Finding Passion (Colorado Veterans Book 3)

by Tiffani Lynn

  “There isn’t enough room in the existing ones, people with mental illnesses were attacking people in the shelters and he didn’t feel safe so Marina, being the helper that she is, enlisted a group of retired ladies in the community to help raise money for a shelter strictly for veterans. It took about nine months before they had enough to open. When they bought an old warehouse downtown, a bunch of us got together and remodeled the inside. We added a few offices in the back for administrators and a place for the VA social worker to come out and see these guys. Marv was there for the first month it was open and somehow got recruited to work. I think he just didn’t like the way people were doing things and got thrust into that roll. The admins were sly about it, but I think they pushed it until he had no choice but to get involved. At first it was ‘can you help me with this’ or ‘can you take care of that’ and the next thing you know Marv was named housing coordinator. He still lives like he’s on the street and stays at the shelter practically 24/7, but he’s making a difference and Marina stopped riding his ass.”

  We eat quietly, both concentrating on the excellent taste of the food. When she finishes eating she takes the last drink of margarita in her glass, balls her napkin up, puts it on her plate and levels me with her gaze. It obvious that the alcohol is doing its thing. She’s way more relaxed than when we first arrived and looking like she’s about to ask me something. I mirror her actions and wait.

  “Why did you ask me to dance that night?” Her expression is one of genuine curiosity.

  I fight the smile trying to break through and lose the battle when the side of my mouth tips up. I see her breathe a sigh of relief. Maybe she thought I wouldn’t answer.

  “Because your ass was hot in that dress and your face was the prettiest I’ve seen in a long time.”

  “You had to leave, so why did you kiss me like that? A kiss like that usually comes before so much more. Did you not like the kiss?”

  It’s obvious by the little squirm she’s doing in her seat that she’s uncomfortable and insecure, something I don’t think she is often.

  Without thinking too hard about it, I stand and hold my hand out to her. She glances at it and back at my face. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked that,” she says quickly like she wishes she could take the question back.

  I lean down, placing one hand on the booth by her head and one on the table next to her, and lean in close to her ear. “Don’t be sorry. Just come with me.” I lean back just enough to make eye contact and I see her swallow hard. She nods once and I move so she can slide out. I hold up my hand to Pedro with a finger indicating to hold on. He knows I always pay my bill so he won’t worry about it when we disappear. Valerie grabs her purse and pulls it over her shoulder and I lead her through the restaurant to the second storage room. They only go into this at night when they’re restocking so I know it’ll be quiet.

  When I open the door and lead her inside, she hesitates for a second. I make eye contact and wait. She must be okay with what she sees in my eyes because she finally comes all the way into the smaller space. There is one light bulb hanging from a wire in the ceiling, so it’s a little dim in here but enough light to see the boxes stacked around the room at varying heights along with the shelves of supplies. I shut and lock the door behind us and move in close behind her, removing her purse and setting it on a shelf to the side. I move a handful of hair off and lean in to place soft kisses along her neck. I decide this is an easy way to figure out if she’s open to this little liaison and just as I thought, her head drops back against my chest, exposing her neck further for me to access. A beautiful natural musk clings to her skin and the half hard-on I’ve sported all through lunch rises the rest of the way. When I press it into her back she moans a little and tilts her head so I can reach her mouth with mine. When the kiss begins this time she’s not timid like the last time; she dives right in taking it deep, and my balls pull up tight, making my jeans that much more uncomfortable. Fuck!

  She turns to face me and I kiss her again. When I pull away I whisper, “There was nothing wrong with your kiss. It made me want to fuck you on the dance floor and I had to be somewhere else.”

  Her chest heaves with a deep breath before she asks, “Do you have to be anywhere right now?” Her voice has taken on a deeper seductive quality and I’m highly aroused, but it’s the confidence I’m seeing resurface a little that’s really doing it for me. I brought her in here to erase the unsure feeling she had and I think it’s working. Her hand slides down my chest and over the erection bulging in my jeans and I can’t help but moan. With a quick flick of her fingers the button is undone and she lowers the zipper as she goes to her knees. Her tongue snakes out and glides across her lower lip as she focuses on freeing me from the confines of the denim.

