Chapter 20
Chapter twenty
“Hoochie momma,” Keely exclaimed when she walked into the office, spotting me on a small stool, trying to reach the top shelf of the filing cabinet. We needed to change our files to electronic ones or the room Vance was currently in would soon be unusable.
“Hey, Keely. Your three o’clock is running ten minutes late, and your five o’clock canceled. I emailed you all your calls.”
She stopped. “Thanks, honey.” She winked at me. “You look hot, by the way.”
I’d opted for flared suit pants and a short-sleeved white blouse. I’d paired it with black heels with a platform sole that made my short legs look a mile long.
I’d found the clothes in one of my boxes when I went back to the apartment to get more stuff after my first night at Vance’s.
I was feeling more and more like my old self who loved to wear nice outfits and spend time in the bathroom getting ready.
As much as I’d missed my girls this week, it had been a much-needed break.
And then there was Vance. Who had spent every night with me since our first time together. Who had given me more this week than I could have ever hoped for.
“You look amazing yourself. Got a date later?”
Keely swished her knee-length skirt back and forth.
“No date. I think I’m admitting defeat. I’ve also dated most of the available guys in the area, and there wasn’t so much as a little spark with any of them.
I’m beginning to think that love is a made-up concept created by Hallmark and chocolate companies. ”
I chuckled, getting off my stool. “You don’t believe that. I don’t know anyone who believes in soul mates as much as you do.”
She hung her head. “Well, looking at you, I might start believing again. But for now, I think I’ll give it a rest. It’s exhausting.”
Footsteps from the hallway stopped me from answering. Vance appeared in the doorway to his office, his suit fitting him perfectly as usual. Now that I knew what was underneath it, my cheeks heated and my body tingled with awareness whenever I looked at him.
He came straight to me, lifting me off the ladder. “Don’t go up there by yourself. You could fall off.”
Keely grinned at me and then left with a wave over her shoulder.
I tipped my head back, my hands on Vance’s chest while his rested on my hips. The position was one I’d found myself in a lot over the last week. And I had no complaints. Absolutely none. “I’m only about one foot off the ground. Even if I did fall off, I doubt I’d get seriously hurt.”
I’d also been going up and down the small ladder multiple times since my first day working at the office. But I didn’t think that was a fact I should share.
He responded by kissing me, something that was sure to make me forget what we were even arguing about.
When he pulled back, I leaned my forehead against his chest.
“What do you want to do for dinner tonight?” The words rumbled through his body, and I fought the pleasant shiver that wanted to work its way up and down my spine.
“Pizza?”
“Then pizza it is.”
I didn’t mind pizza, though I didn’t love it. But the great thing about choosing pizza was that it would maximize the time I had to spend with Vance. Because it was our last night together. The girls were coming back tomorrow. So pizza it was, because all we had to do was pick it up.
He kissed my nose, and I reluctantly released him. “I need to make a few calls, and then I’m ready to go.”
The next hour went achingly slowly, a fact not helped by my incessant need to check the time every few minutes. Vance had been in his office the whole time, the deep baritone of his voice audible through the door.
Malena had told me how much Vance used to work. The ten-hour days he did now paled in comparison.
“I called Colosseum, so we can pick the pizza up on our way home.”
Don’t do something embarrassing, Mae. A man not only remembering your order but also placing the call himself does not mean you have to rip your blouse open and offer to suck his cock.
Okay, that escalated quickly. I clearly still had to work on how to manage my emotions and set higher expectations.
It also concerned me that I was now thinking of giving him a hand job to tide me over until we could get to the main event.
Just a little one. We wouldn’t have time for more on the ten-minute drive.
Is it hot in here? God, what is wrong with me? I’d never once wanted to do anything like this to Cockalorum. After the first year together, I was happy when he left me alone.
My hormones must be confused. This could be their last-ditch effort before menopause. Oh no, what if every time I get hot around Vance, it’s a hot flash, not arousal?
My spiraling thoughts were replaced with daydreams of dragging Vance into the nearest broom closet. Something that was on my mind from the moment I woke up until I fell asleep. Lucky for me, he seemed all too happy to accommodate me. Needless to say, neither of us had been getting much sleep.
Vance took my hand, and we walked to his car, where he helped me into my seat, making my core clench in longing. We parked in front of the pizzeria, and he turned the engine off. He leaned over, pressing his lips to mine. “I’ll be right back.”
