by Eva Luxe
“I can honestly say you’re the first person I’ve ever met that does something like that. If I had any debt, I’d be worried.”
“Be lucky you’re debt free. Doing this type of mindless work pays off my student loan debts, but once they’re paid down, I’m out of there.”
“So, you don’t enjoy it?”
“No, I still have a passion for my art that I can’t kick.”
“Ah, so you are a painter,” I said.
“An aspiring painter. I’m not making money with it yet, but maybe someday I will.”
“What do you enjoy painting?”
“I don’t have a particular motif or subject I enjoy painting more than others. I’m not solely a ‘naked person’ artist or a ‘fruit in the basket’ artist.”
“So, you don’t like drawing naked people? Damn. There go my plans for after dinner.”
The giggle that fell from Paige’s lips warmed my chest. It was nice to find a woman that had a passion for something. I could see the fire in her eyes as she continued to talk about her painting. She was describing her brushstroke technique and talked about color palettes and shit like that. Her entire face lit up with the subject, and it drew me in.
It made me passionate about something I had no fucking clue about.
She glanced up at me, her eyes serious. “Can I ask you something?”
“Is this your question for the evening?” I asked.
“Yes, actually,” she said.
I braced myself for what was coming just as our waitress appeared at our side.
“Do the two of you know what you want to eat?” she asked.
“Um, I do. Zach, are you ready?”
“By the time you’re done ordering, I will be,” I said.
We placed our orders, and the waitress departed.
“So,” Paige said. “My question is this: what prompted your move to the area when you were fourteen?”
Shit.
Of course she had to be asking this fucking question.
Chapter 16- Zach
I decided to go with the truth. Why the fuck not?
“My father,” I said, sighing.
“What happened?” she asked. “Did your parents divorce?”
“Eventually, yes, but when we moved here, they weren’t divorced yet. My father wasn’t the nicest person in town.”
Paige gave me that nod that every fucking person gives me when I tell them that fact. It’s one movement that’s somehow filled with both curiosity and pity. Their brows furrow and their eyes soften, like I’m some damaged pet they need to take off the street and nurse back to health.
“My mother was a strong woman,” I said.
“It takes one to get out of a situation like that,” Paige said.
“And she worked three fucking jobs to keep us afloat while I was in high school.”
“She sounds like a wonderful woman.”
“No one can blame her for—”
I looked out the window and had to swallow and tell myself to man the fuck up. I could feel Paige’s eyes on me, studying me like I was some sort of lab rat.
This was bullshit. I didn’t need any of this. I didn’t need her or her stupid-ass questions or her competitive food challenges or her presence. None of this was necessary for the dinner we were having before I took her back to my cabin to fuck her imprint into my mattress.
“You’re not to blame, you know,” Paige said.
“For what?” I asked.
“For your father’s actions. For the death of your mother. None of it is your fault.”
“I never fucking said it was.”
“Your eyes do,” she said.
I slowly panned my angry gaze back toward hers, but I didn’t see what I expected to. I didn’t see hesitation or fear or even the apprehension that was in her eyes earlier. Instead, I saw a hint of understanding. I was looking into the eyes of someone who seemed to sit in the same boat as me instead of someone standing on the shore judging me from afar.
“Where’s your family?” I asked.
“Gone,” she said.
“What happened to them?”
“You already had your question for the night,” she said.
I could feel the weight of the wall she’d thrown up as her eyes became guarded. She grabbed her wine glass and brought it to her lips just as our food was set in front of us. The air between us was tense as we ate in silence. I wanted to find some way to break the tension. I wanted to find some way to get her to open back up to me.
I didn’t like this. I didn’t like the rift that had occurred between us. She knew what it was like to not have family, just like I did. That should’ve brought us both comfort, to be in the company of someone who understood.
If words couldn’t break the tension, maybe actions could. I slipped my foot against hers underneath the table and started running my toes up her ankle.
“I feel you,” Paige said. “And I’m not going home with you tonight.”
“Why not?” I asked.
“I don’t want to be that kind of woman,” she said.
I nodded. “I can respect that. Then I have another option for an after-dinner treat.”
“Does it require you to run your foot up my ankle?” she asked.
“I was actually just doing this to comfort you. You seem on edge, and I wanted you to know that you were in the presence of someone who understands.”
“Understands what?”
“What it’s like to feel alone.”
Her gaze met mine, and I could see the pain burning behind her eyes. It hurt me to know that this beautiful woman had no one. No family to run to. No mother to hold her close. No father to tell her that she deserved the best. It made me admire her more for not wanting to come back with me. She had to set her own standards for herself, and that took a lot of strength.
“What was your second plan?” Paige asked.
I grinned as I pulled my foot back and sat up straight
“I am offering you a nighttime bike ride up the coast. You and me, with the wind whipping around our bodies while the waves crash along the coast.”
“A motorcycle ride?” she asked.
“Yep.”
“Up the coast at nine o’clock at night?”
“You’d be amazed at how beautiful the ocean is at night,” I said.
