The Real

by Kate Stewart

  “It’s fine, go feed Dr. Dick. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  King of Woo: Hey, beautiful, are you almost ready?

  Me: Yes, I’ll be ready in five.

  King of Woo: I’ll be there in four.

  He was chaperoning the winter formal at the high school he coached for and had invited me as his date. I had to admit, I went a little overboard when I went shopping for my dress.

  But the butterflies that raced through me weren’t one of a high school girl. These belonged to a woman who had kissed far too many gutter frogs and had finally met her sidewalk prince.

  All of my fears were being put to rest daily. I was no longer a woman afraid. I was a woman in love.

  I had that inexplicable connection with someone that had nothing to do with work, friendship, or family. The connection that makes your heart pound and keeps your throat dry in anticipation. I finally had the man you dressed up for.

  I applied a coat of lipstick then stood back and admired my dress. I’d picked a floor-length, shimmering pale pink gown—his favorite on me—and curled my crimson hair in ribbons before I pinned them up.

  True to his word, my doorbell rang four minutes later. On the other side, Cameron stood in a tuxedo—far too ostentatious for a school dance—his dark hair swept back, holding a delicate rose corsage for my wrist.

  His eyes drifted from my heel-clad feet to the top of my twisted hair.

  “Abbie . . .” He didn’t have to say any more than that. I felt touched inside and out.

  “Thank you,” I whispered.

  “Give me your hand,” he said, opening the clear box and sliding the small spray of roses onto my wrist.

  “Do they even do corsages anymore?”

  “We do,” he answered, guiding me into my coat.

  I couldn’t help but think my invitation to the dance was due to the conversation we had on our weekend getaway.

  When I saw the limousine parked at my curb, I glanced his way.

  “You went to too much trouble,” I gently scolded as the driver opened the door for us.

  After we were safely inside, he gave me a wicked grin, along with his ‘come-hither’ finger. His lap had become my favorite chair, and he seemed to think it appropriate for any occasion. I sat cradled in his arms, my glittering dress cascading down his long legs.

  Though I’d told him he’d gone to too much trouble, I’d spent the day getting pampered at the spa a few streets over. I’d had every treatment available, and Bree had spent a few hours getting a massage while we caught up about all things wedding and I filled her in on the last few weeks with Cameron.

  The minute we pulled away from the curb, Cameron’s eyes dipped to my exposed cleavage while he leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to my neck.

  “And how was your day?” I asked with a light laugh as his fingers roamed beneath my coat. He remained wordless as he kissed every inch of skin the fabric didn’t cover. Lips, tongue, fingers, he massaged my calf as he nibbled at the spot behind my ear.

  “I missed you too,” I murmured as he continued his sweet assault, turning me into a puddle on his lap.

  “Hey, Coach,” I said in an attempt to get his attention. In the rearview, I could see the crinkle form in the corner of the driver’s eyes as I softly tugged on Cameron’s jacket.

  “That good, huh?”

  My breaths came out heavier as his lips roamed.

  Dangerous arousal spiked between us as his kiss drifted along with his hand to slide up my thigh while simultaneously pushing the button for the partition between us and the driver.

  “You do this to me, Abbie,” he whispered tracing my jaw with his lips. “You look so beautiful,” he murmured, as he lifted his hips showcasing his erection. “You get me so fucking high.”

  He cupped my face and kissed me so deeply I thought I would drown in it. Pulling away he pressed his forehead to mine.

  “What do you want, Abbie Gorman? Ask me for anything.”

  “You,” I said easily. “I want you. I’m not jaded anymore, Cameron.”

  “I feel the same,” he whispered softly. “You’ve changed everything for me.”

  The tender lift of his voice had me searching his eyes which conveyed so much. I felt the shift on his part, I felt the words he wasn’t saying. The car came to a stop and unfortunately for us, so had the moment. Cameron sighed as I made my way off his lap and searched my clutch to fix my lipstick.

  My hand in Cameron’s, we walked down the halls of the high school and I noticed several banners that read All in All Sports.

