Chapter 17

Dawn

Monday morning I woke up snuggled up against Rory’s hard chest. The soft slap of waves against the side of the boat made me smile. Burrowing my toes in the smooth silk of the sheets, I sighed. This beat the hell out of a lumpy futon. The only thing that was missing was the cat. I really should name her. But if you named something, you owned it, and I couldn’t afford a cat. Not yet anyway.

Unable to resist, I reached down and fondled Rory. Licking his neck, I resorted to nibbling when he didn’t open his eyes. He was growing hard in my hand, so I rubbed my breasts against his chest. Rory was either faking being asleep or I wore him out yesterday. When he was fully erect, I couldn’t wait any longer. Reaching over him to grab a condom out of his night table, I deliberately trailed my nipple across his mouth. Rory still didn’t move.

“You’re a faker,” I said, slipping the condom on him. “No man would sleep through this.” I slung my leg over his hips and guided his cock inside me.

Watching his face carefully as I took all of him, I saw his jaw clench and his nostrils flare. He was totally pretending to still be asleep. I let him think he was getting away with it, especially since he felt so good. I sat there, tensing and untensing my muscles around him. Rory swallowed hard and clenched the sheets. I moaned and played with my nipples while continuing to torture him. His eyes slitted open to watch. I rose up a fraction of an inch, then a little higher, going so slow I was barely moving. He almost slipped out, but then his hand shot out and his hips thrust up.

I shrieked as he rolled me on my back and took control. I wrapped my legs around him, trying to keep him close. “No fair. I wasn’t done with you,” I panted out.

“I was almost done watching you.” He grunted in pleasure. “Fuck, I like having you in the morning all to myself.”

I had to admit, this was sheer heaven. My eyes closed in bliss as each pump of his hips rocked the bed and drove me further to oblivion. Even though we fucked all night, I still couldn’t get enough of him.

“More,” I demanded, meeting him thrust for thrust. The friction between us sparked every nerve ending and I clamped around him while I came.

“Yes,” he hissed, feeling me come apart beneath him. “My favorite part.”

I kissed him while he picked up his pace and fucked me in a frenzy. He groaned and snarled in my mouth. I was locked tight around him when his body, slick with sweat, shuddered and jerked.

This had to be the best Monday of my life.

“Am I hearing bells?” I asked when I was done kissing him.

“Hmm?” he said, still reeling from his orgasm.

A light chime came again and he rolled off me. “Shit. I forgot that I had breakfast served at nine. Why don’t you grab a shower first while I check and see if everything is in order?”

I watched his fine ass until he grabbed a robe and slung it on. He was still tying it as he climbed the stairs to the deck above us. A nice night’s sleep in a real bed, morning sex, a long, hot shower, and a gourmet breakfast—a girl could get used to this.

Don’t get used to this.

I forced away the negative thoughts and enjoyed the treat of a private shower. Humming to myself, I soaped up and washed my hair. I should probably dye it again. The purple was starting to fade back into black. Maybe I would go all mermaid and do it in blues and greens to match my new window concept.

I was even getting local interest in the whimsical theme. I sold two sea glass bracelets within five minutes of putting them in the window, and the mermaid coloring books were a surprising hit. They were for adults only, so I had to talk fast when a little girl wanted one. Luckily, I also had fairies and unicorns. Since they tended to keep their shirts on, it made for a more kid-friendly sale.

Toweling off, I wondered how to approach Rory for advice without having our whole day devoted to a business lecture. I hadn’t been sure what to wear for our outing, so I went with Capri jeans and a Ramones T-shirt. By now he should know I wasn’t a fancy girl. If he wanted me to dress up, he would have mentioned it. After tying my sneakers, I went topside. Rory was doing his Hugh Hefner impersonation, drinking a cup of coffee and leaning back in his chair.

“I think you’re flashing your balls to the neighbors.” I indicated the next boat over where a middle-aged couple was bickering over who forgot to pack the Budweiser. It was not even ten in the morning yet.

“Let ’em look.” Rory shrugged. “Help yourself to some breakfast.”

There was a six-foot table with trays of food and Sterno cans underneath them to keep them warm. “Were you expecting to feed an army?”

There was pancakes, sausages, bacon, scrambled eggs, quiche, and assorted yogurts in a bowlful of ice.

“I arranged for Millie and Jeannine to take the limo over here with Bridgette so you can give them their marching orders. They should be here any minute. There’s French vanilla and hazelnut coffee in the carafes and the big thermos has hot water.”

Walking over to the tea box, I saw it was a month’s sampler from Tea Towne. I snagged it and ran below with it.

“Where are you going?” he called down to me.

