by Jessie Cooke
“Oh, that’s good. I really should, I mean…I have to study.”
Now she looked like I’d hurt her feelings. Shit! “Oh, okay. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to keep you.”
“It’s okay, you weren’t keeping me. I mean, I don’t really want to study, anyways.” Great save. How could a guy who had a 4.5 GPA be such an idiot?
She giggled again. It was growing on me. “Good, because neither do I. How about I buy you a cup of coffee?”
“Oh, thanks, but I don’t drink coffee.”
She rolled her eyes. At least she didn’t giggle. “Okay, then, how about a drink?”
“It’s not even lunch time yet.”
I got a sigh that time. “Lunch, then?”
“Are you asking me out?” I just blurted that out. Of course she was asking me out! It was obvious…and I was doing everything in my power to run her off. I just knew I’d screw it up eventually; I might as well not even start…
“Do you speak English?”
“Huh?”
She laughed. This time she was laughing at me. I guess I had it coming. “Let’s start over. My name is Brooke, and I would really like to go out with you. Maybe we could start this afternoon, with lunch?”
Just say yes, Nick. “Oh, thank you.” Thank you? Really?
“So…?”
“Oh, oh, yeah, okay. I could eat.”
“You’re a real sweet-talker, Nick, I’ll give you that.” I’m sure that was sarcasm. “I’ll meet you out front in ten.”
“Okay.” I watched her walk away. I definitely liked the way she filled out her jeans. She flipped her silky blonde hair over her shoulder and smiled back at me. Damn, she was pretty, but I really needed to study. Shit! I had no fucking clue what the hell I was doing. I gathered up my books and decided that I had to eat anyway. I’d eat with her, and then I’d go home and study.
When I got outside, she was waiting for me. I hated to admit it but, for a second, I had that feeling of panic in my chest like she was going to ditch me as soon as she got outside and I would feel like an idiot. She was really hot, And I was a nervous wreck. “Hey, where do you want to go?” she asked me.
“You pick,” I told her.
“Do you like Mediterranean?”
“Sure.”
She grabbed my hand. My heart felt like it was going to explode. Her skin was really soft. Damn, she smelled good, too. “Good, I’ll drive,” she said.
She led me to her little blue Toyota and, after I crammed myself in like a clown in one of those cars at the circus, she drove us to Maryland Parkway right near the airport to a place called Flame Kabob Halal. I stood there, sweating, while she chatted with the hostess. Apparently they knew each other from school. I could see the other girl checking me out. I guessed girls had to give each other a nod of approval or something. Her eyes on me were making me nervous, so I glanced around the small restaurant. Suddenly, I thought I was going to be sick. Way back in the farthest corner of the restaurant, sat Margo. She was wearing a black dress, and her auburn hair shone like gold underneath the yellow light right above her. At that moment, she was the only person in the room…except for the guy in the expensive Italian suit who was sitting with her. His hair was short and perfectly styled and he was tan and fit and close to her age…he was exactly the kind of guy I had pictured her with. It made me sick.
“Nick?” I looked back over at Brooke. She had a strange look on her face. “Are you okay?”
“Sure, yeah, I’m fine. Are you okay?”
She giggled again. Jesus, I’m a moron. “I’m great. Come on, our table is ready.” She took my hand and we followed her friend towards our table. We were about halfway there when Margo looked up and our eyes met. She held mine for a few seconds, and then I saw her look questioningly at Brooke, and I suddenly had an idea. It might not be a great one, but I had to make sure Margo knew I was straight, just in case there was ever any chance… I smiled and gave Margo a little wave. She waved back, but she kept looking at Brooke and down towards where our hands were joined. Brooke started to let go of my hand as we slid into the booth, but I held on and slid in on the same side with her. Now we were both facing Margo. “I like this place,” I said, as I leaned into Brooke’s ear. Margo was still watching as Brooke leaned in. “I like you…” she said, as Margo sipped her wine and acted like she wasn’t looking at us, but I could tell that she was. Did that mean anything? She could just be curious, since she had thought I was with Steve, and then Ian. She eventually went back to her conversation with expensive suit guy, and, after Brooke and I ordered our meals, I was forced to try and make conversation. For me, that was like pulling teeth with a pair of pliers.
