Man at Work (9 page)

“
Baby, I’m an equal
opportunity lover.”

He moved to the other breast, feasting like
a starving man. Candace’s moans filled the air, begging him not to
stop. He was just getting started. He trailed kisses from her
breasts down her abdomen. He dropped to his knees and cupped her
buttocks. He faced the dark patch of hair between her legs. Candace
was all woman. No Brazilian wax for her. He loved a natural
woman.

Using one hand to gently part her pussy
lips, he licked slow, languid strokes with his tongue. When he
kissed the delicate nub of her clitoris, she gasped aloud. His
pride surged. This was his area of expertise. He knew how to bring
a woman to orgasm through oral sex.

He nudged her legs wider. His tongue darted
in and out of her delicate folds, licking, sucking, and kissing.
Her tangy taste filled his throat and nostrils. She dug her
fingernails into his shoulder blades, and he welcomed the
pleasurable pain. He grabbed her hips and increased his tempo,
plunging his tongue in and out to an erotic rhythm.

“
Yes! Yes!” she moaned,
cradling his head in her hands. “Don’t stop.”

He had no such plans. He was taking Candace
all the way to the edge tonight and dropping her over the cliff of
ecstasy. He would make sure she never forgot this moment. He
mercilessly licked her until her demands turned to begging. His
stroke became bolder, harder, faster, until she cried out and he
felt the tremor of her orgasm in his mouth. He waited for her to
float down from her cloud before he tenderly wiped his mouth on the
inside of her silky thigh. Then, he stood and swept her into his
arms and carried her to the wingback chair. He sat down and pulled
her onto his lap so that she straddled him.

He gave her a minute to get adjusted and
then pulled her onto his hard shaft, thrusting to the hilt. Her hot
pussy wrapped around his dick like a snug glove. He dug his fingers
into her hips as she rode him. She took charge, rocking back and
forth creating a slick trail of friction. Her breasts jiggled above
him, tempting him to lick the big, dark nipples—which he did. As
Candace increased the tempo, he rode the wave of pleasure with
her.

“
Fuck me, Gabe,” she
commanded. “Fuck me hard.”

Gabe complied, thrusting, pushing, and
penetrating her with his rock-hard erection. Their lovemaking
turned frantic, their bodies becoming a tangle of desperate groping
and urgent fondling. Sweat poured from him, mingling with the salty
ocean air and dripping down the bridge of his nose. Still, he
didn’t stop—couldn’t stop. He was lured by the powerful pull of
Candace and her slick wetness grinding against him. She threw her
head back and tensed. Her whole body stiffened and he knew she was
coming. He pumped harder and seconds later, a red-hot heat coursed
through his veins, seizing hold of him and snapping his control.
Spasms racked his body as an orgasm so fierce gripped him, he
growled like an animal against the hollow of Candace’s throat.

His eyes fluttered as Candace clung to him,
sagging against his sweaty torso. As his thundering heartbeat ebbed
and he returned to Planet Earth, he replayed the evening in his
mind. He’d never had such intensely powerful sex with any woman.
He’d dreamed about those long, brown legs for so long. Now, they
were wrapped around him. It was hard to believe. He shook his head.
What was it about her? Why was he so drawn to her?

He carried her to the massive bed and
dragged the coverlet atop their naked bodies. As their spooning
figures lay exhausted, Candace spoke. Her voice was barely a
whisper. “A nurse.”

“
What was that?” Gabe
asked.

“
You asked me what I
wanted to be when I was a little girl. I wanted to be a
nurse.”

“
I think you would have
made a terrific nurse.”

“
How can you
tell?”

“
You just gave me some
great sexual healing.”

She smacked her lips. “You and your jokes,
Mr. Hunt.”

Gabe smiled and hugged her to him. He’d
found a woman who was sexy, smart, passionate, and who enjoyed his
off-color sense of humor. Life didn’t get any sweeter than this.
Perhaps Candace Jones was a keeper.

