Chapter 27
They walked hand in hand down the sidewalk to the restaurant Andrea liked to go to, though she hadn’t been there in a while.
Eating out wasn’t a luxury she gave into often, but after the lack of sleep and orgasms, she wasn’t feeling motivated to cook, and she still didn’t completely trust Michael’s cooking.
Knowing her luck, he’d try to sneak another fish into her scrambled eggs. She shuddered at the thought.
“You cold?” Michael asked as if he’d felt her shudder.
“No, I’m good.” She had never had somebody so attuned to her body before. Not just sexually—though that had been a bonus—but just giving her their undivided attention.
Michael released her hand and wrapped his arm around her, pressing their sides tightly together. It was sweet he wanted her close even as it terrified her with how much she was enjoying it. She hadn’t wanted to like Michael let alone start to fall for him.
Men in her past hadn’t cared much about her pleasure or her thoughts.
They were more focused on themselves than her.
Michael seemed genuinely interested in what she did and had to say.
And the sex. She felt her cheeks heat at the things the man did to her body. Things she didn’t even know she liked.
Who would have guessed she liked her ass slapped or a finger in there?
“What are you thinking about?” Michael leaned down and whispered.
Her cheeks turned crimson.
“Now I have to know.”
“What we did earlier,” she whispered, not wanting people passing by to overhear. There was a small crowd of people for a Saturday morning, but they weren’t walking elbow to elbow crowded.
“Which part? My eating you out? Bringing you to multiple orgasms?”
“The other stuff,” she hissed and looked around to see if anyone had heard them talking. No one seemed to notice them.
Michael laughed loud and hard. “You mean the ass stuff. The spanking.”
“Yes, now will you keep your voice down.” She guided them into the restaurant, knowing the conversation would be closed now in such a crowded place. “Table for two, please.”
Andrea had barely slid into the booth across from Michael before he spoke. “What were you thinking about it?”
“Can you just drop it?” She didn’t want to talk about it here.
“Did you not like what we did?” he asked, a furrow forming between his eyebrows.
“I did,” she assured him. “It’s all just…new,” she finished, not knowing how else to explain it. “Now can you please drop it?”
“Yes, we’ll drop it.”
“Thank you.”
They ordered their meal and two coffees. Michael drank his black where she added three sugar packets and four creams.
She took a hearty swallow, ignoring the burn and savoring the caffeine.
“So how was work last night?”
Andrea felt her ire start to rise thinking about last night.
It wasn’t the fact it had been busy. It always was on the weekends; that’s why she worked them.
It was good tip money. It wasn’t the grabby customers; she was used to them and knew how to handle them.
It was the three guys who’d showed up and cornered her, propositioning her.
“It was fine. Nothing exciting.”
“No grabby customers?”
Andrea strove to look casual. “There are always those, but I know how to handle them.”
“I’ve only been there the once. What kind of people come in?”
“What do you mean?”
“Bikers? College eds?”
“A mix of everything really.” There was no specific group that came in more than any other.
“Hey, what’s this?” Michael took her hand and held it up, revealing a small bruise around her wrist. Right where the guy had grabbed her last night. The bouncers were good about watching out for the women, so she hadn’t been that fearful. It was what the guys had said that worried her more.
“One of those grabby customers who didn’t like hearing no.” Andrea shrugged.
“You should learn some self-defense. Drop him to his knees. He’ll learn his lesson then.”
“Eh,” she shrugged again, “we have the bouncers for that.”
“What if they find you walking down the street?”
Andrea hadn’t had any problems in the years she had lived here. She wasn’t going to start worrying about it now. “I’ll think about it,” she said, hoping it would get him to drop the subject.
“Good.” He took a sip of his coffee. “Not that I’m complaining, but are you ever going to explain to me why you called me early this morning asking for my dick instead of sleeping?”
“Like I said, I couldn’t sleep.” Normally after a late night at work, she could sleep half the day away, but after a few short hours, she’d been up.
After hours of tossing and turning, she’d given up and thought of something relaxing, surprised it turned out to be Michael she thought of, and then she went from relaxing to horny.
She’d surprised even herself when she’d called him.
Hearing his sexy sleep-driven voice went straight to her core. She knew if anyone could help relax her, it was him, and damned if he hadn’t turned her into a puddle of mush.
She would have finally fallen asleep from sheer exhaustion if her stomach hadn’t grumbled, reminding her she hadn’t eaten much the day before but some pizza.
But Michael had done exactly what she had hoped. Made her forget about her confrontation with those men. That was until he’d asked about her night.
“So you called me for some early morning booty?”
“It beats a vibrator. You I don’t have to charge.”
“Nope.” He didn’t even look offended that she’d just basically told him she had used him.
Thankfully, she was saved from further explanation when their food was placed in front of them. The conversation turned light after that.
They headed back to the house afterward, holding hands as if they were a couple. Were they? They liked each other, but they’d never spoken of things going further than something physical.
