Licked (Getting Dirty Series Book 3) Read online

  Already knowing what tonight’s special is, I take everything out, placing it on the counter. Everything else, he should damn well know where it all is.

  “It’s all set out. Is there anything you need help with?” I ask. Dan is still quiet after being given the what-for.

  “No, that’s it. Thank you.” He does look remorseful at least.

  “Not a problem, but next time, please look further or shoot me a text. Melody is off for the night, as am I. If you need something, let Nancy know. She’ll get a hold of us.” With that, I turn around, leaving the kitchen to go to the back office and make sure Nancy’s good to go. This is exactly why I didn’t want to be an active partner, but I know Melody needed the afternoon off. Hopefully, it did some good too.

  “Hey, what are you doing here?” Nancy looks up from the desk. I’m sure she’s pouring over the schedule. I don’t know how she and Mel deal with that, it’s a nightmare with everyone needing certain times and shit.

  “Hi, just stopping by real quick. You and Dan are the only ones who saw me. If you need anything, make sure you bother me, not Melody.”

  “Not a problem. It’s just one night. You two can take a night off. She deserves to spend a night at home without worrying, and so do you, so go on and shoo. Get out of here.” Nancy is a grandmotherly type of person, spoils the snot out of all of us.

  “Thanks, see you later.” I wave over my shoulder, heading out the door and to my truck once again. I’m seeing a vacation in my future, even if it’s stay-at-home-and-do-nothing style.

  My only thoughts right now are getting home, calling Berkley, opening up a bottle of beer, and jerking off like I’ve done every single fucking day for the past month. My hand is developing calluses from all the times I’ve had to use it when all I could think about was Berkley, how she’d come all over my mouth as I ate her for breakfast, lunch, and dinner before flipping her over on her hands and knees, taking her until both of us can’t take any more.

  “God damn,” I mumble under my breath once I’m in my truck, my jeans already getting tight just thinking of all the things I’m going to do to Berkley. I adjust myself then get on the road. If I had her address, she’d find me on her doorstep tonight, but since that’s not the case, a phone call will have to do. For now.

  Seven

  Berkley

  After my nap, okay, fine, it wasn’t a nap, more like a three-hour snooze fest. Between the high emotions, the two shots of coconut rum, and then my overdue orgasm, it knocked me the hell out. Now I’m up and starving. “I could really go for a cheeseburger, French fries, and a mint chocolate chip milkshake.”

  I pull my phone out, knowing I’m going to order this to be delivered. Thank you, Grubhub, for me not having to leave my house, which means I can call my girl gang. I no sooner place my order on my phone and put it down before it starts ringing.

  “Who the hell,” I breathe out, recognizing the number that’s displayed on the screen to be from a certain handsome man who stormed into my life earlier today. I only wish I had time to talk to the girls before he called.

  “Hello.” I put the phone on speaker, waiting to see what he’ll say.

  “Sugar.” It’s one word, something that shouldn’t cause my whole body to shiver, yet it does. His voice sounds like he’s been smoking, deep and with a huskiness to it, except I didn’t smell any signs of cigarettes on him.

  “Ryder. Sugar? Really?” I’m shocked he’s called, and so early. It throws me for a loop. I know he and Sienna had plans. I assumed if Ryder called, it would be later this evening, if not tomorrow.

  “The way you smell, Berkley, like spun sugar. Can’t wait to taste you and see just how sweet you are.” My legs clench together without a thought.

  “Ryder,” I moan out his name this time.

  “I’m already addicted to hearing my name coming from your lips.” The desire in my body builds, and I moan my response.

  “Fuck, I knew when I had you in my sights again, you’d be perfect for me, and now that I do, there’s a damn phone between us,” Ryder states.

  “You could always come over?” I question, but more like offer to see what he’ll say. I’m sure if the girls were here, they’d either say ‘Hell yes’ or ‘Fuck no’. Rowen and Aspen would be on the ‘Get it, girl’ side, while Peyton, God love her, she would be like ‘Are you crazy? He could be this, he could do that.’

