A Sure Thing

by Brit Blaise

  The kebabs seemed a logical choice. The last time he had a cooking class prepare them he couldn't remember there being any mishaps.

  "Felicia is passing out the boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Cut them into one-inch cubes. In fact, I want you to keep everything about one-inch in size. Resist the impulse to make the vegetables bigger. Also, don't cram too many pieces on the skewers, so the food will cook evenly."

  Mike held up a skewer he'd prepared in advance as an example. “Felicia has several trays of vegetables ready. Choose the ones you like."

  Cara and his mother worked together, matching their vegetables and chicken, piece for piece.

  "Ladies, as soon as you have your skewers ready, put them on the grill. Don't forget to take your vinaigrette with you to baste the kebabs while they're cooking. You'll find brushes next to the grills.

  "Make sure to wrap the end of your skewer with aluminum foil to keep the wood from burning. Also, please be careful not to baste too heavily or you may get a flare-up from the olive oil."

  Cara and his mother had only been at the grill for a couple of minutes when he heard a shriek.

  "What happened?” he blurted, before he remembered Cara had threatened to kill him if he ever spoke those words to her again. The look on her face said he didn't have much longer to live.

  One of Cara's wooden skewers had burned through in the middle. Although he never had it happen to him, he remembered his mother had once prepared kebabs without soaking her skewers and they'd all caught fire.

  "This is not a big deal,” he told Cara. “Evidently the skewer wasn't wet enough. Let's just get this one off the grill, and you can concentrate on the one you have left.” He picked up the tongs to remove the scattered pieces. The stink of burnt meat meant some of the chicken had fallen through the grates of the grill onto the gas burners below.

  "Cara can have one of my skewers,” his mother told him. “I can't eat two of them anyway."

  "You don't have to do that, Betty,” Cara said, shaking her head. “I can't take your food."

  "Nonsense, dear. It's not a problem at all."

  "You ladies have this under control, so excuse me while I see what's happening over there,” Mike said, just as he heard another shriek from across the room. He had only taken a few steps when a full-fledged scream behind him turned his blood cold. Turning, he saw flames shooting into the air in front of Cara and his mother.

  "Betty, stand back or you'll be burned,” Cara yelled frantically.

  Mike took a second to grab a fire extinguisher. “Both of you stand back.” When he pulled the release and sprayed the fire with a short burst, it died immediately. “It's just a flare-up.” He shot another burst for good measure.

  "You call that a flare-up? It was a bonfire, and your mother and I were almost the marshmallows!"

  "How—” Mike snapped his mouth shut so hard he almost bit his tongue off before he turned to his mother. “Did you see what happened? Did you get burned? Either of you?"

  His mother's eyes looked as big as saucers as she shook her head in denial. “I'm fine ... just a bit shaken."

  "Of course you are,” Cara said. She put her arm around his mother's shoulder and hugged her.

  Mike could have sworn there were tears in both women's eyes.

  Over the top of his mother's head, Cara shot him a daunting stare. “Mike Nichols, you better have a good explanation. Have you ever seen a kebab flame up like that?"

  "I'm not sure if Mount Vesuvius flamed like that.” He grabbed a rag to mop up the mess from the fire extinguisher.

  Felicia approached and, while she didn't look guilty, she'd fooled him during the previous class.

  "Didn't you see the fire?” Cara demanded.

  "Of course I saw it. Everybody in the room saw it,” Felicia snapped back.

  "I think Cara might be wondering if you had anything to do with this.” Mike stepped nearer to Cara, in case Felicia questioned whose side he was on.

  "I promised you I'd do nothing to make your girlfriend look bad in front of the cameras again. I really resent being questioned like this. It's not beyond the realm of possibilities she screwed up again."

  "There's no way a few chicken cubes are going to start a fire like that. It's hardly a stretch of the imagination we'd think of you first.” Mike tried to keep his cool as a roomful of women stared at them, not to mention the focus of TV cameras.

  "Dragon slayer, are you forgetting the cameras?” Cara asked.

  "Dragon slayer?” he asked.

  "If that wasn't a dragon, I don't know what is.” Cara's words were reassuring, but the look on her face told a different story. She looked even more pale than usual, despite her teasing words.

  The class continued without further incident, but Cara remained quiet. Too quiet. He listened while his mother tried to draw her into a conversation without success. Mike half expected her to skip out without speaking to him.

  "Don't even think about leaving without speaking to me first,” he told her when he had a chance. “We need to figure out what's happening here and why."

  "I don't intend to skip out,” she told him, but her amber eyes had lost their sparkle.

  * * * *

  Cara smiled inside, but she managed to keep it from spreading to her face. The validation she received from Mike's reaction had amazed and delighted her. He truly was her knight in shining armor when he'd rushed to her side to slay the dreaded dragon.

  Cara could tell Mike worried when she didn't talk. Betty seemed even more upset than Mike, but Cara needed answers. Until they discovered who or what caused the fire, she refused to pretend everything was fine. If Felicia proved to be responsible, as Cara believed, she needed to be stopped. What would she dare next if they didn't find a way to set her straight?

