Perfect Ten (8 page)

“I see you met cousin
, Mercedes. Hi, Sadie.”

“Yeah, we’ve met.” I put my arm around Faith and pulled her tight against my side. “I think our conversation is over. Excuse us.” We turned away from her, got our
drinks, and sat down at a table, Alice’s wine forgotten about. “I don’t know how you do it, Faith. I know I probably shouldn’t say anything, but your family is really rude. Why don’t you put them in their place?”

I wish I hadn’t said any of that. Faith’s face showed every emotion. She was sad, but fighting it. Why did she even come and subject herself to their behavior? I wouldn’t have. I would have told the lot of them to fuck off.

Drops of condensation were slipping down the martini glass in front of her, and she watched them on their journey. With a small, quiet voice, she answered me. “I’ve spent some time in therapy learning how to cope with their comments. My daddy was the one who made me go, and now I thank him for it. It doesn’t bother me like it used to.”

She looked up at me, her eyes bright. “But I’m really sorry you’re here.
They shouldn’t be saying anything to you about me. I knew this was a bad idea. I told you that you’re too hot for me. Their reactions are exactly what I was expecting. Let’s just leave now, okay? They won’t miss me.”

“No way. You know what we’re going to do? We’re going to eat and
—”

I was interrupted by a humorless laugh. “You think I’m going to eat here? After all of the fat bashing they do? You’re crazy.”

“
You’re
the crazy one if you think we’re leaving. Like I was saying,
you’re
the beautiful one here. We’re going to eat, drink, and dance the night away. And you’re going to smile and laugh and kill them with kindness.” I picked up her drink and handed it to her, clinking my tumbler of whiskey against it harder than I meant to with my pent up anger. “Cheers.” I downed my whiskey in one swallow. My nerves needed calming and it did the trick.

Faith took a healthy sip of her drink and
reluctantly agreed to try. “All right. We’ll see how it goes.” Two more healthy sips and her drink was gone.

“Want another?”

“Yes. I most assuredly do.”

When I got back from the bar, Dale was sitting at the table with Faith. “Faith told me you had the misfortune of meeting Mercedes. I’d like to say she’s the worst of the lot, but that might not be true. Stick to the side of the room with my part of the family. We’re much nicer.”

“I’ll never understand how you’ve stayed married to Mother for so long, Daddy.”

“I know you don’t, Pumpkin. It’s complicat
ed. She wasn’t always like this, but sometimes having a lot of money makes people want to constantly one up each other. Be better than the next person, you know? I think she started changing when she saw how all the other wives acted. And it certainly hasn’t been for the better, but I do love her.”

“You’ve always been great, and you’ve always had money.”

“True, but my parents built our firm brick by brick. When my father started selling his accounting services, he was working twelve to fifteen hours a day. Your mother’s family has had money forever. They don’t remember what it’s like to live any other way. They simply never had to do for themselves, and as she got older, she simply went with the flow of the rich.” He ran a hand through his hair and gave Faith a quick one armed hug. “Ah, let’s not talk about that tonight. Let’s enjoy the party.”

After the wedding party arrived
, and they got the obligatory first dance out of the way, the buffet was opened. I, for one, was ecstatic that they were having a buffet. Usually, these fancy weddings were a sit down affair. You had to wait forever to get your food, and I don’t like people putting food on my plate that I might not want. It’s wasteful.

“Your table may approach the buffet now.” The waitress indicated the back buffet for us to use. The wedding was so large, there were two identical buffets set up.

“Thank God, I’m starving.” I put my hand on Faith’s chair and held out my hand for her.

She peeked up at me without raising her head. “I’m not hungry right now. I’ll get something later.”

“Uh, uh, uh. Come on, sweetheart. You’ve had two Martinis already. You need to eat something. You said you would. Please?” I guess I asked the right way because, even though she gave me an eye roll, she took my hand and went up to the buffet with me.

Her stomach gave her away as we got closer. The low rumble made me laugh. “Not hungry, huh?”

