Asking For A Friend

by Parker, Ali

  At the same time I made my suggestion, she said, “I’m sorry for the way I acted.”

  “I’m guessing that’s a no to ordering immediately, then?”

  She nodded, finally lifting her eyes to mine. There was genuine regret in them. “I should have told you that I have a daughter, and I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did. It was rash and stupid. I was a mess and feeling so guilty for missing a bunch of calls about Annie being sick and I took it out on you. Unfairly, I might add.”

  “Thank you.” I wasn’t above acknowledging how hard it must have been for her to not only admit she’d been unfair, but to have come to the realization in the first place.

  Over the last few days, I thought some about what Craig had said about his own mother’s protectiveness. I was by no means ready to forgive or to forget, but I had to get through dinner to get my blueprints anyway, and I was curious.

  “You having a daughter isn’t a problem, Marissa. I—”

  “I know,” she nodded hard, her golden curls bouncing around her head. “I was an ass. A stressed out, guilt ridden, unfair ass. I won’t make excuses or try to justify my behavior, I had my reasons at the time. But I feel like I owe you an apology.”

  “Why did you do it?” The question that had been at the forefront of my mind every night before I fell asleep came easily to me now. It had burned enough holes in my brain that I needed to know the answer.

  Marissa’s eyes filled with pain before she averted them from mine. A deep line formed between my eyebrows, but Marissa didn’t see it. She was back to inspecting her nails. “I’m working through some stuff. Stuff I’ve since realized I had no business taking out on you.”

  Cocking my head, I tried to make sense of what she was saying. “What brought on this sudden realization?”

  She shrugged, sliding her gaze up to the ceiling before meeting mine again. “A lot of things, but my friend Denise put it in perspective for me.”

  It didn’t look like she was about to explain and if she wasn’t ready, I wasn’t going to push her. God knew there were a lot of things in my past I didn’t want to talk about. Instead of pushing, I simply made an offer. “If you want to talk about it, you can talk to me. I’m not actually such a bad listener.”

  Marissa flushed, flashing me a grateful smile. “I know. Maybe one day I will talk about it. Just, not yet.”

  I nodded, “I understand.”

  Still curious as all hell, but I did understand. Now that the ice was broken, Marissa and I fell back into an easier, more familiar rhythm. I leaned forward, holding my gaze to hers. “Tell me about your daughter.”

  Marissa’s face lit up with pride and an obvious joy when she spoke about Annie. She made it easy to see why people referred to their kids as their pride and joy. With every minute we spoke, I relaxed into the conversation.

  A waiter came to take our order. We talked while we waited for it to be delivered and some more while we ate. The food was delicious. By the time we’d had desert, Marissa had managed to effectively distract me from both purposes for which I had come to dinner.

  Dutifully, she handed over the blueprints as we walked to our cars. “Thank you for coming, Layton. I really do appreciate it, and that you actually listened to me. I know you didn’t have to. You could have pulled the boss card and simply threatened to fire me if I hadn’t turned over the blueprints.”

  Strangely, the thought to do that hadn’t crossed my mind. I was learning that when it came to Marissa, my brain didn’t often follow the logical pattern. As evidenced by the fact that I still didn’t know if she knew what part she had to play in Dad’s plan.

  When we reached her car, I couldn’t really bring myself to care about his plan anymore. Flesh and blood Marissa right in front of me, smiling and happy again was a much better thought than the demeaning contents of an impersonal little flash drive.

  “You know,” she said, somewhat shyly as she unlocked her car and opened her door. “Annie is at Denise’s house tonight.”

  What? I couldn’t possibly have heard her right, but then— “Is she staying over?”

  Marissa nodded, sucking her lip into her mouth. It wasn’t in a suggestive way, more like she was uncertain if she should have said anything at all. My cock, however, had twitched to take notice of those lips again.

