“Yay! Can we?”
The weasel; he’d gotten a dinner and a lunch out of me in two minutes flat. I really needed to put up some boundaries.
“Darla, be careful of the straw,” was all I said in response. “Thanks, Drew.”
Then I took Darla’s hand and hightailed it out of the posh club before I agreed to anything else.
Drew
On Monday, I hit the gym hard and then went to the office, avoiding any extra conversation with anyone. I was a man on a mission.
After lunch, I pondered whether to text or call Jules. A call was more romantic, but a text more pragmatic. When it came to dealing with single moms, I was starting to realize pragmatic was best.
DREW: Does tonight work? Were you able to get a sitter?
I also considered asking my office manager, Marge, to watch Darla. I knew Marge’s family and where she lived. She was a nice lady, a soon-to-be grandma, a little soft around the curves, and she baked a mean brownie. Surely, she was better than this Molly.
JULES: I did. Molly can come at six.
DREW: Great. I’ll pick you up around six. What is Molly’s last name?
This whole being-a-parent thing was eating away at me.
JULES: Drew, let it be. See you later. Can we do something casual?
DREW: Sure thing. There’s a great Middle Eastern place in town with a lot of veggie options. Sound good? It’s not fancy.
I’d prefer to take her somewhere exclusive and expensive, show her how life could be with me, but that wasn’t Jules. She was nothing like the other women who had tried to worm their way into my bed to reap the fruits of my labor. Jules wanted nothing to do with my bed.
JULES: Perfect.
Forty–love, me.
I left work around five, which was a bit unusual for a Monday, but I needed to shower and change. At home, not in my office. I had to attend to other needs so I didn’t blow my wad at dinner. And I didn’t mean on the check.
At quarter after six, I arrived at Jules’s place. I was sure she didn’t want me to come up, but I did. As someone opened the door to her building, I jetted inside behind them.
Something else I’ll have to deal with. Security.
“Hey.” Jules answered the door out of breath, slipping a Tom on one foot and hopping on the other. “I’ll be ready in a sec.” She kept me at bay, only holding the door open a quarter of the way.
“Can I say hello to Darla?”
“She’s in my room watching a movie.” Lowering her voice, she whispered, “Let her be, Drew. This must be confusing enough to her.”
“Okay.”
When Jules shut the door in my face, I stepped back toward the opposite wall and leaned against the drab paint. Thirty seconds later, she came out, and I got to take in all of her.
“Ready,” she said, but I barely heard her over my pounding heart.
Dark skinny-jean capris covered her legs, and a long white tank hung off her right shoulder. She’d left her hair down, and big gold hoops tangled in her messy red hair. When my gaze made its way back up to her red-glossed lips, I reached out and swiped off the gloss with my thumb.
“Sorry,” I whispered, and without thinking, I leaned in and kissed her. At first, she was reluctant, but then she gave in, moving her lips along mine.
I nudged her gently back against the door, my front melded to hers, my dick seeking friction with any damn part of her. She opened her mouth to speak and barely got out a squeak before my tongue shoved its way inside. A moan rumbled up my chest.
“Drew,” she finally got out.
