Five Dates Only

by R. L. Kenderson

  Starting with my hands at her ankles, I glided them up her calves and shins, over her knees, and across her thighs. When I reached the apex, I looked her in the eyes and pushed her legs open.

  I got down on my knees. I could smell her arousal as much as I could see it on her pink pussy. I couldn’t wait to get inside her.

  But it wasn’t time yet.

  Even though I could see her wetness, I slowly pushed my middle finger into her.

  She sucked in a breath, and her inner muscles clamped down on me.

  “Play with your nipples,” I told her.

  Her hands came up to her breasts as I used my thumb to seek out her clit.

  She moaned, and I grinned at my find.

  I pulled my hand away and put my mouth on her magic little button. I had no idea if Sloan would ever let me get intimate with her again, and I wanted to do everything I could with her before our time was over. Including eating her pretty pussy.

  I put my mouth between her legs and gave her clit a small lick. She shivered, so I did it a bit more. I took my time, teasing her little nub until it was hard and throbbing against my tongue.

  I pushed a finger back into her and added another, curling them until I found her G-spot. I was in it for the long haul. I wanted to make this woman come, but she put my quick trigger to shame.

  I’d barely gotten to play at all when her thighs clamped around my head, and she screamed so hard that I was actually embarrassed my neighbors would hear.

  I tried to cover her mouth, but I couldn’t see what I was doing very well. My head was still between her legs, and while I needed her to be quiet, I wasn’t going to cut off her orgasm. I wasn’t going to stop until she pushed me away.

  My fingers found her lips, and she grabbed my hand, sucking a couple of fingers into her mouth. My dick automatically remembered what it felt like to be inside her like that, and my hard-on went from halfway there to full mast again.

  Sloan pushed my hand away from her face first. “Oh God, oh God, oh God,” she chanted. Then, her legs fell to the sides, and she pushed the rest of me away. “I can’t—” She took a deep breath. “I’m”—deep breath—“too sensitive.”

  This gave me a deep sense of satisfaction, and I reached for the drawer in my nightstand. I found a condom within seconds, and in less than fifteen more, it was covering me.

  I stood up and climbed onto the bed beside her. I pulled Sloan’s body against mine as I kissed her once again. I wanted her to taste herself on my tongue, as I could taste myself on hers.

  When she began rubbing her lower body against me, I moved my mouth down to her breasts. Her nipple pebbled under my tongue, and she moaned as her fingers grabbed on to my hair.

  I kissed my way back up to her ear. “Are you ready?” I whispered.

  Her breathy, “Yes,” was exactly what I’d wanted to hear.

  I moved over her body and in between her legs. I lined up my cock at her entrance and pushed myself inside her.

  Eighteen

  Sloan

  The next afternoon, Melanie and I sat in the doctor’s waiting room.

  Mel was flipping through a magazine, but I could tell she wasn’t even trying to find anything to read because she never even paused to scan the articles.

  She slammed the magazine into her lap, making me jump in my seat. “What gives?” she said to me.

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “You haven’t stopped fidgeting since we got here. If I didn’t know that it was my doctor’s appointment, I would assume it was yours from all the nervousness you’re putting out there.”

  “I’m sorry. But I’m as worried about you as you are, you know,” I told her. It was mostly the truth. I was also feeling sore from the amazing and unexpected sex I’d had last night.

  But I didn’t want to think about that.

  “I know you are. And that’s why you’re my friend,” Melanie said.

  “How much longer do you think it’s going to take?”

  Melanie shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s only been five minutes. I’m sure they’ll come and get me soon.” She threw the magazine on the chair on the other side of her.

  “Nothing good?”

  “I can’t concentrate. I’m trying to stay calm, but I’m nervous.”

  “Has Neil contacted you at all?” I asked.

  “He sent me a text.”

  “What?” I had expected her to say no because she hadn’t previously mentioned it. “Why?” I narrowed my eyes. “Does he want to get back together?”

