When Tito didn't answer right away, Caylee wondered what the hell was going on. She knew she hadn't mistaken the energy that was sizzling back and forth between them earlier at the restaurant. Tito wanted her as much as she wanted him. Waiting longer to have each other didn't make any sense. He was the one who had asked her out not once but twice now, despite her initial misgivings about going to bed with someone who was so closely connected to the law firm, and to Jack.
"It's not a trick question," she prompted, as he pulled the car out of the parking lot, headlights highlighting the cypress trees that soon gave way to saw grass marshes alone the side of the two-lane highway.
He finally glanced over at her, the muscle tense on his jaw line.
"I don't think that's a good idea."
She felt her whole body go stiff.
"Fine then."
"Caylee."
"I misread signals, that's all."
"You didn't misread anything." He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel.
"Then what's the problem?" She reached over and put her hand on his arm, felt the strong muscles beneath the swirling ink. "You're hurting. I want to help."
"So it's a pity fuck?"
She kept her eyes on his, steely, until he turned his gaze back to the road.
"You know better than that."
He sighed. "Yeah. I do. And there's nothing I want more right now that to bury myself balls deep in you and forget about Eleanor and what this news will do to Maria and every other issue I have for one night."
"So what's the problem?" she asked again.
"The problem is I like you, Caylee, probably more than I should. And when I take you to bed - and I intend to do that soon - it's not going to be because I had a bad day and need to relieve some tension. It's not going to be because I want to escape from my problems. When I take you to bed it's going to be all about wanting you. Just you. Mind clear. No distractions."
The air practically buzzed with his energy, and she had a sudden image of what it would be like to have all that energy focused on her when they had sex the first time.
"This is so unfair," Caylee started, then added quickly when she saw the look he gave her, "no, not the fact that you want to wait until later before we take each other to bed. That makes sense."
"Then what's unfair?"
"What's unfair is that what you said is the sexiest rejection I've ever heard." She gave him sideways look. "Not that I'm accustomed to being rejected."
"I'm sure you're not. The unfair part?" he prompted again.
"I agree with you, dammit, and it's worth waiting for. But after what you said just now, you've got me even more aroused than I was already."
The corner of his mouth quirked in an almost smile.
"How aroused?"
"Oh shut up. It's not funny."
"Take off your panties."
"What?"
"Do it."
Caylee didn't like anyone telling her what to do. Usually. But the curt order from Tito had her on the edge of climaxing right there in his car. She could only imagine how assertive he'd be in bed. When they finally got there, that is.
She gave him a sly look, then arched her hips, moved both hands up under her skirt to grip the lacy sides of her thong, and slid it down the length of her legs. She dangled it on the tip of her finger for a few seconds over the dash.
"That's what you wear under your suit when you go to the office?"
"Not always. I just thought there was a good chance I'd be seeing you later today, and I like to be prepared."
She tossed the bit of lace onto the back seat, and remembered how on the drive here he'd put his hand on her knee and she'd instantly imagined that hand moving higher.
"Tilt your seat back and let your knees fall apart."
Caylee pulled the handle and leaned back in her seat. She was getting the feeling this was going to be a lot more than a quick racy touch.
"I like a man who takes charge in bed."
"I'll keep that in mind," Tito said, as he rested his hand on her knee, just as he had on the drive here. But this time she knew it would be going other places.
"Just don't get the idea you can boss me around anywhere else," Caylee added.
"Understood." His fingers lightly stroked the sensitive skin behind her knee and on the inside of her thigh, and she could feel her pulse throbbing right down to her core. She shifted in her seat, trying to inch his fingers higher. When they continued, maddeningly, to stay in that same spot, moving in that slow rhythm, she grabbed his hand with her own to pull it where she wanted it. But even with both hands she still couldn't move him an inch.
"Put your hands down, Caylee, and relax."
"But I want-"
"I know what you want. Put your hands down."
She sighed. Well she had said she wanted him to take charge. She just wished he'd take charge a little faster.
