Manic Monday

by Piper Rayne

  “Sure.”

  “I know the rules of dating state not to talk about ex’s, but what happened with Pete? If you don’t want to answer just tell me to mind my own business.”

  My gaze veers out the window. “No, it’s okay.” I pause for a second. “I think Pete just wasn’t ready to settle down. I think he thought he wanted it. His parents wanted it. I guess like your parents, they wanted to brag about him. But it just wasn’t for him. He’s a decent dad, I will say that. I mean he could be more involved and make more of an effort, yes. But when he does spend time with Jade, she’s his whole world. If he had the time to see her a few times a week, then he probably would’ve fought for me to stay in L.A. I’m not sure what I would’ve done if that were the case.”

  “Why did you come back?”

  “My mom.” I sigh. “She was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and I’m all she’s got. Me and Jade. And I wanted to be here to help her if and when her disease progresses.”

  He reaches over, entwines his hand with mine, and says, “I’m sorry.”

  “Thanks.” I shoot him a gentle smile, and when he pulls his hand away, I realize I’m not as much of a fan of a stick shift as I thought. “She has good days and bad. She’s still able to help me with Jade and at this point, she probably helps me more than we help her, but I realized when she made that call that I didn’t want to be miles away from her. I needed to be here.”

  Reed nods. “Pete understood?”

  I tip my head side to side. “For the most part.”

  “I’m glad.” He winks suggesting he’s happy because if I hadn’t come back here, he wouldn’t have met me again.

  “Pete’s not a horrible guy, just not a good husband.”

  I give him the clean version because if I gave him the dirty version, he’d probably drop me off at the curb and skid away. Nights when I went driving around looking for him, calling his phone relentlessly, finding numbers in his pocket, smelling perfume on his clothes. I shake off the memories.

  “I like to think I’ll make an excellent husband.” Reed laughs, and I know he’s joking, but he would make a wonderful husband to some lucky girl. I know he would.

  He pulls up to the curb of my mom’s house, parking and turning off the car.

  “I had a great time,” I say.

  He shoots me his winning smile. “Me too. I hope you’ll agree to another date?” His eyebrows raise.

  “I think I can do that.” I shift to face him, my voice lower and more sensual than usual.

  He leans forward, his hand cupping my cheek. “I’m trying to go slow here, Victoria, but I really like you. Come to my condo this weekend for dinner?”

  “Are we having chocolate milk?”

  A smile tips his lips, but his eyes remain laser-focused on mine. “I’ll hire a chef.”

  I shake my head. The scent of the mint he took when leaving the restaurant reaches me as he leans even closer. “If you want me to come over, you make the dinner.”

  “I’ll make dinner if you agree to kiss me right now.”

  “You can kiss me if you make dinner and dessert.”

  Our words are mere whispers as we inch closer and closer. My breaths grow shallow. I want nothing more than to feel his lips on mine.

  “I’ll make dinner and buy dessert if I can kiss you.”

  “Hmm…”

  “Fuck it, a tube of cookie dough it is.” His mouth slams to mine, not waiting for me to accept his offer.

  His hand slides along my cheek, down and around to my neck. When he runs his tongue along the seam of my lips, I open for him and his tongue slides in, searching for my own. His lips soften, and his tongue slows. My body feels weightless, like I’m soaring with the clouds as we find our rhythm.

  A moan escapes me, and he groans like he’s tortured, his lips applying more pressure. Never have I felt such uncontrollable desire from a kiss. It’s apparent that he’s trying to maintain some composure, and I wonder if we were somewhere and he could strip me down, would he? If this was our tenth date instead of our first, would he pull me over his lap? Would I let him?

  Our kiss slows, and my frenzied mind stops moving in overdrive, analyzing his kiss.

  His hand stays where it is on my bare neck, and he rests his forehead on mine. “You have no idea how badly I want you right now.” He’s breathing heavily, his chest moving up and down as he works to control himself.

  “I think I do.”

