Take A Number: A Fake Dating Romantic Comedy

by Amy Daws

  He reaches over and tucks a stray hair behind my ear. “That will be awesome for you.”

  I turn my face into his hand to kiss his palm. “I’m thinking Denver should be settled in a month, and then I can probably book my flight.” I narrow my eyes at him and add, “Do you really want to come out and visit me?”

  “Fuck yes, I do,” he replies with a frown and puffs his chest out like a caveman. “I’m not letting your sexy ass run the streets of Paris alone.”

  “Is that right?” I can’t stop smiling.

  “Yes,” he growls and grabs my waist, pulling me onto his lap to straddle him. His eyes burn with possession as he adds, “I’ll give you space to do your thing, but not too much.”

  “That sounds good.” I splay my hands out on his chest and lean down to brush my lips against his, wondering how I could ever want space from this man. I pull back and murmur into his ear. “You might be sick of me in a month anyway.”

  “You might be sick of me,” he volleys back, letting out a little groan as he tastes my neck and slips his hands under the back of my shirt.

  I inhale his perfect scent as though it was made just for me. “I doubt that.”

  “I doubt that too.”

  He undoes the clasp of my bra with very little effort, and my nipples are hard as stone as my breasts point directly at what I want. I straighten on his lap as he pulls my top and bra off and growls when his eyes feast on my breasts. He tosses his glasses to the side before leaning in to suck each nipple into his mouth in long, luxurious kisses. His chin whiskers cause delicious prickles to alight all over my chest as I grab his head and pull him closer.

  “Dean,” I moan as my hips gyrate on his lap, my panties soaking with arousal as he continues worshipping my breasts, his hands clutching my sides possessively. “Dean,” I cry out again and pull his face up to look at me before I say, “Make love to me.”

  “God, yes,” he croaks, and suddenly, he stands, holding me around his waist as he makes his way down the hallway toward the bedroom.

  Dean drops me onto the bed and makes quick work of his clothes and the rest of mine. He crawls over me and kisses me fiercely, possessively, his lips reacquainting themselves with mine as his silky erection slides between us.

  “I need you inside me,” I beg against his lips.

  “One more kiss,” he says, rubbing his nose against my cheek before finding my lips again. “God, I missed you,” he growls as he pulls away and positions his tip between my legs.

  “I missed you too,” I groan out as he drives into me hard and fast, stilling inside me like he wants to lie here and live for a while.

  My hands clutch his back as I will him to move, and he gets the message. He pumps in and out slow and steady, moving his mouth to kiss my neck and collarbone and any other part of my body he can reach while still remaining firmly connected down below.

  Our cries of passion fill the room as we both succumb to the coiled tension inside us. When I shatter around him, I grip his back so hard I’m certain I’ll leave bruises, and at the same time, he swells inside me and then shudders his own release.

  We both heave for breaths together, and I can’t help the contented smile that lifts the corners of my mouth.

  Dean pulls back and looks at me, pressing a sweet kiss to my lips. “You happy, sugar lips?”

  “Definitely,” I reply, wrapping my legs tighter around him and wishing we could stay in this moment forever.

  “Want to go again?”

  “Definitely.”

  A few months later

  “Dean!” Norah’s voice calls out from behind me, and I turn away from the luggage carousel to see her running toward me, full steam ahead. I drop my carry-on in time to catch her as she barrels into my chest, arms tight around my neck, legs snug around my hips.

  She’s like my own little spider monkey.

  I band my arms around her waist and turn my freshly shaven face into her neck and hair to inhale deeply. Thank fuck Paris hasn’t changed her scent. God I’ve missed this smell.

  I’ve missed this woman.

  It’s been two months since she left Boulder, and I only had six weeks with her before she left. It wasn’t enough. I didn’t come close to getting sick of her. Not even when she talked me into staying with her in Denver when the bakery ended up requiring more of her time than she originally anticipated.

  “Oh my God, I can’t believe you’re actually here!” she cries into my shoulder, her body shaking against mine.