With the top down she could see the stars in the cloudless sky. It felt like they were going fast on the deserted road, but that might have just been the sound of the muscle car engine, and the wind blowing over her.
He moved a few more inches up her leg and she trembled with anticipation.
"If you reach for my hand again," Tito warned her, "we're going to start over."
Caylee gripped both sides of the seat to keep her hands in place. Anything to encourage Tito to keep moving higher. The fact that he was going so slow, controlling the pace with that casual demeanor while the Mustang sped down the highway, made her want the release even more desperately.
He took his time with those talented fingers, and she just had to give in and let him make his slow way, tracing small patterns, igniting nerve endings in places she'd never thought of as erogenous zones. When he finally reached his destination, skimming light strokes over her soft folds and then focusing the pads of his fingers on her clit, she came in a hot stabbing climax that took her breath away. Even as she stared to come down from that first sharp peak, he continued those tiny focused strokes, intensifying the pressure, while she climaxed again and screamed his name into the night.
She couldn't catch her breath. She couldn't get her bearings, She clamped her thighs around his hand, tried to pull away for a moment, but he was unrelenting.
"God, Tito, that's enough, I can't take anymore," she gasped.
"It's not nearly enough. Go over again."
"I can't," she said, even as the tension built again. The width of his hand kept her thighs apart enough to give those amazing fingers plenty of room to do whatever he wanted. They never stopped moving, not even for a second. She came for the third time, even harder, clamping her legs tighter, this time to hold him in place instead of escape him, arching her hips to press herself tighter against his hand as she spiraled.
When it was over he left his hand right there, cupping her as her pulse raced against it. Her face was flushed, and she felt completely spent and relaxed. She couldn't remember ever coming so quickly and so intensely, three times in a row.
"Where the hell did you learn to do that?" she asked him, when her breathing had almost returned to normal.
He glanced over at her. "I had a lot of time when I was in prison imagining what I'd do when I got my hands on a woman again."
"Good imagination."
He slid his hand back down and squeezed her knee.
"If you weren't driving, I'd return the favor," Caylee said. "I've got some skill in that area as well."
Tito grinned. "I look forward to it."
* * *
Tito met his sister in the small restaurant near his office where he'd once interviewed Bailey for her job at OTC. It was a no-frills place with good food and counter service that did a much brisker eat-in business at lunch than they did in the morning. Most of the customers now were grabbing to-go breakfast sandwiches or muffins on their way to work. Tito chose a table near the back where it was unlikely they would be disturbed, and was already on his third cup of coffee when Maria came through the door.
She was "wearing" the baby in some sort of sling and looked like she hadn't slept all night, and he felt immediately guilty for dragging her out to have breakfast with him.
"Are you drinking coffee now?" he asked her as she settled into the chair across from him.
"Decaf. I'm still nursing and Matty is already up half the night without adding caffeine into the mix." It made Tito smile every time he looked at his tiny nephew, who Maria and Ritchie had named Mateo in honor of his and Maria's stepfather. Joey's father, who had brought so much happiness into their lives, but had died much too soon. Thinking of losing his stepfather used to fill Tito with anger. That pain had been the first step in him losing his way and making all kinds of bad decisions.
But now, when he looked at the baby boy who carried Mateo's name, he felt only joy.
Tito got up, still smiling down at Matty. "I ordered some muffins but I'll get you anything else you want."
"This is fine," Maria said, around a bite of cranberry muffin she was already digging into.
Tito took the cup he'd gotten for her over to the self-service coffee area and filled it, then added generous portions of cream and sugar.
When he sat back down he felt doubly guilty, not just for her obvious fatigue but also the worry he saw in her eyes.
"I think I know why you asked me to meet here today instead of just coming by the house."
Tito looked up in surprise. Had Maria actually figured out what was going on? He knew she and Ritchie had both been waiting to hear how his meeting went yesterday.
"It's one of two things," Maria said, her voice serious. "And both of them are bad."
Author's Note: What does Maria think Tito's news is?