“I’ve decided to be a pirate and claim this booty for my own.”

“There’s more tea where that came from. Don’t you want to share with your friends?”

Not really. But I supposed I should be an adult about it. Although, if he asked me where all the Mango Madness went, I’d play dumb. I brought the sampler back up and made myself a cup of the morning blend.

Rory came over and kissed me. “I had one sent to the store too.”

I almost told him I loved him. It was on the tip of my tongue. I caught it just in time. Instead, I kissed him harder. This was crazy. I was going to get hurt.

“All right, get a room,” Jeannine yelled from the dock.

He pressed his forehead to mine. “I’m going to take a shower. Have fun.”

Millie’s eyes were wide as saucers as I gave her a hand up to the boat. Jeannine made a beeline for the bacon, and Bridgette and I eyed each other, taking stock. She was exquisite. I think I hated her. She had perfectly styled white-blond hair and a flawless complexion. She was trim and perky, dressed in a tie-dye shirt and a jean skirt.

“I’m Bridgette, Rory’s admin.”

“I’m Dawn.” I wasn’t Rory’s anything. I sure as heck wasn’t going to label myself his girlfriend. “I want to thank you for agreeing to watch the store while we’re in New York.”

“Rory didn’t give me much choice.” She smiled ruefully.

“He does that. Did you have any questions?” I certainly did. Like who was at the store right now? We opened at ten.

Bridgette shook her perfect head. “No. Millie and Jeannine showed me around and gave me a quick training on the register.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be at work?” I called over to Jeannine, who was having an intimate moment with her coffee.

“This is better than sex,” she said.

“I’m so sorry to hear that.”

Millie giggled into her cup and daintily ate a yogurt.

“Rory told his father that he needed me on a special project, so I don’t have to be in the office until after lunch.”

“Who’s watching the store now?” I asked.

“We got Chelsea to stay until we returned. We promised to bring her back breakfast, though,” Jeannine said.

“There’s more than enough.” I didn’t mind that Chelsea was there. I trusted her, and she had a good head on her shoulders. “Is Bill going to be pissed?” I didn’t want her to take any shit from her husband because of me.

“Bill’s at work. As long as dinner is on the table at five on the dot, and the house is spick-and-span, he doesn’t give a shit what she does.”

“He wouldn’t like her working for me.”

Jeannine shrugged. “What he don’t know won’t hurt him, right, Millie?”

Millie nodded and then blushed when Rory came out. He was still a little damp from the shower, but he didn’t seem to notice all the female attention as he fastened his watch. He was charming during the quick breakfast, and I tried not to be too obvious about how attracted I was to him. I couldn’t help grazing my leg against his under the table, though.

Jeannine and Millie knew what to do with the customers, so it was just a matter of telling Bridgette what she could expect. “You may get some irate customers or husbands of customers. Just take a message and tell them that the owner will call them back tomorrow. If worse comes to worst, you have my cell.”

“I’m sure that won’t be necessary.”

I caught the warning tone in Rory’s voice and looked up in time to see him give Bridgette a significant look.

“Ignore him. If you need me, call me,” I said, trying to kick him under the table, but I missed.

Bridgette looked amused, but only nodded.

“We should get going.” Rory signaled the waitstaff on the dock, and they promptly came and packaged up breakfast for the girls to take back to the shop.

"Are we all going to fit into the limo?" I asked, squinting at it.

"Easily," Jeanine said. "We even saved you some champagne."

If Rory ever left the keys lying around, I could happily sleep in the limo. It was certainly more comfortable than my futon. All five of us sat without our knees touching, and there was an open bar and a television. I resisted the urge to stand up through the sunroof, but it was tempting.

"The last time I was in a limo it was prom night. Remember, Jeannine?" I said.

"It's a little fuzzy," she admitted.

"You ditched your date to make out with the driver."

"Oh yeah. He never called, and I even blew him."

Rory, who was on the phone, did a double take but continued texting.

"My father drove me to the prom," Millie said in a quiet voice.

"Oh, that's a buzzkill," Jeannine said.

Bridgette looked back and forth between us like she was watching a tennis match.

"Who did you go with again?" Jeannine squinted at me. "Was it your martial arts instructor? The one from East Haven?"

"Yes." I blushed.

"Rory, he picked her up for the prom in black Chucks and a Hawaiian shirt. I guess that's semiformal for losers who date their students."

Rory smirked.

"He was only four years older than me." I felt the need to defend the man I could barely remember.

"A college boy?" Bridgette asked.

"Not exactly. More like failure to launch," Jeannine said. "He still lived with his parents and took her into his brother's room to make out because his own room was too messy."

"Do you girls tell each other everything?" Rory asked with a little trepidation in his voice.

