“Are you sure you want to have dinner with the kids?” she asks, touching my fingers playing with her hair.
“Yeah.”
“It can be just you and me.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“They’re your kids. I want to see what they’re like.”
“Are you curious how your heir might turn out?” she asks, poking me in the gut.
“Sure. Besides, I might decide to do more than fuck you. If that happens, I need to see what your baggage is like.”
“Don’t call them that,” she growls.
“If I get sappy, my balls might fall off. I can’t chance it.”
“Ick. I can’t even imagine what kind of bullshit you’d put up with if you lost your cajones.”
I lean down and kiss her quickly. Candy doesn’t pull away, but she doesn’t deepen the kiss either. The little faces at the window are likely why she doesn’t climb me.
“Tall Mickey’s has a good kid menu for your baggage.”
Candy shoots me a dirty look before walking back to the door. She disappears inside for a few minutes. I look at her neighbors who don’t look at me. Smiling at their fear, I think to ring the doorbell and get Candy’s ass in gear. I don’t, of course. She was sexy as hell when she pitied me enough to ditch her kids. I have no doubt if I said yes to her offer she’d hold a grudge.
Candy opens the door and hurries outside with the twins. They don’t look as nervous as she does. Their dark-eyed gazes study me, and they smile in unison. I don’t know much about kids, but that smiling trick is creepy.
“Thank you for talking to the school,” Chipper says.
“No problem. You've got to take what you want in life. No one will give you shit.”
Chipper and Cricket look at their mom and giggle. Feeling on the outside of an inside joke, I frown.
“What?”
Cricket grins at me. “Mom said you cuss a lot.”
I grunt at their amusement. As they follow me to the SUV at the curb, Candy whispers to the kids. They laugh again, and I glare at them over my shoulder.
“Hey, you have another car,” Candy says, staring at the Suburban.
“I own a used car lot, so I have plenty of other cars.”
“You can just take them?” she asks and then shakes her head. “Yeah, yeah, you can do whatever you want.”
I open the back door, and the kids climb inside. Candy smiles when I open the door for her.
“Manners,” she says, and I hear mockery in her voice.
“I’m trying.”
“Why?” she asks, frowning at me. “Don’t pretend to be someone you’re not. You can’t keep it up, and it’ll only prolong the inevitable.”
I study her beautiful face and smile at how open she is to me again.
“I’ve always had good manners when I wanted to. I’m not faking shit.”
“Good,” she says and climbs into the SUV.
The drive to the Tall Mickey’s is quiet. The kids whisper to each other while Candy bobs her head to Alan Jackson. She smiles at me and then back at the kids. Her mood is fucking glorious, and I order myself not to shit all over it.
I reserved a back circular booth at the restaurant. The kids sit between Candy and me as if to test my ability to handle baggage.
“Can I get ribs?” Chipper asks Candy.
“They have ribs on the kid menu?”
“Yeah.”
“Sure. Order whatever you want. My boss pays well,” Candy says, giving me a smile that hints at more than a friendly evening.
“I ate here when I was a kid,” I tell them once we’ve ordered. “My parents knew I had a big appetite, and this place serves a lot of food.”
“Do you have brothers and sisters?” Cricket asks.
“No.”
“Do you want them?”
“No.”
“I don’t like cousins,” she says. “They’re noisy.”
The three of them smile, and I feel like the odd man out again. Candy might sense my unease because she gently kicks me under the table. I hold her gaze while she grins at my frowning face.
“Why did you name your dog Nightmare?” she asks.
“Because the breeder described him as getting so big he’d be the thing of nightmares.”
“He’s not scary.”
“He is big,” Chipper admits. “Like a small horse.”
“Don’t even think about riding him,” I mutter.
Chipper rolls his eyes at me. “I know. I’m not a baby.”
His sister sits up on her knees and pushes away her brown hair. “I have no interest in riding a dog or a horse. Sitting on a live animal seems stupid.”
