Chapter Two
Ace wasn’t surprised that she ran. He should have seen it coming, but he’d not let her get far. Trixie didn’t own a car. It was one of the things she had given up since moving back to the small town. He’d closed the shop, and ran in the direction he’d seen her walk every single day.
It took him a matter of minutes to catch up to her. Grabbing her arms, he pressed her against the wall.
“Why the hell did you run when I told you not to?” he asked, slamming his hand against the wall.
“Look, we kissed, and you’re my boss. We don’t need to do anything else about that. It was nice.”
Ace couldn’t believe what he was hearing right now. Nice. That was what she thought of their shared kiss, it was nice? It had been smoking hot to him. His cock was still hard, and he’d just spoken to his damn mom.
He was the only person left in his mom’s world. All of her friends and previous lovers had fucked off and left her. Now she was making up for years of being the neglectful parent. She had gone to his place, and stocked his fridge. He couldn’t tell her to stop or that he could do his own damn shopping. He wasn’t a cruel man, never had been. If she wanted to make amends, he wasn’t about to tell her to stop.
“Is this what you’re going to do every time there’s a problem? Are you just going to run away?”
“What do you want from me, Ace?”
“I want you to admit that our kiss was more than fucking nice. It was fantastic, and I’ve been wanting to kiss you ever since you came into my shop. If you want to go really honest, I’ve been wanting to kiss you since we were in fucking high school. That is how long I’ve been wanting to kiss you, and the last thing I thought was it was nice!”
“I don’t know how to do this. I’m not this kind of girl. All of my life everything has been planned. What am I supposed to do with this?” she asked.
She looked so scared, and Ace sighed. He didn’t do this crap. This woman, she had been turning his head ever since they were kids, and didn’t even know it.
“You start by thinking about what you want, and then when you know that, you start to think of ways of getting it. What do you want?” The moment she licked her lips, Ace couldn’t contain his groan. “Baby, you’ve got to give me a break here. I can only handle so much.”
Her hand moved toward his face, and she cupped his cheek. Again, she was biting her lip. “I loved the feel of your lips against mine, Ace. The way you tasted. I hate tea and chocolate, but on your tongue, it was the most amazing thing.”
His cock was going to blow inside his pants.
“Tell me what you want,” he said. “I want to know.”
She hesitated. “I love my job.”
“Your job is staying right where it is. This has nothing to do with that. Just tell me what you want, what you need.”
There was only a small space between them, and he hoped that someone was watching down on him and that Trixie wanted the exact same thing as he did.
“I want you, Ace. I want you to kiss me, and…”
“Tell me, Trixie. Tell me what you want.”
“I want you to fuck me,” she finally said after so many seconds had passed.
Sinking his fingers into her hair, he pulled her close, and slammed his lips down on hers. After she ran from him, he couldn’t wait another second in tasting her.
Sliding his tongue inside her mouth, he deepened the kiss. Trixie held onto him, and he ignored the pain as his hand scraped the brick wall when he pressed her against it.
“You’re coming home with me. Don’t argue with me. For once do something you want to do.”
“What about the morning?” she asked.
“Who gives a fuck about what happens in the morning? Let’s have tonight.” He would deal with tomorrow morning when it arrived, just like he’d deal with the next, and the next. It was what he’d been doing for a long time.
He took her hand, and marched her back toward his car. Opening up the passenger side, he waited for her to climb in, and then he leaned in, securing her in the seatbelt. Closing the door, he moved around to the driver’s side. Once he was in place, he started up his car, and pulled away from the curb heading toward his apartment.
“I’ve never done anything like this,” she said.
Taking hold of her hand, he locked their fingers together.
“Did you really mean everything you said?” she asked. “About wanting me when we were in high school?”
“Trixie, I have never lied to anyone, and I’m not about to start now.”
“You wanted me then?”
“Yes, I did.”
She was silent, and he glanced toward her.
“You never said anything. You didn’t even talk to me.”
“We were different people back then, and I wanted you. You just seemed…”
“I seemed what?”
“Out of my league. You were going places, and none of them involved being with a guy like me.”
She laughed. “This is so surreal. I felt like you were totally out of my league. Still do. I’ve seen some of the women that have come into the shop asking for you. They’re beautiful women, Ace.”
“They’re not you. You’re a beautiful woman, Trixie. I’ve inked your skin, and I’ve seen a part of you that no one else ever has before. You’re everything inside and out. You don’t put on a false bravado. You have so much more to give than those women. Never sell yourself short.”
****
“Be the good woman. The smart woman.”
“No man wants to be confused by a woman’s demands.”
“Give him everything he wants, and do it with a smile on your face.”
