Emma

“Hey man, come on in, Em made a lot, there’s more than enough. Buck Burk,” he says, offering Colton the hand that isn’t wrapped around August’s ass. “And this is my girl August.”

I feel decidedly awkward witnessing the ease with which Buck handles August and cross my fingers for luck when Colton walks forward to shake hands, introducing himself.

“Yeah man, I know, Em’s talked about you a lot.”

I blush and throw Buck a look but Colton just chuckles and pulls me closer, kissing my hair.

“Glad to hear she feels the same way. Nice to meet you.”

“Good to meet you too. I had to meet the guy who actually asked Miss Brainy if she cheated on that exam. I wanted to smash your face to a pulp but Em was adamant you stay as pretty as you are.” He laughs, making me pray for the floor to open up beneath me, even when Colton smiles and winks at me.

“I was being an asshole and I fully admit it,” he murmurs, thanking me when I serve him up a plate and sit down beside him.

August just grins and I find myself smiling back when she gives me a thumbs up.

“Good to know the man she’s into is willing to take a hit when he’s wrong.”

Oh brother I groan silently, shoveling eggs into my mouth when Colton chuckles and waves Buck off, as if he didn’t just tell him twice he wants to beat his ass.

“When it comes to Em, I don’t think anything but full honesty will cut it. She’s special.”

Buck’s eyes narrow in an assessing way and I peek up at Colton from the corner of my eye while he grins and digs in, his groans of enjoyment making my heart flutter and fuel my flush of happiness.

“This is great, Em. I haven’t had homemade food in a long time.”

“Yeah? Em makes the best spaghetti, hands down. Sorry, baby,” he quips unrepentantly when August slaps his chest.

“It’s true, dammit! Even my own father said so on Thursday night when she brought food around to the gym,” she mutters, smiling at me to show she’s teasing me.

Colton’s eyes come over to me, I feel his gaze like a physical touch and slowly turn to look back at him. His expression is curious, almost hard when I lift my gaze straight to his.

“You didn’t tell me you cook like this, Em.”

No. Well, I didn’t tell him much of anything last night, preferring to sit and listen to him talk about Harley and the girl he’s dating, a supermodel who’s angling for a more permanent situation.

It’s obvious to me that Colton doesn’t like her and that he’s convinced all women only want him or Harley as a meal ticket. I hate that he thinks that way but there’s not much I can do to change his opinion.

As for me, I don’t really do well talking about myself, as we’ve ascertained already.

I shrug, playing my fork through the syrup on my pancakes and pretending no one’s looking my way. Buck chuckles and kicks me under the table, making me curse and rub at my shin.

I see Colton tense but thankfully my narrowed eyes calm him somewhat, as does the hand I put on his thigh, squeezing in a silent plea for him to calm down.

“Don’t be so modest, Em. Especially coming from a home where cooking wasn’t considered a thing for-”

“Buck, shut up.” I hiss, rolling my eyes when his twinkle. “Thank you, Colt, I appreciate the compliment but it’s just eggs, bacon and pancakes.”

“It’s more than that, Emma. You made it with love,” Buck croons, chuckling when I duck my head to hide my ever flushing face.

Lord, why can’t I just stop blushing.

“I’m starting to rethink that, Buck.”

August giggles when he pouts and I see Colton bite his lip to keep in a chuckle of his own.

“Aw, you love me. Admit it.”

“Sometimes.”

The banter keeps up all through breakfast and I release a sigh of relief when the men go to the living room and leave me alone with August to clear up. Colton offered but I’d rather bath with a cactus than spend fifteen minutes with him cooped up in the shitty kitchen.

“He’s hot,” August whispers, grinning when I flush.

“Yes.”

“You tapped that yet, Emma?”

Oh God, how my limbs function with the blood rushing to my face is beyond me. I consider not answering August but think about what Doctor Lyndon said and try to work through the need to shut down.

“No. He wants me to be ready,” I whisper back, biting my lip when her mouth drops open and her eyes bug.

“And you agreed?”

I shrug, handing her a plate to dry and focus my eyes on the dishes.

“It’s nice. I don’t feel pressured.”

Not. I hardly slept a wink until finally passing out at four this morning only to wake up at six after a dream involving kissing, nakedness and a whole lot of no orgasm.

I’m shy, not dumb or lacking in feeling, I know what an orgasm is. At least I think so.

