Cakewalk: A Calhoon Small Town Romantic Comedy Read online

  We walked down the wide sidewalk that bordered the beach, the only light coming from the moon and street lamps. The ocean waves lapped gently against the beach and pier, the breeze soft enough to be nice rather than cold.

  I stopped once we reached an ocean park with a large fountain, twice as tall as me. The water remained still, the pump off.

  “This fountain’s a century old,” Jade said, and we peered into its stone basin at all of the coins inside.

  “Is it broken?” I asked.

  “No, they turn it off at night. Guess they want to save on electricity or something.”

  “Well, this wasn’t the mood I imagined.” I looked around and spotted a nearby utility box.

  When I went for it, Jade followed, whispering, “What are you doing?”

  I opened the box. Whoever did maintenance never bothered to lock it. “I’m setting the mood.”

  “For what?” she gasped, and I think she was starting to get it now.

  “Nobody’s out here in a mile radius, no one who’s awake, anyway. But Calhoon won’t be this dead forever—not if I have something to do with it. So let’s take advantage while we can.”

  “In public?”

  “I think you’ll be a lot less anxious about intimacy in the future once you cross this one off your bucket list.”

  “First off, I don’t have a bucket list, and second, if I did, sex in public would not be on it!”

  I switched on the fountain. After some gurgling sounds, it sprang to life with blue lights shining from inside it as water splashed over its many tiers into the coined-filled pool below. A cool chlorine-scented mist filled the surrounding air.

  If we were being honest, this entire thing had been a gambit, and I figured we’d end up at my new apartment regardless. But maybe she’d be a lot less nervous about that if she got to dodge this bullet.

  Jade was wringing the bottom of her dress with her hands as she gazed at the fountain, and a steely determination came over her. “You know what? Okay.”

  “Wait. Really?”

  “This new me is adventurous.”

  “She is?”

  “Yes. And this new me takes risks. This new me isn’t boring. This new me doesn’t take everything so seriously!” She grabbed me by the tie and pulled it down, making me bend to her eye level. “I’d be stupid to turn down the most exciting thing to ever happen to me.” With that, she went in for a kiss.

  My eyes closed as the softest lips I ever felt brushed against mine. Her hot tongue teased around my mouth, and I growled as I invaded hers instead.

  I lifted her up, my hands gripping her ass as she wrapped her legs around me, then I took her to a soft patch of thick grass. I set her down on her back and pulled away to look at her. She averted her eyes shyly, blushing redder than ever. A hand went up to her collarbone, and I watched as the mist from the fountain settled on her skin, making it sparkle in the moonlight.

  Through her thin black little dress, the nipples of her full breasts were visible under the fabric, and I couldn’t help but brush a thumb over one of them. She shuddered in pleasure, and just from that little touch, she was like a tripwire about to go off.

  I pulled up the bottom of her dress and brushed a finger against her panties. She shivered again as I discovered they were already wet.

  Fuck, this is going to be good.

  I slipped a finger under the rim of the silky fabric and watched her face, looking for one last confirmation that she wanted this.

  “Please,” was all she had to whisper.

  Chapter 8

  Jade

  I couldn’t believe we were really doing this. I couldn’t believe that Griffin was straddling my legs, his fingers slipping past my underwear, outside in a public park.

  I’d never live this down if we were caught. The way gossip spread through this town like wildfire—everybody would know about it by the time they had their morning coffee.

  And that risk turned me way the hell on.

  Since when were you such a little pervert, Jade?

  Uh, maybe since I met Griffin and his big dumb blue eyes and his cute, stupid little grin.

  Why, oh why did this have to be a friends-with-benefits situation? Why’d I agree to that? I wanted this to be real. I wanted it to be more. And if that meant our relationship would have strictly remained clothes-on as we got to know each other, I wouldn’t have even minded.

  But I knew how stupid that was. This wouldn’t be happening if there were strings attached. We knew each other for literally a day. And sure, he seemed to take genuine interest in me and forgive all my crazy eccentricities, but that just meant he was a nice, accepting guy.

  Not boyfriend material.

  Not when he was the sworn enemy of the town. And also maybe had some bad boy tendencies.

  A motorcycle and tattoos? Really?

  Everybody would think I was going through a phase, the type of phase I should have gotten out of my system back when I was a teen.

  You were always so well-behaved.

  But that was my problem. I always followed the script. I got with the “nice” boy who everyone approved of, who turned out to be a total piece of shit. I went to some prestigious college despite it putting me in debt. I tried to help with the family business out of a sense of obligation, just further putting my life on pause.

  Griffin here, with his fingers down my underwear and his eyes full of insatiable hunger, was curing me of all of that.

  With his magical fingers, apparently.

  “Sweet Jesus!” I gasped when he rubbed me just right. My hands clamped around the grass, ripping the blades from their roots.

  He glanced about to confirm nobody was around, then he started tugging down my panties. I felt exposed, vulnerable as he looked at me, but those feelings washed away as he lowered his head to run his hot tongue up between me.

