by Ashlee Price
“Greg?”
“Of course this is Greg.”
“What do you want?”
I could hear the harshness in my voice. It didn’t sound pleasant, but there was really no way I could keep it out. I wanted to pretend like it didn’t matter, like I hadn’t pined for the man who was talking to me so nonchalantly now. But I couldn’t act like that. I had waited for far too long for a call from Greg. After a month, maybe two, I had tried my best to accept that I was never going to hear from him again. Now that I had, after all of that time, I didn’t have much good to say.
There was a pause while the thoughts and emotions rolled through me. I didn’t know what he as thinking, but I supposed he would most likely hang up. My heart was pounding so hard that the sound in my ears drowned out everything else.
“Hello? Are you still there?” I wasn’t sure if I wanted him to be or not. But I repeated it one more time and then he answered me.
“Yes. I need to talk to you.”
“I don’t think we have much to say to each other, Greg, do you?”
“We have a lot to say to each other. I haven’t seen you since our picnic.”
The mention of the picnic made me mad. It had been the night that I had fallen for him. I had waited for him to call or come over, but he never had. I didn’t even know where he lived, and it was impossible to get a phone number for a man like Greg Jefferson. No one was going to give it away, and since he had cut ties with the company, there was nothing I could do to find him. Greg popping up again now was very unsettling, and I was instantly on guard.
“I think you should have called a little sooner, Greg. In most circles, three days is pretty customary, not ninety.”
“Has it been that long?”
I sighed out loud into the receiver and then just put the phone down. There was nothing that he could say to make it better, and I didn’t have anything to say beyond a few curse words.
The phone rang again. After a few minutes of it going through the four-ring cycle and then repeating, I turned it off. Fran came in and asked me if I was okay.
“Yeah.”
“You don’t look okay. Who was that?”
“A ghost.”
She looked at me like I was crazy. Maybe I was. I certainly hadn’t been feeling myself for a while. Now that I had just about convinced myself to move on, it was disconcerting to have him surface again. Just the sound of his voice made me realize how much I had missed him, and I damned my body for falling for it.
“So are you ready to go?”
Fran eyed me warily and said that she was. I knew that my eyes were most likely red-rimmed, but I was going to pretend that I didn’t care and that his voice on the phone hadn’t been like a punch in the stomach.
***
The news seemed to be about my luck. I hadn’t been feeling well, and Fran had pushed and prodded until I finally agreed to go the doctor to see what was going on. She took me there herself one night, and I quickly found out what it was that was making me feel so sick to my stomach in the mornings and then so tired throughout the day. I had thought it was the flu or some other virus that was just taking its course. I had never suspected that it would be what it was. The answer was so obvious in retrospect, yet I refused to say anything about it to anyone, not even Fran.
There were choices to be made, but the last thing I wanted to do was make a decision too quickly. I had the urge to call Greg and tell him everything, but then I remembered all of the days and nights I had waited for his call. I didn’t want to be that way again, but I knew that eventually I was going to have to talk to him. I told myself that I would be ready for him when he called again.
I wasn’t planning to see him, though. I waited the rest of the day for him to call back. I had a lot on my mind, and I decided that I was going to tell him the truth.
I just didn’t expect him to pop up at my house. It never even crossed my mind, so when I heard the doorbell, I let Fran get it. If I had thought for a moment that it was Greg, I would have rushed to the door.
Instead I got Fran coming into my room and announcing that Greg was there. “Is he in the house?”
Fran shook her head. “I am not letting him in.”
I gave her a look and she looked back with sympathy. “Just let him in, Fran, and send him back here. We need to talk.”
Fran was skeptical about that, but she was a good friend and sent Greg to me. I took a look in the mirror and then put a hand to my stomach. Would he know? Would he believe me when I told him it was his?
The second question made me nervous. Greg and I had only been together once and we hadn’t even thought of using protection. But he was rich, and he might think that I had tried to trap him on purpose. The more I thought about it, the less I actually wanted to tell him. I wouldn’t be able to handle him looking at me like I had tried to put one over on him.
When I heard him at the door, I opened it slowly. I had no doubt that it wasn’t as nice as his place, but I didn’t want him around Fran in the common area. Fran had a lot to say about him just taking off, and I didn’t want her to say it to him. Fran was not known for keeping her mouth shut.
“Hi, Greg. What are you doing here?”
His eyes took me in, and the look he gave me made me a little nervous. I took a step back and offered him the chair. I sat on the edge of my bed and tried not to think about the last time we were together.
“I’ve missed you, Desiree.”
His words were sweet, and I wanted to believe him. I had missed him so much, but in the end, there was nothing I could do. He had vanished and now, like a ghost, he was back. Why did I want nothing more than for him to touch me, kiss me like he did before? Couldn’t he see that I was dying for it?
I looked away so that he couldn’t see my need and my confusion. I didn’t know what to say. When I looked back he was staring at me from his chair. God, he looked predatory.
“I was sorry to hear about the business,” I offered.
He waved me off like getting forced from his own company wasn’t a big deal. “I’ve taken care of Donald, and now I’m here to offer you a job. The pay is better, and the hours are too. All you have to do is say yes. I need you there with me, Desiree.”
