The Fix (Carolina Connections #1) (14 page)

Even though I may have been in
trouble with Laney, my mood was sky high when Rocco gave me a hug on his way to
bed. I waited on the couch and switched the TV to ESPN while Laney put him
down. She emerged from his room fifteen minutes later and sat down beside me. I
turned to give her my full attention.

She cleared her throat. “First of
all, I want to thank you for picking up Rocco and taking care of him. I really
don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t come through for me.” She
placed her hand on my arm.

Before she could continue I said, “But
I shouldn’t have made plans to build a treehouse without conferring with you
first. It didn’t occur to me at the time, but I get it. I’m new at the whole
kid thing so you’re required to cut me some slack.” I went with my most
charming grin.

“Goddamned dimple,” I heard her
murmur.

“What was that?”

“Nothing. Yes, you’re right. You
should have asked me first but it’s mostly just because I don’t want you
promising him things that don’t end up happening for whatever reason. I can’t
handle him being disappointed any more than he already is.”

I was sensing a much bigger issue
at hand here but I chose to let it go for now and try to tackle it later, once
we’d gotten to know each other better. “You don’t have to worry. I am 100% on
board with the treehouse. In fact, I can’t wait. I promise.” I crossed my
heart.

“I believe you. And thank you,
Nate.”

Well if that wasn’t an invitation
to go in for a kiss I don’t know what was. But like a complete imbecile, I
didn’t. Instead, I chose that moment to fill her in on the little incident at
daycare.

“Come here,” I beckoned and made a
space right in the crook of my arm. She didn’t hesitate to fill it. Warm supple
woman cradled against me, I could be happy here for a long time.

“I take it things went well with
Rocco,” She said.

“They were actually awesome,” I
responded and I’m sure my excitement was reflected in my voice. “But I’ve got
to tell you I was a little pissed about some things at his school.”

Her body stiffened against mine.
“What things?”

“Laney, I don’t know if these people
are your friends or if you just happened upon this daycare but I did not get a friendly
vibe, no offense.”

“Crap.” Her hand went over her
eyes.

“It may have been a random one-off
kind of thing but some little prick was messing up Rocco’s project and his dad
was spouting off some bullshit about Rocco being somehow ‘different’ than the
other kids. The whole thing just pissed me off and I told the guy to go to hell
and I may have even threatened his kid…” my voice trailed off as I realized for
the first time how utterly ridiculous this all sounded. Shit.

“You threatened a child?” Her jaw
was slack and her eyes were on fire.

“Well, maybe not so much the child
but I’m pretty sure I insulted the father’s manhood and threw a threat or two
in there.”

Silence.

“In my defense, the kid was wearing
women’s clothing and still had the nerve to knock over what I personally
considered to be an inspired Lego masterpiece that Rocco had worked hard on.”

Laney looked down to her lap and
then suddenly brought her eyes to mine. “Was the little fucker by any chance
named Tucker?”

Suddenly feeling somewhat
vindicated I responded, “Why yes, yes he was.”

“Okay, I can agree that I didn’t
get a good vibe from a lot of the moms there, his included. But, Nate, you
can’t go threatening people at daycare. Who knows how these things operate!
They could call the cops or something. Or at the very least we could be kicked
out for violent threats. You know they have these zero tolerance rules now?!”

“Well where are those zero
tolerance rules when the pink shirted kid is bullying Rocco and his dad is
insulting him along with it? I don’t know a lot about kids but Rocco’s
skyscraper was at least fourteen stories high and I believe an elevator was
being installed. Sounds to me like the simpletons couldn’t compete so they
resorted to sabotage. Have you never seen a movie like this? Rocco is the
brilliant inventor and Tucker is the underachieving mama’s boy with something
to prove.”

She put one hand on my arm again
and another behind my neck. “Nate, I need to hear the following words come out
of your mouth: ‘I understand these children are five and we are not in a Martin
Scorsese movie.’”

