DEXX (Adorkable Love Book 4) Read online

  Maybe I could have lunch with him without going further. I’d just have to stay up wind.

  “Have a great weekend in NYC, Marley.” I stand and she backs from my cubicle.

  “You, too, Aine.”

  I stare at the food.

  It does look good.

  Dexx

  I have everything set up. It’s not perfect, but I’ve never wanted anything to be perfect. It’s not in my vocabulary. Good is good enough is usually my motto.

  I swipe more sweat from my forehead. Thankfully the weather has turned a little and a cold front is coming in, dropping the temps a few degrees. Rain will ruin the holiday weekend, but hopefully won’t ruin our lunch.

  If she ever shows.

  Otherwise, I’m just a guy sweating his ass off with a folding table, two chairs, flowers, and a candle that smells like grass from Rikki in HR’s office. I’m not sure it’s a sexy scent, but it’s a candle. And the flowers are from the lobby. I told them I was using them for a photoshoot and would return them. Maybe I will. Maybe I won’t.

  I stare down at my feet. I’m staying away from the edge. Heights aren’t my thing. I even hate mountains. But I’m up here because it’s the one place that’s private and I could commandeer for this without the prying eyes of all of our coworkers.

  “I’m in such deep shit,” I mumble.

  The metal door creak as the dry hinges rub. I take a deep breath before turning around to get a face full of smoke.

  “What the hell, Joe?” I wave away the noxious cloud. “You have to leave.”

  “I’m on break.” Joe from another business that’s in the same building takes a long drag.

  “I didn’t know you smoked.” I used to smoke, but then I decided I’d had enough of food tasting like crap. I like food. Good food.

  “Well, when you have three teenage girls at home…you smoke, Dexx.”

  I chuckle. “But not here. Go down to the street, please.”

  His gaze catches the table. “Wow…waiting for someone?”

  “Please. Leave.”

  He finishes a last drag, having basically disintegrated a cigarette in less than a minute. Teenagers…they can’t be as bad as cigarettes for your health. But maybe.

  “Good luck, Dexx.”

  I don’t say anything. I don’t want his luck.

  I turn away from the door, run one hand through my hair and the other pulls at the knot in my tie. And when he’s gone, I let my brain roll and it seems to roll out of my mouth. “I don’t want your luck, Joe. I just want Aine. I want her to see that I’m not that guy. Sure, it’s only been three months, but to me that’s been a lifetime without her. I need her. I need to know her. I need—”

  The sounds of the gravel on the rooftop shuffling under feet makes me stop.

  I turn, look into those green eyes, knowing she heard me, and I say, “You.”

  4

  Aine

  My heart has never beat this fast and one time I was chased by a rabid dog. I called him Cujo, his name was really Dan, but that didn’t have the same massive teeth and foaming mouth insinuation. But even then, my heart didn’t beat this frantically.

  Dexx crosses the rooftop to me and lifts the bag from my hand. He pulls his phone from his pocket.

  “Tsk, tsk, tsk. You’re thirty seconds late.”

  “Maybe I’m worth the wait, Dexx.”

  “I think you might be.” He nods his head over his shoulder. “Come…”

  I smile looking at the set up he’s prepared. The vision takes me back to picnics with my family. They were few and far in between, but they happened, and they are some of my favorite memories.

  I stop far from the table.

  “What’s wrong?” Dexx asks. “Aine? Hey, you okay?”

  “It just reminded me of times with my family and I’m feeling nostalgic this week for some reason.”

  Dexx

  “Why’s that?” I ask, setting out the food. Lots of food.

  “I think I’m starting to think about what I want in my future.”

  My gut does this fun flip. That include me?

  But I won’t ask the question.

  She looks off into the distance, clouds dotting the sky in a haphazard pattern. “We used to do picnics when my parents weren’t working. They were the only time all six of us actually were in one place. My brothers started working as soon as they hit sixteen. My parents divorced when I was twelve and the only kid still at home.”

