Slow and Steady Wins the Race

"Likewise, Royce Jones," she said kissing him one last time. "Thank you the most wonderful day I can remember in a very long time."

"I'd like there to be many more," he told her.

"I'd like that, too. Goodnight, Royce," she said before letting go and going back inside.

"You really like him, don't you?" her mother asked appearing right in front of her.

Jaydan nearly screamed when she saw her standing right there. "Mother! What in the world are you doing! Were you spying on us?"

"No. I didn't have to," she said as she walked away. "I saw everything I needed to see on the couch." She turned and looked at Jaydan who was standing there slack jawed before smiling and flipping her head back around. "Looks like I'll be staying over again. Do you think your new boyfriend will take Peyton and me to my place in the morning?"

"Ughhh!" Jaydan said wanting to be annoyed but unable to.

Peyton was thrilled when Royce came to get them the following morning. She ran to him and laughed loudly when he picked her up and carried her outside.

"Mommy? Where's our old car? Are you getting a new one like Roish?"

"Not anytime soon, honey," she told her trying not to laugh. "It's in the shop getting a new battery. We'll have it back later today, okay?"

"I like Roish's car better. It's shiny. When you get 'sperience and a job for money can we buy a car like this?"

"Um, probably not, Peyton. But someday we'll get a better car. How's that?"

"That's fine," she said before asking her next question.

"So Royce, since you're the CFO at Enterprise, you must be doing very well for yourself. I took a look at much company stock has gone up the last few years."

Jaydan turned around in a desperate attempt to silence her mom, but it was too late. Royce smiled then said, "Actually, I opted for a salary when I took the job. Back when we were lost money or made very little, I did quite well. When we started clearing millions, not so much. Well, relatively speaking. Money is important, but it's not that important." He glanced at Jaydan, smiled, then said, "There are a lot of things more important than making money in my world anyway." He looked at Denise in the rearview mirror and said, "Brandon is the one getting rich. Really rich!"

He was sure she was asking out of concern for her daughter so he threw in, "I'm not hurting for money by any means."

"Okay, Mom, how about we change the subject?"

Denise took the hint, but not in the way her daughter meant it. "So do you want children, Royce?"

"Mom!" Jaydan said. "Do you mind?"

"It's okay," Royce said pleasantly. "Yes. I'd love to have children. Plural as in more than one."

That made Denise smile and Peyton join in. "You could have me, Roish. My daddy doesn't love us anymore." She wasn't sad or upset, she seemed to be simply stating a fact. Jaydan wanted to assure her that her father did still love her, but wasn't sure that was the case.

"I'd like that very much," he said adjusting the mirror so he could see her. "But we'd have to ask your mom first."

That seemed to mollify both her and her grandmother just as they pulled into Denise's apartment complex. Everyone got out and took something inside where Denise gave Royce the nickel tour or her modest, two-bedroom apartment. They all hugged goodbye and wished each other a good day, then Royce and Jaydan headed to work.

As soon as they were on the freeway, Royce reached for her hand. "I was wondering if things had changed overnight," she said after happily taking it.

"Not all," he assured her. "In fact, I can't stop thinking about you."

"Same here. This isn't going to fun now. Well, the being at work part with you but not...with you, that is."

"I have an idea. We have an opening for an administrative assistant. It only pays around $20 an hour, but you could take it and maybe kill two birds with one stone."

"Seriously? Do you know how much money that is to me? That's enough to quit or cut back my other paying job! And we could still be near one another without the torture of seeing each other all day. If that's possible, then yes, please, sign me up!"

"I'll tell HR first thing and it's a done deal."

By 10am, Jaydan found herself in what used to be called a typing pool, doing administrative tasks for Enterprise. It wasn't difficult and it kept her mind occupied all day and had the added benefit of counting as work experience only with pay. For a woman in her financial straights, it was truly a godsend. For that matter, so was Royce Jones.

Just after noon, Brandon descended upon her new area creating quite a stir. "Good morning, Mr. Hardaway!" one assistant after another said a little too enthusiastically.

"Morning, ladies! I hear my favorite former intern now works here. Oh, there she is! Jaydan! If I didn't know better, I'd think you were hiding from me."

"Good morning, Brandon," she said politely. Her use of his first name turned every head.