It wasn’t what I wanted to hear, but it was a start. “I will think about it. I have a few offers I’m looking at right now.”
He didn’t like my answer. I saw the flare in his eyes.
“What other offers?”
“Schwartz and that place down on 3rd.”
He frowned at me. For some reason I liked that it bothered him. I wanted to bother him, because Lord knows that he had bothered me for the last few months.
“You need to come back to me.”
His words were soft, and I couldn’t help but smile at him. I wanted to go back to him more than anything. I wanted more than to work for him, though. My dreams were filled with us together forever, even though I knew something like that would never happen.
“I don’t know if I can, Greg.”
Chapter 5 – Greg
Desiree was sitting on the side of the bed, facing me, her arms underneath her thighs. I could tell that she was nervous about something. I hadn’t seen her in so long that for a while I just wanted to fill my thoughts and eyes with her. Her hair was a bit longer and her eyes were shiftier, but she was still so damn beautiful.
“I’m sorry that I took so long to call and come by, Desiree, but you know I had some things to take care of. I had to deal with Donald, and it took longer than I thought it would.”
I was practically begging her, and I wasn’t too proud of that, but I didn’t understand why she was so mad. I was back now, and that should be enough.
“It wouldn’t have taken any time to call, Greg. After that night and the picnic, you just took off.”
Desiree’s eyes were getting red, and I realized then that I had hurt her more than I had imagined. I’d thought that I was the one in love, but now I knew that she was too. The idea ma
de me happy. I got out of the chair and moved next to her. The space was only a few feet, but just then it felt like miles, miles by which I couldn’t stand to be separated from her.
Her body shifted imperceptibly away from me. I didn’t like it. Desiree was supposed to be in my arms already, not moving away from me. “I just wasn’t ready to talk to you. When I’m around you, Desiree, my brain doesn’t really work. All I can think about is being with you. I knew that as soon as you were back in my arms, I wasn’t going to be getting anything done. I had to take care of business first.”
She didn’t like my answer, and I knew then that I should have put her first. I’d had my reasons for staying away, but as I gently touched the side of her face, I knew that it had been a mistake to wait. Her look set my body on fire even though I knew she wasn’t doing it on purpose. She didn’t have to do anything to make me want her. All she had to do was look at me with those blue eyes of hers and I was lost. She was mine.
Leaning in, I waited for her to make the last bit of distance between us disappear. I wanted her to want me. After a few seconds poised to take her lips, she made a small sound and leaned in for a kiss. The whimper made me growl and what little control I had left was gone in a flash.
Pushing her down onto the bed, I covered her body quickly with my own. She seemed so tiny underneath me, her curves rubbing against my whole body. She was driving me to hysteria, and before I knew what I was doing, my hands were pressing between her legs to feel the wetness that I knew I would find there. She was already ready and I couldn’t stop the momentum. I didn’t want to.
Desiree hissed and her hips rose up to meet my hand. I silenced her with my mouth as my fingers strummed on her need. She would squirm underneath me to get away and then the next minute her hips would rise to get more. Her body signals were as confusing as the woman herself. One would say stop while the other was a green light to go all out. I ignored the red signs and moved to push her over the edge on which I knew she was teetering.
It didn’t take long for her to cry out against me. The sound was almost as good as the wetness that covered my fingers. Licking the sweetness off of my digits, I started to pull her dress up her thighs. I’d gotten to her waist when she finally stopped me.
“Not this time, Greg. I don’t want to wait.”
Her taste in my mouth, I was torn between what I wanted and what she wanted. In the end she won out and pulled my pants down to my knees and then off. Her hands were like before, pulling on my shirt buttons, and this time I heard one pop off before I stilled her.
“Do you feel what my heart does for you?”
It was beating underneath her palm. Desiree went to her knees and kissed me. She didn’t answer my question, but her lips told me everything that I needed to know. As soon as I was bared to her, Desiree was urging me onto the bed. She was acting frenzied. Apparently it had been a long wait for her as well. I couldn’t imagine her wanting it as much as I did, but she seemed to have the same urge.
Pulling her onto my lap, I let her weave her legs around my waist and settle down before I positioned her above me. I watched her eyes darken and then close as my length fought to push through her hot canal. She was so wet, and so tight, and I was in heaven before she was all the way down on top of me. Her arms moved around my neck and I kissed her as I let the last bit of her suffocate the last few inches of me.
She cried out in my ear, my name on her lips as she clenched and squeezed me all the way around. I heard my own groan of pleasure and then her gasp as I started to move up inside of her. Her arms tightened around my neck and my hands went to her waist to drive her down. I had learned a lot about Desiree in the short time she’d been in my arms before, and one thing that I had learned for certain was that she wanted it hard and fast. Her insides welcomed the speed and her body was tensing up as she got ready to come.
“Come for me, Desiree.”
Her head shook a little, her eyes cinched shut. She was trying to fight it, but she was losing her battle with her own body’s will. I felt the sharp sting of her nails boring into my shoulders and then the gush of fluid as she came around me.
