by Whitley Cox
“Until you go away on a photo shoot. Then I’ll have to make a withdrawal from my spank bank.” Her hips leapt off the couch, and she pressed her pussy against his face.
He buried his face between her thighs, and she ground up against him. She was already super-close, but she wanted more than this. She wanted what she’d taken pictures of. She wanted what was currently peeking out at her from the floor where he knelt and his cock lay heavy against his belly.
He released her clit and kissed the inside of her other thigh. “The thought of you touching yourself to pictures of me will get me through our time apart, then when we’re finally together again, I’ll make up for lost time.” He grabbed her other leg and swung it over his shoulder so both her legs were now resting on him, then without so much as a deep breath or a wink, he dove in between her legs and made her come harder than she’d ever come before.
Moments later, after she’d found her head and caught her breath, Mitch sat back up on the couch, a condom in his hand. He rolled it over his length and Paige climbed on, straddling his lap and sinking down immediately to take him inside her.
He cradled her ribcage in his big palms, and they each let out a contented sigh when he hit the end of her.
She began to ride him.
“Thank you for everything,” she said, lifting up high so that just the tip of him remained inside her. She could see the frustration begin to grow on his face. She did a sultry little hip swirl before dropping back down. “You encouraged me to chase my dream, and now, tomorrow, that dream is becoming a reality. I’m catering my first gig. The first gig in my very own restaurant.”
“It’s all you, baby,” he replied, his voice a deep and masculine rumble next to her ear as she bent her head and licked along the roped muscles in his neck. “Can’t wait to watch your star just get brighter and brighter. You’re going to be the talk of the town in no time.”
She lifted her head and stared down at him, loving the way his face transformed when they made love. He was usually such a happy guy, with a smile on his face and a brightness to his eyes that spoke of not only intelligence but of passion. But when they fucked, when they made love, when he was buried deep inside her and they became one, all of that vanished.
Instead Mitch became this heavily focused, brow-pinched, scowl-faced fucking machine. He was primed and ready to fuck. He was primed and ready to fuck her. His only train of thought, his only objective was to fuck, and like hell if he was going to mess it up or get distracted.
And it turned her on.
To know that she made him that wild, that primitive and that fixated on her and only her made her feel like the most desirable, beautiful, sexual woman in the world. He transformed when he was with her, and it was the transformation most women only dreamed their man to make—from the sweet, devoted man who loved his kids, worked hard and was everyone’s favorite neighbor to the sex god with a one-track mind and an insatiable hunger for her and her alone.
The dream was now her reality.
Mitch was her reality.
Mitch was hers.
“So proud of you, babe.” He grunted, gripping her ass cheeks hard and rocking her against him until his lower abs hit her clit and her leg spasmed. “Gonna show you how proud.” He captured one of her nipples in his mouth and sucked hard, wedged a hand between them and rubbed rough circles around her clit. With his other hand, and one single, very long finger, he pushed against her anus.
“Let me in.”
She relaxed.
He pushed harder, past the tight ring of muscle, until all she felt was full and amazing. She lifted up on his lap again. His finger went with her, pushing in even deeper when she dropped back down.
She was really close now. Damn close.
He released her nipple between his teeth and lifted his head. She took his mouth, wedging her tongue between his lips with a force that probably surprised both of them. He pinched her clit, and she came.
He pushed another finger into her tight hole, and she came harder.
He surged up, and she clenched around him and came a second time.
Two orgasms crashed into each other like opposing waves, creating one big super wave. It ripped through her body from end to end and back again, reaching the crescendo just as Mitch poured himself inside her, taking her mouth once more and swallowing her gasps and cries, mixing them with his own.
After what felt like hours of sitting in his lap, listening to their mingling breaths and the beat of her pulse in her ears, Paige slipped off Mitch’s lap and ducked into his small bathroom to clean up. She returned seconds later to find him standing there with his jeans on and a bouquet of flowers in his hand, along with a bottle of champagne.
She quirked her head to the side as she made her way over to her clothes and quickly got dressed. “What’s all this?”
Once dressed, they sat down on their couch.
“It’s a small thank-you and congratulations gift,” he said, handing them to her. Along with a small wrapped box. “You did it. We did it. I couldn’t have made this happen without you, and I’m so glad and proud of you for taking the plunge and starting up your own business. You are going to be a huge success, Paige McPherson. Seattle won’t know what hit it.”
She smelled the flowers, then began to open the gift box. Mitch deployed the cork from the champagne, grabbed two cups from the glass and chrome trolley he had set up with coffee mugs and a Keurig, and poured them each a cup.
He handed her her cup, then sat down next to her just as she pulled out a framed photo of the two of them.
“Who took this?”
Her curious expression prompted his reply. “Jayda took it. I gave her her own camera for her sixth birthday, and she had it at the dinner you made for us all at your parents’, remember?”
Paige shook her head. “I was probably so focused on the meal. I’ve also stopped paying attention to the sound of a photo being taken because you take so many.”
His smile was knowing. “I don’t even know when she took this, but she did, and she gave it to me the other day. I guess she secretly had Violet get it printed and help her buy a frame. She wanted me to give it to you.”
