Chapter Thirteen—Pete

“Tell me about yourself,” I blurted as we finished our main course, and I had a feeling not only was I not ready for dessert, but neither was she.

“Wow, where did that come from?”

She shied away as if I’d said something wrong, but I had the desire to know about what makes her tick.

“Where do you come from originally? Family?”

“Well, my family comes from Ohio. Dad’s dead, and Mom’s a teacher.”

I gave her the look, you know, the look of sympathy whenever someone talks about death. As humans, we’re geared to do that, but she didn’t look sad or even remorseful about it. Was she really that cold? Or maybe it happened a while ago? That must be it.

“How did he die, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“He died in some freak diving accident. Dad was the risk taker of the family. He loved doing dangerous sports; he would say what was the point of living if you’re always going to play it safe. Funny now that I think about it. Mom and him were complete opposites, but I remember them just clicking. Well, what I remember of their relationship. Before it used to be so fresh in my mind, but now it’s like a distant memory.”

I opened my mouth to say something as she stared at the table, as if she was trying to recall everything about her dad. I knew the pattern too well. I’d done that when Dad had died and again when Mom died, too.

She continued talking, as if she was talking to herself more than me, “Mom is an only child; her parents died when she was young, so it was all about Dad’s family. His brother and sister, our cousins, his parents. They lived in Jersey, and we would always visit during the holidays. But, when Dad died, Mom decided that his family was no longer part of our family and cut all ties.”

I sighed. “That’s rough.”

“Yeah. I remembered how I felt at the time. I hated her for it. I mean, it’s six years now, and I’m no longer a teen, but back then, I hated her so much. Hated her for deciding how to get over grieving Dad, and just shutting them out. They tried at first to keep in contact, but then they stopped. I mean, it’s like asking someone on a date. You keep asking and they keep saying no, and eventually, you’re going to stop because you’re just not getting anywhere.”

Fuck!

That sounded so cold, and it must have been written all over my face as I stared at her blankly. She thought she was over it, but the way she was talking and acting told me otherwise. I didn’t want to push her, it was the first time we’d spent time alone without the twins or my brothers around. I wanted to get to know her better, so I decided to give her a little pop-quiz. Nothing about her family, because there were clearly issues there, but more about her.

“Who are your friends in L.A.?”

She sighed. “Yeah, only Dawn. She’s cool. She works in the diner, but she’s a rocking guitar player in a band. I was thinking about seeing her one night perform. Even if I’m not really into rock, but I would love to support her, by attending one of her gigs.”

I decided not to let that stop me from finding out about her. She stopped talking and there was an awkward silence. She mentioned Dawn earlier, but it seems as if she was her only friend, so I decided to change the subject.

“What do you do in your spare time?”

Her eyes darted around the restaurant, as if this was some kind of quiz, and giving the wrong answer would put our date on hold.

“I mean, you can’t just work.”

She shrugged. “Pretty much. I work ten hours per day, sometimes twelve. There’s no room to do anything else but sleep. At times, not even eat.”

“Before you came to L.A.?” I offered, thinking her life must have meant something before L.A. I get that sometimes people come and they land roles or they figure that is what would happen as soon as they come to L.A. But she was different, she said she didn’t come here to be an actress, and one thing for sure, she didn’t come here to be a nanny, either.

“We would hangout at the diner, and if there was a movie we fancied seeing, then we would see it. Ben is a big Marvel fan, so whenever the new movie came out, I would have to book it and make sure we had good seats.”

Odd, why did she have to book it if she was a fan?

She started laughing as she told me about one time she forgot to book the seats and ended up going to the theatre and hanging outside, asking someone to swap seats with her. This wasn’t normal, and the conversation and the direction it was going in started to make me feel uncomfortable, but I couldn’t figure out why.

“What type of music do you like?”

“Ben tends to like jazz, so we spent most of our time listening to that, sometimes rock. We went to a few rock shows if certain bands came to town.”

I gave up; there was nothing in this conversation about her. Everything was about Ben, and I didn’t want to upset her, or maybe it was me feeling jealous about her being out with me and talking about nothing but her ex.

“We went to a comic exhibition a couple of times. I remember I saved up all my money so we could go. Ben was happy for a while when we go there. He was disappointed that I didn’t spend time learning about all the different characters. I did better the next time, and he was happy about that. Apart from that, I love to paint. I sketch sometimes.”

At last, something she loves to do.

“I had a big dream of going to art college and maybe doing it professionally or something. Ben always said that art doesn’t pay the bills, and that you have to be really good. Excellent, in fact, to get noticed.”

“You could say the same thing about acting.”

“But Ben’s really talented.” Her head sunk as she thought about her words. “Well, I thought he was talented, and so did nearly everyone in town.”

“Sounds like it.”