Candace used her potholders to pull a cookie
sheet overloaded with white chocolate and macadamia nut cookies
from her oven. She hummed as she worked. She wasn’t the best baker,
but now that the flip was virtually complete, she had some extra
time on her hands. Things couldn’t have turned out better. Six
weeks ago, she was worried that her career was over. Today, she
marveled at how everything had fallen into place the way it was
meant to be. Finally, she was getting a break from the hectic
spiral of craziness she called her life.

She turned to find Toye standing in the
doorway to the kitchen. She almost dropped the cookies on the tile
floor. “Shit. You scared me, sneaking up like that.”

Toye pursed her lips. “If
you wouldn’t have been humming so loud, you would have heard me.
What is the deal with you? You’ve been whistling and prancing
around. And yesterday, you were singing that song,
Love Under New Management
.”

Candace laughed out loud. “Stop playing,
Toye.”

“
No, Cuz. You stop playing
me. Tell me, what’s going on?”

Candace started mixing the next batch of
cookies, adding chocolate chips this time. “I’m just happy the flip
is complete.” She was having dinner in two days with a
representative from Leap of Faith Industries to seal the deal.

“
I’ve known you for too
long. Something else is up.” Toye squinted. “You’ve got the hi-pro
glow.”

Candace laughed again. She remembered the
old commercial for dog food. She would admit her skin was glowing.
Her mood was exceptional. She was on top of the moon. And she owed
it all to Gabe. Ever since their freaky sexcapade in the helicopter
three weeks ago, they’d been seeing each other practically every
night. During the day, they maintained their professionalism at the
site of the flip, working beside each other and never giving any
indication of the steamy nights they shared in each other’s arms.
Gabe had a wicked fetish for making love in public places. The
stock room in back of Sampson’s. The bathroom of an upscale
restaurant. The back row of a movie theater. In the dark shadows of
a comedy club backstage. At first, she thought he had an aversion
to bedrooms, but then she invited him to her house. In three weeks,
her king-sized bed had seen more action than a mattress store
during the holidays.

“
Okay,” she capitulated,
“I’ll tell you my secret.”

Candace told Toye all about her erotic
encounters with Gabe, starting with the helicopter ride and ending
with last night’s date at the Miami Dolphins game. As she spoke,
she watched the expressions on Toye’s face rollercoaster from
comical to shock to finally disgust and reproach.

“
You need to be careful,”
Toye admonished. “You’re vulnerable right now. You have too much
going on to let your guard down with some guy you barely know.
Don’t forget the last man you trusted ripped you off.”

“
Hold up. Gabe owns
Sampson’s. You said he was a good guy.”

“
I didn’t say that. Ronnie
said that. Besides, dogs come in all shapes and sizes.”

“
Dogs? I think he’s
different. I really like him.”

Toye leaned backwards against the countertop
and folded her arms across her chest. “That’s just horniness
talking. Do you know how long it’s been since you’ve had a good
fuck?”

“
Of course I know!”
Candace snapped. “It’s my vagina.” Candace was sorry she’d ever
confided in Toye about her celibacy.

“
I’m not here to be Debby
Downer. I’m just stating the facts. You can’t go around having
flings with strangers.”

Candace glared at her cousin. “Gabe is not a
stranger.”

“
How often have you been
to his house?”

“
Never.”

“
Has he introduced you to
anyone in his inner circle? Friends? Colleagues?”

“
No.”

But in fairness, she hadn’t introduced him
to anyone besides her immediate family. So what if Gabe wasn’t
ready to show her his place yet? So what if they wanted to keep
their late night romps private? They were grown, and it was
nobody’s business who they chose to screw.

“
If he wasn’t rich, would
you have slept with him?” Toye asked.

Candace felt like the wind had been knocked
from her. She took a deep breath as she tried to rationalize the
recent decisions she’d made. Gabe was the best thing that had
happened to her in a long time. She felt complete with him. But was
she feeling a false sense of security? In her heart, she knew her
cousin had a point. Why had Candace allowed this lie to continue?
Why hadn’t she spoken up about knowing Gabe’s true identity? Maybe
because she was having a good time and she didn’t want to spoil
it.

You’re making excuses for him—just like you
did with all the other men in your life.

