“Hey, you’re lucky it was me, instead of nosy old Mrs. Nussbaum. Man that would have been quite the crazy peep show for her! Would have served her right too!”
Kesha squealed with glee some more. I never realized, until that moment, that she didn’t seem to take our business quite as seriously as I did. Maybe, that was a good thing. After all, our clients loved her. She had an unblemished reputation. Maybe, I just took our business too seriously. Something to think about, I suppose.
“So you didn’t get to have sex with Mr. Danes yet, huh? Well, that’s a shame. I’m sorry my timing was so bad. I could have given you a little time…”
“Well, let’s just say I got a pretty good taste of things to come...”
“Oh God! You gave him a blowjob?!?”
“No! Kesha! He just… Used his fingers.”
“How was that?”
“It was fucking amazing, that’s how it was!”
“You like him… Don’t you?” Kesha said, shaking her head. “You’ve got it bad…”
“It’s not like that,” I said unconvincingly.
Kesha just laughed. “Cali, you better be careful with this guy. You can tell just by looking at him that he is a certifiable heartbreaker. He might as well have the words “love ‘m and leave ‘m” tattooed on his forehead. If you’re out for a little fun, that’s one thing. If you’re looking for anything more, I think you’re playing with fire…...”
Deep down, I knew she was right.
As Kesha gave me a motherly hug, she couldn’t resist adding one more jab:
“……..Course, he’s the hottest, sexiest fuckin’ fire I’ve EVER seen in my life, girl!”
CHAPTER NINE
DEVLIN
Yesterday with Cali had nearly been everything I’d imagined… And it’d left me with the biggest case of blue balls I’d ever experienced in my life. I wanted to correct that at the first opportunity, but today… Things seemed different.
Was I just being paranoid?
The texts she sent in response to mine last night seemed a bit indifferent. Of course, it was always hard to read a person’s emotions through a text but the overall tone seemed a bit cold. And she didn’t pick up when I phoned her. What’s THAT about? No wonder I never tried to have a serious relationship with a woman; it’s exhausting!
Fuck! Serious relationship? I never really had any kind of real relationship with a girl. Plenty of great fucking, for sure, but it never went beyond pure fun and it was never with anybody I actually cared anything about. And certainly never with anybody who drove me to complete distraction and obsession, like Cali did.
In my mind, Cali could never be just a casual sex fling. That girl could only be long-term. I wanted her and only her. The idea of going out for something new night after night just didn’t seem appealing to me anymore.
The ever-perfect San Diego weather was beckoning me to take advantage of it by taking a spin in my convertible. Being a Saturday morning, I hoped I would find Cali at home. I had to go see her and find out if her she had already changed her mind about me. I had been a bit sexually aggressively with her yesterday, but she didn’t exactly put up a fight. I’d have to say she even welcomed it. Still, it was possible she could be having second thoughts. After all, I had put her in a compromising position. And FUCK what a position that was!
Kesha had easily succumbed to my charming, persuasive ways and given me her address. Good ol’ Kesha. I still wasn’t sure about her, though. I couldn’t quite tell if she actually liked me, or if she loathed me and just tolerated me. At the gym, she had a way of looking at me with an unusual combination of lust and suspicion. I sensed she was mainly just watching over her girlfriend and partner with a close eye.
Cruising down the southbound I-5, (known to all Californians as simply “the 5”) I tried not to let my self-defeating thoughts keep me from enjoying the cool Pacific breeze and the scenic view of Mission Bay on my right. The watery playground was full of colorful sailboats, and wind surfers, and the surrounding park was packed with families barbecuing and picnicking. I pictured Cali and me out there, throwing a Frisbee back and forth to the rescue dog that we would adopt – Charlie the chocolate lab.
My vision made me smile and I tried keeping a positive attitude, but old habits die hard so my thoughts returned to the truth of the situation: I knew deep down that Cali was out of my league. She was intelligent, breathtakingly beautiful, and a genuinely good person. Why would she even consider getting involved with me?
My track record with women was horrible, and I had never really cared about anybody but myself. I didn’t even know how to treat a woman with respect. Basically, I treated most people like shit. I was obviously no good for her. I contemplated exiting the freeway at the next off-ramp and heading home.
But I couldn’t. I had to have her and I wouldn’t take no for an answer. I never did; I always got what I wanted. That was partly because of my affluent upbringing but it was also due to the intensive mental preparation that I had undergone during my SEAL training. Nothing deterred me. Least of all fear. Cali would be mine if I pursued her with the same dogged determination that I possessed during all of my missions.
As I drove through downtown Hillcrest, a new picture popped into my head: Cali and I strolling hand-in-hand down University Avenue, window shopping and stopping to have some espressos at one of the many cool little coffee joints that lined the street. It was another sweet little daydream. One which, to my surprise, inspired me to stop at an appealing little flower shop on the corner. Five minutes later, I was carrying an oversized bouquet of daffodils and daisies back out to my car. I had never bought flowers for a woman before, but I intended to make a habit of it now. Cali seemed to bring out the gentleman in me that I didn’t even know existed.
