When the woman slid farther down his body, Dillon shut his eyes, moaning. Just three hours ago, he hadn’t even known who Taylor Thomas was, but what he did know now was that she certainly knew how to pleasure a man. In more ways than one. So now he lay there, enjoying himself and letting her have her way with him. He’d known by the way she’d strolled up to him at the bar that she was bold, aggressive, and knew what she wanted. She was the kind of woman who didn’t ask a lot of questions, didn’t require a long introduction, and just simply wanted to have a good time. Dillon had wanted the same thing, so when she’d asked him if he wanted to “go someplace a little quieter to talk,” he’d drunk the last of his third drink and walked out with her. She lived about twenty minutes away, and Dillon had followed her to her condo. Interestingly enough, he could tell he was slightly drunk but not in a staggering kind of way, and he’d driven his car with no problems.
The woman continued on her mission, and Dillon wasn’t sure how much more he could take. So he pulled her up toward his chest so she could give him the rest of what he’d come there for. She smiled, clearly eager to oblige him, and the more he watched her move, the more excited he became. She was good, and now he knew why he’d been so attracted to her. There was something about the way she looked and the way she smiled that had turned him on, and now she was showcasing all her bedroom skills. She did everything a man could want, and he knew at this very moment that this wouldn’t be the last time he saw her.
When they were both fully satiated and quietly relaxing next to each other, Dillon looked over at the clock on Taylor’s nightstand. Time had flown by quickly. It was already just after nine p.m., and Dillon would soon need to get dressed.
Taylor turned on her side, facing him. “Did I satisfy you?”
“And then some,” he said, staring at the ceiling.
“Same here, and I needed that tonight.”
Dillon had no idea what she meant, but he didn’t say anything.
“I’m also sure that by now, you think I’m the tramp of the week.”
“No, why do you say that?”
“Please. I don’t even know you, yet I walk up to you at a bar and invite you to my home?”
“Yeah, but who am I to judge? I didn’t know you, either, but I’m here.”
“It’s different for men, though. They can get away with that kind of thing.”
“Still, I’m not judging you. Some people just like to have a good time. No strings attached.”
“True, but this isn’t something I normally do. You might not believe me, but I’ve never picked up a stranger in a bar and then brought him to my home to have sex. For all I know you could be a serial killer.”
Dillon laughed. “Yeah, okay. But I can assure you, I’m not. I’m harmless.”
Now Taylor laughed. “So you say, and for my sake, I hope you’re telling the truth.”
“And anyway,” he said, looking at her, “maybe you’re the one who’s a serial killer. I could be dead in no time.”
“Nope. Sorry to disappoint you. Just an average woman who found out yesterday that her fiancé has been sleeping with another woman. For more than a year.”
“Man, I’m sorry to hear that.” Dillon wasn’t sure why, but he genuinely felt sorry for her. Maybe it was the alcohol in his system, because he felt her pain.
“I was devastated and humiliated out of this world. I just couldn’t believe it.”
“I can imagine.”
“Anyway, I felt like drinking my problems away, and I asked my sister to meet me at Benny’s.”
“You go there often?”
“Not really. Only every now and then. I like it because it’s always quiet and I never see anyone I know.”
It did seem like that kind of place, and that’s what Dillon had liked about it also. He couldn’t even fathom what would happen if anyone in Mitchell, specifically his congregation, discovered he’d been hanging out at a bar, and worse, drinking hard liquor.
“It’s a pretty nice place,” he said.
“Was that your first time? Because I’ve never seen you there before.”
“It was.”
“You said you lived in Schaumburg, right?”
“Yeah.” When Taylor had asked him about that at the bar, it was the first place he thought of. He certainly wasn’t going to tell her he lived in Mitchell, but he also had to think of somewhere within a thirty-mile radius to make his lie believable.
“That’s not that far, but it’s too far to come to a bar you’ve never been to. And to come by yourself.”
“I was in the area for something else and just decided to stop.”
“I’m glad you did. I was so tense and stressed, and you made me feel so much better. Better than I was hoping.”
Dillon locked his hands behind his head. “Is that right?”
“Yep.”
Dillon wasn’t sure what it was about her exactly, but he liked Taylor. Any man could see how beautiful and shapely she was, but maybe it was the calm, kind demeanor she exuded. He wouldn’t tell her this, but normally, he would see a woman like her—someone who slept with a man she didn’t know—as some skank who had no respect for herself. But for reasons he couldn’t explain, none of that mattered to him.
“Well, I’m happy to have been of service,” he said, smiling.
“I’m sure you are, but I also know you’re married.”
“That I am.”
“When I saw your ring, I almost walked back to my table.”
“But you didn’t.”
“No, and I’m not proud of it, either. I’ve never been married, but I won’t lie. I would never want to know what it feels like to have my husband messing around on me. Having a fiancé doing it was bad enough.”
Dillon didn’t see where there was anything he could add to that, so he didn’t.
“Can I be honest about something else?”
Dillon looked at her again. “Go ahead.”
“You’re not going to like it.”
This made him nervous, but he didn’t react. “Well then, maybe you shouldn’t say anything.”
