by Lara Norman
“Me either.” He coughed. “I don’t know why this is so hard.”
“Do you want to meet up somewhere?” she asked. She might as well break the tension and let him off the hook. After all, he’d had the nerve to call.
“I really would.” He breathed out heavily. “Do you have anywhere in mind?”
“How about Cheswick Park? It’s not typically crowded.”
“Okay. Give me fifteen minutes.” He sounded like he was in a hurry to hang up and get on the road.
Alex found herself laughing at him again. “It might take me a bit longer. I haven’t gotten dressed yet.”
Grant moaned at the image she’d just put in his head. “And what do you wear to bed, Alex?”
Oh God. “I, uh, in the summer, I wear a tank top and shorts.”
“I’m just going to pretend you said you sleep in the nude.” He could still remember the way her naked body had looked when he fucked her in the bar. She was curvy with large breasts and thick thighs. “Do me a favor and wear that red lipstick,” he said in a voice that had dropped an octave.
Alex whimpered. “Okay.”
“I’ll meet you in front of the sign.”
“Okay,” she said again.
They hung up and Alex had a brief moment of panic where she tried to decide what to wear. She realized that this was the time to dress down like she usually did when not at work. She was a tomboy at heart and it was as good a time as any to let Grant know her true personality. There was a naughty voice in the back of her head that told her she should wear a skirt or a dress, and she threw on a sundress in a moment of weakness. She put on her favorite shade of red lipstick as he’d requested, but she left the rest of her face bare. It didn’t take her long to brush her thick hair and pull it into a ponytail. She was happy that he wouldn’t have to wait for her for too long.
When she pulled into the parking lot she saw him leaning against the large wooden sign with the name of the park on it. He was wearing faded jeans and a white t-shirt, his legs crossed at the ankles as he watched her approach. Her heart picked up its pace as she drew closer, and he straightened to greet her. There was that beard she missed, the warm brown eyes and the strong jaw. Her breathing became just a tad more shallow than normal as she closed the last few feet until she was engulfed in his arms.
Her pussy clenched as he leaned down to claim her mouth. He had always devoured her whole the few times he’d kissed her; making no tentative touches, but pressing his mouth tightly to hers and sweeping his tongue into her mouth. He splayed his hands over her lower back so that she bent backward a little as he continued his sweet assault. She made a sound in her throat that to her sounded like it was drawn straight from her gut. This was what she’d missed, the connection, the chemistry they shared. When he drew back at last, he threaded their fingers together and smiled at her.
“I feel much better, don’t you?”
She grinned at him and used her fingertips to wipe off the transferred lipstick from his mouth. “Absolutely.”
He began to walk down the nearest trail and Alex went willingly. There was dappled sunlight on the path, but the shade did nothing to dispel the heat and humidity.
“What have you been up to?” she finally got the nerve to ask.
“I went to College Park to visit my sister.”
“So you’re close?”
“Extremely. I raised her.” He waited for the questions, the sympathy, the concern.
“That’s amazing. What does she do in College Park?”
He stopped walking. She looked back at him when their hands stretched over the space between them. “She works in a daycare and will be a sophomore at the University of Maryland soon.”
“That’s great.” Alex watched him, trying to figure out if she’d said the wrong thing.
“She moved in with her boyfriend at the beginning of the summer, and I’m trying very hard not to hate him.” He took a few steps until he was next to her, waiting to see what she would say.
“I imagine that’s hard. Not only is she your younger sister, but she’s growing up right in front of your eyes.” Alex was wary now because he hadn’t moved yet, he just kept staring into her eyes. “What?”
“You just seem to accept what I’m saying without asking a hundred questions.” He started up again finally.
“If you want me to know, you’ll tell me.”
“I’m just surprised that you’re so incredible, Alex.”
Chapter 8
“You think I’m incredible?” Alex couldn’t help asking. She immediately regretted it. She sounded breathless and young. She wasn’t used to feeling like one of the teenagers she taught.
“Uh, yeah, I guess so.” He led her over to the nearest bench in the shade and sat.
“What are we doing, exactly? I mean, you said you don’t want a relationship, but there’s something between us.”
He sighed and scrubbed his hand over his beard. “I don’t know, Alex. I’ve always been walking this straight line, and it’s a very boring line. I want to do something different, something out of my comfort zone. I hate being boring.”
She snorted. “You’re not boring.”
“You just proved my point. I’ve acted completely out of the norm.”
“Which brings me back to my original question. We haven’t made an effort to get together with the purpose of getting to know each other.” She looked off at the trees surrounding the path. There was sunlight struggling to break through the canopy of leaves. If he didn’t want to have a relationship because he was trying something new, where did that leave her?
