Determined (Determined Trilogy Book 1) (10 page)

“Good morning,” I greeted him with a peck on the forehead. “I didn’t know you wore glasses.” He pulled me down next to him.

Damn, he was sexy in the morning. His dark locks were matted and sticking out in the most delicious bedhead ever. He was naked except for his boxer briefs, which were not doing a very good job at disguising his morning erection. His torso was glorious, strong, and taut. The outlines of his stomach muscles and hip flexors pointed down, leading my eyes to an area currently covered in fabric. I reached out and caressed what was mine.

“Good morning to you, Samantha.” He reached up and ran his hands through his bedhead. “I normally wear contacts. I’m blind as a bat without them. What do you think?” he replied with a turn of his head.

“Very sexy,” I purred. “You should wear those next time.”

“Next time what?” He reached out with a flourish and rolled over me, covering us in a sheet, cocooning us together. He pulled me on top of him.

The scene reminded me of last night, and my body roared to life. I straddled him and rocked my hips, grinding on him. He responded, sensing my urge, and gently stroked my rear. “You know you have a fine ass, Samantha.” It was more of a statement than a question.

“Thank you.”

His hands worked their way down to his thighs, and he freed his length from his boxers. I wanted it inside me. David moved his hand toward my sex, and stroked the length of it, slowly, before plunging two fingers into me.

“Always ready, are we, Ms. Sharp?” he teased me, marveling at my wetness.

“Only for you.” I stared down at him. He smiled, and a darkness overtook his eyes. Like he was possessed. Maybe I was, too. I didn’t care. I wanted this man. I needed him. I felt like the building could be on fire and I would stay right here with him until the smoke overcame me.

He pulled me up by the hips and then slowly lowered me onto his cock. A glorious fullness took over. He started to rock his hips, bouncing me up and down. He looked at me through his frames, and my sex clenched around him.

“Let me see you, Samantha.” Doing as commanded, I sat back on my heels, balancing on top of him. I was fully exposed, naked, and his eyes were locked on mine, my breasts bouncing with each thrust. I wanted him deeper; I wanted all of him. I leaned back, showcasing my full tits and letting my dark hair cascade down my back. I moaned, and he lengthened inside of me, pushing me to the limit.

“Dammit, Samantha, you are so hot,” he grunted, his voice throaty and animalistic.

Having him so totally and completely enthralled by me sent me over the edge, and I started to come. My insides tightened, and my hips convulsed, and I braced myself by holding onto the headboard. My sex pulsed with delight over and over as I moaned with pleasure. The sensation brought David to orgasm.

“Fuck,” he sputtered, and he held my hips to his and rocketed into me, his eyes rolling back into his head.

After the last thrusts were over, I pulled myself off of him and laid by his side, settling in post-coital bliss.

He exhaled and then looked over at me, brushing a tendril of hair out of my face.

“I don’t know what I am going to do,” he said gently.

“What do you mean?”

“I’m a business man, Samantha. I usually work seventy hour weeks. But now it seems I had to go and get addicted to you. I might just have to retire and make you a kept woman.”

“Not so fast. I’m busy too, you know.” My feminist upbringing was feeling empowered after the romp in the sack.

“Are you now?” he countered, his tone flirtatious.

“I am. In fact I am supposed to get brunch with Carrie this morning.”

“Why don’t you have her over here? Hilde can make something.” He smiled lasciviously.

“No way. I’m not bringing my best friend to some strange man’s apartment for brunch. She would feel like a total third wheel!” I exclaimed. Was he serious? He couldn’t be serious.

“Strange man?”

“You know what I mean. Strange to her.”

“Very well, Samantha,” he resigned. “I suppose I can occupy myself for a few hours.”

“It will have to be more than a few hours. I am also having dinner with my landlords tonight, and then I have that meeting on Monday morning.”

His eyebrows furrowed.

“So when do I get to see you again?”

He wanted to see me again? My insides flipped and somersaulted. I realized a big part of me was hesitant to expect much, given his reputation.

“Monday night.”

“It’s a date.” Now that the business negotiation was done, he got off the bed, and wrapped himself in a robe. “I suppose I do have a meeting in New York at eight a.m. tomorrow, anyway.”

That little twerp. I made a face at him. He had been making feel all guilty about leaving when all the while he had other obligations, too!

“Would you like to take a shower?” he asked innocently.

