All In: Raising the Stakes

by Lane Hart

  I end up on the beach, taking off my shoes to wade in the tide. Of course, I pull out my phone and call Lacy. She’s like my real life Lady Justice. God, I wish she was here. We'd have uncomplicated but very satisfying sex to relieve the day's stress and then unload our burdens with each other. Fucking her is like therapy, but more fun.

  "Hey, Joe," she answers with a sigh. "You're supposed to be seducing your woman, not calling me tonight."

  "Operation Finally Get the Girl has been aborted."

  "What? Why?" she screeches.

  "Well, Katie actually came on to me, thanks to a little alcohol. I went down on her for like an hour, she stroked me until I went off like a rocket, and then when she asked me about prior lovers I freaked out and bolted."

  "You're an idiot."

  "Tell me something I don't know." I mutter.

  "Why did you bolt?"

  "Lacy, she's…God, she's so perfect, pure and beautiful, like an actual saint. And I'm…well I'm a dirty slut. I fuck you with Will and fuck Chad alone."

  "Hold on. You mean you and Chad, like you really…"

  "Fucked him? Yes. Several times, and I really liked it. God, what the hell am I doing?"

  "You were horny and lonely like lots of other people. Chad is there and willing, not exactly no strings attached, but pretty much just a hit it and quit it for you both, right?"

  "Not exactly, and even if that were true, those are sorry ass excuses."

  "And so is not being with the woman you've wanted forever because you think you're not good enough. If you're that worried about it than just tell her the truth."

  "God, no!" I freeze mid-stride in the sand at that absurd suggestion. "Then she'll never touch me again."

  "So you are going to be with her?"

  "No. Yes. I don't know. I'm certain that I don't want to tell her and never have a chance with her again," I reply.

  "Then don't tell her," Lacy offers.

  "But if I don’t, my conscience is going to eat away at me."

  "So it sounds like the only way you can be with her is if you unburden yourself with the truth and see how she takes it. Otherwise you're going to stay away from her and never know what could've been."

  "I hate it when you get all reasonable and shit," I tease her.

  "I'm a mother now, it comes with the job. Speaking of which, have you told her..."

  "That I might be your baby's daddy? Yeah, I did tell her that."

  "And that didn't slow her down, did it?" she asks.

  "No."

  "Then maybe your other secret isn't going to be a big deal to her, either."

  "But this one is huge, no pun intended."

  "She'll be even more pissed if she finds out later that you weren't honest with her."

  "Well, yeah. That one's a given."

  "Then just tell her."

  …

  Katie

  The longer Joe’s gone the more sober I get, and the more embarrassed I become. I need to talk to Victoria to see if she agrees that I just managed to ruin a new professional relationship on day one.

  “Hi, Katie! How are things on vacay?” Vick asks when she answers.

  “I’m not on vacation and things are…awkward,” I tell her, pulling my legs underneath me on the sofa.

  “Please tell me that the rumor I heard around the office is true. That you’re at a weekend conference in Florida with Superman. No one’s seen him today, so either he’s sick or…”

  “I’m sharing a room with him,” I confirm.

  Victoria gasps. “You lucky little bitch! So what’s your plan? Walk around the room naked to try and get him to pounce? Um, mmm, mmm, he is so hot I’d do anything to see him naked.”

  “He went down on me for an hour,” I blurt out, and am met with silence.

  “I’m sorry, I think your phone is breaking up. Say that again. You went downstairs with him for an hour?”

  “Joe’s mouth was between my thighs for roughly sixty minutes,” I clarify. "I had so many orgasms that I actually lost count."

  I hear a sputtering laugh in my ear. “Oh, Katie! Where did this sense of humor come from? I love your sarcasm, and that may be the funniest thing I’ve ever heard you say.”

  “I’m serious, Vick! And now I’m freaking out because after he…came in my hand, he just completely shut down and then got up and left.”

  “Oh my God. You’re serious? You actually…and he actually…”

  “Yes,” I respond, and then fill her in on all the details.

