The Best Laid Plans Read online

  “Wine might be a good idea.”

  “That’s what I thought.” She hurried into the kitchen, gesturing for me to follow, and neither of us spoke as she poured us a couple of glasses of red wine. After she’d passed one to me, she raised hers. “To hoping tomorrow morning isn’t awkward.”

  Laughing, I clinked my glass against hers. “Cheers.”

  We both took deep swallows. Yeah, maybe the wine was a good idea.

  Kendra’s eyebrows pulled together, and her eyes were distant as she slowly swirled what was left in her glass. “You know, I just thought of something.”

  My stomach clenched. “Hmm?”

  She met my gaze. “Can you imagine the scandal if the PTA found out about this?”

  We locked eyes, and then burst out laughing.

  “Well, it’ll be a hell of a scandal anyway when they find out you’re pregnant with my kid.” I shrugged. “They probably don’t need to know the particulars.”

  “I can already hear the gossip.” In a stage whisper, she said, “Did you hear Randall-Mirwani knocked up Coach Bailey?”

  “No way!” I whispered back, clutching my chest. “But isn’t he”—I dropped to an even softer whisper—“you know…gay?”

  We erupted into snickers.

  “Well.” I sipped my wine. “I don’t think they need to know about it for the time being.”

  “No, they don’t.” She grinned wickedly. “It can be our dirty little secret.”

  “Amen to that.” We clinked glasses again and laughed.

  The alcohol wasn’t doing much yet, and if I had more than a glass or two, there wouldn’t be any reason to be nervous because we wouldn’t be doing anything tonight. And if one of us didn’t work up the nerve to do more than fret or joke about it, we also wouldn’t be doing anything tonight.

  I set my glass down. Hoping she couldn’t hear how badly my heart was pounding, I stepped closer and reached for her waist. “You’re really sure about this, right?”

  She glanced down at my hand. Then she put her glass beside mine and closed some of the space between us. “The baby? Absolutely. The sex is…” She ran her hands up the front of my shirt. “I definitely want it—I want you—but only if it’s not going to make things uncomfortable.” She paused. “I mean, all joking aside, this won’t get weird at school, will it?”

  “Doesn’t have to.”

  “You think it will?”

  “If I did, I wouldn’t be here.”

  “Hmm, good point.” Her eyes flicked to my lips. Then back up to mine.

  What the hell are you waiting for?

  I leaned in closer and, finally, pressed my lips to hers.

  Wow.

  Maybe it had just been too long since I’d kissed a woman. Except I didn’t remember any woman from my younger days who kissed like this—unhurried, but eager. Softly, but certainly not passively. Her mouth tasted faintly of wine, and she returned my kiss like she meant it when she said she wanted me, and she just about knocked my knees out from under me.

  Our eyes met. We were both breathing hard, both staring at each other in disbelief.

  And then, without a word, we hurried out of the kitchen and down the hall.

  “Clothes off,” she ordered as soon as we were in the bedroom.

  “Yes, ma’am.” I already had my shirt halfway off, and she wasn’t far behind. I wanted to stop and look at her, really see what her beautiful body looked like, but we grabbed on to each other and tumbled onto her bed. Blood pounded in my ears, and my hands were already shaking a little as they ran all over her hot skin.

  “So are we supposed to just go for it?” she asked between kisses. “Or is foreplay part of the deal?”

  “I don’t see why we can’t enjoy ourselves.” I grinned. “So yeah, foreplay would be part of the deal. Is that—”

  “Good.” She shoved me onto my back and straddled me, blonde hair tumbling down over her face, and before I could even gasp, her mouth was over mine again.

  Well, all right, then.

  I wrapped my arms around her. She kissed me hard, and I reciprocated, and—was I really naked and making out with Kendra?

  Yes. Yes, I was. And it was fucking hot.

  She lifted her head. “Would you hold it against me if I said I’ve fantasized about this before?”

