41. Hayden
Chapter forty-one
Hayden
After paying, I call Lionel to tell him that we’re ready, and then we wait outside near a parking structure for him to come pick us up.
It’s gotten even chillier out, and I can see the breath escaping from Addie’s mouth.
“Here,” I take off my coat and offer it to her.
“Oh, thanks. But aren’t you going to be cold?”
“Maybe.” I pull her in closer. “Except this certainly helps.”
She’s facing away from me, and I revel in the feeling of her perky ass nuzzled perfectly against me.
Adding ambiance to this scene is the hustle and bustle of the crazy town around us. Yet, here, the space between us feels perfectly calm.
She turns her head and looks back at me. “Thank you for dinner. I don’t think I said that before.”
I bend down and kiss the bridge of her nose. “You are very welcome, Addie. Thank you for joining me.”
“You’re welcome. I’m sorry it took me so long. But after everything—”
I push my finger to her lips. “Please. That’s all in the past.” My therapist has recently been teaching me that happiness in the future is about accepting and then freeing yourself from past hurt and past mistakes. “What I want to focus on is the here and now. Us.”
She grabs my hand on her shoulder and smiles. “I’d like that too.”
We just stand there for a while, embraced in each other’s arms. The heat is still soaring between us, but as we’re in public, we can’t exactly act on any of the impulses we may be having. So, for right now, having her in my arms has to be enough.
And it is.
When a gust of wind blows past us, I get a strong whiff of her tantalizing perfume.
“May I just say, you smell wonderful tonight, Miss Flores.”
“Miss Flores, okay.” The muscles around her mouth turn down.
Yeah, two can play at that game.
“And thank you. Someone just so happened to leave a fancy gift bag filled with Jo Malone fragrances.”
They’ve always been my favorite, but I wasn’t sure which one would smell the best on her. So, I went with a few options from their citrus, fruity, floral, spicy, and even woody categories. Now, was it one of the more expensive gifts I’ve ever given a woman? Yes. But this is Addie we’re talking about. And she deserves the whole world.
“Which one did you pick tonight?”
She squints as she thinks. “Pear something, I think.”
“English Pear and Freesia?”
“I think so. But what is freesia?”
“They’re multicolored flowers that most people think smell like fresh strawberries.”
She brings her wrist up and inhales. “Yeah, I guess I can pick up on those notes. You want in on this action?”
Boy, do I ever? I take it and bring it closer to my nose. “And there are also notes of patchouli, I believe.”
Her face falls. “Patchouli? Isn’t that what they say old hippies smell like.”
I laugh. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard that comparison. Although, I suppose it makes sense. It’s said to have a calming, libido-enhancing effect.” But it’s not like I need help in that latter part right now. Just her proximity has made me completely bricked up.
“Speaking of thank-yous,” she segues. “I didn’t get the chance to thank you for that thoughtful gift. The basket, I mean.”
“Oh, right.” With all of my blood flowing away from my brain and into another part of my body, I’m having a hard time focusing. “You’re—you’re welcome.”
“Luna loved it too.”
Like when I thought about my grandmother’s aging body, the mention of our daughter also seems to do the trick when it comes to calming me down a bit.
“Did she?”
She faces me now. “But don’t worry, I told her they were expensive. So, she only got a few squirts out of each bottle.”
“Oh.” I have to chuckle a little. “I wasn’t worried about that.”
“Right.” She also lets out a small laugh. “I just don’t want you to think I take stuff like that for granted. Because I don’t.”
I spin her around and bring her close to me again. But this time, my hands fall on her perfect, curvy waist. “I know that, Addie. When it comes to your judgment with Luna, I trust you completely.”
“Really?”
“Of course.” She’s been at this mom thing for seven years. And I’ve only just become a parental figure in her life recently. It would be pretty hypocritical of me to come in and start changing or questioning the way Addie’s done things all this time. Plus, she’s clearly been doing an amazing job.
“Now that we’re on that subject, do you mind if I call Penny? Just for one little check-in?”
“Knock yourself out.” I release her from my grasp, and she wriggles a few inches away before pulling out her phone.
“Hey, Pen. It’s Addie. Just checking in.” Although I know she trusts her grandfather’s old assistant, she’s still pacing and biting her nails as she listens. “She’s asleep? Oh, good. That’s good. She didn’t give you any trouble going down, did she? No? Good.”
She stops momentarily before giving me a thumbs up. Just like her, I’m glad to hear that Luna was her typical, well-behaved self tonight.
“You didn’t tell her who I was with, right?” Addie then asks before sighing what I assume is relief. “Great. Thank you.” She covers the mouthpiece and mouths, “I’d never hear the end of it if she knew I was with you tonight and didn’t invite her.”
That warms my heart. The instant connection that Luna and I had has truly been remarkable to witness and see blossom into more. Now, I can honestly say she’s one of my favorite people. And that isn’t just because she shares half of my DNA. I like her for the person that she is—she’s smart, kind, and funny. Just like her mother.
“Thank you for letting me do that,” Addie says after wrapping the call and pulling some stray hair away from her face.