  “Wow,” she says.

  “Am I stupid? I am, aren’t I?”

  “Wow,” she repeats. “I’m speechless. But no, you’re not stupid. You did what every other woman would’ve thought of doing but would’ve probably been to cowardly to put into action.”

  “You think?”

  “Uh-huh. How-how was it? Good as you expected?”

  I shift on the sofa when my pussy clenches at the flashback. “I’m still having mini-orgasm aftershocks.”

  “Wow,” she repeats.

  “You’re so freaking helpful right now. Snap out of it woman! I need advice.”

  “Okay, sorry. Just the thought of him, down there. Oh hell, you’re a lucky woman. Stop freaking out you worrywart, and enjoy that sexy, sexy man this weekend. Whatever he gives you. Hell, just being able to look at him for three days is like a dream come true. You would have to use the Jaws of Life to pry my mouth off of his-”

  “Yeah, I got it. Dream come true,” I say, to interrupt her rambling.

  “So I assume this means he’s not with Lacy?” she asks. I cringe, not wanting to go into those details.

  “No, but don’t you dare say a word about any of this to those gossiping hens at work.”

  “I won’t. These are my secrets to bear only. I’m gonna need to go pick up a pack of fresh batteries for Mr. Hanky Panky, but it’s all good.”

  I cough out a laugh at the mention of her cherished vibrator. Why the woman doesn’t just go out with the many men she could easily have with the snap of her fingers and toss of her platinum hair, I have no idea. She prefers to keep the comfort of me and our friend and coworker Teresa in her free time, and Mr. Hanky Panky at night.

  “I guess I better go before he comes back. If he comes back. I may have scared him away,” I say with a sigh.

  “Oh, he’ll be back. That man’s had it bad for you for months.”

  “What?” I exclaim.

  “Come on, Katie. Are you blind, woman? He wants you and can't take his eyes off you. You’re the only one who could ever make Joe Cool’s confidence falter in trials when he was a defense attorney.”

  “Yeah right,” I snort. “Give up the soap operas, Vick. They’re clearly messing with your sense of reality.”

  There’s no world in which someone as gorgeous as Joe Montgomery would want an uptight, bitchy woman like myself when he could have wild and crazy sex with much younger women that worship at his feet.

  “Fine, stay in denial, but I want you to keep a diary until the next time we talk, so that you can remember every single detail. I want specifics. How he smells, how his perfect lips curl up when he smiles, and how his velvety voice caresses you like a soft, warm blanket.”

  “Oh my Lord, you’ve seriously lost it, so I’m hanging up now. Oh, I meant to ask you, will you go by and check on Drew and Candace tomorrow?”

  “Sure, as long as you promise to provide me with the aforementioned.”

  “Fine. You know I will.”

  “Awesome. Have fun you little slut,” she says before disconnecting.

  I know she meant it teasingly, but the term reminds me that I have a little boy depending on me, and I should be a better role model than some easy woman trying to seduce a hot man. I can’t afford to get caught up in any drama with him that will cause problems at the office or at home. So despite how…incredible it was to hook up with Joe, I can’t let it happen again.

  …

  Joe

  I go back up to our r
oom and Katie’s sitting in those short shorts on the couch flipping channels. I sit on the other end of the sofa from her, but she doesn't acknowledge my presence. Well, other than pursing her lips tighter.

  "Hey," I say when she stays silent.

  "Hey," she responds without looking at me.

  "I want to sleep with you." That gets her attention. She whips her head around, causing her long, red hair to bounce with the movement.

  “Oh,” she mutters, then bites her bottom lip. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  What the fuck?

  “You don’t?” I ask. Then I can’t help but wonder if that whole erotic event where I gave her a hell of a tongue lashing was just a very realistic wet dream.

  “No. I mean, we’ve got to work together and I don’t want to make things…uncomfortable between us before we even really start working together."

  Uncomfortable? Uncomfortable is the heaviness in my cock and the ache in my balls from desperately wanting to bury myself deep inside of that pussy I just licked.

