Forgive for Joy's Sake (Part 21)

We arrived at the restaurant to meet his friends with ten minutes to spare. We were told that the others had already arrived, and I had expected to see one man and one woman sitting at the table. But there was an extra woman, and both of the women looked alike. I guessed they were sisters.

Wes made introductions as we joined them at the table. “Joy, this is Andrew, Sandra, and her sister, Christine. Everyone, this is Joy.”

I received a warm greeting from Andrew and Sandra, but I definitely felt a cold front coming from Christine. I was a hundred percent sure this was the something Wes should have told me about when I asked him earlier. Hopefully, my freshly done nails wouldn’t be involved in an incident later. Hate to arrive at the benefit with bruised knuckles and broken nails.

“Christine, I didn’t know you were coming. Are you attending the benefit later?” Wes asked her.

“Yes. You know I had to come show my support.”

“And any chance you get to wear a new dress is always a plus, right?” Sandra joked.

“Well, there’s that too. Wes, wait til you see my dress. It’s a show stopper.” Christine smiled wickedly at me and flipped her honey blond hair over her shoulder.

“I bet it is,” I said dryly, glancing over at Wes. I caught the stand down look that Sandra threw her sister and was glad that at least it wasn’t two against one.

“So, how did you two meet?” Christine ignored her sister.

“Joy and I actually grew up together. Her and Mel were really close when they were younger.”

“Oh, so she’s more like a sister to you then?” Christine dug in.

“Not at all,” Wes said and put his arm around my shoulder making it clear it wasn’t that type of party.

“So, Wes, great job on this project, buddy. The client had nothing but rave reviews about the work you’ve done.” Andrew tried to steer the conversation in a different direction. “Any chance you can take on another project once this wraps up next week?”

“Not right away. I still need to get things squared away with Mel and find somewhere to put my stake in the ground. After that, I’ll be ready to move on to the next project. We’ll just have to negotiate the terms a little differently, I imagine, so I can take care of things at home.”

“I’m sure we will be able to work something out,” Andrew said. They talked business for a bit until the food arrived and then we all ate over small talk. Christine had retracted her claws, though I was sure it was not for my benefit.

When we finished, we parted ways over nice to meet you and see you laters. I waited til we were in the truck to ask, “So, how many times have you and Christine gone out?”

“What? Why do you think we have gone out?” he said, heading back to the condo.

“How many times, Wes?” I asked, ignoring his questions.

He cut his eyes over at me then answered, “Twice. There wasn’t a spark though, so we called it quits early.”

“You mean you decided to call it quits. It’s obvious she is still interested.”

“I don’t think so. It’s been a couple of years since we’ve dated.”

“Alright. We will see how it goes tonight. I’m predicting Ms. Christine is going to be pulling up to you a lot. I also suspect we are going to see a lot of her flesh when she dons that show stopper tonight.”

“Well, tonight I’ve only eyes for one woman and she is sitting beside me right now.” He reached over and squeezed my hand. I left it alone after that. No need to pick a fight over someone he claims is a non-issue.

Once we arrived back at the condo, I used every second of my time to get ready. When I stepped out of the room to a waiting Wes, his reaction was worth the effort. “Wow, Joy, you are beautiful.”

“Thanks, Wes. You are looking quite handsome in that suit.” He wore a charcoal gray suit with a white crisp button-down shirt and gray and white patterned tie and handkerchief.

“Didn’t need my help zipping up the dress?” He walked around me, taking it all in.

“Nope. The zipper is on the side,” I said, pointing out the invisible zipper.

“Good to know,” he said, smiling wickedly at me. “Good to know.”

We arrived at the benefit and found ourselves surrounded by beautifully dressed people. Many of them knew Wes and wanted some of his time. He kept me by his side, but we didn’t get much time to talk to one another because as he moved from one group, another one would pull him in for a conversation.

Other than a brief hello from introductions, no one had much to say to me. I sipped on my champagne, snagged a few hors d’oeuvres, and people watched.

We were there an hour when we ran into our lunch crew, and just as I suspected, Christine had on a dress that showed more skin than the champagne material it was made of. She was giving leg, deep cleavage, bare arm, and bare back.

“Cute dress,” she told me with a smirk.

I smirked right back and said, “And yours is just adorable.” I stepped a little closer to Wes and he automatically put an arm around me as he talked to Sandra and Andrew.

That was our only run in until the end of the night. I left Wes to find the ladies room before we headed home. She was standing in the bathroom waiting when I came out the stall. Ignoring her, I walked over to the sink to wash my hands and touch up my lipstick.

“I’m not going to have to beat you down, am I?” I asked as she walked over to me.

Not that you giving me a beat down is possible, but no, I’m not here to fight. Just here to set the record straight. I want Wes and I don’t intend to let any little girlfriend stand in my way.” She pulled her lipstick out to touch it up.

“Well, thank you for the warning. I mean, you’ve done so well getting him before I came along. I’m sure it will be even easier now that I’m in the picture.” A snicker came from one of the stalls. I dropped my lipstick back in my purse and walked out the bathroom.

I decided not to tell Wes about my conversation with Christine. A half hour later, we arrived back at the condo and I was happy to kick off my heels. When I turned around, Wes was standing there and the way he was looking at me, I knew what was coming next. Without a word, he reached for the zipper at the side of my dress and within seconds, my dress was on the floor. I was standing there in my lacy undergarments.

He pulled me in his arms and started to devour my neck. He picked me up and carried me into the bedroom, then continued his exploration of my body. The world faded away as he began to do things I had dreamed about for years and things I hadn’t even imagined before he did them.

I did my best to give as good as I got and by the sounds coming from him, I did a pretty good job. When we finally came together it started slow and intense, but soon the pace quickened, and the tension built for us both before it crashed over us. I fell asleep in his arms exhausted, spent, and happy.

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