Wendol Read online

  “Whatever works best for you and your clients. I’ll have a desk, scale, white board, and file cabinet moved into the room that’s going to be your office. If there is anything else specific you need, get with LoraLeigh and she can make it happen for you.”

  I know I’m a dick. I’m the owner and should handle setting her up, but being around her is hard. LoraLeigh can handle it and has a business credit card to purchase whatever Jessika may need that we don’t readily have it on hand.

  “Okay. Thank you for the opportunity.” She says as she twists the knob and opens the door.

  I give her a nod and pretend to focus on paperwork on my desk. As soon as I see her exit the front door on the camera screen in my office, I jump up and go hit the bags. I have too much tension built up, time to work it off.

  What the hell have I just agreed to?

  Chapter Four

  ~Jessika~

  Leaving The Basement, I am a twisted bundle of nerves. I wanted Wendol to kiss me more than I wanted my next breath.

  Thank God, Wendol was the responsible one and didn’t cross that line. I would have regretted it for sure, but in the moment, I was ready to throw all caution to the wind.

  Feeling off balance, I get in my car and blow out a breath. The hair on the back of my neck stands up. That feeling you get like someone is watching you. I look around me and can’t find the source of it.

  The nagging feeling is something I brush off as I pull out of the parking lot and head to Kenzy’s house.

  Maverick and Makenzy Collins live in marital bliss with Richard, Mav’s dad living with them and their baby boy. Kenzy works full time as an ICU nurse. She’s off today so I will have time with her to get my head on straight.

  Kenzy answers the door with baby Slade on her hip, a stain on her shirt, and a smile on her face. Immediately, I reach out to the bundle of joy taking him from her.

  “Auntie Jess is here, heartbreaker.” I coo as I walk inside their house.

  On a sigh, Kenzy follows us. “Ignore the mess. You know the drill; this house is lived in not a museum.”

  We both laugh.

  “I don’t care if it’s a mess as long as your sex toys are put away.” I joke with her.

  “With a man like Maverick, I don’t need a toy,” she proudly tells me like she does every single time we have this little chat.

  My battery operated boyfriends always get the job done better than any man … well, except Wendol. In one night, he ruined me for anyone else. It was like his dick was made for me, two pieces of a puzzle that join together and work, that’s how to describe the night we shared.

  “So what brings you by on a work day?” Kenzy asks while I plop down on the couch with little Slade babbling in my arms. “And so dressed up.”

  I sigh. “So the gym has been sold. We have to be out in forty-eight hours. I need a job so I went out to turn in resumes today.”

  “Oh Jess, honey.” She says with a genuine sadness.

  Kenzy knows how bad my anxiety gets. At the hospital when she had Slade, I had to go to the bathroom and throw up just from spending so much time in the waiting room. When I go out to Zanne’s I have to drink or I freak out about the close contact. It’s why I don’t frequent the place every weekend, but in Gardendale there isn’t much to do in the way of meeting men.

  I don’t want to be alone forever. I just want a man who gets me. One who I can be with and we don’t even have to talk we can simply be. Is that too much to ask for? Apparently so.

  “Did you go to The Basement?”

  I bite my bottom lip thinking about Wendol and nod my head. “Yeah, I did.”

  “And?” she asks as I stand Slade up in front of me holding him under the arms lifting him high and bringing him back down.

  “He gave me a job.” I tell her taking in the innocent eyes of the baby in front of me.

  “That’s good,” she says plopping into the chair beside me.

  “Little heartbreaker,” I talk to Slade. “You’re gonna be the kind of man with the power to leave a trail of hearts behind you, but you won’t. You’re gonna be loyal, kind, strong, and dashing.”

  Kenzy laughs. “If he’s like his daddy, that trail will be real.”

  I shake my head. “Nope, you’re gonna know women deserve the best and not play games.”

  “Wanna talk about it with an adult?” Kenzy says as I continue lifting little man up and down while he smiles.

  “What’s there to talk about? I’m looking for something that I’m not sure exists.”

