I stood in my doorway without saying a word before I moved inside, leaving my door open as an invitation for her to join me. When she did, like the night before, I didn’t ask what brought her to my room. I just held her in my arms like she seemed to need.
The next morning, she woke up when I did just before dawn. “You should get coffee and watch the sun rise.”
“Only if you’ll join me,” she said.
I took the time to get her a full mug before I grabbed the throw from the sofa. We walked to the swing, where she sat with the steam warming her hands.
“Just stunning,” she said as the sky brightened from midnight blue with sprays of pink, orange, then gold as the sun crested the horizon.
In the quiet, we walked back, her hand in mine as we’d done every time we’d walked that path.
“You’re not coming in?” she said, when I left her at the door.
“I’m going for a run.”
I’d planned as much before I left, opting not to drink a cup of coffee.
After an hour of burning off steam, I walked into the cabin to find Jolene bent in half with her lovely ass high in the air and the rest of her half-hidden by the sofa. I was reminded of our time in the sky, watching as I slid deep inside her.
“Next Downward Dog,” a tinny voice said from somewhere beneath her, probably her phone.
I groaned and made a beeline for the shower. “Cold it is,” I muttered and waited for the shock of it.
That became our routine for the next few days. Morning coffee, my run, her yoga, cooking lessons, eating three meals, a movie, and sleep. Rinse and repeat.
In between, I talked to Dad every few days and I’d gotten a call from Liam to let me know he was fine. He wouldn’t tell me much more than that over the phone.
We were in the middle of watching The Avengers, my choice, when Jolene popped a question I hadn’t expected.
“You never really told me about the girl you loved.”
It wasn’t exactly something I liked to talk about.
“What do you want to know?” I asked.
“How about her name? Where’d you meet? You know, things like that.”
I sucked in a lung full of air. “Cara,” I said. “She came for the summer with her family.”
“How old were you?” she asked.
“Summer before college. It was a thing, then it wasn’t.”
“What happened?” she probed.
“She ended up with my best friend. End of story.”
She didn’t ask any more questions, and I didn’t offer any more details. No man wanted to talk about being made a fool of. Cara was one of the reasons I didn’t date rich girls. I quickly pushed that back into the past where it belonged.
It was the sixth day that things changed.
If anyone said it was easy to be around someone you’re attracted to twenty-four hours a day and just be platonic friends, they were a liar.
I’d kept my hands and thoughts to myself, but everyone has a breaking point. It had been Jolene’s turn to pick a movie. I tried not to read into the title Friends with Benefits. I had to admit, it was funny, but watching two people have sex and you weren’t getting any wasn’t exactly fun.
Keyed up, I went outside and worked on chopping more of the fallen tree I’d found on a run a few days ago. It was then I realized I’d fallen hard for the girl inside much like the tree.
That was a problem. The only other time I’d been into someone so hard and fast, it hadn’t turned out well for me.
I was mid swing when the door opened to the cabin. What stopped me was Jolene. She stood with the blanket wrapped around her. A second later, the blanket dropped, and she stood there naked.
After I regained the ability to speak, I said, “Don’t tease me, woman.”
In a soft, but very sexy voice, she said, “I’m not.”
The ax tumbled from my hand like a gauntlet. The challenge was issued, and I took it. Before I made my move, she made hers and then I was chasing her.
Twenty-Nine
Jolene
I wanted to be caught and he got me. Once he tossed me over his shoulder, I squealed, only to lose my breath when I landed on the bed.
“Are you sure?” he asked, towering over me.
“Yes.”
I was tired of fighting what I wanted. Him.
“Prove it,” he challenged.
I rolled to my knees and crawled to the edge of the bed. I zipped his pants down slowly before taking his cock in my hand and wrapping my lips around the head. I took him so deep, he cupped my head in his big hands, guiding his dick past my lips to the back of my throat.
“Yeah, like that,” he said.
Far too soon, he pulled out and I watched, waiting with eagerness for what would come next as he slowly peeled his clothes off. When he finally guided my hips to turn me so I was facing the wall away from him and then with expert pressure he pushed inside me, we both groaned in satisfaction. I’d waited far too long for this.
I used my voice to cry out my pleasure and wondered why had I wasted so much time.
“That’s it, baby. Come for me,” he said, his hand between my legs, stroking my clit.
My body responded to his command. I sank into the mattress, my hips held up by his grip on me. Then I was on my side, him behind me, lifting my leg to thrust deep, helping me on my way to my next climax.
With my toes pointed at the ceiling and him pounding deep, I couldn’t hold back.
“Scream for me,” he said.
I came so hard it felt like I couldn’t breathe. I let out the cry I’d been holding in for everything, the pleasure, the pain, all of it.
I woke up the next morning, wondering what I’d done. I’d complicated everything and my head spun with it. I slid out of bed and went for coffee.
I was leaning on the counter with a mug in hand when Grant came out of the room.
His first words to me were, “You aren’t having any regrets, are you?”
I couldn’t blame him for the question, and I should have told the truth. Instead, I said, “No.”
“Then let me adore you.”
