Forget Me Not

by Crystal B. Bright

  He allowed her to use the shower while he brushed his teeth. He knew if trapped in a small space with her that they would never leave his home. If his mother didn’t have surgery that day, he would have proposed that option to Janelle.

  As soon as she finished her shower, Gideon jumped in, but not before giving her a kiss as he passed her. By the time he finished his shower, dried himself and got dressed, he found Janelle downstairs in his kitchen wearing the red dress, her sneakers with no socks, and her heavy work jacket.

  “Great outfit.” Gideon chuckled.

  “I can’t put on my other clothes. They’re dirty.” She made a face and shook her head.

  “My mom has spent a night or two here, and I believe she left some of her clothes. You want to put them on?” He poured a glass of orange juice and handed it to Janelle.

  Without question, she accepted it. She took a sip before she answered. “That’s okay. As soon as you drop me off, I’ll change.” She held up her phone. “I’ve already called Penny and told her I overslept, which isn’t a lie.”

  “So how would you have explained going to the hospital?”

  “Like I said before, Queen Elizabeth has been a great mentor to me.”

  “And your competitor.”

  Janelle shook her head. “I don’t think of her like that.”

  “Then you and my mother have a lot in common. She said the same thing about you when she told me to go see you if I needed help.”

  “Need any help now?” Janelle’s voice dipped down low enough to cause his dormant cock to awaken.

  He stood next to her as she leaned her back against the counter by the sink. “I could always use a good hand. What about you?” He planted a sweet peck on her forehead. “Need anything?” He kissed the tip of her nose. “Want anything?” He put his hand to her stomach as he kissed her lips.

  As his hand traveled down her body, he hoped she still didn’t have on any underwear. He couldn’t tell while she wore her heavy jacket.

  “Gideon, what are you doing?” She held his arm but didn’t stop him.

  He parted the flap at the bottom half of her dress, exposing her naked pussy. It had only been a few hours, but Gideon had to have her again. He’d tried waiting, seeing if she wanted to see him again. The more he stared at her, the more his body tingled. She’d become a drug that he needed.

  “Giving you something to remember me by.” As soon as his hand coasted down to the heat between her thighs, she placed her free hand on the counter as though she needed to brace herself. For what he had planned, she had the right idea.

  Gideon slipped his middle finger between her slick nether lips. Janelle parted her legs without him asking. Her sneakers squeaked over the tile floor, which made the scene feel juvenile, like they were a couple of teenagers making out in the bathroom. He didn’t care. As soon as the aroma of her sex hit him, he couldn’t stop.

  He kissed her. He slid his tongue into her mouth and eased his middle finger into her hot core. Janelle moaned, and he felt her slick inner walls closing around his digit. He moved his finger in and out of her ever so slowly, attempting to churn her orgasm.

  Gideon felt her hips starting to move back and forth. He stopped kissing her long enough to ask, “You like this? You want more?”

  Janelle nodded.

  He used the heel of his hand to brush again her clit. When she buckled, he wrapped his arm around her.

  “Driving me crazy.” She removed her hand from the counter and used it to rub his growing erection through his jeans.

  “Make that two of us.” He nibbled the side of her neck.

  “Please. Please. Please.” She got up on her tiptoes and tilted her head back.

  Before he could introduce a second finger, Janelle’s body shivered. She pressed her face against his chest and released a low moan.

  “Bag. Bag.” She looked up at him with desperation in her eyes.

  “You want to leave now?”

  Janelle shook her head. “Condoms. In my bag. Please.”

  Gideon didn’t need to hear her plea. He found her backpack and slammed it on the counter. She dove into it, tossing out clothes and makeup until she got to the stash. She pulled out strings of different types of condom wrappers.

  “Which one?” she asked as she pulled off her coat and tossed it on the floor.

  He found one in a black wrapper that would work. As he pulled the rubber from the package, she worked on undoing his jeans.

