Married to the Manny

by Daisy May

  He scoffed softly, but he said, “I’m going to hold you to that smoothie date. Let me know when you’re free?”

  “I’ll text you.” I threw on a light sweater and practically raced for the door.

  As soon as I got in the car, I called up Francesca’s parents. “Is it okay if we pick Kerry up a little later then we planned? Maybe around nine-thirty?”

  “Sure,” the man said. “I thought her bedtime was nine, though.”

  “Tell her it’s a special day,” I said.

  “Oh, are you celebrating something?”

  “Not exactly.”

  He chuckled. “I swear, you gays must have it so easy. I have to pester my wife anytime I want attention. If the two of us were both guys, I’m sure we’d be going at it all the time.”

  “I can’t speak for what it’s like with a woman, but having a husband sure is great.”

  When I got home, Cole was already there. He looked around in surprise. “Did you forget to pick up Kerry?”

  “I arranged to pick her up later.” I grabbed him and gave him a long, deep kiss. “I have some things I wanted to take care of first.”

  Cole gave a little chuckle, even though I could already feel him hardening against me. “You’re going to keep her up past her bedtime so we can have sex?”

  “No,” I said. “So we can make love.”

  I backed myself against the wall of the entrance hall, drawing him against me. He put a hand on my chest, pressing me back, his other hand raking down my body and eventually squeezing my ass. I groaned softly, thrusting against him. I loved it so much when he took control like this.

  “Get upstairs, then,” he said.

  “I’m glad we’re on the same page.”

  I grinned at him, waiting for him to head for the stairs, but he didn’t move. Instead he pressed himself against me, his entire torso against mine, his length right alongside mine.

  “Are you going to move?” I asked.

  His eyes were dark and lustful. “I have half a mind to take you right here.”

  Fuck, I couldn’t stand it when he got like this. I wanted to have him possess me on every surface of this house. I ached to spread myself for him, to let him have what he wanted and more. I wanted to give my everything to him, and I wanted all of it now.

  “You’re still going to need to move so I can take my clothes off,” I said.

  “No, you won’t. Not if I rip them off.”

  I bit my lip as his teeth sank into my neck. He nibbled his way down, going just hard enough for it to hurt. My cock was already rigid, and it only got harder as he stimulated my skin. I pushed against him, thrusting in a dry hump that did nothing to relieve the urges that were building inside me. They were useless movements, but I couldn’t seem to stop them.

  If I’d been thinking clearly, I would’ve thought it was impossible to tear through the sweater I had on. But whatever he did must’ve worked, because in the space of a few seconds, I was naked before him.

  “How’s this going to work?” I asked, biting my lips and then licking them. I didn’t really care what Cole’s plan was, as long as it involved him getting me off extremely soon.

  He turned me around, pressing his still-clad groin to my ass. “I wonder if we can get the angle right if you just bend over like this…”

  “But condoms… lube…”

  “Dammit,” he said. But he pressed down on my back, getting me to bend slightly anyway. And his finger crept between my cheeks as the other snaked around my waist.

  “What are you doing?” I asked, my voice cracking with need. My hips rocked back against his hand, and I pressed against his finger and then into his palm.

  “I can tell you need this right now,” he said. “I don’t want to make you wait.”

  He was right. My head was spinning with lust, and if I’d waited a second longer, I felt like I would’ve died. At the same time, this was incredibly frustrating. His fingers felt good, but not like the real thing. Then he pushed a second one into me, and then he found the spot that never failed to make me scream.

  The space behind my eyelids went white, and for a moment I forgot where—and who—I was.

  I put my arms against the wall for balance, but even that wasn’t enough. My legs had started shaking under me, and only Cole’s strong hands could keep me up. He let go of my cock as he spun me around to face him. Those two fingers, though, he kept inside.

  “I love seeing you go wild like that,” he said, his voice low and husky. “Love seeing you let it all go for me.”

