Willows, Jennifer - Lust for Life [The Moreland Brothers 2] (Siren Publishing Allure) (19 page)

At least if she cut him off now, she would be left with good memories, all without the pain of his rejection to bitter them similar to the way day old coffee burns all the way to the gut. But Charli never ran from anything, and she wasn’t going to let a man make her start. She knew Mak could see through her brave face, but that was okay. She just needed to get back in the right head space.
And soon
. Charli knew she was in too deep when she didn’t make him wear a rubber, and then compounding the same mistake more than once without hesitation.

Deven walked to the front entrance and put his bag by the door. He walked back to the kitchen and asked, “Hey, Mak, let me borrow your friend for a minute.”

Mak waved her hands. “By all means.”

“I’m here you know!” Charli laughed and let Deven walk her to the bedroom.

When Deven shut the door and kissed Charli, his lips seemed to savor her mouth. Goose bumps rushed over her skin when his hand stroked the length of her arm from the hand to shoulder and back again.

“I just wanted to give you these.” Charli watched him take his hand from hers, leaving a set of keys.

“What are these for?” Charli looked at her hand then back at him. Deven’s lips lifted in a small smile. She didn’t get it.

“They are house keys.”

“I can see that, Dev. Why?”

His response let her know he understood her meaning. “I want you to come over and see me, whenever you want. Maybe I could come home sometimes and you’d be here, waiting for me.”

Well, that was plain enough. Charli didn’t know what to say. This was the first time she had a man’s house key. It had never gotten that serious, to the point where lovers earned the privilege to come and go at will. Not at her place for sure. Only Makenzie had keys to her house.

“Want to have lunch with me? We could go to the bistro across the street from the building, or order in something.” Deven’s face was wicked, and she knew the only thing eaten in his office if she went today would be her.

“Most likely not… I know Mak wants a full service mani-pedi day, and those tend to be events.”

The look on his face was of utter disappointment.

“We’ll see… Mak may want to have lunch with your brother, so I may be free.” At least she wouldn’t be a third wheel with the kissy-face twins.

“All right, I’ll take that, for now.” He leaned in for another searing kiss. Deven’s tongue was so thorough, there was no oral crevice left unmolested. He darted over the hard palate, sucked on her tongue. When he stopped, Charli was out of breath, and Deven was rock hard.

“Once again, you’ve made me hard.” His expression was incredulous as if he couldn’t figure out why his cock stuck out like a yardarm.

“That’s not my fault, you kissed me.” She replied to his nonsense while thinking, go girl!

When they walked back to the kitchen, Makenzie looked... ruffled. Her hair was a bit wild, and her lips were bruised. Not to mention her sweater was skewed at a suspicious angle. Charyn was just as mussed. His shirt was now missing a button and more than a bit wrinkled.

“You want another shirt?” Deven’s query made Charyn look at himself.

“Yeah, if you don’t mind.” Charyn walked toward Dev’s room and emerged a scant minute or two later, now wearing a gray-blue pinstripe.

“I want my shirt back, Charyn. Don’t think about five-fingering it.” Deven smirked and waved to the ladies watching the byplay. He walked out with Charyn following him. But before leaving, the big man stopped to blow his wife a kiss. Which the newlywed Makenzie was cheesy about receiving, even pretending to catch it in one clenched fist.

When the men left for work, Makenzie gave Charli a look that told her to spill. Or suffer.

“I’m all right Mak. I just feel...” There she went, unable to say what she felt. It was just too new and, because of her hang-ups, fragile.

“Discombobulated? Confused? Off-kilter? Distracted and disturbed?” Charli laughed at each phrase. They all described her mood perfectly.

“Yeah, something like that.”

“Let’s get you in some real clothes, Charli. And maybe brush that nest out of your hair.” They both laughed plenty at Mak’s dry humor. Taking Makenzie’s words to heart, she walked to the bedroom and proceeded to get presentable.

It took thirty minutes to fix her snarled tracks and get dressed. Charli sauntered out Deven’s room at nine, and Mak was in the process of eating a bagel with cream cheese. When she saw Charli, Makenzie did a poor version of a wolf whistle, but mostly sputtered bagel bits on the table, before she wiped the crumbs off and announced, “Get it, girl!”

Of course, Charli was hobbling from her sore feet, but she looked great. The long weekend of orgasms made her skin glow and eased her uptight carriage. She didn’t know the last time she felt so good or remember the last time she just relaxed. Clad in a tank top, trouser-leg denims, and tennis shoes, she wasn’t the most beautiful woman on the block. But she did feel well rested, which when paired with her outfit looked even better. By the time Makenzie finished a cup of coffee Charli had slung on a blue school-striped cardigan and was ready for their girls’ day and adventure.

Mak drove the Barracuda, and the ladies set off into the morning sun, ready for the fun to begin. Their first stop was for breakfast at her favorite bagel shop, Panera Bread, in the Mayfair shopping center. Over cinnamon crunch bagels and coffee, Makenzie started in with her probing about her and Deven.

“So, tell your girl what’s really good.”

Charli gave the bare bones details of her and Dev’s weekend, starting with Black Friday and the tandem skydive.