  With his mother’s surgery happening that day, he shouldn’t be thinking about sex. After the incredible night they had and what she’d done to him that morning, he couldn’t fill his head with anything else.

  It didn’t help that Janelle had been so thoughtful during their hot session, asking him multiple times about his knee and even offering to get on top of him, ride him until they both came. Right now, he felt no pain.

  She managed to undo his pants and push them down his ass. As she reached out to touch him, he stopped her.

  “Hands on the counter.”

  Janelle did as instructed and even lifted her dress to expose her naked ass.

  “Christ.” He rolled the prophylactic down the length of him.

  He held his hard shaft and aimed it at her core. Once he pushed the tip inside, Janelle arched her back.

  “Easy.” She craned her head back to look at him.

  He nodded. “Of course.”

  Fully seated, he exhaled. The tightness welcomed him, held him hostage inside her constricting channel, and he loved it.

  “Oh, God.” Janelle pressed her back against his chest. “Feel so good.”

  Gideon had to almost thank that wayward cheerleader for coming into his home. If it hadn’t been for her, he wouldn’t have canceled his contract with his cleaning company. Now he didn’t have to worry if anyone would be coming over to his home at this very moment. He had Janelle all to himself.

  He pumped slowly in her. Each thrust in, she clamped down on him, as though she didn’t want him to escape. Gideon snaked his hand in between her body and the counter. To give her the ultimate pleasure, he brushed his thumb over her distended clitoris.

  “Yes,” Janelle hissed. She reached behind to hold the back of Gideon’s head.

  She used her other hand to keep herself anchored to the counter.

  He wanted to experience more of her, have all of her. He wrapped his free arm around her body and dipped it inside the top of her dress to cup her tit.

  “Yes, I’m there.” She bit her bottom lip as she pressed her body against his.

  “Scream if you need to. Don’t hold it in.” He gave her clit a playful flicking motion that had her body trembling.

  “Don’t. Don’t. Don’t.” She shook her head. “Can’t stand.”

  Gideon regarded her statement and pulled out of her long enough to turn her around and place her bare ass on top of the counter. It didn’t take her long to reconnect her lips back on to his or for him to insert himself into her center. Both had them gasping for air.

  He untied her dress and pushed it open to expose more of her body. Once he did that, he palmed a breast in one hand. He twirled his thumb around her hardened pebble, which got him rewarded with her legs clamped around his hips.

  With a curve of his hips, Gideon must have hit her spot. Janelle clutched his shirt with both hands. She stared at him in his eyes until she started to release a scream.

  “Come on. Let me hear it.” He increased his speed.

  The motion had her thrashing her legs. As she came, so did Gideon. He stayed connected to her until he fully unloaded. Out of breath but sated, he brushed his lips over hers before pressing against them hard.

  “You are the best cardio ever.” He laughed, which prompted her to do the same.

  “You aren’t so bad yourself.” She ran her fingers through his hair.

  Gideon took a step back to disengage. “I’ll wait for you while you go clean up.”
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br />   She eased down from the counter with the help of his hands around her waist guiding her down. “No. I want to go home with your scent all over me. I’ll shower when I get home. Who knows when this will ever happen to me again?”

  He blinked as he ducked into the guest bathroom downstairs. “What are you talking about?” He disposed of the used condom and washed up a little before fastening his pants.

  As Janelle tied her dress again, she said, “Are you saying you want to see me again?”

  “Are you thinking that I wouldn’t want to?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then you’re wrong.” He held her face and kissed her. “I want to see you again. I want to see where this goes.”

  She offered a small smile. “Until you go.”

  A stone plummeted in Gideon’s gut. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m a Virginia Beach Wolf, so my home base is here.” He would leave out the fact that his tenure on the team remained tentative at this time.

  “But when Queen is better, you’ll travel. You’ll go train.” Janelle picked up her coat and covered herself again. “You might meet someone more exciting, like another actress.”