I pulled up to the curb in front of her house just in time to see Cali bent over, trying to pick up a small wiggly, scruffy dog. She was loading it into an SUV, along with two others. Her awesome, heart-shaped ass was poised up in the air, with her sweet little cheeks just slightly peeking out at me from inside her tight Levi cut-offs. Fuck! She has no clue what she does to me! My dick was already stirring…..
A woman, who I assumed was her mother, was behind the wheel. I hopped out of my car, bouquet in hand, and called out to Cali.
“Cali, wait up! I was hoping I would catch you at home. Do you have a moment to talk? These are for you.”
She took the flowers from me, stuck her face in the middle of them, and inhaled their sweet fragrance with her pretty smile. The three mutts of various sizes yapped out of the back window at me.
“Oh Devlin, they’re lovely, thank you, but I don’t really have much time. One of mom’s bathers called in sick, so I’m going to help out at her dog grooming shop today. We were just leaving.”
I suddenly noticed the dogs weren’t the only ones with their heads hanging out of the car. Cali’s mom had her eyes fixed on me as well. She was a looker herself; an aged to perfection, slightly older version of Cali. She could’ve passed for her older sister any day of the week.
“Well, I was just wondering if everything was alright with you. Your texts seemed kind of weird and you didn’t return my call so I got the impression you were upset about something. Did I say or do something wrong?”
Cali’s mom made a loud throat-clearing noise from inside the SUV, causing our attention to shift to her. Cali grabbed me by my elbow and pulled me over to the driver’s side of the SUV so she could introduce us:
“Mom, this is Devlin Danes. Devlin, this is my mother Amari Jamison.”
Amari Jamison… My father’s “complete liberal menace” in the flesh. Great. Just fucking great…….as if the cards weren’t already stacked against me with this girl………
“So nice to meet you Devlin. Cali has told me……. well ………virtually nothing about you, actually.”
“The pleasure is all mine, Mrs. Jamison. I certainly hope we can become better acquainted, soon, when you have more time.”
>
“Ms. Jamison. I go by Ms. Jamison. I’ve never been married… But Amari is fine, too.”
“If you’ll excuse us for a minute mom, I need to discuss something with Devlin. It won’t take long, I promise. I know you need to get down to the shop in a hurry. I’ll be right back.”
“We really do need to get going honey, since Joyce isn’t there to open up this morning.”
Cali grabbed me by the elbow again and pulled me out of what she probably thought was her mom’s listening range. She cast her eyes downward as she began to speak, like she was feeling guilty or hesitant about something. Definitely not a good sign……
“Devlin, I’m sorry. Yesterday just really caught me off guard and made me examine a lot of things about myself, and about you. I’m still having misgivings.…….. I’m just not sure about……..”
She sounded like she could possibly still be on the fence about me, so I cut her off before any more of her words had a chance to spill out into the air. I needed to do some quick convincing and plead my case one more time.
“Look, I completely get it. And it’s okay Cali. We can take things slower if you want. What happened yesterday was a bit fast and overwhelming. Let’s just kind of start over, alright? What we need is some time to talk… We can do dinner… We can just be ourselves; not therapist and patient. Take a chance on me tonight. Give me an opportunity to properly woo you. What time will you be done at your mom’s today? How about if I pick you up at 7 o’clock for dinner? Will that work for you?”
I could tell by the way her face muscles softened, that my charming ways and persuasive tongue had won her over (again!). There was also a strong possibility that the barking dogs and impatient mother waiting in the car may have also pressured her speedy decision. Cali probably realized it would be much quicker to just give in, than to argue about it. I absolutely thrived on women surrendering to me!
“Yeah, okay….maybe you’re right. I think I can be ready by seven. How fancy do I need to dress for a date with Devlin Danes?”
“We have an 8 o’clock dinner reservation at the Pacific Vista Terrace.. …….so I’d say pretty fancy.”
I quickly kissed her on the lips and pulled back.
“One thing, though…”
She looked at me expectantly.
“No panties.”
CHAPTER NINE
CALI
No panties?
I didn’t know what was worse… Devlin Danes asking me to a panty-free dinner, or the way my body reacted when he said it.
The cocky bastard knew I’d go along with it. He’d already set up the reservations! He was that sure of himself! And that sure of me!! What nerve!
The drive over to Dogz R Us was a quiet one. The fur-babies were comfortably sprawled out on the back seat and I could tell my mom was purposely waiting for me to say something before offering her opinion about Devlin. My mind was too busy mulling over the brief interchange Devlin and I had just had and how I had NOT seen his curve ball coming at all.
