Man Candy (20 page)

I glanced over to see her peering at the small pink box like it was a giant diamond.

“Go ahead and eat them. They aren’t really my thing.”

“Why do you even have them then?” She ripped open the box and spread the candies around her palm reading the different sayings stamped onto each heart.

“Tanner talked me into a double date on Valentine’s Day. The girl I took gave them to me as a present.”

“Wow. I don’t even know what to say that. I mean it isn’t like we are in grade school or anything.”

“I thought you said you liked them?” I asked in confusion.

“I do because it reminds me of my childhood. You know? Like when you made the little boxes for your valentines and hung it from the front of your desk. Every year I looked forward to seeing how many valentines and gifts I would get. Plus it was always fun to pick out what message you wanted to share with someone, like
love
or
you and me
or
smile
.”

She popped a few in her mouth before studying the rest in her hand.

“I guess I could see that.”

“Here these are for you.” I held out my hand and she placed two little hearts in my hand. When the light ahead of us turned red, I braked and then looked at what she gave me.

Two blue hearts rested in my hand. They read
Kiss me
and
Lover boy
. Taking my hand off the steering wheel, I wrapped it around the back of her neck. Putting pressure there, I brought her face to mine and gave her a hard wet kiss.

A car honking behind us had me breaking away from her now swollen lips. Smiling through the windshield, I punched the gas and drove through the intersection.

“I have a newfound appreciation for those things,” I told her as I pulled the car onto my street. That’s when I noticed a familiar blue Toyota parked in my driveway.

“Who’s that?” Rissa asked gesturing with her hand towards the car.

“My mother.” I
really
needed to confiscate my spare keys.

“You’re kidding, right?” she whispered with a horrified expression on her face.

“No. Why?”

Instead of answering, she started babbling. “You know what? I really need to get going. I didn’t realize how late it was getting. I have work tomorrow and I should probably wash my hair. You should spend time with your mom. I’ll just leave you two alone.”

She reached for the handle of the door, but I grabbed her arm and stopped her before she could open it.

“You brought clothes for work, Riss. You don’t need to go home.”

“Foiled,” I thought I heard her whisper under her breath.

“I still need to wash my hair,” she tried again.

“She won’t stay late. You can shower later. I’ll even help you if you want.” I gave her a roguish grin that had her slapping my arm.

“I’m serious. I was going to blow it out. That takes a long time with this much hair. I’m talking hours.”

“Rissa. What’s really the problem here? Is it my mother?”

“It’s too soon to meet the parents, Ben.” She sulked in the seat.

“Maybe. I guess so, but she’s here so you might as well come in and meet her. I don’t even know if she’s staying or not.”

“I don’t think I can do this.” Her knuckles were white as she gripped her purse on her lap.

I sighed and leaned back in my seat. I didn’t want her wigging out but I didn’t want her to not meet my mother either. It would look really bad if I went inside and she didn’t. I had to find a way to ease her anxiety.

Unhooking her seatbelt, I pulled her from her seat and into my lap. Cupping her face with my hand, I leaned in and placed a gentle kiss to her lips. My other hand ran softly up and down her thigh in an effort to relax her. She opened her mouth and my tongue swept in for a taste. When she melted into me, I slowly pulled back and looked in her eyes.

“There’s nothing to be nervous about. She’s probably just here to yell at me about my fight with Tanner. We’ll go in and I’ll introduce you. Once you meet her, if you’re still uncomfortable I’ll make something up to get her to leave. Okay?”

“Okay,” she said softly.

I kissed her one more time before placing her back in her seat. I grabbed the bags of groceries from the back in one hand and placed the other on her lower back.

“Why did you say she was going to yell at you about Tanner?” Rissa asked as we walked up my front porch.

“Because he’s a big baby who runs to her all the time when we’re fighting.”

She started laughing so hard she had to grip her stomach. “Oh. My. God. I never would have thought,” she said breathlessly as she tried to stop shaking with her laughter.

“Oh yeah. He might be crude and gruff on the outside, but on the inside he’s one big whiny momma’s boy.”

When I opened the door and we stepped over the threshold, my mother came scurrying out of the kitchen with a red apron on. Her brown tresses were pulled up in a clip with tendrils escaping down and she had flour on her cheek. And her eyes were honed in Clarissa. I noticed there was a twinkle in them I had never seen her have before when meeting one of my girlfriends.

“Hi. You must be Clarissa. I’m Natalie. It’s so nice to finally meet you. Ben has said so many wonderful things about you,” she gushed. Her arms wrapped around Rissa, squeezing her tightly before letting go in order to size her up some more.

