Smoldering

by Tiffany Aleman

  “We just ate,” I answer, following behind him. A laugh escapes me at the thought he might be nervous.

  “Yeah. You’re right.” He runs a hand through his hair and laughs an anxious laugh.

  “But a glass of water sounds good.”

  Riley digs into one of the black cabinets with frosted glass doors and retrieves a glass for me. As he fills the cup with water, I openly look around his kitchen. Stainless steel appliances, pendant lights hanging above the bar, tan granite counters, and a five-burner gas stove. I’m in awe.

  “You really do have a gorgeous home,” I say as he hands me the glass.

  “Thanks.” He rubs a hand over his head and down his face. “Technically, it’s my parents’ summer home, but when I was stationed at Ft. Stewart they let me have it.”

  “That’s really nice of them.”

  His head snaps up, his eyes wide as if he’s trying to decipher if I’m being genuine. I know what it’s like for a person to be used because of a bank account’s value. And I also know what it’s like to be stabbed in the back relentlessly and no longer be able to trust people.

  “You surprise me at every turn, Kelsey.” With a shake of his head, he walks around the bar only to stop in front of me.

  “And why’s that?”

  “You’re not like most women that I’ve dated before.”

  “Why? Because I don’t care how big your house or what kind of car you drive?”

  “Exactly.” He nods with a smirk.

  “We’re not so different, you know?” I whisper as Riley closes in on me, trapping me between his body and the bar.

  “We’re not?” One of his brows arch at my statement.

  “Nope.”

  When I don’t say anything further, he asks, “Are you going to tell me why?”

  “It doesn’t matter anymore, but I will tell you this. I like Kels, not Kelsey.”

  His brows scrunch in confusion.

  “My parents are the only ones that called me Kelsey, and I’ve never really been a fan of it.” My eyes drop down to our feet as I tell him this little piece of me.

  He lifts my chin so that my eyes meet his. “I like it, too. Thank you for coming over,” he murmurs just before he lays a whisper of a kiss at the corner of my mouth. When I try to turn my head to capture his lips with mine, his grip on my chin tightens. “Uh-uh. We came here to sleep, and you wanted a shower, remember? I promised I would be a gentleman, and I am a man of my word, Kels.”

  My lids flutter closed when my name rolls off his tongue. I groan as he places another soft kiss on the opposite corner of my mouth. A slow fire begins to spread throughout my body just from his teasing touches.

  “Follow me,” he whispers against my jaw as his hand drops away from my face and his fingers link with mine.

  With a deep breath, I attempt to regain my wits in hopes that it will calm my body down. When he tugs lightly on my hand, I follow him towards the staircase. The railing is spectacular with intricately designed, wrought iron spindles leading up to the second floor. The sound of our feet hitting the hardwood steps echoes throughout the house. He stops me once we get upstairs.

  “This room over here,” he points to the left and down a hallway, “is my room and the other two over here,” he points to the right, “are spare rooms.”

  “Where’s your spare bathroom?”

  “It’s downstairs, but it’s only a half-bath off the laundry room. All the rooms up here have their own en suites.”

  Riley pushes the door to his room open, and immediately, I am jealous of his bed. Against one of the walls sits a huge four-poster, king-size bed. It’s unmade, but I could care less because from where I’m standing just in the doorway, I can see the plushness of that mattress and I can’t wait to lay down on it.

  “Here.”

  I look to Riley as he pulls me out of my thoughts. In his hands is a pair of blue boxer briefs and grey T-shirt.

  “Thanks,” I reply taking the clothes from him.

  “You can shower in here.” He points to a doorway nestled in the same wall as the bed. “I’ll shower in one of the other bathrooms.”

  “Okay.”

