Chapter Fourteen
Jack
Fuck… I can”t turn around with my dick straining against my pants. But being this close to her, her vanilla scent surrounding me and her ass grinding against me like that, how could it not affect me?
This whole ‘let”s just be friends’ thing is getting harder and harder, no pun intended, but clearly I like to torture myself because keeping my distance isn’t an option I’m willing to choose. Watching her work the bar, moving her hips to the music, tucking her hair behind her ear, and laughing with the guests makes me want to pin her against the wall and claim her. Let every fucker that’s been staring at her all night know she’s mine.
But she isn’t yours.
I’ve tried not to make it obvious that I”ve been watching her all night. Not even the crowds of beautiful women that would usually be my type could stop me focusing on her because, these days, I only want to look at a pretty brunette with eyes like the ocean.
Somehow, despite being severely understaffed, tonight was one of our most successful nights since opening. The girls worked their asses off and I don”t think Ria or Kate moved from behind the bar.
Exhausted, everyone went home as soon as we closed, except Brad, Harry, Ria and I. She kicked off her heels and swapped them for some flip flops from her bag and perched on a bar stool resting her head on the bar.
“Who wants a drink?” Harry calls, raising a bottle of tequila and holding shot glasses in the other hand. Ria doesn”t even lift her head, she just shoots an arm up in the air and Harry slides a shot down to her.
“Just the one though. I need to drive home,” she says.
“Tonight felt like the old days, boys. Mixing the drinks, dancing on the bar. Fuck, I miss it. I wasn’t built for the corporate side of things,” Harry declares, sounding jaded.
“Speak for yourself. I can barely move now,” Brad replies, falling onto a stool next to Ria and picking up a filled shot glass.
“Oh, poor baby. Do you need a back rub?” Harry mocks.
“Yeah? You offering? Because I”ve got this part right down here that needs a good rub.” Brad rubs his hand over his crotch.
We all laugh except Harry, who just downs a double shot.
Conversation flows until Ria yawns and glances at her watch. “Shit. I need to get going. It”s gone 3 am. My girls will be up in a few hours.
“Damn, Ri. That”s not a lot of sleep. You sure you’ll be okay? Maybe you should take tomorrow night off?
She looks at me deadpan. “Clearly you don”t know my kids because they don’t let me have ‘days off’.” She raises up off her stool and gives Brad and Harry a hug goodbye and I jump up, ready to follow her.
She pushes through the door marked staff only and heads down the stairs and I’m hot on her heels.
“At least let me drive you home. I didn”t even give you the foot rub I promised.”
God, could I sound any more desperate? This is embarrassing.
She stops and turns around at the entrance of the staff room. “Jack, don”t be ridiculous. It”s late, we both have work tomorrow and it would be like a 2-hour round trip for you. I’m fine.”
An unfamiliar feeling hits me, my chest tightening. Why don”t I want her to leave?
She walks through to the staff room door and I am hot on her heels. She reaches for her purse and I grab it and hold it behind my back.
“Jack, give me the purse.”
“No.” I sound like a petulant child.
“Jack, it”s late. I”m tired. Give me my purse please,” she huffs.
“No, let me drive you.”
She lunges forward to grab the purse. I take hold of her arm, pushing her back to pin her against the locker, still keeping her purse out of her reach.
“What are we? Twelve? Give me the fucking purse.”
Ooohh, I haven”t seen this side of her. I like feisty Ria
“Now, now, we are getting a little feisty, aren”t we, sweetheart,” I reply with a playful tone in my voice.
“Oh, you”ve seen nothing yet, action man,” she mutters, giving me a challenging stare.
A spark passes between us and I have to remember not to take it too far again like I did in the stockroom. Stepping back, I run my hand through my hair, still gripping onto her purse.
“Jack, why do you want to drive me home so badly?”
“Because that thing should be illegal to drive and you saved us tonight, and I can”t, in good faith, send you home in that death trap. It”s late, you”re tired and I want to make sure you get home safe or…” I pause, trying to decide if my next words are a good idea, but I say them anyway. “...You could stay at my apartment. Those are your choices.”
The way she looks at me is like a punch to the gut. I get the feeling no one has ever fought for her safety or wellbeing the way I am. That she”s been left to fend for herself too many times to count and that breaks me in a way I didn’t know was possible. I want to take her, make her mine and show her what it”s like to have someone who isn”t okay with losing her. Because I”m not. Not even a little bit.
