by Gina Watson
“I don’t think I’m going to make it until five. I owe you an hour.”
He walked to her and took her jaw in hand, testing her skin for fever, but she felt cool.
“What’s wrong, Bailey?”
Her eyelids could barely stay open. “I’m just really tired.”
“Let me drive you home.”
“I’ll be fine. I only came to tell you about the hour I missed.”
“I don’t care about that. I’m driving you home.”
He guided her up from the chair, her unsteady gait requiring her to link arms with him. He now knew she wasn’t abusing drugs, but he couldn’t understand why she presented as she did.
As they walked down the hallway he felt her body reel more than once.
“Bailey, you’re dizzy.”
“I just need something to eat.”
“You didn’t eat lunch?”
“I had an egg salad sandwich, but I got sick so it didn’t take.”
He wondered how often she got sick. In her office he gathered her laptop and purse. She was able to follow him outside without assistance, but at his truck he placed his hands on her slim waist and lifted her inside.
“This truck is really tall, isn’t he?”
“He?”
“I don’t think it’s a she—he’s too tall.”
He chuckled. As he walked around to the driver’s side he decided she was by far the cutest female he’d ever met.
As they drove she talked about search engine optimization and other terms and phrases he’d never heard. He listened, but was more concerned with her health.
“If I optimize the search engine it will drive more traffic to the website.” She pointed out the window.” Oh, you missed the exit.”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Yes, my exit was back there.” She hitched a thumb over her shoulder.
“I’m taking you to eat first.”
“Oh.” She smiled. “What are we going to eat?”
“Let’s see … I know you like pizza.”
She giggled. “Yeah, I do like pizza.”
“What do you want?”
“I’d love a really good hamburger. The homemade kind, you know?”
“I know a place.”
“So do you live on a boat or what? Talk around the office is you do.”
He raised a brow at her. “There’s talk about me around the office?”
“Yep. Lots and lots of talk about Parker.”
She was teasing him. He knew good and well the only people she ever conversed with were Julian, who was about as much fun as a pillar of stone, and Mrs. Banks, whose thoughts for the past eighteen months were consumed with her widower son. “Like what?”
She shook her head. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
“No, I don’t live on a boat, but I sometimes stay on the cargo boat we have docked on the river.”
“Why do you do that?”
He sighed. “I live at home and for the last few weeks my older sister has turned the house into wedding central. The closer the wedding date gets, the more stressed she’s getting. Impossible to live with, kind of scary. I’ve been staying out of the way on the boat.”
“She’s a bridezilla.”
He laughed. “Yeah, I guess she is.”
“You must have boats all over. Don’t the shrimp come out of the Gulf?”
“They do. I’ve got a boat docked down there. A really nice one.” He’d love to take her there, which was a strange idea since he thought most women to be tedious on the water.
“What do you do with the boats during a hurricane?”
“The boats are large, so once they’re in the water we can’t really move them on land without a lot of effort so we secure them with spring lines.”
“Spring lines?”
“Keep the boat from sinking due to high tides because they enable the boat to rise with the water. If you tie a boat down tight, with zero maneuverability, it will take on water and sink.”
He pulled in to the burger joint and parked.
“Mmm, looks good. Anything crafted to resemble the original hamburger stand has got to be great.” She spoke using her hands to emphasize the triangular shape of the building.
“Wait until you taste the burgers.” She opened her door and looked down.
“Hang on, let me help you.”
He walked around and placed his hands at her waist. This time when he lifted her she slipped and ended up sliding down his body until her feet touched the ground. He held her close for a few seconds and her eyes closed as she sighed. She felt it too—the electricity whenever their bodies connected. He wanted—he needed another night with her.
Once inside, they sat at the bar and he pulled two menus out of the condiment caddy on the counter.
“What do you get?”
“I always get the soft shell crab burger. It’s the regular burger with the addition of a fried blue crab on top and instead of mayonnaise it has remoulade sauce.”
“Sounds like something you’d get.”
“What’s that mean?”
“You’re a fisherman aren’t you?”
“I do love fishing, shrimping, harvesting oysters and crawfish.”
“How often do you go fishing?”
He sighed. “My dad’s health forced him to retire, so lately I’ve just been pushing papers around. I miss the water and the trade.”
“Why don’t you hire someone to do the paper pushing?”
“I hired you.” He smiled knowingly at her.
“Poor you.” She pointed to the menu. “I think I’ll have the booty burger. It’s topped with a fried boudain patty. Oh, and a coke float.”
“Good choice.” He took the menu from her hands and placed their orders with the cook behind the counter.
“You’ve been working at David for two weeks and you’ve already accomplished so much. You’ll be CEO in no time.”
She shook her head. “Not me. As it is I’m a little leery about the management aspect of my job description.”
“You’ll do great.” He was mesmerized as her tongue peeked out to wet her lips, making them shimmer. “Hey, you know we never talked about that night.”
She wouldn’t hold his gaze. “No we didn’t, and we don’t need to.”
