Page 16 of That First Night
Then a realization hits me.
Since becoming a dad.
What are the chances that he recognizes me? I’m sure he has given half the women of New York City epic orgasms. There is no way in hell he will remember our little finger bang session in the dark hallway. Right? There’s no way.Fuuucckkkk.
“DADDDDYYY!!” I hear James scream, breaking me out of my trance. How long was I staring at him, exactly?
James jumps off the monkey bars and runs full speed to where his dad is walking towards us. He has yet to lift his head to notice us standing here. He shifts his eyes up from the ground to James and opens his arms wide for a big bear hug.
“Monkey!” he says to his son.That voice.That damn, deep raspy voice I remember so vividly like it was yesterday. Hearing it again sends chills down my spine.
“Come meet me new friend, Daddy! She’s not related to a football player and she’s so cool that she has two first names!” He jumps up and down. “Two first names, Daddy!!”
It’s at that moment, he turns his gaze to look in the direction of his sister and me. Finding my eyes, he stops dead in his tracks while James tries to pull him towards us. His mouth slightly spreads apart like he just saw a ghost. If looks could start a fire, consider me completely engulfed in flames.
The last time I saw this man, we were in the hallway of a fucking venue where he gave me the most mind-blowing orgasm of my life with just his fingers. I was in the bathroom getting washed up from that…experience,when the fire alarms started blaring overhead. A fire broke out in the kitchen and spread like crazy. I managed to find Kali as soon as I walked out of the bathroom, and she pulled me to the closest open door without looking back. We knew we had to get out of there before the mob of people all tried getting out of one door at the same time. If I could picture it, it was probably worse than Walmart on Black Friday when the doors open at 5am.
He breaks out of his trance from where he was standing and continues walking towards us. His deep blue eyes, that match James’, never leave my eyes.
When he reaches us, he stops directly in front of me, hand in hand with his son, but doesn’t even acknowledge Emiline standing right next to me.
We both stare at each other silently.
“What the hell took you so long?” Emiline’s voice breaks our spell.
“I got stuck on the call,” he answers Emiline’s question, but his eyes are locked on mine. “I’m sorry it took me so long to find you guys.”
I don’t see it, but I can feel Emiline’s eyes bouncing between Thomas and me, questioning the fact that we are staring at each other with such intensity. His gaze is burning a hole through me the longer we stand here. I can’t even find the breath to say hello. He beats me to it, breaking our silence, and the word that comes out of him is the last thing I expected.
“Sunshine.”
I feel like I’m in an alternate universe.
It’s been five years. Five years since I last saw Peyton. I lost her that night when the fire alarm went off. She was gone and I couldn’t find her after we all evacuated into the streets. I spent a year trying to find her again. I’ve never felt a connection with another woman, like I felt with her that night. There was so much electricity between us. Yes, I use electricity because chemistry doesn’t seem to cover it.
That night, I never got her last name, where she was from, where she worked or anything about her, but the feel of her body on my hands is a feeling I haven’t forgotten,ever. And the smell of her forever lingers on me.
Roses. I will never forget the roses.
She looks almost the same as she did that night. Her gorgeous long golden blonde hair is tied up in a hair clip. She’s wearing a pair of jean shorts and an oversized t-shirt that's tucked into the front of her shorts. I’m a good foot taller than her. She has to tip her head back just slightly to look me in the eyes when I'm standing this close to her, but her legs seem like they go for days.
Now here she fucking is. Standing in front of me and she might be James’ new nanny?
“Wait… Sunshine?” Emiline questions, eyes bouncing between us. “Tommy, do you know Peyton?”
“Yes,” Peyton answers for me. “We met a few years ago at a charity gala here in the city.”
“This is amazing!” my sister shrieks. “Peyton is looking for a job as a nanny, and from what I've seen of her interactions with James while we waited for you, she’s your best bet. Plus, I can tell James is comfortable with her already.”
Peyton as my son's nanny? I can’t wrap my head around this. I am struggling enough to be in such close proximity to her again without wanting to wrap her up in my arms, inhale her scent, and put my lips on hers. How this woman has this effect on me all these years later, I don’t understand.
There’s a brief moment of hesitation from Peyton as she looks at me with worried eyes.
“I-I don’t know if this is going to work out,” she whispers, stealing her gaze from mine to look at Emiline. “I’m so sorry to waste your time this morning. I’m going to get going.”
Before she can finish the sentence, she's taking off in a speed walk down the path of the park. She’s almost in a run as if she can’t get away from me fast enough.
“What the fuck just happened, Tommy?” Emiline scoffs, throwing her hands in the air.
