Avery kept his eyes on the darkened road, as they drove back to Philly. He stole glances at Macy every few miles. Her teeth held her bottom lip in place. She hunched in the passenger seat as if she was trying to shrink from sight.
“Are you upset I offered to make that call for your brother?”
She straightened and rubbed her hands together. “No. If you can help him, I was wrong to hesitate. I’m the one who usually saves him from disaster. It’s kinda my thing.” She made a sound that resembled a sniff, but her eyes were clear.
“If you hadn’t accepted my ride then I couldn’t have made the offer. So, you’re still his big sis with all the answers. I just hope I can help. He walked out a lot happier than he walked in.”
Avery entered the city limit and took the Broad Street exit off 95.
“Where are we going? This isn’t my exit.”
“We’re still on a date, so I thought we’d stop and have a drink,” Avery said.
“I can’t go anywhere fancy. I have on flip-flops, remember.” She looked down and wiggled her cherry red painted toenails.
“Okay, then I have another idea. How about we go back to my place for a drink? I figure it’s the least we could do since our dates keep getting interrupted.”
She stared at him for a long moment.
“Just a drink. That is, of course, unless you decided you’d like something else.”
“Yeah. Let’s do that.”
The last thing he wanted was for her to see the look of relief on his face. Being turned down over and over again was damaging his game. He forced his face to remain neutral when he swung a left turn and took the fastest route to his high rise.
He pulled into his assigned parking space in the garage and turned off the car.
“I should have figured you’d live in a place like this,” she said before stepping out of the car.
“Would you prefer I live in a box under one of the city bridges?”
“No. I was just making an observation, ignore me.”
Together they made their way to the elevator. If only there was some way to get her upstairs without having to press the penthouse button. Any other time he would have liked to show off, but Macy wasn’t impressed with his things. He hoped she was dazzled by his personality and everything he did to show her he cared.
The condo was dark. He turned on the entrance light and rushed ahead of her. He hadn’t planned on bringing her back to his place, but sometimes the dating gods granted him favors. “What would you like to drink?” He strolled into the kitchen.
“I’ll have a glass of wine.” She moved beyond the kitchen to stare out of the wall of windows. The city’s twinkling light reflected off her brown skin. They could be awesome together if only she’d disable the invisible protection surrounding her like the walls of Fort Knox.
From the wine fridge, he selected a bottle of white wine. In Europe, she’d always picked a Riesling. So he opened the bottle and poured two glasses.
“You’ve been exceptionally quiet. Care to talk about it.” He handed her the glass.
She took a sip, staring at him over the rim. “I can’t get over what Brian told me about my father. Why he wants to talk to any of us after all this time takes more balls than I thought he had.” She gripped the glass so tight the veins in her hand bulged.
“How long has he been gone?”
“He left when I was thirteen. I remember hearing my mother crying from her bedroom for months. I didn’t think she was ever going to stop.”
“Did your mother tell you what was going on?”
“She didn’t have to. I saw the late payment notices. I heard her begging for more time to pay the mortgage. I saw the look in her eyes when she placed our dinners on the table, then said she wasn’t hungry because there wasn’t enough.”
“Maybe he wants to make amends now.” The sadness in her eyes was even harder to accept than her words. Her pain was visible. Maybe this topic was too sensitive. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and placed his chin on her forehead. “I’m sorry this happened to you.”
“We don’t need him now. We made it without him.” She trembled, slushing wine over the rim of the glass.
He removed the glass from her hand and placed both of their glasses on the table. “I didn’t mean to upset you.” He cupped her shoulders with his palms, trying to still her body. “If you’d rather not talk about him, we don’t have to.”
“Let’s talk about something else.”
“I’ve got an idea. Let’s talk about that kiss we shared in Europe that you ended while I was just getting started.”
“That was a test. We were out of the country, heady about the success of our meetings and maybe a little too jovial to think straight. Tonight, I think we’re both more levelheaded.”
“If I’m feeling the same way about you tonight, what excuse will you come up with for me?”
She tilted her chin, her eyes fastened on his. “That you’re feeling sorry for me and trying to make me forget about my father.” Something in her eyes opened his heart and pulled her inside. Maybe it was his need for her or the want he couldn’t deny, but he couldn’t resist her for another moment.
His mouth covered hers, sinking into her soft lips. Her skintight dress wasn’t forgiving enough to allow him to touch more than the flesh on her arms. The dress was like a protective coating. He could see every curve, he just couldn’t touch them.
He released her mouth but continued to stare into her eyes. “What did your horoscope say today? Are our stars aligned?”
Her face glowed with a laugh. He could spend a lifetime looking into her bright brown eyes.
“Are you making fun of me?”
“Of course not. I want to know. I’m not saying I believe all that stuff about stars and planets, but if you do, then I want to know.”
