by Ava May
“That’s a good word,” he agreed, nodding slowly. “Expansive. My feelings for you. Our connection. Us.”
“Is there an us? I don’t want to sound presumptuous.”
“There’s an us, Jan. There’s most definitely an us.” He sighed in satisfaction and happiness. This moment was simply perfect.
Jan gave him a sleepy smile, her head dropping to the pillow. “I know I need to go home but…” She shrugged. “I think I want to stay here for a while.”
“What about all night? I can run you home so you can change and then drop you off at work.”
“Mmm, that sounds like a plan,” she told him, snuggling in close. Jan kissed his chest tenderly. “Let’s sleep together, Keith. I want nothing more.
“Me either.”
Jan awoke slowly, stretching, the sun brushing along her face and on Keith’s naked shoulder. Keith!
It all came back to her. She’d been with Keith, her father’s best friend. A man who had become everything to her. Jan was falling in love with him; maybe a little part of her had a long, long time ago, and gradually picked up steam as he’d related to her and Brody at the hospital, and then last night.
Last night had been amazing.
Keith was…she was right—so was he—what they had was expansive. She’d always cared for him, had always been attracted to him. But this was a new layer to them; as equals rather than anything else.
It was a hard concept to rationalize and yet, he was absolutely perfect for her, perfect for any woman, and yet he’d chosen her. Jan’s insecurities rose up and she worried, she genuinely feared, that she wasn’t his type. He was a doctor and her dad’s age, not a younger man or a man, frankly, not as attractive. Keith was the whole package and Jan wasn’t probably his typical relationship.
If he even dated often. She had a feeling he didn’t. He’d taken Miranda’s death so very hard; Jan remembered both Mom and Dad being seriously worried about Keith after his wife died after a drunk driver hit her. It was an awful loss, piled atop the loss of their child, and Keith had seemed so beaten down by fate and circumstances, for a long time.
There had been a point in time where her parents had essentially moved him in, since everything in the house had represented memories, and while Keith had seemed to heal, she’d never seen any sign that he’d been dating very much. And that was kind of nice, in the grand scheme of things.
He could have been a serial dater and her parents had never known, but Jan suspected that wasn’t the case. There was something about the way he acted and reacted, both in and out of bed, that hinted that he was single and didn’t bring women home often. She felt fairly confident, insecurity and all, that she was unique, rather than one in a steady stream.
He was very cute in sleep, the worry lines on his face smoothing out and making him seem much younger than his years. He was an incredibly handsome man, now and always, and there was no way he looked anywhere near fifty. Forty if he was lucky. He had those handsome looks, movie star but understated and rugged, more Harrison Ford than Justin Bieber. And he was ripped; those abs were incredible.
She was…not ripped. If he were a food, he’d be a lean chicken breast, seasoned perfectly. And if she were a food, she’d be a cupcake. Fluffy, and sweet and not hard, fast, or healthy. Jan tried to quiet her mind, her insecurities, her self-deprecating ways. He had asked her to come to his home and then into his bed with an open heart—and open eyes, too. He wanted her. That much was clear.
The age difference and all, that could have been a deal breaker, and the fact that they were so different, another possible roadblock. Yet Jan wasn’t truly worried about this. She had the distinct feeling that they were going to work well together.
“Morning,” Keith said, his voice husky. His fingertips trailed over her breasts, her nipples hardening into aching points.
“Mmm,” she whispered, shifting so that she was on top of him, his hard cock resting against her dampening pussy lips. “Do you like it in the morning?” Jan asked. She had no idea what time it was, but she was sure they could spare the time for a quickie, or maybe even a little longer than that. And they were both ready to fuck, his cock rock hard, her pussy quickly getting wet.
“Yeah. And I want you just as you are,” Keith told her. He shifted and guided himself in slowly. Jan slid down just enough that he sank fully inside her, his presence fulfilling something deep inside her.
