Then He Kissed Me (20 page)

“You know, Sweet Tea, you’re going to need some capital for this project. I’ll be happy to give you the money.”

 “No, Daddy, absolutely not.”

“But why not, darling?” Momma interjected. “I just don’t understand why you won’t let us help you.”

“Because it’s important I do this on my own. Besides, you know I have my trust fund. Which, I’m not planning to use. Well, maybe just a teeny bit. But only what’s absolutely necessary. I’m only going to go through with this plan if it sustains itself.”

Daddy looked at her with pride in his eyes. “I understand, Sweet Tea. You want to stand on your own two feet. Leave her alone, Maureen,” he said to Momma.

Momma sighed heavily like she’d heard this before, didn’t understand it, but didn’t have the energy to fight it, either.

Lauren wrapped her arms around her father’s neck and kissed him on the cheek. She was almost thirty-one years old, but she still couldn’t envision a world where her Daddy wasn’t there to back her up.

I
t was Friday evening
and Nate had big plans. He and Hector drove over to Lanie’s apartment. His sister opened the door and immediately snatched Hector from his arms. Lanie’s two big mutts, Medea and Persephone, wagged their tails in excitement. “See, Mommy told you your little cousin was coming over for a sleepover.”

She deposited Hector on her living room couch where he immediately rolled onto his back, waiting for the adoration that would inevitably come. It was pathetic. This constant need of his for attention. Still. Nate had to begrudgingly admit, Hector was growing on him.

Lanie, the enabler, rewarded Hector by scratching him on the tummy. “Hey there, little guy,” his sister crooned, “Aunt Lanie is going to babysit you tonight so daddy can get laid.” She glanced at Nate. “That is what this is about, right, stud?”

“Get your mind out of the gutter. I’m going to help Lauren celebrate her birthday and I didn’t want to have to worry about going home to take care of Hector. That’s it.”

His sister looked him over. “Well, you look great. I like this look on you.”

“I’m wearing jeans,” he said.

“Yeah, but they’re regular jeans. Not those designer kind that Jessica had you wearing.” She inspected him with a critical eye. “Jeans, white oxford shirt with the sleeves rolled back, loafers, no socks. Clean and put together. Manly, but not pretentious. I approve.” She leaned forward and stuck her nose in his shirt collar. “You smell good, too. Poor girl doesn’t stand a chance.” She picked Hector off the couch and placed him on the ground. He and Lanie’s two dogs took off running for the kitchen.

“So, what are your big plans for tonight? Dinner? A movie? Sex in the back seat of your car?”

“I’m surprising Lauren with take out.”

“Surprising her?” Lanie stilled. “You mean she doesn’t know she has a date with you?”

“It’s not a date,” he said. “I wanted to take her out, but she has a booth at the
Spring Into Summer
festival next weekend so she’s staying late to organize the storeroom at her shop.”

“On her birthday?”

“She’s designed a line of retro maternity wear and she’s going to display some of her pieces at the booth, but she needs to get the whole thing together by Monday. So, to answer your question, yes, she’s working on her birthday.”

“She has no idea that you’re just…dropping by?”

“Correct.”

“Oh, babe, I think this is a bad idea.”

“Why?”

“What if she isn’t happy to see you? I mean, of
course
she’d be happy to see you! Who wouldn’t be? But what if she’s changed her mind and made other plans?”

“I texted her an hour ago and she said she’d be at the shop till late.”

Lanie gave him a look he’d seen before. It was the same look the patrons of The Harbor House had given him the night he proposed to Jessica.
Poor unsuspecting sap
.

“You think she lied to me.”

“Not intentionally. I like her. She seems like a nice person, but nobody works extra the night of their birthday. Not if they have something better to do. She probably had other plans and just didn’t want to hurt your feelings, so she fudged around and came up with this work excuse.”

Nate had never caught Jessica in a direct lie. But she was the master of saying one thing and meaning something else entirely. Lauren, on the other hand, could be discreet in the way she worded things. He’d figured out early that it was simply her way of being polite. But as far as Nate knew, she’d never been dishonest with him.

“There’s only one way to find out,” he said.

Lanie sighed. “All right. But please don’t do anything rash. And remember, I’m here for you, bro.”

*~*~*

N
ate parked his car
in front of Can Buy Me Love. It was almost seven-thirty. Officially, the shop closed over an hour ago, but there were still lights on in the store. There was also a black pickup truck parked along the side of the shop. He recognized that truck. It belonged to Tom Donalan.

