by Tess Oliver
"Well, fuck you all, and I wasn't with the brunette. In fact, I'm not even sure who you mean. I met someone." I took a huge bite so they'd have to wait for me to chew and swallow before I continued. But I'd gotten their attention. They all stared at me. Before I could swallow, they burst out laughing.
"That's fucking rich," Zane said. "I've met someone," he said in an obnoxious imitation.
"Fuck off." I continued with my lunch deciding they were assholes who didn't need to hear any more.
"C'mon, Chase," Trey said. "You have to admit, those words coming from the guy who can meet his soul mate in the morning at the coffee shop only to have already broken her heart by the time the whipped cream melts on her frappe. It's funny. Admit it."
"Fine. Don't believe me. But this time is different."
"How is this different?" Aidan asked. "Red hair instead of auburn?"
"She's a virgin."
Zane choked on his sip of soda. I took pleasure in giving him a hard clap on his back.
"Did you say virgin or that her name is Virginia?" Aidan asked.
I shot him an eye roll.
"Exactly what does that mean?" Trey asked.
Zane sat back. "Shit, bro, if we have to explain the meaning of that term to you—"
"No, idiot, I'm asking him what the heck that means to him. Is this some conquest thing or what?"
"No, fuck, how did I become the target. Switch the focus back to Zane being the team asshole."
Trey put on that face that he liked to wear when he was about to act like he was older and more experienced than the rest of us.
I pointed at him. "You can just put away that fatherly scowl, Trey. It's not a fucking conquest. You're such a big shot now that you're in a steady relationship. Do you think you're the only person who can fall in love?"
"Nope." Trey sat back. "I think Zane and Aidan are perfectly capable of finding the right person if they ever decide to look, but you're different. You don't ever seem interested in any woman for longer than three days."
"The attention span of a three month old puppy," Aidan quipped before plowing burger two into his face.
"Well, you're all fucking wrong. This woman is different, and it's not just because she's a virgin."
Zane was smirking behind his soda.
I threw a fry at his head. "We're done talking about this."
"Okie dokie," Zane muttered. "Different," he scoffed. "That's fucking hilarious."
"Go to hell, Bostwick." I wadded up my burger wrapper and got up. "Terrific fucking lunch. See y'all later."
Chapter Seventeen
Macy
Chuck had had a slow day at the smoothie stand, and he'd been visiting me all day. He also had incredible intuition, and he'd picked up that something was going on with me. Of course, the fact that I was dropping things, messing up orders and forgetting to give back change might have had something to do with it.
He was standing in his bright blue Hawaiian shirt sipping a smoothie outside of my kiosk as I cleaned up for the day. "Well, Macy, are you going to fill me in on the details, or are you just going to let me use my vivid, overactive imagination to color in the lines?"
I lifted my chin in nonchalance. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Oh, come on. You've been distracted and an absolute butterfingers all day." He slapped his hand on the counter. "You've met someone. That's what that rosy glow floating around you is about. Who is it? I want to hear all about him."
I turned to the coffee station to hide the smile and blush that was sure to give me away. Chuck was too clever.
"Ah ha, I can see pink rising up your neck. There must be one heck of a story to tell. Dish it out and don't leave off any of the yummy stuff."
I turned back to Chuck. "It's nothing yet. Only the sparks of something, and it probably won't lead to anything because he is way out of my league. We aren't even from the same planet when I really think about it."
"Nonsense." Chuck asked me something else, but my attention was drawn away. Chase walked around the corner from the parking structure. His gaze shot straight across the plaza and crashed with mine. His bright white smile followed. I had to tamp down the rush of excitement that went through me.
"Well?" Chuck's irritated tone brought me back to the conversation.
"I'm sorry, Chuck, what did you ask?"
"I asked if he was good looking. Not that it matters, of course. It's what's inside that matters, but no one ever complains about a sweet outer package. Is he handsome?"