  My back involuntarily arched, and I looked over my chest to see my nipples peaked against the dress. I hadn’t worn a bra; thought the built-in shelf would be enough, but clearly I hadn’t planned on being this aroused. And cold yet hot at the same time. The mist from the fountain settled on me gently, cooling the rest of my body as all my heat concentrated between my legs, where his tongue slipped inside me just right, flicked over my clit on occasion, a tease of what was to come.

  I hadn’t been attended to like this before. At best, my first and only boyfriend could only bear fingering me, but oral had always been off the table. For Griffin, it wasn’t even a hesitation. I grabbed his hair, squeezed and pushed him in closer.

  In the back of my mind, I knew neither of us were keeping an eye out for onlookers at this point, but part of me didn’t care. All I wanted was release after years of built up frustration and disappointment, finally getting the undivided attention I didn’t know I had craved.

  He had turned his attention fully to my clit now, sucking and flicking with his tongue as two of his fingers slipped inside me. I was completely soaked for him, pulsing for him as I whimpered, the sound drowned out by the fountain. Realizing I was safe to make some noise, I let it out, whimpered every single time he sent a wave of pleasure through me, the stimulation taking me higher and higher.

  I shuddered against him as my release shot through me, starting from my clit and ending in my sprawled limbs. I was so wide open for him, defenseless, and yet all his attention was honed in on pleasuring me, not taking any for himself.

  God, he could have me right now, have me however he wanted.

  He lifted his head up and our eyes met. “I should tell you something,” he panted.

  It could wait. It had to wait if he thought it was something that would make me want this to end. “What is it?” I rasped, despite not wanting to hear it.

  Griffin moved upward until his mouth hovered above mine. I could smell myself all over him. “I’m fresh out of prison, Jade.”

  Uhhh.

  “For tax fraud.”

  Oh. Okay. I mean, that was still douchey, but it wasn’t a v
iolent crime. Later I’d ream him over for it, for not paying his fair due to society and all that. But right now I didn’t care. Right now, I was ravenous. We had already established that he wasn’t boyfriend material, anyway. He didn’t have to be perfect, and I didn’t have to be either.

  And that was what made this entire situation work. What made it beneficial.

  “Fuck me, Griffin, you bastard.”

  “It’s been five years,” he whispered against my neck.

  What was he getting at? That he was nervous? Thought he might be rusty?

  “It’s been so long, I’m worried that…” He breathed hard against my neck, let his hips drop just a little and I felt then how huge and hard he was. It made me jump, it was so unexpected.

  What did you expect, Jade?

  “I’m worried I’ll go hard on you,” he whispered against my neck, his breath wet and hot. “So fucking hard I’ll have you screaming.”

  Yes, please.

  I gripped his hair and turned his head to whisper into his ear, “Unless I say no, you keep going, Griffin. And you don’t stop.”

  He looked me in the eyes again, the hunger of an animal behind his gaze. He then pulled away, sat back and unzipped, releasing his cock, untouched by another for so long. It pointed up, hard, an impatient pulse running through it as he pulled something out of his pocket.

  Of course, protection. At least one of us was using our brain.

  He slipped it on and hovered over me again, his hooded eyes locked with mine as his tip rubbed against my clit, sending fresh jolts of pleasure through me. He buried his face against my neck and his right hand lowered to my hip as he slipped his cock inside me. I gasped when he slowly entered, my tightness around him making his breath catch, making his fingers dig against my skin.

  “God, Jade,” he whispered, and his voice sounded weak, completely at my mercy, as if he wasn’t the one on top, so much bigger and stronger than me.

  He thrust, entering deeper, and my mouth opened in a silent gasp. The length of him never seemed to end until he was finally fully rooted inside me. He pulled out slowly, and I felt the cold air against my bare pussy before he thrust in again. I bit back a cry and wrapped my legs around him, pulling him in, needing him to fill me entirely.

  He somehow kept it slow for a minute more before his will power ran out and he lifted, grabbing my legs and positioning them over his shoulders. Then he was over me again, my knees pressed firmly against my breasts as this new position let him get deeper inside me than ever before.

  His thrusts were primal, hard, fast, the slapping of his hips against mine a noise complaint waiting to happen. There was no denying the strength of those muscles I saw this morning, and he did as I had told him. He didn’t stop, didn’t hold back, kept pushing how hard he could go before I told him enough was enough, and I didn’t. And by God, did he fuck those five years of isolation out of his system.

  Poor, neglected Griffin.

  Deep inside, my muscles clamped around him, and as another climax overtook my body, he gave one last thrust and breathed raggedly against my ear as he pulsed inside me.

  We laid there, completely spent, no sense of time or place, just two warm bodies held close. Finally, he pulled out and away, handed me my underwear, then turned to take care of himself. I sat up, pulled my dress down and my underwear back on, then finally had the sense to glance around and see if anyone had witnessed us. The place was as dead as ever.

  He stood and offered me his hand. I took it, and he pulled me up in such a gentlemanly way, I almost forgot how primal he was just minutes before.

  Almost.

  “I’ll take you home,” he said.

  It was a short, slow ride on Griffin’s Harley. I clung my arms around his torso like a helpless baby sloth, wearing his helmet as he went without. I was glad it was dark, as my dress was hiked up so high that my underwear was exposed. He never went faster than fifteen miles an hour, yet still I was rattled.

