Over a Piece of Pie

Bev laughed, "That's Mrs. Neilander's secret recipe!"

"It hasn't changed for as long as I can remember. I'm totally spoiled for anyone else's apple pie now." I said with a chuckle.

"My offer still stands. I'd be more than happy to make sure Skye gets home safely. It's the least I could do."

Bev nodded, "Yes I'd appreciate that Carson. You're not going to abduct her or anything right?" she asked.

"Well any girl who can match me slice for slice of Mrs. Neilander's pie..."

Skye giggled again and I felt a little flip in my chest. I stuffed it down. There was no way I was going to let this happen again. But Christ she was a sweetheart. This girl wasn't anything like Vanessa, there wasn't an ounce of guile in her. She was an open book and what you saw was what you got. She'd told me stuff that I don't think she'd tell anyone she didn't trust. We had both laid our souls bare to each other.

It's amazing how apple pie, ice cream, and whipped cream with a cherry can make people tell all of their secrets to a total stranger. Let me tell ya Sodium Pentathol's got nothing on that.

I tried to settle the bill but Lisa said there was no charge. She thanked me for looking after Skye until her mom got in. I gave her a smile and said I didn't know who looked out for whom.

We went out to my car and Skye whistled when she got a look at my cobalt blue '63 Corvette, "Wow! Nice car Carson."

I chuckled and opened her door for her, "My one serious luxury. I've always had a thing for the 63 'Vette. My other car's a hybrid Escape."

She giggled and my heart flipped again. I had to keep telling myself 'never again' but I think my heart had my brain on ignore.

I started her up and gave the old girl some gas. The engine throbbed and growled, just waiting for a reason to show her stuff. When we pulled out of the lot I stomped on the accelerator. We fishtailed onto the road and laid a short patch of rubber.

Skye squealed in delight and held on for dear life. "Yeehaa! Wow that was totally wicked!" she said as she stroked the dash. "What do you call her Carson?"

I shrugged and smiled at Skye, "I call her 'Blue'. Real original huh?"

"Well I think it's a beautiful name for a beautiful car. Hey is it true that all of the people who work for you call you by your first name?"

"Yes, anyone can call me or come into my office if I'm available and talk to me about anything. I'm lucky, my people refuse to let the unions in. If people want something we sit down and talk things over until we're all happy. It's more of a family environment. I know everyone and know their families too."

"Seriously? You know everyone's name who works for you?"

"Yup, I make it my business to know the people who work with me. We have picnics over the summer, Easter and Thanksgiving get-togethers and a big Christmas party too." I told her.

"How many people work for you?"

"Almost five hundred as of yesterday."

Skye gave me a concerned look for a moment, "How many people are going to lose their jobs with the take over?"

I looked at Skye, "Just two. Everyone else will have a job with me if they want to stay on."

Skye giggled and I did a flip again. I sincerely wished she'd stop that. 'Never again Carson,' I thought to myself.

"Revenge is sweet huh?" Skye snickered.

"Bittersweet Skye," I said as I unconsciously patted her bare thigh. "Very bittersweet. But truthfully I think I did okay by them in the end."

I realized where my hand was and quickly moved it to the shifter and down shifted around a corner. I shook my head, trying to clear it of the thought of how soft Skye's thigh had been. "Sorry Skye but my brain's fried. What are you taking in college again?"

"I'm studying to be a nurse. It took me a while to save up for it but I'm enjoying it. The anatomy classes are funny. We have guys and girls in my class and the way the girls act you'd swear they never saw a cock before!" she said as she grinned at me.

I just got a glancing blow from that smile and almost ran up onto the sidewalk. 'Settle down Car' I thought to myself, 'this is just a young girl'. This girl was seriously getting to me. I thought my walls were stronger than this but I could feel them starting to crack. All I could think of was kissing her.

We pulled up in front of the apartment where Skye and her mom lived. I said a little thank-you to the dirty-old-man Imp for helping me to keep my cool. I got out and opened Skye's door for her. When she got out I took my first solid look at her. I think I actually blanked out for a second.

This wasn't a little girl that I'd talked to all night this was a woman. Skye wasn't a skinny little waif she had good curves, damn sexy curves. And she filled out her dress quite well, long shapely legs, lovely round bottom with proud firm breasts. Long chestnut hair and the most brilliant green eyes I've ever seen topped it off. I'm surprised I hadn't noticed just how beautiful she was earlier. But then again I had been eating Mrs. Neilander's apple pie.

