Sweet Addiction

by Jessica Daniels

  “Come for me, love.”

  “OhGod, YES.” My core ignites and strikes every nerve inside of me as we release together, his name on my lips as I fall forward and sprawl out naked onto his table. He stays in me, his head resting on the middle of my back as his breath warms my already heated skin. We remain just like this for minutes, neither one of us pulling or pushing away from the other. The only sounds filling the condo is our breathing. I finally begin to wiggle against him and he kisses me quickly on my back before pulling out, allowing me to stand and stretch my muscles.

  “I was getting the worst cramp. Would have been totally worth it though just for the record,” I say as he picks my dress up off the floor and smiles down at me. Studying it quickly in the most adorable Reese way, he holds it over my head and allows me to slip back into it, kissing me quickly on my lips as my head pops through the top.

  “Stay here,” he orders before turning and walking down the hallway and through a doorway. He walks back out and steps into another room but now with something in his hand. The sound of running water peaks my curiosity and I’m about to follow him when he reemerges, carrying a wash cloth in one hand and something else folded up in the other. Dropping to his knees in front of me, I yelp at the chilled cotton as he wipes between my legs, cleaning off what he gave me. “Here, step in.” I glance down as he holds open a pair of his boxers.

  “Well, this could have been avoided if someone didn’t have a panty fetish.” He shimmies the cotton blend up my thighs and winks at me. Gripping the waist band, I roll them until they become very short and look like tiny boy briefs. Mmm please let me keep these.

  “Yes but if I wouldn’t have taken them, I wouldn’t be standing here looking at your hot little ass in my boxers.” He reaches around and smacks me. “Hungry?” he asks just as my stomach growls.

  I embarrassingly push against it and he smirks. “Yeah well, I didn’t put much thought into dinner since I rushed over here so technically it’s your fault I didn’t eat.” I walk over to the couch and plop down sideways so that my bare feet are resting on the cold leather

  “Oh is that right?” he says as I hear movement in the kitchen. I decide not to look and let him surprise me as I grab the TV remote and begin flipping through the channels. I stop on a cooking show and watch with interest as the host begins flattening out pastry dough. “Do you like spaghetti?”

  “Yes, I love it. Are you actually going to cook me dinner?” I rest the side of my head on the leather and play with the hem of my dress.

  “I’m going to heat it up. Oh by the way, the guys at the meeting today loved your treats.” The microwave dings and I smile. “Those apple things were insane. I ate like four of them.”

  I radiate from where I sit and then the thought of the meeting brings back the smirk that I’d received before I left. “Hey, there was this guy in your meeting today that came into my shop last week.” I close my eyes and try to picture his business card. “Umm, weird first name. Cocky. Thinks he’s way hotter than he is.”

  Reese rounds the couch with two bowls and hands me one before he sits down next to my feet. “Bryce?”

  I nod as I take in a mouthful of spaghetti, moaning softly around my fork.

  “What about him? Thinks he’s hotter than he is, that’s funny.”

  I roll my eyes and chew up my bite. “This is really good. Did you make this?” He smiles and nods as he takes a massive forkful. “Anyway, he doesn’t work with you does he? I mean, if I were to come and see you at work, would he be there?”

  He chews up his bite and shakes his head. “No. He’s an investor and I have to deal with his stupid ass occasionally but he doesn’t work in my building. Why, did he do something? If he fucking touched you Dylan…”

  Slurping in my noodles I hold up my hand to stop him. “No, he didn’t touch me. Jesus, hulk, relax.” I earn myself a stern look and quickly swallow my bite. “He just came into the shop last week and asked me for my number, which I didn’t give him, and I didn’t like how he looked at me today.”

  His eyes narrow and his fork stills in his bowl. “Did he look at you the way I look at you?”

  I swallow my bite. “No. You don’t make me feel like I’m being mentally taken advantage of. But he doesn’t work with you so don’t worry about it.”

  His eyes quickly flick to mine. “If he comes into your shop again, I want to know about it.”

  My eyes widen. Oh for fuck’s sake. “Don’t you think that’s a little extreme?” I place my bowl into my lap. Was he seriously going to injure every man that looked at me twice? Is he always this possessive with his flings?

