My week is almost up, and I can tell that Asher is getting restless at my place. He’s accidentally broken a wine glass, a picture frame, and a glass figurine I had sitting on a shelf. It’s not that he’s clumsy; he’s just not used to having so many nice things, and he didn’t realize that one wrong movement could cause so much damage.
But Asher has done everything that he was supposed to do. He hasn’t complained once about staying in my condo. And, anytime that he was close to complaining, he would just fuck me, and then he’d seemingly like my condo again.
He has spent most of the week at my office other than the few hours a day that he is surfing. He has taken I don’t know how many of my kids out for surf lessons.
But he has also spent a lot of time talking with the kids. And, as much as I thought that I should be afraid of what he was telling the kids, I’m not afraid at all. I thought he would tell them that it was okay to drink, party, and do drugs. That it was okay to steal what you needed. But he didn’t. He didn’t exactly tell the kids that they needed to be models of perfection. He didn’t sugarcoat and say that their life was going to be easy. He was completely honest and real with them. He’s been doing a better job at connecting with them than many of our counselors have done. I would hire him full-time in a heartbeat if I thought he would say yes and if it wouldn’t complicate things further.
Right now, it’s a lazy Sunday afternoon. I’m working on my laptop, sitting on my comfortable couch, with my feet stretched out across his lap while he watches some baseball game on the TV. And all I can think about is how I can’t imagine how we are going to spend our time at his place. I’m not even sure if his couch can support our weight for this long.
“Why are you staring at me like that?” Asher asks without taking his eyes off the television.
“How do you know I’m looking at you?”
“Because your typing on the computer stopped, and I assume it is because my body has distracted you. I need at least twenty minutes though before I can fuck you.”
I laugh. “You’re telling me that, if I stripped naked right now, you wouldn’t fuck me?”
“Nope,” he answers quickly.
“If I wore my black lace lingerie, you wouldn’t fuck me?”
“Nope.”
I frown. “If I rubbed oil all over my body?”
“Nope.”
“If I brought in a model for a three-way?”
“Not even for a three-way. They are way overrated anyway.”
I chuckle. “And when did you have a three-way?”
“A couple of years ago. After I won my first international competition. I won half a million in prize money alone. I had my choice of women after that.”
I huff. “Why won’t you fuck me? Why do you need twenty minutes at least?”
“Because this baseball game is tied, going into the bottom of the ninth, and I want to see who wins.”
“I thought you didn’t care about watching baseball.”
He jumps up and starts yelling at the TV. “Homer! That’s a homer. Go, go, go!”
I watch as the ball flies up and then lands in a guy’s glove, inches from going over the fence.
“Shit,” he says, slowly sitting back down, his eyes still on the TV.
“I thought you didn’t care about watching baseball.”
He shrugs. “Now, I do.”
“And why is that?”
“Well, now that I have a nice TV to watch sports on every day, you’ve got me hooked to the thing. And there is a kid I’m helping tutor who is a Cubs fan, and I want them to win for once.”
“You are tutoring a kid? I didn’t know you were smart enough.”
He tosses a pillow at me. I catch it with my hands.
“I’m not just a hot body—as much as that is all you use me for.”
I roll my eyes. “Don’t blame me for your newfound TV addiction.”
“I’m definitely blaming you.”
“Fine. Then, I’ll blame you when I stink because I haven’t showered in a week after moving into your place.”
That gets his attention. He stares at me like I just spoke Chinese to him or something.
“You’re still wanting to move into my place? I thought that was a joke when you said it.”
I frown. “It wasn’t a joke. I promised that, if you lived here for a week, then I would try out your place for a week without complaining about it. Then, we could make a decision together about where we lived for a while.”
He raises an eyebrow. “You are always full of surprises.”
He takes my feet back in his lap and begins slowly rubbing them. He might be waiting until the end of the game to fuck me, but I know that I’m at least still in the back of his mind.
He knows that rubbing my feet is one of my biggest turn-ons. I didn’t realize it was until this week. I think he is the first guy to ever rub my feet. He did, and I’ve been putty in his hands ever since. So, I know this is his way of saying that the sex is coming the second the Cubs win or lose this game.
I pick my laptop back up and open it. I never imagined that Asher would be this nice to me. I never imagined that he would actually do anything to help my business. I never imagined I would ever want to do anything nice for him.
