Charitys passion, p.4
Charity's Passion, page 4
Melissa giggles, “That sounds incredible, Charity. You are so damn lucky.”
We calm down a little and Melissa asks me how other things are going. I know exactly what she means and I feel some of my steam blow away. “No change so far, but Justin says it’s time. He’s wound up like a top.”
“And what about you?” She adds, her voice dropping to a nervous seriousness. “How are you doing with it?”
“Not good, but I can handle it—I think.” I can hear the fear in my own voice, she doesn’t need to point it out.
“Do you want to come out and stay with me, would that be safer?” Melissa asks.
Just the thought makes my head spin and my stomach flop. There’s no way I’m leaving the safety of Justin’s side—or putting her in danger with my presence. I just can’t tell her either of those things, that’s too much to put on her. “No Babe, I’m not putting you out and Justin would sooner cut off his arm than let me out of his sight right now.”
Her nervous laughter seeps through the phone. “Where is he now?” She asks.
“Here. He ran downstairs to meet with his brother, and I doubt they’ll be long. He was nervous enough leaving me even though we’re in the same building and under his security team. Garrett practically ordered him down, which was hysterical.”
There’s a short pause filled with a tense silence. I need to tell her why I called before I burst.
“So,” she starts before I can, “are you going to tell me what it is?”
“What what is?” I ask stunned before it dawns on me that I have never been able to hide any excitement from her.
“Girl please!”
“Okay,” I begin, my excitement rising like the steam from a geyser. ”This has to stay right between us and no one else at all, especially my family. They cannot know that I know.”
Melissa begins to squeal. “Oh my God,” she breathes. “This has got to be good.”
My voice comes out sounding like I’m thirteen, “While we were at my parent’s I overheard something that was not meant for me. I was in the kitchen helping my mother with coffee and I got curious about the boys, so I leaned out to listen.”
Melissa is squealing harder, already anticipating what I’m about to confess.
“Justin asked my father for permission to marry me!”
The first sound out of Melissa’s mouth is indiscernible. Imagine the combination of a screeching hawk and a wet car belt. Suddenly I’m squealing too, finally able to let it out and un-throttle my emotions.
“I KNEW IT I KNEW IT I KNEW IT!” She spits out in one long stream. “I’m so God damn happy for you!”
“I know. Holly shit—I’m busting in half here! This is insane isn’t it? You should have seen my parents trying to hide it from me.”
“They have no clue you heard?” Melissa asks.
“Not a fucking bit!”
“Wow!” That was all she could say about it, and I think I hear tears in her voice. “How did your father take it, what did he say to him? I’m trying to picture your dad in the moment and I’m coming up blank. I can’t believe this.”
My breath is returning to normal. “He was thrilled, Melissa. He told Justin he was already family and they’d be honored for him to make it official.”
“I’m crying here,” she confesses. “I’m literally crying I’m so happy for you.”
The tears well up in my eyes with her. “I wasn’t there when Dad told my mom, but you really should have seen her after, Melissa. It was absolutely precious. Her eyes were pure glitter. After that Justin couldn’t wait to get me out of there—before she screwed up and burst.”
“This is fantastic,” she says, calming down. “Do you know when he’s planning to ask you, or if he even has the ring yet?”
I shake my head as if she can see it. “Not a fucking clue, and I don’t wanna know. I know too much already and it’s killing me.” Melissa laughs at me. “No—really—holding this in was eating me up from the inside out. If I didn’t get to tell you today, I was going to have to tell him I heard; there was no way I could keep it to myself any longer.”
“He totally has to reach out to me for help,” she says. “I’m the best friend for fuck’s sake.”
“If he does—don’t tell me anything,” I demand.
“Oh my God, Charity. Are you ready for this?” Melissa asks, her voice returning to normal.
I’m sure of this one. “With all my heart—yes! I’m more ready than I ever imagined I could be.”
