by Layla Hagen
We ate at one of the best fried chicken joints in town, then headed to my apartment. On the way, I thought about Paige again. Screw this. I was going to text her and invite her over. Chances were high that she already had plans.
Will: What are you doing tonight? Any chance you’d like to hang out with me and Milo?
She answered a few seconds later.
Paige: I’m on my way home from an out-of-town conference. It’s a two-hour drive so I won’t be in until later. But I could drop by with dessert.
I lowered myself on my haunches until I was level with Milo.
“Do you remember Paige? My friend from the wedding?”
“Yes.”
“Would you be cool with her stopping by later with dessert?”
“Sure. Can she bring nachos? I can eat them for dessert.”
I ruffled Milo’s hair, texting back Paige. Energy filled me at the thought of seeing her tonight. I knew why Milo liked spending time at my apartment. It was in a complex with seven buildings, each no higher than three stories. There were also two pools and a playground for kids, though he hadn’t wanted to use the latter in years.
When Milo and I entered my apartment, it immediately hit me that this place looked like a damn tornado had blown through it. I was usually messy, and the messiness increased by a factor of ten whenever Milo slept over.
“Buddy, we need to clean this place up a bit before Paige arrives.”
“Clean?” Milo looked crestfallen. I couldn’t blame him. I’d never asked this of him, much to the chagrin of my sister. This was karma biting me back. I mentally went through the arsenal of methods I usually employed to convince Milo. They might include bribing. I decided to go with honesty.
“Ladies don’t like messes,” I explained.
“Ooooh... you want to impress her?”
“Yes. Yes. That’s it.”
“You could try jumping from the top of a tree. Marshall and Xander from my school tried to impress Anna, so Marshall jumped from a low branch, then Xander climbed to an even higher branch.”
I stared at him. Were boys really that ridiculous? If my young years were any indication, the answer was a resounding yes. “Buddy, that’s a very, very bad idea.”
“Anna was impressed, though. She even went to the school doctor with Xander when he broke his wrist.”
“Yeah, but breaking your wrist to get a girl’s attention is stupid. Don’t do it.”
“And you think that cleaning up will work?” Milo asked skeptically.
“Well, let me put it this way: not cleaning up will definitely not help.”
Grudgingly, Milo agreed to help. We spent the next fifteen minutes picking up stuff from the floor, only to place it on the couch or the table, where it also didn’t belong. This wasn’t productive at all. Finally, we fashioned out a plan. We’d stack the stuff lying around in the empty dresser in the guest room, where Milo was sleeping. We’d almost managed to make the space look presentable when the doorbell rang. I swept my gaze across the room once. Much better than before.
Milo jetted to the door before me, opening up. The corners of Paige’s mouth lifted in a smile when she saw Milo.
“Hello, Ms. Paige.” He stepped to the side, letting her in. “I’m Milo.”
“I know. I remember you from the wedding. You were the most handsome young man there, in your tuxedo.”
Milo’s smile took up his entire face. He loved being called a young man. Paige stepped inside. I’d been on edge the entire day, but just being in the same space with her made that tension go away.
She came up to me, sashaying her hips, and I was filled with a different type of tension that radiated from below my belt. “Hello to you too, handsome.” She was close enough to kiss, and those lips were calling out to me, but I couldn’t kiss her in front of Milo—not the way I wanted, anyway, which included pinning her against the wall.
I relieved her of the two enormous bags she was carrying.
“What’s this?”
“Dessert.”
“Two bags of it?”
“I might have brought some other goodies too.”
I carried the bags to the low coffee table in the living room. Paige and Milo followed. “This looks cozy,” Paige commented, glancing around.
“We cleaned up because Uncle Will wanted to impress you,” Milo piped up. I groaned. Milo wasn’t done. Raising a skeptical eyebrow, he asked, “Are you impressed?”
Paige cleared her throat and did a full turn, moving slowly, making a big show of looking around. I suspected she was fighting laughter. When she faced us again, she looked on the verge of tears. But she did not laugh.
“Yes. I’m very impressed.”
“Milo,” I grumbled in a low voice.
“What?” The little rug rat correctly interpreted my expression. “I wasn’t supposed to say? But you didn’t tell me.”
Right. I stood corrected. Milo was good at keeping secrets... as long as he knew it was a secret.
“You wanted to keep it a secret that you wanted to impress me? Why is that, Will?” Paige asked, parking her hands on her hips.
That sassy mouth!
“Uncle Will doesn’t know how to impress ladies. I’ve never met a lady before.”
I was stunned into silence. Paige didn’t manage to hold back laughter anymore, but her eyes were full of warmth, and I thought that maybe it wasn’t so bad that Milo had let the cat out of the bag. No, I’d never introduced Milo to anyone I was dating.
“Well, I’m very, very impressed,” Paige said.
“Milo, you forgot to bring your backpack to your room. Do it now, before we eat.”
He nodded, slinging his backpack over his shoulder and dashing to his bedroom, which was at the other end of the apartment. Pocket doors separated the living room and kitchen area from the rest of the apartment.
