Second Chance on St. Patrick's Day

by Mia Ford

  “He seems to want to spend time with me. I know that he wants me, too. I think that I’m considering that,” I smiled at her as she walked over and hugged me. “How do you know when it’s right?” Noel had long since lost her virginity but she had to remember the uncertainty of it all.

  “He’s not pushing you, is he?” She asked me as I shook my head. “Good. I know he’s older and probably has a lot of experience with the way that he looks, but that can also be a good thing. He knows how to treat a woman and from what I’ve seen, he’s great to you. It’s the little things about him that I notice the most, you know? Mom, too.”

  “What little things do you mean?” I asked before I looked at the clock. “I have to head out there and get ready to open. We’ll talk later.” I managed to get everything done and let Mike in with a soft giggle as he looked me over. I met him at the counter and got his stuff ready as he asked me why I was so cheerful this morning. Noel was bringing stuff out to stock the case and told him that I had a new boyfriend and hadn’t stopped smiling in a few days. I glared at her as the door opened back up and a few people walked inside, one of whom was Robert. I grinned just like she’d mentioned and Mike turned around to see what I was looking at.

  “Told you,” Noel chirped as she turned to head to the back for more goodies, setting aside a muffin for Robert with a wink. I shook my head as Mike seemed to size him up before going to his usual table. I helped the customers in front of him as I tried to focus on what they were saying to me. I knew that I failed and narrowed my eyes at him, taking in his damp shirt that clung to his muscles as I took a deep breath.

  This was dangerous.

  He ordered and I refused his money this time, sliding his order across the counter as he shook his head at me. I was thinking about the ways that I would like to thank him for his continued business as heat washed over my skin, something that made his eyes gleam as he took it all in. I noticed that he went to his usual table, only to be joined by Mike as my eyes widened. What was he saying to Robert?

  A woman came in wearing a skimpy jogging outfit and I recognized her as the woman that was flirting with Robert in the past. She stepped up to the counter and ordered some tea, and as I took her money I realized that she was close to Robert’s age. She was also gorgeous and I started wondering if I was enough for him since I didn’t feel like I had her confidence. Between that and Mike being caught up in a conversation with Robert, my mind started to race and the good mood that I’d had this morning faded away.

  Of course, the woman looked over at Robert before taking a seat at the couch by the fire. She smiled as she picked up one of my favorite books and started to read it, leaning back as she crossed her tight runner’s legs.

  I didn’t run. It showed in the curves that Robert promised me that he liked but I looked down at myself and nibbled on my lip. I reminded myself that he wouldn’t be spending any time with me, much less doing the intimate things that I loved if he didn’t want to. People had choices in life and I wasn’t the aggressor in this situation.

  I focused on tidying up in between orders, sipping from a cup of coffee that was perched against the back wall. Robert spoke with Mike for about an hour before clapping him on the back and standing to leave, and I watched as the blonde woman smoothed her perfect ponytail and smiled his way, but Robert didn’t give her a second look. He walked over to me and leaned in as I walked up to the counter. “I think I’ll take some muffins in tomorrow to base. Can you guys make two dozen and mix up the flavors for me?” I nodded as his eyes swept over my body. “I’ll call you later, Molly.”

  “I’d like that, Rob.” I heard myself and frowned. “Do you mind me calling you that? I just realized that I was.”

  “No. It’s informal and I love it for that reason alone.” He smiled and pushed back from the counter as he stared at my lips for a moment. I knew that he wanted to kiss me and my legs were shaking with the need to crawl across the counter as I twitched. “Take care of yourself. I’ll talk to you soon.” There was a note of regret in his voice as he walked away and I almost reached out to stop him, but for what reason? What would I say?

  The door closed and he was gone, along with the electricity in the air that I felt whenever he was around. I sighed and wiped at a tiny drop of coffee on the counter for a moment before looking over the dining room. Some of the tables had cleared and I happened to notice the jogger was gone as well. Oddly enough, it was close to Robert’s exit and I looked through the glass to see her talking to him by his car as insecurity struck me all over again. When I went out there to clean up tables, I noticed Mike smiling at me from his usual table. I remembered that he was talking to Robert and frowned as I considered asking him what they were discussing. “I like him,” he told me as I looked back out the window to see that blonde watching him back up. “You girls are like my own granddaughters and I needed him to know that as well. I look out for people that I care about.”

  All the warm feelings from living in a small town flooded me as I looked at the floor. “Thank you.”

  “I think that he has good intentions with you, Molly.” I nodded and sniffled as he patted my arm, slowly making my way around the room to clean. I had a few hours left of my shift but I felt good right now in this moment.

  I’d decided to take a nap by the time we were leaving, and that was when I realized I left my backpack over at Robert’s house. I knew that I had everything that I needed at home for the night, but I smiled as I thought about going over to get it later tonight. When my eyes dropped closed in the car, I pushed that thought to the back of my mind.

  Chapter 17

  Robert

  I went to sit outside for lunch, needing some fresh air. I packed a sandwich from home and looked over the pretty mountains as I ate, thinking about the night and morning. Holding Molly had felt incredible last night and waking up with her was one of the most addicting things I’d ever experienced.

