“Well I’m sure that everything will work out for the both of you.” I lied. What was I going to do? Tell the man the truth? In all honesty it was none of my business what he did in his life.
“You know what…” Charles began and I waited for him to continue. “Let’s forget about the wedding for now. Tell me about yourself.” I looked at Charles for a long time. I couldn’t believe that he said that.
“Well… where shall I begin?” I said before I went into my story of why I decided to be a wedding planner.
****
I swear that we were in the restaurant for hours before they told us that they were closing. We were drinking and laughing and I had to admit I had a really great time getting to know Charles.
“Stephanie, you’re something else.” Charles said smiling as he held the door open for me. I grinned at him as I slid into the car and he closed the door.
“You’re something else too.” The way that me and Charles was picking at each other once the tension left the atmosphere, one would have sworn that we’ve known each other for a long time instead of just a few weeks. “I can’t believe you used to sing Karaoke as a teen. You do not look like the type of person to do that.” I laughed and he started up the car. I honestly didn’t want to go home because I wanted to talk to him some more. I found him to be entertaining and very full of life.
“I can’t believe that you didn’t. I guess you’re lamer than I thought.” We both laughed. I felt like we were teenagers the way we were poking fun at each other. When we finally pulled up in front of my house, I was a little sad that our night had come to an end. “You mind if I use your restroom before I head out?” he asked me as he unfastened his seatbelt and turned off the car.
“Sure.” I said and I exited the car. I was a little wobbly from the drinks that we had, but I was far from drunk because I could hold my liquor quite well. We walked side by side to my doorstep and I pulled my keys out of my purse. Once I had opened the door I waved Charles inside. “The bathroom is up there to the right.” I said as I turned away from him to close the door. Once I had closed and locked the door, I turned towards the direction that he had went and was surprised when his lips met mines. My eyes widened in surprise because I was definitely not planning for him to up and kiss me out of the blue. I looked over to the corner that Ollie slept in and I was glad to see that he was knocked out and once I was sure that he wouldn’t wake up, I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him back.
“I’ve wanted to do that ever since I saw you in this dress.” Charles said with a husky voice. My chest was rising and lowering quickly. “You just looked too sexy for me to keep my hands and lips off of you.” He said and I brought my lips back to his before he could say anything else. We kissed long and slow and it was very sensual. I forgot that he’s a client of mine and that he’s engaged. The only thing I cared about at that moment was his warm mouth on my mine. I reached my hand up to his face and stroked his chin.
“I’ve been thinking about it too.” I bit my lip as a blush spread across my face. He was looking deeply into my eyes and at that moment I thought about what he would feel like inside of me. “Want to take this into the bedroom?” I asked him. I knew what time it was and I knew that he did too. He was definitely about to spend the night with me and we could think about the consequences afterwards.
“Took the words right out of my mouth.” He said and grinned. “Lead the way Stephanie.” I inhaled deeply because I was feeling a little nervous. I turned away from him and walked in the direction of my bedroom. He moved in close to me and I could feel his hard-on pressing against my back. That short walk to my bedroom felt like hours and my heart was racing with need. “Hurry up.” Charles whispered from behind me when I hesitated to open my bedroom door. I don’t know why I’m so nervous all of a sudden when I was the one who invited him to bed. I opened the bedroom door then and he pulled me to face him and crushed his lips to mine.
“Mm!” I moaned as his tongue tangled with mine. I could feel every fiber of my being igniting with heat as my hands shot up to grip his hair. I was attracted to him and he was attracted to me and we both knew what we wanted. His hands were everywhere on my agitated body. They were on my hips, my ass, my waist, and my arms. I thought that he was trying to discover each and every part of me.
“Take it off.” He said still kissing me roughly. I quickly obliged him and without pulling my mouth away from his, I slid the tight little dress down my body. As usual I struggled with getting them passed my hips, but I eventually did. Charles didn’t waste any time unclasping my bra and practically ripping off my panties. Once I was fully naked Charles picked me up and I wrapped my legs around his slim waist. I thought he was going to take me to the bed, but I was surprised when he sat me on top of my dresser.
“The bed’s more comfortable.” I said breathlessly as I ran my hands through his hair again.
“The dresser’s more exciting.” Charles said and began fumbling with his belt. It was dark in my room, but I could still see him clearly with the light shining in from the bathroom. He unbuttoned his suit jacket and undid the buttons on his white shirt. I inhaled deeply as I saw his abs tense and I had to touch it. I ran my hands down his chiseled body and felt myself growing more aroused as the seconds passed me by. When he undid his pants and revealed his length to me I couldn’t believe that I wasn’t this bold with him before. He had something special that I’ve needed for a long time. I watched his limber fingers reach into his pocket and pull out a foil packet.
“You’ve planned this.” I said and he smirked.
“No, but I always come prepared.” He ripped it open quickly and covered himself with it. He didn’t waste no more time as he guided himself inside of me.
“God!” I gasped as the head of his penis began stretching me open. It was an unpleasant pain, but it was a feeling that I knew I could adjust to. He moved slowly at first and when he was all the way inside of me he paused.
“You okay?” his voice came out rough.
