He unzipped his fly and pulled his cock out almost immediately before regaining his seat. His gaze never leaving hers , he fisted his cock, stroking up and down in a way that let her know he was imagining that he was deep inside her. It was too much. She straddled his legs again and lowered herself slowly onto his erection. It had been a while and the tightness was almost painful, but delicious at the same time. Her nerve endings tingled with delight as he raised her then lowered her again and again the slick sensations spread out from her throbbing pussy. He grabbed her hips in a bruising grip as she pushed down with all her strength grinding and writhing against him as her orgasm hovered just out of reach. Harder. Faster. They pushed together until suddenly it exploded through them nearly at the same moment. She watched as his orgasm wracked his body with spasms, sending his penis so deeply inside her she gasped aloud as the movement pushed her over the edge as well.
She collapsed against him, her body totally incapable of further movement. Apparently he felt the same way as his head lolled against the back of the chair. Their heavy breathing was the only sound in the room for a long time.
AFTER what seemed like an eternity he finally spoke. “Now that we’ve got that out the way I can tell you what I came to ask you about.”
Caja shifted against him, still feeling a bit disoriented. “What? I thought you said you came to take me to lunch. I’m seriously starting to think you’ve got some kind of feeder fetish. Maybe you need to talk to somebody.”
“Uh huh. I did come to take you to lunch, but I thought you might want to go to something with me this weekend.”
Caja climbed off his lap, suddenly self-conscious about what they’d just been doing. In her office of all places! “What did you have in mind?” she asked as she pulled her shirt down before picking up her soaking wet panties off the floor. Clearly she couldn’t put those back on. Still naked from the bottom down , she walked over to her desk. She had to have a spare in there. As she was so focused on getting redressed, she almost missed the rest of what Michael said. When the gist of his question registered, she dropped the fresh pair of panties she’d found in her desk drawer. The scrap of flamingo pink satin looked totally out of place on her ultramodern glass desktop. “Did you just ask me to go to your parent’s house for a cookout?” Caja felt almost dizzy. Just when she thought she had him on her terms he’d turned the tables on her. Again.
“Why is it that coming from you it sounds like we’re going off on a tri-state murder spree?” Michael said as he rose to his feet and began adjusting his clothing. He zipped his jeans with a firm snap of his wrist, then looked at her with a frown.
“Because that actually makes more sense,” she said as she stepped into the panties. “Have you lost your mind?”
“What’s the problem? I thought that now that we’re back together -- ”
Caja cut him off mid-sentence. “That’s just it. We’re not back together. We were never together, so how could we possibly be back to anything?”
Michael didn’t say anything, just stared at her for a long moment. His face had lost so much color , his bone structure stood out in stark relief. A vein that bisected his temple throbbed a silent threat. The look in his eyes was enough the dry the saliva in her mouth and even if she had had anything to say Caja wasn’t certain she was capable of speech in that moment. Rage, pure rage poured out from him and she thought for a moment that he might actually strike her. Then, as though he had shut that emotion down through sheer force of will , an icy chill seemed to settle over him. Without another word he turned on his heel and walked out of her office , closing the door softly behind him.
Caja collapsed into her desk chair just staring into space. A loud crash from the foyer distracted her for a moment and she started to get up to investigate. Then sat back down. Kit had probably dropped something. Whatever it was, Kit would deal with it. Besides she was pretty sure she ’d just screwed up on an epic scale. What in the name of hell had she just done? Would it have killed her to go to a cookout with the man? She wasn’t stupid. It wasn’t just a cookout and she knew it. It was part of his plan to have her in a relationship before she even knew what had happened. But it wasn’t like he could make her do anything, and she could have turned him down without hurting his feelings. She exhaled heavily. It was just so damned domesticated. The idea of meeting his family terrified her. Before she’d even thought about it she’d panicked. Still the look on his face. She knew she’d hurt him deeply. Maybe unforgivably. She didn’t know how long she sat there before Kit bustled in. Her assistant was halfway across the floor before she stopped short.
“You do realize you’re not wearing pants, don’t you?” Kit said.
Caja didn’t say anything for a long moment , still trying to gather her thoughts. “Kit, I think I’ve fucked up.”
Kit looked around the room. “Unless I miss my guess, I’d say you’ve been fucked.”
“That too. I’ve got to...” she rose to her feet.
“Put on your pants?” Kit said helpfully with a wry twist of her lips as she handed Caja the garment.
