Chapter 7

Merrick

The feeling of her glorious legs wrapped around me was all I could think of as we hurried out of the Uber and up toward my apartment. Her crystal green eyes glistened with desire, and that body would put a Victoria’s Secret model to shame. I was literally the luckiest guy in the world at that moment. I didn’t know if Patty took bonuses, but I was going to be sure to give her a great big thank you.

The conversation was smooth between us; the connection strong, and the genuine emotion was there when we talked. If I could have carved out the perfect woman for me, this would have been her. I had feared I wasn’t ready for someone like her yet, but now I knew I had to have her. Ready or not, she was going to be mine, and I was perfectly fine with keeping her around for a committed thing too. In fact, I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

“I need your lips on mine,” Kristina said as we walked into my condo and stood in the hallway.

There was no waiting, no pretending like she wanted me to show her around the condo. I loved that about her. Especially because she seemed so nervous around me, it caught me a little off-guard at how she had asked for exactly what she wanted. My body instantly started to throb with a desire I had to release.

I did as I was told and devoured her as our hands moved to each other’s clothing. Slowly, I reached around and unzipped her dress. I had been thinking about her dress all night long. I had wondered where the zipper was and how easily I was going to be able to get her out of the dress if things went well enough that I brought her home. While we were in China Town, I even let my hand slide up her back as I assessed where the zipper started and how complex an operation it would be to undress her.

Her delicious body didn’t disappoint me at all as I slid her dress down to the ground and exposed her delicate black lace lingerie. I had to fight off my urge to rip the remaining clothing off of her and take her right there. Instead, I let my hands delicately explore her body as our lips continued to play with one another.

The throbbing desire wasn’t something I could ignore, and I needed to feel myself inside of her. I made quick work of removing her clothing, and she reached out to help me with mine. Within seconds, we were both standing there totally naked. Exposed to each other in a way that I didn’t normally allow.

We stood there for a few minutes longer as our hands slid around each other’s bodies. Each inch bringing with it more and more warmth. My throbbing body could hardly take another moment when her hand slid down and wrapped around me.

“Bedroom … this way …” I said as we continued to kiss and make our way down the hallway toward my room.

We were like teenagers furiously trying to make love before someone caught us. Her hands played with my body as we stumbled into the bed. I quickly grabbed a condom and wrapped it around my body before pressing her legs apart. I wanted to slide right inside of her; I couldn’t stop myself. I couldn’t slow down the excitement.

With other women, I’d been able to control myself, to tease them. No matter how hard I wanted to stop, my body wasn’t going to let me. I had to be inside of her. I had to feel her body tightly around mine as I pressed into her. There was no way this was going to be a slow love-making session. I pressed into her and reveled in the moan she gave me.

The glorious moans she made just drove me to thrust harder as our bodies moved in perfect timing. Her fingers clawed at my back, and she arched her body, begging for me to give her more. It was like a dream having her there, having her beg me for more; I couldn’t get enough.

Our chemistry mixed together like two people who had been making love for years, not like a couple who had only just met. I anticipated her next move as she pressed her legs around me and urged my thrusts deeper into her.

“We have to tell Patty we are in a committed relationship,” Kristina moaned.

“You want to talk about this now?”

“No, keep going. Don’t stop,” she said as she pulled me tight against her.

The sweet and salty taste of her skin was driving me wild, and I couldn’t get enough of her. The more I kissed her neck, the more I wanted to explore the rest of her body. It was too late for all of that, though. We had skipped right past the romance and were in full on thrusting mode. I would just have to kiss her body another time.

The pain from her fingernails tingled into my back, and I could tell she was getting closer to exploding than I was. I closed my eyes and concentrated on the pleasure I was getting. I felt the throbbing as it pulsed through my body, the need to have myself deeper and deeper inside of her. I imagined this connection was something I’d find someday, but never could I have imagined I would have it with someone I’d met through a blind date. I certainly couldn’t have imagined that a dating service could deliver such a beautiful person right into my lap.

“Oh, yes!” she screamed as her muscles tightened around me, and I felt my body give in to the pleasure of her touch.

In one swift thrust, we both screamed out with pleasure as our bodies released in total ecstasy. My arms shook from exhaustion, and I had to lower myself next to her as my breathing continued to be labored. I hadn’t delivered a long drawn out session of lovemaking, but what we had just finished was better than any pretend lovemaking could have ever been.

Kristina looked up at me with desire still, and I felt a rush of warmth fill my body. I liked this girl. I really cared about what happened next between the two of us, and that was new territory for me.

“We did set up two other dates,” I said in reference to Patty and the commitment issue.

“So do I have to call you my boyfriend.” Kristina laughed. “I’m not sure I’m ready for all of that.”

