“Leo, stop.” I giggle into his neck as he palms my ass underneath my yellow cocktail dress.
“No, let’s just go to a hotel and pretend we’re in college again while Clare has the kids.”
I kiss his throat, inhaling his scent and feeling my legs grow weak. “So we can lay in bed and fuck all night?” I whisper.
He groans. “God, I love hearing that word from your mouth, and yes. All night.” He kisses my neck, nipping my chin and finding my lips. “And morning,” he says into my mouth before dragging my bottom lip into his and sucking.
“What are you doing?” Our lips break apart at the sound of Greta’s voice from the doorway, but he doesn’t release me. She stands there, hands on her hips in a Disney Frozen costume and Santa hat, a curious smile on her face.
“Just showing Mommy some love. What are you doing?” Leo eyes her ensemble with a grin, releasing my ass and moving his hands up to my waist.
“Just getting ready for dinner. Can I borrow your red lip gloss, Mommy?”
“Sure.” I smile at her and give Leo a gentle push so he’ll release me. He grumbles low in his throat but lets me go.
I head into our en suite, grabbing it and bending down low in front of her to apply a little bit to her lips. At least if I do it, I know she’s not going to get it everywhere. Leo adjusts his black dress shirt while watching us through the mirror at my dressing table.
I rub and smack my lips together, making a kissy face. She copies, making me grin. “Perfect. Now, go start on your dinner, and we’ll be down in a minute to say good night before we have to leave.”
She gives me a huge smile, displaying the gap from her latest missing top tooth and hikes up her dress to skip out of the room.
I cap the gloss and return it to the bathroom. Leo walks in behind me, kissing up and down my exposed neck, thanks to doing my hair in a tight bun on top of my head earlier.
“We need to go.” I laugh and fix my mascara quickly before turning around in his arms.
He sighs dramatically. “All right.”
Placing a kiss on my forehead, he grabs my hand and tugs me back into our room.
“Hold up. I need my purse.” I run back to grab it. “Oh, and the present …”
“It’s already in the car,” he says, standing by the door.
I slip my feet into my nude pumps. We walk downstairs to say goodbye to the kids and Clare before making our way out to his car in the garage.
He opens the door for me, and I climb in, carefully gathering the puffy skirt of my dress into my lap. Leo gets in, and we back out onto the street before making the short drive over to the Fitzgerald’s home for their ninth wedding anniversary party. His warm hand finds mine between gear changes as I look out the window at the beautiful blur of homes.
Once there, I stare up at their huge house from the street as Leo helps me out of the car. The lion statues that sit either side of their porch are giant and look as though they’ve recently been cleaned because you can see every last detail.
“Don’t look too closely, Trey thinks one of them has a camera in its eye,” Leo whispers, linking my arm through his as we walk up to the looming double doors.
I draw in a breath. “Don’t be ridiculous. They wouldn’t.” I think about it for a second. “No, maybe they would.”
Leo chuckles, kissing my cheek and ringing the doorbell.
“Hello!” Fiona beams, opening the door wide and waving an arm to welcome us in. “You two look amazing.”
“It’s all her, I’m afraid,” Leo says, letting go of me and air kissing Fiona’s cheeks. I blush as Fiona winks at me and mouths, “Swoon.”
Leo and Dylan pat each other’s backs when he comes into the entryway. I give them their gift, and we exchange hugs and congratulations before the men walk off into the house, laughing loudly at something as they go.
Fiona closes the door, linking her arm through mine. My eyes roam over her tight black floor-length gown that shimmers under the light of the overhead chandelier. “You’re the one who looks amazing.” I pat her arm and glance down at her dress. “That has got to be the prettiest black dress that I ever did see.”
She laughs, the sound a tinkling echo in the large space as we walk between her spiraling staircases to the hallway behind. “Isn’t it? I almost died when I saw how much it cost, but I just had to have it and that was that.”
“Hey!” Lola grins when we walk into the kitchen, a champagne flute already in her hand. “You look hot!” She winks at me.
Laughing, I tell her the same. And she does, wearing a peach-colored sleeveless cocktail dress, the skirt swinging with every move she makes in her white heels.
“Where are the men?” I ask, thanking Fiona when she passes me a flute of champagne.
She waves her hand around, taking a sip from her own. “Entertaining as men do. I forgot the game was on tonight.”
“Not for a few hours yet, so don’t stress. We’ll get bored of them by then anyway,” Lola teases.
“You’re so right.” Fiona raises her glass, and we all clink in solidarity.
Fiona leaves to talk with a few more guests while Lola and I hang out in the kitchen. Where the chocolate-covered strawberries and champagne are, of course.
“Do you think we should go be social?” I ask, grabbing another strawberry from the tray.
Lola pretends to think about it. “Nah.”
We both laugh when Leo and Trey walk into the kitchen.
“There you are,” Leo says, wrapping an arm around my waist.
Lola holds a strawberry up to Trey’s open mouth, giggling as she tries to stop the juice that’s escaped his lips with her thumb from running down into his beard.
Leo turns me into his chest. “Ready to go yet?” His blue eyes heat, and I start to feel a bit lightheaded. Maybe it’s the second glass of champagne that he removes from my fingers and places on the counter behind me. But I know better. He’s had the same effect on me since I first laid eyes on him in my freshman year of college.
“More than ready. We can’t, though.” I kiss his shadowed jaw and go to move away. His hold tightens, and he leans in to place a soft kiss on my lips.
“Delicious,” he whispers to me.
“It’s the strawberries, or the champagne.”
He nudges his nose against mine, shaking his head from side to side. “It’s you. Always you.” He kisses my nose and pulls away.
“And people say we’re bad with the PDA.” Lola smirks over at us.
