MacNamaras Lady

Chapter Eight

“So what’s going on between you and T.S.?”

Missy did her best to ignore her friend’s question. She didn’t have a clue what was going on between her and T.S. In spite of her resolve that their time together was nothing more than a wedding and drama-induced weekend fling, they were still seeing each other.

The past two weeks had gone by in a blur of activity. Missy had signed her statement at the police station. The second assailant was still at large. She shivered, trying not to think about it.

T.S.’ arm was healed, the stitches removed. She still couldn’t believe everything they’d done that weekend and him with a bad arm. Not once had he complained or even seemed to notice his injury. At least not when she was around, even though she knew it had to have hurt.

He’d called her that first Monday and somehow they’d ended up having dinner together almost every night over the past two weeks—mostly at her place, twice at his and at a restaurant three other times. It surprised her how much they found to talk about—politics, religion, movies, music, friends and work. The only subject off limits was family. Neither one of them wanted to talk about that.

They went to see a movie. Surprisingly enough, it hadn’t been one with fifty explosions, but a dramatic piece. T.S. had enjoyed it. He’d also seemed to have fun at the concert she’d invited him to. The artist was a folk singer she particularly liked. T.S. was proving to be a man of many layers. And maybe she was guilty of judging a book by its cover.

“Are you listening to me?” Candy sat down on the corner of Missy’s desk, waving her hand up and down.

“I’m listening. I’m just not answering.”

“So there is something going on,” Candy crowed. “I knew it. I could tell there was a spark between you two ever since the night of the wedding.”

The night of the attack. There was no way Missy could separate the two things in her mind. She wrapped her arms around herself to get warm. She always felt cold these days. She was still having nightmares and some flashbacks about the attack, but they were lessening as time went on.

“I’m sorry.” Candy rubbed her hand soothingly over Missy’s arm. “I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories.”

“You’re not.” She had to stop acting like this. The past was just that. All she could do was move forward with her life. And that was part of the problem. T.S. was messing up her plans. She still had to expand her career before she found a permanent partner, a potential husband. She didn’t have time for a fling, a man. Not now.

Although, she’d had no problem finding time for him these past few weeks.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Her friend’s genuine concern jolted her from her thoughts.

“Yeah, I’m good.” Missy glanced at the clock. “How about we go out for lunch?” It was a bit early, but that only meant they’d beat the crowd.

“I’d love to.” Candy swung off her desk. “I’ll get my coat and meet you in the lobby.”

Missy shut down her computer and grabbed her jacket and purse. Her body still had twinges from last night. T.S. had come over with Chinese takeout and a movie. He’d stayed for a few hours after and made love to her several times. No, it wasn’t making love. It was having sex. Two mature adults having sex. Nothing wrong with that.

She closed her eyes and resisted the urge to beat her head against the nearest wall. T.S. was completely wrong for her. She’d made a list of what characteristics her perfect man would have and he didn’t fit many of the criteria.

Maybe her standards were a bit skewed. It had focused more on outward trappings and less on values. She’d liked him before that fateful weekend, but since then she’d come to really like him. She wouldn’t say the “L” word. It was too soon. And it didn’t matter. He wasn’t looking for anything permanent, which in a way made him the perfect guy for her at this stage of her life.

“You’re going to drive yourself crazy,” she muttered. She pulled on her coat and strode toward the lobby where Candy was waiting.

She needed to stop over-thinking things and simply enjoy the sex. Their relationship wouldn’t last. He’d get tired of being with one woman soon enough or she’d get tired of him. A little voice in the back of her head cautioned her that wasn’t going to happen. She ignored the warning voice and plastered a smile on her face as she joined Candy. “Ready?”

T.S. finished fitting the last piece of baseboard into place and set aside the nail gun. The apartment was really coming along. He flexed his left arm and was pleased there wasn’t so much as a twinge. It had healed well.

“That it for today?” Lucas’ brother-in-law, Justin, swiped his arm across his forehead. They’d been working side-by-side for the past several weeks on the apartment in Lucas’ building. It would belong to Justin when it was done.