  He chuckles. “I’m glad it’s mutual.”

  He undoes my seatbelt then he eases back, grabbing the keys and exiting the car.

  “Holy shit,” I mumble to myself.

  The door opens, and his hand is outstretched in an offer to help me out of the car. I accept it, step out and he links his hand with mine, keeping them that way as we make our way to the front door. It’s late, so Jade should be fast asleep.

  The porch light above my head reminds me of my high school days when a boy would hesitantly kiss me goodnight and I feared my dad would open the door the entire time.

  “Thank you again, I had a great time.”

  He steps forward. “So next Saturday then?”

  “Can we do Friday?” I always spend Sundays with Jade.

  “Friday it is. What’s your preference in cookie dough?” He winks.

  I jab him in the chest with my finger. “I’m not joking, Mr. Warner, you cook the meal.”

  He nods a few times. “Then get in the mood for pizza because more than likely whatever I come up with will be inedible.”

  “Thanks for a great night.” He wraps an arm around my waist and pulls me closer so we’re chest to chest.

  I wrap my arms around his neck, enjoying the feeling of my fingers running through his short hair and the press of his hard body to mine.

  “Drive home safely,” I whisper.

  He dips his head and I close my eyes in anticipation of the taste of peppermint in my mouth. Our lips collide again, and we’re more frantic than we were in the car. Hungrier. Needier. He slides his hands down my back until they close around the globes of my ass. A whimper escapes me, and I press farther into him, fisting his longer strands of hair so he can’t get away.

  My back hits the brick of the house and the rigid bulge in his pants pushes into my stomach. I want to lift my legs and wrap them around him so bad it hurts, but I’m outside my mom’s house with a porch light broadcasting everything Reed and I are doing to the neighbors.

  My hand falls between us and I push him away lightly. “Neighbors,” I say, breathless and panting.

  “Right.” He steps back and grips the back of his neck, his face strained. “I better go before I beg.”

  I giggle and his gaze dips to my lips again.

  “Good night, Victoria.”

  “Night.”

  He walks down the cement path to his car, stopping right before he slides in, nodding and signaling for me to go inside.

  I wave and dig my keys out, my hands shaking as I try to unlock the door. I step into the house and collapse on the couch in the living room.

  “That good, huh?” my mom asks.

  Chapter Twenty

  Jade and I head out of the house Monday morning to find the Uber waiting. Henry’s face peeks out the window like a Bassett Hound waiting for its owner to appear.

  I shake my head as we head down the path. I told Reed last night that we were going to walk.

  “We’re walking,” I say to Jade, loud enough for Henry and Reed to hear. “Henry, do you want to join us?”

  Henry hops out of the car, all smiles, and Reed follows, stepping out from the other side. His tie clip is gripped between his teeth as his hands mindlessly work on knotting his tie.

  I may look put together this morning, like my whole life is put together, but in reality, I’ve already argued with Jade over her hair, didn’t have time to make myself a coffee, and the banana in Jade’s hand is her only breakfast.

  “Guess we all walk then,” Reed says, joining us on the sidew
alk.

  Abe pulls away, no doubt meeting us at the school. Henry and Jade run up ahead of us, lost in conversation about their weekend.

  “Looks like someone raced out of the house again this morning,” I joke.

  “You just wish you’d seen me before I put on my suit.” He winks.

  I pretend to be annoyed while mentally creating a visual of a naked Reed in my head.

  “A little early for the ego, no?”

  I try not to glance at him as he knots his tie and then slides the clip into place. I fail miserably, but he lets me off with only a smirk.

  “One day you’ll find out, I wake up with it.” His arms fall to his sides and he brushes my fingers with every swing of his arm.

  I stuff them in the pocket of my jacket because what my daughter doesn’t need is her mother showing up to school all hot and bothered.

  “Tsk, tsk, I thought we were over this hard to get stuff?” he leans in and whispers.

  My eyes instinctively close and shivers race up my neck.