  “No.” I licked my lips. “Fair warning, though—I haven’t been with a woman in a long time. If I’ve lost my touch, just say so.”

  “I don’t think that’ll be a problem.” She kissed me again, and at the same time, rubbed her pussy against my cock. Holy fuck—no, I was pretty sure it wouldn’t be a problem if I’d lost my touch. Kendra obviously knew what she wanted and how to get it.

  Yes, yes, yes. Please.

  “It probably doesn’t hurt that I’ve been horny as hell lately,” she murmured.

  “Yeah?”

  “Mmhmm. Some of us don’t have beautiful husbands sending us to work with smiles on our faces.”

  I laughed softly and curved a hand over her ass. “No pressure, then, right?”

  “No pressure.”

  I reached between us, and she lifted up slightly so I could slide my other hand between her legs. Oh Jesus—she was already plenty wet. One thrust, and I could be buried to the hilt inside her.

  Condom. Gotta wear a condom this time.

  Damn it.

  Well, we’d get to that. I ran my fingertips along her pussy lips and then up toward her clit. My fingertips brushed something smooth and solid, and Kendra sucked in a breath.

  “Do you—” I circled it gently. “Is that a piercing?”

  “Uh-huh.” She moaned, biting her lip and pressing against my fingers. “And that…feels really…”

  I circled faster, and she shuddered.

  “Oh fuck.” Eyes screwed shut, she let her head fall forward as she moved her hips in time with my fingers. I slipped two inside her and bit my lip when she gasped. She was wet, she was tight, and God, I couldn’t wait to fuck her. But I loved this too, watching her fuck herself on my fingers, and when she leaned forward so her clit piercing rubbed against my palm, we both moaned.

  I held my hand almost completely still, and let her rock back and forth. She whimpered, tilting her head back as unruly blonde strands tumbled beside her face. She was grinding against my hand now, and it seemed like it should’ve been painful with that piercing, but the sounds she made were definitely those of pleasure.

  Her breasts bounced in time with her thrusts, and I couldn’t resist cupping one. She sighed when I did, her lips forming soundless curses, and when I pinched her nipple, she moaned as her pussy tightened around my fingers.

  I touched her hip and stopped her. “Wait.”

  “Huh?” Her eyes flew open.

  I withdrew my hand. “I think you need to get on your back.”

  “Yeah? Why should—” She stopped abruptly when I licked my finger, and her eyes widened. “Okay. Yeah. On my back.”

  “That’s what I thought.” And now that I’ve had a taste, I can’t wait.

  We shifted positions, and I kissed my way down her inner thigh.

  “Oh fuck.” She arched her back, gripping the bedsheets.

  I lifted my head. “I haven’t even done anything yet.”

  “No, but I’m pretty sure you aren’t heading down there to lick my kneecaps.”

  I laughed and kissed beneath her belly button. “I could if you wanted me to.”

  “Gabe, I swear to God, if you—”

  I flicked my tongue just above her clit. “If I, what?”

  “N-never mind. Just…what you’re doing…keep…”

  I didn’t argue. I teased her pussy with my tongue, tasting her and exploring her. She squirmed so much I had to pin her down with an arm across her stomach, especially when I focused on her
clit. I circled it with the tip of my tongue, making sure to graze the ends of the tiny barbell.

  “Holy shit,” she murmured, pressing against my tongue. “That’s—oh God…”

  I wanted to fuck her with my fingers but needed to keep her still. And besides, she didn’t seem to mind what I was doing with my tongue, so I kept right on doing it—circling, fluttering, lapping gently at the ends of the piercing.

  “Fuck.” She shivered hard. “Gonna…oh God…”

  I circled even faster. She gasped. Shuddered. And then she cried out and seemed to tense and relax all at the same time, and I damn near came right along with her because holy shit, she was hot.

  She pushed my head away, and when I lifted myself up, she sank back to the pillows. “For the record, you have not lost your touch.”

  “Good.” I came up and kissed her, and she threw her arms around me, kissing me hard as if she wanted—needed—to taste herself on my tongue.