“Yeah, that’s it.” He gazed around the room, pleased with the progress they’d made.

“The kitchen looks great.” Justin stood with his hands on his hips and surveyed the room, which opened into the living area. A six-foot counter with a marble top separated the two rooms and would serve as a workspace and breakfast bar.

“It does. You’ll be able to move in as soon as the bathroom is done. Shouldn’t be more than another week.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

He knew that Justin was staying in a cheap apartment downtown and that he and Candy had been estranged for more than a decade before he’d suddenly turned back up in his sister’s life again. There was a story there for sure, but T.S. wasn’t asking. He had his own secrets to keep.

“You coming up for supper?” Justin asked.

Candy had stopped in earlier and invited both of them to dinner. She’d also invited Missy. He could have told her there was no need to matchmake. He and Missy were doing just fine all on their own. Neither of them was looking for anything permanent. They were just enjoying each other’s company.

Usually, he didn’t like to spend too much time with one woman. It made him feel hemmed in, tied down. Plus it gave a woman ideas about making things permanent. But it wasn’t like that with Missy. She was independent. To a fault sometimes. She didn’t need him. Maybe that was the draw.

Thinking about her with another guy turned his gut sour. She was with him. For now, his smarter self cautioned.

“T.S.?” Justin was watching him, hands on his hips and a quizzical look on his face.

And he was standing here like an idiot, mooning over a girl he already had. “Yeah, I’ll be there. I just have to get cleaned up first.”

Lucas gave a quick knock on the open front door and stepped into the room. “You can shower upstairs if you want. I can loan you a clean shirt.” T.S. wondered how long his friend had been standing there. He’d obviously heard the last part of his conversation with Justin. Lucas circled the room, noting the finished kitchen, the hardwood floors, the crown molding and baseboards. “It’s really looking great.”

T.S. sauntered over to stand beside his friend. A bead of sweat rolled down his face and he used the hem of his shirt to swipe it away. “Another week. Ten days tops and we’ll be done. The tiles we were waiting on will be here in two days. Once we get those installed and the sink and tub in, it’s all downhill from there.”

“The bedroom is almost done too,” Justin added. “Needs to be primed and painted and the trim added, but it’s basically done.”

“Thanks, man.”

T.S. waved off Lucas’ thanks. “No problem. I’m glad this building is almost done.”

His friend snorted. “You mean you’re done dipping into my wallet.” They both laughed and Lucas slapped him on the back. “Come on up and have a beer. You can grab a shower and then enjoy Candy’s homemade lasagna.”

“Sounds good.”

“I’m going to run home and get cleaned up.” Justin only lived about ten minutes from here.

“You can shower upstairs too if you want,” Lucas invited.

Justin shook his head. “I won’t be long.” He was gone before Lucas could offer again.

“Now that’s a man with secrets.” T.S. picked up his miter saw and set it by the other tools that sat on a tarp in the center of the room.

“We’ve all got secrets.”

“Too true, my friend. Too true.” T.S. had more than his fair share of secrets. But that was the past. He made it a point never to live in the past. Thinking about it didn’t change it. Neither did talking about it.

“Hey. I thought I heard voices.” Missy stood in the doorway looking as classy and untouchable as ever. Only he knew the real woman beneath the glossy façade. The woman who clawed at his back and called his name as he fucked them both into oblivion.

“Hey, Missy.” Lucas dropped a kiss on her cheek on his way out the door. “I’ll tell Candy you’re here.”

T.S. waited until Lucas’ footsteps faded in the distance. “Not very subtle, is he?”

Missy chewed on her bottom lip and shook her head. “Not really.”

He walked toward her, leaned down and dropped a hard kiss on her lips. “I’d do more than that,” he told her, “if I wasn’t so dirty.”

Her pupils dilated and her nostrils flared. “Promises, promises.”

“You can bank on it, babe.”

Missy laughed and hooked her arm through his. T.S. closed the door and locked up behind him. “I’m going to shower and change before dinner.”

“You’re going back to your place?” Was that hope he heard in her voice? He hated to disappoint her. Hell, he hated to disappoint himself. His dick was as hard as any nail he’d driven today.

