Page 14 of Nightclub Surprise
“You didn’t want me to be yours, Tawny?” He smiled that crooked smile that I’d alwaysadored.
“I did. But I knew what you were doing was far more important than staying around Sebastopol to be with me. So, I took the memory of that night and kept it close, knowing that I’d given you something you could take with you too. And that’s been enough for me throughout these last seven years.” I kissed his cheek. “But I have to be honest withyou.”
“Please, always be honest with me, baby.” His lips touched mine again. Then he pulled them away, looking atme.
“I think it’s sweet that you feel that way, and frankly, it surprises me. You’re quite the romantic now, August. I likethat.”
He moved me off his lap, fixing my dress as I ran my hands through his hair, putting it back in the style he’d had it in, slicked to one side, looking handsome as hell. The way he kept his beard meticulously groomed pleased me to no end,too.
My pussy still tingled from the way he had pleasured me. I figured it might tingle all night long. It would’ve been great to have August in my bed that night; there could be no denying that. But somehow, waiting made more sense thistime.
Before there had been no chance of a relationship between us, and now there was. Rushing things wasn’t necessary. But I wanted some things to be rushed. I wanted to feel that powerful man between mylegs.
August had been a young man when we’d first had sex. His body had been great back then. Now, he was all grown up, and his body was ripped beyond my wildest imagination: his thighs, thick as tree trunks; his biceps larger than before—and they’d been bigbefore.
I’d matured, too. My breasts and hips had become round with my pregnancy, and they never went back to their previous state. My body wanted to know what his body felt like. But I’d let August take the lead. I’d let him go as slow as he wantedto.
Pleasing him made me happy—happier than I’d been in a longtime.
August Harlow was back in my life, and my goal was to keep himthere.
ChapterNine
August
The date had gone even better than I’d imagined—and I’d had high hopes to begin with—although it’d been hard as hell not to have sex with Tawny. But I wanted things to progress nice and slow. Sex right off the bat would feel too similar to the first time—like we were rushing out of desperation. I wanted things to be different this timearound.
Sitting at home, I wasn’t doing a thing but looking out my bedroom window. The wildfires that burned around Southern California were always a concern to me. Thankfully, there was no threat to Hidden Hills, and the smoke steered clear ofus.
My thoughts went to Tawny and Calum. The garage apartment she rented was in West Hollywood. She’d told me that a woman who worked in the human resources department at Cedars owned the home there. She’d offered Tawny the small two-bedroom, one bath for the low rate of fifteen hundred a month, and that included the utility bills, too. In West Hollywood, rent that low was unheard of. That told me Tawny was in highdemand.
I had no right to feel pride in her accomplishments, but I did just the same. Tawny had made something of herself, despite having Calum at the young age ofnineteen.
Thinking about Calum made me remember the ride from Leila’s to their place the night before. He’d been very talkative, chattering away about how much fun he’d had thatnight.
“I had so much fun, Momma,” he’d said as soon as he climbed into the car. “Aunt Leila is the funnest personever!”
My sister could be pretty fun. Especially with little kids. She’d play chase with them, hide and seek—you name it, she’d playit.
“Tell me what you guys did, Calum,” Tawny told him, her face glowing with delight that he’d had such a goodtime.
“I played a game called hopscotch. It was real fun. And um, his name’s,um…”
“Gino,” I offered. Leila had a lot of kids; chances are Calum couldn’t remember every one of theirnames.
“No, not that man.” Calum tapped his finger to his chin as hethought.
The fact that he’d called Gino, a sixteen-year-old, a man had me laughing. “Raphael or Jacob,” I added to the list he could choosefrom.
“Yes!” he shouted as if he’d made a wonderful discovery. “Jacob! He taught me how to play that game. Then we went inside when it got dark, and I played checkers with Aunt Leila.” His hazel eyes went huge as he gasped. “And Iwon!”
“Great job, Calum,” Tawny congratulated him with a highfive.
“I know, I’m very good at that game.” His grin made me chuckle again. He wasadorable.
The way Calum had gone on and on reminded me of my nieces and nephews when they were little kids. They all had endless amounts of things tosay.
An idea crept into my head. If Tawny had let me be around him last night, letting him know we’d gone out on a date, would she let him come along on adate?
