Chapter Nine
Caldwell
Being in Europe, all I could think about was getting home to Daphne. In the past I had always planned extended trips to neighboring countries. On that trip, I was focused on taking care of business in a timely fashion and the needs of my once-in-a-lifetime client. My desires were not to be part of the proceedings since what I wanted was thousands of miles and an ocean away. It was pure torture to be achieving a dream without being able to talk about it to Daphne.
That made me realize that I needed to clear things up with Daphne as soon as I could, but the first time I saw her was not going to be that moment. Talking to her on the phone while being away had been painful—I ached for her next to me…or under me—and I was done with words in favor of action. “Be ready” were my last words before I said goodbye to her as we were about to takeoff and I had to switch my cell to airplane mode.
When the wheels of the jet touched down at LAX, I wanted the pilot to get us to the terminal quicker to let us deplane immediately. Going through customs, I had to stay calm as I silently begged them to process me quicker. Getting on a shuttle bus to my father’s truck parked in an extended-stay lot and driving to Los Feliz, I wanted to shout at people to drive quicker.
When I finally parked in Daphne’s driveway, I grabbed my bag and rushed up to the front door as if my life depended on it. The fact that I didn’t have to use my key because the most spectacular sight ever threw the door open wide and jumped right into my arms was fucking fantastic. My bag hit the floor and I managed to get the door closed before our mouths hungered for each other frantically. Then, all at once, my fantasy was becoming a reality thanks to her lack of panties and my quick zipper and condom action. Up against the closed door, I entered her welcoming wetness swift and hard.
“Don’t stop!” she moaned, tightening her grip on me.
“Don’t worry. I’ve been craving you for days. Not stopping until I fill you up,” I grunted, pumping in and out of her tight warmth, loving every sensation that electrified my body. “Not going to last.”
She was moaning and panting, “Right there…yes…almost there…oh God.”
“Now! Now!” I commanded, hoping that it worked as I was about to lose my shit and my strength. With her nails digging into my back and her pulsating walls pulling me in deeper and tightening around me, I was sure that we had achieved our ultimate goal. “Oh fuck, yeah!” It wasn’t nearly enough, I needed far more of her and planned to ply her with far more attention in a more comfortable spot for as long…and as many times as I could muster.
“I missed you,” she whispered breathlessly as I walked us through the house to her bed. I echoed her words back to her.
The thought of remaining entangled in the sheets for hours…days…weeks was overly appealing but food and obligations stepped in. Not to mention, I needed to finish her house quicker than I wanted to thanks to my meeting in London. Luckily, Harrison had located some curved cabinetry reminiscent of the Streamline Moderne period. When we got to the store, we found that there were only upper cupboards, but I was sure Ashton could make lower cabinets to match. Sure enough, he had some on-hand. My suggestion was a winner.
“These are exactly what my kitchen needs.” Daphne was like a kid in a candy shop and the cabinets weren’t the only things that captured her attention. “Oh, Caldwell! I want this.” She pointed to a large porthole window that opened.
I had to admit it was perfect for the house, but where?
She had an answer. “Can we swap out the window over the sink for this? It will echo the built-in circular clock above in the cabinetry.”
“That’s a great idea. I’ll have Ash… I’ll get Leonard to come over. He’s great with windows and doors…really just about anything.” Anyone but my brother needed to help. I could just hear him spilling the beans like he often did when we were kids. He was the last person you wanted to tell a secret to—I hadn’t even told him my latest news. I wasn’t saying much about Daphne to him either as I wanted her all to myself. It was bad enough that every man looked at her like she was the ultimate dinner.
“Leonard the handyman?”
Shit! Did she know him too? There could be another handyman with that same name but something told me that we were talking about the same one.
“Don’t look at me like that!” I wasn’t sure what my expression was. “My sister Aubree works for a woman that has a guy named Leonard that helps her with things. In fact, we need to go to her house and pick up some old rusted mesh patio furniture.”
I loved her enthusiasm about the house and how she insisted on keeping it as close to the original look as possible. The outdoor set was another thing she was so excited about and I couldn’t say no to anything she wanted. The trip out to Sierra Madre to a woman named Hadley’s house proved to be a good thing. The furniture was a fucking mess—but with a wire brush and a fresh coat of spray paint it would fit in perfectly. So I packed it all into the back of the old truck and Daphne stuffed cushions and pillows for the mesh love seat and two chairs into the cab of the truck.
“I hear you’re trying to steal Leonard from me?” Hadley inquired with her hands on her hips and a smirk on her face that made me feel uncomfortable. I nearly fell over when she added Ashton’s name. “Temporarily is fine, but leave Ashton alone. I need my house finished.”
“I…it’s only a window…I promise…just Leonard.” I had never felt so unintelligent in my life, stumbling for words.
Daphne laughed and moved to my side, wrapping her arms around me. “She’s just busting your balls. Aubree already mentioned the window to Hadley and asked her if I could use him.”
I relaxed a bit, but I didn’t like that she didn’t let me talk to Leonard. I wanted to be in charge of things. I wanted to be the one taking care of everything for her. Not wanting to make a big deal about it, I just wanted to get the hell out of there before there was any more mention of my brother. Nor did I want Hadley to question me about the work I was doing for Daphne or my last name.
“We better get going before we get stuck in a major traffic jam.” Always an easy excuse in LA where people geared their schedules—if they could—around commuting that involved starting and quitting times. It was good that Daphne didn’t bring up the fact that we were traveling the opposite of rush hour until we were on our own.
“Why did you want me alone?” Her voice was sexy and playful as she fiddled with her seatbelt. “Are you in need of some action?” Her hands were on my crotch, unhooking my pants and taking my throbbing erection out.
“Oh fuck!” I moaned as she stroked up and down my hard as a rock length.
“If you think you could drive with me on your lap, I’m willing to give it a try or you could just focus on driving with my lips wrapped around your…” She didn’t finish her sentence but, instead, dipped her head and licked up the side of me. “Yum,” I heard a few times as she teased me sucking, licking and nibbling me until I placed my hand gently on her head. I didn’t want to hurt her, but she needed to stop causing me such pain and agony. She did not disappoint… just the opposite, she gave me the best fucking blow job. I admit that I was not a pro at receiving pleasure while driving as I nearly swerved into a car in the next lane before pulling off the freeway for the grand finale.
Though the ride was more than enjoyable, I was happy to be back home…to Daphne’s place where it was my turn to happily return the favor. Being with her had me thinking about never leaving, but how did I make that happen? Going to bed with her, waking with her, smelling her on me when we were apart…it sounded perfect.
When I heard Daphne on the phone a few days after we finally got her kitchen put back together using that same word “perfect” it didn’t sound quite as good, though I loved her words.
“I have the perfect life…the perfect man…the perfect house…the perfect job…the perfect…everything is right in my world.”
I had no idea who she was talking to, but, suddenly, I felt like shit realizing that she did not have the perfect man. I was a no good rat of a guy because I wasn’t ready to give up the bliss we were living in by telling her how I had deceived her from the moment she opened her front door to me.