Page 29 of All This Time (Blossom Peak #1)

Fletcher

A Bet, Yoga, and Drowning

“Thank you so much. We hope to see you again soon!” Yvonne waves to the customer leaving as I walk through the front door to Blossom Beauty.

Our eyes meet and her lips curl up into a knowing grin.

“Well, if it isn’t Lucifer himself. Are you here for another massage? ” She wiggles her fingers in the air.

Chuckling, I reply, “As much as I’m tempted, I’m actually here to see your boss.”

“Oooh. The plot thickens.” Her eyebrows bounce up and down before motioning for me to follow her. “This way.”

As we walk through the salon, several customers begin whispering. But right now, my only focus is getting to Laney and un-fucking this entire situation.

After two days of reaching out to her with no response, I knew the only way I would get her to talk to me would be to force her to. And what better place to do it than her salon, where she can’t escape without inviting questions, or where she’s least likely to make a scene.

Yvonne knocks on the door to Laney’s office at the end of the hall. “Boss?”

“I’m on the phone!” she calls back.

Yvonne turns to me. “There was a mistake with one of our orders and she’s been on the phone all morning. Do you wanna wait?”

“Yup. I’m not going anywhere.” Folding my arms, I lean against the wall.

Yvonne chuckles. “Good man.” Leaning up against the door herself, she says, “You have a visitor. When you’re done, they’re out here waiting for you.”

“Not sure how long I’ll be,” Laney calls back.

I lean in toward the door this time. “Don’t worry. I’ve got all day.”

Laney grows quiet on the other side.

“Fletcher?” she finally asks.

“Nope. It’s Lucifer.”

Yvonne snorts. “You two are perfect for each other.” She slaps my shoulder and walks off, leaving me there to wait.

I’m not entirely sure what Yvonne knows about Friday night, but until I verify from Laney, I’m not going to assume anything.

Surprisingly, Laney doesn’t keep me waiting long. After only ten minutes, the knob to her office turns and she appears, peering up at me with wide eyes through a crack in the door. “Um, hey.”

“We need to talk.”

The gap in the door gets smaller. “I’m kind of working, Fletcher.”

“The salon is running just fine.” I put my hand on the door, prepared to press it open with force. “Now, you can either let me inside on your own, or I’m going to push my way inside. But either way, I’m coming inside and we’re talking. You decide how you want this to go.”

She folds her lips between her teeth and slowly opens the door to let me through. “Good girl,” I mutter before walking inside and waiting for her to shut the door behind me.

“Fletcher,” she starts, but I cut her off, pressing my finger to her lips as I back her up against the door.

Our bodies are pressed together, allowing me to feel every curve of her, curves that are even more tempting than they were when we were younger, and a body I got up close and intimate with the other night.

But wanting Laney is so much more beyond the physical. She’s the only woman I’ve ever felt like I could be myself around, the only person that makes me want to bare my fucking soul, the only person who knows every part of me—the good and the ugly.

She’s the one who got away, but she’s not getting away from me this time—not when I know with each interaction how strong our connection still is. How, even though it’s been twelve years, being around her makes me feel just as safe and secure as I did back then.

Now I just need to convince her to give us a chance, but I know I can’t push that yet. Laney scares easily.

But Friday she let me touch her in a way I’ve never done before, so perhaps that’s what I need to explore more first.

Laney’s chest rises and falls with her rapid breaths and her pupils are dilated, making her otherwise bright green eyes appear darker. My cock grows painfully hard in just the few seconds we’ve been touching, and I don’t even bother to hide it.

“It’s my turn to talk, Laney Hart,” I say, removing my hand from her lips. Her eyes grow wider before they drop to my mouth for a split second. “Friday night, you came all over my hand in a dark corner of a bar, and then you ran off.”

She arches a brow at me. “Is that a problem?”

Technically, no. But I don’t like the way we left things.

“Nope. No problem at all, except that you’ve been avoiding me the past two days.” I drag my finger along her exposed collarbone, like I’m drawing a map across her skin.

Laney visibly swallows. “Well, I’m fine.”

Narrowing my eyes at her, I feel her pulse fire rapidly under the skin along her neck. “I think you’re lying. Tell me the truth.”

“There’s nothing you need to know,” she fires back as she straightens her spine, her eyes fixated on my mouth.

“Really?” My eyes drop to her lips and the animalistic part of me I’ve been holding back comes out to play. “Well, how about we bet on it?”