“Fine. I guess I’m a little hungry.” The smile she flashed me was genuine. I think she likes me. She probably wouldn’t like me so much if she realized how many times I’ve looked down her dress. Her tits, sorry, breasts are superb.

In order to avoid garnering unwanted attention toward her, Faith didn’t complain too much when I put food on her plate. Yes, I know that’s bordering on rude and invasive,
not to mention overbearing, but a frigging carrot stick and a piece of celery did not make a meal. I filled her plate with prime rib, shrimp scampi, cheesy mashed potatoes, and some fru-fru vegetable stuff. Yeah, the green stuff didn’t make it on my plate tonight. I ate healthy most of the time, so when I had a night when I wasn’t, watch out.

Being the perfect gentleman that I am, I carried our plates back and set them on the table. Before I could pull Faith’s chair back, she told me she was going to get a drink.

“I’ll get that for you.”

“No, that’s okay. Sit and start eating. You can keep Aunt Alice
company. What can I get for you?”

“Nothing. I’m just going to drink my water.”

***

Faith

I had to get away from him. Just for a minute. Oh, I know he’s just about perfect, but he’s so intense. I know he’s just doing the job he was paid to do, but he has this way of making me think he’s seriously into me. Is that what a perfect date is like? I have to admit, it’s something a girl could get used to. I’m not real big on women’s lib. Equal salary for both sexes, sure, but I like to be taken care of. I like for my dates—not that there’ve been that many—to open doors for me, and not to sit until I do. I even love that he carried my plate back to our table for me. I’m a little old school. But right now, I need another drink, even though I’m a tiny bit tipsy already. Drinking is not something I do too much of, but I’m feeling a little wild this evening.

“Hey, Faith. Want a blowjob?” Cindy wrapped her arms around me and planted a big
, sloppy kiss on my cheek. It was very clear that she’d had even more to drink than I had, but that was okay with me. I loved Cindy. She’s one of my nice family members... on my daddy’s side, of course.

“A blowjob? Is that even possible?”

Cindy giggled and pushed a double shot in front of me. “Silly, Faith.
This
is the blowjob I’m talking about. Drink it all in one gulp. Ready?”

“Wait! What’s in it?”

“Bailey’s, Amaretto, and cum. I mean cream!” She burst out laughing again and I had to join in. Cindy was a funny drunk. She always had been. What the hell.

“Okay. Bottoms up!” I did the shot and man, was it sweet! “Oh, too sweet!”

“Okay. Bartender! Can we have two shots of tequila?”

“I can’t, Cindy. I haven’t eaten anything yet
, and I’m already two martinis in.”

Cindy stuck out her bottom lip, sulking with much exaggeration. “Come on,
Faithypoo. One more and then I’ll let you get back to your hottie.”

“All right. One more shot.” I licked my hand, poured some salt on
it, and slammed the tequila, chasing the taste with a lemon wedge. Some things learned in college stuck with you even better than the education.

Since I decided to live large, I ordered another Dirty Martini. I was most definitely tipsy now, and Joe was looking like dessert. Maybe I would rip his clothes off when he dropped me off. Funny how much more confident I was feeling. Might be the liquor though. I needed to eat something.

I made it back to the table without spilling my drink.

“You were gone a while.” Joe stood up to pull my chair out for me. He’s perfect.
Yup. Perfect.

“Sorry. I was talking to my cousin Cindy. She’s Aunt Alice’s daughter. I
love her. She made me do some shots. I think I might need to eat something.” Joe was smiling at me like I pleased him somehow. It made me feel good. “You’re really hot, Joe.”

He kissed me on the nose. How adorable is he? “You are too, sweetheart.”

All of the sudden, I couldn’t get the thought of him in my bathroom earlier out of my mind. I wanted
my
hand wrapped around him. Who am I kidding? I wanted my tongue wrapped around him. I’ll bet he would taste delicious. My hand involuntarily went to his chest and I ran it down to his abs. It had to be the liquor, but holy cow, I wanted to feel this man inside me.

“Joe?”

“Yes?”

I pulled him close
r to whisper in his ear. “I’m having dirty thoughts about you, but I think I’m a little buzzed. Even so, can I taste you later?”