“Can we talk about something else? I mean, do we have to stay here…”

I could tell I was making her feel uncomfortable. I knew there was more to her, but she didn’t want to share it. Not now. Why should she become a pandora’s box overnight. After all, I did only ask her out after she was living in the penthouse for a month. I couldn’t expect her to give me her life story within one night. Especially, since we’d hardly spoken since we shared that kiss, the one where Rachel woke up and disturbed it. I realized I’d crossed a line, she was the nanny, and I shouldn’t get the situation confused, so I stayed away from her, but I couldn’t do it any longer. It was too hard.

“I pushed too much. I shouldn’t have done that. Sorry.”

She waved. “No need to apologize.”

“It’s just all I’ve done is talk about me. My family. Life on the field and nothing about it is that pretty or even interesting when I play it back in my mind.”

She laughed. “You’ve had more of an adventure in your lifetime than I’ve ever had.”

“I’m nearly six years more than you. So, that’s possible. Real easy.”

The flow was back on; I didn’t feel like sitting and making cheap conversation, so I got on to the part I really wanted to get to, part of the reason I wanted her here in the first place.

“I was thinking we could book a night at a hotel. If you’re up to it…”

Her face turned bright red, which was a good sign in a way. I’d never asked a woman if she wanted to spend a night in a hotel, it was always either, your place or mine? Or we would naturally end up somewhere, but to formally ask, never. Katie was different; she needed to be treated like a delicate flower. I didn’t know why but there was more to Ben then met the eye. He hadn’t just cheated on her, he’d done a lot more than that.

“Hotel?” She raised an eyebrow. “I thought you would never ask, because you’ve been playing shy guy for a while.”

“I thought you would ask about dessert.”

She giggled. “I don’t know… I was kind of hoping I would be your dessert.”

“You really are a dirty girl.”

She moved closer to the table as she winked at me. “You have no idea.”

I didn’t; she surprised me with her forwardness. Maybe she wasn’t as innocent as I thought she was. But one thing was for sure, I was about to find out as I waved for the waiter to come to our table. I paid the bill with only one thing on my mind, getting down and dirty with the nanny.

I took her hand as we left the restaurant. I didn’t want her to feel uncomfortable, and I wanted to take my time with her. I wanted to explore every inch of her sexy body. I thought about her legs wide open and taking my dessert, her wetness on the tip of my tongue.

The hotel was only a short distance from the restaurant, so it didn’t take long to find one with a room available. She smiled each time holding my hand and I looked at her reassuringly. I felt like a kid going on their first date. It was nuts, it was as if all this was new to me. I realized the reason I was acting like this was because I’d never asked a girl out, let alone tried to get to know her better.

Shit!

I sounded like a jerk, just like her ex.

“Are you sure about this?” I asked as I pressed the button for the elevator. I needed to double-check with her before she stepped in.

“Yeah. Why? Did I do something wrong?”

I shook my head, and she took a step back for a minute as if to say it didn’t matter if I hadn’t changed my mind. She sure the hell didn’t want to go through with it.

I walked back toward her, away from the other couples who were touching and feeling each other, ready to get down and dirty as we were a few seconds ago before I spoiled the mood.

“It’s just that you’re different now. Before you were all excited, and now… it’s like you’re more nervous than I am and I’m not sure why. It’s not like I’m a virgin or anything.”

I laughed. “No. It’s not that. You’re going to think I’m strange, but I’ve never done something like this before.”

She gasped, “What? You’re a virgin?”

I pulled her toward me and chuckled. “No. I’m being stupid. I asked you to come with me, the elevator’s here. Should we get in or call it a night?”

She winked once again, taking the lead. “The night’s just begun… let’s enjoy it.”

I followed her into the elevator, and as soon as the doors closed, she pushed the button. I held her in my arms. I couldn’t believe I didn’t want to go through with it. I couldn’t think of anywhere I would rather be, than having her in my arms.

***

As we moved to the room, I didn’t hesitate in dragging her in and shutting the door firmly behind her.

“Let’s move to the bed, it will be far more comfortable,” Pete said when I came up for air from his thought-stealing kisses. “Let me up. We’ll go in there.”

We stripped off the rest of our clothes as we walked back to the room, and then we came together again, standing in front of the bed. I just wanted him to touch me.

“I just don’t want you to think I’m taking advantage of you,” he said as he hesitated for a second.

No, no, and no!

“What is it with me? One minute Stan’s acting as if he wants to kiss and touch me, then the next he was pulling away. I never knew whether I should be frightened of him or intrigued by him. He went hot and cold so many times. I’m not a delicate flower.”

He chuckled. “I know. I don’t think of you like that.”

I wanted to show him I meant business, so I pulled him against me hungrily and was rewarded when his lips pressed kisses down my sensitive neck, my hair loosely piled on my head, an invitation I’d hoped he’d take at some point tonight.

His palms were soft and gentle as he ran them over my skin. I moved my hands down to clutch at his bare, perfectly shaped ass, urging him to make quick work of this, but he had other plans.