“Holy shit, Emma, that is so fucking hot. I haven’t ever met a guy who wanted me to be ready before he shoved his crotch at me. I adore Buck but even he didn’t hesitate to tell me he wanted to screw,” she says sourly, making me giggle.

August giggles too, rolling her eyes when we hear the TV go on and yelling, the sounds of fists letting us know they’re probably watching MMA.

“God, I guess it doesn’t matter how moneyed they are, men are all still Neanderthals.”

“Amen,” I mumble, letting the water out and handing her the last dish.

She winks and I pour us both another cup of coffee before leaving her to go get changed. I choose a pair of beige safari style shorts, a white tee and gladiator sandals Jam sent me from Milan when she went to see Mia’s son Luciano.

Tying my hair back with a scrunchie, I take one last look at my reflection and for once don’t hate what I see. I look good, not particularly sexy but comfortable and at ease in my skin. I’ll have to talk to Doc Lyndon about this on Wednesday evening when I see her.

“Looking good, Emmie!” Buck yells when I step out of my room, taking in the living room and the second-hand furniture with a pained grimace before I remind myself I don’t care what Colton thinks.

He can take it or leave it if my home isn’t good enough for him.

The man in question looks up and I see him swallow before he rises and holds out his hand to me. I take it without thinking and gasp into his mouth when he bends down to kiss me.

This kiss, unlike the previous pecks is an open-mouthed claiming that sees me clinging to him while his tongue licks deep and tastes every inch of my mouth.

When he pulls away, I am breathless, aroused and dazed, the need thrumming in my veins only worsened by the look of utter adoration he lays on me.

“I’m taking Emma out for the day. Don’t wait up,” he tells Buck, giving me one last peck before taking my hand and pulling me towards the door. “Bye August!”

“Bye,” she yells through Buck’s bedroom door, followed by Buck who takes one look at my shell-shocked face and commences to kill me with his own personal brand of kindness.

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, kids! That’s not much but definitely no kink on the second date!”

Oh God, kill me, I beg, flushing crimson when Colton closes the door behind us and drags me to the elevator with a laugh.

“I get it now,” he says when we’re going down and after he’s stopped chuckling. “Friends.”

“Friends,” I confirm, feeling giddy because he’s still got hold of my hand and it feels…right, in some way.

“So, Miss Harper, you cook and you’re a number whizz and incredibly sexy. Is there anything else I need to know about you?” he asks, helping me into his car and waving the driver off.

I flush guiltily because I know he’s giving a subtle dig about my lack of communication last night. I can’t help it, I just don’t like talking about myself. To do that I’d have to start at the beginning and nothing about that time is good for me.

I really only started living after I left home but telling him that would require a lot of explanation that I really don’t want to get into now. Not on a day when I feel happy, truly happy.

“Uh, not really. I have a cousin Isabella who everyone calls Jamaica because she spoke with a Bob Marley accent for a solid year after she turned five and discovered reggae, oh and she wore dreads through middle school too. She lives in Spain with her husband Santiago and their daughter Gabriella and they have another baby on the way, a boy. I also have an aunt I talk to every night on the phone, Sue. She helped me through college so I’m hoping that I can take care of her now that I’m officially employed.”

Colton chuckles and shakes his head and I notice that we’ve pulled into traffic. New York City is always busy on any given day but at least the Saturday morning traffic isn’t kill or be killed.

“You really haven’t told me anything, though, have you? You talk about Buck and his fighting, you talk about your cousin, cool nickname by the way, and you’ve now told me about your aunt. Do you have parents? Siblings? Are you originally from the city? What is your favorite color? Tell me something about you, Em. I want to get to know you,” he says softly.

I go tense and narrow my eyes in a way that Doc Lyndon would scold me for. So much for progress.

“Like you did last night? You told me about Harley and starting your business, not much else,” I say accusingly.

Colton sighs and grins, getting a naughty gleam in his eyes.

“Okay, you got me there. How about we make a deal? I’ll answer your questions as much as I can and you answer mine.”

Seems fair enough.

“Deal,” I mumble, trembling minutely when he takes my hand in his and leans in to kiss my palm.

“Okay. Family?”

“They’re not in my life,” I say truthfully, striving not to curl my lip when talking about them. “I have parents and two brothers but they’re not…we don’t get along.”

“Hhhmkay. But they’re still alive?”

I shrug, honestly not caring one way or the other. If I’m honest, I hope my mother goes in a sunbed accident that makes news headlines for its brutality and the length of time it took anyone to find her.

