Stroke (A Miami Lust Novella Book 2) Read online

  I locate my seam ripper and pull out everything I just did in the last two minutes. He’s got my brain scrambled like well-done eggs. Maybe I should go back and inspect the other pieces that I’ve completed, because I honestly can’t remember even finishing them. He’s consumed my mind since he left. Maybe I can move on with the rest of my day now that I know he’s perfect. Yes, surely I can move on now.

  I turn on a local Hispanic radio station for background noise, and the lively music has me dancing in my sewing chair. It helps a little with concentration since I don’t know the words and can’t dwell on them. I end up finishing both boxes within a few hours, even with gluing the broken props back together. Mateo is going to be soooo happy. Spanish seems to bring good luck to me. Maybe I should learn Spanish. Hmmm, there’s no harm in that. Any extra language is helpful, they say. I’ll have to check into that. Maybe Mateo could teach me. Is he Hispanic? I’d better ask.

  My phone rings and I scramble around trying to locate it within the mess of scraps and string on my dining room table. What a mess! I start to panic knowing it’s almost on its last ring before voicemail. Ah, there it is. I turn down the music to answer it, so I don’t sound like I’m in a bar at 2:00 pm.

  “Hello...” I say breathlessly.

  “Hi, Cassee. It’s Mateo. What are you doing that you’re out of breath, and can I come join in?”

  He always makes me laugh. I think it’s my favorite quality about him.

  “I’m sewing and I lost my phone in the mess. I made an even bigger mess trying to find it, but I have it now and have some great news for you,” I squeal.

  “Really?” he asks. I can practically hear him smiling with that question. “What is it? No wait. Let me guess. You just found out the last Barnum and Bailey circus is in town and your love for elephants is compelling you to go?”

  Oh my god. Where does he come up with this stuff? “Uh, no. That was quite random.” I laugh into the phone, but I can hear him laughing on the other end, so I know his feelings aren’t hurt.

  “Okay, you just realized your super power is leaping tall buildings and you’ve been all around Miami today testing out your height capabilities?” he snickers under his breath, trying to say all that with a believable voice.

  “Again, random. C’mon, be serious,” I beg him, happy to know he can’t see me smiling like a lunatic at his sense of humor. Who knew funny could be so sexy?

  “Okay, in all seriousness...you’ve finished the boxes of repairs and need me to come and get them?” he responds, clearing his throat and listening quietly for my response.

  “Aww. Shoot. I kinda wanted to hear another random answer. Well, crap. That entertainment was short-lived,” I sigh loudly, letting him know I’m disappointed.

  “Are you pouting?” he asks.

  “How the heck did you know that?” I quickly look around the condo. How the hell does he do that? “Are you peeking in my windows on the tenth floor?” I laugh.

  “No, but your neighbor called, and said your music is too loud,” he laughs loudly. I can practically hear him.

  “What?” I walk over to the door, and open it suddenly. He’s standing there, bent over at the waist, laughing really hard with his phone in his hand. He stands straight, and wipes tears from his eyes while continuing to laugh. His smile is so wide, I can see that one lonely dimple again. It makes my insides quake and my panties wet. He steps toward my door, but I flick my fingers and push it closed on him. That’ll teach him that I can play games too.

  His long fingers reach in and stop the door from closing, pushing it open wide. We stand in the open space of the condo staring at each other. His face is flush from laughing and holds a look of intrigue. Curiosity dances in his eyes. Time stops and I swear my heart falls to my feet. He’s so beautiful with those golden-brown eyes and full lips. Just looking at him sets my body on fire. The only thing I can think to do is run, but my shoes are suddenly as heavy as concrete boots. He chases me down the back hallway, catching me as I reach my bed. We both fall softly into the rumpled sheets laughing.

  “Why did you run?” he asks, brushing my hair back from my face. “I was enjoying my view.”

  “I wanted to see if you’d come after me,” I confess, looking directly into his eyes. “Looks like I was right.” He leans in and pulls my face closer to his. I can smell his cologne and want nothing more than to rub his scented skin all over me.