  I couldn’t find a way to respond. I set my back against the wall, only wanting it to hold me up. But Cole seemed to take it as an invitation to sink to his knees in front of me.

  “The condoms are upstairs, but there’s no reason we can’t do this right here.”

  Oh my God. Was he really going to go down on me right in the front entrance hallway? It was so dirty, so filthy. And I fucking loved it.

  I looked down, drinking in the sight of him before me. My boss, the super-successful man, on his knees for me. My husband.

  The way he was stroking my cock and now starting to give it tender, careful licks could even have been described as loving. As kinky as all of this was, there was love here too, and that was what drove me wildest of all.

  “Fuck,” I gasped as he took me all the way into his mouth.

  I wasn’t huge—not like him—but he could still only comfortably take an inch past my cockhead. He worked it, though, getting it all sloppy and wet. I thrust instinctively, my tip sliding in and out of his mouth, my slit rubbing against his tongue. His teeth grazed over me, and I shivered. He was the only man I’d ever met who could make that pleasurable. He knew how to give me just enough pain along with my pleasure.

  I tangled my fingers in his hair, my knees bending, my back slamming against the wall. I couldn’t keep myself up, but I couldn’t fall to the floor either. I was in a haze of lust, and I needed Cole to lead me through it. I’d lost the ability to form rational thoughts. Cole was doing to me what yoga class couldn’t—getting me out of my head and into my body.

  “Cole,” I groaned.

  The incredible sucking sensation stopped just long enough for him to smile up at me. “I love hearing you say my name.”

  Then he was back at his work, taking me as deep as he could, his one hand working on the rest of my shaft, the other still plugging me from behind. I rocked into his mouth, my breath catching in my throat, my pulse at an all-time high. I breathed in my own sweat and Cole’s subtle scent. I had never smelled anything so delicious, so arousing.

  “Fuck, Cole…”

  Both my hands were in his hair now, and I let my eyes squeeze shut as I thrust into him again and again. I had no control over my movements. Something shifted at the back of his throat, and suddenly I was past where I’d been before. My whole cock was in his mouth, and I opened my eyes enough to see him going wide-eyed, too. I pulled out and he choked, rubbing the back of his hand across his mouth.

  “Fuck, are you okay?”

  “Do that again,” he said, no hesitation.

  With his permission, I put my tip gently on his tongue again, wanting to go more gingerly this time. But he moved his head forward and absolutely inhaled me, gulping down every last inch with unfathomable enthusiasm. He choked and gagged a little more, but his eyes told me he was loving every second. And as I started to move again, I could hear him groaning along with me.

  I held onto his head, my back arching and my fingers knotting in his hair.

  And as he sent me into ecstasy, I screamed out his name.

  Eighteen—Cole

  “Honey, could you tell me your moms’ full names again, please?” I was sitting at the kitchen table, filling out paperwork in preparation for the immigration interview.

  Gordon came over and placed a hand on each of my shoulders. “Mama C’s full name is Cynthia Bruin,” he said. “Mama G is Giulia Kowalczyk.”

  “I’m going to need you to spe
ll that one.”

  He laughed. “I thought you might. It’s K-O-W-A-L-C-zed—”

  “L-C-what?”

  “Zed.” He pinched my cheek. “It’s Polish.”

  I playfully slapped his hand away. “Polish people don’t have different letters from us.”

  “I mean the name is Polish.”

  “And how do you spell it?”

  “K-O-W-A-L-C-zed-Y-K.”

  “Cut that out!”

  He bent over me, trying to grab the pen. “You want me to write it for you?”

  “No, I want you to say the letter right.”

  “I’m not going to say ‘zee.’ I refuse. It’s too ugly.”

  I scribbled down a zee, then turned to raise an eyebrow at him. “You do realize you’re trying to be American, right?”

  “It’s still zed.”

  “Really? The rapper is called Jay-Zed up in Canada?”

  “Uh… yes.”

  I raised the other eyebrow. “The gossip website is TM-Zed?”

  “Yup.”

