“That’s too bad,” she said, sliding her hands down to my knee and lightly massaging it. I winced in pain, but tried to hide it. She smiled up at me and massaged lighter.
“Sorry,” she said. “Your knee is going to be very sensitive for a long time.”
“Do you ever wish you could go back, Maisey?” I asked.
“Back where? To Ault?” she asked.
“Yeah. Back to those early days when we owned our lives, when we did whatever we wanted to do, with no responsibilities and nobody to answer to.”
“No, I don’t,” she said softly.
“I do. Everything was so simple then,” I replied.
“Was it?” she asked. “I don’t remember it being simple. I remember it being hard.”
“Well, you didn’t have the best family life, I remember.”
“I didn’t have a family life at all,” she replied.
“No, I guess not,” I said. I felt bad for bringing it up, because her eyes filled with the sadness I’d seen earlier. “But your life seems much better now. Is it?”
She smiled, her face lighting up with joy.
“I have a beautiful life now, yes.”
“Even without a man?” I teased.
“Yep, even without a man,” she said, laughing. “Not every woman needs a man in her life, you know.”
“No, but doesn’t it help?” I asked.
“Not always, no,” she replied, shaking her head and laughing. “Haven’t you heard of Ted Bundy?”
“Is that why you don’t date? You’re afraid of serial killers?”
“Not exactly,” she said, motioning for me to turn over. I flipped onto my stomach and she began rubbing the back of my thigh. Just like before, my cock rose to full attention. Shit. I’d have to turn over again eventually and I knew she’d see it again.
For fuck’s sake, I thought, my body reacts to her like I’m a fucking teenager again. I have no control over it when she’s around.
I let her work on me for a while without talking, her hands feeling like silk running over my skin, my cock aching and painful as I laid on top of it, trying desperately to ignore it in hopes that it wouldn’t embarrass me again.
Of course, my hoping got me nowhere. By the time she was finished I was so turned on I was ready to fucking explode.
“I need you to roll over,” Maisey said quietly.
“Maybe we can give it just a few minutes… My leg just started to ache again…” I replied, trying to keep my cool.
“That wasn’t a request,” Maisey responded, grabbing my side and pulling.
Common sense and modesty went right out the window. I let her roll me, my cock springing straight up in the air like a goddamned flagpole. Maisey’s cheeks went cherry red as she looked away.
“Sorry, I guess the back of my thighs is a sweet spot for me,” I replied.
“Again, that’s perfectly natural. No big deal,” she said.
“I’ve been told it’s a very big deal!”
“Ok, fine, it’s a big deal,” she said, laughing. The sound of her laughter was contagious and before long we were both laughing together. It felt amazing to finally laugh with her again. It felt like old times.
“Maisey, I’ve waited ten years to hear you laugh again,” I said quietly, reaching up and tangling a handful of her soft curls in my fingers. I gently pulled her head back, watching her eyes flutter.
Before I knew what I was doing, I sat up, put my hands on her cheeks and pulled her towards me, my laughing lips landing on hers. She was so warm, her lips even softer than I remembered them to be.
She melted in my hands, kissing me back with a tiny whimper.
My lips worked against hers, and I darted my tongue out, sliding between her lips to explore her sweet, delicious mouth. She moaned, kissing me back deeply. I groaned, a wildfire of desire burning through my body. I pulled her closer, kissing her harder, deeper.
Kissing her was just as amazing as I remembered, but so much better.
My cock throbbed painfully in my pants, my entire being buzzing with need for her, to taste her, to touch her, to feel her surrounding me completely. I’d waited so long to see her again, and tonight, I was going to make her scream my name.
“Jesse… Please,” she whispered, her mouth opening into a tiny little ‘o’ that only made me harder. I bent my head, my fingers still tangled in her hair as I kissed her again, harder this time, the heat between us was building to a near uncontrollable level.
She was fiercely kissing me back, but without warning her entire body suddenly stiffened against my embrace. She pulled back, her eyes flashing with anger as she slapped me hard across the face.
“Fuck!” I yelled, looking at her in shock.
Her hand flew up to her lips, and she looked just as shocked as I felt. Tears filled her eyes and she turned and ran to the front door, flinging it open and leaving me standing there alone with a stinging cheek and the most painful erection I’d ever had in my entire life.
MAISEY
I sat in my car in complete shock, tears streaming down my face, and my nipples hard as a rock beneath my bra. Talk about confusion. I was a hot mess.
What the fuck had just happened?
What the fuck happened to being professional?
What the fuck kind of weak, lonely, needy woman was I?
What the fuck was I going to do now? I’d messed everything up so badly that there was no way in hell it could be repaired…
I certainly couldn’t treat him now. I’d surely be fired. Even if Jesse didn’t report me for slapping him like a hysterical freak, then I’d still be fired for refusing to see him again.
Because I knew I couldn’t see him again. That much was clear. He was too cocky, too forward, too fucking full of himself. And I hated myself for not being able to resist him. How could I have kissed him like that?
God, it seemed like it went on forever, or like time stopped, or both at the same time, which is just absurd, I know. But he was making me so crazy that I couldn’t even think straight, let alone chronologically.
He turned my insides into a jumbled, melted, gooey mess of everything I hated. I wasn’t the kind of woman that let her feelings rule her life. No, I was the one who took charge of every situation. I was the one that rebuilt my life from scratch, allowing only the things I valued to be a part of it, and discarding the rest with a complete and utter disconnect from any guilt or uncertainty.
But that woman up there in Jesse’s penthouse? The one who’d opened her mouth and let him deep inside? She was not me! I didn’t even recognize her.
Or, maybe I did. But she was a little girl the last time I’d seen her, a
little naive eighteen year old girl desperate for attention and love. She’d thought she’d found it in Jesse’s arms, and maybe she had for a brief moment, but that wasn’t real. That didn’t last. That was so over and dead.
And so was that little girl.
I was a fucking woman now, a strong one, one that decides what path her life travels down. And Jesse fucking Colorado wasn’t a part of it. He’d never been a part of the plan.
Neither had Maddy, but that was a different story. Maddy was a gift. A beautiful blessing that I would never have turned away in a million years.
Maddy was what had turned that naive little girl into the woman I was today.
And Maddy was exactly the reason I needed to remember who I was. I couldn’t just revert back to some naive kid who didn’t know any better. I had someone counting on me…
I started up my car, the engine sputtering and coughing.
“Come on…” I prodded, begging the engine to turn over.
It took three tries before it finally started in a puff of black smoke that exploded from the muffler. I sighed, shaking my head and heading home.
I’d make some excuse up for Larry. Maybe I’d tell him I caught the flu.
I needed time alone. Away from work. Away from Jesse. Away from his damned sexy eyes and prying questions.
Away from that kiss.
Those hands that had felt so good caressing my face.
I shuddered with desire, my body completely at odds with my brain. I wanted Jesse. I wanted so much more than his kisses. It was undeniable how strongly my body reacted to his touch. It always had…
He was sexy and charming and funny in his own silly way, and so fucking gorgeous it almost hurt to look at him. He was everything I wanted in a man, if I allowed myself to actually want one in the first place. All he had to do was flash those clear blue eyes at me and I was breathless. If he was anyone else, I’d have given into him in a heartbeat.
But he wasn’t just anyone.
He was Jesse.