  It also didn’t help that the vibration of the engine went right through the seat and into my most sensitive parts. It was torture—sweet torture.

  “This it?” he asked after a minute of following my vague pointing, stopping by the driveway that had a mailbox with an iguana painted along it.

  “Yeah,” I said, swinging a leg around to get off and straightening my short dress. He lowered the kickstand and accompanied me down the short path to the front door. “It’s not my house, so…” I started.

  “Of course,” he nodded politely. “I didn’t expect to come in. I just wanted to make sure you’re all right. I didn’t…?”

  “No. It…” It blew my damn mind. “It was great, Griffin.” And nobody could ever, ever know about it. “You should skedaddle. Before the neighbors…”

  He spared me having to explain. “Right. Gossipy small town. Forbidden liaison. I know.” He stepped back. “If you ever want to do this again…”

  “And if you do too,” I responded.

  He brushed a hand against my cheek and returned to his Harley. I watched as he rolled it down the street, only hitting the gas once he was past the sleepy neighborhood.

  I wondered if that brush against my cheek would have been a kiss instead, had we not agreed to the whole friends-with-benefits thing.

  But I knew now more than ever that us being together would be the scandal of the century, at least to my sister and family. He had a criminal record, having committed the type of white collar crime that would make the locals want to tear at him like the corrupt, rich asshole they were convinced he was.

  And I guess I was a fool to think differently. Was it enough that he did his time, and that he really believed he could help the town grow and prosper? Did he actually intend to help, or was this another scheme like whatever had landed him in jail?

  I closed the front door behind me as I tried not to answer those questions and focused instead on the tenderness he showed me. And the fact that he admitted to his crimes, before the sexual point of no return. He was conscientious enough, at least, to be honest with me about his past wrongdoings.

  This so clearly had to be a temporary thing, but I’d enjoy it while I could.

  Lord knows it couldn’t last for long.

  Chapter 9

  Griffin

  The temporary trailer office left much to be desired. Internet, for one. I set my phone up as a mobile hotspot, but the reception out here wasn’t much better. I had directed Ariana, my remote assistant, to begin talks with the local cable provider to get some service out here, but negotiations weren’t really moving along. Even though money was no concern to me after my dad’s payoff, the company seemed to be dragging their feet on the matter.

  At least the contracting company I had hired was from the town over, so they didn’t really have a vendetta against me, but I was going to have a hell of a time if this was the kind of cooperation I could expect from the local utility companies.

  I needed a local advocate, a trusted go-between who could coax these people into giving me a damn chance. And I knew just the out-of-work, sweet little face that nobody could say no to.

  Or at least I couldn’t say no to her.

  Jade’s phone rang long enough that I thought she might be letting me go to voicemail. We hadn’t recommenced our… mutually beneficial agreement since that night. It had been all business for a week after, sorting out the rental and nothing more. Maybe she had gotten cold feet now that she had time to think about it, about who she was really getting into bed with.

  All I knew was that I wanted more. All I knew was that those five years of isolation, those five years of abandonment by everybody I knew, didn’t seem so bad if it led me to cross her path.

  Or rather, crash into it.

  She answered. “Griffin.”

  “Jade, hi. I was calling to see if you were still in the market for a job.”

  “Yup, I’m still very unemployed. So is that really why you’re calling? To offer me a job? Is our previous… agreement finished?”<
br />
  “Not if you don’t want it to be. I was just giving you space, and since you hadn’t asked again…”

  “Well, a job would definitely put an end to it. We can’t be together like that if you’re my boss. That’d be an even bigger scandal than before.”

  “I don’t know who else can pull off what I need done.”

  “Pull off what?”

  I sighed. “I need somebody to open up some doors that have apparently been nailed shut for me.”

  “Aw, are the townsfolk giving you trouble, Griffin?”

  I frowned at her playfully mocking tone. “They’re not making it easy.”

  “Well, I can hide an illicit affair well enough, but it’s going to be nigh impossible to hide the fact that I’m working for you. I don’t think it’s doable. You really can’t just grease some palms the old-fashioned way?”

  “How’s it going to change people's perception of me if I go straight to bribes? I want you to be my advocate, Jade. You mentioned something about experience with PR work.”

  She let out a loud, exasperated sigh against the receiver. “Griffin, I don’t even know if I can advocate for you to myself right now. I read up on you, like I probably should have in the beginning, and let’s just say the headlines are pretty bad, and the articles are even worse.”

  “Great,” I said, my tone pleasant. “Then you see the need I have for a good PR officer.”

  She paused. “I have morals, you know. I don’t agree with what you did, and I couldn’t put a positive spin on it even if I wanted to.”

  “Would you believe me if I said it wasn’t what it looked like?”

  “Everybody’s a hero in their own mind, that’s what I would believe. I’m sure you thought there was some justification for it, but the fact is, normal people like me? Like the rest of this town? We don’t have the luxury of getting away with that sort of thing.”

  “I wouldn’t call five years in prison ‘getting away with it.’”