“No, no, I think people are committed without those kinds of labels. Right? Oh, man I wouldn’t know. I’m really bad at commitment.”

“Now you tell me,” she playfully said as she slapped my arm.

“You can be my test subject. So far, I think I’m doing pretty good.”

“Well, so far we’ve only been on one date and defied all the rules of the matchmaker. I’m not sure I would call that doing good.”

“Shhh, we didn’t break any rules. We set up two dates.”

Kristina moved in closer to me and cuddled up as the sweat from our bodies gave us both the shivers. She was tired; I could see it in her eyes, and so was I. It would be nice to have her in bed with me that night.

“I’m shaking,” Kristina said as she held up her hand and showed it to me.

I wrapped my arms tight around her and pulled the covers up to keep us warm. Both of our breathing calmed, and I closed my eyes with her as we started to drift in and out of sleep. The comfort level between us was much more like I felt when I’d been with a woman a couple of weeks. We weren’t just on our first date; in my mind, I had known her for a much longer period.

Maybe it was because I had dreamed about her that entire week. Or perhaps talking to her for a few days before going on our date had been helpful? No matter what the reasons were, it was nice to have a woman in my bed that I wanted to get to know.

Genuinely, I couldn’t stop thinking about questions and things that I could ask Kristina about herself. I wanted to know everything. I wanted to know about her parents, siblings, and where she grew up. There was a curiosity I had toward Kristina that was new and exciting to me. I didn’t just want to know these things so I could make her feel comfortable; I wanted to know more about her because I liked her.

The uncharted territory I was in had started to feel uncomfortable. It wasn’t my norm, but it wasn’t nearly as scary as I thought it would be. I welcomed the uncomfortable feeling as an exploration of something new and exciting. I was in this for the long haul. Whatever happened next, there was going to be no doubt about how much effort I committed to getting to know this girl.

“This was a good date,” I whispered as we drifted off to sleep. “The best I’ve ever had.”

***

“Merrick!” I heard Wendy’s voice from in the kitchen of my apartment. “Merrick, you’re late. You have a charity event today. Did you forget? I’ve been calling you. You know how I hate to have to check on you on the weekends!”

I scrambled out of my bed and threw some pants on as I stumbled into the living room barely able to focus because I was so tired. I really didn’t like when Wendy just showed up at my house, but I also knew she didn’t do it on her own, and I had likely told her to make sure I made it to some event. Although my brain was too foggy really to remember what it was I was supposed to be going to that day.

I made my way into the living room and tried to talk as quietly as possible. Kristina was still asleep, and I didn’t want her waking up. I had her in my bed and would be delighted to spend the rest of the weekend with her if she would allow me. But I did finally remember about the charity event, and I felt bad about missing it, but I was going to choose to stay home if it was at all possible.

“Crap, Wendy; I totally forgot. Can you get me out of it?”

“Do you really want me to get you out of it? This is a charity event. An event that you’ve been part of for a long time. An event that has you scheduled to speak and work with children. Now what on earth could be more important than those children?”

“I’ve got someone over.”

“Merrick, I just came all the way over to your house on my day off to make sure you get to this thing on time. I’m sure whoever your little girlfriend of the night is, they will understand if you need to leave to attend a charity event for a good cause.”

Wendy was right, and I knew Kristina would not be offended, after all, she worked in the charity industry as well. The problem was more that I wanted to stay in bed with her all day long and get to know her more. We hadn’t spent nearly enough time together, and if I let her go that morning, I knew I wasn’t going to see her until Tuesday.

“I can see you’re busy, I’m going to sneak out of here,” Kristina said as she made her way through the living room quickly. “Call me; I had a great night.”

She didn’t pause at all, it was so abrupt I could hardly figure out what was happening. She just kept moving to the door, and I couldn’t let her just leave like that. We had had a fantastic night, and I really had forgotten about the charity event.

“Wait, no, you don’t have to go,” I said as I hurried over to the door.

“No, I can see you’re busy. No worries, I’m just going to head home, and you go do what you need to. We will talk more, I promise.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’ve got things to do as well,” she said as she kissed my cheek and closed the door behind her.

She had left so quickly that I hadn’t had the opportunity to introduce her to Wendy. It was a bit of a relief that she was gone, and I didn’t have to make the decision to stay home with her or go to the event; because I probably would have chosen to stay home with her. I knew it was horrible of me even to think that I’d give up on a charity event for a woman, but I definitely would have.

“She just left like that?” Wendy asked. “I swear I know her from somewhere.”

“How could you know her? You’ve never met.” I laughed.

“What does she do for a living?” Wendy continued on as she looked skeptically out the window at Kristina as she got into a cab.