“A dead one is okay, huh?” I ask.
“Sure. It can’t fight back.”
I don’t know why, but I’m fucking nervous, and Cricket’s answer makes me laugh enough to break the tension.
We settle into a quiet dinner. The kids talk about school while sharing a side salad. I skip the lettuce crap, but Candy chows down on hers. I know she’ll order a big entrée plus dessert. The woman loves taking home leftovers.
“We’re getting a cat,” Chipper announces.
With her mouth full of BBQ pork, Cricket nods. “We bought the poop box and bowls. We just need a cat now.”
I look at Candy, who dramatically sighs. “We’re looking this weekend.”
“I don’t like cats.”
The twins shrug immediately. Candy only watches me. I know what she’s thinking. What’ll happen to the cat if we end up together?
“I’ll feed it to Nightmare,” is my answer.
Cricket laughs and looks at her brother. They whisper to each other and then return to eating.
“Which of our cards was better?” Chipper asks.
The kids watch me, and I’m nervous again under their gazes. If I give the wrong answer, will I face tears?
“I liked them both equally,” I say like a schmuck. “I have them on my fridge at home.”
The kids smile and return to whispering. Candy watches me. Based on her expression, I finally fucking get why she was so pissed the last few days.
“You’re kidding me,” I mutter, frowning at her.
“They own my heart.”
“Is there room for anyone else in there?”
Shrugging, Candy divides the food on her plate into what she’ll eat here and what she’ll take home.
Eager to change the subject, I say, “I’ll give you twenty bucks if you eat it all now.”
Candy considers my offer and then smiles. “I want to say yes, but I really don’t want you to win, so I choose no.”
“Resistance is futile.”
“That’s a geek saying. Are you a big comic book reading, Star Trek watching geek?”
“Is that a real question?”
“Sure. You could be secretly into something weird like collecting gnomes or ventriloquism.”
“What if I was?” I ask, thinking about the gnomes on my front lawn.
“I’d still be sweet on you.”
The twins made gagging sounds before laughing at us. I roll my eyes, but they’re likable kids. Neither one has tried to touch me or messed with my food. I admit I don’t know shit about kids, but I have a lot of fears about my food getting drooled on by a tiny, crazed person.
By dessert, I can almost imagine seeing these kids on a regular basis. I’m not to the point where I want to play step-daddy. Hell, I haven’t even fucked Candy, let alone started calling her “girlfriend” rather than “hot assistant.” The idea of domestication doesn’t’ terrify me as much as in the past.
When we arrive at the house, the kids show me the kitty litter. They’re psyched about a cat. I don’t care about that part, but I do like how they want me to be psyched too.
“I like your kids,” I say after they’re in bed, and Candy sits on the couch with me. “They’re not like other kids.”
“You have a very baby-centric view of kids. Once they p
ass a certain age, they don’t scream so much or stink up the place.”
Smiling, I wonder what she’s thinking. Her expression is completely unreadable.
“Do you want to give me an heir?” I ask.
“Maybe. I always assumed I was done after the twins, but I guess I could have one giant baby.” Candy grins and stands up. “Do you know what I’m thinking?”
“That you want me to leave?”
“You’re no mind reader, Mister Hayes.”
“Fine, then give me a hint.”
“Remember the last week at the office when I brought you the plans for the Highland house?”
I think back to that day. I’ve just caught up to her point when Candy straddles me.
“Sitting on your lap like that was so unprofessional.”
My hands wrap around her waist, and I inhale her sweet scent. When our lips meet, Candy tastes like barbecue sauce. I wrap her tighter in my arms until I doubt she can breathe. Candy doesn’t complain. Her hands cup my face, and her lips meet my hunger.
I’ve missed this woman too much to pretend she’s a fling. I don’t know if I’m capable of love, but our future is my next challenge.
Candy pulls her lips away from mine, long enough to study my face. Her gaze is desperate and primal. I suspect hers mirrors mine.