“Okay,” she whispers, and I smile as an unfamiliar feeling of relief washes over me.
As soon as we leave the parking lot, Ria falls asleep. When we stop at a red light, I lean into the back seat for my suit jacket and cover her with it, before brushing her hair away from her face. She looks so peaceful. Like all her life stresses have left her, just for a moment. I don”t know how she does it. She really is a real life superwoman. I”ve never met anyone like her.
The women I usually date are simple. No strings, no kids, no chaos, and truthfully, boring and easy. Ria is anything but easy. She is full of baggage and chaos and so much trauma it would take me years to unpack. I know the easy thing would be to back off, let her do her thing. Getting involved with a woman who has kids and in the middle of what sounds like a messy separation should be the furthest thing from my mind.
But it”s Ria. She”s never been a possibility until now. And while the timing might not be perfect at the moment, if I don”t act, one day someone will love her the way she deserves to be loved and won”t make her fight for it, and I want that someone to be me. But for now, she needs a friend, and as much as it”s killing me not to reach over to kiss her, to touch her warm silk skin, and soak up her scent I need to put her needs before mine because I know that no one has ever done that for her.
I pull up outside her house, which is in complete darkness, aside from a tiny light that is glowing through her front door window. I look over to the passenger seat and find her still sleeping. She must be exhausted. It”s nearly 4 am and I know her day will be starting soon with the girls. She shouldn”t be busting her ass like this. But I get why she”s doing it and it only makes me admire her more.
I lean over and stroke the back of my hand over her cheek and she stirs.
“Ria, sweetheart, you’re home,” I whisper, not wanting to scare her awake.
She slowly raises her head, looking round the car, blinking repeatedly.
“Oh my God, did I sleep the entire way?”
“Yeah, you did, sleeping beauty.” I chuckle.
“Don”t ever invite me on a road trip. I can never stay awake in the car unless I’m driving.” She rubs her eyes and then smoothes out her hair.
“Noted,” I say, staring at her, taking in just how beautiful she is. I am having to fight my instinct to lean in and kiss her. I wonder if she can sense this moment, this tension that”s swirling between us.
Her throat bobs as she swallows and clears her throat.
“Erm, thanks for the lift home. You didn”t have to. I would have driven myself,” she stammers as she reaches for her purse to find her keys.
“I told you it was no trouble. I wanted to make sure you got home okay after helping us out. I’ll pick you up for work tomorrow.”
“You can”t drive back now. It”s such a long drive.”
“I”ll be fine. I”m trained to have minimal sleep, remember? Years on the front line will do that.”
“Stay with me,” she whispers so softly I almost miss it.
My eyes widen in surprise and she must see the look on my face as she tries to play down her offer. “I ugh.. I mean, on my couch. You can stay on my couch, please. I would never forgive myself if something happened because you drove me home.”
I don’t even have to think about my answer. I would share a bed with Nugget if it meant more time with her. That thought alone makes me realize how hard and fast I’m falling for this woman and that I need to get my feelings in check before I fuck this up and have her running scared.
We exit the car and walk up to her house in the silence of the chilly night. She opens the front door as quietly as she can and we both tiptoe into the house.
She drops her keys in a small bowl on a side table and flicks on a lamp that lights up her narrow hallway and I watch her reflection in the mirror as she slips off her shoes and reaches round to rub her neck.
I’m moving towards her before I realize it, my hands reaching for her shoulders without thinking. “Here, let me,” I murmur.
She doesn”t speak, doesn”t nod, but the look she gives as we stare at each other in the mirror tells me it”s okay to touch her. I slowly gather her hair in my hands and move it to one side, giving me access to her shoulders, and I start to massage them. She tilts her head to the side and lets out a soft moan that causes my dick to harden.
Fuck’s sake, not now.
“You”re so tight,” I tell her, my voice husky, and then I mentally slap myself. That didn’t sound suggestive at all, you dick.
“Uh huh.” She moans, closing her eyes, relaxing under my touch. I lean in closer and even after a 10-hour shift, she still smells like warm vanilla.
“Oh my God, that feels so good,” she mutters.