"You look great, by the way," he told her. Without giving her time to thank him, he said, "Listen, I've got another trip coming up this week. It's Chicago. Three days. I need an assistant and well, here you are working as an assistant. We leave tomorrow morning."

All work had stopped and all eyes were on Jaydan. "Um, well, that's very interesting but I...I can't really leave. I have my daughter and there's this new job to learn."

"Nonsense! I'll pay for a nanny and by coming with me you'll learn more in three days than you will here in a year. Be ready to go at 8am!"

There were nervous smiles and mild laughter as the other women and one man continued staring at their new colleague who seemed to more than just an assistant.

Jaydan wanted to say 'no' but couldn't find the words or the will to speak. The moment Brandon walked out, she was flooded with questions—some of them bordering on hostile with the worst coming from a very attractive woman of maybe 35 named Allison. Once the hullabaloo quieted down, she picked up the phone and called Royce.

"What should I do?" she asked.

"Damn. I can't believe he did that. He does typically take an assistant with him and most of the time it's a blonde named Allison."

"Ah, hah. That explains the blow torch treatment she gave me."

"I can get you out of this, but not without letting him know about us."

"I don't want to get fired, Royce. I need this job for the credits...and the money. But I'm very okay with people knowing about us as long as you are."

"Are you kidding? I want to shout it from the rooftops!" He heard Jaydan lips form a smile then said, "I'll let him know right now."

"Thank you," she said said sweetly.

"My pleasure. I like doing things for you, Jaydan."

She was tempted to say she'd love him to do things to her, but thought better of it. "You make it very easy to like you," she said playfully.

"I'm glad. I want to be liked by you." More than anything he wanted to say he'd love to be loved by her, but knew she didn't feel that way about him. Perhaps that would change after this weekend.

"Well, you are. Maybe even a little more than that," she said hoping he didn't reject her verbal advance.

"I like the sound of that—a lot," he told her. "Oh, in case you forgot, I think you're beautiful."

Jaydan knew she was being watched again and needed to hang up. "I love hearing you tell me even when I haven't forgotten. Bye, Royce. And thank you."

She hung up the phone and smiled much too big a smile.

"Screwing your way to the top through Dash-Two?" Allison said caustically.

Normally, Jaydan would have been so upset by a comment like that, she'd have thought of nothing else all day. But not today. Her mood was light, her mind was clear, and her heart was full and...taken. She'd only felt she was in love twice before. The first time was in junior high with her first crush and then with her ex-husband for a short period of time. And now she was feeling those same wonderful feelings again and it felt, well...wonderful.

The rest of the week passed relatively quickly thanks to being able to stay busy. Peyton filled her evenings, and not having to work a second job was cause for celebration. Jaydan didn't have the money to actually celebrate, but she could rejoice internally as she stayed home with her daughter while texting her new boyfriend into all hours of the night. She wasn't going to give her mother the satisfaction of being right about that, but she was.

Jaydan loved having a boyfriend even if he was nothing like any boy she'd ever known. Just thinking about him and their upcoming weekend filled her with happiness and left her well, very moist, in a certain, special place. So much so that she'd even agreed to some mild pillow talk with him the night before they left. She loved the sounds he made as she spoke sweet nothings to him and she felt no shame making sounds of her own as he said the most romantic of things to her. At some point they wished each other pleasant dreams knowing they would be together in less than 24 hours.

"What did your mom say when you told her you were spending the weekend with me?" he asked as they headed out toward the little town of Enumclaw on Highway 410.

"Oh, she's terrible! She told me if I was going away for the weekend not to come home unless I had a ring on my finger! She's relentless!" She saw him smile then asked, "Have you told your parents about me yet?"

"Uh-huh," he replied. "My mom asked me when the wedding would be."

"Two peas in a pod, right?" Jaydan said laughing happily.

They passed the swimming pool and golf course signifying the end of the little town's city limits and continued heading east toward Greenwater.

"It's so beautiful up here," Jaydan said. "I love the mountains."

"Me, too," he said. "I'm not much for beaches. Too much sand."

"Too hot for me," she said. "I guess growing up around here does that to you."

"I wouldn't live anywhere else," he told her.

"Me, either," she agreed. "I get tired of gray skies, but I never get tired of the green."