I looked down at Skye, getting lost in her eyes. "Goodnight Skye, would you mind if I called you?"

Skye looked up at the dawn light in the sky, "More like good morning Carson," she replied with a smile. "Sure, I'd like that. Maybe after we both get some sleep though okay?" she giggled.

Christ I wish she'd stop that! Okay I did and didn't want her to stop giggling. Part of me loved to hear it and part dreaded what would happen if I let down my barriers completely. Unfortunately my brain was losing the war with my heart. I don't think I was ready to open up that way to a woman yet.

Vanessa had cut me deep and hard. That wound had festered and been raw for far too long to heal so easily I thought. Yeah I know, I'd spilled my heart out with Skye last night. But that was different, we were strangers and well...shit I just boxed myself in didn't I?

We traded cell numbers and smiled at each other. "That's my personal cell. You can call me any time okay? I'll call you later Skye."

Skye blushed and went up on her toes, giving me a kiss on the cheek. "I know we're a bit late Carson, but Happy Valentine's Day."

"It's never too late Skye, Happy Valentine's Day."

I took Skye into a tight hug and gave her a kiss on the cheek too. She smelled delicious, like honeysuckle. God I was melting inside, if I wasn't careful I'd fall fast and hard for this girl. 'Never, ever again Carson, remember?' Fuck, my mantra was a waste of time. It was like tossing ping-pong balls at a brick wall thinking I could knock it down.

---

When I got home I stumbled into the house, exhausted from being awake for more than twenty-four hours straight. I don't know if it was because I was so tired or that lingering scent of honeysuckle but I couldn't get Skye out of my head. I tossed my keys on the table by the door and walked into the kitchen smelling breakfast being made.

"Ms. Hudson you are a treasure. How do you always know when I'm going to be home?" I said to my den-mother.

Her position was listed as VP of Logistics on the payroll, but she was more than that. Ms. Hudson kept me organized and fed. She was my Major Domo and my closest friend. I'd known her pretty much my whole life. She'd been my baby-sittter when I was a kid while my dad worked nights at GM. She'd been there for me when my mom died, and I'd been there for her when her marriage tanked. I called her Ms. Hudson when I wanted to tease her, otherwise she was just Liz.

"I have spies everywhere Carson, and you boy-o, are a brat." she said with a laugh.

I chuckled and grabbed a piece of bacon off the plate beside the stove, just barely missing getting my knuckles rapped. "I know I am Liz and you love it!"

"It must have been hard seeing her again."

Liz was one of the few people who knew about my past with Vanessa, and probably the only woman other than Skye who'd heard the full story about us. She was one of the very few women I could trust, I knew that whatever I told her would stay between us. We both knew that there would always be a great deal of respect and friendship between us.

I gave her a chagrined look, "Yeah, two pies."

"Good God! And you're still able to walk?" she asked with a chuckle.

"Well I didn't eat them all by myself. I met someone."

"Oh? Now this sounds interesting," Liz said as she flipped the eggs in the pan.

I thought of Skye and everything got warm, "Her name's Skye. God Liz, I'm totally out of my element here. The things I want to do, the things I want to say. I honestly don't know what to do."

"Carson it's been five years. At some point you're going to have to let go of that hurt. Vanessa hurt you, she hurt you deeply but you can't let what she did affect your future happiness. Not all women are like her. Look at me! I'm a forty-two year old baby-sitter for a thirty year old juvenile delinquent!"

I laughed then, "Thanks Liz, I'm so glad I've got you to listen to me. I really do appreciate your friendship."

"Good, now sit down and appreciate your breakfast then get to bed. I'm sure you'll want to talk to this Skye girl as soon as you can." She said with a wink as she put two plates on the table.

Liz offered me coffee but I passed and opted for milk instead, I was all coffee'd out after drinking at least two pots while talking with Skye.

I sat across from her, thoughts of Skye racing through my head. I took a few fork fulls of bacon and eggs then began talking quietly.

"She's beautiful, my God she's beautiful."

Liz chuckled as she put down her coffee, "Aren't all the women you get interested in beautiful Car?"

"Well yeah, but they were fluff, filler. I never felt about them like I feel about Skye. I don't mean she's beautiful physically, well she is but I mean she's just beautiful. It's hard to explain. She's like you I can talk to her about things. Important things. I don't have to keep my guard up. I think that's what's scaring the shit out of me the most right now."

