One Day at a Time (Starting Over Series Book 4) (14 page)

“I know, and don’t get me wrong, I love him but he treats me like I’m his kid not his sister. I shouldn’t complain though, he’s done a lot for me.” Wrapping her arms around his waist, she buried her nose in his neck. She was addicted to his scent. It was fresh and woodsy.

“Only one more day,” he whispered against the top of her head. “I’m going to go, I’m getting tired.” She grabbed his hand and walked him out to the living room. Her brother and Hunter were sitting at the table, eating. “I wrapped some up for you to take with you.” She went to grab it. She could feel her brother’s eyes on her as she walked back out into the living room.

Cash called out goodbye to the guys and wrapped his arm around her waist as they went outside.

He pulled her toward him. “I’ll see you Wednesday.” He kissed her one more time before she watched him hop into his truck and then drive away.

Inside, the guys were cleaning up their mess. “How wath it, boys?”

“It was wonderful, sweetheart.” Hunter said before he leaned in and kissed her cheek.

“Sis, we’d starve if it weren’t for you. You’ve got a gift.” Jonathon turned toward his partner. “Can you give us a minute?”

Hunter said goodbye and walked out of the apartment, “What’s going on?”

“Nothing, I just wanted you to know that I may not be home until morning. I didn’t want you to worry.”

Maybe he was finally seeing someone—that made her so happy. “So, who is she? How long have you been seeing each other?”

“I’m not seeing anyone, Tessa. You know what I do, she’s just nobody. It’s just a way to scratch an itch.”

Wow, she didn’t know how she felt about her brother treating another woman so callously. “Does she know that’s what you think of her?”

“She knows the score. Don’t make me out to be the bad guy here. Alex was it for me. There will never be anyone I’ll love the way I loved her.” Why was he getting so defensive about it?

Taking a deep breath, she looked her brother in the eye, “Josie told me she’d be okay with you getting remarried. She wants to have a brother or sister.”

“Jesus Christ, Tessa. She’s ten, she doesn’t know what she really wants. Don’t put ideas of fairy tales and happy endings in her head. You’d be wise to follow that too.”

“I-I, you know what? It’s nothing. Be safe and I’ll see you sometime tomorrow.” She turned off the kitchen light and went to check on Josie. She finally heard the front door open and close. She took a deep breath and felt her eyes fill with tears. He was only twenty-nine and so cynical already. She could only hope that the poor girl truly knew he was using her just for sex. She didn’t want to think that her brother could purposely hurt another person, but obviously she didn’t know him very well at all.

***

By Wednesday Tessa was ready to see Cash. She missed him terribly and was still kind of upset with her brother. He was acting like a royal dick and even made Josie cry last night before she went to bed. She was starting to worry about him because he just seemed stressed and unhappy. The other night she hadn’t meant to upset him by implying that he had a girlfriend. She knew how much he still loved Alex. Hell, they all did, but Alex would hate to see what her husband was turning into.

When she first moved in with them she envied what they had. Her brother was always hugging or kissing his wife. They laughed all the time. Sometimes she would overhear Jonathon telling Alex how much he loved her, and that she was his whole world. They didn’t hide that they were crazy about each other from anyone.

The moment Alex took her last breath the light in her brother’s eyes just went out. She wiped away her tears and cleared her head of those sad thoughts. She locked away the receipts from her shift today. Her phone dinged and she picked it up off of the desk.

Cash: I can’t wait to see you. I’ve missed you. No, I’m not a pussy.

Tessa: No you certainly are not! ;) I’ve missed you too. Do you need me to bring anything?

Cash: Nope, just your gorgeous ass! Are you on your way?

Tessa: Yep, leaving in a few minutes. Xoxo

She stuffed her phone in her purse, clocked out and then headed for the door, waving to her boss before stepping out into the sunshine. The whole way to his place butterflies took up residence in her belly. She didn’t know why she was still getting nervous before she saw him. Maybe because she knew that her feelings for him have changed and she was afraid she was going to slip and tell him that she loved him and scare him off.

