In Full Bloom [Second Chances 1] (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Michelle Roth

  Taryn quickly sat up and gave her hair a finger comb, realizing that the only way out of this apartment was through the front door so there was no avoiding this awkward moment.

  She stood up and gave herself a quick check in the mirror that hung in his bedroom, then waited for her pulse to stop racing. Once she was able to breath normally again, she wandered into the living room.

  Evan looked up at her and said, “Taryn, meet my mom, Jane Connolly. Mom, this is Taryn Michaels.”

  His mother turned around, startled, and said, “Oh, gosh. I didn’t realize you had company, hon.”

  Taryn circled the love seat, intending to shake her hand but ended up wrapped in a hug before she knew what hit her.

  His mother was a little bit shorter than she was, with a moon-shaped face. She had the familiar dark hair and dark eyes. She was wearing a knitted sweater vest. She looked motherly.

  “Nice to meet you, honey. Call me Jane.”

  Taryn, unsure how to react, returned the hug and said, “Nice to meet you, too.”

  When she pulled back, Taryn watched as his mother subtly moved to the chair, making room for her to sit with Evan.

  She said, “Actually, I was just on my way out. I’ll let you two visit.”

  Jane’s eyebrow rose as if to say, “Yeah, right,” and then said, “No you weren’t. Sit down with us.”

  Taryn fidgeted under her steady gaze. She wanted nothing more than to get the hell out of there and Jane knew it. Totally busted, she thought.

  Unable to stop herself, Taryn gave a quick, involuntary laugh. The look on her face was so familiar in that moment that she couldn’t help herself.

  She settled down on the love seat next to Evan. Turning to him, she said, “Now I see where you get that look from.”

  “Pardon my mother,” Evan said, an indulgent and somewhat embarrassed grin on his face. “She doesn’t really do tactful.”

  Jane, clearly amused by the exchange, laughed and then said, “May as well say what’s on my mind, right?”

  “So Mom,” Evan said, “what brings you by on a random Thursday?”

  “Dinner at Christina’s house. Figured I’d better stop by. Even though I haven’t gotten an invite yet,” she said, giving him a look that had him wincing.

  Taryn had never seen him look even remotely intimidated by anyone, so it was kind of amazing to see him squirm under his mother’s scrutiny.

  Her amusement was rather short-lived because Jane turned to her and said, “So, tell me about yourself.”

  Twenty minutes later she had given Jane her abbreviated history. She’d talked about work, school, Cora, her friends. She had skipped over the shit and given her the sunny version. She could tell that Jane had more questions, but thankfully she hadn’t voiced any of them.

  Switching back to Evan, she proceeded to ask him questions about the store and how he was liking it back in LA. The topics remained rather innocuous, but she still had a way of prying information out of people that bordered on hilarious.

  “So,” she asked as she glanced between the two of them, “how long has this been going on?”

  Evan smirked and said, “A week or so. I figured it was a little too early to invite her to your house for Sunday dinner, Ma.”

  Jane merely raised her eyebrow and said, “Maybe so. Oh! And, speaking of that, Thanksgiving’s coming up. You’re coming home for that, right, Ev?”

  He blinked at her and said, “Yeah. Of course I am.”

  Jane’s mouth twitched and she said, “At least there’s that, then. By the way, Taryn, you’re invited for Thanksgiving, too, unless you already have plans?”

  Taryn blinked, a little surprised by the invitation. Answering honestly, because she knew otherwise Jane would be likely to call her on it, she said, “I’m not sure what my plans are right now, but thank you for the invite. Once I know, I’ll be sure to have Evan let you know.”

  This seemed to satisfy her for the time being.

  For the next few minutes, she listened on as they discussed his brothers and sisters. She had no experience with a large family, so she considered this almost educational. They had discussed Maureen’s latest boyfriend, who was apparently a jerk, Christina’s twins, Donnie’s new house, and a number of other topics.

  Jane finally stood, and made her way toward the door. Citing the need to wake up early for a meeting of her stitch and bitch group, she had only stayed about an hour. That was more than enough time, though. That woman was a force of nature.

