"Apparently he likes Melissa. So you have nothing to worry about."
"I wasn't worried." He kissed my cheek and then the side of my neck. "Let me go get your present."
I reluctantly moved off his lap. I had only been half joking when I was talking to Rob earlier. I was definitely planning on enjoying James tonight. When he disappeared into his office, I looked back down at the note. They wanted to welcome me to the family. My body felt warm, and not just because of the mixed drink Rob had made me. I had tried so hard to fit in here in New York. But at first I had really missed the suburbs. I had missed passing strangers on the sidewalk that were nice, having grass everywhere, and not being worried I was going to be mugged if I stepped outside at night. It was a hard adjustment. I wasn't sure when it had happened, but suddenly I fit. James' friends had become my new family. And New York had become my home. James' parents not wanting to meet me was the last thing that made me feel like I shouldn't be here, like I didn't belong in this new life.
But this could be enough. I stared at the note in my hands. It was going to have to be.
Chapter 3
Saturday
James sat down on the rug in front of the chair I was in and handed me a manila envelope. He put his hand on my knee, rubbing the inside of my knee with his thumb, not looking at my face.
I had gotten pretty good at reading him. Whenever he did something he knew I wouldn't like, he rarely ever looked me in the eyes. Whatever was in the envelope, he thought I wasn't going to like it. My heart started to beat faster. "What is this?"
"Your present." He tore his eyes away from my knee and looked up at me. "Open it." He leaned down and kissed my kneecap.
I moved my leg away from his hand. Now he was just trying to distract me. I tore open the top of the envelope and pulled out a small stack of photos. They were pictures of really beautiful rooms. Really beautiful, huge rooms. Each room was elegant, yet modern at the same time. It was exactly James' style. Which had become my preference as well. I let my eyes meet his.
"Now, before you say anything..."
"I don't want to move." We had discussed this in length. And I thought we had agreed to stay here for at least a while longer. Graduating, starting a new job, getting married, it was all too much at once. I didn't want to move on top of everything else.
"Baby," he said and grabbed my hand. "When we get married, we're going to need a bigger place."
"This place is big. It's way too big actually."
James laughed. "It's cozy. That's why we picked it."
"I think I remember telling you that it was too big to be cozy, but this was the place you wanted. So I said yes."
"And now you love it here."
"Exactly. So I don't want to move."
"But we're going to be a family."
I stared back at him. We rarely ever talked about having kids. Whenever I brought it up, he not so subtly diverted our conversation to a safer topic. Was he changing his mind? I squeezed his hand. "James, I thought you didn't..."
"You're going to be my wife." He cleared his throat. "We're going to be a family."
Oh. Me and him. Of course that's what he meant. And that's all I wanted. He was always all that I had ever wanted. "Since we're going to be married, you want more space to escape from me?" I smiled at him.
James laughed. "No, not exactly." He grabbed my waist and pulled me to the edge of the chair. "More rooms to have you in, maybe." His hand slid up my thigh.
I laughed. "Are you sure that you don't want to just run away from me because I have so many flaws?"
"Hmm." He leaned down and kissed the inside of my thigh.
God was he good at distracting me.
He slowly pushed up the bottom of my dress, following his fingertips with a trail of kisses. He hooked his thumbs in the sides of my thong. "Baby, you don't have any flaws."
And he knew exactly what to say to wear me down. I lifted my hips and let him remove my thong. "Okay, fine. We can make an appointment with your realtor and go look at it together. Happy?"
He smiled. "We don't need to make an appointment. I already bought it."
"James!" My exclamation quickly changed to a moan as he thrust his tongue deep inside of me. Fuck. "James, you can't...God!" I let my head drop back against the cushion as he spread my legs farther apart. I couldn't possibly think straight like this. Damn it.
He pushed the bottom of my dress up over my waist and I quickly pulled it over my head. My anger had been replaced by a more primal need, somehow making my want for him even stronger. I unhooked my bra as his mouth moved to my clit, sucking on it hard.
"Yes!"
His fingers replaced his tongue, plunging deep inside my aching pussy. His tongue on my clit matched the rhythm of his fingers, pushing me closer and closer to release. Why did I always give into him? Why did I always let him manipulate me with sex? He curved his fingers, hitting that spot that always made me lose control.
Oh God. My whole body felt warm from the combination of the alcohol coursing through me and the building desire in my stomach. I moaned again as his hand slid up, pinching one of my nipples. The sensation had a direct line to my groin.
I grabbed the back of his head as he sucked hard on my clit again. "James!" My orgasm crashed down on me. But the high didn't last long. The reality of what he had just done quickly returned. Jesus. I pushed on his shoulders.
After one last stroke against my wetness, he pulled back and stared at me.
I knew why I always let him have what he wanted. Because I could never resist him. Not when he looked at me like that. Who was I kidding? I could never resist him.
He started to unbutton his shirt.
My chest rose and fell as I tried to catch my breath. I stood up and pointed my finger at him. "You can't just buy a new apartment and not tell me about it. We're getting married. We need to make these kind of decisions together. And we had already discussed this. It's too much change, too fast."
He stood up too.
"I'm really mad at you," I added, when he didn't say anything.
Ignoring me, he slowly removed his belt and unzipped his pants, letting his erection spring free.
I quickly looked back up at his face. "What are you doing? James, we need to talk about this."
His eyes were ablaze. "I like when you're mad at me."
Fuck it. I grabbed the back of his head and pulled his mouth to mine. He was always right. When I was mad at him, it just made me want him even more.
***
James propped his head up on his hand and looked down at me. "I think I know what you like, Penny."
I tried to suppress my smile and shook my head. After everything he had just done to me, I didn't have any energy left to talk about this right now. I winced slightly as I turned to face him. The odds that I didn't have rug burn on my ass were slim to none. "It still would have been nice to be part of the decision."
"I'm sorry."
I smiled up at him.
"But it was a present and I..."
I put my finger against his lips. "Don't ruin your apology."