Chapter Fourteen
Wyatt
Istood in front of my closet, trying to decide what to wear. I’d narrowed it down to jeans and a t-shirt, or a t-shirt and jeans. That was literally all I owned. That our date was combined with a trip to buy construction supplies means that casual was the name of the game.
I was running out of time, and I didn’t want to be late to pick up Vera so I grabbed my cleanest option, got dressed and headed out.
I pull up in front of her place to find Ben coming out the front door. He cracked a smile when he saw me. “So your plan to impress my mom worked, I see.”
I blushed, which was ridiculous. “Laugh it up, funny guy.”
“I will. Seriously though, do I have to give you the talk?”
“What talk is that? The birds and the bees?”
“Eww no,” he shook his head. “No, no, no. I meant the whole ‘if you hurt her, they’ll never find your body’. That talk.”
I laughed, and held my hands up. “That makes more sense. And I wouldn’t dream of it. You can trust me.”
“I do actually, which is why I’m not giving you this talk with a chainsaw in my hand.”
“You forget I work with chainsaws too?”
He crossed his arms. ”Just act intimidated so I can go to my friend’s place, and you can get on with your date.”
I pretended to cower, “I’ll treat her like a queen, I promise.”
“I prefer a goddess, but we can work up to that,” Vera said, walking out the front door and turning to lock it behind her.
She was also wearing jeans and a t-shirt, and I mentally congratulated myself on nailing the date night look.
“Are you ready for our date, Goddess Vera?” I asked, bowing low.
She laughed, and Ben rolled his eyes. “I’ll see you later Benji, be home by ten, okay?”
She ruffled his hair, then kissed his temple, and he pulled away. “Mom, that is so embarrassing.”
“Fine, fine, goodbye.”
She climbed into the truck and we were off.
“Did my kid give you a hard time?”
“It’s his job as the man of the house, so I respect his commitment to his role. And as he will tell you, he’s not a kid anymore.”
She sighed. “I know, it’s just hard to see Benji as anything but the little kid who was terrified of the bathtub until he was four and would only eat toast peanut-butter side down.”
“He would hate that you told me that.”
“At least I didn’t break out the baby pictures.”
I glanced at her in my periphery. “This isn’t my place to say, and feel free to tell me to butt out, but you should call him Ben, instead of Benji.”
I half expected her to fight me on it, but she sighed again, and ran a hand through her hair. “I know I should. I mean, that is literally what we named him, but he has been my little baby Benji since he learned to talk. I think letting go of it feels bigger than it is.”
We were quiet for a moment, and I focused on the drive, worrying I had ruined our date before we had really started it.
“Do you think we can fit all the supplies for seventeen nightstands in the truck?”
I whipped my head around to look at her. “Seventeen? Is that how many you sold?”
She nodded. “I forgot I didn’t tell you, yeah, that was how many paid orders I got at the trade show.”
I patted her knee. “Vera, that’s fantastic! Hell yeah, we can fit all that in the truck.” We talked about what she would need to fulfill the orders as I drove, and before I knew it, I was pulling into the familiar parking lot outside the hardware store.
Since this was our second round shopping for this project, we got what we needed in record time, but by the time we had it all loaded in the truck; we were both sweaty and layered with dirt and wood shavings.
I looked down at myself. “I don’t think I’m in any condition to go to a fancy Italian restaurant.”
She laughed and dusted off her jeans. “Me either, should we pick somewhere more casual?”
I looked her over, this woman who’d had my head in knots for the last two weeks. Her hair was falling out of a loose ponytail; her shirt and jeans were dusty and probably smelled like lumber. Her hands had scars and cuts, just like mine did.
I’d come within inches of kissing her on more than one occasion. We’d joked about sex, danced around the subject over and over. Now we were finally on a date…although not a fancy one…and I didn’t want to share her with the world for another second.
I stepped closer, moving slowly enough that she could tell me to buzz off if we weren’t on the same page. I brought my hands to her hips and pulled her until we were pressed together. She brought her hands up and rested them lightly on my elbows.
“What’s on your mind, Wyatt?” She teased with a smile.
“What if instead of taking you out, I take you to my place?”
“And what would we do there?”
I swayed my head back and forth as if I were thinking about it. “Get cleaned up. I could cook you dinner, and then maybe we could finally kiss without being interrupted by other people.”
She hummed her agreement. “I think I might need an appetizer if I have to wait ‘til we get back to your place for the main course.” She ran her hands up over my biceps, then rested them on the tops of my shoulders, her eyes locked on my lips.
“I like the way you think.”
Finally, I was able to close the distance between us — she might have actually met me halfway — and I tasted her for the first time.
On the surface, it was all sweetness and minty lip balm, but underneath — where it counted — it was raw and desperate.
Her arms tightened around me and I did the same, my hips pressed against hers, my rapidly hardening cock trapped between our bodies.
Her breath caught as she moved her lips over mine.
I gently bit her bottom lip before sweeping my tongue into her mouth.
She held the hair at the base of my neck, guiding my head where she wanted it with the subtle sting of her grip.
I wasn’t much of a pain for pleasure guy, but this was working for me.
My fingers itched to roam over her body, and I was forgetting to breathe.
A car horn blared, and we pulled apart. Her cheeks were bright red, and I was sure I looked the same. “We need to get back to your place,” she said.
“Get in the truck.”