“I’m aware of how pretty it can be.”
“Have you ever seen its beauty on the back of a sleek black bike?”
“You really like your bike, don’t you?” she asked, grinning.
“I love my bike,” I said.
Her eyes shimmered with her smile before she took a bite of her salmon. “How is this place not as good as Dick’s? They’re on the same damn block. Shouldn’t they get their seafood from the same place?”
I laughed. “Told you. That place is a fucking shrine to seafood. So, will you come with me?”
“I take it you mean the bike ride,” she said.
“Yes, the bike ride. Will you accompany me?”
She took one last bite of her food before she grabbed her wine glass and sat back.
“Sure,” she said. “I’ll accompany you. Under one condition.”
“Name it,” I said.
“You take me out this weekend. You pay, you plan, you pick me up.”
“Company on a bike ride in exchange for a full-on, proper date,” I said. “You’re willing to let me have control of it all?”
“Why wouldn’t I?” she asked.
“Because you seem like kind of a control freak,” I said, grinning.
“I am not,” she said.
“I don’t know. You just give off that vibe.”
“I’m gonna chuck this glass of wine in your face,” she said, giggling.
“Controlling and wasteful. An interesting combination.”
Her laughter filled the room, and she covered her mouth to silence herself. She was bombastic and outgoing, but there was a softer and more emotional side to her. A side she
kept locked away. A side that hurt her if you poked it too hard. I wanted to get to know that side.
I wanted to know what made her tick. I wanted to know more about this painter-slash-person researcher who was randomly in Oregon for what I could only assume was a vacation away from her lonely life.
The waitress walked up. “Here is the check whenever you two are ready. But there’s no rush. Take your time.”
Paige rifled through her purse and pulled out her card before our waitress even set the bill down onto the table.
“You might not be in a rush, but I’ve got a bike ride calling my name,” she said.
I grinned as she handed our waitress her card. I couldn’t wait to feel her arms wrapped around my waist again. I couldn’t wait to feel her chest pressed into my back again. The way she clung to me on the ride here warmed my body and made my pelvis ache.
I knew I was going to want her after this ride. I was going to want to throw her down into the sand and devour every inch of her body. The frustration I would experience would be worth it just to feel the warmth of her body again.
After all, I had this weekend to try again.
Chapter 17- Paige
The wind was blowing past my body as we rode down the highway. The crashing of the waves backdropped the revving of Onyx underneath my body. The sandy beaches were bare, and the moonlight crashed down into the ocean as the waves barreled into the shoreline.
The drive was beautiful, and my body felt warm against Zach’s back.
He pulled off into a parking lot and parked his bike. Without another sound, he slipped my helmet from my head and held out his hand. Our fingers slid together, interlocking tightly as he guided me down to the shoreline.
I was shivering as the wind kicked up more waves that came rushing toward our bodies.
“It’s beautiful out here,” I said.
“You should see what you look like right now.”
“Hush that nonsense, and look at these waves,” I said.
“I can see their reflection in your eyes just fine.”
I looked up at Zach and got lost in his bright blue eyes. The crashing of the waves stunned me into silence as his lips slowly met mine. They were warm and soft. A tender kiss from a man whose muscles bulged from every angle.
My knees went weak, and his arms caught me in their grasp.
I felt myself being lowered into the sand, and his lips traveled downward. We tugged each other’s clothes off, the sand caressing and scratching at our bodies as he made his way between my legs.
His lips felt soft against my pussy as his tongue licked at me, pulling from me juices that soaked the sand underneath my ass. He threw my legs over his shoulders and devoured me, and I dug my heels into the strength of his back.
I arched with my orgasm and cried out into the night. The crashing waves swallowed my sounds.
His cock pressed hard against my thigh, and I was eager to have him inside of me. His lips felt like fire, melting my lonely walls. I’d missed being cradled by a man. His eyes locked with mine just before he pierced my body with his cock, and my jaw unhinged as he stretched me more than I had ever been before.
I arched my bare tits into him, and my fingertips dug into his muscles.
His abs contracted against my stomach as he thrust into me. His chest swelled against mine. My tits rubbed against his skin, and my pussy dripped around his cock, massaging him and pulling him deeper as my body yearned for him. My swollen clit raked against his body as he slammed into me, pushing me deeper into the sand as the water slowly crept over our bodies.
The water was ice cold, but his body was fierce and full of heat.
A desperate passion washed over me, and I lifted my lips to his. Our tongues danced together, and I drank down his sweet elixir of lust. His hands grasped my body wherever they could touch. My tits. My thighs. My ass. Anything he could squeeze and feel, he touched. His callouses scraped deliciously against my sensitive skin, and his hands stroked me with a tenderness I didn’t expect him to possess.
That sweet coil built in my gut as I met him thrust for thrust.
“You’re beautiful,” he said, whispering.
“Take me, Zach,” I said. “Make me come. Please. It’s been so long.”
“That’s a shame,” he said. “Because you deserve to be worshipped.”
