Lemon Cake

Chapter One

Tulip Carpenter believed honesty was the best policy. A principle she practiced at this very moment. Her molten onyx eyes were fixed on the lusciously sculpted adonis hovering over her naked body. A body that was eagerly aching for the pleasure that was promised to her.

"Wait." She blinked frequently with her hands planted firmly on his chest. "What do you mean you don't have a condom?"

His full lips quirked into an easy smirk that made his dark eyes gleam. The same gleam caught her eye as he stood behind the bar of the smoky, crowded club.

"No." His Adam's apple quivered like she previously was as he peppered kiss up her inner thigh. "I don't need one." He leaned forward, his erection still powerful behind his boxers prompting her thighs to widen instinctively. "I'll just pull out."

Austin Lewis was a man of many things and at the present time, Tulip realized common sense wasn't one of them. Her moans of satisfaction turned into a groan of annoyance as she pushed him off her.

"You dumbass." She sprung off her bed and grabbed her silk robe from the side chair. She couldn't believe he even said that with a straight face and now he peered at her drowning in confusion. "Do I look fucking sixteen?"

His frustration couldn't hide the lust that loomed in his gaze as he peered at her full breasts, round hips, and shapely thighs.

"No." She abruptly answered her own question as she tied the robe closed and stormed out the door. "This is bullshit but it's what I get."

"What does that mean?" He asked following her quick trot down the stairs.

She tsked, repeating his words in her mind. Getting more annoyed with every step she went down. Thankfully there were only two more steps or she would've combust into flames and burned a hole oak floor. This was what she got for picking up a guy at a work event. It was a party. All her work events were parties. The perk of being a professional party planner. A job she performed masterfully, the various customer reviews on her website backed up her reasonable ego.

It was late, the graduation party was wrapping up, the clean-up crew were shaking out trash bags and she headed over to the bar. He made her a whiskey sour, they had an easy conversation and as she watched a duo break down the tent she knew they were having sex.

That night he had condoms as she rode him in the backseat of her '76 Ford Bronco in her garage. Unfortunately, he wasn't consistent. She would be sure to make note of that on her phone later. Now, she needed a little something to relax her nerves since heart racing, buck wild, backbreaking sex was no longer an option.

She gripped the fridge's chrome door handle and yanked it back with more force than was needed, rattling bottles of salad dressings she brought knowing full well she was a pizza and wing girl. "It means you're irresponsible and I should've known what I was getting with a younger guy."

"Younger." He scoffed standing behind the island, "You're still in your twenties."

"Twenty-nine and twenty-four aren't the same." She lingered in the midst of the fridge's chill, a welcomed aid to help her cool off. "I'm mature and wise. I know what I want and prepare for it." She grabbed the last bottle of beer from the shelf crowded with boxes and trays from her favorite delivery places. "Like I did this morning when I text you to be at my place around ten, what did you think we were doing two hours shy of midnight? Tick, tac, toe."

"I thought I had one." He rubbed his hand down the immaculately shaped beard. "I always have a spare."

She rolled her eyes with her back still towards him as she opened the bottle. He thought. She took a quick drink of the barley lager remembering how assuming creating one of the biggest mistakes in her life. Assuming really did make you into an ass. She was an ass at nineteen and wasn't about to be one again ten years later.

The cold liquid slid down her throat and she spun on her heels matching her sight with his, "The orange chicken is cold but if you want some you can get some before you leave."

"Leave?" His thick eyebrows snapped together then a wave of awareness washed over his features. "Oh, to go get the condoms. I got you." He nodded, lifting the clear top of the plastic container. 

"Nah, bruh." She shook her head, a stray braid falling in front of her face. "That moment has passed." She glanced over at the microwave, an appliance she only used for its clock. It was ten minutes past eleven. "I have work in the morning." She shielded her mouth letting out a fake yawn. "Bedtime."

"What?" His hands were still on the container while his eyes followed her exiting the kitchen. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah, I'm serious. This townhouse doesn't pay for itself." She leaned against the stairwell then nodded up the stairs once he joined her. "We should call it a night. You should get dressed and we'll reschedule." She patted his shoulder. "You learned a lesson tonight. Be sure. Assuming's for assholes."

His dark brown eyes narrowed on her and his lips parted but words didn't fill the space between them.

"I know you might think I'm being a bitch right now." Her hands snaked up his shoulder until reaching the base of his neck. "But I'm making the best choice for both of us."

His gaze traveled to the side as his full lips ticked up then, "You could get on birth control."

"Tried that. All forms hate me." She slid her hand up to his jaw, letting the short hair tickle her soft fingertips. "Just do your part and bring protection the next time."

"Oh, you know I will." His free hand gripped her waist drawing her body against his. "I'm a fast learner."

"I know that already." She pushed away from him, the fire between her thighs starting to rekindle. He started things he couldn't finish.

"Whew." She playfully fanned herself and he chuckled. "Go put your close on before I do something stupid."

"Sometimes stupid things are the most fun." He said climbing the stairs.

"Lies. Nothing but lies." She yelled up to him with a smile growing on her face.

Tulip nursed her beer as he got dressed remembering that time when she was stupid and the guy she was stupid with. Jasper Young definitely was a man that made her throw caution to the wind. Fortunately for her, she hadn't seen him since freshman year in college. She hadn't found a man quite like him. Which was good. He was her weakness, making her believe in fairy tales and true love. Nope. She didn't need any of that.

She left Jasper in her past along with the secret they both kept.

Do you think Tulip was right for stopping Austin?

Is Tulip right, she should've expected him to want to do the 'pull-out' method because he's younger?