"Wow I'm beautiful! Thank you Carson, that was very sweet of you to say." Liz said with genuine warmth in her tone. "This girl must be pretty impressive if you feel this way about her after eating pie with her all night. So how did you happen upon her?"

"I was at Neilander's, like I always am when I feel like shit. I think I was already on my third slice of pie when she walked in. I didn't really get a good look at her at first. I saw that she was crying so I... well..."

"Oh. The knight in shining armour thing?"

"I know, I'm a sap. What can I say? I walked over to her to see if she was okay. Liz she'd been beaten up, she had a black eye and a split lip. She told me her boyfriend did it. You know how I feel about that."

"I know Carson, you've been beating yourself up about hitting Vanessa for five years. Personally I think she deserved worse but it's not my place to judge."

"We talked. We talked for hours. We talked about everything, I told her about what happened with Vanessa. Christ I told her I wanted to have a mess of kids and be a 'burb dad with a minivan and soccer games every Saturday."

"And she didn't run to the hills screaming?" Liz asked with a low laugh.

"No she didn't. She told me she wanted the same thing. God she's got the cutest giggle, and when she smiles I get all wobbly. Liz what do I do?"

Liz picked up the plates and put them in the dishwasher.

"The first thing you'll do is go upstairs and get a few hours of sleep into you. I think you're suffering from a Neilander's pie overdose. If you still feel the same way when you wake up call this girl, and talk again to see if whatever it is you think you're feeling is still there. Now march mister!"

Being the good delinquent that I am I went and flopped onto my bed. I was asleep in seconds.

---

My mind clawed its way out of my dreams. Dreams of Skye, dreams of beautiful children with sparkling green eyes. I didn't want to lose them, I wanted to hold those dreams forever but reality forced my eyes open. I looked at my clock by the bed. It read three p.m., I rolled out of the bed and stumbled into the bathroom. I turned on the shower and stepped into the blast of hot water. That got my blood pumping and my brain cleared of its fog.

Unfortunately it got the blood pumping in my groin as well. In no time I had a raging hard-on and my thoughts turned immediately to Skye. I didn't want to think of Skye like that. Not yet. I used all of my willpower to quell my raging erection and my evil thoughts of a beautiful girl.

After a long hot shower I got dressed and headed downstairs, Liz was working on her laptop in the living room while Sandra my Property Manager was vacuuming.

"HI SANDRA!" I hollered over the Hoover.

Sandra turned off the vacuum, "Hi Carson! Sorry about the vacuum. Did you have a good sleep?"

"Yes thanks, I feel like a new man. How are John and the kids?"

"They're great. Melissa's volleyball team won city championships last weekend."

I smiled, genuinely happy for Sandra's daughter. "That's fantastic, let her know I'm proud of her okay?"

"I will Carson. She'll be happy to hear that."

See? Lane Technology is a real family affair. I love that we can all talk like that, Sandra's been with me since before we went big-time. What with profit sharing and stock options she makes a good salary. She insists on cleaning my home herself, even though she has a staff of twenty under her. Sandra knows she's a valued member of our family, she works hard and takes pride in her job. I nurture that feeling in the company. People should be proud of themselves and proud of their work, if they are they work harder and are loyal to their employer.

Liz smirked at me from the couch, "So Romeo, feeling all better and ready for the chase?"

I gave Liz a wink and grin. "Like you said this morning, sleep on it and see how I feel. I feel great, I just hope what is going through my mind is going through Skye's"

I grabbed my cell and quickly dialed. I had butterflies in my stomach, feeling like I did the first time I ever called a girl even though I thought I had a better chance this time. Liz could see the nervous look on my face and couldn't hold back a laugh. I gave her the finger and grinned.

"Carson?"

I just about jumped out of my skin, "Hi Skye, did you have a good sleep?"

"Yes I did, how about you?"

I grinned to myself, "I did too. I had the most amazing dreams."

My heart was hammering in my chest. The walls cracked a bit more, the chill in my soul starting to ease. Liz caught my eye and made a rolling motion with her hands, signaling me to move forward. I nodded and gulped my heart from my throat.

"Listen, Skye. About last night, I was wondering, uhm.."

"Yeah Carson?"

"We said a lot of things last night, I told you things that I've had bottled up for a long time. Things that I wanted in my life. Things that I was proud of and things that I wasn't proud of."

