by Tanya Kelly
* * * *
Lacey’s heart hammered in her chest and she let out a deep breath from the deep yearning inside her. She tried to get her emotions in check but he was still too close. They had such a strong pull between them. Yet why had he stopped? He could have taken her, right here in the back room. She’d never been the type to initiate sex but here she’d been the one kissing him hungrily and grinding against his erection. It was the way he made her feel when he looked at her. Self-assured, seductive and exciting. She lost the ability to think straight when he touched her and instinctively let her body’s needs take over.
Shit! Get a grip. Just because she’d been wrong about him being a womanizer didn’t mean she could date him or sleep with him again. Despite unbelievable sex. He was still too young. That hadn’t changed.
Reilly tugged gently on her hair and kissed her. The kiss was soft and gentle, not like their previous kisses which were “I want to rip your clothes off and fuck you.” Her stomach did a crazy flip flop thing when he kissed her like that. With a protectiveness and gentleness that made her heart swell. When he removed his lips, his blue eyes bore into hers, almost as if he was searching for something.
She needed distance. Lacey took a few steps back and smoothed down her hair. “I should get to work.”
“Have dinner with me tonight.”
“I can’t. It’s going to be late night working,” she replied stiffly.
“You have to eat sometime.” Reilly stood there staring at her expectantly before picking up his coat and shrugging it on. The faded leather fit him perfectly. “Just dinner. Between friends who will be working together. No expectations.” He stood with his hands braced on his hips and waited patiently for her answer.
She should say no. But she wanted to see him again. One more night wouldn’t hurt, right?
“Okay.” The word tumbled out of her before she could think anymore.
He smiled and pretended to wipe sweat off her brow. “Thank God because I don’t handle rejection well. That could have been ugly.”
“I’m not sure I can say no to you about anything,” she stated, then felt her face grow warm from her choice of words.
He leaned over and tucked her hair behind her ear before whispering, “I’ll be sure to remember that.”
“That’s not what I meant,” she stammered. “Dinner only.” She waved her finger at him.
He chuckled and blew her a kiss. “Until tonight beautiful.” Then he turned and left. Lacey stood in the middle of the store and stared after him. She hadn’t planned on saying yes to seeing him again but the idea of not seeing him again was hell.
* * * *
Dinner was all set and in the oven. He’d made Lacey a traditional Irish shepherd’s pie and hoped she liked it. As he cut up some bread and prepared a salad, the doorbell rang promptly at seven.
He went over to the door and let her in. “Right on time.”
“Hi.” She entered the house as he stood aside. She looked shy and nervous. And cute as hell. “I hate lateness. It irks me.” She handed him a bottle of wine and he thanked her.
“Let me take your coat.” Lacey shrugged out of her coat and passed it to him before bending over to remove her boots. Reilly couldn’t help but just stare and admire her ass. She wore jeans that did all the right things for her booty, not that it didn’t look delicious naked. She had on a different top than when he’d seen her earlier. This one was purple and brought out her eyes even more than the green one had today. It was also snug and hugged her amazing tits perfectly.
“Were you just checking out my ass?” she asked playfully.
“Actually, yes. And your tits as well if you must know.”
She blushed at his frank response and he laughed. “Come in. I’ll behave.”
She followed into the kitchen and he offered her a drink. She opted for a cold beer like him.
“Can I help with anything?”
“Nope. It’s all ready and in the oven. Hope you like shepherd’s pie?”
“I love it, especially on a cold day like today.”
“Great. About twenty minutes it will be ready. Let’s grab a seat in the living room and warm up by the fireplace.”
She followed him into the living room and sat on the opposite side of the couch. Her back was stiff and there was a lot of distance between them. She took a swig of her beer, her eyes darting around the room.
“Did you design and make all these pieces?”
“I did.” He put his arm on the back of the couch, wanting to pull her closer. “My dad was a carpenter and I grew up helping him. While he did whatever work came his way, we both always loved crafting furniture the most.”
She ran her hands over the coffee table. “Your pieces are unique. I bet you sell tons.”
“I do now but it was tough starting out when no one knows you. That’s why I started working in the bar until I could build the business. I convinced Nick, the owner to let me do new high top tables and stools around the bar for cost and people loved them. My name started to get around and I began getting a few customers. It seems every new customer I did work for would tell a bunch of their friends plus give me repeat business. I got busy quickly. I used to work out of the garage of the home I rented a room in.
“It was such a small space but I couldn’t afford much at the time. I eventually created a catalogue of designs and had a website done up. Now I rent a workshop not far from here, but much larger to work in and store some pieces which sell easily. I’ve actually been thinking about quitting bartending. I haven’t needed the job for a while now but Nick is a good friend and I hate to let him down. He takes a bit more time off when I’m around and I think he was hoping I might manage the place so he could semi-retire. But it’s not what I want to do.”
She nodded her head. “I felt the same when I left the bank. After so many years, I became friends with a lot of my colleagues as well as my boss. I was sad leaving but it was time.”
