Pole Dance (21 page)

"You look good, Darlin'," he murmured into the quiet. "Wanna see the rest of the house?"

I nodded stunned at the amount of food he had ordered and still in shock at being in his place.

Grinning slowly, he came around the bar and snagged my hand. "Shoes, Gorgeous," he rumbled and it took me a second to realize he was asking me to remove my shoes so we could go exploring. I moved to, and slowly lowered myself onto, a well-placed ottoman positioned close to the front door and unzipped my boots. I eyed his soft long sleeved t-shirt and ever present jeans before moving to his stocking feet. Got to hand it to him, with the shoulder-length hair and simmering eyes Jake was looked like a rock star.

Before I knew it we were upstairs gliding along the long corridor.

"When we bought the place, it was a wreck. No roof and there was mold from being exposed to the elements," Jake explained softly as he led me into the first room to the right. It had been set up as an office with multiple monitors that covered the desk within the cream and tan walls. Leading me across the hall, I saw a blue and gold plaid covered bed which Jake announced was the 'Guest Room'.

He led me passed a bathroom, done in the six-sided small black and white tile that was all the rage in 1940, before leading me into a bedroom that took up a full half of the upstairs space.

The first thing you saw when entering his large room was the bed. It was enormous and covered in a paisley mix of cream, gold and brown with a selection of coordinating pillows. There was a canopy that was supported by tall, thick carved oak pillars and the carving was replicated in both the high headboard and smaller footboard. Looking to my right, I saw a small seating area comprised of a small sofa and two chairs grouped around a small-ish fireplace that was topped with a flat screen TV. On my left were doors, one opened to show a huge bathroom and another closed. On either side of the bed, but beyond the large bedside tables, were French-Doors that led to a patio that ran the length of the bedroom.

"Holy smokes," I uttered unconsciously. His whole bedroom could've fit my entire apartment with space left over. I tried to take it all in but I kept hearing his voice tell me that he couldn't sleep on my little bed and now I could see why. I was more than a little intimidated.

"Caitlin?" I could hear Jake's deep voice but couldn't make sense of it as my mind struggled to accept the opulence of his room compared to my cramped and tiny space. I felt his arms surround me as I heard his command, "Breathe, Darlin'."

I pulled in a deep breath, smelling the clean aroma of Jake before feeling his strong arms around me and his hard chest against my cheek as my world righted itself again.

"You okay?" he asked softly into my hair.

"Better now. Long day," I lied again. "Must be hungry."

"Food will be here any minute," he said as he released me with a squeeze. He snagged my hand and with a soft smile pulled me back toward the stairs.

'Holy Shit, he's rich!' My mind exclaimed as we re-travelled the gleaming floors and made our way back downstairs. Just as we reached the bottom, I heard the soft vibration of Jake's cell phone. Pulling it from his pocket and glancing at the screen, he dropped my hand.

"Need a minute, Cait, yeah?" Nodding, I went back to the bar stool as Jake meandered down the long hall towards the back of the house. Just as I got myself settled and was getting my breathing back to normal, there was a loud knock on the front door. I waited a second to see if Jake would appear and when he didn't, I crept on silent feet to open it. I saw a slight, short grinning Asian teenager holding a multitude of bags emblazoned with a red dragon standing on the porch through the lowest window of the massive front door.

"Hey, you this week's Mrs.?" he laughed. "That Mr. Stanton, always a different girl," he mumbled shaking his head ruefully as he swept through the door to deposit the bags on the bar and pocket the cash that had been left there. Jake was making his way back into the room just in time to catch the last portion of the teen's pronouncement.

"Shut it, Li," Jake rumbled on a dark tone.

"But, I was just making funny with this week's girl, Mr. S," Li said with a giggle as his eyes slid to me. "New beautiful girl, every week!" he said delightedly swiveling his full head my direction. I could feel my stomach drop since this delivery boy just confirmed what I had heard from Fiona and friends earlier in the coffee shop.

"I gotta go," I announced without thinking as I quickly moved back to the ottoman to wiggle my feet back into my boots. Thank goodness my battered tote was still next to the door. As I stood to grab my bag, I felt an iron band around my waist.

"You're not going anywhere, gorgeous," Jake warned on a soft growl as he pulled my back into his chest. "Li? Here. Now." he commanded over his shoulder. Though I had tipped my head down in humiliation, I could see Li's pant legs and boots appear through my hair as he presented himself before a very pissed off Jake.

"Li? When was the last time you saw a woman here?" Jake's strong voice demanded.

"Jake--" I began softly hoping to spare both myself and the delivery boy any further embarrassment.

"Ah," Li's voice shook, knowing that he had crossed a line. "Can't remember."

"Really?" I felt Jake's voice thunder against my back as he drew me more firmly against his front.

"Jake, please--" I whispered feeling his anger fill the room.

"Everyone knows you're a player, Mr. S," Li replied and I raised my eyes to watch him as he spoke. He didn't seem so confident now when confronted with his carelessly spoken words. "I just thought everyone knew the score here," Li said as his blush colored his full cheeks. "Not thought to offend, Mr. S. You are a hero to all of us with the beautiful women we see when we deliver. No offense intended," Li said sincerely.

"Out," Jake barked startling both me and Li with its loudness. The door slammed and still Jake held me captive in the strong cage of his arms. There were more than a few beats of silence before Jake asked, "You okay, gorgeous?"

