Every damn day he was with her, he could sniff it out like a rabid dog.
What was that saying, it took one to know one? And he recognized the desire in her just as well as he saw his own.
And damn, he couldn’t wait to slide his cock between her legs and plunge himself deeply into her oblivion.
It would happen. He would do anything she wanted him to do if it meant he got to touch her and revel in the feel of her womanly body against his.
One last stroke and his dick emptied itself out across the travertine tiles, causing his head to fall back in ecstasy even though it was by his own hand. The scalding water cascading over his body, doubled the pleasure as he milked the last remnants of come from himself while his brain continued to envision a spread-eagle Jillian beneath him as he released his hot come all over her smooth, lithe, perfect body.
Minutes later, he focused forward. Today was his day to be at the store with Jillian. His attraction toward her was a lot stronger than ever since he was on the receiving end of her twice more than she was him. She was attracted to Levi and that suited him well, and she was definitely attracted to Cole. And that suited him fine, too.
After eyeing and wishing he could slip into one of his many suits, he dressed in the standard Levi attire Carlos had created for him. He clipped the itchy earrings onto each lobe and donned a forest green newsboy cap that matched his vest. He rejoiced for the near day that he could go back to normal – his custom-made suits.
When he opened the front door to Lacie’s Lingerie, Jillian’s fruity smell drifted across the room and into his nostrils and Elvis Presley’s “Always On My Mind” floated lightly through the speakers. It was always Elvis. Cole couldn’t say it bothered him, but she had an entire case full of records—The Cars, Marvin Gaye, Bon Jovi, Frank Sinatra, Diana Ross—and she almost always chose Elvis. It was as if she was born in the wrong decade. A young lady with an old soul.
Jillian stood with her back to him. She was wearing another one of her skirts—really short today—royal blue with a white tank top and matching blue high heels that made her legs look like the coast line of the Algarve, going on for miles and miles.
Damn.
Appreciating her beauty never got old.
Her hair was pulled up into a bun on top of her head, and he was already dying to watch her tug the strands free from the tie and tousle that thick, lustrous hair of hers around her face. Which would inevitably happen by the end of the day.
“My favorite is the teddy. Especially this one. It’s soft and when I’m wearing it, it’s so light I don’t even feel like it’s there.” Jillian told the girl she was helping.
The girl did a double-take at Cole - he knew it was odd to find a man in a shop like this and that was where he was hoping Carlos had done a good job with his disguise. Gay men always seemed to get away with crap like that. Cole made a beeline toward the stairs, trying to ignore the thought of Jillian dressed in the tiny teddy she was currently holding in her hands. How often did she wear it? Panties? No bra.
“What do you think, Levi?” her kitten voice purred, stopping him dead in his tracks.
With his hand on the railing, he turned slowly toward the two women. Jillian had a devilish grin on her face as she held the pink teddy in front of her and of course what he was already imagining was set in plain sight for him – easy to imagine what she’d look like. It hurt something good. He glanced at the hopeful look in the girls’ eyes. He managed to collect his thoughts in a professional manner.
“Beautiful, Jill. It’s one of our signature pieces. What do you think of it? Lacie’s prides itself on making sure the client feels confident wearing our garments. So, while we appreciate the sentiment of asking our opinion, you’ll have to see how you feel once you try it on. If you feel like a million dollars, then you know it’s the proper piece. Jillian will be happy to show you to a room.”
Cole winked at Jillian, who had a small smile on her face and a pink tinge on her cheeks. Two could play this game. He left the women alone and made his way upstairs. Christ. He was falling for her. The way he could feel some of his old self coming back—his shoulders were a little lighter, his smiles not as rare—but the regular him wasn’t back completely. He could just feel a tiny bit of happiness trying to peek out of his usual monotonous day. It wasn’t difficult to fall for her considering he’d been with her day in and day out for a week straight knee deep in panties of all things. Add no fucking sex to that and he was a goner.
