On the Plus Side (16 page)

“I’m just sorry. Do me a favor and say you forgive me.”

I knew what I was asking her for. I was asking her to forgive me for what was to come. I just needed to hear her say it.

“I forgive you,” she smiled up at me.

I leaned down and kissed her without a care for anything. There was no shop and home loan that needed to be paid. There was no devious, rich-bitch mom on my back. There was just me and my sweet Lilly, and right then, in that moment, it was all I needed.

When I broke the kiss I looked down at her. Her eyes remained closed.

“Happy birthday, baby, I’m sorry I kind of ruined your party,” I said as I placed soft kisses on her cheeks and nose.

It was a new low for playboy Devin and I liked it.

“You didn’t ruin it, you made it perfect,” I felt her arms get tighter around my neck.

I kissed her again and for just that moment, decided to forget about everything but her.

Fifteen

Meet the Michaels

“Are you gonna be like this all week or are you gonna snap out of it soon?” Shannon asked with a smile.

I continued to stare out of the store window and daydream of Devin. It had been two weeks since my birthday party and things couldn’t be more perfect. We spent hours on the phone every day and when we weren’t on the phone or at work, we were together.

Some nights he would come to my apartment and we’d watch movies all cuddled up on the couch. Sometimes we’d go to dinner, some nights we’d stay in and make a mess in my kitchen cooking things we had no clue how to cook. I’d never smiled so much in my life. I’d never laughed so much in my life. I’ve never been this happy… ever.

On game night I included him and he fit right in. My friends adored him. Randy drooled over him and later told me that he thought Devin was a hot piece of ass. 

After everyone left and Shannon suspiciously got too tired to stay awake another minute, Devin and I cleaned the messy apartment.  He looked so cute loading the dishwasher with a little dish cloth slung over his shoulder.

“What a good little maid you are,” I joked.

He smirked at me with his all-too sexy self. All the crazy “I want to jump his bones” feelings came crashing over me. Over the last couple of weeks there were lots of smiles and jokes. There was tons of tickling and cuddling and even though we both pretended it wasn’t there, there was so much tension. No matter what, I didn’t want to seem like I was throwing myself at him in any way and even though he never said it, I could tell that he was trying especially hard to keep his distance.

It didn’t make any sense to me. We were both adults and I can look at him and tell he was experienced. I never asked how many women he’d been with, but it was obvious from his mannerisms that the man knew his way around a woman’s body, no map needed. He had his own inner sense of direction and I’d love nothing more than to let him find his way through my valley.

When all was cleaned I walked him to the front door.

“Text me when you get home and let me know you made it safely,” I said.

“OK,” he yawned.

“If you’re too tired, you can crash here. I can get you a blanket and you can sleep on the couch if you want.”

“Nah, I need to get home. I’ve got a busy day tomorrow at the shop and I wanna get an early start. Goodnight. Sweet dreams, baby,” he whispered as he gave me the traditional kiss on the cheek.

His lips warmed the side of my face and I felt his breath against my ear. The man was making me crazy. Without thinking, I reached up and rested my hand against his cheek.  I ran my thumb across his lips—his light mustache tickled the tip of my thumb. His eyes connected with mine and all time stopped.

All too soon I snatched my hand away.

“Goodnight,” I said.

When he left I closed my door, made sure everything was off, and then got ready for bed. Thirty minutes later, I was snuggled up in my bed when I got a text. I picked up the phone and read it.

I’m home, but I wish I was with you.

I did indeed have sweet dreams that night.

It was exactly a week later that Devin took me to his house for the first time. We were out and about when he realized that he’d forgotten his wallet. He didn’t seem too happy about having to go all the way back to his house, but we made the thirty minute trip from Charleston to Walterboro anyway.

It was a cute little country house. The huge, screened-in front porch took over much of the front yard. There was a short driveway that met what looked to be a converted garage and overgrown gardens with broken garden statues. Sure it could use some maintenance, but it felt comfy. It felt like a home should feel. It was everything I imagined it would be.

Behind the house, led by a long gravel road that ran beside the house, was a massive garage. There were a few broken down cars waiting to go in and old tires lying around. I could smell the motor oil and rubber from the front yard and it instantly reminded me of Devin. It was weird to see where he worked and lived, but it somehow made me feel closer to him. I liked it.

There wasn’t anyone home, so I didn’t feel so nervous when he asked me if I wanted to come in for a minute. His house was welcoming and warm. I followed him to his bedroom and stood in the doorway while he searched his room for his wallet.

I couldn’t help but smile. The room was so…Devin. There was a big bed in the middle of the room with green bedding. There were car pictures on the wall and a pin up calendar that I couldn’t help but notice. I wanted to hate the skinny sex kitten that stared back at me from the calendar, but she was just too damn pretty to hate.

Devin noticed what I was staring at and for a second I thought I saw him blush.

“Ah, here it is!” he said as he held up his wallet.

He spun around to face me and no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t wipe the goofy smile off my face.

“What’s so funny?” he asked.

“Nothing, it’s just this room is so…you. It’s exactly how I pictured it in my mind.”

“You’ve pictured my bedroom in your mind?” he asked with a smirk.

He tilted his brow, questioning me in his all-too sexy way that drives me crazy.

I felt my face heat up. Devin walked closer and stood in front of me.

“Have you?” he asked again and his voice was lower, darker.

He reached up and tucked my hair behind my ear and then let his fingertip run down the side of my neck.

