Stirred Up (21 page)

There was a weighty silence then, like they
were both thinking about saying something sexy or meaningful. She
almost did, but then decided against it.

“Get some sleep,” she said instead. “You must
be tired.”

“You could say that. I’ll see you
tomorrow.”

She said goodbye and hung up, smiling as she
recalled how he’d looked this morning, gorgeous and tired and still
ready to throw her on the floor. She sat down on the couch, finally
calm enough to sit still, and turned on the TV. Tomorrow she’d get
up at a reasonable time, clean her apartment and go grocery
shopping. Tonight, however, she was going to veg.

At five fifty-eight the next evening Jason
knocked at her door. She’d been oddly nervous all afternoon, or
maybe it was just anticipation, and when the knock came, she broke
out into a sweat.

Get a grip
, she ordered herself,
heading for the door.
You know this guy
.

Of course, now she knew him in the biblical
sense as well, and that changed things, made her even more tingly
than she used to be when he came knocking.

She opened the door with a smile that fell
away in her surprise. In one hand he had a bottle of wine, in the
other a bouquet of gerbera daisies.

“Oh, Jason, you didn’t have to do that,” she
said, stepping aside and letting him in.

“Of course I didn’t. But I wanted to.”

“They’re beautiful,” she said, recovering
enough to act like a woman who knew how to accept flowers. “Thank
you.”

She took the bouquet from him and led the way
into the kitchen, where she fished out a vase from beneath the
sink. She wasn’t the sort of woman guys bought flowers for. Or
maybe the guys she’d gone out with hadn’t been the kind to buy
flowers. Either way, she hadn’t been given flowers in years, and
she felt out of her element as she rinsed out the vase, poured the
little packet of powder in and added water.

“Smells good,” Jason said, walking over to
the stove and peaking under the lid of the pan.

“We’re having tacos tonight,” she explained,
taking out the scissors to snip the ends of stems. “But these are
fancy shrimp and mango tacos. I’ve always wanted to try the
recipe.”

“I’ve never met a taco I didn’t like, so I’m
sold.”

She turned around from nervously arranging
the flowers to find him standing right in front of her.

“You look good enough to eat,” he said,
grabbing her hips and pulling her close.

This part was easy. It took no thought at
all. His mouth came down on hers and she responded, opening up and
taking him in, their tongues tasting each other once again. In
seconds they were pawing at one another, already beside themselves
with lust.

Jason slid his hands beneath her ass and
lifted her onto the counter, stepping between her thighs until she
felt his arousal pressed against her own heat through her
jeans.

“You shouldn’t wear anything but skirts,” he
said into her throat, his lips searing her skin.

“I won’t,” she breathed, more than willing to
make such a promise.

His hands slid under her black tee-shirt and
dipped beneath her waistband, and it wasn’t anywhere near enough.
She wanted him naked, in bed, now. The food wasn’t going
anywhere.

“Let’s take this to the bedroom,” she panted,
bringing him back to her for another long, drugging kiss.

Without another word he picked her up, she
wrapped her legs around his hips and he carried her into the
bedroom. They fell together onto the bed, grasping at each other’s
clothes. Jason was quicker, unsnapping and stripping her of her
jeans in seconds. She concentrated on unbuttoning the long-sleeved
shirt he wore, gleefully baring his chest.

“You have the exact perfect amount of chest
hair,” she said, running her hands over him, down to his abs and
then lower still.

His laugh turned into a low groan and he
pulled away, shedding his pants along with his underwear.

“You have the perfect everything,” he
countered, pulling off her thong.

Kneeling on the floor, he pulled her toward
him until her butt was on the very edge of the bed, her legs over
his shoulders. Oh, he was so good at this, licking into her like he
was in no hurry at all and she could just take her time and enjoy
it, climbing and climbing until she was the one desperate for
release.

She was getting close, her heels pressing
into his back to urge him closer. This was when she knew it would
happen, but she might hang there at the precipice for seconds or
minutes. Then he took her clit into his mouth and sucked. She cried
out and shattered, Jason’s tongue moving over her still, urging
every bit of pleasure out of her until she was utterly spent.