Trey chuckles. “Yeah, they’re so much worse. Let’s go see where the food’s at and if we can convince Dylan to put the game on after.” He slaps Leo on the back, leaving the room.
Leo’s lips curve into a soft smile as he stares down at me. “Later, beautiful.”
I melt into the counter behind me, wishing I’d taken him up on his offer to go to a hotel instead.
“Ugh,” Fiona grumbles, coming back into the kitchen and grabbing another glass of champagne. “You’d think hosting parties would be fun by now, but it’s a total drag having to make sure you don’t get too sloshed in your own home.”
Lola quirks a brow at her. “Poor baby.”
Fiona slaps her arm playfully. “Shush, give me a strawberry.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Lola passes her the tray, and Fiona grabs the smallest one on there.
“Did you see what Dylan’s cousin is wearing?” she whispers conspiratorially to us, eyeing the doorways to the kitchen.
Lola and I glance at each other. “Uh, we kind of haven’t left the kitchen yet,” I admit.
Fiona laughs. “Oh, my God, come on, you’ve got to see this …” She walks back out of the kitchen, and we both shrug before following.
We spend the next half an hour chatting with some of their family before we all sit down on their huge porch outside to have dinner. But the food is so fancy that I barely even pick at it.
Leo chuckles into my ear. “It won’t bite you, Lia.”
I scowl at him. “I’ll bite you in a minute, Mr. I’ll Eat Anything.”
He wraps his hand around mine on his lap, stroking his thumb over my skin. “You know you’re welcome to bite me anytime, beautiful.”
My cheeks start to burn, so I stare back down at my weird looking crab dinner.
After dinner, I remain outside, chatting and drinking with the girls until I check my phone and see that it’s almost eleven o’clock. The men have long since gone inside to drink and watch the game in Fiona and Dylan’s theatre room. I scoot my chair back. “I’m going to grab Leo; we need to get home so our sitter can leave. She’s got an exam to study for this weekend.”
Fiona pouts. “No, stay.”
“I can’t, I’m sorry. But we should all go out for a girls’ night soon,” I offer instead. “Now, let’s see if I can tear my husband away from the TV.” I shake my head with a laugh.
“He’s welcome to stay, you know we’ve got the room.”
I bite my lip, not sure if I like the idea of that.
“Or he can get a cab later with Trey?” Lola suggests. “I’m going to get going soon too, and already told him he could hang out a while longer.”
I nod, digging my phone out to quickly call a cab. “Okay, I’ll go talk to him.”
Lola walks me inside after I say goodbye to everyone. I finish calling the cab company and find Leo in the theatre room, sprawled out on the couch with his eyes glued to the game on the TV. They all shout and cheer when their team scores, startling us. We laugh and move into the room, getting annoyed glances as they try to see the TV around us.
“I’m going to go. Clare needs to get home soon,” I say, leaning over him. He grabs my hips and tugs me onto his lap. I feel him grow hard beneath me, and I giggle, a little embarrassed. “Leo,” I hiss quietly.
His hooded eyes glaze over from alcohol and lust. He bites his lip, staring up at me. “Can you wait a little while? I wanna finish watching this.” He tugs my head down, whispering, “But I don’t want you to leave.”
I place my palms on his chest and push myself back up. “I can’t. We told Clare we wouldn’t be too late. You’ll come home straight after?” I lower my lashes. “Because … I’ll be waiting.”
He growls quietly, bringing my lips to his. I taste bourbon, but I also taste him, and it’s enough for me to forget all the people around us for a few heartbeats. Until he groans, his tongue entering my mouth. I pull back. “Don’t be too long.” I wink and climb off his lap as he reaches for me lazily with a huge grin on his perfect face.
Fiona comes over to him, passing him a drink. He thanks her and returns his eyes to the game as she walks me outside. I climb into the cab that’s thankfully already there and wave goodbye to her and Lola through the window. Once at home, I thank Clare, give her some money, and watch as she drives off in her beat-up Toyota before I close the front door.
Climbing upstairs, I check on the kids quickly then kick my heels off as soon as I walk into our room. My dress goes next; I lay it over the hamper and walk to the shower in my bra and panties. After I’m done, I pick out Leo’s favorite, a black lace thong and plain black t-shirt. He’s got a thing about seeing my c-cup breasts bounce freely behind a short-cropped tee. I don’t know why, since he rips it off me in five seconds flat anyway. I brush my hair out then brush my teeth before climbing into bed and picking up my book to read while I wait.
I must have fallen asleep because a glance over at the clock says it’s now after four in the morning. When I last looked, it was almost twelve. I pick my book up off my chest and sit up, placing it on the nightstand as I hear the noise again. The one that woke me up.
Thumping. Or falling. Then the bedroom door opens and Leo flinches from the dim light of the lamp that’s still on. “Ugh …” He moans, his shirt is in his hand, and he chucks it to the floor by the hamper. Then he falls over trying to tug his already unzipped pants down his legs. I bite my lip, not wanting to laugh at how wasted he is. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him this drunk, not even in college. But I’m also annoyed. He promised he’d be home hours ago and didn’t even call or text to tell me otherwise.
“Leo,” I whisper-hiss when he rolls over on the floor, kicking his pants off and using the wall to help himself get up. I don’t think he even heard me. Hell, I’d be surprised if he knew who I am or where he was from the way he’s acting. He uses the wall to assist with his walk to the bathroom, closing the door behind him. I lay back down and roll over to face the en suite, my eyes slowly drifting closed. Then I hear him vomiting. It doesn’t stop for what feels like forever, so I move to get up and check on him but then the toilet flushes and I hear the shower turn on. Thinking that he’s probably a little more sober now, I lie back down and let my eyes close once again.