“I guess we don’t, but what if I want to?”
“I don’t want to.” She focused on the short order cook. “He’s super organized and so fast.”
“Look at me.”
“No, Parker. I don’t want to go there.”
“I want to fuck you again.”
She sucked in air through her teeth and turned intense electric blue eyes on him. “Parker.”
He shouldn’t have said it like that, but with her sitting so close he could feel the heat her body gave off. His need for her was raw. “I can’t stop thinking about how you felt so tight wrapped around me.” Her chest heaved as he spoke. “The sight of your little ass in my hands as I drove you to release is burned in my mind. In fact, some days it’s all I see.”
She pressed her fingers to his lips. “Shut up. I told you we can’t be together.”
“We’re together now.”
She tugged on her shirt, centering it just so. “We can’t be together all the time. I can’t get into a relationship with you. It could get serious and I can’t risk it.”
“Why?”
“I just can’t.”
“Since you won’t be forthright about yourself with me, I’m going to reveal some really questionable material about myself that I think will help you decide that you can take the risk.”
“Fine, but it’s not a quid pro quo situation.”
“Fine.”
The burgers were placed before them and he was relieved because they had to sit forward to eat. He could tell her his worst personality traits and he wouldn’t have to see the contempt in her eyes.
“You don’t have to worry about anything getting too serious with me. I don’t get serious wi
th women. Actually … I uh … it has been stated to me that I have commitment issues because …”
“Mmm, this burger is righteous.”
“Righteous?”
“I’m bringing it back.” She slurped Coke through a straw and he couldn’t help but chuckle.
“I didn’t finish telling you about myself.”
She shrugged. “Yeah, so you have commitment issues. Who doesn’t?”
“They refer to me as fuck ‘em and shuck ‘em. There’s some kind of number floating around. Some estimate it’s in the triple digits, but I can’t see how.”
“Great, well why don’t you stay true to character then and shuck me?”
He exhaled heavily and put his burger down. She finally made eye contact with him. “I already asked you if you enjoyed your time with me and what was it you said? … oh yeah, you said it was the best night of your life. What gives? Why won’t you give me another go at it?”
She crossed her right leg over her left and turned to him. “I think you may be aware that I have a few problems. I don’t want to share those with you. I’d love to go at it again, but I can’t risk one or both of us one day feeling like we want something more than just a physical relationship.”
“I can do that.” She was so different from any woman he’d ever known. Every woman he’d ever taken out, with the exception of Brook, had hoped to develop a relationship with him. Usually he had to scare them away.
“What?”
“I can do a physical-only relationship.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.” He held up the scout symbol. “Scout’s honor. Didn’t you just hear me say I have commitment issues anyway?”
“There can be no more questions about what’s wrong with me, or where I go on Tuesdays and Thursdays.”
“Nope.”
Her brow rose. “All right. Let’s do it, but I want to start tonight.”
Holy fuck. He took out his wallet and plucked twenty-five dollars from it. “Ready?”
She took a huge bite of hamburger and answered with a full mouth. “I’m not done. Mmm, I could make love to this burger though.”
Anxious, he sat and watched her eat. She moaned around each bite and closed her eyes, slowly chewing and savoring. “You know what makes this burger so good?”
“What’s that?”
“There’s some kind of seasoning in the mayonnaise.”
“That’s Tabasco.”
“I mean the fried boudain patty is on another level, but the sauce dripping from my hand is too good to waste, so I apologize in advance.”
She licked the juice that dripped from the burger and onto her hand. The image singed his brain and his pants tightened as they stretched to accommodate his erection. He had to get her out of there.
“You ready?”
“All right, all right. Jeez, keep your shorts on.”
He helped her into the truck and then he hopped behind the wheel and raced down the road.
“Let’s see … we’ve got the barge, the office, we can go to my house, but my mom would totally give you the grand inquisition and we know how much you’d love that.”
“My house. We can go there. We live in Meadow Bend.”
“I know the place. What about your sister?”
She shook her head. “Not there. On Tuesday nights she does an accent reduction class for the international students on campus.”
On the ride to her house the sexual tension in the truck was deafening and preempted any conversation. Occasionally he’d catch her staring at his profile. When he’d turn toward her she’d smile and look ahead.
When he turned into her neighborhood his pants got even tighter in the anticipation of imminent sex.
“It’s the third street on the right.”
She pointed to a yellow Craftsman style home. With his large truck it was easier to park at the curb. An assortment of other vehicles peppered the cul-de-sac and a lawn service crew mowed the grass in front of her house.
She unlocked the door and invited him in. They stood toe to toe. She leaned into him and used her fingertips to lightly graze his chest. “Do you want to see my room?”
“Love to.” He followed behind her.