  I laugh and squeeze tighter before lowering her back to the ground. “Let me get a look at you,” I say, pushing back the hair from her face that’s grown out a lot since she left eight whole weeks ago. “You look well-traveled.”

  She smiles and wraps her arms around my waist, pulling me close. “Well, I am…I’ve been to six countries since I’ve arrived.”

  “And which city is your favorite?” I ask, pinning her with a look.

  Her eyes warm as she reaches up and cups my face in her hand. “I’m going to have to go with Boulder.”

  “You are such a suck-up,” I growl and dip my head to kiss her.

  Holy fucking hell, it’s been too long since I’ve felt these lips. Way too fucking long. It’s amazing how easy it was to fall into a relationship with Norah.

  I reach around her and grab her ass, giving it a hearty squeeze right in front of all the other people waiting for their luggage.

  She squeals and swats me on the chest, effectively breaking our kiss. “What are you doing?”

  “I’m seeing if that big ass you’re working on is coming along nicely.”

  “Well, stop…there are people around.”

  “Don’t care,” I reply, dropping a kiss to her nose. “Besides, isn’t this the city of love? Surely, a cheeky ass grab isn’t that shocking.”

  We retrieve my luggage from customs and make our way out to the bank of taxis on the curb. Norah sits in the middle of the back seat, our bodies entwined as she talks a mile a minute, pointing out various landmarks as we make our way to her friend Chelle’s pied-à-terre.

  It’s incredible being near Norah again. It’s shocking how I’ve lived most of my adulthood avoiding relationships, and the minute I find myself in one, she bags off to Paris for three months. I wanted to come out and surprise her a month ago, but I held back. She and Chelle were doing some amazing backpacking, and as much as I missed her, I didn’t want to be that guy who couldn’t let his girlfriend off the leash for too long.

  But now that I’m here, she’s going to have to fight me off with a stick.

  Norah bites her lip and shoots me a wicked smile. “I have a surprise for you.”

  “What?” I ask, waffling our fingers together as we pull down a residential street.

  “Chelle is away for the full two weeks you’re here. She found someone to cover for her at the restaurant, and she’s staying with a friend in Belgium.”

  “You’re kidding,” I growl, dipping my head in to kiss her lips. “So, you’re saying we have her place to ourselves for two whole weeks?”

  “Yep,” Norah chirps as I bite her neck and suck a little.

  God, I seriously need to get her naked, fast.

  The driver turns down several weird angled streets before stopping at a tall apartment building with tiny terraces and café-lined squares outside of it. After we grab my bags, I follow Norah inside the lobby of the building, and by the time the elevator door closes, my lips are on her again as she struggles to press the button for the fourth floor. When it chimes, indicating we’ve arrived, she grabs my shirt and drags me down the narrow hallway to the street-view apartment.

  I barely see the flat before Norah and I are dropping bags and stripping off our clothes.

  “Shower,” I murmur as I pick her up and follow her finger in the right direction. “I smell like an airplane.”

  “Not to me,” Norah cries, raking her hands through my hair as she kisses me fiercely.

  The water takes an insane leng
th of time to get hot, and the two of us stand awkwardly staring at each other before breaking into belly laughs. When it’s finally hot, it’s game on again as I step inside the small shower stall and press her up against the wall, wasting no time before pushing deep inside her.

  “Oh God, Dean,” she cries as the hot water pours on top of us, and my dick gets reacquainted with its favorite place in the world.

  “Fuck, Norah…I missed you.”

  “I missed you,” she whimpers as I pull out and thrust back inside her, holding her up and rocking her against my hips in quick, rapid succession.

  It takes less than three minutes for her to find her release, which is a fucking miracle because I explode seconds later, emptying myself as I press my wet face into her wet chest and let the sound of the water drown out my heavy breathing.

  When I put her down, she has a coy smile on her lips that I know all too well. “What are you smiling about, sugar butt?”

