by Billy Storm
Part of me can’t help but wonder why he hasn’t asked me for more? Pushed me for sex? Despite what he claims he wants for us, part of me thinks that Rhett might not be as into me, as attracted to me as I am him. But then wouldn’t he have bailed by now? Once again, self-doubt is my biggest enemy and I’m not willing to let it ruin whatever it is that Rhett and I have together. I won’t let it. Rhett deserves better than that, and quite honestly so do I. Ugh. It has only been a couple weeks, I guess. It just feels like I’ve known him for so much longer and I’ve never felt a connection like I have with him.
When we take the next exit ramp, I’m still unsure of where we are heading. Rhett drives through the curves with precision and we only slow when we get closer to the lake. It’s beautiful. I’ve never been here but I’ve driven past many times before. Stopping the bike and killing the ignition, Rhett stays where he is but offers me his hand to assist my rather ungraceful dismount from the bike. Lord, my legs feel like rubber.
“Whoa, Beautiful!” Getting off the motorcycle, he braces a hand on each side of my hips and steadies the slight sway I was rockin’. “You okay?”
Besides my embarrassment? “I’m good, thank you.”
He pulls a rolled up blanket and a paper bag from the other saddlebag then takes my hand in his. Rhett tugs me over the paved walkway and onto the sand. I successfully hide the smile that happens when I look down to see his black engineer boots sink inches into the sand. Not exactly beachwear, but that’s Rhett. The wind is just high enough that the waves are topped with whitecaps.
“This is good as any, I guess.” Rhett stops and spreads the blanket—well, he tries to lay the blanket, but the wind isn’t cooperating.
“Need a hand?”
“Maybe four!”
By the time we get the blanket somewhat settled we are both cracking up. I have tears in my eyes.
“Probably not the best day for a lakeside picnic, huh?”
I can tell Rhett’s embarrassed, but I find the whole situation hysterical. The guy tried—like really tried and a little wind isn’t going to scare me. Pulling a hair tie from my wrist, I secure my tangled hair in a messy bun and meet Rhett’s gaze, which is locked on me. “What?”
He shakes his head slightly. “I like that you’re a go with the flow chick.”
Interesting comment, but I’m not asking him to explain further. I’d rather enjoy our time here.
I see the moment he comes back to reality and snaps his eyes from mine. Hmm…wonder what that was about?
“I picked us up sandwiches from—”
“Not from CeeCee’s?”
“You know it.” Rhett hands me the white paper wrapped piece of heaven and says, “wheat bread, smoked turkey, tomato and light mayo.” It may only be a sandwich but the fact that he knows exactly how I like it? Touches me. Pathetic, right? Whatever. It’s been so long—actually I’ve never had a man who knew even the minuscule factoid of how I prefer light mayo over regular. It means something.
“Thank you, Rhett.” The man could seduce me with a simple sandwich. Dear God, let that be his intent.
“Did I get it right?”
“You’re perfect—I mean it’s perfect, thanks.” I fidget under his intense stare, and I know he caught my verbal fumble.
In mere seconds, his thick fingers pinch my chin raising my eyes to his. “You do know I think the same, right?” He smirks that smirk that only he has. A bit of bad boy mixed with good ol’ boy to boot.
“I’m far from perfect, Rhett, far from.”
That’s when he closes the distance between us, but he doesn’t go straight for my mouth or stick his tongue down my throat like most of my dates do. No, Rhett stops just a breath away from my lips. We’re sharing the same air. Existing on the same oxygen.
“We can be perfectly imperfect together then.” It’s then that his lips lightly touch mine, and even though it’s only seconds, my body reacts as if he’s primed me for hours.
Chapter Twelve
**Rhett**
Jesus, I want devour her mouth; I want to shove my tongue down her throat. It’s like I’m some teen still in the throes of puberty and about to touch my first boob. I’m amazed that I could keep my hands to myself through the whole meal. After I finish my last bite of sandwich, I see Skye wrap what’s left of hers back in the paper it came in. “Done?”
