Chapter 2

“Same here, darling.” I smiled warmly at her. “Well! We’d like to go to bed. Do you mind, Jess?”

“No, let me show you to your room.”

He gave a little kiss to Ashley and whispered something to her.

He walked us to our guest room. I knew where it was, he didn’t need to escort us.

I guffawed. “‘Aren’t you Latin?’ Haha! She’s hilarious!”

“Whatever… So she’s curious about stuff.”

I went over to hold his shoulder. “I’m sorry, man. She’s sweet. We’ll behave, of course, I just thought it was a little funny.”

He smiled slowly. “Sure, Maria Baquero.”

“We could leave, you know?” I said playfully.

“No! Please stay. I’ll try to get her a little less excited about your ethnicity.”

I laughed and hugged him. “Thanks for the invite, man.”

“Sure! We’re having breakfast tomorrow at nine, wake up if you two can.”

“Thank you, Jess!” Suzie came over to hug him too.

“Welcome, darling.” He retreated out of our bedroom. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do! Oh, and feel free to raid the fridge!” He winked and slipped out.

I thumped onto the bed. I noticed it was a California King sized bed and not separate beds for Suzie and I.

“God! I’m tired!” I rubbed at my eyes.

“Maria Baquero?” She questioned.

I froze and silently cursed Jesse. “That was my birth name.”

“And I was a youthful idiot that thought that a–different sounding name would sell better in literature.”

She frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I had my name changed at eighteen, and I still regret it but–I don’t exactly want to rebrand myself at this point.” I said ruefully, being more honest with her than I’d ever been with Jesse.

“Oh.” She sat down next to me.

“Well, I like Branson. And I like Baquero too.”

“Thanks.” I smiled. “It kind of means ‘cowboy.'”

“That suits you…” she smiled wickedly.

“Yeah, huh?” I smiled too, happy she was taking this so well. “I like your name too.”

“Alfred Kinsey? The father of the gay spectrum? His research was instrumental in learning about the female orgasm and sexual fluidity.”

Her eyes widened. “Oh.”

“That’s cool…” she stood up and fixed her hair nervously in the mirror.

“Extremely!” I agreed. “So what do you wanna do? Go straight to sleep?”

“What do you suggest?” She made eye contact with me through the mirror.

“Hot tub!” I grinned.

“Okay! That sounds fun!”

“Excellent!” I jumped up and took my duffel bag to our en-suite restroom to change into a two piece suit.

I came out to see her looking at her phone on the bed.

“Ready! Want me to wait for you?”

“Yes, please.” She looked me up and down, making me squirm in her gaze. She stood up to ruffle through her bag.

I was sitting on my side of the bed, and wrenched my gaze away when she started to strip.

Fuck! I grabbed at my phone frantically to fixate on my emails, ignoring her naked body just feet away from me. Stupid Jesse. This was more painful than if we were home, and she was in her underwear.

We padded to the kitchen, and I grabbed some towels from the linen closet on the way.

“What’d you like to drink?” I opened the fridge to spy what he had.

I hummed as I grabbed a Brie wheel, a tube of minced garlic and some fresh thyme. I wrapped it in aluminum foil and dressed it with a little olive oil and honey. The expensive convection oven in their kitchen was to die for. Oh, what thousands of dollars could afford. I looked at it fondly.

I turned it on then got the shaker and ingredients for our drinks from the liquor armoire.

I took the biggest shaker he had and the nicest vodka. I mixed everything while I chilled two martini glasses as I worked.

“Don’t tell me… You were a bartender?” She looked at my movements as I shook the cold steel then rolled the shaker over my arm, catching it deftly and pouring the ice cold mix into two cups.

“Yes, actually! During college. I won’t tell you how many cups I’ve broken.”

“And how many college girls you’ve picked up?”

“I flirted. But it was mostly for tips. The girls weren’t exactly my type.”

“College. Cheap bar. Straight girls. It was a recipe for disaster, and I didn’t want the trouble… at the time.”

“Huh.” She sipped at her dirty martini as the bell rang for the melted Brie cheese. I grabbed some crackers and a serving tray as I led the way to the backyard deck. The air was fresh but not overly cold. The wind from the ocean was invigorating, and the sound of the waves was soothing.

