by Liv Morris
“How tall are those?” he asks, astonished.
I shrug. “Probably four inches. I usually wear four, but I have some that are six.”
He starts shaking his head faster. “You need to wear tennis shoes today. Go change them,” he orders.
Didn’t we just have this talk a few days ago? He can be so bossy.
I let go of his other hand and cross my arms over my chest. “Why?”
“Because we are going to be doing a lot of walking today, and I want you comfortable.” He crosses his arms over his chest, daring me to argue.
I do.
“These are comfortable. I could probably run a race in high heels. Walking around town isn’t going to bother me,” I huff.
“Please, Angel. I want you to wear tennis shoes today.”
“Fine! Give me a sec,” I say unhappily. I turn around before I have to see that victory smile. I walk back out of the closet with my black Nike shoes on.
“Let me see.”
My eyes snap to his as I give him an angry look.
“Please.”
I huff as I lift my pant legs.
“Excellent.” He takes my hand. “Let’s go.”
“Where are we going today?” I ask as he opens his door to his car for me.
“We are doing some sightseeing.”
“Have you picked up your truck yet?’’ I ask as he turns off my street.
“No. they didn’t have my tires in stock, so they had to order them. It could be ready tomorrow, or it may be a couple more days before its ready.”
“Are you going to press charges against Jessica?”
He shakes his head. “There’s no way to prove it was her. It would just be a waste of my time.”
I nod in agreement. “How were you able to take off half the day today?”
“I didn’t have much to do. I couldn’t miss the meeting this morning, but the rest of my day would have been slow.” He reaches over to grab my hand, never taking his eyes off the road. “Even if it would have been busy, I still would have taken it off to spend time with you, though.” He gives my hand a little squeeze.
Geez, he makes my insides melt.
“What made you decide to be a lawyer? Did you want to do it just because of your dad?” I look out the window, trying to figure out the direction we are going, but I have no clue where we are.
“I’ve wanted to be a lawyer since I can remember. I can’t say my dad didn’t have some sort of influence on my decision, though, but he is not the main reason. Growing up, he always told us we could be whatever we wanted to be. He was always letting us do our own thing. He was that way in every aspect of our lives. I wanted to play football, Micah wanted to play baseball and wrestle. He and Mom were very supportive. They always made it to every one of our games or matches.”
“You played football?” I shouldn’t be surprised. He just has that look to him. A tall muscular body and a personality that just screams he’s a leader. I can see him getting his team wound up before a game.
“Yep. I started when I was six all the way to my senior year.”
“Quarterback?”
He looks over at me with a cocky smile on his face. “You know it, baby.” He wiggles his eyebrows.
I throw my head back and laugh. He’s a cocky bastard, and I’m sure he used that to his advantage getting girls in bed.
“What?” he asks, offended.
“Nothing,” I say, shaking my head. “I was just thinking about how you probably used that to your advantage to get laid.” I laugh again as he smiles, looking at the road. “I doubt you needed the help, though.” It should make me upset how many girls he’s been with, but it doesn’t. I can’t get mad over something I can’t change. What matters to me is that I have him now. Although, if for some reason any of those girls come back into the picture wanting him now, they will see me go postal on their sorry little asses.
“Why didn’t you play in college?”
“Well,” he sighs, “Don’t get me wrong, I liked football. I just knew I didn’t have a future in football. I wanted to concentrate on my academics. I didn’t want football to take away from that.”
I nod as I turn my face to the road and see the St. Louis arch. I lean down to look up through the top of the windshield to get a better look of it. Damn, it’s so tall.
“Have you been up to the arch?” Slade asks as I continue to stare at it through the windshield.
“No,” I shake my head at the windshield.
“Good.” I can hear his smile in his voice.
“Is that where we are going?” I ask excitedly.
He nods his head as I squeal.
He parks the car and helps me out. “We are going to eat first. You must be hungry.”
“I am.” I cuddle up to his side and grab onto his arm tightly. He laughs as he wiggles his arm loose and wraps it around my shoulder, pulling me close to his side.
We walk up to Arch View Café. “Would you guys like to sit inside, or on the patio?” A woman asks once she’s greeted us.
Slade looks down to me. “Outside, please.” I want to sit in the sun and enjoy the day.
We follow her out to the back patio where she sits us at a round wrought iron table looking over the river. We can see tall buildings and the arch right on the other side of it. “Your waitress will be right with you guys.”
“Thanks.” The arch looks pretty as the clouds are rolling in. “It looks like it’s going to rain.”
“It’s not supposed to.”
“Never know.” I open my menu to decide what I want.
“Tell me about your college days.” He doesn’t bother to open his menu as I feel his eyes on me.
“The first year was hard.” I look up at him through my lashes, “for obvious reasons.” I look back to the menu. “It got easier after that. I became a wino while in college. I don’t know how I would have survived without wine and Courtney. She came down and visited quite often. Well, she did until our senior year.”
“Why is that?”
“We were both busy with school. The first time I called my mom it was…”
I get so caught up with him that I sometimes want to tell him everything. But some things a girl just needs to keep to herself.