I could hear the smile in his voice when he talked to me.
I could also hear how his breathing had gone a bit unsteady. “How about we see how dinner and dancing go, and then we’ll explore other options?” He helped me sit down and put my fork in my hand. Suddenly, I was famished. It was like I hadn’t eaten in a year, and I didn’t want vegetables and salad. I wanted that prime rib. Under Joe’s approving gaze, I ate half of my prime rib and all of the cheesy potatoes. If the way he was rubbing my leg under the table was any indication, he wasn’t totally opposed to the tasting suggestion.

Joe

I’d be totally
lying if I didn’t tell you that I liked Faith when she’d had a few drinks. She was fun and a little bit bad. When her sister Marge walked by and made a snide comment about the two empty martini glasses on the table, she looked her right in the eyes and said, “Bite me.”

For the first time in a while, I
loved my job. It didn’t even feel like I was on a job. Like her father had said earlier, Faith was a breath of fresh air. Get a few drinks in her, and she forgot to be self-conscious of her body or anything else. She was free.

“Is that all you’re going to eat?” She ate more than I thought she would, but she still had half of her prime rib left and hadn’t touched her shrimp scampi.
It’s not like I’m the food police. I just like a woman who eats more than a few lettuce leaves.

“I’m stuffed, Joe. Really. You can have the rest if you want it. I see the way you keep glancing over here.”

That’s funny. She thinks I’ve been looking at her plate. In truth, I’ve been looking down her dress—again. “Nope. Just wanted to know if you were ready to dance.” I stood up and offered her my hand. She took one last swallow of her drink and allowed me to help her up.

The dance floor was crowded with couples stomping their feet, waving their arms
, and bumping their hips together in typical wedding celebration style. Every wedding I’ve ever been to plays
Celebration,
but it’s not a song I get sick of hearing—of course, I wouldn’t admit that out loud.

As we got closer to the floor, the band switched it up, and the first strains of
The Way You Look Tonight
floated through the air. We walked to the very middle of the dance floor. I twirled her once, and then pulled her into my arms. In my field, it’s important to be a good dancer. I’ve taken private lessons at Arthur Murray’s dance studio, so I’m pretty damn good at dancing.

“This is nice.” Faith’s head was snuggled in the crook of my neck, her left
hand resting on my shoulder. Her breath lightly fanned across my skin with her words. I wrapped my right arm tighter around her waist and rubbed the back of her hand with my left.

“It is nice. You feel good in my arms, Faith.”

“Do you say that to all of your dates? No, don’t answer that. I know it’s all part of the act.” She was speaking louder than she should be and I tried to quiet her.

“You don’t want people to hear you, do you?”

“What difference does it make? I don’t care. Let them judge. You’re really hot.”

“You’re really drunk.” People started drifting away from the dance floor as the band went back to a loud, upbeat dance tune.

She looked up at me with a big smile. “Maybe a little, but I feel good. I’ll tell you a secret. I don’t drink much. Almost never. But I like vodka. And olives.”

What the hell. She ate and I had her moving around. “You want another?” I just hoped I wasn’t subconsciously trying to get her drunk to get her in bed.
Surely, I’m a better man than that, aren’t I?

“W
hy not?”

While we were waiting at the bar, her father approached us. “Hey, kids. Joe, I wanted to give this to you. It’s a room right here in the hotel. We don’t want any of you kids driving anywhere tonight, okay?”

“Oh, Daddy. We’re fine. Grown-ups and all that, you know. Anyway, Joe needs to leave by midnight. He’s done then.”

I wasn’t going to let her screw this up now. Besides, I wanted to stay with her all night. “Honey, I told you, my sister’s staying with Heidi. I don’t need to be anywhere but with you tonight.”

Dale went on instant alert. “Who’s this Heidi?”

His stance relaxed rapidly at my response.
“My German Shepherd. Tracey, my sister, is staying at my house to care for her.”

Faith moved over to her father’s side and t
ucked her hand into the crook of his elbow. “Daddy. I can’t believe you’re giving me a room to stay with Joe. You trust him with your little girl already?”