  “Nothing.” She giggles as she grabs the shampoo and proceeds to lather up my scalp before adding, “I better get a twenty-minute dick before you leave in two weeks.”

  I pinch her sides, and she squeals with laughter, turning her hip into my dick and causing it to come back to life again. “If someone would participate in video sex more often, perhaps I would have been better prepared.”

  “Just wait until you hear how thin these walls are,” she exclaims, hitting me with her wide, blue eyes. “Even my pretty in pink vibrator is on sabbatical.”

  “Thank fuck Chelle is gone, because this would have been a seriously awkward two weeks for her since I can’t manage to keep my hands off you.” I dip my head and kiss her while squeezing her ass in my hands. God, it feels good to be back in the same time zone again.

  We finish showering, and Norah shows me her bedroom that used to be Chelle’s office. It’s small, but it has its own terrace, and Norah said she spends her mornings out there doing bookwork for the bakeries and organizing things back home.

  After round two in her bedroom, Norah makes some croissant sandwiches and opens a bottle of wine that we enjoy on the terrace and take in the view of several people milling about shopping, eating, and having a drink in the middle of the day. At least three pastry shops are within eyesight, and as I glance over and connect eyes with Norah, I can’t help but say, “Paris suits you.”

  “Yeah?”

  I nod and take a sip of my wine. “You’re glowing.”

  She narrows her eyes at me. “That might be the orgasms I just had.”

  A smug smile spreads across my face that likely has to do with my own orgasms as well. “Video chatting is nice, but it pales compared to seeing you in the flesh. You look so beautiful and very relaxed here.”

  “I feel it.” She exhales heavily like she’s drinking in that emotion. “I didn’t realize how overwhelmed I was with both the opening of the second bakery and launching the franchise so soon after.”

  “It was a lot.” I tilt my head and eye her thoughtfully. “Are you having any second thoughts about doing the franchise at all?”

  “No,” Norah exclaims, her eyes wide. “God, no. Actually, with how great the Denver location is doing, I’m more excited to get the franchise moving.”

  “You just needed a break first,” I deduce.

  “Exactly.” She peers down at the courtyard of people sipping coffee and gets a faraway look in her eyes. “This has been totally rejuvenating for me, and now I’m kind of excited to go back home and kill it.”

  “Thank fuck, because I’m ready for you to come home,” I grumble with a desperate tone to my voice that I don’t care if she hears. “Life is boring without you.”

  Her shoulders scrunch up around her ears as she giggles. “I can’t say Paris is boring, but it just got a lot more fun now that you’re here.” She pins me with a sincere look, and our gazes lock for a long, lingering moment, urging me to throw her over my shoulder and take her right back to bed.

  But I’m here to see my girl in Paris, and that’s what we’re going to do. “So, talk to me about what we’re doing for the next two weeks. Where are we headed? I know you have an itinerary hidden somewhere, so whip it out already.”

  “That sounds dirty,” Norah squeals before ducking inside and grabbing her yellow legal pad. She returns and flops down in her seat, looking like she’s getting ready to run a board meeting. “But you’re right…I have it all mapped out.”

  “How very on brand of you.” I wink at her.

  “And I have some rules,” she says, biting her lip nervously.

  My brows furrow at that. “Rules?”

  She nods and flips the page, squinting at her handwriting. “Yes…rules for a newly-in-love couple to make it through a two-week European vacation together.”

  “This should be good,” I groan and straighten out my glasses in preparation.

  “Number one, waffle hand-holding only. Number two, sex every night and morning.”

  “Mornings too?” I reply with a smirk. “My, aren’t we demanding in Paris?”

  She points her pen at me accusingly. “You got me addicted to morning sex in Aspen.”

  “Oh, so it’s my fault,” I huff with a laugh.

  “Everything is your fault, Dean.” She shoots me a mischievous wink. “Okay, number three, no going to bed angry. We talk it out until we can fuck it out.”

  “That’s a Boulder rule too, so I already agree to that one.”

