Chapter Fifteen
“Wow. Just think, I’m dating the assignment manager at WQUZ. You can bet I’m going to brag about this to the guys at the station.” Trey held up his cup of coffee, and nodded his head towards Charlotte’s cup of tea. She held it up, the crests of her cheeks aching from all the smiling she’d been doing the past few hours. “To Charlotte, for stepping out of her comfort zone, and taking life by the balls.”
Her head automatically began to shake out of habit, ready to deny that awesomeness of everything Trey had just said. Charlotte stopped herself. “You know what, yeah, to me and my new job. And to bragging that I am dating a super hot firefighter.”
“Yeah, you are.” Trey laughed in that deep booming way that simultaneously embarrassed and thrilled her. That laugh said he didn’t give a shit that people all over the dinner were turning to look at them. He was happy, and everyone else could go fuck themselves.
This man had a lot to teach Charlotte.
Once they tucked into their huge stacks of pancakes, the conversation came to a stop and instead turned to moans at the delicious food. “You don’t stop with those little noises of pleasure, and I’m going to be forced to throw you over my shoulder and take you out of here. See if there is anything else I can do with you to recreate them in private.”
Charlotte squirmed in her seat, the building pressure between her thighs nagging at her since the night of their kiss. “Well you did say the next time you saw me, you wouldn’t be able to stop yourself. But you seem pretty in control over there.”
Who was this woman flirting, flirting, with a big, confident, hot man like Trey? It couldn’t be her. Maybe she was still riding high from the promotion. Maybe her shell really was starting to melt. But for the first time, not even a trace of panic could be found anywhere in her body. Instead, there was arousal. Desire. Need. All things Trey could take care of.
“You have no idea how hard it is to control myself over here. You look so beautiful in your work clothes and your hair all up in that proper bun. I just want to take you to my apartment and get you messy.” Fire burned in Trey’s eyes, his pupils growing bigger, and the muscles at his jaws tightening as he leaned forward over his half empty plate.
“Is your apartment close?”
“Closer than yours.”
“Then let’s go.” Charlotte took one last bite of her strawberry stuffed pancakes and threw her napkin down, standing from the table.
Trey followed closely behind, leaving enough money on the table to cover their bill and a very generous tip. One hand on her lower back directed her toward the small parking lot at the back of the lot. “You mind leaving your car here? I don’t want to let you out of my sight. I’ll bring you back before work tonight.”
“That’s fine.” Once she slipped into the passenger side of his dark gray SUV, the nerves started to find their way back in, creeping up in her fingers in waves of pins and needles. Charlotte gripped the sides of her seat, willing herself to calm down. To go through with this. Trey was a good man. A patient man. A fucking sexy man. She bit the bullet earlier that morning and took a leap she never thought would be possible for her. She could do it again. Take the leap and let this man relieve her of the virginity she’d been unable to give away so far.
As they eased onto the main road, Trey reached over and placed his hand on her thigh. It was so big compared to her lean legs that his thumb to touch her outer thigh while his pinkie rested between her legs, just an inch south of her throbbing sex. “If at any point you change your mind, we’ll watch TV and chill out on the couch. I just want to be with you, in whatever form that ends up being.”
His reassurance wasn’t needed. She knew he’d never expect something from her she couldn’t give. But she wanted this, even as her nerves and neurosis played havoc with her brain, she still understood under all that how much she desperately wanted to be with Trey. To feel him inside her.
They pulled into a driveway a short time later, Trey insisting she stay right where she was so he could open the door for her. He held her hand as they made their way up some rickety old steps to a wooden deck, and then inside his apartment. It was neater than she expected, especially considering he hadn’t been expecting company. Small things stood out as they made their way through his space. The sink didn’t have a single dish waiting to be cleaned. Fresh vacuum lines were visible in the old carpet. There were family pictures hanging on walls and placed haphazardly on a small piano in the corner. Two rooms jutted off the main living space, and a loft topped off the apartment.
“Wow, this is a pretty big place.” A sectional couch took up one whole wall, with a big screen TV hanging opposite it. There wasn’t a table of any sort to eat meals at, but a set of TV trays stood beside the arm of the couch.
“Yeah, I used to share it with two other guys, but the last time a roommate moved out, I realized I didn’t really need their help to pay rent anymore, and just kept it for myself.” They had come to a stop in the middle of the living room, Trey still holding tight to her hand. Charlotte swung her gaze around to take him in. For the first time she they’d met, he looked nervous. His back ramrod straight, and the muscles bulging at the sleeves of his shirt. “Do you want to watch some TV?”
His unease put her at ease for some reason. Knowing that this affected him too, that he wasn’t as calm and smooth as she had assumed he would be in this moment. It put them on a little more even of a playing field.
“No. I don’t want to watch TV.” Charlotte stepped closer. It was the most forward she’d ever been with him. Words raced in her mind and she tried to push them out, but failed. Her lips opened, but that was as far as she could get. Just say it. Touch me. Kiss me. Anything me. Say it. But they stayed resolutely hidden inside her whirling brain.
Trey reached up with his thumb, brushing it across her bottom lip. “Those eyes of yours are begging me to do some very dirty things. Is that what you want right now/”
Relief rushed out of her mouth along with a sighed, “Yes.”
“God, I should be ashamed of how many times I’ve jacked off to thoughts of you in that bedroom. It almost feels unreal that I’ll get to have you there with me.” He picked up both her hands now, walking backward through his bedroom door, keeping the intense eye contact. “I’ve thought about how all that dark hair would look across my pillow. How tiny you’d look in the middle of my bed.”
They stood at the edge of the bed, staring at each other, pulses pounding, and the air around them thickening with heat and unspoken words. Charlotte reached up, released her hair from the conservative bun she always wore to work. The hair that he seemed to be fascinated with tumbled down around her shoulders, and her scalp relaxed.
“Jesus, you are beautiful. I can’t stop looking at you.” Trey traced the delicate skin of her wrists, then swept his hands up to cup her face. “I can’t wait to see how much more beautiful you get when I’ve made you come so many times, you can barely breathe.”
Their mouths crashed together, no subtly to the kiss, just devouring and warring lips and tongues. It was wet and frantic, tinged with a pulsing need that grew bigger by the second. As they kissed, Trey gripped her shirt, and ripped it down the center, buttons popping off in every direction. Charlotte moaned, her panties soaking through at the over the top aggression in the move.
“Fuck, I’m sorry, I just need to feel your skin.” His wide palms gripped her slight waist, gliding up to just below her nearly pointless bra, then back down to the band of her dress pants. “God, I want to see all of you.”
“Me too. I want to see you.” Their words were mumbled between breaks in their kiss, panting around the syllables, barely recognizable through the haze of lust.
Trey backed away for just a moment to rip off his T-shirt over his head. His lips were back before Charlotte could take in a lungful of air. Their hands were everywhere, taking the skin they’d bared to each other, never settling in one place too long.