Jan rocked slowly and then fast sitting up and riding him as their passion grew. Keith was gorgeous, eyes fluttering closed, his low gasps and her tight cries binding them deeply.
“Fuck me harder,” she whispered, even though she was well aware that she held the cards here, with her superior position.
She clenched down on him as they slammed against each other, passion threatening to crest and break over them. Her body throbbed, the tingles growing more and more as he pushed her relentlessly close to the edge.
“Now, Keith, please! Please right now!”
Jan clenched and released him with her interior muscles, again and again, pushing him so hard she wondered if he might forget how to breathe. His face was red and sweat began to pop out at his hairline. She wasn’t sure if he was straining to come or if he was trying to hold back.
None of that mattered as she pushed them both over the edge, into a screaming delirium where their bodies and the sensations they arose in each other took over everything else.
When they came down, Jan was surprised to find she was crying, tears dripping on his chest.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. Your emotion is beautiful. Almost as beautiful as you are.” He wiped away her tears, and gathered her close, and gently withdrew.
“Just lie here, Jan. The day is still young and we have time to get some more sleep.”
Jan closed her eyes, intending to sleep, as he suggested. She had to get to work, sure, but being with him was so nice. So very, very nice.
Jan was drifting, dozing, riding the waves of afterglow quite happily, thank you very much, when she was startled awake by a ringing phone. Keith shifted, reaching for the phone he must have dropped on his end table at some point in the night.
“’Lo?” he asked, his voice raspy and sexy.
When he sat abruptly upright, Jan awoke fully, unease beginning to trickle in. There was no reason to worry. He was probably called all the time at the hospital. Jan sighed and rested her hand on his thigh, her eyes closing. They popped right open again when he muttered a curse. She sat up beside him, stroking her hand up and down on his muscular leg
“Jimmy, calm down. They said what? Morning news? What network? Have I…yeah, she brought the boy to the hospital yesterday.”
Keith nudged her and pointed to the other nightstand. Jan reached for a remote, and handed it to him, the panic clawing its way up her throat. This wasn’t good—at all.
“Jimmy, settle down. Why do you think… Oh, Christ. Jim, she’s safe. She’s…with me.”
Had he just outed them to her parents?
“Yeah, I said here, Jim. I was going to drive her back to her car last night, but she bunked here instead. She was emotionally exhausted after dealing with the accident.”
Keith closed his eyes and thumped his head against the headboard just once. “Yeah, Jimmy, hold on. Jan? Your dad needs to talk with you.”
She gave him a look and he squeezed her arm. Yeah, this wasn’t going to be good at all. He pulled her onto his lap, and unlike earlier, his embrace was tense rather than protective and sexy and dreamy.
“Dad?” Jan asked, hoping she didn’t sound just very well fucked.
“Jan, are you okay? What the hell is going on?”
“What do you mean? With Brody?”
“Yeah. They said…” Her father swallowed hard enough for it to echo over the phone. “They said you’re under investigation for not adequately supervising the kids. Jan, I know that isn’t you at all, so what’s going on.”
“Oh my god…” She had su
spected that something might come down the pike, but she hadn’t figured it would happen so soon, and not specifically to her, when she’d done nothing wrong. “It’s routine,” she told her father, reassuring him even though she knew this was a complete nightmare and was anything but okay.
Dad sighed. “No, Jan, it isn’t routine as far as I can tell. Your name was the only one mentioned. Come over right away. Bring Keith. I’m going to call my lawyer and alert him, just in case we need to secure counsel.”
“Oh god.” Was it really that bad? From the grim expression on Keith’s face, she had the answer to that. “I don’t even know what to say.” Jan looked at Keith and shrugged, feeling helpless, trying to push back the burn of tears.
Keith took the phone from her. “Jimmy? We’ll be right over.”
“Let me talk to my kid again,” Jan could hear her father’s voice even though the phone was at Keith’s ear. He handed it back over to her and she might have laughed at the idea of the game of telephone brought into a new century.