“No, I guess we haven’t.”
Neither of them said anything for a few minutes, but Alex was incredibly aware of the heat that radiated out from his body. His hand was warm in hers, and she wondered if he realized he hadn’t let go. There was no denying that he turned her on just by being in her personal space. He wasn’t trying to be sexy, and that was probably why she found him so hard to forget about.
“Grant—”
“Alex—”
They stopped. Alex cleared her throat. “I don’t know if I should tell you how I really feel if it’ll just make you run.”
“I don’t want to run.” He paused and took a deep breath. “I guess I don’t know what I want.”
“What would you normally do? If you weren’t trying out this new version of yourself?”
“I’d wait until we’d been on several dates before we even discussed having sex. Believe me, Alex, you blew me out of the water when you came into my life.”
She giggled at his reference to being blown. “It was out of my comfort zone, too. I feel like we’re fighting to be something we’re not. It shouldn’t be this hard.”
He shifted. “But it is hard, Alex.”
She thought she caught a hint of an innuendo in his response. “Is it?”
He couldn’t take it anymore. He picked up the hand he was holding and rested it on his upper thigh. She took the not-so-subtle hint and ran her hand higher. His breathing hitched and he stared straight ahead at the trees. It was wrong of him, but he wanted her so much. He wanted new and exciting and different.
Alex ran her hand higher, running her fingers over the zipper of his jeans. He shifted his legs, giving her easier access. He groaned and lifted his hips, but he wanted more contact. He wanted direct contact.
“Alex, we’re the only ones here.”
“I’ve never been an exhibitionist before. It’s just you that brings this out in me.”
Taking a deep breath, Alex stood and straddled Grant’s lap. His hands went to her hips and she knew this was the reason she wore a dress. She couldn’t even pretend anymore. He twisted her up inside and sent her libido into overdrive. When Grant moved his hands to her ass and slipped them under her panties, she wished she’d been brave enough to wear a thong or go without. She didn’t worry about it for long since he was kneading her ass cheeks and didn’t seem to mind what she was wearing. She thrust he
r pelvis forward until she came in contact with the steel length of his cock trapped in his jeans.
“That won’t do,” she murmured. She made quick work of unfastening his pants until she could pull his dick free of its confines and stroke it. He made guttural sounds that sent her further over the edge and she didn’t hesitate to make adjustments to her clothing so that she could sink down on his hardness. They were face to face, chest to chest, and Alex claimed his mouth as she rode him. He couldn’t seem to be still, roaming his hands over her back and up and down her bare legs as he lifted his hips to meet her movements.
Alex wanted to scream his name when he found her nipples through her dress. He sucked them into his mouth and nibbled, and she wouldn’t have been surprised if she’d come from that contact alone. She moved faster, her body’s reaction to his, spurring her on. It felt as though he grew harder inside her and she squeezed him with her inner muscles in pleasure and need. She was on the edge, she could feel the horizon of her orgasm, but it wasn’t quite there yet. Grant kissed all over her throat and behind her ear and that worked to push her higher.
“Oh, Grant, yes, I’m coming! Oh fuck!”
Her words were lost in his deep groans of satisfaction as he came so hard he clutched her to him without realizing it. She wondered if she would have bruises on her thighs and ass the next day. Sated, she dropped her head to his shoulder and worked to even out her breathing.
“That was indescribable.”
Alex giggled. She, too, felt as if she had no words for what just happened. “Mmm.”
“It’s a good thing this park is usually pretty deserted,” he added. He didn’t know what it was that came over him in her presence, but their romps were exactly what he was looking for at that point in his life. Park sex was on the other end of the spectrum from boring. He dared anyone to call him an old man now.
“Can we, um, separate and go back to talking?”
He laughed at the term separate but helped steady her as she climbed off of him. She righted her panties and her dress, and he was treated to the view down the front as she leaned over to fix herself. There were two damp spots over her nipples, and he was stupidly proud of himself for doing that.
“I don’t know if walking would be beneficial at this point, but we can sit here.” She didn’t want to squish as she walked, or have anything running down her legs. She was thinking she needed to be better prepared for meeting up with him.
“Fine with me.”
Alex sat next to Grant and angled herself to look at him. She didn’t really know where to start. “So. You’re a mechanic with a sister.”
“Yes. I live alone now.” There was an awkward pause.
“I’m a high school teacher,” she said with a tinge of pride.
His eyebrows went up. “Wait, seriously? I had you pegged completely differently.”
She frowned. “Why?”
“Your car, your clothing every time you came to the shop. The way you spoke to everyone like you’re used to getting what you want.” He shrugged.