His words melted my previously frozen broken heart. I was so moved emotionally, I allowed him to move me physically to the back of the sofa.
“Hang on,” he commanded, as he got to his knees.
He worshipped my body like I was his personal idol, starting by using his mouth in delicious ways.
I made a vow then and there to enjoy our time together, including the best sex of my life.
Our life became morning walks to watch the sun rise, sex, cooking, eating, sex, movies or reading, eating. Rinse and repeat.
One afternoon, we were cuddled on the sofa like we’d been married for years. He was watching TV and I was lying in his lap, reading. It was natural for me to roll over, take out his cock, and suck him off.
It felt freeing, as I giggled even while he pulled me off and carried me to his bedroom. There, we quickly shed our clothes in a tangle of limbs and desperate kisses. Being with him this way, I’d learned to trust that I would come at least twice before it was over.
I’d gotten so lost in the world we created for ourselves, when he moved the next morning I was shocked by the words that came out of his mouth.
When he got out of bed, I clung to his arm.
“Don’t go,” I begged, hoping to entice him to stay.
His smile was generous. “I have to go check on my dad.”
“We’re in quarantine.”
And then he said, “It’s day sixteen,” and my bubble popped. “Stay in bed. I’ll be back, and when I do, I’ll make the wait worth your while.” He was almost at the door when he turned and added, “I’m expecting a grocery delivery if I don’t make it back in time.”
“Sure,” I said.
By the time I got up, I was starving. I made a bowl of cereal and swallowed a mouth full before realizing the milk was spoiled as it curdled in my stomach. I was heaving in the trash when th
ere was a knock at the door, so I couldn’t check the date on the milk.
I answered the door and found bags already on the porch and I remembered Grant mentioning a grocery delivery. A pretty blonde was headed back to her truck. When she turned, surprise lit up her face.
“Oh, is Grant here?”
She wore a smile, but it didn’t feel all that friendly. She pulled a mask from her pocket and put it on her face.
“He went in town to see his dad.”
“Oh,” she said. “Are you two related?”
I stepped back when she approached with more bags. Though Grant and I passed the two-week mark, I had no idea if I was contagious or not.
She stopped and I remembered her question and how she asked it. There was no holding back a frown.
“No, actually.”
“Oh,” she said, setting the last of the bags down.
“Are you two together?”
Who was this woman?
“I don’t think that’s any of your business.”
She glanced down before shaking her head. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I’m Cara by the way. I own the grocery store in town with my husband.”
If I hadn’t been so shocked to hear her name, I might have been able to stop myself from blurting out the next question.
“Your husband being Grant’s best friend. The one you dumped him for?”
Her humorless laugh only annoyed me more. I felt protective of Grant in a way I’d never felt about another guy.
“I see he didn’t tell you the entire story.”
I should have stopped her there, but damn, if curiosity had me waiting for more.
“He asked me to marry him,” she continued.
That showstopper gave me pause. Grant hadn’t gone into detail about his relationship with her, but I hadn’t expected that.
“I was eighteen going to college, and at the time it seemed insane he’d asked me. But I’d considered it. However, when we talked, he made it clear that he didn’t want kids, and that was a deal breaker for me.”
Okay, that was news to me as well. Then again, we hadn’t talked about that.
“And you believe that hooking up with his best friend was the best punishment?” Though I’d posed it as a question, it was really a statement.
“It wasn’t like that,” she snapped. “I left and came back a week later. I thought we could work things out. When I couldn’t get in touch with him, I reached out to Jeff.” I assumed that was Grant’s former best friend. “I forced him to take me where Grant was. Guess where that was?”
I wasn’t going to let her bait me and remained silent.
“He was at a bar with some slut on his lap with his tongue in her mouth. The guy that wanted to marry me not seven days before. I’d heard the rumors he was hooking up with everything that moved, but I didn’t want to believe it.”
I might have been pissed too in that situation, but according to her, they’d broken up.
“That doesn’t excuse sleeping with his best friend. The two of you had broken things off,” I said, defending Grant.
“You have no idea. Love happens unexpectedly. Unapologetically. I didn’t plan for it, and I don’t regret it either. A word of warning: if I were you, I wouldn’t get my hopes up with Grant. He’s a nice guy, but still a guy. He has quite the reputation.”
With that, she got the last word and hopped into her truck. I was left to haul in the groceries. As I was putting them away, something in one of the bags was rank. I barely made it to the bathroom before I lost what was left in my stomach.
As I sat there on the floor after a bout of dry heaving, I came to a decision.
Thirty
Grant
I couldn’t keep the smile off my face. I’d walked into my dad’s house and caught him with Natalie. I was fucking happy for the old man and ended up doing him a favor so he could spend the morning with her. I went to the airpark and checked things out, which made me late getting back to Jolene.
What I didn’t expect to find was Jolene standing in the middle of the room, her bag at her feet.
When I looked up, I recognized the regret on her face.
“I bought a ticket home,” she announced.
All the sunshine fled the room.
“Did I say anything?” I asked, almost falling to my knees.
