Tia isn't looking at him, and her face is burning bright red with a blush at the close call. "I'm fine, Dad. Just talking to Wallace for a minute. I'm about to head home."
"All right. I'll see you in the morning. Night, Wallace."
"Night, sir."
Neither of us say a word until we hear his car door slam.
"Holy shit," Tia says.
I laugh, because as much as I don't want to get caught by her father, I can't help but flash back to times when we were almost caught in high school, and I say as much.
"It wouldn't be less embarrassing though," she says, but she's smiling. "I should go. I'll see you tomorrow."
I reach out and touch her arm. "Tia, wait." She stops, and I'm thanking the universe for her hesitation. "I wasn't kidding when I said I wanted to make it right. Let me take you to dinner. I have some more things to tell you, and I'd like to just...talk."
"You gonna tell me something else that's gonna piss me off?" she asks.
I can't help the grin that's on my face. "I really hope not."
Tia is quiet for a second, and then she nods. "Fine, if you want to waste your money, that's fine with me. I like free food as much as the next girl."
"Tomorrow night?"
"I can do that."
I resist the urge to pull her against me and kiss her, no matter how badly I want to. "I'll see you then." As I'm watching her walk away, I call after her. "And wear a dress!"
She gives me the finger without looking and I laugh. She'll wear one. And it'll be gorgeous.
11
Tia
When Wallace told me to wear a dress, I didn’t realize that he would actually send me a dress. It’s another thing that I don’t need for him to buy, but it’s beautiful. Every day he proves more and more how well he knows me. The dress is simple and elegant, a deep burgundy with a flowing skirt that hangs around my knees. I told myself that I was going to wear something else just to spite him, but after I put it on, I didn’t want to take it off.
And now we’re here. This isn't the kind of restaurant that I expected Wallace to take me to. It's too fancy. He's always been a little rough, a football and beer kind of guy. But that's okay, because I'm like that too. Most of the time I'd rather be in jeans and boots than a dress, but tonight feels nice. I guess I should have expected this after all the gifts. He’s changed a bit.
Green Hills only has a few upscale restaurants, and I’ve never been to this one. I’ve never had the occasion. The interior is stunning, decorated in shades of blue and silver with a quiet atmosphere that feels intimate. I can’t imagine how much everything is going to cost here, but I’m not going to say anything. I know that Wallace won’t want me to.
And damn, I have to admit that Wallace looks good in a suit. And it's not just obvious to me, he turns heads as we walks by. But even as good as he looks, and it's so delicious that I want to tear off his suit right there and lick him, there's still a part of me that prefers the sweaty jeans and t-shirt Wallace, the guy who's putting in a hard day's work and it shows. This rich Wallace is alien to me. But from what I’m seeing, it seems like it’s alien to him too.
We've been dancing around each other all through dinner, because the conversation has been nice and because neither of us wants to go to the place we know we have to go. When dessert is finally cleared, he holds out his hand. "Want to walk?"
I nod.
The sun is setting over Green Hills and it's beautiful. The sky is shining off the river in a riot of color as we make our way through the evening night life. Kids are playing on the river, couples on dates walk by, groups of people with boom boxes lounge on the bank. Green Hills has its faults, but it's a pretty good place to be. I certainly don't mind it.
"You said you had some things that you wanted to tell me," I say.
Wallace clears his throat. "I do. It's not something that's easy for me to talk about. But I've been working on it." There's a small little half-smile there, though I'm not exactly sure what that means. "I know now that it was wrong, what I did. Leaving you. Deciding for you. And I know it doesn't matter that I really thought I was doing what was best."
I ignore the flare of anger and hurt in my chest and let him keep speaking. This clearly isn't easy for him.
He reaches out and takes my hand, weaving my fingers with his, and I let him. It seems to steady him, and he takes a deep breath. "There were a lot of moments when I was over there that I was afraid. And not the kind of fear that's normal. This was different. I was scared to die. Not because of death, but because if I died, then I'd never see you again. And I hadn't even said goodbye."
