My Kind of Girl (18 page)

A puzzled smiled formed across his
face. “Yes, I watch it sometimes. That’s interesting. Did she get
the gig?”

“
Yes. The producer saw her
at a private poker game a few months back and invited her to Vegas.
Thankfully, my mom’s best friend is an attorney and flew with her
to go over the contract and make sure everything was on the up and
up. Otherwise, I’d be really worried about her.” Traci went on to
explain everything else her mother told her about the reasons that
led her to the gambling addiction and why she now knows Mildred has
it under control.

“
That’s great to hear,
dimples. I’m sure you’re happy as well.”

“
I’m relieved.” Traci
twirled an apple slice in the peanut butter. “Of course, they’ll
still be a part of me that will worry from time to
time.”

“
There’s nothing wrong with
that,” Sean said sincerely. “She’s your mother. I figured it may
have stemmed from your father’s death, and I can see how playing
poker makes her feel close to him. That’s a good thing.”

He paused for a minute, staring at her
as if he wanted to say something else. He took the last bite of the
cabbage and tossed the fork on his plate. She titled her head to
the side as he continued pondering something while he wiped his
mouth with his napkin.

“
You have something else to
say?” she asked as her curiosity peaked.

“
Do you think your mother
will like me?”

She wrinkled her nose in disbelief and
laughed. “Of course. You’re a great guy. She’ll especially like the
work you do with the veterans. My grandfather, her father, died in
the Vietnam War.”

“
Really? My dad’s younger
brother, Uncle Sean, was in Desert Storm and some other missions.
When he came back, he was a changed man and not in a good way. At
first he was fine; however, over the years it got worse. He’d
always been my favorite uncle considering I was named after him,
but I didn’t know him anymore. His behavior had become erratic
especially after his wife left him because she didn’t understand
what was going on in his head. My mom told me had he PTSD. I was in
high school at the time and began researching it. I credit it as
one of the reasons I went into psychiatry instead of cardiology
like my dad. Once my uncle died from taking his own life, I vowed
to help other veterans as much as possible in his
honor.”

“
Wow, Sean I had no idea.
What a heartbreaking story. Your mother mentioned the counseling
you do with the vets, but I had no idea why.” Finishing the last
bite of her salad, she pushed her plate away and sat back in her
chair.

“
It’s a family thing. We
all do our parts to help the community. It stems from my dad. He
hated the way his mother died when he was sixteen because she
didn’t receive proper medical attention because she couldn’t afford
to. It encouraged my father to be the man he is today. No matter
what a person’s financial situation is or whether or not they have
insurance, we don’t turn anyone away.”

“
I know. Your mother has
told me about the free health screenings she and your father
started years ago in the inner city communities.”

“
They assist even though
they’re retired, but my dad still travels around the country to
medical conferences and medical schools when asked. He helps out
Cannon sometimes with Doctor’s Unlimited.”

“
I guess so. Isn’t he one
of the top cardiac surgeons in the United States?” Standing, Traci
grabbed their empty plates and headed to the sink.

“
Something like that,” Sean
replied with a shrug. “To me he’s just Dad.”

Traci heard the screech of his chair
and saw him strolling her way out of the corner of her eye. Warm
hands encircled her waist as she ran hot water to wash the few
dishes in the sink. Kissing the side of her neck, he trailed his
hands down to her hips and squeezed them. A meek moan escaped her.
Turning off the water, she leaned her head back on his
chest

“
That feels nice,” she
said, closing her eyes as he nibbled and sucked the side of her
neck. She had a sneaky feeling he may leave a love mark there, but
she didn’t care as he continued to the other side running his
tongue over her skin slowly as he lifted the pajama shirt up and
over her head. Turning her to him, in one swoop he lifted her and
carried her to one of the bar stools at the island. He sat her on
it so her bottom was facing him.

“
Hold on to the
island.”

She did so and glanced over her
shoulder to see him pulling a wrapped condom out of his pajama
pants pocket. He slid them down, and she gulped at the sight. This
would be their third time tonight, and he was erect and ready as
ever. After he was protected, he pulled her toward him as the bulge
of his erection rubbed between her butt cheeks. Leaning her over
the counter, he teased her opening with the head of his rod before
pushing in an inch a time while she gasped out little breaths of
air to get used to him from that position. Plus, she’d never had
sex on a bar stool and feared she’d fall off so she gripped the
edge of the counter tighter.

Sean leaned over and kissed her ear.
“Don’t move,” he commanded. Clutching her hips, he began to slide
in and out of her slowly at first. However, the more she yelled out
and pounded her fists on the counter, the harder his thrusts became
and the louder she called out his name. He continued to delve
deeper into her as she screamed out incoherent words and moans. His
tongue danced along her neck and around to her lips. Their kissing
somewhat muffled her ardent moans of desire but some still seeped
through her mouth the faster his long stokes progressed. The bar
stool began to shake and she really thought she was going to fall
over, but he wrapped one of his arms around her waist and held her
firm against him while never breaking their rhythm.

An orgasm slammed through her body as
she cried out and slumped against the island. Stretching her arms
out, her hands held onto the prep sink that was embedded in the
granite while her body shook hard with heat pulsating through her
veins. She tried to lift her head to look at him but she couldn’t
as he continued wreaking pleasurable havoc on her. Traci didn’t
know how much more she could take especially when he moved his hand
to her little pink pearl and circled a finger around it. This
enticed another orgasm to swoosh through every cell of her body,
shaking the bar stool. Pulling her up off of the island and the
stool, he landed them on the floor in front of the chaise lounge
that divided the kitchen from the great room. She was now on all
fours still amazed at how Sean hadn’t stopped at all but too
engrossed in the wild ride he had them on. She reached up to the
chaise and laid her head on it. His strokes slowed down a bit and
she sighed out at how magnificent she felt as little tremors of her
climax still remained. Leaning over, he kissed her
cheek.