Caja hurriedly stepped into the trousers , still flabbergasted by what she had done. “I’ve got to talk to Michael,” she said then took a deep breath remembering the look he’d given her right before he left the room.
“I’m thinking that’s not such a good idea.”
“Why not?”
“There’s a three foot hole in the wall of my office. I assume he caused it, since it wasn’t there before I left. I came in here to make sure you were okay and to ask what had happened. I thought maybe it was movers or something. Then I find you without pants. I’m not sure what the story is. Considering what y’all have been doing the hole makes no sense, but then again, knowing you, it’s perfectly logical. I just hope it didn’t involve something you got from that awful store.”
Caja sighed and sank back into her chair. She closed her eyes, suddenly tired beyond all measure. Tears welled up and she pressed the heels of her hands against her eyes to hold the tears in check. She knew from experience that they did no good. Michael had been her rock through all the chaos of the past few weeks. She knew without a doubt she would’ve failed, might even have wound up back in the hospital without him. And now she’d hurt him, and she had no doubt that had been almost unbearable pain she’d seen in his eyes right before he walked out the door. For years now she’d used what happened with Mark as an excuse. An excuse to avoid commitment, but that hadn’t kept Michael away. Hadn’t kept him from falling in love with her, or for that matter her from falling in love with him. And there it was, her greatest fear out there in black and white: Love.
Her thoughts still scrambling as she sought a way to rectify what she had so irretrievably fucked up , her gaze landed on the gorgeous orchid Michael had brought into her office when he came in. The white flowers just barely touched with the palest pink trembled ever so lightly in the air current caused by the air conditioning. Caja studied them for a long moment before she realized what she needed to do.
“Kit, I’m going to need an ula.”
“I’m sure you will. I always try to keep one handy. You want to tell me what on earth an ula is or what it does?”
Caja grinned. “It’s going to help me make a really big apology.”
* * * * *
Caja stepped up to the door on legs that refused to stop shaking. The large florist box she held under her arm was damp from her sweat. It wasn’t a particularly warm day, at least not for late May in North Alabama. She knew it was flop sweat, a not uncommon occurrence when her nerves were shot. Calling Laila to get her parent’s address had taken every bit of will she had. Surprisingly Laila hadn’t asked any questions. Caja didn’t know whether to be gratified or frightened by that. Now she stood on the wrap around porch of the large farmhouse wondering if this was all a mistake. Before she could decide whether to ring the doorbell or run, the door suddenly opened. A petite woman who was the image of Laila looked at her for several long secon
ds, then she smiled.
“You must be Caja, Michael’s friend,” she said reaching out to give Caja a hug. Caja stepped into the embrace wondering just what Michael had told his family about her. “I’m Maura Faletolu, Michael’s mother. Everyone is out back. Do you need me to take that box?”
“Uh, it’s for Michael,” Caja said. Then extended the wine bottle she held in her other hand. “This is for you. Is Michael here?” Caja asked , suddenly wondering if this whole thing had been pointless after all.
“Of course. Where else would he be?” Mrs. Faletolu said, gesturing for Caja to follow her through the house. Before too long they reached the kitchen, where Mrs. Faletolu placed the wine on the counter with several other bottles. “He’s been in a cranky mood all day. Just not himself. Maybe you can cheer him up.” Though the words were pleasant enough her dark brown eyes studied Caja closely, obviously assessing her reaction.
Caja took a deep breath. Good grief! She knows. Does Michael tell his business to his entire family? And with that thought sanity slowly returned. Even Michael wasn’t crazy enough to have told her everything . She stood speechless just waiting for the questions to begin.
While Caja panicked , Mrs. Faletolu continued speaking. “I think he’s out back. Here, help me with these fruit trays. The kids are going through them like there’s no tomorrow.”
Caja, mollified by the reprieve, grabbed one of the trays and followed the other woman out the door. The deck was expansive, spanning the width of the house on two levels. The pool was large as well, a half-dozen kids had gathered around a fountain in the shallow end. Their berry brown bodies glistening in the sunlight. There were lounging chairs placed in the water and three younger women relaxed there while keeping a sharp eye on the children. There were so many people ; Caja immediately knew she’d made a monumental mistake. What had Michael been thinking to invite her here? This wasn’t just a casual weekend cookout ; it was family reunion . Maura looked around the yard, apparently looking for Michael. She grabbed a lanky teenager as he bustled past her.
“Where is Michael?”
