Confessions of an Alli Cat (16 page)

Memories from last night flood through me and weaken my knees.  And I have to agree. 

“You’re right. This pupil is ready for a rest.  Come on- I’ll show you to the media room.”

“I like the sound of that,” Colby answers as he pulls on his shirt.  He sounds tired. 

I show him the way and then run back upstairs to throw on a pair of sweats and a t-shirt.  Hey, don’t judge.  He told me to do what I would’ve done if he weren’t here. My plans definitely involved my favorite sweatpants.

And so, that is how our night begins.  With me in sweats curled up next to Colby under a warm blanket.  My media room is always chilly, so I always keep fuzzy blankets available and tonight, it certainly comes in handy.

We pop popcorn and share each other’s Chinese.  We then watch goofy old movies until Colby decides that I need to learn to make jello shots, because they are apparently delicious and a necessity in life.  So we run up to the kitchen and mix up a batch, leaving them in the fridge to set up while we watch another movie. 

After the stupidest and corniest horror movie in the history of the earth is finally over, we return to the kitchen to try our handiwork.

Colby hands me a cherry one, while he takes a lime. 

“Why did you have these little cups on hand, anyway?” he asks me as he pops the lid off. 

“Honestly, I don’t remember,” I tell him. “I think Sophie needed them for a fundraiser that she was doing for her cheerleading squad last year.”

“Well, here’s to cheerleading then,” Colby toasts with his little plastic cup.  And then he scoops the jello out with his tongue.  I do the same. 

I nod, processing the flavor. “I can barely taste the vodka,” I tell him. He nods back.

“That’s the point,” he says.  He hands me another.  “That’s why they go down so smoothly.”

We again scoop the jello out with our tongues.  I can’t help but watch Colby’s tongue.  I know personally that it is a very skilled tongue. But tonight, he is Colby. 
And things are different when he is Colby
, I remind myself. 
And I should probably be concerned that I’m spending my Saturday night hanging out with a young gigolo.

But apparently, jello shots have a way of sneaking up on you and changing the way you previously thought of something. 

Because as Colby and I laugh and joke, we manage to do several (as in ten) more jello shots each.  And then one of us (me) decides that we should do body-shots because I’ve never done one. 

“Seriously, I tell him.  “Can you show me how?  Because I think it’s a life skill that one ought to have.”

I’m drunk.  And I’m a big enough person to say that I’m drunk.

“I’m drunk,” I add.  “And that’s definitely a good time to learn to do a body shot.”

Colby looks at me, studying me.  He’s oh-so-handsome.  And it’s easy to forget, in this moment, that he is younger than me. And that I should only think of him this way when he’s Shade. Because damn, he’s sexy.  I take a deep breath. 

Colby smiles. “You’re right.  A body shot is a life skill that you should definitely master.  Come on- I’ll do one on you to demonstrate and then you can do one on me.  Do you have tequila?”

I nod, suddenly very fascinated by the prospect of this lesson. 

“Do you have salt and limes?”

Again, I nod as Colby searches through the kitchen.  As he does, I clean off the granite breakfast bar.  He turns around with all of the supplies that we need and finds me stripping down. 

He raises an eyebrow. 

“I don’t want to get tequila on my favorite sweats,” I shrug innocently.  Which of course doesn’t explain why I’m stripping off my panties and bra, too. 

I’m so going to hell. 

He laughs and helps me onto the bar.  I stretch my feet out and put my arms behind my head.  The granite is cold beneath me and I shiver.

“Want me to warm you up?” Colby asks, his gaze wicked.  He’s looking at me with a Shade-like stare and I shiver again.

Then nod. 

I’m shameless. 

I have no shame. 

I’m going to hell. 

I am chanting these things silently in my head. And when Colby strips off his shirt, I stop chanting.  I can’t help it.  The guy is gorgeous.  And distracting.

He shrugs. “I don’t want to get tequila on my favorite t-shirt.”

Warmth instantly floods my nether-region as he presses against my side.  His skin is warm and firm.

He cuts a lime wedge and places it between my teeth.  Then he shakes some salt around my breasts, concentrating quite a lot on my nipples.  And then he pours tequila into my navel.  I silently thank God that I am a very meticulous belly-button washer. 