He stops walking and takes another shaky breath. "It was only last week that I realized that was the real reason for my fear. And I was afraid. And I haven't told you just how close I came to dying Tia. A few minutes and a stroke of luck made the difference between me standing here and me fulfilling that stupid prophecy I made about me not coming back and leaving you alone.
"It kills me to know how badly I fucked up. I know I did." He clears his throat. "I haven' really been the same since I came back. Not until you. You made me remember what it was like to feel...happy. And hopeful. So I'm finally getting some help. I'm a stubborn son of a bitch so I really didn't want to. But it is helping.” He laughs, almost to himself. "Everyone assumed when I came back and First shot was doing so well that I’d just be happy. That everything was fine and that it would be easy. But it wasn’t. That money will never make me happy. It’s not important to me.”
My chest aches for him, and I reach out, wrapping my arms around him. "I'm sorry. I didn't know."
"I didn't want you to. Just like I didn't want you to know about my dad. I don't like for you to see me weak. But it's not an excuse to hide things."
"No," I say. "It's not. But I’m glad you’re getting help.”
Wallace sighs and leans against a railing overlooking the river. “Me too, believe it or not.”
“Is that the only thing that you wanted to tell me?”
He looks down and cringes. “No. Unfortunately not. But promise me you’ll hear me all the way out on this one. It’s not going to make me look good at first, but wait until the end.”
“Okay…” I draw out the word. It puts me on edge, that caveat. No one ever likes to start a story with the idea that they’re going to hate it. That’s really never fun.
“When I was seventeen, before you and I were serious, Glenn and Frankie and I took a pledge. You remember them?”
I raise an eyebrow. “I know Glenn and Frankie, Wallace. I’ve been in this town my whole life. And besides, everyone knows the rich and famous owners of First Shot.”
“Right.” He grins sheepishly. “Sorry. Well, we took this pledge in high school—mind you because we were horny teenagers and the only thing that we would think about was sex—that if we weren’t married before our thirtieth birthday that we would spend the first month of our birthday year hooking up with thirty women. Thirty one-night stands. And we called it Dirty Thirty.”
He pauses, like he’s waiting for my reaction to it, and I have to force down my revulsion, but it doesn’t work. “Are you fucking kidding me, Wallace? Your birthday is in like a month. Are you telling me that you were trying to screw me and get back together with me just so you could take a break and bang thirty women with my permission? That’s disgusting. It’s childish and pathetic. If that’s what you thought you could do then you’re only pretending to be a man you—”
I’m cut off by his lips touching mine. I’m so surprised that it does actually stop me in my tracks.
“You promised that you’d listen.”
“Fine,” I say, anger still boiling in my veins. “But I reserve the right to yell afterwards.”
He smiles at me. “Feel free. But I’m not sure you’ll want to.”
“Fat chance of that,” I say under my breath as he continues.
“I’ve never wanted that, not really. When I was in high school and sex was this huge myste
ry, having sex with thirty different women in thirty days seemed like the paragon of heaven. So much sex with so many different people! But as an adult, that’s pretty revolting. Frankie thought so too. Glenn, not so much.”
And then he tells me the story of what happened with Glenn and Frankie, and how Frankie was even more adamant about not wanting to do the pledge than Wallace. Glenn was threatening to sue him for breach of contract if he didn’t go through, but he won the love of his life Annabelle back.
“I still think that’s pathetic,” I say. “And you’re not pulling that on me.”
Wallace grabs my hands. “Were you listening to what I said about Frankie? Was he pathetic? He was so desperate to get out of this stupid pledge that he fought tooth and nail against it. And am I pathetic, letting you tear me apart because of it? Tia, I don’t want to go out and drink and fuck lots of random women. I don’t want anything to do with the pledge. I want you. I’ve been doing everything I can to show you that. Granted, I might not have been doing a very good job of it, but I’m trying.
