His mouth opened and closed, and he shook his head in shock.
I stepped back, looked at the crowd, and waved. “Change of plans, everyone. Meeting is cancelled, enjoy the rest of your day. I’ll see you in the office tomorrow.”
The employees stood in silence as Graham’s mouth fell open again. He seemed to find his voice. “This isn’t over, Caden.”
“It is, Graham. And just so you know, I know what happened in that room last night. Cara told me everything and it’s only because of her that I’m not going to beat the hell out of you and have her press charges. She wants to believe there is still some good in you. I don’t believe it. Not for a second.”
Without a second thought, I walked past Graham, connecting my shoulder to his and knocked him several steps backward into one of the meeting tables. It was a warning.
I grabbed my suitcase and made my way to my car and on my way home, to an amazing woman who had agreed to meet me tonight.
Chapter 13
Cara
Caden showed up at my house ten minutes early. I peered through a slit in the blinds and again felt my heartbeat accelerate. Watching him get out of his car, after checking his hair in his rear-view mirror, I again couldn't believe how lucky I was. Not that looks were everything—I wanted, no needed, a man that was kind and stable. Caden’s looks were definitely an added bonus. His tanned and muscular arms were showing through his blue t-shirt. His khaki shorts fit just right to show off his calves. None of that was a match for those blue eyes, which I could picture even from the window as he made his way to my door.
Flinging open the door and practically jumped on him as I wrapped my arms around his neck. He stumbled backward, then caught his balance and hugged me back. “Now that’s a hello!” he joked.
“I can't wait to see your place,” I said as I let go of him and grabbed his hand to lead him in to the house. “But first, let me show you around.”
“This is a beautiful house, Cara,” Caden said, looking around at the open downstairs. I had painted the rooms myself, all in neutral colors that brought in the slightest hints of other colors. The downstairs focused on shades of sandy beige, with hints of orange in the family room, which was supposed to encourage comfort and conversation. The kitchen brought in a bit of yellow, and the hallways faded in to a more basic beige. The furniture had deep oranges and reds to brighten up the place, and strategically placed bright blues for contrast. The paintings around the house were my own creations, abstracts using left over shutters, pallets, and canvas.
Caden walked around, admiring the paintings. “Who painted these? They’re fantastic!”
“That would be me,” I said, feeling my face grow hot. “I haven't painted in a while, but it's fun to see what your hands can create with just a few colors and old pieces of wood.”
“Cara, seriously, these are amazing. I was already impressed with you, but this goes even above that. Is there anything you can't do?” Caden’s blue eyes widened in disbelief. “I would totally commission you to redo my house and our offices.” He paused, then added, “Speaking of the office, there's something I want to talk to you about.” Another pause. “But, let's see the rest of your house first, and we can talk in the car.”
After looking around the rest of the downstairs, we ascended the stairs. “I love the wood floors,” he said.
“Thanks! You haven't even seen the best part yet,” I teased.
I had not had much money, even with LJ helping, for this house, so we had decided on a renovation project. The house was in a nice neighborhood, but had been a renter’s house, and not well taken care of. In order to get rid of the house, the seller had practically given it away in order to not have to deal with repairs. I had always been a do-it-yourselfer, and although the amount of work seemed daunting at first, I had delved in to it the first two months, completing everything from replacing the toilets to replacing the floors. LJ wasn't much for handyman work, but he did pay for some contractors to fix cracking and add stability to the crawl space.
As Caden walked around upstairs, I looked at all of the work I had done, once again remembering how happy I had thought LJ and I would be here. I had added a smaller pile frieze carpeting upstairs with flecks of color that still blended to neutrality. Our master bedroom was full of grays and whites, as that was what LJ had wanted. The guest room was the one I wanted Caden to see, though, and I let him enter it first. I was a romantic at heart, and this room bared it all, literally. Here is where I let my imagination go crazy in my paintings. The bedding was a soft brown, mixed with some plush, barely pink pillows. There was my “reading chaise,” and my bookcases, full of my classic favorites, as well as my newer beach type reads. But Caden’s eyes had already fixated on something else.
“Did you….” he looked questioningly at me, without finishing his question.
“Yes. I painted those as well,” I admitted.
“Did you have models?”
“No. Just the ones in my imagination,” I shrugged. I had never shared these with anyone except LJ, who had always thought they were too risqué to display anywhere else. No one ever used the guest room other than myself. The paintings were in the same color shades of soft pinks, browns, and beiges: the nudes. These paintings also had an abstract feel to them, but they had definite forms. The forms of couples doing a sort of dance with one another. In each painting, I stroked my feelings of sensuality and sexuality using the forms of bodies. No distinct faces, nor crisp lines, just the floating wisps of paint. The shapes of love and love making.
“I have never seen anything so beautifully representative of couples in love. It's not the bodies or the lack of clothes, but it's like they’re…”
He was still searching for the right words, so I added for him, “dancing their love with their bodies.”
“Yes. Exactly. Cara, this is magnificent. You are extremely talented.” He was shaking his head in disbelief.