  “So can we please just forget any of that ever happened?” she asks, waving her hand in the air like it’s a magic wand that will make the memories of her cries of pleasure and the taste of her coming on my tongue miraculously disappear. But what the fuck else is there for me to say? Hell no, so get naked and let’s fuck all night long probably won’t work.

  “Um, okay. I guess you’re right.”

  Besides, this resolves the whole issue of having to admit to her that I’m an equal opportunity manslut and she deserves so much better than me. Having her not want me because of our professional relationship is definitely preferable to having her not want me because she knows the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

  So I guess that means I’ll keep fucking around with Lacy, who has a serious boyfriend and is pregnant, and with Chad. Despite how incredible those few seconds of ecstasy feel, I'm left embarrassed and guilty. Awesome.

  I could always find single women to date and fuck, but for some reason, the thought is just not appealing when there’s only one woman I want. Therefore I’ll endure the give-and-take relationship I have with Lacy, Will, and Chad, and continue pinning away for Katie like I have for months now.

  Spending the next two nights sharing a room with her incredible body that I’ve now seen naked in a bed just a few feet away will be easy. I’ll just pretend like she still hates me and knows exactly what a disgusting bastard I am. That’ll help me keep my distance.

  Chapter Six

  Katie

  This is going to be a long weekend. During the entire conference Friday I don't hear anything anyone on the stage says. And why is that? Because at the moment Joe is sitting several rows up from me with the only three other women in the entire damn hotel. Yes, he's younger than most of the other men, and definitely hotter, but still, all three? There's a blonde on his left, who touches his arm every chance she gets, a brunette on the right, who is shoving her large breasts into his face, and the one directly in front of him stands up to unnecessarily stretch forward for every handout just to show him her ass. When Bimbo One, Two, and Three aren't pawing all over him, I'm thinking about the pulse I still feel between my legs because of his incredibly talented tongue. Or his abs. Or the way his hair was so soft running through my fingers. Or his beautiful cock that I didn't even get to taste. Yes, beautiful. It's not a word I have ever used for the very few cocks I've actually seen, all three of them, but his is beautiful. Just the right length, girth, and so hard and silky to touch. His cock is clearly the mold used for the majority of the world's dildos. At the moment, I'm wishing I had packed mine, only I'm sharing a room with the most gorgeous man ever so when would I get to use it?

  "I know the answer," a masculine voice beside me says, interrupting my thoughts. For a second I think he's gonna answer my silent questions and tell me where I could masturbate in peace. I glance over, and okay, so he's pretty handsome if you like large men with military crew cuts and honey-brown eyes to match. I glance down at the table in front of him and notice that he's doodled stick men in various states of death on the hotel's complimentary notepad. One apparently was stabbed in the chest, another fell off a cliff, one seems to have, ah, electrocuted himself, and of course, the last one was hung. "It was Mrs. Peacock in the Drawing Room with the Lead Pipe."

  A stupid, silly giggle escapes at his ridiculous Clue reference, cause most of the heads around us to turn our way.

  "She has Tourette's, it's no laughing matter," the man beside me deadpans to the gawkers. "So what's your name, Red? I can't see the sticker on your titty— I mean, your nametag."

  "Katie," I whisper, and shake my head at his audacity.

  "Patrick," he says, offering his hand to shake. "Trick for short."

  "I bet Halloween is a tough time for you," I tease, and he smiles wider. "Everyone always chooses treat."

  "So you do have a sense of humor. The way you’ve been scowling all morning, I was starting to wonder." I smile and face the front lecture again. "Let's skip the rest of the day and go to the pool. There’s also a hot tub," my neighbor says.

  "I wish, but no thanks," I respond.

  "Maybe afterwards?" he asks.

  Will Joe go back up to one of the skanks rooms? Eh.

  "Maybe," I agree since I don't want to sit up there all alone while he's doing who knows what. Literally.

