Men in Charge: A Contemporary Romance Box Set

by Natasha L. Black

  After that, I went back to the normal routine I’d set for myself based on Cooper’s schedule. Several days had passed, and I found myself wanting Blake again and again. He was ground into brain along with visions of what we’d done in that laundry room. Every time I went near there, my heart quickened, and I lost my breath. It was strange, though, ever since that day we had barely spoken a word to each other, and when we did, it was generally in passing. The recognition of that fact made my heart drop, and I wondered if he was regretting sleeping with me. Was he done with me? Had he gotten exactly what he wanted and then decided to turn into a ghost? The not knowing was driving me crazy, and I thought about what my sister had told me.

  I was a strong, independent woman, and I needed to stand up for what I wanted. I deserved an answer to what was going on, and I wasn’t going to sit around and wait for it. Life was too short, too wavering, for me to go through that kind of agony day in and day out. I wanted answers, and I wanted them sooner than later. I told myself the next day I would confront him and find out exactly what was going on.

  The next morning came quicker than I expected, and I woke up with nerves blowing through me. The first thing I had to do was get Cooper ready for school and dropped off. I went to the kitchen and cooked breakfast, trying to slow myself down and calm the anxiety that was taking me over. Cooper was quiet, but he usually was in the morning, and we ate together like we always did. When he was done eating, I cleaned up the kitchen and went out to the SUV to wait for him. The other car was still there, so I knew Blake was still home.

  “Have a great day,” I yelled to Cooper as he got out of the car at school and waved back at me.

  I smiled and headed back to the house, hoping to talk to Blake before he left for work. I parked the SUV in the driveway and jogged inside, making my way to his home office. He wasn’t there, so I went upstairs thinking maybe he’d stayed home for the day, but he wasn’t there either. He’d left before I got back from dropping Cooper off. I had to admit I was more than a little disappointed I couldn’t clear up the whole thing before starting my day. The questions were killing me.

  I went downstairs, poured myself a cup of coffee, and took my time drinking it. I sat at the kitchen table contemplating the whole situation over and over until I was sick of thinking about it. When I was done, I got up and decided to do a little housecleaning, which usually helped clear my mind. I pulled out the vacuum and went over the entire lower level, finding myself meticulously cleaning every corner and as far up the walls as the hose could reach.

  I grabbed my phone from my room and called my mom, remembering suddenly that I’d completely forgotten to do that. She was going to be upset that I didn’t call sooner, but I had a lot going on and my mom was not the person I could talk to about it. The phone rang several times and just before it went to voice mail, she picked up.

  “Well, hello, stranger,” she said. “Nice of you to drop a line.”

  “I know. I suck,” I said. “I’m so sorry. Things here have been crazy, and with school and early mornings, I’ve been exhausted. How are you guys?”

  “We’re good,” she said. “Livin’ the childless couple life.”

  “I’m sure.” I laughed.

  “You know, walking around naked, doing whatever we want,” she said.

  “Ew, Mom. Ew,” I replied with a chuckle.

  I talked to my mom for close to an hour, getting updated on all the latest drama with my sisters and whoever they happened to be dating at the time. When I got off the phone with her, I grabbed my laptop and brought it downstairs to the dining room table. I opened it up, ready to get some work done, when the doorbell rang. I groaned and pulled myself out of the chair, walking to the front door and opening it quickly.

  “Hi,” I said, staring at a delivery man carrying a huge bouquet of flowers.

  “Hi, I have a delivery for Aly,” he said with a smile.

  “That’s me.” I smiled, taking the vase from him.

  I signed a slip and thanked him, closing the door and carrying the flowers into the dining room. They were gorgeous, red and white roses with lilies stuck in-between, my favorite flower. I reached in and pulled out the card, opening it up and smiling. It read, “In case my other way of thanking wasn’t good enough.” I threw my head back and laughed, feeling so much better than I had when I woke up that morning. He had gone out of his way to make sure I knew he was thinking about me.