Chase headed my direction. I could hardly hear my own thoughts over the heartbeat pounding in my chest. "Actually, Chuck, he's beautiful. Mr. Beautiful, to be exact."
Chase walked up behind Chuck, who was standing dumbstruck with his mouth forming a perfect O.
"Afternoon," Chase said, adding in a complimentary grin.
"Aft—afternoon," Chuck stuttered and stumbled quickly away and over to George's hot dog stand.
Chase watched him hurry away and then turned back to me. "What are you doing this afternoon? I find myself with a half day off. Got finished early."
"Must be nice. I've got to clean up today's work so I can go home and start on tomorrow's work. It's sort of a never-ending cycle."
"Do you need some help?"
"Sure. How much do you know about making pastries?"
"I'm pretty good at eating them." Chase walked around to my side of the counter and took hold of my hand. He kissed the back of it and licked his lips. "Hmm, just like sugar."
"That would be the sticky glaze on the cherry tarts."
He shook his head. "Nope. I think it's just you. I'll come help. I'm a very fast learner. Especially when the baker is a hottie in an apron, working a rolling pin."
"If you sure you've got nothing better to do."
"Than spend time with you? Nothing better than that." He pushed my chin up with his fingers and kissed me on the lips. He licked his own again. "Yep, sugar. Pure sweet sugar. I'll see you at your place." He walked away.
George and Chuck scurried right over. "Oh holy shit, Macy. You landed Mr. Beautiful." Chuck's smile faded fast though. He took hold of my hand. "Be careful with that heart of yours. It's still on the mend and that man is six feet of pure heartbreak."
"I know, Chuck. I'm trying to keep my head clear, but he's making it awfully hard." The three of us watched as Mr. Beautiful, currently my Mr. Beautiful, disappeared through the tinted glass doors.
Chapter Eighteen
Chase
I'd been teasing Macy about the hottie in an apron with a rolling pin, but the truth was standing in a tight little kitchen with her flitting around, working the dough and building delicious things with her talented hands had given me all kinds of dirty thoughts. Of course, I was pretty sure Macy could just sit and read a book and it would give me dirty thoughts. And if there was one thing I'd been thinking a lot about, it was Macy.
After lunch with my so called friends, I had spent the rest of the afternoon thinking about what they'd said. I hated it when Zane and Trey teased me into questioning my own motives. I could never lie to myself. I couldn't deny that Macy being a virgin had piqued my interest, but it had very little to do with my feelings for her. Somehow, in a very short time, she had made me rethink everything. I'd never believed there was one woman out in the world meant to tame my heart, but Macy had changed that. After the long list of women I'd dated or been with, I'd finally met the one who I could picture myself being with long past the first few dates or a good long night of sex. I'd finally met a woman who I could see spending time with and who I would miss terribly if she was no longer around.
I hadn't been much help, the opposite most likely, but the one thing I could do with some skill was wash dishes. Being the youngest of four boys, I had somehow always managed to be the one stuck with dish duty.
Macy finished placing the last pastries on the cooling rack. She looked tired from another long day, and I found myself wanting to cradle her in my arms and kiss th
e weariness from her expression.
I picked up a pot and began to dry it. "You are doing the work of at least three people, Macy. Can't you hire someone to help?"
She started putting away the ingredients. "I plan to someday, when this business actually starts to make enough. But right now, I'm working just to keep this house and pay bills. I did, however, use my spread sheets to extrapolate when that might be. And I'm happy to announce that by winter of the year 2023, I'll be able to hire an employee."
I looked over at her to see if she was serious. The side of her lip tipped up with a weak smile, but her eyes were glassy. She shrugged. "I'm getting a lot of customers, and, most importantly, loyal customers, but the overhead is huge, and as you can see, the labor is intensive. When I look at the numbers, even with me selling out almost every day, I don't think I can ever make a real living selling goodies from a food cart. My real dream was to start my own bakery, with help and with a side business of custom cakes. But that all faded away with my botched wedding plans." She took a deep, sad sounding breath as she looked around at the dozens of amazing pastries she'd baked in her tiny kitchen in just a matter of hours. "You can see now why I had to turn down your offer to make a chocolate treat for your company. I just don't have any more hours in my day."
