Joy Cums in the Morning Ch. 02

Joy ordered her Caramel Cappuccino and stepped to the side like a good little coffee addict. She thanked the barista when she handed over her paper cup and walked to the table where her sister Marla was waiting.

Marla was a true knock-out. She wore a tiny wool skirt that showed off her long legs, a bright red sweater, and her long hair flowed to the middle of her back. Joy noticed she'd died her hair a reddish-brown...she'd probably go back to blonde when spring returned. Marla was so thin, yet there she was stuffing her face with a chocolate croissant.

"So, what brings you to the city?" Marla asked when Joy sat in the seat across from her.

Joy smiled. "I've been staying at Eli's place ever since we got back from Europe."

Marla rolled her eyes. "I still don't understand how you could just hop a plane with a perfect stranger. You didn't know anything about him!"

It was Joy's turn to roll her eyes. "Just because I didn't run down your list of questions doesn't mean I didn't know him."

"My list of questions?" Marla repeated cocking a perfectly plucked brow.

"What do you do? What kind of car do you drive? Do you own any property? What's your total net worth? Are you first or second string?" Joy ticked off each question on her fingers.

Marla frowned. "Don't even start that shit."

Joy sipped her coffee but didn't snap back at her sister. She just reveled in the fact that for once Marla was jealous of her. Marla was the beauty that got any guy she wanted. Joy was the brain that guys didn't even give a second glance.

Yet, somehow, Joy was the one that had picked up the hottest guy ever and had a romantic jaunt with him through Europe. Joy was the one that decided not to return to work and was staying in his penthouse apartment. Joy was the one stepping out of character and Marla didn't like it one bit.

Marla was still gazing at her when Joy's cell phone rang. She gave her sister the "just-one-minute" finger and answered it. Marla rolled her eyes when she saw the dopey grin that made it so obvious who was on the phone even before Joy said a word.

"Hi, Eli," Joy purred.

"Hello, love," his deep baritone answered. He'd taken up that pet name when she'd mentioned how much she loved the way British people used it. "What are you doing?"

"I just sat down for some coffee," Joy said turning toward the window so she wouldn't meet her sister's eyes.

"You sure did come off tea quickly," Eli teased.

"I know. If they made a support group I'd try to quit this coffee habit."

"I don't know about that...you'll need your energy tonight."

Joy giggled. "I'll just bet."

"So, would you be at your favorite café on the corner of 11th Avenue?"

"Yup."

"Good, I'm just a block away, I'll join you."

Joy's breath hitched in her chest. "No, no," she stuttered glancing at Marla who was watching her intently. "I'll just meet you and we can get a real lunch."

"Nonsense! I'm almost there already. I'll see you in a minute."

"Oh," said Joy miserably, "Okay."

"I take it that was lover-boy," Marla said, her voice dripping with sarcasm and just a hint of venom.

Joy nodded as she slipped her phone back into her purse. She wasn't ready for Eli to meet Marla. She probably would never be ready for that. Considering, Marla had stolen...uh...borrowed...at least three of her exes through high school, Joy purposely kept the few men in her life far from her sister's sinister clutches. Now, Eli was walking right into the lioness' den. She took another sip of coffee and barely tasted it as it went down in a miserable lump.

"He'll be here in a minute; if you have somewhere to go you can go ahead and..."

Marla's face changed from a smirk to a smile. "He's coming here? Trust me; I have nowhere else I'd rather be." She fished a compact out of her purse and primped.

The bell above the door chimed and Joy turned in time to see Eli walk in. He wore a heavy black trench to protect him from the icy wind. He smiled at her and slipped it off as he approached the table. Under the coat was a custom-made Brooks Brother's suit.

"Oh. My. God."

Joy turned back to her sister. Marla had reapplied her coral pink lipstick and her mouth hung open as she stared at Eli.

"Shut your mouth. You look like a fish," Joy said, a perfect imitation of their mother.

Joy glared at her and slid out of the booth just as Eli reached their table. No doubt so he could get a good look at just how short her skirt was.

"Hi," Marla cooed as she extended her hand, "I'm Marla, Joy's sister. You must be Eli."

Eli nodded. "I've heard a lot about you."

Marla just nodded, not releasing his hand. "Please excuse me," she said, "I was just on my way to the lady's room." She released her grip and sauntered away.

Joy noted the extra swish in her hips as she walked away. An image of her slapping Marla so hard her head did a 180 and stuck that way flashed into her mind for a split second.