“It’s definitely time,” Reilly agreed. “I’ve been keeping an eye out for the right store location. Mostly I would still design original pieces for customers but a lot of times, they want to see your work and feel it. Plus this is a tourist town and a lot of them hear about me and place orders which I ship. But in a store, I could easily display some of the more popular-selling items people buy and they can take them home right away.”
“I think that’s a great idea,” Lacey said. He studied her face but she seemed genuinely excited about the idea. He hated people who said all the right things but didn’t mean it. “I think it’s important to do what you love and take risks to get there,” she continued.
“Is that what you’re doing?” he asked, hoping she might open up a bit about herself.
She seemed to hesitate but then replied, “Yes, it’s exactly what I’m doing.” She took a sip of her beer. “It was a big risk for me to quit my secure job and move here to go into business for myself. We both know being your own boss is a gamble. But even though I liked my colleagues and made a lot of friends at the bank, I wasn’t exactly happy in the position. I was bored and going through the motions. I was beginning to picture my retirement party which scared the shit out of me. Letting life pass me by instead of living it. Wow, I’m sorry. I’m rambling. Enough about me.” Lacey pulled at the label on her beer bottle and uncrossed and re-crossed her legs. Reilly could tell she didn’t like to talk about herself or seemed uncomfortable with attention on her. He decided to take a gamble and lay his cards on the table.
“I like you, Lacey. A lot. And I’m not just talking about how much I like fucking you—which again—is a lot.” He smiled when her eyes widened. “I like talking to you and hanging with you. I want to get to you know.”
She crossed her arms over her chest and Reilly recognized the defense mechanism. “It’s just not the right time for me to think about a relationship and honestly, Reilly, the age thing is a problem. At least for me. I dread asking this, but how old are you, exactly?”
“Twenty-eight,” Reilly replied. Lacey cringed and closed her eyes. When she opened them, he could see she wasn’t happy with his answer. She turned away, her face red and her lips pressed into a thin line.
Reilly lifted her chin, forcing her to look at him before he took hold of her hands. “Don’t do that. I can feel you pulling away. I’m guessing there is what, four to five years of difference between us?”
Lacey sighed and shrugged her shoulders. “Try eleven years. I’m thirty-nine and not for much longer. The big 4-0 is looming dangerously close.”
Reilly’s eyes widened in shock. He’d assumed she was only a few years older than him.
“Sorry to drop such a bombshell. I had hoped you were at least thirty.”
Her shoulders drooped, and tears shone in her eyes.
“Lacey, it is a bombshell, but not in the way you think,” he replied. “It’s because you don’t look anywhere near forty.”
Lacey looked at him in disbelief, and Reilly put his hand under her chin and cupped her face. “In fact, right now, looking at you, I’d think you were younger than me. You look fucking adorable.”
She searched his face as if looking for deceit and Reilly traced his thumb across her bottom lip and then caressed her cheek. “I’m telling you, I think you’re beautiful and sexy and I don’t care how old you are.”
Her lips parted as she exhaled, and his pulse accelerated as he stared at her full, lush mouth.
She really was clueless at her beauty and sex appeal. He fought the urge to take her in his arms and show her how much he wanted her. They needed to finish this conversation.
“Forget the age thing. We have fun together, do we not?”
“Yes, but it doesn’t change anything,” she said stubbornly. But Reilly wasn’t giving up, at least not that easily.
“I have a proposition then.” He leaned forward and removed her beer. He placed it on the table and took her hands in his. “Let’s be friends. You’re new to Beechfield and everyone could use good friends. Except we’re both adults who are attracted to one another so we can be friends who occasionally share a bed. No strings. No expectations.”
“You want to be friends with benefits?” She sat up. Her hands trembled in his grasp.
“You can call it that,” he laughed. “I like to think of it as friends who talk and hang and have fun. But who also can’t keep their hands off each other so yes, they have sex…a lot I hope.”
Lacey blushed and her lips curved into a smile. “That sounds interesting.”
Her eyes lit up like a Christmas tree as she seemed to ponder the idea. She looked like a kid in a candy store who’d just been handed the super jumbo-size lollipop. Reilly scooted closer and pulled her into his lap.
“Shall we seal the friendship?” he asked but didn’t wait for an answer as his lips crushed hers.
She kissed him back eagerly, her tongue pushing into his mouth and his cock immediately hardened. Lacey moaned into his mouth and squirmed in his lap.
He broke their kiss but continued to nibble at her neck. “Jesus, Lacey, you make me so hard.”
She responded by capturing his bottom lip and sucking gently. Then she closed her mouth over his and moved off his lap, placing her one hand directly over his cock and stroking him through his jeans. Fuck! His dick was going to rip though his pants. Reilly loved when she stopped thinking with her head and let her passion guide her. She was confident and sexy when she just let herself respond instead of over thinking.
He hadn’t planned on the whole friends with benefits thing but he could tell she was going to need time to realize how great they were together. The idea came to him as a way to get to know her and enjoy the attraction between them. He would patiently worm his way into her heart.
Lacey obviously liked the idea. She sprang open the button on his jeans and was about to unzip him when the oven timer went off.
“Shit,” he grumbled.
