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Touched
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Related chapters
Asking for a Friend My Own Pocket
LAYTONIt was touching that Annie had chosen our day out to draw a picture of, even if she had taken artistic liberty like the rod in Marissa’s hand and the whole basket of fish we caught. I knew it meant something to her and that meant something to me.It didn’t bother me in the least and I wanted to prove it to Marissa. If I got some extra time with Annie out of the deal, that was good with me too.“Tomorrow should be fine,” Marissa agreed, and a warm, excited feeling flooded my insides. Despite what Craig had said about his mom never letting a man in again, there was no doubt that Marissa was letting me in. It felt like we were making progress on a daily basis now. “That’s a great idea. She’s going to be so excited when I tell her.”Our second order of tacos interrupted our conversation and we both dug in. Almost as soon as we were done eating, Marissa let out a little yelp when she saw the time and rushed back to the office to finish a report she promised to get over to one of the
Asking for a Friend Baking
MARISSAGetting home on Friday afternoon, I found Denise and Annie baking cookies in the kitchen. There was flour on every surface, a half melted block of butter next to the microwave, several mixing bowls filled with batter and a bag of chocolate chips on the counter.But it also smelled divine in the house, so at least that was something. I grinned when I found them wearing the novelty aprons I got them for Christmas last year. Denise’s said ‘Queen of Everything’ and Annie’s read, ‘The Remix.’ The one I got for myself read ‘The Original.’ Annie’s and mine were meant to be worn together, so I immediately got mine out of the cupboard and joined in with making the mess.“How was your day, ladies?” I asked, tying the apron’s strings behind my back.Denise cast an eye across the kitchen and jerked her head in the direction of the oven. “We’ve been baking, so it’s been great. We’ve got bran muffins, chocolate chip cookies and oat-crunchies made so far.”“Who was hungry when you got home?”
Asking for a Friend Being Nosy
MARISSADenise stuck her tongue out at me when Annie wasn’t looking and pulled a tray of cookies out of the oven. While I transferred them to the cooling rack, she went to work getting the next batch in. “You know you were curious, too. Besides, I’ve asked him those questions now, I’m not going to ask them again.”“I can think of a few questions you haven’t covered yet,” I teased. Heaven knew, I shuddered to think what she would come up with given half a chance. His underwear size, current bank balance or the phone numbers of his best friends for references came to mind.Denise seemed to know where my thoughts had gone, because she nodded her agreement. “I could be more subtle with the next round of questions.”“Unfortunately,” I winked at Annie. “We’re keeping my dear boss all to ourselves tomorrow. Sorry. We’re going to have our own party with only the three of us being invited.”Annie cheered at that, abandoning her cookie batter in favor of coming to hug me. “I think that’s a fabu
Asking for a Friend Stubborn Mother
LAYTONWhistling cheerfully, I stepped out of the shower. I was due to leave for Marissa’s in twenty minutes and I couldn’t wait to see her and spend some more time with her and Annie.As unlikely as it seemed, I was more excited for the day than I had been for anything in a long time. It sucked that I wouldn’t get to kiss or hold Marissa, or really even touch her while Annie was around, but I was willing to suffer through that particular brand of torture if it meant getting to spend time with them. I told myself there would be plenty of time for all the touching I wanted to do later on. Eventually, I was sure Marissa would feel more comfortable with telling Annie about the true nature of our relationship. All I had to do was be patient.Patience was something I had in spades. I had to learn how to be patient working in the industry that I’d chosen to work in. Having to wait for a building to take shape from the first meeting with a client until the eventual ribbon cutting taught me h
Asking for a Friend I Know Him
LAYTONI was mesmerized by his telling me about my mom. I couldn’t remember hearing him talk about her once. Leaning forward, I got even closer to the screen as I absorbed every word he spoke. “The day I met her, I knew she was special. She wasn’t like anyone I’d ever met before. It would be lying to tell you that I knew it was love. I didn’t. Love doesn’t work that way, at least not for me. All I knew was that I wanted more of her. I wanted to know what made her tick and how she could be so bubbly when she’d been through so much before she even met me.”What? I hadn’t known my mom had gone through anything before she met my dad. On the off occasion I allowed myself to really think about her, I’d not given it more thought beyond acknowledging that she’d had a life before she met him. Everyone did. I’d never thought there would be anything sinister in it, though.“I don’t know how much you remember about your mom, but I imagine it’s not much. The thing is, Layton, by now you’ve already
Asking for a Friend No Show
MARISSALayton was supposed to arrive at our house at eleven in the morning. By ten forty-five, Annie was practically bouncing off the walls from excitement. She’d changed her outfit three times, had two different backpacks packed—one for in case we went fishing and another in case she would need toys and puzzles for where ever we ended up going.I was ready to go, too. I’d paired jeans with comfortable knee high riding boots, my red coat and a camel jersey. Feeling relatively confident that I looked good, I left my hair loose to tumble down my shoulders and kept my makeup to a minimum.My purse was on the table in the entrance hall and I had stocked the fridge, just in case we decided it was too miserable to go out and stayed here instead. My eyes dropped to my watch for the fifth time in as many minutes, only to note that Layton was now yet another minute later than he had been a minute ago.That made him twenty-two minutes late in total. In all the time I’d known Layton, I’d known