“...we were both busy with college trying to make sure we had everything we needed, getting ready for graduation. I picked up a few extra classes both semesters, and she had done the same.”
“Where did she go to college?”
I put down my menu, and lace my fingers together as I set my hands on the table.
“She went to OU. We were supposed to go together, but it just didn’t work out. When I decided to get away from my mom, I had been accepted to a college in California and Dallas. I chose Dallas. I wanted to get away from my mom, but not that far away.”
He nods his head in understanding.
The waitress shows up to take our order. He fills me in on what he did over the weekend, and how he went to the gym for the first time since we’ve gotten together. I smile at the fact that I get all of his time when he’s not at work. He is telling me the story of how his father met his mother, when the waitress brings our food.
“You never told me why you chose to be a lawyer,” I remind him before I shove a fry in my mouth.
“I wanted to help people.” Simple as that. He wipes his mouth with a napkin. “It’s been long hours and hard work, but I love it.” He gives me a big smile.
“Are you two finished?” the waitress asks as she eyes Slade. She hasn’t even looked at me once.
Slade looks up from his plate to me. “Are you finished, Angel?”
I smile, knowing he hasn’t looked at her. He has no idea that she has been staring him down.
I nod my head. “Yes.” I pick up my plate, handing it to her with a smile.
She lays our check down. “Let me know when you’re ready.”
I reach for the check, but Slade snatches it back.
“Slade. Let me get the
check.”
He shakes his head. “No.” He pulls out his wallet and lays down some cash. “We have had this discussion. You know I won’t let you pay.”
I give him a hard look, but let it go.
We stand up and walk out of the restaurant. “We’re you really sick yesterday?”
I slide him a questioning look. “What do you mean, really sick?”
“Well, Micah told me you called in sick to work.”
Is that the only reason he came to see me? Because he thought I was sick?
“Angel.” He stops walking and pulls my face up to look at him. “That’s not why I came to see you,” he says like he is reading my mind. “It is why I stopped and bought you soup, though.”
“You bought me soup?” I smile.
He nods his head. “But I came over because I couldn’t go any longer without seeing you.”
I smile.
“I was going crazy. Josh came over and made me shower and shave.”
I laugh. “I bet you look cute with some stubble.”
“You bet your hot little ass I do.” His smile is cocky, making me laugh again.
“Angel,” he says seriously. “Yesterday, I spent time cleaning out some drawers for you in the dressers and in the bathroom. I gave you some room in the closet.” He runs his knuckles up and down my cheek. “I don’t want to be without you. If you prefer, I will stay over at your house with you. I don’t care where we stay as long as we are together.”
I stare up at him in astonishment. He made room for my stuff? I shake my head. I don’t want to be without him, either.
“Thanks, baby.” I give him a hug as he rubs my back.
“Come on.” He grabs my hand and walks us over to the arch.
We walk up to the window to purchase our tickets as I look up. “Wow. That’s taller than I thought.”
“It’s not all that bad.” He pulls out his wallet to pay the lady.
“Slade.” I pull on his shirt frantically as my heart starts beating out of my chest from fear. He looks over at me. “I’m scared of heights.” I shake my head. “I can’t go up there.”
“It will be fine. I promise.”
The older lady behind the glass gets my attention. “It’s only a four minute ride.”
My eyes bug out as I stare at her. “Four minutes?” I whisper. I didn’t know what she was referring to when she said minutes. We have to stand up there and look out over the city for four minutes?
They time you?
Slade grabs my hand. “Look at me.”
I do.
“I promise, it will be okay.” He runs his fingers through my hair, and it soothes me.
“Okay,” I say, unsure.
He grabs my hand as the lady gives him the tickets and walks us over to where we can enter the arch. When the door opens I take a step back, letting go of Slade’s hand. Now I know what she meant by four minutes.
“Angel, it will be okay.”
“It’s so tiny.” The space has to be the smallest I have ever seen. It has five seats that sit in a circle, and the inside has bright white walls with white lights.
“I’ll keep you occupied the entire time,” Slade whispers in my ear.
What?
His words sink in, and I realize that sex is what I need. It’s been two days since I’ve had him. I walk in as he chuckles, coming in behind me. We sit down, and he leans into me. It is a Monday afternoon, so we’re able to get in a tram by ourselves. As soon as the door shuts, he places his hand in my hair and places his lips on mine. His kiss is sweet and slow. I feel our tram jerk a bit and I pull away, feeling like my chest in now in my stomach.
Slade reaches over and pulls me onto his lap where I straddle him. “Don’t think about it, Angel. Think about me,” he says against my lips.
“You’re going to have to help me out with that.” I swallow hard.
“I think I can do that.” He takes my lips in his and gives me a slow sexual kiss.
My body relaxes and I keep my eyes closed tightly as his tongue explores my mouth. I grip his hips and grind myself against him as he starts hardening. He grips my hair harder as I moan in his mouth. I keep my eyes closed as I feel my body jerk a bit. He pulls his lips away from mine.
“Angel.”
I open my eyes to see him smiling at me. “Yes?” I bite my bottom lip seductively. I’m totally all for having sex in this little tram.