"I gotta go, Jake" I said softly my head still down as my mind remembered being called 'jail bait' and being told that I was just 'one in a long, long line of Jake's parade of pussy' that had been confirmed by a delivery boy. A delivery boy, for God's sake.

"Not letting you go, " I heard and felt Jake's thundering voice against my back as he moved my hair over my shoulder. "That call? Was from Greg at Buxby's." Jake paused to let that sink in. "Got anything to talk to me about, Cait?" Jake asked into my neck his breath warm against my exposed skin.

"No," I replied softly. He didn't need to know, there was no reason for him to know how I'd been ripped to shreds by his former lover or lovers--who knew if the others with Fiona had slept with him or not.

"You know, Greg, right?" Jake's soft voice rumbled as he still held me closely against his chest. Geez, but it felt like we had been standing in this position for an eternity. "Greg is the day manager
and
the co-owner of Buxby's." Jake explained on a soft note and with a soft kiss behind my ear. "Said there was a bit of a loud conversation in there this afternoon."..Jake paused seemingly to wait on me to say something. My lips were sealed. "Said Fiona was there with her skanks and had trapped a young, gorgeous girl in a corner before beginning to rip into her with that shitty mouth she has, his words not mine." Jake's mouth, still at my ear, was quiet. "Said that, as usual, Fiona's language was foul and, though the young woman didn't respond, that her face grew paler and paler as that shit went on. You know anything about this, Darlin'?"

I didn't answer, I couldn't answer as my eyes closed to block the memory of Fiona and fiends in the coffee shop. It had been the worst of every nightmare imagined. Being called names and loosely joined to their ranks just because I was with Jake. Had slept with Jake. Taken to task because of the best night of my life.

"Caitlin?" Jake's voice whispered softly behind my ear. "Talk to me, pretty girl. Tell me so we can set it behind us, yeah?"

"It was just Fiona and her friends," I began quietly as I softly stroked Jake's hands still entwined about my waist. "She was spewing her crap, just like at the restaurant last night."

"But then you heard it again from Tan's boy tonight, yeah?" I could feel Jake's breath against my hair as he held me firm, my back to his front. "I can't lie to you, babe." Jake turned me within the circle of his firm embrace. He took a moment to tuck my hair behind my ears. I felt him as he lowered his lips to mine, though not to kiss. Jake spoke softly, his lips moving against mine, adding weight to his words. "I was pretty much exactly what you heard today when I was younger. Back in the day, I had a rep. A well earned rep. And that rep got worse as I got older. When Dale and I bought the club the assumption was that we were nailing anything with tits ." Jake's lips moved up to my forehead and his voice got rougher as he continued. "Wasn't nice to those early girls, Cait. And was downright cold to a lot of the women later." He pulled back a little to look at me. I had kept myself still as I listened to him speak, absorbing his words. "Not that man anymore, pretty girl. Don't wanna be that man with you."

Wasn't lost on me that 'Diggin' a Ditch' was playing in the background. Damn.

I stared into Jake's eyes seeing the honesty there before I leaned my forehead into his chest to process his words. He gave me a few seconds before he pulled away and again caught my eyes with his. "Gonna hear talk and some of it is gonna be nasty and mean. Don't wanna scare you, sweet girl, but it's the truth." There were more than a couple of heartbeats as Jake stared into my eyes before he continued. "Askin' you to let it go or to talk to me about it before you feel you gotta run, yeah?"

'Aw Geez, now it's 'Grace is Gone',' I thought as I thought about Jake's words that sweetly accompanied by the music.

I was quiet as I stared up at him. Could I do that, be confronted like I was today, lumped in with all the other women of Jake's past and just let it go? I wanted to but I wasn't sure I could. He was right, though, the talk I heard today was nasty and mean although I don't think Li meant it to be when he said it.

"I'll try, Jake."

"That's all I'm askin' for, Darlin'." He turned us towards the bar. "Food's getting cold. Let's eat."

I was on one of the barstools nibbling on a crab puff as Jake was opening cartons and grabbing plates and bowls.

"Jake?"

"Right here, gorgeous," he replied as he began to dish up our food.

"Only had sex twice before you." I kept my eyes down as I spoke watching my hands crumbling the warm pastry but I could feel when Jake stopped moving and seemed to freeze at my words.

"Same guy both times." There were more than a few beats of silence between us before Jake became unstuck and continued to fill our plates.

"Good to know, pretty girl," Jake murmured as he set my overfilled plate in front of me. I caught his eyes and smiled softly before seeing him grin in return.

Chapter Ten

Jake moved back to the bed after taking care of the condom for the second time that night. He turned off the bedside lamp before sliding under the covers, to snag Caitlin's waist bringing her back to his front. He could feel her heartbeat thud against his arm that was crossed over her chest. He tucked his chin to place a soft kiss between her shoulder and neck.

"Mmm," she breathed sleepily as she moved her beautifully rounded ass cheeks over his still semi-hard cock. He couldn't help the chuckle in his voice as he whispered, "Go to sleep, Cait, yeah?"

"Night, baby," she murmured snuggling deeper into his embrace.

To Jake's mind, having the home court advantage with Caitlin was even better than their first time together. His king-sized bed gave them more room to play and seeing her naked in it, hair tumbling around her shoulders and down her back, made him want to get inventive.