  It’s instant relief when she wraps her cool fingers around me and strokes briefly before sliding her plump lips over the head. “Holy fuck,” I groan, looking down to find her paused and watching me. Her tongue swipes along the underside from the bottom of the shaft to the top of the head and a shiver runs through me. When her lips wrap around my cock and she begins to bob up and down, I can’t fight the urge to place my hands on her head and guide the rhythm. She takes me deeper each time until I’m finally buried all the way to the back of her throat. Her left hand slides up my inner thigh until she cups my balls and massages lightly. My thighs lock and my cock starts to pulse.

  I’m close, so I pull her up and spin her around. “Elbows on that box,” I command. She doesn’t wait for further instruction, instead quickly unbuttons and lowers both her jeans and panties to her ankles before placing her elbows on the pile of boxes waist high. “Damn, your ass is even more perfect than I first thought,” I confess and smack it with an open palm. Her body jolts forward a little and her head drops back, eyes closed. My handprint appears immediately so I smack the other side and then retrieve the condom from my wallet. Hastily I roll it on and press against her opening. “Are you sure you want this?” I ask.

  “Yes,” she moans and pushes back against me, the tip of my cock sliding inside. My heart is racing as I bury myself to the hilt. Her moan isn’t quiet, so I lean down and whisper, “The kitchen is loud but you don’t want anyone in the hallway to hear you.” She nods and waits.

  Doing my best not to bruise her with my grip on her hips, I begin a punishing rhythm. The slap of our skin and the cadence of our breathing sets the perfect background noise and I’m lost in the tight heat of her pussy, wishing I could make this last for hours instead of just the few minutes we have here. I slam into her harder and feel her shudder, her pussy clenching tight and I know she’s ready. “Rub your clit, bella, I’m close. I need you to come first.”

  Her hand disappears between her legs and I can feel her working as I rock in and out of her wet heat. Within seconds she clenches up and shakes before going limp so I push hard and fast for the last several strokes and collapse on her back as I empty myself into the condom. Holy hell that was hot. We take a second to catch our breath and I finally stand and remove the condom, knotting it and shoving it in my pocket.

  She’s dressed and almost straightened up when I turn her around to face me. My head is blocking the light bulb so she’s in the shadow. “Don’t ever doubt the power of your kiss. If I had the time I would’ve tried to convince you to do this at that benefit dinner.” She drops her head to the middle of my chest and whispers, “I can’t believe I just had sex in the store room with a guy I barely know.”

  “Sometimes you have to take the passion wherever you can find it,” I tell her. “And just so you know, I’ve never brought anyone back here before. Come on, let’s try to sneak out before someone catches us.” I kiss her hair and turn for the door, ready to slip out of here before we’re spotted.

  On our way out I pass Pedro a couple of $20 bills to cover our meal and escort her to the parking lot. “Can you drive?” I ask.

  “Yup, that pretty much sobered me up,” she says with a little giggle. As she climbs i
n her car I promise to get her copies of the photos of Sheila stepping out on Ron. Then I advise her to keep that information to herself until the hearing so it has the possibility to stir things up enough to mess with Ron’s perfect little plan and cast some doubt about the stability of the home environment for Thea.

  Driving home I think only of Valerie. I can’t believe I dragged her to the store room and fucked her. I was already hot for her, but when I realized that leaving her on the dance floor that night may have added to the insecurities that Ron has left her with I couldn’t stand it. I wanted her to remember that she was hot enough, sexy enough, woman enough for someone to want her so bad they couldn’t wait to find a bed. She’s genuine, a little funny, beautiful, smart and sweet as hell. There’s nothing pretentious about her—something I find a huge turn-on. What you see is what you get, so it makes sense why she and Ronald Larinsky didn’t work out and why I wish that we could.