“Yeah, I’m done, I’ll probably finish it—”
“In a couple hours?” I’ve already picked up on her habits and I know in a couple hours or so she’ll finish what’s left of her supper, and she’ll wash it down with half a glass of sweet tea. Hell, I even know she’ll use her favorite Coke glass the one with the green tint to it that resides next to her kitchen sink. Her smile is a thing of beauty.
“I’m that predictable, huh?”
“I’m not sure if it’s predictable as much as adorable.”
“Me? Nuh-uh,” she denies, uncapping her water and taking a sip. Those luscious lips hug the plastic bottle and make me jealous that I wasn’t the one graced with their touch. Fuck! Skye has the sexiest neck I’ve ever seen. I’ve never noticed a woman’s neck before, but Skye’s is smooth and feminine and the way her throat muscles move— “I’m not adorable.”
“You’re right, you’re not.” I reply, my eyes leaving her neck as I watch the slight frown form on that face that I’ve come to cherish. “You’re absolutely beautiful.”
Every fucking time she blushes like she is now my pulse picks up and my breath hitches. Like a goddamn teen again.
Unzipping her ankle boots and pulling off her socks, I realize I’ve never seen her completely barefoot before and it feels intimate. This is the reason we’re taking this slow and steady. I’ve never felt that a woman’s bare toes were sexy but Skye’s blue—yes, blue painted toes are extremely sexy. The rhinestone toe ring gives off a glint in the now fading sunlight just before she digs her toes into the sand.
“So?”
Narrowing my eyes, I toss it back to her. “Soooooo?”
“Truth or dare?” she says, and I can’t help but laugh.
“Seriously?” I clear my throat, repelling the unsure lump in my throat. “Truth.” Chicken shit!
“Is it true that you dated Candy when you worked at Pinkies four years ago?”
Christ. “I only—”
She shakes her head. “Ah-ah, only need a one word answer there, bud.”
“Truth but—” I’m tempted to bite that finger she’s shaking at me.
“Shhh! All I needed to know.”
The hell it is, but I’ll play along…for now. “Fine, truth or dare, Beautiful?” I know she can feel the challenge in my eyes.
“Truth.”
“Is it true that you had your turn on the pole at the previous mentioned strip club?” I expect a quick denial. I knew when Nate said it he was full of shit.
“I had been drinking and—”
I cut her off as quickly as she had me and throw her own words back at her. “Only one word answers, Skye.” That little hmphing thing she does is as fucking precious as it is hysterical.
All week I’ve wondered if what Nate had said was true. I figured he was bullshitting because honestly that’s what Nate does. I’d have paid to seen her on the stage…if it ever happened in the first place. All those curves on display. Hips swaying to the music, lights reflecting off her shiny dark hair.
Taking in the sexy as fuck way she bit into her bottom lip and the fact she wouldn’t—rather couldn’t look me in the eyes I knew, I just knew the answer before she said it aloud.
“Truth.”
I heard the word from her own lips, saw the word slip from her mouth, and yet I found it hard to believe. Skye released that throaty laugh that sends a heat through my veins and simmers low in my groin. “No shit?”
When she laughed again, I felt my chest tighten. How the hell her embarrassed low laugh paired with an extremely charming blush hit me quite so hard I’m unsure. It did. No, she did.
&n
bsp; It was Skye to snap be back into reality. “I had one too many shots of tequila that night—”
When I went to remind her of the one word only answer rule she held a single finger to my lips.
“I don’t care about the stupid rules, Rhett. I was drunk, okay I was half drunk…” I stared at her in disbelief before she finally fessed up. “Fine! I was buzzed, and I thought it’d be fun to try once—only once.”
She reached down and fiddled with the sand. Grain after lucky grain of sand sifted through her fingers. The sexy and confident Skye appeared self-conscious and it killed me—fucking slayed me. Lifting her chin with merely a single finger. “Hey, what’s that look for, beautiful?”
