Earning Yancy (23 page)

T
he next morning,
I woke up pressed against Charles’ back. He was lying partially on his stomach, and I was sprawled across his body with my head resting on his shoulder and my leg thrown over his hips. We were both naked.

I lay there without moving for a while, just breathing in his scent and letting the memories of last night wash over me. We never did finish the movie. After we made love and Charles held me for a long time, we decided we were ravenous. Though he wanted me naked, he understood that I was still a little shy, so he pulled his shirt over my head. It was slightly snug around my breasts, but fell to the tops of my thighs. I pulled on my panties and he grabbed his boxer-briefs.

We raided my refrigerator and I sat on the counter while Charles stood between my legs. We fed each other and shared a bottle of beer. At one point, the cold beer bottle pressed against my breast and I felt my nipples harden at the chill.

Charles grasped his shirt and gathered the sides so that the material was taut over my breasts. Then he used his other hand to tug and roll my nipples between his fingers. When I moaned, he shoved the shirt above my breasts and sucked one of my nipples into his mouth. He nibbled, licked, and sucked on my breasts until I was writhing on the counter, close to begging him to make love to me again.

Suddenly, he stopped, his entire body going rigid.

“Shit,” he groaned.

“What?” I gasped.

“I only brought one condom.” He slowly lowered the shirt over my breasts. “I can run down to the drug store in a few minutes.” He looked pointedly down at the erection jutting from his body.

“I have some.”

His head whipped up. “What?”

My throat felt tight, but I cleared it and said, “When Leslie came to get Carolena, she, uh, left a box for me. It was her way of encouraging me to, well….” His eyes narrowed, so I began babbling, trying to explain. “After dinner, when we were lying on the couch, just knowing they were up there if I wanted to use them…” I paused. My next words were whispered. “I couldn’t think of anything else.”

Charles smirked. “I am pretty hot.”

Like that, the awkwardness dissipated and I rolled my eyes. “Never mind. I was lying about the condoms. You need to go get more.”

Charles positioned my legs so they were wrapped around his waist and lifted me up off the counter with his hands on my ass. “Nope. I have a feeling that the doors and windows will be locked or barred when I come back.”

I laughed as he carried me out of the kitchen. I made him put me down before he carried me up the stairs. “Safety first.”

Chuckling, he pulled me upstairs behind him. Then he made love to me again. Afterwards, I wearily dragged myself into the bathroom to go through my usual night time routine of brushing my teeth and washing my face. Then I crawled back into bed with Charles, rested my cheek against his pectoral, and promptly fell asleep.

Now, in the bright light of day, I was lying on top of him, staring at the play of sunshine and shadows on the wall. I shifted slowly, not wanting to wake him. I needed to pee but I fully intended to return and snuggle up next to him.

I climbed out of bed, yanked his t-shirt over my head, and went into the bathroom. After I took care of my morning business, washed my hands, and brushed my teeth, I opened the door to find Charles lying on his side, his beautiful blue green eyes sleepy as he looked at me.

As I approached the bed, his hand reached out to snag my wrist and he rolled, pulling me over him so I landed on my back in the center of the mattress. Before I had time to regain my equilibrium, he yanked his shirt off of me so that I was once again naked.

After last night, I felt a little more comfortable with my nudity around him. It would be a while before I could parade around naked as he had yesterday, but, since he wasn’t wearing clothes either, it didn’t bother me as much as I expected. I giggled as he threw the comforter over both of us and pulled me tightly against him. I was surprised that I didn’t feel awkward. The morning after was not something I’d dealt with in a long while.

Instead, I was ecstatic. Charles asked to stay last night, he wanted to be with me and not just for sex. I cuddled closer, enjoying the feel of his hands on my body as they stroked my bare back.

“Good morning, gorgeous,” he muttered, kissing my temple.

I smiled against his chest. “Good morning.”

“How’d you sleep?” he asked.

“Okay. I’m not used to having a man in my bed.”

I laughed when he responded, “Me either.”

We settled into one another, Charles trailing his hand up and down my spine and me tracing random patterns on his chest.

“What time do you need to pick up Carolena?” he asked.

“Hmmm, I’m not sure. Maybe ten.” I glanced at the clock and saw that it was 7:30. So much for sleeping in.

“Good.”

I gasped as Charles rolled onto his back, taking my body with him and dislodging the sheets and blankets. He grabbed my thighs, yanking them up so that I straddled his hips. I realized then that he was hard and ready.

I shifted my hips and the ridge of his erection lined up perfectly with my clit.

“That’s very good,” I agreed, just before he kissed me and did other things that did indeed verify his goodness.

An hour and a half later, I was in the kitchen, scrambling eggs for breakfast while Charles made coffee. After our morning romp, he’d insisted on ‘helping’ me shower. While I dried my hair and put on a little make-up, he brushed his teeth with one of the new toothbrushes I kept stashed in my bathroom and went downstairs to gather his clothes.

“Do you have any plans for the day?” Charles asked.

I shrugged. “Not really.”

He came up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist, and resting his chin on my shoulder. “How about you and Carolena spend the day with me? We can go to the zoo or to the park.”

I felt as though someone were squeezing my heart. “Sure. The zoo is one of her favorite places.”

