A Life Like This (Life #1) Page 5

  “Of course, thank you for allowing me to bring you here. Perhaps we can come back another time?”

  “Perhaps,” I concede as we walk back to the waiting car.

  The drive back to my house is a quiet one. We both seem to be lost in thought. At one point, I look over and just stare at him. He is so fucking hot; I just want to accost him in the backseat. His facial hair is perfect, and his cheekbones are pronounced. His hair has that tousled look about it, but you know he has to spend time on it. His eyes, God, his eyes are like swimming in the beautiful Hawaiian blue sea. It’s at this point I realize I can see his eyes. He’s no longer looking out of the window, but staring directly at me. He stares at my eyes before turning his attention to my lips. I lick them and drag the left side of my bottom lip through my teeth.

  “Fuck,” he sighs as he crashes his lips to mine. I don’t fight it. As much as I know I should be keeping my relationship with Blake strictly business, I just can’t. Something about him draws me to him. We passionately kiss for a short period before I feel the car stop. It’s then I realize we’re at my house and there is a driver in the car. How awkward! I mean, yeah, I pretty much fucked a total stranger but at least I didn’t have any witnesses. I tear my mouth away from his and rush out of the car. I seriously have to get a grip when I’m around him. I hear a car door slam and him running up behind me.

  “Angelica, I’m sorry. Did I upset you?” The worry is clear in his voice. Gosh, I’m so stupid.

  “No, Blake, of course you didn’t. I’m sorry. I just seem to have no self-control when I’m around you. I just need to get inside. I need to be alone. Thank you for tonight. I had an amazing night with you,” I confess as I stand on my tippy-toes and peck his cheek.

  He doesn’t kiss me back, nor does he try to grab me. Ever the gentleman, he is following my wishes and letting me get inside. I’m sort of upset. I think I wanted him to put up a fight. I mean, I could have let our romp in the car keep going if I had wanted to. Sweet Jesus, I need to make up my mind. What the fuck do you want, Angelica?

  Turning, I walk up the steps to my door. Luck is on my side and I get the key in quickly, rush in and close the door behind me. Standing with my back to the door, I release a sigh. Ugh, I didn’t even give him a chance to say goodbye to me. I slide down the door and land straight on my ass. The thump of me falling alerts Roger and he’s immediately at my side barking up a storm, checking if I’m hurt. Damn it!

  “Angelica, are you okay?” Blake is now yelling and pounding at my door. “Angelica, let me in.”

  Shit, I have to say something.

  “I’m fine, Blake,” I yell back at him. “I just slid down the door and Roger freaked out.” I glare at Roger and whisper, “Thanks a lot, Roger!”

  “Angelica, I am not leaving you until you open this door and I can make sure you are fine.” He sounds worried. Damn it all to hell. I stand and kick off my heels, then turn and open the door. Standing there with his arms spread out, hands holding the doorframe, he looks visibly shaken.

  “I’m fine, Blake. Look,” I spin in front of him, “nothing happened. Roger just worries too much about me.” I give him a tight smile.

  “May I come in and make sure you are well and no one is in your home?” He steps past me and starts to walk through my house. Awesome, I close the door behind him and Roger starts to growl.

  “Roger, enough! You’ve caused enough problems for one night, don’t you think?” I scold him and he whimpers and runs to his bed. Great, now I feel like a jackass.

  “Blake, are you satisfied with your search?” I call out to him.

  “Yes, I just wanted to make sure all was fine.” I tilt my head slightly in confusion.

  “Why would you be worried about me, Blake?” I ask him, truthfully curious to his response. He closes the gap between us and gently grabs my chin, placing a chaste kiss on my lips.

  “I don’t like the idea of you living in the city alone. It’s dangerous, and with you being a young and beautiful, single woman it only makes the odds against you even worse. It worries me sick,” he replies.

  “Blake, you’ve known me all of two days. How could you feel so sick with worry in such a short time of knowing me? I’m just an advertising girl to you, a woman with whom your brother is doing business with. We don’t really have a relationship outside of that.”

  “How can you stand there and say that to me?” He grabs my hand and leads me to my couch, pulling me onto his lap. “When I crashed into you Friday morning, my world altered. Everything had a place, everything was in order, and then there you were, innocent and gorgeous, just staring at me. Can you look me in the eyes and tell me I didn’t affect you that morning?”