But here I am, sitting with my computer, frantically searching for the perfect gift to get him. Something to show him how much I appreciate him. Especially after I found out that his birthday is next week. I thought I would do something small. Take him to dinner or something. But, now, I’m buying him the most expensive gift I have ever bought anyone.
I look up at his grin as he watches the TV.
Damn it. I know this isn’t going to end well. For either of us.
* * *
“What are you doing?” Asher asks.
I hold the tie out to him.
“I’m not wearing that,” he says.
I laugh. “I didn’t figure you would, and I don’t want you to. Tonight is about celebrating you. Wear whatever you want.”
“You’re all dressed up though,” he says.
I shake my head as I look down at my simple sundress. “I wouldn’t call this dressed up.”
“It’s dressed up to me.”
“I’m wearing a dress. That doesn’t mean I’m dressed up.”
“So, what is with the tie?” he asks.
I walk behind him and place the tie over his eyes. “I have a surprise that I don’t want you to see until I’m ready.”
I begin tying the tie behind his head, hoping it is enough so that he can’t see.
“Do I want to know why you have a tie? It’s not mine. Have you been cheating on me?”
I laugh. “Will you relax? You know I haven’t been cheating on you. With the amount of sex we’ve been having lately, I don’t think I would have time to cheat on you.”
“True.”
“I have a couple of outfits that look sexy with a tie. It’s mine. It’s pink. Not too many men wear bright pink ties.”
I check to make sure that he can’t see out of the tie by dancing around and acting goofy. When he doesn’t respond to my craziness, I smile and grab his hand. “Follow me.”
“I can’t see. You could be leading me to my death, and I wouldn’t know.”
I grin. “I could. I guess you will just have to trust me.”
I lead him out of my condo and start walking down the hallway to the elevators.
“You’re lucky I like fucking you,” he says as my older neighbors get off the elevator.
“Good afternoon, Mr. and Mrs. Shayfield,” I say as we pass them and walk into the elevator.
“Stop talking dirty, and just do as you’re told,” I say.
Asher grins. “Fine. But it’s my birthday. Aren’t you supposed to be doing what I tell you to do? Not the other way around?”
“No. You’re supposed to always do what I tell you. We are married, remember?” I joke with him.
He laughs. “Fine. I’ll do whatever you want as long as I—”
I put my hand on his mouth, shutting him up, as the doors to the elevator open on the bottom floor. As much as I want to hear him say more dirty, filthy things to me, I want to still be able to live in my building without being completely embarrassed.
I grab his hand and quickly lead him through the lobby of the building and outside.
“Okay, now, I really think you are going to try and kill me. Or push me into the ocean, ruining my only pair of shorts that aren’t swim trunks so that I will be forced to wear some suit or something that you have laid out for me upstairs.”
I laugh and shake my head. “You are wrong on both accounts.”
I keep leading him to my surprise.
“Then, what the hell are we doing?”
“Okay, stop.”
He does, just inches from falling off the curb of the sidewalk.
I grimace, hoping he’s not going to twist an ankle because of me. I grab his hips and force him to take a step backward.
“Are you ready for your surprise?” I ask excitedly.
He grins. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”
I pull on one end of the tie covering his head.
“Ow,” he says when the tie jerks his head back instead of coming undone, like I expected it to.
I giggle. “Sorry. Here, let me—”
“No. You had your chance.” He rips the tie off his eyes.
“Happy birthday!” I shout.
My eyes are glued to him as he looks at the brand-new truck I bought him for his birthday. It’s exactly the same as his truck, just completely redone inside and out.
His eyes pop open as he looks at it.
“Well? What do you think?”
“You bought me a truck?” he asks hesitantly.
I laugh. “Yes. I bought you a truck for your birthday. I know you love that old thing that you are always driving around, but I know it’s going to die soon. I thought you could use something new to drive that would also remind you of the old one you love so much. Just with a few new features.”
“You bought me a truck,” he repeats again.
I nod, and then my heart drops. “You don’t like it, do you?”
“You bought me a truck.”
I shake my head. “I can return it if you don’t like it.”
He turns to look at me. “You bought me a truck.” A grin slowly curls up on his lips.
I bite my own lip, still not sure if he loves it or hates it. I don’t know him well enough to know what this reaction means. It isn’t how I expected him to react.