“Nice to meet you too,” Rissa murmured shyly. She looked so vulnerable as she tucked her hair behind her ears.

“Ben!” She let go of Rissa and threw herself in my arms.

“Hey, Ma. What are you doing here?”

“Tanner stopped by and saw me today. Mentioned something about a little fight you two had. I wanted to get your side of the story.”

“So it wasn’t because you wanted to meet Rissa?” I asked in a teasing lilt.

“He might have mentioned she was here with you and well I didn’t really have anything going on today so I thought I’d pop by and make you guys dinner. I figured we could get to know each other.”

“Mom, I’m not so sure that’s a good idea.”

“It’s a great idea, Ben,” Rissa surprised me by saying. I gave her a sidelong glance to ascertain where her head was at, but her face was unreadable. “What are you making, Mrs. Harris?”

“I made chicken parmesan. I hope you like sauce.”

“Love it,” she said enthusiastically.

“Good because my nana was full blooded Italian. It’s my favorite thing to cook.”

“It’s my favorite thing to eat. Can I help you with anything?”

“Sure. Come on in the kitchen and we’ll start getting to know one another. Ben, you can just go watch television or something after you bring those groceries in.” My mom put her arm around Rissa’s shoulder and led her to the kitchen. Right before they turned the corner, Rissa looked back with a little smile.

Bemused by her change in disposition, I decided to roll with the changes. I’d keep an eye on her and make sure she wasn’t too uncomfortable as the night went on. I needn’t have worried though because my girl was a trooper. By the end of the night, my mother was eating out of her palm.

The next morning, I set about showing Rissa that it wasn’t so bad getting up early as long as you had the proper wake up call.

With my mouth between her legs, I slowly woke her up. When I looked up the length of her body and saw her watching me with a soft, sleepy face and sexy hooded eyes, I wanted nothing more than to plunge into her heat and feel her wrapped around me.

Licking up her body, I gave her a good morning kiss that only served to add fuel to the fire pumping through my veins.

Scooping her up and throwing her over my shoulder, I stumbled into the bathroom and set her on her feet. I turned the water on in the walk-in shower before leaving her to take care of business.

A few minutes later I walked back into the steaming bathroom. Rissa was already in the shower, the water pouring down her body. I joined her there, backing her against the tile wall where I explored her with my mouth and hands.

“Open your legs, baby,” I murmured against her chest. Dropping to my knees, I lashed my tongue out and tasted her.

My thumbs spread her open as I buried my tongue inside her pussy, fucking her with it. I teased her relentlessly with my mouth, only circling her clit when she really begged—taking her to the edge and pulling her back only to do it again. When she finally came on my face, I licked up everything she gave me.

With her fingers in my hair, she dragged me up to her mouth. With hunger in her movements, she pushed me against the wall and sucked on my tongue. Her hand wrapped around my cock and pumped in a hard, steady rhythm.

My hand went between her legs, stroking and petting her as she did the same to me.

“Now,” I told her. I gripped her legs and lifted her up. When her legs wrapped around my waist, I thrust inside her. Fuck. It was so damn good.

With my hands on her ass, I lifted her and slammed her back down on me as the water ran over us. The sound of it drowning out her cries.

“Shit. No condom,” I cursed when I realized the serious mistake I had made.

“Do you have any in here?” She circled her hips, making my eyes close in pleasure.

“No,” I grit out.

“Then let’s go get one. Hurry.” When I started to pull out she whimpered, “No. I want you to stay inside me.”

“You’re going to be the death of me.” I opened the shower door with one hand and gripped her ass with the other. Rissa tightened her hold on me, making me groan when it brought me deeper inside her.

One foot out of the shower, I slipped on the tiled floor and we both stumbled onto the mat on the floor. My arm cushioned the fall, but she still hit the floor with a thud.

“You okay?” I ran my hands over her head to make sure there was no damage from where she hit it.

“Yeah.” She burst out into laughter that shook her entire body.

I reluctantly pulled out of her and rolled to my back laughing too. I had heard the saying about dying from sex. That morning gave new meaning to it.

“Do you want me to go get that condom?” I asked her once our laughter waned.

“Honestly? I’m not really in the mood anymore and you should probably get ready for work.” She gave me a frown and sat up. I followed suit and got to my feet before helping her up from the ground.

She grabbed a towel from the rack and dried herself off. I watched with avid fascination as she bent over and wrapped it around her wet hair. Her ass was nice and round and just waiting for me take it.