“I suppose, unless they’ve died in the last four years or so.”

“You really do not like them. Hell, I never would have suspected, you’re so sweet,” he muses.

Shows what he knows about me, huh, and here I am fantasizing while it’s blatantly obvious that the man I want to sleep with is practically a stranger.

“I’m not sweet, I’m a normal woman. My family aren’t my favorite topic though, okay? Things did not end well between us and I prefer to stay away from them,” I tell him, my voice hard.

Colton shifts, turning to face me more fully and I peek up to see him giving me a contemplative look.

“You know, if we’re going to be together then we have to at least try, Emma. I get that you don’t like talking about some things, ditto for me and I’ll expect understanding from you on that score, but it’s not easy…I want to know everything there is to know about you, baby. I want to be a part of your life, a part of you.”

My sex beats wildly as the words leave his lips and I find myself spellbound by the sight of his soft mouth, curling into a smile.

“None of that, Miss Harper, or I’ll lose myself and touch you in a car that’s moving twenty miles an hour.” He groans, shifting.

He’s hard, I realize when I look down, the stalk of his cock pushing up against his jeans. I have the urge to lean in and touch him, run my hand over the length to test the feel of him.

Never have I ever thought about what it would feel like to touch a man’s cock, but right here and now I want to see him and explore. My sex clenches at the thought and I shift closer before I can stop myself.

“I want you so fucking much. My dick’s been hard all night and all morning. I even jerked off in the shower but it won’t soften.” He growls, closing his eyes with a groan. “Don’t look at me like that, baby, or I’m likely to fuck you in the limo and I don’t want that.”

I do. I’ll take anything if only he’d assuage the ache inside me.

“Talk to me, Em,” he urges again, his breaths harsh and panting.

“I hate my family. I know you want me to talk about them but it’s not something I’m ready for. Even my therapist goes bananas because I don’t find it easy to share. They’re just, not nice people, Colt. They live in California with my brothers, their wives and nieces and nephews I haven’t ever met. It sounds cold, but I hope it stays that way.”

Colton frowns slightly before nodding and leaning back in his seat.

“I don’t have any family. Just Harley. If I did I’d feel the same way you do so I don’t blame you. How about you talk to me about you, Emma, tell me anything, everything, whatever comes to mind.”

“I’m not exactly the biggest talker,” I say ruefully, watching his mouth tip at the corner.

“You are with me. Admit it, you’re comfortable around me, Emma, even if the sexual tension is thick enough to cut through.”

I find myself giggling and it hits me that he’s right, cutting off my laughter. I am comfortable with Colton, for reasons even I can’t explain. Not that it’s comfort, per se, but just think about it, I agreed to a date with a man I hardly know when just weeks before I’d not have dared to look at him.

I don’t know why that is, just that I like it. Maybe I am getting better.

“Okay, let’s see. I got a full ride at NYU my senior year and left home with Buck. It took days to get here and it was the best and scariest time of my life. We had limited funds, no car and two bags between us. Most of that trip was spent hitchhiking or sneaking into the back of trucks while the drivers had lunch or something. Oh! We slept one night in the desert outside Cali. It was…beautiful,” I say dreamily, recalling the stars and the smell of wood burning after Buck made a fire.

“You like camping?” he asks hopefully and I laugh.

“Noooo. No female with real ovaries likes camping, Colt, it’s gross and you get dirty. I only liked it so much because it was the first time that I felt free. We had nothing, not even sleeping bags but we were alone with only the stars and I felt as if I had a chance at a good life, ya know,” I muse, living the memory. “Anyway, we made it across the country eventually and Buck found our apartment when a friend of his offered help. About the second year of school my scholarship got pulled, don’t ask why, I still haven’t quite figured it out, either.”

“They never said?”

“They threw a whole lot of technical jargon at me but what it boils down to basically is that someone interfered. I still think it was my parents, but I tend to be paranoid when it comes to them. It was okay, though. Aunt Sue helped me out a lot, I got a job at a little café and I sold the necklace my grandma gave me before she died. We made it. I made it.”

I say this proudly because it wasn’t easy. Coming from a home where money was never an issue and never having learned basic skills, like cooking or how to do laundry, I had to buckle down and learn.

I earned every single stripe I possess today. Even if poor Buck had to walk around in pink t-shirts for months after my first attempt at laundry, I think, my mouth curling with amusement.