“You bought me a truck,” he says, now fully grinning.
“If you say that one more time, I’m going to go insane. Yes, I bought you a truck. Do you like it or hate it?”
His arms go around me, and then he’s twirling me around. I let out a little squeal, hoping to God this means he’s happy with me whether he likes it or not.
“You bought me a freakin’ truck! Of course I love it,” he says.
He firmly kisses me and then carries me over to the passenger side. He throws the door open and lifts me up into the truck before running to the driver’s side and climbing in.
“Holy cow! I thought you just bought me a new truck that was just like mine, but this thing…” He runs his hand over the dashboard that is full of buttons and lights. “This thing has everything.”
I smile, but my heartbeat doesn’t slow. It’s beating on full blast, going about a million miles an hour, as I watch him try out every function of the truck.
“To be honest, I never wanted a new truck. And, when my truck died, I thought I would just buy another old used truck that would last a couple of years and then die. I beat my truck up enough with the sand and heat that I never thought I would want a nice truck.”
Shit. He hates it. He thinks it’s cool, but he will never use it.
“But, damn, was I wrong. This thing is awesome!”
I grin. “Really? Do you really like it? I can take it back.”
He starts the truck and puts it in drive before pulling out onto the main street. I watch as he takes a deep breath of air when he puts down the sunroof to let in the cool ocean air.
“No way am I letting you take this thing back. This thing is awesome. I love it.” He leans over and kisses me on the lips. “No one has ever gotten me anything this nice before. I don’t care how much you spent on it. I don’t care that we aren’t really together. I’m not letting you take it back. You bought it and gave it to me. It’s mine now.”
When he looks at me, his eyes say that I’m his, too. Even though we both know that it isn’t true. I’m not his. I can never be his.
“Take a left up here,” I say.
“Why?”
I smile. “Because I have one more surprise for you.”
He grins. “I like your surprises, Sloane. A lot.”
“Good.”
I like that, now that I bought him a truck, he will do whatever I want for the rest of the evening. He knows all I want is to do something nice for his birthday.
He parks the truck in the parking lot by the beach after I give him directions.
“You know I love the beach, Sloane, but I’m starving, and I spent most of the day here. So, it’s not really a surprise to take me to the beach.”
I shake my head. “You haven’t seen the surprise yet. Come on.”
I climb out of the truck and wait for him to savor the last few minutes of being inside the truck before climbing out. He finally does.
We automatically link our fingers together, and then I lead him down toward the beach.
When he sees it, he picks me up in his arms and starts kissing me. “Thank God you aren’t taking me to a fancy restaurant for dinner.”
I laugh. “I know you well enough to know that you don’t like eating at fancy restaurants.”
“I’m glad I stole you from Wes.”
“You didn’t steal me. I came willingly.”
“Whatever you say, sweetheart. You’re mine now. At least, you are tonight.”
He finally places me down in one of the chairs and then takes a seat opposite me. The table is simple. It’s a white table with white chairs. Nothing over the top. Nothing fancy. I knew he wouldn’t want fancy although I did have the chef fix fancy food. I know he isn’t opposed to fancy, good food.
The waiter brings over two beers, like I requested. “Would either of you like anything to drink other than beer?”
Asher grins. “Beer is perfect.”
“I’ll be right back with your first course,” the waiter says before disappearing back up to his station several feet away.
Asher cocks his head to one side as he looks at me. “Why are you being so nice to me?”
“It’s your birthday. It’s, like, a law that you are nice to your husband on his birthday. You might even get lucky tonight,” I say, winking.
He takes a sip of his beer. “I know that most wives are nice to their husbands on their birthdays. But we aren’t really husband and wife. More like fake husband and wife. There is no requirement for fake husbands and wives to be nice. So, why are you?”
“Because I like you, and I want you to be happy. You are kind of growing on me, even if your heart is black.”
He chuckles. “You’re probably right about my heart, which is why you shouldn’t get too close to me. I might just break it.”
Too late, I think.
I suck in a breath. It can’t be too late. I just have to remind myself how much of a monster he really is. Then, I won’t care for him so much.
“Oysters, crab cakes, and calamari,” the waiter says, placing a large plate of food in front of us.
We both stare at the appetizer plate. It looks delicious.
“I’ll be back with more beers. Anything else you need?”
We both shake our heads.
The waiter leaves again, and we each dig into the food in front of us.
