Only One for Me (18 page)

“
We do. Besides, they
would do the same for us if we were getting married.” She stopped
tying the bow on the bottle and raised her head slowly to meet his
eyes.

“
Really?” he asked as she
lowered her eyes to finish tying the bow. “Is that our next
step?”

“
Cannon, we’ve only been
back in each other’s lives for a few months, and we aren’t even a
couple. Marriage should be the last thing on our minds.”

He sighed. “I know. We’re in the
getting-to-know-each-other stage again.” He rolled his
eyes.

“
Are you being
sarcastic?”

“
No, I’m being serious.
However, just so you know, eventually I will ask you to marry me,
Yasmine. I told you, I’m never letting you go again, so you might
as well get used to this.”

She pursed her lips together to
smother a smile, but ended up releasing a beautiful one instead.
“You just won’t quit.”

“
Not this time. So let’s
change the subject. Tell me about the men you’ve dated since
me.”

She went to the island where their
snacks were and scooped up some hummus on a pita
cracker.

“
I know you’re joking,”
she sarcastically said with a wrinkled brow. “You don’t really want
to know.”

“
Just curious.” He set a
few more labeled bottles on her side of the table.

She sighed, popped another cracker in
her mouth, and proceeded to wash her hands before returning to the
assembly line.

“
Well, let’s see. Your
rebound was a stockbroker I met when I first moved to New York.
Nice guy, I suppose. A little on the arrogant side, but not toward
me. Smoked cigars. Took me to the Hamptons one summer.”

“
What happened? He seemed
like a good catch.”
Okay, she’s right. I
really don’t want to know.

“
I wasn’t ready for a
commitment. The guy after him was a jazz musician. Played the
saxophone. Drove a motorcycle. He was cool, but our schedules were
different. He was at work when I needed to be asleep.”

“
Um … you never went to
see him perform?”

“
Sometimes on the
weekends, but rarely during the week. I had grad school, and I
taught second grade. My career came first which was his gripe. He
said I was heartless, lacked warmth, and wasn’t supportive of his
dreams. Come to think of it, the stockbroker said the same and
another guy I dated.”

“
I find it hard to believe
that someone said you lacked warmth and was heartless. You’re the
most loving person I know.”

“
You can believe it
because I know I was all those things.” She sighed. “I didn’t want
another man to get so close to me that I fell in love only to get
hurt again. I put up a wall that none of them could knock down or
climb over.”

“
So you haven’t been in
love with anyone else besides me?”

“
Don’t flatter yourself.
Kinda hard to fall in love when you left your heart with someone
else. You’re the only man that has ever broken it, and I didn’t
want to experience it again.”

“
Damn, I made you
bitter?”

“
I wasn’t bitter. I dated
and had fun, but a woman has to protect herself as
well.”

“
I can respect that
considering I have three sisters. I would kill a man over them.
That guy who broke Bria’s heart better be glad she begged me and
Sean not to go over to his house to have a men to punk
conversation.”

“
Really? Too bad I don’t
have a big brother. Maybe he would’ve done that for me.” She
yawned. “How many more?”

“
Plenty.”

“
Cool. I need a break.
What do you have at the bar?” she asked, walking over to the
butler’s pantry between the kitchen and the dining room.

“
Just about anything. You
know I pretty much only drink rum and Coke, but I believe there’s
some Crown in the cabinet.”

“
My favorite.” She found
it in the bottom cabinet and took a can of Coke out of the mini
fridge.

He rewound their conversation in his
head a few times before meeting her in the butler’s
pantry.

“
Wait a minute. You
would’ve sent your big brother over to have a conversation with
me?” he asked half laughing, but half scared of her
answer.

She smirked. “I guess we’ll never
know.” She patted his cheek and went back to the table.

They continued to work in silence for
a while, taking short breaks to rest their hands and to make sure
they wouldn’t mess up.

“
The last one,” she said
tossing it in the basket with the other two-hundred and forty nine
bottles of bubbles.

“
We did a good job,” he
said, reaching across the table and giving her a high five. “Maybe
we should go into the wedding business. I think we’ve done more
work than the wedding planner.”

“
I know, right?” She took
the basket and set it on the dining room table before grabbing the
packs of bird seed along with the box of tulle bags. “So since you
were being Dr. Nosey, what about the women
you’ve
dated since me?” She slid
back into her chair, sipped her drink, and then downed
it.

A slow grin crossed his face. “I was
wondering when you were going to ask me.”

Leaning back, she closed her eyes for
a second and breathed in deep. “Go ahead.”

“
Well, let’s see. I met a
nurse during my residency. We just hung out, you know. Then there
was this other girl. She was cool. We dated until I moved back to
Memphis.”

“
What
happened?”

“
She didn’t want a long
distance relationship. About a few years ago, I was in a serious
relationship. She kept pressuring me into marrying her, showing me
rings and talking about how many children we would have. Shelbi
thinks my ex was trying to get pregnant because she kept forgetting
to take her pill on time or not at all.”

“
Why didn’t you marry
her?”

“
She wasn’t
you.”

*****

Yasmine breathed out a sigh of relief
at his answer. Over the years, she’d always wondered about his
dating life. Was he in love? Was he married? And when she found out
he wasn’t married—why wasn’t he married? She secretly wanted to
believe that she was the reason. That he still loved her. That he
couldn’t possibly marry another woman because like her, his heart
was somewhere else.

“
Come here,” she whispered
in a sexy voice.

A sly smile crossed his face as he
pulled her out of the chair and into his arms.

