“As I was trying to say. Will you marry me?” I croak out while she’s laying on top of me on the floor.
“Absolutely!” She smiles and leans back down to briefly kiss me.
I start to sit up with her now straddling my lap. Her chair is laying on it’s side on the ground a few feet away from the commotion and I still see the ring box sitting next to her dinner plate.
“May I do the honors?” I ask indicating the ring on the table. She scrambles off of me and stands, I get back into position on bended knee and grab the ring box. I open it facing her and cast a look to her face. Tears are streaming from her eyes now and she’s nodding. I withdrawal the ring from the box and take her left hand in mine again. My excessive sweating has ended and now I’m blinking back moisture. I slide the ring on her finger and it fits perfectly. I stand up and envelope her in my arms, leaning down to take her lips in mine again. Before dinner is forgotten, I break our embrace and nod to our food.
“Let’s not let our Christmas eve dinner go to waste.” I smile, releasing her and motioning to our food.
The smile that stayed on Sterling’s face during dinner was epic. We both made a lot of appreciative noises about the meal and we made small talk to fill in the gaps. I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. As we finished up the dinner, which was beyond delicious – in silence, we cleared the table and rinsed the dishes. We were both drying our hands as I look up to her.
“You’re now my fiancé and I’m so going to marry you!” I say as I drop the towel as I step into her. She gasps as I kiss her and she wraps her arms around my neck as her body leans into mine. I start walking her backwards until she hits the island and I have her caged against that surface and mine. I press into her as a moan escapes in which I deepen the kiss.
STERLING
Dane kisses me as if it’s all he has been thinking about. I can feel all his emotions in this kiss and I release mine into it as well, hoping that he can feel how much I love him. I somehow manage to push off of the island that he has me pinned against and we waddle, still kissing to the hallway. I push him against the wall and as my hand is roaming from his neck down to his chest, my other hand is pulling his shirt up and over his head. We break for that brief moment and it was almost torture. His hand is fumbling with my jeans buttons, why oh why do they create button fly jeans! We’re acting like animals and it feels so right. His hand is diving into my panties and to my center. His fingertips brush my silky warm center as I widen my stance. He pumps one finger in and I instantly moan into his mouth. His teeth capture my bottom lip as he then pulls his hand from my pants and lifts me up. My legs circle his waist as he walks me down the hallway to our bedroom. He slowly lays me on the bed, we haven’t broken our kiss until just now as he kneels down and tugs at my pants. He’s placing kisses up my calf and I’m starting to squirm. I’ve managed to tear off my shirt and my bra as he’s down there taking his time. I realize that he’s still wearing his clothes as I’m laying here fully nude, except for that chunk of a diamond now on my ring finger. I hold my hand up and admire it. It’s not too big and not too small, it’s perfect. Trying to not get too distracted by my new bling, I put my hand down and grip the bed sheets as Dane swirls his tongue on my clit. Sensations are rocketing and I can see stars behind my eye lids. An animalistic sound comes from me as I can feel Dane humming his approval. He pumps his finger, no make that two fingers in and out a few times before he continues with his assault of kisses on my body. He rids himself of his boxers and jeans in the midst of my orgasm and for that, I’m extremely thankful.
I watch him through my eyelashes as he aligns himself up with my center. He’s got a firm grasp on his cock and my mouth is watering with need. As he slowly pushes himself in, he lets out a groan of pleasure and drops himself down on top of me. With most of his weight on his forearms nestled beside my head, he slowly pulls in and out.
“I love you.” He whispers as he kisses my neck.
***
The sun is barely peaking through the curtains, but I know that it’s out there. I open one eye and try to focus my singular vision on the alarm clock beside my side of the bed. It’s 9am but my body is saying otherwise. I slowly roll to my side and Dane’s piercing green eyes are staring at me. A slow smile comes to his lips as his arm reaches to pull me flush against him.
“Merry Christmas!” He says kissing the top of my head.
“How long have you been up, you know staring at my back?” I smirk.
“Not too long. I was nodding in and out, you just so happened to roll over as I was admiring your backside.” He lightly laughs.
“What time do we need to be at Max and Betsy’s?”
“Not until 10. That leaves us plenty of time, you know to call our parents and tell them the news.”
He’s really the best. I can’t believe that after all these years, after years of just being friends, underlying what we previously had, was this – romance. We stuck each other in the friends zone unintentionally, but we broke through. I place my head against his chest underneath his chin and breathe in deep.
“You okay?” He questions pulling me tighter to him.
“Just really happy!” I smile. “So happy.”
“C’mon, who do we call first?” Dane says rolling over to reach his cell on his nightstand as I do the same.
“Ro-sham-bo?” I offer.
I win, so we call my parents first. Then we move on to his. We had the phones on speakerphone and our bedroom filled with shrills from both mothers who both promptly said they were going to call each other and start planning.