  Sitting up she leans forward. “No, it exists you just haven’t opened yourself up to find it. Love you, Jess, but stop dating losers. You went from James who would rather play Xbox then shower to Conner who was as stiff as the overly starched shirts he wore to work.”

  I contemplate the polar opposites my exes happen to be. “What does that say about me?”

  “You waste time with the wrong kind of men.”

  I give her a firm glare. “Enlighten me.”

  “Once you decide you are gonna date someone you give them this unconditional loyalty. Which is gonna be great when the right guy comes along, but it’s like you tell yourself you’re with this man so no matter what you gotta make it work. Then you give it a year, sometimes two, and you wake up and say you want more in life. Go for more from the beginning. Don’t settle from the first date and for the rest of your life. Love is magical and you deserve nothing less than magical.”

  I sigh thinking I’ve had one magical experience in my life and I pushed it away before letting it have a chance.

  Settling Slade on my knees, I begin bouncing him while Kenzy slowly closes her eyes. In a matter of moments, she is asleep in the chair. I smile and spend the next two hours with the best man in my life, my godson who will one day have the power to be a heartbreaker but will know better.

  Something about my best friend and this little baby soothes every part of my soul. Maybe one day I’ll have the happiness she’s found. Until then I’ll just have to keep kissing frogs and taking life as it comes.

  Maybe Kenzy is right and I don’t go for magical from the instant. I know love can’t be forced and neither can the sparks. My life may be crazy right now, but the sparks are out there for me somewhere.

  And if I’m honest with myself, they have always been right here in front of me. There is a man who has never been like the others. Do I have it in me to go after the magic?

  I guess time will tell. He’s my boss now so it certainly complicates things.

  Chapter Five

  ~Wendol~

  Normally, I wouldn’t go out like this. I’m too wound up to stay home. The fight night was pushed back again. It’s making me anxious. I’m ready to get shit done and collect a check.

  Jessika started moving her stuff to the gym today. Watching her ass in those tight pants, only had me more on edge. Heath called to say Kenzy and Maverick were having date night ending at Zanne’s. So, he thought we all needed to go, I agreed without any argument. I needed the distraction.

  One shot quickly leads to another and another for Jessika. I know it’s because of her anxiety. Not knowing before, it now makes sense why they go out together and she immediately hits the bar. Jessika wants to let loose but can’t. I watch her with Kenzy carefree and it’s sexy as fuck. Within an hour, she is having the time of her life. Before long, Kenzy hits the dance floor with Maverick not far behind her. Gone are his tapping ass days as he is a one-woman man.

  Jessika is moving beside them, her body in rhythm with the music making me hard. Conner, who I know is her ex from a few years back steps up to dance with her. I watch her throw her hand up to stop him. Maverick stills Kenzy in front of him to share a word with the man who shakes his head but keeps his attention on Jessika. I see her face and I don’t like what I see at all.

  Moving to them, I look Conner in the eye. “Go grab a drink, Conner.” I pull out a ten and hand it to him. He brushes my hand away.

  “Jessika, one fuckin�
�� dance. Now you have your meatheads acting like we have some issue.”

  “Conner, you’re drunk. I’m here to have a good time. Go on.” She brushes him off.

  He glares at her. “For a woman who can move her body on the dance floor, you’re a sorry lay.” I start to grab for him, Maverick grabs my wrist and shakes his head at me.

  I don’t give a fuck. I look the man in the eye before I let him know what it’s really supposed to be like. “How you treat a woman on the regular is what you get back in bed, you sorry fuck. You let her feel cherished, show her she’s your queen, and she’ll come alive for you. Expecting shit without giving is why you, Conner O’Mally are a sorry lay. Jessika here will rock a man’s world if he first rocks hers, just ask me!” I challenge to which he glares hellfire at me but doesn’t make a move.

