“I should probably go and call my parents,” Jordan chimed in, shutting both of them up as they remembered they had an audience. She grabbed her coffee mug and taco and tactfully ran upstairs.
Once she was out of sight, they were at it again.
“Okay, so tell me why you’re really here,” he demanded.
“When they told you to kiss and make up with her, they didn’t mean literally,” she hissed.
“I don’t see the problem.”
“You know full well what the problem is,” she retorted. “This is Texas, Carter—not New York or LA or Austin or wherever this kind of thing flies.”
“This is Houston, the 4th largest city in the country,” he countered. “I’ve seen plenty of interracial couples here. For Pete’s sake, we had a gay mayor.”
“You may think we live in a post-racial society. Just because we have that Obama in office doesn’t mean everything is a-okay. People are not going to like this.”
“People? Or just you?”
“Okay fine,” she said crossing her arms. “If you must know, no, I don’t like it. I mean thank God she’s not one of those—well you know the type.”
“What type is that, Ma?”
“The type that likes to trap a man,” she snapped. “But just because she’s some fancy law student doesn’t mean she’s not trouble waiting to happen.”
“So, is it her race you have a problem with or her intentions? Just so’s I’m clear is all,” he said trying to control his anger.
“Both,” she shrugged. “Sorry if I’m not politically correct,” she said sarcastically. “I just think people should stick to their own kind. And you need to be extra careful no matter what the race.”
“Well, ma, as usual, it’s been a pleasure,” he said rising up. “But I have just this one week with Jordan before she goes back to school, so I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”
“You’re kicking me out?” she asked with genuine surprise.
“It looks that way. If you’re going to continue talking this nonsense.”
“It’s not nonsense Carter, it’s reality. You saw the comments online when this whole thing started. Think what it’s going to be like when they find out you two are—well, whatever it is you have going on here.”
“Which is my problem and Jordan’s problem, not yours. But thanks so much for your concern.”
He stopped short. “What made you show up today of all days?” he asked suspiciously.
She blinked at him. “I was just in the neighborhood—”
“Cut the crap, Ma.”
“What exactly are you implying?” she asked sharply.
“Okay if you want to make me say it. Are you spying on me?”
Her mouth flew open. “Well, if you’re going to accuse me of something like that, maybe I will leave.”
She grabbed her purse and stood up. Carter offered no protest. She stalked off toward the front door and grabbed the handle. Before opening it, she turned to him. “I never thought I’d see the day my own son—who I pretty much raised, single-handedly—would choose another woman over his own mother.”
With that, she opened the door, walked out and slammed it behind her.
Carter ran a frustrated hand through his hair as he breathed out all the fire that had been building inside of him. He had figured this point would come if he continued to date Jordan, but he certainly hadn’t expected his mother to be so frank about it—or pick up on it so soon. That was a discussion to be had at some point.
He knew there were people who would take issue with the relationship he had with Jordan. But half the professional ball players in America were in interracial relationships. Granted it was usually a black man and white woman, but still. Why should Carter’s be any different? He could certainly personally handle any idiot who made the mistake of taking issue with it to his face—or worse, to Jordan’s.
He sighed. He wasn’t going to let his mother ruin what had started off as such a good day. He headed toward the stairs to go up and get Jordan. He only hoped she hadn’t heard any of that.
She was on the bed with the phone to her ear. She looked up when he walked through.
“Okay, Mom, I should go now. Uh-huh…love you too,” she smiled at him and rolled her eyes, shaking her head. “Okay…gotta go…bye!”
She hung up and gave a big sigh, falling back on the bed. “Moms, huh?”
“You have no idea,” he grumbled.
She sat up on her elbows. “So is yours still here?”
“Nope. The house is all ours again.”
“Are we in trouble?” she asked teasingly.
“Only if you want to be,” he grinned coming over to the bed and tackling her.
She yelped, laughing in his embrace.
“Speaking of which, you’re violating the house rules,” she said eyeing his jeans.
“Same goes for you, Ms. Douglas,” he said eyeing hers.
With that, they tackled each others’ jeans down their legs.
21
That night Carter was inspired.
It was nice having Jordan around the house, especially wearing nothing but one of his shirts. He finally had an inkling of what it might be like living with her and he liked it.
Still, they couldn’t spend the entire week lolling around in domestic bliss, as pleasant as it had been so far. He wanted to take her out some place special. Someplace where they wouldn’t be pestered by fans and fawning wait staff that completely ignored her. He also wanted to make up for that morning’s intrusion. She hadn’t said anything about it, so he wasn’t sure if she’d heard the worst of it, but she had to have felt the tension in the room.
Jordan was cuddled in one of the comfortable chairs by the fireplace in his bedroom reading one of his favorite books she’d found in his library: The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe, all about the first pilots selected for the space program.
“So, I hope you packed something nice to wear,” he said taking a seat in the opposite chair.
Her eyes blinked rapidly as she was brought out of the story that she seemed utterly engrossed with. He could understand; Carter himself had read the book four times already.
She smiled as she registered his words. “Why is that? Are we braving the public again with a date?”