His gut clenched. An odd reaction, really. Lauren and her ex had a friendly relationship. There was no reason Tom shouldn’t be here. But, there was no reason he
should
be here, either.

He glanced at the single long stemmed red rose and the take out basket from The Harbor House lying on the passenger seat of his car. He’d ordered the same thing they’d had on their date—the salmon with the house vegetables for her, and a surf and turf for him. He’d also bought a bottle of the Pinot Noir, along with two big slabs of cheesecake. He told the hostess the take out was for a special occasion and she’d presented him with a wicker basket, complete with top of the line disposable plates, silver ware, tablecloth and even candles.

He could keep it all in the car. He could walk into the shop and act causal like he’d just stopped by to say hello. And if for some reason things didn’t seem…right, he wouldn’t make an ass of himself.

But his gut kept telling him that Lanie was wrong. Lauren wouldn’t lie to him. Of course, his gut had also told him that proposing to Jessica was a good thing. But Lauren wasn’t Jessica.

The hell with it. He scooped up the rose and the basket of food. As long as there wasn’t someone around taping him for the benefit of YouTube, he could survive whatever happened tonight.

He opened the shop door. A bell above the entrance chimed. Laughter,
hers
, mixed with a deeper, masculine laugh, drifted from somewhere in the back of the store. His ears began to buzz. He gripped the rose a little too tightly, causing a thorn to nick his finger.

“Sorry! We’re closed!” he heard Lauren shout. She walked out to the front of the shop with a grin on her face and her cheeks flushed. She had on a dress he’d seen her wear to work before, a short sleeved blue thing that brought out the color of her eyes. But she had on flip flops and her hair was pulled back in a headband, like she’d dressed down to do physical work. There was a smudge of dirt on her nose. She startled when she saw him. “Nate. What are you doing here?”

“I came to bring you dinner. And this.” He thrust the flower at her. “Happy birthday.”

“
Oh
!” She glanced inside the basket. “You brought all this for me? This is
incredible
.” She noticed the blood on his finger and grabbed a Kleenex from a box she kept on the check-out counter, then pressed it against his finger to staunch the trickle. She looked surprised, but happy. Nate had a sudden urge to pick her up, lay her across the counter and—

“Hi, Nate,” Henry said cheerfully. He and Tom came walking out of the back storeroom. Both of them had dust in their hair, like they’d been working, too. Henry took in the rose and the basket and his face went blank.

Tom shook his hand. “Hey, man. Good to see you.” Tom’s gaze was more discreet than his son’s, but he, too, was checking out the situation with the flower and the food.

Lauren glanced between all three males, and smiled. “Tom and Henry came by with some balloons for my birthday,” she explained to Nate. “Unfortunately for them, I roped them into moving some stuff out of the storeroom.”

“We wanted to take her out for dinner, but Mom says she has too much work to do to eat,” Henry said. It was subtly put, but a message, nonetheless.

Lauren put her arm around her son’s shoulder. “This guy already surprised me this morning with breakfast. Pancakes, bacon, eggs, fresh squeezed orange juice. All my favorites.”

“Ah. Very nice,” Nate said.

“Do you need me to walk Hector tomorrow morning?” Henry asked. “Because I can if you do. I just need to do it early, on account of Dad and me going fishing.”

“As a matter of fact, I have Hector covered for the morning, so, no worries.”

“Okay, cool,” Henry said, his tone neither friendly nor unfriendly. He pointed to the wicker basket. “What’s in there?”

“Just some seafood. And cheesecake,” Nate said.

“Mom likes key-lime pie better than cheesecake,” Henry said.

Lauren and Tom exchanged a look. She gave Tom some kind of unspoken signal with her eyebrows. He hesitated a moment, then went into action. “Hey, son, why don’t we go grab that pizza we talked about and let your mom get back to work?”

“On her birthday?” Henry said.

Lauren hugged her son. “Oh, baby, you’ve already done so much. And I love my balloons. Go on with your dad. Remember, we’re officially celebrating tomorrow with dinner at Grandma and Grandpa’s.”

“Okay,” Henry said reluctantly. “But don’t forget to bring your balloons home.”

“I won’t,” Lauren promised.

Henry gave Nate a parting look that said the jury was still out on whether or not he approved of them. Lauren waited till they were out the door, then she locked it and flipped the sign to read CLOSED.