The record player stopped and he took it upon himself to flip the record. He heard Jillian’s squeal from down below and then her booming footfalls as she ran up the steps. Just as Elvis’s soulful voice began to sing “Can’t Help Falling In Love,” she bounded toward him stopping an inch from his chest. Her large, gray eyes were dazzling as her chest heaved slightly, raising her breasts with each inhale.
“The feeling never gets old! She bought it and more. Like three hundred dollars more.” She shimmied her curvy hips and he didn’t even pretend that he wasn’t giving her an eyeful.
“Congratulations! I knew you could do it.” Cole told her.
“I know. I just didn’t think it would start happening so quickly. It’s turning around. You’ll see after the open house, it’s going to skyrocket.” Her hands went up into a little shimmy again as she swayed her body to the music.
“Dance with me,” Cole said, unable to take it a moment longer.
“Here?” Jillian looked around the room as if just noticing it for the first time.
“Yeah, why not? It’s celebratory.” Cole positioned his hands on both sides of her hips, pulling her snug into his body, not wanting to give her a chance to decline. What was he thinking? Sweet, pure Jillian, that was what. That was all he could think about. And she felt as amazing as he knew she would. Christ.
“Okay, I’m game for that.” She moved her arms up and over his shoulders, gently laying them over the back of his neck. God, she smelled good. All feminine and sweet. If she felt his erection, she wasn’t telling.
“What happened to your eye?” she moved her arm like she was going to touch it and then stopped herself. “You okay?”
“Boxing. It’s no big deal.”
She looked as if she was going to say something else as her mouth parted ever so slightly, but then she closed it and looked away.
They swayed in time to the music and Cole did his best to keep his mouth away from her…everything. He grazed her arms and pulled them free from his neck, swinging her around in a circle and catching her back in his arms.
“A man who can dance. I like that,” she whispered as she leaned her head against his chest.
Damn, she was falling for Levi. Liking him more than she was liking Cole. He wanted to tell her that he wasn’t Levi, the moment making him soft. Come on, Cole. One more week and he’d be gone. Then Cole could do as he pleased. Show her that Cole was where it was at. He swallowed as he thought about that. He was supposed to stay for another few weeks, but hell, there was no reason to which is why he was cutting his time short. Jillian had the store under control. She knew what she was doing. Besides, now that the two of them were becoming friends—he used the term loosely because he still wasn’t sure she was being completely honest about forgiving him—she could call anytime with questions or anything else she’d need.
The song quickly came to an end and she lifted her head. Her eyes pooled with want and it tugged at him low in his belly. Levi, Levi, Levi, he reminded himself even as his head began to inch toward hers. Her pupils dilated, her lips parted and even though the stinging of the needle created static in the air, the sharp bursts of laughter and damn bell dinging from the front door had them both jumping away from one another. He was a firm believer in the bell, but come on!
He watched Jillian’s sculpted backside as she all but ran away from him and down the stairs. Cole couldn’t contain his laughter.
After spending the rest of the day together, Jillian hadn’t addressed their almost kiss a
t all and it was starting to piss Cole off. She couldn’t deny she was attracted to him but that was exactly what she was doing. Again, two could play that game.
“Cole said he’d reimburse me for my inventory, but it seems strange to ask him for a check.” Jillian told him as they hauled boxes inside.
“He’s expecting it. Just ask.”
“It shouldn’t take long to go through. I’ll call him once we have it in the system.” Jillian began slicing open the cardboard boxes with an Exacto-knife and then handed it to him. “Go ahead and open those, too. Best to have it all out.”
Cole did as he was told only to find himself face to face with her inventory from The Peekeasy’s Pleasurable Selfies corner. Ah, shit.
“Cole wanted all these too?” Refusing to put his hands on the Monster Cock that lay inside he tilted the box for Jillian to see. If that wasn’t a cockosaur, what was?
Immediately her face turned red and she bit her bottom lip in concentration.