I turned on the jets and heat on the hot tub then set up the food and towels down nearby. “Want the fairy lights on?”

“No, I kind of want to look at the ocean and the moon if you don’t mind.”

“Not at all! That’s nice.”

I tested the water, and it was already starting to heat up, so I stepped in. A jet hit the middle of my back, and I groaned in pleasure.

She daintily stepped up to the tub to dip a toe in. She hummed in delight, and eased into the churning water.

I was watching her every move avidly. Her two piece suit was lilac and had a darling bow tied at her back.

I sipped at my martini, continuing to watch her as she waded in the middle of the water, playing with the bubbles.

My center started to throb, so I shifted to focus on the dark night. The cold wind. The stars. Anything but her. She needed to rest too. She needed to feel safe. And–well–if I continued to look at her, I’d–want to take her, tonight.

I sniffed out harshly, yet again, drawing a deep breath in then closing my eyes to regain my self control.

“I just–wanna enjoy the night, that’s all.”

“What’s stopping you?” She drifted closer to me.

“Uh–just losing brain power.”

She giggled. “What?”

I stood up, suddenly, walking around the deck and dripping water everywhere.

I breathed in and out, heavily. She was more restrained before, right? I thought to myself in a panicked haze. Jesus. She was unbearable now.

“Yep! Yep! Just needed to cool off for a minute.” I saw her glass was running low, and went to go refill it before sitting back down in the hot water.

She stretched over the jets then took a cracker of Brie cheese in her mouth.

“Oh god, this is so good.”

I gulped as I watched her writhe in pleasure.

I tried to distract myself with the bright stars in the sky again but, damn, she was so sexy.

Crossing my arms tightly, I dipped my head back to rest on the hard wood while I tried to listen to the churn of the water. I mindfully breathed in and out. For a while, I just meditated, and enjoyed the hot water. I heard her munching on the crackers and cheese as if from far away.

“Do you masturbate?” She asked suddenly after some time.

I leveled an impassive gaze at her. “What?” The space between my ears was empty. Just air.

“Yeah. I was hoping I misheard you. Yes, I masturbate. Do you?”

“None of your business.”

“Why so curious about my self-love routine anyway?”

“Oh! So it’s a routine! That sounds awfully boring.”

“It’s not, I assure you. Sex with me is anything but boring.”

She hummed as she looked at me.

“Maybe I could show you sometime.” My flirting was never this overt with her. She started it, though. I pushed aside worrying about the fact we would be sleeping in the same bed that night.

“You think I need pointers?”

“An extra hand is never a bad idea.”

She raised an eyebrow, and smiled lightly.

I went over to her side, looming over her as I took a cracker with cheese in my mouth. She didn’t flinch, just blinked at me from behind the lip of her martini glass.

“Do you miss it?” She continued.

“Yes, but also being in a relationship.” She was serious now, so I sat down next to her. She tilted her body perpendicular to mine on the hot tub bench.

“Yeah. Holding hands, the little text messages throughout the day, getting laid regularly.”

She took my hand and ran her fingers over it.

“You’re a hand-holder?” She asked casually as she kept playing with my fingers.

“Of course! Aren’t you?”

“I don’t know. It’s been a while since I felt close enough to someone to want to hold their hand all day. Could be I’m out of practice.”

I looked down at her delicate hands, and twined my fingers with hers. I brought her hand to my chest then closed my other palm over our joined hands. I kissed her knuckles then smiled at her when I gave her her hand back.

“You seem fine at it.”

She frowned. “Only fine?”

“Well, like you said, we should practice. Don’t you think?”

“You’re the self-proclaimed expert.”

“Sexpert.” I giggled at my own pun.

She rolled her eyes then stood up, making me shut up immediately. Her bikini clung to her and her wet body dripped rivulets down her front.

She turned then bent over to grab her glass and plate of Brie cheese. I didn’t know if this was a curse or a blessing. Blessing, because her ass was right in front of me, begging me to touch. Curse, because I wasn’t allowed to touch, and we were sharing a bed tonight. I was already about to explode in arousal.

She put her robe on then walked to the house.