His arms tightened around me slightly before he released me and grabbed his freshly brewed coffee from the Keurig. “While you go get Lena, I’ll run home and change clothes and meet you back here. Since the zoo is her favorite, we can go there.”

I nodded. I had no words because I realized that I wasn’t falling in love with Charles Faulkner. I was already in love with him. With a few simple, sincere words, I’d gone from liking him a great deal, to loving him. All because he seemed just as eager to spend time with me regardless of whether my daughter was with me or not.

Apparently, my brain might think I should take things slowly, but my heart had its own agenda.

The rest of
the weekend was great. I fell headlong into the fantasy that we could be a family; Charles, Carolena, and I. Watching him with my daughter, the easy, open affection he not only showed her, but also me, made me wish for things. Things that were too deep for a relationship as young as ours.

On Monday, still floating on the high of new love and great sex, I went to work with a smile on my face. I had a lunch scheduled with the girls today. Charles seemed slightly disappointed when I told him I wasn’t free, but didn’t pout or seem angry. He made me promise to eat with him on Wednesday.

Nothing could get me down as I worked steadily through the morning. I felt more focused and energetic than I had in over a year. When lunch time rolled around, I locked up my office and practically bounced down stairs.

I saw Tanya and Grier standing in line at the coffee shop and headed their way. Smiling, I headed toward them.

“Hey! How was your weekend?”

Tanya stared at me, a speculative gleam in her eye. “My weekend wasn’t nearly as good as yours.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, confused.

“Well, for starters, I didn’t have sex.”

I shushed her, looking around to make sure that no one had heard her. “Jesus, Tanya, could you at least wait until we’re not surrounded by strangers to talk like that?”

She rolled her eyes. “If anyone heard me, I’m sure they know that many adults, including you apparently, have sex.”

I glared at her. “Zip it or I will talk about statistics the whole lunch hour.”

Tanya sighed, but shut her mouth. She hated when I started talking numbers. She said it made her head hurt and that one statistics class in college ten years ago was more than enough for her. Grier merely smiled at me.

A few minutes later, Chelsea joined us.

She took one look at me and said, “Someone got laid.”

Exasperated, I hissed, “You can’t tell that just by looking at me and
quit saying it so loudly
!”

Grier and Tanya both laughed so hard they had to wipe tears from their eyes. I tried to ignore them.

Ten minutes later, we were all seated at a table in the atrium, eating our lunch, and the girls questioned me without mercy.

“So, you were with Charles?” Tanya asked.

I blushed and nodded, but didn’t offer a verbal response.

Tanya sighed impatiently. “Well, spit it out. I need details. I’m too swamped at work to think about dating, much less sex. I wish I had a friend with benefits. Or even an acquaintance with benefits.”

“No, Tanya. I’m not going to share every little detail with you guys. I’m not comfortable with that.”

Tanya started to argue, something she could do all day long, but Grier put a hand on her arm. “Tanya, leave Yancy alone. She doesn’t like to kiss and tell.”

Chelsea interrupted before Tanya could continue protesting. “If you won’t tell us about the nookie, tell us everything else.”

So I did. I told them about my sister showing up and taking Carolena for the night and Charles making us dinner. I told them about Charles wanting to spend the day with my daughter and me and how affectionate, fun, and wonderful he’d been.

When I finished my story, Chelsea said, “If the sex is any good, which, judging by the smile on your face, it is, I’m going to have to kill you and take your place. Charles sounds like a fantastic guy.”

I nodded. “I really think he is. I mean, at first, I worried he was like Coop, acting nice until I let my guard down, but he’s proven me wrong more than once.”

Grier grinned. “And just think, when you first met, you couldn’t stand him.”

I shrugged. At the time, I couldn’t, but everyone had flaws and it would be stupid for me to hold Charles’ mistakes against him.

Behind me, someone cleared their throat and all of us turned to see a man in slacks and a button-down shirt standing nearby. He looked directly at me.

“Yancy Stevens?”

Tanya stood, moving between us. “Who are you?”

The man remained stone-faced, even though Tanya stood at least three inches taller than him in her stilettos. He leaned over so he could see around her.

“Are you Yancy Stevens?”

“Uh, yes,” I answered, completely confused.

The man took a folded sheaf of papers out of his back pocket and held them out to me. When I lifted my hand to take them, he said, “You’ve been served.”

“Oh, hell,” Tanya muttered as the man walked away.

I glanced down at the paperwork. Coop hadn’t been bluffing when he said he intended to sue me for custody of Carolena. At the realization, my blood ran cold because I knew that, as ugly as things had been so far, they could get far, far worse.

N
eedless to say,
Monday sucked. After lunch, I spent the rest of the day alternating between work and checking my phone to see if my attorney had returned my call. I texted Tanya to let her know I couldn’t reach Delinda, but she calmed me down, explaining that she was probably tied up in court or meetings and couldn’t take my calls.

When I told him about what happened at lunch, Charles insisted on coming over later that evening. He ate dinner with us, then did the dishes while I got the baby ready for bed. Once again, I was getting a glimpse of what life would be like if things worked out between us, and I wanted it badly.

After I put Carolena to bed, I headed downstairs to find Charles stretched out on my couch, watching some show on the History Channel. He had a beer in his hand, resting on his belly, and his socked feet crossed at the ankle on my coffee table. He glanced back when he heard me enter the room.