Thirty minutes later they pulled off the main road and headed deep in the evergreen forest on a hard-packed, dirt road. A couple of miles later, a small, rustic-looking cabin came into view.

"How quaint!" Jaydan said.

"My parents own it," Royce said. "Cassie and I used to come here all the...." He looked over at Jaydan and said, "I'm sorry, Jaydan. I didn't mean...."

She squeezed his hand and said, "You'll always love her, Royce. I'm not only okay with that, something would be very wrong if you didn't. She was your wife and in some ways, she always will be. Never worry about me when you want to talk about Cassie, okay?"

He pulled into what served as a driveway, shut off the engine and said, "You're the most amazing woman I've ever met and I mean no disrespect to Cassie. I'm so glad you needed an internship, Jaydan. Otherwise I'd have never met you."

The tension had been building for days, but it was thick enough to cut with a knife in the front of the Land Rover. "I'm so glad we did," Jaydan said softly as she stared into his eyes.

"I'm dying to kiss you," he told her.

"Hey! I need you alive," she teased as she leaned over to accept his kiss. "I have many things planned for us this weekend."

"I do love executing a well-made plan," he told her as the kiss ended. "Come on, let's get our stuff inside."

Jaydan enjoyed the inside as much as the outside. "I love the fireplace!" she said as soon as they walked in. "And this wooden table, the wood chairs. It's beautiful!"

"Along with the rustic charm, we've done some modernizing," he told her. He took her into the kitchen and pulled back what looked like a door to a lower cabinet. "Like this dishwasher."

He did the same thing to a large 'cabinet' and showed her a side-by-side refrigerator. "And..." he said, taking her hand. He lifted up the covers of the bed and showed her the label on the new Tempurpedic bed. Lastly, he took her over to the fireplace, turned a knob then pushed a button and it came to life. "Natural gas. Very warm and very clean. It'll feel nice and toasty in here very soon. This is the Jones's version of roughing it."

Feeling playful and even a bit bold, she put her arms around his neck and said, "I like...rough...ing it."

"Oh-ho! You do?" he said with a smile.

"Uh-huh. The rougher the better." Jaydan truly did love it rough in bed but wanted to feel him out before admitting it. She didn't mind vanilla sex at all, and were that Royce's style, she'd happily adjust to it. But if he was open to some...variety...Jaydan would be more than happy to share her many bedroom likes with him.

"Hmmm. How rough are we talking?" he said holding her close.

She reached for his belt and said, "Well, I can think of quite a few things to use just this for." She tugged it playfully then asked, "Is that too kinky sounding?"

"Not at all," he told her. "Is it too unromantic to say I've dreamed of meeting a woman like you for quite some time?"

"Not all," she said back as she reached for his buckle and undid it. "In fact, why don't we see about making some of those dreams come true right now?" She pulled it out of the loops and held it out to her side. "I like it rough, not mean, okay?" she said as she bit his lip playfully.

"Oooh!" he said taking the belt from her. "That was very naughty of you."

"Do you need to punish me for being a bad girl?" she said hoping she wasn't taking him too far outside his comfort zone. She wasn't into B&D per se, but she did enjoy a nice, firm spanking from a man's hand or um...some other object from time to time. Being tied up occasionally was also a lot of fun, and blindfolds were a big plus, too.

Jaydan purred and pulled his sweater over his head and dropped it on the floor before kissing him as she unbuttoned his shirt. Once his chest was bare, she kissed her way down to his nipples then took one of them in her teeth and gently clamped down. She looked up at him as she held it firmly.

"Ouch!" he said but in a way that indicated it wasn't really painful.

She let go then said, "If you don't punish me, I'll just keep being naughty."

He grabbed her...roughly...and pulled her to him. "Someone needs a lesson in respect," he said smiling at her. Jaydan moaned as he slapped her ass. "Get those jeans off," he told her in a way that turned her on immensely.

"Mmmm. Yes, sir," she said as she kicked off her shoes then did as she was told.

"Turn over," he told her as he reached for the belt.

"Mmmm, yes!" Jaydan said as rolled over exposing her cute ass to him with just her panties for protection.

Royce grabbed each cheek with his free hand, shook it, then gave it a nice slap. "Very nice," he said. He draped the belt over one cheek and ran it all the way up its length.