  Three weeks go by and there’s more of the same thing with Ron and Sheila. They’re both shopping and pampering themselves, but she’s the added bonus of spending time with the man I’ve come to find out is Herschel Johnstone. I’ve also discovered that Herschel’s a mid-level drug distributor for a family with ties to the mafia out of Denver. He’s not on the street selling it, but he’s in charge of the guys who are, which means he has a lot of money and likes to spend it. You’d think the guy would try and lay low, not draw attention to himself, but that’s not the case. He’s all about spreading the love and flashing cash when he’s out with his boys and especially when he’s out with Sheila.

  I finally figured out her pattern. She spends the most time in Herschel’s bed when Thea’s staying with her dad. I’m not sure what she’s telling Ron so she can leave the house all tricked out, but if she were my woman there is no way she’d be going out dressed like that without me.

  I met with Valerie a little while ago to give her all the photographs and information about Sheila, Ron and even Herschel. I fought through the whole lunch not to drag her back to the store room. Visions of her bent over that stack of boxes has fueled my solo shower moments since it happened. Her perfect round ass exposed with my hand prints on each side seems to be the only thoughts I need these days to get my blood flowing. Now, more than ever, I wish I was able to commit to someone long-term, that I could give my everything to a woman and mean it forever. A woman with her brains, beauty, and sex appeal is almost like a direct prayer being answered.

  Before my illness she would have been the exact woman I wished for. Rena, my former fiancé, was beautiful and sweet, but not nearly as intelligent and doesn’t hold a candle to Val’s sex appeal. I need to push any thoughts other than friendship for Valerie out of my head, though, because it’s not fair to her. She deserves someone who will be around to love and cherish her for the rest of her life. Since that’s probably not in the cards for me, I hope she’ll settle for a good friendship.

  At the hearing, my plan is to sit in the back of the court room to support her and watch how this unfolds when Val’s lawyer introduces this new information. It’s too bad they don’t serve beer and nachos for events like this because I’m certain it’ll be entertaining.

  Chapter Four

  Valerie

  Javier’s eyes twinkle almost all the time. The guy is perpetually happy. It doesn’t seem natural, especially with how busy he is. When I have as many things as he does on my agenda for the day, I stress out. An eight-hour surgery? No problem. A day of running all over town taking care of a bunch of different things? That sends me straight to overload.

  I meet Javier at Hector’s again and have lunch with him so he can give me all the evidence I need to turn Ron’s world upside down at the hearing. The whole time that we’re sitting and shooting the shit, I can only think of our trip to the storage room. I bounce between feeling mortified that I did that and proud that I did what I wanted for a change, in spite of the circumstances. Things between us were only weird for a minute or two and then our natural conversation started and seemed to clear those feelings away. Despite the fact that I’m able to move on from our sexy little tryst, I can’t help but stare at that beard and wonder how it would’ve felt between my thighs. Ugh, if I don’t reroute this train of thought I’ll be blushing and he’ll know what I’m thinking.

  We sit and shoot the shit until it’s time for me to leave to pick up Thea from school. Making sure I have the envelope with all the information Javier’s collected, I try not to read too much into it when he walks me to my car and kisses my cheek before I climb inside. It doesn’t come across as sleazy or like he’s hitting on me, just more of a friendly gesture. I want so badly for it to mean more, but he doesn’t give off the vibe of a more kind of guy. I bet if I watched him around other people he’d act the same. He’s just one of those guys with a charming, borderline flirty personality, I think.

  I try to ignore the growing interest I have in him because honestly, I need to be interested in a man like I need another hole in the head. Doing my best to push thoughts of him out of my head, I turn up the radio and steer the car on to North Academy Boulevard toward Thea’s school.

  When I pull through the car pickup line the attendant frowns when she sees the name on my tag and turns to ask the lady behind her a question. When she turns back around she gestures for me to roll the window down, so I do.

  “Thea Larinsky left with her father today. He was the first in line to pick her up.”