  I shook my head and smiled, thankful that the stress of that was over with. I closed my laptop and put it under my arm, grabbing the flowers and heading to my room. When I got up there, I was almost as giddy as a school girl. I set my laptop on the bed and perfectly arranged the flowers on the dresser in front of the mirror. I stepped back and smiled, staring at them with adoration. No one had ever sent me flowers before, and I didn’t think anyone had ever gotten some that were that beautiful. I grabbed my laptop, opening it up and sitting cross-legged on the bed, and started my schoolwork. Every now and then, I glanced up at the vase and smiled big, excitement in my chest.

  Somewhere in the back of my mind though, a tiny voice said it was dangerous for me to get too excited about what was going on. The flowers weren’t a proposal, and they didn’t mean anything else would happen between us. Still, I was tired of talking myself out of being happy to err on the side of caution. I shook the doom and gloom away and continued working on schoolwork until it was time to pick up Cooper.

  As usual, when I got there, he was all smiles and happy, a completely one-eighty from where he was whenever I dropped him off. He jumped in the car and threw his bookbag in the back, looking over at me with a smile. I grinned and gave him a confused face.

  “What are you so happy about?” I laughed.

  “I don’t have any homework tonight,” he said. “It’s like a miracle.”

  “That’s awesome.” I laughed. “Then we have to do something special. Let’s go get ice cream!”

  “Yes,” he said, bouncing up and down. “I know the perfect place, and I can tell you how to get there.”

  “All right, let’s do this.”

  He navigated us through the city and closer to the house to an ice cream place on the corner of a long row of shops. We found a parking spot and walked happily toward the shop, talking loudly about his day. When we got inside, I actually started to get excited. It was all homemade ice cream, every topping you could imagine, and it looked like an old-timey ice cream parlor. We both picked out two scoops and took our ice cream over to a table by the window.

  “This is a great day,” Cooper said, excited. “I hope Dad comes home for dinner. That would make it even better.”

  “It would, wouldn’t it?” I laughed.

  “Aly?” Cooper said, quieting down.

  “What’s up?” I said, concerned.

  “I’m really glad that you came,” he said. “At first, I hated the idea of having a nanny, I thought you would be a mean old lady with a big nose and mean voice. But that isn’t at all what you are. And you make my dad and I get along better. I think he likes to spend time with me now. It’s like the old times when Mom was alive.”

  “Of course, he likes you. He loves you,” I said. “And I’m happy I can help you guys get back into a comfortable life. I know things have been so stressful, but that doesn’t mean it will always be like that.”

  He smiled and nodded his head, taking a big bite of his ice cream. I laughed and did the same thing. I was pretty sure I just figured out what I wanted to write about for my school paper. Family dynamics seemed to be such a strong subject, and it affected the way a child was raised. I was on the ground floor of it, too, and I could really knock this one out of the park.

  21

  Blake

  I stared at the computer screen, my mind on a completely different planet. Every so often, I tapped the mouse or typed a few letters into the empty email on the screen to make Inez think I was working. The last thing I wanted to see was that look of pity she’d finally stopped givi
ng me. I couldn’t concentrate, though, not even for five minutes. Aly was on my mind night and day, her face, her voice, her laugh, and her moan echoed through my conscience. I’d been avoiding her since the hot night in the laundry room, and I wasn’t even sure why. It seemed like what I should do. I had made a mistake, but for some reason, it didn’t feel like one. It felt like an itch that had only partially been scratched, and while I was thinking about how I’d made a bad choice, I was also thinking about how I wanted to do it all over again.

  I had been with several different, beautiful women in the past, but no one had that effect on me. I was incapable of bringing myself to completely throw away the idea of being with her again. The only thing I knew to do to keep myself out of trouble was to stay away from her. Obviously, though, that was not working, and I was back in a position where I was anything but productive. I was the opposite. I was destructive in my progress with both my company and my son and all because I couldn’t come to terms with how much I wanted that woman. She was so familiar, so warming, and I was attracted to her like I’d never been before.