Asking for a Friend Deadbeat
LAYTON“Welcome to New York, sir. We hope you’ll be traveling with us again soon.” A perky flight attendant said with a winning smile. Her name tag told me her name was Cindy.I hadn’t seen her during the flight, but that hardly meant anything. I spent the entire time rehearsing what I would say to Brice when I finally saw him, alternating between all-consuming rage and total confusion. “Thank you, Cindy,” I told her absently, disembarking the plane in a city I hadn’t been to for a long time. I couldn’t believe I was returning here for Brice, of all people.After my father’s video, shock kept me immobile for a couple of hours. I paced up and down, may have turned over a few tables, and finally, decided to take Dad’s advice. For once.If Marissa had a dark and battered past because of Brice, I needed to talk to him. To do the right thing, so to speak. I should have spoken to Marissa, but by the time I realized I’d long since missed our date, I didn’t know what to say to her.I was wor
Asking for a Friend Let the Games Begin
LAYTONA willowy brunette with a severe bun greeted me when I got to Brice’s floor. “Welcome to Collins, Lee and Mulder. How can I help you today?”She was the furthest thing from a welcoming face I could imagine, but I wasn’t easily intimidated. “I’m here to see Brice Peterson.”“Of course, sir,” she replied briskly. “Do you have an appointment?”“No,” I said bluntly. My answer clearly didn’t sit well with the receptionist.She bristled and picked up the phone. “Mr. Peterson is a busy man. I’m not sure he’s going to be able to fit in a walk-in client, but let me get his assistant on the line. Who may I say is calling?”“An old friend,” I told her. “I’d like to surprise him.”In more ways than one, but she didn’t need to know that. I watched as she put in the call, spoke in low tones to Brice’s assistant and eventually pointed me in the direction of the waiting room.“He’ll be with you as soon as he can,” she promised insincerely. I nodded anyway and made my way to a collection of unc
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Asking for a Friend Epilogue Part 2
LAYTONIt was still early, the sun wasn’t even fully risen yet. Annie and I had both snuck out of bed early this morning to make this breakfast. Marissa was fast asleep, lying on her side on the bed.Annie set down the tray and the glass and shook Marissa’s shoulders. “Mommy! Wake up Mommy! We have a surprise for you.”Marissa’s eyes blinked open slowly, confusion clouding them until she rubbed it away as she sat up and took in the scene in front of her. “What’s all this?”“We’re celebrating,” I told her. “I spoke to Craig earlier. They’re on their way to the site for the final clean up. The building’s finally done.”Her lips curled into a sleepy smile. “I can’t believe that it’s over. It’s really all done?”“It’s really all done,” I confirmed, picking up the tray and placing her plate on it on her lap. “Eat up, we’ve got a lot of celebrating ahead of us today.”“Shouldn’t I be the one feeding you breakfast in bed for this?” She asked, frowning slightly. Lifting up the duvet, she patt
Asking for a Friend Epilogue Part 1
LAYTONIn the past two months since Annie’s first ballet recital, there had been three more. Which were four more recitals than I ever thought I would attend. Or actually enjoy.But I did enjoy them. I enjoyed them so much I was even starting to consider myself something of an expert in ballet. I knew was arabesque meant, what pas de deux was, and that attitude referred to a position in classical ballet, and not a little girl shaking her finger in your face.I watched Annie practicing every night, since I had now officially moved in with them. So officially that there was a tenant renting my place and everything. Marissa didn’t know it yet, but I had been looking at houses for us online for the last couple of weeks.Most of my furniture was now in storage since our house wasn’t big enough for all my furniture and all of Marissa’s. I didn’t love the thought of my stuff gathering dust in a storage unit and I wanted us to have a place that was truly ours, not mine or hers.I had to wait
Asking for a Friend Tiny Dancer
MARISSALayton also threw himself deeper into his commitment to our family. He started driving Annie to school sometimes or offering to pick her up. He took her fishing a few more times and taught her how to play catch.Our lives together was everything I was ever too afraid to hope for. Watching him watch her recital now, tears burned the backs of my eyes.His eyes still hadn’t left the stage for so much as second and I could see the pride he was feeling, I felt it too. He was so much better of a father to Annie than Brice ever could have been. And he stepped into that role gracefully and seriously.I wondered if he would bolt when he eventually realized she was starting to look at him as her dad, but he’d done the complete opposite. On the contrary, he freaking loved being her ‘dad.’The final notes of the recital ended, the girls all dipping into low bows as the hall exploded in applause. Parents leaped to their feet and Layton and I joined them.“She was fantastic,” he yelled into
Asking for a Friend Sixth Months of Heaven
MARISSALayton’s eyes were glued to Annie on stage. Watching him now, it was hard to remember a time when I doubted his love or his commitment to her. Or to me, for that matter.The past six months had been perfect. A fairy tale I never believed was in the cards for me. But somewhere, somehow, someone sent Layton to me and let me keep him.After I finally told him I loved him, there was no turning back. And neither of us wanted to. We came clean to Annie about our relationship that same week and she was thrilled.She hugged both of us and refused to let us go. That next week Layton stayed over for the first time that Annie knew of. She was so excited when she saw him arriving with an overnight bag that she zoomed and bounced around all night before finally crashing hard. When she fell asleep, it was on the couch between us.Layton had insisted on being the one to carry her to her bedroom and when he came back to the living room, he had this expression of absolute serenity on his face.