  “No.” He puts his bowl back down. Turning his body towards me, he pulls my feet into his lap and his green stare burns into mine. “I have a huge fucking problem with guys putting their hands on you or making you feel uncomfortable. Don’t ask me not to react to that.”

  I lean forward and grab his bowl, seeing one side of his mouth curve up as I get a fork full and hold it out to him.

  “You’re not going to fight me on this?” he asks suspiciously before taking the bite off the fork.

  “No I get it. I would slap a bitch if she put her hands on you or made you uncomfortable.” His mouthful muffles his laugh as he grabs his bowl from me. “But just so you know, I can handle assholes like Bryce. I just didn’t want to have to run into him when I come see you at work. If I come see you at work.” I grab my bowl and pull another bite into my mouth, wiggling my feet in his lap.

  “If? No, I don’t think so. I like when better.”

  “You only say that because both times that I’ve been there, you’ve gotten off. It must be nice to have orgasms during your work hours.” I move my foot and rub it against him, feeling him twitch under me.

  He arches his brow. “You know damn well that if I could escape my office to make you come behind that bakery counter of yours, I’d do it. And I don’t just like you coming to my work to blow me or get fucked against my door.” I loudly slurp a noodle into my mouth, making him laugh. My ringtone sounds through the condo and I hop up, grabbing it off the kitchen table and exhaling noisily at the name on the screen. Oh great.

  “Hey, Mom.” I plop back down on the couch and squeeze the top of my nose. I have an awful feeling that I’m going to regret answering this call right now.

  “Sweetheart. How are you? I’ve been meaning to talk to you since the wedding but you father---”

  “Her father what, Helen? Her father what?” Oh Lord help me. My parents are notorious for both staying on the line during our conversations. “You know damn well what, Bill. Anyways, dear, are you home because we’re only five minutes away.”

  “Mom, I’m fine. The wedding was fine but no, I’m not home right now.” It has been a few weeks since I’ve seen my parents and I did want to catch up with them, but now is not the time. Not while I sit next to Reese.

  “Just fine?” he asks beside me, earning himself a right shove. “I’m sure when you were screaming my name it was more than just fine in that moment.”

  “I’m going to murder you,” I mumble through clenched teeth as he eyes me up with his wicked grin. I can feel my heart beating rapidly and curse myself for not letting this shit go straight to voicemail.

  “Well where are you? We’re in the neighborhood and want to see our only child. Are you at Juls’ house? We know where that is,” Mom says and I hear the sound of traffic through the phone.

  “No, Mom, I’m not at Juls’ house. I’m at…” My eyes flick to Reese who is anxiously waiting for my explanation, devouring his spaghetti with a playful grin.

  “Would you like me to tell your mother where you are?” he asks, reaching for the phone.

  I quickly turn away from him and get out of his reach. Well this is just perfect. “I’m at a guy’s house. Can I call you later?”

  “A guy? What guy? Oh, hunny, did you meet someone? What’s his name? Can we meet him? Is it serious? What does he do, Dyl? Oh I’m so glad you found a new
boyfriend.” “He’s not a democrat is he?” My dad adds and I want to crawl into a hole and die. My mother has been trying to marry me off since I was nineteen. She wants grandbabies and she wanted them yesterday.

  “Oh my God, can I please call you back?” Before I can comprehend what’s happening, Reese grabs the phone out of my hand and stands up, placing it to his ear. Oh God, no. My eyes widen and my jaw hits the couch as I slowly watch my world implode.

  “Mrs. Sparks? This is Reese Carroll, your daughter’s boyfriend.” I run at him and knock him off his feet, sprawling him out on his back as he holds me at arm’s length. Does the man have a death wish? He seems completely unaffected by my move and just gives me a sly grin. “Oh and Mr. Sparks. It’s so nice to talk to you both.”

  “Give me the phone, Reese.” I grunt and try to move around the arm that is holding me away from him. Jesus Christ. Why does every male in my life think it’s okay to take the phone away from me? “Give it.” My efforts are useless, only making me out of breath while he beams up at me like the gorgeous god that he is.