“Then this is going to be a wonderful time in your life.” I can imagine her smile and it almost makes me forget everything else.
LENA COMING WITH US is the only reason Justin is letting me out with the girls for lunch while he stays back at the office with his feet impatiently tapping at the floor and Sylvester nervously protecting him. Garrett is coming in so he can keep an eye on Justin and make sure he doesn’t freak out completely. If Justin and I had it our way, we’d stay at each other’s side, but Garrett and Lena insist that we have to appear normal, do the things we always do, if we want to flush Brian Marker out. Justin tells me they’re right despite the fact that he hates it.
Lynda’s voice is suddenly floating in the air just outside of my office and I can tell from her flirtatious tone that Garrett is finally here. The woman has no shame.
I hit a speed dial button on my phone and at half a ring, Trisha picks up. “Your wanna-be man is here, and Lynda already has him. You might wanna go claim him before she ruins him for all womankind.”
Trisha laughs as she says, “You are too much.”
Then Lynda laughs loud enough for Trisha to hear it from her office and abruptly hangs up on me. There is still a huge smile on my face when I hear Trisha dragging Garrett to Justin’s office, and when I get down there myself we have a whole conversation with our eyes.
“Holy shit, that was crazy,” her eyes scream.
“Ha ha, I warned you,” my eyes remind her.
Justin isn’t seeing the humor. In fact, he’s barely noticing anything at all. His eyes are fixed on his security cameras, and not just the ones in the office, but home, the hanger where the Hawker is sitting, and everywhere he thinks we might be vulnerable. My heart sinks for him that he’s so stressed out.
“You ready?” I ask Trisha.
That snaps Justin out of it. He stands and comes around his desk, eager to hold me and remind me to be careful in any way that he can without tipping off Trisha that there’s something wrong. His strong arms take me into him and pull my ear close to his mouth. “Be careful and stay close to Lena.”
I squeeze him tighter. I really don’t want to leave.
When I look around Justin’s shoulder at Trisha and Garrett, I catch them standing by each other watching us and feeling awkward. There’s tension between them so thick we can all feel it. I can't believe that they have not just attacked each other yet.
“I’m ready when you are,” Trisha pleads, doing her best to break up the tense moment. “We’ll grab Lena and the others on our way.”
We gather the others and a short time later we are sipping down wine at Bobby Van’s and laughing at each other. For a few minutes I manage to forget how bad things are and enjoy myself. Lena is on my left rocking a chartreuse St. John Punto Riso dress, always the perfect mix of beauty and deadliness. Trisha, wearing an Elizabeth and James draped tank and Rag and Bone Jeans, took the seat to my right so that I have her good ear close to me.
“Relax,” Lena whispers discreetly, “I won’t let anything happen.” Her wide smile reassures the good feeling I have. Okay, the Pinot noir I’m tossing back isn’t hurting either.
Lynda teases Trisha from across the table. “Lady, you need to make some moves on Garrett soon. I’m losing my self-control waiting on you.” Her giggle is almost ear-piercing.
“As if you have self-control,” Jennifer snaps quickly, fighting her words out through her own heavy laughter.
Clarice weighs in, which almost never happens, telling Lynda she needs to back off Trisha’s man.
“I’m trying,” Lynda defends through her growing smile. “It just isn’t easy to know the boundaries without seeing either of the rings.”
“What rings?” I ask, knowing I’m going to regret it.
“Gold on her finger,” Lynda starts, “or her lipstick on his cock.”
Several of us choke on our wine, but Jennifer quickly takes out her lipstick and puts on a new layer while we laugh hysterically at her. It even cracks a coveted Lena smile.
Walt, our waiter for today, opens a second bottle of Noir for us right after we order a few appetizers to share while we go over the menu, and once they come we shovel them in like they may be the last we will ever order. Walt is cute, short blonde hair, exactly the same color as Justin’s, and bright blue eyes, but there’s a young guy bussing tables that has caught the eyes of the girls this time. His hair is a mess and a dark stubble is covering his cleft chin. Jennifer is threatening to spill a drink on herself and make him wipe her off so she can feel his strong hands on her body. We’re all pretty sure we could bounce a quarter off his tight ass.