  “You sponsored the dance?”

  He squeezed my hand, a pride-filled smile whispering on his lips.

  No man could ever be so perfect.

  “What did you do, Coach Bledsoe?”

  Music drifted from behind a set of double doors as a group of students passed us.

  Cameron glanced around us and then peered down at me. “I can’t kiss you in there, but just know that I want to.”

  “I have a feeling you’ll make it up to me. Are you going to answer my question?”

  I got my answer when he ushered me into the intricately decorated hall and I realized the lengths he’d gone to. Floating roses were draped from the ceiling, along with large globe lighting. The tables were all covered with enchanted roses that hung suspended in glass. Large storybooks were stacked in all four corners of the square hall.

  “The theme is timeless romance,” Cameron said, standing next to me. My eyes drifted to his and he turned to me with a proud smirk. “It’s not dead, Abbie.”

  “Cameron,” I said softly as I noted the endless detail that filled the four corners of the room, “how long have you been planning this?”

  He squeezed my hand.

  “How long?” I demanded.

  “A while,” he said, his answering look unwavering.

  He wanted me to know but didn’t boast about it. While I stood in a daze due to his gesture, he shed our coats.

  A while.

  Months, it had to have been. The truth was in the details, and there were so many.

  Even though I was sure it took a village, he’d been specific about those details. I couldn’t stop my wandering eyes as he took my hand and led me to the dance floor.

  “You aren’t chaperoning?”

  “Yes,” he said as he ignored the snickers of a few of the students. “But it was just an excuse to get you here.”

  “Looking good, Coach,” one of the guys said as we passed them on the floor.

  “Thanks, Rafferty,” he said without looking his way.

  We danced alongside an oversized stack of classics—Romeo and Juliet, Great Expectations, and Pride and Prejudice.

  Though the school was elite, I was sure they didn’t have the budget to pull it off. I was certain Cameron had funded damn near all of it.

  It struck me then that I’d never had a man go so far to make a believer out of me. No one had ever come close.

  Weightless, I clung to him. I felt like I was floating as we moved across the floor. It took every bit of strength I had not to tear up.

  “Cameron,” I said, unable to put into words what I was feeling. Instead, I buried my head in his shoulder. “Where in the hell have you been?”

  “Anywhere but where I needed to be,” he whispered softly.

  The Killers “Be Still” rang out as he pulled me to him and began to move. Cameron nodded toward the DJ.

  “This is a beautiful song,” I said, looking over his shoulder and meeting a woman’s eyes that zeroed in on us.

  “It’s the senior song of 2018,” Cameron said with a grin.

  “Oh God, I feel so old,” I said with wide eyes.

  “Not me. I would never want to go through what they’re about to go through again,” he said dismissively. “I’m good.”

  “True,” I said, mulling it over. “For a second, I forgot how hard it was.”

  “Right? Fuck that,” Cameron said, trying to keep respectable space between u
s. “I hated school.”

  “Typical jock,” I cooed. “I loved it.”

  “I have no doubts. Let me guess, you graduated Magna Cum Laude at Northwestern?”

  “Yep. But I wasn’t high school valedictorian.”

  “Second in line?” he said, his eyes telling me he knew that to be the truth.

  “Yeah, Michelle Chen. I got felt up at a party while she studied. I considered it an even trade.”

  Cameron’s brow lifted.

  “I never said I wasn’t popular. And I told you I got asked to prom. I skirted the line. I didn’t spend my Friday nights working on a science fair project. I studied hard and then snuck out and partied harder. You just assumed because I geek out now that I was then.”

  “I don’t assume anything when it comes to you, Abbie. I know better.”

  “So, this isn’t like a prom do-over for me?”

  “No,” he said softly. “It’s for me. Because if we could go back, I would’ve been your date.”

  I paused my steps and we stumbled a little. Cameron swept me back up in his hold and made us both look good.

  “You just . . .” I shook my head. “Happy,” I whispered.

  “Would it scare you if I told you I want to keep surprising you as long as you let me?”