From the second he’d seen her standing in the doorway he was hard. Hell, he spent most of his time around her semi-erect. For a guy his age that was something else. Women had stopped being a mystery a long time ago. But there was something about Missy that kept his body primed.

“Sorry, babe, but I already told Lucas I’d use his shower and borrow a shirt.”

She shrugged. “That’s okay. There’s always later.”

Later. He was still thinking about that as he stood in his friend’s shower and let the cool water dampen some of his ardor. Wasn’t easy. He’d swear he could still smell Missy’s perfume in the air around him.

“Shit.” He leaned forward, dunking his head under the spray. If he was home, he’d take matters into his own hands, so to speak. But jerking off in his friend’s shower was just too weird. He’d have to grin and bear it.

He flicked off the taps, stepped out and quickly dried off. It didn’t take him long to pull on his jeans and a clean shirt and head down the hallway. Voices reached him before he entered the great room. Candy’s light laughter. Lucas’ deeper voice. But it was Missy’s husky tones that made every cell in his body stand up and take note.

He stopped dead in his tracks. He was happy. Honest to God, deep down to his bones happy. That wasn’t good.

He frowned and raked his fingers through his hair. Giving a woman that kind of power over him wasn’t what he was about. Depending on someone else always led to being let down. Lucas excluded. His buddy had stood by him from the moment they’d met. But he’d never trusted a woman before. Not like this.

He didn’t like it. But he couldn’t deny the feelings welling up inside him. He tapped them down and shoved the lid back on them. Like a volcano, emotions bubbled deep inside him. He’d keep them there like he always had. That was safe. That was smart. If you didn’t expect things then people couldn’t let you down.

Satisfied he had everything under control once again, he walked into the room with a smile on his face. “Where’s that beer you promised me?” he asked his friend.

Lucas handed him one and he took a swig, letting the cold brew slide down his throat. Missy eyed him, a slight frown on her face. He smiled and shook his head.

She gave him a questioning look before turning back to Candy.

T.S. relaxed as the evening wore on. Good food, great friends and a hot, classy woman who was going home with him tonight. What more could a man want?

Missy’s entire body was humming when she unlocked the door to her apartment several hours later. T.S. was right behind her, his bulk surrounding and sheltering her, constantly reminding her he was there.

The evening with their friends had been fun, making Missy realize how much she’d missed that kind of thing over the past few years. Oh, she and Candy did stuff together, but it was different with a group. Tonight had been an eye-opener.

She’d become too rigid in her life. She’d had to be that way in the beginning in order to survive, but she was a mature adult now with her life under control. She knew who she was and what she wanted. She was different from her parents and brothers. She could afford to relax and simply enjoy life a bit more, not always be so focused on a goal.

She’d forgotten how great it was to sit around with friends, drink beer and eat way too much good food. They’d laughed and joked and talked about work and mutual acquaintances. Nothing cultural about the evening. Just plain old-fashioned fun.

Thankfully, she’d worn a dress and didn’t have to worry about the button of a pair of pants popping open. It really was Lucas’ fault. The man had produced the most sinful chocolate cake for dessert. With raspberry filling, no less. Of course she had to have a piece. It was only polite.

She groaned and kicked off her shoes.

“You okay?” It was the first words T.S. had spoken in a while. He’d been unusually quiet most of the evening.

“Too much cake.” She hung up her coat and purse and sighed. It was good to be home.

One corner of his mouth kicked up. “Yeah, that was a killer cake.”

“Lucas wooed Candy with baked goods.” She smiled at the memory of the magnificent brownies he’d brought to work for Candy. They were still her favorite cookie.

T.S. stood just inside the door, boots and coat still on. Her stomach roiled and it had nothing to do with too much cake. “Aren’t you staying?”

“Do you want me to?”

Missy frowned, not quite able to read his mood. “If you want to. If you’re too tired, I understand. You didn’t have to follow me home. I can get home on my own just fine.”

She thought she heard him mutter “I know” under his breath, but couldn’t be sure.