  “If you want me there, I’m there. Don’t think this is just some passing bullshit either. I set my eyes on you the moment you weren’t almost dying in front of me. Having my hands on your body, it felt like coming home, Berkley. You’re exactly what I want.”

  “But we barely know each other,” I question even though I know exactly what he means. I felt it that first time we met, and there’s no doubt about feeling it today.

  “We’ll get to know each other, and as much as it pains me to say this, I’m not coming over tonight,” he states. As much as it sucks, he’s right. Even if it kills me not to let myself have wandering thoughts, and of course, like a crazy person, I know I’ll never stop.

  “You’re right, ugh. It sucks to even say that out loud. Are you sure we can’t see each other tomorrow?” I probably sound like a forward type of woman.

  “Something tells me I won’t be hearing those words out of your mouth too often. I have to work tomorrow night, but if you want, you can come and join me on my dinner break. I’ll cook us dinner. It won’t be much, but it’s what we’ve got.” His voice is deep and gravelly.

  “You have to quit talking,” I blabber.

  “What, why?” He laughs.

  “My scent might do something to you, but dear God, your voice, Ryder…” I am who I am. Sure, I’m calm and collected at school, I have to be, especially for the children, who I love, no matter what. But when I’m done with school for the day, I turn that part of myself off and let the real me shine. The me that is wild, crazy, loves to have fun, and live carefree comes out.

  “Yeah? What does it do?” I’m so screwed, literally and figuratively.

  “You’re seriously trying to kill me, aren’t you?” I try to redirect.

  “Maybe. We’ll come back to that later.” As soon as he says that, there’s a knock on my door.

  “Hold on, Ryder, I’m going to grab my food from the delivery guy.” I’m at the front door within a few steps, giving the teenage boy a tip, grabbing my food, and returning to where I placed my phone on the counter.

  “Okay, I’m back.” I set the food out on the counter, diving into it.

  “Remind me not to get in the way of your food.” He’s definitely making fun of me, but I don’t care at all.

  “I haven’t eaten since lunch, and your niece wasn’t wrong when she said the school lunch was garbage. It really is. If I hadn’t slept through my alarm this morning, I would have packed my own lunch.” The ruffling of noise can surely be heard, not to mention me slurping down my shake and shoving a fry in my mouth.

  “Go eat, sugar. I’ll text you tomorrow and let you know what time I take my break.” I guess I probably should have gotten off the phone with him before I started eating, but I wasn’t kidding when I said I was starving.

  “Let me know. I don’t have any plans. Well, except maybe a FaceTime call with my cousins, but we do that whenever all of our schedules mesh.” I take another bite of a fry, my eyes roaming over to my cheeseburger every few seconds.

  “Later, sugar. Enjoy your food, and we’ll chat soon.”

  “Oh, I will, don’t you worry about that.” This time, it’s me who lets out a moan, and he mutters, “Christ, I can’t wait for that to be me in your mouth or my hands on you while you make that noise.”

  “Bye, Ryder.” I have a smile on my face because I know exactly how he feels. I know B.O.B. will be getting a lot of use tonight.

  I hear the click of the line, hit end, and devour my food before I make the phone call to my girl gang.

  Eight

  Ryder

  Talking to Berk
ley last night was something else. Not only did she make me laugh, but I know I’ve met my match in every way possible. The innuendo she had no problem throwing back was fucking perfect. I wasn’t thrilled that my own mouth stopped me from going over to her house last night, but something was pulling me back. Probably the fact that I knew once I had her in my arms, I wouldn’t fucking leave until I had Berkley’s body beneath mine.

  “Hey,” my sister says as I walk into the kitchen. Sometimes, she’ll sit back here and do the paperwork for a change of pace. Apparently, that’s what she’s doing today.

  “Back at cha. We weren’t able to talk yesterday afternoon because, you know, little ears. But were you able to reach out to your attorney?”

