by Dylan Rose
“You’re making me come,” she cried, which nearly made Antonio ruin the front of his trousers. Take it easy, he told himself. There was no way he could embarrass himself by ejaculating too quickly in front of a woman like Kenzie. He had to wait, no matter how difficult it was. He held on with the promise of good things to come. Soon. He reassured himself, trying to take the focus off the familiar ache in his cock, the urgent need for release. Soon.
Kenzie let out a primal moan as she rode the wave of her orgasm. Now, instead of fighting the pleasure Antonio was administering, she grabbed him by the roots of his hair and pulled his face onto her, which only made him even harder, knowing how bad she wanted—and quite possibly needed—this.
Taking a deep breath, Kenzie looked down at Antonio with serious eyes.
“I want you to fuck me,” she said plainly.
He could have exploded right then and there. Hearing a woman ask for exactly what she wanted was damn sexy. Somehow, he managed to tame his urge long enough to get his pants unbuttoned. With his cock mere inches from the entrance to her sweet, soft home, they suddenly both froze in silence, hearing the approach of footsteps and garbled voices.
Diving down to the floor and hiding behind a row of barrels, Antonio could see the legs of the tour group guests filing into the warehouse. His breath still ragged, he prayed that the tour guide would keep everyone exactly where they were standing. As the owner and face of the brand, there was no logical way he could explain his naked presence in the warehouse in the middle of the day. At least they hadn’t caught the two of them in flagrante.
Antonio peered out from between the barrels, listening to the tour guide’s lengthy explanation when he felt Kenzie’s hand on his cock. The sudden interruption had wilted it slightly, but with a few long strokes she quickly brought him back to full attention.
“Shh!” Antonio hissed, simultaneously wishing she would stop and needing her to continue. His leadership position was more than a job—it was his whole life. She was facing him now, crawling onto his lap, her dress still on her shoulders but her bra clasp open in front, revealing her large, luscious breasts to him. Her hair was wild and her eyes drunk with lust. Oh god, she looked sexy.
Antonio tried to think of a way to stop her, to at least hold off until the group had moved on to the next room, but before he could speak Kenzie was straddling his lap. She had removed her panties and in one slow, sensual motion, lowered herself down onto the full length of his erection.
His mouth found hers as she bounced on top of him and he kissed her long and hard, doing his best to stay quiet. Antonio tried to hold on for as long as possible, but her steady rhythm, up and down, combined with the sensation of her hard nipples grazing his chest caused his explosion to come on with full force. Kenzie buried her head in Antonio’s shoulder as he involuntarily grunted, causing the tour group to go silent.
The tour guide glanced in their direction before he quickly ushered the group out of the warehouse. Good man, he thought to himself, spent from the anxiety over being discovered and the relentless ride Kenzie had taken on him.
Antonio could have fallen asleep on the floor right there, but somehow, Kenzie was already standing and doing up the buttons of her dress.
“That was extremely enlightening,” she said, grabbing her panties off the floor and stepping back into them.
“Glad to be of service,” he answered, enjoying the opportunity to look at her. Her temperament was fiery, just like Clarissa’s, and she was just a touch crazy, and strong-willed, and astonishingly beautiful. But would she hurt him, just like his ex had done? It seemed so right, having her here at Little Havana, but he knew better than to let someone in, especially so soon.
“I still think you’re crazy, taking on this challenge with Baracoa,” he added. Kenzie’s contented expression morphed into one of exasperation.
“Well, thanks for your vote of confidence,” she said curtly.
What was he doing? Part of him wanted to grab her and hold her and confess his feelings, tell her that the stupid bet about the distillery didn’t matter, that he would give her anything to just stay.
“You’re out of your league with this, Kenzie. I just think you’re a smart enough businesswoman to recognize that.”
“I’ll be sure to take that under consideration,” Kenzie said. As she turned around and headed away from him, all Antonio could hear was the sound of her high heels clicking on the stone floor as she made her exit.
