“About my father.” Blunt was always best with Keisha.
Keisha huffed into the phone loudly as if Willow had asked for money. “Why do you want to know about that bastard?”
“I just do,” Willow hedged. “Who is he? Have I ever met him?”
“He’s a piece of shit who ran out on both of us.”
“Yes, so you’ve said,” Willow replied exasperatedly. “But I still would like to know who he is.”
“Are you planning on finding him?” Keisha asked, anger causing her voice to rise in pitch. A bang echoed in Willow’s ear, and she assumed Keisha had slammed down her coffee cup.
“I haven’t decided on that yet. I plan to do a little research first, see what I can learn about him before I make my decision,” Willow reasoned.
“That’s the stupidest fucking thing I’ve ever heard,” Keisha yelled through the phone. “The man is a piece of shit. He doesn’t want to know you now, just like he didn’t want to know you when you were born.”
Willow’s anger spiked, and her calm reasoning died. “Mother, where did that money come from? You know, once every few months you’d get a bunch of money out of nowhere? You told me it was from my father.” Silence. “Mother?”
“So, he sent us money sometimes. That doesn’t make him a decent person.”
Willow was tempted to ask what happened to that money. Because even though the money was supposed to be for food and stuff, Willow would bet money her mother spent most of it on drugs. The fridge had been empty often, as had the pantry, and Willow’s clothes were always secondhand until she had a job and could buy her own. Her mother was no parent, though she pretended like a pro.
Sighing, Willow asked, “Mom, just tell me his name so I can make my own decision.”
“No.”
Willow was surprised. She hadn’t expected her mother to refuse her. “What do you mean no?”
“You don’t need to know him, Willow.”
With a bitterness she didn’t know was inside her, she yelled, “Why the hell not? Is he going to tell me things about you I don’t know? I doubt that! I saw it all! The men, the drugs, the drinking. He can’t possibly know anything I don’t already!”
“Don’t talk to me that way! I raised you the best I could, by myself! You ungrateful little bitch!”
“Ungrateful! Sure, I’m ungrateful. I guess you’ve forgotten about all the times I gave you money.”
“You owe me, girl! I put a roof over your head, food on the table!”
“I put food on the table most nights! For myself because you were too high or drunk or gone with some man! Don’t try that bullshit with me! You call my father a piece of shit? You’re the piece of shit! I remember the men you brought home! I remember walking in and seeing what you were doing! I’m surprised you didn’t sell me for drugs.”
Willow’s heart hammered in her chest, and her breaths were ragged. She refused to apologize, though. The rage had finally escaped, and she hadn’t been able to stop the words from pouring out of her mouth.
A quiet sniffle from the other end, barely audible, erupted. Willow rolled her eyes. She had learned long ago that her mother’s tears were usually fake. “I can’t believe you’d say that.”
“Mother, tell me my father’s name.”
After an insincere sob, one which Willow doubted was accompanied by tears, her mother whispered, “Pablo.”
Willow gasped internally. “Pablo who?”
“I can’t remember his last name.”
“You’re lying,” Willow accused.
“No, I’m not! I have no reason to lie!”
“Of course not,” Willow replied, her voice filled with sarcasm. She sighed yet again and said, “I have to go, Mom. Talk to you later.”
“Wait, I need to ask you something,” Keisha called as Willow pulled the phone away from her ear to end the call.
“What?” Her voice was dispassionate, uncaring. After confessing her real feelings to her mother, she felt not only a sense of relief, but a readiness to let her mother fade out of her life. She was an addict, had been in and out of jail, and had nothing more to off her daughter. Not that she’d ever offered much to begin with.
“I, um, need a little money, if you can spare any.”
“Of course you do, but I’ve got none for you.” Willow’s conscience twinged because of the two thousand dollars in her bag.
“Baby, I’m gonna get thrown out of my apartment,” Keisha whined, causing a sneer to cross Willow’s face.
“Get a job,” Willow said blandly.