  Not that watching her come from between her legs wasn’t intense. The way that she looked when she gave all of herself to me overwhelmed me at times, and I felt like a kid in high school with his first crush. It was insane. I’d done a lot of things with a lot of women and couldn’t recall too many of the details now, and I had yet to have sex with Molly. It was everything about her that I liked and the intimacy was just a bonus. That was something that I’d never done with a woman before Molly and it caught me off guard so much of the time.

  I glanced up as I heard voices and watched as Olivia came out with one of my colleagues. “Robert, hello. Getting some fresh air?”

  “There’s nothing like it in a place like this,” I replied as they sat down with food. Olivia gave me a curious look as she unwrapped a sandwich and I sensed that she was wondering if I’d looked into her date.

  I hadn’t. I was happy with my own life and stepping back as the hard ass that I was known as. I knew that might get me into trouble later down the road but for now, I was happy. I was incredibly happy.

  “Did you have a good time the other night?” Olivia asked me as Michael looked between us. She was digging a hole for herself here but I merely nodded. I saw the curiosity of who I was with more than concern for her own job.

  “Yeah,” I told her vaguely, offering nothing. She frowned and picked up the sub as Michael raised an eyebrow. I knew the look in his eyes. He was wondering if there was something between us and I would set him straight about that as soon as I could, even though there was nothing technically wrong with the thought. I could date but I made a point not to at work. Olivia was attractive and it was known that she didn’t consider work a place to not hook up. I reminded myself why I transferred here in the first place all over again. I was cleaning up the mess from another scandal. I needed to keep things strict on the base and letting Michael assume anything was foolish, given my reputation. I took a sip of my water and pictured Molly’s face in my mind, feeling a calm come over me.

  Molly was everything that I didn’t look for in a woman, yet here I was
dating her. Not only dating her, but I was waiting for her.

  Lunch ended and we went back in to wait for the class, with Michael taking a seat beside me in the back of the room as Olivia headed to the front. She was beautiful, confident, and oozed that she was submissive but Olivia did nothing for me.

  “So, what was she getting at back there?” Michael asked me, reminding me of a teenager in high school before class, gossiping in the hallway.

  “I’m dating a woman in town and she ran into us the other night. That’s all,” I responded as the guys filed back into the room. I still left out the part about who she was with, but I looked closely at every student that walked into the room. He’d been dark-haired and I frowned as everyone looked alike to me. I hadn’t expected to see Olivia that night and I was so caught up in Molly. My tactic changed and I watched Olivia for a moment as she let her eyes linger a bit too long on someone in the front, her face flushing as she smiled.

  Bingo.

  I sat back and smiled as she glanced back my way. Olivia’s face went pale when she saw the smug expression on my face, her voice shaking as she started the lesson. Today, I was flying along with Michael against them and adrenaline raced through my veins.

  I noted the face of the student as we made our way out to the planes though it wasn’t intentional to knock him out first. I was on fire and I landed with a grin and an erection that made me long for Molly. Nothing was better than taking a woman after a moment like this, buried so deep inside of her as I released all my stress.

  After class, I asked Olivia to join me in my office. She nodded and followed me as I led the way, thinking of what to say through my adrenaline. “Take a seat.” I watched as she complied and crossed her legs in the pencil skirt that she wore. The look she gave me told me that she was ready and willing for anything I asked of her, smoldering and full of heat. That student was one lucky man with a woman like this, but I reminded myself that it was unprofessional.

  “Are you dating a student, Olivia?” I asked her directly as she grimaced slightly. “You do know why I was brought here, don’t you? There was a pile of shit left over from the last scandal on this base.”

  “There was a marriage involved in that,” she defended herself as I dropped into my chair and stared at her.

  “It doesn’t fucking matter,” my voice was low as the rage rose inside of me. I hated sloppy behavior on a base, always had. I’d done my share of messing around with women in my younger days, but Dad always told me that I needed to keep it away from work. “He’s a student and you’re his teacher. I don’t even have to remind you how many things are wrong with that.”

  “You could go out with me,” she suggested seductively as I narrowed my eyes. I couldn’t even with the lack of rules attached to the situation because I was falling for Molly.

  “No, I can’t. I’m involved with someone,” I reminded her as Olivia raised a perfect dark eyebrow.

  “She’s so young. What does she even do for you?” I crossed my arms over my chest.

  “That is none of your business. Regardless of my personal life, you are not allowed to date a student. You need to end it immediately or else your job is on the line.” She stared at me with wide eyes. That was what I was here for and Olivia blinked at me.

  “My job is on the line? I went to the movies with him one time and slept with him just a few times. Tell me you haven’t done that in your years with the force.” Her face was indignant and I glared at her.

  “He is a student. He can’t have an edge on the others because of a relationship with you. Fuck someone off the base, Olivia. Keep it separate, for fuck’s sake.” She leaned back and pressed her full breasts out as if it was going to change my mind. “You don’t want to go down because of this. The last couple that did lost everything.” They were discharged after all, starting over after they pledged their life to the force.