  “Yeah, she filed a motion to revoke his rights. We’re not sure if it’ll stick, and I’d lose child support. Not like I get it anyway, so I’m not too worried about that. When that was done, I went and got a pedicure and manicure. It was much needed. Thank you for taking over. I know you hate dealing with the other stuff here, but I appreciate it.” I go towards her, giving her a half hug because of the way she’s sitting.

  “You don’t need Joseph’s shit. If you need help, you know I’m here. I’m glad you had the afternoon off. It wasn’t too bad here. Nancy covered everything. You should probably give her a raise and take more time off. I’m thinking about handing over the reins more myself.”

  “True enough, and yeah, I think Sienna needs more time together without her staying here after school or on the weekends. I’m sure your plan has something to do with a certain schoolteacher?” She’s much more relaxed in her statement than she was yesterday, or hell, this past week. Apparently, an afternoon to herself really helps. It’s something I’ll have to make sure happens more often.

  “Could be. Speaking of, she’ll be here when I take my dinner break. Berkley said she’ll come up. You okay with that?” It may sound like it’s a question, but she knows by the quirk in my eyebrow that it’s going to happen.

  “As if I have any say in this. Just don’t screw things up. I think I heard more about Miss Jennings last night while getting her ready for bed than ever, and you know Si—she loves anything school related, even this was a lot for her. I know I was a raging bitch yesterday. There’s no excuse, and if you and Si like her, then without a doubt you know I will too.” I nod, glad to know she’s on my side.

  “Good, glad we had this talk.” We both laugh at my corny excuse of a joke. The conversation is said and done. I look at the schedule to see that I’m closing tonight and decide to take my break at seven. Next on my list is texting Berkley.

  Me: Hey, sugar, 7pm good for you?

  I put my phone down where I can see it. I still need to get shit ready for the day. Clearly, Dan didn’t do the best of jobs with closing down last night, what with how things are put away. Everything looks like it was done in a rush. All it does is make me shake my head, curse under my breath, and get to work.

  After I clean everything up the way it should be, I glance at my phone and see that my woman has responded. Yeah, I’m calling her that probably before she knows it, but that’s too fucking bad.

  Berkley: Hey, there yourself, handsome. Can we push our date to later this evening? I have an appointment this afternoon after school.

  Me: Anything for you. See you then.

  Berkley: Can’t wait!

  She didn’t elaborate on her appointment, and I won’t ask. I just hope everything’s okay. It might actually be better to push our date out further into the night, just so I can prepare it all perfectly.

  Once I know what time exactly Berkley will be here, I get started on today’s special, hoping like hell she likes what I come up with.

  I usually get a menu prepped on Sunday nights, put my order in Mondays for the market, and it’s delivered Tuesdays. Of course, tonight I’ll be making what I had on the schedule, but what I’ll be making for Berkley and me, that will be completely different.

  “Shit!” I grumble, startling everyone in the kitchen.

  “You okay?” Mel asks.

  “Yeah, forgot to ask Berkley something. Hopefully, I can get ahold of her. I’ll be right back.” I nod to her, wash my hands, and grab my phone again. There’s no way I’m about to have this conversation in front of everyone. Sure, I could text, but time is of the essence. Even more than that, I want to hear her voice.

  The phone rings once before I hear Berkley ask, “Miss me already?”

  “You know it. Love hearing your voice, sugar,” I reply. I’m out in the back alley. No one is around. There aren’t even cars coming or going.

  “Ryder.” Damn, that voice of hers, sultry and calling to me.

  “There you go again, making me want to drop what I’m doing and go to you. I forgot to ask if you were allergic to anything?”

  “Anytime you want to see me, but can’t we have this nifty thing called FaceTime, you know? And no, I’m not allergic to any foods. Not that I know of, at least,” she smarts back.

  “Yeah, yeah. Don’t tempt me.” I have more innuendo in my voice than I thought I would.

  “I would never do a thing like that.” Berkley is definitely a temptress. The face of an angel with the body of a goddess. I can’t wait to get my hands on her.

