“Wonder what, baby?” His thumb continued to move across her cheeks, wiping the tears away, wishing he could as easily wipe her pain away.
“My…my mind told me that you were gone. Forever. But my heart always ached. For you. For us. For this,” she said haltingly. “But…we’re not kids anymore.”
“Look at me, Suzy girl.” His warm breath washed over her, a whisper away from her face.
She opened her eyes, staring into the blue pools that were so familiar.
“I know we’ve got things to sort out. New things to learn about each other. You’re right…we’re not kids. But what we have now is just as real as it ever was.”
His lips touched hers in a kiss so light she wasn’t sure she felt it.
“Not ever letting you go again, baby,” he said.
Pulling her head back against his broad chest, he grabbed the covers with one hand and pulled them up. They fell back asleep for another hour, wrapped up in each other.
* * *
A few hours later, Suzanne found herself entering BJ’s apartment for the first time. She was surprised to learn that he lived only ten blocks from where the clinic was located but in a much more up-and-coming area. Here the old warehouses and buildings had been renovated. Modern shops filled the first floor and spacious, loft apartments abounded.
Fingers laced, he ushered her into a huge living area that extended to the dining area and kitchen. The breakfast bar was the only thing separating the entire space. Windows filled one wall of the room and with him living on the fourth floor, the sun streamed in.
His furniture was simple. Bachelor simple. A large sofa facing a large-screen TV. A kitchen table with four chairs. Two stools at the breakfast bar. He looked down at her, watching her eyes take in the space. Suddenly nervous, he said, “You can fix it up, babe. I know it’s not much, but…”
“It’s perfect,” she said truthfully. Turning her head to the windows, she exclaimed, “There’s so much light! I love my little apartment, but it’s so dark. This is amazing.”
He continued to hold her hand as he moved her to the hall next to the breakfast bar. Through the open door, she could see that the small bedroom was used as a study. It held a desk filled with more than one computer, a chair, and a bookcase.
Smiling up at him, she couldn’t help but comment, “Your decorating is kind of minimalistic, isn’t it?”
Tugging on her hand, he pulled her around until her front was plastered to his. “Yeah, well for eating, sleeping, and working…didn’t need much.” He leaned down and kissed her, licking the seam of her lips then plunging his tongue in as she opened readily for him. Tongues tangling, she wrapped her arms around his neck, trying to pull him closer.
Leaning back, he said, “Let’s see the rest of the place. We might just find somewhere more comfortable to take this further.”
Mewling at the loss of his lips, she smiled. “Lead on,” she laughed.
Across the hall was a small, but beautifully appointed guest bathroom. The last door led to a spacious bedroom, again minimally furnished with a large, king-sized bed and a dresser. A walk in closet door was open, showing few clothes hanging up. The only color in the room was a dark blue comforter, sloppily pulled up over the sheets.
Leaning around, she peered at the other door in the room.
“Come on, babe,” he said smiling as he led her over to the master bathroom.
Entering the large room she stood stunned, looking around. A glass block wall enclosed the shower area definitely roomy enough for two. And to the side, under the small window, was the soaker tub. Letting go of his hand she moved to the tub, fingering the tile as she looked longingly.
He watched her, suddenly hard at the idea of her soaking in the tub, candles lit all around, and her breasts peeking provocatively from underneath a sea of bubbles. Damn. The few women he had had in his apartment in the last year had never caused a reaction like this. Just sex. That was all they were. They knew it and he knew it, so he was safe on that score. Admittedly, there was a flight attendant that had regularly called when she was in town after they hooked up the first time. But again…it was just sex. And none of them had used the soaker-tub.
“Hey, where’d you go?” a soft voice broke through.
Startled out of his thoughts, he actually blushed. “Sorry babe. Just thinking of you in that tub had me distracted. That and the knowledge that this is where you belong.”
She turned away from the tub and faced him again, reaching up to cup his face. “Kiss me,” she said softly.
Smiling, he leaned down capturing her lips. First soft and gentle. Then angling his head for better access, he took over. Wet. Wild. Unrestrained. Picking her up, he headed back into the bedroom, laying her on his bed.