  Olivia stood and looked doubtfully at me for a moment. “You never wanted me, did you?” I shook my head. “He did. That’s why everything with him happened.”

  “You are ten years in, Olivia. Don’t throw it all away for something so trivial. This isn’t the only place to find men.” I reminded her, still sitting as she pressed her lips together. Olivia was the girl in college that would fuck everyone, out of need or the chance to get ahead. It amazed me that she was rising on the base at all with her career. Olivia was a fucking instructor. Maybe there was more corruption here than I wanted to believe in the first place or maybe her heart was in the right place. She was only in her thirties, after all. She still had some growing up to do.

  I headed to my car after the day ended, hoping that Olivia did end it with him. I could have fired her today, sent her packing but I think that she really did love her job. I made it clear that I would be watching her before ending the meeting.

  Looking at the clock in my car, I noted that it was four o’clock. She’d been off work for a short while and might be napping, so I decided that I’d save dinner for another night and hope that she slept over tonight. I was still half-hard from the time in the air but it was a harsh reminder that nothing might be done about it unless I jerked myself off later. I headed home with that in mind, yawning as I pulled out of the parking lot. Maybe I needed a fucking nap. It was tough being a boss.

  I took a shower when I got home, stroking myself into a hard orgasm before dressing in sweats and a t-shirt to watch the local news. I sent Molly a text when sports came on, waiting for a response. I didn’t expect to go over there for dinner every night as she’d joked about, even though the food was damn good. When she said that she and Noel were making fried chicken for dinner and offered to bring some with her later tonight, I frowned. She didn’t have a car, did she?

  I agreed and dropped the phone beside me to keep watching the scores, smiling. Molly wanted to spend the night with me again and hope flared through my cock at the idea of her touching me. I double checked to make sure she had a way over and just relaxed as I snacked on some chips. I thought about her family here, considering taking them all to dinner or maybe cooking for them here. I got on well with them and I sensed a welcoming feeling from Keith now that he knew me a little more. He looked like he wanted to lecture me the first night I was there, but he wasn’t her father. I made a point of assuring him that I was going to treat Molly well since I had every intention of that.

  Now that I had that out of the way, I could just get to know them.

  I was dozing when I heard an engine. I lifted my head up to see that it was nine o’clock and walked groggily over to the door. I peered out to see the Jeep as Molly walked towards the door, seeing a hand wave from the window before it backed out. “I could have picked you up,” I told her as I opened the screen to let her by.

  “Noel offered and she was going to see Nate, anyway. I did talk to Keith over dinner about that though.” Molly walked into the kitchen and placed a large bag on the counter as my eyes glossed over with hunger. “He has a friend that owns a car lot by the movie theater and we’re going there tomorrow to have a look. I want something for myself so I don’t need to borrow the Jeep so much. I’ve been saving for a year or so for something and that way, I could just go to work from here and let you sleep in, as often as you’d want that.” I faint blush covered her cheeks as she turned to walk towards me, her eyes bright. “I know that you’re probably hungry, but I need a kiss.” Molly slipped her arms around my neck, pulling herself up to press her sweet lips to mine. That was meal enough for the moment and I pulled her closer to deepen the embrace as our tongues danced gently together. God, I loved the taste of her eager mouth, feeling my hand slide down her body to cup her ass, making Molly jump. I squeezed gently as she gasped and pressed her body closer to me.

  I could think of many women that had let me push them back on the counter and fuck them after just a kiss, needing me to control them. That was what I wanted more than anything before Molly, and now I was willing to wait for her. I wanted to ease her into this life of mine, knowing th
at she was all in when I was taking her. The thought of being inside of her made me jerk and she moaned as I pressed against her stomach, hard and throbbing inside of my sweats. “Robert,” she whimpered against me as I gripped her tighter and tilted my head.

  “I want you,” I told her as I pulled away to kiss her jaw. My words became clear in my head as I blinked and tried to force my strong desire away. “I want to see you come.” I lifted her up onto the counter and she groaned as I spread her legs open.

  Chapter 18

  Molly

  The second my ass hit the counter, I froze. I was incredibly turned on yet also scared as he pressed into me, his cock hard against my soft, wet core. I knew that there was a part of me that wanted him to strip me bare and take me right here and now, but I’d never get my first time back. I’d hate to give in and then lose Robert, since I was getting attached to him. How much would it hurt if I was that intimate with him? Lance was devastating enough with his cruel words and behavior. I stilled against him and Robert pulled away to look into my eyes. “Are you okay?”

  I remained quiet for a moment as he dropped his hands, taking a step back. “I’m sorry.” I slid down to the floor and pressed my hand to my face as I took a deep breath. “I just got scared.”

  “That moved fast. I didn’t think about what I said and then the counter…I just lost control for a moment.” Robert told me as he set about plating some of the food to heat up.

  “It isn’t that I don’t want you as well,” I assured him as he smiled and nodded. He’d loaded up a plate with two pieces of chicken, some of the potato wedges and a roll. He looked like he was in heaven.