“It was stupid, I know but…” She sat a bit straighter, squaring her shoulders and lifting her chin a pinch more she continued. “It was fun even if I’m well aware, and honestly I don’t care, that I had no business up there—”
Instead of arguing, I pull her not so gently down to my mouth and completely swallow her remaining words. Once my lips are against hers, where I’ve wanted them every fucking minute of every fucking day since I met her, my plan to give her a subtle reminder of what a sexy wanted woman she is was shot to hell. Those full lips I can’t resist nipping at and then soothing the sting with my tongue. There’s no way I can pull away from her mouth now. Jesus! It’s as if I’ve never kissed a woman before, or maybe it’s just that I’ve never kissed one that could compare to Skye.
Pulling away from her mouth then was as hard as pulling out of her driveway is now. Straddling my bike is easier said than done with an erection raging like I have now.
Firing up my bike, I try to push the look on Skye’s face outta my goddamn head. When I said I’d better get home, I saw the confusion in her face and maybe even some hurt. The last thing I want is to see her hurt and know that I caused it. I had to leave. I needed to put some space between us before we crossed the line and I couldn’t walk away from her, couldn’t slow down and take my time, and cherish her as she deserves. Fuck, this is all new territory for me and quite honestly, it scares the living shit out of me. Every relationship I’ve ever had I’ve been the one to fuck it up. I’ve been the one to run, to leave. And I’ve never felt the way I do when I’m with her. When I’m with Skye.
Jesus, listen to me! It’s like I’ve grown a couple ovaries in place of my balls. Hell, I’d wonder if it was true if I didn’t have a serious case of blue balls happening right now.
This new unknown territory has me scared shitless. A certain dark haired, green-eyed, curvy as fuck woman has me all sorts of messed up and it’d be funny if it wasn’t so damn terrifying.
**Skye**
Maybe I should get a dog? Okay, I know it’s usually the norm for a single woman my age to start collecting cats like they’re miniature spoons. You know the kind right? Every truck stop from coast to coast has racks of thimbles, playing cards, all those dang shot glasses, and those tiny spoons with the state name printed on it. I have a box of those things around here somewhere. Why my dad thought I needed a miniature spoon from every state is beyond me, but I loved them all because at least my dad thought of me. No cats though. Dog? Mmmmaybe.
I always wanted a dog, but my mother never cared for animals in the house. Not that she really cared for us girls in the house either but she tolerated us. Oh, I know my mother loved us, both Rain and I. But, she never seemed settled. As a child, I didn’t know what the issue was or why she wasn’t very happy. I thought it was because my dad was gone so much. He’d been a long haul trucker as long as I could remember and mom always seemed more distant than my father who was thousands of miles away. Go figure, huh?
As an adult? And after daddy died, I’ve come to realize that my mother most likely felt trapped. I know she loves me and loves my sister Rain as well, but I’ve also seen her free spirit fly without hesitation in recent years. I believe she loved daddy, but I also think she was lonely. Donna Louise Blake wasn’t meant to be a stay at home mommy. No, she was made to travel with no agenda, photograph flowers, wear flowing skirts, write poetry, and listen to Stevie Nicks—not be tied down for years with children she’d practically raised by herself.
I understand that now and I don’t think less of her, actually, the opposite. Donna Blake, gypsy at heart, put her wants and needs on hold to raise two girls who knew they were loved and were taken care of. If only I still felt that love now. I know, I know, I’ve had it much better than many kids have, and I’m an adult after all but…sometimes I don’t want to be an adult.
Like today for example. I could go without being an adult at the moment. Because only an adult woman would feel like she’d been toyed with once again. Yup, only an adult woman would start to feel like maybe she’s not only missing something but maybe there is something wrong with her. Uh-huh, only an adult woman such as herself would be contemplating getting a dog, because once again she came home alone and to an empty place…alone—wait, I said that already, didn’t I?
Truth was I’m even more confused tonight than I was last night and the night before. Rhett’s been coming over, kissing me, whispering all sorts of things he wants to do to me, but he’s yet to do them. God, I want him to do them. We’ve spent night after night talking, cuddling on the couch watching Netflix. He has to be the only man that says we can watch Netflix and chill and actually mean it. C’mon! Everyone knows that Netflix and chill means someone’s about to get pregnant if you’re not careful.