Emotion clutched at Paige’s heart.
“She wants you to know that she likes you, she’s okay with you being in my life, and she’s really excited for your new restaurant. She hopes that one day you’ll hire her to be a server. When she’s old enough.”
Paige hiccupped a small sob and then laughed, wiping the back of her wrist beneath her nose. “I don’t know what to say.” She ran her hand over the beautiful photo of Mitch and Paige standing in the kitchen at her parents’ house. His arms were around her waist, her hands over his shoulders. They were both smiling, staring into each other’s eyes and already appearing as in love as they were now. Because she did love him, she hadn’t said it yet, but she knew it to be true.
She loved Mitch.
They were in love.
They were happy.
“You have a remarkable little girl,” she said, lifting her gaze to Mitch and batting a tear that rolled down her cheek. “And quite the budding photographer.”
Mitch smiled and pulled Paige back into his lap, planting a big kiss to the side of her head. His arms around her felt good. “That I do. She also told me to get a good night’s sleep tonight—both of us, because we have big days tomorrow.”
Paige giggled. “I guess that means round two is out of the question?” She turned in his lap and nipped at his chin.
She was beneath him in seconds, his growl vibrating through her in pleasant waves that made her tingle all over. “Oh baby, I’d rather have a good fuck with you than a good night’s sleep any day of the week. Ain’t nothing more therapeutic.” Then they went at it again and again until it was the wee hours of the morning.
The morning of the grand opening.
19
Mitch and Paige stood in the small bathroom of his studio. She turned to him and adjusted the collar on
his navy button-down shirt, running her hands affectionately over his shoulders. “You look hot,” she purred, standing up on tiptoe and kissing his cheek. “I’d book a photo shoot with you just to stare at you.”
He growled and wrapped his arm around her waist, tugging her against him. She felt so good in his arms. “You don’t have to book a thing. Just be you. My muse.” His smile widened, even though the butterflies in his stomach made him feel nauseous. “And if you would like to get naked as I take pictures, who am I to stop you?”
She rolled her eyes and nipped his chin. “Maybe once the people are gone and the doors are locked. I have a very important catering gig I need to get ready for. Big client. I really want to impress him.”
She was all smiles. He loved it when she got playful. It was becoming more and more common as their relationship progressed and Paige slowly came into her own. Since meeting her on the Fourth of July, he’d watched her confidence double, if not triple. She still had insecurities, which she carried around with her like a balloon tied to her belt loop, but they were no longer a bouquet of balloons in a bunch of bright colors that distracted everyone from the person in front of them. Instead it was a single balloon, without helium and the same color as the sky. You’d miss it if you weren’t looking for it.
She was finding her calling, finding herself again and embracing it. And he loved that he had a front-row seat to her transformation.
A knock on the bathroom door had them pulling apart as if they were two tweens in a closet doing seven minutes in heaven.
“When you’re done having sex in the bathroom, I could really use your take on plating the canapes,” Jane called through the door, humor in her tone.
Paige rolled her eyes again and opened the door. “We weren’t having sex.”
Jane grinned. “Yeah, right. Nothing like a little pre-opening quickie to get the endorphins pumping and put you both in a good mood.” She turned her back and headed toward the restaurant.
Paige stuck her tongue out at Jane’s back, which made Mitch laugh. He looped his arm around her waist and followed her. “I like the way she thinks.” He squeezed her butt. “I could use some endorphins to chase away the jitters. Feel like ducking back in there for a couple of minutes? Boost my confidence.”
She glanced up at him with shock in her eyes. “Just a couple of minutes?”
“For the first round. Next round, I’ll take my time.” He bobbed his eyebrows up and down.
They stepped over the threshold that led from his studio into her restaurant. It wasn’t quite finished on the dining side yet, but the kitchen had been up and running for nearly two weeks.
Decadent aromas wafted toward him as they made their way to the kitchen. A timer started going off on the oven, and steam rose from a pot on the stove. Yet everyone in the kitchen, all four members of Paige’s staff, seemed calm, collected and competent. There wasn’t a frazzled face or nervous person among them.
It was because they had a capable leader who not only led with her heart and her head; her recipes were flawless.
Mitch could attest to that last bit firsthand. Last week, when Paige was finalizing the menu for the opening night, she had forced Mitch to taste-test everything.
Not that she really had to force him at all. He’d been a willing guinea pig, squeaking for more. He’d never tasted anything so good in all his life.
Incredible dish after incredible dish graced his plate, only to wow his taste buds moments later. He had not one negative piece of feedback, not an ounce of criticism.
Well, except that she was still wearing clothes when she served him. But that wasn’t a complaint about the food, just the service.
Paige hadn’t believed him. She thought he was just being kind and had badgered him for critique and suggestions. But he’d truly had none. Everything she’d made had been perfection.
And now that perfection was being executed on a grander scale and by competent people Paige trusted to do her recipes proud.
She stepped out of Mitch’s grasp and approached the counter, where Jane had a big tray of little cracker things with what looked like salmon on them all spread out.
