Her eyes never flipped over to me. It was like she was pretending I was invisible. Hell, maybe that was for the best. If I wasn’t there she wouldn’t be able to act like a bitch to me.
“Mom, I love you, you know that, but I need to live my life. Once in a while that’s going to mean you don’t know everything. Brandi told you a lot more about us than I ever would have let you in on. I wish she hadn’t shared as much with you as she did, but I can’t do anything about that. What I do ask right now is you respect my choices and allow me to live my life.”
She looked even more pissed, almost to the point where she appeared constipated. I never in a million years thought she would agree. It was obvious she expected to be told everything about his life. It was probably the first time she’d realized he wasn’t telling her everything. With Brandi fessing up to everything about their relationship, except her indiscretion, I had no doubt Mrs. Montgomery believed Drew would never, and had never, kept anything from her.
Learning someone you thought you could trust was hiding something from you was tough, to say the least.
Ah, shit, I almost felt bad for her.
She glanced toward me and I could feel the hatred radiating off her. She believed I was the reason Drew was shutting her out. I was coming between them in her mind. It was all me, not the fact that her son was 32 years old and needed his own fucking life. He didn’t need mommy’s approval for everything.
Especially not the woman he was sleeping with.
“I will try to respect your choices as long as you promise to stay in touch with me. I don’t like having to track you down all the time in order to see you.”
Drew nodded. “I promise. I’ll do better.”
Our food arrived at that point and Drew carried the rest of the conversation in an attempt to get us to find things in common. Before long even Drew gave up trying to make his mom and I friends.
The ride back to the office was quiet, just like the ride to lunch. When we pulled in, Mrs. Montgomery rested her hand on Drew’s arm before getting out of the car. I wondered what she was going to tell him so I waited, then wished I hadn’t.
“I’m glad Xander’s okay with you seeing your receptionist. It would be awfully awkward if he had a problem with it.”
She hit a barb, and I could tell she knew it. I froze, not wanting to draw attention to myself, hoping to get an answer out of Drew.
“Xander doesn’t know, Mom, and I’d appreciate it if you helped us keep it that way.”
“Oh, but honey, why wouldn’t you tell your best friend, and your business partner, that you’re enjoying the company of the receptionist?”
“Mom, you’re on thin ice.”
She smiled brightly at him, knowing exactly what she was doing. “I’m not trying to cause a problem, honey. I’m simply trying to understand why you wouldn’t want anyone to know about your relationship. If you’re happy, you should be shouting it from the rooftops, not hiding it like a dirty little secret.”
I’d heard enough. I climbed out of the car without waiting for Drew’s response. He called after me but didn’t follow me. I was pissed and needed a minute. Or ten.
Inside I wanted nothing more than to throw something. I stalked over to my desk, fuming mad, and dropped into my chair, looking for something I could throw that wouldn’t be a problem. In other words, something I could break and not get fired for it.
Unfortunately there wasn’t a damn thing on my desk I could throw. At least not something that I could watch shatter against the wall like I fantasized about. Damn.
Drew came in a few minutes later and walked right over to me. Thankfully his mother was nowhere to be seen.
“I’m sorry-“
“Not now, Drew,” I cut him off. I wasn’t in the mood to hear about it, whatever it was he had to tell me. His mother was a complete bitch to me and made it perfectly clear she hated me. She also made me feel like shit for Drew hiding our relationship. As much as I wanted to ignore her words, she was dead on. If Drew was happy about us he would be telling the world, not asking me to hide it.
“Yes, now. My mom was really nasty to you-“
“Yes. But right now you have clients waiting for you. You don’t need to explain it to me right now, you need to do your job.”
Drew ran a hand through his hair then down over his chin. He looked at me then glanced toward the conference room where, if you listened, you could hear voices indicating they were already in there, and probably waiting for Drew.
“Go. Do what you do best. We’ll talk once we’ve both had a chance to calm down.”
Drew met my eyes and I saw all those things I kept thinking were there, but his mother’s words echoed in my head. Maybe I was seeing what I wanted to see. Maybe he was showing me something he wasn’t feeling. Maybe I was a fool.
“Fine,” Drew said resignedly. “This might be a while, but if you’re gone already I’ll come see you.”
“Okay,” I said, not sure when I’d be ready to talk to him. How do you get a guy who doesn’t want to define a relationship to define a relationship?
I took advantage of their meeting and ducked out a little early. Since I was always there early in the mornings I knew it wouldn’t be a problem. Plus, I’d finished my work and would just be sitting around looking at the clock anyway. Drew and Xander never said anything about me leaving a few minutes early, especially on a Friday.
I wasn’t in the mood to go home alone so I headed to Bite Me! Charlie was always working and I was in the mood for some junk food. There was nothing better than her cupcakes to end a long week, and even longer day.
The parking lot outside was starting to fill up. There were a few other places to eat so Charlie benefitted from the foot traffic to get customers, especially on the weekends. I found a spot and darted between two slow cars to get to Bite Me!
I pushed through the door and was welcomed by the delicious scent of warm sugar and sweet, sweet frosting. It was definitely my favorite smell in the world. I had no idea how Charlie wasn’t the biggest person ever. She was close to my size, a little smaller I thought, and was surrounded by cupcakes and icing all day.