  After Jane had given her another hug and reminded her once more about Thanksgiving, Taryn watched as Evan walked his mother out. She closed her eyes and slumped back against the seat of the couch, exhausted.

  When Evan opened the front door of his apartment, she opened her eyes and said, “Wow.”

  He winced and asked, “So on a scale of one to ten, how awkward was that?”

  “Uh,” Taryn calculated, “I’d give that a seven. It could have been worse, though. At least we weren’t completely naked. And she was incredibly nice.”

  Evan moved forward to flop down next to her on the sofa and said, “When I walked her downstairs, she apologized for interrupting.”

  “Never mind. Let’s make that an eight point five,” Taryn said.

  “No kidding,” he said. “She still manages to make me feel like I’m fifteen sometimes.”

  “She’s a bit intimidating,” Taryn agreed.

  “She liked you, though. Hell, she invited you to Thanksgiving,” he said, grinning.

  “That was sweet of her to do that. Can you wait a couple of days and then make my excuses?”

  “I don't think I can,” he said.

  Taryn tilted her head in confusion and asked, “Why not?”

  “She's a human lie detector, for one. Also, because I want you to go with me.” he said, his voice steady.

  Taryn blinked at him and then said, “We've been dating for like a week. It's a bit early for family holidays, I think.”

  He gazed at her and said, “There’s been something going on between us since I almost knocked you down the stairs, Princess. I was planning to ask you myself when it got closer to time. She just beat me to it.”

  “Really?” she asked.

  “I want to spend Thanksgiving with the people I care about. That includes you. Come with me. It’ll be fun.”

  “I don't know, Evan,” she said, unable to articulate why the idea of meeting his family frightened her so much. “It's just a little soon.”

  “If you don't want to go with me, then we could just stay here,” he offered.

  “So your mother can hate me?” she asked. Evan had kind of boxed her in here.

  “C'mon. It'll be fun. Turkey and stuffing, football, a house full of people you don't know,” he said, nudging her.

  The holidays weren’t all that important to her. In fact, she’d tried her hardest to make them unimportant. Clearly it mattered to him, though. The way that he waited for her to respond, the hopeful expression on his face. It made it impossible for her to say no.

  “Okay. I’ll come with you,” she said.

  * * * *

  “And why did we have to get up at the crack of dawn on my only day off?” Evan bitched as they walked through the stalls at the farmer’s market.

  “Eight is hardly the crack of dawn. And we got up this early so I could listen to you complain, of course,” she said, as she handed the man behind the folding table a five dollar bill. After she had collected her change, she placed the two ripe tomatoes in her canvas grocery bag.

  She turned to face him and continued, “Also, I’d like to remind you that I was more than willing to take the bus. You wanted to come along if I recall.”

  Evan sighed and said, “Sorry, baby. It’s just that I had these plans that involved us waking up late and staying in bed all day.”

  “Mmm. I wish you would have let me know before I was dressed and ready to go,” she said. “If it helps to ease some of your disappointment, I’d be mo
re than willing to go back to bed after the farmer’s market.”

  “I’m definitely going to take you up on that,” he said, pulling her close and pressing a kiss to her neck.

  She stood there in the middle of the crowd, enjoying the sensation of his lips brushing against her skin. When he slid his hands underneath the edge of her sweater, she said, “As much as I’m enjoying this moment, the sooner we finish shopping, the sooner we can leave.”

  He continued to nip at the sensitive skin of her neck for a moment more before he lifted his head and agreed, “Excellent point. So where are we headed now?”

  Taryn scanned the crowd looking for their next stop. Suddenly, she said, “Oh! Bruce is here. I’m going to make you the best dinner of all time tonight. “

  She made a beeline for the mushroom stall, dragging him in tow and said, “Hey! I thought you weren’t here.”

  “Taryn, hey!” Bruce said, his face lighting up. “Yeah. They moved us into a corner without even telling us. Someone was setting up in our spot when I got here. Traffic hasn’t been terrible, though.”