  “Watch it. I haven’t really talked to Jade about us.” I inhale a deep breath when his lips are so close that it would take no more than an inch to taste him.

  “So, there is an us?” he asks.

  “Maybe.” I pretend to be playing hard to get, batting my eyelashes for extra effect.

  “Just so you know, my lips will be on yours before I drop you off at work.”

  I stop, jut my head back. “Who said I’d be riding with you?”

  He looks down at my empty hands. “Because I have a tall coffee with a splash of skim milk and a shot of vanilla flavor waiting for you in the car.”

  His face morphs into a victorious expression, knowing my caffeine addiction has secured his victory.

  “And you aren’t going to give it to me until you give me a ride to work?”

  He nods.

  “That’s kind of mean of you.”

  “I told you I wasn’t the noble prince.”

  “Bye, Mom.” Jade runs over, and I finally take in my surroundings, finding that we’ve broken the tree-lined path to the school courtyard. I liked it better before I realized that Darcie and Georgia’s eyes were fixed on us.

  “Oh Bug, I’m sorry.”

  She rests her chin on my stomach, her brown eyes that match my own, staring up at me.

  “For what?”

  I glance at Reed. “Nothing.”

  Her arms tighten around me. “Can I come to the office today?”

  “Not today, but how about Friday?”

  “Yay! Can we bring Henry one day?” I look to Henry who’s standing next to Jade, already having said goodbye to Reed.

  “I’ll work something out soon.”

  She leaves me in a rush “Did you hear that, Henry? It’s so much fun at my mom’s office. There’s candy and I can get on a computer and play games.”

  “Really? Reed bought me an iPad, but I don’t have a computer.”

  I watch the two of them disappear into the school. My independent girl and the quiet boy, now the best of friends. Who would have thought?

  “So, I need to know why you’re asking Principal Weddle to use the parking lot out back and why we need it roped off.” Darcie’s voice makes my entire body clench like the doctor’s office just called to book my annual PAP smear.

  She approaches, her arms crossed, Starbucks coffee in hand. Per usual, she wears flats and jeans, but today she’s added a trench coat since rain is expected later today. Her auburn hair is long and curled, her makeup impeccable.

  “It’s a surprise, but believe me, people are going to love it,” Reed says.

  She fakes sincerity with a giggle and then her gaze lands back on me. “Vicki, I am the president of the PTA. I need to approve everything.”

  “It’s Vic—”

  I cut off Reed by placing my hand on his forearm. “First, it’s Victoria. Second, Principal Weddle already approved it. He knows our plans and thought the fact that there will be a surprise at the event would increase attendance.”

  Let’s just say, the principal was not easily convinced but eventually I argued enough valid points against his arguments and assured him all would cleaned up and that there’d be no trace of anything after we were done.

  “Do you want to be the president, Vicki?” She spits out my name like it’s poison on her tongue.

  Now, I’m not totally opposed to being called Vicki. My dad used to call me by that name. But from this woman who doesn’t know me? Absolutely not. The fact that she does it on purpose to annoy me makes me really want to put her in her place.

  “No, I don’t.”

  “Then—”

  “I know where you’re gonna go with this, Darcie, so let me just take care of it for you. No, I can’t be president because I work. Yes, my husband and I are divorced. Yes, I moved here only recently and yes, I live with my mother. But all of that isn’t really any of your concern. You assigned me a task—without asking, I might add—and I agreed to take it on. Now you want to place stipulations on it, but that’s not really any of your business either.” I pause long enough to take a breath and watch as her eyes grow even wider. “So, Darcie, why don’t you drop your kid off and go do something productive rather than stand around here all morning judging the other parents like you have a doctorate in raising children.”

  She scoffs which I silently love because it means I’ve upset her, but I keep my cool, my expression blank. She’s doing a terrible job in that department. Her cheeks are bright pink, and she clenches the cup in her hand so tight that it makes a sound of protest.