It was hot and sticky out, but with the top of her Jeep off she felt the air hit and cool her skin. The wind blew tendrils of hair loose from her braid. Cranking up the radio she began to sing along to some B-52’s
“
Love Shack
”.
When she pulled down Cash’s street she turned the radio down and took a deep breath. She pulled into his driveway. Grabbing her bag and purse she climbed out and ran to the front door. Before she could knock it flew open and she was in his arms.

***

Cash had been edgy all day. He was dying to see Tessa, but he was nervous too. His plan was to tell her everything tomorrow. She didn’t have to work tomorrow so he moved his schedule around so he’d be off too. He wanted a lazy day with her so he could take his time explaining everything to her. He had made an appointment with Derrick and met with him this morning. He got some helpful pointers on how to bring it up and hopefully not freak her out.

Derrick even offered to be there when Cash told her, but he declined. Tessa was a little on the shy side and it would be worse to do it in front of someone she didn’t know. Tonight he was making her a candlelit dinner—something nice and romantic. He looked at his phone; she should be there any minute. Outside he made sure the tiki torches were all ready to go and the grill was fired up.

A few minutes later he heard her Jeep pull into his driveway so he hurried through the house, flinging open the door. He pulled her into his arms, hugging her close. He loved how perfectly she fit against him.

“It’s only been a day but I missed you,” she whispered against his neck.

Smiling, he kissed her forehead. “I’ve missed you too.” He grabbed her bag from her and then took it down to his room, tossing it on the bed.

He couldn’t find her when he went back into the living room and knew right where she went. Stepping outside he found her in her spot. He walked down the steps to her. “I think you’re just using me for my hammock.” She opened her eyes and gave him a smile that stole his breath. “Make room for me, baby.”

She slid over as he carefully joined her. He loved that she draped her body over his. He let his hand glide up and down her back as she told him about her day. She was starting to really come out of her shell. She talked a lot more than she did at the beginning. His girl was so smart and didn’t give herself enough credit. She was such a book fan and had a strong business sense that he thought she should start her own promotional business for authors. Through social media she’d made friends with a couple of up and coming authors and got them to agree to do a signing at her bookstore.

He didn’t want to get up but he needed to get the chicken on before it got too dark. “I’m going to start dinner.” She stayed him with a hand on his arm.

“What can I do to help?” He kissed her lips.

“Nothing. You just relax.” He got up and got dinner going.

They ate in a companionable silence. He knew he was staring at her, but the way the light from the torches was hitting her made her glow. Even her eyes, which seemed more golden by the light, shone bright. He was pleased with how the food turned out and pleased she was eating everything on her plate like she enjoyed it.

“Since you’re off tomorrow I rearranged my schedule so I could have tomorrow off with you. I thought it might be fun to spend a day being lazy. What do you think?”

“I can’t believe you did that, but that sounds great.” They carried their dishes into the kitchen and worked together to get the kitchen cleaned up. When they finished he grabbed her around the waist and pulled her between his legs as he leaned against the counter.

“So what do you want to do, darlin’? You get to pick,” he asked against her lips.

“Hmmm…I get to pick, huh? Let me see, what would I like to do?” He felt her hand slide down his front until she reached his dick that was already starting to harden. “I would love…I would love for you to make love to me.” Her cheeks turned an adorable shade of pink when she asked. She let out a surprised shriek as he scooped her up in his arms and carried her to his bedroom.

Laying her down gently on the mattress he followed her down. Settling between her thighs he felt his cock harden painfully inside of his jeans. Licking and biting at her lips he ground against her core, swallowing her moans with his mouth. Her tongue peeked out tentatively touching his. He felt her hands slide up into his hair as her thighs hugged his hips. He sucked her tongue into his mouth. Sliding his hand down her body, he undid the button of her shorts and slid his fingers inside of her panties. “Damn, baby, you are so wet for me.” He rubbed small circles around her clit. Her kisses became more heated as she ground against his hand.