Fashion magazines littered the room and framed pictures of her in various provocative underthings adorned the walls—they were runway photos of her in delicate lingerie. She was beautiful before whatever happened to her had settled into her bones. Actually, he thought her very pretty still, but on some days he perceived illness and pain. He recognized landscapes of Paris, New York, and Milan. Tantalizing lingerie littered the floor and Lana Del Ray lyrics filled the air. Against one wall stood a very feminine silver mirrored makeup vanity and dainty stool. Tons of makeup and jewelry cluttered the top of the vanity.
“It was my mother’s.”
“It seems like something you’d have in your room.”
She sat on the bed and hugged her knees to her chest.
“You like to wear lingerie?”
“I modeled my way through NYU. I have lots of garter sets.”
He chuckled. “How have you not been snatched up?” On second thought he guessed she would have been, but she refused to commit to anyone.
Wasting no time, or to sidestep his question, she stood and removed her skirt and then painstakingly unbuttoned her blouse torturing him until she stood before him in a sheer ensemble of hose, garter belt, thong, and bra. Bewitched by her erotic movements and the vision before him, his fingers tingled with the need to touch her. She turned in a circle and let him look his fill. “You like?” She asked from over her shoulder.
His nostrils flared and he grumbled something that wasn’t a word. She giggled at him.
“You’re very beautiful.”
“I used to fill it out better.” She pressed the gaping bra cups to her skin.
From the pictures he could see what she’d said was true, but nothing could change the fact that with her red hair and bright blue eyes she smoldered.
“Are you going to take your clothes off?”
“I thought I might kiss you first.”
“No. There can be no kissing.”
“Why not?”
“Because we’re supposed to be keeping this casual. You can’t go getting all romantic on me.” She put her hand on her waist and pointed her finger at him as she continued to rant. “And I mean that in the sack too. I don’t want nice sex. Been there, done that. I want it dirty and rough. I want to feel … no, I want to burn. Are you up to the challenge or not?”
She was infuriating. He grasped her by the waist and threw her onto her stomach on the bed. He placed a knee on either side of her hips so that she couldn’t move and he removed his shirt. Since she clearly had an abundance of panties his hands wrenched the pair she wore and pulled them from her body.
“Hey!”
He swatted her ass. “Hush.”
Using his thumbs he parted the flesh of her backside exposing her most private assets to his gaze. If she wanted it dirty and rough that’s how she’d get it. Eventually. Right now he was dying to feast on her. Her dainty pink folds beckoned his mouth and he bent for a taste. God if it were possible she tasted better than the most expensive Kobe beef filet—tender and satisfying. Christ she was as smooth and as soft as velvet. His tongue on her yearned for more and slowly the tip forced its way inside of her tightest place.
Beneath him she writhed, her shoulders engaged in an erotic dance directed by the beat of his tongue inside of her. Her moans and sighs spurred him like a bull and his teeth bit into whatever flesh it could.
“Ah.”
“Bailey, God you taste so good. If I hurt you just tell me to stop.” She moaned so he took that as a green light.
“Did you like it when I fingered you here.” He dipped the tip of his index finger into the ring of muscle.
“Yes. Are you going to fuck me there?”
“Is that what you want?”
“Yes, I want to try everything.”<
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“We don’t have to try everything tonight do we?”
“No, but we should try it all sooner rather than later.”
He chuckled. She was very peculiar. “We will, but not tonight.” He pulled a condom from his wallet. “Can you have a G-spot orgasm?”
“What’s that?”
He rolled the latex over his erection and then eased in slowly, inch by inch, giving her a chance to adjust to his size. “It’s an orgasm originating from the G-spot instead of the clitoris.”
“Uh, I don’t know.”
Damn, the guys she’d been with must have been real douches. If she could have a vaginal orgasm he intended to find out tonight. In this position he could penetrate her deeply and even alter the angle if needed. If she could do it, she’d do it like this.
He spread his knees so that he could bury himself fully inside of her. “Hold yourself open, it’ll make it easier to take me.” She complied. He watched as his long erection disappeared inside of her tight heat. He pulsed slowly in and out, her low moans told him she was enjoying his efforts.
She was perfect for him. He wanted her for more than just sex, but knew she wasn’t interested.
“Parker. Harder,” she whispered.
As he pounded her from behind her breathing came in steady heavy pants and intensified in volume. He went down on his elbows and slid his arms up to her neck. He whispered into her ear, “Why won’t you let me kiss you?”
“I don’t know.” She sqeaked.
“Say you’ll let me and I’ll take you where you want to be.”
“I don’t care, do whatever you want.”
“Tell me to make you come.”
“Yes, make me come.” She articulated in a moan.
He had her where he wanted her. “Tell me I can kiss you.”
“You—Can—Kiss—Me.”
He pushed her torso deep into the bed. “How wide can you spread your legs?”
“I can’t move.” She mumbled through the pillow as she attempted to widen, but was pinned by his knees. He moved between her legs. To his astonishment, she widened her legs almost even with the horizon. Damn! Spread across the bed and fully open for him, he placed his hands on the hinge where hip connects with thigh and then he pounded, using the hold he had on her to move her hard into each thrust.