My breakfast bar is the perfect height for this activity- I’m right in front of Colby’s chest.  He has easy access to every part of me that he needs. 

He bends and starts at my ankle, kissing and sucking and licking his way upward.  When he gets to my thigh, he pays special attention, suckling very intently. Chills run up my body and fire shoots into BB.  Because BB is a shameless hussy, she wants this even more than I do. And then he drags his tongue deliberately and teasingly over her.

My legs straighten out like boards as my heart starts to race.

He licks his way to my belly button, by-passing it and concentrating instead on my breasts.  He sucks every bit of salt off of each one, tantalizing me by licking, sucking and nipping at my nipples.  I am literally arching against him before he is done, but he holds me down. 

“You’ll spill your tequila,” he whispers into my ear. His breath is hot against my skin.

I grip the side of the breakfast bar.  I seriously do have amazing fortitude. Otherwise, I’d have abandoned this activity, leaped off this granite slap and straddled this man-boy on my kitchen floor.

But as it is, I remain still. 

With a lime wedge between my teeth. 

Colby makes his way down to my belly-button and as he does, his right hand finds BB. He laps at the tequila while his hand makes lazy circles around BB… and then he slides a finger into her. 

I almost come off of the table. 

Amazing fortitude,
I chant.

Amazing fucking fortitude.

Colby drinks every drop of tequila and then slides over me back up to my mouth.  His dark eyes meet mine and I am dying to feel his lips on my own… his full, luscious lips. 

Finally, finally, his lips touch mine as he takes the lime wedge without using his hands.  He sucks on it and then spits it to the side.  I know that my housekeeper is going to want a raise tomorrow. But I don’t care tonight. 

Tonight, I pull Colby’s face to mine and I inhale his kiss.  I kiss him so hard and so long that I can’t see straight.  I can’t think straight.  I am no longer bound by logic or reason or rules.  I don’t care what his name is right now, Colby or Shade or even Cat in the Freaking Hat.  I only want him inside of me. 

He slides me off of the bar and lays me on the floor. 

There is a brief rustle of foil and then I get my wish.

Chapter Fourteen

(Or: It’s all fun and games until you wake up naked)

We wake up in the light of day in my bed.  I don’t remember making it to the bedroom at any point and quite possibly, Colby carried me here. 

I lean up on my elbow and study him. He’s sleeping and he looks so young while he’s asleep.

Because he
is
young
, my mind reminds me devilishly. 
He’s almost young enough to be your kid.

No, he’s not!
  The other half of my brain argues. 
Not even close.
 

Great.

I sigh.  Now I’m arguing with myself. I’m pretty sure that’s a sign of insanity.  All I need to do now is start rocking in my seat and begin mumbling and Sophie can get me committed.

Sophie!

I glance at the clock and sigh a breath of relief.  It’s only 10:00 am.  She won’t be home for a few hours. 

“Good morning,” Colby says, stretching beside me. 

I look over at him again.  He’s adorably cute when he just wakes up. His hair is tousled and his eyes are glassy with sleep.

“I’m sorry,” I tell him. “Did I wake you?”

He shakes his head.  “Nope.  I’ve been awake.  I was just lying here with my eyes closed listening to you snore.”

“I don’t snore!” I protest with a giggle.  “I don’t.”

“Oh, you do,” he insists, leaning over to kiss me.  “But it’s cute.”

His kiss is soft and gentle.  And scary. 

We shouldn’t be kissing or naked right now in the light of day.  Or in bed together naked.  And kissing.  He’s Colby and I’m Allison.  He’s way younger than me.  And this isn’t cool.

I draw back. 

“Is everything alright?” his eyebrows knit together.  I shake my head. 

“I don’t know. We shouldn’t have done that. You’re Colby right now. And I’m Allison.  And this isn’t something we should be doing.”

Colby is still for a moment, then sits up. I have to ignore the way his abs flex when he moves if I want to continue any kind of cognitive thought. 

“You’re right,” he agrees.  “We got carried away. It happens.  It tends to happen a lot when body shots are involved,” he adds wryly.  He turns to me.

“But it’s not the end of the world, Alli.  It was a slip.  No big deal.  It was fun.  We’re friends.  And last night, we were friends with benefits.  Don’t freak out, okay?”