  “Glad to hear it!”

  She saw Bruce’s eyes shift to Evan, who stood behind her.

  “Oh, jeez. I’m sorry. Bruce, this is Evan. Evan, this is Bruce.”

  After a long moment, Evan stepped up, wrapping one hand around her waist, and holding out his other hand. “Good to meet you.”

  Taryn saw surprise flicker over Bruce’s face but he stuck out his hand to shake Evan’s.

  “Nice to meet you, too,” Bruce said. A moment later, he asked her, “In the market for some mushrooms today?”

  Evan piped in, “So the best dinner of all time is mushrooms?”

  Bruce smiled and said, “Depends on what she gets.”

  “Some porcini mushrooms and a white truffle if you’ve got it. One of the medium-sized ones.”

  “Tonight, you eat like a king,” Bruce said.

  Evan grinned and said, “That’s excellent news.”

  Bruce turned back to address her again and said, “You got my last one of the day. Good thing you got here early.”

  “Figured they’d go quick,” she said. “What do I owe you?”

  “Seventy five, my dear,” Bruce said. “I’ll tell Mindy you were by. Ron’s working this weekend so she’s stuck with the kids. She’ll be sorry she missed you.”

  Taryn reached into her wallet and paid while Evan stared on incredulously. After collecting her change, she added the mushrooms and truffle to her bag and bid Bruce goodbye.

  As they walked away, Evan wrapped an arm around her waist and asked, “Did you seriously just spend that much money on mushrooms?”

  “A truffle, too,” she said defensively. “It’s worth the cost. Trust me.”

  “I thought you were a poor college kid before this. Where’d you get such a refined palate from?” Evan teased, bumping her with his hip as they walked.

  Taryn hesitated for a minute and said, “One of my foster families, the woman, Betty. She was a chef. She used to make the most incredible food. By the time I was eleven, I had tried escargots, foie gras, truffles, and all kinds of strange stuff.”

  “Wow,” Evan said. “Sounds awesome. Except for the snails.”

  “It was. They were nice people, but about a year after I moved in with them, Betty got cancer. She died pretty quickly after that, and her husband Joe just lost it. He wasn’t really in any shape to take care of a twelve-year-old by himself. So that put my refined palate on hiatus.”

  He was silent, as if he was trying to decide what to say. Before he could speak, she continued on, “I used to love to watch her cook, though. Now that I’m able to, I really want to start experimenting more in the kitchen. It’s nice to have a guinea pig.”

  “I’m gonna need to get a gym membership if you do much more experimenting, baby.”

  Taryn shrugged and said, “I’ll just feed Cora, then. No worries.”

  “Hey, now. Let’s not be hasty. I’m willing to sample your experiments. They’ve all been great so far.”

  “Evan, you’re so selfless. I don’t know what to say,” she said, her voice laden with sarcasm.

  He ignored her tone completely and said, “What can I say? I’m a giver.”

  “So modest, too,” she added drily.

  “I don’t think you realize, but the mushroom guy has the hots for you.”

  “No way,” she said. “I’m just friends with his sister. She was at the bar with us on Halloween. I don’t think. Really?”

  “Yeah,” he confirmed. “I have to say, he had me feeling a little possessive. I’m normally not, but there’s something about you.”

  “Wow. I had no idea about Bruce. Weird,” she said. “There’s nothing for you to worry about there. I’m not into guys who wear patchouli.”

  “Mhm,” he said as they continued to walk.

  “Evan,” she said, realizing he had grown silent. When he turned to look at her, she said, “I’m yours. Realistically, I’ve been yours since you tossed that box of books down the stairs at me.”

  She saw something flare in his eyes and felt the light grip he had on her hip intensify for a moment before he spoke. “We’re done at the farmer’s market.”

  Taryn asked, “We are?”

  His tone firm, he said, “We are. When we get back to the apartment you’ve got five minutes to do whatever you’re going to do with all those vegetables and then I want you in my bedroom, naked.”

  Her eyebrow raised, but she still felt her body respond to his words. “Do you?” she asked.