“Oh, I think he’s in the pool house. Said it was too crowded out here and he needed some quiet.”
Maura nodded and prepared to walk Caja over to the small building that sat off to one side of the pool.
Caja licked her lips, not sure she wanted witnesses for this encounter with him. “If you don’t mind Mrs. Faletolu, I’d like to go alone.”
Maura narrowed her eyes and studied Caja for a long moment. Caja wasn’t sure what the woman was looking for, but apparently she found it because she nodded. “Of course. That’s probably a good idea.”
Caja navigated the steps down to the ground then made her way over to the glass-fronted building, maneuvering around people and assorted sports and pool equipment as she went. She opened the door, but it took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the relative darkness of the room after the bright sunshine outside.
“I told you I didn’t want to be bothered,” Michael said from the other side of the room.
Caja gasped as she looked in that direction to a large rattan sofa where Michael reclined. How did he know it was her? It took a moment, but she quickly realized that the back of the sofa faced the door, there was no way he could’ve known it was her who had entered the room. She hesitated , though. He still sounded really angry and he’d already punched a hole in her office wall. While she stood there wondering what to do, he sat up on the sofa , a scowl marring his usual cheerful expression.
“Oh. It’s you. What are you doing here?”
“I was invited,” she somehow mustered up the courage to say.
“An invitation you declined.”
“A girl can change her mind, can’t she?”
“Yeah, and so can a guy. I don’t want you here.”
“Too late, I’m already here, and I’m not going anywhere.”
“I was afraid you were going to say that.”
It was now or never. It was like the first release move on the p-bars -- either you caught it and looked brilliant or you missed and landed on your ass. Either way, you knew exactly where you stood afterwards.
“I’m sorry, Michael. You were right. I’ve been running for a long time. Scared of...just scared. Then I met you. I knew you weren’t just a fuck buddy, but I was too scared to think of you as anything else. Here, I got you this.” She handed him the florist box.
He took the box and put it down on the coffee table. After glancing up at her again he opened the box.
“Where the hell did you get an ula around here?”
“Kit is very resourceful.”
He lifted the floral garland out of the box , studying it closely.
“Where did she get the shark teeth?”
“Knowing Kit, probably from an actual shark.”
A single bark of laughter was his only response as he continued to look at the ula. The bright orange flowers contrasted with the shark teeth and small brown shells that adorned the garland. His school colors were orange and blue so the florist had added tiny blue flowers as accents. Despite being composed primarily of orchids , there was an unexpected masculinity to the piece.
Michael cleared his throat. “You have to put it on me.”
Caja nodded then walked over to take the ula from him. He leaned forward slightly so she could place it around his neck. “Do you forgive me? Keep in mind the risk I’ve taken for you. Buying a garland in Auburn colors is enough to get me kicked out of the Georgia alumni association,” she joked looking down at his bowed head.
He didn’t laugh with her. Instead he touched one delicate flower. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying? You do know what this means, don’t you?”
No more punking out. “According to Google it can mean a lot of things, but in my case it means I love you and want to marry you.”
He sat there on the sofa looking up only slightly even though she was standing. Because of the height difference they were nearly eye-to-eye.
“Damn. If I’d known all I had to do was punch a hole in the wall I would’ve done that months ago.”
“It wasn’t the hole. I think I finally just grew up. It was that whole control thing I’ve been dealing with forever. When I was in therapy we talked about how I used food to exert control. I started eating, but I think I used sex the same way in relationships. You were the first guy who wouldn’t let me.”
“Yeah , I know.”
“If you knew, why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because you had to figure it out on your own,” he said.
“Uh Michael, you still haven’t said it,” she said.
“Said what?”
“You haven’t said you love me and you’ll marry me.”
“I thought that was simply understood.”
“Well , it wasn’t.”
He lifted the ula over his head and draped it around her neck. “I love you and will marry you anytime , any place .”
Caja couldn’t contain her happiness and the broad smile that spread across her face. She touched one of the shark teeth. “You know, I’ve had guys offer me some of the most dazzling diamonds on earth when they proposed.”
For the first time Michael looked uncertain. “I know baby, but I’m a teacher. I can probably do better than this, though” he gestured toward the ula.
Caja crossed her hands over the flower garland in a protective gesture. “Nope. No one could ever do better than this. ”
I hope you enjoyed my book, be sure to like my fanpage on Facebook. Thank you so much! Cyndi
Table of Contents
Copyright
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 6
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
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