Chef's Delight (Stories of Serendipity) (17 page)

BOOK: Chef's Delight (Stories of Serendipity)
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She finally had the strength to move out of his way, and followed him into the kitchen, where he nervously set the table and pulled out dinner.  “It’s a quiche.”  He said in explanation.  “Nothing major, but it’s not Hungry Man.”  He said with a smile.

She shrugged and sat down, letting him serve her.  She looked at the food, which really did look good, not that she had any appetite.  Looking back up at Connor, she felt impatience tugging at her.

“Talk.”

His nervous movements stopped, and he dropped into the chair across the table from her.  “When I was twenty-four, I was an investment broker, making a six-figure income, living large.  I partied a lot, and did some things I’m not proud of.”  He paused to take a bite and chew slowly before swallowing, as if buying himself some time.  Jessie continued to stare at him, her arms crossed.

“One night, I met a girl at a bar, and took her home with me.  We spent the weekend drinking, doing cocaine, and having sex.”  He raked his hand through his hair, and looked at her with shame in his eyes.  “This is really hard.  I’m not proud of the stuff I did then.”  Jessie wasn’t giving an inch.  She didn’t say a word, just watched him, quietly.

Connor sighed.  “Okay…So we exchanged numbers, but neither of us called.  Until a month, six weeks later, she called me to tell me she was pregnant.”  Connor looked at Jessie.  “I didn’t even know her last name.  But some part of me was ready to settle down, and getting a girl pregnant seemed like the right time.  As misguided as it was, I thought I was doing the right thing, so I married her.  We spent the next eight months spending all of my money.  We bought a house, two new cars, furniture, baby things…And we went out.  A lot.  We went to all the nicest restaurants.  I spared no expense.  I made plenty of money, and she enjoyed the lifestyle.” 

Connor stood, and went to the kitchen window, looking out at Jessie’s herb garden.  “When she had the baby, I thought everything was perfect.  We didn’t love each other, but I thought we liked each other enough to build a family.  And I loved Madeline.  She became my life.  The first time I saw her, I knew I was a goner.  She was so tiny, so perfect.  And a part of me had gone into her.  It was magical.”

His fingers ran through his hair, in an aggravated gesture.  “Anyway, me and Brandy started fighting.  I mean, we had always fought, but the fights started getting nasty.  She found a lover who had more money than I did, and she left me, taking Maddie.  It broke my heart.   By this time, I couldn’t care less about Brandy.  The divorce went through uncontested, and I gave her everything she asked for, just to get her out of my life.”

Jessie watched him tell the story, a sinking feeling in her gut.  Why hadn’t he trusted her to tell him this stuff earlier?  She would have understood.  Everyone had demons in their past, and Brandy definitely seemed like a demon.  Despite her best efforts, her heart went out to him.

“When it became apparent the new guy wanted to marry Brandy and adopt Maddie, I fought with everything I had left.  Brandy’s lawyer took me for all of it.  He tied me up for years, not only taking my assets, but he made me out to be a complete monster.  I lost my job.  The courts think I am a drug-using, wife beating, womanizer.  She has managed to file so many grievances against me there is no way I’ll ever get to see my daughter again.” 

Connor shoved his hands deep in his pockets, apparently to keep from pulling his hair out.  He turned to Jessie, and the pain in his eyes tore a sizable chink in her ever-crumbling resolve. 

“For a while, I tried to get on with my life, dating other women.  But Brandy would always find out about them, and make up lies about them for the court system.  I don’t know how she got away with it, but she did.  She hired a private investigator to dig up any dirt on me he could.  Some Jason something guy."  He looked at Jessie, and she felt goosebumps rise on her arms at the recognition of the weird guy from the open house.  "Anyway, according to her, I’ve dated prostitutes, heroine addicts, and ex-cons.  If she can’t use them in court against me, she’ll just call them and tell them lies about me.  So I gave up on having any romantic interests. Maddie was more important to me than having a sex life, anyway.”

Connor plopped himself down in the chair next to Jessie, and reached for her hand.  Jessie didn’t resist.  She had missed the feel of his calloused hands wrapped around hers, and he obviously needed the comfort now.  Silent, she allowed him to grip her hand.