“You made a snap judgment,” she accused. She shook her head. “You were way off.”
“I guess so. I was right about you being smart though.”
“Thanks.” She shot him a grin. She liked being thought of as smart. “The car is a lease. My old one finally died, and I had to replace it. I teach Algebra at Freeman High. This will be my fifth year. I was meeting my friends for drinks the day I got my oil changed, meaning I was dressed a little nicer than I normally like to be. I guess I did kind of talk down to you, so I’m sorry. You flustered the hell out of me.”
“I apologize for assuming.” He ran his hand over her temple and leaned in to kiss her cheek. “You look really good, by the way.”
Alex smiled at Grant. “What else made you think I was rolling in dough?”
“Well, the way you insisted I do a transmission flush on this year’s model. It’s normally not my place to refuse a service, but I couldn’t let you waste your money just because I hadn’t made a move on you.”
“I’m grateful for that, by the way. I used the money on a spa trip with my cousin and my friend.” It had been the perfect way to unwind and relax before the school year got crazy.
“What did you get done?” He looked over her legs and wondered if she’d waxed or something.
“Massage, facial, ate a lot of junk food. Watched girly movies.”
“Sounds fun.” He was sincere, but he wasn’t sure she knew that so he smiled and kissed her again.
“I thought about you way too much while I was gone,” she admitted to him.
“Yeah? Same here.” His grin was disarmingly sexy.
“But we’re not dating.” It was a statement, not a question. She knew it was what he wanted, she just didn’t understand it.
“For now. I want to try doing things this way.” Grant pushed a stray piece of hair behind her ear and kissed her lightly. He was quickly growing addicted to kissing her.
“I’ll go along with what you want as long as we’re both happy. Okay?”
“Are you happy right now?” Grant nuzzled the skin of her neck. She smelled faintly of something, like she’d put on perfume that didn’t last. He snaked his tongue out and traced the shell of her ear.
Alex shivered. “Definitely.”
“And if I want to make out instead of talking, you’ll be okay with that?”
She swallowed as his hand wound under her skirt to stroke her upper thigh. “Uh . . .” But she couldn’t speak because he was already two fingers deep in her pussy, his thumb flicking her clit repeatedly. She grasped his forearm as he worked her expertly, playing her like a musical prodigy with his favorite instrument.
“Come for me, Alex,” he murmured in her ear. She shivered and shuddered under his ministrations, knowing she was close to doing just that.
“Yes,” she sobbed, her emotions overwhelming her.
“Please,” he begged, once again breathing in her ear until she couldn’t stop the tidal wave of pleasure from dragging her out to sea.
“Ah fuck!” Her knees locked together, her toes curling and her eyes squeezing shut.
“God, you’re amazing when you come, Alexandra.”
After a moment, she opened her eyes and was treated to the sight of him licking his fingers. “What was that about being happy?”
He laughed. Oh, yeah, they were going to work out just fine.
Chapter 9
The first day of school signaled the end of Alex’s free time for the foreseeable future. She intended to call Grant after he gave her his number at the park, but at the end of each day she was exhausted and fell into bed. The first weekend was spent grading papers and working on the next week’s lesson plan. She had a list of parents she already needed to see, and she had to email each of them to request a conference. She was expected to be at the school for drop-off supervision the following week which meant she was getting up earlier and even more tired at the end of each day.
By the last week of August, she finally felt like she could breathe. She’d conducted her parent-teacher conferences for those students that were clearly going to struggle, she wasn’t on car rider duty for another month, and she had her lessons written up and ready to go. She was prepared to actually spend some time with Grant, but when she hung up on his voicemail, she received a text that said he was working all day and he’d call her later.
“Labor Day,” she said when he called her that evening.
“What about it?” he asked.
“No school for three days. It’s coming up.” She stood in front of the large whiteboard style calendar in her kitchen and looked at the date she’d circled in red.
“I have to work almost all major holidays, Alex.”
She groaned. “Why didn’t I think of that?” she grumbled.
“I’ll see what I can do, but no promises.”
It turned out that there was nothing he could do. Alex wanted to cry, or at least invite him to spend the night, but
that would be too much like a committed relationship. It was the Friday after Labor Day that he finally called and asked if she wanted to get a drink. She met him at a different bar than the one they’d been at previously.
“Why here?” she asked as she leaned in to kiss his cheek when he arrived.
“Nobody I know is a regular.”
That stung more than she expected it to. He didn’t want to show her off to his friends or be seen with her by anyone he knew. She dragged him to a booth near the back and sat across from him.
“What’s been going on with you?” she asked.