by Penny Wylder
I start to feel better about the plan even though I know lying to his new partner is wrong. I start to wonder how he plans to keep this from my family. This city is big, but it’s not that big when it comes to lawyers and their gossip. Both of my parents are lawyers and if they even catch a whiff of a rumor of Lonnie getting married, they’re going investigate.
5
Savanna
My parents call after I get home from my long day at work. My mom wants to come visit me, and I have no choice but to break down and tell her I took a job in the city with Lonnie. She was going to find out at some point anyway. I might as well rip that band aid off. She’s not happy to say the least, and my dad is absolutely pissed. I can hear him in the background ranting and raving as my mom gives me a lecture. “That son of a bitch” this, and “That son of a bitch” that. They’re just as down on Lonnie as the last time I mentioned him. Time hasn’t healed whatever happened between them. I want to ask them why they’re so angry, and what happened between them to end so many years of a loyal friendship, but I’ve tried that before, and they refuse to discuss it with me. So I let it go and don’t even bother asking.
“How did this even happen?” my mom asks, exasperated.
I explain to them how Lonnie showed up in the coffee shop and offered me the job after I told him I graduated from law school with honors. Though they’re not happy about my decision, they can’t deny that it’s a great opportunity. All that money they spent on me to go to school was being wasted on preparing expensive cups of cheap coffee. I explain to them that I need this opportunity. I can’t live on minimum wage forever.
By the end of the conversation, they’ve mellowed out a bit, but they’re still uncomfortable with the idea. I’m afraid my dad may call Lonnie at some point, somehow ruining this opportunity for me, but for now they seem managed. I just have to be really careful with this whole marriage arrangement because if they can barely stand the idea of me working with Lonnie, they’ll be apoplectic if they ever found out I married him. Even if it is just a temporary marriage for convenience
I don’t know why, but when I think of this marriage being fake and temporary, it makes me sad. My emotions are all over the place. I’d love to blame it on PMS, but it’s nowhere near that time of the month.
I decide to lay down for a bit before I make dinner, try to distract myself from this marriage thing for a while. I pick up my phone and start scrolling through my emails, catching up on the latest celebrity gossip and news. My eyes start to feel heavy, and I let myself ease into sleep. Whoever furnished this place did an excellent job. Not only is it stylish, but it’s comfortable too. I’ve never owned such a cozy bed before. A few minutes of shut eye and then I’ll get up and make dinner.
Burying myself under my comforter, I fall asleep right away. I dream about my wedding, but in my dream it’s not pretend. It’s a grand affair with all of my family and friends there. Their smiling and approving faces surround me. The sun is low in the sky, light streaming through tall, lush trees. The dream is so real that I can feel the dappled sun on my skin, I can smell the forest air, fresh pine, and feel its damp coolness on my skin. I can hear the birds chirping from their perches high up and hidden from view. Clusters of butterflies flit around flower arrangements set up on tall tables surrounding the ceremony area. There’s a small clearing with chairs draped in white silk. Lights are strung up in rows overhead, looking like thousands of fireflies. The cascading flower arrangements fill the clearing with a fragrance that could only be described as happiness and light. I’m wearing a white sleeveless dress with intricate beading on the heart-shaped bodice and a flowing train. My something borrowed is my mother’s platinum Tiffany anklet that I’ve coveted since I was a child. My something blue is my grandmother’s firefly broach that I’ve turned into a hair clip, and my something new is my beautiful ring that’s being carried down the aisle on a pillow by the ring bearer.
My father is by my side, walking me down the aisle, our elbows linked. Lonnie waits for us with a smile so full of love and devotion I can’t help but start to cry. It’s a dream, but it’s so real that I ache when I wake up and realize none of it is true. There’s no wedding, no relationship. It’s all fake. But the tear trailing down my cheek isn’t. The emotions I feel are very real.
I wipe it away and look at the back of my wet hand, confused. I can’t believe I was just crying over a dream. But it was so real. So is this ache.