I exhaled. Even though I had been worried about his approval, I’d wanted him to see the paintings. To see what he thought. The bodies in my paintings reminded me of Caden and me, of the dance we were starting to do as we began to want more from each other. I'd never seen myself and LJ in the paintings, but I knew that there was someone. I had finally found out who that was.
He spun around and pulled me toward him, kissing me with a gentle neediness that became more intense as our tongues connected and brushed and couldn't get enough. We kissed like people kissed when they realized they had completely fallen; hard and soft, tasting and inhaling each other’s essence. Finally, he broke away, holding my hands and staring in to my eyes.
“Cara, I don't know if I have ever wanted someone as badly as I want to feel you right now. There are things I want to experience with you, right here and now, but I don't want to overstep my bounds. Please tell me you're feeling the same.” Caden’s eyes begged me for affirmation.
“Yes,” I breathlessly answered, and my heart pounded so loudly that it was echoing in my ears. “So much yes. Though, maybe we should at least have dinner first.”
“You're right. I do know that the way to your heart is through your stomach, anyway.” He laughed, pulling me in for one last squeeze before leading me back downstairs.
As we opened the door, I noticed two of my nosey neighbors looking over, mouths just about hanging open. I'm sure they were judging me for another man being at the house, and probably also green with envy over Caden as well. Caden noticed them as well, and gave them a tentative wave.
I decided that I may as well give them a show, and I pulled him closer to me as I kissed him again, hard, and grabbed his ass. He responded well, grabbing my ass and wrapping his other arm around my back to draw me against him. When I pulled away, he had a longing, but surprised look on his face.
“I've been waiting quite a while to do something outrageous in front of those catty women. Thank you for being my helper.” I winked and walked to the car.
He followed, chuckling, and opened my door.
I gave the ladies a huge smile as I leaned in and saw the roses sitting on the seat.
He reached over me, made a grand gesture of handing them to me, and kissed me again. Swooning, I finally took my seat. Take that, I thought as I felt something I hadn't realized I was missing for a long time: freedom. I’d loved LJ, and I didn't think I was missing out on anything by always staying around town, or at least within driving distance, in case anything came up with his business. And even though by virtue of my job and our social events, I could always dress casually, I still had to act the part of the politically correct girlfriend. His business relied on the people who lived around us, so I couldn't ever step out of line or utter a mean word, or let someone see us disagree, because of how it looked to his customers. The taste of freedom was sweet, and I breathed it in as Caden put the car in gear and began to drive down the street. I stared right at those neighbors and waved, a huge smile plastered on my face.
“Hey, Cara,” Caden began in a serious tone, “if you ever feel the urge to show off in front of someone, I'm your man. I mean, seriously, any time.”
Chapter 14
Caden
With the top down, we drove to my place, my hand gently resting on her thigh. I could barely keep my eyes on the road as I felt her smooth skin beneath my hand. Her sundress barely covered her upper thighs and fit tightly against her breasts and left almost nothing to my imagination. The soft fabric brushed my hand as I caught myself gently caressing her leg, but then I stopped myself. Cara didn't seem to mind as she adjusted herself in the seat, making sure her leg was close enough where I didn't have to reach far. We didn't say much as the wind blew through our hair. The electricity of touching her had overtaken me. She placed her hand on top of mine, keeping my palm on her inner thigh. Her smile widened in a comforting way as I tried to steal glimpses into her deep brown eyes while paying attention to the road.
In such a short time, she had captured my attention and heart in ways I’d never imagined. There was something about her, whether it was her smile or the ease of talking to her about almost anything. It was all effortless. The events of last night and this morning seemed like distant memories, but there was still something that haunted me about them.
I blocked the vision of Graham from my head as I mashed the gas pedal, accelerating into the curves of the winding road. My grip tightened on the wheel, yet my other hand fell gently on her leg. Before long, we pulled into the secluded, tree lined road leading to my house overlooking the river. My house wasn’t fancy or elegant, and it was built almost thirty years ago, but I had put a great deal of time into renovating it into the perfect space. Houses overlooking the river were tough to come by, and when this one had become available, I’d jumped on it.
“The view is beautiful,” Cara said as we drove down the final hill toward my driveway. “Is all of this land yours?” she asked as she took in the view of the flat land overlooking the water. “And your house,” she said as we pulled into the driveway, “it’s gorgeous.”
“Thank you. Three and a half acres and I rarely see my neighbors. I have the views and privacy I’ve always wanted.” I hit the button for the garage and drove in. “So, are you ready for the next part of our date? I know last night didn’t end the way we’d hoped.”
“No, it didn’t,” she said, looking away. “but at least we ended it together.”
“From the way I see it, I owe a date where you can wear that bikini I bought and a few of those other things in those boxes, but not tonight. Tonight, I have something else planned.” I gave her leg a gentle squeeze and jumped out of the car, running around to the other side and opening her door.
“You’re such a tease,” she said with a laugh. “So now you’re going to make me wait to find out what was in those bags and boxes?”