Enough was enough. She wasn’t in the mood to play guessing games. “Look, if this is the ‘it’s been fun’ speech, then just give it and leave.” She crossed her arms over her chest to keep from showing how badly she was trembling. She’d known it was inevitable, but she’d hoped for longer with him. But if he was going to break things off it was better to do it quickly.

He scowled and stalked toward her. “Has it just been fun?”

She snorted, ignoring how large he seemed as he loomed in front of her. She might be almost as tall as him, but T.S.’ shoulders dwarfed hers. “It’s been fun all right, but at the moment, not so much.”

“I don’t like what I’m feeling for you?” He might have been talking about having a root canal without painkillers for as miserable as he sounded.

“Me either,” she shot back. She hadn’t planned on getting so close so fast. On many levels, T.S. was so wrong for her. On others… Well, he was too right on other ones. She wanted him to the point where she couldn’t stop thinking about him. At work. When she was working out. When she went grocery shopping. It was crazy.

“So what do we do about it?” His dark, stubbled jaw made him appear dangerous and very sexy.

She looped her arms around his neck. He automatically caught her around the waist and pulled her close. “What do you want to do about it?” She rubbed up against his erection, loving his hardness and heat.

“Damned if I know,” he gritted out. “But this will do for starters.” He kissed her and she tasted need and desperation. She returned it, giving him her tongue and then coaxing his into her mouth.

She lost all sense of time and place as the kiss went on and on. His hands clutched her ass. She was almost desperate to get closer to him and tugged at his coat. He swore and pulled away long enough to shove off his coat and drag off his shirt.

Missy gave a low murmur of approval, running her hands over the large expanse of sculpted muscles. T.S. was one fine specimen of manhood.

He captured her mouth again and then bent down, put one arm behind her knees and scooped her off her feet. He carried her down the hallway to her bedroom. Missy would never admit it aloud, but she loved being carried by him. It made her feel feminine and delicate and cared for. Not something a modern, independent woman wanted to admit, but there was no denying it. A woman her size didn’t get carried very often. In fact, T.S. was the first to ever do so.

T.S. lowered his head and kissed her. There was a sense of urgency about the act that permeated her awareness. She wanted to ask him what was wrong but was swept away by the sheer physicality of the situation. Sex first. Talk later.

Her feet hit the floor and she didn’t waste any time. She wanted him naked. Wanted their bodies joined together, flesh to flesh.

She reached for her zipper as he bent down and undid his boots. The muscles in his shoulders bunched and rippled, his biceps bulged as he removed them and went to work on his jeans and boxer briefs.

Then he was naked, his cock jutting proudly in front of him. She was still totally dressed. “Let me help you with that.” T.S. reached around her and tugged down her zipper. The metallic hissing sound was loud in the otherwise quiet room. The muted sound of traffic and the city seemed far away from them. Nothing could touch them here.

T.S. peeled the sleeves of her dress down her arms, exposing her one inch at a time. He paused occasionally, licking and kissing her flesh. God, she was so hot. Her panties were damp, her pussy swollen and wet and her breasts ached.

But more than that, her heart yearned for T.S. To be as close to him as possible. To hold him and never let him go.

Her dress fell to her waist and then slithered over her hips, pooling around her ankles. His fingers traced the lace on her bronze-colored bra. “You look good enough to eat. Sweeter than anything Lucas could ever create in his kitchen.”

The man was seducing her with words alone. That and the hot, lusty expression in his piercing golden eyes.

His fingers twisted the front closure, releasing it. The bra cups peeled back. “Oh yeah.” He brushed his lips over one pert nipple, then the other. “Riper than any raspberries.” He nuzzled her skin. “Richer than any dark chocolate.”

Missy moaned and clutched at his hair, pulling him closer. He laughed and nipped at her flesh before soothing it with his tongue. “You want me, don’t you, babe?”

“Yes.” Did she ever.

“Mmm.” He made the sound of pleasure as he eased the bra straps down her arms. The garment joined her dress on the floor. His thumbs hooked into the waistband of her panties. He didn’t hesitate to shove them down her thighs. She gave her hips a wiggle and felt his thick erection against her stomach.

