Page 53 of Watercolor Skulls

She stops her gun and both she and Raffe stare at me with their mouths hanging open.

“What?”

“You took her home? Like to your parent’s house?” Raffe asks, rubbing his hand across the stubble on his jaw.

I nod, concentrating on my work. I’m slightly embarrassed, I don’t know why.

“Dan, that’s great. How’s your mom?” Jesse asks, scooting her stool over to me. She pulls her gloves off and places her hand over one of mine, effectively forcing me to stop what I’m doing

Reluctantly I face her. “She’s okay.” I try to go back to my work, but she isn’t having it. She keeps her eyes locked on me, waiting for more.

“She’s doing as good as can be expected. My dad was really happy to see me.”

Jesse senses my guilt. “We all have to go at our own speed, Dan.”

I nod. “Lily told them how we had spent the day at the Harvest Festival, and it sparked something in Mom. She remembered me.”

Jesse puts her hand over her heart, glancing back at Raffe. He blinks, swallowing hard.

“Dan, how wonderful for you,” Jesse says in awe.

“It was amazing. I talked her leg off. I gave her a condensed version of the past two years.” I smile, thinking about how good it felt to have my mom listen to me again.

“Jesus, Dan, I’m so happy for you,” Raffe says quietly.

“Anyhow, I’m going to try to go home more. We even talked about them visiting here.”

Jesse smiles. “That would be fucking awesome.”

“Get back to work,” I grumble, done talking about this.

She laughs but obeys, going back to work on Raffe. The rest of the afternoon drags on. I find myself watching the clock. Minutes never moved so fucking slow.

But, as soon as I pull into the parking lot at the bar time seems to go back to its normal speed.

When I step inside Lily immediately turns her head my way, still talking to the customer in front of her. A beautiful smile breaks out over her face.

I walk over and take a seat at the end of the bar, nodding at the patrons I’m familiar with. Lily finishes with the customer she was helping then makes her way down to me. “Hey, stranger. What can I get for you?” She winks at me, sending blood pumping straight to my cock.

I growl, leaning over the bar, inhaling her sugary scent. “I’ll take one of these.” I place my lips to hers, not giving a fuck who is watching.

She smiles against my lips. So fucking sweet.

When I pull away and settle back on my stool, she swipes a bar towel over the counter, giving me the most tantalizing view of her tits. That’s great and all but everyone else is getting the same view. “That will be twenty dollars.” She smirks, narrowing her eyes at me. Her tongue sneaks out to run over her top lip.

Laughing, I look down the bar towards Bill. He shakes a finger at me in warning. I ignore him and turn back to Lily. “What time do you get off, sweetheart?”

She looks at her imaginary watch. “In five,” she says, tossing the bar towel over her shoulder. She grabs a beer out of the cooler, pops the cap, and slides it in front of me.

Lily braces her arms on the counter, watching as I bring the bottle up to my lips. She blinks slowly, her lashes brushing seductively over her soft skin.

“How bout I give you a ride home?” I run the pad of my thumb over my bottom lip. Her eyes trace the movement, her breath slowing.

“I don’t usually let strangers take me home.”

“No?” I tip my head, carefully studying her reactions. She likes this. The role playing is turning her the fuck on.

“What if I fuck you in the parking lot, then we won’t be strangers anymore.”

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