  “It seems a waste to go home this early then,” I commented, though I knew nothing of single parenthood. It was entirely feasible that she just wanted to go home to crash without having to worry about her child.

  The look in her eyes told me she didn’t want to crash. She confirmed it when she said, “It is a bit of a waste. It’s not even eleven yet.”

  It was hard to imagine that less than four hours had passed since I arrived at the restaurant, determined not to get sucked in by Marissa again. As it turned out, I very much wanted to get sucked in right at this moment. “In that case, how about a nightcap at my place?”

  “Lead the way,” she said, and slid into her driver’s seat. She gave me a little wave and followed me all the way home, where she parked in the spot beside mine.

  We made it to the elevator before so much as touching each other, but as soon as the doors sealed us in for the express ride to my floor, all bets were off.

  Chapter 33

  Marissa

  Electricity sparked in the air between us as Layton and I stepped onto the elevator. My heart was pounding, my entire body on high alert for his nearness. We turned to face the doors when they closed, our hands brushing each other in the process.

  A tingle went through at the brief touch of his skin against mine. I looked up at him, curious to know if he’d felt it too. For whatever else had happened between us, we’d never lacked chemistry.

  Layton had warmed up to me again throughout dinner and given where we started, I was surprised the evening was ending with both of us at his place and not at odds anymore. I wanted to know if Layton still felt the chemistry too, or if it was just me catapulted back to a couple of weeks ago.

  He looked down at me in the same moment, and when our eyes met, I knew I wasn’t alone in this. The next thing I knew, his lips were on mine and his arms were around me, caging me against the back of the elevator car.

  His lips were as hungry and insistent as I remembered, his stubble lightly scraping my chin. One of his hands burrowed into my hair, grasping my neck while the other fell to my hip, his fingers digging into my flesh.

  He kissed me passionately, fiercely. Tongue stroking mine, he explored my mouth like a grand adventurer determined not to miss a single thing on his journey. I let out a low moan, clutching his shoulders and sliding my hand into his soft hair.

  Kissing Layton was unlike kissing any ordinary mortal. He kissed like a god, a demi-god at the very least, with his whole body and every bit of his focus.

  I was vaguely aware of a digital ding sounding somewhere, but I only realized it was the elevator arriving on his floor when he released me with a frustrated groan. Lacing our fingers together, he tucked me to his side and practically dragged me into his apartment.

  When we walked inside, he loosened his tie and turned to face me with a slight smirk and heat in his eyes. “So, about that drink.”

  The drink would allow us to keep talking, but I’d said my piece. Layton gave me the opportunity to explain and quite obviously, had accepted my apology. I was done talking for the evening and from the smoldering look in his eyes, he was too.

  I still didn’t know if we would go back to where we were, but I decided to stop worrying about it. There was only now, and only him. And for right now, that was what I wanted.

  Walking up to him much more boldly than I felt, I planted my hands on his cheeks and pushed up on my toes so our mouths were inches apart. “Screw the drink.”

  Layton didn’t need to be told twice. His hands circled my hips and he pulled me roughly toward him, our bodies meeting as forcefully as they could, considering how close together they’d been. When our lips met, I abandoned any inhibit
ions and surrendered fully to the moment.

  Layton kissed me with as much passion as he had in the elevator, but since we were now safely behind doors that would stay closed until we decided to open them again ourselves, it wasn’t long until our clothes started coming off.

  My dress, secured only by a single zipper down the middle of my back, went first. I stepped out of it and blindly sought out the buttons on Layton’s shirt. We were moving as we undressed, crashing into furniture as he walked backward and I refused to stop kissing him.

  No doubt our clothes were scattered all over his apartment by the time we made it to his bedroom, but I didn’t care. We were finally naked and his rock hard cock was pressing into my stomach as we took the last few steps to his bed.