“I’m glad you stayed with him last night. He’s a good friend to us.”
“Me too. He’s been very good to me. Even made sure I ate. He’s a good friend, Daddy, you’re right. Jan knew her father had no idea what had happened.
Or at least she hoped so.
Keith spent the entire drive back to Jan’s house deep in thought. They’d taken a quick and dirty shower, but Jan’s heart hadn’t been into touching, or being touched. She did let him hold her, and she’d accepted and returned a blazing hot kiss.
There would be time for sexy showers later. Right now, they had a purpose, and it was to get to Jan’s house so she could dress, and then go to her parents. The school was closed for the day while the incident was being investigated.
So Jan had an unexpected day off, and a hell of a lot of worry that threatened to consume her. Keith had figured they were going to hang her out to dry, but he hadn’t expected the speed of it. Then again, she was an easy target for anyone who was covering his own ass. She was going to have to come out and throw her boss under the bus, rightfully so. But if her coworkers banded against her, which was always possible, she could be in big trouble.
At least she’d have his support, as well as that of her family. And the way Keith saw it, she would need to protect herself first and foremost.
“How are you?” Keith asked finally, as they pulled into her apartment complex. She had a place not very far from the hospital, in a newish community that had shops on the ground level and apartments above.
“Coffee?” he asked her when she didn’t answer.
“On the way out,” she replied, resting her hand on his knee. “I’m okay. I saw this coming unfortunately.” She gasped suddenly and Keith tapped on the brakes, thinking she’d seen something he hadn’t.
“What?”
“That.”
Her finger trembled as she pointed toward a truck and several people with microphones. Shit! The media was on this; he felt like an idiot for not taking that under consideration. It was a no-brainer. Of course they wanted to sniff out the real story.
“Direct me to the parking garage,” he told her, changing his idea about what to do. They’d have to get coffee at her place, and get out quickly to her parents place. Hell, he’d have her pack a bag or two, and head over to his place. They’d never expect her to be there. His house, his presence, would be her sanctuary.
“What’s happening?” she asked him quietly after they pulled in to her spot.
“They’re going to want statements from you, but the police haven’t even questioned you, have they?”
“No, they just took the samples.”
“And all of that is clear?” Keith knew what the answer would be, and when she nodded, he let out a small sigh.
“I’m glad your dad has a lawyer planned. Dress casually and take clothes for a week or so, a few business things and a lot of casual stuff. Take some books, or music, or whatever you need. You’re staying with me.”
“I am?”
“You are.” It felt nice taking care of her, even though there was a limited amount that he could do. But he’d do it, providing her a sanctuary.
“You think I’ll need to…be away.”
“Yeah.” There was no point in sugar coating it.
“But I did nothing wrong.”
“I know. But we need to protect you and get the truth out. Don’t worry, sweetheart. It’ll be okay. I promise that. You have the best team around you. We love you.”
She gasped and he wondered if he’d pushed too far.
“Thank you. I…know.”
He followed her as she hurried to her apartment. There were no reporters outside, thank goodness, though that could change at any moment.
Keith wanted to take time to inspect her apartment, but they didn’t have that luxury. “What do you need?” he asked, following her into the neat and comfortable apartment.
“My iPad and charger, clothes, toiletries. I can do the clothes and stuff. Can you…why don’t you make some coffee. We can take it to go. Starbucks is better but…well.”
“I’m aware,” he told her, kissing the top of her head. Keith made his way to her galley kitchen, starting a pot of coffee. He looked in her fridge, poking around her food. He packed the fruit in a cooler he found, and then dragged out a couple of travel mugs. Just as the coffee finished brewing, Jan hurried back to him, her hair pulled into a bun, her clothes casual. The purple shirt and jeans suited her.
“Got some stuff packed?” he asked her.
“Yeah, I think I’m good. Two bags—a suitcase and a garment bag with a couple of suits. We usually only wear dress pants and blouses at work, polos when we’re having a heavy activity day, but I have a few dressy suits. I also showered,” she added, motioning to her wet hair and the change of clothes.