“Ignore it,” she insisted and unzipped him. He groaned as his cock was finally free and in her hand. She stroked him tentatively and then ran her finger over the slit and pre-cum beaded on the mushroom head.
The oven timer sounded again. Shit! He put his hand over hers to still her movements. “Dinner is going to burn and as much as I’d like to come in your sweet hand which I’m close to doing, I promised you food. Let’s eat and then we shall resume sealing the friendship.”
She pouted like a petulant child and tried to keep her hand moving up and down on his shaft. Little tease.
Reilly reluctantly removed her hand from his cock before standing up. “Good things come to those who wait,” he told her, and painfully zipped his jeans.
Chapter Seven
“That was delicious.” Lacey put her fork down on her empty plate and let out a contented sigh. Darn, she’d eaten a lot but the food was scrumptious. He was awesome in bed and in the kitchen.
“I like a woman with an appetite, and not just for salad.” Reilly smiled and finished his second helping. He moved to pick up the dishes and Lacey stood up also.
“Why don’t I wash up? You did do all the cooking.”
“Tell you what. We’ll do them together and next time, you can do the cooking.”
Lacey cleared the rest of the dishes from the table. “I make a mean Kraft dinner.”
Reilly raised his eyebrow. “Okay, never mind. I’ll keep cooking.”
She laughed. “I’m just kidding. I can cook decent. Probably not as good as this but after years of cooking for one, you get a bit a lazy.”
Reilly filled the sink with water and added some dish soap. “My mom always wanted me to know how to take care of myself and she liked the help in the kitchen. I learned how to cook from her. How about you?”
“Definitely not from my mother,” Lacey said a bit more harshly than she intended. “Sorry, sore spot with me…my mother.”
“Yeah, I see that.” He passed her a dish to dry and watched her intently. “Want to talk about it?”
She dried the plate and looked out the window. “Not really but I’ll give you the Coles Notes version. My mother and I aren’t close and we don’t see eye to eye on much.” She stared out the window, lost in thought. She rarely talked to anyone except Kim about her personal life but she wanted to share a bit with Reilly. Over dinner, he’d told about his parents, his sister, brother-in-law and their kids and Lacey felt like she knew them. He was obviously close with his family despite living far from them.
“I’ve never met my father. He bailed on my mother when she got pregnant with me. I supposedly get my dark hair and eye color from him. My mother likes to drink, sometimes excessively and sometimes she can control it. She’s not only addicted to alcohol, she’s also addicted to men. She’s currently working on husband number five.” She held back a few details about her mother’s obsession with younger man, not ready to completely open up to Reilly.
“Wow, I’m sorry. That couldn’t have been easy.” He leaned on the counter, watching her. “No siblings?”
“Nope, she was pretty careful after me not to get knocked up again. It was bad enough finding husband material with one kid…two would have been awful. Her words.”
“You mustn’t have had an easy childhood.” Reilly stood at the sink, his hands still and stared at her solemnly, a frown on his face.
Lacey dried another dish and shrugged. “You know, her actions made me the person I am today which is a strong independent woman so I’m thankful in a way. But it also made me distrusting, closed off and afraid to let loose. I wanted to be the opposite of everything she was. I worked my ass off and swore I’d be nothing like her.” Lacey smiled to soften her words. She always got worked up talking about her mother. She was a bit astonished she’d revealed so much being such a private person.
“I doubt any woman as strong as you needs a man…but we have some added benefits, right?” he teased.
“Oh, I can think of one,” she replied and glanced down at his nether regions, happy to lighten the m
ood.
He laughed and splashed her with some water from the sink. “Hey, there’s more to me than my dick, woman.”
“I was talking about your cooking,” Lacey replied, straight faced. “But now that you mention your dick…I guess that’s two things.”
He swatted her ass and then pulled her close. “Don’t forget my fingers and tongue. I do believe you’ve been happy with them as well.”
Lacey laughed and pushed him away. “Finish these dishes and you can remind me after.”
They finished cleaning the kitchen and then brought their drinks into the living room. Lacey was glad she’d opened up a bit about herself but she was even happier to be off the subject of her mother. She didn’t want to ruin a superb evening thinking about her childhood.
“Want to watch some TV?”
She nodded and Reilly turned on the TV and together they picked a comedy sitcom to watch. She placed her wineglass on the table and settled back on the couch.
“Come here.” He pulled her next to him into the crook of his arm and Lacey nestled there, completely content. While sex with Reilly was amazing, this ranked highly as well. Just being with him, cuddling and touching. His fingers toyed with her hair and her body melted into his. Before long she could feel her eyelids drooping and was fighting to stay awake.
“Hey,” she heard Reilly whisper.
Lacey opened her eyes and found herself curled into a ball into his side, her head on his chest. As she sat up, she winced at the pain in her neck.
“Here, let me,” he said and put his hands on her shoulders. His strong hands massaged the spot in her neck and a soft moan escaped her lips. In her book, a good massage could almost rival sex.
“That’s why I woke you. I figured your neck would be sore from that position.”
“Sorry, I fell asleep. Was I out long?”
“About an hour. I enjoyed watching you sleep.”