  Gideon stood toe-to-toe with Janelle. He wanted to make sure she could see the sincerity in his eyes and in every spoken word. “You are worth it. You are good enough. But you didn’t need me to tell you that.” He put his finger to her chest. “I judge a woman by what’s in here.”

  That statement got her to smile.

  “The fact that you’re drop-dead gorgeous is a bonus.” He winked.

  She gave him a playful jab to his stomach.

  “Besides, you need me to help find your voice.” He patted her backside and put his hand to the small of her back to lead her to the garage.

  “Hey, I’m only at a loss for words when I’m about to climax. Otherwise, I have no problem speaking my mind.”

  He opened the door and watched her go down the stairs to his car. “Really? In our regular conversations, you don’t have a problem expressing yourself. I think you’ve even yelled at me once.” Like a gentleman, he held the passenger-side door open for her. He even fastened her seat belt, a move that allowed him a way to kiss her. After he got in on the driver’s side, he continued with his assessment. “During sex, you suppress your screams. You worry me because I think you even stop breathing at times. You have to let it out. I don’t live in an apartment, condo, or townhouse. Scream all you want.”

  He started his car and eased out of the garage. By the time he brought his attention back over to Janelle, she shot death rays with her glare.

  “You, of all people, are giving me that advice on letting go? Go down Laskin Road and turn on Virginia Beach Boulevard.”

  “Got it. And what did you mean me of all people? You don’t think I express myself?” Gideon thought about her words. Had she never seen him on a football field, leading his team to victory? Did he need to take her with him the next time he volunteered his time at the community center? Or maybe she’d missed hearing him grunt and groan all night long.

  “I don’t know. Tell me, Gideon. How’s your knee?” She pressed her back against the door as she kept her stare on him.

  He avoided looking at her. “It’s fine.”

  “It is? So it’s fine for a young man to wear a knee brace? It’s fine for an athlete like yourself to limp the way you do? And the fact that doing missionary style bothered you is—”

  He interrupted her speech. “Okay, it’s a little sore after the Super Bowl. Not a big deal.” He didn’t mean to snap at her but he didn’t want to talk about his condition, not with her, not with his coach, and not with his mother. He could handle himself. He always had.

  Janelle directed him on how to get to her apartment building. After that, they rode together in silence. Gideon stewed about her intrusive questioning. He had been there for her, both in business and in bed. What more could she want?

  He stopped in front of her building. He pulled into a spot and parked. “I want to see you again.”

  She regarded him for a moment and then slowly shook her head. “No.”

  When she started to open the door, he held her hand. “How did we go from having the best night and morning ever to you not wanting to see me again?”

  “Because you don’t need me. You want me.” She lowered her head. “It’s flattering for a nerdy girl like me to have met a guy like you, and for you to treat me so wonderfully. I will always remember the roses and waking up in a sea of petals.” She placed her other hand on top of his. “And the sex.” She took a deep breath. “But if you can’t share with me everything that’s going on in your life, then I’m nothing more than a groupie or something. I know the surface of you but not what makes you tick. I need more. I deserve that.”

  When she removed her hand to leave, he squeezed her fingers to keep her there. “Why won’t you and everyone else believe me when I say there’s nothing to worry about?” He put his car in Park and turned his body so that he faced her completely. “My mother adopted me when I was about six or seven years old. Gunnar was a year older than me and already a handful. Thane, my younger brother, was just a baby. Gunnar was going through some things because of what our biological mother did to us as kids, so he acted out. Thane was a sickly baby. I remember Queen Elizabeth taking him to doctor’s appointments all the time. Between Gunnar’s troubles and Thane’s issues, I wanted to be the one thing that my mother didn’t have to worry about. I kept quiet. I did my chores. I did everything she asked me to, and I never cried. Between us kids, her businesses, and her lousy ex-husband, my mother had a lot to cry about. I didn’t want her to ever have another worry. I still feel that way. When I say I’m fine, I am. I can fix whatever that’s going on with me.” He kissed the back of her hand. “I like you a lot. I want us to work. You’re the first woman I’ve met in a long time who I trust.”