The second Milo was out of the room, I made my move and kissed her. She parted her lips as my mouth touched hers, welcoming me as if she needed this as much as I did. Had she missed me just as much?
Somehow, kissing felt more intimate tonight. Maybe because the only other time she’d opened up like this for me was when I’d been deep inside her. She pressed her hot, curvy body against me, lacing her arms around my neck. I’d meant to just get a taste, but as usual with Paige, my control was nixed. When had I backed her against the wall? I’d bunched her dress in my hands too. Jesus. I took a deep breath, forcing myself to hit pause, stepping back.
“That was quite a kiss,” she muttered, looking absolutely beautiful, all hot and bothered for me.
“I needed a taste of you.” My voice was hoarse.
“Mmm... well, if you keep impressing me, I might let you have another taste later on.”
“Let me?”
“Oh, yeah. If I’m feeling generous, I might even let you have two.”
I stepped back closer, caging her in against the wall, and spread her legs with my knee, pressing my thigh between hers.
“I’ll have my fill of you, Paige. Taste your mouth, all of you.” I pressed my thumb straight over her clit. Even through all the layers of clothes, I knew it affected her, because she rolled her hips forward. “I’ll lick right there until you’re trembling and aching for me.”
Paige’s breath came out in a rush. I stepped back with a satisfied smile just as I heard Milo skitter back. The boy headed straight to the table. Paige and I followed suit.
“What did you bring, Paige?” Milo asked.
“Well, I brought a little bit of everything,” she said eventually and started unloading the bags on the coffee table, averting her gaze. She was so damn cute that I could eat her up. I planned to do just that, later on.
“Wow,” Milo exclaimed, taking in the opened food containers incredulously. I was fairly sure Paige was Milo’s favorite person in the world right now. “You brought popcorn and nachos and M&Ms. And chocolate chips.”
“When I spend time with my nieces, I buy even more.”
�
�You have nieces?” Milo asked excitedly.
“Yeah. Three of them. So I know all the tricks.”
Milo drummed his fingers on the table, as if deciding how to test her.
“Can you throw an M&M up in the air and catch it in your mouth?” Milo asked, as we sat on the couch right in front of the glass wall that opened up onto the balcony.
“Absolutely.”
To my complete astonishment, Paige popped open the bag and proceeded to perform a perfect throw and catch. Milo clapped his hands. Of course, Milo being Milo, he went on to throw another challenge at Paige, which she took.
I just sat back and watched them. This side of Paige was utterly charming. I didn’t remember ever feeling so peaceful and whole in my life.
“Hey, so I think Uncle Will isn’t paying any attention to us,” Paige whispered loud enough for me to hear. Paige motioned with her head to the takeout boxes, winked, and Milo winked back at her, and I knew I had zero chance of stopping the upcoming food fight.
Three hours later, the living room looked far worse than before Milo and I had cleaned up. Milo had fallen asleep on the couch, and I carried him to the spare bedroom. We’d laughed so much that my abdominal muscles were hurting. When I returned to the living room, I found Paige picking up some wrappers.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Cleaning up.”
“No, you’re not. Come on, let’s sit out on the balcony. I want to enjoy you now that you’re all mine.”
I walked over to her and pulled her to me.
“Watch where you put your hands, hot stuff.”
“Why is that?”
“Umm... Milo?”
“The guestroom is on the other side of the apartment, and he never wakes up during the night.”
“So sexy activities are on the table?”
He cocked a brow. “Was I not clear about that earlier?”
“Oh, I thought you were just talking big. You know... trying to impress me.”
Chapter Seventeen
Will
I led her out on the balcony. As we stepped out, Paige squeezed my hand, and I followed her gaze to the red wine bottle I’d set in a bucket, and the glasses and candles.
“You.... When did you do this?” she asked.
“After you said you’d join us. Figured you’d want to relax after so much driving. If you don’t want wine, I have other drinks.”
“Wine is great.”
She sat at the edge of the comfortable double lounge chair. It was my favorite place in the apartment. Since I lived on the top floor, there was no balcony above mine, so I had a full view of the sky. A tall palm tree right in front of us obscured us from anyone’s view. I lit the candles before pouring us wine. Paige was unnaturally quiet during the process. I wasn’t an expert on women’s minds, but my sisters had drilled one thing into me: when a woman was quiet, it was not because she didn’t have anything on her mind, but rather because she had too much.
We clinked glasses, and after the first sip, I asked, “Want to tell me what’s on your mind, pretty girl?”
She played with her glass, looking up at the stars, murmuring, “You’re very good at... romancing.”
I smiled, kissing her forehead. “Come on, let’s lie down. It’s a beautiful evening.”
We both sipped some more of the wine, then set the glasses on the small table and moved to the center of the lounge. I lay back first, holding my arm out for her to use as pillow, and she did just that, coming so close to me that our bodies touched completely. I brought my hand under her chin and tilted her head up, then kissed her slowly. I coaxed her tongue, deepening the kiss. My free hand moved to her dress, bunching up the fabric until I found her skin. Smooth and warm, inviting.
I kissed her until we were both out of breath and then kept my forehead pressed to hers, because I needed the contact.
“I’m glad you could swing by tonight,” I admitted.
