LAYTONWe watched the video in silence. Marissa was engrossed the whole way through and thankfully, didn’t look back once. Hearing his words with her in the room was painful, more painful than it had been to watch the video by myself.To her credit, she didn’t look at me any differently when the video was done. I was afraid to look her right in the eye at first, but when I did I was relieved to see nothing had changed. There was a hint of sadness in her eyes, but that was to be expected. As she pointed out, she knew my dad and from the sounds of things, she actually liked him.“Do you have any idea what he was talking about when he said I was part of his plan?” She asked curiously.“None,” I shook my head. “I was hoping you would, if I’m being honest. He never said anything to you about a plan?”“No,” she said, pursing her lips and moving them from side to side. “I’m really trying to think, but he never mentioned anything. When we talked about you, he just talked about how proud he wa
MARISSAWhen Layton got going, he really got going. Every. Single. Time.The man was a machine in bed, against a wall or, as I was fast learning, on a desk. He kissed me with purpose, burrowing his hands into my hair and touching me like he wanted me. Really, really wanted me.It sent heat rushing through me, pooling right between my legs. By the time I started aching there, he was already there making me moan and rub up against him.“God, Marissa. You drive me crazy with those noises.” He hissed between kisses, punctuating his words with thrusts of his hips that made me let out more noises—which was probably the reason he did it.Hands trailing up and down my sides, he reached for the buttons of my shirt and started sliding them out. The heavy breathing got deeper and every time he brushed his hands over one of my nipples, I sucked in a gasp that momentarily broke our feverish kisses.My hips arched, pressing me harder against him. Layton hissed, rolling his hips to brush against me
MARISSABesides, the sexiest man I’d ever met had his head between my legs and was practically begging to give me another orgasm. Who the hell was I to argue? “Yes!”Layton withdrew his mouth from me and I nearly protested out loud, until I realized it was so that he could use his tongue to draw lazy but rhythmic circles around my clit. He was in no rush and took his time, handling me gently while I was still coming down before he slowly started building me back up again.Never staying in one sensitive spot for long enough to overstimulate it, he alternated between his fingers and his mouth. He massaged my thighs and my breasts, teasing me until I was ready to beg for release again.I never had to do it, though. Layton knew my body well enough to know when I was ready and amped up his efforts at the perfect time. Bringing his mouth back to me, he repeated his earlier motions and sent me flying right off the edge again.When I surfaced this time, I was desperate to do something for him
LAYTONWhenever I spent the night with Marissa, I woke up feeling like a billion bucks. She had that effect on me, making me feel sated and wanted. After everything she heard straight from the horse’s mouth on that video last night, I didn’t think that would be possible for me today.As it turned out, I was right. I knew before I opened my eyes that my bed was empty. When I rolled over I was met with cold sheets instead of a warm body.My eyes flew open to confirm what I already felt, and sure enough, she was gone. I sat up, rubbing my eyes before calling out. “Marissa? Where are you, babe?”Dead silence met my ears. Aside from the near silent hum of the fan, there was no noise in my apartment. No toilet flushing, no shower running, no clanging coming from the kitchen and no soft padding of footsteps from the window.Dread washed over me. I jumped out of bed, naked as the day I was born, and didn’t bother to put on clothes as I carried out a search of my place. As I suspected, she was
LAYTONSighing deeply, she stepped aside. “I’m not having this discussion with you on my porch. Annie and Denise went out to collect stuff from Annie’s school. They’re having a market day soon and they’re giving the kids the day to sort out their stalls.”“That’s nice of them,” I commented, stepping into the warm entrance hall. “I don’t think they did that when I was a kid.”“They didn’t,” she said listlessly, giving me another shrug. “I guess some of the parents complained about the kids having to organize everything while still focusing on school work, so they decided to give them time off for it. You’re not here because of Annie’s market day, though.”“No, but I’ll help you plan for it if you want me to,” I offered, half hoping this would solve whatever problem I didn’t know we’d been having. Maybe she really did just want to be there for Annie. I doubted it was that, Denise seemed perfectly capable of handling that kind of thing by herself, but a guy could hope.“We’re fine,” she
MARISSADenise and Annie were at Annie’s school collecting some things for the market day the kids would be hosting soon. After Layton left, I dragged myself out of the hole I’d been wallowing in all morning and headed over there to meet them.I had tossed and turned for hours after Layton had fallen asleep last night, but I was unable to get that nasty, nagging thought out of my head. Eventually, I was feeling as cheap as a girl who was sleeping with her boss, when all he wanted was to keep her around for the business.The feeling very nearly broke my heart, since things usually felt so right with him. I couldn’t get over it though. I was suddenly not a woman sleeping next to a man who liked her and had more than worshiped her just hours before, but an employee lying next to her sated boss.My entire outlook on our situation changed and became ugly. As if the walls were closing in on me, I felt like I couldn’t breathe in his room anymore. Desperate for oxygen in my lungs, I quietly g
MARISSAEspecially since my relationship with Layton was so new in many ways. It had only been a few months in all, so it was way too early for her to be imagining him as her father. If she did and it didn’t work out between us, it would be so much worse than simply losing a male friend we used to spend some time with.Unsure of how to handle this latest development, I said gently, “Sweetheart, it’s nice that you drew the picture of Layton spending time with us, but you he’s not your father, right? He’s not part of our family.” She nodded, and thankfully there was no sadness in her expression. “I know.”“Why did you draw him with us then? Why not draw Denise?” I probed, wanting to get into her head. I needed to understand what she was thinking before I could figure out what to do about it.Annie pursed her lips in thought. “I didn’t really think about it. The teacher said to draw your family doing something you love together and I loved fishing with you and Layton, so I drew that.”G
LAYTONOn Friday afternoon, I took Marissa out to lunch. We were at a small Mexican restaurant near the office, bundled up in a booth in the back corner. It was below freezing outside again today and we managed to snag a booth near the roaring fireplace.The restaurant was decorated in rich colors and dark brown wood. A Mexican flag hung above the bar and it smelled like tortillas and spice.Marissa had shrugged out of her black coat and was wearing red jeans, black boots and a fitted black shirt with her usual array of jewelry. She was snuggled under my arm in the back of the booth, smiling and raving about the plate of tacos we’d just demolished.“That was incredible,” she told me, staring wistfully at the empty plate in front of us.“We have another order on the way,” I reminded her and was rewarded by a bright smile.“How could I forget?” She buried her face in her hands and shook her head. “That’s the best news I’ve had all day.”“What about the news we got on the Linderman accou