“So, Nick, what do you do for fun?”
This was my least favorite question. I went to work, I went to school, I took care of Poppy. I have fun at the gym, sometimes, when Jacob and Brock are in a good mood and I’m not getting my head bashed in. “I’m a mixed-martial-arts fighter.”
“Oh my God! Really? I thought you looked like a fighter or something. Do you have tattoos?” Her blue eyes were wide and she acted like I just told her I was a celebrity.
“Nah, I’ve been thinking about getting one…” That much was true. I was the only one at the gym who didn’t have at least one. I thought it would go a long way in convincing the guys I wasn’t the “kid” they all seemed to think I was.
“You should. Tats are so hot. You should get one of those tattoos….” she went on and on. When our food came, she was still talking. She talked about her favorite fighters and the last time she went to an MMA bout…I guess I didn’t have to worry about thinking of anything to say. I wasn’t sure she was going to even take a breath. When she took a bite of her food and stopped talking for a second, I looked over at Margo. She was watching us. I smiled at her and once again leaned in close to Brooke. I wondered if she was curious why I kept whispering in her ear. At least she didn’t seem to mind.
“How’s the food?”
She giggled. “It’s yummy. How’s yours?”
“It’s good.”
“So, tell me more about your fighting. Are you having any fights soon that I could come to? I’d love to come and see you fight.”
“Yeah, actually, I have my first title fight coming up in a couple of weeks.”
“That is so exciting! Can I come watch you?”
“Sure, if you want to.”
“I want to, for sure!” She was enthusiastic I had to give her that much. I glanced back towards Margo and realized that she and her “date” were coming our way. I sucked in a breath and hoped if she stopped and said hello my voice didn’t crack like a little girl.
“Well, hello, Nick.” God, she has the sexiest voice, and face, and body…
“Hi, Margo,” I didn’t sound like a little girl, but not quite like a grown man, either.
“Who’s your little friend?”
“Oh, um, I’m sorry. This is Brooke. Brooke, this is Margo.”
Margo’s smile was tight, like the one she uses on the women who come to see our shows who are getting on her nerves. “Hello, Brooke.”
“Hi, it’s nice to meet you.”
Margo gave her another tight smile and said, “Okay, then, you kids have fun.” She gave me a long, quizzical look. I smiled. At least I had her wondering if she was wrong about me being gay, I think.
“Who was that?” Brooke had both of her hands wrapped around my bicep. Between that and her warm breath in my ear and Margo, my body was going crazy.
“My boss,” I said before I’d really thought it through.
“Oh, what kind of work do you do?”
“Um, I work in a club.” I could tell she was going to ask another question, so I said, “You never told me what your major is.” She started talking about herself again and, hopefully, by the time she finished, she’d forget to ask me what it was I did at the club.
7
Margo
“He’s not a boyfriend or a lover, is he?”
/> “Who?”
“That kid in there you stopped to talk to.”
I looked at Michael and pulled my brows together. “Um, that’s kind of a personal question.”
“I’m your attorney and I’m going to be defending you when Carlos’s son Tony rolls into town on his steamroller and tries to flatten your reputation. I’m getting on a plane right now to go meet with the guy who is digging up dirt on him. I think it’s a valid question, since Tony is going to say you never loved his father and all you married him for was his money. If you’re seen around town with a teenaged lover…”
“He is not a teenager!” Okay, that’s a lie, but Michael doesn’t need to know that. “He’s my employee and I never sleep with my employees,” not anymore. “Besides, he’s way too young for me. I’m not a pedophile.” Unless you count the way my panties were soaked every time Nick was in the room. “Besides, he’s gay.”