Déjà vu was playing games with me. I was frozen in the moment, somewhere between the past and present.
“No. I just need to get home,” she said.
Then it clicked. Cara had been here.
“What did she say?” I asked.
“She confirmed what you told me.”
“She said something else,” I insisted.
“Grant,” she said, stopping me as I moved closer. “This was never going to work.” She checked her wrist. “My flight is in a couple of hours. Will you take me to the airport, or should I get a cab?”
“I’ll take you.”
The icy silence didn’t thaw on the ride over. When I pulled up to the departure gate, I reached for her, but she slipped out of my fingers.
“Thanks for everything,” she said, a tear sliding down her cheek as she closed the doors on us for what had to be forever.
When I pulled away, everything I’d ever wanted was left behind. To add insult to injury, I received a call from Skyland Airlines’ Human Resources Department that I’d been laid off. The virus that plagued the world left airline travel in a chokehold.
The lie we told ourselves when shit hit the fan was we would be fine.
I wasn’t fine. For the first week after Jolene left, as I began marking time, I ended up drinking myself to sleep.
It was sometime during the third week my father showed up.
“Boy, get your shit together,” he said, towering over my prone form on the sofa.
“Aren’t I entitled to a little self-pity?” That damn four-letter word hit me hard once she was gone. “I lost the girl and the dream job all in the same day.”
Dad pursed his lips. “The job will be back. Meanwhile, there are people who need to fly but don’t want to do it commercially. With Liam gone, I need you back.”
“I’m not in any shape to fly.”
Dad went over to the coffee machine and got a pot started.
“As for the girl, I assume, we are talking about Jolene.” Hearing her name only reminded me of her expression when she left. I almost went to ask Cara about it, but I didn’t trust her to tell me the truth. “Go get her,” Dad added.
“She said her piece. What will be, will be,” I said, reaching for a bottle to stop the stabbing pain in my head.
“No, son. To get what you want, you can’t wait for fate. You have to pursue it.”
What he said sank in and I got to my wobbling feet.
“I’ll grab a shower.”
I didn’t believe his advice applied to all my problems, but there was one thing I could work on, my career. Flying had calmed me during my darkest days. It gave me a sense of calm. Being in the air was the first step to getting my life on track.
That didn’t mean I didn’t have moments of weakness. Nights I texted Jolene. Things like Are you okay?, How is your grandmother?, and the deleted messages like I miss you.
Her responses were always short and left no room for interpretation for how she felt about me.
Over the next few months, I texted less and less, needing to let go of the past. Despite the scare from the virus, I had offers to hook up. From the old, young, and everyone in between, there were women I could pass the time with. Most were clients, of course, as I wasn’t hanging out at bars. But I still had rules. The number one of which was I didn’t do clients. Even if I did, I had no desire to be with anyone else, which hadn’t been my reaction when Cara and I had broken up.
Fate, or rather a chartered flight to Palm Beach, finally broke me. I rented a car and used the address I’d found in client records to drive to a place in Hobe Sound, just outside of Palm Beach.
I pulled into a s
hort, circular drive in front of a blue house bang on the beach. It fit the woman I knew. Not old and not new, and not too fancy, but it was bigger than my cabin by the judge of it from the outside.
Though I was a confident guy, my heart thundered in my chest when I rang the bell. As I waited, I checked out the other car parked out front. It was a small, modest, red car, also something so her. After a few minutes, I opted to walk around to the beach side, hoping I’d find her there.
That was where she was, feet in the sand, facing the water alone. She wore a flowy dress that reminded me of the Little Red Riding Hood outfit she wore the first time we met, except this one was blue. It covered her bent legs tucked close to her chest. The breeze blew the material and her hair as I stood there taking in the lovely sight before she noticed me.
With a hand to block the sun, her eyes finally met mine. Five months hadn’t dulled her beauty.
“Grant,” she said.
I had a speech prepared, but everything disappeared from my mind.
“You’re here,” she added.
Not wanting to tower over her, I sat in the sand next to her, leaving some distance between us.
“First, I want you to know I’m safe. I’ve been tested. In fact, I’m tested before every flight. Our mayor has connections. He got us rapid tests for the virus in an effort to promote tourism to our small town,” I rambled on. “He’s using our remote location as a draw.”
“I trust you,” she said.
Though I wanted to hear that, it didn’t explain her sudden departure from my life.
“There’s something I want to say, and I want you to know you don’t have to say anything in response.”
She nodded.
“I’m in love with you.” Her eyes widened in alarm. I held up a hand. “I know we spent a little over two weeks together. But there’s something to be said about spending almost twenty-four hours a day with someone. Just the two of us. I equate that time to months of causally dating.”
“Grant—”
“Let me just finish. I had this whole thing prepared, but they’re just words. For the last few months, I haven’t been able to get you out of my mind. I reach for you every morning, and I’m disappointed every night because you’re not there. If it was little more than a crush or lust, I would be over it now and I’m not. I want you to know how I feel because I’m not going to make the same mistake again.”
Arrogant Savior: A Hero Club Novel Page 14