  “Yes she is very special, isn’t she?”

  “You are never getting laid again.”

  “That sounds wonderful.” He laughs into the phone. I glare at him and he winks at me. Jerk. “I’ll tell Dylan to set it up. I look forward to meeting you too. Okay here she is.” He smiles in his minor victory over me and holds out the phone. “Here you go, love.”

  Snatching it away from him with one hand, I give him the finger with the other, as I stand up and begin to pace. He stays on the floor, tucking his hands behind his head and follows me with his eyes.

  “Hello?” I ask and brace myself for my mother’s rant. I sit down on the arm of the couch and rub my temple with my free hand.

  “Oh my. He sounds lovely, sweetheart. And so polite.”

  I shake my head. “Well I wouldn’t get too attached if I were you. I’m plotting his slow death as we speak.” Reese stands up and moves towards me, brushing his hand over my chest before he walks down the hallway. I shudder at the contact.

  “Oh hush. Anyways darling, since you’re busy with your boyfriend we’ll have to see you another time. Love you lots.” “Love you, sweetheart,” Dad says.

  “Bye, love you too.” I press end and slip my feet back into my sandals, walking myself over to the table to retrieve my keys. Great. My parents think Reese is my boyfriend. They’ll want to meet him now. Just fucking great. My head is spinning and it’s officially time to go home before he decides to go through all my contacts and explain our situation to each and every one of them.

  “Please tell me I didn’t piss you off to the point of you leaving?” His voice washes over me as I turn and see him walking slowly towards me. His sweats hang loosely on his hips and the tiniest amount of skin is now on display under his T-shirt. Damn him and his body.

  “Why the hell would you tell my parents that you’re my boyfriend? Are you insane? Do you have any idea the amount of phone calls I’m probably going to get now? Since Justin, I’ve been able to limit my mother to once a week check-ins. But now, she’ll never leave me alone.”

  Stopping in front of me, he pushes the hair back that fell out of my bun and grips my head between his hands. My face is stuck in scrunched up hate Reese mode but it is quickly fading due to his softness, and his hotness, and his overall Reeseness. Stay strong Dylan.

  “What should I have said? That I’m casually fucking their daughter and not in a relationship with her? That sounds terrible.”

  “I don’t understand why you had to say anything, but fine. Every time she calls me, I’m just going to give her your number and you can deal with her.” Crossing my arms over my chest, I stare him down as he backs up and shrugs his shoulders.

  “That’s fine with me. I can dig for some Dylan dirt.” How was he completely calm and collected over this? Why the hell would he want my parents to think that I was seeing him in that sort of way?

  Flipping my keys in my finger, I turn towards the door. “Everyone has gone crazy. It’s decided. I’m the only sane person left in Chicago.”

  His footsteps follow behind me and I feel his hand grab a hold of mine. “Hold on, I’ll walk you out.” He turns towards the pair of tennis shoes that are by the couch and slips them on quickly.

  Stopping in front of Sam, I glance over at Reese who is staring peculiarly at my vehicle, no doubt hurting my precious Sam’s feelings in the process. Good Lord, we can’t all drive Range Rovers. “Why the hell did you drive your delivery van over here?” His finger traces the cupcake design on the side as he studies it in his usual Reese way.

  “Um, because it’s my only car.” I open the driver’s side door and hop in as he moves to stand by me.

  “You don’t own a regular vehicle?”

  I shake my head. “No, Mr. Money bags. I used to drive an old corolla but it broke down and I never really had the money to get a new car so, I just take Sam everywhere. It pisses Joey off but I don’t mind.” Reese runs his hand through his hair and I sigh. “Don’t you dare hate on Sam. He’s been the only man in my life that has never let me down besides my father.”

  He squints at me and leans in, brushing his lips against mine. “And me I hope.”

  “Humph. The jury’s still out on you, handsome.” I feel him pull back to allow me to leave when I grip his T-shirt and pull him close to me again, nuzzling my head into my favorite spot on his neck. “Just give me a minute.” I hear a tiny laugh as his hand comes up to hold me against his body. Even though I’m a little irritated and a lot confused, everything seems to melt away when I’m close to him like this. I inhale deeply, allowing his smell to run through me and hopefully rub off enough to take some of him home.