Instead, Rhett kissed me until I was dazed and hardly able to catch my breath. I know damn well what he saw when he looked in my eyes. The something I saw in his…want, need, plain ol’ desire.
Figuring I could move us along, I gave him all the signs a man could ever want to move forward. Spreading my fingers, I mapped out his chest, the muscles that were strung tight in his arms. Without an ounce of shame, I straddled his lap. My knees besides his hips, I rocked against the hard bulge beneath me. For a moment, I thought he was onboard when his hips rose slightly with each undulation. He wanted me as much as I wanted him. I heard it in his choppy breath, and I felt it in his raging pulse beneath my wandering fingers. And when he kissed me again? Rhett was making damn sure I knew he wanted me.
He traced my lips with his tongue as a single finger slid from my chin down my neck and rested just above my breasts. Slow torturous feather light touches over the tops of my breasts had me pushing harder against his erection. “More…don’t stop this time,” I pleaded as I nipped his bottom lip. Once again, after he pulled me harder against him a few more times, he stopped—just fucking stopped. “Rhett?”
Weaving his hands in hair that he’d pulled free from the clip I had it in, he pulled me closer so we were forehead to forehead. “I don’t wanna stop, but we have to. I want you like you wouldn’t believe, but once I get you in bed, it won’t be for a quick fuck, and we don’t have time tonight.”
Once again? Once again I’m left with my body well past primed and left alone in my queen size bed. I mean seriously, a girl can only masturbate so much before she just feels pitiful, ya know? I’m awfully close to feeling pitiful…but not yet.
Sliding my hand down over my belly, I spread my legs after I slip my hand inside my plaid shorts. Just as my fingers begin rubbing above my swollen clit, my phone rings and scares the hell outta me. Looking around as if I expect to be caught by someone who isn’t there, I answer without looking at the screen. “H-hello?” Clearing my throat, I instantly regret answering without looking at the caller id first when I hear that low laugh I immediately recognize. “Jaden?”
“Skye,” he says.
Dammit. I’d been screening my calls and messages for the past two weeks, and I’ve been able to avoid him…until now. “What do you want?”
“I like when you talk all snippy to me. Gets me hard as a rock because I start thinking about how pissed you were when we fucked in my office.”
Oh Jesus. “I’m not being snippy as you put it.”
“Oh yeah you are and Skye?”
Why do I take the bait? Ugh. Why? “Yeah?”
“It’s working, I’m hard already.”
This man is like a fucking rash. I want him gone and think I can ignore him enough that he’ll finally fade away but it just doesn’t happen. “Good for you. Goodbye, Jaden.” And this time when my phone rings, I don’t answer it nor the time after.
Chapter Thirteen
**Jaden**
Last night, she hung-up on me in under a minute. That kinda shit’s embarrassing but from Skye? It’s a fucking turn-on. If she was trying—okay, I know she’s trying to get rid of me but it’s not working. I don’t get it. We’re both adults and I was there, I heard her scream, I felt her orgasm, so I know she had just as good a time as I did. Why the hell are we wasting time not fucking on the daily?
It was no secret she’d been ignoring my calls and I know she never even read the text messages I sent. That’s bullshit.
Fine, she won’t talk to me on the phone, then, we’ll talk face to face. Mandy told me that Skye had traded shifts with Kennedy once again and would be in early today. So I wait. Glancing through the glass, I watch as she serves the late breakfast eaters and the early lunch goers. If I’m not mistaken, she looks a lot more relaxed and a helluva lot friendlier during the early shift. But then again most of the patrons are little old couples and mothers with young children. The normal dining crowd of wild college kids are either still asleep in their beds or trying to stay awake in class.
Why do you care if she prefers waiting on old-timers instead of sorority girls and frat boys? I didn’t, I don’t.
Lost in my own fucked up thoughts, I almost miss her as she comes out of the diner and heads toward her car. Pulling my car up beside hers as she tosses her backpack in her trunk, I see the shock on her face when she slams the trunk shut. Skye doesn’t say anything as she heads to the drivers side door. I’m outta my car and pushing her door closed just as she opened it. “Skye!”