  “It says zed in the alphabet song?”

  “Obviously.”

  “Sing it for me, then.”

  “No.” He zipped his lips.

  “Sing it.” I stuck my fingers into his ribs, making him giggle uncontrollably. “I’m not stopping until you sing it for me.”

  “No—tickling!” he gasped out. “Not—fair!”

  “You’re not fair,” I said, reluctantly stopping. “And also ridiculous.”

  “But sexy?”

  “Very, very sexy.” I pulled him down for a long, lustful kiss—then dug my fingers into his stomach again. “Sing it!”

  “Oh my God,” Kerry groaned.

  I hadn’t even heard her walk into the room. I jumped out of the chair, darting halfway across the room from Gordon. It felt like we’d been caught in the act. Except Kerry had only caught me flirting with my husband.

  “You two are awful,” she said. “You never stop lately. You even embarrassed me in front of Francesca.”

  “We did?”

  “You kissed when you picked me up,” she whined. “In the car, before you got out, but they saw you.”

  “So what?” I said. “It’s not like we were right in front of them.”

  “But you’ve done that, too.” Her lip stuck out in a pout. “You used to never kiss. Why did you start?”

  “Because we got married,” I said carefully, glancing over at Gordon.

  “No,” she said. “You acted fine when you got married. You started being weird all the time after that. You’re always whispering to each other and you don’t even talk to me anymore.”

  My heart cracked a little. She was so smart, so perceptive. And I hated lying to my daughter. It was only recently I’d been lecturing her on the value of honesty, and here I was lying to her face. I was acting like a giant hypocrite, especially seeing as she was the most important person in the world to me.

  “Should we tell her?” I murmured to Gordon.

  His eyes went wide, but he didn’t have time to respond before Kerry crossed her little arms. “Tell me what, Daddy?”

  “I don’t think it’s a good idea,” Gordon said. “We can tell her after everything’s over. Once we’re in the clear.”

  “What?” Kerry asked again, her voice downright petulant now.

  “You’re right,” I said to Gordon. “Later is better.” I turned back to Kerry, trying to manage a smile. “Don’t worry about it, sweetheart. Nothing’s wrong, and we promise not to embarrass you anymore.”

  She glared at me.

  “Could you settle an argument for us? We want to know the ending of the alphabet song.”

  Gordon nodded, joining in on my plan to distract her. “Yeah, could you help us sing it?”

  Without deigning to reply, Kerry turned on her heel and left the room.

  The playful mood was gone. “Well, shit.” I rested my head on Gordon’s shoulder as he pulled me into his arms.

  “It’ll be okay,” he told me softly. “She’ll understand one day.”

  “Will she, though?”

  I wanted to believe he was right, but if I were Kerry, I wouldn’t enjoy being lied to either. This was all for her benefit—or it was supposed to be at first. But being kept in the dark was taking a toll on her.

  “Now isn’t the time to tell her,” Gordon said. “At her age, everything is black and white. She wouldn’t get why we couldn’t have just told the truth the whole time.”

  I nodded, although reluctantly. “When we go to immigration, we have to be sure she’ll tell our version of the events.”

  “Exactly.”

  He pressed his lips to mine, encircling me in his strong arms. I’d never expected this whole fake marriage to be so hard on me. Or on Kerry. It’d only gotten worse since real emotions started mixing in with the fake stuff.

  My lips parted and his tongue delved past them, mine meeting it with equal fervor. I let out a soft groan as the kiss went on and on. Gordon’s whole hard body pressed against me, and his hands ran up and down my back. God, I loved this man so much.

  Soon all of this would be over. Gordon would get his green card, he’d have the right to stay in America, and we’d be together forever. Everything would be fine. Perfect. Wonderful. And we’d tell Kerry the truth when she was old enough.

  Gordon pulled back, his eyes searching mine. “You okay?”

  “I’m great. I was just thinking I’m looking forward to all of this being over.”

  “Once I get my green card, it’ll all have been worth it.”

