Chapter 26
Sade
“The pleasure was real. The confusion hit harder.”
We were finally at month five, and Vaughn and I were finally respecting each other.
Things were turning out great, but I still felt like things weren’t moving how they should.
I told Vaughn I would come in alone on our off day to work a couple of hours, and he didn’t hesitate to give me full access to the buildings.
Therefore, I was in Crown Heights on a Saturday morning so I could enjoy the rest of my weekend. As I was moving things around in one of the units, Marcus walked in, surprising me. He was holding a bottle of champagne and food.
“Marcus, what are you doing here?” I asked, surprised.
He chuckled. “Couldn’t wait three more hours. I needed to see you now.” He took me into his arms, then kissed my lips.
It turned passionate instantly. It had been a lot of that with us lately when we were alone. A lot of hugging, kissing, and touching my pussy through my clothes. He made me feel good, great actually. But I wasn’t ready for what I knew he wanted.
I pushed him away. “I’m working.”
He chuckled. “So… that nigga has you working too much. Does he do his job? It’s your off day.”
“He does his job, and I choose to be here on my off days.”
“You need a mimosa. You’re a little tense.” He popped the champagne.
“Yeah, I can use a lil liquor at 10 AM.”
We were vibing, he had music playing on his phone, and I could feel the champagne, so I slowed down.
“You’ve been rocking with me for months. I enjoy you and want to see how far our relationship would go, and I want to make things official with us.”
I smirked. “What are you getting at?”
“I’m asking… will you be my girl?”
“As in girlfriend?” I raised an eyebrow.
He laughed. “Yes.” Then he suddenly lifted me onto the counter.
“Boy, what are you doing?” I laughed, but he had me nervous.
“Tryna make you feel good.”
He started sliding my leggings down, and damn, I let him.
“I told you I’m not ready for that,” I reminded him.
“Oh, I know. But I’m not giving you that, I’m giving you this.”
He got my leggings and panties off and pushed my legs up. Before I knew it, his mouth was pleasing me. My head fell back, and a moan escaped my lips. I wasn’t dumb to pleasure. I’ve had men go down on me, but never this good.
“We shouldn’t be doing this,” I cooed, but I didn’t stop him.
“We’re doing it. Say you mine, Sade,” he uttered, but continued to please me.
I didn’t respond, pretended the pleasure was too good to speak about. I wasn’t truly ready to say yes.
Then suddenly, Vaughn crept into my thoughts.
The way he thought so highly of me.
The way he adjusted his control for me.
The way he took care of me when I wasn’t looking.
The way he made me laugh.
Our lunches alone for the last three months.
The way he looked at me.
And here I was disrespecting his space.
He wasn’t my man; he was my boss, and he became a good friend to me.
I started thinking, damn, did he like me?
Did I like him?
I quickly pushed Marcus from between my legs, catching him off guard because I pushed him hard enough that his back hit the fridge.
“Damn, what’s wrong?” he asked, looking confused.
“Everything. I told you I wasn’t ready.” I started putting my pants on. “You need to leave.”
He looked at me, confused.
“I said leave.”
Marcus stood there for a second longer before finally pulling himself together. “Sade…”
“I’m serious.”
He rubbed the back of his neck, clearly thrown off now. “I thought we were good.”
“We are good. I just…” I sighed hard, trying to calm myself down. “I’m not ready for all this.”
His face tightened slightly, but he nodded.
“A’ight.”
He grabbed the champagne bottle and his keys slowly. The energy felt awkward now, heavy. I hated that because ten minutes ago, everything felt easy.
Before leaving, he looked at me again.
“Tell the truth… You got feelings for that nigga you working for?” he asked bluntly.
My stomach churned instantly. “No.”
The answer came too fast.
Marcus looked at me for a second too long, like he didn’t fully believe it, then nodded anyway.
“I’ll call you later.”
I didn’t answer that time.
I just watched him walk out.
The second the door closed behind him, I started pacing.
Back and forth across the kitchen.
My heart was beating too fast, and I was irritated at myself for even thinking about Vaughn during a moment like that.
“This is stupid,” I muttered under my breath.
I fixed my clothes completely, cleaned the counter, straightened things that were already straight, and tried to mentally reset myself.
Work.
Focus on work.
That’s why I came here.
I grabbed my tablet and started going back through measurements in the living room area, trying to move past whatever that was.
About twenty minutes later, I finally settled back into work mode enough to breathe normally again.
That was when I heard footsteps.
Heavy ones.
I looked up instinctively toward the hallway entrance.
And froze.
Vaughn.