“
Are you okay, dimples?” he
asked seductively, tracing his hot tongue to her neck.

‘
Mmm hmm, Sean’ was all she
managed to mutter out.

He popped her bottom as he sped up
once more, and she knew he was going to climax as he began to draw
her harder to him. Shuddering behind her, he let out a long
growling sound before flopping on her back. A few moments passed
before their breathing returned to normal. Easing out of her, he
gathered her up and placed her on the chaise. He stepped away to
the kitchen and returned with two bottled waters. She couldn’t
believe how easily he strode back for her legs were jelly. She
figured unless he carried her back to the bedroom, she’d have to
crawl.

She scooted over and made room for him
as he handed her the water. She took a swig followed by a deep
gulp. Thanks to losing a lot of sweat plus the champagne from
earlier, Traci was dehydrated. He pulled the throw blanket that was
draped on the end over them and drew her toward him.

Kissing her forehead, he tousled her
hair and chuckled. “I think you’ll be wearing a hat tomorrow to
work.”

Running her hand through it, her
fingers hit a few tangles. “You’re probably right, but I enjoyed
every minute of it. Besides, it’s not like I don’t dress down at my
job almost every single day.”

“
Well, you may need a scarf
or handkerchief tied around your neck.” He pointed to the two love
marks his teeth had made.

“
I have a few. I’ll be
fine.” She looked through to the great room at the clock on the
mantle. “I’ll have to leave early enough so I can be at work on
time.”

He groaned sleepily. “I wish we could
sleep in, but tomorrow is Friday. Tell you what, after work, grab
some of your clothes and stay with me this weekend. And while
you’re at it, pack a few extra things to leave here so you don’t
have to get up early and go home to dress all the time. I have
another closet in the bathroom. It’s just like mine but empty.
Bring whatever you like.”

Sitting up, she looked at him but his
eyes were closed. She kissed his cheek and cuddled back on his
chest.

“
Don’t forget to take your
key under the potted plant,” he whispered.

“
I won’t,” she said,
drifting peacefully off to sleep in his comforting
embrace.

Chapter
Twelve

Traci walked arm-in-arm with Sean
inside of the overcrowded restaurant which was typical of Lillian’s
for a Friday night or any night. She really wanted to stay in and
relax, but one of Sean’s favorite jazz bands was in town and he
wanted to hear them play. He’d requested a corner booth on the
second floor so they could listen but still have some type of
privacy.

Traci loved the romantic side of Sean.
He was compassionate, thoughtful, and considerate. Plus, he loved
listening to her talk and ramble about her day at the gardens.
Sometimes she felt bad about clogging up his ears and head with
silly nonsense about flowers, Japanese beetles, and compost
fertilizer, but he never complained. Plus, she figured her
ramblings couldn’t possibly be as bad as listening to his clients
who were on the verge of nervous breakdowns.

Once they were seated, she perused her
menu only to look up and see Sean’s sexy stare on her.

“
What?”

“
I’m not allowed to look at
my woman?”

Heat rose in her cheeks. For the past
month he’d referred to her as his woman and it never got old. She
loved hearing it. “Yes, but the waitress will be here soon.” She
glanced back at the appetizers. “You already know what you’re going
to order?”

“
Fried shrimp with collards
and a bowl of gumbo on the side.”

“
Sounds great. I think I’m
having the bourbon smoked beef brisket and—”

“
Hello, Sean,” a female
said a little too excitedly.

Traci glanced up and saw it was the
waitress who had her hand resting on Sean’s shoulders. She was
tall, regal, and gorgeous. She reminded her of the model that she
saw at Sean’s home with the handcuffs.

“
Hey, Claudia,” Sean
answered. “I didn’t know you worked here.”

“
Just started a few weeks
ago. Needed a little extra money in between modeling gigs, but you
would’ve known that if you’d been returning my phone calls and text
messages.”

Sean cleared his throat. “Claudia,
this is my girlfriend, Traci.”

Claudia glanced over at Traci as if
she’d just realized she was sitting there.

“
Oh, hello. I guess I know
why all of my phone calls have been going straight to voicemail.”
She slid a pad and a pen out of her apron’s pocket. “What can I get
you two?”

After they placed their order and
Claudia left, Traci was at a loss for words. It wasn’t exactly the
first time they’d ran into a woman he’d dated in the past, and they
all looked alike. The model type. She’d remembered overhearing
Raven and Bria teasing about it at the Arrington family home when
she was assisting Darla with planting a butterfly garden. The
sisters were wondering who Sean was bringing to the family cook
out, and Raven had said ‘some wannabe model with heels so high
she’ll be just as tall as Sean’.

The first girl they’d ran into a few
weeks ago in the grocery store nearly knocked Sean over with a hug.
When Sean politely pulled her off of him and stated that Traci was
his girlfriend—first time he’d ever said that—the chick was
offended and stated that Traci was so short that she didn’t realize
she was there and stormed off while citing ‘lose my
number’.

The second time they ran into Sean’s
past it was actually two girls who simply wanted to know would
Traci be joining in for a foursome. She’d pulled him away as he
pretended to ponder the idea.

And now the waitress at Lillian’s. The
fact that he had a past wasn’t an issue, but she wondered how many
more times was it going to happen.

“
So, you’ve been avoiding
Claudia. She doesn’t seem too happy about that.”

“
She’ll be all right, and I
haven’t been avoiding her. I simply tossed that phone into the
Mississippi River. Once that plan runs out next month, I won’t be
renewing it.”

“
How many cell phones do
you have?”