It was a temptation I wasn’t sure I’d be able to handle.
Charlie beamed at me when she saw me and gestured to the side where stools lined along the edge of the counter. She pulled out two cupcakes and set them on a plate then poured a cup of decaf into a cup and headed down to me.
“What’s up?” she asked cheerfully, sliding the cupcakes and coffee in front of me.
I shook my head. “Just a crappy day. I didn’t feel like going home alone.”
Charlie smiled kindly at me. “Anything you want to talk about?”
Sometimes it felt like Charlie was more of a bartender than a baker. Whenever I came in I found myself wanting to spill my guts. Maybe it was her round face that was always smiling or maybe it was her brilliant blue eyes that looked so trusting. I felt like I could share the weight of the world with her and she would handle it without blinking.
“I don’t know. It’s kind of tough to explain.”
Charlie leaned against the edge of the counter. “Try me. Kendall can handle the register for a while.”
I glanced toward the register and saw Kendall smiling for a customer and ringing up the order. Charlie had found a treasure when she hired the high school student. When I was her age I was wrapped up in boys and finding myself. Kendall definitely had her shit together much better than I did.
“Hypothetically speaking, have you ever been in a relationship that was secret?”
Charlie shook her head cautiously. “I haven’t been in a whole lot of relationships, but no, I can’t say I’ve had a secret one.”
“Would you ever do it?”
She shrugged. “It’s hard to say if we’d do something until we’re faced with the choice. I’d like to say no, but I guess it would depend on the situation. What about you? Hypothetically speaking, of course.”
I nearly laughed at Charli
e’s commitment to my poor attempt at hiding the truth. She was a good friend. “Hypothetically speaking, yeah, I would. If I liked the guy enough.”
“Who wanted to keep the relationship a secret?”
“He did.”
“Okay,” Charlie drew out. “Why is that?”
I shrugged. “I’m not really sure. He just said we shouldn’t tell anyone. Well, he said we shouldn’t tell one person in particular.”
“Oh, God, please tell me it’s not his wife.”
I laughed out loud, happy to have a distraction from the way I felt. Yeah, it’d be much worse if Drew were married. Then again, if he were I never would have gotten involved with him in the first place and none of this would have happened.
“No, he’s not married. Or involved with anyone else. He didn’t want his best friend to know.”
Charlie’s eyes narrowed as she absorbed my words. “Okay, look, I don’t know much about relationships because I don’t really date. But, in my mind, if a guy doesn’t want his best friend to know about a relationship there’s something wrong. Isn’t it like, classic guy, for them to talk about sex and all that shit. If he doesn’t want his best friend to know then I would second guess the relationship.”
I nodded. “Yeah, that’s what I was afraid of.”
“Hypothetically speaking, of course.”
“Of course.”
Fourteen
I left Bite Me! feeling worse instead of better. I wanted to believe things were okay with Drew and I, but his mother’s words were taunting me, like she was right about all of it. And I’d been wrong about Drew.
When I finally got home all I wanted to do was crash. I wasn’t ready for a big talk with Drew or to hear more excuses from him about why we needed to keep things a secret. I just wanted to sleep.
I changed into my pajamas and crawled into bed. I ignored the buzzing of my phone and tried to push all my thoughts away. Between the constant buzz of my phone and the noise outside, I couldn’t sleep. Being nine o’clock had nothing to do with it, I was sure.
Then the banging started. Someone was at my door and wasn’t willing to let me sleep. I knew it was Drew. He was the only one who would nearly break down the door to get to me. Something about that made me feel a little better.
Dragging myself out of bed, I trudged through the living room as he knocked again. I was afraid he’d damage the door so I hurried over and unlocked it. Drew practically fell inside without the barrier He looked up at me with tired eyes.
“Why didn’t you answer your phone?”
I turned and walked away, leaving him to close the door and follow me if he really wanted to. In my room I crawled back into bed and pulled the covers up over me. I heard the door close and the lock flip before Drew’s heavy footsteps followed me. He sighed heavily when he walked in my room.
“The silent treatment. Great.”
I didn’t care. I was pissed and hurt and he was making it sound like I was the one being ridiculous.
“Baby, let’s talk, please.”
Instead of answering him I just snuggled deeper under my covers.
He sighed again then I heard his clothes being shifted. I risked a glance at him and saw him strip down to his boxer briefs. He pulled the covers back on the other side of the bed and got in behind me. His arm slid around my waist and pulled me to him, my back plastered to his front. His face nuzzled against my neck and he brushed my hair away then kissed me there.
“Did you know this is my favorite place to kiss you?” he asked. I didn’t answer. “I love being curled up behind you and kissing your neck like this. It’s like my own secret spot because during the day when your hair is down no one else can see this spot. But when we’re together I leave kisses there, like a promise that I’ll return to get them back.”
Damn, he was good. I was nearly panting with need from his words and his sweet kisses when two minutes earlier I’d been pissed off.