Hours later, as she slept in his arms he knew without a doubt, This is where she belongs.
Chapter 11
“Suzanne? You’re needed in the first exam room,” Leon called.
She looked over at Annie saying, “Jeez, the morning is busy.”
Annie looked up from the lab table, nodding her head in agreement. “I know. It must be the holidays coming up. Everyone wants to get their animals vaccinated before trips.”
Suzanne headed to the room and upon entering found a big black cat sitting on the exam table with a beautiful woman stroking its sleek fur. Long, blonde hair. Big blue eyes. Dressed casually and yet classy. The cat purred under her mistress’ attention.
“Hi, I’m Suzanne. I don’t think you’ve been here before.”
The woman smiled and extended her hand in greeting. “I’m Sherrie. I just adopted Cleo and wanted to make sure she was up on all of her shots.” She handed Suzanne the packet of papers from the city’s animal shelter as she noted Suzanne’s black-cat scrubs. Laughing gently, she said, “You and Cleo look perfect together.”
Smiling as she quickly flipped through them, Suzanne nodded as she said, “It looks like everything is in order. If you like, we can put you on our Wellness Plan.”
The two women began to chat as Suzanne did the paperwork after Annie’s examination. “Are you new to the area?” Suzanne asked.
Sherrie smiled, her lovely face lighting up. “I moved into the area a few months ago. I’m a cocktail waitress.” Looking embarrassed, she added, “It’s for a strip club. I don’t strip,” she said quickly, “But the money’s good for the waitresses.” Shrugging, she said, “It pays the rent for now while I’m in college until something better comes along.”
Suzanne walked her out to the lobby as she was leaving with Cleo and shook her hand. “It was nice to meet you.” Leaning down, she peered into the cat carrier saying, “Bye Cleo.”
Sherrie turned back toward her when she reached the door and said, “If you ever want to come to the club, it really is nice. In fact, there’s a bar area that’s in the front away from the stage.” Giving a little shrug, she added, “The invitation stands, but I know that may not be your thing.”
Suzanne smiled as she responded, “I have to admit that I’ve never been to a strip club before. Actually, I’ve rarely been to a bar. Although I’ve got a few girlfriends that I could invite too.”
“The more the merrier. It’s the Club Edge, right on the river.” Giving a little wave she left.
Leon walked up to Suzanne. “She seemed nice. I heard her invite you out. You should think about it.”
Raising her eyebrow, she replied, “Are you sure you don’t just want to go to a strip club?”
“Only if I can take my wife. Shirley would have my balls if I went without her!”
Annie walked in just as Suzanne was throwing her head back in a genuine laugh. Sharing a glance with Leon, she hugged her friend. “It’s nice to see you laugh, girl. What’s the occasion?”
“We’ve just been invited to a strip club, supposedly with a nice bar. And what’s more…I’m thinking of going.”
“Well, count me in,” Annie replied. “We can get Lily to go as well.”
Leon adde
d, “Well if you ladies think you can get your bad-ass, alpha boyfriends to let you go to a strip club on the river all by yourselves, then you’re loco.”
“We’ll just ask them to go too. What bad-ass alpha guy wouldn’t want to go to a strip joint?” Annie quipped.
“The kind who knows that a ton of the men in there will be horny and somewhat drunk and if they can’t touch the dancers, they’ll certainly be on the prowl for the women at the bar. Which means your bad-ass alpha men won’t be staring at the tits on the stage but will be spending their evening keeping other men from starting at their women’s tits!”
Annie and Suzanne looked at Leon before the giggles took over. “He’s right, you know,” Annie said. “Shane would have a fit.”
Suzanne had to agree knowing that in the couple of weeks that she and BJ had been back together, he would not be happy.
The bell over the door rang as the next customer walked in. Smiling at each other, it was time to get back to work.
* * *
“How’d it go?” Jorge asked as the leggy blonde climbed into his car after setting the cat carrier in the back seat.