"No marks, okay?" she whimpered.

"No marks," he repeated before folding the belt in half and running its half length along the other cheek. He gently but firmly swatted one cheek and Jaydan moaned approvingly so he immediately swatted the other.

"Mmmmm. More, please!" she said softly.

Royce repeated the action only without stopping. He swatted left then right, left then right then waited. "Are you going to be a good girl from now on?" he asked bending over and speaking into her ear.

"I can try," she said honestly.

"Perhaps you need some more persuasion, then," he said kissing her cheek before standing up. He repeated the same actions but double them this time.

"Turn over and sit up," he told her.

Jaydan willingly did so. "Take my pants off," he told her and she complied. "Underwear, too."

As she pulled off his shorts, she gasped. "Ooooh! I love it!" she said as she reached out for him. "It's beautiful!" She looked up at him and said, "May I please have it?"

Royce moved sideways, turned around, and sat on the bed. Jaydan immediately spun around and dropped between his knees and went straight to work. "I love thick!" she said as she opened her mouth and took him for the first time.

She hadn't been with a man since two weeks before her ex-husband suddenly left and she'd forgotten how much she loved this part of lovemaking. She kept her eyes on his as she took him as deeply as she could before slowly sliding back up and then going back down.

"Oh, my God!" Royce moaned as she used her lips and tongues to pleasure him. "My little devil is an angel," he said pushing her head down and holding her there. "Do you like this?" he asked making sure it wasn't too rough.

She gagged an 'uh-huh' and he felt comfortable holding her down knowing she'd let him know when enough was enough.

When he could stand no more, they traded place,s and Royce spent as much time carefully pleasing his new lover as she had him before giving her what she wanted most—a hard, nearly-brutal fucking with a his big, thick cock.

As they lay in one another's arms she laid her hand on his chest and said, "I don't always need that." She looked up at him then added, "You know, rough like that."

He rolled her over and raised up on one elbow. "Jaydan, anything you want or need is okay with me. Anything. Just let me know." He kissed her then said, "I know losing a spouse to death is very different than to divorce. We tend to idolize the one who died and I did dearly love Cassandra, but...well, we never, ever did anything like that."

"Did you enjoy it?" Jaydan asked wanting so much to hear him say 'yes.'

"Of course I did," he told her. "I'm not sure I could do whips and chains, but that was a lot of fun. I...I liked it a lot." He saw her smile then said, "Honestly? As long as it's with you, I know I'll like it. Because I like you—very much." He kissed her again then asked, "Any more questions?"

"No, that about covers it," she said sweetly. "Although...speaking of covers, I wouldn't mind getting under the covers again with you."

"Oh, really?" he replied. He felt her reach for him as he felt himself again growing hard. "I may just be able to accommodate your request."

This time it was very sweet and very romantic and when it was over, Jaydan felt like her heart was so full it might burst. Royce could tell she wanted to say something so he asked what was on her mind.

"How long did you and Cassandra date before, you know, you...knew?" She turned on her side to look at his handsome face when he answered.

"It's funny, but we dated for almost a year and even then, I wasn't really sure the first time I told her I loved her. How about you and your ex?"

"Wow, that's almost our story. We dated for well over a year and I said it first."

"Did he say it back?"

"No. It took him a couple of months to say it. He said again on our wedding night, but other than that, he never said it again."

"Wow. I'd tell you at least once a day, every day," he said. He looked into her eyes than spoke again. "Do you mind me asking about the affair?" Royce said in a caring way.

"He taught high school and just like you read about in the papers, he ran off with one of his students. She was 18 so no charges were filed. He handed in his resignation that morning, came home and told me he was leaving us, packed his things and walked out. I had no idea; no clue; no warning. There were no signs, no nothing. He was there one day and gone the next. And we haven't heard from him since. He sends a check each month for child support and the letter is postmarked from Portland. That's all I know and other than for Peyton's sake, that's all I care to know."

"What a fool," Royce said as he put his hand on her face.

Jaydan reached up and took his hand and kissed the back of it. "It's so different with you," she said softly.

"Thank you. You, too," he said again. "Not just in the things you enjoy that I've wanted to try, but you're just so easy to love, Jaydan."

"Love?" she asked believing he meant it generically.