“I guess you’ll have to wait and find out.” I grabbed her hand and led her inside the house. I couldn’t help but smile, knowing the plans I had made for the evening.
The moment we got inside, Cara dropped my hand and walked toward the large wall of windows the overlooked the patio and provided the perfect view of the river. A few boats raced through the water, pulling people on tubes and wakeboards. It was getting later in the day and people were likely trying to get their last bit of excitement before ending their weekend.
“I could look at this all day,” Cara said.
“Me too,” I whispered to myself as I stared at her.
Cara spun on her heel and caught me staring at her. She immediately smiled. “So,” she said as she moved toward me, “are you going to give me the grand tour or should I just wander around myself?”
“Well,” I said as I grabbed her hand, “I planned on cooking dinner for you this evening.” Before I could say another word, Cara kissed me on the cheek, kicked off her shoes and headed down the hallway.
“I love a man who can cook. You do that, and I’ll show myself around.”
I watched as she playfully walked away from me, walking on the balls of her feet, allowing her body to sway back in forth and swishing her arms the way you’d see a little girl playfully act as if she were walking down a runway.
“By the way,” she said, looking back over her shoulder, “I heard that.” She flipped her long brown hair around to her back and continued walking.
Damn. This time I kept my thoughts to myself, not even risking a whisper of what was racing through my mind.
I stood in the kitchen for what seemed like an eternity. My plan had been to make a simple pasta dish, nothing overly extravagant or difficult, but I was having trouble even thinking how to get water to boil at the moment. I listened to Cara talking to herself as she moved room to room, checking everything out.
“This is amazing, Caden,” she yelled across the house.
I followed her voice to find her standing at the doorway to my bathroom. I quietly walked into the room and stood behind her. “It’s my favorite part of the house, or at least one of my favorites. I had it custom made. Four shower heads, steam jets and body sprays. There are days I feel like I could stay in there all day and just think.”
“I’m sure I could too,” she joked, not looking back at me.
Then she turned, and we found ourselves face to face. Instinctively she put her hands up in front of her, resting them on my chest and I grabbed her, my arms wrapping her up and pulling her close. We both froze for a moment and then without thinking I kissed her. My lips pressed against hers gently and then as if choreographed perfectly, our tongues met, dancing and intertwining. We paused briefly, allowing our eyes to meet once again and acknowledging that this was what we had both been wanting and waiting for.
Cara took a deep breath and kissed me harder, extending her toned arms and pushing me against the wall where she continued to kiss me. Her mouth moved across my lips and then trailed down my neck, and then found my mouth once more.
I loved the feel of how she took control of the situation, seeking and taking what she wanted, but I had known that I wanted and needed her since the moment we met. I reached around and grabbed her firm ass, pulling her close, her hips pushing against mine. I felt myself growing harder and enjoyed the sensation of her body against mine. I pushed against her, drawing our bodies even more tightly together. Her breasts pushed against my chest, soft yet firm.
I closed my eyes tightly as I felt the smoothness of her sun dress. The bulge in my pants grew as she pushed harder against me. Only millimeters of thin fabric separated our bodies and I couldn’t contain myself. I ran my hand through her hair, gently interlocking my fingers and grabbing a handful. I pulled Cara’s head back, exposing her neck as I kissed it, working my way up toward her ear. “I need you,” I panted and then continued kissing.
“Yes,” she managed to get out in between breaths.
I lowered my hands down her back. I placed both hands just below her ass and lifted her. Cara immediately wrapped her legs around my waist as I carried her, still kissing, toward the bed where I laid her down.
I watch
ed as she inched her way on her back toward the center of my king-sized bed. Her slightly open legs drew my attention. I climbed on the bed and straddled her as she played with the button on my shorts. I quickly grabbed her hands and pinned them above her head with one hand as I used my other hand to trace the outline of her jaw and then kissed her before releasing her hands.
Cara tugged at the back of my shirt, finally pulling it over my head as I helped her, tossing it to the floor. She paused as her eyes scanned my body. I realized it was the first time she had seen me without a shirt and felt a little self-conscious. Using her index finger, she traced the space between my pecs, following the crease down to my stomach and once again began playing with the button on my shorts with a determined smile.
I helped her, flicking the button open and unzipping my shorts as she slid them down, revealing how hard I was, barely contained in the nylon briefs I was wearing. I rolled to her side and guided my hand up her thigh until I could feel the thin band of material of her thong.
The heat between us built as we continued to kiss, our hands exploring one another. I tugged at her thong as she giggled a little. “Let me help you,” she whispered as she slid her thong off beneath her dress.
My cock grew harder as I pressed against her, grinding together as we kissed. Cara sat up as she pulled her dress over her head, revealing her perfectly curved body then laid back down. She wasn’t wearing a bra. We stared at one another briefly, taking in our first real glimpses of one another. She was everything I had imagined and so much more.
“You’re gorgeous,” I panted as I looked at her and began to kiss my way from her stomach up to her breasts.
“Thank you… and no fair,” she joked. “These need to come off.” She pulled at the band of my briefs, allowing them to snap back at my waist.
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