“Thanks for inviting me.”
“I didn’t know if hanging out with me and Milo was up your alley.”
She laughed softly. “I’m always up for some fun time with kids.”
“I know that now. You’re quite a woman, Paige. The more I find out about you, the more I like you.”
She’d buried her face in my neck, and I felt her smile against my skin.
“Oh yeah? I like the sound of that.”
I couldn’t be sure, but I thought she might have wiggled her toes. We spoke about everything and nothing for a while, and she even pointed out some constellations. I made note of her interest in astronomy. Who knew when it might come in handy.
Something vibrated between us.
“That’s my phone,” I said, taking it out of my pocket. It was a notification from the calendar I kept for the rentals.
“You’re going away next week?” Paige asked, her eyes on the screen.
“No, I own a few rentals, and this is the booking calendar.”
“Holy shit, those are a lot of bookings. How many rentals do you own exactly?”
“Ten, for now.”
“Nice.”
It afforded me a great lifestyle that wasn’t obvious at first glance, which I liked.
“Want to tell me about your day?” I asked, and not just to make conversation. I wanted to know.
“Made some progress with the funding. I’m confident that I’ll have at least 25 percent of it in the bag in about a month.”
I loved her confidence. It wasn’t just blind cockiness. Her confidence was born out of knowing her strengths.
“Man, I just love August,” she said, apropos of nothing. We were in the second week of the month.
“Why?”
“I don’t know. It’s like the heat is more bearable. Or maybe I just get used to it. By the way, I had dinner with my parents. They, err... might know about you.”
I squeezed her to me, patting her ass. “What do you mean might? I thought I was bragworthy. I’m wounded.”
Paige laughed softly, poking my arm.
“What did you tell them about me?” I insisted.
“That you’re smoking hot and make me laugh.”
“That’s it?” I worked as much offense into my voice as possible. Paige was now nibbling on my neck, and I felt every lick of her tongue straight along my cock. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could keep the conversation going.
“Trust me, with my mom, less is more. Dad was actually a little shocked you’re on the force.”
That gave me pause. “Why?”
Paige stopped nibbling my neck and instead wiggled back a bit so she could look at me. “Because at all those annual events he has with colleagues, he’s always tried to set me up with sons of his comrades, and I wasn’t interested.”
I looked at her intently. “This reticence you have about my job is because of your dad, isn’t it?”
Paige nodded slowly. “I think so. It was just... hard, you know. Growing up, he was always away. That wouldn’t have been half bad if he’d been away on a random job, but what he did was dangerous. We all worried, so much. My biggest fear was that one day another man in uniform would show up at our house to tell us Dad wasn’t coming back.”
Paige’s voice wobbled, and my chest constricted. I pulled her into a hug, and she melted against me instantly.
“It happened to many of his comrades, so I know we were lucky,” she muttered in a small voice, but then she continued in a strong tone. “I know what he did was important, though. And so is what you do.”
“Paige... my job isn’t nearly as dangerous.”
“I know.” She shrugged, and I held her even tighter because I understood. I knew that bone-deep fear of losing someone you loved, though mine had a different root. Could we work through her misgivings?
“I’m so happy I didn’t have to be at the inn tonight,” she continued, clearly wanting to change the subject.
“On which evenings are you on rotation?”
“Tuesdays and Wednesdays.”<
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“Mind if I join you?”
“Why would you do that?”
I rolled her on her back and slid over her, propping myself up on an elbow so I could look at her. I touched her face with the other hand.
“To spend time with you.”
She blinked a few times, and I felt her relax under me. The candlelight only lit half her face, but I saw her lips curl in a beautiful smile.
“That would be great.” On a wiggle of eyebrows, she added, “I promise to make it worth your time. Tempt you with nonskimpy outfits and all that.”
I laughed. “I’ll make sure you keep that promise. Besides, I know a thing or two about construction. I can be of use.”
“Is this a manly thing? My brother and father also think they know a thing or two, yet every time they attempt to repair something, mayhem ensues.”
“In high school, I worked in construction during summers for some extra money. It’s how I got into the rental business. I flipped houses. One thing led to another....”
“Okay, I take all that about manly bragging back.”
She lifted her head and kissed me, and I was caught unaware but opened up for her nonetheless. It felt out-of-this-world good. I was enjoying letting her take the lead... at least until the little vixen started sucking on my tongue, and my cock became painfully hard. Then I took back the control.
I unhitched her hands from my shoulders and pushed them over her head. I turned rock-hard when Paige opened her legs wider. The woman was made for me. Her body’s response to me was incredible. I enjoyed her mouth until I felt her quivering under me, rolling her hips, looking for friction. But I held my pelvis just out of reach, not giving her what she was looking for. No, I was going to take my time with her. I planned to make her feel insanely good.
“Will,” she muttered, fidgeting, trying to break free. “I want to touch you.”
“Not yet.”
She tried to roll up her hips again, but I pulled my pelvis back.
“How long will you keep him away?” She pouted, nodding toward my belt. This woman was far too cute for her own good... or mine.
“Until I make you come.”
She swallowed, snapping her gaze up.
“What?”