“I’ll let you do anything you want to me if I can have you. You can shred me until I’m nothing but a speck of dust, and I’ll let you do it, because I deserve that shame. I’m owning it.”
I stop, because I don’t want to do that. I don’t want to tear him apart. I’m just so used to being hurt that I’m lashing out. I put my hand on his chest. “I’m not going to shred you,” I say. “I’m sorry.”
“You shouldn’t be. You have every right. But there’s one more thing I have to tell you.”
I wrap my arms around myself. “I’m not sure that I can take any more,” I say. “It’s already been a lot.”
“This one I hope that you’re going to like.”
“Okay.”
Wallace stands up straighter. “Like I said, since I’ve been home, I haven’t been myself. I’ve been floating, and I haven’t seemed to settle. It’s like I had lost myself and who I was. But then I realized the one thing that’s always been true for me. You’re my home, and everything with you is broken. This new life, new success, it means nothing to me. Not when I don’t have you. You’re it for me. You’ve always been it for me, Tia.”
I take a breath, because those aren’t the words I thought were coming, and yet they’re the ones that I wanted the most to hear.
“I know that you might not be ready, and I’ll understand if that’s the case, but I’m not going to stop trying to make things right. My entire life if I have to. In the meantime, this is the only thing in the world that feels right to me.”
Wallace sinks to one knee in front of me, and my mind goes blank. This isn’t happening. This can’t be happening, can it? I’m starting to shake. He looks so hopeful and so full of light. When he pops a ring from a box, I burst into tears.
“Tia, will you marry me?”
I’m really, really crying now, and I can’t help it. I ask him. “Are you serious?”
He laughs too. “I am completely serious. I love you. I want to spend my life with you. I always have.”
“I love you too,” I say, throwing myself onto him and pressing my lips to his. He wraps me in his arms, and I get lost. All of my anger disappears, because this is what I wanted. For him to make amends and to never leave. I’m sure there will be things that we have to learn about each other, but in this moment, everything is absolutely perfect.
Wallace slips the ring onto my finger, and I can’t stop crying. “I thought you were going to ask me then,” I say softly. “I thought you were going to ask me before you left. I would have waited for you, no matter how long it took.”
“I’m so sorry that I never said goodbye,” he says, leaning down to kiss me again. “But I never have to again.”
“I’m going to hold you to that,” I say. “But right now, we’re going home.”
* * *
There’s a sense of déjà vu as we stumble together into my house. As soon as we’re in the door and it’s shut, Wallace has me pinned up against it. We’re undressing each other again, but this time it’s slow and sensual, because we have all the time in the world. His fingers find my zipper and undo the back of my dress. It falls into a puddle on the floor. I’m left in nothing but my underwear, and I love that dark gleam that I see in his eyes as he picks me up and carries me toward the bedroom.
I hold up my ring for him to see as we move. “I like wearing this,” I say.
“I’m going to like you wearing only that,” he says, placing me on the bed and slipping my underwear off my legs in one swift motion.
I unhook my bra before slithering off the bed and pushing him down onto it. He’s already mostly naked, and I like that. But I haven’t had nearly enough time to play. “You’ve explored my body,” I say. “It’s my turn.”
Propping his arms behind his head, Wallace grins. “I don’t have a problem with that.” That position makes his biceps bulge and I just want to lick every part of him that I can reach. And so I do. I start with his mouth, kissing him gently, and then less gently until I have to push his arms down again.
I stroke my hands across his chest, finding the grooves of his muscles and pressing my lips to his collarbone, biceps, and his pecs before I mimic exactly what he did to me and tease his nipple. It’s hard under my lips, and I swirl my tongue around it as he groans in contentment. It’s nice to feel this powerful, to know that I’m giving him just as much pleasure as he’s going to give me. We have all night.
In fact, we have the rest of our lives.
