Love Is Overdue (10 page)

“
Well...as long
as you trust me then...it’s all good.” His words kept soothing me,
and I decided to let my fingers play along with him.

“
Trust you to do
what?” I wanted to know.

“
Take care of
you,” he answered, without hesitation.

“
Hmmm...” I
moaned softly, before I could catch myself. “How?”

“
How?” Ben
repeated me slowly. “Give you what you want, Gabriela. That’s how.”
His voice was just making me drip and ache all over.

“
How do
you...know what I want?” My voice broke, and I feared I was giving
myself away. Quickly.

I felt the smile behind his
soft, sexy sigh. “Because I can feel it. Just like I can still feel
those pretty lips of yours all over mine. They were telling me what
you want. Silent but deadly. So I’m a listen better next time, I
promise.”

“
Hmmm...” I
gasped, and bit my lip.

“
Would you like
that?”

“
Yes.” My voice
was barely a whisper.

“
What are you
doing?” I wasn’t fooling him, and now he let me know it.

“
Listening to
you,” I said simply.

“
Does it feel
good?”

“
What?”

“
Listening to
me.”

“
Yes, it feels
very good,” I said softly. “You have a way with words and
with...your mouth.”

He sighed softly, amused.
“You ain’t seen nothin’ yet, baby...” His voice poured over me like
liquid and I squirmed.

“
Yes...I can only
imagine,” I said then, recovering my voice. “Maybe one day you’ll
show me.”

“
Show you
what?”

“
What you can do
with your mouth.” I was really pushing it now. I didn’t even
recognize this side of myself...

“
Hmmm...” That
made him sigh softly. “I would love to...and I would love to see
you right now...and see just what you’re doing right
now.”

“
Oh fuck.” I let
my breath out. He really had me going now.

“
You know...so I
can see exactly how you like it.”

“
Oh, I think you
know exactly what I like...” My breathing was getting
heavier.

“
So then you know
I would do anything to please you.”

“
Oh...shit.”

He didn’t say anything for a
moment. I heard some rustling noises in the background. I imagined
him naked in his bed. I thought I heard the sheets brush up against
his phone. And then his voice...

“
Baby, I wanna
make you come so hard and so deep that nothin’ else matter
anymore...I want you to give me everything.”

“
Ohh...” I
gasped, panting faster and faster, but I bit my lip hard when I
came, shaking in silence.

Ben waited for my breathing
to slow, listening to me. “You okay?” he asked finally.

“
Yes.” I found my
voice, still a little shocked at myself. Did I really just fucking
do that...with Ben listening to me on the other end of the line?
That had to have been the tamest, quickest phone sex in all of
history. “I’m great...I’m just...”

“
You just what?”
he wanted to know.

“
I just can’t
believe I did that.” I was past the point of caring what I said
anymore.... Really, what was the point?

Ben let out a little laugh.
“What did you do?” he teased me. “I still don’t know...”

“
Okay...” I
smiled, pulling the afghan tighter around me. “That’s smart of you.
Let’s just leave it a mystery then.”

Chapter
Five

The work week dragged by in
a haze of pure bliss, longing and frustration. The texting, late
night phone calls and brief meetings during the day at work were
sending my libido sky-rocketing and made my passion for Ben grow
deeper and deeper with every passing hour. He hadn’t lied to me –
he was a very busy man. He usually got to the restaurant by ten am
and didn’t leave until eight or nine in the evening, sometimes even
until they closed at ten. It made spending any real time together
during the week next to impossible, considering I had to be home
with my mother no later than eleven.

But on Wednesday evening
he’d asked me to come by the restaurant after work so we could have
dinner together. We were standing around in the kitchen afterwards,
having a drink and chatting with a few of his kitchen staff and
Lena, when the back door leading to the alley swung open and a
young kid about fifteen or sixteen strolled inside.

He was dressed in a pair of
baggy khaki’s belted half-way down his ass and a white wife-beater.
He had a Knicks cap pulled down over his tight corn-rows and a pair
of massive headphones draped around his neck, Jay-Z blaring from
the speakers.

He just nodded at us all
casually and headed toward the refrigerator.

“
Wow...look who
decides to grace us with his presence,” Lena called out, rolling
her eyes, the annoyance on her face not lost on me for a
second.

The kid turned around,
cracking the top of a can of Coke and grinned at her. “What up
Lena, you miss me?”

“
Levi, if it was
up to me, your sorry little behind wouldn’t even still be workin’
here so...” She sucked her teeth and waved him off with her
hand

“
What?” Levi
pulled out his phone and then glanced back at all of us innocently.
“It ain’t even six yet...” He leaned back against the counter,
taking another long swig of his soda.

I looked over at Ben, who
was just eyeing him up, his expression stuck somewhere between
irritation and amusement.

He pulled open a drawer next
to him. “Yo!” he called out, addressing Levi finally himself, as he
tossed him an apron. “What you still standing around for? This
ain’t no cocktail party...”

“
Daaamn...” Levi
drawled, as he reluctantly moved to fasten the apron around his
skinny waist. “I don’t know what y’all be trippin’ over all the
time – am here, ain’t I?”

But he turned and headed
over to the dish washing station, still muttering under his
breath.

I turned back to Ben and
Lena, giving them a quizzical look of amusement. The scene was
pretty funny, I had to admit it.

Lena opened her mouth to say
something but Ben cut her off. “Don’t wanna hear it – I’m the one
payin’ him, not you.”

“
Mmmhmm...” She
rolled her eyes yet again. “Blood runs deeper than water, so they
say, right?”

Ben turned to me then and
nodded his chin over in Levi’s direction. “That’s my nephew,” he
said, explaining finally.