There’s a knock at the door and I hurry to wipe my face so there’s no trace of tears left on my cheeks. I wonder if my parents decided to come straight to my apartment instead of waiting for the weekend. My mom sounded anxious on the phone. It wouldn’t surprise me one bit if they drove over as soon as we hung up.
I open the door, but it’s not my parents. Lonnie stands at the threshold holding two cups of coffee. He’s wearing a different suit than he was wearing earlier in the day. Instead of his navy tie, he’s wearing a red one. The shock of color is bright and beautiful on him.
His steady, approving gaze starts at my bare feet, following all the way up my smooth, tanned legs, and up the t-shirt I changed into when I got home from work earlier. His gaze lingers on my breasts a short moment before meeting my eyes. His smile curves at one corner.
“I wanted to drive you to work this morning. That’s an interesting choice for work attire. Bold. I like it.”
“Work?” I say, confused.
I walk over to the windows where the curtains are closed. I feel Lonnie’s eyes following me. I throw open the curtains and see the early morning sun rising in the distance. My heart slams against my ribs so sudden and jarring that it makes me hiccup. I swing away from the window to look at the clock.
7AM.
Shit!
“I laid down to take a rest after work last night. How could I have slept straight through the night?”
It actually makes perfect sense I slept through the night. Yesterday was my first day of work as a lawyer. The day I finally fucked the man I’ve been lusting after for years. Then he proposed marriage to me, albeit fake. And to top it off, I had a pretty explosive and difficult conversation with my parents. It’s amazing I woke up when I heard Lonnie knocking at my door.
I look at Lonnie, desperate. He must think I’m so irresponsible. It’s only my second day and already I’m screwing it all up. He doesn’t look disappointed, though. If anything he looks amused.
“I’m so sorry,” I tell him, rushing to my room to get dressed. He follows me, watching with a smirk as I fumble to find something to wear in my cluttered drawers. I still need to take the time to organize all my things. With the work load I have, I don’t know how I’ll ever get any unpacking done. “It’ll only take me a moment.”
“I had a feeling you were burning yourself out, spending all those hours working last night.”
“No, I swear I can handle the workload …”
He takes my arms gently in his hands and turns me toward him. I’m out of breath. The frantic beat of my heart makes me light-headed and slightly nauseous. I always get that way when I’m nervous.
The coffee is no longer in his hands. I look over and see them on the bedside table. He takes the wrinkled blouse clutched in my fist and tosses it on the bed, grabs my hand and pulls me close to him. He smells like cologne. Something expensive. I look up at him and there’s that same look of desire on his face when he was in my office yesterday. He leans in, brushing the loose hair from my face. His lips press against mine. I open my mouth, inviting him in. Our tongues mingle as his arm curls around my waist and he pulls me close enough to feel his arousal. It’s pressed against me, leaving no room for the imagination, and no doubt that he wants me as much as I want him. I gasp into his open mouth.
He reaches down to touch my smooth legs, and moves his hands up until he’s cupping my ass. He starts to reach for the hem of my panties, and I anticipate him ripping them off of me. I excitedly wait for it. Then suddenly he lets go and steps away, leaving me confuse
d with my mouth still open.
“We don’t have time,” he says with a little smirk on his face.
“Right, of course,” I say. My heart sinks a bit. Though I know we’re late for work because of me, and I know that we need to get to the office, his sudden step away from me feels like a rejection. I’m a little sad, and a lot sexually frustrated.
I start to get dressed and he comes up to me to help, which stops the sting of his rejection a bit. His body language tells me he wants me, and so does the hard-on pressing against his pants, but he’s holding back. The look on his face mirrors my own. He wants to rip my clothes off, not put them on, I can tell.
We take the elevator down to the garage together. He drives the sexiest sports car I’ve ever seen. An Alfa Romeo, black with a mirror shine to it that radiates even in the dim glow of the basement lights.