  “You can stay with me and do this all night if you want,” he says softly. I close my eyes and shake my head against him. “Fine but just so you know, I’m not a fan of this bullshit no sleepover rule.”

  I pull away from him and rest my forehead against his, seeing his serious expression. “I should go,” I whisper and he grabs my face and plants kisses all over it as I try to contain my euphoria. Playful Reese is hard to let go of, but I somehow manage. Closing my door, he walks to the curb and watches me as I pull away, his incredible build slowly getting smaller in my rear view.

  My mind is racing as I drive home. So many things happened tonight that I wasn’t anticipating and don’t quite know how the hell to react to. Between him dropping everything to come to me, telling me that I’m all he thinks about, and declaring himself my boyfriend, I feel completely unprepared for what to expect out of him next. Fuck my rules. Reese has his own set that he is playing by and I’m completely oblivious to all of them.

  Thirteen

  It poured down rain all day on Wednesday, preventing our usual steady flow of walk-in customers from making the trek down Fayette Street. I stayed busy in the kitchen all day which I tended to do most rainy days, while Joey rifled through my planner to make sure we were prepared for all upcoming orders. I had one wedding this weekend and the Frey’s anniversary cake to make which I decided to get started on after lunch on Thursday. In between mixing the ingredients, I scroll over the last several text messages between Reese and myself that had transpired yesterday. He really is an expert at the flirty text messages thing. I had just managed to slip the cake into my double oven when Joey’s voice comes ringing through the shop.

  “Cupcake, you have a delivery,” he sings and I move quickly past the worktop and through the doorway. Fred is standing in front of the counter and smiles at me, his gap-toothed grin spreading across his face.

  “Hi, Fred. How are you today?” I ask as he steps up to the counter. Fred is the only other man that makes my heart flutter at his appearance, and it’s only because he always comes with something from Reese.

  “I’m great, Ms. Dylan. Here you go.” Sliding a brown envelope across to me and holding out his clipboard, I sign for it and hold up my finger to him. I grab a bakery box and fill it with some
apple turnovers, slipping one into a separate small bag and handing them out to him.

  “Would you please give this box to Mr. Carroll for me? The one in the bag is for you,” I say and his smile manages to grow.

  “Sure. Thanks, Ms. Dylan. See ya, Joey,” he responds excitedly, turning on his feet and walking out the door. “Bye, Freddy,” Joey replies in his flirty voice, earning himself an eye roll from me.

  “Seriously? He’s like sixty.”

  “Age is just a number, cupcake.”

  I open the envelope and pull out the tiny brown card, my heart beating so loud that I’m sure Joey will give me shit about it.

  Dylan,

  Have you heard the song “Do I Wanna Know?” by the Arctic Monkeys? I can’t listen to it anymore without thinking of you, not that I’m complaining or anything. Miss your face.

  X Reese

  Oh I miss his face terribly. Handing over the card to Joey, I watch his expression get all weepy while he digs his phone out of his pocket.

  “I don’t think I know that song,” I say as he docks his phone and hits a few buttons. Music begins playing through the speakers, music that instantly reminds me of sex. Holy shit. I can actually picture Reese thrusting into me at the tempo.

  “Jesus, is this it?” I ask and Joey nods through a grin.

  “Yup. I fucking love this song. You should listen carefully to the lyrics, cupcake. I think he’s trying to tell you something,” he replies as he hands me back the card and starts organizing the display case. I lean against the counter, listening to the song as the front door swings open and Juls comes barreling through.

  “Hello, my lovies. Ooohhh I fucking love this song. Reminds me of sex.” She echoes my thoughts as I nod in agreement.

  “Reese said it reminds him of Dylan. What you think about that?” Joey asks and her eyes widen.

  “Damn. I think he wants to fuck you sideways, Dyl.”

  I giggle and smooth out my apron. “Well naturally.” I glance over at my best friend who is standing in the middle of the shop, rubbing her eyes and looking positively glowing. On a Thursday? “What’s up with you?” I ask.