Taut: The Ford Book

She bites her lip and nods, then catches her mistake and whispers, “Yes.”

I kick off the blanket, forcing her to rise, then sit up on the couch properly and look up at her. She’s got on some dark gray leggings, another t-shirt from my closet—it says You can have my ski poles when you pry them from my cold, dead hands—and some of my white sport socks. I’m sure they’re mine, they’re huge on her and they’re all bunched up near her ankles. “Tell me, Ashleigh, what do you think I meant when I said I don’t take requests?”

Her chest rises and falls under my t-shirt, a little bit quicker than it was a few seconds ago. Like my question makes her nervous. “You like to be in control,” she finally says.

That’s a nice answer. Sometimes the girls say I like to give orders, but that’s not entirely true. Sometimes they say I want to force them, but that’s not even close. I get rid of those girls immediately. But control, that’s a good answer. Control is right on the money. “Yes, that’s what it means. Tell me what you see. What do you imagine it would be like? Having sex with me?”

“What?” she almost chokes.

“Describe it, Ashleigh.” Finally, she is uncomfortable. I don’t want to bother with girls who want to call the shots. I’d rather know now if she’s acceptable, otherwise I won’t waste my time.

She takes a deep breath and then blushes a bright pink.

Yes.

She lets out a long breath of air. “I don’t know, Ford. I don’t. You’re way out of my league. But I think it would be fun. Last night was…” She stops to swallow and look away and then shakes her head like she can’t believe she’s gonna go there. “Just what I needed.”

Oh God. If I wasn’t doing my best to keep her off guard I’d laugh right now. “Do you like to be controlled?”

She looks at the couch and then at me. “May I sit?”

My dick gets hard at her polite and formal question. “Where’s the baby?”

“Sleeping. Up in your room. I piled up a bunch of pillows around the edge of the bed so she won’t roll over and fall off.”

I glance up at her. “Do they roll over?”

She laughs at me and nods her head. “They can. She doesn’t yet. But if I turn my back for a second, you know, she’ll decide that will be her first time and off the bed she goes.”

I let out a breath at that. Too true. “Fucking Murphy’s Law, right?”

“Exactly,” she replies, her shyness at bay for a moment as she talks about something she’s more comfortable with.

I bring her attention back to me, because f**k that. I didn’t get her all red for nothing. “You may sit because you asked nicely.” She steps towards the couch and lowers herself, not quite on the opposite side of the couch, but not so she’s touching me either. “So tell me, Ashleigh, what are you hoping for?”

She stares at her hands for a moment, then looks me in the eye. I’m almost stunned, that’s how surprised I am that she can meet my gaze after that question. “Just your brand of dirty fun.”

I want to keep it serious, because that’s what I do. I do not allow the girls to have the upper hand, ever. So I’d really like to keep this professional. But I can’t help it, I have to snicker. That was not the answer I was expecting.

“You’re… laughing at me?” Her confidence falters for a moment.

“I’m not,” I tell her. I rather like her directness because it’s real. It comes out a little bit desperate maybe, but it’s still real. “I’m not. It’s just, you threw me for a moment. Your honesty. I like it.”

She nods her head and smooths down her—my—t-shirt and her fingertips pass over her ni**les. I’m not sure if this was a deliberate attempt to seduce me or just a nervous gesture, but either way, it turns me on. “I could tell,” she replies.

“You could tell what?” I ask, still staring at her ni**les that are pushing against the thin cotton fabric.

“You don’t put up with much. And I’m already a big inconvenience for you. I’m trying to be what you want so—”

“Wait.” I have to stop her here because I’m not sure what she’s alluding to. “What do you think I want?”

“No one. I think you want no one around, and I’m someone. And I have a baby, and no money, and no car. And you’re helping me for some reason. You’re feeling—” She stops to look up at me here. “Obligated, I guess. And I’m… I just don’t want you to get tired of me.”

“Tired of you?” I’m not following.

“Come to your senses and stop caring.”

I laugh. It hurts her, I can tell that much. I might not be the most emotional guy, but I’m not oblivious. “I never cared, Ashleigh. Not that night I invited you in. Not yesterday when I paid your bill or gave you cash to shop. Not last night when I got you off. And if you want me to do it again, I won’t care today either. So what do you want from me? Because I won’t be keeping you around, if that’s what you’re after. I can get any girl I want to suck my dick or let me finger her in a hallway. I don’t need you for that. You’re just here.”

She thinks about this for a few seconds and then stands up. “OK.” She smiles. “I’ll leave you alone then.”

“What?”