Fallen for You (9 page)

“Do you love to take baths as well?” she asked.

“Not particularly.”

“Then why are you buying the bath salts?”

“They’re for when you come over. I thought that you might find my bathtub appealing. It’s big enough for two.”

“Oh, I see. So you’re expecting me to come to your place and take a bath?”

Neil gripped her around the waist and pulled her into his body. He whispered into her ear, “Being a lawyer, I fully intend to convince you to come to my place. Taking a bath would just be an added bonus. Don’t forget that I always get my way, my beauty.”

His body pressed against hers, along with his words, was practically her undoing. Words failed her. She wanted to go home with him right then and investigate way more than his bathtub. Her mind surrendered to thoughts of being naked with him in his bed. The image of him licking, sucking, and biting various parts of her body made her let out another soft moan that she knew he heard. So much for being coy.

The sales girl interrupted by asking if they wanted anything else. She looked flush from watching them. Neil took his wallet out of his pants pocket without letting Kate go and gave his credit card to the clerk. She tried to pull away to get her wallet out of her purse, but he wouldn’t let go of her.

“I’ve got it. It’s on me,” he said against her hair. “Did you want anything else?”

“Just… a… you… I mean, no. That’s… that’s it.” Her breathing had become ragged. He let go of her as the sales lady handed him their bags.

He carried their bags out of the store. He looked at his watch. “Unfortunately, I have to get back to work. I really enjoyed our lunch today,” he said while tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “Where are you parked?”

“I’m parked right in front of the restaurant.”

They walked in the direction of her car. After she unlocked the door, he put her bag on the back seat and shut the door. She hadn’t opened her door yet. Part of her wanted to launch herself at him, the other part wanted to make him wait to kiss her. She decided that making him wait a little longer would be good for him.

“Thank you so much for lunch and the bath salts. I had a lovely time,” she said as she opened her car door, using it as a barrier between them.

Neil smiled like he knew what she was doing. She could tell by his expression that he appreciated the challenge.

“You’re most welcome, my beauty. I’m looking forward to our dinner tomorrow night. We’ll have to make sure we save room for dessert,” he said, raising an eyebrow. Kate had a feeling that she wouldn’t need a fork for the kind of dessert that he was talking about.

Chapter 8

Kate ran errands after her lunch date with Neil. She finally got home around 5 o’clock. Climbing the stairs made her heart rate quicken after her interaction with Roger last night and earlier that day. Reaching the top of the landing, she decided she was too tired and not in the mood to socialize. Thankfully, Roger wasn’t the one who greeted her. Instead, it was his girlfriend. She was a pretty, petite, Asian woman with shoulder length black hair. Her smile was gracious, warm, and inviting.

“Hi, I’m Rose,” she said with her hand outreached. “You must be one of Roger’s new neighbors.”

“Yes, my roommate Charlie and I moved in a couple of weeks ago. I’m Kate. It’s great to meet you. Roger has told me all about you,” she said, a sense of relief flooding her body now that Rose was real. Things were less complicated for her with Roger having a girlfriend. Maybe his strange behavior was just overprotectiveness. Maybe he viewed her like little sister.

“I’m here all the time. I hope that we can get to know each other and become friends. It would be fun to have a girlfriend in the building to hang out with,” Rose said.

“I would really like that. I was going to make myself some green tea. Would you like to come in and have a cup?” Kate asked. She thought it would be nice to talk with Rose for a little while until Charlie got home from work.

“Tea sounds perfect.” Rose turned toward Roger’s apartment and yelled to him, “Roger, I’m going to Kate’s apartment to have tea. I’ll be back in a little while.” The two women entered Kate’s apartment and shut the door.

***

Roger began to pace the floors while Rose was gone. It wasn’t part of his plan for her to get cozy with Kate. When he and Rose broke up, he wanted Kate on his side. He wanted Kate to console him, make him feel better. It would be the perfect way to get her into his bed. That wouldn’t happen if she thought he was a jerk for breaking up with Rose. That complicated everything. But it was inevitable that they were going to meet at some point. Rose practically lived with him. How was he going to get Kate’s sympathies?
Women always stick together. Things would have to end in a way that Kate didn’t have access to talk to Rose again. Then he could tell Kate that Rose dumped him, perhaps leaving him for someone else. Rose would have to be somehow silenced or completely unavailable to Kate. He was going to have to run interference between them so that they weren’t alone together again.

When Rose returned to Roger’s apartment, he pelted her with questions.

“So what did you two talk about?”

Rose wrapped her arms around Roger’s waist. “I told Kate all about how we met. The whole romantic story of being set up on a blind date by your best friend Rick.”