Michael smiled. “First of all, he can’t be much older than a teenager. Second of all, I assumed he was legal, it didn’t cross my mind that you were a pedophile, and lastly, that boy is not gay.”
“How would you know that?”
“Because I’m a man, Margo.”
“Are you saying he was interested in that Barbie hanging all over him? Because, I just didn’t really see it.”
“Actually, no. He didn’t seem very interested in her. In you, however, he did. The way the two of you were looking at each other, it’s evident there is or was something between you. I could feel the heat. That’s why I asked the question in the first place. I’m telling you, if Tony’s attorney gets wind of it…”
“There is nothing to “get wind” of. But, wait, what do you mean how “we” were looking at each other?”
“Do I have to spell it out?”
“Would you?”
He rolled his gray eyes at me and said, “Like you would like to rip each other’s clothes off and have hot, sweaty sex right there on the floor.”
I smiled. “He was looking at me like that?”
Michael sighed. “Yes Margo…focus. You are about to be embroiled in a very ugly court case. You cannot be seen with the Italian Stallion in there, okay?”
I heard what Michael said, but it barely penetrated my skull. What did penetrate was that he said Nick was looking at me like he wanted me…and that he’s not gay. I needed to do some thinking about that. I couldn’t get this kid off my mind, and when that’s happened to me in the past, usually the cure for it was some good, old-fashioned sex. “I have to run Michael. We’ll get together again next week when you get back from New York, okay?” Michael was flying out to meet with the P.I. we hired to sift through Tony’s past.
“First, tell me you heard what I said, Margo. You have to be careful. Tony says his father changed the will after he suspected you were cheating on him with a much younger man…”
“I know what he said Michael, and I told you, Tony is a goddamned liar. I don’t know how he got his father’s signature on that “new” will. My guess would be that he paid someone who is so good at forgery that even the experts can’t tell the signatures apart. But, the bottom line is that I was faithful to Carlos. I may not have been madly in love with him, but I loved him in my own way and, most of all, I respected him way too much to cheat on him. I didn’t even know Nick back then. Besides, he would have really been a kid. Don’t you think the judge is going to take into consideration the fact that it took years for Tony to show up with this will?”
“Of course he will, but Tony knew that. That is why he’s saying it was only just found in the legal papers that Carlos’s overseas attorney turned over to him. Normally, something like that would just be automatically thrown out by the judge. But Judge Grayson didn’t throw it out, which to me means he is sympathetic to the family. That doesn’t bode well for you, Margo, so be on your best behavior.”
“I know how to behave, Michael.”
“Good, then do it. I’ll call you as soon as I get back and have our motions filed, and we’ll go from there.”
I kissed his cheek and thanked him as he got into his car. I stood there and watched him head across the way to the airport. Before I got into my car, I glanced back at the restaurant and wondered if Michael had any idea at all what he was talking about…and if he did, what, if anything, should I do about it? I forced myself to get into my car and drive away, with the promise of seeing Nick tonight at work. Michael was an excellent attorney, so I didn’t doubt that he knew what he was talking about when it came to Tony. I obviously couldn’t have an affair with anyone right now…much less a young employee. But, an affair with Nick wouldn’t be something I’d flaunt, it would be something I would savor.
With a sigh, I headed for home. When I got there, I closed and locked the door behind me, then began stripping out of my clothes as I walked through the house. By the time I reached the master bathroom I was completely nude. I filled the big, deep tub with water and bath salts, then I climbed in and lay back in the warm water in an attempt to de-stress. I rested my head on my blow-up bath pillow and closed my eyes while I soaked. Tony was an asshole, but a dangerous one, I thought. I’d only met him once and it was years ago. The first thing he said to me was that he knew I was a gold-digger, and that if it was the last thing he did, he was going to make sure I ended up with nothing out of the marriage other than his father’s “old, shriveled dick.” Those were his exact words. I never told Carlos he said it, and Tony went back to New York after that. I hadn’t seen or talked to him since, in person anyway. He had been kind enough to send me more than one hateful letter over the years, telling me I would be sorry if I tried to take any of his father’s money when he died. When Carlos did die, the lawyers contacted every one of his relatives. He had a brother in New York who was ten years older than him and was already in a nursing home. He had a sister who was seventy and living in Rhode Island, and she was not the least bit unhappy that Carlos was dead. Apparently, they’d never gotten along. The attorney contacted his daughter, who’d married a very wealthy man and lived with him and their child in India. She had no desire to come home and be any part of his funeral or his will. Carlos had told me that his children resented him for leaving their mother and not being a part of their lives, so I wasn’t surprised. As far as Tony went, no one could seem to contact him. The fact he wasn’t contacted back then would probably work against me, as well, Michael said. Carlos’s funeral was packed with his friends and business associates, +but no family, except for me.