"I see that. By the way, we found someone to work with. One of the names you gave me. I think they call themselves the Chocolate Chicks. They were very excited, so I'm sure you'll be getting a thank you from them. I made sure to let them know you recommended them. If it works out well, they could have a permanent gig making chocolates for our boxes."
"Great," Macy said, sounding a little sad about it. "I went to school with Fran and Hanna. You'll like working with them."
"I would rather have been working with you." I put down the towel and wrapped my arms around her. She relaxed against me with a tired sigh. "I brought a new product that I think you'll like. The women at work, our highly enthusiastic product testers, really loved it. Why don't you take that shower you were mentioning, and I'll finish drying these dishes. Then we can give it a test run on you. I think you need it."
She lifted her face up to mine. "Oh my gosh, there's so much perfection to go along with those sparkling green eyes. I don't think I want to give you back."
"Give me back to who?"
"I don't know." She stepped out of my arms and waved her hand through the air as if it weighed a hundred pounds. "All those women you hang out with. Never mind. I'm so tired, I'm just rambling." She plodded to the bathroom, and I finished cleaning up.
I heard the shower running and soapy steam was drifting under the bathroom door. I walked out to my car and grabbed the bag with the lavender massage oil off the passenger seat. It had warmed in the last hours of daylight, just as I'd hoped. The women had been standing around the coffee pot this morning, smelling like a field of lavender and raving about the wonderful oil. I'd decided to grab a bottle and try it out on Macy.
I stepped back into the house. I headed to the bedroom to put down the bottle of massage oil. The shower turned off as I walked back down the hallway. I stood there and stared at the bathroom door, thinking about Macy standing on the other side, wet and naked. That was all it took to make me hard. I thought back to Sunday when I'd tasted her pussy and felt her come against my mouth. All I could think about after that was what it would feel like to be buried deep inside of her, holding her naked, trembling body in my arms as I pushed her to climax. For now, I would take it slow. It would take all my control, but I wanted to make this right for her. She'd waited so many years, I wanted her to be sure. I planned to use every technique and skill in my arsenal to make her ready. I needed her to want me as badly as I wanted her.
It seemed I was delusional about the amount of self-control I had when it came to Macy. Before I'd even formed the decision in my brain, I reached for the bathroom doorknob. It turned. I stepped into the steamy room.
I could see Macy's silhouette through the pink plastic shower curtain. She was wringing out her hair. As she turned her head outward, she obviously caught my silhouette as well. A small gasp echoed off the shower stall.
Her fingers curled around the edge of the curtain, and she peeked her face around. "Hello."
"Hello." I picked up the towel and held it open. "I decided I still had one more thing to dry."
I worried for a second that she'd shut the curtain and tell me to get out. Instead, she pushed back the curtain, unveiling the masterpiece that I'd been anticipating. I'd seen her mostly naked, but this was the first time she was completely naked and standing in full view.
I held the towel back for a second to allow myself the pleasure of looking at her. "You are head to toe beautiful, Macy."
"And you are far too practiced at flattery. I assure you that if you examined me closely, head to toe, there would be a whole list of flaws." She lifted her long, sleek thigh over the edge of the shower and stepped into to the waiting towel. She pointed out an inch long scar on her shoulder. "See this. An unsightly reminder of a front flip off my friend's diving board. Clipped myself good. The entire deep end of the pool turned red. Looked like a scene from Jaws."
"And yet you wear it just right, so it's very sexy." I leaned my mouth down and kissed the scar. I rubbed my hands along the towel, working up some warm friction to dry her skin.
She stood still and let me dry her, blinking up at me with her big brown eyes. "You are talented with terry cloth . . . among other things."
I rubbed the towel over her head, and she laughed as I gave it a good scrub. "I'm starting to feel a little like a dog that just came in from the rain." Her voice was muffled by the towel.