  Janelle regarded him for a moment. She leaned forward and planted a sweet kiss on his cheek. When she pulled back, she said, “Must be very lonely on your island.” Then she opened the door, not giving Gideon a chance to go around and open it. “If you ever decide that you need a lover and a friend, you know where to find me. Good-bye, Mr. Wells. Thank you for an incredible evening.”

  Chapter 15

  Janelle took the steps up to her apartment by twos until she could get into her place and lock the door behind her. Against her better judgment, she ran to the window that overlooked the parking lot to see Gideon. She watched him look pensive before he pounded his fist on the steering wheel and then backed out of the spot in front of the building. When he drove away, she took it as a sign that he didn’t see a future for the two of them.

  She had given him several opportunities to open himself up to her. She’d offered to be a friend and confidante. Gideon kept his wall up around his heart.

  She hadn’t expected him to share a personal story. Knowing what a burden he’d put on himself as a child tugged at her heart. For a moment, as he’d told his story, she’d wanted to apologize to him, tell him it would be okay, hold him even though he would have probably rejected the offer. He probably would have seen it as her feeling sorry for him.

  Gideon had made it obvious that he didn’t need help. He stood firmly on his own two feet. A man so sure of himself had always appealed to her. If he couldn’t open up, what would prevent him from leaving her? She didn’t want to go through another situation like she had with her last serious relationship.

  As she stood in her living room wearing a borrowed dress and no underwear, she couldn’t help but think about that moment where she had been rejected. No time to dwell on the past or her potential future. She had bills to pay and a business to run.

  Janelle took another quick shower to remove the smell of sex and, unfortunately, Gideon’s heady scent. She hadn’t seen any cologne in his bathroom. His natural essence intoxicated her.

  She dressed in her standard jeans and T-shirt before she jetted off to her store. As soo
n as she strolled in with her backpack, Penny jumped on her.

  “If you can’t get here on time, get here whenever you can.” Penny braced her hands on the glass counter, staring down at Janelle and judging her, as Janelle whisked by her.

  “I told you, I overslept.” Janelle deposited her bag on top of her desk and removed her coat. She hadn’t realized Penny had followed her until she turned around and found her friend in her bag.

  “Your dress is at home. I’ll wash it and get it back to you.” Janelle rolled up her sleeves before attending to the customers milling around her store.

  “I could care less about the dress. You can keep it if you want. Probably looks better on you anyway.” Penny shrugged and continued digging.

  “Oh, shit.” Janelle snapped her fingers. “I should have packed your shoes. Come by after work and I’ll give them to you.”

  Penny brought her head up and smirked. “Really? As much clothing and shoes we exchange back and forth, you really think I would care about some shoes? Tell me about your date. How did it go?”

  Janelle wanted to confess all, tell her how he’d made a delicious dinner, and that they’d watched her favorite movie before she’d fallen asleep. That he’d taken her upstairs, and then the sex…and the fight.

  “It was nice,” she said. The statement almost sounded like Gideon’s standard response.

  “Nice? You were in a house with one of People magazine’s fifty sexiest people and all you have to say is that it was nice?”

  “Yep. That’s it.” She patted Penny on the shoulder and started to head out the doorway.

  Penny gasped. “You slut!”

  Janelle whipped around. “Keep your voice down. There are customers out there.”

  “You fucked Gideon Wells?” Penny’s mouth hung open.

  “What are you talking about? Where would you get that idea?” Janelle had to fight against touching her increasingly hot face. She knew she had to have been the darkest shade of crimson.

  “I know exactly the number of condoms I gave you and the types. From what I counted and from what was missing, I’d say that Mr. Wells must hung like a—”