Morrison Read online

  She hands him the shot, and he hands her a ten.

  “You think it’s okay to talk shit like that to me?”

  “Damn.” The guy smiles. “Probably not. Probably should be on one knee, asking you to marry me.”

  “You do know you have a better chance of seeing God, right, Ricky?”

  “So you keep telling me.”

  She looks at Jared. “Man has a thick skull, but he tips well.”

  “Keep the change, girl.” Rick laughs.

  She rings him up, then throws the extra eight bucks in her overflowing tip jar before she looks over at me.

  I am still pissed. “Say the word, and I will throw his ass—”

  “The guy’s drunk and likes to talk shit, Caldwell. He means no harm. You gonna stand in my way or change the keg?”

  I change the keg, stock the coolers, and stand back, watching her work the crowd. She is just as much of a hard-ass with them as she is with me. The exception is Jared; they seem to be tight. They live in the same building now, too.

  Jared may look like he’s in his forties with that thick-ass beard and wild hair, but he’s only in his early thirties. I really hope nothing is going on with the two of them, ’cause I like the guy and don’t wanna have to kill his ass.

  She busts her ass all night, and anytime I try to help, I get the look, the one that’s supposed to intimidate yet in reality turns me the fuck on. So I grab the stool behind the bar and park my ass in it.

  “Morrison?” I look up as a couple of women make their way over to me.

  “Hey, Patsy, Tina, what’s up?” I give them the smile they are accustomed to.

  “It’s Thursday—ladies’ night—and we came all the way here thinking we might get to see you and your brothers on the bar.”

  I laugh. “Hendrix got hitched and”—I wave my hand through the air—“looks like there are very few ladies in the house tonight. Lots of men, though, huh?”

  “But only one Caldwell.” Tina winks.

  “Just stopped in to back the bar, but Hailey here,” I say as Hailey approaches us, “would be glad to help you two out.”

  “What can I get the two of you to drink?”

  “We’d like a Caldwell cocktail.” Patsy smirks at me.

  “Come again?” she asks.

  “Wish he would.” Tina laughs. “You and your brother Jagger…Remember that time?”

  Hailey’s eyebrows shoot up as she looks at me.

  “You know what’s in a Caldwell cocktail, Hailey?” Patsy giggles.

  “Nope,” Hailey says as she pours a shot and pushes it down the bar to one of the guys waiting for a drink.

  “Well, it starts with one of us on our knees,” Tina begins.

  “Then lip to tip, right, Morrison?” Patsy adds.

  Fuck me. I nod.

  “Then a little stir, no shaking, tongue flat. Isn’t that the instructions you gave?” Tina bites her lip.

  “Take it deep, don’t gag, just swallow,” Patsy picks up where she leaves off.

  “Are you two fucking seriously telling me about the blow jobs you gave him? If so, save it. Not interested. What I am interested in is your drink order, but if you’re just here to hook up, let me know so I can serve some customers,” Hailey snaps.

  “Two Miller Lites,” Tina says quickly.

  “You wanna get that or should I?” Hailey hisses at me.

  “You go ahead, babe.”

  When she scowls at me, then goes to grab their drinks, I turn back to the girls. “Look, I’m not serving those anymore. It was great seeing the two of you, though.”

  Then I walk away as Hailey serves them.

  It is one in the morning before things die down. Hailey talks to the customers, smiles, and even calls a few of them cabs. By the time the bar is empty, it’s two in the morning. Hailey flips the sign and locks the front door.

  She doesn’t sit for a second, only keeps up her pace, and it’s obvious she’s avoiding me.

  “You wanna exchange your ones and change for bigger bills before I do the till?”

  “Yeah.” She sets the bar rag down and walks over to the register.

  I don’t move. I want her to have to come to me. “You are one hell of a bartender.”

  “Yeah, well, it’s not brain surgery.”

  “That guy, the one who called you—”

  “He’s harmless.”

  “You sure about that?”

  She whips her little braids around and glares at me. “A girl like me can spot an asshole a mile away.”