“No one will hire me,” her mother complained. “Please. I won’t ask again.”
“You always say that.” Willow leaned her head on her hand, tears forming in her eyes. She just couldn’t say no to her. “I can send you two hundred.”
“I need five,” Keisha immediately responded.
Willow laid back against the couch as the tears slipped from her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. “I’ll send you five, but I’ll never send you another dime. I never want to talk to you again. Never want to see you again.”
“What? Why?”
Willow shook her head. “I’ll put it in your mailbox tomorrow.” She hit the end button on her phone and let the tears fall without trying to stop them.
Rarely did she let her feelings explode, but she let go, sobbing loudly enough to be heard by the neighbors if they were nosy. For five minutes, she sat on her couch and let her mother go, vowing she meant it this time. She was finished with her mother.
Now she had to deal with the fact that she’d met her father earlier today. The man obviously knew who she was, and Bogey was aware too. No wonder the man had behaved strangely with her. And the fact that both she and Pablo had rose tattoos was more than coincidence. Had to be.
She sat back, still hiccupping as the tears streaked down her cheeks without stopping. Was he a good man? Willow doubted it. She had told her mother she was going to do an internet search on him, but she couldn’t bring herself to open her laptop. She didn’t want to find anything that would add to the feelings she was currently experiencing.
The two thousand dollars Bogey had given her popped into her mind, as well as the sums he’d passed to her over the years. Was Pablo responsible for that money? Her mind whirled with the implications. If he was responsible, that would mean he’d known about her for years, possibly her whole life. Obviously he’d given her mother money, and when she had moved out, given it to Bogey. Had the men been friends before that, or because of her? Unless she asked, she’d never know the answers.
The sobs gradually subsided, and she glanced around her living room. Her eyes landed on the roses, still in the cup from the tattoo parlor, on her kitchen counter. A small smile lifted the corners of her mouth. Cameron was coming over in an hour or so. With a squeal, she jerked off the couch, rubbing her eyes and cheeks clear of tears. She scurried to the bathroom down the hall to look at her face.
“Oh my God! I look terrible!” she grumbled. If he could tell she’d been crying, he would ask questions she didn’t want to answer. Hurriedly, she turned on the shower and stripped, hoping in the short time before he arrived, she’d be able to rid her face of all evidence of tears.
*****
Cameron knocked on Willow’s door forty-five minutes later. He heard her call out one minute, so he leaned against the wall and waited. Rather than more roses, he’d brought a bottle of wine and two extraordinary wine glasses, gifts for her. When she opened the door, he smiled and shook the bottle at her.
“Hello, pretty lady. You look like you could use a drink,” he teased with a smile.
“Every damn day of my life,” she murmured. Her gaze was smoky, and before he had prepared himself, she grabbed his shirt front in both fists, yanked him in, and slammed the door.
“Wha—” he tried, but she pushed him against the door and attacked his lips with hers. He could do nothing to defend himself with the two glasses and bottle of wine, but he really didn’t want to a
nyway.
Her mouth was on fire, and her tongue danced around his mouth like a fun salsa. He could taste her lust for him, and he wanted to taste her desire as well, the wetness she released for him. But he couldn’t touch her or guide her. She was completely in control. Her hands ran from his chest down to his waist, and she held him steady against the door as she ground her hips against his. She tilted her head so their mouths were perfectly fit together, and her hands moved back up to his chest and onto his cheeks.
When she finally broke the kiss, he took a deep breath. “Good Lord, woman. What are you doing?”
“I want you, right now,” Willow whispered. She took the wine and glasses from him and set them on the closest surface, then grabbed his hand and hauled him to her bedroom.
Cameron sensed the urgency in her, but there was another emotion. A need to forget. He wondered what was wrong with her, and he wondered how he could know her so well so fast as to see something other than a sexual desire. But when she grabbed his hair and yanked him to her for a kiss, his rational though disappeared.