  “I’d come after you anywhere, anytime,” he whispers before pressing his lips to mine. His tongue pushes against my lips seeking entrance, so I open the floodgates and pour everything I’m feeling into kissing him. I’ve never wanted anyone like I want him. We wrestle around in the bed, desperately trying to gain control and get as close to each other as possible, but I eventually win and straddle his waist. Leaning forward into him with his surrender, my hair falls down around us, shielding out the rest of the world. I only hear him breathing and the sound of my heartbeat. “I wanna be wherever you are,” I whisper in his ear, trailing kisses down his neck.

  He caresses the backs of my thighs as I stretch forward over him, sending goose bumps up my spine again. How does one touch give me everything I need, and yet, doesn’t satisfy me at all.

  With a hard smack on my ass he says, “C’mon. I want to go play at the beach, and you need to come with me. Put your real bikini on this time and let’s go.”

  “The beach? No one wants to see my thunder thighs shifting around in the sand,” I announce, in a softer voice than I meant to reveal.

  “Who says you have thunder thighs?” he demands in a harsh voice. “From what I saw, those thighs are a gift from Heaven; long, slim, elegant and beautiful. On second thought, put on a muumuu and straw hat and let’s go. I don’t want every man there ogling you.”

  Climbing off him, I finally notice the board shorts he’s wearing and oh man, he looks great in them. His t-shirt has ridden up and gives me just a peek of his washboard abs. Plus the position he’s laying in has the shorts stretched taut against his thighs— good Lord, the man doesn’t skip leg day. Whew! Who’s ogling who now?

  I saunter over to the dresser and start pulling out the mix and match pieces to several bikinis, holding them up to me and turning for his evaluation. He points to the purple ruffled top and pink pinstriped bottoms. I shake my head at his fashion sense, but I put it out there with giving him a say so and now I live with his choice.

  And so, I change right there in front of him. All shyness is gone with the things he did to my body last night. It’s liberating and confidence-boosting when I look up and see his eyes are glazed over and his face frozen in wonderment. He visibly likes what he sees, and who am I to argue with this taste in bikini wear— he’s obviously an expert with his business.

  I grab my beach bag and stuff it with some snacks from the pantry and away we go. He escorts me the entire way to the car, his hand on my lower back like he can’t let me get too far from him. As we walk, every light touch of our skin shoots off little electric sparks between us causing my blood to buzz with desire for him.

  We arrive at the beach on Virginia Key and settle our belongings down between two palm trees with a beautiful view of the high rise buildings in downtown Miami. What a spectacular view. We spend most of the afternoon lounging lazily in the sand talking, laughing, teasing and tasting; simply getting to know each other more intimately, both mentally and physically.

  This man, he’s a special one. Is he the one for me? I hope so, but am I wishing too hard? Is this my first love and heartbreak? Is Miami where I’m meant to be? I have way too many questions to answer, and not enough time to figure it all out before a decision has to be made. Is this why they say ‘life’s not fair’? All I know is that I sit here, holding the hand of a sensitive man who wants to devour my mind, my body and my time while watching the most gorgeous sunset I’ve ever seen. The air is warm and the breeze is light and cool. It’s absolutely perfect being here with him.

  Chapter 7 – Mateo

  She
’s sitting here beside me staring out at where the sky meets the ocean, and I’ve never been more content to just sit and watch someone. Her bright red toes are dug into the sand, and she lifts them up occasionally to the sun when a wave rolls in with more force than the last one before it. Every now and then she giggles when a tiny fish comes forth in the wave and tickles her toes.

  “Oh, look, Mat,” she squeals with child-like excitement as she points to one in particular swimming in the foam that’s come ashore. “There are tiny fish riding the waves today.” Her voice chimes in that tinkling laughter that I love.

  “I see that. Even the fish want to be close to you,” I tease her, reaching out and taking a hold of her fingers. Our arms entwine and dangle together between our chairs.

  “Are you saying you want to be closer to me?” she asks, her eyes squint from the sun but look right into mine.