I stopped him with a hand on his arm and he stilled, already gripping the handle. “Thank you.”
He gave me one of his tentative grins, which were personally my favorite.
He was back five minutes later with a large box in one hand and a bag in the other. He dropped them on the back seat and then slid back inside the car.
I didn’t want to ask what was in the bag, but I had zero chill and about the same surprise-level tolerance as my four-year-old. “What’s in the bag?”
Vance took my hand and placed a kiss on the back. “Tiramisu.”
My hands inched toward my blouse, my fingers twitching with the urge to rip it open. “I love tiramisu.”
He chuckled. “I know.”
We pulled up to the apartment a few minutes later, the easy atmosphere turning tense.
Vance had made his thoughts on my living situation more than clear.
And so had I. We’d come to an uneasy truce, which included us simply not talking about anything to do with my living situation.
After all, it wasn’t that I didn’t see his points and knew they were valid. But I also didn’t have a choice.
Staying at his house this week had been amazing, but I wanted to clean up my apartment tonight and then be here tomorrow morning in case the kids came back early. Which meant sleeping here tonight.
The apartment was dark and cold when we walked inside. I hadn’t been here in two days and had turned the heater off to save money. Luckily, the space was so small that it wouldn’t take long to warm up.
We settled on the couch to eat since it was the only place where Vance fit.
Once we’d cleaned up—aka thrown the pizza box in the trash—I took off my sweater since the apartment was now toasty warm. “I’m going to take a shower.” I took off my pants next. “I might need help with my hair.”
By the time I’d made it into the shower, we’d both lost all our clothes.
We crashed together in a tangle of limbs, my legs hooking around him, our bodies already slippery from the water. The shower was so small we had no choice but to be as close as possible. But for once, I had no intention of complaining about its size.
Vance took my mouth in a deep kiss, his hands leaving goose bumps in their wake as they slid over my body. His fingers pressed into my ass cheek, pushing our bodies even closer together.
He gently placed bites along my neck and collarbone, his movements frantic as if he wanted to mark me as much as possible. His massive hands spun me around without warning, and the front of his body pressed against my back.
The contrast of the lukewarm shower to the cold tiles made my nipples pebble and my core clench. I gave him my weight, tilting my head in a silent invitation. His mouth met mine once again, this kiss much less refined than the last one. This one was claiming.
“A man could get addicted to you.” The intensity in his raspy voice sent shivers through my body. “Or maybe I already am.”
His mouth met mine again, taking it in a frenzied clash of teeth and tongue. The warm glow flowing through me gained intensity, my body pliable in his arms. I arched my back, lining my core up with him, and he nudged my entrance. Not having to use a condom meant he didn’t have to stop.
Once he was fully seated inside, he paused, his mouth finding my neck. After a few deep breaths, he slowly moved in and out, building a delicious friction. My wildly beating heart drowned out even the water, the steady thrum growing faster with each stroke.
I tilted my head to the side and he kissed me again and again, stealing the last of my breath.
Then his lips wandered over my cheek and down to my shoulder, nipping and sucking.
I reveled in the feelings he elicited, in the way my body responded.
I was his, and I trusted him to take care of me.
The realization that I was irrevocably in love with this man, combined with his deep thrusts, pushed me into an orgasm that made me shudder and moan, uncaring of who might hear.
After a few more thrusts, Vance buried his head in my neck.
My legs finally gave out, unable to keep me up, but I didn’t slide to the floor.
He held me to him, his body moving against mine with each breath.
I relaxed into him as he washed my hair, then my body.
The gentle caress of his hands made me tingle with awareness wherever he touched.
Once he was done, my core clenched in need.
Taking the body wash from him, I squirted some into my hands, then ran them over his pecs, shoulders, and arms. I made sure to do a second pass.
I slicked my hands over every inch of him, except the one place that was getting hard to ignore the more I explored.
Vance groaned and stepped under the spray to rinse off before turning the water off. “Bed. Now.”
He wrapped a towel around me, then dried himself enough that he wasn’t dripping anymore. My drying skills were equally as superficial. I dropped the wet towel on the floor—I would be outraged with myself tomorrow, no doubt—before we tumbled onto the bed in a heap of limbs.
And then he kept me up way past my bedtime, and we fell asleep with my head on his chest and my hand held in his bigger one, resting over his heart.