“That’s why I started the Facebook page.  Those are the only pictures I have of my daughter, and she’s twelve years old.”  He paused and took a deep breath.  “In six years, she’ll be eighteen, and hopefully will wonder about her real father.  I’ve managed to fight the adoption, so hopefully she’ll realize I’m out here, somewhere.  That’s why I started the restaurant, so I’ll have something she can be proud of.  I just want her to know me, and hopefully like me.  That’s always been the most important thing to me.”  His story ended on a pleading note, beseeching her to forgive him.

Connor stopped talking, and looked at Jessie.  She had watched him talk, her heart breaking for him, but she kept her face neutral. 

When he looked at her, she could see the grief in his eyes, and whatever part of her heart she was keeping icy for him melted. 

“Until I met you, Jessie.” 

He let go of her, and rested his head in his hands.  The absence of his warm grip told her what she needed to know more than his words did.  She missed him.

"She called me."  Jessie said, quietly, unsure why she was resisting the pull so badly. 

Connor's head jerked up, and his pained expression melted any tenacity she told herself she was holding onto.  She squeezed his hand.

"I told her to mind her own business."

He barked a laugh that sounded harsh to her ears, and kissed the palm of her hand, before laying it on the table to resume his speech, while tracing the lines on her palm. 

“I’ve never cared about anybody the way I care about you.  The morning after I tucked you in for that nap…The last time we talked, I had decided you needed to know all of it.  Luke is the only other person who knows the whole story.  My parents just thought I went through an early mid-life crisis.  They have no idea.  I’ve never told another woman, because I’ve never cared enough.”

“But I’ve missed you so much, Jessie.  I love you Jessie.  I don’t know how it happened, but it did.  I’ve fallen in love with you.”  He raised her hand to his lips again, as if he was replenishing a life-source with her flesh. 

Jessie sighed, succumbing to the sensations that his mouth on her flesh aroused in her.

Connor continued.  "I know that you think you're bad with relationships, but I think you're just afraid to get hurt.  I am, too.  That's human, Jessie.  I've decided to fight for you.  I'm not letting you go because you think I'm a bad father, a liar, or whatever…I'm here, and you're here, and we're here together.  We're together, and I'm fighting for that."

Jessie finally managed to speak.  "I was pissed, because I’d fallen for you, too.  Hard, Connor.  I fell hard.”  Jessie was pissed that he had let her think they could have a picture perfect relationship, helping each other, loving each other, and then his demon had shown up, and she couldn't deal with it.  She was having a hard time keeping the tears at bay.  She had spent the better part of two weeks holding them back, but here they were, falling at will.  “And it hurt.”

“Do you at least understand why I didn’t tell you about Maddie at first?”

“Yeah, I guess.”  She admitted, wiping her eyes with the back of her hands.  “I would have understood, you know?  I don’t have a heart of stone.” 

"You have every right to be pissed.  Be pissed.  Just don't shut me out, Jessie."  He stood and walked around the table, stopping in front of her.  “I'm going to hold you, now.”  She just looked at him.  “Stand.”

She knew she shouldn’t do it.  She knew as soon as he embraced her, she would be done for.  She knew as soon as she felt his hands on her, she would need him again.  Like she needed air.

Connor held out his massive hand, those tapered fingers reaching for her.  Reluctantly, she reached up and allowed his enormous hand to envelop hers.  He pulled Jessie up, and hauled her into a crushing hug.  His colossal arms wrapped around her, shrouding her in a security she hadn’t felt since the last time he held her.

Jessie inhaled his scent, a mixture of herbs and man, a heady odor that sent her reeling.  She sighed into his chest, listening to his heart pound in her ear, feeling the rise and fall of his breathing.

She understood that here, in his arms, she was home.

Slowly, Jessie raised her head, afraid of her own overwhelming emotions.  She looked up into Connor’s cobalt blue eyes.  His hand came up and cupped her cheek, his thumb touching the streak left by her tears.  She tilted her head into his hand, feeling the warmth of his palm.  “I’m sorry, Connor.”  She whispered to him.

His eyes widened in disbelief.  “What on earth for?”

“For getting so angry at you.”

“You had every right to be angry.  I’m the one who is sorry.”