She lay still, wrung out and sated, while he
climbed back onto the bed and reached for a condom. His eyes still
burned bright with desire, but there was something tender in his
smile when he looked down at her.

“You ready for a little more, baby?” he
whispered.

Nodding, she wrapped her arms around him and
he entered her with a leisurely stroke. He was watching her, still
taking his time, and as he continued his slow, rhythmic thrusts her
desire woke again. Soon she was rising to meet him, matching his
need.

Smiling with satisfaction, he buried his head
in her throat and picked up the pace. His breath grew ragged and
his thrusts urgent, setting off a new urgency in her. She ran her
hands down his back to his ass, glorying in all the honed muscled
she felt bunching and releasing as he moved over her.

Then he lifted her leg up and over his
shoulder until she was entirely open to him and drove in again,
deep and true. She cried out, close but needing more, and as if he
read her mind he stroked her clit with his thumb. He was watching
her again with dark, hooded eyes, the patient, determined athlete
using everything he had to reach his goal.

With every thrust she rose higher, harder,
filled up by him until she had no thought of anything else. Then he
leaned forward until her leg was at an angle and rocked into her,
and she cried out in surprise as pleasure poured through her,
carrying her away.

She opened her eyes some time later to find
herself curled next to Jason, her head on his chest.

“Thank God,” he said, seeing her open her
eyes. “I thought I broke you.”

“Only for every other man,” she said, before
she had time to consider how that might sound.

“Is that right?” he asked rolling over until
he was grinning down at her.

“Yes, but don’t get a big head about it,” she
said. “You just happen to do it for me.”

“We do it for each other,” he said, his
expression turning serious.

“Speaking of which, I assume you came? I was
too busy floating around the universe to notice.”

“Yes, I came. Thank you for asking,” he
said.

She narrowed her eyes at him. “Are you
teasing me?”

“No, I’m pleased with you.”

That tender look was back again, making her
feel self-conscious and cherished at the same time.

She reached up and ran her fingers through
his mussed hair, then down his cheek. Leaning down he gave her a
sweet, chaste kiss. Then he looked down and cupped his hand over a
breast.

“I’m afraid I neglected your gorgeous
breasts,” he said, stroking the tip lightly with his thumb, then
dipping his head and taking it into his mouth.

“Trust me, not a single inch of me feels
neglected,” she said her breath catching at what he was calling
from her again. “Oh, God. Please stop. If you make me excited again
I may not survive.”

He rolled off her and sat up, scrubbing at
his face. “I may not either, come to think of it.”

Slowly she sat up too. “What we need is
sustenance. Let’s go eat.”

“Right. Then I’ll interview you.”

She’d forgotten the reason he’d come over.
“Right, the interview.”

After pit stops at the bathroom they both got
dressed again and headed for the kitchen. Fortunately, she’d
already done all the prep work and needed only to sauté the food
for a few minutes before they were able to sit down and eat.

Jason filled her in on what was going on at
Henderson High, and even though she’d only been gone a few days,
she still felt nostalgic. She’d grown accustomed to them all, and
now she’d have to start all over. Then again, that’s what every
teacher did each semester. If you were lucky enough to have a
job.

When they were finished she told Jason to
leave the dishes and they headed into the living room for the
interview portion of the evening. Sitting down in the armchair
across from her, Jason pulled a folded piece of paper from his
pocket and opened it up.

“I wrote down some of the questions I’ve been
asked in interviews, along with some I found online.”

She was already getting nervous, and she was
only sitting in her own living room with the guy she’d just
shagged. How was she going to make it through a real interview?

“Cheryl? You ready?”

“Um, I guess so. But all of a sudden I feel
really self-conscious.”

“Really? About what?” he asked, looking
surprised.

“I don’t want you to think I’m an idiot, but
I’m probably going to sound like one when you ask me those
questions.”

