“Of course. And I promise we’ll get together real soon.”
With that, she headed out, and I made myself busy in the kitchen until James walked Jack out.
I went to meet up with him in the front room when I heard the door close. “What was that all about. He said he needed help?”
“Yeah, help means money.”
“You didn’t give him money, did you?” A sinking feeling washed over me.
“Just a little, but don’t worry; I’ve got plenty.” He let out a sigh. “Are you ready to go? I don’t want us to be late the first day I meet your mother.”
“Yeah.” I forced a smile, but inside I wanted to scream.
***
We went to my mother’s house and arrived a bit earlier than I usually did. My mother was smitten with him immediately and talked his ear off throughout dinner. He even helped out in the kitchen, and we retired to the living room after for an after-dinner chat.
“Your daughter has been trying to get me to think outside the box. She’s very creative.” He flashed me a warm smile. “She thinks I should do my show at ski lodges and on cruise ships. She’s brilliant.”
“I’ve always wanted to take a cruise, but you know how life is, there’s always something keeping me from it. Maybe I should take your advice and go for it.” She gave him a wink.
“You should.” He encouraged her, and she nodded.
“Maybe I will. You should take her advice. She’s always been such a smart girl, and a hard worker, as I’m sure you’ve figured out by now. I’ve wanted her to find a nice young man who appreciates it.” I blushed, but my mother and Darek chuckled.
“I need to break the two of you up.” I stood and took his hand, knowing my mother would soon slip into her afternoon nap.
“You two should go sit in the garden.” She nodded in the direction to the backyard and then yawned as we headed out.
We sat on the bench in the middle of my mother’s rose garden, and he kissed my hand. “She’s a pistol, that one. I can see that you two have the same sense of humor and where you get your work ethic. She was a beast in that kitchen. Wore me out.”
That was my mother. Nothing slowed her down in the kitchen. “She’s no-nonsense, for sure.” I was still upset from Jack’s visit and that he’d given him his money. I let loose a deep sigh and turned my head. I’d held it in for as long as I could, but something about slapping on a smile when my wrist was still sore, had me irritated, and he’d not even noticed the red mark he’d left.
“Is there something wrong? Did I say something I shouldn’t have?”
“Yeah, you said yes to Jack. You gave him money like some enabler. You know he’s only going to put it up his nose.”
“This again? Look, I know you hate the guy, but he’s my friend. He needed a hand, and I’ve been blessed beyond measure when it comes to money. If I want to give him what I earned, it’s really not your business.” The words hurt, and not because I cared about his stupid money, but because I cared about him. He’d been my concern, but instead, he had me all wrong.
“You’re right. What you do with your money isn’t really my concern, but what is my concern is someone taking advantage of you. If you can’t get that, then I don’t know what we’re doing here?”
“What do you mean, what we’re doing? I thought things went great today.”
“Yeah? You couldn’t tell I’ve been upset since we left the house?”
“Why are you picking a fight?” I wanted to tell him about Jack grabbing me, but I cared too much to upset him. I was also too afraid of what he might do. I wanted him to be upset enough to replace Jack, not kill the guy. I hoped soon enough; Jack would show his true colors.
“I’m not. Let’s just forget it and go home. I have to retake that test, and I don’t want to miss my log in.”
He narrowed his eyes and looked deep into mine. “Fine.” But I knew it wasn’t.
Chapter 15
Darek
Maya was spoiling me with all the sweets and with me unable to hit the gym during my recovery, I’d have to make up for it later.
Since I was starting to get around better, I decided to take the elevator up to the sixty-first where Maya and James lived. I’d take back the dish from the cookies and then head down to use the pool. My wounds were healed, and the doctor had told me swimming would be great for me.
Sadie was still acting strangely, and though I wanted to force her to tell me what was the matter, I decided to give her space instead. I knew she was sore at me for giving Jack money, but it wasn’t, but a few thousand and I’d sent it directly to his landlord. Not that I had to explain myself to her.