“Actually, I forgot about those. I don’t think he meant those, but it doesn’t hurt to ask. The sucky part is if he doesn’t want them, my price will be down to only fifteen hundred or so. Crap.”
“Was he giving you wholesale?” Cole asked as Jillian pulled the Monster Cock from the box. He could feel his eyes widen as she palmed the toy like it was no big deal. She thumped it against her open palm as she considered the rest of the boxes’ contents. He could feel heat marring his cheeks as he waited for her to answer against the thump slap. Thump slap. Thump slap. His own cock came to attention.
“Wholesale, Jillian?” he demanded.
“Yeah, it wouldn’t be in his best interest to pay retail. Even though it’s not like I have that many items to consider it all wholesale, but I can’t ask for him to pay retail.” She set the toy down, thank God and picked out a few, smaller items—bachelorette party favors, those hand cuffs—and of course, more dicks. The box was full of dicks! She grabbed a neon purple dick that had two pointy…ears?
“The Rabbit,” she answered seriously to his questioning gaze.
He faked a smile and nodded as if he understood. And he understood completely well. The rabbit. To unleash maximum pleasure on a woman’s clitoris. Really. The embarrassment he was feeling was because he wasn’t used to…well, he never…what would it be like - Jillian cleared her throat and God help him, he knew he shouldn’t but he did.
He looked up.
Back to the Monster Cock. He could feel sweat along the back of his neckline as he eyed it. It sat on top of the small desk she was using to sort out her goods and she was now holding the hefty rubber toy as if she were strangling the thing. Good God. Was this what gay men experienced around straight women?
“I don’t think he will take these. I mean, they weren’t in the agreement and I’m going to ask, but I don’t know if that’s how he’ll want Lacie’s to be. I mean, it was fine for The Peekeasy…” Her voice drifted around his mind like smoke as he watched her absentmindedly stroke the Monster Cock. Up, down, up and then down again. Over and over with the perfect tempo. Her pert mouth was moving so he knew she was still talking, but the pounding blood that was rushing through his head made it impossible to hear what she was saying. He’d lost his hearing to the roaring of his blood and all he could comprehend was the up down movement and the tinge of jealousy he was feeling over the rubber toy.
One thing he was sure of as he watched her. Her two hands wouldn’t cover his length. The length that was quite uncomfortable and unmistakable in his jeans as she spoke. He stood abruptly scooping up a pile of negligees they’d unpacked from one of the boxes.
“I’ll take these upstairs. You put those away until we know what Cole wants,” he said. Fuck. He knew what Cole wanted and it included a small, smart-as-hell brunette that was currently putting a chokehold on a cock that looked like his.
“Good idea.” He heard her say as he left the room.
Damn good idea indeed.
Chapter Eleven
Cole: Good luck tonight!
Jillian: Thanks! You stopping by?
Cole: I’m out of town. Wish I could. You’ll be great.
Jillian: I sure hope this will help the store.
Cole: You’ve got great ideas. It will. Let me know how it goes.
Jillian was disappointed Cole wouldn’t be there, but why would he? Lacie’s was a needle in a haystack for a guy like him. Low on his totem pole of stores he owned. Of course he was out of town. She shoved her phone into her back pocket and brought some of the tablecloths back into the main room where Levi was also putting his phone away. At least Levi would be there. She could count on Levi.
“So tell me something I don’t already know about you?” Jillian asked as she laid the tablecloths on the counter and motioned for Levi to help her with the table. They were setting up for tonight’s exclusive open house. Cole hadn’t disappointed her with the postcards he’d sent over. Instead of sending a design for her to approve, he’d taken the liberty of sending four bundles—each its own design—of the actual postcards already addressed to send. She simply chose the design she wanted and recycled the rest. It was a thoughtful gesture and secretly thrilled her that he’d gone to such lengths to make her happy.
“I’m an open book. What do you want to know?” Levi said.
