11. Let My Guard Down

Two weeks later, Lilian was waiting for Braylon's driver to pick her up. She was going to his condo and making him dinner.

They'd been on several dates. He'd met her in the coffee shop for two Mondays in a row and it was pretty obvious everyone knew they were a couple.

What started out as a ruse was turning into the truth.

Aside from those two morning chats for other people's benefit, they'd had dinner out twice and lunch once.

It was more time with him than she'd thought she'd get, even with him being in the same building.

But he'd been out of town twice too. Once in Utah and another in Vermont for some new business venture. She didn't ask. It wasn't her business.

Just like she didn't talk about her job to Braylon. Why bore him?

Though he did ask often how things were going, she kept it simple.

She debated a few minutes more and decided to throw a change of undergarments in her large tote bag along with leggings and another T-shirt. They didn't take up much room and would be under the bag of food she'd picked up to cook for him.

He'd offered to have it delivered and save her the trip, but she'd argued no way. He had been paying for everything and it was beyond annoying. The only thing she'd paid for besides the food for tonight was their first date at Carlo's Bake Shop. She got them some pastries and had her card out before his.

Sure, the guy was beyond rich, but that didn't mean she wanted his money or anything in terms of that.

And the fact they'd been dating for three weeks now and had known each other almost a month longer, he hadn't done much more than kiss her.

She was frustrated over that and decided he could be waiting for her.

She'd find out tonight.

With her tote bag over her shoulder, she locked her apartment door and went down the stairs to see the town car pulling up to the curb. They'd used the driver two other times, but mostly they took a taxi everywhere.

She climbed in and sat back for the fifteen-minute drive to Braylon's. The driver never talked to her so she only looked out the window most times.

The change of scenery from where she lived on the outside of Hell's Kitchen to Tribeca shouldn't have shocked her, but it did.

When the town car came to a stop in front of the high rise, she got out and took a deep breath. She didn't belong here. No way. Not in her forty-dollar jeans and cotton shirt.

She squared her shoulders like she'd done most of her life and went to the entrance where a doorman was standing and opened the large door for someone to come out.

Thankfully it was her boyfriend. Maybe. Is that what he was? She was starting to think that at least.

"Benjamin," Braylon said. "This is Lilian Baker. She's with me."

She smiled at the older man. "It's nice to meet you, Ms. Baker. I'll remember your face now to let you in."

"Thank you," she said.

When they were in the elevator by themselves, Braylon said, "He's a great guy. He will remember you too. He shakes my hand every time I come home from work."

"You mean you shake his hand," she said, winking.

"It's the same thing."

No, it wasn't, but the fact he wanted the doorman to feel like an equal went a long way with her too.

She hitched the bag on her shoulder some more and he reached for it. "I've got it," she said.

"Just the same," he said. "I can carry it."

When they reached his floor and got out, she saw a few doors. Not like her place with them all crammed together and she could hear her neighbors sneeze.

He put a code in and his door opened. "That's nice," she said. "No worries about forgetting a key."

"It is a nice feature. West lives in Hudson Square. Has the penthouse. His entrance is a code and fingerprint."

Not surprising that his brother lived in one of the most expensive areas of Manhattan. Hell, Tribeca was right there too.

And when the door opened, she walked right into a hallway. There were doors on each side and she popped her head in to see one was a bedroom and another was an office. A bathroom was next down the hall.

Then they got to an open area with the living room, kitchen and eating area.

The place was much bigger than she expected, but she shouldn't have been surprised.

"It's a great view," she said. There were large windows everywhere.

"I like having a corner space," he said. "My bedroom is off the living room, lots of windows there. Windows in the spare bedroom but not the office."

"Which is why it's an office, right?" she asked.

"Yep. It's fine. I do a lot of work out here or in my room anyway. Might as well be comfortable on the couch."

She saw the nice soft leather furniture in the room. A dark gray in color. Everything was light shades of gray and some white.

She moved to the large island and put her bag down to take the food out.

"I'm glad you're letting me cook for you. My sister taught me how to cook more."

"You said she was good."

"She is great. I miss her cooking and baking. One of my favorite meals is this rustic roast beef with potatoes and carrots. I'm sure you're used to fancy things."

"Remember how I grew up. My mother made big meals and casseroles that went a long way. I can eat some fancy food and do it for show. Not that they don't taste good, but at the heart of it, I'm still that Army brat who likes his Mama's cooking."

She smiled over that statement. "Do you always put on a show for people?"

Now that the words were out of her mouth she wasn't so sure she liked the thought of that.

"Yes and no," he said. "I was thinking of this a few weeks ago talking to West. There were times we had to fake it until we made it. If you go in showing any signs of weakness you get chewed up and spit out. If investors even let you in the door. That could be considered a show back then."

"But not now?" she asked. "Now you're cocky and don't feel the way you did back then?"

"I'd say that West and I earned being cocky, but I don't think I'm an ass about it. Am I?"

She felt bad that she might have made him feel that way. "No," she said. "Not at all. I just wanted to make sure I'm not in for any surprises. I like you and what I've seen from you."

"And you're worried I'm doing it for a show?" he asked. He pulled her closer and hugged her. "No. I'm not. This is who I am. I'm probably more honest with you than anyone else other than my family. They know me the best. West, Laken and Foster, when we see him, those are the people I can let my guard down with."

"That's a nice feeling," she said.

She didn't feel like she could let her guard down with many in life. Even with Quinn it took a long time.

"It is. When the three of us meet in the office with the door shut, sometimes we are more like siblings fighting over the last piece of pie at Thanksgiving than coworkers. Or West as the boss."

She'd have to keep that in her mind for the future.