“
Oh...” I kind of
laughed. “All makes sense now.”

But Lena still didn’t look
ready to let it go. She glanced around briefly and lowered her
voice only for us to hear. “Ben, that kid strolls his ungrateful
little ass in here whenever the fuck he feels like it, like you owe
him or something – it’s not right.”

I was a little surprised at
her directness, but Ben didn’t look bothered. “I know that, but at
least if he’s here, he can’t get into any trouble any place else,
and I promised his mom I’d look out for him. We been through all
this before. You act like you ain’t ever been there...he’s a kid,
cut him a little slack…”

Lena sighed, a bit of a
defeated expression on her face. “I thought when you hired me you
were ready to play hard ball, you know...bust some fucking chops,
take out the trash, as they say...” She narrowed her eyes at him.
“Since I been here you haven’t let me fire even one incompetent
asshole draggin’ this place down...”

Ben laughed and glanced over
at me. “She’s just kidding,” he assured me.

Lena shook her head slowly.
“Kinda,” she admitted. “But kinda not too...” She sighed then,
downing the last of her ginger beer. “All right, I’m a head back
out front – nice seeing you again, Gabriela...”

And with that, she was
off.

“
Hmmm...” I
addressed Ben finally, now that we were alone. “She doesn’t hold
back much, does she?”

Ben was still chuckling
softly to himself. “Nope...but we were friends long before this gig
so we have an understanding.”

I glanced back over at Ben’s
nephew. “So he’s your brother’s son?” Me and my little prying mind
were not letting up.

He nodded slowly. “Yup...”
Then he fixed his eyes back on mine. “Am gonna head out to pick up
some supplies, you wanna come for a drive? I’ll drop you home
after...”

I smiled. “Sounds good to
me.”

Ω

We headed over
to a big restaurant supply warehouse over on East Hastings and made
our way through the aisles with a big cart that Ben began loading
up with bulk items – giant sacks of flour, sugar, every kind of
spice known to man – along with cleaning fluids, dish soap, toilet
paper... I was impressed with his efficiency. I was completely
overwhelmed.

“
These kinda
places freak me out, Ben,” I admitted, as he leaned over to haul a
massive sack of corn meal into his cart with the ease of someone
who lifted weights for a living. My mind kept wandering to what
that body of his could do with me...

He kind of laughed.
“Why?”

“
I don’t
know...I’d get so lost in here by myself. I had to have security
help me find the exit at IKEA a few weeks ago,” I said in all
seriousness.

“
Yeah, you know,
come to think of it, you not much of a help right now,” he teased
me.

“
Yeah, sorry
about that,” I laughed, studying the contents of the cart again. “I
don’t know how you’re gonna fit all this in the back of the
Escalade, though...”

“
Don’t you worry,
baby,” he said, turning back to the next item on his list. “Am real
good at fittin’ big things into tight spaces...”

My jaw dropped
and my eyes popped open, a sudden rush of blood surging through my
veins. It took me a few seconds to catch up with him, though, as
Ben hadn’t even batted an eye at his dirty little comment, and was
already busying himself further up the aisle from me.

Ω

Ben pulled his
Escalade onto the street in front of my house after expertly
managing to load up the trunk and back seat with all the supplies
he’d bought.

He
glanced out at the modest duplex my mom and I rented near the
corner of Fraser and 14
^th
. Not exactly the
greatest neighbourhood the city of Vancouver had to
offer.

He turned to me, giving me a
little lift of the eyebrows. “Well...you home.”

I smiled at him. “Thanks for
the ride.”

“
Thanks for the
company,” he said smoothly. “So you still coming by my place on
Saturday?”

His question caught me a
little off-guard. “Saturday?”

He kind of laughed. “You
forget already? Damn, girl, you makin’ me feel bad...”

“
What? How?” I
wanted to lean over and kiss him.

“
You said you
wanted to come check out my little video shoot, remember?” He gave
me a little sideways glance and raised his eyebrows.

He made me laugh all over
again. “Shit, Ben...that’s right. Of course I am,” I told him, my
heart racing and my mind suddenly spinning, trying to figure out
how to arrange everything on the home front. “What
time?”

He thought about it. “I
don’t know...like maybe three or four...I would come get you but am
gonna kinda have my hands full with prep and bunch of last minute
shit – it can get a little hectic.”

“
No, no, that’s
okay,” I said much too eagerly. “I’ll find my way, don’t
worry.”

“
All right.” He
smiled. “I’ll call you.”

I gave him a little knowing
look. “I’ll try to answer,” I teased him.

He sucked his teeth at my
terrible joke but then just reached out and squeezed my thigh
gently, sliding his hand between my legs and squeezing again, all
the while looking at my body like he was starving. Fuck, that man
had a way with his hands...

Then just as quickly he
looked back up and met my eyes. “Okay...you can go now,” he said
smoothly.

“
Damn...yes,
sir.” I let my breath out, secretly aching for more, and I reached
for the door handle, trying to hide my disappointment. But I
waited. “Anything else?” I glanced back over at him.

“
Like what?” he
wanted to know.

“
I don’t know...”
I said softly. “Maybe a kiss...or another grope...whatever you
prefer.”

He raised his eyebrows,
amused. “Why should you have all the fun?” he asked slowly,
deliberately, eyeing me closely. “Come to think of it, you haven’t
even copped a feel or nothin’...am startin’ to feel a little
neglected.”

My mouth fell open as I
stared back at him with a mixture of shock, amusement, and pure
arousal. “You did not seriously just say that.”

“
Yeah, I just
did.” He didn’t skip a beat. “So what you gonna do about
it?”