  “That ass, Berkley, it’s gonna feel my palm against it, and soon.”

  “I’m game if you are.” Her tone is all too serious. That’s when I know Berkley is willing to try something like that. Game fucking on.

  “Alright, I’m getting off this phone. See you tonight.”

  “Later, Ryder.” I hear the click of her phone hanging up and pocket my own before heading back into work. This is going down in the record books, that’s for sure.

  Nine

  Berkley

  “Oh my gosh, Aspen! You could have warned a girl, you know?” I’m referring to the Brazilian wax she somehow talked me into last night. Thank god I did it then and not today, because the way Ryder was talking, tonight is going to have more than dinner involved.

  “Tell me you’re not enjoying it though?” It’s not like I had a jungle down there, but it is nice feeling, so much smoother than shaving, that’s for sure.

  “Let’s just hope I don’t enjoy it too much and decide to take Ryder down the second I see him, and yeah.” We couldn’t all FaceTime yesterday or today, due the time difference and Peyton working for a hard-ass, plus Rowen is still in the honeymoon phase with Braxton. Not that I’m blaming her, not at all. It’s a state I hope to be in myself soon. The only reason Aspen and I talk as much as we do is because I help her out at Vintage Threads, and I call her every single day when Jasper is out on the oil rig, and when he is home, I stick to texting her just to let her know I’m thinking about her. I may have gone to college with Rowen, but out of all my cousins, Aspen and I are probably the closest, relationship and friendship wise.

  “Something tells me from what you’ve told me about him and all that sex appeal he has dripping off him, Ryder will be the one to attack you. You know, that bow-chick-a-wow-wow will definitely be in your future. Now tell me, what are you wearing?”

  “I have no idea. It’s not like I don’t have two full closets of clothes to choose from,” I grumble. It’s my obsession. Of course, I have school appropriate clothes in one area, and then what I wear when I’m out of school.

  “Oh, I know, that cute floral skirt. You know, the one that has the slight ruffle on the hem line. Pair it with the crochet top we got last week. You know what that means if you wear it though, right?”

  “No bra. Thank goodness my mom gave me her good genes when it comes to the girls.” I look down at the girls and laugh.

  “You’re looking at them, aren’t you?” Aspen snorts.

  “Of course. Watch out, next I’ll be talking to them,” I tell her, thinking about the moment when I was a teenager and everyone seemed to have sprouted boobs overnight. I didn’t have that luck. We were reading some magazine, and there was a joke about talking to your boobs to
help them grow. Guess what I did? I talked to them morning, noon, and night. I highly doubt it helped. The joke, though, it helped calm my stressing out about not having boobs at the time.

  Apparently, I was the late bloomer in not only our girl gang but also at school. It made for some awkwardness when you were a flat chested thirteen-year-old in braces. Then one day, right before my freshman year of high school, it was like my body developed a mind of its own and everything grew out, my chest and ass included. A good haircut, my braces coming off, and a wardrobe overhaul helped boost my confidence tremendously.

  “Wear the outfit, add those wedges. You know the ones I’m talking about? They wrap around your ankle and tie behind it with a bow. It’ll be like Ryder is unwrapping you.” God, there’s a reason she’s in the fashion business. Aspen is amazing at styling an outfit.

  “I hope so. I may have to go sans panties though. Wearing a long skirt and my softest cotton panties about did me in today.”

  “Oh, definitely. I bet you a hundred bucks you’ll be enjoying your Brazilian as much as Ryder does. You can thank me later and owe me one.” We continue chitchatting until it’s getting late and I seriously need to get ready. I’m lucky that my hair isn’t much to deal with. It’s stick straight and won’t hold a curl to save its life, and there’s no way I’m getting a perm to add some texture. My luck, I’d come out looking like a poodle.

  The only reason I pushed our dinner date back was because of my waxing appointment. The esthetician said a full twenty-four hours before anything sexual should happen. Not that it’s helping any because now that I’m completely bare down there, just the slightest friction has my body lighting up.