He opens the door for me, and I slide into the buttery leather seats. The dashboard looks like a flight panel and the screen is the biggest I’ve seen in any car, it’s more like a TV. When he turns on the car, everything lights up in a red glow. The engine roars to life, echoing off the garage walls. He looks sexy driving it, too. Confident. He’s the human version of this car. Sexy, sleek, and full of power. I get wet just looking at him.
Damn this sexual frustration.
He pulls the car out of the garage and into the bright morning. I open my mouth to apologize again for making us late. I want him to know how sorry I am, and that I’m not some flaky girl who doesn’t care about her job. I want him to know how much I appreciate him putting everything on the line for me. I know it can’t be easy for him to hire his ex-best friend’s daughter, knowing it could make things even worse for their relationship.
But before I can say anything, his hand slides over the center console between us and ends up on my leg. When his hand slides up my leg and under my skirt, I wonder if that’s why he suggested I wear it rather than the slacks I had started to grab out of the drawer.
There was no time to look for panties, so I didn’t bother wearing them. He gets to my thighs and my legs instinctively open for him. His fingers slide skillfully up and down the lips of my pussy, tentatively exploring every fold of that sensitive place. He glances at me several times while still managing to keep the car carefully on the road.
The muscles in my stomach twitch when he touches my clit. His fingers caress me with a slow, steady motion that increases my pleasure. I feel the warm wetness leaking from me, dripping onto his hand. If he’s worried about it getting on his leather seats, he doesn’t indicate it.
“Fuck, you’re already so wet,” he says as he drives his fingers deep into me.
I lean the seat back and open myself up for him. I don’t know how he manages to maneuver the vehicle and drive me crazy at the same time with such expertise. It’s a good thing the windows are tinted because we would definitely get pulled over. The urge to push harder against his fingers is maddening, but I don’t do that because the amount of pressure he’s using is perfect. If I push too hard, I might come, and right now, I just want to enjoy this feeling as long as I can.
“God, you’re good at this,” I say, biting my lip and fighting against my pending orgasm.
I look over at him just as he licks his lips, and I can tell he wants a taste of me.
I dip my fingers into my pussy, intertwining mine with his while they’re inside me. When my fingers are nice and coated, I pull them out and reach over to put them in his mouth. He groans and sucks them clean. His hand moves faster, finger fucking me hard and fast.
“You taste so good, I can’t wait to eat that pussy,” he growls.
I reach over and rub the hard mound in his pants. Not too much. I don’t want him to come and make a mess of himself before we get to the office. We can’t have the boss showing up to work in trousers crusted with cum. I just want to tease him a little. Telling by the smile on his face, it’s working.
I’m so wet that he manages to slip in three fingers with ease. My hips sway with his movements. I watch his hand as it expertly brings me closer and closer to my climax.
My head rolls back. “That feels so good,” I purr.
The faster he strokes my clit the wetter I get until it flows freely from me. I’m loose and pliable and so ready for him to drive his cock into me right now. I know that can’t happen, but my body is practically demanding it. That intense feeling starts to climb, and I know I’m close. This is the point to of no return.
“Oh, fuck,” I cry out. For the first time, the car starts to drift off the road just a little. He’s quick to get it under control. His smile sways.
That feeling climbs and climbs, and my body starts to violently quiver as my orgasm racks my body. Like the end of a wild rollercoaster ride, I start to come down from the high, and glide to a satisfying stop at the end. My breathing slows, my heart becomes a steady beat again and I feel my unmoving smile freeze in place.
I could melt into these seats and fall asleep right now with how content I feel. I’m looking out the window, basking in the afterglow of my orgasm when I noticed we’re not heading in the direction of the office. We’re going in completely opposite direction. I haven’t been in the city that long, but I know the way to the office from my place, and this isn’t it.
“Where are we going?” I ask. He makes a left turn and pulls up in front of a large jewelry store.
“We need to pick you out a ring,” he says.
“What?”
He gets out of the car and comes around my side to open the door. I get out, smoothing my shirt and skirt, feeling disheveled and not nearly put together enough to be in a place like this. Not to mention the wet stain on the bottom of my skirt that will surely turn white and crusty when it dries.
