Perfect Ten (25 page)

* * *

“
M
orning
, sleepyhead.”

Chloe stumbled into the kitchen at the scent of coffee brewing. “Morning.” It was past ten already. Chloe was usually an early riser, so I knew the day before had been harder on her than she let on. “I can’t believe I slept so late.” A big yawn and stretch later, and she looked a bit more awake. “Where’s hottie?”

“He went for a run on the beach.”

“Ick.”

“I know. He wanted me to go with him. Run? No. I’ll stick to walking, thank you very much.”

“You want to go sit on the deck and do some people watching?”

We hadn’t played our little game since the day we went to lunch. My deck was another perfect spot for it. “Yup.” We both grabbed a mug of coffee and a jacket.

“Okay. Me first.” I scanned the people walking by until I found one I liked. “Him.” I pointed to my guy.

“Okay. Go.”

“Well, he’s here visiting his family from Russia.” Playing right into my hands, he stopped to take off his sweatshirt. “See? It’s too hot for him here.”

Chloe laughed. “How’d you make him do that?”

I waved off her question and continued with my assessment. “So, he’s visiting his family, and he had to get out of there. See, he mistakenly slept with his brother’s girlfriend last night. He’d had a bit too much vodka and fucked her in the pantry, thinking she was the maid.”

“Faith!” Chloe was really laughing now. “My how you’ve changed the way you play.” She rubbed her hands together. “This is getting good. Go on.”

“Well, it was so good that he went to find the maid this morning and fucked her again. Only when he told her she felt different than she did last night, she informed him that it wasn’t her he had fucked. He stormed into his brother’s room, only to find the girlfriend naked in bed alone. His brother was out making a bakery run. So he fucked her again, the maid’s scent still on him.”

“Holy shit, Faith. What has Joe done to you?”

I grinned at her. “Your turn.”

“Okay.” She looked around and then pointed. “I’m going to take that couple sucking face over there.”

The second I got a look at the couple, my coffee threatened to come back up. It was Joe and Sophia.

“Oh my God. Is that…?” Chloe turned to look at me and got her answer. “Faith, wait.”

I was already out of my chair. What the hell was he doing? And right in front of my house? I’d kill him.

I was already inside the house and making my way down the stairs when Chloe caught up to me. “Faith!”

I rounded on her “What? He made me trust him. I swallowed all his lies about Sophia!”

When we got to where they’d been standing, the scene looked a little different. Joe was wiping his mouth and trying to keep Sophia at arm’s length. They hadn’t seen us, and as wrong as it may have been, I just had to know once and for all what he felt for her. I pulled Chloe back along the side of the house where we could listen to them.

“Sophia, this has to stop. What do I have to say to convince you that I’m not interested?”

“I just don’t buy it, Joe. What on earth could you want with that mouse of a girl?”

I heard her moan, and it took all my self-control not to launch myself out there and make some heads roll—or run back inside and cry for a year. I’d probably give in to the latter.

“Goddammit, Sophia. Get off me.”

Chloe was seriously pissed off. “Aren’t you going to do something? She is all over your man. Don’t you get it? He’s a good one. Go help him. Jesus, you’re more fucked up than I am.”

When I hesitated, she took matters into her own hands and dragged me out with her.

Joe turned at the noise and immediately pointed to Sophia. “I had no idea she was here, Faith. I swear it.”

“I know. I heard you trying to keep her away from you.”

“Sophia DeMarino? She’s the Sophia who won’t leave Joe alone?” Chloe was looking at Sophia with a look of pure disgust.

“You know Sophia?”

“She’s a client of mine.” She turned back to Sophia. “How could you do this? You’re married. You have little children! They’ve been in my shop. I even cut your husband’s hair.”

“Oh my God. You’re not going to tell him, are you?”

Chloe crossed her arms and stared Sophia down. “I don’t know. I’m not doing your hair anymore, though, that’s for sure.”

“You can’t tell my husband. He’ll leave me. I can’t be alone. He takes care of me.”