“You sold a family heirloom?” Colton growls, making me jump and let out a peep of surprise.

“No. It was something she got just for me. I loved it. It was this gold chain that held a soaring bird pendant. It was her way of telling me to get out and stay free. Cost a pretty penny too because I got over a thousand dollars for it.”

I still miss having it though. I wore that thing for three years after Gam passed away and it hurt to give it up but I know she’d have wanted me to do whatever I needed to survive. So I did and I don’t regret it.

“Christ, Em, I am sorry.”

“Don’t be. I grew up. I learned to do washing, I burned a lot of spaghetti and eggs learning to cook and it was hilarious the first time I had to scrub the toilet. Buck still has the video of me puking.” I giggle, making Colton laugh and shake his head.

“You did good, Emma,” he says after a small beat of silence and I look back at him, acknowledging the praise as gracefully as I can.

Doctor Lyndon will shit a brick when she hears I didn’t die from a compliment. Yay me. Progress.

“Thanks. It wasn’t easy but me and Buck…we did what needed doing. And I don’t regret one moment of it. By the way, my favorite color is blue, any shade of blue. I don’t like fancy food, like lobster or shrimp, and I love baseball, even if I still don’t get how the game works.”

That makes him chuckle and I feel a little lighter for forging ahead and giving him some of me.

“I’d like to meet your family one day, Em, they sound like good people. I mean Jamaica and Sue,” he says quickly when I pull back, assuming he’s talking about the others.

I relax slowly and let out a breath, my heart returning to normal functions.

“Sue would adore you. She has a thing for Ryan Reynolds.” I snort, peeping up at him though my lashes.

“Aaaah, women compare me all the time, Em. I think I’m hotter,” he clarifies, making me giggle and roll my eyes.

Impossible, but I won’t tell him that. no one beats Ryan. No one.

“Don’t say that in front of Sue, she’ll kill you at the dinner table. Now you, what’s your favorite color?” I ask, giving him the easy road because his shoulders have gone tense and I don’t want to ruin the mood.

He relaxes a little and shifts, rubbing at his mouth.

“Hhhm. I like blue, too, have since I looked at your eyes.”

“Oooh, flirting,” I say tongue in cheek, flushing to the roots of my hair because I never talk like this and it feels too new to be comfortable.

Colton snorts and pulls me into his side, playing with my hair with an ease that floors me. The man is either very comfortable with himself or he’s so used to touching women this isn’t a big deal.

I don’t like the thought of that so I push it away and instead try to make myself relax into his body.

“I’m not flirting, just being honest, Em. I don’t need to flirt with you to make you want me and I like that. It’s refreshing,” he says solemnly, tipping my head back.

I stare into his eyes and feel my breath hitch when he comes closer and touches my lips with his, softly, slowly, the caress erotic in its intimacy. I moan beneath my breath when he flicks his tongue out, tracing the outline of my lips before licking into my mouth and tasting me.

In this moment, I want him to do something, anything just as long as he touches me. My breasts feel heavy and swollen, aching at the tips where my nipples are poking at the lacy bra.

Colton deepens the kiss and I shift closer, one of my legs sliding over his lap with my sex pressing into the side of his hard thigh. The pressure feels good, both relieving the ache pulsing between my legs and making it hurt worse.

He breaks away from the kiss with a growl and we both pant hard, my face burrowed into his neck while we catch our breaths.

“I’ve never wanted anyone this much. I dream about you, Em. I woke up this morning humping the sheets.” He groans against my neck. “I want to throw you down on my bed and slam into you. I want to do things to you that will seem strange to a woman as innocent as you. But I also want to savor this, ya know. I can’t explain it, but I want to know you before I get inside you.”

Oh God! I can’t spend another night like I did last night, my body aching all over, begging me for relief. I would have complied if I thought it would work but nothing made it better. All I could think about was the way he felt and tasted and I wanted so much more.

I wanted his fingers in me, on me. His body over mine, the scent of his skin filling my nose. I wanted it all, so badly I almost touched myself. Only the thought of it getting worse stopped me.

“How long?” I ask, finding the breath and guts to pose the question.

Colton shifts me closer and starts stroking my hair, the sound of his heartbeat loud in the ear I have pressed to his chest.

“Not long, Em. I’m just a man, baby. How about we take the weekend to get to know each other? We can relax or go out, whatever you want and just be together. It may sound really corny to you but I want to know you before I get inside you, Emma. That hasn’t ever happened to me before but it’s what I feel.”

