Chapter Nine
“Dancing?” Luca asked.
Tillie giggled. “Yeah, Mom tried to get me to be a professional dancer. She even hired some woman who’d won awards.”
“You like dancing, though,” Luca said. “I caught you.”
She nodded, and then moved up the bed after sticking the spoon she was eating from into her mouth. They hadn’t left the bed, but they had required food. The only thing they had in the freezer that seemed the least amount of mess was the ice cream. He brought up every tub they had—chocolate, vanilla, mint-chocolate, and several other flavors.
“I like dancing, but it’s the kind of thing you do randomly around your house or bedroom. Not something you dance to with hundreds of people doing it as some kind of talent.”
“You really hated the beauty pageant stuff?”
“Yep. Believe it or not, as a kid, I was notreally into dresses. I think it’s funny because I wear them all the time now. As a kid, I was a jeans-and-t-shirt kind of girl. Also, I loved exploring the backyard and getting messy.”
“Ah, a propertomboy.”
“Yep, that was me, so sitting for hours getting my hair pulled and my face feeling heavierfrom the makeup, I didn’t like it. I know some of the other girls loved it, and I didn’t mind at all, but I hated it. David was the one who told me to tell Dad, so I did, but I also made sure I complained while my grandparents were there. I love Dad, and he was amazing. He worked a lot, as you know, but sometimes Mom did find it easy to manipulate him. With Grandma and Grandpa there, he couldn’t argue, and this time when he put his foot down, he did.”
“But it ruined your relationshipwith your mom.”
Tillie nodded and he saw thesadness in her eyes. “Yeah, it did. We’ve never been the same, and sometimes I don’t care, and then there are other times when I think about what we were doing, and I miss it.” She snorted. “Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. Do you want to tell me more about your past?”
No, he really didn’t, but Tillie was so open about hers. All he had to do was ask her a question, and she was open, honest, always herself.
“There’s not much to tell.”
“You mentioned that you were in thefoster care system,” she said. “Did you ever think to find your parents?”
“No,” he said. “I know some kids wanted to find their parents. Sometimes, a couple of them, when we were younger, would sit up all night, making up stories about what happened to our parents. Kidnapping, government conspiracy, the whole‘our parents are gone to make millions and then they’re going to come back and free us.’ I never joined in. I guess at a young age, I knew most of us were in there for one reason—the people who gave birth to us didn’t want us.”
“You don’t even think of them as parents?” Tillie asked.
“No, they’re not parents. They’re not anything.” He ran a hand down his face.
“And you’re not curious about who they are?”
“No,” Luca said. “I wouldn’t be able to trust them now, even if they did know. I’d be convinced the only reason they showed up was because I’m wealthy and they’re looking for an easy life.”
Silence fell between them. Luca reached for one of the tubs of ice cream, about to take a mouthful, but before he got the chance, Tillie had dribbled some of her ice cream onto his chest. He let out a gasp as it was cold.
Tillie did so as well, but then she moved so fast, putting a hand on his chest. “Look how clumsy I am. I didn’t mean to spill this ice cream on you. I’m going to have to clean it up.” She looked so damn cute, trying to be sexy.
“You’re a bad actress, anyone ever tell you that?” Luca asked.
“Yeah, trust me, it was one of those many talents I didn’t have, and that was going to be something my mom trained me for.” Tillie leaned down and swiped the ice cream she’d spilled on him with the tip of her tongue.
If she wanted to play this game, he was more than happy to play. Luca acted quickly, pushing her to the bed, and this time she reached in for some ice cream and started to struggle, and she laughed at the same time.
“Oh, no,” he said. “I’veaccidentallydropped some ice cream.”
“Okay, Luca, I thought my acting was bad, but your level of bad is on a whole newscale.”
He couldn’t help but smile, then he licked the ice cream he’d drizzled over her nipple. Sliding his tongue across the beaded peak, he had to make sure it was completely clean, and he sucked the whole of her nipple, including some of her tit into his mouth. She let out a moan, arching up.