The elevator stopped up on the next level, and I exited into the lobby out front of James’ main entrance. Maya had placed a beautiful bench with a plant next to it and hung a mirror on the wall over a little table. It was much homier than before, and I wondered how long it would be before Sadie put the woman’s touch to my place.
The door opened, and I turned around to see James coming out to water the plants. “Oh hey. I didn’t know anyone was here.”
“I was just about to knock. I thought I’d bring your plate back.”
“Yeah, so which was the best? The chocolate chip with nuts or without?” He tended the plant, pulling off a few dead leaves before giving it a drink.
“With nuts. The others were a little dry, but don’t tell Maya.” He turned around and gave me a sour look.
“Fuck you. Those cookies were not dry! They were moist and delicious. She told you, didn’t she? You’re fucking with me?” The guy was a little bit too emotional about the cookies, and I had to wonder what Maya was doing to him.
“Wait. You made them?” I couldn’t believe she slipped me something he’d made.
“You are damned right, I did. And they were delicious. I should have pegged you for a nut eater.” He led me into the house and Maya came out of the bedroom to join us. “You won. He’s a nut eater.”
“I told you they were crumbly.”
“So, I like a hard cookie, sue me. Next time, I want a better judge. His taste buds are affected with those meds he’s on.” James had a point, my meds had messed up my diet, but I knew a good cookie when I’d had one.
“I brought your plate back. I washed it and everything, so if you want to give it a refill, I’m good with that.”
“We’re fresh out of sweets, but next week we get to make pies.”
“Oh, I love pie.” I held my stomach and James stopped and gave me a nudge.
“Stay away from my girl’s pie.” Maya smacked him in the arm.
“Behave. You’re just bitter over the cookies. You beat me in the fish course.” She looked to me. “He’s so competitive. Thanks for coming up. I see you’re getting around better.”
“Yeah, a lot better. I think the antibiotics were making me sick. It didn’t do me any favors.”
“How’s Sadie?” She folded her arms and turned to glance at James who gave her a suggestive look like he was urging her on.
“She’s good. I’ll tell her you asked about her.”
“Yeah, look Darek, I don’t want to be a busybody or anything, but I saw something yesterday at your house that had me really upset.” She glanced at James for help, and my heart sank as I could tell something had really bothered her. I tried to remember what was going on when she arrived, and the only thing out of place was Jack had shown up. Had the guy gawked at her, or said something inappropriate? I think James would have let that be known. He was pretty protective.
“What is it?”
“Tell him, or I will.” James stepped up and put his arm around her waist.
“When I was leaving, your friend came in.”
“Oh shit. Jack said something to you?” I was going to kick his sorry ass for upsetting her. He’d already upset Sadie and was hanging by a thread as my manager.
“No, it isn’t that. I went to tell Sadie goodbye, and he had her by the wrist. He was twisting it so hard, he
r hand had turned purple, and she was in pain.” She held her own wrist to show me what he’d done.
Anger pumped my blood faster, and I let loose a breath knowing what had to be done. “Thank you for telling me. I wish I’d known sooner. She didn’t say a word.”
“She made me promise I wouldn’t say anything. She’s scared you’ll hurt him, or he’ll ruin your career over it. I wanted to say something sooner, but she assured me she was okay.”
“You did the right thing, and thank you. I’m going to take care of it right now. It will all be okay.”
“You let us know if there’s anything we can do, man.” James held out his hand, and I took it. There was one thing we’d always agreed on, and that was how to treat women. Both of us had a past affected by abuse, and neither of us was tolerant to it in the slightest.
I gave Maya a hug and then headed down to my home.
I found Sadie in her room on the computer. She looked up as I entered and cracked her knuckles and stretched. “I’m about to fall asleep. This is so boring.”
“Are you taking another test?” I didn’t want to bother her if she was, but I wasn’t going to wait too long to have this talk with her.