He laughs at me. “We’re here.”
I slump my shoulders and give him a pouty face.
He brings his lips to mine and smiles. “Later,” he promises.
We get out of the tram, and he takes my hand. I start to pull away when he walks over to a tiny window. “Come on.” He pulls harder, and I fumble over to him. I close my eyes as he stands behind me, wrapping his arms around me. “I’ll hold onto you.” He leans down to whisper in my ear, “I won’t let you go.”
My body shivers at the double meaning. Reluctantly, I open my eyes and look out over the beautiful city. “It’s beautiful.” I choose to look out over the city and not straight down. I didn’t want to have a heart attack.
“It is.” He squeezes me tightly against him.
I look to the clouds; dark gray in color, and moving fast. I can see rain falling, looking like a sheet hanging down from the clouds. It makes me smile. I love the rain. The smell, the feel of it, the sound of it...everything about it is relaxing.
I relax into him and wrap my arms around his. “Thanks for bringing me up here, baby.”
He kisses my hair. “You’re welcome, Angel.”
“I bet it’s even more beautiful at night.”
“I’ve never been up here at night, but I bet you are correct,” he says, unwrapping his arms from around me. “Come on, let’s get going. I want to take you to the museum as well.”
Chapter Nineteen
We’ve been here almost two hours, and that smile has been on her face the entire time. Just seeing her smile has me smiling like a damn fool.
I go to open the door to walk outside, but stop. “Fuck!” I mumble.
“What’s wrong, baby?”
I turn around to face her. “Let’s stay in here for a while.” I start looking around, wondering what else we could see that we already haven’t.
“What? Why?”
“Because it’s pouring outside,” I answer, rather annoyed. I hate it when it rains.
A slow glorious smile appears on her face as she crosses her arms over her chest.
“Why, baby? Are you afraid to get wet?” She arches an eyebrow.
I was about to say yes, but stop as she slowly uncrosses her arms and walks up to me, her body flush with mine. She places her arms around my neck as I lean down towards her, rising up on her tiptoes and putting her mouth to my ear.
“That would be a shame because I love to get wet,” she whispers seductively. I moan as my cock hardens in my pants. She laughs a playful laugh, lets go of me, and runs right out the door. I spin around and run after her.
“Get back here,” I yell, laughing as the rain comes down on me. I wasn’t ten steps out the door and was already drenched. I come up behind her and pick her up, twirling her around as she laughs. I sit her down and turn her to face me. “You’re crazy,” I laugh as I push a wet strand of hair off her face.
She smiles. “About you.”
I lean down and kiss her. I’ve never felt so alive in my life; standing out in the pouring rain, kissing Angel as if I’d die without her lips on mine. I run my hands down her back and over her ass as she lightly nibbles on my lower lip. Fuck, that drives me crazy. I pick her up with my hands under her ass, and she wraps her legs around me. I pull away from the kiss, leaving us panting, needing more. I kiss down her neck, tasting the rain on her body. God, she tastes amazing.
How did I ever live without her?
The rain continues to fall, and all I can do is lick it off her neck. It tastes cool on my tongue, but inside all I feel is heat. I’m burning with need. She grabs m
y hair, bringing my face up to hers. I look at my beautiful angel. Even dripping wet, she is the most beautiful woman in the world.
“Why are we standing in the pouring down rain?”
“I love the rain. I love to feel it run down over my body. It gives me goose bumps, yet feels relaxing. Here, close your eyes.”
I give her my best, ‘Are you crazy?’ look.
“Just do it,” she giggles as I set her feet on the ground. To hear that sound, I will do anything. Plus, it’s not like I can get anymore soaked. With a sigh, I close my eyes.
“Now, just clear your mind and relax your body.” She runs her hands up my body. “Can you feel it? Can you feel every drop as it runs down your body like a cool blanket?”
I open my eyes as she continues to speak. I let my eyes travel over her shirt that is soaked and clinging to her chest and stomach. I watch as she has her head thrown back, looking up at the sky with her eyes closed. She pulls her hands away from my chest, lifting her arms out to her side with a beautiful smile on her face. She’s gorgeous. Even soaked from head to toe, she still looks like an angel. I step up to her and she opens her eyes, looking at me.
“You weren’t listening to me,” she says, trying not to smile.
Lightning strikes somewhere behind us, lighting up the dark skies and giving me a breathtaking view of her sparkling green eyes. I place my hands on either side of her face. I need to prove to myself she’s standing in front of me. I feel as if she is not real. She is a dream come true; a dream that I never want to wake up from.
I shake my head no as I pull my hands from her face and lace my fingers in her belt loop, bringing her closer to me. “You have no idea how much I want you right now.” I rub my hard cock against her.
“Then have me,” she whispers as her lips brush mine.
My eyebrows shoot up. Did she just say have me? “Where? We’re standing in a parking lot while it’s raining.” I pull on my drenched shirt to prove my point.
She takes my shirt in her hands and runs her cold small hands up my stomach and over my chest. Her hand comes to stop over my heart. “Take me home.”