  Jessika gasps while Kenzy studies us. No one knows about the night we had. Kenzy being tipsy and well, Kenzy being Kenzy, smirks and looks at Jessika, “I think you should let Wendol rock your world, bestie. He knows what it takes. He’s the magic you need, Jess.” The two laugh and Reese changes the song at the perfect time with a slight chin lift to me in approval.

  The slow song plays on as I turn moving behind her with her back pressed to my front and my hands on her hips. Swiftly, she wraps my hands around her waist, pulling us closer together as we sway to the rhythm. Reaching up behind her, she lays her hands around the back of my neck pulling me down, with my breath coming down just behind her ear. I watch through the thin fabric of her top as her nipples pebble. No bra because she doesn’t need it and I am hard as fuck knowing I’m turning her on. The heat of my breaths hit her exposed neck and she trembles in my arms.

  “Jess,” my voice is husky against her throat as I keep her body to me tightly, taking control while leaving us with that plump ass against my crotch. I move us together in a seductive way that only makes it known how good we are in bed. Just remember, Jessika. Open the door and let me in, I quietly hope.

  “I’m too drunk to swoon, Wendol. Just wanna have a good time,” Jess admits as she presses her ass to my cock a little more.

  Tonight, she’s in a thin tank top with spaghetti straps and a skirt. I think she had a shirt on over the tank when they arrived, but shed it as she started dancing. It’s topped off with a pair of cowboy boots that make me want to fuck her in just those boots.

  My hands roam, moving the hem of her skirt dangerously high. She moans before dropping a hand over mine and guiding me higher.

  The encouragement makes my dick twitch and I feel like I might explode. I flick my tongue against her neck. She tries to guide my hand again, which I slide under the skirt using my thumb to trace the lace edge of her panties.

  It’s a delicious tease for us both. Every touch has more prickles on her skin even though the room is hot. I see her pulse pound in her neck as she wants this as much as I do.

  Her ass moves in circles over my cock threatening to send me over the edge like a teenage boy with no control.

  The music continues and I move us together as one, while our bodies continue to hum in need for more contact. Even as the music changes to a faster song, I keep us close.

  We are lost in each other. Maverick, Kenzy, everyone is forgotten.

  Three songs later, we’re both sweating and I am sure my dick may quite possibly pop out of my pants if I get any harder.

  Taking Jessika by the hand, I lead us to the bar where I order a beer and she orders a fruity drink from Juliette the usual bartender. I take a long pull on the cold amber liquid. Willing my cock to calm down, I have to swallow hard when Jessika’s hand snakes out and strokes me through the denim of my jeans.

  I cover her hand in mine stopping it. “Jessika, you wanna go there, I’m happy to oblige. You gonna send me packing again with some bullshit rebound line then stop this now before we both get burned.”

  “Maybe I wanna get burned.”

  I shake my head trying to come to my senses and be the man my mom raised me to be. The kind of man my sister deserved and didn’t get.

  “Jess, you’re drunk. You let me take you out on a real date, I promise I’ll make the burn be the best kind, but this, this is a recipe for disaster. This game we play when it comes to Zanne’s has to stop. It’s not what you really want and it’s not me, not the kind of man I am.”

  She studies me like she’s in shock. She probably is. I’m serious though. Since Shayla, I haven’t been the one hit wonder I was in high school. I made a promise over her grave not to be like any other man out there. I would be the one who opened doors until I was in a wheelchair and couldn’t. I would be the man to cook dinner, get groceries, and rub my woman’s feet after a long day without being asked. I wouldn’t do any of it out of obligation. I would want to.

  No, a woman, my woman, will be my treasure, my most valuable, and she would fucking know it. Jessika, if that’s what she wants to be, I will give her the man of her dreams. She has to take that chance though.

  And there lies our problem. Jessika isn’t sober enough to take that leap. I won’t have sex with her again unless she’s mine.

  Watching her drink to avoid talking tells me she wants it too, she just isn’t ready to go after it.

  Well, Jessika Phillips, I’m going to make it impossible to resist me. Game on.