“Yeah.” I said as I shifted on the dresser. It wasn’t comfortable at all, but if it got Charles off I’d deal with the unpleasant wood on me. “Just a little bigger than I thought.” I laughed a little. He chuckled and began moving inside of me. “Hah!” I moaned and clenched my eyes closed. The angle that he had me in allowed him to navigate himself inside of me expertly. I was starting to feel happy that I went with a smaller dresser for my room.
“It’s hot inside of you.” He moaned and pushed deeper inside of me almost to the point that I felt that he’d pound into my stomach.
“Charles!” I yelled and gripped his back. My freshly painted nails left a thin red line going down his back as he took me to sexual highs that I never knew I could get to. “So good… it feels… so good.” I said and arched my back as I came hard.
“There you go.” Charles groaned then and pushed one more time inside of me. I could feel him throbbing as he came and the sound of his moans brought me over the edge again. Once the intense moment died down and we caught our breaths, we held each other gently. At that tender moment I realized that over the course of these few weeks that we’ve known each other, I’ve fallen in love with him.
Chapter Four
I had to admit that when Charles and I had woke up the next morning, that it was a little awkward. We tried our best to speak normally while we both avoided the subject of last night’s sex session. He excused himself to take a quick shower and I busied myself in making breakfast. A million thoughts ran through my mind as I made our omelets and all of them involved me crossing the line with a client and an engaged man. No matter how stupid I thought his engagement was, he was still getting married and in a few weeks. I’m his wedding planner and I crossed the line by sleeping with my client.
“I’m so stupid.” I whispered to myself. What made it worse was that now that we’ve been intimate, I didn’t want to let him go. I thought I was too mature to fall in love with a man this fast, what had I gotten myse
lf into? No matter how many times I yelled questions at myself, I didn’t have an answer to them.
“Smells good.” I jumped when he spoke. I turned around and he was standing there wearing the suit from last night.
“Thanks” I said as I blushed when he looked over my shoulder. I could smell my favorite shampoo that I keep on the side of my tub in his hair. “You can have a seat, it’ll be ready soon.” I said in the voice that I used to speak with my clients. He nodded his head and walked over and sat down at the table. I could tell that he felt as equally as awkward as I did.
“So… are we going to talk about what happened?” he finally got the courage to ask. I exhaled and turned off the stove.
“What is there to say about it?” I countered. What we did couldn’t be taken back no matter how much we may or may not have regretted it.
“Well first you can say thanks for that kick ass sex.” I couldn’t help but to break into a grin at that. I was glad he was trying to make light of the situation because I knew that I wasn’t helping at all.
“Thanks.” I said and grunted. I walked over to the cabinet and pulled out two plates. Slapping an omelet on both of the plates I walked over to Charles and sat his down in front of him. Placing mine down quickly I picked up two mugs and poured coffee into each of them. “Here” I said as I handed the mug to Charles.
“I’m sorry.” Charles said once I sat back down and I looked into his face and I saw sadness in his eyes. Blushing at this, I nodded my head.
“I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have come on to you like that.” I don’t know why, but this conversation was really starting to make me feel sad. I regret what we did but somewhere inside of me, I didn’t regret it. Charles and I clicked and we couldn’t deny that there was chemistry between us. I wasn’t going to tell Charles that I loved him right now, but I knew that he feels the connection between us. I didn’t want to bite my tongue any longer regarding the situation. “I don’t like sounding cliché or corny, but last night meant something to me other than me wanting to have sex, Charles.” Charles looked at me then as he placed the fork filled with omelet into his mouth.
“I felt something too,” Charles said after he thought longer on the conversation. “But I’m getting married soon Stephanie. This can’t and will not happen again.” His previously playful attitude was gone and in its place was a seriousness that I’ve never seen on Charles face before. I felt tears trying to push themselves into existence so I looked down at my plate and ate my food. We ate the rest of our meal in silence and when we were done, Charles left. Ollie came to me once I shut the door and whined and I couldn’t help but to take Ollie into my arms and sob.
****
“Wow you’re coming in late. What’s wrong? You look like your dog just died or something.” Karla said when I walked into the office later than I was supposed to. Thankfully I didn’t have any appointments and Karla had her own key.
“Good morning, Karla.” I said and sighed. I viewed Karla as a friend, but there was a line that one shouldn’t cross when it came to what you told people who worked for you. “I didn’t sleep well at all last night.” I slept better than I ever had in my whole life. It was waking up the morning after that ruined my day. “I probably ate something that didn’t agree with my stomach. Don’t worry about me though, I’m fine.” I managed to give Karla a reassuring smile and walked passed her.
“Alright.” Karla said and I knew that she had a lot of questions to ask me, but unfortunately what I told her was all she was going to get from me. My phone began ringing after I walked into my office and this annoyed me. I knew that I needed to force myself to focus on my work, but my heart was still aching.
“You’ve reached Stephanie, the woman who could make all your wedding dreams come true.” I was happy that I managed to sound as close to normal as possible.
“Stephanie.” The familiar baritone voice greeted my ears and I blushed.
“Ho... hold on for a minute.” I stuttered and placed Charles on hold. I got up and walked to my office door. “Karla I have a quick phone meeting.” Karla looked up from her desk and nodded her head.