“Charity stuff, why?”

“Merrick, you’re so naive sometimes. Those groups are always after your money. Are you sure she isn’t trying to befriend you so you can become one of their big donors?”

“Wendy … since when did you get so pessimistic. This is the girl I talked to you about, the one that Patty set me up with through the matchmaker program. She’s got no ulterior motives here. Just a nice girl, looking for a nice guy.”

“Just be careful, Merrick. People will do almost anything for money; you should know that by now. I don’t know if I trust this Patty woman either.”

“I know. I am running a billion dollar company; I would think you could give me a little credit. But why don’t you trust Patty? She’s a very nice woman with a long list of happy clients.”

“I don’t trust anyone who spends their time fixing other people up. It seems like a weird job to me. I still remember when you were running into your father’s office with snot dribbling down your nose. I just can’t stop protecting you.”

I loved Wendy and enjoyed having her as my assistant. She really did look out for me and did a damn fine job as my assistant. She was a brick wall when it came to allowing people access to me. She always told me like it was and never sugar coated things to make me happy.

Many of my employees liked to sugar coat things because they didn’t want to deal with my reaction to what was going on. But I didn’t have a temper; I just had an urgent sense to fix things if there was something off in how we were doing things. Over the years, people had learned to temper their complaints to things that really mattered because I was going to investigate and get to the bottom of any changes that needed to be made.

“And that’s why I love you. Thanks, Wendy; I do appreciate you looking out for me. I just don’t think Kristina is a danger to me. She’s a very nice girl. We hit it off, and I’m going to take her our again this week.”

“Today’s event is for the New York Homeless Families. Do you remember what you’re doing today?”

“Some sort of speech about homelessness, I’d assume?” I joked.

“No, today you get matched up with a young man who is homeless and wants to learn about finance. You two will attend the event together, and you can mentor him through an ongoing relationship. The Boys and Girls Club is also part of this event.”

“Did I sign up for this?”

“You told them you’d do anything to help. Remember, I suggested you give money, and you said you wanted to offer more.”

“Yeah, now I remember. Why didn’t you stop me?” I joked.

As I got dressed for the event, I couldn’t stop thinking about Kristina and what a great night we had had together. I grabbed my phone and sent a quick text message off to her before I left for my event.

It was clear that I had been bitten by the love bug. I couldn’t wait until the next time I got to spend time with her. When I closed my eyes, I pictured her lying next to me in bed and imagined I’d have her there for many nights to come. This was a feeling like no other I’d ever had. Sure, I’d liked women before. Sure, I’d even had one or two that I imagined something more long term. But I’d never felt that total connection like I had with Kristina. It was more than just lust; it was deeper, more profound, and totally out of my normal understanding. I grabbed my phone to send a text to Kristina.

MERRICK: I really enjoyed getting to know you. I hope you enjoy your weekend.

The air was crisp as Wendy walked with me out to the waiting vehicle. I didn’t enjoy going to an event alone and had hoped to convince her to attend with me, but I was encroaching on her weekend already. If I had asked her to come, she certainly would have, but I wasn’t that kind of boss. I’d already taken up some of her weekend and needed to let her get back home to her family.

“Thank you for coming over. I appreciate everything you do.”

“Then you should listen when I warn you about women. You know just because a woman is beautiful, doesn’t mean she isn’t capable of horrible things. I read a story about these high-class escorts who were dating businessmen and getting them to pay for all their things. You just watch out.”

“Are you still talking about Kristina? She’s not a horrible woman. I can feel this. I know.”

“Maybe not, but just be alert. These women will do anything to land an eligible bachelor, and I don’t think you are always paying attention to their motives. This girl signed up for a dating site that matches women with rich men; why wouldn’t she sign up for a regular dating site if love was what she wanted? Why did she only want love with a rich man?”

“Okay, I get your point. But I signed up for the program as well. Now get your butt home and to your family. I’ll see you on Monday.”

“Enjoy your mentoring day. Remember to smile around the kid. You kind of have a naturally angry face that will scare him.”

“Oh, I will.”

I had one of those faces that made me look like I was serious all of the time. It was great in the business world, but not so great when I was doing my charity work. Anytime I had to work with kids, there was a good ten minutes spent where I had to smile and seem really approachable so the kid didn’t run out of the room screaming.

As I made my way out of the building and to the event, I grabbed my phone as I heard the notification that a text message had just come in.

KRISTINA: I’ll never look at vodka the same way again. It was nice meeting you too.

My heart fluttered at her message, and I knew I had to call Patty right away. Patty was going to want to know how our date went and would likely be talking to Kristina too. If it slipped that we had slept together, I wanted her to know that I hadn’t broken her rules.