Chapter 14
14
I’d never known a kiss to make me so hot. It wasn’t just the heat on full blast and warming us up, it was Omar. He had me panting and begging for more in minutes.
And he was happy to deliver.
He lifted the edge of my tank top to get his bare hand on my skin. I arched into him, whimpering at the feel of his warm hand on me. I dropped my blanket and tossed my tank top, leaving me on his lap in a highly unsexy blue cotton bra that did not slow him down at all.
“Blue’s a good color on you,” he whispered against my breast.
“I didn’t intend for anyone else to know I had a blue bra on.”
“Tell me to slow down, Natalie.”
“I don’t want you to.”
He tugged my mouth down to his, inhaling me as he plunged his tongue between my lips.
I was frantic, needing him like I needed the heat in his car.
The storm continued outside, raging along with my emotions. I’d never dared to fool around in a car before. My high school best friend lost her virginity in a car and tried to tell me how awesome it was. Maybe it was the thirteen years since high school, but I could not imagine having sex in a car would be so great.
“What are you thinking about?” Omar whispered.
“Car sex,” I admitted.
His cock twitched against me.
“People did it all the time in high school. How was that a good idea?”
He chuckled. “Youth makes us foolish and flexible.”
“That’s true. I wasn’t trying to ruin the moment.”
“You didn’t. I want to know what you’re thinking. I asked.”
“Because I was distracted.”
“I’ve been distracted since we met, Natalie.”
I grinned, finding his simple confession tingle-inducing. And this time, there was no phone ringing. “It’s a good thing that photographer can’t get a picture of this. The two of us in another compromising position.”
“Worth it,” he whispered.
I smoothed my hands down his arms, enjoying the twitch of his muscles and the way his cock responded in kind. I caught his hand, threading our fingers together and bringing them to my lips.
He thrust against me, a moan escaping my lips. My eyes fluttered close and the months of resisting him fell away.
“Natalie?”
“Please,” I whispered.
“Hold on to me,” he said, putting my hands on his shoulders.
I gripped his shoulders and trembled when he cupped my hips and brought me into contact with him.
His jaw tightened. His fingers dug into my hips. Determination set in his eyes, and he took me on a ride.
I wasn’t sure I’d be able to come through our clothes, but Omar was not giving up. He shifted his position to find what worked for me. He licked my bare skin when I got close to him. And when my bra strap fell off my shoulder, he yanked one cup down and brought my bare breast to his mouth as an offering.
And sent me soaring.
“Omar,” I gasped, the first waves crashing over me with my nipple pinched between his lips.
He bit harder, sending a bolt through me and everything in me shook.
“Oh, fuck!” I shouted, losing myself to the pleasure I’d been chasing for months. I didn’t allow myself to think of him when I was alone, but I was. I always was.
“Fuck, Natalie,” he growled, twitching beneath me.
“Did you?”
He shook his head. “Almost, but no.”
“Do you?—?”
“One day, but not today. That car sex you were just talking about wouldn’t be any easier if you were on your knees. But damn, that’s an image I’ll want to hold on to forever.”
I laughed softly, feeling self-conscious and greedy.
“Hey,” he whispered, lifting my jaw to meet his gaze. “What’s in that head?”
“I took advantage of you.”
“Not even a little. Relationships shouldn’t be about keeping score. I’m not going to start this one like that.”
I nodded.
“But we probably should head out soon before someone actually does come out here.”
I looked around and saw the rain had almost completely stopped. The thunder and lightning had completely passed.
And my boob was on full display if anyone came up to the window.
“I didn’t even notice.”
He smirked. “Good.”
Omar helped me get my clothes back into place, then asked for my keys.
“Why?”
“I’ll go start your car so it’ll warm up before you have to get in it.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
He smiled. “I’m being selfish. It means I can spend a few more minutes with you if we’re waiting for your car to warm up.”
“Well, in that case…” I handed him my keys.
He kissed me, then opened the door and climbed out in his tank without his coat. He closed the door against the cold air already seeping in, then raced to my SUV.
It took him a minute to unlock the doors and climb in. It burped to life, then Omar was getting back out and running to me again.
He climbed into the backseat with me and pulled me close. “I need you to warm me up. It’s cold out there.”
I laughed and climbed onto his lap again, wrapping myself around him and kissing him until the windows fogged up and we were both panting again.
“Was this a dream?” he asked.
I shook my head. “Not a dream.”
“So you really did ask me on a date?”
“I did.”
“I’m going to hold you to it.”
“I’m counting on it.”
We kissed a few more minutes, then admitted we needed to get out of all of our wet clothes.
He walked me to my SUV and made sure it wasn’t stuck before he went back to his own vehicle. He followed me down the muddy driveway and out to the street until he flashed his lights and made a turn where I’d gone straight.
A few minutes later, I pulled into my driveway. I grabbed my wet clothes and Omar’s blanket and hurried to the door.
