Sugar Ch. 01

"No! And Shh!"

"I mean, he's not bad looking..."

"No, I'm not sleeping with him!"

"Sorry babe, I'm just looking at the evidence. He's basically rich. He lets you live here super cheap. He let you borrow his car."

"That was just once."

"I think he likes you."

Amber sighed. "I know he does. He saw me in a towel once, and got all flustered. But no. I'm not that kind of girl. Sam is a great guy, and I'm not going to take advantage of his kindness."

"I'm just saying, some girls might. They find a sugar daddy to take care of them."

"Well I'm not like that. I can take care of myself."

----

I didn't doubt Amber could take care of herself when she needed to. But I'm sure she knew the truth as I did: she was in trouble. Not real trouble, like she was in danger. Financial trouble. But she did have me. I'm a financial advisor, so that's what I do: get people out of financial trouble. Usually that means stocks and taxes, but that's because most of my clients are people who have money. Amber didn't.

Which is why I handed her a check for $950 that night at dinner. She froze. "What's that?"

"Your rent money. Plus interest."

She made no move to take it. "I don't need it."

I put it down on the table. "I know you don't want to take it. But you're broke and your car's dead. I'm asking you to take it anyway."

She stared into my eyes. "You really don't need the money, do you?"

I shook my head. "It's like I said, I'm good. But you could use it. Make a down payment on a new car."

She sighed in relief, and picked up the check. "You didn't have to do that. But thank you." She ate a little more, and so did I, in a moment of silence. "Um, I hate to ask even more from you, but... could you help me find another car?"

Saturday found us at a used car lot. The salesman was greasy and I didn't like him. I could tell from looking at him, watching him, that he'd take advantage of Amber in a heartbeat - or hit on her - or both - had I not been with her.

But he had a used Kia, red, only a few years old, in pretty good condition. Amber was attracted to it like a moth to a flame, and I had to admit it was a good deal. But it was out of Amber's price range. At $4000, it was a steal, but not a steal she could afford. Her heart dropped when she saw the price, and we had to walk away.

----

On Monday, it poured rain, so I drove Amber to campus. Her demeanor had been defeated all weekend, and the downpour wasn't helping her mood. I didn't like it. Like I said, when she was down, so was I.

So when I went to pick her up that afternoon and the rain had cleared up, I was driving a different car. A red Kia. When I pulled up, she glared at me in shock. "What did you do?" she asked from outside the car. "Did you buy yourself the car?"

"No," I said, smiling. "I bought you the car."

She didn't look happy. Maybe I miscalculated this surprise. "You bought me a car?" she parroted.

"I know I probably overstepped," I explained. "But you needed a car. Why not have this one?" She still stood there, just in shock. I had to add, "If it's the money that bothers you, we'll figure out a way for you to pay me back."

She finally nodded and went to get in the passenger side door, then stopped. "Wait," she suddenly said. "If this is my car, I'm driving."

I laughed and got out so she could drive. "Suit yourself."

----

As happy as she was with the red Kia, she was still a bit unhappy. Amber didn't like owing me, or anyone really. I overheard her talk to Fallon on the phone that night, once again insisting that I was not her sugar daddy.

If it means anything, I had to Google the term. I was so out of the game that I hadn't heard it before. A sugar daddy, I learned, is not just a type of sticky candy. He is an older, rich man who buys fancy, expensive things for young women in exchange for, let's say, certain services. I could see how buying her a car would make people think that way.

Without bringing up that term, I apologized again if I overstepped, but Amber insisted I hadn't. For the next few days, she constantly promised to pay me back somehow, sometime, and I nodded and just said okay.

I was surprised then, when on the following Friday night, as I was laying in my bed and watching some TV, she came into my bedroom. To my knowledge, she'd never been in my room before.

"I need to tell you more about myself," she said rather abruptly. "And I need you to not judge me."

I could tell from her tone that this would be a serious conversation. I turned off the TV. "Okay," I said. "I'm listening."

Amber sat on my bed. She looked like she was dressed for bed herself, as she was wearing an old t-shirt without a bra, and a pair of comfortable but short shorts. She was quiet for a second, then said, "My mom threw me out when I was 18."

I nodded. "You mentioned that. Your brother took you in."

Amber shook her head. "There was time in between. I... I was stripping. I was a stripper." She looked at me, but I didn't make a face or a sound. I was waiting for her to continue, so she did. "And I did... other stuff on the side. That's why my mom kicked me out."

"Ah," was all I said.

"After that, I kept doing it. I had to, to make rent money. It had been fun at first, but then it wasn't. I got too deep into it. Then I met Mack."

She paused, then looked into my eyes. "Mack used to buy me things. He let me move in with him. He bought me food and clothes." She swallowed, then said, "And in return, I slept with him."

I realized why she was so reluctant now. She'd been through this before. Some man had bought her for sex. And she didn't want to do that again.

"I'm sorry," I told her. "I never meant to... to put you in that situation again. I just wanted to help."

"No! I know!" Amber said, shushing me. "I know you only meant to help. You're not like Mack. You... you're a good man. He was using me. You wouldn't do that."

"I hope you didn't feel pressured," I reiterated. "But, what happened to Mack?"