It was far more than she had originally agreed to, though she couldn’t find it in herself to regret it. She enjoyed his company as much as sparring with him just for the sheer hell of it. Michael pulled up in front of her house. Andrea started to head for her door, but his words stalled her.
“What are you going to do the rest of the day?”
“Aren’t you coming in?” She had planned to finally take a nap and hoped he would snuggle with her. She felt safer and more relaxed when he was around.
“I wish I could, darling, but I have to drop in at the office and get some work done. But I’ll come by later if that’s okay?”
Andrea schooled her face so she didn’t show how disappointed she was. She didn’t want him hanging around the entire day anyway. Andrea had to remind herself she liked her quiet and privacy. No one liked a partner joined at their hip. “Sure. I’ll be around until ten when I have to go to work.”
“Okay, I’ll be back long before then.”
“Okay, see you later.”
“Do I get a kiss goodbye?” he pouted.
Andrea couldn’t deny him that. She leaned over and kissed him. It wasn’t a peck like an old married couple gave each other before the other went to work. This was deep and passionate. A little taste of what he was leaving.
She gripped both sides of his face as their tongues danced and dueled the old dance of time. He allowed her to control the kiss. He didn’t reach for her but allowed her to take her fill of him. Andrea finally pulled back, tugging his bottom lip between her lips and before releasing it.
Both of them were panting, and she could make out the hard outline of his cock in his shorts. “I’ll see you later,” she said, looking all innocent when she felt anything but.
“I’ll be back before you know it, and we’re going to finish this conversation.”
“Promises, promises,” she husked, then took a step back and waved him off.
She didn’t linger long enough to watch him disappear into his house.
She was beat. Her eyes were finally feeling heavy.
The distance from the curb to the front door seemed so far away, but she forged on.
In a few minutes, she’d be curled up in bed.
A rumpled bed that no doubt smelled of him and sex. That should help lull her to sleep.
“Morning, Andrea.”
Andrea stumbled to a stop before she made it to her porch steps. She wasn’t in the mood to deal with Maya and her probing questions this morning, but she didn’t want to be rude. “Morning, Maya,” Andrea greeted her with a bright smile.
Maya was in her yard with a sun hat on and kneeling in front of a bush with gloves and pruning shears. “Where is Michael off to?”
“He said he had some work to do at the office.”
“Oh, on a Saturday? That’s strange.”
Andrea shrugged. She hadn’t really thought about it. She was sure there were no off days for tech people. Computers didn’t care it was the weekend when they crashed.
“Honestly, I’m shocked to see you too. When you work those late hours, you’re not usually up until after noon.”
“Yeah, for some reason I was wired this morning and couldn’t sleep.” That was one way of phrasing it. It had been fear then horniness. Now she was back to being fearful. She was nervous about going back to work tonight and seeing those guys again.
She rubbed her wrist, remembering the pain and fear when he’d grabbed her. If it hadn’t been for Jonas, she didn’t know what would have happened, but he couldn’t always be there. Nor could Michael. Maybe it was just a fluke, and she was being paranoid. It wouldn’t be the first time.
“Does Michael’s visit last night have something to do with it?” Maya asked, rising to her feet and setting down her shears.
“Last night?” she squawked. Had Maya seen her sneaking out of his house to get ready for work? She hadn’t seen anyone, but she’d been more focused on getting into the house and ready so she wasn’t late.
Maya started making her way toward her. “Yeah, he stopped by your place, and I told him you were at work. He said he was going to stop by and have a drink.”
Why would Michael stop at her house when he knew for a fact she’d been at work? She thought she’d seen him at the bar. Even asked him about it but denied it; now Maya was telling her he had gone.
“Didn’t you see him?” Maya asked, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion as her head cocked to the side as if studying her.
“I didn’t. I was so busy, and the bar was crowded, maybe he left when he realized.”
It wasn’t a complete lie, but she wasn’t going to air her worries to Maya. Why would he come to her house when he knew she wasn’t there or go to her work? Or if he did go to her work, why wouldn’t he say hello?
Something was wrong. Why would Michael be at her house? Did he know? Her flight instincts were kicking in hard.
Andrea took a deep breath. She needed to think rationally instead of just reacting. Maybe Maya was confused and only thought she’d seen him, or Michael had forgotten. Maybe she’d melted his brain cells.
She needed to relax. Michael wasn’t sneaking through her house while she was gone or stalking her at work and playing it off by asking how her night was. She was being jumpy for no reason. Looking for problems to back out of their growing relationship.
“I’m pretty beat, Maya. I’m going to get some sleep.”
“Okay, bye.” Maya waved her off.
Andrea headed into her house, her happy glow already gone like a cloud of smoke.
Her fatigue was gone again too. Maybe she would get some cleaning done or catch up on some paperwork.
That would help lull her to sleep. When she saw Michael later, she’d tell him what Maya had said and see what his reaction was.
Andrea closed the door and latched it. She turned around and screamed because someone stood in the entry to the hall.