  Cara couldn't help noticing when Mike took Felicia aside to speak with her. No doubt they were discussing Cara's flaming kebab, since Felicia spent the entire time shaking her head in denial.

  When Mike told her Felicia proclaimed innocence, he seemed to believe her. Cara couldn't be so sure. “Mike, you know Felicia better than I, however, until we find out who did this, I think she's the obvious candidate."

  "One thing is certain. Your kebabs did not catch fire on their own.” Mike looked forlorn as he spoke.

  "I think we need some time alone to talk. What time are you finished here tonight?” Cara asked. “And do you suppose you might bring me something to eat, since all I've eaten today is cherry soup?"

  "You're inviting me to your house? Like in a date to feed you at your house? Yes, I think I can manage.” His grin spread from ear to ear, forehead to chin.

  "Why are you so surprised I'm inviting you to my house?” Cara searched her purse for something on which to write her address.

  "I don't know. You'd think I'd be used to the way you surprise me by now. I thought you might be ready to kick me to the curb since you believe Felicia burned your food."

  "We'll talk about it.” She scribbled her address and handed it to him. “Make sure you can read it."

  "You live a street over from my mother. This will be easy to find. Should I bring a bone for your dog?"

  "How do you know I have a dog?"

  "I know the neighborhood—big houses and big dogs,” he said with a wink.

  "Bring two bones, big ones."

  "Two dogs?"

  "Nope."

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  CHAPTER 11

  Cara decided her mother's gift was the best she'd ever gotten. Even if she didn't step foot in another class, the cooking lessons had been worth their weight in chocolate.

  She'd showered and slipped into her best robe. She had no intention of playing coy. Mike would know what she had in mind the minute he walked through the door.

  When he arrived with his hands full, he dropped a long white box and grabbed for her before he crossed the threshold. It all happened so fast, she didn't have time to think. He pulled her against him, even while he held a la
rge basket in his other hand.

  Excitement shot through her when she tilted her head to welcome his mouth. The familiar smell of mint and chocolate teased her, only a fraction of a second before the touch of his firm full lips along hers.

  She leaned into him, molded the fullness of her satin-clad naked body along the length of him, and stood on the tips of her toes to put the bulge of his hard-on where she wanted it the most. He kissed her slowly at first, but urgency soon followed. Their mouths simulated sex and hiked the intensity, until Cara heard a car drive by honking its horn.

  Mike lifted her with one arm, walking her into the house. When the door wouldn't shut because of the box he'd dropped, he released her and kicked it out of the way. “Your flowers,” he said, and laid the other basket at his feet after he closed the door behind them.

  His arms swallowed her, surrounded her and cradled her. His lips slid over hers before he deepened the kiss.

  Cara tasted desire. Thick, wonderful craving invaded her senses. It filled and opened her. “Hurry,” she whispered.

  "Where?” he groaned. His hands slipped down her hips to her bottom. He lifted her against the hard evidence of how much he wanted her.

  Cara didn't know if she could make it to the bedroom. There was a chaise lounge in the living room to her right. “There.” She looked toward the lounge.

  Mike swept her into his arms and nearly ran. He kicked off his shoes before he lowered her feet to the ground. While he began to undress, Cara swept all the pillows to the floor and shrugged out of her robe. The sight of her standing naked in front of him seemed to distract him from what he was doing, but he soon recovered. He shed his shirt and unzipped his pants before he pulled her back into his arms.

  The feel of bare skin against hers was something she hadn't experienced in so long. She wanted to explore every inch of him. Memorize him.

  He captured a breast in his hand.

  "Mmmm,” he murmured. He lowered his head to circle her nipple with his tongue. The effect was devastating, and her legs started to buckle. He laved her other breast until her heartbeat doubled its pace and her breath came in pants.

  He stopped and fixed her with a heated stare. He reached into the front pocket of his jeans to pull out a foil wrapper. “I only brought one of these and I didn't expect to use it in the first five minutes."

  "I stopped ... at the store on the way home, just in case,” Cara said and then nipped along his shoulder.

  He ripped the foil and shrugged out of his jeans. Cara tried to help, but only seemed to get in his way, which made him chuckle. When his cock sprung free, she wanted him right then. How many times had she looked at this lounge and wondered about riding a man on it. In her imagination it worked perfectly.

  "Sit,” she told him.

  He leaned back in the lounge and rolled the condom over the length of his long, thick erection. As soon as he was sheathed, she straddled him. With her knees placed on either side of his muscular hips, she raised herself above him with her hands locked on the back of the chaise. Mike moved to position his cock. She rubbed against his cock-head once, feeling how wet and ready she was for him.

  Twice.

  Before she lowered herself a third time ... hard. He penetrated her.

  She continued down until fully seated, impaled on his big log. He filled her so completely ... stretching and going where no man had gone. She experienced an unfamiliar thrum and pulsating while she tried to adjust to size of him.

  He closed his eyes and groaned.

  "Open your eyes,” she told him. “Isn't this what you told me you wanted to do to me?"

  "I told you one inch at a time, not all at once."

  She lifted to move up on and down on him and found it challenging. The intense pleasure made her shake. The tight fit made her go slowly.