She walked over and reached up to kiss him on the cheek. “I love my son to pieces, but I thought they’d never leave.”

“So, it’s okay that I came by? Or, should I leave, too?” Just because she seemed happy to see him didn’t mean she wanted him to stay. He knew how important this maternity clothing line was to her and how much work she’d already put into it. Her display at the
Spring Into Summer
festival could be a big opportunity for her.

“Okay? Let’s see,” she teased, “You just brought me a rose and dinner. Yeah, I’d say that’s okay.”

“What about Henry? I didn’t think you wanted him to know about us.”

“I don’t think he’ll have to go to therapy just because you came by with dinner. And a little break right now isn’t going to kill me.”

“I could stay and help,” he offered. “Think of it as my present to you.”

“My present, huh?” She glanced at the locked door and Nate could have sworn her cheeks went pink. “As a matter of fact, I was lying in bed last night thinking of another
present
you could give me. But, you’ve already brought me so much. Dinner and a rose. I don’t want you to think I’m being too…
greedy
.”

Flushed skin, bright eyes, and a huskiness in her voice that hadn’t been there before. All three signs added up to only one logical conclusion.
Lauren wanted him
.

And just like that, he instantly went hard. “The definition of greed implies a certain selfishness on one’s part. Whereas, the present I hope you have in mind, results in a mutually pleasurable outcome for all parties involved. Therefore, I disagree with your statement. You’re not being greedy at all. I expect to receive the same level of satisfaction that I dole out.”

“
Oh my God
. I love it when you talk dirty.” She threw her arms around him and because she was wearing flip-flops she couldn’t quite reach his neck, so he lifted her off the ground. She wrapped her legs around his waist. With his hands on her bottom to support her, he walked them to the back of the store.

“Where’s your office?” he asked, trying to sound as if he still had some measure of control over the situation.

“On the left,” she gasped.

He shouldered the door open and sat her on the desk so that her lower legs dangled over the edge. “Oh, goody,
desk sex
,” she giggled. “I’ve never done this before.” He stood in between her legs and put his hands on her knees, spreading them wide. Her flip flops fell to the ground.

Nate reached beneath her dress and found the edge of her panties. He slid a finger inside the crotch, then guided the little scrap of lace down her legs and tossed them on the floor.

Her eyes went wide. “Take off your glasses,” she said.

“Take off your dress,” he countered.

“Okay.” She quickly unzipped the dress, pulled it off and tossed it somewhere in the general vicinity of her panties. He didn’t have to ask her to take off her bra. She automatically took that off as well. His gaze slowly took her in, savoring the moment for as long as he humanly could. Lauren was beautiful. Naked. Aroused. And
his
.

He took off his glasses and tucked them into the far corner of the desk for safe keeping, then turned back and grinned. “So, birthday girl, what do you want? Name it. It’s yours.”

She slipped her arms around his neck and smiled sweetly. “I don’t want anything but you, Nate. Just you.” Then she kissed him, and he lost it. He couldn’t get inside her fast enough.

He fumbled around but he was finally able to get the condom out of the wallet in the back pocket of his jeans. Lauren broke the kiss long enough to take off his belt. Between the two of them they got his jeans and his boxers off, and the condom on. Then he grabbed her hips and angled her just right for him to plunge inside her.

“Oh, yeah,” Lauren said. “Just like that.” She laid back and wrapped her legs high around his waist. He put his hands on her ass, lifting her slightly off the desk so that he could get in deeper. 

She wanted him. She was getting him. He didn’t think he’d ever been this wild before. He pumped and pumped until his balls felt like they were going to burst, and then in some far off corner of his brain, he realized she hadn’t had an orgasm yet.

“Baby…I really need you to come.” He didn’t recognize his own voice. It sounded guttural and almost non-human.

He forced himself to slow down. To think of…something, anything other than how incredibly tight she felt around him. Still inside her, he bent over and took a pink nipple into his mouth and began to suck, keeping up the same rhythm as his cock. She moaned. Her nails lightly raked his back, urging him on. The slower he went, the louder she moaned. It was the most beautiful sound Nate had ever heard. He could feel her begin to pulse around him, and unbelievably, she got even wetter. And when she finally screamed, he threw his head back and laughed, because it felt so fucking good to make
her
feel this good. A few seconds later, he followed her with the most explosive orgasm of his life.