“Yeah, that’s a great story,” he said, tucking her hair behind her ears. “So did Kate have any stories to share?”

“It’s really exciting. Kate hasn’t had a boyfriend for a long time. Years, I think. But she’s recently met two new guys who both seem interested in her.

“Oh, really? That is exciting. She’s an attractive girl so I am sure that she doesn’t have any trouble getting men to notice her.”

“Well, I think that she is a nice young woman. If neither of her two new beaus work out, I think that we should find someone for her.”

“I like that idea. Do you have anyone in mind that you think would be well-suited for her?”

“Not yet, but I’m going to work on it. Rose looked at Roger with a gleam in her eyes. She loved being a match maker.

“I’m going to take a shower,” he said. “I need to get cleaned up and then we can get some dinner before we go to the club.” He gave Rose a kiss on the lips and let go of her.

***

While Roger was trying to come up with a plan to get rid of Rose, she was trying to take their relationship to the next level. She would start spending an extra night here and there at his place and eventually she would move in with him. She already had many personal items at his place and he had let her have space in the closet in the second bedroom. Once they were living together, she would start suggesting that they get a house together. That would pave the way to marriage. If only he didn’t feel so uncomfortable with her children. But her parents would raise her children if she asked. They already did so much for the girls as it was. He rarely saw her daughters and she didn’t want to push them on him. She wanted him to decide that he wanted to be their stepdad. He was such a wonderful father to Jacob. But, so far, he had shown no interest in having her daughters in his life.

Her plan was in place. To ensure it came to fruition, she had stopped taking her birth control pills over a month ago. Getting pregnant would seal the deal. She was confident that Roger would marry her if she was carrying his child. She would play it out for the next few months. He would never know. He would just think it was an accident like Jacob. It was almost the middle of September. She should be pregnant in no time at all. She had gotten pregnant easily with both of her daughters. There was no reason to think it would be any different now.

***

Roger needed a shower to reflect. As the hot water glided over his muscular body, his mind worked overtime. How had Kate gone from no boyfriend to two possibilities in such a short time? Well, he knew how. She was incredibly gorgeous and every guy she encountered probably wanted to get in her pants. The only reason that she didn’t have a boyfriend up until now was that she didn’t want one. He was going to have to act fast if he didn’t want any competition. But getting rid of someone takes careful preparation. He had to devise a “to do” list and get prepared. He needed to keep his face in front of her, so he would be on her mind.

Suddenly, the shower door opened, startling him a little. Rose stood there before him, wearing only a smile. She stepped into the shower and began kissing his chiseled chest. She slipped her hand around his shaft and began stroking. Roger closed his eyes as sensations flooded his body. He had visions of Kate. He wanted her hands around him, her mouth devouring his, her juicy breasts pressed against him. He was quickly aroused by these thoughts. He lifted Rose up and she wrapped her legs around him. He pushed her against the shower wall. He found her clit and began to tantalize it with his finger. He slipped a finger inside her to find her already in his favorite state of being-drenching wet. He began slipping his hard cock in and out of her. He kept invading her mouth with his because he didn’t want to look at Rose. In his mind, he was fucking Kate. He increased his speed and force. She let out a moan and came all around him. He could feel her pulsing and squeezing him. Within seconds, he was unloading his juice into her and making a guttural sound. He opened his eyes to find Rose wrapped around him. Disappointment struck his heart. Soon, Kate would be riding him. He felt it deep in his bones.

“That was great,” she whispered in his ear.

“It’s always great with you, Rose,” he said, forcing a grin. He now knew what he had to do. He gently placed Rose’s feet on the shower floor. They both had a plan. But only one of their plans was going to be executed.

Chapter 9

It was 6 p.m. when Charlie walked through the door utterly exhausted from a long day. She took her heels off as soon as she closed the door. The aroma of dinner wafted through the air, drawing her toward the kitchen. She put her purse and keys on the sofa back table and joined her roommate. Kate was so glad to see her. She needed to talk about Mark and Neil. She was making her famous chicken stir fry and brown rice. Well, it was one of the few things she knew how to cook.

“Hey, how was your day?” Kate asked, knowing it couldn’t be anywhere near as exciting as hers had been.

Charlie opened the refrigerator and took out a bottle of Moscato. “It was long and tedious,” she said, taking two wine glasses out and holding them up to Kate.

Kate nodded.

“Our meeting this morning was three hours,” Charlie continued. “I thought at one point I was going to nod off, it was so boring. But, being in HR, I need to stay upbeat and keep the troops rallied.”

Charlie poured the wine and handed a glass to Kate. “It looks like we are going to be doing some layoffs,” Charlie added after taking a long drink. She savored the wine for a moment. The sweet taste was just what she needed.