My mind keeps drifting back to Justin, wondering how Garrett is making out with keeping him calm. Garrett has grown into a Justin expert fairly quickly, but he’s going to be worried about Trisha too, which makes me wonder if they’ve made sure they can both listen and watch us even without being here.
It wouldn't be Justin's first bug.
I’m also certain if I look hard enough I’ll find someone from the team besides Lena, one of the guys at another table or just outside watching us. That would be the Justin way. When our waiter returns for our order, I look around knowing damn well that if they don’t want to be recognized, I’m not going to see a fucking thing. Of course I don’t, but that doesn’t stop me from believing they’re here somewhere.
“So,” Clarice starts, “tell us more about your trip. How is it in the Keys?” She asks me.
I know my face has lit up, I can feel it. “It’s gorgeous. They’re ending their busy season and getting ready for the summer, but it really is a whole separate world down there.” I tell them nearly everything. Obviously, I leave out telling them about Justin and my father. And just to be safe, I don’t tell them about Justin screwing my every-loving brains out on the beach either. Some things are just for my best girls. Trisha knows about that part, and I can see the twinkle in her eyes almost begging me to give it up. Walt saves me from Trisha’s pressure when he brings our food, distracting everyone.
It’s not until we are leaving that I see Lena get tense, her body becoming catlike and defensive. “Stay close,” she whispers, “Don’t be nervous.”
Are you fucking kidding me?
I’d follow her eyes, but she’s not looking anywhere, not tipping off whoever she has caught the scent of. Such a deadly animal and all wrapped up in a pretty dress. Instead of looking around, I take her lead and keep my eyes to myself. If something is going to happen, I want to be right where Lena wants me. She maneuvers me effortlessly in front of her, sheltering me without looking like that’s what she’s doing. The wooden floor passes beneath my feet in a dizzy, fear-filled rush.
“Slower,” she whispers, “Don’t get ahead of me.”
I force my feet back under control, wishing I could do the same for my pulse. The rest of the girls are just waiting for us in the lobby not far away, their smiling faces anticipating us catching up with them. To me they look like the light at the end of a tunnel. If we can just make it to them, that’s all I can think right now.
Lena’s hand is lightly touching my back to control me. I’m sure it looks friendly to everyone else, but it’s protective and demanding until it suddenly falls away. “We’re fine,” she says calmly.
I feel my body relax as I take another step, the fear flooding out of me. “What was it? Who did you see?” I ask quickly, before we are too close to everyone else for her to answer.
“Just a guy. Maybe that’s was all he was, but I didn’t like how his eyes stayed on us,” she replies.
That’s enough for me. If it kicked off her spidey senses, than it was something to be afraid of. She just like Justin with that; neither of them goes off for no reason.
All I want to do now is get back to him, back to my love and protector, wondering at every moment when he’s going to ask me to marry him.
THE SUN IS COMPLETELY down when I step out on the balcony. Everywhere I look there are beautiful city lights beaming through the warm air as I wait for Justin to join me on the couch. Overhead, the speakers come on playing "Marry You" from Bruno Mars.
Really, that's the song that has to be playing right now?
He emerges out on the porch with two glasses of wine in his hands, passing me one of them. “Lena told you about lunch, the guy?” I ask.
Justin nods.
“Do you think it was Marker?” I push, wanting desperately to know his thoughts, to be in his head.
He takes a long gulp from his glass and swallows. I can hear his throat click. “I do,” he answers at last. “Lena knows the difference between a man that’s interested and one that’s hunting.”
“That’s what I thought too.”
The crispness of his white dress shirt makes the green of his eyes pop in the low light, as if they are glowing. I take a sip of my wine and admire his legs in his pants, the way they tighten up slightly around his thick thighs.