Antonio did his best to regain his composure. As he got up off the floor a startling thought occurred to him. It wasn’t just the fact that Kenzie was beautiful, or unafraid to put him in his place that appealed to him. It was that on some level, he knew that she was his partner, his match. Apart, they could be successful, sure, but together, he was quite sure that there was nothing they couldn’t accomplish. And all that was in addition to how attracted he was to her, physically. The sight of her small, perfectly formed figure aroused something primal in him that he could not deny. Would he ever be man enough to tell her all of this? He didn’t know. So he did the one thing he felt sure about and picked himself up and went back to work.
CHAPTER FOUR
BY THE END of the day Kenzie was seriously in need of a shoulder to lean on but being far from home she decided to settle for the hotel lobby bar. It was almost nighttime and Kenzie kept replaying the events of the day—the tour of the distillery, the mind-blowing sex with Antonio and then, his strange plea for her to give up on her venture. Was it that he didn’t trust her to run the business? Or maybe he just didn’t trust himself. Kenzie knew a lot of men like that from her years working in offices—the ones who always put her ideas down because they actually had none of their own, or otherwise they just weren’t very smart to begin with. Striking out on her own to start a business had been one of her best moves to date. So why was Antonio so dead set against her trying to revive a distillery that a few weeks ago, he most likely never even thought about?
And then there was the fact that she was probably jumping headfirst into something she wasn’t really ready for. Okay, so it had been three years. But the truth was, she wasn’t over Cole, and she probably never would be. Still, Antonio was the first man who she actually thought might live up to the high standards Cole had set. She loved his self-assuredness, and how hardworking he was. They were things that reminded her of Cole, sure, but when she thought about it, they also reminded her a little of herself. Was it possible that beyond being great in bed together, there could be something more there? Kenzie wouldn’t allow herself to dwell on this for long. Even if this was nothing more than sex, it still wasn’t fair for her to only give half of herself when inside she was still so tied up in the past.
Kenzie sat down on a bar stool and sighed deeply, which got the attention of Jose, who was busy changing one of the beer taps. She hadn’t registered it the first time she had seen him behind the bar, but now that she took a moment to take in his looks, she could see that he was quite handsome. He had gorgeous, olive-toned skin, high cheekbones and a slightly receding hairline that probably made him look a tad older than he actually was. When he glanced in her direction, she noticed his arched eyebrows that gave him a sly, devilish look, like he had a juicy secret to tell.
“Hey!” he exclaimed when he saw her. “Club soda and lime, right?” he said, pointing to her knowingly.
Kenzie nodded affirmatively.
“Hard day?” Jose asked, placing a coaster in front of her.
“A hard few years,” Kenzie said, surprising herself with her candor. She didn’t usually like to open up to people, not even her best friends knew about how much she still thought about Cole, how she could barely sleep at night, the recurring nightmare of his accident playing a loop in her unconscious mind. Her brother had suggested therapy, but she was never the type to want to sit in a room and talk about her feelings. It was her yoga practice that saved her during th
at first terrible year without him.
“It can’t be all bad, can it?” Jose asked, placing the club soda in front of her.
“It isn’t all bad,” Kenzie replied, thoughtfully swirling the cocktail stirrer. “But that’s kind of the scary part. When something makes me happy, it kind of feels like I don’t deserve it. And then that makes me sad. I know, crazy, right?”
“Not crazy,” Jose said, looking at her sympathetically. “Just human.” Jose watched as Kenzie took a big sip of her club soda. “You a friend of Bill’s?”
“Huh?” Kenzie replied, before quickly remembering that was AA speak for finding out whether someone else was in the program. “Oh, no,” she said quickly. “I’m not an alcoholic.” Hearing her words, she started to blush. “That came out wrong.”
“It’s okay,” Jose said, pulling a chip out of his pocket. “Two years for me,” he said, showing her the token.