Naked now, except for her thigh-high stockings, she reached for his cock. Her fingers had barely skimmed the velvet soft covering when he caught her wrist and pulled her away.

“Can’t, babe. I’m on the edge here.”

His admission made her feel her femininity, her power as a woman. “Really?” She walked the fingers of her free hand over his chest, which was slick with perspiration. His jaw was clenched tight, his eyes hot.

“Oh, yeah.” He slipped his fingers between her thighs and found her slick folds. He slid his fingers from front to back and forward again, finding her clit and stroking it. “You want me. Say it.”

“I want you,” Missy gasped out when he angled two fingers into her sheath, pushing deep.

He pulled back, reached down and dug a condom out of his pocket. When he was sheathed, he turned back to her. “Kneel on the bed.”

Missy climbed onto the mattress, facing away from T.S. His strong hands wrapped around her hips and dragged her close to the edge. He wedged himself between her legs, spreading her thighs wide. His cock pressed against her pussy and he rubbed it against her swollen flesh.

She was panting hard now. She needed him in her. She ached with a need only T.S. could ease. Her skin was slick and damp. His hands hard and sure.

He leaned forward and his cock sank several inches into her channel. His hands slid up her sides and around to her breasts. He cupped them and rubbed her swollen nipples between his thumbs and forefingers. His chest covered her back, surrounding her. He flexed his hips, driving his cock deeper, filling her completely.

Nothing else existed. There was only T.S. and the way he made her feel—sexy, hot, cared for, powerful, needy. So many emotions swirled inside her but all that mattered was finding completion.

“Fuck me,” she demanded.

He stilled and then he blistered the air with curses. She didn’t mind at all. She liked knowing she broke through his control, shattering it. He started pounding into her, his hips jack hammering, driving his cock in and out of her slick channel.

“You’re so tight. So fucking hot.” His voice was hoarse with need. His lungs were working hard as he continued to thrust hard and fast.

Her skin was so warm she wouldn’t have been surprised to see it blister, but all she felt was a growing need that kept getting larger with each inward stroke of his cock. He filled her, stretching her. Her clit throbbed. Her breasts ached. Her nipples tingled.

Every inch of her body was in tune with him, with what he was doing to her.

He released her breasts and banded one arm around her. He eased her upper body off the bed so she was kneeling in front of him, she on the bed and he standing behind her. The angle pushed him even deeper, stimulated nerve-endings inside her pussy that sent off a shower of sparks within her.

Missy cried out. His fingers brushed her clit and she exploded. Her entire body jerked and spasmed. The only thing holding her upright was T.S.’ arms as he wrapped them around her and continued to thrust.

She heard his roar as he came. Then they were both falling forward, tumbling onto the bed. Her legs hung over the edge and only his upper body was actually on the mattress. She struggled to drag air into her starving lungs. Her body continued to pulse, her inner muscles spasming around his still-erect cock.

Missy was stunned by the experience. It was as if T.S. had reached inside her and stolen something vital. Her heart. She bit her lip to keep from crying at her stupidity. She’d gone and fallen in love with the man.

“You okay?” T.S. maneuvered his big body off of hers and slid his cock free. She wanted to protest, wanted to keep him inside her a while longer.

“Fine. Good. You?”

He kissed her shoulder. “Better than good.” He rolled off the bed and sauntered to the bathroom. Missy made herself move. She stripped off her stockings and grabbed her sleep shirt. It reached her thighs and provided her some physical armor, if not emotional. She crawled into bed trying to make sense out of her tangled thoughts and emotions.

She’d fallen in love with T.S. She needed to think.

T.S. padded back into the bedroom. He raised one eyebrow but didn’t say anything about her sleep shirt. He rolled into bed behind her, wrapped his arm around her and pulled her into the curve of his hard body.

She loved this part of sex, the closeness, the quiet after orgasm. But tonight she couldn’t find peace or comfort in the act.

She was still awake hours later when he eased out of bed, dressed and left. As the front door of her apartment closed with a snick, a lone tear rolled down her cheek and disappeared onto her pillow.

What was she going to do?