  “Damn it, Gabe,” she murmured. “Fuck me. Now.”

  “You are so demanding.” I pressed my hips against hers, making sure my cock was right against her pussy. “I might have to—”

  “Now, Gabe.”

  Goose bumps sprang up all over me. “Yes, ma’am.”

  I lifted myself up and reached for the condoms. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I was still apprehensive about this. I was married. She was a colleague. She was…she was Kendra. My friend.

  But she was also squirming and whimpering, lying back with her legs apart while I tried to put on this damned condom, and none of that apprehension mattered more than one simple fact—I wanted her. I had Shahid’s blessing, we all knew what was going on, and I wanted to fuck her.

  The condom was finally on, and I positioned myself over her, between her parted legs, and our eyes met.

  We both paused.

  It seemed silly for this to be some kind of point of no return. As if being inside her was somehow a momentous change from being naked together, kissing each other, going down on her, making her come. Like we could stop now and pretend we’d never been this far, but once I took that first stroke, there was no going back.

  “Gabe.” She licked her lips. “Please.”

  Definitely no going back.

  I steadied myself with one hand.

  I teased the very entrance to her pussy, and we both held our breath.

  And just like that, I was all the way inside her.

  She gasped. I exhaled. We stilled, her fingers digging into my arms, my head spinning as she hooked her leg around mine.

  Kendra drew me down to kiss her, and as our lips moved together, our bodies did the same. I pulled out partway, slid back in, pulled out again, and she rocked with me, complementing my strokes like her lips complemented mine.

  I’d forgotten how much I loved the way a woman’s body felt. Soft skin and smooth curves. Her breasts brushing my chest. Her tight pussy around my cock. The condom dulled my senses, but that was probably a good thing this time.

  “Oh my God, Gabe…” She panted against my lips. “You feel…so…”

  “So do you.” I kissed her again.

  There was nothing clinical about this. Nothing methodical or sterile or anything. This was just plain hot. Two bodies moving together, skin against feverish skin, turning each other on with every stroke.

  Kendra dragged her fingers through my hair, her nails scraping my scalp, and I shivered, driving myself deeper inside her.

  “Fuck,” I breathed, and thrust harder.

  “Let me get on top again,” she murmured. “I want—”

  “Don’t have to tell me twice.” I pulled out and rolled onto my back. She straddled me, and with a single rolling motion of her hips, took me inside her again.

  “Oh God,” I groaned, but before I could even get used to her, she was riding me with that same rolling motion, and she felt amazing. So tight, so hot—and so fucking beautiful, especially with her breasts bouncing and her blonde hair tumbling down into her eyes.

  She leaned forward and rode me, grinding herself against me as she did. Her pussy tightened around me, clenching so hard it was a wonder I could even move inside her.

  “I don’t know…what you’re doing with your hips…” I gasped for breath. “But don’t stop.”

  “Stop, hell.” She grabbed my hand and guided it to her breast. She pushed my thumb and forefinger against her hard nipple, and when I squeezed gently, she bit her lip and clenched around me.

  “H-harder,” she moaned.

  Harder? She was fucking me. How was I—

  She put her hand over mine on her breast and growled, “Harder.”

  I pinched her nipples harder, and oh God, apparently she could get tighter.

  Kendra’s whole body jolted, and she cried out, and I was gone. Thrusting, arching, gasping, I fell apart beneath her and inside her as she trembled on top of me.

  I sank back to the bed, and she collapsed over me.

  “For the record,” she breathed, “I think we’re compatible.”

  “Yeah.” I stroked her hair with a shaking hand. “Yeah, I’d say we are.”

  Chapter Seven

  Kendra

  Gabe threw away the condom and then joined me in bed again. We came together—his arm around me, mine draped across him—as if we’d done this a million times before.