“When was the last time you were with a woman?” she asks in a shaky voice.
“Fifteen minutes before I picked you up for dinner.”
Candy frowns at me, and I know that disapproving look.
“Why do you have to be an asshole?”
“That’s my comfort zone.”
“Comfort? You’re fucking kidding, right? I’m taking all kinds of scary chances with you. Why can’t you put on your big boy pants and take a chance too?”
Honesty is overrated. Lies keep people off their game, but I’m not playing with Candy.
“My last lay was a few weeks before you came to work with me. It was after some asshole shot at my house. I was tense and figured a hard fuck would help.”
Candy’s dark eyes study my face. “Did it?”
“No. Besides sleeping and maybe showering, fucking is when a person is at their most vulnerable. I hate feeling exposed with people I don’t trust, and I don’t trust anyone.”
Candy’s thumbs stroke my lips. “Can you learn to trust me?”
Her lips suck on mine, and I groan against her mouth when her hips roll. I feel the heat of her pussy even through her jeans. My cock aches for relief. First, I want to take out my cock and let it breathe. Then I want to give my dick a taste of the sweet, hot pussy it craves.
“I feel like calling you Angus,” she whispers. “Is that fine?”
“I don’t give a shit,” I murmur, covering her lips with mine.
Candy’s warm body slides against mine. Frenzied, she wants to be closer, gluing herself to me.
“Angus,” she mumbles when I come up for air.
Her lips refuse to leave mine for more than a second. I think of her kids upstairs and wonder if they’ll peek on us. As much as I want Candy, I’m not looking for a quick fuck on the couch. I know her better now. If I mess shit up with her kids, she’ll turn off her feelings toward me.
“Stop,” I say, prying her off me.
“No,” she cries, wrapping her arms around my neck.
Candy is a tough woman, but I easily detach her from me and set her on the couch.
“You need to get your shit in order,” I grumble as if I’m not sporting a painful boner.
“We can do it here,” she says, tugging her shirt over her head.
I take in the sight of her pink bra restraining handfuls of soft flesh. My mind imagines what her nipples look like. I see them pushing hard against the fabric, begging for my touch. I can already taste them between my teeth.
“Not here. Your kids could walk down and see. Trust me a boy’s greatest horror is seeing his mom getting banged.”
Candy smiles at my comment, but her eyes remain dilated with lust. “We could go in the kitchen. Or the bathroom.”
“You’ve lost your damn mind,” I say, even if I’m imagining Candy’s pussy splayed out on the kitchen island for me to feast on.
Her hands take one of mine and force me to cup her tit. I squeeze without thinking. I know I need to stop, but I ache to tear off her clothes and shove my cock deep inside her body.
“Please,” she murmurs while my thumb strokes her fat nipple hiding behind the bra.
I kiss her as my free hand gropes her other tit. I’m going to fuck her right here and worry about kids and consequences later. My fingers pull aside the cup on her bra, just before I suck her tit into my mouth. Her nipple grows harder against my teasing tongue.
I’ve never wanted to fuck someone so badly in my life, but I force myself to let her go. Not quickly. Not easily, but I stop.
“No,” I say while nearly lunging away from her. “I am not the bad guy fucking up your life. I’m the voice of fucking reason here.”
Candy stares at me with glazed eyes and rosy cheeks. She wants me to fuck her so badly that I can even smell her arousal. The musky scent calls to me, but I’m not a horny teenager or animal. I will control myself.
“Get your shit together,” I demand again.
Candy lifts an eyebrow and then glances down at where I’m stroking her still exposed nipple.
Rolling my eyes, I force my hands to leave her. She doesn’t put her tit back in her bra. The woman is fucking killing me with her inability to turn off her arousal. Voice of fucking reason or not, I’m minutes away from tearing off her jeans and drilling my cock inside her.
“You need to put that away,” I say, gesturing toward her tit still shiny from my tongue.
“You took it out. You put it away.”