“Okay. Today is supposed to be a happy one for me. My horoscope said someone special was going to be in my life today.”
He pointed to his chest. “That’s me right, not your brother?”
“Maybe it was referring to the both of you.”
“I’ll take that and this.” He pulled her close and pressed his mouth to hers again. Her body flattened against his. But when she wrapped her arms around his waist, his heart swelled.
She pulled back just enough to study his face, hoping he would continue to hold her. Whether he thought she was a nut for sharing her family drama on what was supposed to be a romantic evening, she couldn’t tell. But he didn’t release his hands from around her. Being held close to his chest was something she’d been afraid to imagine, but one she wanted to enjoy for a long time. “Either way, my horoscope was right, wasn’t it?”
“Aren’t we happy with the way things worked out?”
“Very. Thank you, again.” She kissed his cheek.
Maybe she’d been wrong about him.
Maybe Avery was nothing like his father.
Maybe he had a heart, a big one. Offering to help her brother was beyond anything she could have expected from him.
The intoxicating expression on his face made her heart thump harder. There were good reasons to pull away from him. But she couldn’t. As risky as being with Avery was, she couldn’t walk away. She needed to forget about the past, to stop glancing backward and focus on the offerings of the future. Maybe now was the perfect time to open the lock on her heart.
Avery pulled her closer. His hands warmed her skin beneath the thin fabric of the dress. She needed to feel his skin, to enjoy every moment of what before had only been her imagination.
She pushed his jacket off his shoulders, allowing it to drop to the floor. She loosened his tie and kissed him at the same time. The weight of his tongue against hers let her know he was here, now, with her. He didn’t hold back. The tender way he cradled her neck made her know it wasn’t simply lust that percolated the air in the room.
With one hand he unzipped her dress, allowing the delicate garment to join his jacket on the floor. Avery released the hook on her bra, freeing her breasts. With his index finger, he circled one nipple, then the next. The sensation sent a jolt of pleasure through her body. How was this possible? How could he call her body to attention with a single touch?
“How about we remove your pants?” She tugged at his belt.
He placed his hand over hers and helped with the buckle. Then he released the button, unzipped his pants and stepped out of them along with his briefs, without breaking eye contact with her.
He pulled back and studied her. His eyes spoke a language her soul understood. She saw more than lust, or maybe that’s what she wanted to believe, needed to believe, as the warmth between her legs bloomed.
His chest was exactly as she’d imagined. The hair was soft and dark just like the curls on top of his head. Every muscle in his abdomen was well defined. She ran her hand along each one, teasing his flesh the way he’d taunted her.
“I want you, Macy.” His husky voice melted any resistance she pretended to have.
“I want you, too.” She lifted her head to look into his eyes. The sincerity in his eyes touched her heart. Were they moving too fast? In college, she’d stuck to the three-month rule before having sex, but tonight, even sticking to three minutes would be like forever. Her horoscope had been right before but never like this.
He scooped her up in his arms. She closed her eyes and soaked in the moment. She planted kisses on his bare chest. This was the part she would dream about nights from now. The moment just before, when all she felt was her feelings for him.
In his bedroom, he placed her on the king bed. The soft cotton duvet against her burning skin made her arch up, just enough to catch his mouth. This kiss was deeper, longer, more powerful. In an instant he was on top of her, pressing her into the firm mattress. The heaviness of his body intensified her pleasure.
He walked his fingers along her thigh, hooking them inside her panties and pulling them down. With a slowness that made her claw at his back, he teased her pubic hair before slipping inside her fleshy core. His stroke was masterful, waking up every cell in her body. There was nothing rushed in his touch. He seemed content to spend his time driving her hips into the bed.
The only thing missing from the evening when she’d imagined it was the candlelight. But this was better. The light from the moon beamed through the open slats in the blinds and cast a striped pattern along his legs. The time she’d spent with Avery was more romantic than anything she could have imagined. She’d given up on fairy tales a long time ago. Avery had extended a hand inviting her into a world that she thought was far beyond her reach.
“Your skin is so soft.” He ran his hand along her back. The heft of his penis throbbed against her thigh. There was no way to ignore what she wanted him to do to her. Instead of trying, she spread her legs.
He slipped on a condom and climbed on top of her. The heat coming off his body warmed her flesh. He pressed his tongue into her mouth and eased into her at the same time. The sensation brought her hips off the bed to meet him.
Together they found their rhythm, matching each other’s thrusts. His smell, his touch, his taste filled all her senses. The intoxicating moment was beyond her grasp of words. Her mind whirled around every sensation until she was wound so tight she couldn’t hold back another second. Her climax lifted her hips off the bed driving him deeper.
“Oh, Macy, this is it.” He whispered in her ear, and his body stiffened. She jerked in time with his spasms until they were both too limp to move.