“Hey.” I slide my hand past her chin and under her ear. “You don’t ever have to ask or apologize for making a call like that. Okay? I love that you’re such a great mom.”
That causes a big smile to spread across her face, and I think her cheeks get even rosier. “Thank you. That means a lot coming from you.”
Shortly after that, Lionel finally pulls up.
But before we get in, I nuzzle my mouth in her hair and say, “Now, if you don’t mind, can we stop talking about our daughter? It’s going to be a real buzz kill for all the nasty things I want to do to you tonight.”
She glances back at me in wonder. “Why, Hayden Cohen, did you hear nothing of what I said—”
“Yeah, yeah.” I swat her ass. “You’re a lady. Blah, blah, blah.”
Usually, I wouldn’t be so rude as to put the partition between the front and back of the car up, but I think I’m doing him a favor by protecting Lionel’s eyes from what we’re about to do here.
“Quite, sir,” is all he says before the black screen reaches the top.
I can’t take it anymore, and I feel like I might explode if I don’t ravage her mouth.
“Come here,” I demand while blindly removing my jacket and her shawl.
As we kiss, little moans and pants escape out of her, and I love it. They represent the fire she’s also feeling for me.
Eventually, my hands reach down and flip under her dress. “Now, Lady Addie Flores, tell me something.”
Her makeup is a bit smudged from our recent activity, but she’s still as gorgeous as ever. “Tell you what?”
“Are you wearing panties?”
She howls with laughter. “Of course, I am!”
“Okay, just checking. I wanted to know what I’d find under there before exploring for myself.”
While she giggles some more, I lay her down over the seats and raise her legs up. Next, I kiss my way up one of her legs. As I’m doing that, her fingers tangle in my hair. Then finally, I get the band of her underwear in between my teeth, and I start to pull them down.
When they’re around her ankles, I journey farther down again and start to lick and nibble her in all the right places.
“Oh, Hayden.” I love hearing her say my name, especially when it’s in the throes of passion like this.
I continue until I feel her tense up. She’s breathless as I come up for air, and I just grin at her wonderfully disheveled look. Knowing I caused her picture-perfect demeanor from earlier in the night to crumble into this makes me so proud.
“We’re here, sir,” Lionel’s muffled voice booms, signaling that she came at just the perfect time.
“Shall we go inside?” I ask, sitting up, completely removing her underwear, and putting it into my pocket.
“Yes, I think that’s a good idea.”
Thank God. I’m not anywhere close to being done with her yet.
We bid our farewells to Lionel before I pick her up and hurry both of us inside.
“You’re a crazy person, Hayden Cohen,” she says after I put her back on her feet. I, then, go to grab her by the hand, but she resists.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” She lets go and holds her upper arms. “I was just wondering if we could share a glass of wine or something first. I’m—I’m parched.”
“Oh. So am I, so am I.”
I hurry into the kitchen, grab a bottle and two glasses, and then return to throw her over my shoulder.
“Hayden! Don’t drop me!” she protests the whole way up.
As I gave her my word that I would, I safely drop her at the foot of my bed.
“Go on, have a seat.” I open the bottle and pour the glasses, but I don’t offer one to her. Not yet. Instead, I ask, “Addie Flores, do you trust me?”
She leans back on the comforter. “Of course, I do.”
Great. I wander over to my dresser and take out a blindfold.
“What in the world?”
“You said you trusted me.”
She’s hesitant, but she finally allows me to place it over her eyes. After that, I hook my index fingers under her small straps, and I pull them down her arms, revealing her bare chest.
There’s only a dim light in my room, but it’s more than enough to make out her voluptuous breasts.
I stand to get one of the glasses of wine, and I stick my hand in it before sprinkling some of the dark liquid onto her skin.
In response, she throws her head back and moans. Then, I take my sweet time licking it off.
Finally, she takes my head in her hands and says, “Hayden, please. You’re killing me here.”
“A taste of your own medicine, I assure you,” I quip.
“What?”
“Now you know how I’ve felt all night long. The aching desire I have had to deal with and squelch deep inside me.”
She lays back a little, shimmies out of the rest of her dress, and then opens her legs wide—as if to invite me in. “But you can have me now.”
My jaw clenches and my hands ball up into fists. She’s the image of perfection all sprawled out and exposed on my bed.
Even if I wanted to continue our foreplay, I don’t think I’d physically be able to. So, unbutton and lower my shirt, take off the blindfold, lower myself onto her, and kiss her deeply.
Her hands find my belt, and I let her whip it off before pulling down my pants just enough.
“Please, Hayden,” she continues to beg as I prepare to enter her.
When I do, she gasps and grasps my back.
I thrust against her multiple times, and at one point, I even felt her biting my shoulder.
“You don’t have to do that.” I’m not sure if it’s an instinct to be quiet when Luna is around or what. “Here, you can be as loud as you want.”
So, she lets herself come, loud and hard. And it’s magnificent.
From there on out, I know I never want to be with another woman for as long as I live. As crazy as it may be to say . . . she’s it for me . I can say that without a single doubt in my mind or in my heart.