25. Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Five
Justin
The next morning, I woke as the sun was peeking over the horizon, a shaft of light slicing through the small break in the curtains we’d forgotten to close all the way the previous night. I felt next to me and found the bed empty, though the sheet was still warm. “Clay?”
He opened the bathroom door and stepped out in his boxer-briefs. “Good morning, sunshine. How are ya?” He walked over to the bed with a glass of water and two capsules in his hands, holding them out.
“What are these?” I popped the pills in my mouth and took a swig of water.
“You shoulda waited for me to tell ya what they were before you took ’em, darlin’.
They’re ibuprofen. I thought you might be a little sore this morning and they’ll help if you are.
You wanna take a shower? If we were home, I’d run you a hot bath.
You’re new to sex, so you might be tender and I don’t want you to be miserable. ”
That man. God, he was perfect, regardless of what he’d said last night about us fighting and him disappointing me.
“Thank you, sweetheart. The salon opens at nine, so we have some time if you wanna—” I waggled my eyebrows.
“Yeah, uh, can we have a talk first?”
Uh-oh. That didn’t sound good. “Gimme one second. I’ll be right back.
” I hopped out of bed and went into the bathroom, closing the door to do my business.
God, I hoped he wasn’t going to tell me I was horrible at sex.
Those words from him would just about break my heart in two.
How does a guy come back from that humiliation?
After I brushed my teeth and washed my face, I went back into the bedroom, just now noticing I hadn’t put on my briefs. I grabbed my drawers and slid them on. If I was going to be dumped, I didn’t want my dick hanging out to witness it.
“What would you like to discuss?” I grabbed a pillow and put it over my lap like a security blanket. It smelled like Clay’s spicy, earthy aftershave. I wanted to hold it up to my nose and take in the scent while I could.
“Well, uh, what did you think of about last night?”
God, was I that bad at it?
I swallowed hard, trying to brace myself. “I liked it a lot, and I’m glad it was with you. What did you think?” Let’s quit dancing around the topic and rip off the bandage.
“I thought it was amazing and wonderful, and I hoped like hell you enjoyed it. If you weren’t exactly happy with bottoming, I want you to know that I’ll bottom all the time.
I enjoy it as much as topping, and I don’t want you to feel like just because your younger than me, I expect you to always bottom.
” His expression was sincere, so I tossed aside the pillow and reached for him.
“Thank you, Clay, but I can see us having a lot of enjoyable sex. I mean, if you want. If you don’t, then we can just be—”
“Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! You dumping me?” His eyes were as big as saucers.
“No. Not at all. I just thought maybe... Well, we love each other, but maybe you’re not ready to be exclusive yet.
I know you’re still getting over losing your fiancé, and I’d never put that pressure on you, Clay.
” My stomach was churning. I hoped to fuck those ibuprofens didn’t come up all over the bed.
Clay stood and paced a bit. “Okay. Let’s not say vague things, please. Say what you mean. I enjoyed making love to you very much last night. If you enjoyed it, then I’m happy to do it as much as you want, but I want you to make love to me sometimes too.
“Maybe I haven’t been clear about this, Justin, but I don’t just tell people I love them so I can get laid.
I want to plan a life with you. If we have to live in separate cities while you figure out your work situation, then I’ll be happy to travel to you as much as I can.
With fall and winter coming, I’ll come see you when I can, but it’ll be less in the spring and harvest seasons, plus I gotta take care of Mama, too.
I’m willing to do whatever we have to do to keep our connection. ”
My heart nearly pounded out of my chest. “Do you mean it? I’m sorry to sound na?ve, but like you said, let’s say what we mean.
I can tell you still love Hunter a lot. You and he were planning a life together, and for him to be taken from you, it’s tragic.
” The tears came unbidden, but the story was heartbreaking.
Clay moved closer to me, water glistening in his eyes as well.
“Baby, I do still love Hunter, and I always will. He was my first love, but he’s not my last. I mean it, Justin.
I’m in love with you, and if you can ever find it in you to move to the farm and maybe think about how to continue doing your job from there, I would be forever grateful. ”
Tears were gliding down his beautiful face, the same as mine. Never did I think I’d find a man who would want me the way it seemed Clay did, and I damn well didn’t want to let him get away.
“Yes, Clay. I want that too, and I want it with you. We can figure things out together.”