“There, all nice and clean.” While he’d been distracting her with his ice cream play, he was able to wipe some more onto her other nipple. “But, oops, I’ve had another small accident. I am going to need to clean this all up.” He gave a tut. “I’m just so dirty today.”
“You are not playing fair.” She let out a groan as he used his teeth, not to cause pain but to tease her a little more. He made sure to lick off every single dot of ice cream, but then her body just looked way too tempting, and he couldn’t resist smearing ice cream on her.
“I hope you don’t mind, but I am feeling hungry.” He swiped his tongue down her stomach and moved toward her thighs, which also got to enjoy some of his ice cream bath.
When he got to her pussy, though, he didn’t hold back, he spread the lips of her sex open and went straight to her clit. With all the ice cream he’d been eating, his tongue was a little cold, but not too cold.
She moaned, which quickly turned guttural as hesucked her clit into his mouth. Letting it go, he slid his tongue back and forth across her nub, hearing her gasp with each touch.
“Please,” she said.
He had every intention of letting her come, but first he wanted to explore her pussy. “Open your pussy for me.”
She reached down and spread the lips of her sex, giving him complete access to her pretty cunt. His mouth watered for a taste of her, and he brushed his tongue back and forth across her nub, and then slid down to push his tongue inside her cunt.
He fucked her, pressing his tongue inside her, getting her all wet and then drawing back up to her clit.
His name danced off the walls as she cried out. Luca brought her to the edge and got her to dance on it while he teased her, drawing her close to the peak, and then he thrust her right over the edge. This time, he didn’t give her time to come down, as he moved between her thighs, found her entrance, and slid all the way to the hilt within her.
The sound of her pleasured moan would stay with him forever. He knew he would never forget the startled cry as he tore through her virginity, but he intended to replace those memories with the sweet new ones he was creating.
She wrapped her arms around him, and he pressed his hands either side of the bed as he drove inside her, going hard and deep.
Her pussy was a fucking dream. He loved being inside her, and knew there was nowhere else he wanted to be.
Luca felt the first stirrings of his orgasm starting to build and as he approached that peak, he stared into Tillie’s eyes and knew he was falling for her.
****
Tillie staredacross the table at her mother. It had been a long time since she and Bella Goodwin had enjoyed a meal together. Tillie knew she’d been close to five or six since they last did this. They had left one of the beauty pageants and her mother was so excited, she’d talked animatedlyenchantedly the whole time.
She didn’t know why it was important for her to reach out to her mother. After hearing Luca talk about his past experiences in the foster system and how other kids felt, she didn’t want to take hermother for granted.
“I was shocked to get your call, Tillie,” Bella said, taking a seat. “I thought you had forgotten you had a mother.”
Tillie smiled as she watched her mom. “I hadn’t forgotten. A lot has been going on.”
“Tell me about it. I suppose you heard what happened with Uncle Ed?” Bella asked.
“Yeah, Luca told me.”
“Bad business.” Bella wrinkled her nose.
“You know Luca didn’t have a choice, right?” She hated the thought of her mother not liking the decisions Luca made.
“Oh, honey, I know. I meant bad businessas in what your Uncle Ed was doing. He was supposed to be trusted and I know your father is not happy. He feels betrayed.” Bella tutted.
The waiter came over and Tillie was so nervous. Her mother ordered some sparkling water and the chicken salad. Tillie ordered the same salad, but a still water. She’d never been able to enjoy sparkling water.
Bella glanced around the restaurant and then turned her attention back to her. Tillie smiled at her, and then felt incredibly silly because she didn’t have a clue what tosay.
“I’m sorry,” she said, blurting the first thing that came to her mind.
“My dear, what on earth for?” Bella asked.
“Sucking, not wanting to do the whole beauty pageant thing, and you know, ruining our friendship.”
Bella frowned. “Excuse me?”
“Iknow you’ve not liked me since, and we’ve kind of had a difficult relationship after the whole beauty pageant thing, and I want to say I am really sorry.” She was just vomiting words right now and didn’t have a single clue what to say about any of it.
The waiter came, and his presence was a welcome relief and a distraction. Tillie thanked him and part of her wished she could get him to stay, but her mother was looking at her strangely. The reprieve left and Tillie nibbled her lip.