  “I don’t know how long we have together, but I’ve got this feeling that you’re meant to be in my life and I want to start that life as soon as possible,” I admit, swallowing hard because I don’t think I’ve ever been that honest with anyone. “So, yes, I want to be with you, whether that’s geographically, mentally, physically, emotionally, financially and any other -lly I can think of. I want to spend every waking moment that we can together before you decide your life is elsewhere and I become a miserable mess of a memory.”

  “Oh, I see. You think I’m gonna break your heart,” she chuckles under her breath. “I don’t think that’s gonna happen. I wouldn’t have the foggiest clue how to break a heart, but I think you could do some serious damage here.”

  “Why does there have to be damage?” I ask sincerely. “I fully believe that people come in and out of our lives for a reason; a purpose that we usually don’t understand until after the fact. If we can keep that thought as our primary understanding, there doesn’t have to be any damage. Life is too short to not chase the ‘what ifs’ in it. I want to live without regrets.”

  What is it about this girl that has me floating on the philosophical side of life? She brings out the deeper side of me. I think I like that, but I know it scares the shit out of me.

  “Maybe you’re here to give me hope that love exists and I shouldn’t give up. Maybe I’m here to show you there are good guys in this world who don’t just want you for sex,” I offer in response. “If we’re meant to be, it will happen. I have no doubts.” I hear her sigh, and the breeze picks up her hair swirling it against my chest. Little ringlet curls are massed together and crusted with salt from when we chased each other through the waves earlier. I pull on one of the curls and watch it spring back up, causing her to smile and laugh softly. She’s got me all soft with feelings, or maybe it’s just this heat melting my insides. This is my first summer in Miami. Either way, it’s hard to reconcile these feelings with the ones in my imagination of how it should be and what I’m used to.

  The sun is going down with the sky turning those electric shades of orange and yellow. In the distance, carousel music plays in the park. “C’mon,” she says, pulling on my arm. “It’s getting late and I’m hungry. Let’s go eat, but first, I wanna ride the carousel.” She stands up and adjusts her sarong and pulls on her T-shirt, twisting one corner into a tight knot. The shirt tightens against her breasts and allows me a glimpse of her flat stomach and hips. I’ve suddenly got the urge to run my tongue around the rim of her belly button. Shaking my head to get that image out of my mind before my dick hardens, “Carousel, yes. Let’s go,” I agree and carry our things to the carousel.

  There isn’t a line when we arrive and look around to buy tickets, but there isn’t a booth. I set everything down, and approach the ride operator. “How much to ride?” I ask, pointing to the horses.

  “No charge. It’s a park service— free of charge in the summer for the kids,” he remarks.

  “But we aren’t kids,” I reply, pointing to Cassee and myself. I raise my eyebrows in surprise when he simply shakes his head no, and pulls one of the levers for the ride to slow down and then stop. He unclasps the line rope for us and gestures for us to enter. I let the chairs and beach bag fall off my shoulders and escort Cassee up onto the platform. “Pick your favorite one to ride, my lady,” sweeping my arms towards the colorful plastic horses.

  “I already rode my favorite one last night,” she says and throws a sultry wink my way “but I’ll go for the purple unicorn.” She reaches up and grabs its horn, jamming one bare foot into the leather stirrup, before throwing the other leg over and straddling the majestic beast. The only thing next to her unicorn is a seat and that’s no fun. Looking around, there is a large black stallion directly behind her, so I situate myself onto its back. No other riders come forth so the operator throws the lever and away we go.

  I haven’t been on a carousel since I was maybe five years old when Mom took us to Coney Island. I remember riding the carousel and getting sick on blue raspberry cotton candy with all the up and down motion. Actually, I think it was because I rode the carousel twenty times in a row. It was my favorite ride at the time. It’s another good memory that I have of my mom, because I got sick on her white pants and she never got mad. She just held me on a park bench for what seemed forever while my brothers sat and ate the rest of my cotton candy.