“So what do we do about it?” I ask.
“We keep waiting,” Justin says flatly. There is anger littered throughout his voice, but he remains standing like a rock in front of me, the slow breeze playing with his collar and the tails of his shirt. More wine passes his lips again. “If he’s watching us that close, he getting ready to make a move. You don’t do that, don’t risk getting caught, unless you’re ready to do something about it. But—“
His voice trails off, maybe regretting that he’s said anything at all.
“But what? Don’t leave it out there, Justin,” I tell him.
Another gulp and his glass is already getting low. “I wouldn’t have gotten as close as he did today. There’s no reason for it, unless he wants us to know he’s here,” Justin says.
That doesn’t make sense to me. “Why would he want us to know? What the hell is the point of that?”
“I’m not sure yet,” he admits.
I feel my body beginning to tremble. It starts in my stomach and radiates out from there. My hands shake uncontrollably; I need to be calmed.
As always, Justin knows exactly how to take care of me. His right hand gently rests on the side of my face around my ear, caressing me. As his thumb moves back and forth across my ear it controls my heartbeat, steadying me, making the pulse of my body slow to him. As his thumb moves slower, my hands settle and even though I hadn’t felt it become erratic before, my breathing becomes normal.
Once he knows he has me, his other hand tilts his wine down his throat and places his empty glass on the table. It comes to the other side of my head and grasps my hair just a touch past gently. “I want you to watch me take off all my clothes and then I want you to do the same.” Justin pulls my head back enough that he can lean forward and press his lips on mine.
My clit twitches madly.
He lets go of me and steps back with the cockiest smile spread across his face. It makes me gush into my panties. Now his hands are slowly moving through the buttons on his shirt, twisting each one free, exposing only a hint of the bulging undershirt beneath it until he pulls the shirt off his shoulders. The undershirt is sleeveless, and his defined shoulders ripple and beckon to me, asking that I lick each one of them. The warrior in me squeals as he grips the undershirt tightly and yanks it over his head. There are fucking muscles everywhere that I never get tired of seeing as he stands here in the night air in his pants and dress shoes, and when he unbuckles his belt he looks as if he might pull it off his waist and whack me with it.
Bigger gush!
He steps on his own heal and kicks a shoe off, then the other. He lifts his feet one at a time and removes his socks. My anticipation is at its highest. I can see the growing bulge in his pants and I want his cock out; I want to watch him stroke it for me, taken by his passion. Justin takes the top of his pants in hand and slips the button free. I can hear his zipper calling my mouth to it as he pulls it down. The pants fall easily to his ankles to display his very full boxers with the tip of his cock peering out over the top of them.
My legs cannot possibly grind together any tighter. My knees are actually hurting each other.
Both of his thumbs disappear into the waistband of his boxers and begin to pull them away from his body. Inch by inch of his wonderful hardness begins to appear in front of me until the underwear is tossed over to his pants.
“Now you,” he demands. “Take those fucking clothes off so that I can see your beautiful body again."
I put my glass down, stand up, and lift my shiny Rag & Bone tank over my head and Justin’s eyes take in my breasts as they bubble over the top of my bra. That makes my entire body flush with heat and desire, and it also makes his cock twitch. I slide my feet from my heels and undo my pants. When I take them down, I keep my hands tight against my thighs, rubbing them sensually for a show until I sit back on the couch and kick my pants off.
It works. Justin’s hand wraps around his hardness in an effort to control his animal. My clit is a persistently throbbing annoyance that cannot be ignored. I can feel its hardness demanding that either Justin touch it now, or I do. As I unclasp my bra, my stiff nipples burst into freedom and Justin strokes his manhood for me, teasing me. That’s all I can take. I rip my panties off wickedly and run my finger through my soaked labia, drawing the wetness up onto my hard trigger and flicking it stiffly so he can see the relief and joy on my face.