“Fine. I told you it’d be fine,” was the curt answer.
“Keep your attitude to yourself bitch. Just remember what’s at stake.”
Sucking in a breath to keep from losing her mind, Sherrie looked out of the window. “I remember.”
“You do what’s required and your sister stays in Marcel’s good graces. And we know how much Marcel likes his main-girl’s pussy.”
Biting her tongue to keep from screaming, Sherrie said nothing.
Not even sparing a glance her way Jorge just grinned. “Yeah, his bed is a lot less crowded for her pussy than being back in his stable.” He reached his hand over to her legs, sliding his fingers to the inside of her thighs. “Now your pussy… that’d be sweet. Sure you won’t give it up? At least now you can still pick who you want to give it to. You keep dickin’ Marcel around, he may just decide to take you too.”
Shoving his hand away, she bit out, “Not interested. And keep your paws to yourself. I’m not on the table. I’m doing what I’m doing to keep my sister from any more shit than she’s already bought. But I’m not Charisse. I’m not for sale.”
“Oh, my pretty bitch. Everyone’s got a price. When Marcel tires of your sister’s pussy, you won’t be protected. That day comes, I’ll be waiting.” With that, he dropped her off at a run-down apartment building. Watching her walk away, cat carrier in hand, he smiled before pulling back out into traffic.
* * *
BJ pulled his truck into the alley behind the clinic, parking next to the metal steps leading to Suzanne’s apartment. Jogging up the steps, the door was thrown open before he had a chance to knock. A hand reached out, grabbed his shirt, and pulled him inside before slamming the door.
She jumped up in his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist and pulling his face in for a kiss. BJ let her take charge for a moment, loving the feel of her pressed against him before taking over the kiss. One arm around her waist and the other hand supporting her ass, he delved inside her mouth, loving the taste of her.
The kiss was wet, hard and long. As much as he hated to, he ended this kiss but tightened his grip holding her even closer.
“What’s wrong, honey?” she asked.
“Nothing babe. Right now, my dick’s so hard for you I could pound your headboard through the wall.”
“So, what’s stopping you,” she purred, leaning back in for a kiss.
“Matt and Shane are right behind me.”
“Oh.” A look of disappointment crossed her face. “Hmmm, so I guess a quickie is out of the question?”
“If I didn’t know they were right behind me, I’d have taken you against the door. But as it is, let’s get you moved out of here.”
Giving a small pout, she looked around and said, “There’s not much to take. I feel bad asking our friends to help.”
“Baby, your stairs are treacherous and I’ll need help getting some of the pieces down them.” Giving her a lift up to let her know he was setting her down, he steadied her until she was safely on the floor.
“I’m not an invalid. I can carry furniture too, you know.”
“Maybe when you were single, but not now.”
“So now that we’re dating, I can no longer carry things?”
“You can assist with light things but I’m not risking you falling down the stairs or straining something just to have you move furniture.”
Putting her hands on her hips, she looked up incredulously. “That’s chauvinistic!”
Just then, Matt and Shane appeared at the top of the stairs interrupting their argument.
“Matt, do you let Lily help carry furniture?”
“Of course not,” he quipped.
Shane followed with, “Before you ask me, the answer is there’s no fuckin’ way I let Annie move furniture if I’m around to do it.”
Throwing her hands up in defeat, she turned and stomped into the kitchen. Following her, BJ got right into her space and cornered her in with both arms on either side of her on the counter. “Babe, I’ve got no idea what’s got your panties in a bunch. You can’t tell me that your dad and your brother let you lift heavy things when they were around.”
At that, she dropped her eyes while biting her lip.
“And I’m telling you right now. Part of being with me is accepting who I am now. Not the boy you fell in love with.”
She looked up sharply as he continued to lean forward until his mouth was a breath away from hers.
“And who I am now is a man who will bust his back every day to take care of his woman because he doesn’t want to see her hurt. Or stressed. Or anxious. Or in pain. All the beauty that’s in her is what he wants to see.”
A slow smile curved the ends of her mouth as she leaned in for a kiss. This one slow. Sweet. Soft.