  Neither of us spoke. We lay there in silence, catching our breath, and I couldn’t ignore how bizarre this was. I’d never imagined I’d ever really find myself naked in my bed with him, still tingling from a couple of orgasms. Even more bizarre was how comfortable it was. How not weird it was. As if I’d known somewhere in the back of my mind that we’d end up here eventually.

  Maybe wishful thinking pays off sometimes after all.

  Finally, I said, “Okay, I have a question.”

  “Hmm?”

  I turned my head. “Where the hell are all the straight single men who know how to eat pussy like you do?”

  Gabe laughed, his cheeks coloring. “Oh come on. I’m sure some of them do.”

  “No, they don’t. They wouldn’t be single if they did.”

  “Hmm. Fair point.” He paused. “Along the same lines, I have a question too.”

  I turned on my side and pushed myself up onto one elbow. “Okay?”

  He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “When did you get that piercing?”

  “You really want to know?”

  “Yes, I do.”

  I grinned. “Three years ago. Two days after Christmas.”

  He held my gaze, twin creases forming between his eyebrows. “That date have some sort of significance?”

  We locked eyes. Yeah, he knew the significance of three Christmases ago. I could see why he couldn’t connect it with the secret piercing, though.

  “Well, you remember how frustrated I was that my family spent my whole damned visit trying to hook me up with every man in sight?”

  Gabe rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I do.”

  “I mean, okay, the divorce could’ve been finalized, like, any other time. But it was done, you know? He was gone, it was over, and I wanted to move on, but not like that. Not by finding another husband right away.”

  “Can’t imagine why,” he muttered. “If I’d been single at the time, that asshole would’ve put me off relationships.”

  “Right?” I rested a hand on his arm. “So on the way home the day after Christmas, I told myself I wasn’t going to let people push me into another relationship. And I was going to go out and actually do some things I wanted to do. Tim always told me that the thought of me with a piercing or a tattoo disgusted him, so by the time I got home, I’d made up my mind. The next day…” I gestured downward.

  Gabe’s lips tightened. “He said that to you? That he’d be disgusted by a piercing?”

 
“Oh, he was repulsed by almost anything I did or talked about doing.” I scowled. “Why do you think I cut my hair so short after I found out he was cheating?”

  “I wondered about that.” He ran his fingers through my hair, which had grown to just past my shoulders now. “You look great with it long or short, by the way.”

  I smiled. “Thanks. Anyway, I’m sorry to bring him up right now. It—”

  “Well, to be fair, I asked.”

  “Still.” I sighed. “I’m over him, but sometimes it does bug me to think about how much time I wasted on him. Or how much energy I wasted being pissed off when I found out he was cheating on me.”

  “I think that’s pretty normal after getting out of a bad relationship. Seems like most people have at least one ex they look back on and wonder if they were drunk for the entire relationship or something.”

  “Do you have one like that?”

  Nodding, he whistled. “The girlfriend I had like a year before I met Shahid. We were only together for a few months, but man, sometimes I wonder how we lasted a week.” He paused. “She’s one of the reasons Shahid’s always been uneasy about me being bi.”

  “How so?”

  “I’d sworn off dating after her. So after I met Shahid, I think he got it stuck in his head that I was only dating him as, like, a delayed rebound, I guess. And that sooner or later, I’d finally be over her and realize I wanted to be with a woman after all.”

  I held his gaze. “Is that going to come up now, do you think?”

  “I hope not.” Gabe wiped a hand over his face. “We’ve talked about it, and he knows all he has to do is say the word, and we’ll call this whole thing off.”

  “Maybe IVF would be the way to go, then. So he has some peace of mind.”

  Gabe shook his head. “No. He’s pretty adamantly against it, and so am I. The price alone made us both dig our heels in. I mean, the amount of money we’d have to cough up for those shitty odds? No way.”

  “So, it’s either this or…” I swallowed. “I mean, what other options are there?”

  “I don’t think there are any,” he whispered.

  My chest tightened. Here I was hemming and hawing over whether I even wanted children of my own, and these two were at the end of a very short list of methods to have theirs.