  I walk around the bed and into the bathroom, which has a pedestal sink, a toilet to the side, an enclosed shower, and a Jacuzzi tub. As I strip down, laying my work clothes on top of the closed toilet lid, I turn on the water and adjust the temperature. Stepping under the spray, I lean my head back and exhale loudly at how great it feels. The warm water begins loosening up my tight muscles as I relax. I reach for the shampoo and almost burst out in laughter as I see that Riley uses Garnier Fructis. The body wash, on the other hand, is all man. Axe. A smile lifts my lips that I’m using his stuff and will smell like him when I get out of here. Then my mind wanders back to the amazing date we had three days ago, and the fact that he stopped in to have breakfast with me, and here I am in his amazing house.

  For the past two years, I’ve been happy, living the life I’ve always wanted to have. I finally discovered what it was like to feel free. Free from stipulations. Free from scrutiny. Free from harsh criticism. But now that I’ve met Riley, he’s come in and shown me a different path, and I’m not sure I’d know how to go back to just being happy. I want to feel phenomenal.

  A loud ringing pulls me from my thoughts. I rinse off and hop out of the shower, reaching for the only towel that’s hanging on the towel rack. Just as quickly as the ringing stops, it starts up again. Droplets of water cascade down my body as I answer the phone, my voice a little breathless from my rush. “Hello.”

  “Where are you?” Jen asks in a panicked tone.

  “I’m at Riley’s.”

  “Wait, what?” I want to laugh how her tone went from panic to shock in an instant.

  I can just picture her face right now. Jaw agape, eyes wide, barely blinking. The spitting image of stunned.

  “He came into the diner this morning. We had breakfast and he asked me to come over.” I shrug, although I know she can’t see me.

  “You slut.” She laughs, which causes me to laugh too.

  “It’s not like that. I promise.”

  “So said the girl who got pregnant.”

  I roll my eyes at her comment because we both know I’m on the implant. My chances of getting pregnant are slim to none.

  “Whatever. Look, I’ll see you later. I just got out of the shower—”

  “Uh-huh. Is that hot piece of ass right there with you?”

  “I’m hanging up now.” I laugh. “Love you.” I disconnect the call, not giving her the chance to get another word in.

  After I’ve dried off, gotten dressed, and thrown my hair up in a messy bun, I crack the door open to see Riley lying there in the bed. A tinge of disappointment flashes through me when I see him wearing a white T-shirt and the blanket pulled up to his hips. With my arms crossed over my chest, I lean against the doorframe. The sheets and duvet are nice and neat like he made the bed and I can’t help the smile that comes over my face. He wants me comfortable.

  “You didn’t have to do that, you know?”

  His head snaps in my direction. “Huh?”

  “The sheets. You didn’t have to make the bed.” I tip my chin towards the bed.

  “Oh, that.” He chuckles and shrugs.

  “But thanks.”

  He reaches his hand out for me to take as he throws the covers back, making room for me. “Come on.” Placing my hand in his with little concern, he tugs me over and onto the bed. I fall into the plush mattress, landing right beside him. And for some reason, this seems more intimate than actually having sex. The fact that it’s literally sleeping and cuddling makes me nervous to some extent. “What’s wrong?” he whispers as he pulls the duvet over us.

  I turn on my side to face him. Tentatively, I reach out and trace his features. The tips of my fingers skim along his strong jaw, his barely crooked nose that looks like it might have been broken at one point in his life, and the Cupid’s bow at the top of his full upp
er lip, a lip that I can’t help but want to suck on. My fingers inch their way across his high cheekbones up to a crease in his forehead before they thread into his hair that’s barely long enough for me to comb my fingers through.

  When my eyes find his, I whisper, “Thank you.”

  “For what?” He pulls my body flush against his, and wraps an arm around my waist, anchoring me there.

  “For finding me.” I nuzzle into the crook of his neck.

  We lay there in comfortable silence until my eyes begin to feel heavy and I begin to drift off to sleep when I hear him whisper. “I didn’t even know I was looking for you until you found me.”

  “Huh?” I ask softly.

  His body goes rigid as he blows out a deep breath. “You think I found you, but it’s quite the opposite. I don’t know much about you, Kels, but I like you and want to give this a shot.” When I don’t say anything he continues. “I think about you all the time. Every time I pass that damn diner, you’re what I see. I know it may be soon, but…” He shakes his head, his words trailing off.