  A gentle breeze ruffles Cassee’s hair causing it to blow back towards me, catching my eye and drawing me from my memory. The breeze blows against her skin and she lifts her head straight up, turning it to the wind. Her eyes drift closed in contentment, enjoying the slow sway of the ride. My heart skips a beat and does that fluttery thing again when I look at her. I’m trying desperately to slow down my thoughts of her and process my feelings one moment at a time. She’s leaving, and I need to work fast to keep her here.

  The ride slows down and comes to a halt, so I dismount my stallion and lift up my hand to help Cassee.

  “Whew! That was fun, now we need to eat before I nibble on one of these plastic horses. I’m starving,” she giggles and moves to gather our things from the ground.

  “I’ll get those. You just figure out where we’re going to eat. What are you in the mood for?” I ask.

  “I really want to try that pizza place across from your club. It smelled so good when I walked past it yesterday,” she groans. The thought of watching her eat pizza with the long strings of cheese oozing from her mouth again has me turned on and my dick twitches in my pants.

  “Alright,” I say and toss her the keys to my car. “It’s your suggestion, you’re the one who’s hungry, and so you’re driving and paying.”

  “Absolutely. I was wondering if you were gonna catch on to my thought process,” she laughs before setting a look of determination and pride on her face. “Let’s go.”

  We zoom over the bridge from Virginia Key and arrive at Pizzarium Downtown within a few minutes, following the female Google voice that chimes from her phone navigation. I thought she’d be more nervous driving a strange car in a strange city, but she appears confident in her skills. I can admire that.

  I can’t wait to eat. My stomach is rumbling already just knowing that we’re close. They serve square-style Roman pizza and it’s to die for. The first time I tried it, I fell in love and that’s saying a lot from a New Yorker where pizza is King. I hold the door open for her and she instantly turns back to me, bumping into my chest. “We have a problem...we aren’t exactly dressed to eat in,” she says with a slight panic in her voice. I look over her shoulder and she’s right. Everyone else is dressed way better than our beachwear, and I don’t want to make her uncomfortable.

  “That’s alright. We’ll just order to go and take it back to my place,” I assure her with a comforting smile. After looking over the menu glued to the wall, we decide what we want and approach the counter.

  “Hey, Mr. Solis. Are you eating in tonight?” Bobby, the manager asks.

  “No. Not tonight Bobby. We’re gonna take it to go,” and I run through our order, making some slight changes with the questions that he asks
. After a short twenty minutes, we are back out the door and into the car, with me driving this time. She snorts out loud when she realizes that I simply crossed the street to go back to my place. I guess I never told her where I lived.

  “You live at the club?” she laughs, snorts, and laughs again that she snorted.

  “Yeah, we all live here. We built little apartment’s into the back. They’re nice. You’ll see,” I advise. Opening the back door with the security code and balancing the pizza in one hand. I hold the door open with my foot for her to enter and then quickly take the lead, escorting her to my place.

  “Well, well, well...what do we have here,” I hear Dante tease, as he leaves his place.

  “Ah, shit,” I whisper just loud enough for Cassee to hear me.

  “Hey, Bro. This is Cassee,” I introduce her first, watching her full lips stretch wide over her beautiful white teeth. My stomach does a little flip-flop, and I watch his eyes cloud and glaze over when her denim blue eyes round out and sparkle at him. They almost look purple in this light. He’s mesmerized by them, I think, because it’s not like Dante to be speechless. He’s the joker of the family. “And Cassee, this is my baby brother, Dante.”

  “It’s nice to meet you. Do you work here too?” she asks shaking his hand, and it takes him a second to blink and comprehend that he’s been asked a question. I start snickering, because it’s nice to know I’m not the only dumb one when it comes to her.

  “Yes, I’m the money man...the CFO...the accountant, I guess,” and I laugh again as his voice continues to get deeper the more titles he throws out there.

  “Wow, that’s impressive,” she drawls in that accent that makes my dick hard. We really need to end this conversation before the pizza gets cold and I lose my appetite for it.