Asking for a Friend Living the Dream
LAYTON“I was just thinking about something that happened with Annie a few weeks ago,” I told him, shaking the memories out of my head. As the site came back into focus, I noticed how much progress there had been in the week since I was last here. “It’s looking good, Craig. You guys are really outdoing yourself on this one.”“We’re doing our best,” he said, shrugging. “I encouraged you to do this by yourself without that other asshole involved. Least I can do is to have your back now that you’re actually doing it.”“Thanks, man. I appreciate it.” I still couldn’t believe some days that this building really was all mine. I tried not to think about it too much, since there was still a lot that could go wrong. I didn’t want to tempt fate by thinking about how well it was going. “Has the flooring been delivered yet?”“Right on time,” Craig said. “They delivered on Friday morning as promised.”I breathed out a sigh of relief. The people who manufactured the flooring called two weeks ago to
Asking for a Friend We're a Family
LAYTONSix months after Marissa first told me she loved me, I walked onto the construction site where the museum was just about done. The scaffolding was coming off today and the team was moving inside. We had two months left to go, tops.The past six months had been the best months of my life. By a long shot. The museum was progressing without any major hold-ups, which was more of a relief than I cared to admit out loud.Marissa, Annie and I were doing better than ever. In the last few weeks, we’d started talking about moving in together, and I was sure it was going to happen soon.I knew it was going to be an adjustment to live together, especially for Annie and me, but it was what I wanted more than anything. I wanted to wake up next to Marissa every morning, to have breakfast with her and Annie before we headed to work.I wanted to be there to tuck Annie in at night and to spend lazy weekends with them. Only a year ago, if anyone had told me I would ever want that kind of life, I
Asking for a Friend Tasting Him
MARISSAStars exploded behind my eyelids. The intensity of the orgasm building inside me was astonishing. My body was going to be blown to dust when it hit, but I couldn’t freaking wait for that glorious release. I gripped the sheets harder, trying to anchor myself against the powerful sensations ripping through me.My hands flew to his hair next, tugging it as I held him to me. Knowing my body better than I did, he knew exactly what I needed. Bringing his lips to my clit, he sucked the little bud in between them and flicked it with his mouth.That perfect pressure sent my body skyrocketing. I stifled a cry, relieved somewhere in the back of my mind I had the pillow handy and crushed it over my face. Sensation crashed into me as I came, overwhelming me with a pleasure I would never get used to.Floating in a bubble of ecstatic bliss, my body went limp. When I opened my eyes, Layton was there wearing a satisfied smile.But it was too tight, too strained. His muscles were tense and his
Asking for a Friend Raw
MARISSALayton’s lips on mine were the best thing that I’d ever felt and I never wanted him to stop. I writhed against him, feeling him hard as steel against my center as he continued to kiss the crap out of me. He dipped his head lower and licked a path to my breasts, his hands on the hem of my shirt.There was something we had to do, somewhere we had to go. But I’d lost track of my train of thought. Warm hands came up to cup my breasts over my pajama top, his thumbs dragging over my puckered nipples. A shiver ran through me. I was so damn wet. I wanted him so bad.“Cold?” Layton asked huskily.I shook my head, closing my eyes for a second as I tried to find words. And figure out that gnawing feeling that we had to move. “No, just—”Layton gave me a sexy, knowing smile. “Me too. Let’s take this to your bedroom, shall we? We definitely shouldn’t let Annie find us like this.”Fuck.Annie.Of course, that was why we had to move. I nodded at Layton. “Let’s go.”His hands dropped to cup
Asking for a Friend Prove It To Her
LAYTONHolding the NDA out to her, she took it and her eyes dropped immediately to the signature line. Which was blank. “I didn’t sign it. I told him to tell Banks where he could shove his insane requests.”Marissa blinked, a huge smile spreading on her face. “Annie’s sleeping, but would you like to come inside?”I nodded, pulling her into my arms as the door closed behind me. Marissa lifted herself up on her toes and kissed me, her fingers winding into the hair around the nape of my neck. When we broke apart, she kept her hands where they were and spoke with her lips inches away from mine. “I love you, Layton. I love you so much.”My heart hammered louder and harder than it ever had before. It was trying to beat its way out of my chest to climb into hers. That was what it felt like, anyway. It already belonged to her, it might as well have done it.I blinked at her, taken aback by hearing the words I wasn’t sure I would ever hear from her. “Could you repeat that?”She smiled. “As man