“Say my name, Desiree.”
She whimpered as my hips slowed down. Her eyes opened and she looked at me and begged me to give her more. Her eyes were haunting and I couldn’t stop from giving her what she wanted. All I wanted to do was make her happy.
Grabbing her and then pushing her back to the mattress, I covered her body with mine and was back inside of her in moments. There was no going slow. My only desire was to hear her scream and feel more wetness. Desiree had had multiple orgasms before, and only when she pushed against my chest and begged me to stop did I even think about my own cum boiling up. My release was perfect and I never wanted to leave her.
Eventually her insides started to push me out, but then I felt my throbbing rod hardening again inside of her. Desiree gasped and I reveled at the sound. Once was not going to be enough. Before I slipped all the way out of her, I was pushing in deeper and rocking back into her. The rhythm started slow, but I got faster as her whimpers got higher and louder. She didn’t have to tell me a thing. I already knew what she needed.
It was an hour before I could get out of her. She was panting on her back and her eyes were still closed. I watched her chest rise and fall as she sucked in air quickly. The look was hard to pull my gaze from. I wondered if she knew what she meant to me.
I saw my need sliding out of her, and I thought of how careless I had been. I never went without a condom, or at least some assurance that the woman was on birth control. But with Desiree I had never even thought to ask her about it.
“I’m sorry I didn’t think to use protection. We can’t be having any babies running around. You’re on something, right?”
She nodded her head and started to get up. Desiree was wide awake now, and she unexpectedly started to get dressed. “You don’t have to worry about that, Greg.”
Chapter 6 – Desiree
I couldn’t believe that I’d had sex with him again. Not only had I agreed to it, but I’d practically begged him for it. I’d certainly urged him on when he was inside of me. I wasn’t a victim, surely, but there was no doubt in my mind that I had made a mistake.
He stopped me and kissed me softly on the lips. “Why are you putting your clothes on, Desiree?”
I could barely look at him, but I dragged my eyes up to his and tried not to look hurt. He was just being safe, and I knew that I had been partly to blame before. But I knew then that I was not going to give him my news. It was news that he wouldn’t want to hear.
“What’s wrong, Desiree?”
I told him that nothing was wrong, but inside I was dying. No amount of orgasms and shared moments of bliss were going to make everything all better again. Reality was back, and I was finding it hard to be around him when all I could think to tell him was the news that had made me question everything that I was doing. My whole life was in question, but now I had an answer on one thing. I knew now that I was going to have to raise our child alone. Greg Jefferson had no desire to have a baby with me, and I wasn’t going to be the type of woman who trapped a man who didn’t want me or our child.
Looking away, I pushed the wetness from my eyes. When he pressed, I told him that I was fine. I felt his hand on my arm, and though I wanted to jerk it away and call him a liar, I let him pull me back to his hard chest. When he did I melted in his arms. Saying goodbye to Greg was going to be one of the hardest things I’d ever done. He whispered into my ear how beautiful I was, and the words made me shiver.
“I’ve got to go, Greg. It’s almost time for my shift.”
“Your shift?”
He pulled away so I could turn around. I was lucky enough that I really did have to work that evening. If I’d been able to, I would have stayed in his arms even longer, but that would only have made leaving him even harder. It was bad enough that I had to push him from my life, but the way he looked at me then made me wish that everyth
ing was different and he wanted our child.
“Yeah, I work at the bar down the road.”
I saw his frown set in and I shook my head. “It’s really not that bad.” At least I wasn’t fired and rehired and then fired again by another jerk. The bar was not my dream, and it was a waste of my college degree, but it was steady money and I worked with people that I understood, not underhanded rich men like Greg and his kind.
“I want you to come to work for me, Desiree. You’re not supposed to be a bartender, not with all of the education you have.”
When I finally turned around, he was still only in his pants. His smooth chest was distracting. “Well, it wasn’t like my last job was going to give me a good reference. I had to find something to pay the bills.”
He shook his head. “I’m sorry, Desiree. I didn’t even think about that.”
“No, you didn’t. You just left me high and dry, and now you come back months later and everything is supposed to be okay? Well it isn’t okay!”
I could feel myself getting madder the more I thought about it. I had waited for him for what felt like forever, and now he was just toying with me, playing with my emotions. He wouldn’t want me if he knew the truth, and I knew that it wouldn’t be long before he guessed it. That was why I had to make sure that he never found out.
He tried to touch me but I sidestepped his hand. I didn’t want to feel his hands on me, because every time that happened, the next thing I knew, I would be underneath him and I wouldn’t care about anything but the feel of him inside of me. If he touched me again, I was going to be lost.
“I really need to go, Greg. Thanks for coming over. It was good to see you.”
I caught a look of surprise on his face. I figured it was just because he never got told no. It seemed like a good lesson for him, so I didn’t feel bad about it. I couldn’t let it be known that we would never see each other again. I didn’t know where I was going, but I couldn’t be around him again and he knew where I lived. I was going to have to change everything. So how could I worry about his feelings? I was the one who was going to have to raise our child alone.