“Yes! Yep!” I scrambled after her with the cocktail shaker and my glass.

She washed the plates and martini glasses while I dried off right outside the kitchen.

Once we were under the covers, I looked at her in the dark. I just barely made out the planes of her face and her glittering eyes. “You asked me if I missed being in a relationship?”

“I don’t. I haven’t, really, this past year.”

“Not really. I’ve been having fun. My dance card is full.”

She stretched over to kiss my cheek. “I’ve been having fun too.” She turned over then went to sleep, facing away from me.

I caressed the phantom feel of her lips on my cheek, then ran my fingers over my lips, wanting to feel her there instead.

I fell asleep deep in the night, turning over my feelings for her and hoping she wasn’t just playing with me. If we were going to do this, it needed to be serious. I already loved her, and she needed to love me that way too. All the way.

The next morning, we moved around each other with practiced ease, making eye contact here and there. We showed up to the kitchen to find Jesse and Ashley making pancakes.

“Good morning, girls! How’d you sleep? I hope your accommodations were satisfactory!”

I chuckled and kissed his cheek. “Thank you, Jess. This place is like staying at a resort.” “Ashley, good morning.” I smiled at her on my way to get our coffees. I put honey and milk in mine then fixed Suzie’s coffee while she chatted with them.

I came to sit next to her while her hand reached for the mug on autopilot. A move that did not go unnoticed by Jesse.

“What are the plans for today then?” I asked them.

“Babe? Can we go bike riding?” Ashley clutched at his forearm as he flipped a pancake.

“Sure! You two wanna come too? We have a few bikes in the garage.”

I looked at Suzie. She nodded quickly in acceptance.

“Sure! We’d love to!”

“Yay!” Ashley squealed.

We sat down to eat and the chatter continued.

“So how long have you two been together?” Ashley asked us after some time.

“We’re not together.” I pointed my knife between Suzie and I.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I just assumed when I saw you in the hot tub last night.”

“Oh ho! Please elaborate Ashley, love.” Jesse latched on to the comment.

Ashley looked at us in panic. “I’m sorry! I completely misread the situation.”

“Yes, but what did you happen to misread?” Jesse pressed.

“Jess, enough.” I warned.

“Ah, you’re no fun. How dare you two canoodle in private! You know what a voyeur I am!”

“There was nothing to voyeur at. So drop it.”

He pursed his lips in disappointment but continued eating.

We had a nice time riding bikes on the beach. I purposefully rode behind Suzie for obvious reasons. She caught me looking at her bouncing ass a few times, and grinned at me. I grinned back every time I got caught. This new Suzie was thrilling.

Riding behind her also gave me a clear view of what happened when a dip in the cement threw her off balance and made her topple to the side.

I vaulted off my bike then took her bike off her carefully so the chain or pedals wouldn’t scratch her skin.

“Geez! Are you okay?”

“Yes! Yes! I’m fine! Just give me a minute.”

She was sitting on the side of the bike trail, so I pulled our bikes out of the way then sent a quick text to Jesse that we stopped for a moment. I clarified they should keep going, and we’d catch up later. I sat down next to her with waters, and sipped at my bottle.

I waited while she inspected her sore spots. She picked at a rip in her light jacket, and I noticed there was blood. I took out my wallet from my back pocket, rooting around for a bandaid. I hovered over her and unzipped her jacket then took it off her. The scratch was on the side of her elbow. It must be painful if her elbow took the impact.

I took her arm and placed the bandaid over her scratch.

I ran my thumbs in circles over her soft skin well away from her cut. I looked in her eyes and her brown irises were so warm, hot, on fire.

“Here?” I placed a hand on the same side her cut was on. She moved my hand over her bare knee to lead it to a red spot further down.

I hissed in sympathetic pain.

It wasn’t bleeding, so I just ran my fingers lightly at the skin around the sore spot and leaned in to kiss the patella of her knee. I looked in her eyes to make sure I wasn’t overstepping.

“Anywhere else that hurts?”

She pouted and pointed to her elbow.

I took her arm to kiss the sensitive skin on the inside of her elbow. God, she smelled delicious.

“Anywhere else?” I smirked, and she had a little smile on.