  “I know.” I kissed him again, softly. “We’ve been so focused on each other, it’s no wonder Kerry’s feeling left out. We should really try to spend more quality time with her.”

  “That sounds good.” He squeezed my arm. “As long as this is real, I’m happy.”

  “I still can’t believe my half-baked proposal led to this.”

  “You think we ever would’ve figured it out if you hadn’t proposed?”

  “Maybe not.” I frowned at the thought. “I never would’ve asked you out if I wasn’t trying to keep you in the country. I always figured I should act more professional than that.”

  “Same here.” He chuckled. “Now I know better. Being professional is fine most of the time, but when the love of your life comes into the picture, fuck professional.”

  My heart skipped a beat. “You really think I’m the love of your life?”

  He looked at me shyly. “I’m married to you, aren’t I?”

  I gave him another kiss, this one slow and passionate. After hearing that, I wanted to get him upstairs—now. Out of his clothes, into our bed…

  “I love you,” I murmured when we stopped for air. “I’m so happy everything worked out like this.”

  “My moms thought I was definitely going to get my heart broken going into a fake marriage with someone I cared about,” he said. “Whoever would’ve thought it could turn out so perfectly right?”

  That was about all I could take. Any more sweetness from him, and I was going to start tearing his clothes off right here and now. Grabbing his arm, I dragged him toward the stairs.

  And found Kerry standing just past the doorway, tears in her eyes.

  “You lied to me,” she choked out. “You’re both liars!”

  Nineteen—Gordon

  I lay in bed, wishing I could hear what Cole and Kerry were talking about. After she’d overheard us out there, he said they needed to talk father-to-daughter, just the two of them. I’d agreed to give them privacy, but I hated every second of not knowing what they were saying.

  Why had we ever thought taking such a hard stance on lying was a good idea? Memories of our conversation about Kerry’s role in her play flooded back to me, and I ached with shame as the words echoed in my mind.

  We don’t lie to people, okay? You should never lie. Never ever. It’s never okay to lie.

  If we’d explained it to her with a bit more nuance, if we’d gi
ven her credit for being mature enough to understand, she wouldn’t be having such a hard time now. She’d looked absolutely shattered at the knowledge that we’d lied to her.

  This wasn’t us telling her some fairy tale about Santa Claus. This was the two people she was supposed to trust most in the world lying to her face for months on end.

  I curled my knees up to my chest, taking the fetal position from yoga class. As usual, the deep breaths I tried to draw in did nothing to calm my mind. I couldn’t empty my head of thoughts—specifically, worries. I couldn’t stop wishing we’d gone about this whole thing differently.

  At last the door opened. Cole crawled onto the bed beside me, fully dressed. “Still up?”

  “As if I could sleep.” I shook my head. “How is she?”

  “Taking it hard,” he said softly. “She feels betrayed. She says we did the opposite of what we taught her.”

  “And you told her it was all so I could stay here and be her nanny?”

  “Yes, but she just threw what I told her back in my face. Kept saying it was never okay to lie.”

  I sighed. That was fair, considering we’d told her those exact words only weeks ago. And we’d known even as we were saying them that we weren’t obeying them.

  “Are we horrible people?” I asked.

  “Maybe.” Cole’s thumb stroked lightly across my jaw. “We’re hardly the first parents whose policy is ‘do as I say, not as I do.’”

  A small, hopeful part of me liked how he’d called me a parent. Still, I was glum. “I never wanted to be like that.”

  “We did fuck up. But I think she’ll forgive us eventually.”

  “What’ll she do if the immigration office wants to interview her?”

  “I don’t know,” Cole said. “This is what I wanted to save her from.”

  “But if we coach her on what to say?”

  “Having to lie to authority figures, people she’s never met before in scary uniforms… it’s going to be hard enough just talking to them ourselves.”

  “She can do it,” I said with confidence I didn’t feel. “If I know one thing, it’s that she wants me to stay here with her.”