“I can’t go in there, I don’t even have makeup on,” I tell him. They’ll take one look at me and think I’m here to shoplift. That or they’ll think it’s a Pretty Woman situation. Oh God, I can’t do this.
Lonnie laughs. “You look amazing. You’re a natural beauty. You don’t need makeup.” He takes my hand in his. “Come on, I made an appointment. They’re waiting for us.”
He had this all planned out?
We go in and the woman behind the counter steps out to greet us. She’s all class and poise and I look like … well, someone who just got fingered in a car.
Lonnie tells her we have an appointment, then gives her his name and she perks up even more than she had when we first walked in.
“I have several selections picked out for you to choose from. I think you’ll be very pleased,” she says.
The woman brings out a tray of rings tucked into a velvet box. There are several different, elegant styles, and all so very beautiful. And expensive. Platinum and diamonds no smaller than three carrots at least. These are the kinds of rings where I will feel the weight of it on my finger.
“Do you like any of these?” Lonnie asks.
“Are you kidding? I love them all.”
My head is spinning as I look at each one. There’s one in particular that catches my eye, though. It’s not the biggest, or the most elaborate. But it’s absolutely perfect. It’s three diamonds set in a simple platinum band.
I don’t say anything, but Lonnie sees the ring I’ve chosen and picks it up. He must have been able to tell by the look on my face when I saw it.
“This is the one, right?” he asks.
I can only nod. The ring is so stunning it takes my breath away and the words right out of my mouth.
He slips it onto my finger, and it fits perfectly, as if it were made for me. We are silent as he holds my hand in his, looking down at the ring on my finger. There’s tension in the air, but not in a bad way. It’s thick with an emotion I can’t necessarily place. It’s just weight all around me. There’s something comforting about it. I wonder if he can feel it too.
This is supposed to be a business deal between us, but right now, that’s not at all what this feels like.
6
Lonn
ie
Seeing Savanna with the ring on her finger hits me like a fist to the chest. I’ve never been the kind of guy to settle down. Not that I’ve never wanted to, I’ve just never found the right woman who made me want the domestic life. But seeing Savanna again… something has changed. I feel it in every fiber of my body. I’m also not the kind of guy who get emotional about much, but right now, there are no words to describe how I feel.
I pay for the ring and we leave. As I drive, I keep glancing at the ring, sparkling on her finger. I keep catching her glancing at it as well. She takes my breath away. We drive downtown to the office in silence, and I wonder if she feels that something has shifted between us too.
When we get back to the office, we each go to our own offices, says a terse goodbye as not to attract much attention. I sit down at my desk, the sun streaked across the room. There’s so much work to be done, and this little trek today will no doubt put me behind, but still, I can’t seem to get my head in the game.
I can still smell her on my fingers. I put them up to my nose and breathe in her sweet scent. It’s addictive. It sets off fireworks in my head. Each time I smell her, my body wakes up. I can’t stop. Without realizing it, I keep bringing my fingers to my nose. I need it like air, like a drug.
My dick is a rock in my slacks. I get up and go to my private bathroom and lock the door in case Mick is around. I don’t want to be interrupted.
I unzip my pants and roll down my boxer briefs a bit, letting my erection free, finally. I stroke my cock slowly, wanting this feeling to last. I brace myself on the sink with one hand, pumping my cock with my other. Twisting slowly from base to tip, paying extra attention to the head and the sensitive spot just below the ridge. I picture Savanna in the passenger seat of my car, her legs spread for me, her pussy so hot and wet on my fingers. I pump a little faster, remembering how she lifted up her ass to give me better access. I think about her finger, dipping into her pussy and then tracing my lips with her sweet, sweet juices. Sucking her finger clean. My dick is weeping now with precum, and I focus on the head, jerking it in short strokes. Her sounds from earlier fill my head, and I hold my fist still, and fuck into it, imagining it’s Savanna’s tight pussy.