I did. I couldn’t show up at brunch smelling of sex. Carrie would never stop teasing me.

“That would be great,” and then I remembered. “Shit.”

“What?”

“All I have to wear is the dress.” I motioned to the pool of sequins, still at the end of his bed. I imagined the look on Carrie’s face if I strode into the restaurant in a full-length gown.

“Check the nightstand drawers.” He indicated the large bedside table with a nod of his head. “I’m going to make some coffee. Cream right?”

“Yes, please.”

I rolled over and pulled open one of the drawers of the large wooden nightstand. Inside were neatly folded stacks of brand-new clothing, tags still attached. A few pairs of denim, a printed skirt, blouses and sweaters in a variety of colors and tones. I pulled open the drawer above. Underwear—lacy bras and panties. All in my size.

When did he buy all this? At the same time he purchased my white dress? That would have been pretty presumptuous.
I wanted to be mad, and knew I should be mad, but my girlish impulses took over.
New clothes!

I removed a pair of dark jeans, a soft blue sweater and some fresh underthings from the drawers and headed to the bathroom. I turned the stainless steel knob in the shower and let the water get warm. Rummaging through the vanity drawers, I found a brush and managed to detangle my locks, before stepping into the steamy shower. Inside the glass doors, the warmth enveloped me. It felt so good on my sore muscles. I let the water run over me for a while and then remembered that I had a date at 10:30. I shampooed, skipped the conditioner, and used an expensive-looking body wash that smelled like David.

I stepped out of the shower and onto a thick, luxurious bathmat, and toweled myself off with a large bath sheet. Slipping on the silky underwear, I moved over to the mirror and found a hair dryer in one of the drawers. I gave myself a quick blow-dry, doing the best I could in a short amount of time. I grabbed the jeans and the sweater and pulled on them on. They fit me perfectly, and the muted blue color really brought out my eyes.

I walked out into the bedroom, and David was still gone. I went over to the closet, knowing what I would find. On one of the shelves was a set of shoes. Some black flats and a pair of cream-colored leather pumps. I knew they’d be my size. I pulled on the flats, shoved my wallet and lip-gloss into my pocket and looked in the mirror.

Looking sharp, Sharp!
I smiled and wandered down the hall to find David.

~

Back in the East Bay, Thomas let me off in front of the restaurant. I was meeting Carrie for brunch at our usual spot in Berkeley. Rick & Ann’s is a homey restaurant near the foot of the Claremont Hotel. The street was lined with beautiful maples, which were only now turning color in our temperate climate.

I greeted the hostess and made my way in, looking for Carrie. I spied her at a far table against the back windows. As I approached, I realized she was deep in conversation with someone.

“Hello!” I chirped, alerting them to my presence.

“Sammie!” Carrie exclaimed and leapt up to hug me. Someone was perky this morning. “Sammie, I want you to meet someone. This is Derek.” A slim guy with dark blue-black skin, maybe twenty-three, twenty-four stood up and offered his hand. He was vaguely familiar and was wearing slim black jeans, black high tops, and a black hoodie.

“It’s nice to officially meet you, Sam.” His smile was pleasant. Carrie couldn’t take her eyes off him.

“I’m sorry. I don’t think Carrie has mentioned you before.” I looked to Carrie for help. I didn’t know this guy from Adam.

“Sam, I met Derek at Curtis’s house. On Friday. Or was it Saturday?” She turned and grinned at Derek.

“It was Saturday,” he clarified. “We met at breakfast.”

“Oh. Cool. That must be why you look familiar,” I surmised.

“Derek can’t stay Sam; he was just dropping me off.”

“Are you sure?” I asked, trying to be polite and interested in my best friend’s new boy-toy, even though I really wanted to get her to myself. I needed a second opinion on my current predicament.

“Yeah, I gotta study.” He turned to Carrie and gave her a peck on the lips “See you tomorrow?”

“Text me,” she said, her eyes full of stars. Oh, she was crushing hard on this guy.

“Will do. Sam, nice meeting you.” He gave me a nod and then turned on his heel and left.

Once he was gone, I turned to Carrie.

“Study?” I teased.

“For your information, he is a graduate student in Psychology at Berkeley.” She grinned at me.

“Huh. Cool. He seems young for that.”

“The word you are looking for is youthful. That’s what I like about him—his youthful spirit. He doesn’t take life too seriously,” she mused.