“This time I picked the place,” he grinned. “Trust me, no interruptions tonight. Not if this place wants to stay in business.”
“Wow, sounds like my kind of date,” she smiled, setting the book on her lap.
It was a steakhouse with intimate seating and even more intimate lighting. They had a table near the wall in the oak-paneled, dimly lit room. There was a candle on their table which allowed Carter to view Jordan across from him in a sort of hazy, warm glow, which made her look stunning.
She was wearing a red sweater dress, belted at the waist, with black tights and ankle boots. He had enjoyed watching the figure-hugging outfit walk to the table ahead of him.
Now he was looking at her gorgeous face. Her full, sooty eyelashes contrasted against her bronze cheeks as she looked down to butter the warm bread.
She felt him staring at her and looked up, giving him a smile.
There were those brown eyes and dimples. He found himself wondering what their kids would look like. His intense green eyes, or her rich brown eyes? Maybe some interesting amber or hazel mix that fell somewhere in the middle. As long as they had her dimples. His son would be a definite lady killer with dimples like those. And a daughter—Jesus, he didn’t even want to think about that.
Kids. Why the hell was he thinking about kids?
Looking at her across from him, watching her do something as ordinary as biting into a piece of bread, Carter knew why.
“So, I’ve been curious about something and I can’t believe I haven’t asked before now but, why Babe Ruth?” she asked as she finished her mouthful. “Ben tells me he doesn’t even have the record for the most home runs.”
“Well, first of all, the man is a le
gend, from the golden age of baseball, when it was America’s sport. I wish I could have played then. Nostalgia has a way of making everything in the past seem better.” He looked thoughtfully into the flame of the candle on their table.
He smiled and looked up. “On the other hand, I probably couldn’t be sitting here across from you in those days.”
She gave a brief laugh and gave a nod of agreement as she took another bite.
“They also played far fewer games per season back then, so he had fewer opportunities to score a home run, which makes his all the more impressive. These days they play you almost every night.”
“But you enjoy it don’t you?” she prodded.
“Baseball? Oh, hell yeah,” he laughed. “I love it. I’ll play as long as I can, then maybe be a manager for a team. I think I’d like that. Baseball will be a part of my life forever if I can manage it.”
He leaned in toward her. “Now we just have to get you on board.”
She smiled as she chewed and shrugged. “I’ll have to actually pay attention when Ben’s explaining the stats next time.”
The waiter came by with their order. Steaks for both of them, his 12 oz and hers 8 oz. He watched with admiration as she eagerly dug into it. Definitely a keeper.
They talked about her life as they ate. He could tell she enjoyed law school but there were parts of it, like her job at the firm, which seemed more like an obligation rather than passion. It bothered him. He knew he was lucky working, and making a ton of money, doing what he loved. Most people couldn’t. When Jordan finally realized she belonged with him, he’d make it a point that she only did what she loved.
“So, are we doing dessert or what?” he asked.
“Gosh I’m so full,” she gave a guilty grin, “but that Chocolate Ganache cake is literally screaming at me. I know I’ll regret it if I don’t at least try it.”
“Why don’t we split it? I can’t have you thinking about some chocolate cake you didn’t get to try tonight when you’re with me.” He leaned in over the table and gave her a wicked grin. “Tonight I want you focused only on me.”
She gave a bemused smile as the waiter came up right at the end of his sentence.
Carter didn’t break eye contact with her and before the waiter could even ask if they would like anything else, he spoke up. “We’ll have the Chocolate Ganache cake…and there’s double the tip in it for you if you make it speedy.”
“Yes sir,” the waiter said deferentially, then made a quick getaway to get their dessert.
In less than a few minutes, the two of them were looking down at a decadent slice of rich, dark chocolate placed between them.
Good man, Carter thought.
He picked up his fork and dug in to break off a bite. He brought it up to Jordan’s mouth and she smiled as she leaned in to taste it.
“Mmmm,” she said sliding her lips off the end of the fork and closing her eyes to enjoy it. That expression was definitely doing things to Carter’s cock.
He dipped in to take a bite for himself. It was a delicious cake, that was for sure. Not nearly as delicious as the woman sitting across from him. He watched as her mouth rolled around to enjoy the chocolate in her mouth. By now his dick was so hard, he was most likely going to embarrass himself as he walked out of the place.
Still, no sense in letting it go to waste. The next time the waiter came by, he offered triple the tip if he had the check on their table ASAP.
Two minutes later, Carter was a few hundred dollars poorer, and they were walking out the front door.
He made it back to his place in record time and they were through the front doors like a couple of teenagers trying to beat curfew. They both laughed as he messed up, punching in the wrong code for the alarm the first few tries.
“You better hurry it up,” Jordan laughed, poking him in the back. “You seriously need to take care of unleashing that monster between your legs that terrified the entire restaurant as we were leaving.”
He finally managed to successfully punch in the code, silencing the annoying beeping sound. Then he turned around to grab her, poking said monster into her stomach. “Are you making fun of me? This monster is about to give you the best orgasm you’ve ever had.”