He moved away, took my hand, and pulled me down to the bed. I sprawled in the middle of it, and he followed to lean over me, his face right above mine. His head moved, hovering in different places before hot lips found my nipple and my back arched, pressing my flesh into his face as he sucked with long pulls. Sensations swamped me, ran straight down to that sensitive spot between my legs that now ached for his touch.

Pete’s hands roamed over me, explored my ribs, then my abdomen, before he moved lower and found that part of me that wanted his touch the most. My back arched until only my legs, bottom, and shoulders touched the bed, which pushed my pussy down, his fingers followed until two were inside of me and his thumb pressed against my clit.

“Right there.” I liked the pleasure too much to pretend I was enjoying something I wasn’t. In fact, I enjoyed it so much, my nails raked along his tanned, muscled back as he continued to torment my pussy.

His tongue stroked my nipple; I didn’t want to stop as I found my whole body reacting and my orgasm drawing closer just as we started, I wasn’t ready to come yet. The tension had built as he teased me, but now, it burst out in waves that made my body convulse on his perfectly made bed, and my thighs clamped around his hand, but he didn’t stop. His mouth and fingers continued to work on me as I clutched at his shoulders.

I wanted it to go on forever; I wanted to never leave that place, but slowly, the pulses faded and my body relaxed. I still clung to him, even after he pulled his hand away and moved his face closer to mine. “Are you okay, Katie?”

“I’m good, I’m good.” I patted at his arm but didn’t want to say anything else. I just wanted to revel in the moment.

I touched his face, stroked his cheek, then his lip as he looked down at me with eyes hungry for more. “Don’t stop!”

Pete held my face as he kissed me once more before he leaned over to the nightstand and took out a condom. He put the condom on, then moved to kneel between my legs. He nudged my thighs apart with his knees, readjusted, then leaned down to kiss me again.

My arms wrapped around his neck as the kiss deepened, and he brought the fire inside of me back to life. We were both panting by the time I became restless and moved against him. His cock was pressed against me, but not inside of me, and I wanted that to change. I wrapped my legs around his waist to encourage him, but still, he waited.

His hand at my hip kneaded my skin before it slid down to my ass to tease me even more. His fingers kneaded in a rhythm that I knew I could follow, and I thought I’d lose my mind if he didn’t slip inside me. I broke the kiss to beg him to fuck me, but he just pushed his lips back down to mine, and then—fuck me—he filled me, at last.

I felt his cock stretch me as a relief, and I clasped my legs tighter around his waist greedily. No more playing around—this was serious business, and I wanted it done properly.

I breathed against his throat when he moved to get a better position, to tilt down into me in just the right way. I wanted to tell him to fuck me deeper and to give me more, but my throat was dry, leaving me speechless. I couldn’t control anything, and my thoughts were all over the place.

“You’re such a big fucking dirty boy,” I growled as he filled me up.

“Shit, you have such a dirty mouth! Don’t stop telling me all the things you like,” he ground out the words in a raspy voice, just below my ear, as he thrust into me, already out of control.

I couldn’t help but swear at him. Every time I did it, the more he thrust against me. We worked together, our bodies finally allowed to do as we’d wanted to do all along. The desire had always been there, from the moment I’d laid eyes on him, a tension that we’d ignored but it would be ignored no more.

I was so close to going off the deep end, so close to coming all around his dick. Pete used his thumb on my clit again, and I finally fell over into that world where only we existed, nothing but him and me.

I sighed his name as I faded into the dark world of ecstasy. I was nothing but pleasure and sparks in the dark as he continued to ride me, continued to stroke me higher.

My mouth dropped open as I tried to whisper his name again, to beg him to join me, but I couldn’t make a sound, all there was in the world was the total mind-fuck of Pete fucking me.

He didn’t stop, he continued to thrust deep and hard into me, trying to catch up to me, and I felt him pulse deep inside of me. I could only hold on, as he sent me into a third, and then a fourth wave, longer than any I’d had before, stronger than anything I’d ever felt.

I held him when we came back down to reality, my legs boneless and open wide to accommodate him where he rested over me. He kept most of his weight on his elbows so he wouldn’t crush me. When we finally caught our breath, he rolled away, tossing the condom as if it was a piece of trash, one that he couldn’t get ready to get rid of.

“There I was thinking you’re so sweet and innocent.”

I looked up, thinking he had the complete wrong prospective of me. This was why he was hesitant—it had nothing to do with being a nanny or even Stan, more to the fact they had the completely wrong idea.

“I lost my dad, and I’ve been in and out of a narcissistic relationship. Sure, I haven’t been on the field or suffered loss like you have, but it doesn’t mean I’m innocent or a delicate flower.”

He nodded. “You’re right. You’re more than a flower; you’re like a cactus.”

I hit him. “Hey, cactuses are so fucking ugly.”

“You, my dear, are far from ugly.”

“Exactly!”

“I think I’m going to have to fuck you again to figure out what plant or flower you resemble.”

As tired as I was, and I should have told him to give me a break, but I didn’t want to protest. After all, I just told him that I was a strong cookie, and I was a woman of my word in and out of the sheets.