  He threaded a hand to reach her sex and ran a single finger back and forth through her swollen lips until he settled upon her clit.

  The intense pleasure of it made her move faster on his cock. She watched his face twist into a pained look as she rode him fast and hard.

  "Slow down. I'm about to lose it."

  The urge to move was too strong to deny. In just a few thrusts she could feel the beginning of an orgasm, but it wasn't bursting upon her like she'd always experienced. This time, her muscles were pushing down against him. With all of her focus, she tried to stave it off ... to make it last. The orgasm came with an explosion followed by a long wave of residual pleasure, and finished with bone-snapping squeezes boomeranging her flat against his chest.

  She lay plastered against him, listening to the thunder of his heart competing with his breathing.

  "Don't get excited ... I'm just getting started,” she said and started to move on his still-hard cock.

  He was silk and steel. Almost pain and pleasure. Cara's insides began to tighten, to coil like a tight spring despite just experiencing the most perfect orgasm she could imagine. His hands alternated between her waist and her breast, but he didn't touch her clit again. Cara watched his face twist in concentration and she moved faster.

  She worked him in and out until a sheen of sweat covered them both. When the contractions hit her a second time, she constricted so hard Mike cried out and exploded his release with her.

  * * * *

  Cara was on her second glass of wine before Mike rejoined her after starting the potatoes and marinating the steak. Every look she gave him made him hot. The time they'd spent on the chaise and then later in the shower hadn't dulled his need. In fact, he wanted her more, if possible.

  On the island countertop.

  On the table.

  He wanted to explore every inch of her and he'd only just begun.

  "Should we talk about what happened?” He poured himself another glass of wine.

  "If we need to talk about it, does that mean I did something wrong?"

  "I meant we should talk about what happened in class. When the show airs again, I'm worried about how you'll feel.” He picked her up and sat her on the island counter in front of him.

  "How long until the steaks are ready?” She winked and loosened the ties holding her robe.

  He could see the passion in her golden eyes as they darkened to mossy green. “The steaks can burn for all I care, but you need to eat."

  She hadn't bothered to get dressed and still wore only a satiny robe over her luscious naked body.

  "You need to eat, too,” she said innocently.

  A sudden stillness came over them. How could he resist her when he had fallen crazy in love with her? He stopped trying.

  "My thoughts exactly,” he whispered. He gave himself the luxury of one calming breath before he kissed her. Lowering his head, he stopped a fraction of an inch from contact, letting the tension mount. This would be a moment he'd always remember. He thought to kiss her gently—reverently, when a moan coming from the back of her throat made him surrender his plan. A force beyond comprehension took hold of him, compelling him to lock his lips to hers.

  Desire charged the air. He stood between her legs and eased her back on her elbows before he lowered his face to her stomach. The taste of her skin, slightly salty but sweet, made him ache for more. His hand sought the pale whisper of a nipple, gratified to feel it instantly pearl at his touch. His breath raged in his chest, as he fought to tamper the flames prodding him to take her quickly. When his head moved lower, he could feel her tense, and he waited for her to push him away.

  "I've ... never..."

  "Never?” Mike gave an opened mouth kiss to the beautiful pink petals of her nether lips. He loved this. He'd eat pussy every single day of his life if he could and he prided himself on being good at it.

  "Are you sure you want to—Oh, I guess you are hungry. That is—Oh!” Cara finished with unintelligible mumbling to make him smile inside.

  Mike laved her slit with the flat of his tongue from core to clit and then did it again. So soft. Delicious.

  He thumbed the delicate folds of her lip
s apart and rolled his tongue on her clit, just a touch. She bucked.

  He paused to look up at her beautiful face. “Do you want me to stop?"

  "You just caught me off guard. I didn't expect—No, don't stop,” she said as she panted.

  With a second touch to the tiny marble of flesh, he could feel her shudder. He had only just started and she seemed to be on the verge of release.

  "Yes,” she said, barely above a whisper. “Yes,” she encouraged, a little louder.

  So responsive.

  Perfect.

  He alternately gave her the flat of his tongue and then flicked with the tip. She sank her fingers into his hair and rewarded him with a loud moan, accompanied by a very loud, “Yes!"

  He fucked her with the blade of his tongue.

  As the intensity of her tremors built, he gave the nubbin his full attention, until she came against his face.

  As she stilled, he looked up and gave her his best grin.

  "If you were a man, you'd be in trouble about now,” he told her. “What was that? Forty-five seconds?

  "I demand a recount,” she said.

  "Can you count to nine?"

  Her eyes widened. “Nine inches ... are you bringing out the big gun again?"

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  CHAPTER 12

  Cara spent the rest of the week putting in twelve-hour days at work to handle the people calling because of the cooking show who suddenly needed a financial advisor. She'd never been busier when all she wished was that she could be free to spend more time with Mike. Two days after the last class aired, she called a headhunter to hire additional help.

  If she wanted a relationship with Mike, she needed to find a way for them to be together. Her workday started when the stock markets opened in New York. In Phoenix, it meant getting up at the crack of dawn to be at work on time. The good part about being to work early—she could leave early if she didn't have a financial planning appointment. However, she rarely went home early.