Paige flicked her eyes up to Mitch’s. “I’m going to make sure everything’s ready here, okay? Let me know when you’re opening the doors, and I’ll come stand with you.”
That was her kind way of telling him to get lost because she had work to do, and she didn’t need his incompetent ass in the way.
Message received.
Snickering, he made his way back over to the studio.
His watch said ten minutes to four. The doors opened at four. He hadn’t even been paying attention to the sidewalk beyond the front door until a wave and cocky smirk, followed by a subtle knock and more cocky smirks, had him heading to the front door and unlocking it early.
Liam waved a bottle of scotch in the air. It had a big red bow on it. “I came with celebration gifts,” he said, handing it over and wandering into the studio, his brother Scott in his wake, along with Zak, Adam’s younger brother; Mark and his girlfriend, Tori; Emmett; and Atlas.
He’d never say it, but it meant the world to him that the single dads had come to his opening night to support him. They really did have each other’s backs. They really were a family.
Zak slapped him on the shoulder, his smile wide and his blue eyes twinkling. “Glad things with you and Paige are working out.” Zak didn’t let go of Mitch’s shoulder. Instead he squeezed, just a little. “I hope things continue to work out.” Zak’s smile grew even bigger, showing off perfectly straight white teeth. At the moment, he reminded Mitch of a redheaded wolf, as the man was far too big to be a fox.
Mitch shrugged Zak’s hand off and smiled back. “They’re working out great, man. No need for the strong-arm.”
Zak tossed his head back and laughed. “I like you. You’re funny.”
“You being my big protector again, Zachary?” came Paige’s voice. She made her way toward them and stood next to Mitch, cocking her hip and crossing her arms in front of her chest, glaring up at Zak. “I can take care of myself, you know?”
Zak’s smile never shrunk a bit. His pupils dilated, though, and his nostrils flared just slightly. Did he have a secret crush on his brother’s ex-wife? Was he hoping for something between him and Paige when Paige and Adam got divorced? He was certainly regarding Mitch’s girlfriend with an appraising look of admiration and intrigue.
Paige’s foot tapped on the floor. “Hmm?”
Zak scratched the back of his neck and laughed. “Ah, Paige, I’m just looking out for you. You’ll always be family.” He bent down and gave her a big hug, picking her up so that her feet dangled and a black flat shoe dropped. A frisson of unease weaseled its way up Mitch’s spine as he tried not to notice the bunch and flex of Zak’s tattooed arms as they squeezed around Paige.
Both Paige and Zak laughed as he set her back down on the ground. She swatted his chest. “I appreciate it. But be nice to Mitch. He’s one of the good ones.”
“You only date the good ones,” Adam said as he and Violet walked in the door, Adam’s smile wide and joking.
Paige rolled her eyes. “That’s true. My standards are quite high.”
Violet embraced her in a hug. “As are mine. Nothing wrong with that.”
Paige laughed and agreed. The two women stepped off to the side to chat.
Adam slapped Mitch on the shoulder. “Looks great, man. You did a fantastic job.”
Mitch beamed. “Thanks.”
All the single dads had spread out around the studio, studying the photos Mitch had carefully selected and hung on the wall. Paige’s staff had already started setting up the tables of food, and Mason, Mitch’s buddy from high school and a bartender, was almost done setting up the makeshift bar. Mitch was excited because Mason’s surrogate was due with Mason’s baby any day now. Then Mason could join The Single Dads of Seattle.
It’d be nice to have an ally from the old days around the poker table. As much
as he knew he was now an accepted member, once in a while he still felt like an outsider, especially when all the men started talking about their ex-wives and their days off when they didn’t have their kids. Mitch couldn’t relate to that.
He spotted Emmett out of the corner of his eye, as well as his mother and Paige’s parents, who had both Jayda and Mira with them.
Everyone who was nearest and dearest to him was now here.
Supporting him.
Celebrating him.
Helping his dream, and Paige’s dream, become a reality.
“Drink?” Mason asked, bumping him in the shoulder and bringing a cool, drippy bottle of beer in front of Mitch’s face.
Liquid courage.
“Ah, thanks.” Mitch accepted the bottle and immediately took a sip.
“Your lady’s something special,” Mason said, tipping back his own beer and practically emptying half. “A looker and one hell of a cook. You hit the jackpot right there.”
Mitch grinned as his eyes followed Paige around the room as she and Violet, now joined by Tori, Mark’s girlfriend, wandered slowly around the gallery, looking at all the photos Mitch had taken of Paige. He was sure she was being modest and deflecting their praise. They were still working on her self-esteem and self-love. She’d get there.
Mason snickered next to him. “You’ve got it bad, man.”
Mitch exhaled, shifting his gaze from his woman back to his best friend. “That I do. She’s the whole damn package.”
Mason held up the hand cradling his beer bottle and used one finger to point at a very sexy, very captivating photo he’d taken of Paige. “That one is hot.”
He had that right.
Paige wore her black dance bodysuit. Her hair was wild around her, and she had some very seductive bedroom eyes going on. Her smile was small and knowing, as if she had a secret to tell, but the only way she’d reveal it was if he revealed a secret of his own.