Oh yes, she had it bad for this boy. Although Carrie had a new crush practically every other week.

“That’s a nice sweater. Is it new?” She pointed at my top from Mr. Moneybags.

“Uh, yeah. I got it while you were in L.A.” It was a white lie. I didn’t want to paint the wrong picture of David right off the bat.

The waitress came by, and we both ordered eggs benedict and coffee.

“You got it. I’ll be right back with your coffee.”

As soon as she was out of earshot, Carrie leaned in.

“Ok, lady, spill it. How was your date with David Keith?” I noticed she used his full name, like it was a brand name.

“It was ... really nice,” I said slowly. Suddenly, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to pour my heart out to her. Or at least not all the gory details. I started to edit the conversation carefully.

“Did you end up going to the symphony?”

“Yes, I didn’t know what to expect, but it was really lovely. The building was beautiful.”

Carrie shot me a look.

“Sam, I don’t care about the building. Tell me about what happened with David.”

Oh shit. That’s when I realized she didn’t know. She didn’t know we had already had sex in the pantry by the time we all sat down together at the party. She was expecting to hear an update on which base we were at. Not that I had rounded home again and again. I blushed. The waitress dropped off two mugs of coffee. I picked up the little metal pitcher on the table and added cream slowly, buying myself time.

“Sam, don’t hold out on me.”

“We slept together.” I desperately tried to keep my face from breaking out in a full blown-grin, but I failed.

“Sammie!” she exclaimed. A couple other diners glance over at us, and she lowered her voice. “You did not.” She looked at me incredulously. Carrie knew, more than anyone, that I was not the sleep-with-someone-on-the-third-date type, let alone a sleep-with-someone-on-the-first-date type. In fact, I was normally more of a ‘I’ll sleep with you after we’ve been dating for three months type.’ Hence, the number of sexual partners I’d had could be counted on two fingers.

“Well ...”

“Samantha Sharp. I didn’t know you had it in you.” She looked stunned but quickly regained her composure, driven by a thirst for details. She leaned in closer, her voice low “Okay, so tell me everything. How was he? He’s so hot, Sam, I bet he was fucking amazing, wasn’t he?”

“Uh ... yeah.” I grinned down at the table. I felt like a teenager, rather than a grown woman.

She finally sensed my hesitation and backed off slightly.

“Okay, okay. So when are you seeing him again?”

“I think Monday night. I’m busy today and have to work most of Monday.”

“Don’t you have your family trip to Tahoe on Monday after work?”

Shit, she was right. How did that slip my mind? It was already the end of November, and my family goes up to Lake Tahoe each year during the week of Thanksgiving. We were planning on driving up on Monday night to avoid the traffic.

“Crap, you are right. I need to tell David.” I was beyond sad to realize I wouldn’t get to see him for almost a week. I know we only met a few days ago, but I felt like my body was already in sync with his bio-rhythms.

The waitress came over and set two plates heaped with food in front of us. I changed the subject to Derek, Carrie’s new plaything, and she was properly distracted as I picked at my hash browns.

~

After a few caffeinated hours of girl talk, Carrie dropped me off at my place in her old Volvo. I wandered down the stone path and around back and found Clark and Leslie at work in the garden. Clark’s tall frame was raking leaves into a huge pile, and Leslie was kneeling on the ground with a small shovel. They were both bundled up in thick fisherman sweaters, as the fog still hadn’t yet broken. Leslie spied me as I entered the yard.

“Sammie. There you are.”

“Hey, Leslie. Hey, Clark.” I waved across the yard at Clark.

“We were looking for you. Still on for dinner tonight?”

“Definitely.”

“Great. Clark is making coq au vin.”

“That’s great Leslie. I wouldn’t miss Clark’s coq au vin for the world.”

“Wonderful. How about 6:30?”

“Sounds perfect. I’ll come by then.”

I retreated to my little studio. Shutting the door behind me, I closed the blinds and flung myself onto my bed. I needed a little time to rest and digest what was going on. Surprisingly, I was hit with an urge to call my mom.

I pulled my phone out. Four missed text messages. One of them was from my sister, asking about what board games she should bring for the trip. Another was from Carrie, warning me that she was bringing a ‘surprise’ to brunch. So much for that. And the two others were from David. My heart stopped as I slid the screen to read them.