His hands now free, he was able to hold her, touch her, and her urgency was mirrored by his own. His tongue moved quickly in her mouth, and his hands wanted to touch every part of her. He ran them up her arms, around her back and down to her ass, which he cupped and lifted her off her feet. Her legs wrapped around his waist, pushing her heated core against his rapidly hardening cock.
As he walked, he kicked his shoes off, sandals, as always. He tromped with her in his arms and set her on the dresser and stepped back only enough to remove his shirt and hers. She hadn’t put on a bra, so her breasts jiggled freely when the top was removed. Cameron practically hummed with delight as he bent slightly, taking one in each hand, and began to suckle her, first one, then the other.
Grateful for the loose athletic shorts she wore, he pushed her thighs apart and moved his fingers up to her pussy, wet with lust. As he suckled her tits, he teased her clit, first a feather touch, then a rub, until finally he was pinching it gently. With each touch, she moaned his name or made random sounds of pleasure. Her fingers began to pluck at the nipple he wasn’t playing with, and he felt her body begin to clench around the one finger he’d slipped inside her.
Her head fell back against the mirror as he worked on her, and he smiled at the pure pleasure on his face. He slipped another finger inside her and thrust in and out in a rhythm that matched his mouth on her nipple. Her hand fell to the side, and she used both hands for leverage by pressing them down so she could move her hips to meet his thrusts. He pushed harder into her, and at the last second, he crooked his fingers to hit her G-spot. She let out a scream of ecstasy, and he didn’t stop moving until her clenching ceased.
He pulled away from her and took two steps back so he could look at her. Her eyes were closed, her mouth lifted in the smallest of smiles, and her cheeks were rosy with orgasmic pleasure. Her breasts lifted with her breaths, deep and fast, causing his cock to stiffen and pulsate. Her legs were spread, and though she wore shorts, they were pushed to the side and wet at the center.
She opened her eyes and saw him watching her. “What?” she panted.
“You look so incredibly sexy,” Cameron murmured, his voice husky with his own desire. He put his fingers in his mouth, the ones he’d used to please her, and sucked them clean.
Willow looked down at herself and giggled. “Wanton, I think, is the word you want.” Her eyes moved back to his. “And I want more of you now.”
Her eyes darkened with need as she watched him lick the middle finger, and she hopped off the dresser to grab his hand. With her eyes on his, she sucked his fingers into her mouth and tasted herself on them. His eyes narrowed as he watched her, and when her hand wrapped around his cock, he jerked.
A smile crossed her lips as she sank to her knees slowly, releasing his hand and running her tongue down his chest. When she reached his jeans, she unbuttoned and unzipped them and pushed them off his hips, along with his boxer briefs. His cock sprang free, so long it nearly hit her in the face. She giggled and grasped him at the base before sucking the head into her mouth.
Although the pace they’d begun at had been quick, she slowed it with her ministrations. She moved her mouth up and down, sucking him back into her throat each time. One hand held him steady at the base, while the other cupped and tugged and massaged his balls, which tightened and loosened as she continued to drive him mad with her mouth.
“Willow,” he breathed as he hands entered her hair and massaged her scalp.
The sound of her name on his lips drove her mad, and she could swear she was dripping on the carpet as her loins fired with desire. She rose from her knees after helping him discard his pants and boxers. Her lips pressed to his in a slow kiss, and she pulled his naked body against hers and felt at home. She pulled away to looked into his eyes, and he smiled down into hers, and the sense of belonging in her heart increased.
With a smile on her face, she took his hand and led him to the bed. When they reached it, she lay down and extended her arms up to him, reaching for him. He stared at her beautiful form before slipping into her arms for the pleasure he knew awaited him there.
He shifted so his hips fit perfectly between her open legs, and his cock was suspended at her cleft, waiting. His lips attached to hers, and the kiss they shared started out at a slow pace but quickly became heated. He couldn’t get enough of her taste, her body, her lips. With a swiftness he didn’t know he was capable of, he pushed into her waiting pussy.