“Your right hand is my favorite place to touch you,” he said, weaving his fingers through mine. “It reminds me how close you are at that moment and gives me strength. Holding you like this is my favorite, too. I can feel your body pressed against mine, but I can still kiss you here,” he kissed my neck, “and hold your hand. I feel like I can say anything, do anything, when I have you in my arms.”
I was a puddle. Completely melted.
“More than anything though, my favorite place is with you. Work is more interesting with you around, life is more fun with you in it. I wouldn’t be the man I am today without you. You’ve brought me back from a place I never thought I’d leave. You gave me hope again and I couldn’t be happier to have you in my life. And my mother doesn’t get a vote on that. Just you and me, baby.”
My heart soared. He was the sweetest man in the world.
I turned toward him without a word and kissed him. What began as a sweet kiss to tell him thank you escalated to passionate quickly. His lips danced over mine, teasing until I opened for him. Our tongues glided together, neither of us relenting control. His hands ran down my body until he cupped my ass and brought me closer to him, close enough to feel his erection hard against me.
I moaned and arched toward him, anxious to feel him within me. “I see my woman’s getting greedy again. Not this time, baby. I’m going to make sure you know exactly how much I want you. I’m going to drive us both crazy with desire before I slide into you and feel you come on my cock.”
Oh, fuck, I was going to come just listening to him talk. And he knew it.
Drew flipped me so I was on my back then covered me with his nearly naked body. My hands drifted over his heated skin, wanting to feel him as close to me as possible. His lips found mine again and his tongue thrust into my mouth the same time his hips pressed against me, his erection hitting me exactly where I needed him.
“Oh, God,” I moaned as I broke our kiss. “Don’t go slow, please. I just need you now.”
Drew shook his head and grinned at me. “Not this time baby. I’m gonna make you beg for it and I’m gonna want to be begging myself. I don’t want you to doubt the way I feel about you.”
He kissed me softly and I knew his words were truth. It didn’t matter what I said, he was going to torture me. In the best way possible.
As we kissed his hands worked their way under my tank top. He splayed his fingers over my soft belly, stretching from the waistband of my shorts up to the skin just under my breasts. I didn’t know if I wanted him to go north or south but it didn’t matter, it was all going to feel good.
Drew went north and his hand cupped my breast, his thumb rasping over my taut nipples. My back arched into him, filling his hand to overflowing with my 36DD’s. He smiled against my lips then rolled my nipple between his fingers making my body greedy for more.
“Fuck, I love how you respond to me. Your body is like my own personal puppet. If I touch you here,” he rubbed my nipple again, “your breasts move toward me. When I touch you here,” he thrust his hips to mine, “your whole body arches into me. I fucking love it when you tell me what you want, what you need, with your body.”
He kissed down my neck as his hand pulled my tank top up. When the two met just above my breasts he lifted my head from the mattress and freed me of my top. His mouth was back on me, lighting a fire from my neck down to my breasts that was spreading through me like a lit fuse.
Drew’s lips closed around one of my nipples and my head fell back to the bed. I was completely overcome with desire for him. I wanted him and I wanted him immediately. But I knew Drew wouldn’t give in to my begging yet.
“Watch me, baby. I want you to see how hot it is to have my lips on your skin,” he whispered against my breast.
He kissed a path from one nipple to the other then locked eyes with me as his lips closed around me again. His hips rocked against me in the same rhythm his tongue circled my nipple, sending jolts of pleasure from my nipples straight to the apex of my thighs. A moan slipped past my lips and Drew closed his eyes, rocki
ng harder into me.
I kept my eyes on him as he threw the covers off my bed and moved south, leaving kisses in his wake. When he reached the barrier of my shorts he nipped at my belly then circled my belly button with his hot tongue. Who knew belly buttons could be so fucking sensitive?
His hands shifted to my hips and slid my shorts and panties down my legs. Drew followed my clothes until he was kneeling on the floor at the foot of my bed. He watched me, naked and ready for him, for a minute before he began his ascent.
First Drew kissed my toes. Each toe got the utmost devotion from his lips, and a little tongue. I’ve never known anyone with a foot fetish, but by the time Drew was done I was pretty certain I was making it a requirement for the men I went out with from then on.
His hands caressed and massaged my feet before his mouth helped out, kissing the arches of my feet and circling the bone of my ankle. When I moaned he did it again before continuing toward my calves.
With his tongue leading the charge, my calves had never felt so good. The muscles twitched at his touch, anxious for their turn for fun. Drew let his hands linger, running long, smooth strokes over my muscles that relaxed me in a way I’d never been relaxed. I was quickly turning into a puddle of goo.
When Drew made it to my knees he turned them outward so my legs were spread and my knees were bent but lying comfortably on the mattress. His tongue danced in the hollow space at the back of my knees, both tickling and turning me on in equal measure.
His hands led the rest of the way, massaging my thighs until he reached where I wanted him the most, then he pulled back and let his mouth catch up. His lips kissed my thighs then nipped gently at my skin, sparks of desire shooting from his teeth straight through me.
“I love looking at you from down here. You look so fucking sexy when you’re spread wide for me and just waiting for me to touch you, to taste you. Is that what you want, baby? Can I taste you?”
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