  My clit ached, my upper thighs coated in wetness as he pushed me down onto his bed. He followed immediately after me, crawling over my body until we were kissing again and his tip was right there. With the presence of mind I clearly no longer had, he broke our kiss before he slid into me. But only for long enough to slide a condom over his length and return to his position.

  When he buried himself to the hilt inside me, I cried out and rocked my hips. Layton hissed, “Fuck, I’ve missed you.”

  “Me too,” I moaned, as he started moving, drawing out of me slowly before pushing all the way in again like he just couldn’t wait to be back. Each stroke was perfect, rubbing me in all the right places. Before long, he sped up and slipped his hand between us to flick my throbbing bud with his fingertip.

  It didn’t take much of that before I was hovering right on the edge of exquisite bliss. I was desperate to topple over, but I just couldn’t get there.

  Until Layton pulled his face back from the crook of my neck to look into my eyes. Seeing the expression on his face, the tortured pleasure in his eyes pushed me over hard and fast.

  “Layton!” I cried, as my fingers dug into his hips, my ankles knotted behind his tight ass. My orgasm finally delivered the bliss I’d been waiting for and then buried me under it. White light filled my vision as heat flooded from my core to the very tips of my hair and nails.

  Watching and feeling me fly over the edge must have been what Layton needed for himself, so he followed just after me, slamming his lips to mine as he moaned into my mouth. We swallowed each other’s noises of pleasure until we were spent.

  Snuggling into Layton’s side, my head rested on his chest. His heartbeat thrummed against my ear and I lifted my hand to rest it beside my head. I inhaled deeply, savoring the moment while I was still in it. When we got out of this bed, I didn’t know what would happen.

  Lying in his arms felt so right. Being with him in any way felt so right. Before this moment, I told myself I wanted to apologize to him because it was the right thing to do. I had been wrong and he deserved to know it and to know I was sorry about it.

  All this time, I’d been telling myself I didn’t want to get involved with him again, that I didn’t want to go back to how things used to be between us. But being here with him now, I knew I’d been fooling myself.

  I did want Layton, very much so. And not just in my bed, but in my life. It had taken me too long to realize he wasn’t at fault for what happened with Annie. Denise finally made me realize that I wasn’t really to blame either.

  At least four other kids in Annie’s class had caught the same stomach bug she had. Denise said some of the other parents hadn’t even taken their kids to the doctor when they found out it was going around. They got the medicine and kept the kids at home until they felt better.

  Which made me feel better myself. I missed those calls because I was busy with Layton, I couldn’t change that. My phone’s ringer had been turned off because I was at work though, not because of him.

  Things would also be different this time because he knew about Annie now. I still didn’t want a parade of men coming into and then fading out of her life, but Layton alone was hardly a parade.

  If—and that was a big if—Layton met Annie, he could always do so as my friend—at first anyway. All of these thoughts came tumbling through my head at once, making me realize that being involved with someone didn’t automatically make me a bad mother.

  Annie would always be my first priority, but seeing someone didn’t mean she would lose her spot at the top. Of course, none of this mattered if Layton wasn’t interested in seeing me in that way. Tonight may have been a one more and done thing for him.

  There was only one way to find out. I peeked up at him and saw he was still awake, his free arm braced behind his head. Lifting my hand, I traced the line formed by his collarbone and kept my eyes on my finger as I asked, “Would you ever get involved with someone who has a child?”

  The corners of his lips kicked up and he looked down at my head on his chest, thick lashes half hiding his eyes from this angle. “Isn’t it a little late to be asking me that?”

  I relaxed when I heard his playful tone, knowing my question hadn’t crossed some sort of line where I was supposed to be getting up and skedaddling. “I was just wondering—”

  Shifting his body so his head was now on his arm and he could roll on his side to face me, he said, “I told you earlier. It was never a problem for me that you’re a mom. I do have a question though, and it might relate to that stuff you’re going through that made you act the way you did in the first place.”

  “Shoot,” I told him, knowing I wasn’t going to like what was coming next, yet knew the question was inevitable.