Don’t freak out.
  What a young thing to say.  I am reminded for the fourteenth time today already how young he is.  I nod. 

“Okay.”

Colby swings his leg over the side of the bed and stands up. I can’t help but look.  I’ve got amazing fortitude, but I’m not a freaking nun.  And then I wish I hadn’t looked.  He’s standing there in the sunlight in all of his twenty-two (or twenty three?) year old perfection and I immediately want him to come back to bed.  But I swallow hard and suppress that thought.

Get thee back to hell, Satan, where you belong!
  I silently chastise my thoughts. 

“Since I’m here now, though, do you want to take a shower with me?”  Colby asks impishly.  He turns and I see the full profile of his body now, semi-erect member and all.  Mother Nature at her finest.  I decide that she very probably is a woman, after all.  She made men like Colby as gifts to the female species.

I nod, against the will of my logical thoughts.  “Yes.”

He hauls me to my feet and drags me to my shower. 

Apparently, Satan didn’t get himself back into hell, like I demanded.  He controlled my thoughts in the shower instead, because Colby and I have sex in every conceivable position known to man in there... along with a few more that Satan invented on the fly. 

When the mirrors are all fogged and we are completely spent and finished, we stumble out into the cold air. 

“Well,” I sigh wryly. “I won’t need to go to Yoga this week.”

Colby laughs and towels off. 

“I like you, Alli. For real.  And not just because you pay me to.”

My heart stops.  I think.  His expression right now is so sweet, but this isn’t what I want. I can’t ‘date’ a twenty-something.  I can’t have a real relationship of any kind with him…not even a friends-with-benefits arrangement.  I look at him and he immediately sees it on my face and he backpedals. 

“I didn’t mean… I meant…”  He is stammering now and it’s the first time that I have seen him in any way other than cool and collected.  For once, he seems like the twenty-two (or twenty-three!) year old that he actually is.

“It’s okay,” I say, interrupting him.  “I don’t know where you were going with that, but it’s fine.  I’m just not ready for a relationship yet.  You’re amazing and awesome and I like you, too, though.”

“That’s what I meant to say,” he says and I can’t tell by his face if that is the truth or not. “I only meant to say that I like you.  That you’re awesome and I consider you my friend.”

I smile, warm rushing through me.

“I consider you my friend, too.  This is one idea that Sara had that was actually a good one.”

“So I was Sara’s idea?” Colby asks with a grin as he pulls on his clothes. 

I nod.  “Who else’s?”

He laughs.  “Good point.  That friend of yours is something else.”

“That she is,” I agree.  “She gets me into all kinds of trouble. But this particular trouble… well, I like it.  But I like it how it is now.  I don’t want it to change.”

Meaning, I’m not going to date a twenty-something kid. Even if he is sexy as hell and taught me how to bring a man to his knees in five minutes flat. 

He smiles at me. “Message received, Alli Cat.  We can be friends, though.  And you’re still my client, right?”

I nod.  “Of course.” 

Because I want to lick your body too much to cancel that
, I add silently. 

“Good,” he says. “Now, I’m gonna get going.  Do you want me to get you a coffee or something before I go?”

I shake my head.  “No, I’m getting up.”

He bends and kisses my forehead.  “Last night was fun.  Call and set up an appointment for next weekend, okay?” I nod again. 

And then he’s gone. 

And I’m alone in my room.

I throw on my robe and pad down to the kitchen to make some coffee.  I eye the damage.  There is salt sprinkled on the floor, my clothes are in the middle of the room and everything is cleared off the breakfast bar. 

I smile at the memory of last night. 

Well, no one can say that I’m not daring and fun. 

I sigh and start to clean up the carnage.

********

“You did what??” Sara is astonished and practically speechless, which is something that I feel compelled to mark on my calendar.  “You spent the night with him in your house?”

I nod.  “Yup.  And he was Colby, not Shade.  I’ve clearly blurred some sort of invisible boundary.  But I cleared it up with him.  It was a temporary slip. Things will go back to normal now.”

Sara eyes me doubtfully.  We are in the middle of the park again for lunch and so she has to keep her voice down or she will scare the little old folks who come here to feed the ducks.