"Hey," Eli said sliding into the booth next to her, "get over here and warm me up."

Joy blushed but slid closer to him. She sighed contently as he put his heavy arm over her shoulders. "How's work?" she asked.

"Interesting," Eli said before stealing a sip of her coffee.

"Really?"

"Very," Eli said. He slid the cup back in front of her. "My boss offered me his house in Florida for the holiday."

Joy gazed up at him, confused. "What holiday?"

"Valentine's Day," said Eli with a chuckle.

"Oh." Joy blushed. She'd managed to completely block Valentine's Day from her personal calendar after years of no need for the commercial holiday.

"So, what do you say? Can I tell Mr. Pitman that we'd love to use it?"

"Sure," Joy said with a shrug.

Eli started to speak again but at that moment Marla returned.

"Sorry about that," she said, not even pretending to address Joy as she gazed at Eli.

He smiled. Joy frowned. "That's okay. We were just about to leave," Eli said slipping his arm off Joy's shoulders. "We just decided to go out of town for the weekend and I wanted to take your sister shopping for some new things for the trip."

It was Joy's turn to look like a fish. She blinked at him until he was standing up and putting on his coat. Then her brain kicked in and she slid out of the booth. Eli helped her with her coat and grabbed her coffee.

"I'll call you," she said to Marla before they hurried out onto the busy street. She would have given anything to see Marla's face, but she wouldn't give her the satisfaction of looking back.

***

"That's perfect," Eli said as he reclined on the bright red circle that served as a sitting area just outside the dressing rooms. He'd rushed her into the tiny boutique two blocks from the coffee shop. Joy had been hesitant to choose anything since all the price tags had at least three numbers before the decimal. Eli had beckoned a sales girl and begged her assistance.

The tiny blonde girl had gazed at Joy's body for a full minute before abandoning them.

"I don't think anything in here will fit me," Joy whispered to Eli after the woman had disappeared.

He shook his head and smiled. To her surprise the sales girl returned with an armload of clothes, set up a dressing room, and waited patiently to critique each piece with Eli.

Joy did a quick spin, making the full skirt on the maroon cocktail dress swoosh. She put her hands on her hips, noting how the gold belt made her waist look tiny.

"It's amazing!" the sales girl exclaimed clapping her hands.

Joy nodded and retreated back into the dressing room to try on something else. She had just gotten down to her underwear when her cell phone rang. She dug it out of the purse, under the "maybe" pile of clothes she'd already modeled. "Hello," she said quickly without checking the caller id.

"Joy Ayanna Grady," her mother Terri responded.

Joy's stomach clenched. She'd been avoiding her mother's calls since the now infamous Christmas blowup when she'd left the family home after causing quite a scene. Now her mother was using her full name and that scary emotionless voice, like she'd done something wrong. Well...something else...

"Oh, hi ma."

"Don't you 'hi ma' me. I just got off the phone with your sister."

Joy cursed her sister...then Alexander Graham Bell for inventing the telephone in the first damn place. "Oh, I just left Marla. We met for coffee."

"Save the pleasantries," Terri snapped, "What's this I hear about you shacking up with some man you just met?"

Joy glanced at the door and lowered her voice to just above a whisper. "I'm not shacking up."

"Oh really? You're not? Well, last thing I heard you were living in Virginia with no boyfriend and no prospects. That was two months ago...now you're staying in some guy's apartment in Manhattan after you followed him to Europe instead of spending Christmas with your family."

"I didn't follow him...I accompanied him on a business trip." Mina cupped her hand over the phone to further cover her conversation.

"What the hell kind of business was that? You know what...I don't want to know. You just get this fellow here as soon as possible so I can meet him. I want to know what kind of game he's running."

"He's not running game!" Joy snapped. She'd forgotten about privacy and her voice echoed in the tiny room.

"You tell me what a grown ass man is doing picking up a woman and sweeping her away, then holing her up in his apartment and keeping her from her job, her home, and her family! What's he up to if he's not running game? What could he possibly want?"

"ME!" Joy sobbed. Her mother's words made too much sense. No doubt, Marla had told Terri just how attractive Eli had been. In Terri's mind he was probably a pimp. They didn't know that it was Joy's idea to take a sabbatical so they could get to know each other even more.

Joy had been waiting for the other shoe to drop for going on three weeks. The romance of their weeks in London and Paris was fading. Any moment now, she expected Eli to look at her and ask what the hell he was thinking. She was waiting for him to come to his senses and in spite of what her mother thought, Joy had not taken leave of her own senses.