  “No. He told me I had until Wednesday to get my stuff out of his house, or he’s throwing it all away.”

  “What a dick. When are you going to do that?”

  “I already did.”

  “Melanie.”

  “What?”

  “That’s two things you haven’t told me today. I thought I was your best friend.”

  She laughed and grinned at me. “That dick forgot that I still had a key to his house. And, since I’d called into work today, I figured it was better to go when he wasn’t there.”

  “Why didn’t you call me? I could have squeezed you into my schedule today. I would have even rescheduled something for as important as that.”

  “I know you would have, but really, I was okay. It took me about fifteen minutes. I had already started taking my stuff home after I found out about the cheating.” She hit her knee against mine. “Besides, if I took you with me, I was afraid you’d do something to his house.”

  I crossed my arms over my chest. “No, I wouldn’t have. It would have been obvious it was you, and I wouldn’t want you to get into trouble.”

  “You’re such a liar. You wouldn’t have been able to resist. You would have done something.”

  I would like to think I would have been able to control myself, but there was a chance I would have done something to get back at him. I dropped my arms. “You’re probably right.”

  “Ha.” She pointed a finger at me. “I knew it. And I didn’t want Neil calling me up, pissed at me about something. I want to be done with him. I don’t want to talk to him or think about him any more than I have to.”

  “I don’t blame you.”

  “Now, I understand why you avoid men like the plague and don’t date.” She smiled. “At least, not for real. Your situation with Caleb is still a surprise to me.”

  I scowled. “I don’t avoid men like the plague. Not dating is not the same as avoiding.”

  “Yeah, well, at least with fake dating, you don’t have to worry about getting an infection. You have to have sex for that.”

  I looked to the door where the nurses and medical assistants came out and called names, hoping someone would call Melanie’s name soon. I didn’t want to have this conversation with her. “Yep.”

  “Yep?” I could see her following my gaze out of the corner of her eye. “Why are you staring at the door?” She gasped. “Sloan McCarthy, you dirty dog.”

  I looked at Mel with wide eyes. “What?”

  “That is the worst fake innocent look I’ve ever seen.” She leaned closer and lowered her voice. “You totally fucked Caleb, didn’t you?”

  I didn’t say anything.

  She narrowed her eyes. “You told me yesterday it was completely platonic.” She looked me up and down. “And you weren’t lying then, which means …”

  “Which means you need to be quiet and stop talking about it,” I said quickly.

  Melanie grinned. “Which means you went to his place last night and got busy.”

  I turned away. “I’m not talking to you about this.”

  There were people all over the waiting room. None were close to us, but I still didn’t want them to overhear.

  “Was it good? Did he make you come?” She put her hand on my arm, causing me to look at her. “If he screws anything like his brother, he made you come.”

  “Shh,” I hissed and looked around to make sure no one had heard. “Will you lower your voice, please?”
>
  “I’ll stop talking if you answer me.” She clasped her hands together and stuck out her lower lip. “Please. I just broke up with my boyfriend, and I’m about to get tested for something you only get from having sex. This is the only thing that is making me happy right now.”

  “Fine. You’re lucky I love you.”

  Mel grinned.

  I looked around one more time and put my head so close to hers that we were almost touching. “Yes, okay? He made me come. A lot.”

  Caleb knew what he was doing in bed, and I hadn’t been able to get enough. I had made myself leave while he was sleeping before I asked him for round two. This was why I hadn’t had sex in the first place. It made me realize how much I missed it. And Caleb made me miss it real bad. So badly that I wanted to do it again.

  Mel squealed and pumped her fist in the air.

  I immediately pushed it down.

  “Sloan got laid, Sloan got laid,” she whispered in a singsong voice.

  “Will you knock it off?” I said, trying not to laugh. “It happened once, and it’s not going to happen again.”

  She stopped smiling. “Why the hell not?”

