Ladies Man (Manwhore #4)(70)
I text my answer and feel him grin as he nibbles my shoulder and sees what I write.
Me: The very one. He says he looks forward to meeting you this Christmas.
Mom: Regina men like that don’t settle!!!! Give me 5 minutes I’m calling!!!!
“She’s calling. Wow,” I say, looking at him in amazement. “Your reputation precedes you. Do you know how many times she’s actually called me?”
“Happy I’m good for something,” he smirks as he nibbles and bites my earlobe. I sigh and turn my head, kiss him softly. He drags his beard down my throat, my belly, down there—and he turns his face to my left inner thigh and nibbles his way to the center between both thighs. His lips stroke me, barely grazing my clit. Then his thumb circles me and dips inside my folds.
He lifts his head as he raises his thumb and shoves it into his mouth, licking me off him. His eyes shut, and he growls softly and lowers his head again to taste me at the source, the feel of his beard against my thighs tickling and arousing me.
He bites on my clit, and twirls his tongue in just the perfect way. And then his tongue dips inside me, then out, his whole mouth kissing and tasting me. His hands slide down my thighs to keep me open, to widen my legs apart…
And it takes my mom a little longer than five minutes to call, which is just perfect. By the time my phone rings, we’ve made hot, delicious love, and we’re both sated and relaxed in bed when I lazily answer. I tell her that I’m dating Tahoe and that he is exclusively dating me.
He laughs on his side of the bed, shaking his head over his reputation, then leans over and bites my shoulder again before taking the phone from me.
“Mrs. Wylde, I assure you, my intentions with your daughter are honorable. I’ve fallen in love with her, and nothing will give me more pleasure than meeting you both during the holiday.”
Well. He really knows how to charm just about anybody.
XMAS & NEW YEAR’S
We spend Thanksgiving with his parents, laughing and eating turkey, where I get to hear anecdotes of Tahoe as a mischievous little boy. Never content with anything. Even older ladies used to fawn over him and his dimple and his blue eyes.
For Christmas, we decide to stay in Chicago. My parents come and finally get to meet Tahoe over a delicious steak dinner at Chicago Cut.
I can tell that my parents were spending time at the beach. A warm glow shines on their skin as they head toward our table. “Come here and let me look at you,” my mother says, drawing me to her.
She lifts my arms and takes in my jeans and sequined sweater.
I’m embarrassed by the fact that it’s obvious my parents haven’t seen me in almost a year.
“So nice to see you, darling.” My mother finally hugs me, then sets me aside before excitedly asking, “And who’s the man?”
I glance at my dad, who’s grinning at me proudly. As if only now that I’ve found the approval of a man, I’m worthy.
“Tahoe,” I say, pointing at the Viking next to me as if they hadn’t already spotted him from the moment they walked through the restaurant door, when Tahoe and I stood up to welcome them.
Tahoe shakes their hands and greets them warmly.
I glance at Tahoe, a part of me wanting him to like them. Which is irrelevant, I guess, because sometimes your loved ones don’t love each other. But his smile is genuine, and my parents are obviously so impressed they’re nearly tripping on their words.
Mom is dressed fashionably as usual, her dark hair like mine pulled back into a neat bun, tons of faux pearl necklaces draped around her neck. “I have to say, the news came as a shock to us, a shock,” she admits, as Tahoe pulls her chair out.
I’m so tense, I’m relieved when Tahoe takes his seat and summons the waiter and motions in my direction for someone to get me a drink.
Rachel is the opposite of me. She’s so close to her mother that she’s always wanted that kind of connection for my mother and me, but you can’t force these things. And yet I’m surprised by how much we enjoy the evening together. Tahoe simply has a way of putting everyone at ease, and I think that seeing me so happy actually makes my parents more receptive to me somehow.
I can really tell that my mother is charmed by Tahoe. Not being one to mince words, she tells him that he’s just the man she’s warned me about all my life. That he has the smile of a bad boy and the face of a heartbreaker.
It amuses me that she sounds a little bit like his mother did. I nudge his ankle under the table and chide him. “Such an incorrigible ladies’ man, shame on you.”
His foot toes back my ankle and he smirks. “Yeah, but you’re my lady now.”
My mom can’t seem to resist kissing Tahoe on the cheek before they leave. She pats his beard and thanks him for being so good for me.
“Did you hear what she said?” I frown as we climb into his Ghost. “Good for me? Not to me?”
He leans across the car console and kisses my temple, his dimple forming a little nook against my cheek because I suppose he really liked that stroke to his ego. “Yeah, I heard.”
I roll my eyes but I smile to myself. Because I know, I’m good for him too.
*
For Christmas, I give him me…wrapped in nothing.
He gives me a key to his apartment.