"Um, yeah. This is where Artie comes in. He offered to take me in, but I had to clean up, quit dancing, and go back to school. So I did. And I left Mack."

"I'm guessing he wasn't happy."

"No, he wasn't," she said. "He was also an alcoholic. I found out later that he was the one who...." she started crying, and didn't finish her sentence.

I brought her into my arms to comfort her. "He was the one who killed Artie."

She sobbed into my shoulder, and nodded. "He didn't mean to. Like, he didn't mean to kill Artie. He died in the crash too. But he was just drunk driving on the same road as my brother."

"Wrong place, wrong time." I held her until her crying slowed and she calmed down.

"Thank you, by the way," Amber said, breaking from me to look at my face again. "I don't think I properly thanked you for buying that car. I love it."

"You're welcome."

"Other than Artie, you're the best guy I know."

"Better than Kyle?" I asked as a joke, referencing her interest that she'd mentioned a few weeks ago.

She giggled. "Oh. Yeah. There is no Kyle."

I cocked an eyebrow. "What?"

Then she took a gentle hold of my face and kissed me. All of my resolve melted, and I kissed her back. When she broke the kiss, she told me, "You're Kyle, Sam. You're the older guy I like."

"I'm... me?"

"You've treated me better than I deserve, with no demands or expectations in return. But I know you like me. I know you think that way about me."

I was still quite stunned. "I, um..."

"I know you saw me in my towel, and went to... relieve yourself. And I think you may have found my panties once."

"Um, I did. How did you know?"

"You were kinda blushing when I found you in the laundry room. Then when I found my thong later, I realized why." Amber crawled across my bed, closing the distance between us. "And I don't mind, Sam. It's kinda strange for me too, but I don't mind it. The way you look at me is, well, like you want me, but you also want to respect me. And I've never had that from any guy before."

"I'm sorry you haven't. You deserve respect, Amber. And more. You deserve..." I stopped. I was going to say love. But that sounded wrong. I couldn't say that to a girl I've known for only two months, who was less than half my age. "You deserve more," was all I could say.

"Sam, thank you," Amber said. "I want to repay you, but I don't have the money, so I'll have to repay you another way."

She started taking off her shirt, and I, being either an idiot or a good man, stopped her. "You don't have to, sweetie."

"It's okay," she said, "I want to." Then she stripped it off, and showed me her wonderful breasts. They were C's, as I had suspected, and literally no sagging at all. They sat perfectly on her chest, adorned by light brown nipples that stuck out about a quarter inch. "What do you think?"

My heart was beating so fast. Somehow I uttered, "You're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen."

She cocked her head to one side, and her hair shifted to cover the top of one breast. "More beautiful than your ex wife at my age?"

"Sweetie, my ex wife was a dog compared to you," I said, and I meant it. Kathy had been a pretty young woman, but Amber had her beat by a long shot.

Amber smiled. "I like it when you call me sweetie." She placed her hands on my shoulders and kissed me again, then told me, "Lay back. I want to make you feel good."

I did. I was far too shocked to do anything else. Hell, she could've asked me to do anything at this moment, and I'd have done it without questioning. I laid back with my head on my pillow, and Amber pulled the sheets away from my body. Then she put both hands on either side of my shorts, and pulled them down to my thighs. My erection sprang up obediently.

"This is nice," she said, taking it in her hand. She gave it a small taste right on the head, and licked her lips. "Tastes good, too." She climbed onto my shins and sat there. "You okay?"

I nodded, too stunned to say anything else. This fine young woman was holding my dick. I was finding it hard to believe it was real.

She took me in her mouth. It was warm and wet and wonderful. She used her tongue to tease me, and I gasped, "Oh God."

She stopped and smiled. "It's been a while, huh?"

"Ages."

She continued, and now, she pushed her hair out of the way with her other hand, and locked eyes with me. If I thought just seeing her topless a minute ago was the sexiest thing I'd ever seen, this view beat that. Amber sucked my dick with a passion, with a talent. She watched me as I watched her.

And oh God, did I watch her. Her lips wrapped around my dick. Her breasts tickling my thighs. And her gorgeous green eyes, wide with amusement.

Suffice to say, I didn't last long. "Amber, I'm gonna..."

She nodded, but didn't let up. She just kept sucking on me, and when I came - hard - she took all of my member in her mouth and sucked it all down. After she'd gotten it all, she released me with a loud pop in the otherwise silent room.

"God, Amber," I said, "you're fantastic."

She picked up her shirt from my bed and used it to wipe her mouth. "That was a lot. But I guess you're not used to that."

I shook my head. "I can't even remember the last time my ex did that. And she sure didn't smile at me afterwards."

Amber grinned. "I actually like doing that. As long as the guy appreciates and respects me, and doesn't treat me like some slut."

I brought her into my arms. "I'll never treat you like that."

"I know you won't," she said. "I bet you'll sleep well after that."

"I know I will." I kissed her again. "Thank you, sweetie."

"Goodnight, Sam."

"Goodnight." I watched her leave, still topless, shirt in hand, and close the bedroom door behind her. I laid back in my bed. I thought to myself, wow. I could definitely get used to this.

As you can see, the whole situation was my ex-wife's fault. If she hadn't left me, I wouldn't have gotten into this situation in the first place.