He reached down with his other hand to start working her shorts and panties off. Tossing them behind him, he reached out and slid her shirt up and off. He felt her tugging at the button of his jeans. He reached behind him and pulled his shirt up and over his head, tossing it in the same direction as her shorts. Moving off of her, he quickly shucked off his jeans and boxer-briefs. His cock sprang up once it was released from its confines.

Climbing back on the bed he began kissing and licking up her body. Her skin was soft and smooth under his tongue. He spread her legs leaned forward and took a big whiff of her—smelling the scent of her arousal. “Baby,” he groaned. “I am going to eat you up.” Licking her from bottom to top, he savored her tangy-sweet taste. Using his thumbs he held her open as he penetrated her with his tongue. Her grip tightened in his hair and her moans filled the room. He knew she was close to coming, so he wrapped his lips around her clit, sucking on it with deep pulls. He pushed two fingers inside of her and she went off like a rocket.

He pinned her hips to the bed as her pussy milked his fingers. Her cries turned to whimpers and then to a contented sigh. As he kissed his way up her body, the head of his cock brushed against her opening and they moaned against each other’s lips. She licked some of her arousal off of his face and he swore his cock got even harder. He needed inside of her as quickly as possible. He grabbed a condom out of his nightstand, opened it and slid it over his throbbing dick. Lining himself up at her entrance he kissed her slowly as he entered her wet, hot, tight sheath. She was still so tight and was squeezing him like a fist.

Once he was buried to the hilt, he had to take a minute to calm himself, otherwise he was going to come too quickly and he wasn’t ready for it to be over yet. Kissing her slow and easy he began to rock in and out of her. Kissing her, he reached down and gripped her ass with both hands and tilted her hips up. He knew he hit the magic spot when she went hot around him and he felt her shudder.

“Does that feel good?” He sucked her earlobe into his mouth, nipping it with his teeth. She grabbed onto his biceps, her thighs hugging his hips as she began moaning against his lips. “What was that, baby?”

“Yes,” she cried out. Her sounds became more desperate.

He began driving into her as he felt himself getting ready to come. On a downward thrust he ground against her clit and she exploded around him. Her pussy gripped his cock and he felt that familiar tingling sensation that started at the base of his spine, shot straight through his balls and out through his cock as he filled the tip of the condom. She milked every drop of seed out of him as he shuddered above her.

He buried his face in her neck, smiling against her sweat-slickened skin. Her pulse was pounding against his lips. Once his heart quit pounding, he slowly pulled out of her. He already missed the feel of her tight walls hugging his dick. Kissing her quick he told her he’d be right back.

In the bathroom he disposed of the condom, washed his hands and splashed cold water on his face. Looking up at himself in the mirror, he began to freak out a little bit. He was in so deep already and if Tessa couldn’t accept the fact that he used to be a drug addict he didn’t know what he would do. His history was part of the reason he avoided relationships for so long. He didn’t think he could handle it if she looked at him with disgust or disdain. Kara had been his last relationship…if you could call it that. They both had been messed up and had seemed to feed off of each other. After Abby was born and they reconnected they both tried to stay clean, but would only manage for months at a time before one or both slipped up again.

With his heart pounding in his chest he took some deep, cleansing breaths. Once he calmed down he went back into the bedroom. Tessa was sound asleep already. He knew it was hokey but she looked like a sleeping angel. Her blonde hair was spread out all over his pillow. Her hands were tucked up under her chin. Her back was bared to him and he could see the two dimples right above her ass. He grabbed his jeans and slid them on, deciding to go outside to have a quick smoke.

Stepping out on the deck, he lit his cigarette and took a big drag. It was starting to get cooler in the evenings and soon fall would be upon them. There were so many things he had planned for him and his girl. Right before Halloween Jared would close his tattoo parlor and a bunch of them would get on their bikes and ride. They’d travel up and down the coast, taking in the sights. Her birthday was coming up at the beginning of October, so he still needed to plan what to get her—of course, that all depended on if she didn’t run once she knew his story.