Trixie recalled all of her mother’s hints and tips over the years. She couldn’t believe it had been three years since she last saw them. Her mother had looked at her like she was the biggest disappointment in the world.
Trixie had quit her corporate job for a tattoo parlor, and she had been happy. Being around Ace made her happy. Even his friends, which were a crazy bunch, made her happy. He never had any close friends, but those that visited him were always a hoot.
They called her “the Corporate” as a nickname, which made her past seem rather comical.
“You’ve disappeared,” Ace said, pulling up into his parking lot. She had been here many times when he had to pick something up, but she had never gone inside his place.
“I don’t know. I was just thinking about my mother, and how she was on the last day I saw her.” She smiled. “Anyone would think I was committing murder.”
“If she believed having fun is an offence, then she probably did.”
She laughed. “She would have hated you so much.”
“With all due respect, Miss Dean, your mother despised me. I’d seen her at the supermarket many times, and believe me, if looks could kill I’d have been six feet under a long time ago.”
“She’s judgmental, and not a nice person.”
“You’re nothing like her if that is what you’re worried about.”
“I know I’m nothing like her.” She climbed out of the car, and walked by Ace’s side as he made his way up to his place.
With each step she took, she knew her life would be changed forever. She wasn’t a virgin, far from it. Sex had never really meant anything to her. If she was honest, sex was boring. That was how she viewed sex, and kissing was the same.
The kiss with Ace had been out of this world, amazing. Could sex be like that as well?
Neither of them spoke as they made their way up to his apartment, and the moment they entered, the scent of lavender filled the air.
“Okay, I’m not a Momma’s boy, but it sure smells like I am,” he said.
She giggled. “Your mom came by?”
“Yeah. Seeing as I’m the only one left in her life, she likes to treat me as if I’m her little boy.”
Tucking some hair behind her ears, she found herself relaxing. “What else does she do?”
“Cleans my apartment, puts food in my fridge and freezer. The other day I swear she turned my bed down and put Snuggles there.”
“Snuggles?”
“It was a teddy bear I had when I was a kid. It went missing, but it would seem she found it.”
“Your mother sounds like fun,” she said.
“Not all the time. We’re making up for a lot of bad history.”
Licking her dry lips again, she pushed her hands into the pocket of her jeans. “I want to be honest with you.”
“Then be honest. I told you, I won’t judge you about anything.” He leaned against the arm of the sofa, his inked arms on full display showing off his defined muscles.
“Sex.”
“Wow, you really don’t beat around the bush. I usually offer dinner first.”
She swallowed, trying to control her nerves. “I don’t like it.”
He didn’t say anything, and she stared him in the eye. “You don’t like sex?” he asked.
Taking a deep breath, she figured she should just get it over with. “I’ve never been good at the whole sex thing. It can be quite dirty, and then there’s the condoms, and they feel gross. Not to mention the kissing thing, and I’ve never had that … urge to share much with anyone else. I’m quite tense, and sex, it is painful, and not fun at all. I really am not a good candidate to have sex, and right now I am sounding more and more uptight, aren’t I?”
You’re ruining this.
“Have you ever had an orgasm?” he asked.
“What? Of course I have.”
“No, I mean a good one. The kind of orgasm that makes your toes curl, and you know you would do everything and anything to have that feeling again.” He stood and moved toward her. Her nipples were so tight they were painful. Her pussy went slick, and she struggled to think straight.
She had never been so aroused before in her life.
“From the look on your face, I’m going to vote a no on that. Do you touch yourself?” he asked.
“You can’t ask me things like that.”
“I can ask you whatever I need to, Trixie,” he said. “Have you touched yourself? Touched your clit, or slid your fingers inside yourself, and found how wet you are?”
She shook her head.
“Have you come from your fingers?”
“Yes.”
“Has it made you want to scream? To beg for more?”
“No. It has always been nice.”
Ace cupped her neck and tilted her head back. “I want you to trust me.”
“I do trust you.”
“Good. Take off your clothes,” he said, stepping away.
She didn’t know what to do, and her eyes widened as he began to remove his own clothes. “What are you doing?”
“You’re going to get naked, and so am I. You’re thirty years old, Trixie. You need to know what it’s like to have a mind-shattering orgasm, and seeing as no one else is willing to give it to you, I’m going to be the one to show you.”
His shirt was gone, followed by his pants. He wore a pair of boxer briefs that were black with a thick band at the top. The hard length of his cock pressed against the front of his pants.
“Or do you want me to get dressed and take you home?”
No, that was the last thing she wanted. For once, she wanted to know what the big deal was. Why men and women chased after sex as if it was some kind of addiction. She had waited long enough, and she wasn’t about to wait another second.