“Alright, I’ll hold all of your calls.” I smiled at her and closed my door.
“Hello?”
“Yeah, I’m still here.” Charles said and my nerves started to get the best of me. “This morning was awkward as hell and I’m sorry about that.” He was right, this morning couldn’t have been even more awkward even if I planned it myself.
“Yeah it was.” I said trying to force the lump down that was trying to situate itself in my throat.
“I hope that last night won’t change our work relationship.” I was glad and somewhat angry that Charles still wanted to work together, but how could he still go through with his marriage? I wondered if he was going to tell his German bride-to-be about what happened between us and I shook my head and sighed. Of course he wasn’t going to tell, but then again is it really cheating if he’s never even met the woman?
“Of course not. I told you that I would make your wedding the best wedding that Montana has seen in a long time.” I told him the exact same thing as I told my other clients. “I won’t let last night effect our professional relationship. I expect to see you Monday afternoon, goodbye Charles.” I said and hung up the phone. I didn’t wait for him to say anything because I felt that if we had spoken longer I would have eventually broke down and started crying. I placed my head down on my desk thankful that Karla wouldn’t be able to see me. “Get it together Stephanie,” I told myself over and over again. I refused to let what happened distract me from my daily duties. I had weddings to plan and coordinate.
Chapter Five
“Can you lock up? I’m not feeling well.” I tried all day long to give my all to my work, but when two came around, I just couldn’t focus. “I’m waiting for a package to be delivered, can you sign for it for me? You can leave afterwards with full pay of course.” Karla’s face lit up at the sound of that, but I could tell that she was still worried about me.
“Of course. Yeah I can tell that you’re not feeling well. I hope you feel better soon.” I gave her a small smile and walked out of the door. Honestly I just wanted to go home, grab Ollie, and go to sleep. I knew that I shouldn’t have allowed what happened with Charles to affect me so much, but I couldn’t help it. Sex can really change someone’s perspective of someone, especially when you do it with someone you have a strong connection with. I sighed and opened my car door. I just needed to focus on my wedding planning business. I’ll recuperate at home and by Monday morning I’ll be good to go.
Since I left work earlier I didn’t have to fight through rush hour traffic so it didn’t take me long to get home.
“Ollie!” I called out as I walked through the door and he ran to me. I smiled when he jumped over my legs and licked at my pedicured feet. “Come here.” I said and scooped him up into my arms. Even though Ollie was a German shepherd, he was still a puppy. Ollie was going to be my medicine this weekend because he wouldn’t judge me for crying my heart out. He’d love me no matter what and stay by my side. He snuggled in my arms and I kissed his soft fur as we walked into my bedroom. It’s been a long time since I had an afternoon nap and right now I could use one. I lied down with Ollie still wearing my sexy lavender chiffon suit and thought about Charles one more time before I fell asleep.
When I woke up it was dark in my room and Ollie was nowhere to be found. I stretched my arms over my head and got out of bed. I quickly stripped off my clothes and went into the bathroom to take a shower. Once I was done and warmly wrapped in my towel, Ollie made his way into the bathroom and barked.
“Who told you that you could leave me?” I said while laughing. I knew he was hungry, hell I was hungry. I dried myself off and put on a robe and walked into the kitchen. I poured food in Ollie’s bowl and took some left over steak out of the refrigerator. Unfortunately as I ate my steak I started thinking about Charles. I couldn’t get over how much different Charles lo
oked in a suit compared to his normal “cowboy” get up. He was so laid back and easy to talk to it was no wonder that we slept together. Our attraction to each other was undeniable, but he had a woman already.
“Is it honestly cheating when he’s purchasing a bride?” I asked as I bit into the delicious meat. Charles definitely had a good head on his shoulders, but why the hell was he doing this? I’m actually surprised that he’s not embarrassed about the set-up because from what he told me everybody knew. If I was him I don’t think that I could respect Joanna enough to promise to spend my life with her. I know I kept telling myself that it wasn’t any of my business, but I loved Charles and if he’s that lonely he should just be with me. I’m not desperate or anything and I wasn’t in a hurry to marry him like he was with this woman, but he owes it to himself to go out with a woman who he’s actually spent time with.
“Policy or not I need to talk to him.” I stood up and walked over towards the table in front of my door that housed my keys. It was against my policy to interfere with the lives of my clients, but I couldn’t let him marry this woman. I know that I’d be losing a client and money, but losing someone you cared about was much worse. Just as my fingers was reaching out to pick up my phone, Charles’ familiar name went across my screen.
****
I agreed to meet Charles at Nicki’s, a cute little diner, over breakfast to discuss something important with him. Last night when he called, Charles didn’t even let me speak and he sounded frantic about something. The only thing he told me was we needed to speak urgently and that it couldn’t wait until Monday morning. He was running fifteen minutes late and I was starting to feel a little anxious.
“May I get you some more coffee ma’am?” An attractive waiter came over and smiled at me. He’s been checking up on me every five minutes since I came in and I wasn’t oblivious to the fact that he was attracted to me.
Romance: Luther's Property Page 23