  I shook my head. “Not at all.”

  “Good,” he said, gripping my hip tighter.

  My eyes drifted over his shoulder again and I tensed.

  “I think you have an admirer,” I said. “Three o’clock. She looks dejected.”

  I subtly nodded toward the woman who was burning holes through us. She looked at Cameron like he hung the moon, and then looked at me like I’d lassoed it away.

  “That’s Bianca,” he said without glancing her way. “I’ve been throwing away her baked goods for the past year. She’s under the impression I’m a widow. I don’t correct her because I wanted her to think I was still grieving. I guess the jig is up now.”

  “Heartbreaker,” I said with a frown. Her anguish was visible in her posture. “She’s crushed. I feel terrible.”

  “Look at me,” he commanded. “For once in your life, Miss Fix-It, you aren’t going to worry about anyone else but yourself. I never led her on, not for one single minute. The only woman I’ve been interested in since I started at this school is the one I’m looking at. We don’t have that many songs to dance to until I have to abandon you for my post, so keep those beautiful blues on me while I think about the ways I’m going to ruin your virtue when I get you home.”

  “That’s quite an assumption,” I said, quirking a brow. “Being so reckless with my virtue.”

  “I’m going to get so much shit for this from every single one of the boys I coach. Trust me, I’ll earn it.”

  “You already have,” I said, caressing the back of his neck with my palm.

  The urge to kiss him was overwhelming, but we just swayed along the floor instead. “I’m hoping this covers the ’90s rom-com portion of woo,” he said with a chuckle.

  “I guess I was a little unreasonable in my demands,” I said sheepishly.

  “If you think you don’t deserve this, you’re wrong,” he said as he rubbed his thumb along my waist. “Whoever had you before me didn’t know what the fuck they had.”

  “So, this isn’t the grand finale?”

  “Never,” he said as he pulled me tighter to him and led me around the dance floor. “Besides, I figure if we set a good enough example for the millennials, maybe they’ll follow suit.

  “Well, they’re definitely watching,” I said, sliding my thumb along his jaw.

  “Good, then they can see what it looks like when two people coffee.”

  I laughed. “I wonder what they would think if they knew what you did to your date on the way here.”

  “Don’t remind me. If I get hard now, I’ll never be able to coach again. Damn it, woman,” he said as he closed his eyes tightly. “Two a day football practices, Trent Marcum picks his nose, Sloppy Joes.”

  “Sloppy Joes?” I laughed again as he spun me around. “Those disgust you?”

  “You have no idea. There’s a story behind it.”

  “There always is.”

  “It would make this night less romantic if I told you.”

  “Some other time,” I said as the song ended, and Cameron led me off the floor.

  “My turn, Coach,” a young guy that looked to be around sixteen said as he eyed me inappropriately.

  “Not a chance, Marshall,” he said as he walked us toward the refreshment table and the jaded baker—who was murdering me with her stare—to get the rundown.

  Though Cameron urged me to be selfish, I couldn’t help but pray she would get a chance to dance with her own prince someday.

  Later that night, after a few hours of watching Cameron chaperone a room of teenage angst, break up two fights, and give a pep talk to one of the players who had cost them last week’s game, we strode out of the high school arm in arm.

  “I loved watching you in that role. You’re a great mentor. You should see the way those kids look at you.”

  Cameron remained quiet as we got into the limo.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing,” he said, staring out the window as we sat in light traffic.

  “Horseshit,” I said, grabbing his hand. “Sorry, that was the Bree coming out of me.”

  Cameron nodded.

  “Okay, you didn’t laugh, and I am funny,” I argued. “Spill it.”

  Pulling away from my hand, he unfastened his tie and loosened his top button.

  “Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t trade this for anything, but I hate that the older I get the closer I am to all business, less coaching. I don’t . . . I know things could be worse. I could not be coaching at all. At least my stores are doing well, right?”