“I’ve been watching him all night.” Dale gave me a pointed look that I understood immediately. He was honoring his promise of keeping an eye on me. “He looks at you like you’re the only woman in the room. I know love when I see it.”

To my dismay, Faith let out a loud, coughing laugh. “Oh, Daddy. Joe doesn’t love me. He—“

Dale wound up saving us himself. “Oh, Pumpkin, he certainly does. Trust me on this.” He gave me a not so gentle slap on the back and handed me the key. “Still have my eye on you, son. You be good to her.”

“Yes, sir. Thank you.” I know I’ve been feeling weird things around Faith since the day I first laid eyes on her, but love? That’s a bit much. Certainly, he’s mistaken.

Faith was sipping yet her fourth martini when we were graced with a visit from Dana and her husband
, Mark, who by the way, looked like a complete tool stuffed into his penguin suit, complete with tails that were entirely too long for his short frame. After introductions were made, Dana went straight for the jugular.

“Wow, Faith. I lost the bet. I didn’t think you’d be able to squeeze yourself into that dress. But you did it, didn’t you?
Well, almost.” Dana looked down at her own flowing amber gown with the delicate flowers sewn just under her non-existent breasts. “Guess we can’t all look like this, can we?”

“Thank God!” It flew out of my mouth of its own volition. But after seeing the horrified look on Faith’s face from her sister’s comments, I wouldn’t take it back if I could. Hell, I might even add ‘bitch’ in there somewhere.

“Dana, my love, you have to remember that some men prefer husky women. Don’t be petty. You know how hard you have to work to keep that figure. Not everyone has that kind of dedication.”

Now this asshole was going to insult Faith
, too? Knowing I was going to act like a ten-year-old on the school field didn’t keep my comments from coming out. “What figure?” I tilted my head for a couple of seconds and snapped my fingers. “Oh. Like a straight line, right? Yeah, I guess that could be considered a figure.” Oh, that was smooth. I needed to keep my mouth shut.

I was waiting for one of Faith’s snappy comebacks or even just her quick ‘bite me’ again, but nothing was forthcoming. As a matter of fact, when I looked at her, her
beautiful baby blues were more than a bit damp, and threatening to spill over. Instead of saying anything to her sister or me for my own stupid remarks, she downed the rest of her drink and walked quickly out into the lobby.

“You and your sisters are
such bitches. If you can’t find anything nice to say about Faith, why don’t you just stay the hell away from her or simply shut the fuck up?” What the hell was I doing? This was not what I was paid for. I was a peacekeeper. I made everything pleasant in social atmospheres. But being witness to their nasty comments threw me off my game.

I turned around and ran after Faith. The lobby was modestly crowded with people either waiting to get into the lobby bar or the sit down restaurant. A large potted palm sat in a corner planter near the elevators. Faith was standing next to it fighting for calm. I could see it in the way her chest heaved in and
out as she took deep breaths. I could see it in the way she was opening and closing her hands, digging her nails into her palms. And I could see it in the angry way she swiped the one errant tear that had escaped—to her displeasure.

I reached her side and grabbed her hands. “Hey.” Brilliant, huh? I had no idea what to say to her. Should I just tell her they’re all a bunch of assholes? I think you’re the only one who can talk bad about your own family though, right? But they were. Serious assholes.

“You can go now, Joe. Just give me the room key, okay?”

“No. Not okay. You can’t just let them make you feel like this. And besides that, they’re wrong! Don’t you see that?” She stood there, not looking at me, shaking her head. I lifted her chin up and made her look at me. “Tell me the truth. Do you think Dana’s pretty?”

“She tries to be, but I think she looks like she’s under nourished. Of course, I’ve never said that to her. I don’t want to be like them.”

“Well,
good. I’m glad you see that.” I tried to rub her back, but she stepped away from me.

“Look, Joe. Thanks for the date. You did a great job, but I’m just going to go up to the room, have a couple more drinks that I’ll undoubtedly regret in the morning
, and go to sleep. So can I have the key please?”