"I know Carson I told you a lot of things too. I really liked talking with you. Was it just me or was there a connection?"

I smiled at Liz, giving her a thumbs up. My pulse went up another notch. All I could think was 'holy fuck she felt it too!' My hands started to shake. Jesus Christ, what the fuck was happening to me?

The emotions that were ripping through me had me reeling. I was scared shitless and ecstatic, I wanted to cry I was so happy. I had five years of pain flowing out of me like a dam had burst.

"Skye...Skye can I come see you? Like now?"

God I wanted to see her, to hold her. To see if it was real and not some practical joke of whatever Gods there are.

I heard her let out a soft moan over the phone.

"I'll be there in ten minutes," I gasped into my cell.

I ran into the front hall, grabbing my keys and heading out the door.

"SHOES!" Liz called from the living room.

I looked down at my feet and ran back into the house. Shoes on I jumped into Blue and roared out of the driveway. I'm surprised I didn't get into an accident or get a speeding ticket. I was driving like a maniac.

I stood Blue on her brakes in front of Skye's apartment. She was standing on the front stoop. I ran to her and grabbed her up in my arms kissing her hard, my tongue diving into her mouth.

Skye wrapped her arms around my neck, kissing me just as passionately. I groaned. The feel, the taste of her mouth, they were like ambrosia. My hands wrapped around her waist as I pulled her close to me. It felt like we kissed forever. We finally broke our kiss.

"Hi." I grinned.

"Hi." Skye smiled shyly at me.

"Waiting long?"

"About ten minutes, you?"

I smiled back at her, "Yeah, about five years. You would have been legal then right?"

Skye kissed me again, "Yeah I was nineteen then. We need to make up for lost time I think."

My addled brain took a moment to work out the math, "You're twenty-four?"

Skye giggled. I had to kiss her. How could a woman taste and smell so good?

"I told you last night silly!"

Skye grabbed my hand and pulled me into the building. The elevators were too slow so we ran up the two flights of stairs to her apartment. We stopped at her door and I pinned her to it, my mouth again ravaging hers. Somehow she unlocked her door and we fell into her unit.

We stumbled and lurched down the hall to her room, leaving a trail of clothes behind us. By the time we hit Skye's bed we were down to our underwear. Skye pushed me back onto the bed and started tugging at my boxers so I raised my hips. Skye's eyes widened when she saw my member. "What the frikking hell's that?" she asked with a giggle.

God I loved that sound. I grinned up at her and flexed it, making it swell even larger. Her jaw dropped when she saw me do that.

"That Vanessa bitch gave up THAT for a promotion? What an idiot!" she said with another giggle.

I could listen to that giggle all day.

Skye quickly stripped off her bra and panties, jumping onto the bed with me. She kissed me with an intensity that was incredible, rubbing her beautiful naked body against mine. My fingers drifted over every inch of her. I soon found out that she was deathly ticklish when she began to squirm and shriek under my hands.

Our bodies writhed on her bed, the joy and pleasure I felt then was the most fantastic feeling I'd ever had, wiping out any memory of the harsh pain I'd carried for the last five years.

We came up for air, grinning and laughing. I pulled some of Skye's stray hairs back behind her ear, "Skye..."

"It doesn't matter Carson I fell in love with you before I knew who you were. After the third piece of pie it wouldn't have mattered if you had been the poorest man in the world. I just want to be a soccer mom, your soccer mom." Skye responded.

I chuckled and kissed her. "Well I was actually going to ask if it was safe for us to have sex but that's good to know too."

"Oh! Yeah we're good that way Carson. I've been on the pill since I was thirteen."

"Good I just want us to be ready for it when it happens."

Skye took my cock in her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, "So are you going to put this magnificent prick to use or are you just going to talk? My mom gets home at six and I want you to fuck me at least twice before she walks in."

I didn't need any more invitation than that. I rolled on top of her and she guided me into her already soaked pussy.

I slowly eased into her, relishing the tightness of her womanhood. I pulled back out just as slowly and Skye moaned softly. I pushed in again, giving her more of me. I did that for about ten minutes. Skye was gasping and moaning, every once in a while letting out a small whimper. By the time I bottomed out she had her legs wrapped around my waist, trying to get me going and had a frustrated look on her face.

We kissed passionately for a moment then she nipped my lower lip and grinned. "You're a fucking asshole Carson. You did that on purpose."