"That's the last thing I want." I wrapped the towel around her and took her hand. I led her down the hallway and waved my hand over the bed. "Welcome to the Chase England spa. Now drop the towel, darlin' and place that hot little body on the bed, perky bottom up."
Her eyes drifted to the bottle of oil. "Lavender. Ooh, I think I'm going to like this."
She made a show of removing the towel. I nodded in approval. I couldn't stop myself from kissing her breasts and tasting her nipples before she lowered her body onto the bed. My cock strained in my pants as I watched her climb onto the bed and lay down on her belly. Again, I couldn't stop myself from first kissing and then taking a bite out of her ass. I was hoping that allowing myself fun in little spurts would help ease some of the pressure I was putting on my body, like those small earthquakes that are supposed to relieve energy to avoid a cataclysmic earthquake. But it seemed each taste or touch only made the tension in my muscles and the throbbing in my cock intensify.
Maybe this would be the night when I heard Macy say, ‘please, Chase I want you’. I was sure going to do my damndest to make it happen.
I knelt down on the bed next to her body.
She lifted her head up. "Uh, excuse me, sir, but don't expect a good review for your spa if the masseuse doesn't at least take off his shirt. I'm kind of feeling a little overexposed. I haven't seen nearly as much of you."
"I don't want to risk a bad review." She watched as I lifted off my shirt. Her eyes drifted down to my fly where my cock was making no attempt at hiding itself.
"I see all your parts are working and in good order." She laughed and lowered her head to the pillow. "Maybe this will be a five star review after all."
"I sure as hell hope so." I squeezed a puddle of oil into my palm. Lavender permeated the air, even drowning out the lingering aroma of pastries in the house. I straddled her naked bottom. It was pure fucking torture. How badly I wanted to just yank off my jeans and introduce her to the world of fucking. I clenched my jaw and tried hard to refocus on the massage. I rubbed the oil in my hands and started at her shoulders.
Chapter Nineteen
Macy
Chase's hands were pure heaven as he smoothed the fragrant oil over my tired body. The truth was I'd gotten myself into a bit of a funk after I'd crunched numbers from my first week in business. I was workin
g so hard, but it seemed I really hadn't considered just how hard this was going to be to do on my own. Meeting Chase in the midst of it had thrown me off my game some too, which wasn't great. But I still wasn't willing to give him up. He could stick around for as long as he wanted, although I reminded myself daily that that wouldn't be long. I was certain Chase wasn't the stick around type.
In the meantime, I was learning about the physical pleasures I'd been missing all these years. And I was sure I couldn't ask for a better person to introduce me to those tasty delights than Chase. Now if I wasn't falling for him at the same time, I'd pat myself on the back for becoming a sophisticated, modern woman. But I was falling for him, so I was holding back on the self-congratulation.
As his capable, strong hands made their way along my back and sides, a rush of heat surged between my legs. I couldn't stop thinking about the exquisite sensations Chase had filled me with when he'd leaned down between my legs. My inexperience was quickly erased by his experience. He knew his way around my body as if he had a map etched in his brain.
As if any more luxury needed to be added to my lavender laden massage, Chase leaned over me and planted kisses along the back of my neck. I mewled softly, letting him know that he was hitting all the right places.
I could feel his hard, muscular body looming over me as he gently and erotically kneaded my muscles. "You've got some tension in this lower back," he noted. He spread his hands wide and rolled them up my back, smoothing out all the kinks with his magic touch.
As my body relaxed and my head was filled with a lavender cloud, the same urgent pulsing need I'd felt before, when he'd brought me to orgasm with his hands and mouth, returned. This time the ache felt hollow as if the only way it could be satiated was if it were filled.
The rough denim of Chase's jeans scraped my thighs as he scooted lower. He used his knees to spread my thighs wide. I obliged him by moving them even wider. I wanted to let him know that I wanted him there, between my legs.