Chapter 10 #2
I smiled then inhaled her scent. Bracing herself on my desk, she opened her legs wider, exposing her clit.
I moaned while sucking it into my mouth.
Her hands were buried in my hair, pressing my face further into her.
I happily accepted being this close to her.
She tasted so fucking good. I lapped her juices then moved lower, sticking my tongue inside her.
Her slow wine against my mouth had my dick rock hard.
I loved her soft moans and the possessive way she held my hair.
I gripped her ass, holding her in place as she came all over my mouth and face.
I’d wanted her for so long. My adoration for Robyn grew greatly over the last year.
Her ability to empathize with me and welcome vulnerability without judgement had me feeling a way about our relationship.
She was more than a friend, someone I valued deeply.
I knew she felt the same way, but wasn’t ready to admit it.
I understood her resistance and why she’d built a steel-clad wall around her heart.
Neither of us wanted the dregs of our past relationships to ruin what we shared.
I could only hope she’d see that wasn’t the case through my actions.
Her coming here and asking for this showed me that she’d begun to reconcile her feelings for me.
“Nadiiiir,” she mewled when I slipped two fingers between her folds.
Fuck, she was so wet now. I stroked her, matching the cadence of my tongue as it swiped her clit.
“Don’t stop,” she begged, jolting her hips while digging her nails into my scalp.
I groaned at the feeling of her arousal covering my mouth again.
Robyn let out a sigh of pleasure when I finally released her from my hold.
I reached for the tissue on the corner of my desk to clean her.
When I was done, I stood and wiped my mouth with a tissue.
Robyn’s eyes were low; fire danced wildly in them.
Seconds later, her mouth was on mine, kissing away the remnants of her left behind.
My phone vibrated in my pocket, but I ignored it, cupping Robyn’s cheek as our tongues met.
She reached into my pocket, retrieved my phone, and pressed it against my chest. I groaned when her lips parted from mine. Taking my phone from her, I sighed.
“You have your key?” I asked while moving to answer the call.
She nodded while pushing her dress over her hips. “I do.”
After seeing it was Mel, I called him back. “Everything okay at the door?”
“Yeah. Remember the band from the Springville Festival?”
“Yeah, wassup?” My patience was thin and time was precious. My gaze met Robyn’s briefly. “They came through?”
“Yup. You got a second to talk to them?”
I nodded. “I’ll be up there in a minute.” Robyn moved from my grasp with furrowed eyebrows. “I’ll be home in an hour,” I told her after the call ended.
Robyn smirked. “An hour? You never leave work that soon after closing.”
“I do when I have a reason to,” I replied as my gaze skirted over her. “You think I’m going to keep your pretty ass waiting?”
She sauntered past me. Before opening the door, she turned to me to say, “I hope you don’t keep me waiting long.”
“I won’t.” This spontaneous moment with her was just what I needed after the day I had. Knowing I was ending it with her made me want to call it a night earlier than planned. That was just what I did after meeting the bandLover’s Rock.
As I walked into Woody’s, the conversation I had with my mom about Roseville’s revitalization came to mind.
Like many businesses on Main Street, Woody’s was a family-owned business and benefited from the town’s first revitalization project in the late nineties.
Woodrow “Woody” Blackstone was my father’s mentor and family friend.
His antique furniture shop was a pillar in the community.
He passed away a few months back, shaking the community to its core.
Marquis was especially affected by his passing. For the past seven years, he shadowed Mr. Woody, learning everything about the business. Their bond was mutually beneficial as Mr. Woody’s children went to college out of state, leaving behind him and the shop.
After his passing, many people assumed his children would close the antique furniture shop and sell the building, like so many had done before.
However, they decided to keep the store open with Marquis as the shop’s manager.
Marquis created custom pieces while Mr. Woody’s children sourced antique pieces for him to restore and sell.
Since Summer and Ryder asked me to be the godfather to their son, I’d been thinking of a meaningful piece to contribute to the nursery.
Growing up, Summer loved to read. We spent hours at the library with Samera looking through books.
I knew once she had the baby; she’d read to him nightly.
I hit up Marquis to see if he could build a bookcase for the nursery.