  Chapter Six

  ~Jessika~

  One Week Later

  The steady clanking of weight machines is like a lullaby to my mind. Every morning since I was a teen, I have woken up with this feeling in the pit of my stomach. Drinking my breakfast shake I swallow it down every single day.

  Until I get to the gym and hear the sounds of strength. The noise is hypnotic. Also, I teach yoga as my own personal time out. It is all about relaxing through stretching and regulated breathing. I never thought I could be a fitness instructor, but yoga solved that problem. The forced breathing is what I need to be able to handle a closed room of people.

  It sounds silly, but it’s been this way forever.

  In fact, the only relief I have ever found for my anxiety is in the gym. I remember begging my mom to homeschool me. Around fifteen, I went through a change. I had a normal teenage life until I didn’t.

  For the longest time I couldn’t pinpoint what changed for me. Kenzy and I weren’t popular, we didn’t draw a lot of attention back then. There was this one day where Kenzy was absent. I had just finished gym and in my usual way I was running behind schedule. I didn’t pay attention to the fact that everyone else had left. I was dancing around when the second bell rang. Rushing out, I ran right into someone. A group of someone’s actually.

  Ben and his crew of jocks surrounded me, groping me. Hands were everywhere in a flash and I couldn’t breathe. The pressure was crushing me.

  The day was a blur as I hid in the bathroom feeling every single one of those teenage boys’ hands all over my body.

  School and life weren’t the same after that.

  I know it could have been worse, but this is what happened to me. This is my truth as they say and I’m still dealing with the way it made me feel.

  Since then, I’ve always gotten anxious about groups. Except the gym. At the gym, I found my escape in exercise. Naturally, I gravitated to nutrition because it’s something in my control. After facing something out of my control, this was made for me.

  The gym is home sweet home. Being at The Basement watching Wendol sweat, train, and every muscle in his body flex is not home. It’s a torture that’s unlike no other.

  And just as I’m about to make my way to the front to meet one of my clients he catches me ogling him. Shit.

  “Like what ya see?” He winks.

  “Your body is a temple,” I reply as I bow to the man who has chiseled and defined every inch that I can see with him wearing basketball shorts. He has some yellowing from bruises that are healing leaving me curious.

  “Since you’re the expert in nutrition, how about we go to dinner and you can let me know if my diet is on point for my bo
dy’s needs?”

  I start to shake my head. Then I think about what Kenzy said. I also take in the changes in my life. I tossed aside a chance with Wendol before. I don’t want to do it again.

  “Okay, macho man, pick me up at seven.” I tell him sauntering off to my client feeling like this may blow up in my face, but I don’t want to spend another five years thinking of him as the one who got away.

  **

  The day passes with my mind focused on dinner. Leaving the gym, Wendol was in his office with Heath so I didn’t stop to say goodnight like I have been doing starting a few days ago. My clients have made the adjustment and seem to like it here just fine. Wendol matched their membership price from before and waived new enrollment fees so really what did they have to lose.

  Getting in my car, I can’t shake the feeling someone is watching me again. The hair on the back of my neck stands up and I literally break out in goosebumps. It’s beginning to really bother me, like I’m going crazy. I tell myself it’s my nerves and go on home.

  At my apartment, I take my time, showering and getting ready. With my favorite black skinny jeans on, an off the shoulder top, and my favorite boots, I style my short hair, and pop my lips after finishing my smoky-eyed makeup. With a quick swipe of gloss, I am ready just as the doorbell rings.

  I open it with a smile to see Wendol with flowers. I take them inviting him in all while drinking him in too. He’s in jeans and a gym t-shirt so we have the casual feel we are both used to. His short blond hair is spiked, and he smells fresh telling me he must have showered at the gym before coming here.

  “You look amazing as always, Jess.” His voice has this rumble that hits me straight in the belly.

  I have all these butterflies that I have never had before. Given our history it surprises me to feel all these exciting feelings around him.

  As we leave, he keeps his hand at the small of my back always light touches letting me know he’s there. He stops to lock the door for me and check it after. At the truck, he opens the door and waits for me to get settled before shutting it behind me.