  I’d sent her a beautiful bouquet of flowers not only because I did want to thank her but because I didn’t want to hurt her by dipping out like I was. She had thanked me for the flowers in a chance crossing in the kitchen, but other than that, I’d made it a point to stay away from her. I left for work either before she got up or while she was taking Cooper to school, I said barely anything during dinner, and afterward, I locked myself away to keep my distance. The thing that really got me, that baffled me the most, was that I was a grown ass man. I should have been able to control myself in any situation, much less one that involved a woman who was off-limits. There was something about her, though, that pulled me in and wouldn’t let go, no matter how much I needed to.

  I found myself lying awake at night thinking about her several doors down, wondering if I should sneak into her bed. She was like a magnet to me, and I didn’t know how to break the connection.

  I sighed and turned off my computer, leaning back in my chair and turning toward the window. I had the office with a view because I put blood, sweat, and tears into this company, and now I couldn’t even get through a dozen emails. I’d never been so twisted up over a girl in my life. I needed things to settle, to be in control again, to make my own choices because it was what I wanted, not what everyone else thought was right or wrong. I shook my head and stood up, knowing there was no way I was going to get anything done that day. I needed to go work out or do something to get my mind calmed. I looked up at Inez as she sat back at her desk.

  “Hey,” I said, walking to my door. “I’m going to head out early. I need to go to the gym, and then I’ll check in from the home office.”

  “You’re the boss, boss,” she smiled, not noticing my mental discomfort.

  I smiled and went back in my office, grabbing my coat and keys and then heading out. I got in my car and drove through the garage, thinking about my workout. When I got on the road, my motivation diminished significantly. I no longer had any interest in going to the gym. By the time I reached the turnoff, I’d talked myself into working out at home. When I got there, I parked the car in the garage, and my motivation had further gone from a heavy workout to going up to my room, putting on pajama pants, and watching terrible daytime television. I wasn’t in the right mindset for anything, I guessed.

  Once I was inside, I slipped off my shoes and walked into the living room. Everything was cleaned and picked up like always, and I knew Aly was around there somewhere. I really needed to get the maid service back. It wasn’t fair that the nanny also be the one picking up after us all and even doing Cooper’s and my laundry on a regular basis, though I didn’t mind watching her clean. One thing I didn’t mind at all was walking around the corner to find her sexy body, barely clothed, bouncing around.

  Standing in the living room, I heard a clang coming from the kitchen. I assumed that was where I would find Aly. I walked into the room and stood in the doorway, staring at Aly at the kitchen sink. She wasn’t wearing the shorts I loved, but she was wearing a perfect yellow dress that showed off her toned and shapely legs, including half of her thigh. She looked so sexy standing there, listening to her music, washing the dishes, swaying her hips back and forth. She had no idea I was standing behind her staring, and I liked it that way.

  Immediately, I could feel my pants tighten and my rational thoughts left me. I wanted to walk up to her and bend her right over the sink, grabbing her by the shoulders and fucking her over the sudsy water. The dress had me from the moment I walked into the room, and I could not be held liable for how I reacted toward her.

  All day long, I had chastised myself for sleeping with her, only to go home and throw all of that out the window, staring at her sexy hips and the way the back of her skirt flipped up with every sway of her body. I threw caution to the wind. There was no way I could keep my hands off her any longer. I walked up behind her and grabbed her hips, looking down at her sexy, tight ass. She turned her head and looked up at me, pulling out her earbuds and smiling. She was so gorgeous with her light makeup, fresh smile, and rosy cheeks.

  Her body felt right in my hands, like all the stress from before had melted away with her touch, like I was right back exactly where I was supposed to be. The house was quiet since Cooper was at school and having this little barefoot beauty standing in front of me was almost idyllic. She was this force to be reckoned with, someone who fueled this strange fire inside of me. As I studied her, I had never felt more at home with a woman in my life, and though it was an uneasy feeling for me, I couldn’t walk away at that moment.