  I can’t meet his eyes. He is right, and I can’t tell him he didn’t affect me. I thought of him constantly throughout that day.

  “Exactly. When I happened upon you at the club, I felt as if it was fate telling me it doesn’t give second chances and I had to make myself heard before you forgot who I was. I didn’t mean to have sex with you in my brother’s office; I swear it. I imagined our first time being a little more intimate. But once I felt your lips on mine, I couldn’t control myself. I wanted you; I wanted every inch of you.” I can feel him growing hard beneath me as he speaks. “I don’t know why you’re pushing me away so hard, why you think I just want to fuck you and be on my way, but that’s not who I am. In fact, if that’s how you think men think, then you have clearly been with the wrong men,” he says sternly.

  “This isn’t news,” I reply sarcastically, and he looks at me puzzled.

  “What isn’t news?”

  “Me choosing the wrong men, it’s what I do.” I shrug.

  “Let me be the right guy, Angelica. Let me show you how a real man is supposed to treat an amazing woman like yourself.”

  “Gosh, Blake, do you just have a shoebox full of these lines? I mean, who talks like this?” I laugh nervously. He winks in return and I melt. The electricity between us that I have been fighting is so strong. I just stop. I stop fighting. Licking my lips, I stare at his mouth, and he takes the hint. He pulls me even closer and kisses me with such passion I know I’m fucked. I kiss him back harder, giving him access to my mouth. We both moan at the same time, then break apart and laugh. Gosh, it is so easy and fun being with this man.

  I can’t help but admire his beauty. Those piercing blue eyes are blinding, and his facial hair is always the perfect amount of scruff that makes him look so handsome yet manly. I watch his eyes widen in suspense as I stand from his lap and grab the hem of my dress. I lift it over my head and discard it on the couch. Silently, he watches me, and I realize he truly is looking at me, not my body but my eyes. His eyes never leave mine. I tilt my head, then unclasp my bra and toss it next to my dress. Again, his eyes don’t leave mine. I smile and start to drag my lacy thong down my legs until he stops me.

  “Wait, leave it on.” His voice is husky, but his eyes are still on mine. I pull my thong back onto my hips then move forward to straddle him. I can feel his rock hard dick beneath me as I grind into him and he catches his breath. Leaning over, I gently brush my lips onto his, but he grabs my head and deepens the kiss. Before I even realize what is happening, he has me pinned beneath him. He never broke our kiss; it only deepened. I feel his hard cock beneath his pants and can wait no longer.

  “Please, Blake, I need to feel you inside of me,” I pant.

  “Anything you want, Angelica,” he replies fiercely. He lifts me up and begins to carry me. “Room?”

  I can’t help but laugh.

  “Fourth floor…shall I walk?”

  He gives me the death glare, and I take that as a no. He continues to kiss me as he easily carries me up each flight of stairs until we reach the master bedroom. He gently lays me on my bed then stands to undress. My God, I could watch him undress any day. His body is rock hard and he’s so big and muscular; it’s such a turn on. Undressing quickly, he then crawls up my bed until he is hovering above me.

/>   “You are so beautiful, Angelica. So beautiful. I can’t wait to be inside of you.” He gently presses his lips to mine before trailing painfully slow kisses down my body. He starts at the base of my neck, gently kissing and fondling my generously sized tits, giving each one the same amount of attention, then slowly kissing the apex of my thighs.

  “Ahhh, Blake,” I moan loudly.

  “That was nothing, baby,” he informs me right before he unleashes his tongue on my pussy, licking me as I’ve never been licked before. He never slows. He just keeps at it until I’m quivering with the need to release. “That’s it,” he encourages as he feels me shake. He makes circles with his tongue, and sucks my clit into his mouth. That’s all it takes – his words and his voice –and I’m soaring.

  I’m screaming, only I don’t know what I’m saying. I don’t think I’ve ever come so hard. I’m still sailing when I feel him slowly slip inside of me. Oh, the exquisite feeling of fullness is one I cannot explain. He rocks his hips and I feel the buildup coming yet again. He starts to rock faster and faster until he is slamming into me. I’m moaning with pleasure; it feels so fucking good.