I frown as mean as I can at her, but Candy is in a state of arousal where her brain has left the building and is waiting for a flight out of the country. I don’t know when it might return.
More carefully than when I yanked her tit free, I return it to the cup. Then I take her shirt and slide it over her head. She won’t help me with her arms, and I feel like I’m dressing an unwilling child.
“I’m leaving,” I say once she’s dressed.
“My shirt is on backward,” she mocks in a voice filled with desire. “You should try again.”
“And you called me the devil,” I say, standing up and hurrying out of the room.
I don’t even hear Candy, but she’s right behind me when I open the door and embrace the cold night. Her fingers cling to my shirt.
“Tell me why?”
I cup her face and take in the sight of her desperate expression. She really is an extraordinarily beautiful woman, and I swear she gets better looking every day.
“You and I are complicated, but fucking like this is simple. We don’t do simple, Candy. Now take a cold shower, and I’ll see you at work tomorrow.”
A cold breeze brushes past us, and Candy wraps her arms around her body.
“No cold shower for me. I’ll keep it steamy and find relief,” she taunts, still hoping to get me to fuck her. “Good luck with your hand.”
“You’re being a bitch.”
Candy gives me a wide smile. “Thank you, Angus.”
“For what?”
“Dinner and being sweet to my kids. Also for getting me riled up and knowing when to leave me hanging. You’re not such a bad guy.”
Candy says the words, but I don’t think she believes the last few. She still worries I’m the man who’ll ruin her. While I wouldn’t mind ruining her for all other men, destroying Candy isn’t an option. I’m not a monster despite what my enemies claim.
TWENTY ONE - CANDY
Awkward isn't a strong enough word for how I feel when I arrive at work after my lust tantrum. I don’t know how Hayes will react. He might taunt me or ignore what happened or try to fuck me on his desk.
As usual, Hayes is already working when I arrive. I poke my head into his office and s
tudy him. His hair is still damp from an early shower, and his soapy scent returns my body to lust mode.
Smiling casually, I ask, “Need any coffee?”
Hayes looks up from his laptop and stares blankly at me. “Will you hump my leg like a dog if I say no?”
Rolling my eyes, I leave him to gloat. At my desk, I try to concentrate, but Hayes looks too damn sexy in the morning.
I hear him get up from his chair, and the sound of his boots against the hardwood floor mimics the banging of my heart. I pray his gloating doesn’t last the entire day.
“Hey, horndog, get your coat, and we’ll eat breakfast.”
I stand up and go to the door without looking at him. Hayes takes one long step and ends up next to me.
“Don’t get shy now,” he teases, poking my back.
“I appreciate you not taking advantage of my stupidity last night.”
“It’s not stupid to want this,” he says, strutting ahead of me and showing off his ass. “There’d be something wrong with you if you didn’t want a piece of this beefcake.”
Despite turning beet red, I laugh at how he struts on the walk to the Waffle House. He opens the door for me, and I walk inside feeling like an absolute fool.
Hayes doesn’t say anything more until we order. I finally force myself to meet his gaze. I wish he didn’t look so fucking handsome sitting next to me.
“I do appreciate you stopping us,” I say in the most solemn voice I can manage. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been with a man and clearly I was unprepared.”
Hayes nudges me. “Why are you so damn embarrassed today? You’ve put me through the ringer since day one. Can’t I tease you a little without you turning red and hiding your face?”
“I’m a sensitive woman.”
Hayes snorts. “Tell me one woman that isn’t sensitive.”
“I was being sarcastic.”
“Women are full of drama.”
“You know what,” I mutter, glaring at him, “fuck you. I have one moment of weakness, and you think that proves your stupid ideas about my entire gender.”
“That’s the spunky bitch I’m accustomed to. Nice to have you back.”
Smiling now, I lean my head against his shoulder. “I never masturbate, but I did last night. Twice, in fact.”
Hayes narrows his eyes. “Damn, woman. How did we go from me in control to you making me feel like a horny chump?”
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