As we turned into the parking lot of the doggie salon, my mom could not contain herself any longer:
“So, I presume from the kiss that you two are dating now? I thought you told me last night that you decided not to get involved with him? Cali, that is a very dangerous man, honey.”
“Mom. Devlin isn’t dangerous!”
I thought about that statement for a couple of seconds and then had to qualify it with:
“At least I don’t think he’s dangerous. And yes, I do have a date with him.”
“Of course I’m not saying he’s a bad guy, sweetie. But he is dangerous. Take my word for it. Believe it or not I see a lot of similarities between him and your biological father. There’s a reason I found myself alone at the altar... He probably doesn’t even know the meaning of the word commitment.”
There it was again. First Kesha, now mom… Couldn’t they accept that Devlin might be capable of change?
I couldn’t quite bring myself to reveal to them just how excited and alive I felt when I was with that man. Especially to my mom; as her “little girl”, I just wasn’t comfortable talking about the level of arousal that Devlin ignited in me.
“Thanks for your concern, mom. I appreciate it, I really do. I know you’re just worried about me getting hurt, but like you always told me, I have to make my own mistakes and learn from them. Right?”
“Cali, you don’t know how much I hate having my wise and practical advice used in an argument against me… Anyway, I can certainly see why you’re attracted to him. He’s gorgeous, no question about that!”
I never quite got used to my mom saying things like that even though she said them all the time. Mothers weren’t supposed to have a sex life and they definitely weren’t supposed to think your boyfriend was gorgeous. She was asexual in my mind and I had surely been a virgin birth. I knew it was a completely silly game of denial that I played in my head but that was my story and I was sticking to it.
In reality, I knew that my mother was a beautiful and alluring woman who had had many men in her life… Still, I felt compelled to play along.
“He’s mine, mom…” I replied, smiling.
We laughed in unison, both fully aware of the pretense. Mom unlocked the door to the salon and the three pups ran inside. They had the “run of the house” at Dogz R Us. As I put on a work apron, my thoughts drifted to a mental inventory of the clothes in my closet. What did I have to wear that was ritzy enough for the Pacific Vista Terrace Restaurant? And did I have a dress that was sexy enough, too? I really wanted to knock that man’s socks off tonight.
And his shirt………. and his pants………
CHAPTER TEN
DEVLIN
My father and I were like the proverbial two ships that passed in the night. He was either leaving while I was coming, or coming when I was going. Tonight, we intersected in the hallway just outside my bathroom after my final slap of Armani aftershave.
“Dressing it up tonight? Going out with that physical therapist you told me about?”
I just gave him a little smile and a nod.
“Are Carl and the limo available tonight? I’m taking Cali to the Pacific Vista Terrace for dinner and I want to take her in style.”
“The limo? That will probably impress the pants right off of her.”
“Please don’t talk about Cali that way. I told you, she’s not like that. I think this one is different, and I won’t stand for any disrespectful bullshit about her, dad.”
“I never heard you talk about any girl like that before, Devlin. I apologize, son. Have you met her family yet? What are they like?”
“Actually, I just met her mom today, but Cali’s dad split before she was born. I have something to tell you about her mother, though. I hope you’re not going to get mad or anything.”
“Get mad? About her mother? Why on earth would I get mad about her mother? Her mom’s not Dianne Feinstein is she?” My dad let out an exaggerated guffaw.
“You had it right from the start. She’s Amari Jamison.”
“The whole state of California at your disposal and you pick the spawn of that horrible woman?”
“She’s got her convictions. Maybe it’s time you joined the twenty first century and embraced a little change, dad.”
I didn’t give him a chance to respond. It really didn’t matter how he felt about things. I didn’t need him, his money, his house, or his approval.
I found Carl in the garage. He was still in his uniform as he restocked the limo bar.
“Carl, are you busy? I need you to take my date and me over to the Pacific Vista Tower Hotel.”
“No, sir. Pleasure, sir. Special evening, Mr. Danes?”
“Please, Carl, won’t you ever just call me Devlin?”
“Not so long as your father keeps signing the checks, Mr. Danes. If I may say so, Pacific Vista is an excellent choice, sir. Shall I return with the car once I get your call or do you prefer that I wait in the lot?”
“N
either one Carl. You can go home and stay home until I call you tomorrow. I’ve reserved a tower suite for the night………but don’t mention it, it’s a surprise.”
“As you wish sir.”
Carl opened the car door for me and I climbed into the back.
“Thanks Carl, you’re the best.”
Carl looked up and smiled at me in the rearview mirror as the privacy shield went up.
CHAPTER TEN
CALI
My mom peered out through the sheer living room curtain when she saw the car headlights appear in our driveway, at exactly 7 o’clock. She yelled to me that my date had arrived and immediately started in with the liberal commentary…
SEAL: A BWWM BAD BOY NAVY SEAL ROMANCE Page 6