“No, this is the study guide. I can watch it anytime, but since you were going down to swim, I thought I’d use my time.” She glanced up at my hair. “Why aren’t you wet? Wait, you haven’t been gone that long, is everything okay?”
I glanced down to see her wrist peeking out of the cardigan which she’d been wearing, and sure enough, it had a little red mark. “What happened to your wrist?” I walked in and sat beside her, taking her hand and turning it to look at the mark. It was slight, but enough of a marring to send my anger into orbit.
“Maya told you, didn’t she?” She had known I was stopping by to leave the plate on my way to the pool.
“She did. She also said that you asked her not to tell me, but that she was concerned. I’d say she had a good reason.” I ran my finger along the mark softly, then kissed it. “I know you hate him, so why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because, you’re always taking his side, and making excuses for him, and I knew if you finally did get upset, you’d do something foolish or reckless. I didn’t want you to be so upset you acted without thinking.”
“Oh, I’m going to act. He’s out. Done. Finished. And if he ever darkens my fucking door again, I’ll drag him out of here by his fucking balls.” I lifted her chin, and my eyes bore down on hers. “No one had a right to put their hands on you. You should have told me. If I had known, he wouldn’t have made it out of this fucking house in one piece.”
She met my eyes. “That’s why I didn’t.”
“No wonder you were upset with me. I’m so sorry, baby.” I gave her a peck on the lips. “No more secrets, okay.”
“Okay. Are you angry with me?” She tucked her chin and looked up at me.
“No, I’m angry with him. You’ve been right all along, but when you’re friends with someone, you want to give them the benefit of the doubt. I gave him plenty of chances. I’ll call him in a bit.”
“Are you still going swimming?”
“No, I’ve got something more important to do.” I leaned down and kissed her neck just below her earlobe, and she moaned softly.
“Yeah? What’s that?” She kissed my neck too and then down to my shoulder through my t-shirt before reaching down and tugging up the tail.
“Oh, I think you know.” I chuckled as she lifted it over my head.
Chapter 16
Sadie
His laughter sent a wave of heat through me as it sent his warm breath against my neck, and as he showered me with kisses, I reached down and tugged at the front of his shorts, and undid the drawstring at his waist. My hand slipped inside, and I found him hard and ready to fuck.
Another wave of heat ripped through me as he went into my shirt and cupped my breasts, his thumbs brushing against my sensitive nipples. I didn’t have a bra on since I’d been in my room, and so I slipped my shirt up over my head and pressed them against the soft hair on his firm chest.
He reached down and slipped his hands into my shorts, and then felt his way beneath my panties where he cupped my mound. A moment later, his hands explored my folds, and then two long fingers slipped inside, and he pumped his hands, working me with a steady rhythm until he had me grinding against his hand.
I wanted him to bend me over and fuck me hard. I wanted to wrap my legs around his waist as he put me against a wall, but I knew he was still on the mend and though he was getting around, he had to take it a bit easier. Besides, he was going so slow it wasn’t a desperate kind of sex, it was lovemaking, slow and tender.
He kissed my lips as his fingers spread inside me, stroking my walls and stretching me wide for his thick cock’s penetration. I couldn’t wait until he was buried deep and stroked his silky cock and then went lower to his balls. They hung heavy, and I knew he needed it as much as I did.
“Take your panties down.” He pulled his hands away and stepped back to watch as he slipped his own shorts off. “I want to watch you.” I did as he told me and once I was naked, I slipped my hand over my mound, and with my middle finger, I rubbed my clit.
“Like this?” I met his eyes, and he smiled a sultry smile.
“Yeah, just like that. Dip down into your sweet wetness, baby.” I did as he told me, then I brought my finger to my mouth and sucked the glistening digit.
“Where’s my taste, greedy girl.” He led me over to the bed and sat me down. “Lay back and keep touching. Don’t stop.” He eased his way down, laying across the bed to support his injured knee. I let my legs fall wide, and continued doing just as I was told.