  Things became a little tense back home before Norah left on her trip. She was stressed about leaving the bakeries, and I was stressed about her leaving me, and…well…we had a fight. But it was okay, because my dark passenger stayed firmly in his place, and we were able to work through everything all in one night.

  I’m learning how to be a good boyfriend one step at a time.

  And honestly, talking with my mom about everything was a big part of that. She felt horrible when I told her that the things she said made me feel unworthy of love. She even cried, which was a little manipulative on her part. I held strong and told her if she wanted to meet Norah and be a part of our lives, she needed to take accountability for the baggage she pushed off on me about Dad.

  I am not my father.

  I am not my father.

  And strangely enough, the time we’ve spent with Norah’s parents has given me a great example of what a long-lasting love can look like. Jeff is a man I strongly admire because he’s selfless with his wife and madly in love with her and all her neurotic, overbearing tendencies. And as much as I would never ever say this to Norah, she reminds me of Elaine in a lot of ways. Which means I can learn a lot from watching Norah’s dad. He’s the kind of husband I want to be someday.

  I exhale heavily at that thought because that’s a new idea that’s been creeping inside me ever since Norah left for Paris. Being her boyfriend has been incredible, but the more time we spend together, in person or even via video calls, the more I can see the appeal of putting a ring on her finger.

  What can I say? I’m a man in love.

  “Rule number four,” Norah says, pulling me out of my internal reverie, “kisses constantly. This is France, and if you’re not kissing, you’re not living.”

  I lean over the small table between us and make good on that rule right away. The kiss ramps up into a deep, drugging embrace that makes me want to forget her itinerary and just spend two weeks in this apartment together. Have I mentioned I missed her?

  When we pull apart, her upper lip has a nice sheen on it, and I smile proudly. “I like that rule.”

  “Last rule,” she croaks, gazing into my eyes with a warmth I can feel in my bones. “Always say I love you.”

  “I love you.” I state it softly and with a deeper feeling than I could have imagined having for another person. “I love you.”

  The End

  Keep reading for a link to the BONUS EPILOGUE for Dean and Norah and to check out an excerpt from another fake relationship story of mine, Endurance!

  More from the W
ait With Me Boulder Crew:

  Wait With Me—Kate & Miles

  Next In Line—Maggie & Sam

  One Moment Please—Lynsey & Dr. Dick

  Excerpt from Endurance

  THIS IS WHAT SHAGGING THE crazy ones gets me.

  Exhaling heavily, I shift my feet back and forth on the concrete as the cool October night air touches every inch of my body.

  “The least she could do is turn the front step lights off,” I murmur to myself, hunching over and adjusting my grip. “Kat!” I whisper scream at the closed door. All I’m greeted with is more arguing that’s been going on for nearly five minutes now. “Open the bloody door! I’m out here with my fucking cock in my hands for Christ’s sake. This is complete shit!”

  The screaming stops. My eyes widen and I’m suddenly not so sure I want to see what’s on the other side of the door. Maybe standing naked on a London street corner is a better option than facing the raging, fire-breathing dragon that is Kat.

  With a high-pitched squeak, the door swings open and I’m met with eyes as dark as night, hair as wild as candy floss, and a lip with a curl that mimics a dog ready to attack.

  “What exactly do you think is complete shit, Tanner?” She moves forward, forcing me backwards down the steps.

  I look anywhere but her eyes because I’m quite certain they could turn me to stone. “Erm…nothing. I just…wondered if I might…nip in and grab my clothes and then I’ll be off.”

  “You’ll be off all right. But if you think you’re stepping one fucking foot back inside my flat, you’re dead wrong. You called me by my sister’s name!”

  “Right, but you guys look alike—”

  “That was after you told me she sucked cock better than me!”

  “You misunderstood…” I stammer.

  She slams her hands on the frame of the door like she’s trying to stop herself from lunging at me. “Did I misunderstand your request for a threesome?”

  I’m thankful my beard can hide the terrified quivering of my lips that’s not happening because of the cool air. If she senses my fear, I’m a goner.