“Oh my God! You’re alive!” Daisy yelled, rushing to me.
I was hoping to have time to dissect the day without having to talk to anyone about it. We crossed a line. A line I wanted to cross, but it changed everything. And I needed time to process that. Time I didn’t have before Daisy was going to want details that I wasn’t sure about sharing.
But it was Daisy. If I could tell anyone, it was her.
“I’m okay. I got caught in the rain.”
“How are you not frozen?”
“We sat in the car.”
“We? Who’s we?”
“Omar came?—”
Daisy punched her fist into the air. “Yes! Hell, yes. Tell me everything. What happened? Why was he there? Did you share body heat?”
“You are such a child,” I teased her.
She nodded solemnly. “Yes, yes, I am. That’s why I own a toy store. Trying to recapture the youth I never got.”
I smiled, knowing it wasn’t just what she said. She meant it. And I hated it for her, but she would never let anyone show her pity. “And every kid in town is going to have a better childhood because of you.”
“I sure hope so. Now quit stalling and tell me about your day.”
I let my breath out in a rush and told her about Omar showing up at the campground and finding me digging up connections. She swooned when I told her he grabbed my hand and refused to let go as we ran back to the parking lot. And when I shared our kissing and conversation, she sighed happily.
“I’m so happy for you,” she said when I was finished with my story.
“Thank you. I know there’s a lot between now and wherever, but we agreed we liked talking on Book Boyfriends Wanted. We got to know each other, and that connection is still there.”
“I tried to tell you that.”
I nodded. “I know, but I wasn’t ready to hear it. Especially when I was so sure he hated me for walking out.”
“But he doesn’t?”
I shook my head and smiled. “No, he doesn’t.”
“Well, good. I’m really happy for you. He is a lucky man.”
I snorted. “Uh huh.”
Daisy shook her head. “You, my friend, are amazing. I wish you could see that, but I’m really happy Omar does. Because you deserve someone who sees all the things that make you special.”
“Thank you. You know I feel the same about you.”
Daisy cocked her hip. “You better. Because I’m awesome, too.”
I laughed, the sound fading. “I’m nervous.”
“Of course you are. Dating isn’t easy. But it seems from all those other people who’ve found their perfect one that it’s worth it when you get to that point.”
“Do you think you’ll ever find that one?” I asked her.
She exhaled through her nose. “I sure hope so.”
“Me, too.”
“Go shower. You have to be freezing, and I know you’re dirty. I’ll fix dinner and we can watch something.”
“Sounds good. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
Daisy went to the kitchen, and I turned to go to my room. Our house was perfect for us, with a bathroom in each bedroom. I got the room with the bigger bedroom and smaller bathroom, which worked well for me. Daisy liked the big bathroom, but didn’t care about having a large bed.
I went past my bed to the bathroom and stripped out of my soaked and muddy clothes for the second time in two weeks. At least this time, I wasn’t doing it with an injured ankle. Which was likely only because Omar was there to help me.
I saw a different side of him when we were trapped together. He was the man I talked to online. Emotional and kind and supportive. I needed that in a way I didn’t see before.
I stepped into the hot shower. I closed my eyes and let the water run over my body. I washed myself quickly, letting the bubbles from my body wash carry away the dirt and sweat from my day. God, how embarrassing. We spent all day crammed in his SUV and kissing when I was so gross.
But he didn’t mind.
I couldn’t help but wonder what he was doing. If he was in the shower, thinking about me. His large hand wrapped around the thick erection that had been pressed against me all day. Stroking and tugging and whispering my name as he came.
The thought of him touching himself made my pulse race and my body tingle. The slam of something on the other side of the wall, in the living room, pulled me out of the moment before I got too worked up.
I washed myself again, making sure I was clean, then got out of the shower. I dressed in warm, cozy pajamas and met Daisy in the living room. She had food hot and on a plate for me, the remote in her hand and a movie ready to go.
“Do you feel better?”
“Tons,” I said honestly. Orgasms made everything better.
Omar and I messaged the next few days, but before we could make plans for the weekend, Amelia confirmed arrangements for James to meet me at the campground to remove the tree from the basketball court. When I showed up Saturday afternoon, James wasn’t alone.
“Jude!” I called, surprised to see one of my campers standing there. “How are you?”
“Hi, Ms. Natalie! Dad said I could come help.”
“Of course,” I said, hugging the boy. He was almost as tall as me and still growing. Jude was a sweet kid who was always looking out for the other kids during summer camp. He made sure everyone knew how to play the crazy games I made up and he was a big fan of anything different.
“Hi, Mr. Bailey,” I said, shaking his father’s hand. Derek Bailey was as nice as they came. I’d been taking my SUV to his auto shop forever, but I didn’t know Derek until Jude came to summer camp.
“Please call me Derek,” he said. “I feel like I know you after how much Chelsea talks about you. She likes you as much as Jude does.”