  I may not know much about this man either, but I deserve to have a happiness that makes me delirious and I think he does, too. And he’s right, it is soon, but everyone has to start somewhere. “I think we deserve a shot, too.”

  His fingers comb through my hair, lulling me to sleep, and I murmur, “We found each other.”

  “That we did, babe. That we did.”

  “Are we supposed to be in here?” I whisper as he helps me into one of the many Blackhawks he flies.

  Ever since I slept over at Riley’s house, not one day has gone by that we haven’t seen each other. Every night when he gets off work, he stops in at the diner and hangs out with me or we eat breakfast together. When we’re not together, we’re on the phone or texting each other. Which is how I found out about our date tonight. When I got home this morning, he’d texted me.

  Be prepared to be wowed tonight. I’ll be at your place at seven.

  “No, but no one will know because it’s Saturday night and no one else is here,” he whisper yells back with a laugh.

  He secures my cockpit door behind him before he runs around the front of the aircraft and hops into his own seat.

  “What are we doing here?” I ask.

  It’s dark as night in here with only a shimmer of dimmed light peeking in from the hangar. I look around, amazed at all the gadgets around me. Two joysticks jut out, one in front of the pilot and the other in front of the co-pilot seats, and the control panel takes up the entire dash. Radar and pressurizing instruments stare back at me. My eyes scan the center console where numerous switches and knobs are housed, overwhelming with what all they control. I lean forward and look out the window to see a blade on each side, slightly bowed as they freely hang.

  “This is the date I promised would make all others you’ve been on pale in comparison.”

  “Ohhh… well too bad for you, I’ve already been wined and dined in a helicopter before.”

  “You’ve got jokes, huh?” He laughs at me with a shake of his head.

  “Maybe, maybe not.” A grin tugs at the corners of my lips as I shrug.

  “I hope you’re hungry. I’m not much of a cook so I went with something everyone likes.” He reaches behind the console, lifts a small blue ice chest, and puts it in his lap.

  “Mmm… what’s that?” I rub my hands together, eagerly waiting to see what he’s made.

  “Peanut Butter and Jelly.” He hands me a Ziploc baggie with a sandwich in it.

  I decide to mess with him a little bit. “I’m allergic to peanut butter,” I whisper as the excited expression slides off my face.

  “Wh-what?” he fumbles and I can barely make out the red hue tinting his cheeks.

  “I’m just kidding.” I burst out laughing.

  A sly grin takes over his face and his eyes hold a wicked gleam as he leans into me. “Well. If you want your sandwich now, you’re going to have to work for it,” he says snatching the baggie from my hands.

  I match his movements. “Oh yeah, and what will my job entail?” I whisper huskily.

  He leans in closer, his face only an inch from mine.

  “Your lips on mine, your tongue matching mine stroke for stroke until we’re both breathless,” he whispers just as his lips crash down on mine.

  He sucks my bottom lip into his mouth before he does the same with the top. I give as good as I get before the tip of my tongue traces the seam of his lips. My hands grip onto his shoulders and slide up his neck as I hold him to me. Riley groans at my request, granting me access. Our tongues glide and tangle against one another as we worship each other’s mouths. Gasping, we break apart and Riley’s forehead drops to mine as we begin to catch our breaths.

  “So,” I breathe deeply, “did I earn my PB&J back?” I ask on a heavy exhale.

  Riley’s breath fans out across my face as he chuckles. “Baby, you’ve just earned as many damn peanut butter and jelly sandwiches as you want.”

  “Good. Because I’m hungry.” I nod.

  He pulls back and hands me the baggy. As I pull the yummy goodness out, I take a bite and groan at the creaminess of the salty peanut butter mixing with the sweetness of the strawberry jelly.

  “Good?” he asks with an eyebrow raised and a smirk.

  “Very,” I murmur around a mouthful of food. After I swallow, I ask, “What else do you have in that bag of tricks of yours?”

  He flips the top and pulls out two Sprites, two baggies of grapes, and two Twinkies.

  “You’ve thought of everything, haven’t you?” I joke.

