King of the Mountain

I said, "The day isn't over. We haven't had dinner yet."

She rolled her eyes.

I set Nicky on his booster seat and buckled him in. He slowly woke and looked around slightly confused. "Mister Evan, can we have pizza?"

I laughed and said, "Sure thing, Spud." He smiled and closed his eyes.

"Why do you call my son Spud? It's cute, but where did it come from?" Lisa asked as I started the car.

"I think I was trying to call him 'bud' and 'spud' came out instead. It stuck."

"Well, well, well. Mister Perfect made a mistake? I wish I would have been there to see it."

"Oh, I'm far from perfect," I countered. "Don't mistake my getting lucky making some money with me not making any mistakes along the way. I've made some doozies."

"Like what?" she asked. I didn't particularly want to talk about my mistakes, but I supposed if she were going to work for me, she'd see them anyway.

"Well, I tried to do everything by myself for way too long. I spread myself too thin and missed a drop in one of the stocks I was invested in. I missed the news that morning, and a rumor spread about them losing an FDA approval on an important new drug. I would've dumped the stock, but I missed it and lost almost half a million dollars."

"Jesus. I can't imagine that. How did you react?"

I laughed, "I threw my coffee mug at the wall. I hired Jan the next day. At first she did all the administrative things, like filings and disclosures and time-consuming minutiae. Later, she took on more responsibility. After that I brought on a real estate agent and a lawyer. The rest is history."

"I still have a feeling you're giving me a fake job."

"Lisa, I promise you I'm not. Ask my mom, she complains about my hours all the time."

"Yeah, I don't have to," she said giggling. She probably heard my mom complain more than I did.

"One other uncomfortable thing we need to discuss is your financial situation. Before you get defensive, you're going to be working for a financial services company. We have to maintain a higher level of financial stability to show our clients we essentially have our shit together and they can trust us to not steal from them."

That was true, although it wouldn't be required for someone in her position in the company. I was using it as an excuse to get her to let me get her out from her dire situation.

"You know my situation and you know there's no way I could pass any kind of credit check or..."

"We're not going to do that. What I need to do is make sure you're all square on your debts. I told you there would be a signing bonus and I want to make sure you get a completely fresh start."

I could feel her glaring at me even though I was looking ahead into the traffic. "How much is the signing bonus?"

"How much do you need?"

She sighed. "I can't have you jumping in and saving me again. If this is..."

"Lisa, please stop with that. We've already been over how much I need an assistant."

I wished she would just let me help her. I was getting frustrated, even though I understood where she was coming from.

"I'll stop when you're completely honest with me."

I laughed, which annoyed her. "Lisa, I haven't lied to you. I'm not hiding anything from you. I need an assistant; you need a hand up. This works out for all of us."

"The other day, you told me that I had to trust you to not be interested in me for my money. How about you show me a little of that same trust and relax about the job?"

She didn't answer but I could see her nod, out of the corner of my eye.

"Good. Now, what kind of pizza does Spud like?"

*****

Nicky had just fallen asleep in his bed, and she handed me a glass of wine before sitting across from me on the couch. I thought it was odd, and said, "What? Do I smell?"

She frowned, "No, I'm just..."

I didn't give her a chance to finish. I slid over and pulled her into a kiss. It took her a second, but she kissed back and before long she was straddling my lap and making out with me.

Her kisses impacted me more than the wine. She was more energetic than anyone I'd ever kissed and moved her entire body along with her lips and tongue.

"Mm, Evan," she sighed as she licked along my jawline. I felt the constriction of my shorts as little Evan hardened. "Jesus, you feel huge," she moaned.

I wasn't huge, but if she thought so, I wasn't going to argue.

My hands cupped her firm butt as she grinded into me, in a fun sort of lap dance. You could've knocked me over with a feather when she lifted my shirt off of my body.

"I love a man that works out," she said as she tossed my shirt over her shoulder and traced her finger along my chest and stomach.

I saw a moment of hesitation in her eyes. It felt like she regretted amping our kissing up a notch. I said, "We can slow down if you want. I'm not going to rush you."