  “Baby?” I say the word in query to her status of position in her family, but the way it comes out is more sensual.

  She stares at me. And I get that feeling, the one where I feel like I could jump out of my skin. I noticed it when we first met and I thought maybe I was drinking too much caffeine, but then I started liking it.

  “Yeah, I’m the youngest. My father cheated and it broke my mother. Like physically and mentally destroyed her. He moved on quickly. I wonder if he ever truly loved her. How does one know if it’s real?” She shakes from her fugue. “Sorry, I think I need to get away this weekend and just be alone for a while.”

  And that hurts. I don’t want her to be alone. I want her with me.

  I reposition my glasses on my nose before motioning to the chair, pulling it out and she slides onto the metal.

  “This is quite the seduction scene you have here, Dexx.”

  I lean down and say softly in her ear, “I’m not trying to seduce you, Aine. I’m trying to learn about you.”

  I take a seat. “My parents divorced when I was three. They hate each other.”

  “They probably don’t hate each—”

  “Oh yeah they do. At my college graduation they had to be asked to leave because they were arguing and making a scene while my classmates were getting their diplomas. They missed me walking the stage.”

  She stills as she reaches for a roll. “Oh, Dexx. I’m sorry. No parent should ruin something special to their child. At least my parents acted like they liked each other, even if it wasn’t true.”

  For years I’d kept a distance, a protective bubble with women. And as much as Aine and probably a whole lot others think I’m a player, I’ve probably had less sex than some of them. I usually hang out with them. I don’t use women. I let them use me mostly. I know what it feels like to be lonely, so I just listen to them. Sure, with some of them we have sex but I’m there for them. The game I present on the outside hurts on the inside.

  But with Aine, I’ve never gamed her. And if anything, I’ve been more open than I ever have with anyone…anyone.

  We make small talk while eating. She’s a great conversationalist and I’m captivated at her knowledge of economics and politics. Our ideologies don’t match perfectly, but they’re not opposite poles either. She seems surprised at some of my stances and I realize how far I might have to go to change her mind about me. But I’m not giving up. There’s something here and it’s not only the tasty sushi.

  Speaking of…

  We move on to arguing—intensely and enthusiastically discussing, the kind that makes my cock pulse with excitement—about the best sushi place. I would agree Butterfly is good, but Sushi Dae is better. Mr. Dae calls me Dexter. That’s not my name but I like it when he days it because he laughs and asks me if I’m a mass murderer. Every time.

  She lays her hand on the table and I take the moment to wind my fingers with hers.

  “Dexx…” Her voice shakes and her fears coat me. She’s not only worried about my intentions, but she has baggage from the past that makes her prepared to leave. I don’t blame her. I’ve created the situation by being someone she is fighting to trust.

  “Aine, let me in.”

  Her gaze stays locked to my lips as her bountiful chest rises and falls. I stand, holding her hand, and lean over the table. Close the distance is what I crave, when it comes to this woman. She leans toward me and we’re just a hair’s width from touching when she recoils and a bottle of water is being squirted at my chest.

  “What
the…?” I look down and the end of my tie smolders from being started on fire by the candle. “Holy shit…”

  She smiles and chuckles. “That was hot, Dexx.”

  Without her seeing, I reach beside me and lift my water bottle. And it’s on. I step back and flick my eyebrows. “Fair is fair.”

  “Dexx, this is silk, please.”

  The way she says those words holds very little worry. In fact, it’s like she’s daring me with those flickering eyelashes and raised eyebrows.

  I give a good toss her way and the water hits her squarely in the chest. The water soaks through and instantly I can tell that shirt wasn’t hiding much. Her nipples crest and I can’t draw my gaze away, until a sushi roll smacks me in the forehead. Rice, spicy tuna, and seaweed explode, remnants sticking to my skin.

  “Oh, that’s war, Miss Rockhurst…” I grab a handful of the extras and as she turns, the rolls tumble through the back of her hair, leaving a smattering of white flecks in that gorgeous red.