“That is amazing. But isn’t it hard for you—working here?”
Jose shrugged. “Eh, I’m used to it. And I figure I’m going to be around alcohol. If I can come to work, do this job and stay sober, then I know I’m okay.”
Kenzie nodded understandingly.
“So, what’s with all the water then? You trying to stay hydrated?”
Kenzie laughed. “No. Well, yes, but it’s for a different reason. My fiancé—he died. In a drunk driving accident. He was at the wheel. With a blood alcohol level of 0.20%.”
“I’m sorry,” Jose said. “I get it. I was almost there, too. But you have to know that there was nothing you could have done. People have to be ready to change—for themselves.”
“I know.” Kenzie nodded, brushing a tear off her cheek. She didn’t talk about Cole much but when she did, the tears came easily, the memories too fresh.
“But the important thing is that you don’t live your life punishing yourself. You’re allowed to enjoy life,” Jose said seriously.
“I know.” Kenzie nodded. “And I’m sure I’d be fine to drink, it’s just that I haven’t done it in so long. I’d probably be wasted from one glass of wine.”
“Well it’s your decision,” Jose said, patting her hand protectively. “And I’m here to make you a stiff one if you change your mind.” He smiled.
Kenzie smiled back and just as Jose walked away to help another customer, her phone buzzed with an incoming call. It was Missy, calling from the studio’s main line.
“Hey, Missy,” Kenzie answered, glad to see her friend and coworker’s smiling face flash across the screen.
“Hey, babe,” Missy said, her voice not in its usual upbeat timbre. “I’ve got some bad news.”
“Are you okay?” Kenzie asked, putting a hand over her other ear to block out any of the bar noise.
“I’m fine, but a pipe burst in the studio. I have a plumber here, and it’s going to cost you. I’m sorry. I didn’t know what else to do.”
“You did the right thing,” Kenzie said quickly. Her tone of voice was unfazed, but her mind was racing. She knew that contacting the landlord with a problem or request was useless. She needed the money to get her studio into a better place. And yet here she was, gambling with one business to start another.
“What are you thinking?” Missy asked. Sometimes she was too perceptive.
“Ah, I’m just worried that I’ve put too much on the line with this distillery plan,” Kenzie said, finally admitting her fears. “Maybe I should have just taken the money and run.”
“No!” Missy’s protest was emphatic. “You said yourself that you saw something there. You have a knack for these things.”
It was the truth—Kenzie did have an uncanny ability to see past the surface, and home in on a business’s full potential.
“I just wish I knew more about the business,” Kenzie lamented.
“Why don’t you ask Aunt Lilly?” Missy suggested.
“Um, that would be difficult at this point,” Kenzie countered.
“I don’t mean directly, duh. I mean, find her friends. Find out what she was doing in the liquor business. Maybe it’ll shed some light on why she held onto it, or what it once was.”
It was a sound proposal. But how could she begin to figure out who to speak with? All she had on Aunt Lilly was a Florida address and a cell phone number that was already out of service.
“I’m going to go see where she lived,” Kenzie decided, letting Missy in on her plan. “Maybe there will be some kind of clue.”
“Are you planning to go with Antonio?” Missy asked coyly.
“How do you know his name?” Kenzie asked, almost shouting. She had purposefully not mentioned too many details about the man who was trying to buy her out—and bed her every time they were together.
“I have a computer, I know how to Google,” Missy said, laughing. “He’s only the biggest rum distiller in all of Florida. And judging from Google images, he has a pretty nice ass, too.”
“There are pictures of his ass out there?” Kenzie blurted.
“Ha!” Missy said triumphantly. “I knew you were getting it on with someone. You sounded so mellow the last time we spoke.”
Kenzie threw a bill on the bar, which accounted for her drink and a sizeable tip for Jose, and walked to a secluded couch in the lobby where she could speak more privately to her friend.