  “A girl like you doesn’t deserve catcalls,” I retort.

  “Well, it seems you have some ‘cats’ calling on you.”

  “I’m not a cat person.” I lean in a bit and look at her lips, watch her take a short, quick breath.

  She looks away quickly. “No, you’re a kid person. My daughter thinks the world of you. Actually, she talks about you all the time.”

  I take a drink, trying to calm my shit down.

  “About some game you only want to play with me? ‘Twitch’?”

  I nearly choke on my drink. “Hailey—”

  “I’m not sure it’s a good idea for the two of you to spend time together. She’s gonna think of you as more—”

  “Hold up a minute.”

  “No, you listen to me! She believes in those fairy tales—the white knights, the happily-ever-after, shit that clearly isn’t a reality. She needs to know she can be strong all by herself.”

  “You done?” I don’t like where this is heading.

  She looks away from me. “Clearly.”

  She turns around, and I go stand in front of her, placing my hands on the counter behind her. Her breath hitches again, but she doesn’t move.

  “She sees you and what you do. She’s gonna be a strong woman, no doubt. Now explain the reason behind you not wanting me around her.”

  “What’s twitch?” she says, clearing her throat and trying to hide the desire, the way she feels when she and I are this close.

  “I said bitch. Didn’t know she was there and had to cover my—”

  “So I’m a bitch!” She shoves me, but I grab her hands and keep them against my chest.

  “Sometimes.” I just can’t help myself, though it had nothing to do with what I was telling her.

  She pushes me again.

  “It’s hot, though.”

  “Morrison, don’t play games with my daughter.”

  “Not a game player anymore.”

  “Right.” She finally looks away.

  “Look at me.” She does. “I’m not playing a game.”

  “What do you want from me? What do you think I owe you? What?”

  “Slow down, baby. One question at a time. What do I want from you? I could ask the same question of you.”

  “Of me?”

  “Yes.” I lean in. “What do you want from me?”

  Her chest rises and falls, her breathing rapidly increasing as I move slowly toward her.

  “While you’re thinking about the answer, no, Hailey, I don’t own you. You own you. Now, wanting you…Well, I think you know the answer to that.”

  I step back until her hand fists my shirt.

  “I have no idea what I want from you.” Her voice is thick and husky.

  “You’re playing a game. You know what you want. You want it, and it’s right here. Your move, your call.” I slowly lean in. “It’s right here, baby. Right fucking here.”

  She licks her lips and stares at mine, then looks down at the erection pushing against my pants. “Your girls could have taken care of your needs.”

  “That need can only be taken care of by one of two people, and the one who has been handling it is getting real sick of jerking off in the shower, thinking about you.”

  “You need to get laid.”

  “I need a taste, a touch, something to hold me over till you know for damn sure this is what you want, ’cause I’m all fucking in, baby. I don’t own you; you feel me?” I take her hand
and run it down my chest to the waist of my pants. “But if you want me, I’m here. I’ll play bitch for you until you realize I’m not about owning you in the way he tried to.”

  I see the wheels turning. “Twitch?” her voice squeaks.

  “Call it whatever you want, but if you aren’t gonna take it, I need to get the fuck outta here and take care of it myself.”

  “Show me,” she says, trying to see how far she can push me.

  “You wanna watch me take care of myself?”

  She nods, swallowing down her desire.

  “You gonna show me what you’ve been doing to take care of yourself?”

  She shakes her head.

  I unbuckle my belt, then reach out and grab her around the waist. I lift her up, and she moans and goes limp in my arms, her head on my shoulder, as I set her on the bar stool, then step back.

  “Not used to spectators, baby, but if you want it, you got it. Starts like this.” I unbutton my pants, and my dick pops out of my boxer briefs. “He’s looking for you, always looking for you. Can’t get you out of his system.” I push my boxers down and wrap my hand around my dick. “Gonna close my eyes, ’cause you sitting there isn’t you lying in the back of your car while I eat the best pussy I have ever eaten in my fucking life. Platinum, Hailey. Fuck,” I moan as I stroke myself slowly up and down. “Gotta squeeze tight to—mmm. That platinum pussy of yours, so wet, so tight…’’

  “Morrison,” she whimpers.