Cannon’s mouth hurriedly, seductively
imprisoned hers. His arms squeezed around her, drawing her against
his hard frame. She happily welcomed the feel of his exploring
tongue on her lips as he delved in even more. Wave after wave of
pure bliss charged through her body, awakening the long-buried
passion she had for him. Her mind and soul sank deeper into the
kiss, and she thought she would fall into an unconscious abyss from
the force. Her fingers clutched his shoulders for support, and her
heart was ready to explode out of her chest with an abnormally fast
pounding.

He clamped one hand in her hair,
coaxing her further into him. Her mouth willingly opened even more
to allow both of them better access. Their tongues and hearts
danced with each other, heightening to a level of intensity that
she’d never experienced before, including with him, for she’d never
needed him as she needed him now. She’d missed him, and she wanted
him to know just how much.

She pushed him toward the couch in the
keeping room. He lifted his mouth briefly from their kiss and a
half grin inched up his jaw.

“
Are you in control, Yaz?”
he breathed against her lips.

“
Shhh, be quiet.” She
shoved him back on the couch and straddled him, claiming his lips
once more before he said anything else.

But he stopped their kiss
and lowered his gaze to the open part of her blouse. His finger
traveled down her face to her neck. Yasmine fought to push down the
shudder that tore through her as his eyes held hers in a knowing,
sensual connection. Cannon’s fingers explored her neck, circling
around to the spot.
His spot.
Yes! She’d longed for his touch there, and her
pulse sped up as he caressed it while his gaze stayed on her in a
serious expression. He unbuttoned her blouse, placing kisses down
her skin as he unfastened each button. He eased the blouse off her,
which she happily threw across the kitchen.

Her breathing became unsteady as he
lowered his lips to her exposed collarbone and journeyed a
scorching path in between her breasts. His fingers still massaged
the back of her neck, inching up into her hair, causing her to
finally exhale after having been without him for so long. He
unhooked the front snap on her bra to expose her breasts. Her eyes
fluttered shut as she absorbed the heat of Cannon’s mouth on her
skin. She’d dreamed of remembering to know once again what it was
like to be intimate with the only man she truly loved. Cannon had
been the one to make her feel alive. Exquisite. Loved. Beautiful.
Yasmine knew she said she wanted to take it slow with him this time
around, but the aching she had for him, she could no longer control
herself in his presence. The way his skilled tongue explored her
breasts teasing, sucking, nibbling on her pebbled nipples, sent
trembling sensations from her head all the way down to her pink
toenails. She must’ve been insane if she thought she was actually
going to wait three months to make love to him. Hell, she’d waited
twelve years. That was definitely torture long enough.

“
You’re so damn beautiful,
Angel face,” he said in a rough, sexy voice that sent heat to
escalate through her veins. “I’m going to show you just how much
I’ve missed you for the rest of the night. Maybe some of tomorrow
morning as well.”

He claimed her lips once more in a
raging, commanding kiss, taking the breath of out her lungs. She
lifted his sweater over his head and tossed it on the floor with
her blouse. The scent of him mixed with his soap from his recent
shower, whiffed into her nose, and she wanted him to take her right
now on the couch. She pressed herself against his rock bare chest,
feeling the intensity of his heartbeat against her body, and kissed
his lips with the pent up urgency that had been buried in her for
so long. His hands clenched her butt cheeks as he lifted her off of
the couch and flipped her onto her back, his lips never leaving
hers. He laid on top of her, moving his hands over her body and
down to the belt of her jeans. His lips broke off from hers, which
caused a pleading moan to escape from her lips. However, when his
tongue glided down her neck, she was thankful that his lips were
still on her.

With her belt out of the way, he
unbuttoned and unzipped her jeans, pulling them down with one hand
as he moved his lips and other hand down to her breasts. She
wiggled free of the jeans followed by her socks. His heated gaze
raked over her naked body, and she knew that intense familiar
stare. There wouldn’t be much foreplay. He wanted her right
then.

He slid his body on top of hers and
lowered his lips to hers once more, but this time it was a slow,
sensual pace. He dug his hands into her hair as she wrapped her
legs around his trim waist. Her hands traced his clean shaven face,
moving up to his hair while their sensual kiss turned up a few
notches with every moan from her. They continued swallowing each
other’s moans while trying to press their bodies as close as
possible to each other. The heat radiating from his body mixed with
her own heat, made her feel as if she was in a kiln, and she knew
from experience with him, it was only going to get hotter. If the
smoke detectors in the kitchen went off, she wouldn’t be
surprised.

He continued the assault on her lips,
deepening the kiss as his hand moved in between them and down to
her aching center that was already wet with passion for him. With
one finger, he circled around the little rose bud, and she let out
a cry of ecstasy. Cannon knew just the right way to touch and kiss
every inch of her, and she shook with the pleasure of knowing that
her neglected body would finally be satisfied again by the one man
that made her his years ago. No one since him knew what the hell
they were doing. Cannon had always focused on her enjoyment with
every kiss and touch. He’d always made her feel as if she was the
only one in his life. As if she was the only woman he’d ever made
love to.

As his finger twirled around her
climatic spot, the need of wanting him to go even lower surged
through her. She ran her fingers down his smooth back, erupting a
low moan from him. She wasn’t the only one that remembered turn on
spots, and moved her lips from his mouth to the side of his neck up
to his ear to nibble and lick it.

“
Damn,” he whispered. “I
know you’re trying to …”

She sucked on his ear, lightly
squeezing the skin between her teeth. “Trying to what?” she asked
slyly as she knew exactly what she was doing.

Instead of answering, he lowered his
finger, gliding through the folds of her vagina lips and into the
opening of what she craved for.