She smiled and leaned back, "I want you, but I guess I don't want you to think I'm a slut or some easy lay."

"Well, it is our third date," I joked.

She playfully punched my chest and asked, "Is it okay if the clothes stay on today?"

"It's one hundred percent in your control. I will go as far as you're comfortable."

She smiled and said, "Okay, except for your shirt, our clothes stay on."

I laughed and pulled her down onto the couch. I wasted no time untucking her tank top and cupping her breast over her bra. Her nipple hardened and she moaned when I pinched it gently.

"I didn't expect you to hit the boundaries of the rules so quickly, you brat," she giggled.

I kissed her and said, "Oh, I push boundaries. Your clothes will stay on, but I'm going to push your buttons. Pun intended." She didn't object and pulled me into a kiss.

I felt like I was in high school as I resisted pushing the cup of her bra up and touching her bare flesh. I desperately wanted to suck on what felt like a large nipple and struggled to hold back my juvenile urges.

My hand slid down along her bare side, feeling every inch of her warm skin along the way. I felt the elastic band of her leggings and snapped it against her waist.

"You are a brat," she groaned.

"Mm, hm," I answered as I rubbed her hip, inching closer and closer to her mons.

"You're a tease too," she giggled.

"Nuh, uh," I answered as I slid my hand lower and felt the warmth emanating from her moist pussy.

I didn't have to put any effort into spreading her legs as she invited me into her most coveted area. I wasted no time and rubbed her as we kissed. I thought about putting my hand inside her pants, but before I could, she began shaking and her legs tensed.

"Oh, Jesus!" she whispered into my mouth as we kissed. "Oh, Evan."

I felt more moisture as I rubbed what I hoped was her clit. She broke the kiss and stood up as if the couch were on fire. She dropped her leggings and stepped out of them, before roughly pulling me onto my back. Before I could adjust, she straddled my chest and leaned back.

I didn't need to be told what to do, so I pulled her to my face and put my tongue to good use, licking every centimeter of her dripping kitty. As she was facing my feet, I expected she wanted to sixty-nine, but she didn't make any effort to lean forward. Her body shook again in orgasmic bliss and smothered my face with her sex.

I was in Heaven, savoring her juices as they flowed over my tongue, down my throat. I was surprised her labia were hairless as they rubbed against my tongue and lips. I wondered if she did that for me or shaved all the time.

"That felt so good, Evan," she moaned and climbed off. I picked up my shirt and wiped my face with it.

"No charge for services rendered," I joked.

"Mommy?" Nicky called out from his room. I didn't realize there was a baby monitor in the room.

"Shit!" she shrieked as she pulled up her pants. She was barely dressed when I heard his door open.

"Mommy, I need water."

I smiled, put my shirt on and sat back onto the couch.

"Sorry, Evan. Duty calls."

"Of course, don't worry about it," I said. I was surprisingly happy to be interrupted for a bit of normal family life. I was enjoying all of those experiences.

She rushed off to the kitchen as Nicky walked into the room. "Mister Evan, can I have some water?"

He climbed onto the couch and sat on the opposite side.

"You're mom's getting it, Spud. Were you having good dreams?"

He nodded his head. "I dreamed you were my daddy and lived with me."

I heard Lisa gasp behind us.

"There she is now," I said, ignoring what he said. Not that it upset me.

"Just drink a little, Nicky. You don't want to have an accident."

"Okay," he said and then chugged the little glass until it was empty. He burped and giggled as he handed the glass to her and rolled off the couch. "Can Mister Evan tuck me in?"

She looked at me and I nodded. She smiled, "Sure. Good night, sweetie."

"Good night, Mommy." He yawned and held his hand out for me to take. I took it and he led me to his room. I looked over my shoulder and saw Lisa smiling at us.

He jumped onto his bed and slid his feet under the covers. I noticed he had the penguin stuffed animal I bought him that morning, and some kind of teddy bear that looked old and passed down to him.