“No. I’ll see you upstairs
, and then I’ll go if that’s what you really want. But I’d like to stay. God, come on, Faith. Do you know how they’re going to talk if I’m not here in the morning?” My insides all clenched up in anger just thinking about it. Her sisters would be vicious.

“It’s not your problem.” She finally looked up at me, because she was getting pissed. That was fine with me. Pissed
was better than sad. “Jesus, you really are hot. I’ll bet just looking into your eyes makes women drop their clothes.”

I had no idea what to say to that. Normally
, I gave a thank you or spouted out some smart ass comment. But I was flattered when Faith said those things. I wanted her to think I was hot. I wanted her to like to look into my eyes.

“No more talking about other women. I’m here with you, not another woman. Now, stop being stubborn and let me stay the night. We can get drunk together if that’s what you want, and I’ll sleep on the couch. Scout’s honor.” Yeah…
I never was a scout.

“Fine.” She pushed the elevator button and the door opened with a soft ding.
I grabbed her elbow when she stumbled slightly on her heels. “What floor are we?”

I opened the jacket that held the key card. “706.” She hit the button for the seventh floor and we
slowly started to ascend.

“I don’t know why I let them get to me. They’re right
, anyway. I am husky. Why in the hell did I agree to wear this stupid dress?”

“
Faith, you are
not
husky. Fuck, you were the hottest woman in that room. It’s all I could do to keep my hands from roaming down your body to grab your ass and pull you into me.” We were just passing the third floor and I walked over to her, crowding her back into the corner. My hands were digging into her hips and my lips brushed her ear. “You drive me insane, Faith Graham. All I can think about is burying myself so deep inside you that you won’t be able to think about anything but how good I make you feel.”

My lips crushed hers in a bruising kiss. Something inside of me snapped. I lost all control. Our teeth mashed together, and I forced myself to slow down.
Ding
. We passed the fourth floor, or was it the fifth? I didn’t know. I didn’t care.

Faith was trying to push me away, even as I felt her tongue push past my lips. I loosened my hold, but deepened the kiss, thrusting my tongue against hers, swallowing her moans. She didn’t know what she wanted, and I knew I was being a rat bastard. God help me—I knew I was taking advantage of her.

My right hand was now under her dress, through that lovely slit, cupping her bottom. Just like I’d been thinking about. I felt for her panties and was rewarded with bare skin. A little farther and I discovered the thin strip of silk to her thong.
Nothing
would have pleased me more than to see her wearing nothing else but that thong. And maybe her sparkling, strappy high heels.
Fuck!

In the background, I dimly heard the elevator announce our floor. Faith was still clinging to me as I walked us backward out of the elevator. When I gently pulled away from her, she let me go with a groaning protest.

She looked up at me with her half lit, glassy eyes, and my damn honor came to the forefront. I was not going to take her when she was in that state. When I fucked her—no—when I made love to her for the first time, she was going to be there with me one hundred percent.

But you know what? Fuck it. That doesn’t mean I can’t get her off. Hell, who knew? Maybe I’d find enough satisfaction in making her feel good to make up for me being left with a raging hard-on.

Faith stumbled a bit again as I unlocked the door and we made our way into the room. Before she could change her mind, I backed her up against the wall and kissed her deep again. Luck was with me. She even helped me wrap her legs around my waist, giving a little jump up as I put my right hand under her thigh using my left against the wall for leverage.

“Hold onto me, Faith. I’m going to make you feel so good
that you’ll never want to let me go.” She nodded her agreement and pulled at my tie. It took her a bit, but she got my tie undone and my shirt unbuttoned.

“Seriously, Joe. Nobody looks like this.” She ran her hands do
wn my bare chest and abs. Before she got to the waistband of my pants, I stopped her.

“Faith, I need you to hold onto me. I want you pushed up against this wall right now. Help me.” I knew I couldn’t let her get her hands on my dick. There’s no way I was strong enough to say no if she got her hands on me.

My lips brushed her throat as she put one arm around my neck and one around my back. She tasted unbelievable. It’s funny how one person tastes different than another. Although, really, I haven’t done this much before. I’m not a kisser. It’s too personal, but with Faith, I can’t get enough.