“And this is how you repay him? You hire escorts to entertain you and then stalk them when they tell you no?”

Joe and I just stood there, watching the scene unravel. In a sick way, it was interesting. We were all connected in some way, weren’t we?

“How about this?” Chloe was about to do something that neither Joe nor myself could have done. Knowledge was power. “You find yourself another salon to go to. You leave Joe alone, and I won’t tell him. No phone calls, no wandering by the house, nothing. Got it?”

Sophia gave Joe one last look of longing and nodded. “Fine. Well, I guess this is good-bye for real, Joe.” She pushed her way back into his arms, grabbed his cock, and licked his lips.

“You’re one lucky bitch,” she said to me as she walked away.

Joe stalked over to Chloe and picked her up, swinging her around. “Chloe, I love you. You’re a goddess. Thank you!” He put her down and gave her a loud smacking kiss, right on the lips.

“Hey! No more kissing other women. Even Chloe.”

* * *

After the whole fiasco with Sophia, I felt the need to take Faith away for a long weekend. It was such an incredible feeling to finally have closure on that era of my life, and I wanted to celebrate. There was a quaint village up in the mountains that I thought she’d love, and when Faith was happy, I was happy. It was a win/win.

With Christmas only a few weeks away, it was the perfect place to take her. Lots of girlie shops inhabited the village, selling candles and shit like that for last-minute shopping, and if memory served, there was a great lingerie shop up there too. Merry Christmas to me.

“So, you’re not going to tell me where we’re going?” I wanted it to be a surprise. All she knew was that we were going away for a few days, and I’d have her back in time for work the following Wednesday.

“Nope. You’ll just have to sit back and relax until we get there.” Heidi barked her agreement and stuck her face between the seats, making Faith laugh.

Always ready with some TLC, Faith reached over and scratched Heidi’s ears. “I’m so glad we could bring her with us.”

“She’ll like it up there. The entire back wall where we will be staying is made up of windows, from floor to ceiling. Plenty of stuff for her viewing pleasure.” The cabin I was taking her to belonged to my Uncle Mike. I remembered how much I loved it when I was a little kid.

Uncle Mike and I were working on a new, adult relationship. When I called him at Faith’s urging to invite him to Christmas Eve, he cried and begged me to come back into the family business with him. We had a long conversation, and I felt good about it. So much time had gone by since my father’s death, and I was starting to find some peace with it.

The sun was down by the time we got there, showcasing the millions of Christmas lights that lit the entire village. Wreaths adorned doors and bows were on every light post. Brick walkways were interweaved throughout the little stores, mostly selling handmade items you couldn’t find in the big commercial chain stores.

I pulled into an empty parking spot and gently rubbed Faith’s cheek to wake her up. “Wake up, sweetheart.”

She came awake by degrees, looking around her in momentary confusion. “Where are we?”

“A little village. Feel like doing some shopping before we head to our cabin?”

She looked around, a smile breaking free on her beautiful face. “Oh, Joe. It’s so pretty.” Her eyes scanned the stores directly in front of us. “A pottery store! Oh, let’s go in there first.”

Now, normally, I’d rather get a root canal than go shopping in these types of stores, but this particular trip, I’d shop in every damn one if that’s what Faith wanted to do.

“Why don’t you go in, and I’ll meet you in there after I take Heidi for a walk?”

“Oh, I almost forgot about Heidi. We can’t leave her in the car.”

“Don’t have to. Look.” I pointed to the store to show her the doggie water bowls and tying posts that sat just outside the door.

“Oh my God. How adorable!” She leaned over and gave me a quick kiss. Before I could grab her and demand a bit more, she jumped out of the door and just about skipped into the store. I hadn’t seen her so spunky since Sophia had finally disappeared out of our lives. I hoped that this time it was forever.