We both start our day, stealing kisses at every passing moment where we are in another’s path, but we still shower separately this morning. Dane mumbled something about never being able to leave the shower if we did. As Dane is showering, I pull out my laptop and power it on while sitting at the kitchen island. I don’t have to work for another 3 days, but that doesn’t mean the kids I work with should be ignored, especially on Christmas day. I pull up my secure server and sign on to retrieve the contact information for 4 of my teens. Three of the four kids were available to talk, and I was incredibly happy that I was able to be a small part of their holiday. The holidays are the worst for those who are unfortunate or lacking family, and the teens that I work with, while they currently are in homes, some have had it pretty bad. Most of my cases are teens, but I have a significant amount of cases who are 12 and under. I start to pull up my case load as Dane walks into the kitchen in just a pair of basketball shorts.
“You should be illegal!” I gush, staring at the hard lines on his torso. “Get dressed so we can leave soon.” I order
“You never complained when I walked around like this before.” He retorts.
“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t take notice, which I did often but I suffered in silence.”
“Oh, is that so?” He smiles crossing his arms, making his arms bulk and his pecs look edible.
“I definitely noticed, but there was an imaginary line drawn in the sand at that time. Besides, I think I was only peeking before, now I’m openly gawking and probably drooling!” I jokingly wipes the invisible drool from my mouth.
Dane laughs as he resumes rummaging in the cupboards for something to eat.
“You have no idea how many hard ons you caused in this kitchen in the mornings. I used to sit at the island adjusting myself, a lot!” He says.
I laugh as I return to my laptop.
“Whatcha doing?” he asks a moment later turning around as he gives up his search.
“I’m making some call to the kids to wish them a happy holiday.” I say as I pull up the next number.
I take a deep breath; this is one of my more difficult cases. The foster parents are hesitant for all suggestions that I make during our meetings and the little girl placed in their home is suffering. She’s only 9 years old and she’s failing in most of her subjects in school. The common core structure is so difficult for her that while she may have the correct
answers to most things, she’s not explaining the answers as required and the foster parents don’t see a point in trying to help her with it. So most of my meetings with the girl is helping with her homework. Since I don’t see her every day, it’s hard to keep up, but I try to do what I can. I’ve attended parent-teacher conferences, however it seems like all is lost as soon as the fosters leave the school grounds.
I dial the number and patiently wait for a pick up.
“Hello, Mrs. Jenkins, this is Sterling – Tabitha’s case worker. I called to wish her a Merry Christmas, may I speak with her?” I ask politely using my big girl voice.
“No you may not!” Mrs. Jenkin’s curtly responds.
I can hear arguing in the background between several people. I strain my hearing to see if I can hear Tabitha’s voice, however I can’t make much of anything out other than Mrs. Jenkin’s raspy breathing.
“Tabitha is outside playing with my niece and nephew. She’ll see you at your next house visit.” Mrs. Jenkin’s insisted.
“Okay then. Have a merry Christmas then.” I’m pretty sure that I was just hung up on. I’m still staring at my phone as Dane’s hands come to rest on my shoulders and start massaging.
“You’re a great case worker kid!” He says reassuringly. He gives my shoulders one last squeeze and then leans down to kiss the top of my head, then quickly vanishes to dress.
DANE
Christmas was nice. I got engaged, spent time with friends, and I didn’t have to work. But now, a week after being away from my office, I’m feeling like I’ve neglected my first child. If it wasn’t for hiring Lukas on, I wouldn’t have been afforded the luxury of time off. Granted, my face looked busted after that incident with Sterling’s ex and it wouldn’t have been good business to show to my clients looking like I crawled out of the gutter. Thankfully, the restraining order Sterling placed has helped avoid more run-ins.
I walk out to reception and cut a right towards the office that is set up for Lukas. Max has been primarily training him and working on making sure he is up to date on our projects, past and present. The walk-thru for our last project with the restaurant build and extension in La Jolla hit completion, I had instructed Max to have Lukas take lead on so he would know how that would normally go. Max, of course went with him and coached him through the process, but it felt good to know that I could count on someone else. With the way we’ve been branching out and gaining more projects, our own company would need expansion.
Lukas Harris was hired fresh out of graduation. According to his resume, he paid for the majority of college from working in construction, and from speaking with him, it’s a generational aspect with his father and his grandfather as well. When asked why he didn’t work with either of the corporations they worked in, his simple answer was that he didn’t want familial preference. While my company is focusing on architectural engineering, his family is based in construction solely and this kid knew his way around a site, he knew what the guys on the site would be doing and generally how to do it, it was perfect. Max and I hired him on the spot, so he could start immediately.
Our receptionist, Melissa clams up every time Lukas is in the vicinity, so I’m taking it from her that he’s a good looking guy. He’s an inch or so shorter than I am, with the same type of muscular build I have. He wears glasses and is generally pushing his blonde hair out of his path of sight just as he’s doing right now as I enter his office.
He’s leaning over a model of the upcoming project that we will be breaking ground on in a few months. He seems to be muttering something to himself and then he laughs. He removes his glasses and wipes his brow.