Using my tongue, I trace Wallace’s abs. It’s something I’ve wanted to do since I saw him shirtless, and I take my time doing it, tasting his skin. He just tastes like him, and I do love the taste. The only thing left that he has on are his boxers, and I grab those with my teeth to pull them down, letting his cock spring free. He’s already rock hard, and I’m struck again by just how huge he is.
He’s thick and straight. Up close, it’s almost overwhelming. First, I get his boxers all the way off so I can just look at him. Wallace’s eyes are glazed with lust, and I draw my hands slowly down his stomach and across his hips to his thighs, avoiding the very place that I know he wants me to touch. I can tease just as well as he can.
With just the tip of my finger, I run it along his shaft, and then slowly I build up to my whole palm. I watch Wallace’s chest rise faster, and his muscles clench under my touch. I love the look of exquisite agony on his face. Locking eyes with him, I lean down, and I know he thinks I’m going to put my mouth onto his cock, but I don’t.
I lean down further, teasing his balls with my tongue, and the sound he makes sends arousal bursting through me. Slowly, I stroke his cock with his balls in my mouth, I lick one, and then the other, and back again until he’s moaning. His cock jerks against my hand.
“You’re going to kill me, Tia.”
I laugh. “I know.”
I release him and stop the teasing because I’m just as eager as he is, and I don’t want to wait anymore. I lower myself down onto him in one smooth stroke, feeling the stretch of him and the shocking, sudden heat. It’s almost too much, and I collapse onto his chest. “Shit.”
The rumble of laughter in his chest moves him inside me and I close my eyes. I didn’t think that this could feel better. But knowing that I’m his, and he’s mine, and it will always be that way. It feels impossibly good. Perfect. I start to move my hips, raising up so I have more leverage, and his hands fall to my waist where he guides me in a slow, swooping rhythm that hits me deep in the best way. Holy fuck.
I squeeze down on him and his eyes snap to mine, radiating lust and need, and I just nod to him. Without missing a beat, Wallace flips us together, and we don’t even separate. But now he’s on top of me, pressing me down into the mattress, and his mouth is on mine as he plunges deep.
It’s immediate. I come right then, pleasure spilling into my body in a wave that doesn’t feel like it’s going to stop, and I cry out into his mouth. He laughs, and pulls back just enough to smile a
t me. “I like it when you’re loud.”
“I don’t have a choice when it’s this good,” I say, the last words getting caught in the next wave of pleasure and turning into a long moan. Fuck.
He’s plunging deep and hard and one orgasm leads into another. Never with anyone but him have I been able to tap into this endless well of pleasure. The friction of his skin on mine is making me blind, and I can’t stop moaning and saying yes, crying out his name over and over again.
“I’m close” he says, breathing against my mouth, kissing me with everything that he’s got. I wrap my arms around him, pulling him close as he shudders his climax, heat spilling deep inside me. It sets off another orgasm which swirls through me like a tornado and leaves me wrecked, clinging to him in the aftermath.
We don’t move for a long time after. And even when we begin to recover, he doesn’t move. Just props himself up a little so he can see me, stroking my face and hair with his hands. “We didn’t use a condom. Are you okay with that?”
I nod. I’m the one that made the choice in the moment, and it felt right to me. I wanted to feel him—the real him, without anything between us. There’s been so much between us for so long, we didn’t need it. “I’m fine,” I say. “We’re going to get married, and I’m not going to fuck my husband with a condom.”
Wallace chuckles. “Yes ma’am.”
“How soon do you want to get married?” I ask him.
He studies my face, and I can tell he’s thinking seriously about it. “I would marry you tomorrow, if you’d let me.”
I pull his face down to mine and kiss him softly before marveling again at the ring on my finger. “Tomorrow’s a bit soon. I want a dress.”
“Fair enough,” he says, smiling. “How about before my birthday, then? I don’t want to wait, and I don’t want Glenn making a fuss because I broke that stupid pledge.”
Rich Soldier: The Dirty Thirty Pledge Book 2 Page 7