He kissed me and pulled me on top of him as we held each other tight. From one moment to the next, Clay was committing himself to us. To me. For the first time in my life, a man wanted to be with me in a romantic relationship. I couldn’t stop smiling.
Clay and I walked down the street to Tavola della Colazione. I’d found out on the internet that it was near Beauty Bar, so we went to The Breakfast Table, as the server translated for us, and I had the best damn Italian Bread French toast in my life.
Belinda, our server, told me the chef made her own Italian bread that was all the difference between other restaurants’ French toast. It was absolutely amazing, and the mixed berry compote made with Limoncello and mascarpone on top was unbelievable.
I felt lighter than I had in a while because Clay and I had cleared the air. I was sure we were on the brink of something great, but we had to get through this last part—the Ramon Blanco part—which could be tricky.
“So, how do you think I should approach whoever is at the salon?” I needed not to get nervous. My stuttering wouldn’t help anything.
Clay turned to stare at me as he put his arm around my waist and kissed my temple.
“Go with the book angle. Tell them you’ve been researching organized crime in the Midwest since prohibition.
Say you’ve traveled all over the middle of the country and talked to people who have knowledge of the history, and you’d like to include information about the St. Louis connections to other organized crime families in your book.
“Don’t use your real name or Teddy’s name.
Come up with a new name—you have brown hair, so pick an Italian name.
That might buy you some sway with her. Tell them I’m a cousin or something.
I don’t care, but don’t use the Danny name you told Nico in case he says we were the reason he was arrested last night. ”
I nodded. It made sense.
We arrived a couple minutes before nine, so we stood outside and waited. “After this, Let’s go back to the farm. I need to talk to Steve to see what options I have regarding your portfolio.”
“Don’t you have other clients?” Clay asked.
I shook my head. “You’re my first client. I’ve been working with Steve to service his clients, and I haven’t picked up any others of my own.” My cheeks flushed. After two years, I should have been able to get more than one client of my own, shouldn’t I?
Clay smiled. “Well, we can fix that. I can void my engagement with Steve and just have you as my advisor. I’m pretty sure you can pick up some other clients in Sterling City.
You can help the other farmers figure out how to maximize their profits as you have me and Mama.
Hell, if I give her the go-ahead, she’ll have the word out on the gossip circuit tomorrow.
“But don’t do anything yet. I want you to take your time to figure it out, okay? Oh, a lady just came in through the back door. What’s your name? Quick.” Clay smirked at me.
“I’ll be Kevin Sorbo. He was a guy on TV. Uh, he played Hercules in the nineties. What’s your name?”
“Ah, movie star names? Uh, Heath Ledger. Why not? He was a blond, right?”
I laughed. “He was really good looking, but you win that contest, hands down. Good pick.”
Clay grinned. “Okay, Kevin, let’s get haircuts.”
We walked to the shop and Clay opened the door for me. I went inside to see a woman with big hair and a pink smock standing at the desk. “Hello. Do you have an appointment with Marcy? She’s running late because she had a family emergency, so can we reschedule?”
I wanted to laugh because things were playing out as I suspected. Clay’s hand on my back helped center me immediately. “Hi. Would you happen to be Mary Jane?”
She brightened. “As a matter of fact, I am. And you are?”
“I’m Kevin Sorbo. I met a guy at a bar who said you could fix this for me.” I reached up and moved my hand through my hair. “I have a big meeting this afternoon and I need to look my best. Is there anyway you can fit me in?”
She stepped around the front desk and looked at my hair. “Honey, it doesn’t look bad to me, but I can give you a quick trim.” She then turned to Clay. “And who are you?”
“I’m his assistant, Heath Ledger. Nice to meet you.”
I didn’t expect her to reach up and run her hands through his curly blond hair that I loved so much. “Oh, this, I can fix. Follow me, guys. I don’t have a client until eleven, but Marcy couldn’t be here to open so I came in early. Let’s get started.”
Mary Jane took me back to the shampoo room to wash my hair and after she regulated the water, she smiled down at me. “So, who sent you my way?”
“Uh, a really good-looking guy named, uh, Nico. He was funny as hell.” My life was being built on lies.
“Oh! That’s Marcy’s son. Nico is a gorgeous man and if he sent you...” She turned to look at Clay and then looked at me and tried to suppress a smile.
“Ah. Okay. So, uh, you and Heath are more than friends?”