“You okay over there?” I may have just given him a heart attack by the way he jumped practically into the ceiling.
“Crap! That wasn’t cool man!” He says catching his breath with his hand over his chest. I start walking towards him. Curious what he was muttering.
“What s going on?” I ask siding myself next to him and glancing down at the model.
“The landscape is pissing me off.” He huffs.
“How so?” I ask cocking my head and looking at where he’s focused.
“You see this bush and this tree? I don’t feel right about them being I front of this particular window the way that they are. I mean I know this is just a model and I know this isn’t part of our scope, but I’m just trying to figure out a way to bring this to the landscape engineer’s attention in a better way other than, ‘I don’t like it dude.’” He explains.
“Set up a meeting with them. They may have a specific reason for placing the tree and bush out of the pattern that I see with the others. Good eye though man, I like where your thinking is.” I clasp my hand on Lukas’ back as Max walks in.
“There you guys are. I’ve just got a lead on a new potential build in Sorrento Valley. I’m printing out the scope and the guidelines for the bid right now, if you guys want to rally in conference room B?”
“Type of build?” I ask gauging interest.
“Full on design and build from the floor up of multi-suite office building, I think the scope said initially for 10 suites. If we can place a bid on the project and come under but better than Juniper Associates, I think we can nail this one too.” Max says in excitement.
I cringe when Juniper Associates is mentioned as they beat us out of several bids over the past 5 years since we started The Crawford Hunter Group. I nod and look to Lukas.
“Want to sit in and see how this is done? Add your own thoughts?” I offer.
Lukas practically trips over his own feet. “Serious?” He asks.
“Just call and schedule a meeting with the landscape engineer on this project and then meet us in the conference room. We’ll wait on you in there.” I smile.
Max and I walk out into the reception area.
“Hey Mel, can you get us some menus and bring them to conference room B when you have a chance please?” Max asks as we approach.
Melissa is on the phone and nods as she is quickly typing something on her keyboard. That girl works too hard sometimes, she forgets to breathe and probably eat lunch. Taking a mental note to find out her spring schedule and possibly hiring someone for when she isn’t available, also when we order lunch to include something for her.
We walk into the conference room, Max powers up the projector and lap top attached so we can all view the documents.
“Good call on bringing in Lukas on this man.” Max says turning his attention to me as I sit across from him.
“I figure the more experience he gets, the better. Plus, you and I can’t carry all the burden on our shoulders. Our women would never see us if we keep going at the rate we are.” I say as Melissa brings in a tray of bottled waters and a stack of menus on the table.
“Mel, stay for a moment. We’re waiting on Lukas, but I wanted to talk right quick.” I say motioning to the chair next to Max. She hesitates a moment unsure of what is going on.
“Sure.” She squeaks out.
“Have you signed up for your spring classes yet?” I ask.
She seems to finally breathe. “Yeah. I should only have classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I think one night class somewhere. I had emailed you over a copy of my schedule before Christmas, I think.”
“Cool. Would you mind sharing some duties, if we were to hire someone super part time to cover the front on the days you have class until summer starts?” I ask.
“You’re the bosses.” She laughs. “Heck, you guys could just hire someone full time, instead of deal with two front office people.”
“Not a chance. You’re a part of the team, and you are just as important as Max, Lukas or myself. If we do hire someone, they would be under you and you and I can sit down and decide which falls on which desk.” She beams like I just offered her an entire chocolate cake.
“That means a lot Mr. Crawford. Thank you. I think if you guys go at the rate you’re going with securing all these projects, it would be super smart to hire another person up fr
ont.”
“Good, I’m glad. Now, onto another important matter of business.” I start as Lukas walks in. Melissa glances to the doorway as he struts in and takes a seat in between Max and myself. Her freckles seem to disappear within the blush forming on her face. “Lunch. Everyone at this table needs to choose lunch.”I say directly to Melissa so she understands that she will get something as well. I can see moving Melissa to a different position if we were to expand, and my mind is already starting to brainstorm.
Lunch was ordered and delivered, we all sat in silence to eat as a group. Then we spent nearly the remainder of the day building a bid. I’ve sketched a few different prototypes for how I would propose the structure of the building to look, while Lukas focused on the HVAC portion. Max took on the lighting portion and spacing of the suites. It was dark outside and just before Melissa left for the day, we ordered dinner and called our women to tell them we would be late.
We called it a day close to 10pm. We have until the end of the week for the bid to be submitted, so tomorrow can be a late start as we will likely end again late.
I slide my key into the lock of the front door. The lights are off in the living room, but the glow of the television and faint voices are present that I know either Sterling has fallen asleep on the couch or she’s laying there watching but not noticing that I just walked inside.
I toe off my shoes at the front door and place my briefcase on the dining table. I slowly walk to the couch and peer over it. Sterling is passed out with a book splayed across her chest. I smile yet at the same time feel guilty for working so late.
The Friends Zone Page 11