“Not being honest about how I feel about you. Sure, I started this as a way to get out of a debt, but from the moment I first saw your picture, I was drawn to you. When you challenged me—”
“I challenged you?” I ask, amused. “I seem to remember you sitting there like a living sex god, telling me that you weren’t going to do a damn thing I said. And you proceeded to do just that.”
“I think we sort of liked toying with each other,” Oliver says with a chuckle before growing serious again. “But I’m not joking now. I need you. I need you in my life, and when I told you I loved you that first time, I meant it. So I regret not staying, not doing my best to take care of you.”
I swallow, emotion choking my words for a moment before I can answer. “And if I still say I don’t want you in my life?”
“Then the building is still yours,” he says softly, “but you’d be lying. I can see it in your eyes, and well . . . let’s just say I’ve gotten a little bit of inside help.”
Gavin and Brianna. I look at the open raw emotion in his face, and I know that he’s telling the truth. There’s only one answer I can give him.
“So I get to be the boss, huh?” I ask, smiling as I look at him. “And if I tell my new bus boy to kiss me, will he do as he’s told?”
Oliver pretends to think for a minute, then he stands up, pulling me into his arms and lowering his lips to mine. “I’ll have to demand at least minimum wage,” he teases, and then he’s kissing me, his strong hands pulling me against him, our bodies hungry for each other. I moan into his mouth as his tongue finds mine, his hands stroking my hair before running down to cup my ass. Our lips part, and he looks into my eyes again, touching his forehead to mine. “I love you, Mindy.”
“I love you too,” I moan in reply. “Oliver, can we start over?”
He shakes his head, giving me a smile. “No, but we can move forward.”
“Then let’s move forward.”
Oliver smiles and picks me up, setting me on one of the empty tables, dust puffing up as he does. “Hmm, we’re going to have to clean that,” he jokes as he pulls my shirt out of the waistband of my pants. He kisses my neck until I’m trembling before kissing back to my earlobe, licking it before whispering in my ear. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” I moan in happiness as I reach for the buttons on his shirt, undoing them quickly and peeling his shirt off, swinging it around my head like a lasso for a moment before flinging it across the room. I laugh, joy in my heart. “I’ve always wanted to do that.”
“You’ll get to do anything you want from now on,” Oliver reassures me, his voice catching as I pull him close and bite his neck. Our night of rough passion has taught me a few things, and one of them is that I like it a little rougher with Oli than I did with other partners. “Mmmhmm.”
“Anything, huh?,” I growl playfully as he reaches for my pants and yanks them down along with my panties. “Well then, first things first—no more condoms.”
“That I can do,” Oliver says as he undoes his pants. His cock emerges and my mouth goes dry as I see it again in the dim, dusty light filtering through the soaped-over windows. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” I say as I wrap my legs around him and pull him closer. “I’ve just missed you. And that mind-blowing cock of yours. Speaking of blowing . . .”
“Later,” Oliver says as he crushes my lips in another soul-searing kiss. I moan in agreement as I feel him line up naturally with me and slide in, stretching me open. My heart thrills as he fills me, body and soul, and I clutch at his powerful shoulders as we start moving as one, his cock sliding into me over and over. I squeeze my pussy around him as we look into each other’s eyes, opening up fully.
How did I miss this? How, when from the first time he looked in my eyes as we had sex, I saw this same gleam, the same tenderness, the love in his eyes?
It doesn’t matter now as we move, our souls joining even as his cock speeds up. Our lips meet in another kiss, and we share breath, my heart hammering in my chest as we push together. His cock lights up my body as he drives into me harder and faster. Claiming me? No, he claimed me weeks ago. Now, we’re completing each other.
“Oliver . . .” I moan as he speeds up again, his cock hammering me and his balls slapping against my ass. I claw at his neck, passion overwhelming tenderness as we kiss hard, biting his lip as he growls, his cock swelling. I feel him tremble, and with a deep groan, he comes, filling me with his warm seed.
My body reacts, and I’m coming too, squeezing and milking his cock of every last precious drop of his essence as I hold him, sobbing in joy as he stays deep inside me, holding me close as we ride out our orgasms. When I finally come down, he’s holding me tenderly, and I hear the vulnerability in his voice. “Mindy, I’m so . . .”
“I know,” I whisper in his ear, wrapping my arms around him and holding him close. “Like we said, let’s move forward.”
Now the hard work starts, but I’m not afraid of hard work.
Mindy
I look up at the sign, pride swelling in my heart as the workers make the final adjustments to the sign. Mindy’s Corner.
“Wow, they work fast,” Brianna says, coming out of the cafe. She looks up, nodding in approval. “I’m glad you named the place after yourself.”
“Well, Oli gets to name the second floor, so I get to name the first,” I say with a smile. “And besides, I get to have the bigger sign.”
“It’s not the size of the sign that counts,” Brianna jokes. “Although it certainly doesn’t hurt.”
“We talking about signage or sausage?” I tease, and in a move that reassures me I haven’t totally lost my damn mind this past month, Brianna blushes. “Oh, come on, I’m woman enough to admit that Gavin’s probably got Oliver beat.”
“And you’re not jealous?” Brianna asks. I shake my head, and she grins. “Why’s that?”
“Simple,” I say, slinging an arm around her shoulder. “My man has a tongue that can tie and untie my apron blindfolded, and he’s definitely not lacking downstairs. Also, the fact that he can make my toes curl without making me walk like a cowboy after he takes me from behind is a plus.”
“Hey!” Brianna says, blushing. “I don’t walk like a cowboy!”
“Well, let’s just mosey on inside again then . . . cowgirl. See how the boys are doing.”
We go inside, where I see Oliver and Gavin working together on the back wall of the restaurant, and I have to laugh watching the two undeniably manly men getting salmon pink paint splattered on themselves.
“Keep that up, and I’m going to make you take off that T-shirt!” I tease Oliver, who turns and gives me a cocky grin before peeling his shirt over his head. Not to be outdone, Gavin pulls his shirt off too, and while I make Brianna a Pina colada iced frappe, we get to watch our men work. By the time the frappe’s done, I need a drink myself.
I whip myself up an iced mocha with all the shiny new equipment. Best of all is the grill downstairs. We’re going to be able to expand to a full restaurant setup when we want. In the meantime, downstairs is going to be our bakery. I’ve already taught Oliver how to make cinnamon rolls. “Hey, can I ask you a question?”
“Sure,” Brianna says, not even pausing her eye-fuck of Gavin. “If you really wanna know, yes, we did, and yes, I loved it.”
“Please,” I laugh, shaking my head before growing serious again. “Not that. Although we’re coming back to that story in a minute. Actually, I wanted to know . . . are you and Gavin really okay with my leaving the Beangal’s Den? I mean, he bought that place for me to manage.”
“Oh, don’t worry there,” Bri says, smiling. “It was really complicated, but basically, we sold the Den back to The Grand Waterways, and as payment, Gavin took an equal amount of stock value in the hotel corporation. We know you wanted your own place without worrying about complying with hotel rules.”
“Really?” I ask, and Brianna nods. “Thank you, Bri.”