I started to laugh but her facial expression
remained deadly serious so I recited her ridiculous statement. Sheesh. But I
added my own addendum. “Laney, I promise you there is nothing to worry about. Flamingo
kid’s dad was humiliated to the point where he will never utter a word of our
conversation to another soul. Still, maybe shopping for a new daycare isn’t the
worst idea, huh?” Hoping I hadn’t gone too far I waited.

The next thing I knew I was being
straddled by the hottest girl on the planet and I finally had her ass in both
of my hands. Sweet Jesus, my life was good.

Scarlett
O’Hara Had an Excellent Point

Laney

His hands were on my ass and I was
throwing caution to the wind. Every inch of my body was straining toward his
and each firm line of his chest, arms and thighs was colliding with my body. My
immediate thought was that we had too many clothes separating us, but we were
in my damn living room so I had to stop my thoughts from careening that way.

His hard thighs were a dream and I
wanted to strip his jeans off to caress them with my hands and mouth. Muscular
thighs were a huge turn on for me and Nate had them in spades. I don’t know if
it was just the physical labor from his job or if he did additional working out
on the side but his body was a thing of masculine beauty. I ground down on his
pelvis from my straddled position and I was not disappointed by the rigid evidence
of his desire that I encountered through the denim. It was obvious that his
body was as eager as mine, but I wasn’t sure how far I wanted to go tonight. I
was still freaked the hell out by him popping up in our lives only to disappear
in a few months, so I knew I should be careful. I just had a hard time communicating
that message to both my heart and my hoo-hah. He was so freaking hot. And he
was so freaking into me. That was a collision of fates that didn’t happen in my
world. I was too weak to resist.

I ran my tongue around the shell of
his ear and sucked his earlobe and apparently that was the last straw. Nate
physically picked me up and headed to my bedroom with his hands on my ass, and
I had no choice but to hang on for dear life. This was shocking and a bit
embarrassing on many levels, the least of which being the chronically untidy
state of my bedroom.

Let me explain.

In all of these romance novels the buff
guys pick the girls up all the time and throw them on the bed or have vertical
make-out sessions all while not straining a single muscle. I am not that girl.
I have tits and I have ass and I’m not saying that in some cute little “oh,
look at her perky booty” kind of way. I have double Ds and a very proportionate
ass to match. That very often puts me into the plus size department and then on
to a tailor to fit the smaller parts of me. Everyone loves to talk about boobs
and booty like they are thrilled the old bombshell figure is back in style but
I can tell you two things – 1) A rack like this wreaks havoc on your back, and
2) tailors are not inexpensive.

So Nate carrying me to my bedroom, an
event which should have been a romantic milestone complete with “
Up Where We
Belong
” playing in the background, was instead an episode that filled me
with self-doubt and imagined trips to the emergency room. A hernia, at the very
least, was a distinct possibility in this little scenario – how romantic can
you get.

Amazingly, though, we made it
without injury and he deposited me gently on the bed. He honestly didn’t look
any worse for wear, and his lustful look implied that I’d better kick my
insecurities to the curb because shit was about to get real.
Yowza!

“You’re wearing too many clothes,”
he growled while gazing at me from his elevated viewpoint at the side of the
bed. “Lose the pants and the blouse. I’ll take care of the rest.”

Holy shit.
It seemed someone was putting on his alpha pants.

His gritty voice and confidence
were such a freaking turn-on that I couldn’t comply fast enough. Clothes went
flying and, laying there in my panties and black tank top, I looked up at him
from my bed and couldn’t quite believe this was happening. To say it had been a
long time since I’d had sex would be a crazy understatement. I couldn’t even
remember my last sexual encounter which I’m sure I should have found depressing
but at the moment my mind was very much otherwise occupied.

“You’re so fucking spectacular.”
His pupils were large in his intense blue eyes.

Was this real? Nobody had ever
looked at me like this before.