Derek and Chelsea did not have the easiest start to their relationship, but once they got to know each other, everything changed. Chelsea was my hair stylist, someone Daisy made me go to kicking and screaming. Thankfully, I listened. Chelsea was amazing, and she gave me a confidence I had never had before. Not that it made me totally confident, but it was an improvement.
“The feeling is mutual,” I told Derek. “And James, thank you for doing this.”
James grinned. “I’m happy to help. Mom is so excited about this place. She hasn’t stopped talking about it. We came here when my brother and I were young, but it’s been forever since I was back here. I hope you don’t mind that I brought help.”
I shook my head. “Of course not. I appreciate it more than you know.”
“How’s the ankle?” Derek asked.
My cheeks heated. “You heard about that?”
The men nodded.
“I’m good now. I should have been more careful.”
“Mom feels bad that you got hurt. She blames herself for letting you come out here.”
“It wasn’t her fault. Just a bad step. But there’s a lot that has to be done, and not a lot of money.”
“Well, what else can we do?” Derek asked. “We can be here as long as you need us.”
I shook my head. “I couldn’t ask you to do more than you are. We just need to get this tree out of the way so we can see if the court is in decent shape.”
“It looks like there’s a lot more to do,” James said. “Let’s get the tree and go from there. Are you saving the wood?”
“Um, yes?”
The men chuckled.
“If you’re going to use some of those fire pits, you might as well keep the wood so you can use it for that. If you are, we will cut it up into pieces that are small enough for someone to carry. If not, we can just leave it in logs,” James explained.
“Oh, well, yeah, I was thinking about that. I want to take down the fire pits out there and make one bigger one using the bricks. Hopefully something to cook on. Your mom also has a lot of big ideas about how to use the space, and I think using the fire pits in one way or another is something she wants to do.” I didn’t want to create more work, but if it meant I could save money down the road, it was smart.
“We will cut the logs small,” Derek said. “You saw, I’ll chop?”
James nodded.
“What am I going to do?” Jude asked.
“You are going to help Ms. Natalie stack these wherever she wants them. Make sure there’s a neat pile somewhere so everything is all together,” Derek said.
Jude nodded, sliding his hands into gloves his father handed over.
I grabbed my gloves, and the two men pulled tools from their vehicles. James handed me a pair of earplugs, and Derek offered me a pair of safety glasses. Both men donned their safety equipment, and Jude followed suit. I’d learned my lesson and did the same.
James cranked up the chainsaw he brought, the loud zipping noise cutting through the otherwise quiet space. He set it against the trunk of the tree, a line forming immediately.
James sawed the tree into three pieces, being careful not to get too close to the basketball court. After those pieces were cut, he turned off the chainsaw and set it on the ground.
“Let’s get these off the court and I’ll cut them up smaller. I don’t want to risk damaging the court.”
Derek moved to help, grabbing one end of the biggest section. Jude stood by, watching them, and grabbed one end of the smallest piece.
“I’ll help, Jude,” I said, walking to him and knowing it was going to be a challenge for us to lift the large log.
We tried, getting absolutely nowhere.
James and Derek came back and carried off the second piece.
“What if we roll it?” I suggested, noting there weren’t a lot of branches sticking out from the piece we were trying to move.
“Let’s try it,” Jude said.
We got on one side and pushed. The log didn’t move right away, but after a few seconds, it did. Jude and I grinned at each other and pushed harder, getting the log to roll right off the court and next to the other pieces.
“Have you seen the court?” Derek asked from behind us.
I stood and shook my head, anxious about what I would find.
“It looks good,” James said, walking around the surface. “Could stand to be sealed and definitely needs to be cleaned up around the edges, but it’s a lot better than I expected.”
“I agree,” Derek said. “I have a service contract with a local crew that does paving and sealing. I can reach out and see if they can do this, if you’re interested.”
“It’s on my very long list. I need someone to do the driveway and parking lot.”
“I’ll give them a call and have them get in touch with you. I know you’re on a budget, so I’ll ask if they can do it for cost.”
“You don’t have to do that,” I argued.
“Yeah, he does,” James said. “Because you are on a budget. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
I drew a breath and nodded. I needed to get that through my head. I grew up not asking for handouts. There were times when it might have helped, but my parents always said there were families worse off than us. And they weren’t wrong. I never went without meals like so many kids at MacKellar Cove Elementary did. I always had my parents around, and they made sure I knew how much they loved me.
It was a point of pride for me. But it wasn’t about my pride anymore. It was about the kids I was helping to serve. If I refused help from others, I was going to have to accept that I couldn’t do as much for the kids as I wanted.
And I wasn’t willing to do that.
“Thank you,” I said to Derek. “That would be really helpful.”
“You’re welcome,” Derek said.
James nodded, as though he understood how hard that had been for me, then he put his safety glasses and earplugs back on and went back to work cutting the tree into pieces.