Shaking my head of those thoughts, I walked up and kissed her lips.

Rissa broke away a few moments later and pressed a gentle peck to my chest. “Hurry up and get ready. I’m going to lay back down in bed.”

I watched her ass sway as she walked away and when I got into the shower, I did it whistling.

*****

“What are you doing?” I asked into the phone as I stretched out on the couch.

“Um nothing,” her reply came quickly.

“Want me to come over?” I hadn’t seen Rissa in two days, not since our failed attempt at sex in the shower. She had missed lunch both days and worked late last night, saying that she was really busy on a project. I understood when work interfered with your personal life, so I didn’t really worry about it nor did I complain about missing her.

“No. I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Why not?”

She hesitated before answering. “I have a headache. I’m just going to go to bed.”

I looked over at the clock. “It’s only eight thirty.”

“I know but I haven’t slept well the last few nights. It’ll be good for me.”

“You sure you don’t want me to come over?” Her voice seemed off and I got a bad vibe from it. It wasn’t warm and inviting like it usually was. She almost sounded like I was bothering her. “If you aren’t feeling well, I could bring you some soup. Maybe give you a world class orgasm and a massage before you fall asleep. It could do wonders for you. I’m told my hands are magic makers.”

Maybe a little teasing would perk up what seemed to be a somber mood. And if she bit and wanted that orgasm, I was only too happy to give it to her.

“While a
glorious
orgasm is always welcome, I think it’s best I go to sleep alone tonight.” I smiled at the way she stressed the word glorious. At least that seemed a little more like the Rissa I had come to know.

“Okay. I’ll let you get some sleep.”

“Goodnight.”

“Night.” She hung up before I could get the word out. I stared at the phone in my hand for a second thinking that was strange.

Shaking off the discontented feeling the conversation left me with, I flipped through the channels until I came across a Mets game on television.

I was dozing off when my phone rang, startling the crap out of me. I fumbled for it on the coffee table and answered just as it was about to go to voicemail.

“’Lo,” I asked with a sleep-roughened voice.

“God, Ben. Do you have to sound like sex when you answer the phone?” Cassandra joked on the other end. At least I hoped she was joking. It would be a little awkward if she wasn’t.

“I can’t help I’m too sexy for my own good,” I joked back.

She let out a laugh and said, “Touché.”

“To what do I owe the pleasure?” I sat up and rubbed my eyes, trying to wake myself up.

“I have a favor to ask.” The word favor had me instinctively cringing. Thanks to Tanner it had become associated with only bad things in my mind.

“You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to,” she added when I didn’t say anything.

“What did you need?” I braced for some outlandish request. Thankfully, it wasn’t that bad.

“Remember that signing in Denver we talked about?”

“Yeah.”

“Well I was hoping you would fly out with Meredith and Tanner and sit at the table with me.”

“Cass—”

“Meredith and I are sharing a table and are hoping to hype up the book that we were working on together. It’s supposed to release next month. We’re using one of the photos of you and Tanner from the photo shoot you just did for the cover and I thought it would be cool to have you both there enticing readers,” she explained.

“I want to help you out, but I’m not sure if it would be weird to hang there with you now that I’m seeing Rissa.”

“Oh really? She finally came around and realized what a great guy you were?” She sounded happy for us, which made some of the tension in me ease. I was afraid she would be upset after we hooked up.

“Flattery will get you everywhere,” I teased her.

“Seriously, Ben. I’m fine with you and Rissa dating. We’re friends. We had one great night together but we were never meant for more. I get that and I respect it,” she reassured me.

“If she’s okay with it, then I’ll do it.” Cassandra was a good woman. I didn’t mind helping her out. I wanted to see her succeed and if being on display for the day would bring her a step closer to that then I would do it. Plus it meant I got to spend more time with Rissa.

“She’s going to be our joint assistant for the signing. I could talk to her if you want,” she offered and I just about choked on my own spit.

“I don’t think that would be wise. I’ll text you after I talk to her.”

“Thanks, Ben. I owe you.”

“Anytime.”

We talked for a few more minutes before hanging up. I closed up the house and headed upstairs to my room.

Lying in bed, I stared at the ceiling wondering what Rissa was going to think about me going to Denver with them. I figured she’d be excited to spend the weekend with me. It was the Cassandra part I wasn’t so sure of. Meredith had said Rissa was a bit jealous the night we went out on a date. If she asked me if I slept with Cassandra, I wasn’t going to lie. Knowing how easily Rissa’s temper flared, I had no clue if I should book a flight or not.

I guess we’d find out soon enough.