  “Because it only complicates things.”

  “How many dates do you have left?”

  “Three.”

  Melanie snorted. “You’re absolutely going to bone him again.”

  “I will not.”

  “How much do you want to bet?” She wiggled her eyebrows.

  “Five dollars.”

  She laughed. “Keep your money. I already know I’ve won. You wouldn’t have bet so low unless you knew you were going to lose.”

  “Melanie,” a voice said from across the room.

  “Good luck,” I told her. “I’ll be here when you get out.”

  Melanie stood and took a deep breath, and I wanted to do something to distract her.

  “Fifty bucks,” I said.

  “Huh?”

  “I bet you fifty bucks I won’t sleep with him again.”

  She smiled and turned around, so she could walk backward. “I’ll start dreaming of ways I’m going to spend it. I’ve been eyeing a pair of shoes …” She did a three-sixty and disappeared behind the wooden door.

  I was glad I’d given her something to think about besides having an infection from her ex.

  I, on the other hand, was determined not to lose the bet. I was not going to sleep with Caleb again.

  Nineteen

  Caleb

  “Hey, Caleb. I need your help.”

  I’d been going around the store and picking things up. Customers constantly took things off shelves and didn’t put them back.

  Upon hearing my name, I turned to see Rick approaching me, and I groaned. This guy was my competition, and I didn’t want to help him with anything. I wanted Ted to see that he wasn’t the right fit for the store.

  But I couldn’t do that. “What is it?” I said in a short tone. I was going to help, but it didn’t mean I had to like it.

  He handed me a sheet. It was a list of our inventory. “I’m going through the list, but things aren’t lining up. Some stuff is short, and some stuff is high.”

  I pointed to the top of the page. “This is from last month. Did you add the items that people had brought in and sold to us? And did you subtract this month’s sales?”

  Rick turned red, and I couldn’t help but feel bad for him.

  “Run the numbers against those two spreadsheets, and if you’re still having problems, come talk to me.”

  “Okay.” Rick turned away but then swung right back around. “Where do I find them?”

  Unbelievable.

  “In the file cabinet. In the office.”

  “Thanks,” Rick said and headed to the back of the store.

  I knew how to do all that stuff without even thinking about it, and Ted wanted to give the store to someone who had no idea what he was doing. I knew Rick wasn’t dumb, but I also knew he wasn’t ready to run the store. I hoped Ted realized that he would have to stay on for a few more months and do some training.

  Shit.

  Unless Ted expected me to train Rick.

  Fuck that. If Ted even hinted at that, I was going to leave. I would respect Ted’s decision, but it didn’t mean I had to babysit the new owner.

  I threw a couple of hats down on the shelf, not caring where they landed, and I knew that part of my frustration was the fact that, ever since Sloan and I’d had sex, she’d been ignoring me. Kind of. She was doing the grown-up version of ignoring me. All week, every time I sent her a text, she would reply in short, impersonal answers.

  But she should know by now that I didn’t give up very easy when I wanted something. And what I wanted was for her to stop avoiding me.

  The following morning, I knocked on Sloan’s door. Two seconds later, I heard the sound of a dog barking, and I knew it had to be Bear.

  “I’m coming,” Sloan yelled from inside the house. And then I heard her say, “Calm down, Bear,” before the door opened.

  Sloan’s hair was up in a messy ponytail, her face appeared to be makeup-free, and she was in her pajamas.

  “Good morning,” I said cheerfully and shoved one of the two coffees I’d picked up on my way over to her house into her hand.

  A big, furry brown head pushed its way between Sloan and the door, and I got down on my haunches.

  “Hey there, big guy,” I said, petting him with my free hand. “You must be Bear.”

  Bear licked my face.

  “What are you doing here?” Sloan asked.

  I stood up. Bear nudged my leg, wanting more pets. I ruffled his head one more time.