  “Yeah, babe?” I say as I open my eyes and stroke myself, looking into her hooded gaze. “You want it?”

  She nods her head, once.

  “Lose the pants and plant that ass on the bar.” She hesitates. “Babe.”

  Once she stands and drops her pants, then turns to climb on the bar, I grab her from behind before she has the chance to turn around. I push her thong to the side and rub my finger up and down her wet seam.

  “Fuck, you’re soaked.” Before she has a chance to say shit, I take that ass in my hands and kiss that fine, little round globe that’s sticking up in the air. “Sexiest ass I have ever seen in my fucking life.”

  I run my tongue down her seam, and she arches her back.

  “You want that pussy licked, don’t you?”

  “Yes,” she moans.

  “Thank fuck. Roll over now. Slow, babe. I want to worship that ass soon, but if you want me to eat your pussy, I’m gonna eat that pussy.” She is sitting on the bar now. “Feet over my shoulders.”

  She does as I ask, and my restraint is out the fucking door. While I suck on her swollen lips and rub my tongue up and down each side, her body shudders as she grips the edge of the bar.

  I slowly work my tongue up and down her without diving in. She squirms and gives muffled moans, letting me know I am driving her wild. Hell, I’m driving myself wild.

  Then I shove my tongue inside her, and she cries out, “Morrison! Oh, God.”

  The jukebox starts up on its own every twenty minutes, and it does so now. “Skin” by Rihanna begins, the perfect fucking song.

  My tongue keeps rhythm with the song in a slow dance, the perfect tease. My mouth covers her as I reach up and push her shirt up, watching her face flush and her eyes flutter. Ecstasy. Pure fucking raw pleasure. God, I love making her feel this way.

  She pulls her shirt the rest of the way off, and I grip her thighs, pulling them farther apart as I suck on her clit, and she cries out again. Her hips are now grinding into my face as I lick harder, suck harder, and then push two fingers into her quivering pussy.

  “I want you. Oh, God, please,” she begs, but I’m not done eating that pussy, fingering it, tasting her. I want to drive her over the edge one more time, so I do.

  When I have had my fill for now, I pull her up.

  “I need to taste those tits.” I don’t wait for a reply; I just take them. When I stop for a minute, I look up at her. “No man in their right fucking mind wouldn’t want you to be his, Hailey. You’re so fucking beautiful, gorgeous, perfect.”

  She closes her eyes.

  “I need in, babe. I need to feel you from the inside.”

  She wraps her arms around my neck as I lift her.

  “Mouth—give it to me.”

  I lick inside her mouth as I hold her bare ass in my hands, kneading it, squeezing it.

  “Want that ass bad, babe. So fucking bad.” My mouth crashes over hers, and her hands fist in my hair.

  She reaches between us and grabs my cock, stroking it, and then she rubs it against her hot little snatch.

  “Gotta wrap it, babe.”

  “I’m on birth control,” she pants. “You clean?”

  “Squeaky. You?”

  “Yes.”

  Before she can say another word, I turn and push her against the cooler door, grip her hips, and bring her down hard on my cock. She cries out and then bites into my shoulder.

  “Sorry, babe, missed it so”—I thrust in hard—“fucking”—again—“much!”

  I hammer into her harshly, but I know damn well she likes it, ’cause she comes again and again until I finally join her.

  “Feels so fucking good filling you. Fuck! Won’t stop. Can’t. Fucking. Stop.”

  “Then don’t. Take it, Morrison. Take what you need.”

  She whimpers as I come again, harder this time.

  Then I hold her tight as we fight to catch our breath. Laying my lips against her neck and tasting her skin, I smell her sweet scent, and I am hard again.

  “Babe?”

  “Wow,” she says, a little shocked.

  “Gonna fuck you again.”

  “Yes, make it hard.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Could you get any fucking better?” I don’t wait for a reply. “Gonna bend you over a bar stool so I can watch that ass. We good?”