  “I tried,” he answers with a shrug.

  “So?” I start. “What kind of degree did you have to get in order to be able to fly one of these things? Because I can’t imagine they’d let our Army’s finest fly a helicopter with just a high school diploma.”

  Riley pops a grape in his mouth and swallows.

  “That’s where you’re wrong. You don’t need a degree to become a warrant officer.”

  “Oh?” I state with a shocked expression.

  “It’s okay.” He laughs. “I’m sure a lot of people assume what you just did. There’s a series of tests you have to pass like a flight physical, a written test, and a flight exam. And you have to be pretty good in math.”

  “Did you have to have a pilot’s license already, I mean, before you joined the Army?” I ask intrigued by his career choice.

  “No. But I took lessons. I had to spend time in a simulator first where I learned all the controls and maneuvers. Then I had to fly forty hours and ten of those were solo. But I did all of that before I joined the Army. I wanted the experience under my belt. When I joined, I knew what I wanted to do from the get go. The only thing that was standing in my way was finishing basic training before I could apply to warrant officer candidate school.”

  “Your family must be really proud of you.”

  “They are. It feels really good when my parents show pictures of me in my flight suit and hanging out in an aircraft to their friends.” He looks at me and smiles. “It’s like I’m doing something I love, and even though it may not be their first choice of a career for me, they’re still proud.”

  “What about you?” he asks as he tosses the last of his grapes in his mouth.

  I pop the top on my Sprite and take a drink.

  “I graduated with a nursing degree a few years ago.” I toy with the sandwich bag, completely down playing my actual degree.

  His brows shoot up at my admission and I know he must be wondering why I work in a truck stop diner when I could work in a hospital or doctor’s office.

  “That’s a good field to major in. So why not work in a hospital?” The wrapper crinkles in the small, contained space of the helicopter as he opens his Twinkie and waits for an answer I’m not sure I want to give.

  “When I moved to Savannah, the hospitals were on a hiring freeze.” I shrug. My answer is true. When Jen and I moved here, she asked if I had considered
using my degree. To appease her, I did look around, and true to my word, the hospitals were on a hiring freeze. I fiddle with the tab on the top of my Sprite. “I found a job at Smokey’s and have been there ever since.”

  “Don’t you ever consider looking for another job? Not that being a waitress is bad,” he rushes out making sure not to offend me, “but you wouldn’t have to worry about living off of tips.”

  I nod. “I have taken that into consideration, but I’m pretty good at saving money and I’m comfortable.” I look at him and smile. “I like my job and the people I work with and my customers. Plus, I wouldn’t have met you if I didn’t work where I do.” I whisper the last part, a sense of shyness taking over at what I just admitted aloud.

  Riley leans in to place a gentle kiss on my lips before he whispers, “I’m glad I met you, too.”

  But I’m not done with him yet. When he goes to pull back, I grab hold of his neck tugging him back into me. My lips blend with his as our tongues delve into each other’s mouths, tasting, exploring. I moan when his teeth latch onto my bottom lip, nipping at the sensitive, swollen skin before he uses his tongue to soothe away the pain.

  “Come here,” he mumbles with labored breaths around our kisses. Riley leans over, grabs onto my waist, and helps me crawl across the console to straddle his hips. “This is where you belong.” He pants as he kisses across my jaw, down my neck, and back up towards my ear where he whispers, “Take off your shirt.”

  Too caught up in the moment to care where we are, I do as I’m told. When I sit up, my black tresses hang over my shoulders, coming to rest on the tops of my breasts that are concealed in a purple lacy bra. Riley’s warm, strong hands slowly glide up my ribs and across my stomach as his eyes find mine and hold my gaze. His fingers continue their assent until finally cupping my breasts. My breath comes fast and hard as the anticipation of what’s to come surges through me. An ache forms in my core and it grows and grows with every sweep of his talented fingers, every look from his mesmerizing eyes, and every touch of his delicate lips.

  Never breaking eye contact, and with deliberate ease, he leans in and places a tender kiss in my cleavage.