His mouth fell against my lips, licking into my channel as I worked my clit in small tantalizing circles that teased me so good; I felt the slow pressure of my first release beckoning.
“I’m going to come,” I moaned.
“That’s right, come for me, baby. Work that little button until your panting.” He kissed my hand that worked me and then went lower, sliding his tongue from my ass to my clit and back. I ground my hips upward, wanting his deep penetration.
He slipped his fingers back inside of me and worked my g-spot until that orgasm I’d anticipated had me moaning and screaming.
“Don’t stop, baby. Keep on that little clit.” He licked my tight star and finger fucked me as I stroked it, and my walls clenched around him. “That’s right. I’m going to take that hole one day. Would you want that?” I wanted it now, but I didn’t want to seem too eager. Besides, I knew until things were more solid between us, more clearly defined, I’d leave some mystery yet to be explored.
“Yes,” I cried out with another orgasm sailing on the wake of the last one. “I need your cock filling me.”
He raised up and smiled. “I’m not one to make a woman wait.” He climbed up and stretched out over me.
“Do you want me to be on top?” I didn’t mind helping, and hated that he might hurt himself trying to pleasure me.
“I’ve got it baby, but don’t worry; you’ll be riding my cock soon enough.” He leaned over and kissed my nipple, then his teeth bit down softly, and a pinch of pleasure shot straight between my legs.
I reached down and gripped him, stroking the veiny flesh with fervor. “I want to put it on.” I looked him in the eyes, and he nodded.
“Do the honors.” He stilled his hips, and I quickly sheathed him with the last condom on my bedside table. Then, I centered his cock at my channel and lifted my hips as his head penetrated. He inched down, and I winced as his thickness filled me up. Once I settled, I ground and humped against him, and soon he pumped his hips steady inside of me, dipping down to my depths with each thrust.
I couldn’t have been made for any other man, his cock fit and felt so good inside of me. I knew I never would want or need anyone else.
All I needed was for him to solidify what we had, to declare it and make it official. I wanted to ask what he wanted, but
I was so worried it wouldn’t be what I wanted too, that every time I thought about it, I froze.
Darek lifted my hips, and then dragged me to the edge of the bed where he thrust harder, favoring his knee, but not letting it slow him down.
We were both panting and moaning when I came, and I could tell that he was close too. He fucked me harder, steadier, and his face was set in a hard expression, focused and intense.
Finally, a growl ripped from his throat as his cock swelled and twitched inside of me and I knew his cock was pumping his hot release.
“Let me guess. You’re not done with me, are you?”
“You learn fast, baby.” He pulled away and made a quick trip to the trash can as I slipped my hand down and rubbed my slick sex.
“Grab another—
I looked up to finish my sentence, but he held up the next foil wrapper and shook it. “I’m way ahead of you.”
He walked over to the bed and looked down at me as I cupped my breasts and played with my nipples. His cock was already hard and ready for round two, and he gripped it, giving it a stroke as he held out his other hand.
“Where are we going?” I wanted him to fuck me hard, and I didn’t care if he did it in the shower or over the kitchen sink, but I needed to feel him deep inside me.
“I thought we might check the height on my desk.” I hurried to my feet, and we tiptoed to his home office, and he moved the few things he kept there and then pulled me to him to kiss me.
I turned and sat on the desk, and he stood between my legs and made love to my mouth. When we finally came up for air, he cupped my face and met my eyes directly. “When we’re done, I’m calling Jack and giving him the boot. I want to explore some of your ideas together and figure out how to make them a reality.” My smile spread my cheeks so wide they hurt. And I wanted to show him how excited I was.
I turned and faced his desk, tilting my ass a bit upward as an offering. “I want it hard and rough.” I rested on my elbows as he stepped up behind me.
My One and Only: A Bad Boy Secret Baby Second Chance Romance Page 130