“This is amazing. Where did you order it from?”
I don’t answer. I just keep digging into the food and eventually mumble something between bites, a bit ashamed that I ordered it from the nicest and most expensive place on the island. All week, I’ve been telling him this place has the best food on the island to try and get him to go with me after work one night. But he disagreed. He said anything that cost this much was full of crap and couldn’t be the best food on the island. So, I don’t want him to find out it’s from this place until after dinner is over.
He grins. “It’s from Azure, isn’t it?”
My cheeks blush, and I nod as my mouth is still full of crab cake. I swallow slowly, waiting for him to argue with me about why I didn’t pick a place that I already knew he loved for his birthday.
He takes another bite of calamari. “I hate losing. And I mean, hate losing. But I will concede. This is the best fucking food on the island.” He takes another bite of oyster. “No, it’s the best food I think I’ve ever had in the entire world.”
I laugh. “I told you, you wouldn’t win every time. Not when you’re competing against me.”
“I win when it’s important to win.”
His scoots his chair closer to me and then runs his hand up the center of my thigh. I tighten my legs to keep him from inching his hand up further.
“As much as I loved our first romp on the beach, I’m not sure I’m ready for another. Not when José is going to come back any second with more beer and food.”
He chuckles and slowly removes his hand. “As much as I want you right now, this might be the first time that I’ll be patient enough to finish a meal fully before I fuck you.”
“You’ll need your strength for sure for what I have planned for you tonight.”
“It’d better be fucking. Followed by more fucking. Followed by a short nap and then fucking, fucking, fucking.”
I run my tongue across my lip. “There will be no napping, and I think you are missing a fuck or two in there.”
José brings us a cooler with beers so that we can grab our own whenever we want. He also brings us each a large steak and lobster even though we aren’t even close to finishing our appetizer.
“Eat up. You’ll definitely need your strength.”
We both eat and chat about work or random thoughts we have. But we mainly just eat in silence as we watch the sun slowly start to set across the ocean while we celebrate Asher.
Somehow, we do manage to finish our plates. And then José brings the birthday cake out.
“I’m sorry. I tried to find out what your favorite dessert was, but I couldn’t. So, I had them do a birthday cake at least, and you can order whatever you want for dessert. They have almost everything.”
Asher blows out the candle. “I want the cake and you for dessert.”
I grin and take my fork to dig into the cake when Asher smears a little of the frosting against my chest.
“We are not fucking on the beach again. I don’t care if it is your birthday.”
Asher glances up at his truck that is parked just up the beach. “I do know of a very nice place to fuck that is far too clean and could use a little dirtiness.”
Asher and I exchange one look, and then we are both running up the beach to his new truck as fast as we can with Asher carrying the cake in his hands. My heart beats fast and not just because I’m running fast.
It does anytime there is a thought of having Asher. I’ve never needed sex as much as I do when I’m with Asher. I need it almost as much as I need food to eat and air to breathe. It doesn’t even make sense to me why I need it with him so much. You would think, with how amazing he is at it, that I would need less to satisfy me, not more. But, every time we fuck, it feels like he hasn’t touched me in weeks, months, years.
Asher beats me to the truck and already has the passenger door open for me when I get there. He lifts me up in the truck, so I’m sitting, facing him, and then his lips claim me. We kiss, and it makes me lose my breath. But I don’t care. I would survive forever from his lips alone.
Asher slowly climbs up on the truck on top of me until I’m lying back on the front seat bench in his truck. He closes the door behind us, and then we are completely engulfed in our own world. People might be able to make out what we are doing or more likely guess, but they won’t be able to really see what we are doing. The windows in this truck are tinted, and we are parked under a tree.
And, even if anyone could tell what we are doing, it doesn’t matter. We don’t care. We need each other too much to care.
I’m too entranced with his kiss to notice anything. But I feel it when the frosting covers my neck, followed by his tongue licking the sweet sugar off my body.
“I love this cake,” he says as he spreads more of the frosting on my body. This time, it’s over my breasts before his tongue slowly licks it off.
I moan every time he touches me with his tongue. I tangle my hand in his hair, keeping his tongue against my body. I can’t really move. There isn’t room in the truck. It’s hot in here and getting hotter with every second that passes. I don’t care about any of it. All I can focus on is Asher’s tongue against my skin.