“Oh, that’s too bad. Is your job in jeopardy?”

“Not that I am aware of, but you never know. I just hate to see hard-working people lose their jobs, but the company is not making as much money as it used to.”

“That seems to be most companies nowadays,” she commented, adding some salt to the stir fry.

Charlie nodded. “Enough about the doom and gloom of my day. How was your lunch date with Neil?” Charlie asked, hoping for the best as she took another sip of wine.

“It was so amazing. We had a wonderful time together at lunch. He held my hand and was very attentive. We talked for a long time and went for a walk along the bay. He even came to Sinfulicous with me to buy bath products. It was so much fun to be with him. I really like him. He is undoubtedly the sexiest guy I’ve ever gone out with. I’m really looking forward to seeing him tomorrow night. But he wasn’t the only interesting part of my day.”

“What do you mean?” Charlie asked tilting her head.

“Well, Mark, that super-hot guy at SDSU, bought me coffee and walked me to my car after class. He was very adamant about his intentions of wanting to get to know me. He came right out and said that he was interested in me. I gave him my phone number. He even tried to kiss me, but I gave him my cheek just like with Neil last night.”

“Wow, you have gone from no guys to two guys in like a nano-second! You’re smoking hot,” Charlie said. She touched Kate with one finger and made a sizzling sound. Both women giggled like school girls.

“Well, right now Neil is in the lead. He’s smart, successful, confident—a real man. Mark still has a harem following him around. Part of me feels like he is a player and I am the next piece in his game. It was just exciting to realize that he is attracted to me.”

“Take your time. It’s not like you have to be exclusive with either of them. You know in your heart what is right for you. But I think that Neil sounds like just what the doctor ordered. I am so happy that you are interested in men again. I was really worried about you, but I didn’t want to push you too hard. I know that everyone heals in their own time. It looks like you are ready to live again,” Charlie said, a loving smile on her face.

Kate’s eyes filled with tears. But they weren’t tears from pain and sorrow for a refreshing change. They were tears of happiness. “Charlie, I am so happy. It has been so long since I felt hopeful and happy. Thank you so much for all of your support over the last couple of years. I don’t know what I would have done without you,” Kate choked out, hugging her best friend. She held Charlie tight. Charlie had been her lifeline when everything seemed to go dark and jagged. She was a ray of light that Kate had held onto. Charlie kept her sane when everything else seemed to be crazy.

Charlie hugged Kate back. “I will always be here for you. You are my best friend. I just want you to be happy.”

“After we eat, we’re going to have to pick out an enticing outfit for your date with Neil tomorrow night,” Charlie said raising her eyebrows up and down again suggestively.

“Oh, Charlie, I’m just going on a third date with Neil. I didn’t say I was ready to have sex with him. You know that I have only been with one person,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. She was madly in love with that one person and thought she would be with him forever. But that wasn’t what fate had in store for her. He was gone and she would never see him again.

“I know,” Charlie said, resting her hand on Kate’s arm. “But you’re going to have sex eventually. You’ve made it pretty clear that you are attracted to both Neil and Mark. I’m not saying that you should sleep with Neil on your third date, but chances are if you go out with him for any length of time, you’re going to.”

Charlie had a good point. When Neil fed her the cheesecake last night it wasn’t just the cheesecake that was creamy. The memory of it made her insides a gooey mess. He was so damn sexy.

“You’re right, Charlie. I am going to have sex at some point and, honestly, I’m finding Neil to be irresistible. When he looks at me with such intensity and longing I just want to rip his clothes off.”

“I know what you mean. Mitch has the same effect on me.”

“Well, dinner is ready. Let’s eat.”

They each dished up their food and sat down at the table. Charlie refilled their wine glasses and raised her glass to make a toast. “Here’s to great friends, great food, and great sex. May you have some of the latter very soon.”

They clinked their glasses together and each took a sip.

“Since I’ve been out of the dating world for a while, what is the acceptable time to wait? Do guys really expect sex within the first couple of dates?” Kate asked, looking mildly perplexed.

“Well, that’s going to depend on you. You shouldn’t do anything that makes you uncomfortable. Take your time and don’t rush things. Sometimes it’s good to make the guy wait.”

“Sounds like good advice, but I am so incredibly attracted to Neil that I’m afraid if I start kissing him, I won’t be able to stop. I had a dream about him last night.”

“A sex dream?”

“Yes, it was sexy and it had quite an effect on me.”

Charlie laughed. “I’m thinking that you might just want to dive in head first and have some earth-shattering sex with Neil. I know you waited a long time to do it with David, but you were kids. Now you’re a woman.”

“Well, we’ll see what happens tomorrow night.”