  “Hi there.” She smiled.

  Her smile gleamed under the glow of the fluorescent light above the sink. Her perfect blue eyes sparkled like the crisp ocean waves of the beaches in the islands. The scent of lavender and vanilla wafted from her cool, clean skin. I was about to lose control. Normally, I would answer her back with strength and resilience, but nothing came out of my mouth. All I wanted to do was kiss those perfect red lips, run my hands over that perfect white skin, and feel the passion of that perfect wet pussy.

  I leaned down and nipped at her bare shoulder for a moment, kissing it before nibbling with my teeth once again. She put the dish back in the sink and grabbed the towel, wiping the suds from her hands. She turned in my grasp, leaning her body back against the sink and looked at me with curiosity. She had a smirk on her lips, like she knew she didn’t want to stop but she had to question the change of action I was showing. I wanted to shush her before she could speak. I wanted to keep that moment absolutely perfect, just like she was, but that would be nearly impossible after how far I had pulled away.

  “I thought we weren’t doing this again,” she said with a coy smile.

  “I’ll be honest,” I said. “I know coming on to you, being with you is wrong. I know that. The age difference, the fact that you’re my son’s nanny, you’re my best friend’s little sister, and on and on, but at the end of the day, I can’t get you off my mind. The other night in the laundry room was impulsive, I know, and I know I hid away from it, but seeing you standing here in the middle of the kitchen like this is making things incredibly hard to turn away from. I don’t know what it is about you, Aly, but I can’t seem to help myself when I’m around you. There’s a light that draws me, and I am so completely and lost in you.”

  “Wow.” She smiled. “That was quite the answer.”

  “You asked the question,” I said, standing close, the draw of her lips like a drug.

  She arched her hips to meet mine, a coy smile moving across her face. I rubbed my hands up her waist and back down to her hips, pressing her hard against my already hard cock. I bit my lip and let my hands run down her body, taking in every inch of naked skin that was revealed to me.

  “I feel the same way Blake. I always have. I want you so bad it hurts.”

  “Then let me make you feel better,” I said, grasping her tightly and setting her up on the cou
nter.

  22

  Aly

  When I was listening to music while washing the dishes, I never thought in a million years I would feel Blake’s hands wrapped around my waist like this. I never actually thought I would feel Blake’s hands wrapped around my waist at all ever again, but there I was, his arms around me, him staring down at me with his dark turned-on eyes. It was erotic, standing barefoot in his kitchen, his hands grasping at the soft fabric of my dress, his face depicting a man who knew exactly what he wanted no matter how hard he’d been trying to hold back. I loved that he wanted me so badly. I never knew what it felt like to have someone want me, to lust after me in ways I could have never imagined before. I wanted him in a way that I couldn’t even put into words, and though I knew it might end in nothing more than heartbreak and sorrow, at that moment, I didn’t care.

  Sitting on the kitchen counter, I reached for the straps of my dress, but he stopped me, a smile on his face. He didn’t get me naked at all, he simply dropped down, pushing his hands up my thighs and spreading my legs far apart. I leaned back, resting my head on the cabinet and holding firmly to the cold granite counter below me. He pushed my panties to the side and dipped his head down, parting my plump lips with his fingers. I gasped loudly as his warm, wet tongue met my skin. Passion pulsated through me. It was insane that he could make me feel this way with a flicker of his tongue, but already, he had me perched on the edge of ecstasy.

  His mouth smoothed over me like a wave, rocking his tongue back and forth against my clit and then moving down and back up again. I clenched to the granite top, leaning my head back and moaning loudly, my eyes shut, my mind taking in every feeling he was giving me. It was like he knew just how to rub me, just how to roll me through the pleasure, and I loved every moment of it.