Asher’s hand slides up under my dress and grasps my breast. I arch my back, needing him to touch me more.
“We will have to save this cake for later. I need you now,” Asher says.
I feel his fingers run down my body and then slip into my panties. He pulls them down and rubs his thumb across my clit, making me wet in seconds. He slides a condom on before his cock replaces his fingers, and then he’s inside me as my back arches, trying to push him in further and further, until he is fully filling me.
I bite my lip, and my toes curl as he thrusts inside me. Our lips touch, and our eyes stay locked as we fuck. I feel words on the tip of my tongue. Words that I never thought I would want to say to Asher. I force the words to stay down. I will not say them. I will not feel them.
I feel my orgasm take over, and it helps to keep down any words or feelings other than complete bliss. I come, and Asher comes as we are locked together.
Asher keeps looking at me after we both have come. His eyes look intense as he looks at me. He opens his mouth to speak but doesn’t say anything either.
I hold my breath, waiting to see if he is going to say anything or not. I need him to say it and don’t want him to say anything at the same time. Because, if he says anything, then everything will change.
A rattling at the door forces air into my lungs again. Asher pulls out of me and sits up while pulling his pants up. I jerk my dress down and look around for the cause of the noise. Most likely, I’m guessing that it is nothing more than a bird or something that hit his window.
But, by the look of terror on Asher’s face, it’s much more than just a bird. He stares out the passenger window. I sit up just as Asher rolls down his window.
“Hello, Officer,” Asher says to the police officer standing outside the door.
I straighten up in my seat and try to remain calm, but I’m too afraid that the police officer just saw what we were doing and is about to arrest us for indecent exposure.
“Are you the owner of this vehicle?” the officer asks.
“Yes,” Asher answers.
“Can I see your license and registration?”
Asher reaches into his pocket and pulls out his license.
“The registration is in the glove compartment,” I say.
Asher slowly opens the glove compartment and pulls the papers out. He hands them all to the officer.
He quickly looks at the papers and then says to Asher, “Please step out of the car, sir.”
Asher begins to step out of the car.
I stay frozen, not sure what I’m supposed to do.
“Asher Calder, you are under arrest,” the officer says as he handcuffs him.
Shit.
I jump out of the truck, not thinking, and run over to them.
“What is he under arrest for?” I ask as I look Asher in his eyes, preparing myself to get arrested next.
“For stealing the truck,” the officer says before walking Asher to the back of his cruiser and pushing him inside.
“What? The truck isn’t stolen. I was the one who purchased it. It was a birthday gift. If you arrest anyone, it should be me! You have to let him go!”
I look at Asher sitting in the backseat of the cruiser, but he doesn’t seem surprised at all to be arrested. In fact, he won’t even look at me. He just looks straight ahead.
“Ma’am, I need you to step back,” the officer says.
“You have it wrong. You shouldn’t arrest him. I’ll have him out tonight. You have to let him go.”
The police officer shakes his head. “I can’t do that. I have a warrant for his arrest. Do you have a way to get home, ma’am? Because I can’t let you back inside the vehicle. It’s now evidence.”
“I’ll get home just fine,” I say, folding my arms across my chest in frustration.
This doesn’t make sense at all. The truck isn’t stolen. It must be a mistake or a mix-up.
The police officer climbs into the driver’s seat just as two more police cars show up to take possession of the truck they think is stolen. I wrap my arms tighter across my chest, now feeling far too cold for the warm weather that is summer in Hawaii.
“I’m going to get you out tonight!” I shout as the car begins to slowly move away.
Asher looks at me for just a moment. His eyes don’t tell me a damn thing. They seem completely empty. Cold. His whole body seems cold. He keeps eye contact with me a second longer, and then the car is too far away for me to see him.
I shiver, feeling completely cold and empty now that he is gone. I pull out my cell phone and arrange for a car to come pick me up. I will keep good on my promise and get everything straightened out tonight. It is all just a big misunderstanding. That’s all this is. A misunderstanding.
But I can’t shake the feeling that I should have said what I desperately tried to push down when I had the chance. Because, now that he’s gone, even if just for a few hours, I regret not saying anything. I regret not telling him my true feelings. Because you never know when you are going to lose someone and never get the chance to say those words.
I shake my head. This isn’t good-bye. And I can’t say those words, no matter how much I need to.