“Basically, Friday we went skydiving, and he asked me over for dinner. We had sex, shared a blunt clip, and went to sleep. Saturday, we went parasailing, had fondue for dinner and more sex for dessert. Sunday we had breakfast and hit up a salsa club. Then more sex and of course a late dinner followed. That’s the long and short of it.” Makenzie’s face during the retelling of the essentials was priceless. Her mouth gaped open, and Charli hadn’t given any of the details yet.

“Whoa, so you telling me you spent the whole weekend with Deven? Sounds like fun. Adventures and sex? Hmmm...” Mak had a funny look on her face, almost as if she wanted to ask a question, but didn’t know how to phrase it.

“Just spill it, Mak.” Charli was midbite when Mak finally got herself together.

“Was it great? That’s a dumb question. You wouldn’t have thrown him any more pussy if he wasn’t fantastic. But I guess what I really want to know is how you feel about it? The weekend that is?”

“Yeah, Mak, he rocked my world. Big dicks must swing from the family tree or something.” Charli smiled, and Makenzie’s reaction let her know she knew exactly her intent.

“Yeah, I know what you mean. Charyn is definitely bigger than average and works it well. Good enough that I would pay for more of it.”

Charli snickered. “But the hardest part is the feelings, girl. I’ve never in life wanted time to stand still. But he makes me wish for things I didn’t even know I wanted. The saddest part is that I get you now.”

“Get what, boo?”

“Why you ran from Charyn last year.”

“Ohhh...But, Charli, that’s not like you. There’s something I’m missing here. You have never fallen into any man’s bed without a full background check and a gun under the pillow. So what makes this different?” She could see the wheels turning and Makenzie was digging for something, pay dirt. Charli knew what it was and decided to come clean.

“Mak, Deven and I have fucked before.”

“Shut the front door!” Makenzie’s voice carried, and several diners looked askance at them. It was a testament to how shook up Charli was that she didn’t curse anybody out or give a nasty look in response to the glares.

“Yeah…just once. Remember last year, when he took me on a spin on his bike?”

“You mean to tell me that you kept that a secret for how long? Over a year?” Mak’s face crumpled slightly and Charli felt the hurt in her friend’s body language.

“Yes, and I’m sorry. I just didn’t know how to admit it. At the time you were dealing with your feelings for your husband... I just didn’t want to give you more to worry about.”

“That is the raggediest excuse ever, Charlene Montana Anderson. It doesn’t matter if I was giving birth, you could have come to me.”

“I know. I couldn’t admit it. I was just ashamed of myself, the way I gave him the drawers at ‘hello.’ Not to mention, I didn’t even go on a date with him. It was just too embarrassing.”

“Girl, if I can tell you that my hubby weaves ropes round my body and hangs me from the ceiling, you could have...”

“I know, I know! And damn, Mak, believe me, that was TMI when you told me the first time. But now, you’re adding insult to injury.”

“But you get my point. Right? You know that no matter what, you are like a sister to me. No matter who I’m with, marry or fuck. You are my best friend, and the only person in the world that knows half of what they want to about me.” Mak had an extrastern look on her visage. It reminded Charli of a Catholic schoolteacher looking for a ruler to smack the hell out of her with.

“Yes, Makenzie Moreland, I do get your point.”

“Thank you! Now gimme the rest. The unedited version please.”

“Okay, let’s go to the mall to get these dogs a pedicure, and I’ll spill the beans. It’s your treat though. I wanna see you swipe that black card again.” The pair laughed loudly, and the patrons seated nearby looked annoyed again.

When they were back in the ’cuda and on the open road again, Makenzie wanted her answers and it appeared her preference was now.

“I think it’s time you started giving me the details you promised.”

“The first time, Deven and I did it in the foyer of your house against the door.”

“Uggh, I use that every day, and y’all screwed against my front door!” Makenzie laughed and looked over at Charli, grin evident.

“Yeah, but we got into a spat, and I cussed him out. After that, we avoided each other like the plague.”

“No wonder...” Mak went silent then continued. “It seemed like I had to beg you to come to my house. Then when you did come by, you were always tense. Like you were waiting for the other shoe to drop. Shoot, even Dev always came in the house like he was looking for somethin’, peeking around corners and such.”

“Yeah. And the worst part is he dances better than he fucks.”

“Hot damn, Charli, that sounds like one for the record books.”

“Yeah, we danced from eight to almost midnight, and he can move. Let me tell you, betta than any brother at the club. You know I felt dumb as hell because I didn’t think he could groove like that.”

“I bet not. Most white boys can’t. But apparently they are making up for lost time and breaking some barriers while they are at it.”

“Right!” Charli dragged the word out, chuckled.

“So what do you want to do?” Makenzie’s seeking look at her face spoke to the fact that she really wanted to know where Charli’s mind was at.

“I have no idea… for real he gave me a house key today.”

“Whoa, you telling me that after one weekend you got keys? That sounds serious.”

“Who you tellin’? I didn’t even see it coming.”

“Bet you ain’t, have to be Miss Cleo to see that in your future.”

The conversation was so heated, Makenzie was on autopilot until she looked up and saw they were already at their destination and parked at the food court.

“Come on… let’s get them sore dogs soaking and a sexy wax job for our men.”