  Trick and I spend the rest of the time playing hangman until the lecture ends. That’s when Joe suddenly appears beside our two-person table. "Hey, Katie Kat. I must’ve left my key in our room, can I borrow yours to go get it?" He looks at the man beside me the whole time he's speaking like he's asking him instead of me. I pull my card out of my pocket and start to hand it to him, but with the vultures circling, the last thing I want is one of them going up to our room and screwing him in one of our beds.

  "I'll go up with you," I say. "I need to change into my bathing suit."

  "So meet you at the pool in fifteen or so?" Trick asks with a smile.

  "Sure." I nod, and then start for the elevator bank.

  "You're going swimming with that douchebag?" Joe asks before we're completely out of the douchebag’s earshot.

  "Yeah, so? Are you going up to one of the Skanky Trios' rooms?"

  He chuckles as we step on to an empty elevator and he pushes our floor. "Skanky Trio, huh?"

  I shrug.

  "I only want you, Katie Kat," Joe says softly, making my heart skip a beat as I look over to see if he actually said what I think he said. His cerulean eyes are honest and sincere.

  "You do? Even though we have to work together and it might make things...weird?" I ask.

  "I thought I made it pretty obvious that I wanted you last night, and that I don't give a shit about the fact that we'll be working together. It's not gonna be weird."

  "So why did you leave?" I ask.

  He hangs his head. "Because after I'm honest with you about my…sexual history you’re probably not going to want to be with me."

  "You've been with a lot of women?" I ask with a raised eyebrow as we step out onto the ninth floor.

  "Actually, I haven't been with that many women. Lacy was the first woman in months. And even though we're not…technically together, ah, I'm still fucking her."

  My feet come to a sudden stop in the hallway. "But I thought you said she lives with her boyfriend in Charlotte?"

  "Yeah. We, um, have threesomes. Sometimes foursomes," Joe says. His tan face reddens.

  "Wow. And her boyfriend doesn't mind you and her..."

  He shakes his head as we reach our hotel door. "No, Will is very understanding of what Lacy wants. He'd give her the moon if she asked for it."

  "So, you and she just have casual sex? No commitment, no expectations, no...awkwardness?" I ask, genuinely intrigued.

  "Yes."

  "That's exactly what I want with you. This weekend only. Just casual sex, minus everything else," I tell him.

  Joe looks somewhat stunned. He opens
and closes his gaping mouth like he's going to say something and then stops. Pulling out his key card from his pants pocket, he unlocks our door. Wait a second! He had his key the whole time? Was he just posturing because of Patrick? Maybe Joe really does want me, and was jealous.

  God knows I've wanted him since I first saw him months ago. I can't have anything more with him, but we could have this. One weekend, anything goes. Only, he’s still staring at me in shock and hasn't responded.

  "That's what you want?" he finally asks. "Me and not that douchebag from downstairs? But only this weekend?"

  It takes me a second to even remember the guy downstairs that I definitely won’t be meeting at the pool anytime soon. "Yes. I can't…I don't want anything more. My life won't allow it. But if you're in then I want to spend the weekend in bed with you. When we're not in lectures." I’m still a professional, after all, and want to keep my job.

  Standing frozen in the entryway, Joe blinks his beautiful dark lashes women would pay thousands for as he thinks it over. Maybe he doesn’t want me that way and I just made an incredible ass out of myself. "If you don't…if you're not interested…"

  "I'm very interested," he interrupts. "But I have one other confession to make that may change your mind."

  A shred of guilt hits me that I should tell him that I’m a mother to Drew, but it’s quickly pushed aside. This is one weekend only, so he doesn’t need to know all that.

  After both of us sit down on the sofa, Joe runs a hand through his hair nervously, making me wonder what the hell he could say to make him so concerned that I wouldn't want him. Unless he’s a blood relative of mine that I don't know about, I’m coming up empty.

  "I've been with a man."

  My jaw hits the ground. Of all the things I guessed he'd say, I didn’t see that one coming. What does that mean?

  "But you're definitely not…gay?" I try to ask delicately. He seemed to really enjoy going down on me.