She lifted on her toes and kissed him. "Thanks for sharing that. I'll start dinner now."

He'd had some things to do today so it was a little after three at this point. Dinner would take close to two hours to cook, so they had time.

"Tell me what you need and I'll find it for you."

With him helping, she got the roast in the oven but set the potatoes and carrots aside. She didn't need two hours for them.

"Did you have any plans of something to do before dinner?" she asked. She figured she might as well find out before she told him what she was thinking.

"Only spending it with you," he said.

"Well, in that case, can you show me your room?"

His smile lit the room up. "I can most definitely give you a tour of the place."

"You can give me that tour later. I was thinking more along the lines of you showing me your bed."

Lilian knew there was a blush filling her face. It's not like she was a virgin, but it'd been almost two years since she'd had sex. Even then, it wasn't often. Just a guy she saw for a year in college. She'd only brought him to Quinn's house once after they'd been together for eight months.

Then Brian moved back home and she wasn't leaving and they parted ways.

Braylon threaded their fingers together and brought her to the doorway of the living room.

His room was gorgeous and looked to be bigger than her whole apartment. The thought crossed her mind again on why she was here, but she had to push it away.

This was a guy who seemed completely genuine with every action in his life.

If he was lying to her at all, then she was the fool. She thought she did a good job of not appearing foolish.

Braylon turned her and put his hands on her cheeks, then lowered his mouth to hers. He was going to be gentle and tender. She could see it now.

Maybe that was what she needed even though she'd never had it before.

It seemed she never had a lot until it came to Braylon so she was going to embrace it while she could.

Her arms went around his neck and hugged him close and they stood there only kissing for at least five minutes.

She finally lifted her head. "Are you going to do anything else?"

"I was just trying to warm you up," he said.

"Oh, I'm warm. More like on fire. I know you are."

She could feel his erection against her hip.

"Guys can't always hide those things," he said, smirking.

She reached down for the hem of her shirt to pull it over her head, but he nudged her hands aside and pulled the navy top up and over her head.

Her white cotton bra wasn't anything fancy, but she didn't have anything else and wasn't going to buy it for tonight. Why be someone she wasn't?

"Take your shirt off too," she said. "We have to match each other."

A smile covered his face, one that reached his eyes. She saw the arousal there too. "I took yours off, you take mine off."

She did what he said, her hands running over his chest. He was in good shape. Not ripped, but you could tell he worked out. There wasn't much fat on him, but he wasn't bulky like a bodybuilder either.

He was just about perfect in her eyes.

And her eyes were taking in every inch of him she could, her fingers trailing over his chest, his arms, down to his stomach.

He let her just look and touch and realized it'd been a solid minute she'd been doing it.

"Sorry," she said.

"Don't be sorry," he said. His voice was husky. "No man ever should complain when a beautiful woman wants to touch his bare skin."

"No woman should complain when a hot man wants to do the same to a woman."

He laughed. "I guess that is my cue."

His hands traced over her chest, around the lace of her bra and down her stomach. She stood there and let the feelings overcome her. Yeah, she'd never felt anything like this before. She wondered if this was what it felt like to be cherished by a man but would never ask that.

They did the same with each other's bodies when they removed their jeans. He was left standing there in boxer briefs; she had on pink cotton bikinis.

He lifted her up and placed her on the bed on her back, slipped the straps of her bra off her shoulders, undid the clasp in the back and the cool air hit her breasts.

His eyes met hers, then he lowered his head, his mouth latching onto one nipple, her body arching for closer contact while her hand slid through his brown hair to hold him there.

She lay there and just absorbed all that he did to her body and made her feel until he moved down further, Lilian losing her grip on him, and her panties were slipped off.

His lips were placing soft feather-like kisses around her inner thighs, then his finger moved some dew around between her lower lips.

She lifted her hips to get closer and his mouth landed on her swollen tender flesh, his tongue flicking at her most sensitive part and then pulling it in to suck.

There were sounds coming out of her mouth that she'd never heard before and when a finger entered her and started to thrust a few times, she came hard and fast like lightning striking before a storm.

He didn't let up what he was doing, just kept the same pace until it felt as if her body was depleted of energy and sagged to the mattress.

When she finally found her wits to open her eyes, she saw the smile on Braylon's face. He was a man who looked proud of what he'd accomplished and he had every right to feel that way.

"It's your turn," she said.

He laughed and opened a drawer, pulled out a condom and then lowered his underwear.

She leaned over and took the condom, opened it up and covered him.

"You're killing me," he said.

She looked up. "What?"

"Do you not realize how long it took you to put that on while you kept caressing me?"

More heat filled her face. "Guess not. I just wanted to do it."

"I want you to do it," he said. "Maybe after. But right now, I'm not sure how long I can last. I'd like to get you there again."

"I might already be there just thinking of this in me," she said. "Maybe that is why I was touching you."

She lay back on the bed, he got over her, her legs spread for him and she felt him enter her slowly. In a teasing way that made her want to grab his butt and slam him down at the same time she lifted up.

She held herself back from that though.

He set the pace and it was one that had her swirling into a vortex of pleasure looking for the trapdoor to release it all out.

It wasn't long before it was built up and he was picking up speed. She matched him move for move and then got hit with a second orgasm before she knew it could even happen.

He knew though, he felt it and she could see he started to lose himself as he thrust faster and faster, then just collapsed on top of her with a loud thunk and a grunt.

"Are you okay?" he asked when he rolled and flopped on his back.

"Yeah. Are you? I mean you're older than me. I don't want to worry about a heart attack."

He burst out laughing, pulled her into his arms and on his chest. "I can handle you just fine."

"You just proved it," she said.