The soft noises of appreciation she makes have my dick weeping in my suit pants and I am either going to have to stop rubbing her shoulders or find a way to fill her mouth. That thought doesn’t help the situation.
“Ria, baby, you’ve got to stop moaning like that. Those noises do things to a man.”
My words seem to break our moment, and she moves away from me, clearing her throat. “Let me get you some blankets and pillows.”
I watch her as she takes the stairs, her ass swaying in her work skirt, and it takes all my strength not to follow her. Instead, I head into the darkened front room and strip out of everything but my boxers, folding them and placing them on the edge of the couch.
Ria appears in the doorway holding a pile of blankets and a pillow. She stops dead in her tracks as her eyes blatantly rake over my body.
I work hard to take care of my body and the way Ria is staring at my muscles makes it all worth it. The heat in her eyes damn near makes me explode.
“Ri?”
“Yeah,” she answers, not fully paying attention, still staring.
“Eyes up here, sweetheart,” I say with a little laugh.
She jolts, raising her eyes to meet mine. A thrill runs through me at the way her cheeks flush and she flaps around trying to hand me the blankets whilst avoiding any more eye contact.
But I go further on my quest to get her all twisted up. I reach for her hand and pull her into me, then I place my hands on either side of her face. I can feel her breathing quicken. She wants this as much as me. But instead of crashing my lips to hers like I want to, I plant a kiss on her forehead.
“Night, sweetheart. Sleep tight.”
She steps back, her eyes blown, looking disappointed.
“Night, Jack,” she says in barely a whisper and she”s gone. I lay down on the couch, pull the blankets over me, and close my eyes. I drift off, thinking how badly I want to follow her up those stairs and show her how I truly feel about her.
I sense someone standing over me before I even open my eyes. The smell of coffee fills the air and something warm and wet touches my foot. A giggle sounds, and it doesn”t sound like a grown woman’s giggle. What the…
My eyes pop open and I”m met with a pair of eyes that look just like Ria’s, except they aren”t Ria’s. It”s a miniature version of her. Standing next to her, about a foot smaller, is another, slightly balder version of Lexi, holding a pink rubber ring and babbling.
Thwack.
She smacks the rubber ring against my nose and then proceeds to suck on it, drooling all over it.
“What are you doing on the couch? Did you and Mommy have a sleepover?” Lexi asks, still staring intently at me. It”s like she”s trying to see into my soul, and I”m a little freaked out.
“Erm, yeah, sort of,” I say, rubbing my eyes, trying to take in my surroundings. Yep, I’m on Ria’s couch and that warm wet tongue is Nugget licking me.
Damn, Nugget.
“My daddy tried to have a sleepover with a girl at Grandma’s house but Grandpa got mad and told them to leave,” she says innocently.
I bet he did, the selfish son of a bitch.
Thwack.
Elle is clearly waiting for me to acknowledge her. “Well, good morning, Miss Elle. How are we today?” She squeals, waving her rubber ring in the air.
I reach out for my suit pants. I don”t feel overly comfortable sitting here in just my briefs with the girls here. I slide them on under the blanket and then get up off the couch. Elle falls back on her bottom and starts to cry and my instincts kick in, picking her up.
I cuddle her and sway a little, which seems to calm her, and holding to hold her this time feels a little more natural.
Lexi then jumps on the couch and leaps onto my back. “Pick me up too, Jack,” she giggles. I just about catch her with my spare hand, pulling Elle tighter to my chest at the same time.
“Lexi, pancakes,” I hear a voice calling from the kitchen.
I make my way to the sound with the girls still attached to me. Entering the kitchen, the sweet smell of maple syrup fills my nose and I find Ali leaning against the kitchen counter in what I assume are her work clothes, sipping on a mug of coffee. Ria is standing at the stove beside her, spatula in hand, flipping pancakes, wearing the tiniest pair of baby blue pajamas shorts, showing off her toned legs, and an oversized t-shirt, hair in a messy bun on the top of her head, looking absolutely fuckable.
“Well, holy shit, who knew a man with a baby could be so hot?” Ali mutters behind her coffee mug. Ria whips her head up, and as her eyes lock on my body, the spatula falls out of her hand, clanging against the frying pan, but she doesn”t react. Her eyes roam up my body, glancing at the girls and then meeting my eyes.
I give her a knowing smile.
Yeah, she likes me more than a friend. No fucking doubt about it.