“You’re generally so quiet. What’s your favorite movie?” she asked.
“Um, The Notebook.” His eyes sparkled.
“Lie!” Jillian said while she rolled her eyes.
“Toss-up between Saving Private Ryan and The Shawshank Redemption. What about you?”
“The Notebook.”
“You’re joking?” he asked.
She shook her head. “Nope. Next. Favorite song?”
“Whatever you’ve got playing, baby,” he said in a low growl that sent shivers down her spine.
Oh, my gosh. Is he always this great? “Last place you went on vacation?” she said, trying to ignore her quickening pulse.
Levi paused. “San Francisco. You?”
“Las Vegas. Cliché, right? But that’s what I could afford and it was hard to get away from The Peekeasy for too long.”
“Where would you go if you had the whole world at your fingertips?” Levi asked.
“I always dreamed of Bora Bora. You know those little huts over the best-looking water you’ve ever seen in your life? There. I want to be right there, deciding whether I should stay in bed with my lover or go swim.”
Levi laughed. “A lover, huh? Suppose you can’t go somewhere like that alone.”
“Definitely not. Why do you want to work in women’s lingerie?”
“I just do. When you look at a product with heavy-lidded eyes and caress the hell out of it, your thoughts flying in your mind on what you’re going to do with it, it makes me feel good knowing it was my company, my product, that did that for you.” Honesty poured off Levi’s words and respect filled her heart. He was going to do good things, too, once he left here. She’d come to enjoy his presence, his humor and all his ideas for Lacie’s – she was going to miss him when he left.
“That’s…amazing. You’ll be great at whatever you do.” She met his eyes, feeling the undercurrents of attraction sizzle through her. “Moving on, what do your parents do?”
“My parents? My mom doesn’t work and my dad is an accountant. Boring. Where are yours?”
“My mom is the director for a women’s shelter—ironic, right? —and my dad is a park ranger for the City of Aurora.”
“Your mom is the director of a women’s shelter? For women that are looking for a place to stay?” Levi asked.
“Yeah. Temporary housing. It’s a place to go during their transition period for when they leave their situation and have nowhere to go. Some go back to their situation and some move forward.”
“Which is why you’re so familiar with how to deal with your sister.” Levi made it sound more like a statement than a question.
“Oh, Thanksgivings are awful at my house. I
t’s like being in the same room with a firefighter and an arsonist.” She joked. His face sobered and she stopped laughing. “It’s not funny. But it will drag you down if you let it. My sister, well, she’s irresponsible. Unreliable. And Derrek obviously suppresses her confidence. Unless he gets caught committing a crime or Arabella tells us the full truth—or the cops—there isn’t a whole lot the rest of us can do. It sucks.”
“Tell me about it.”
The sudden change in Levi’s demeanor told her that the conversation had gotten too personal. She didn’t know in which way, but she could tell there was something about the topic that bothered him – not like it didn’t bother people in general, but like he had some personal experience with the issue. She hated the way this topic drained her and maybe that was all it was with Levi. She stiffened her shoulders. “Do you mind going to get the cupcakes from To Eat or Wear? They’re just down the street. She’s expecting me.”
“I don’t mind. You can handle everything else?” Levi asked.
She gave a small smile. “Yeah, I got it.”
She watched Levi walk away, still not completely understanding his attitude shift and she hoped the small walk to get the cupcakes would lighten his mood.
She finished decorating the tables where the punch and cupcakes were going to go and since the store was officially closed until the open house, she sat down and removed her high heels for the first time since she’d gotten into work that day. Dish the Dirty had sent her a few copies of their magazine that had her article and she was highly pleased with the turnout. She flipped through the pages, reread her article and realized that she forgot to ask Cole about her adult toy inventory and figured he wouldn’t mind another quick message.
Jillian: Remember my Pleasurable Selfies corner at The Peekeasy? How would you feel about that sort of inventory here?
All Shook Up Page 11