Chapter 11
Eleven
Grace
“W hat brought you to Blossom Beach?” I ask Winston, taking a sip from the Riesling he ordered for the table before dinner arrived. I’m typically more of a Pinot Grigio girl myself, but that’s okay.
Winston wipes his mouth with the napkin, setting it back in his lap when he’s done, his pale eyes lifting to meet mine across the table. “Dr. Schumer actually went to med school with my dad, and they’ve remained friends all these years. When Dr. Thomas first started talking about retiring, Dr. Schumer mentioned it to my dad, and it was perfect timing because I’d been wanting to leave the practice I was at in Charlotte.”
“Did you grow up in Charlotte, then?”
“I did.” His smile is warm, and I find myself mirroring it. Winston is nice. He picked me up and met me at my door with a bouquet of roses, which was thoughtful. Then we drove to an Italian restaurant just outside of Blossom Beach. The food is great, and it’s a place I’ve been wanting to try since it opened last year.
The small talk in the car and while we waited for our food was a little awkward, but what first date isn’t? Especially when we don’t know a whole lot about each other. We’re nearing the end of the meal, and I’m glad I decided to come tonight. The evening has been…fine, if not a little boring. But fine is good. Getting out of my comfort zone is good, and I can’t expect fireworks on every first date. I used to try my hand at dating a lot more in the years following my divorce, but living in such a small, close-knit town, there’s only so many options. After a while, it felt pointless, like I was hitting a brick wall. Going on dates with men you grew up with, went to school with, or see every week at the grocery store or the post office is a little more uncomfortable than it’s worth, especially when none of them ever went very far.
“How long have you owned the bakery?” Winston asks, taking the check the server just dropped off.
I blow out a breath as a smile tugs on my lips. “Oh, it’s been a while now. Almost ten years, actually. I opened it when my daughter was a baby.”
“That’s awesome. Did you work in a bakery before you opened your own?”
“No, my ex-husband and I got married and started having kids pretty soon after graduation, and it made the most sense for me to stay home since I had a pretty rough first pregnancy. Opening Bake Me Happy was my first time working as an adult, believe it or not.”
“Wow.” He grins. “Go big or go home.”
I chuckle, nodding. “That’s kind of my style, to be honest. When I set my mind to something, I go all in.”
“That’s admirable, Grace. And it seems like you’ve done quite well for yourself. You should be proud.” His words warm my chest.
Conway’s face pops into my mind, and the memory of how his words warmed me in a completely different way. I shouldn’t be thinking about him, especially not while I’m sitting across from Winston, a man who should have my full attention. A man who has done things the right way. He asked me on a real date, picked me up, and has been an absolute gentleman the whole evening. But I can’t help but notice the way my heart doesn’t race with Winston the same way it does with Conway. Maybe I’m expecting too much. Maybe the heart racing will come with time.
On the drive back to my place is nice, he tells me about where he’s visited in town so far, places he wants to check out still, and we talk a little about his life back in Charlotte. Music plays softly, filling any lulls in conversation, but by the time Winston pulls onto my street, I’m ready to change into some pajamas and have a glass of wine. Like the gentleman he is, Winston puts the car in park and gets out, opening my door for me. A bolt of nerves zips through me, realizing I don’t want him to walk me to my door, because I don’t want the pressure of feeling like I need to invite him in. Not that he’s done anything to make me feel like he expects that, but it’s a feeling that always comes. The obligation.
As I climb out of his car, I smile up at him. “Thank you for tonight, it was fun.”
“You’re welcome. I had fun too.” Winston gestures toward the walkway. “I can walk you to your door.”
“Oh, you don’t have to do that.” I breathe out a laugh. “My friend Charley is babysitting my kids inside, and she has a huge Great Dane who will go nuts if they hear anybody but me on the porch.”
It’s a lie, the kids are with Ethan. It’s the whole reason we decided to wait this long to go on the date, so I wouldn’t have to find a sitter. Praying he doesn’t remember that or call me out for it.
Thankfully, he doesn’t. Tucking a strand of hair behind my ear, Winston steps closer, his scent surrounding me. It smells nice. Not as delicious as Conway smells. When his gaze dips down to my mouth, I know he’s going to kiss me. My heart races and my palms sweat, and as he leans in, barely a second before our lips connect, I realize how much I don’t want to kiss him. It’s nothing against him; I’m just not feeling it. But because the idea of moving away now makes me want to crawl out of my skin with discomfort, I let Winston kiss me.
His lips are soft against mine, the mint from the gum he’s chewing filling my senses, but luckily, he keeps it short and sweet. No tongue.
I give him what I know is an awkward smile and lift my hand in a wave as I take a step back toward my walkway. “Thanks again for tonight.”
He smiles as he rounds the car. “Goodnight, Grace.”
By the time I reach the stairs, I turn and wave one last time, thankful that he drives off now instead of watching me unlock the door and step inside. I don’t know why that’s so uncomfortable after a date. Reaching into my purse, I grab my keys before taking the three steps to the porch.