“You get your electronics too?”
“Phone charger, iPad, a couple of paper books as well. I think I’ll be good.”
“Grab your coffee and doctor it. We’ve got to head to your parents’ house.’
“What are we telling them?” she asked, pouring a dollop of cream into her coffee.
“About us?”
“About us,” she confirmed. “Do we let them know…”
“I think we need to,” Keith said quietly. It wouldn’t have been what he’d chosen for them to do, but it was necessary to be completely honest, not only about her job situation, but their bond as well.
“How do you think they’ll react?” Jan asked, her hand trembling.
Keith took her coffee, put it on the counter, and hugged her close. “Your father is my best friend. He knows me well. He knows me inside and out, and how I deal with my personal relationships. I don’t think he’ll be thrilled, Jan, but when he thinks about it and remembers the guy I am, he’ll come around.”
“Are you sure?” she asked, and he tightened his arms around her. There was no point in saying that he wasn’t entirely sure; it would just stress her out. And Keith was operating on faith and the reality that he had good instincts, not to mention having great taste in friends. Jim and Lisa were level-headed people who just wanted the best for their one and only, and Keith was sure he was the best thing for her.
Once they saw how Jan blossomed in his presence and the way he looked after her, that’d definitely ease their minds. At least he hoped so. There had to be some logic to his thinking; he wasn’t operating purely on faith. He’d known Jim so well.
Though they’d never spoken of Jan’s dating life. That could be problematic, not to mention interesting.
“All ready?” he asked when she screwed the top on her travel mug. He’d noticed she’d dumped in a little sugar and a lot of cream, which was just the way he liked his coffee, too.
“As I’ll ever be,” she told him. Keith took her bags and gave her a gentle hug with his free arm.
“It will be okay. All of it.”
“I’ll try to believe you,” she said, giving him a grim smile.
He had to get her out of here and into the shelter of her parents’ home. “Let me carry the coffees.”
“You got it.” He handed her his and followed close behind as she juggled the coffee cups and locked the door, wishing he’d thought to take her keys. “You don’t want to get your car now, do you?” he asked, not bothering to point out that there were probably a throng of reporters waiting outside, ready to pounce at her the moment he drove her over.
“No. That’s okay. I don’t really want to go anywhere near there.”
“Good. Now follow me.” Keith led her down the corridor, checking carefully to make sure there was no action around her parking spot. The garage was empty of people, thank god.
“When we drive out, look away. They won’t be looking too closely, I don’t think. This is probably journalist pro forma.”
“This is so cloak and dagger. I just want to do my job and be with my kids.”
“I know.” Keith had such an urge to pull her into his arms, but he resisted, holding off, holding back, but only for now. When they were in a safe place, a quiet place, he intended to hold her. This bond between them was important to him, and he wanted to be her shoulder.
When they pulled up to her parents’ home, Keith was glad to see there were no reporters around. He hadn’t really thought there would be, but an injured child did bring out the reporters waiting for their big lead.
“Now or never,” he told her quietly. Jan had been looking out the window, silent on the entire drive.
“I don’t want to do this any more.”
What the hell did that mean? His chest clenched and he had to work hard so that he didn’t fall into a panic.
“You don’t?” he asked, keeping his emotions at bay--but only barely.
“I don’t,” she insisted, her voice soft and quiet, the vulnerability making her seem so much younger. “I don’t want to work for the school any more. I don’t want to do this. I want to be in a place of structure and mutual respect, not a place that puts the safety of the kids second to keeping a lecherous supervisor’s secrets to themselves. That little boy could have been killed, or many more kids could have been hurt. I can’t do this job with any integrity if I keep putting them secondary to my job security. There’s no loyalty there any more, or maybe I just duped myself into thinking there was. I guess it is a comfortable fantasy to imagine people care.”
