The Suit (16 page)

All and all, my porno role-play bit went very well. I caught the suit off guard and managed to do the entire thing with a straight face. Anita Hardcock was Nikki’s idea. I know. Shocking.

The suit is washing me, lathering me with his strong hands. He’s quiet and I’m not sure if I should interrupt the silence with words. I have no idea what to say, so I say nothing. When we finish, he wraps a towel around me and kisses my shoulder softly.
It’s tender moments like that, that are my undoing. Why can’t he just be the ‘hit it and quit it’ type? That would keep me from falling for him for sure.

“Are you hungry?” he asks as his lips brush my neck, sending a delightful shock through my body.

Shit! I forgot to pick up dinner like I said I would. Not like I could’ve gone anywhere in the outfit Nikki gave me. “I’m sorry. I forgot to get us something to eat. I got a little sidetracked.” I smile sheepishly.

“Oh. I’m glad that you did.” His lips curve into a devilish grin. “Go get dressed and meet me in the kitchen. I’ll cook us up something.”

“Okay.” We both scurry off to our bedrooms. I spend a little too long picking out my pajamas. I want to look sexy, but I don’t want to look like I’m trying too hard. In the end, I pick out a white tank top and a pair of boy shorts. When I enter the kitchen, Suit is wearing nothing but a pair of black boxer briefs. His back is to me as he cracks eggs over a bowl on the counter and I take my time admiring his physique while he’s not looking.

“Like what you see?” he asks, still facing away from me.

My mouth drops open. How’d he know I was mentally licking his body with my brain? “Maybe,” I answer nonchalantly. “How’d you know I was looking?”

He chuckles, but doesn’t turn to me. “I could feel your eyes on me—the heat of them. I like the way it feels.”

Did my insides just liquefy and drip to the floor? Why, oh why, does he have to say things like that to me? Why does this sexy-as-hell man have to make me feel so…special? He likes the way it feels when I look at him?

Playing it cool, I reply, “Well, I like looking at you.”

Tossing the empty egg shells in the carton, he wipes his hands on a dish towel and reaches me in three long strides. He takes my face between his hands and forces my head up so my gaze meets his. “What are you doing to me, Edie James?” His stare is intense and I have to swallow the dry lump in my throat as I take it in.

My mind is dazed.
What am I doing to him?
The better question is,
what is he doing to me?
I open my mouth to ask him what he means, but my words are swallowed down when his lips meet mine and he kisses me long and hard. I forget the words he spoke only seconds ago. I forget I’m not supposed to let myself get attached to him. Instead, I let my body surrender to his and I welcome this kiss that seems to be reaching down inside of me, weaving its way around my soul. I’ve never been kissed like this. And it’s magical and devastating all at once. It’s a kiss they should write sonnets about. But it’s a kiss that feels like something it shouldn’t. It’s a kiss that feels like forever. He breaks away only to lift me by my hips and places me on the kitchen island. Standing between my legs, his hands hold me at my waist and he kisses me again. Maybe I’m reading too much into it, maybe because I want this kiss to mean something it doesn’t, but it feels different. It feels real, like a kiss between two people falling for each other.

When he pulls away he stares at me before pushing a loose strand of hair behind my ear. His dark gaze meets mine, but instead of lust, I see sadness.

“Are you okay?” I ask nervously. Why would he be sad?

He blinks a few times and clears his throat. “I’m fine.” He gives me a half-smile. “Omelet, okay?” he asks as he goes back to his bowl and begins whisking the eggs. I stare at him confused. What the hell just happened? Did I do something wrong? He just went from hot to cold in one second.

“Um…yeah, that’s fine,” I mumble as I slide off the island and take a seat at the counter. My gaze catches sight of the kitchen table as I do. Great! I wanted to give Suit a night he’d never forget, but I’m the one who will remember the incredible sex we had every time I sit at that damn table.

I may not know much, but I do know that Edie James is a rare find. I’ve never met a woman that excites me the way she does. And the killer things is, she’s an honest to God good person. I’m falling for her and though I’d never tell her, because I can’t, I can’t lie to myself about it. Shit! This wasn’t supposed to happen.

I pour the egg mixture into the frying pan and decide I have to say something to break the awkward silence that’s fallen between us. “So, I have something I need to talk to you about.”

“Yeah?”

I glance at her so she’ll know I’m trying to be engaged in the conversation while simultaneously focusing on not burning her omelet. “I have to take the Bar and it’s coming up in about two weeks. I’d like to leave for a week if I can so I can study hardcore and take some practice tests. I also have an interview lined up.”

“Oh. Of course. I’ll be in Jersey in two weeks racing Night Rider so we should be fine.”