"Oh, honey," Terri said with a sigh, "just bring him home and we'll straighten everything out."

Joy swiped the tears off her face and shook her head. "I can't do that. We're going to Florida for Valentines Day. Our flight leaves in the morning."

Terri was silent on the other end. "Okay. Fine. Go ahead and go to Florida, but this isn't over."

"Trust me, I know."

Her mother sniffed. "I'll call you every day you're down there."

Terri glimpsed Eli's shiny leather shoes standing just outside the door. "Considering it's supposed to be romantic...I won't answer...but you can leave messages." She ended the call and turned off the phone before her mother could respond.

Eli knocked softly. "Are you okay, love? You sound upset."

"I'm fine," Joy lied, "my mom just called and...I don't really want to talk about it. Just sit and I'll put the next dress on for you."

"Okay," said Eli. It was a while before she saw his shoes retreat though.

***

"So," Joy said when they had returned to Eli's apartment, "Marla's pretty gorgeous, huh?"

"You're sister?" Eli asked dropping the shopping bags he'd carried onto the black leather couch. "Yeah, she's pretty."

Joy felt like such a girl for asking that question knowing exactly where it would lead. Straight down the path of bad answers that would make her feel two inches tall.

"Your mom must have had a tough time with the two of you," Eli continued as he walked into the kitchen.

Joy dropped the rest of the bags onto the couch and followed him. "What are you talking about?"

Eli pulled a stack of menus out of a drawer. "I mean, she had two gorgeous daughters and a son who was too young to beat up any interested boys. I'll bet she had to buy a gun to keep the guys away?"

Joy blinked, slowly. "Uh...no...my sister didn't really have many boyfriends in high school."

Eli put down the menus and gazed at her. "You must have had all the guys then."

Joy flushed. "No, I waited for college to start dating too."

His eyebrows lifted. "Too bad we didn't go to the same college."

"Whatever...growing up, all the guys were after Marla, not me." Joy studied the tiles under her Nikes.

"Ahh," Eli cooed. "That explains a lot."

She gazed at him.

"Your sister...I don't want to insult you but she struck me as...high maintenance."

Joy lifted an eyebrow. "High maintenance?"

Eli nodded, retrieving the menus and flipping through them as he spoke. "You know...fake boobs, expensive clothes...yet, she wasn't dressed for work in the middle of a Wednesday." He chose a bright orange menu and shoved the others back in the drawer. "Lots of make up, not so much personality..." He seemed to catch himself and focused on Joy again. "Geez, I'm sorry. I shouldn't talk about your sister like that."

"No, you shouldn't," Joy agreed, "but by all means please continue."

Eli laughed. "All I'm saying is that she's putting in all this effort to be beautiful and she probably was pretty enough to begin with. I think most men would prefer a natural beauty...like you."

A very un-ladylike snort escaped before Joy could stop it.

"What's so funny?" Eli said approaching her.

Joy tucked her hair behind her ears. She had to look up into his face when he finished his walk and slipped one arm around her. "It's not funny...it's just that...I've never been referred to as a beauty. My sister is the former model...tall, thin, perfect." She tried to take a step back but Eli wouldn't let go of her.

"Are you kidding me? You're a perfect fit. You're soft, and sweet." He moved slipped his hand under her sweater and brushed his fingers over her bare skin. He stopped at her bra hooks and changed direction, moving down again to touch her stomach and then cup one breast. "You have an infectious giggle, a beautiful smile, and you don't smear make up all over my pillows."

Joy's breath was coming in harsh gasps as he touched her. "So one of my most attractive features is the fact that I don't wear makeup?"

Eli nodded. "That...and there's that patch of freckles right here." He tickled her gently below her left breast. Joy giggled and tried to wrestle his hand out of her clothes. "Don't forget about the butterfly tattoo right here." He said touching the spot on her hip that he'd kissed many times.

Joy's eyes widened. His fingers were trying to unbutton her jeans. She yelped and backed away from him. "If you meet my mother, don't tell her about that."

Eli's green eyes went perfectly round. "I think you mean when...and did I discover your dirty little secret?"

"No!" Joy exclaimed, "I just didn't tell her ...yet."

Eli chuckled, a low rumbling sound that made her ache to have his hands on her again.

"Can we change the subject, please?" she asked crossing her arms.