  As he steered her toward the car, his tone conversational, he said, “You once told me that you enjoyed when I took total control. That’s what I had in mind, if you’re interested.”

  “Oh,” she said, feeling a flush rise up her cheeks. “I’d be very interested in that.”

  The easy pace they had been making toward the car sped up ever so slightly. She wondered what he had in mind. She couldn’t wait to find out.

  He interrupted her thoughts and asked, “Should I stick with things that we’ve already done together or did you want me to push your boundaries?”

  She thought about it for a minute and then said, “I would be okay with trying new things.”

  They stopped on the passenger’s side of the SUV and he opened the door. When she slid inside, he looked at her steadily, cupping her chin in his hand.

  “The same rules apply. If I’m hurting you, if you’re uncomfortable, or if you want me to stop, tell me immediately.”

  The other night they had discussed things they wanted to try in bed, and things they’d never ever want to try. She guessed that he had steered them into that particular conversation in preparation for this.

  “I’ll stop you,” she agreed.

  He leaned in and gave her a quick, hard kiss on the mouth. “Good.”

  The drive back to the apartment was relatively quick. Neither of them spoke. She figured they were both anticipating what was to come.

  When they separated in the hallway between their two apartments, he gave her another brief, hard kiss on the mouth and then said, “Five minutes. I don’t want you to be wearing anything when you walk into my bedroom. Take your clothes off and leave them in the living room.”

  A little less than five minutes later, she stepped into Evan’s bedroom unclothed, nervous and more than a little aroused. A moment later the bathroom door opened and he stepped out. He had changed back into a pair of gym shorts and had taken his shirt off.

  The air almost crackled in the room. She had never seen that intense look on his face before. The way that he looked her over with such entitlement made her nipples tighten in response. He moved toward her slowly, his eyes still appraising her.

  When he finally reached out, trailing a hand across her belly, her breathing quickened. With his other hand he reached up and traced a finger across her bottom lip. She parted her lips slightly, surprised when he stuck the tip of his finger in her mouth.

 
She flicked her tongue against it, and then drew it into her mouth. If the desire in his eyes was any indication, then that was clearly what he had intended. He continued to work his finger gently in and out of her mouth for another moment more, before he removed it and circled around to press himself against her back.

  She relaxed herself against the hard wall of his chest, and felt the beginnings of an erection press against her lower back. He lowered his mouth to nip at her shoulder as his arms wrapped around her. One hand cupped her breast, pinching her nipple while the other dipped between her thighs. He ran his fingers along her slippery folds, unerringly finding the bundle of nerves there.

  He timed each slide of his fingers across her aching clit so that he gave her nipple a light pinch at the same time. He had only begun to touch her and she already felt an orgasm building low in her belly. She pressed her hips back against him, eager to be filled.

  When he released her breast and slid his hands out from between her thighs, she whimpered. His hands moved to her hips and pressed her back against him.

  Taryn could only groan in response. Already, she ached.

  “Would you like that inside of you?” he asked, pressing his hips into her lower back.

  “Yes,” she said, rocking back against him.

  “Mmm,” he said regretfully. “I don’t think I’m quite ready yet. Kneel down for me.”

  She knew exactly what he intended, so she knelt down and looked up at him. The look of approval in his eyes had her heart pounding.

  “Hands behind your back, baby. Mouth open, stick out your tongue.”

  As she complied, he slid down the gym shorts to reveal a fully aroused cock. Grabbing it in his fist, he stroked it a few times before he tapped the underside of it against her tongue. “Get it wet for me,” he said gruffly.

  Leaning in, she licked around the tip, then ran her tongue along the length. Moments later, he reached around to grip the hair at the nape of her neck and said, “Now, suck.”

  She leaned forward and drew him into her mouth. When she pulled her head back, he fisted his hand in her hair and said, “Eyes open. Look at me.”

  He held her head in place and began to thrust his cock steadily into her mouth. Taryn opened her eyes, watching him as he fucked her mouth. When she began to suck harder, he groaned and said, “Good girl. Like that.”