A little while later, when Faith was shopped out for the evening, we made our way up to the cabin. The winding road took more of my attention than I would have liked, and I had to keep both hands on the wheel. Faith’s bare legs were calling to me. Her skirt sat at mid-thigh, begging for my hand to be slipped up there. I silently vowed to spend extra time on that creamy skin when we arrived at our destination.

With a final turn, we swung into the driveway and continued to climb as the road faded away behind the massive pine trees surrounding the cabin. In the middle of the clearing sat a gorgeous log cabin. I knew all the thought that had gone into the designs for this house. Each part was lovingly created from the large logs that made up the walls, all the way to the shape of the antique keyholes on each interior door.

“Wow.”

Faith liked it. “Wow, good I hope? This is home for the next couple of days. Wait until you see the inside, although I haven’t been here since I was fourteen.”

“It’s incredible.”

When she saw the wall of windows in the back, she stopped dead in her tracks. “When you get your degree, I want you to build us a place just like this.”

“Anything for you, Faith. Just name it and it’s yours.” I couldn’t wait one more second to be inside her again. I know—I’m insatiable. True to my caveman tendencies, I leaned over and threw her over my shoulder in a fireman’s hold and ascended the stairs.

Faith was slapping my ass, telling me to put her down. So I slapped hers back. Hard. The sound that came from her mouth warranted another hard slap. When I put firm pressure right in between her legs, she let out a squeal.

“God, Joe.”

“Hold that thought. Almost there.” I walked into the master bedroom to find roses everywhere and a bottle of champagne cooling in a bucket of ice.

I put Faith down, and she scanned the room. “How did you do all this?”

“I didn’t.” I walked over to the champagne bottle and saw a note from Uncle Mike.

I hope you enjoy your stay. I look forward to renewing our relationship.

Love,

Uncle Mike

Faith walked up behind me and slipped her arms around my waist. “That’s really sweet.”

“Yeah, it is. I think we’re going to be okay.” I turned around and pulled her close. “Thank you.”

“Me? For what?”

“For everything. For making me a better man. For believing in me. For pushing me to call my uncle, but most of all, for loving me. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and I’m so grateful for you.”

Her eyes swam, making me regret my words instantly. “No! Aw, please don’t cry.”

“I’m not. I’m grateful for you too, Joe. Thank you for being so stubborn and refusing to leave me alone.”

I grinned at the girl in my arms. “You’re welcome. And now…” I picked her up and threw her on the bed, watching her tits jump as she bounced on it. Before she could utter a protest, I covered her body with mine and quickly got us both naked.

I’d been thinking a lot lately about Faith wanting to try anal sex. A lot. She hadn’t said another word about it, but seeing my cock embedded in her ass was wet-dream material, and I was ready to test the waters. “I’ll never get enough of you. You know that?” I didn’t let her answer. I was too busy tangling my tongue with hers. Her mouth could bring me to my knees.

As we kissed, I ran my hands over her breasts, squeezing her nipples on my way down her belly. Like I always did, I found her wet and ready for me. My finger circled her clit until she squirmed, trying to get me to hit the right spot. Instead of heeding her wishes, I plunged one finger inside, making her gasp.

“I want your cock now, Joe. I’m ready. Please.”

I wrapped my lips around her breast and sucked hard. “Not yet, sweet.” With my fingers wet from her own juices, I slid them back to her ass. Gently inserting just the tip of my finger made her freeze. I didn’t say a word, nor did she. Leaving my finger where it was, I reached with my thumb to flick her clit.

“Oh, that’s good, I think.”

“Good girl.” I kissed her deep again as I slowly pushed my finger farther in. “Tell me if you don’t like it.”
Please, please like it.
I kept up with the clit play as I slowly and gently fucked her ass with my finger. She began to pant, so I took the next step.

I pulled my hand away from her and rolled her onto her stomach. “Lift your hips up, sweetheart. I’m going to put a pillow under you, okay?”

“Um-hm” Her voice was hesitant, but I soothed her with my body. My front to her back, I touched her at every point of contact I could manage while I sucked on the skin at the back of her neck.