  Food flies through the air. A roll hits my crotch and I pretend that it takes me to the ground, she runs over.

  “Oh God! Are you okay? I’m so sorry, Dexx.”

  I look up from my kneeling position. “I’m not.” I smoosh two rolls into her chest and she doesn’t move, she rubs the ones in her hands down my neck. I slowly rise as we continue to decorate each other with the excess food. Her hands exploring my chest and mine rubbing along her waist, that point where it curves in deliciously.

  Definitely a waste of good food. I’ll add some extra to my monthly donation to the local food bank or maybe I’ll do some hours unloading food like last month.

  Soon we’re covered head to toe, wet and with sushi in places that it probably will never come out of. I swear one of my ears is clogged.

  We slow and soon, our bodies are pressed together. My hands wrapping low around her back, one of hers up the back of my neck and into my hair and the other pressing to my chest.

  I bring a hand to her face. “You’re so beautiful.”

  “Some days I don’t feel that way.”

  “But you fake it?”

  “I think we all fake it in some ways. Right, Dexx?”

  Aine knows me. She sees through the bullshit. I see the fear in her eyes seeing the real me.

  “Close, your eyes, baby.”

  Her chest hiccups and she does as I ask. She lifts her head expecting a kiss. I lift a piece of rice off her eyelashes.

  She reopens.

  “Make a wish, Aine…” I hold the white grain on the tip of my finger.

  She blows it off and I claim her lips, praying we were wishing for the same thing.

  Sinking into my body, she reminds me of that night at her doorstep. Every molecule of my body jolts off of me to bond to her. That slithering in my stomach makes me feel all weak and I pull her closer to steady both of us. Make us all right.

  But I don’t think that I’ll be right without her.

  She’s mine.

  5

  Aine

  I’m falling. I’m in a free fall of trust with a man I’m afraid to trust. I’m on a teeter-totter of hope and fear. He’s acting…different. And is this the real him or is this the him he thinks I want to see?

  The kiss is soft at first. Almost innocent. But then he’s begging at the doorstep to my mouth to enter. To make my body his. I open and our tongues complete the circle of our bodies. Rolling, almost fighting with each other, but in a special way. Intense, stomach burning. My pussy pulses and I whimper as a zing reverberate through me.

  My nipples press through the two thin layers into his dress shirt. They’re almost painful. His hand rises from my waist and skims the outer roundness, just brushing over the hard peak as his lips grind down my neck. I throw my head back and my stomach presses into his crotch and what’s happening below his belt isn’t just impressive, it’s a little halting.

  “Oh, God.” I lift a thigh, my flowy skirt sliding up. Dexx grabs behind my knee, grinding that hard mass into my clit and I gasp and then moan again.

  “That’s it, baby.”

  I hear a car horn honk and it pulls me from the lust haze. “We can’t…not here, Dexx.”

  He parts from me and I miss him. So damn much. “Come with me.”

  I don’t argue as he pulls me along. Inside the back door, there’s another door. We head inside and he flips the switch.

  “The way you say my name makes my cock hard instantly, Aine. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to excuse myself to the bathroom to talk down what was quickly a growing problem.”

  “And do you have a problem now?” I reach down and work his belt, then the button on his dress pants, and then the zipper, reaching into his boxer briefs and grabbing what’s as girthy as a tennis ball.

  “Dexx…sweet Jesus.” I stroke him gently, but soon his hand is over mine and he’s tightened my grip to harder than I would have imagined he’d like it.

  “Like this baby…”

  Normally, I don’t like to be told how to do anything but being told how he likes to be stroked is more empowering than I would’ve imagined.

  “Damn, I’ve never…ever…seen something like this…” My eyes seem to keep widening with every stroke he gets longer, thicker, harder.

  He chuckles. “It’s all for you, Aine.”

  “You have a condom?” I ask, letting the moment bowl me over.