  “Come for me, baby,” he says through gritted teeth. He doesn’t have to tell me twice. I let go with a scream.

  “BLAKE!” I moan his name as I come yet again. He moans loudly and I feel his body tighten then release inside of me. He kisses me gently while we wait for our heart rate to return to its normal levels.

  “Please tell me you were wearing a condom,” I ask him, slightly embarrassed I’m only asking him now that we’re done. He pulls out of me and I see that he is.

  “You should really ask that question before sex, you know,” he says as he walks to my bathroom to clean himself up.

  “Yeah, I should,” I yell back. I get up and run to my dresser to get some clothes on. I discard my thong, which I am still wearing. Jeez, how did he manage that? I get new panties on and a comfy pajama set. I run back into bed right before Blake walks out of my bathroom.

  “Well, that was fast,” he says, looking at my outfit.

  “Yeah, I don’t know why I get all shy after sex. You’d think it would be before, but clearly I do everything backwards,” I joke with a grin.

  “You have nothing to be shy about. You have an amazing body, Angelica.” He looks at me with hooded eyes, like a man satisfied. I smile; content it was me who put that look on his face. He begins to get dressed and I have no shame in just watching him move. He is quite the eye candy.

  “Don’t mind me, please stare away,” he says jokingly.

  “Oh, no worries, I intend too.” I wink at him as he laughs. He is dressed all too soon.

  “Walk me to the door?” he asks me. I happily follow him down the stairs to the front door. “Thank you again for tonight, Angelica. I had an amazing night.” He kisses me gently on the lips.

  “Thank you, Blake. It was fun.” He kisses my forehead then walks out.

  I watch him get into the backseat of the waiting town car. Has that poor driver just been sitting out there this whole time I wonder? I smile at the car, fully knowing he is not going to tell the driver to go until I close the door. Seriously, his chivalry knows no bounds. I shake my head then close and lock the door. I look out of the peephole, and sure enough, the car starts to go. I turn my back to the door and find Roger staring at me. He has never seen a man other than Joey and my grandfather in my house. He is probably so confused. Shit, he can join the club.

  “Come on, Roger, let’s go to bed. Mommy is spent for one day.” Roger happily follows me to my room and hops onto his side of the now messy bed. I go to the bathroom and do my bedtime ritual of washing my face and brushing my teeth. Once complete, I drag myself to bed and am out before I know it.

  I wake up at six thirty; it’s an issue I have. I cannot sleep in to save my life. No matter how late I am up the night before or how tired I am, I wake before seven am. It’s a curse really. I stretch as I make my way to the bathroom. Ugh, I’m surprisingly sore. I usually don’t get sore. Hmm, Blake must be larger than I gave him credit for, and that’s saying something. Roger is whining at the bathroom door, desperate for a run. There goes my lazy Sunday morning. I brush my teeth and throw my hair up in a messy ponytail. “All right, Roger, you win. Let me get dressed.” I pat his head then I make my way over to my dresser to change into my running clothes.

  Roger and I are out of the house by seven. At the foot of the stairs, I make Roger wait while I pick a new Pandora station on my phone. JoJo says I’m weird because I run to slow music, but it calms me. Today I pick Sia Radio. She is my favorite artist and all songs on this station are calming. Once my headphones are in place, I’m ready. “Left or right, Roger?” I ask even though I have an idea he is going to break routine and go right again. Yep, he heads to the right. We find our pace like usual and head off.

  This early on a Sunday morning is so tranquil. There is no one out, minimal cars on the road, and just me, my dog, and my thoughts. I scan my surroundings a lot this morning, perhaps hoping I’ll see Blake pop out of a bush or something. I know it’s wishful thinking on my part and that’s what scares me. I’ve never wanted to just run into a man, literally in this case. Don’t get me wrong, there have been plenty of guys I’ve wanted sexually on many occasions, but with Blake, I don’t know what it is. I want more than sex. We have this connection. He gets my sense of humor, something that most men don’t. I’ve been told I’m rather blunt, and apparently, men don’t like that. Blake goes with it, always ready with a comeback. I don’t remember having this much fun with a man other than JoJo in a long time. It’s a troubling thought. I don’t do relationships, so I need to back the fuck off this guy before I do something stupid. Or before he hurts me emotionally, and I don’t do well with emotional hurt. I’ve been through enough of that in my life.