“All the beauty that’s in me?” she asked gently.
“Yeah, babe. The woman that smiles at me when I wake up and takes my breath away at night. You’re smart, kind, a good friend. You love with all your heart. All that beauty is mine. And I’ll move furniture. Hell, I’ll move mountains to keep that beauty.”
Her smile grew wider.
Kissing her one last time, he whispered, “Now can we end this ridiculous argument so I can get these guys to help us move so that we can have dinner with them and their women, so that I can finally get you naked and in my bed under me?”
Snapping her mouth shut, she smiled sweetly. “Yeah baby.” Watching him walk into the bedroom, she smiled to herself as she pulled the beers out of the fridge.
* * *
The group of friends was sitting around the living room area in BJ’s apartment after getting Suzanne moved in.
Pizza boxes were on the breakfast bar, paper plates loaded with pizza on the coffee table. It was one of the contributions she made to his living room. It was big, wide, and easily held their plates, plus the chips and beer.
“I really appreciate all your help today,” Suzanne said fondly, looking around the room.
Shane spoke first saying, “Girl, I couldn’t wait to get Annie out of that apartment so it was no problem wantin’ to get you out as well.”
Annie protested, “I loved that little apartment.”
“Sunshine, when I first met you there was a door leading to an alley that had glass in it and no security system. It might as well have had a fuckin’ neon sign outside that proclaimed it an easy hit.”
Not able to hold in her giggle, Suzanne said, “Well I agree with Annie. It was a cute little apartment, but I have to confess that I liked the security that you added.”
Lily looked around at the space and commented, “I really like your apartment BJ. I love my house, but it’s a combination of little rooms. I like that, but this is really cool too.”
BJ followed their eyes as they took in his space. He was proud of it too, but admitted that decoration was minimal.
/> “Minimal?” Suzanne exclaimed. “Baby, you had the bare bones of furniture. Of course, our stuff doesn’t really match, does it?” she asked, a worried looked marring her beautiful face.
Leaning over to kiss a bit of pizza sauce off the corner of her mouth, he said, “Baby. It’s yours, mine and ours. What’s not to like?”
Her face lit up with a smile that hit him in the gut. That face that had looked at him in irritation when she was six years old. Looked at him in adoration when she was thirteen years old. And looked at him with love when she was sixteen years old. And every time it hit him the same way. He remembered Shane’s words – “You find somethin’ in life so precious that you can’t think of breathin’ without it, then you do not let that walk away.”
Leaning back from the kiss he caught Shane’s smile. Settling back in his seat, looking around, he realized how lucky he was. Good friends…the only woman he ever loved in his arms…and now their first place.
“You guys good?” Shane asked.
Suzanne smiled as she twisted her head up to look at BJ. “Yeah, we’re good.” A comfortable silence settled over the group. She looked around, thankful for the friends she had; and now with her furniture mixed with BJ’s, it felt right.
Speaking softly, she said, “The breakup was on me. It was all me.” The others stopped eating and looked up at her. Keeping her hands in her lap, she continued, “It just seemed like I need to say that.”
“Babe, don’t,” BJ said, his voice low and gentle.
“Honey, you don’t have to say anything,” Lily exclaimed. The others joined in, agreeing with her.
Swallowing deeply, she said, “I need to. I need to say this out loud.” Twisting back to look into BJ’s eyes again, she continued, “It’s like a weight that I’ve carried around all by myself for so long, as though it was my heartache alone. But I don’t want it to always be the unspoken agony that makes others tiptoe around me.”
He nodded but shifted her so that she was seated on his lap with her back to the arm of the sofa, his arms wrapped tightly around her. Supporting her. Caring for her.
Facing their friends, she took a deep breath, feeling cradled and said, “We had been together since I was fifteen years old. When I was almost out of high school, I got pregnant. We were going to go ahead and get married, but…” She felt the familiar sting of tears hit the back of her eyes and she pulled her lips in to stop the quivering.
Love's Trusting (The Love's Series) Page 11