  “Hey,” I said as he turned to look at me. “You can coach as long as you want to. If it’s your thing, there’s nothing wrong with it, right? Just because it didn’t happen on the level you wanted it to doesn’t mean it couldn’t still happen. Just don’t give up and there will always be the possibility.”

  “Tonight isn’t about me,” he said. “I shouldn’t have brought it up.”

  “I beg to differ, Coach.” Pulling his tie free, I straddled his lap and undid a few more buttons.

  “I’m going to make the rest of this night all about you,” I whispered, leaning into him as I pushed the button for the partition before I sank to my knees between his legs.

  One of his perfectly sculpted brows lifted as I rubbed his cock through his pants. His reaction was immediate as I unzipped him and gripped him firmly in my hand.

  “Sloppy Joes,” I whispered with a grin and his dick jumped. Leaning in, I licked the tip of him. His eyes closed, and he let out a string of curses.

  “I can just see you now on the sidelines in a suit, salt and pepper hair, keeping your sexy poker face,” I said as I pumped his thick dick and kept his watchful gaze before I took the whole of him in my mouth.

  Cameron hissed as I pulled my lips away with a pop and pumped him vigorously with my hand. He grinned down at me. “Is this your fantasy or mine?”

  I grinned back. “Maybe a little of both?”

  He grunted as I put my lips back on him and took him to the back of my throat. “You aren’t such a bad coach yourself,” he murmured, fisting my hair.

  Abbie’s Mac: Why exactly did you call this meeting here, sir?

  Cameron sat comfortably on his side of the table as I surveyed his dress. He looked gorgeous in a cream sweater with a cuffed collar, dark jeans, and light brown boots.

  I swear to God the man looked camera-ready no matter the day.

  His hair had grown a bit longer and it suited him.

  Cameron’s Mac: Because we’ve been spending a lot of time in bed. I need you at a safe distance.

  Tilting my head, I gave him an incredulous look.

  Abbie’s Mac: Are you really cockblocking yourself right no
w? I think I can control myself, Cameron Bledsoe.

  Cameron’s Mac: Well, I can’t. How ’bout them apples. And did you just first and last name me, witchy woman?

  Abbie’s Mac: Did you just Good Will Hunting me, Coach Bledsoe?

  We both typed at the same time.

  Cameron’s Mac: Maybe.

  Abbie’s Mac: Maybe.

  Cameron twisted his lips and then licked them. I could tell he was just as ready to eat up the annoying distance between us. Whatever reason he had us on opposite sides of the fence was apparent in his frown.

  Maybe we had been spending a lot of time in body worship, but we were only making up for endless days of staring at each other and trying to live out our fantasies.

  And those had added up. Two of our months together had been behind our Macs.

  As of late, I was spending a lot of time at the office running the day to day while Kat prepped the staff in endless meetings to implement our changes. We were down to the wire and had barely been able to share a cup of coffee since the New Year.

  Cameron was wrapping up basketball season.

  Though we slept in the same bed, we didn’t see each other as often as we wanted, which only made us hungrier. I didn’t see the harm and told him as much in a message.

  Abbie’s Mac: Are we having an argument right now about how much we love having sex?

  Cameron’s Mac: I’m more attracted to you than any woman I’ve ever been with, than any woman ever. I’m addicted to your taste, your smell, the sounds you make when I’m touching you. But that’s not how we came to be us. I don’t want the physical outweighing our connection.

  I studied him then narrowed my eyes.

  Is this where the other shoe drops? Is he letting me down gently?

  Cameron’s Mac: No reason to be suspicious. I mean it. I want to keep us grounded. I don’t want to lose what we have.

  Abbie’s Mac: What is it we have?

  Cameron’s Mac: Nothing I’m willing to proclaim in lieu of telling you privately. But it rhymes with fucking incredible.

  I smiled at that.

  Abbie’s Mac: Okay, Cameron. I’m all yours.

  I nodded, and I saw a little relief in his eyes.

  Cameron’s Mac: Good, that’s exactly what I wanted to hear. I’m all yours too. But you know at some point we need to talk about what we don’t talk about. I’m ready. I’ve been ready.