  “Yeah. But I’m clean, haven’t been with anyone in months, baby.”

  I still. “No one since our kiss?”

  His forehead presses to mine. “And a good while before that. I knew you were mine, Aine. You’ve always been mine.”

  I speed my jacking of his cock. “Then make me yours, Dexx. Make my body yours. It’s screaming right now. It’s going to explode whether you’re in me or I just walk down those damn steps.”

  “I’m not letting some steps get you off.” He lifts my skirt and my panties are gone in a blink. He bends his knees and his middle finger slides over my waxed mound and across my clit.

  “Oh, fuck…” I hiss in his ear and when his long, dexterous finger slides inside of me, my legs weaken. His arm slides around me and holds me up.

  “Stay with me,” he demands and I raise my head to look into his eyes. His glasses blur with my hot breaths. “Fuck, you’re so warm and wet, I have to be inside of you.”

  He reaches under my ass and in one solid move, I’m in the air.

  “Dexx…you’ll hurt your back…”

  “You’re not going to hurt me, Aine. Just like I won’t hurt you.”

  I bite my lip. “Promise?”

  “I promise.”

  Inside, I shake just a little. Is this the first promise he’s ever made to a woman? Will it be a kept one?

  His cock presses for entrance into my body and all I can think is—Fucking hurry up!

  “You okay?” he asks.

  “Just get inside of me…”

  He smiles and I melt. Like a piece of butter on a plate in the hot summer sun, I’m liquid in his hands. And then my pussy is the one that is quivering putty in his hands. He slides forward and the pressure is overwhelming. Every inch stretches until I’m releasing one long moan of pleasure and agony, but it’s a good agony. Fucking amazing agony.

  “You okay?” he stops.

  “Don’t stop. For the love of all that is holy, don’t fucking stop.”

  His lips cover mine. “Woman, that door isn’t locked and you are loud.” His chest rocks and he stills. “We could get caught…” His cock jerks inside of me like he’s a fan of the thought.

  I moan again. “I don’t care. Just start thrusting cause I’m going to come in about ten seconds.”

  He withdraws to the tip and teases me. “You want to come, don’t you?”

  Oh, dear God.

  “Uh-huh. Please…”

  He slowly slides back inside of my body and I cry out.

  And again, he retreats inch by inch—all glorious eight inches. And then he glides
in faster. Retreat slow, in faster.

  Out…in…out…in…

  “Yes…Oh, Dexx…”

  He shivers under me. I love his name. I love saying it and from that first day when his eyes met mine and he seemed to be confused, I know why. I’d never felt this before either. This is really different. And special.

  This is real.

  Dexx

  I shiver when she says my name. I never expected that a food fight would end with this. Not in a million years. I just wanted to get to know her. And this is carnal knowledge…but it’s not fucking. It’s too real to be a quick fuck. I’m connected to this woman. There’s not an atom of my body that isn’t in this moment.

  But I need more… I just can’t say it out loud. I can’t.

  I keep up the pace and her pussy flutters over my throbbing cock.

  “Aine, come with me, baby.” My body heats to an inferno and my nuts pull into my body. There’s no turning back.

  Please let her be here…

  She moans and then stills and sucks in a huge breath, feeding oxygen to the explosion. “Yes, I’m there, Dexx.”

  Her body grabs me in a vise internally and I fight to stay standing. I thrust thought the onslaught of pressure as she continues to scream out my name. And then I plant and release every burst into her body. Long, thick, hot streams of cum coat her walls as they continue to pulse in harsh waves.

  She gasps for more breath, the fire having exhausted every ounce of oxygen in her body. Her hands dig into my matted hair. “Wow…that was…”

  There’s a knock on the door and we both still.

  “Buildings and grounds. I need to use that room for more than what you’re using it for.”

  I chuckle, but Aine doesn’t. She pushes against my body and I instinctually lower her to the ground.

  She scrambles for her panties and they’re shoved in her skirt pocket and she’s out of the room before I have my pants pulled up.