“Nice evening?”
A garbled scream flies out of me, my heart leaping into my throat as I jump back, startled by the deep voice. It takes my eyes a moment to adjust because I forgot to turn my porch light on before I left, but as soon as I realize who it is, my shoulders relax marginally. “What the fuck are you doing here?” I clutch my chest, willing my heart to calm.
Conway stands up, his tall frame nothing more than a shadow. “Wanted to make sure your date wasn’t a serial killer.”
I storm over to him, shoving him with a hand to his wide, hard chest. He barely moves. Fuck him. “So, you wait on my porch in the dark?” I balk. “If anybody looks like a serial killer right now, it’s you.”
“I don’t like that he kissed you,” he growls, seemingly unfazed by how creepy him being here looks.
I scoff, crossing my arms over my chest. “Yeah, well, I don’t like you sitting on my porch like some lurker, yet here you are.”
Conway smirks maniacally down at me, and my stomach flutters. “Tell me, Sin…” That nickname falling off his lips shouldn’t turn me on, but it does. As does the way he drags his heated gaze down my body. “Did the doctor make your panties as wet as I made them?”
“You’re a pig,” I spit out, laughing dryly and ignoring the way every atom in my body burns for him. “You don’t get to ask me that.”
“Why’s that?” he muses, head cocked to the side as he backs me up against the house, his hands coming up on either side of my head. He has me boxed in and cornered, and I fucking hate how much I love it.
“Because you can’t! What? Do you think because you fingered me one time, you suddenly own me?”
Conway huffs out a breath, leaning in and bringing his lips to my ear. A shiver rolls down my spine as I feel the roughness from his beard scratch the side of my face. “That’s exactly what I think, Sin.”
Holy shit. My mind is nothing but a jumble and my body is on fire. The possessiveness should be a turn-off. It should be a bucket of ice water over my head. But instead, it’s lava in my veins and a deep ache in my core. Even though I’ve successfully avoided Conway over the last two weeks, that’s not to say he hasn’t been on my mind. Replaying the way it felt to have his fingers inside of me, the way he made me come, the things he said to me. But most of all, how fucking good it felt giving in to what I’ve wanted for quite some time. Despite how much he pisses me off, I can’t deny how my body reacts to him. Him being an asshole and pissing me off only seems to make my pussy that much wetter…like right now.
“I can’t stop thinking about what you said the night of the auction,” he rasps into my ear, a layer of goosebumps covering my flesh. “What you called me. I want to hear you say it again, Sin.”
It doesn’t take but a second to know what he’s referring to.
Daddy.
Swallowing thickly, I do my best to appear unaffected. “I don’t know what you mean,” I say sweetly with a shrug.
Conway pulls back, dark eyes meeting mine, his gaze a match to the flame burning inside of me. Lip ticked up on one side, he speaks gravelly. “Oh, but I think you do, Sin. I think you not only know, but are dying to say it again too.”
“Aww, typical man,” I tease, sarcasm lacing my words. “Always thinking he’s right, always thinking she’s thinking of you more than she actually is. Hate to break it to you?—”
In the blink of an eye, he’s got my chin pinched between his fingers, forcing my head back as he leans in, lips a breath away from mine. A gasp spills out, eyes widening as my body quickly notices our new proximity. My nipples harden, brushing against my top, and my pussy is slick and begging for him to fill me again. It’s humiliating how much I want this man.
“You were saying?” he drawls, eyebrow cocked.
Words are lost on me as I breathe him in. It’s impossible to think straight with Conway this close. When I don’t say anything, I get his cocky smirk. His free hand comes to my waist, sliding down until his hot, calloused palm makes contact with my bare thigh under the skirt I’m wearing. Never breaking eye contact, he runs a finger along the length of my pussy over my panties, a growl sounding in his throat, and I just barely suppress a shiver.
“Who’s this for?” he asks roughly. “Me or him?”
“Fuck you,” I bite out, which only makes his smirk grow.
Pushing my panties to the side, he sinks a thick finger into me with no warning, a gasp falling off my lips as I clench around him. Fuck. “I’ll ask you one more time, Sin,” he grits out as he fucks the digit in and out of me slowly. “Who. Is. All. This. For?”
I bite down on my molars, eyes narrowed on him, not wanting to admit what we both already know. Keeping the painfully slow pace inside of me, he brings the pad of his thumb to my clit, and my mind goes blank. When I don’t answer, he withdraws his finger and raises it, shoving it into my mouth. The taste of my arousal bursts on my tastebuds, and groaning deeply, I close my lips around him, sucking the flavor off as he watches me with a heated gaze.
“Is all that for him?” he asks, shoving a second finger in, making me gag.
With my heart pounding, I shake my head.
“Words, Sin.” Conway pulls his fingers out, spit dribbling onto my chin. “I want to hear you say it.”
“You,” I gasp. “It’s all for you.”
“That’s what I fucking thought,” he growls before crashing his mouth down on mine.