  “Why? Today’s my day. The office has clear guidelines on which days she goes with me and which she goes with my ex-husband.”

  “Thea came in today with a note saying she was going home with him. I’m sorry, we thought you knew.”

  My blood pressure skyrockets. “If that note wasn’t signed by me it’s not supposed to be accepted.”

  “Well, there was someone different working up front today. The normal gal was sick.”

  Frustrated and flaming mad I pull away from the curb and off school property to find the closest parking lot to pull over in. Sucking in three deep breaths I steady my shaking hands. The idea of punching my windshield to release my pent-up frustration is almost more than I can hold on to. What the hell? The judge was clear on the visitation schedule and I’ve followed all the rules. I’m so tired of Ron running this show and doing whatever he wants, whenever he wants. I can’t wait to rock his world by dropping all the information Javier dug up on Sheila into his lap. He’s such an asshole.

  I’m not sure what I should do. He’s putting me in a shitty predicament with this stunt and I’m so tired of it all. I pull back out on to the road and drive home still fuming. I try to start a load of laundry, but the anger takes hold and I can’t deal with it anymore so I dial his number.

  “Hello?”

  Screw pleasantries, I’m over this shit. “Where’s my daughter, Ron?”

  “With me and Sheila. I left you a message yesterday. Don’t you ever check them? It’s Sheila’s birthday and she really wanted Thea to go to dinner with us.”

  “There was never a message, I check them at least twice a day and since I didn’t approve it, you’re in direct violation of the temporary custody agreement.”

  “Valerie. Come on. Don’t be a pain in the ass. Are you that big of a bitch that you’ll ruin Sheila’s birthday and the good time your daughter’s having with us to prove a point? She just wants to go to dinner with Sheila for her birthday. We’re in the middle of mini-golfing so if you want to be the bad guy and end the fun so be it.”

  Oh, my God! What a dick! He knew it would happen like this. If I push to get her then I take the fun away which makes me the bad guy. If I don’t pick her up he’ll know that I’m avoiding being the bad guy and he can do this whenever it tickles his fancy. It doesn’t matter that I haven’t seen her in four days. He’s doing this to screw with me.

  “Ron, we both know this is a dick move. Drop her off after dinner. No excuses or I’ll have the police at your house to pick her up. No more bullshit. You’ve played your
last game with me because the next time I’ll come get her and I don’t care if she’s eating cotton candy while riding a goddamn unicorn. We had an agreement, if you don’t stick to it, neither will I and you don’t want me to get nasty. I’ve put up with you for years and gone along with whatever you’ve said. I’m over it. You haven’t seen Mamma Bear like you’re about to if you keep this shit up. Home by eight tonight or I’ll be calling the cops.”

  “Our reservation isn’t until 7:30.”

  “Too bad. You can go get the early bird special someplace else or you can skip dinner, but Thea will be with me at 8 p.m. Don’t doubt it.” I throw those last three words at him like he did to me in the restaurant parking lot the day I came to Colorado.

  “You are such—” he begins.

  “Don’t finish that sentence. You started this, but I’ll finish it if you keep pushing me. Goodbye.” I press end and take 14 deep breaths. If I don’t stop, though, I’ll probably hyperventilate. My hands continue to shake, I’ve had enough of all of this. I can’t figure out what I did to deserve his shit. I pick up the phone and dial Summer and tell her about Ron’s stunt today and the information that’s burning a hole in my pocket. I wish we were going to court tomorrow so I could see his face when he finds out his precious Sheila is a big fat cheater just like him.

  “Val, you need some girlfriends. You need people you can go out with and have a drink or see a movie or eat dinner with. I’ll always be here for you, but I’m so far away and you need people that can help you take your mind off days like this,” Summer tells me after I finish the story of Ron’s little stunt.

  “I know you’re right. I don’t even know where to start with that though.”

  “Don’t give me that. You met those two ladies at the homeless dinner. You know the lady from the charity and didn’t the baby doctor ask you to go out for drinks with a group of people last week?”