“I—I—don’t,” I stuttered.

I could think of nothing else to say. Once again I was knocked speechless. Real nice! I might as well tell him that I’ve imagined him naked in his bed at night.

He cupped the back of my neck and moved a little closer.

You have, haven’t you?” He moved closer like a predator on the prowl. I had never felt so small, as his large frame overwhelmed me.

“Tell me,” he whispered against the side of my mouth. His lips tickled before I felt his hot tongue run along the seam of my lips.   

“Yes,” I blurted out.

My eyes fluttered shut and I knew I was a goner. Man he was good at this stuff. I was way out of my league with this sex crap.

“When you imagine my bedroom, am I in my bed?” I felt his other hand work its way up my side.

“Sometimes,” I squeaked.

“Well, sometimes, when you picture me in my bed, am I alone or are you with me?”

“I’m with you.” My voice sounded foreign.

I softly nibbled my bottom lip.

“Am I naked?”

Again he teased my mouth with his tongue and I released my bottom lip from my teeth. Softly, he sucked the spot on my bottom lip where my teeth had been digging in seconds before.

I never gave my answer. Instead, I gave in and pulled him closer to me. I pressed my lips against his and kissed him. He responded immediately. He pulled me farther into his room and shut the bedroom door behind us. I felt my back against the door when he slowly walked me backward.

His tongue slipped into my mouth, causing me to purr out loud. I met his tongue with mine and he shocked me as he sucked the tip of my tongue and pressed his body harder against mine.

I was coming undone. Every part of my body was tingling and I needed something, anything, to happen at that point.

Out of nowhere, there was a loud rumbling noise coming from outside that scared me. I pulled away.

“What’s that?” I asked.

He inhaled then exhaled deeply while leaning his forehead against mine.

“That would be my dad out in the garage. The loud rumbling noise would be an old truck that we’ve been working on for the last week. My guess is… it’s fixed.”

I didn’t meet his dad that night. Instead, we left quickly and spent the rest of the night out.

After that night, I was taken to his house more often.  Every time we went there no one was ever home. He gave me a tour of the garage out back and showed me a few of the cars he was working on.

Through all it, I could never figure out what it was that we were doing. Were we friends that dated or were we a couple that acted like friends? Needless to say, I was completely confused. There were moments when Devin acted like he could barely keep his hands off of me and then there were moments when he treated me like one of his buddies. 

It wasn’t long until I was wondering exactly what he would label us as and no matter how many times I’d heard from friends that it was a bad idea to ask him, I couldn’t help myself. I wanted to be involved with Devin… I wanted it more than anything. The walled-in parts of me wanted to peek around the corner and pull him into my world completely, but I couldn’t do it, not until I was sure that he was in the same place emotionally as me.

I decided to leave work early. I thought it would be a good idea to stop by Devin’s house and have a talk with him. It needed to be done. I was rapidly falling hard for him and I really needed to know if I should allow these feelings to blossom, or nip them in the bud.

I turned my radio up and kept psyching myself up. This was it, I had to do this.  I had to talk to Devin. I needed to know exactly what we were doing. I know all girls want things clearly defined for them and that scares guys to death, but now, for the first time in my life, I understood exactly how much that definition meant. Were we just friends or were we more?

I mean seriously, we
are
adults. I should be able to just ask Devin where he sees this whole thing going, right? Whatever he said wouldn’t matter.  I just needed to know how much of to invest into this whole thing, and if by some chance he just wanted to be friends, then I’d be the best damn friend he ever had.

I pulled up to the garage instead of his house since I knew he’d be working. He must have heard my car because he walked outside looking all sweaty, greasy, and just plain sexy. Dear Lord, please have mercy on me. I silently prayed for the strength to keep my hands to myself.

I didn’t turn my car off.  Instead, I stepped out and closed the door behind me. I didn’t want to get all comfortable just in case he was too busy to sit and chat for a few.

“Hey, baby. I didn’t know you were coming over. I would’ve cleaned up a bit.” He attempted to clean some of the dirt and grease from his clothes.

If only he knew how hot he looked all covered in grease.

“Do you have a minute to talk? If you’re busy, it can wait. I know I should’ve called but I really need to talk to you about something kind of import….”

“Ssshhh,” he cut me off.

He had a confused, questioning look on his face as he stared off into to space.

“Is something wrong? Devin?” He cut me off again when he held up his finger, telling me to be quiet.

He walked around to the hood of my car.

“Pop your hood, sweetie.”

“What? Are you listening to me?”

“Yes—well, not really, but I will. First, pop your hood.”

I walked back to the driver’s side door of my car, opened the door, then reached down and popped the hood of my car.

“Happy?” I asked sarcastically with a smile.

He lifted my hood and then started digging around.

“What
are
you doing?” I leaned down over the open hood where he was digging.

“You need a tune-up and an oil change. Don’t you hear that?” He turned his head to smile at me and a lone streak of grease on his cheek caught my attention. I almost reached out and wiped it away. “Pull your car into the garage and I’ll take care of it.”

“What? No. Devin, I came here to talk not to get my car fixed. It’s fine, I’ll take it and have it fixed somewhere later.”

“Like hell you will! First of all, I can talk and change the plugs and oil at the same time. Second of all, what kind of man would I be if I didn’t take care of my girl’s car? I
am
a mechanic, you know.” He smiled sweetly at me.