"Good night, Nicky," I said as I pulled up the blanket and kissed his forehead.

"Good night, Mister Evan. Say good night to Rico."

"Who's Rico?" I asked.

He said, "The penguin," as if it were obvious.

"Good night, Mr. Rico, the Water Chicken," I said making Nicky giggle. "Sweet dreams, buddy."

I looked back at him as I walked out and saw his eyes closed and a smile on his face. I could get used to seeing that.

When I got to the bottom of the stairs, I didn't see Lisa. The kitchen light was off, and no signs of life were present. I saw the front door open and figured she was on the porch.

"Hey," I said as I opened the screen door.

She smiled and handed me my glass of wine. I noticed the monitor on the table and a tear escaping her eye.

"What's the matter?" I asked.

She shook her head. "He's becoming attached to you."

"I don't see that as a bad thing. I'm becoming attached to him and you already knew that."

"We're moving so fast. It scares me," she whispered. "He'll be crushed if you..." she turned her head away from me and sipped her wine.

"If we only did things that didn't scare us, nobody would ever do great things."

"That's easy for you to say."

I took her hand, "What's really bothering you? I'm sorry if I crossed your line in there."

She smiled, "No, you didn't do anything I didn't want. It's the job, it's the money, it's..."

"It's what?" I asked impatiently.

"You can't be this perfect."

"I'm far from perfect, Lisa."

"You're sweeping in and solving all of my problems."

"Just the easy ones," I smirked.

"I can't help but question why. You're worried about me being some kind of gold digger, and I'm worried about you using me as a piece of ass you feel you can buy."

I was going to make a comment about her using my face for her orgasms and my getting nothing in return, but I smartened up.

"Lisa, we clearly have some issues we need to work through. Perhaps we're moving too fast, perhaps we're not. Today was one of the best days of my life; that much I know. A whole day with you and your son acting like a family; I loved every single minute of it, and I want more."

She looked at the street and sighed.

"There," I said. "Right there. That was a negative thought, wasn't it? Fight those."

She smiled and looked back to me. "When do I start my new job?"

"When you're ready. I'll have Jan get you set up with the home computer and equipment. I'll have HR onboard you. You'll need to fill out the paperwork and all that, but I think that stuff can be done online nowadays."

She looked away again and I got annoyed. "What's wrong now?"

She didn't look at me, but quietly said, "What about the..."

"Lisa, look at me," I said to cut off her embarrassment. She turned and I continued, "I will have your sign on bonus for you tomorrow. If you'd like I can transfer it to your bank so you can have it right away."

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I was afraid to ask about that. I didn't want you to think badly of me."

I smiled, "Don't worry about it. I offered it, remember? Besides, I already know you need it, and it doesn't change any of my feelings for you."

She smirked and said, "In that case, you never told me how much it was."

I took her hand and said, "Like I said, how much do you need?"

*****

I woke the next morning in my bed with a throbbing morning wood. I groaned regretting not trying harder for at least a blow job from Lisa. She was in a fragile place though and I knew I should let her move at her own speed. It didn't stop me from giving her grief about using me for her pleasure, no matter how much I enjoyed it.

It wasn't long after she brought the bonus up that she walked me to my car and said good night. We had kissed for a few minutes, but she started to get tired and wanted to go to bed. I reluctantly agreed and got a scorching good night kiss to rev me up even more.

The sun hadn't yet begun to shine through my windows, and I'd only had a few hours of sleep, but I rolled out of bed anyway. My shorts were tented in front of me, and I debated on whether or not to jerk one out or wait and see if Lisa would tend to my needs at some point that day.

She and Nicky were coming over for breakfast, but they wouldn't be there for a couple of hours. I realized I needed to go to the store, so that answered the jerking off question for me.

I took a quick shower and couldn't shake Lisa from my thoughts. The previous 48 hours were life-changing for me, and I was happier than I ever thought I could be. I hadn't had those feelings since before I lost my wife.