"Sometimes." Jeannie shot me an acerbic look, and I realized this was payback for not telling her about getting kicked out of my apartment.

"He was a nice guy," I protested. I think he was. I remembered he was tall and wiry and prematurely balding, but that was about it.

"No, he drove your father batshit."

"That could have been the attraction," I admitted.

"I lost my virginity on prom night," Millie offered.

I heard the scratching needle sound on a vinyl record in my mind. She had all of our attention.

"In your father's car?" Bridgette—bless her—asked in the awkward silence.

Millie shook her head. "In the teacher's lounge. He was my math teacher. Mr. Grant."

"Mr. Grant?" Jeannine and I said at the same time. We both had him in high school—but not that way.

"He was so old," Jeannine marveled.

"Well, you have to remember I'm a good fifteen years older than you girls. And back then he was just so sophisticated. David was a groper and would always come in my hand. Mr. Grant took his time and taught me to like butt sex."

Jeannine recoiled. I was pretty sure it wasn't in judgment of the back door action, but who Millie had done it with.

I managed to keep my calm. I'm glad I hadn't been drinking anything. I would have spit sprayed it all over the limo at that little admission. I refused to acknowledge that her gross dead husband was a premature ejaculator. I focused on the other part of her sentence. "Did you call him Mr. Grant?"

"Of course I did."

I looked at Rory. He was horrified. I almost felt sorry for him. But he didn't know Mr. Grant. It was so much worse than what he was picturing. Mr. Grant looked like Lurch from The Munsters, only taller and with less charm.

"He would hit me with a ruler if I didn't."

I recoiled into Rory at that. He put his arm around me in sympathy.

"Did he . . . did he force you?" I whispered.

"Oh lordy no," she said, giggling. "I chased him. He was everything David wasn't. I wanted him to marry me, but he was a confirmed bachelor." Millie sighed. "I always wondered what happened to him after he retired."

Jeannine grabbed her phone and started the Google search before I could. "What was his first name?"

"Mister?" I put in unhelpfully.

"It was Theodore. Teddy." Millie smiled wistfully.

"You had butt sex in the teacher's lounge?" Jeannine said, rallying. There was a hint of awe in her voice.

Millie nodded. "We had regular sex too, but I didn't want to risk getting pregnant. I even remember the song that was playing."

Don't ask. Please don't ask. Because if it was one of those songs that they played all the time on the oldies station, I would never ever again be able to hear it without thinking of Mr. Grant pounding into Millie's virgin ass.

"’Need You Tonight,’ by INXS," she said with a wistful smile.

So slide over here and give me a moment.

I could tell by the way Rory was clenching his jaw that he was trying not to laugh or react, but his phone was forgotten as he watched this train wreck unfold before him. I was wondering if he was regretting taking me to Manhattan. We were a handful.

"Where was your date while this was going on?" Bridgette said, fascinated.

"David? He was spiking the punch and getting drunk with his friends."

That sounded like David, may he rot in hell.

"Oh look," Rory said. "We're almost there." I swear he was putting his foot down on an imaginary accelerator. I was considering breaking into the hard stuff. I saw there were bottles of top-shelf alcohol in the minibar.

"Did you pass math class?" Bridgette asked.

Rory, Jeannine, and I turned to glare at her, but Millie seemed happy to answer. "I got an A-plus."

I wasn't sure of the rest of them, but I spent the rest of the trip trying to think of something that would top that. I came up with nothing. The limo stopped in front of Tantric Books and they got out.

"Remember to call," I shouted out as we were pulling away.

"Don't you dare," Rory countered.

I started to giggle as soon as we pulled away. "Alone at last."

"I can never unhear that." He pointed at Millie, who couldn't see us through the tinted windows, but was waving at us anyway.

"What did you do on prom night?" I asked.

"I ate crappy dinner, danced to crappy music, and then went back to the hotel suite my friends and I rented, drank good alcohol, and got laid. Like normal people. I didn't get busy with my teacher to Meat Loaf’s ‘I’d Do Anything for Love.’"

"‘Rump Shaker,’ by Wreckx-N-Effect."

"‘Baby Got Back,’ by Sir Mix-A-lot."

I laughed so hard I snorted.

"Do you need a drink? Because I need a drink." He filled two champagne flutes with ice and orange juice.

"If I start with the vodka this early, I'm not going to leave the limo." Which actually didn't sound like such a bad idea. My sides hurt from laughing. I hadn't had such fun in, well, years.

"I'm a professional." Rory popped a bottle of champagne. "Mimosas. It's practically breakfast food."

We clinked glasses.

"Your friends are weird," he said.

I nodded. "They're my weird, though."