She looked up with a smile. “I don’t know; that chocolate cake will be pretty hard to beat.”
“What was that?” he growled.
He grabbed her in a bear hug and lifted her off the ground. She gave a surprised yelp, but then laughed and willingly wrapped her legs around his waist. Her arms went around his neck and they kissed passionately as he hurried up the stairs.
He threw her on the bed and scrambled to get his clothes off, peeling off his Paul Smith blazer and tossing it to the floor, like it hadn’t cost the $1200 he’d paid for it. He watched Jordan as her body wriggled on the bed, while unwrapping the belt from around her waist.
Good God, if they didn’t go at it soon he was liable to explode just watching her undress.
When he finished undressing he made his way over to the nightstand to pull out a condom. By the time he had it open, Jordan was down to her underwear. He excitedly stroked his cock, firming it up for the condom as he watched her unhook her bra and scramble out of her panties. He pulled the condom from his mouth and ripped it open.
Jordan licked her lips as she watched him roll it down the shaft. He reached out and grabbed one slender, perfect foot and dragged her to the edge of the bed. She eagerly moved into position, pulling her knees up on either side of his chest. Carter brought them all the way up to his shoulders. He planned on going in as deep as possible. He wanted to feel every inch of her surrounding his dick.
Jordan was so wet he didn’t even have to guide himself in. The head slid between the slippery lips and eventually fell right into the inner depth. Still, he thrust himself forward to completely surround himself with that tight, wet warmth.
“Unh!” she grunted, then bucked her hips up to meet him, wanting all of him inside of her as much as he did.
Everything that had been building up inside of him on the drive over came out with full force as he fucked her, his hips pumping up and down with a powerful force. He felt her nails digging into his shoulders as he aggressively pounded into her.
He pressed forward until her knees were practically at her chest. He could feel her heavy breathing against his face and was certain she could feel his. The whimpering moans that escaped her lips were matched by his primal groans.
There were no words, just grunting and moaning and cries of pure, unadulterated ecstasy. This was the very definition of sex…pure and animalistic. They could be sweet and gentle during round two.
Finally, he felt the tell-tale clinching around his manhood that told him Jordan had reached her peak. It was accompanied by a guttural moan as she arched her back so hard she actually lifted him up with her.
He met her wave by releasing the dam holding his own climax back. He gave one long deep thrust, going as deep as possible, as he emptied himself into the condom.
He fell limply onto her as he recovered, slowly releasing her legs from his shoulders. He lay there, still inside of her as her legs slid down his sides. He rolled himself off her, feeling his wet cock slide out of her.
The open air hit him immediately. Something wasn’t quite right. He looked down with a frown.
What the hell?
The condom was a busted mess around the penis that lay limp against his thigh. A slick coating of cum shimmered in the light of the bedroom amid the ruins of latex. The only thing that was still intact was the top ring, still wrapped uselessly around the middle.
“Oh shit!” he uttered jumping off the bed. “Shit, shit, shit!”
“What is it?” Jordan asked, perking up at the outburst. Her eyes flicked to the direction his were looking, then grew wide.
“Oh my God!” she gasped.
“Oh hell, oh hell, oh hell” he muttered over and over, as a whirlwind of panic blew through his brain. “Fuck!” he roared.
Jordan cowered away from him, with worry in her eyes.
“Please tell me you’re on the pill,” he pleaded.
She looked up at him with what looked like shock. He stared back, waiting for her to say the magic words. Finally, she broke out of her frozen state and gave a stunted nod.
“Y-yes…I am. Of course,” she stuttered, still cowering away from him.
He looked at her and realized how upset she probably was as well. They’d discussed STDs at some point during one of their rare in-person dates in Austin but had never quite made the leap to unprotected sex for some reason.
“Hey,” he said, calming down a bit, now that it seemed his biggest concern had been dealt with. “I’m sorry.”
He made his way back to the bed and was dismayed to see her flinch away from him. Then realized how terrifying it must have been to see someone his size get that upset. He’d make it up to her.
“I know I overreacted just now. It’s just that…Jesus,” he sat down on the edge, running his hand through his hair with relief, “neither of us is ready for a kid.”
“Yeah,” she said softly looking down at the covers of the bed.
“Hey,” he said, reaching out one finger to lift her chin. Again she flinched and he wanted to kill himself all over again. Now that he knew the coast was most likely clear, he wanted nothing more than to go back five minutes and undo the way he’d reacted.
It had just been the shock of seeing the broken condom. Despite whatever thoughts he’d had over dinner, he was in no way, shape, or form ready to start that right now. He thought back to that morning with his mom. Then, there was his asshole of a sperm donor. Definitely no kind of situation to bring a baby into.
Besides, Jordan wasn’t even done with law school. Just because Carter was making money and had a career, well…it just wasn’t the time. They weren’t even married, for crying out loud!
“Are we okay?” he asked looking at her with focused concern as he gently cupped her cheek.
She nodded under his hand, giving him a reassuring smile.
“Come here,” he said, cradling her in his arms. He brought her head down against his chest and began stroking her hair.
Home Run: A Texas Heat Romance Page 11