Chapter Eleven

Kaiden informed her he was free after twelve thirty on Friday, so she asked him to be at her place at five. Because he was training, she decided to cook a little healthier dinner. Looking over recipes, she settled on sautéed chicken and tomatoes with roasted artichokes. Knowing he didn’t drink, she bought iced tea to give him an option. Then she set her table about four hours early because she was nervous as hell. Over the past week, they texted each other for hours and she learned so much about him. So far, their friendship was very different than anything she had before, but she absolutely loved that he was sharing. She was sure it was probably hard to trust people and it humbled her.

When a knock came on her door a few minutes before five, her heart jumped in her throat. She’d spent the day cleaning and took one last look around to make sure everything was nice and in order. Romilly took a deep breath and then opened the door. A full bouquet of roses, already in a glass vase, greeted her. The sweet scent tickled her nose. Then they lowered and Kaiden’s smiling face appeared.

“Beautiful flowers for a beautiful lady,” he murmured.

She grinned. “You’re a smooth talker, aren’t you?”

Romilly backed up and allowed him inside, taking the roses as he handed them over, and kissed her cheek. Excitement fluttered through her body.

She placed the vase on the table and turned back to him, not realizing he was directly behind her. His hands came up to steady her as she bumped into him. Romilly stared at him, and her heartbeat sped up as her throat suddenly went dry.

Every thought going through her mind came to a screeching halt. His gaze dropped to her lips, and she licked the dryness off them. The world seemed to stop, suspended from one breath to the next, and then he slid a hand under her hair and around the back of her neck, bringing her up to meet his lips. At first it was just a mere dusting of mouths, but then he pressed deeper, his tongue grazed the seam seeking entrance. She opened for him, moaning into his mouth, the kiss fanning the embers of something sensual … sexual. Fire roared through her blood, bringing to life a deep need she never knew she had. When they finally came up for air, she got lost in the feral heat of his gaze.

He cleared his throat, looking as shell-shocked as she felt. Romilly was glad she wasn’t the only one. Kaiden kissed her forehead before stepping back and giving her a quick smile.

“I, ah … it smells wonderful in here,” he said.

“Th-thank you,” she replied. “Go ahead and sit. I just have to plate the food. Would you like water or iced tea?”

“Water. Do you want me to help?”

“If you could grab the water from the fridge. I’ll take one, too.”

“No problem.”

While he grabbed the bottles of water, she hurried into her small kitchen to put the food on the plates. Then she took them to the table. Kaiden held out her chair as she sat before sitting himself.

“Thank you.”

“My momma raised me right,” he teased. Then he took a bite of the chicken and a moan burst out. “My God, this is good.”

Heat erupted over her cheeks. “Remember when I went to live with my aunt, and I was depressed? Not only did I teach myself to draw but I also obsessively watched the Food Network.”

He blinked, staring at her for a moment. “You’re an amazing woman, you know that?”

She honestly didn’t know what to say to that. “I don’t think I’m that unique.”

“You are,” he insisted. “You overcame a very dark point in your life that not many people would be able to do.”

She gave a self-conscious shrug. “Lots of people overcome dark points. Sometimes healthy and sometimes not. I could’ve easily traveled down the wrong path, so I’m glad I found a few healthy measures.”

He smiled and nodded, but she saw the admiration in his gaze. They ate for a few minutes, but the longer the silence stretched, the more awkward she felt. Why was texting so much easier?

“Penny for your thoughts.”

She raised her gaze. “I was wondering why texting made it easier to talk to you.”

He frowned. “Do I make you nervous?”

“A little. But to tell you the truth, lots of things make me nervous. Not just you.”

“Is it because of my job?”

“You mean because you play football?”

When he nodded, she shook her head.

“No,” she replied. “It’s because I find you so attractive.”

Once more, heat engulfed her face, and she knew she was blushing up into her hairline. When he laid his hand out, palm up, he waited patiently until she slowly grasped it.

“I find you attractive, too,” he said. “I’m glad we used texting to get to know one another, but I like this too. Would you like to go on another date with me?”

“Yes, I would.”

He smiled. “Good. Because I think we have something here. Something worth exploring. That said, I want to make sure the mob didn’t spook you.”

“I can’t say it didn’t, but that was only a small portion of what you are. Not who you are. I … okay, confession time. I like you, Kaiden. A lot. I’ve only had a few relationships, which ended because I was too boring. I want to be with you, but you have to be honest with me. I’m not like those other women you’ve been with. I’m not glamourous, or popular, or eve n— ”

“Stop,” he interrupted. “You are not boring. The way I see it, those other boyfriends were idiots not to have seen how incredible you are. I know my life isn’t easy. During the season I can be a moody bastard, especially if we lose a game or if I played horribly. I have a lot of faults. And I’ll be honest, I did date many women, but none of them would have taken their neighbor’s dog to the dog park. Or visit the botanical gardens. Or offered to pay for half the bill. Those women were superficial. They weren’t real, like you.”

His words left her breathless. Speechless. They were everything she wanted to hear.

“The paparazzi can be overwhelming. Hopefully we can fly under the radar, but even if we don’t, I’ll be there for you.”

She cleared her throat and smiled at him. “Okay.”

He let go of her hand and sat back. “So, I had some ideas of where we can go on our next date. Up in the Arch. Budweiser Brewery. St. Louis Art Museum. Ideas?”

“I’m not fond of heights. How about the brewery? I’ve never been there.”

“Okay, the beer place it is.”

He winked and it sent a little shiver of excitement through her body. She knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that Kaiden Demay was going to change her life. She was crushing hard for the man. Whether good or bad was still to be determined.