“I wouldn’t, except I was sort of hoping I could see you again.”
“Is it something bad?” he asked.
“No. Although I guess it depends on how you look at it. I don’t think it’s bad, but you might be upset when you find out that I wasn’t completely honest with you.”
Dillon was getting a little irritated. What if this woman had AIDS or some other contagious disease? Because it wasn’t like they’d used any protection. He never bought condoms, because he didn’t have a reason to use them. It wasn’t that he was being careless when he slept with Porsha, but he and Porsha had ordered two at-home HIV testing kits, taken their blood samples in front of each other, and mailed them in. They’d purchased the express version, and they’d received their results the next day. Then, as far as Raven, she was his wife. She loved him, and even if she wanted to mess around, he didn’t believe she would because she had too much to lose.
Dillon sat up and stacked the two pillows he’d been lying on against the leather headboard. His head felt a bit woozy, but he leaned backward. “So are you going to tell me or what?”
Taylor sat up as well. “You’re already upset, aren’t you?”
Dillon stared at her, and she was right. He wasn’t happy.
She stared at him, too, and then said, “I know your name isn’t Marcus.”
A nervous wave swept through his stomach. “Really? Then what is it?”
“Dillon Black.”
It was actually Dillon Whitfield Black, with no hyphen, but that was the least of his concerns.
He folded his arms. “And who are you?”
“Taylor Thomas.”
“No, I mean who are you? Did someone have you follow me? Are you trying to set me up?”
“Wait a minute. No, it’s nothing like that. I was in the bar before you, remember? So, how could I follow you?”
He couldn’t argue with that, and actually, her response gave him a slight sigh of relief. “Then why did you act like you didn’t know who I was?”
“Because I knew it would be awkward. Especially when you told me your name was Marcus. If I’d let on that I knew you were Dillon Black, you probably would have left me sitting there.”
“Yeah, that’s a fact.”
“I’m sorry. But if it’s any consolation to you, I don’t care that you’re Curtis Black’s son, and I won’t make any trouble for you.”
Dillon hated being caught off guard, especially in situations like this. He was the pastor of a future megachurch, and he couldn’t afford to be involved in any scandals. He needed his reputation to stay clean and on the up-and-up, and he couldn’t keep making these kinds of mistakes. He still felt a little tipsy from the alcohol he’d drunk, but he’d been well aware of what he was doing. Nonetheless, had he not decided to take a drink, he never would have stopped at Benny’s. He wouldn’t have met Taylor, and he would have gone to Porsha’s the way he was supposed to.
Dillon swung his legs over the side of the bed and looked back at her. “I really wish you’d told me.”
“So does that mean we can’t see each other again?”
“Do I have a choice? For all I know you’re planning up some sort of blackmail scheme right as we speak. Probably can’t wait to tell the world that Curtis Black’s pastor son was in a bar drinking. Not to mention sleeping with you.”
Taylor crawled across the bed and sat next to him. “I promise you, I’m not. I wouldn’t do that, and if you want to know the truth, I could barely breathe when I saw you walk into that bar tonight. You look even better in person than you do in some of those online photos I’ve seen.”
At first Dillon had wanted to ask her what photos she was talking about, but when he’d first met Curtis, he’d gone on a local TV station in Mitchell and exposed his dad as a deadbeat. Dillon had done it for his own personal satisfaction, but because of who his dad was, it hadn’t taken long before the tabloids had plastered the news all over social media. Then when he’d returned to Mitchell and founded New Faith, a number of magazines and newspapers had done features on him. They’d all been fascinated with the idea of Dillon founding his own church and following in his famous father’s footsteps.
“I think I’d better go.”
“Please don’t be mad at me,” she said. “I know we just met and you have no guarantee that you can trust me, but I’m really not trying to harm you. I like you, and I want to spend more time with you,” she explained, taking her hand and turning his face toward her. “I’m serious. I’m not one of those women who will suddenly think she can be your wife.”
Dillon half believed her, but he also knew the dangers of starting up too many affairs. As it was, he was sleeping with Porsha and had to keep her as content as possible, but if he kept this thing going with Taylor, he wasn’t sure what would happen. What troubled him, though, was that just three days ago, when he’d been with Porsha, he’d thought he might be falling in love with her. But now, after spending only a couple of hours with Taylor, he knew his obsession with Porsha was purely about sex. She made him feel extra good in bed, and he’d confused that with emotional feelings. But as he gazed into Taylor’s eyes, he felt a different kind of connection with her. It was almost similar to the way he’d felt about Raven when he’d first met her, except with Taylor, the sex was perfect, too. She was a mixture of Raven and Porsha all in one.
Taylor caressed his back and then stood in front of him. She leaned his body back on the bed. “I know you don’t think you can trust me, but you can.”
Dillon wanted to tell her he didn’t, but he also didn’t want to stop her from what she was getting ready to do.
“I really need to go,” he said.
“All I want is to make you feel good again. I want us both to feel good.”
Dillon wanted to tell her no, but then she kissed him.
He reluctantly and yet willingly kissed her back, and there were no more words between them.