connections I have.” He teased his cock against her entrance, and it clenched around nothing, frustrating her to no end.
She wanted him so badly and needed that edge taken off.
“It’s about what I can give to a woman. What I want to give to a woman, and I haven’t wanted to give it to anyone as much as you.”
He pressed into her in one urgent thrust that had her body clenching and throat constricting.