My eyes flew open as I orgasmed in my hotel bed. My mind reeled with my dream as my body shook. My legs trembled, and my pussy throbbed, spilling juices onto the sheets just as my alarm went off. My chest panted, and my eyes darted around the room. My hand shot out just to see if anyone was there.
I lay there as beads of sweat dripped down my face. What the fuck was wrong with me? This man was my target. The person I was researching. He was part of something greater, possibly even a criminal. What the hell was I doing dreaming about him like this? Why was I having sex dreams about this man?
I slowly sat up in bed, my head swirling from my orgasm, and I grimaced. The bed underneath me was soaked, and I groaned as I rolled away from it. I buried my face into another pillow as I reached over for my phone so I could turn off the alarm. I needed sleep that didn’t require his presence. I needed another hour of rest that didn’t end with me waking up in an orgasmic fit and dripping with sweat.
I needed to keep my head in the game. Zach’s charm and easygoing nature couldn’t throw me off course. His dazzling eyes and his throbbing muscles couldn’t mesmerize me any longer. It didn’t matter that I found him attractive, and it didn’t matter that I was enjoying his company. I was here to get answers for my client, and then I was going home.
But when I closed my eyes and drifted back to sleep, I could feel his lips against my neck.
Then he flipped me over in the sand, slid into my dripping pussy, and fucked me until I cried out for mercy.
Damn. If only real life could be like it was in my dreams. But, with Zach, I had a feeling it could be, if only I could let things happen. Things that were forbidden and very bad for my job. Guess I’d better keep those things confined to my dreams.
Chapter 18- Zach
“So, I have an idea,” Caden said.
I sighed. “Here we go.”
“What if we opened our own restaurant?” Caden asked.
“Right, and what is this restaurant going to be called?” I asked.
“Hoppin’ Hoppers.”
“What the ever-loving hell does that mean?” I asked.
“Two things. One, we would brew our own beer. Hence the ‘hoppers.’”
“Okay. And the hoppin’?”
“We would specialize in foods featuring meats from animals that hop.”
I turned toward Caden and glared at him. “What the fuck are you talking about? Animals that hop?”
“You know, like rabbits, kangaroos, crickets.”
I snorted. “You’re going to serve customers crickets?”
“Hey, they have a hell of a lot of protein. And apparently, that’s the new thing now. I researched it and everything.”
“You researched restaurants and found the growing trend was eating crickets? Somehow, I find that hard to believe.”
“Look, I’m wanting to get out of this lumber business. You might be okay with hauling hundreds of pounds of timber a week for the rest of your life, but I’m not.”
“Caden, we’re friends, and I’ve got your back. Hell, I’ll invest if you want me to. But these ideas never come to fruition.”
“But this one will,” he said.
“Crazy ideas work,” I said. “I get it. But you don’t follow up, man. You can’t just keep dreaming. Dreams don’t do anything if you don’t execute them.”
“Does that mean you’d do it with me if I tried?” he asked.
I rolled me eyes as I turned toward my car. “You draw up a business proposal with a breakdown of finances, a five-year business plan, and a location for this place, and we’ll do it. But leave out the poor rabbits and especially the crickets. That’s just weird, man.�
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“Are you serious?” Caden asked. “You’ll join in with me?”
“In a heartbeat.”
It wasn’t like I had planned to work for a lumber company my whole life. Why not try something else? I just needed to make a living so I didn’t have to depend on my dad’s billions of dollars.
“Oh, man. You’re not gonna regret this. I’m serious.”
“I’m sure I won’t,” I said.
Caden hurried off to his car, and I got into mine. The workday was over and I needed to make a run to the grocery store. The last thing I needed was to get tied up in some bullshit scheme of Caden’s that he would only be passionate about for an evening or two.
Caden was brilliant. He always had been. From the time he was in high school, he always wanted to open his own business. He never knew what kind, or where he wanted to do it, or how he was going to get there without a formal education, but that was the thing with him. It wasn’t about the how or the when or the where. It was just the what.
And nothing else.
Since this next date with Paige was something I was going to choose, I decided to cook for her. A Friday night date at my place with some wine, some good food, and some candlelight would help us both unwind. I had the day off work, which meant I could prepare not only the food, but my game plan for getting her in bed. She was a sexy woman with a sassy little mouth and so many avenues I wanted to explore.
I wanted to probe her mind before I probed her body.
She had standards, and that wasn’t something many women had in Brookings. Women in the bars were only after one thing. They didn’t want to get to know you or figure you out in any way. They wanted what you could give them, and it didn’t matter to them what they had to do or how they had to dress to get it. And that was fine. That was what the bar scene was about around here. But it was nice to find a woman who was more interested in talking with me than sleeping with me.
And holy fuck, did that turn me on.
I walked into the grocery store with Paige still on my mind. I wanted to surprise her with something instead of simply asking her what she wanted to eat. She had been on my mind constantly since our last date, and a part of me wanted to impress her. I wanted to listen to her moan and gush over my food.