  “Oh, I’m sorry,” I said with fake sincerity. “I’m looking for”—I held up a finger and grabbed my phone to look at the screen—“a Sloan McCarthy. She’s supposed to be my realtor, but I haven’t been able to get in touch with her all week.”

  Sloan rolled her eyes, turned around, and walked into her house. Since she hadn’t closed the door in my face, I followed her in.

  “Did you have to come so early?” she asked.

  “It’s eight in the morning on a Friday. I thought you’d be up and ready for work. Besides, I didn’t want you to skip out on me if I told you I was coming.”

  “I go into the office when I want,” she explained. “And I wouldn’t have skipped out if you had told me you were coming over.”

  “Right,” I said doubtfully.

  “I wouldn’t have,” she said adamantly.

  “You’ve been avoiding me.”

  “No. I’ve just been busy.”

  Since I still had my cell in my hands, I pulled up our text messages. “Hmm, let’s see what my phone says. Me on Monday: How are you? You left without saying good-bye last night. You: I’m fine. Me on Tuesday: I found a couple of properties I’m interested in. Can you call me when you have a chance? You: Send an e-mail. Me on Wednesday: Are you avoiding me? You: No. Me yesterday: When can we get together to look at more houses? You: I’ll get back to you.” I looked up and raised my brow. “What would you call that? Your longest response to me was five words.”

  She shrugged one shoulder. “I told you, I’ve been busy.”

  “Is this because we slept together?”

  Sloan’s face turned red.

  I’d already suspected the answer since she hadn’t made eye contact since I got here, and her flush confirmed it.

  “Sloan, it’s just sex. You were hot. I was hot. We cooled each other off. You got me off. I got you off. We’re adults. It’s not a big deal. And, if you’re afraid I’m going to have sex with you again, I’m not.” I sat down on her couch and relaxed to show her I wasn’t going to make a move on her.

  She frowned. In confusion or disappointment, I couldn’t tell. “You’re not?”

  I shook my head. “Nope. I mean, don’t get me wrong; the sex was … good”—I’d almost said amazing—“but I can control myself.” I didn’t know if I was laying it on thick because I wanted to reassure her t
hat I wasn’t going to jump her or if I wanted to see how she’d react. I still couldn’t tell what she was thinking.

  She didn’t say anything.

  “But, if you’re not busy today, I would like you to set up some appointments, so we can look at homes.” I leaned to the side and pulled out the papers I had folded in my back pocket. “These are the ones I found, and I’m sure you have some more.”

  I held them out to her. She hesitantly stepped forward and took them.

  “What time are you off work?” she asked me.

  “I don’t work today.”

  “No?”

  “Nope. I took it off to spend the day with you.”

  Her head flew up from where it had been bent over the papers I’d given her.

  “I’m kidding. Jeez.”

  She was like a skittish kitten.

  “I work tomorrow, so I have today off.” I stood. “Call me later if today works.”

  “Okay.”

  “Don’t flake on me, or I’ll find another agent.”

  “I won’t,” she said.

  “And one more thing.”

  “What?”

  “Date number three.”

  Sloan opened her mouth, and before she could protest or come up with some excuse, I held up a hand.

  “Us fucking doesn’t negate our deal.” I raised my brow. “Unless you think you can’t keep your hands off me? I already told you, I’m good, so I see no reason for us not to continue. Besides, if we can look at houses, we can go to dinner.”

  “I never said I was still going to be your realtor.”

  “You never said you weren’t either. So, the question is, can you?”

  “Can I what?”

  “Keep your hands off me?”

  She scoffed. “Yes,” she answered, as if I’d insulted her.

  I grinned. “Great. Then, I’ll pick you up on Sunday. Ted and Mary said they have something for us.”

  “You tricked me.”

  “Maybe.” I leaned over and gave Bear a pet and a scratch behind the ears, and then I went to the front door. “Call me when you’ve made the appointments.” I opened the door and stepped outside. I grinned. “Don’t make me come after you again.”