He told me to stop by the shop to approve the mockup of my idea.
“Wassup, man,” he said from behind the counter, dusting off his navy apron. Beside him was a young woman also wearing an apron. “This is Janet, Woodrow’s niece and the newest member of Woody's team.”
“Nice to meet you, Janet.”
“You too,” she replied with a smile.
“I just finished the sketch. Follow me to the back.”
Marquis took me to their workroom where his desk was in the corner.
The room smelled like a mix of burnt wood and paint fumes.
Specks of sawdust floated in the air. Industrial sized fans oscillated in two corners and the windows were open, allowing fresh air inside.
I turned my attention to Marquis who was touching up the drawing and erasing stray marks.
He rotated the paper toward me then tucked the pencil he used behind his ear.
“What you think?”
“You really sketched this in an hour?” I was blown away by the drawing.
His eyebrows wrinkled. “Yeah. The shading took a little longer than expected.”
He’d used a marker on the sides of the bookcase, indicating the color stain we discussed. The molding around the top was far better than I described over the phone.
“I told you that you have full creative control. As long as it's gray with six shelves, I’m good.”
Marquis chuckled while turning to grab several blocks of wood.
“I was thinking we could use the red oak plywood,” he said, facing me.
Holding up his left hand, he indicated that it was the red oak plywood.
I took a block, noting its weight and color.
After a few seconds of silence, Marquis continued, “It’s on the high end of your budget, but it’s a good cut of wood and it stains the best. The other options are pine and birch.
I won’t even waste your time talking about the pine.
Birch is another good option, but red oak is the best.”
“Let’s go with the red oak.”
He dropped a stack of the samples on the ground.
“Smart man. Here’s how they stain.”
Arranging them lightest to darkest, Marquis spread the samples for me to view. I browsed the small pieces of wood, deciding which stain would match the theme of the nursery. All were variations of gray with some more opaque than others. I picked up the third block and nodded.
“This one will complement the walls best,” I noted. Shiloh had been able to get me a swatch of the paint without Summer noticing. The chosen stain would pair well with the dark gray walls.
“I agree with you. Shiloh showed me the Pinterest board she and Summer created. It’s a lot of whites, grays, and browns.” I chuckled, knowing Shiloh had given him an earful about the nursery.
“Shiloh has been all in with Sunny and the baby,” I pointed out.
Marquis nodded, then moved to put the samples away. “Yeah, since Shi moved out here, she and Sunny have been attached at the hip. The timing of our engagements and the baby helped them grow closer. Oh, and us moving to the same neighborhood as Sunny and Ryder.”
The neighborhood he was referring to was Harmony on Main, the place I’d toured with Vanessa.
There was a three-bedroom townhouse we were interested in one block from Winston Court, the street they lived on.
We went to an open house and even discussed putting in an offer.
After she left, I moved into an apartment closer to Ray’s.
“Yeah, that’s a prime location,” I said moments later. “I looked at a spot out there but it didn’t work out. I live in the new condos off Main Street.”
“The View, right? Janet wanted to move there, but there weren’t any studios available. She moved into the spot upstairs for the time being. I told her it would be a great way to save money since the utilities and rent are included in Woody’s monthly expenses.”
“That’s a sweet deal. Something I wish I had when I moved back.”
Marquis hummed. “The only reason I moved was because Shiloh wanted a house. And I can’t say no to my wife.”
The pride in his voice was admirable. I checked the time on my watch. “I gotta get out of here, but before I go, when can you have this ready for me?” I motioned at the sketch.
Marquis eyed the paper with wrinkled eyebrows. “Definitely before the baby shower. It should take about six weeks. If I can finish training Janet by next week, it could be sooner.”
He grabbed the pencil from behind his ear to write notes around the sketch.
“That’s a bet. Send me an invoice for the deposit when you can.”
“Aight, man. I’ll see you later at Ray’s.”
“Nah, not tonight. I have a quick trip I need to make. We’ll talk when I get back.” I started backing toward the door. “’Preciate you for doing this for me.”
He saluted in response, then went back to writing notes. On my way out, I nodded at Janet who was rearranging furniture in the front window. An hour later, I was in the car headed to the airport.