  “Is Annie’s dad going to be a problem for us?”

  I damn near snorted, though I’m certain that no guy wants to hear the girl lying naked in his bed make such a sound. Thankfully, I managed to catch myself right before any sound came out. “No. He definitely won’t be a problem.”

  “Then we’re good,” Layton said, then winked at me. “Just don’t go freaking out on me again tomorrow, okay?”

  I swatted his shoulder, planting a kiss right over his heart. “I won’t. Unless of course you’re being a jackass.”

  His answering laughter, along with how he tightened his hold on me, made me hopeful that I wouldn’t be seeing the jackass side of him again anytime soon.

  After the sound of his deep laughter faded, we lapsed into a comfortable silence. I curled into him and listened as his breathing evened out. Mine followed soon after as I drifted off to sleep.

  Chapter 34

  Layton

  Feeling lighter and happier than I had in weeks, I pushed through the doors of a new coffee shop down the block from my office. The place smelled bitter and sweet, coffee and pastries everywhere. Taking a deep breath of what promised to be worth the wait in the line I was about to join, I made my way to the back of the snake of people curling around the few tables in the shop.

  Everyone around me was raving about their picks, and despite the time this was going to take, I was glad I decided to make the stop. Marissa would be glad too.

  Just the thought of her made a grin spread across my lips. For the past four days since we’d made up, we’d been spending whatever time we could spare together. It wasn’t much, since Marissa headed straight home to Annie every day after work, but we’d carved out a little time to spend together each day so far.

  When we hooked up before, I wasn’t sure where I stood with Marissa and I hadn’t thought too much about it. I only knew that I liked her and wanted to spend time with her. Our connection and the time we spent together this time felt more—real, somehow.

  Maybe it was because before, I always had the sense that she was holding something back, and now I knew what that had been. Maybe it was simply because we knew each other better and had spent some time apart to realize we wanted to be together.

  I was by no means ready to call it anything more than ‘seeing each other,’ whatever the hell that even meant, but she was important to me. Important enough that I was wondering if she’d let me meet her daughter.

  For some reason, it felt like it was a step we should take. It was a ste
p I wanted to take, even if there was the potential that the child wouldn’t like me. I didn’t know much about kids, so the possibility of her not liking me was high.

  I knew there was no way I could really be with Marissa if I couldn’t spend time with her and her daughter. Any future with her would include her daughter and now that I knew the dad wasn’t hovering somewhere in the background ready to swoop back in, I was ready to see what a future with the three of us in it might look like.

  There was no point getting involved any further if we all didn’t get along. I would have to approach the topic carefully with Marissa though. She was super protective of Annie, with good reason. I didn’t want it to seem like I was asking to meet her daughter too soon, but I had a plan to get around it. I hoped that she would take me up on the suggestion I’d decided to make, because I really did want to meet the kid.

  Good coffee and better pastries seemed like a good idea to open with before I started having the discussion with her, which was why I was willing to stand in line for what was looking to be at least twenty minutes.

  I was still near the back of the line, standing near the window. I watched the bustling sidewalk outside. The weather was milder today and people were walking slower than they had been over the last couple of months. You didn’t have to run from rain or get out of the snow today and though it wasn’t hot, or even warm, it wasn’t frigid either.

  A man with a familiar silhouette walked by the window and I froze when our eyes met through the glass panel as he turned to open the door. Fuck.

  Clayton Reeve. If he was here for me, there was only one reason for it. A reason I didn’t even want to think about, but it wasn’t exactly up to me. When Clayton walked over to me, I sighed and held out my hand. “Just give me the next video and leave me be.”

  The lawyer’s eyebrows rose and he shook his head, offering me a handshake. “Good to see you again, Mr. Bridges. Running into you is simply a coincidence, though. I don’t have a video for you today. What I do have is a hankering for a pastry and I’m told the wait here is worth it.”