  “Fine, do it your way. I only wanted to make sure you didn’t have some sad booth that no one went to.” She turns to Reed. “Nice of you to back me up, seeing as I gave you her phone number. It’s called pay it forward, Reed, do you not understand the concept?” She doesn’t wait for him to answer but instead stomps away. “Georgia!” she says and her sidekick who is way too old to be bullied follows obediently.

  My heartbeat slows and the sweat under my arms feels cold as it starts to dry. I circle around to face Reed.

  “Shit, just when I didn’t think it was possible to want you more.”

  He shakes his head, then links our hands together, leading us to the car. When we reach the sedan, he opens the door.

  I slide in to the vanilla scented car. “Good morning, Abe.”

  “Good morning, Victoria, or should I say Miss Bad Ass.” His amused eyes find me in the rearview mirror.

  “You saw that, huh?”

  “Made my morning,” he says with a chuckle.

  “So, you witnessed the takedown, Abe?” Reed asks sliding in next to me.

  I pick up my coffee from the beverage holder and sip the goodness I’ve been craving since my alarm went off.

  “This definitely puts you in Prince Charming territory.” I point to the cup.

  “Hey now, I’m the one who stopped there,” Abe jokes.

  “Thanks, Abe.” I wink at him in the mirror.

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa, no taking credit. You tacked on another five dollars.” Reed reaches for his own cup out of the holder and tentatively takes a sip.

  Abe pulls away from the curb and we start our trek downtown.

  “I was thinking maybe I’ll go ahead and take Henry every day,” Reed says.

  “I never see who drops Henry off on the other days. A car pulls up to the curb, Henry jumps out and they pull away.”

  He nods. “An old silver Chrysler, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “His grandpa. He’s not big on socializing. I think they’re getting older and didn’t really sign up for all this, you know?”

  Pete always feigned caring about other people. He’d say all the right words, but it came off empty. With Reed, you see in his face how much he cares for Henry and how much he feels for what the family has had to endure.

  “I can’t imagine.”

  “Me either.” He frowns for a moment, deep in thought.

  We si
t for a few seconds, trying to time our sips with the stop and go Chicago traffic. Abe has the same morning radio show on as last time, but so far, the Second Date Update hasn’t come on.

  “No chance of seeing you until Friday, huh?” Reed asks.

  Abe glances up to the mirror and then back to the road.

  “I have school,” I say, sticking my bottom lip out in a pout.

  “Every night?”

  “Tonight, Wednesday and Thursday.”

  “None of them are online?”

  I shrug. “Some of the classes are, but I’m in my final year, graduating next December.” I raise my crossed fingers. “Hopefully.”

  “I don’t think I ever asked you for what?” He shifts so he’s facing me more than straight ahead now.

  “Business. General. Not even sure what I’m going to do.”

  His arms stretch out to reach for my hand, his fingers playing with mine between us. “You’ll figure out what you love.”

  The warmth of his hand in mine feels good. The way his thumb and fingers glide along my skin. Not smooth but not callused, a mix.

  “It’s time,” Abe turns up the volume of the radio.

  “Second Date Update,” Reed says, grinning like he’s been waiting all week for another episode.

  The rest of the ride in, we listen to a man who doesn’t understand why he never got a call back, only to find out he had texted her asking for a hand job while they were watching a movie at the theater.

  Reed looks over at me, waggling those thick but perfect eyebrows at me.

  “No,” I mouth with a smile and he threads his fingers through mine, giving them a squeeze.

  By the time we pull up to the curb, I no longer want to climb out of the car, content to stay here in close proximity to Reed for a while longer.

  “What’s your views on PDA?” Reed asks, not opening the door.

  “I’m a hard no.”

  “Even with me?”

  “Especially with you.” I give him a pointed look.

  “Sorry, but it’s Abe or the morning rush?” He points outside where people are walking past with rapid steps, trying to get to work on time.

  “I have a text to return.” Abe grabs his cell phone from the console and stares at it in his lap.