After over a year of waiting while they looked for Tony or other relatives, they finally probated the will and I was put in charge of all of his holdings. I set about liquidating them. I had no desire to own a chain of sporting goods stores or an apartment complex, or even a ranch. I wanted our house, and the rest in cash so I could buy the club. It was what I’d been dreaming of for a long time. I sold the properties cheaply and put a lot of cash in the bank. I bought my club, and the rest, as they say, was history.
I opened my eyes, trying to shake off the thoughts. I couldn’t fix any of it right now, it was pointless torture. I finally pulled the plug and watched the water begin to spiral down. I stood there for a few seconds and let the water bead up and roll off my body. Then I grabbed my baby oil, to rub it into my still-wet skin, and let the water and the oil air dry. I stepped over the side of the tub and saw myself in the mirror. I wondered what Nick would think if he saw me now. Would he think I was a dirty old woman…or a sexy cougar? I closed my eyes and caressed the oil into my skin. I pictured his beautiful face and his big hands, and I imagined what it would feel like for him to touch me like this. I brushed one hand across my nipples and shivered, what would those full, sexy lips feel like wrapped around them?
I slid my other hand slowly down between my legs and over my aching center. I imagined it was his hand brushing lightly over the outside of my lips. My core lit on fire and I pulled open my eyes. My skin was flushed and I was breathing heavily. It’d been a while since I’d been with a
man. Maybe that’s all I needed. Maybe if I called up one of my favorite booty calls and got this out of my system, I could stop thinking about Nick.
I went into my bedroom and pulled a silk camisole out of the top drawer. I glanced into the mirror. I don’t know what came over me, but I closed my eyes again and pictured his smooth, sexy body. I started at my neck and ran the silk cami across my skin. When I reached my breasts, I rubbed it in circles around my nipples, and then back down to where the fire was raging between my legs. I couldn’t go into work like this…at least that was my excuse. I went over to the chair by the window. My window faces the backyard and no one could see me from there. I pulled the window open so the cool air hit my skin and I dropped down into the chair. I covered my breasts with my hands and began to tug on my nipples. My head fell back and I spread my legs wide. I dropped one hand down and immediately found my clit and began to rub. As I furiously rubbed the swollen, aching nub, I imagined looking down and watching Nick lick my pussy. Oh, fuck, I want him so bad. I rubbed harder and faster, then just before I came, I called out his name through the open window.
I sat there squirming and shaking for a long time before I came down from my orgasmic high. I couldn’t ever remember wanting a man this badly. I had to figure out a subtle way of finding out if Michael is right. Did he really want me, too?
8
Nick
“Five minutes…go!” Jacob stood just outside the ring as Kane and I met in the middle. We started trading jabs, and I connected first with a good, solid right to his head gear. He tossed another couple of jabs out, but none of them connected. I didn’t stop. I just kept going at him. He backed off for a few, but I went after him. I threw out a left just as he wrapped me up in his arms and pushed me back into the ropes. I used the momentum when I felt my back hit the ropes to lean as far back as I could and then threw my weight forward. That threw Kane back and he stumbled, almost fell on his ass, but caught himself at the last second. Jacob was telling me I was doing a “great job.” I was getting winded, but I didn’t stop.