Still fully clothed, Nate leaned
down and kissed my belly. He pushed the material of my tank up with his nose
and began to run his tongue along my stomach, over my belly button and then
across the top of my panties. “You smell so good,” he murmured and then lifted
my tank to reveal my black lace bra. He pulled the shirt over my head and then
returned to hover over my breasts. “I can’t believe how perfect you are,” he
said almost reverently. His eyes shifted up to mine, and burned through me.
“May I?” he asked and I felt so stunned and unsure, my hands just rested at my
sides while he explored my body. I think they were as shocked as I was.

“Y-yes,” was all I could manage.

His fingers grazed gently over my
lace covered nipples and they pebbled at his light touch. His lips then replaced
his fingers and he began to lick and suck me through the lace. I couldn’t stand
it any longer and had to reach to my shoulders and pull the straps down so he
could gain full access to my aching breasts. He groaned at the first sight of
my dark rosy nipples before he covered them with his lips and tongue. I cried
out when he lightly bit each one.

My hands, finally recovered from
the shock of Nate’s laser-focused attention, reached for him and I was beyond
frustrated when I realized again that he was still dressed. Determined to
remedy that, I clutched onto the hem of his t-shirt, skimming the dusting of
hair on his lower belly in the process. I quickly stripped the shirt over his
head and within a millisecond my hands were tracing every hill and valley of
his shoulders, chest and abs. Perfection. God, he was firm and smooth and his
skin was incredibly sensitive if his occasional shivers were any indication. I
could caress him all night and never get bored. Of course I’d have to invite my
lips and tongue to participate as well. I circled one of his nipples with my
tongue and he responded with something between a groan and a laugh. God, I
loved that.

Soon my playtime was over, it
seemed, because his hands firmly gripped my wrists and held them to the bed
while his mouth dove down to the waistband of my panties and took the lace
between his teeth. He looked up into my face and I swear at that moment life as
I knew it stood still. I don’t know what it was but something profound,
something more than sex or teasing or friendship gripped at my chest and I
found it hard to breathe.

What did this mean? I’d never
experienced another feeling like it and I could see in his eyes that Nate felt something
too. I was feeling heady and strange and his look told me he was similarly
afflicted.

“Mommy?” The door creaked open.

No no no no no! Rocco! I can’t believe
we didn’t lock the door!

Apparently kids don’t understand
that they are not allowed to interrupt epiphanous moments.
I threw a
sheet over my body and did my best to kick Nate onto the floor (So sorry,
Nate!).

“What’s wrong, buddy? Why aren’t
you asleep?” My heart was beating out of my chest.

“There are two reasons but I can’t
‘member the first one.”
Ugh.
“I know the second one is that I need to
bring a pack of new crayons to school tomorrow,” he said as he climbed onto my
bed, not noticing the shirtless man on the other side on the floor.

“That’s already in your backpack, sweetie,”
I told him.

“I think the first reason is I need
to sleep with you, but I don’t ‘member for sure.”

Nate and I had just been on the
precipice of something profound – but it was over for tonight. And while one
part of me was screaming to get it back right this second, the other decided to
be more rational. I was surprised I’d let things go so far in the first place,
except for the fact that I was insanely attracted to this man and felt this intense
pull toward him.

I maneuvered my way off the bed
with the sheet still wrapped around me and tucked Rocco into my bed with the
remaining covers. I then pretended to be a statue until his eyes closed and his
breathing slowed. Nate, who had also been impersonating a statue – one which
probably sported some bruises from his abrupt tumble to the floor – waited for
my signal and then we both snuck out of the room. He pulled his shirt on as I
walked him to the door. I wasn’t used to having hormones coursing through my
body like girls gone wild and I was kind of twitchy during our goodbye.

He took my face in his hands. “I
don’t have to tell you that I’m really looking forward to our date tomorrow
night. Is 6:30 still okay?”

I almost wanted to tell him to pick
me up at 6:30 AM so we could finish what we’d started but I put my libido in
check and agreed, “Sounds great.”

He kissed me gently on the lips
this time, and the contact was way too short. “Can’t wait to see you tomorrow.”