  “Yes. So good.”

  —

  She’s walking funny when she comes out of the bathroom, and I can’t help smirking. She shakes her head and rolls her eyes.

  “Still feeling me?” I ask as I take her hand.

  “You know I am.” She smiles a little.

  We leave, and I lock the door. I walk her to her car, where I take her keys and unlock her door, then open it for her.

  I tug her hand hard enough to bring her back to facing me. “You know my number.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Think you could use it?” She nods. “This is your game, babe. If you want me, you call me. See you on Wednesday, regardless.”

  She smiles. “Okay.”

  —

  I saw her both Friday and Saturday at the bar, then had cards on Monday and made some bank. Mondays are gonna help the cause out a great deal. Over the weekend I called a real estate agent in Atlantic City and listed my pad. Tuesday, I grabbed the laptop and got lost in how to start a business. I looked at a few places and realized I could do this. It wasn’t just a dream; shit was gonna be real.

  Wednesday, I found my building, four blocks from the bar. Three stories and the top floor already has a large loft apartment. It’s okay, but I’ll make it better.

  “What do you think?” the banker Townsman asks.

  “Looks okay. Needs a lot of work.”

  “Well, that happens. People know they’re losing something, and they stop giving a shit. The economy sucks, so we haven’t put much into it. The bones are good, though, a solid structure. It’s a steal for the right person.”

  I don’t want to sound too eager. “You’re asking two hundred thousand for a place that needs almost that much put into it to make it a go.”

  He looks down at the file in his hand. “As I said, it’s worth it.”

  I stick out my hand, and he shakes it. “I’ll think about it.”

  He hesitates but doesn’t give me what I want. His tell is the hesitation. He’ll cave.

  I roll up to Hailey’s and jump out just as they are leaving. Hailey looks hot as hell in her black tank top, loose-fitting cargo pants, and her hair in
low pigtails that hang over her shoulders.

  “You were almost late.” Marisa wags her finger at me.

  “Sorry, little miss thing.” I wag mine right back. “Had a meeting, but I’m here.”

  I give Hailey the normal half hug, but this time, I smell her hair. “Damn,” I whisper against her ear.

  She steps back and looks at me. “Meeting?”

  “Yep.” I grab up the little one and throw her over my shoulder. “Have a good night at work, little momma.”

  Marisa giggles. “Have a good night at work, little momma. I’m going on a date.”

  “Make sure she’s buckled, and she needs to be in bed a little early; we have a meeting tomorrow.”

  I look back at her. “Meeting?”

  “Yep,” she says as she smirks and walks away.

  —

  “You need to be a daddy.” Marisa yawns as she snuggles up against me.

  “You think so?” I ask, starting to close the book.

  “Well, maybe not. My perfect daddy would read two more books.”

  I laugh to myself. “Which book would he read next?”

  She sits up and reaches over to her nightstand. “This one.”

  “Well, I guess I can read one more.”

  She holds two fingers up. “Two more, ’member?”

  “I ’member all right.” I tickle her under her chin, then open the book. “Once upon a time…”

  Chapter 18

  Hailey

  “Tell me something good, Hailey,” Jared instructs as I set his drink in front of him. I quirk an eyebrow at him, and he reads my nonanswer. “Girl, you got good, so tell me something good.”

  “I got my place, thanks to you.”

  “No thanks to me. I’m a selfish bastard who wants to have a good-lookin’ neighbor.” He winks as he tips the glass back.

  “What they say about kids is true—they’re resilient. Marisa seems to be adjusting fine. In fact, this may be the happiest I’ve ever seen her. Between her time with Sally, Livi, and those Caldwell boys, she gets more attention now than ever before. Plus, we have this neighbor who helps us feel safe, and she loves baking cookies for him.” I smile, thinking how nice it is to have someone I’m comfortable with next door.

  “Need another drink on that one, Hailey. I’m glad to see y’all happy. Gotta know I haven’t always kept the people close to me safe. I’m not dependable for that. Those Caldwell boys, though, they’ll keep an eye on ya.”