"Fine, how's Chinese sound for dinner?" Eli waved the orange menu in the air.

"Chinese sounds wonderful."

He grabbed the phone from its cradle and started dialing. "Vegetable fried rice and ginger chicken, right?"

She nodded even as her heart did a tiny celebration. Why was it such a big deal that he remembered exactly what Chinese food she liked? Don't be so easy, she chided herself silently.

***

Joy wasn't tired when they arrived at the condo in Destin. She was amazed by the sight of the white sand and cerulean Gulf waters outside of the windows; curious as to what exactly one did at the beach in the middle of February. She was anxious about the doubt her family had cast upon her new relationship. But not tired, far from it.

Joy pulled her ponytail down and rushed into the bedroom where Eli had turned on the stereo system after setting his laptop up on the desk. He had just finished unpacking his suitcase and was pulling it from the bed when she walked in.

"What do you think?" he asked pulling his bag off the bed.

"It's amazing," Joy admitted. "I've never seen anything so posh."

Eli nodded. "My boss is loaded, but there are places around here way nicer than a seventeenth floor condominium."

Joy nodded.

"Get over here," Eli said holding his arms open.

Joy rushed into them and quickly surrendered to his kiss. She groaned in protest when he broke the kiss. "Let's christen the bedroom," Eli whispered hotly making her nipples constrict. Joy was always surprised by the way her body responded to the slightest things he did or said.

She nodded and made quick work of her jeans, sweater, and t-shirt. Meanwhile, Eli tossed away his own pants and sweater. Joy reached to slip off her underwear but Eli was faster. He gripped the strings on each side and pulled outward; effectively ripping apart the tiny pink panties.

"Hey," Joy protested, "That's the third pair this week!"

"I'll take you to Victoria's Secret tomorrow, I promise."

Joy would have agreed but once again his tongue was occupying hers. She wiggled against him as his hands traveled up and down her body spanning her curves, over her ass, across her breasts, finally resting over her sex. He slipped a finger in, testing her wetness. A few quick dips satisfied him of her arousal and he pulled away. Eli took her hand and Joy realized too late that he was walking them to the large window on the far side of the bedroom where the drapes were open and the Gulf of Mexico lay below them.

"What are you doing?" she asked when he put both hands on her waist and pressed her against the cool glass. "That's cold!" she squealed.

"I'll get you warm," Eli growled as he lifted her off her feet. Joy wrapped her legs around his back and gasped when he slid her down onto his cock.

She couldn't feel the cool glass anymore. The goose bumps quickly disappeared as the heat generated from where their sexes were joined began to course through her completely. "Oh," she moaned as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

Eli groaned and began to piston in and out of Joy's sweet pussy.

"I thought we were breaking in the bed," she gasped.

"Said bedroom...not bed." Eli watched her eyes flutter shut.

"Someone could see us," Joy tried again.

"Don't...care." Eli leaned in to nibble the soft flesh just beneath her jaw.

"What about this glass? It could break!" Joy's last protest was almost a shout because his thrusts were getting harder, driving her closer to orgasm with every movement.

"Hurricane proof glass...it'll hold."

Eli was saved any further protests because Joy's body convulsed with her release. He smiled as her fingernails dug into his shoulders and her eyes flew open. The look on her face was priceless. Her eyes were wide, her nostrils flared, and she clenched her bottom lip in her teeth as she came just for him.

Eli waited for her orgasm to subside before he began fucking her again. Spurred on by Joy's cries of ecstasy, he pounded into her feverishly. Finally, Joy screamed his name in orgasm and he surrendered to his own. When they were both spent, he put her back on her feet gingerly and gave her a slow, soul-searing kiss.

"Let me run you a bath before I run out and pick up dinner," Eli whispered against her cheek.

"You're going to spoil me," Joy said giggling.

"That's what Valentines Day get-aways are all about." He kissed her forehead and walked naked into the bathroom.

Joy scurried away from the window and began picking up the clothes they'd strewn all over the bedroom.

"Leave those," Eli said when he returned from the bathroom, "I'll get them."

Joy smiled and dropped everything onto the floor. "We really shouldn't leave a mess."

"We won't," he said, "I'll handle it, I what I can't handle, the maid service will. I don't want you to lift a finger this weekend."

"Why?" asked Joy before she could stop herself.

He laughed as he pulled on his boxers. "For one thing, I want you to know what it's like to be indulged. You have this habit of putting yourself last, and I just want you to know that I will always put you first."