This was too perfect. I had to come
back down to earth. Any minute now the wicked stepsisters were going to come in
and ruin my gown and some super-hot girl who did not have any baggage was going
to capture Nate’s attention and steal him away. And then they’d both go riding
off into the sunset back to Texas. That’s how it works. What was I doing
getting all excited?!

Still, I went to sleep with an
internal happy dance and a big fat smile on my face.

***

Tonight was the night.

“Tonight is the night!” Fiona
shouted. “Laney’s gonna get laaaiiid, Laney’s gonna get laaaiid!”

“Do you say anything anymore
without the ‘nanny nanny boo boo’ tone? I feel like we’re eight years old.”

“Well that would be extremely
inappropriate given the subject matter.”

This time I was at Fiona’s where I
could make use of her fashion arsenal. She was helping me with my hair and
make-up after work and then I’d dash home in time for Nate to pick me up. Gavin
was getting Rocco from daycare and babysitting tonight so everything was
organized. Except my nerves – they were in complete disarray.

“Am I moving too fast? Should I be
doing this so soon?”

“Listen, the man defended your kid
to a dickhead bully and then offered to build him a treehouse. I’d say you owe
him at least a blow job for that alone.”

“Stop being so sentimental – you’re
gonna make me cry.”

“Oh! Did I tell you Terrence is
coming to town this weekend?” Fiona waggled her brows and did a booty shake –
well, as much as she could with her non-existent booty. Terrence was Fiona’s
on-again-off-again “friend with benefits” or “fuck buddy” or “boy-toy” or
whatever she was calling him these days.

He was a pilot and he was also a
very fine specimen – tall, dark, handsome, with lean muscle, and while he
didn’t have a dimple he did have this weirdly awesome slightly crooked smile
that somehow always made you feel like you made him happy just by standing in
front of him. In other words, he was a sweetheart, and besides the cool smile
and all the rest, he had the most flawless deep brown skin I’d ever seen.

There had been more than one
occasion when I’d had a bit too much to drink and had oh-so-casually run my
hand down his arm just so I could feel it. Fiona caught me every time but she
thought it was hilarious – she would, considering after all the drinking was
done, she got to go home to all that was Terrence. So it was a mystery to me
why Fiona insisted on keeping things so light between them. I thought he was
great for her.

“Fun ahead!” She continued the
shake. “And I ordered the sweetest little silk Brazilian briefs from La Perla –
they are the lightest pink with these lace panels – Oh! And I saw this ice blue
bra and panty set that would look killer on you – please, please let me buy it
for you!!” Her face fell at the shake of my head. “You’re such a party-pooper.”

There were certain things I would
let Fiona and her endless money treat Rocco and me to, but La Perla? Not gonna
happen.

“Hmm, I can’t decide if he and I
will go out or just order in and spend the whole weekend thinking up creative
indoor activities. I hope the panties come before Terrence,” she said.

Sometimes it was just too easy – I bit
my lip to keep from laughing. “Well, it is still in the eighties most days so
you’d really be saving yourself from the risk of sunstroke. It’s the only
responsible thing to do.”

“I think you have an excellent
point. So, what are we doing with this hair?” She led me to her vanity – yes,
of course Fiona had a vanity.

“I don’t want to look like I’m trying
too hard so keep it simple if you can help yourself. And I’m wearing jeans so I
don’t want any arguments! It’s just dinner at his apartment.”

“Fine,” Fiona pouted and ran a
brush through my long hair. “But at least be civilized and borrow some of my
jewelry, will you?”

We both regarded my reflection in
the mirror as she twisted and pulled my hair, deciding on a style. A rock suddenly
settled in my gut. My hands went to my cheeks.

Fiona dropped my hair and her hands
held my shoulders. “What is it, Laney?”

“I don’t know what I’m doing here.
I just feel this, I don’t know,
pull
toward Nate but I know he’s going
to break my heart. Rocco and I are going to get attached to him and then his
dad is going to get better and he’ll move away. You know I’m already worried
about Rocco enough as it is and here I am setting him up for another fall. What
kind of mother am I?”