Her gaze lifts to mine. “What?” she asks, her voice full of surprise.

“I bet I can make you come with my name on your lips in less than three minutes. And when I do, you’re going to answer any question I ask.”

Jesus, Fletcher. Do you honestly think that was the correct thing to say at this moment?

But instead of smacking me like I expect, she steels her gaze. “Is that so?”

“I wouldn’t put it out there if I didn’t know I could.”

“And if you don’t?”

“Then I’ll back off. I won’t push you to talk to me.”

Some might call me crazy or insane, but I know what I feel between us. And if I can use this as a way to prove it to Laney so she can stop fucking denying it, then that’s what I’m going to do.

Her jaw moves back and forth as she contemplates my challenge, but then she says something that shocks me and makes me snap at the same time. “Fine. Then prove it.”

Smashing my lips to hers, I block out the rational part of my brain that’s telling me I’m handling this situation all wrong and instead focus on letting out twelve years of pent-up need for this woman, consequences be damned.

If Laney truly didn’t want me, she wouldn’t have challenged me, she wouldn’t have given me permission to make her come, and she sure as hell wouldn’t be kissing me back the way that she is right now—passionately, obsessively, and full of fucking need.

Well, that makes two of us, Laney Hart.

I lift her by her hips and pin her to the door as her legs wrap around my waist. We claw at each other as I assault her mouth, controlling her tongue with my own.

Her nails scrape through my hair like she can’t get close enough.

I spin us around, stalking toward her desk, shoving papers aside as I set her down and reach for the clasp on her slacks.

She helps me strip them off, breathing fast.

“Now’s the time to tell me if you don’t want this, Laney,” I grate out as our eyes lock. My hand moves straight toward her pussy, feeling the heat between her legs, finding her underwear soaked already. “But even if you did, I wouldn’t believe you.”

“Just shut up and make me come, Fletcher,” she snaps, spreading her legs.

Fuck me.

I drop to my knees in front of her.

“You have no idea what you’ve just asked for,” I say as I grip the sides of her thong and rip it in half. The gasp she lets out spurs me on as I lean forward and drag my tongue all the way through her soaking wet slit. “Are you going to set a timer, or shall I?”

She closes her eyes and drops her head back with a moan but doesn’t respond. So, I reach into my pocket, take out my phone and set a timer for three minutes, setting it on the desk next to her before parting her pussy and sucking her clit between my teeth.

“Oh fuck,” she groans as she buries one of her hands in my hair, the other braced behind her for support.

Time starts ticking, but I’m not even thinking about the constraint because tasting Laney’s pussy is like taking a drink of water after trekking through the goddamn Sahara Desert—it’s fueling me, replenishing something inside of me, reminding me why this woman caught my attention all those years ago and never left my mind, despite the distance between us.

“You’re so fucking wet, Laney. You like the idea of me on my knees for you, don’t you?”

“Yes,” she says through a sigh.

“Do you realize how long I’ve wanted this?” Her head pops up and her eyes connect with mine. “While you’ve been hating me, all I’ve thought about is how to get you to see that I would gladly get on my knees for you to prove I’m not the asshole you think I am.”

She blinks a few times. “Fletcher…”

I slide two of my fingers into my mouth to wet them, and then slowly push them inside her, curling them toward me as she gasps.

“Don’t worry. I’m gonna make you come first, angel.

But then we’re going to fucking talk and you’re going to realize that the last thing I could ever do is hate you back.

” Before she can say anything, I drop my mouth back down to her pussy and continue to build her up with my fingers and my tongue. “Fucking hell, you’re drenched.”

Her body bucks under my mouth. “Don’t stop,” she pants, hands trembling in my hair.

I peer up and see her head thrown back again, her eyes shut, her mouth agape, taking in short breaths as I bring out every drop of ecstasy that I can from her body. Her pussy tightens around my fingers as I flick her clit with my tongue and that’s when I know she’s close.

“Come on my fucking face, Laney. Give me every drop.”

“Oh God.” Her head pops up again as she watches me swirl my tongue in circles and flick her clit over and over until she screams, her orgasm slamming into her as her pussy tightens around my fingers.

I quickly reach up and place my free hand over her mouth, quieting her because I’m sure the entire salon heard her just now.

And when the last tremor rushes through her, I release her clit with a pop, extract my fingers from her pussy, and lick them clean as I stand up.