“Oh shit,” I mumble. “I forgot about the race. I wanted to be there for you.” I feel like such an asshole. This race is a huge deal.

“Don’t worry about it, Suit. I’ll be okay without you.” Her words hit me somewhere deep. I know she only meant that she could handle the horse without me, but to me, they meant more. She’ll be okay without me when I leave at the end of the summer. I’m such an asshole for feeling hurt. I should want her to be okay when I leave, but a part of me wants to know this summer ending, this agreement we have ending, will be just as hard on her as it is on me.

“Okay,” I say, quietly.

“Where’s the interview?”

“New York.”

“Oh, wow. Two interviews in New York.” Her eyebrows rise with her words, as if she’s surprised, but her expression quickly transforms into a smile. “That’s great, Suit. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you.”

The rest of the evening, we make small talk, but something feels off between us and I don’t like it one bit. But when we decide to turn in for the evening, when I climb in her bed and pull her body against mine, she doesn’t protest. Instead, she relaxes against me as if it’s exactly what she was hoping for. As I hold her tight against me, I know letting go of Edie is the hardest thing I’ll ever have to do.

The following days are busy. The training for a racehorse is much like that of an athlete. An athlete must work every day and so must a racehorse. This evening Edie let Trish and Joey off early and it’s just the two of us down at the stables filling water buckets for the evening. We’re both covered in sweat, dirty, but damn if it doesn’t look good on Edie. She’s one of those women that look hot no matter what. Of course, when I tell her that she twists her face at me and shakes her head. She really doesn’t know how gorgeous she is.

We’re almost done when Edie opens Night Rider’s stall door to fill his water bucket, and I hear her curse.

“What’s wrong?” I ask as I jog over. When I get there I see Night Rider rolling around on the ground. “Shit.” The horse is colicing.

“He was fine after we exercised him earlier today,” I note as I glance at the hay and grain untouched in his stall.

“We should call the vet.” Edie’s worried gaze meets mine.

“Let’s walk him for a bit and see if it doesn’t help.” I’m hoping he’s only constipated and this isn’t an issue where his intestines have binded. That could be serious and mean surgery.

“Let me give him some medicine first,” Edie calls as she runs to the tack room. 

After Edie administers the paste-like medicine in his mouth, I lead the colt out and take him to the pasture. Edie walks beside me, glancing at Night Rider every few seconds. The horse paws with its front legs and kicks with its back legs letting us know he’s in pain, but I tug on the lead and make him walk with me. “Easy, old boy,” I whisper and pat his neck.

Once we’re out in the pasture, dusk has settled in and the sky is beautiful. A memory of walking a colicing horse with my grandfather resonates in my mind. I was thirteen and we were walking one of my favorite fillies, Eclipse, as the sun set. I was holding the lead and Eclipse would stop and fight me when I urged her to move forward. “Walk with me, old girl. You’ll feel better soon,” I whispered to her, and she begrudgingly continued on. It took us three solid hours of walking and when we were done, I was starved, but I needed to make sure Eclipse would be all right. I put her back in her stall and gave her small amounts of water, a handful of feed here and there and waited until I knew she was fine. By the time I went in it was after eleven. Pop Pop was waiting at the kitchen table, cup of coffee in hand. My mother had left me a plate in the microwave, but I was so tired I didn’t think I could eat.

Pop Pop eyed me as I collapsed on the chair closest to him at the table. “This is your calling, son.”

At the time, I believed that too. I was born to take on the farm and the training and I had every intention of doing so.

But life got complicated.

“You okay?” Edie asks, pulling me from my distant thoughts.

“Yeah. Just thinking.”

“Do you really think he can place?” Edie asks, uncertainty evident in her tone.

I take her hand in my free one and squeeze it. “I really do. It’s going to be fine.”

When she gives me a haphazard smile, I can see no amount of reassurance from me or anyone else will ease her worries. Not when so much rides on him placing top three.

We walk for hours, until eventually Night Rider takes a gigantic dump and starts trying to nibble at the grass so we know he is on the mends. I lead him back to the stables, relieved it was only a blockage.

Once Night Rider is in his stall, Edie pets his forehead lovingly, genuine concern for the horse’s well-being written all over her face. It’s not just about the horse feeling well enough to race. Edie loves these animals.

“Edie, go on up and get something to eat. I’ll stay with him.”

“No. I’ll stay,” she argues. “You go get some rest.”

“Why don’t you go get us something to eat and bring it back down?”

She glances at me then back to Night Rider. “You sure?”

“Yeah.”

Edie heads up and I hold a handful of grain out to Night Rider. He noses it a bit, but eventually nibbles at it. “I think you’re going to be okay, old boy.”