“
You’re right, Toye. Maybe
it’s time to pull back from Gabe. I’ll call him tonight and let him
know.”

# # #

Toye walked along the glossy concrete floors
of Sampson’s. Dressed to kill in a tight black mini dress and
black, stiletto ankle booties, she made her way to the back of the
store to the classroom where she knew Gabe’s class had just ended.
She was single-minded in her sole purpose to speak with him.

Earlier, she’d listened to Candace’s
confession of her fling with Gabe. Toye couldn’t believe their
illicit activity had been going on under her nose all this time.
Yet, she should have known. She’d seen the way Gabe snuck looks at
her cousin. Candace was too naïve to recognize what was going on—or
so she had thought. Now that the cat was out of the bag, Toye knew
the whole story. In the span of a few short hours, she’d made her
mind up about what she had to do. She wondered how Gabe would
respond.

He was alone when she entered the room. He
was so engrossed in putting up supplies that she was able to watch
his biceps ripple with each movement he made until he finally
noticed her.

His wide-eyed gaze swept over her. “Toye!
What a surprise.”

She sauntered in his direction, smiling when
she noticed how his eyes followed the pendulum sway of her hips.
She had a sexy walk and she knew it. “A pleasant surprise, I
hope.”

He grinned. “It’s always good to see you,
Toye.”

She hugged him, breathing deep to inhale his
scent that mingled with the wood shavings on the floor. She
lingered a little longer than necessary, her fingers raking over
his strong shoulder blades.

He pulled back, putting some distance
between them. “Is Candace with you?” he asked.

Candace! Why was Gabe so preoccupied with
her?

“
No, she’s not with me. In
fact, she doesn’t even know I’m here. I wanted to talk to you
alone.”

“
Okay, what’s up? Problems
with the flip?”

She placed a perfectly manicured hand on his
wrist. “No, Gabe.” She pressed against him. “This is not about the
flip. This is about me and you.”

His whiskey colored eyes connected with
hers. “Excuse me?”

“
I’ve been thinking about
you a lot lately, Gabe. I can’t get you off my mind. I wanted you
to know that.”

She draped her arms around his neck. Her
heart thundered in her ears, but she wasn’t backing down. Gabe was
a good man, and it was time she had a good man—in every way. From
what Candace described, he was a romantic, and better yet,
phenomenal in bed. Toye wanted that same affection. She deserved
it. She could be just as freaky as Candace. She could make Gabe
like her. She was so tired of being lonely. This was her chance at
happiness.

Gabe peeled her arms from his neck. “I’m
flattered, Toye, but you don’t want to do this.”

“
You mean because our
working relationship will suffer?”

“
No, the job is over. It’s
because of your cousin. How do you think she would
feel?”

“
Frankly, I’m more worried
about how you feel, Gabe. I’ve got what you’ve been
missing.”

She plucked the hem of her dress and pulled
it over her head, revealing only her lace bra and panties. This was
her ‘come get me’ lingerie. If Gabe didn’t fall for this, there was
something seriously wrong with him.

Gabe backed away, holding his hands up in
surrender. “Stop, Toye.”

“
Be honest. You don’t want
me to stop.”

“
Yes. I. Do.”

She smiled. “I can tell you want me. I see
your signals.”

“
Stop!” he thundered.
Toye’s mouth dropped in shock. She’d never seen Gabe angry. “I’m
sorry,” he said, softening his voice. “But I haven’t given you any
signals. If you felt that way, it was only something you imagined.
Candace is the one I want.”

Toye’s bottom lip trembled as she stood
shame-faced in her undergarments.

I will not cry. I will not cry.

“
I’m willing to forget
this happened, Toye. Let’s just go about our ways and we don’t ever
have to speak of this.” He resumed stocking supplies. Apparently,
she was dismissed.

“
What does she have that I
don’t?” Toye demanded.

“
I’m not going to have
this conversation.”

She watched him move about the room. God, he
looked so good. Perfect body. Wealthy business owner. It wasn’t
fair. “Please. Just tell me. It would help me in my next
relationship.”