“I couldn’t possibly think you’re an idiot.
You’re nervous and this is your first time, which is why we’ll do
this until you feel prepared. I’ll ask you the same question a
hundred times if that’s what you need. Okay?”

She sighed and felt some of the tension drain
away. “Okay. Let me have it.”

In the end she didn’t sound as hopeless as
she’d feared, though she fumbled some of the answers and needed to
be clearer and more succinct. But she got more confident and better
spoken with each round of questions, and oddly enough her replies
sounded more natural.

“Don’t be afraid to take a few seconds to
respond,” he said at one point. “You’re not going to get docked for
being thoughtful.”

“Good point. It’s not a chess match,
right?”

“You know this stuff. It’s just a matter of
letting them know you know it, and giving them a feel for who you
are.”

He was looking and sounding like Mr. Shaw,
teacher extraordinaire, again. How had she made it through an
entire semester without jumping this guy? She obviously had far
more willpower than she’d given herself credit for.

He threw a few more oddball questions at her,
which she answered well enough, and he declared her ready for
tomorrow.

“Did you, um, did you want to stay over?” she
asked, suddenly shy. She wasn’t sure what the rules were for this
part of their arrangement.

“That would be great, if you want me to. I
brought a few things just in case.”

She smiled, relieved they were on the same
page. “I’d like that.”

She washed and brushed up while Jason ran
down to the car for his bag. When he came back she was already in
bed. She listened to the water run, smiling at how nice it was
having him around. Having been friends for a few months, there was
a level of comfort she’d never felt with any other man. Add that to
the thrill of mind-blowing sex, and you had a winning
combination.

Jason came into the room and started
undressing, pausing after he’d taken off his jeans.

“What are you wearing?” he asked.

“Tee shirt and underwear,” she answered.
“Why?”

“I just wanted to know how modest we were
being tonight,” he said, and proceeded to take off everything but
his boxers.

She held the covers back for him as he
climbed into bed, then rolled toward him, her head on his chest.
“This okay?” she asked.

His arm came around her and she felt him
sigh. “This is great.”

***

The preparation paid off, as did the money
she’d spent on her new suit. Both had given her confidence, and
Cheryl walked the halls of Coronado High after the interview
feeling she’d done her best. Maybe she could have been more
brilliant, but there was nothing overtly awful about anything that
she’d said, and some of it had been pretty good.

The principal, Gary Sommers, had been
cordial, if cooler than Laurie Holmes, and had seemed impressed
with her school record, her Praxis scores and the reports from
Henderson High.

Cheryl looked around, assessing her possible
next place of work. Classes were in session, so she discretely
looked into the classrooms as she passed, trying to imagine herself
standing in front of one of them, imparting the wisdom of the ages.
Or maybe just keeping the students awake.

Jason had told her it was considered a decent
school to work for, on par with Henderson. The school board wasn’t
completely dysfunctional, the teachers were decently paid, and the
principal was known to be fair and hardworking.

She would kill for this job, and she was also
terrified she’d get it. Because the truth was she still didn’t know
what she was doing, and someone was bound to figure that out
eventually.

Pushing through the doors to the outside, she
breathed in the fresh, sunny air and let the negative thoughts
dissolve. She crossed the parking lot and headed for her car,
stopping only to text Jason that she felt good about the interview.
He was in the middle of class, but she looked forward to
deconstructing the entire conversation with him as soon as
possible.

Actually, she looked forward to doing a few
other things with him as soon as possible, but maybe they ought to
sleep in their own beds – alone – tonight. She was already leaning
on him a lot, maybe too much, and the great sex complicated things
even more. But talking to him over the phone seemed safe enough,
and she needed that at least as much as the sex.

***

Jason checked his phone at lunchtime, anxious
to find out how Cheryl’s interview had gone. He was oddly nervous,
considering it wasn’t his interview, but when he read her text he
realized he shouldn’t have worried. Though her confidence often
wavered, her competence didn’t, and obviously that had come
through. Heading outside for some fresh air and privacy, he gave
her a call.