I took the skin-tight dress off, hanging it on a hanger as gently as I could. I still needed to return it if I could get the stains out of it. I peeled my panties off, the sticky remnants of my sexual encounter with Carter making themselves known.
I knew I was risking a lot not taking any precautions, but I didn't care. I just wanted Carter. I wanted him to claim me as his.
And what if I did get pregnant? I wanted a baby. Maybe not right now, but I did want one. And I most certainly wanted it to be Carter's. I wouldn't want anyone else's.
He knew the risks just as well as I did. He'd made the same decision to take the risk and mark me as his.
I rinsed off as quickly as I could, then threw on some comfy pajamas. I checked my phone, and had no messages as expected. I ignored the thrum of guilt at how I had treated her. The anger still ran hot enough that I could pretend I was entirely in the right.
I thought to myself a few more moments, letting
My arms were overflowing with shopping bags. It was all I could do to juggle them and at the same time, reach into the front pocket of my jeans to pull out the key to my apartment. I pushed the door open with my butt and walked inside, setting the bags down onto the kitchen counter. I'd gone on a serious shopping spree. Most of my money was spent at the grocery store, but I'd also made a special stop at the mall. I'd bought some new underwear and shirts to wear to work. It felt like such a simple thing, but it showed I was changing. I had planned on wearing my shapeless, boring clothes until the day I died. But, I didn't want to with Carter around. I wanted to tempt him, just a little. I wanted him to take the risk with me. To choose me. The groceries were still on the counter and I began putting them away. I'd bought all sorts of goodies, including my favorite Rocky Road ice cream. It was a guilty pleasure, but one that I refused to sacrifice. In add
I'd checked my phone at least a dozen times over the course of the weekend, wondering if I'd get a reply from Carter. Now it was Monday morning and still nothing. There was no way for me to know if he just hadn't gotten around to reading it or if he thought ignoring it was a better option. Regardless, I felt a combination of nervousness and annoyance as I walked into work that morning. Why can't he just man up?I thought.What kind of man doesn't call a girl after he sleeps with them? Just to torture Carter, I'd worn my tight black dress. The same one I'd had on during our first date. I'd gotten up early and taken my time doing my hair and makeup too. I wore a cute blazer with it, just to make an attempt at making it business appropriate. My cleavage poured out of the dress, which was exactly what I wanted him to see what I got to his office. I wanted to remind him what he was missing out on by ignoring my message. “Hey Cindy,” I s
Two weeks later... Everything almost felt the same as it did my first day of work at Winthrow Financial. Carter would greet me in the morning, tell me what work I needed to get done for that day and then disappear into his office. Occasionally, we went over stocks, although now that I was figuring them out, we discussed them less. I missed the way he used to quiz me, trying to push me. If he actually did have feelings for me, he was doing a very good job of hiding them. It seemed that this time, he was serious about what he had said. He wasn't going to mix business and pleasure. It stung a bit. It was tough when I finally realized he had no intention of being my boyfriend. However, I hadn't done anything to try to change it. I hadn't attempted to cross the line at all. Each day, Monday through Friday, I simply swallowed my emotion and went to work. Besides, I now had bigger concerns that stock tips. My period was late.
I made my way out to the hallway and turned right. When I stepped up to Carter's door, I heard the two men talking on the other side. I knocked lightly and Carter responded immediately. “Come on in,” he called out. As I stepped into his office, I saw Carter sitting behind his desk. He had papers laid out in front of him. They were covered in charts and graphs, most likely simple metrics that he was using to impress the potential investor. On the opposite side of the desk from Carter, I saw the cowboy. He slowly turned around in his seat as I approached the two of them. He was an older gentleman, probably somewhere in his late fifties. The gray hair on his face had been trimmed short and perfectly cut to match the shape of his jawline. He was dressed in a light brown suit coat with dark jeans. On his feet, were what appeared to be snake skin boots. They were dyed a dark orange color, which matched the color of the decorative medallion that hung from his neck,
“This must be the place,” I whispered, as I pulled into the dirt parking lot outside of The Rose Wild. I hadn't been this far away from downtown New York since I'd moved there. It was a thirty minute drive through traffic to get to this bar, but luckily the GPS on my phone had given me accurate directions. The parking lot was packed. I drove around, looking for a spot, wondering if I'd be able to find one somewhere in the sea of lifted pickup trucks that surrounded me. Everywhere I looked were men in cowboy hats and cowboy boots. Most of them were wearing tight jeans and flannel. Their giant shiny belt buckles reflected my headlights as I drove past. Where in the hell am I?I thought, shaking my head. It felt like I'd landed on a different planet, or at the very least, a different state. In Iowa, I was used to this kind of scene. I'd grown up with it. Cowboys, red necks, good old boys. Whatever you wanted to call them. It was nor
“Honey, that's enough,” Henry gently chided his wife with a smile. “We just met these folks. Let's at least give them a couple of weeks before you start deciding how their lives are going to pan out.” “Alright, alright,” Nancy said, before taking a sip from her beer. “I'm just making small talk, Henry.” Henry wrapped his arm around Nancy and kissed her cheek. “It's a good thing I love her.” “Oh, get off of me you old fool,” Nancy joked, pushing him away. It was cute to watch an older couple flirt like that. They clearly loved each other and it was so obvious that their marriage was going to last forever. “So, Jane,” Carter said. “What would you like to drink?” I shrugged. “I'd like to start with some water. Maybe a ginger ale, but I'm not ready for the hard stuff yet.” Or for the next nine months, probably. “Are you hungry?” Carter asked. “We ordered chicken wings and onion rings.” “That actually sounds really g
“I don't know about you guys, but I'm ready to see Carter make good on this bet of his,” I said, giggling. This was so out of what I considered Carter's comfort zone that I couldn't wait to see more. “I couldn't agree more, darlin',” Henry said, as he stood up and offered a hand to Nancy. “You ready for this, Carter?” I asked. He nodded, took another sip from his beer and then stood up. “Oh, I'm ready. Let me just run my briefcase out to the limo real quick.” The four of us walked around the corner and found the arcade game that Carter had been talking about. On the screen were animated elk and deer, running frantically as the red cross hairs panned over them. Right in front there were two plastic rifles. Henry, Nancy and myself approached the machine and waited for Carter to return from his limo. It only took him a minute or so before he was back. “Who goes first?” I asked. “I'm going to leave that to you guys,” Carter said, s
Carter walked me out of the bar so quickly that I was stumbling to keep my balance. His hand was gripping mine as he made our way toward his limo. I'd seen him eager to have sex with me before, on two separate occasions. However, nothing like this. It seemed he'd finally allowed himself to let loose, even if it was just for this one night. Maybe it was the fact that he'd just closed the biggest investment account of his life, or the fact that we'd won in that silly video game. Something told me, though, that it had nothing to do with either of those things. My guess was that it had something to do with that lip bite of mine, or maybe just the way my butt looked in my tight jeans. Either way, the man was on a mission and I was ready to take whatever he gave me. “Carter, what about your driver?” I asked, as we approached his limo, which was still parked just outside of The Rose Wild. “Won't he hear us?” “Don't worry about him,” Carter said. The gray-hai