What I feel is hopeful, I think, scooting closer when his words fill my heart. He wants to know me. Could this be my chance to make him feel more for me? I could fall for this guy, as I have already said, heck, I am halfway there already. So maybe I should just leave the hard stuff for a much later time and focus on getting him to want more with me, long term.

I’m not sure how I feel about everything but I do know that I want more with him, as hard as that may be and hearing him want something more than sex gives me a sense of hope that I will cling to.

“Okay,” I whisper.

“Great. First things first!”

I’m surprised when he pushes the door open, not even having realized we’ve stopped, and I feel my mouth fall open when he takes my hand and pulls me out behind him, pulling my back against his front and directing my gaze forward.

My mouth drops open and I can only imagine how big my eyes go when I read the name on the storefront window, my cheeks flushing wildly.

“Colton…”

He leans down, resting his chin on my shoulder and squeezes my hips, the feel of his hands enveloping me so right I don’t have the strength to step away.

“It’s not what you think. I noticed you have a thing for underwear, Em. Those bras of yours aren’t cheap.”

Well no. I tried plain cotton after we left home but having worn the expensive stuff for most of my life I had to save and fork out for underwear that didn’t make my skin break out in a rash.

Call me spoiled if you will but nothing is worse than having your vagina feel raw after sliding on a pair of blend panties.

I flush wildly and try to pull out of his grasp, my embarrassment making my movements jerky. Colton just holds me tighter and refuses to let go.

“This is not-”

“I have an ulterior motive, baby. I want to see you in these things, Em. Panties that slide up between your legs and cup you while showing you off, bras that I want to rip off with my teeth. Let me buy you some lingerie, baby. You’re gonna need it. I am definitely going to rip half of it in half anyway and I should foot the bill,” he argues, pushing his erection into my ass to emphasize his point.

“But-”

“I saw a pair of panties on the website that I can eat off you.”

Everything under my neck goes hot and curious and instead of stalking away like my brain is shouting for me to do, I find myself letting him take my hand to lead me into the high-end store.

I know places like these. I’ve been dragged to them behind my mother all my life so I’m not shocked when an attractive thirty something-ish woman sails over, her hips rolling with an exaggerated sway when she spots Colton.

I hold back a snort at her obvious attraction and push down the jealousy that tries to rear its ugly head, instead focusing on not burning up in a blaze of mortified embarrassment.

“Good morning. My name is Helen, how may I assist you?” She breathes at Colton, ignoring my existence with an obviousness that makes me tense.

Colton squeezes my hand and I peep up to see him grinning at me, the wink he throws me making my knees go weak, it’s so naughty.

“Hi there, Helen. This is my darling, Emma. We need a pair of everything that comes in her size and flatters her and a few pairs of the edible panties we saw on your website. She’s a 32 B and a small on the thong,” he croons, palming my ass with a salacious grin. “Make my girl happy so she can make me happy.”

Helen finally looks my way and her face tightens. I would so want to leave right now but I am still stuck on the fact that he knows my bra size and I gasp when he grins, leans over and whispers into my ear.

“I touched those boobs and I’ve had my hands on that ass. Now I just need to see them.”

I ignore that, focusing on Helen who’s decided her main aim in life is to kill me with her eyes. Am I happy doing this? No. Hell no, I want the ground to open up and swallow me especially when Colton lays eyes on a pair of crotch-less panties and makes a beeline for them, his excitement palpable when he finds more than one color he likes.

Oh hell. I should not be turned on by the idea of wearing panties that show off my vagina but the image I have in my head of straddling him in those things has my entire body going up in flames, my clit pulsing with need.

“We like blue! And purple. Maybe some pink. No red! My baby isn’t a hooker.”

I listen to Colton bark out instructions and bite my lips to stifle a laugh when she drops the ugly red teddy and hops to, leaving me standing in the middle of the store with my eyes bugging.

“What about these?”

I look up to see him fingering a garter belt and shake my head, flushing hotter when he grins and adds them to the pile. It takes twenty minutes and some agonizing seconds before he’s bought enough underwear to dress a naked harem and I’m still reeling when he pulls me out of the store, his other hand loaded with bags.

“That was fun,” he says, handing the bags to the driver and helping me into the car.

“You just…that was…”

He’s kissing me before I can say another word and I let him because as annoyed as I am, I think I am more turned on.