I felt lucky that I waded through the minefield of finding a way to help her and Nicky and so far came out unscathed. The only thing I had to do was make sure to have enough work to keep her busy. The more I thought about it, the happier I was that I'd have several hours a day more to devote to other things. Mom was right, I needed to make time for myself and hopefully for Lisa and Nicky as well.

I shot an email off to Jan letting her know what was happening. She would handle all of the details for me, and I trusted that she would have Lisa set up with the best of everything she would need.

Lisa never gave me an amount to give her as a bonus. She knew it was a ploy to allow me to give her money and she was accepting it anyway. I decided to give her 20k and hoped it was enough.

It was after seven when I got back to my house. I was sure I bought too much food, but I didn't want Nicky to get picky on me. I started the bacon in the oven, the ground pork sausage went into a pan for the biscuits and gravy, and I cheated and bought canned biscuits. I may have made a mean sausage gravy, but I still hadn't mastered my mom's biscuits.

I was chopping the veggies for the omelets when my doorbell rang. I shouted for them to come in but was surprised to see my mother instead of Lisa.

"Hey, Mom. What brings you by today?"

"I wanted to see how yesterday went, and to have some of your fancy coffee."

I laughed and poured her a cup of the so-called fancy coffee.

"It was a great day, Mom. It really couldn't have gone better, I figured out how to help her and ended up hiring Lisa to be my personal assistant."

She shook her head, "You don't think there's a risk there? What if you two don't work out?"

"I'm giving her a guaranteed contract. If something goes tits up, she'll get the salary for the remainder of the contract."

She smiled, "Good. I hope you're paying her well. What's with all the food?"

"Obviously, I'm paying her well, and she's bringing Nicky over for breakfast. In fact, I thought you were her, she's gonna be here soon."

"Well, let me get out of your hair then."

"No, stay for breakfast. You're already here and haven't finished your coffee."

"Hello?" Lisa called from the screen door.

"It's open," I called back. "Now you have to stay," I told mom.

She nodded as Nicky ran into the kitchen. "Nana Jean!"

"Hello, Nicky," she said as she hugged him.

"Oh! Hi, Jean. I didn't know you were coming too, we could've ridden together," Lisa smiled.

"I just popped in on my way to Church for some coffee. I knew Evander would be awake."

"I asked her to join us," I said as I kissed Lisa on the cheek. My mother smiled and winked at me. I knew she was thinking of names for her future grandchildren again.

I went back to cooking and listened to Nicky tell everyone about his favorite parts of the zoo from the day before.

I was becoming addicted to the family atmosphere I experienced when I was with Lisa and Nicky. When my mom was thrown into the mix, it was serotonin overload. Mom was already acting like the boy's grandma.

Mom didn't stay long after breakfast. I guess she wanted to get to church, or that was her excuse anyway. I'm sure she wanted to give me more alone time with Lisa and Nicky.

Nicky lay on the carpet and watched cartoons on my TV while Nikki and I cuddled on the couch.

With her head nuzzled into my chest, she whispered, "I'm falling in love with you."

I kissed her head and said, "Me too."

"Do you think we'll make it? I'm so afraid, you'll get tired of me or think I'm only after your money."

"I have no idea, but where would the fun be if we knew that. All I know is, I promise to do my best to trust you and treat you and Nicky as well as I can."

***Epilogue***

We were married a year later. I wasn't mad at all when she broke our employment contract to be a stay-at-home mom. I like to think she got pregnant on our honeymoon, but it was probably shortly after.

My mother was beyond happy to move into a cottage I built on a large piece of land where I also built my family's home. Mom spent the last days of her life surrounded by the love of her grandchildren and even made it to see her first great-grandchild born when Nicky got married to a beautiful young lady he met in school.

Lisa never gave me a reason to think she wasn't fully in love with me. She showed me every day in her actions and words and even in the little looks she gave me. Some of those looks dragged me to the bedroom to work on our family building efforts.

As I look back on a life that started out with so much struggling and sadness, I believe I lived up to my end of the bargain and gave Lisa the life she deserved. In turn, she made me the most fulfilled man I could have ever hoped to be.