  Roger and I make it back home without incident, but I find I am disappointed I didn’t run into Blake. Fuck, I have it bad. What? Do I expect him to run with me every day? Wouldn’t that have been creepy if I did run into him? Yes, very creepy. Okay, enough of that. I feed Roger breakfast then head to my room. Figuring I have to fill my day before I spend it thinking about Blake any more, I hurriedly call JoJo to make plans.

  “Hey, JoJo!” I squeal into the phone.

  “Ugh, baby girl, not all of us wake up at the ass crack of dawn like you,” he grumbles back at me.

  “It’s eight am, hardly early. I’ve been up since six thirty, you’re lucky I didn’t call you then,” I reply sweetly.

  “Yes, thank you for that. So what’s up?”

  “I want to do something today. I don’t want to sit at home twiddling my thumbs all day.”

  “I’m meeting Sammy and the guys for brunch and karaoke at ten thirty, you want to come with?” he asks.

  “That sounds like fun. I’ll shower and change and be at your house in an hour,” I reply.

  “See you then, AP.”

  I take a long shower, shave, and wash my hair. I hop out and lather up on my lotion and moisturizer before blow drying my long hair and straightening it. Rather than doing my makeup, I throw my makeup bag in my purse. I’ll make JoJo do it; he’s better at it than I am anyway. I pick a pair of leggings with a long sweater shirt and wedge boots and head out the door.

  The taxi ride to JoJo’s is quick and I let myself into his apartment with my key.

  “Honey, I’m home!” I call as I walk in.

  “Someone is in a good mood this morning. You get laid last night?” Joey teases as he walks into his living room wearing only pajama bottoms and his hair looking perfectly messed up per usual. When I take a second too long to respond, he stops and glares at me. Shit. “Angelica, I warned you about that man. Be careful. You don’t even know him,” he yells at me.

  “Ugh, Joey, I don’t know what it is with him. I lose my sense of control.” I plop down on his leather couch and don’t look up. I know the disappointed look he is shooting at me. He walks over and sits on the glass table in
front of me.

  “I’m not trying to be mean, and you know that, Angelica. I’m only looking out for you. I can tell you like him, and I know you’ll do something stupid to push him away. I just want you to take it slow and be careful. You’ve been through enough.” He puts his finger under my chin and forces me to meet his eyes. I love this man like a brother. He is my rock.

  “You’re right, Joey. I’m trying. I won’t let my old habits take over.” I give him my signature lopsided smile. He grins back.

  “What the hell am I going to do with you, baby girl? Come on. Let’s go do your makeup.” He grabs my hand and leads me to his room.

  An hour later, my makeup is done and Joey is ready to go. He is wearing his designer jeans and a cable-knit sweater with his trendy leather Troopah boots I constantly make fun of. I just don’t get fashion. I laugh at him as he walks out of his closet and he pushes me, knowing exactly what I’m laughing about.

  “Shut up, they are in and expensive as hell,” he reprimands as he looks at his boots.

  “If you say so,” I reply as I grab the Polaroid camera. We snap a quick picture then head out to hail a cab. The drive is short and we arrive right at ten forty-five. Sammy is outside smoking, and rushes over when he sees us getting out of the cab. I run to him as JoJo pays the fare.

  “Oh, Sammy dear, how I have missed you,” I call in my fake British accent – I can do a mean British accent.

  “Oh, Bella Angie girl, you look stunning as usual,” Sammy responds as he puts out his cigarette, grabs me in a bear hug, and spins me in a circle. Joey laughs at us our overly dramatic greeting.

  The feel of this small restaurant is very welcoming with its Indian influence. There are bright colors on the walls, and random tables and seats scattered in no particular order. Against the back wall of the restaurant is a small stage that travels all the way across the wall. There are barstools and instruments set aside ready for people to use, and an older piano sits in the corner. There is one microphone stand dead center, just waiting for its first victim. Of course, there is the small television sitting on the floor in front of the stage so people can cheat and look at the lyrics if they need it. It’s a random place to host karaoke, but it fits. The city is magical like that.