When dinner was done, he helped her clean up before they headed into the living room. They sat on the couch, and Kaiden gently pulled her into his body. He swiped his tongue across her lips until she opened. Kissing her until she was breathless. When they broke apart, he stared deeply into her eyes.

“Romilly, would you let me taste you?”

She blinked, licked her lips, and nodded.

He knelt in front of her and slowly slid his hands up her legs. Slipping under her dress where he hooked his fingers under the elastic band of her panties.

“Lift up, baby.”

Her hips came up, allowing him to slide them off her. Kaiden ran his finger up her thigh, her pussy already wet as he slipped two fingers inside her, testing how ready she was. Their gazes locked on each other, she watched him lick her cream hungrily off the digits.

“Just as sweet as I imagined,” he murmured.

Her breath caught. Her heart pounded.

“Keep those pretty eyes on me,” he ordered, just before he grabbed her hips and jerked her to the edge of the couch.

Slowly, he leaned forward to swipe his tongue along her slit. As he commanded, she watched him, thinking she never saw anything more erotic in her life. The pace of his tongue was agonizing, just slow enough to keep her balanced on the edge without letting her fall. It had been so long that it didn’t take her very long to reach the precipice. She whined, desperately bucking her hips for just a little bit more stimulation. She felt the vibrations of his chuckle.

“Does my baby want to come?” he asked, blowing against her sensitive folds.

“Please,” she begged.

“You beg so prettily,” he murmured.

After a few more tantalizing licks, he zeroed in on her clit. Quickly flicking his tongue over the swollen nub, alternating with sucking it sharply. The slight bite of pain only drove her even more crazy. He slipped his fingers back into her pussy and stroked, finding that magical spot that caused her to cry out. Her body exploded with pleasure, releasing into a mind-blowing climax.

Kaiden guided her down from the high. When he cupped her face as he kissed her, she tasted herself on his lips.

“You are so fucking beautiful,” he said softly.

He went to move away and she frowned. “Do you need me t o— ”

“Sh.” He placed a finger over her mouth. “This was all for you, baby. We’ll get there eventually.”

He pulled her into his arms and hugged her tight, and she felt just how hard he was. True to his word, he didn’t push her for sex. Kaiden held her for a long time. There was comfort in his embrace. When it was time for him to leave, he gently kissed her one more time and promised to call.

Romilly dreamed of him that night.

****

“…The Clydesdales made their debut in April of 1933. To celebrate the repeal of Prohibition, August A. Busch, Jr., and Adolphus Busch III, gifted the horses to their father, cementing their iconography as the mascot for Anheuser-Busch Company. This concludes the tour for today. Thank you so much for listening to me rattle on. The gift shop is right through there.”

The tour guide gestured to the exit and Kaiden held Romilly’s hand as they followed the crowd. A huge sign proclaiming “Welcome to the Home of Budweiser” hung from the ceiling. As people shopped, Kaiden held up a few t-shirts to show Romilly.

“Which one?” he asked, swapping out the shirts for her to respond. He held up a blue one and a red one with the company’s logo.

She pointed to the red. “It’s my favorite color.”

He grinned. “What size do you wear? Small?”

“Yes, but you don’t need t o— ”

“We’ll be twinsies.”

“Twinsies? Really?”

He grinned. Just then a teenage boy came up, hope on his face as he nervously swallowed.

“Sir? May I have your autograph?” The kid had a notebook and pen.

Kaiden smiled at him. He had taken his sunglasses off but left his backward baseball hat on, and although they’d gotten a few looks and double-takes, no one had approached him until now.

“Sure,” he replied good-naturedly. He accepted the pen. “What’s your name?”

“Joey, sir.”

“Call me Kaiden.” He smiled at the teenager before writing out a note for him before signing it with a flourish. “Here you go.”

The kid’s eyes were wide as he read the note thanking him for his support.

“Are you going to be playing for the Archers?” he asked hopefully.

Kaiden leaned a little closer and pitched his voice low, as if he were giving the boy something top secret. “Fingers crossed.”

Joey smiled so widely that all his teeth were on display. “I hope so.”

“You play football?”

“Yeah, I play tight end as well. But, it’s a little difficult. My school hasn’t been able to buy new equipment so sometimes we aren’t very good because we can’t practice. A couple of times we had to forfeit games because the bus wouldn’t work.”

He shrugged like it was no big deal, but Kaiden saw the sadness lurking in his eyes. This was a kid who wanted to play. He heard the yearning in his voice. So, he made a quick decision.

“What school do you go to?”

“Sterling Pines.”

Kaiden nodded that he heard and held out his hand. “It was great to meet you, Joey.”

Awe replaced the sadness in the kid’s eyes as he accepted the handshake. “Thanks for talking with me and for the autograph.”

“My pleasure.”

He took Romilly’s hand and headed toward the check-out, where he bought both t-shirts. Then they headed out of the gift shop. His agent said he needed to have a charity, and one just happened to fall at his feet. Although it would be an amazing PR stunt, to gift the school enough money to update their football equipment wasn’t the only reason. Football was a way to lift kids like Joey up. Gave them a purpose and an outlet. Helped motivate them to pursue their passion.

He knew, because he was once just like Joey.

“That was nice of you,” Romilly murmured.

He looked down at her with a bemused smile. “I’m a nice guy.”

“Yeah, you are.” She wrapped her free hand around his biceps as they walked. “You’re planning something, aren’t you?”

“Maybe,” he replied with a shrug. “In any case, I was wondering if you’d like to come to my practice on Monday.”

“They allow people in?”

“They allow special people in. And you’re special to me.”

She blinked those big brown eyes of hers, and all he wanted to do was sweep her into his arms and kiss the hell out of her. Once more his conscience weighed heavy on his mind, but he ruthlessly pushed the guilt away.

He didn’t have time for it anyway.