“Honey, you think Idon’t like you?”
Tillie opened her mouth and closed it. “We’ve always had a difficult relationship.”
“And hold on a second, you thought you were the one to cancel the whole beauty pageant thing?” Bella asked.
Now it was time for Tillie to be confused. “I told Dad andGrandma and Grandpa were there, and then Dad said we were never doing it anymore and I thought it was because of me.”
Bella threw her head back and laughed. “Oh, my, it would seem, Tillie dear, you and I have been at lost purposes.”
“I don’t knowwhat you mean.”
“I love you, Tillie. You’re my daughter, and I will always love you, just like I love David, but I was the one who went to your father and told him I couldn’t stand the beauty pageants. As far as I was concerned, my daughter was full of talent and I didn’t need to find it. I also hated having to dress you up like a princess. I loved seeing you in your muddy jeans and stained clothes. It filled me with so much joy.”
“It did?” Tillie asked.
Bella sighed and reached for her bag, pullingout her purse, and then she presented Tillie with a picture she didn’t realize her mother had. It was one of her, alone, but covered in mud. Her ponytail was falling to the side, and her clothes were a mess. Tillie remembered that was the day she and David were out in the garden, playing football or something. It had started to rain but it was also so warm that neither of them wanted to go inside. She didn’t know her mother took pictures.
“I had no idea you took pictures. I thought you hated that day.”
“No, I loved it. I was worried. You were a feisty young girl, and I feared you’d break David’s arm, but you two have always played well together. It was an awesome day.”
“If you’re the onewho told Dad about the pageants and that you hated them, why did you make me go?”
“You don’t remember?”
Tillie shook her head.
“One of them was on a documentary or it was a movie or something, I can’t remember. You constantly talked about it for a whole summer, and you wanted to go. I couldn’t ever say no to you, and that’s when it all started.” Bella took a deep breath. “I love beauty and makeup, and clothes, but that was too much for me. I thought you hated me for stopping it.”
“No, I thought I was the one to stop it and that you were angry with me.”
Bella reached across the table and Tillie didn’t even hesitateto put her hand into her mother’s.
“I love you, Tillie. I am so proud of you.”
“I’ve done nothing.”
“I know going to Luca Winters couldn’t have been easy. I know your father feels a lot of guilt about you putting your life on the line for the company.”
“My life? Mom, it wasn’t like that. I’m not dying or anything. It was no great sacrifice.”
Bella squeezed her hand. “That’s the thing, Tillie, it was. We knowthat all you ever wanted to be was like your grandparents. They found a rare kind of love. Your father and I, we love each other very much, but it isn’t the same. I know that, and as a mother, all I ever want for my children is for their wishes and dreams to come true. Instead, you married a man you don’t know, and I don’t know if he is capable of love. He is the complete opposite of you.”
“Mom, please, you don’t have to worry. Luca is an amazing guy.”
“He is?”
“Yes, I mean, I know he has a reputation for doing what he does to companies, and there is a chance if I hadn’t agreed to marry him, he might have done the same, rather than find out where the problem was, but I like being married to him.”
“You do?” Bella asked.
The waiter came back, this time with their food. Tillie hadn’t even taken a sip of her water. She thanked him for the food and then let go of her mother’s hand to pick up the knife and fork, as did her mother.
“It is new, because obviously we were not a love match, nor did we know each other for years beforehand, but it works for us. I am getting to know him and there is so much more to Luca than being a rich manwho tears apart companies.”
Tillie smiled just thinking about him. A few flashing moments of them together, watching a movie, and Luca holding up the pillow on a scary part so she didn’t get scared. Him feeding her some of his own food. Hanging out at the library, reading a book to him as he sat and listened to the words. Even the memory of dancing, and Luca asking her to continue dancing for him. They were few and far between, but they were their moments.
“I know that look,” Bella said.
Pulling out of her thoughts, she looked toward her mother. “What look?”
“The look of a woman falling in love. You have that look, my dear,” Bella said. “Are you falling in love with your husband?”
Tillie thought about Luca and the insane thing was, she couldn’t help but smile. “I think I am.”