She shook her head.  “No.  I had a right to be a little angry, but I chose to stay angry, and not listen to you.  I didn’t even listen when Kathy tried to talk to me."  An inappropriate giggle erupted from deep in her chest.  "And Summer, and Alyssa."  Biting her lip, she looked up at Connor, again.  "I blew this way out of proportion, and I’m sorry.”  She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his body closer to hers.  “I missed you, too.”

His arms tightened around her, and they stood there, holding each other in silence, just enjoying the nearness of each other.

Finally, Connor’s husky voice broke the silence.  “Is your house haunted?”

Confused, Jessie responded, “No.”

“Are you expecting any company?”

“Um…no.  What--?”

Connor’s mouth covered hers in an instant, kissing her, his mouth filled with a sudden need to take what he’d been promised weeks ago.  His tongue swept across her lips, as if willing them to open.  Jessie grasped his intentions, and willingly complied.  She had missed his kisses, his desire.  She thrust her tongue against his, doing her best to express her longing for him.  Her arms tightened around his neck and his hands went to her backside, lifting her against him.  She could feel his erection through his jeans, and suddenly there was nothing on this planet that could stop her from having him, right now.

Impatient, she yanked his tee shirt over his head, and then stopped briefly to stare at his magnificent chest.  He grinned at her, then lowered his mouth to her lips again, devouring them.  Her hands went to his belt buckle, then the snap to his jeans.  When she got to the zipper, his hand covered hers, stilling them.

She sighed exasperatedly, “What now?  Are we really going to stop this?”

“Not a chance, sweetheart.  I just wanted to make sure…”

“Make sure of what?”  Jessie was impatient, and over all the talking.

“That you want to do this.”

“I want you Connor.  Right here.  Right now.  Now, if we’re finished with all the damn talking, I’d like to have you please.”

“Yes ma’am.”  He pulled her shirt over her head, and then unclasped her bra.  He spent a little time toying with her breasts, until she was gasping and panting, then he undid her shorts, pulling them to the floor along with her panties.

They stood there, looking at each other’s naked bodies for a moment before they were together again, kissing and nibbling, and gasping for breath.  Connor reached around and kneaded Jessie’s backside briefly before pulling her up against him again.  He turned and walked to the wall behind them, leaning her against it, and wrapping her legs around his waist. He paused at her entrance, looking at her expectantly.

“Please, Connor.”  She begged him.  When he entered her in one slow push, Jessie was overwhelmed at the feeling of fullness, the sensations of wholeness, The sense of oneness.  As Connor thrust in and out, in rapid strokes, gasping in her ear, Jessie felt herself quicken.  She could feel the waves building quickly, overwhelming her.  Connor thrust faster and harder, and Jessie grasped his shoulders, as she could do nothing else but succumb to the warm vibrations, which overtook her.  Shuddering convulsively, she let Connor raise her legs, still pinning her against the wall, until they were over his arms.  He was able to thrust deeper, and Jessie couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think.  She had never felt anything like this before, and she didn’t know how to respond. So she surrendered to it.

Each thrust brought her to unimaginable heights, and Jessie was unable to restrain herself.  Her gasps turned to moans, until at last her moans had turned to unintelligible words, then ragged screams.  Her fingers clenched so tightly on his shoulders she was sure she was leaving marks, but she couldn’t stop.  Not until she had crested the wave, and come crashing down. 

She felt the pulses of Connor’s climax as he groaned her name, and his hold on her weakened.  As she felt his grip fade, they both slid to the floor, in a puddle of spent desire, panting.

“Wow.”  Jessie breathed.

Connor tightened his grip, seemingly unable to speak. He kissed her, then.  A gentle, caressing kiss that grew in passion and intensity.  Connor gathered Jessie into his arms and picked her up, carrying her to the bedroom.

 

This time their lovemaking was slow, gentle, and not as urgent.  As much as Connor had fantasized about taking Jessie against a wall, he felt guilty for being so rough with her.  He honestly didn’t want her to think that was how sex with him would be all the time.  So he resolved to show her another side of his lovemaking abilities, rusty as they were.

BOOK: Chef's Delight (Stories of Serendipity)
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