She sighed as he entered her. They fit perfectly together, and as they moved together, their rhythm automatically syncing, their eyes met again. They stared into each other’s eyes as they moved, letting the tension build slowly until her pussy began to clench and his balls tightened. As one, with eyes only for each other, they crossed the line into oblivion, each murmuring the other’s name.
Chapter 9
A week later, every night of which they’d spent together at one apartment or the other, Willow walked in to work early again. Jody hadn’t shown up for work at all that week, and Willow had called again and again with no answer. She hadn’t answered text messages either, so Willow had dropped by her apartment. She hadn’t been there, and the neighbor who had been walking by hadn’t seen her.
Concerned, Willow set her things down and walked straight to the back. “Bogey, I’m really worried about Jody.”
“Why?” Bogey asked without looking up from the books. He’d discovered the proof that Jody was stealing from the parlor, so he felt no guilt, no concern over Jody’s disappearance.
“Bogey. She hasn’t been to work in several days, she won’t answer her phone, calls or texts. I went by her apartment before I came here, and her neighbor said she hadn’t seen her.” She hesitated because Bogey still hadn’t looked up at her and didn’t seem to care. “Bogey, do you know her parents? Maybe we should call them.”
He sat back and looked at her, a frown on his face. “Willow, she’s a grown woman. She probably decided she wanted to have a week off.”
Willow’s expression changed to surprise. “Bogey, she’s not that kind of person.”
“You tell me all the time she’s irresponsible,” Bogey reminded her.
“She’s not run off irresponsible, Bogey.” Willow’s voice was exasperated, and she couldn’t believe Bogey was so unconcerned. “Do you know her parents’ names?”
“I don’t,” Bogey answered. “I only know your mother because you told me about her. Jody and I didn’t talk. She annoyed me.”
Willow sighed and shook her head. “Yeah, she was annoying. But that doesn’t mean we can ignore the fact that she’s not around.”
Bogey sat back in his chair, a heavy sigh escaping his mouth. “Willow, I don’t know what to tell you. She’ll show up.”
“What if she doesn’t?”
Bogey shrugged. “No idea.”
Willow threw her hands up. “Bogey! She might be hurt! Or dead! Don’t you think we should do some
thing? Call the police?”
The front door bell jingled, interrupting the conversation. Willow stared at Bogey, irritated, and he gestured to the front with his eyebrows raised. She growled at him, more angry than irritated with him. She huffed and jerked around to walk up front.
When she stepped through the curtains, an older woman was looking around, her hand poised over the bell on the front counter. She jerked her hand away as if guilty and smiled. “Hello.”
“Hi. Can I help you?” Willow’s voice had an edge to it, though she put a smile on her face that eased the sharpness.
“Um, yes. I hope so anyway.” The woman smiled. She was more out of place in a tattoo parlor than an elephant would be. She wore a purple jacket over a button up blouse and black slacks. Her black hair was perfectly coiffed, obviously done by a hair stylist recently. Her nails were manicured, her makeup flawless. She looked like a businesswoman slumming in the tattoo parlor.
“Are you looking to get a tattoo?” Willow asked, though she doubted the woman would get a tattoo.
“Oh no, thanks,” the woman replied. “I’m actually looking for my daughter. Jody. She worked here.” Willow’s stomach lurched, and she thought of yelling for Bogey. But the woman continued hesitantly when Willow was silent. “She did work here, right?”
“Um, yes. Sorry. She does work here, but she hasn’t been to work in since last week,” Willow answered. “It’s so weird because Bogey and I were just talking about her and here you are.”
“I went to her apartment, but she wasn’t there,” her mother sighed after mulling over Willow’s words.
“Same here. I was going to try to locate you, ask if she was there, but we don’t have that information here,” Willow said. “We haven’t heard from her.”
“I spoke with her eight days ago. We had an argument, so it wasn’t all that strange that we haven’t spoken again since.” The woman sighed. “I think it’s time I called the police. You haven’t seen her since before I’ve spoken to her?”
Undercover Lover (BWWM Romance Book 1) Page 9