“Okay,” she acquiesced. “We’ve been doing it.”
Missy snorted. “And...?”
Kenzie lowered her voice and looked around furtively. Of course, Antonio was not there in the lobby, but she didn’t want to risk being overheard. “It. Was. Incredible.”
“Yes!” Missy exclaimed in happiness. “Give me details!”
“I will not!” Kenzie replied, though secretly she was dying to tell someone about the sexy Latino who so expertly knew how to make her come with the flick of his tongue or the friction of his strong, callused fingers. She knew Missy would understand the excitement she felt every time she saw the outline of his cock in his trousers, knowing that his arousal was for her, that she excited him to the point where he couldn’t contain himself.
“He’s very sexy,” Kenzie said slowly.
“Uh-huh,” said Missy, hanging on her every word.
“And very...skilled, if you know what I mean.”
“Oh, I do,” said Missy.
“Missy,” she said, lowering her voice and looking from side to side. “He went down on me—in his distillery, in the middle of the day.”
“Oh my god.”
“Yeah. No little silver bullet required with this guy. Though I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if I used one.”
“Wow. Well, you have fun down there and don’t worry, I think we’ve got this flood under control.”
“Flood?”
“More like a mini flood,” Missy assured her. “A few drips. Ruined a few of the mats, but it’s all replaceable.”
“Namaste,” said Kenzie.
“Namaste, lady,” Missy laughed, ending the call.
* * *
Early the next morning, Kenzie was in a rental car, heading to the Sunset Lakes Retirement Community where apparently, her aunt had resided. On the drive over, she thought about calling Antonio. She was so unhappy with the way things had been left the other day. Was he really so hell-bent on protecting this small distillery, or was his sudden guardedness about something else entirely?
Kenzie was driving with the top down (she had splurged on a convertible, totally susceptible to the rental car salesman’s pitch to upgrade) and the feeling of the wind through her hair was amazing. She hadn’t gotten this much Vitamin D in ages, and she had to admit it felt great.
The security at Sunset Lakes was extremely rigid, and it took a full five minutes of explaining to the man at the entrance the reason for her visit. As if someone would want to sneak in here! she thought to herself when the guard finally
let her through.
In the main clubhouse, seniors were abuzz with activity, playing cards, eating lunch, some of them were even in exercise attire, and heading to a Zumba class. Kenzie fixed her gaze on an elderly couple, holding hands and walking, albeit slowly, across the lobby. She wondered to herself if she would ever find a love like that again, someone who would hold her wrinkly hand and fetch her prune juice on request. Given her current circumstances, it seemed highly unlikely.
“Hello, can I help you, miss?” A smiling blonde in a pastel pink skirt suit was approaching, and Kenzie could see the name Beatrice emblazoned on her gold name tag.
“Yes,” Kenzie said, shifting her weight to the side and cramming both hands in the back pockets of her jean shorts. “My aunt Lilly used to live here, and I was wondering if...”
Before Kenzie could finish her thought, Beatrice clamped a hand down on her shoulder in excitement. “Oh! You must be Lillian’s daughter!”
“No,” Kenzie said, backing away in a manner she hoped was polite. “I’m her niece. I didn’t know her, really.”
Beatrice, obviously disappointed by Kenzie’s lack of familial connection turned her mouth into a little frown. “How can I help you?”
“I was wondering if I could speak to any of her friends. Did she have friends here?” Kenzie questioned.
“Oh yes!” Beatrice exclaimed. “She was one of our most popular residents—” Beatrice covered her mouth and whispered in Kenzie’s direction “—due in no small part to her little ‘sips’ she liked to share. We had to tell housekeeping never to touch her bathtub. Lilly always had something new brewing for us.”
It made sense now. Aunt Lilly was a lush! But what was she doing—making bathtub gin in a senior living apartment when she owned a stake in a still?
“Did she ever mention anything about owning a distillery?” Kenzie asked cautiously.
