Chapter 2
Report
"You might've gotten the wrong impression about Mel when you were at the house the other day."
"That she's a work obsessed control freak who's handed her kids off to the nanny and lies about baking?"
Joe pursed his lips, not expecting to hear those words about Mel come out of her mouth.
"All right, you got the right impression. But, it's not true."
"Joe, it's nice of you to go to bat for her, but I saw what I saw. The camera doesn't lie."
"Yeah, neither does the cell phone. Let me show you something that I shot." He pulled out his cell phone and opened the videos he'd shot of Mel cheering at Ryder's baseball game and Lennox's poetry recital. "That's the side of her you didn't get to see. She's passionate and caring. She's a great aunt and makes a really good councilperson."
"Oh my God, you two have a thing."
"What? No! No, absolutely not. I just admire her. She's a good person. I just wish your story would show that."
"Are you done?" Celeste asked, smirking at him.
Joe nodded, "Yes, I'm done."
"You should tell her." She said as he turned to leave.
Joe put his hand on the doorknob, turning back to her, "tell her what?"
Celeste chuckled, "how you feel about her."
Joe looked at her, confused, "There's nothing to tell," he said, shaking his head. He really hoped he wasn't this transparent to everybody.
She crossed her arms and leaned against her desk, "If there's nothing to tell her, why didn't you ask me out?"
Joe shrugged a shoulder, "I don't know. I just didn't think it would be appropriate for me and you to see each other. This whole thing was to help her, and I wanted you to have the full picture on Mel. It wouldn't be fair to her for Toledo to see the few bad qualities she has."
"So, let me get this straight," She stood and walked over to him, "You came all the way down here, brought me free sauce, talked about how wonderful of a person she is, showed me video proof, didn't ask me out and still claim that you have no feelings for her?"
Joe licked his lips and scratched the back of his neck, "yeah. Thanks for uh, hearing me out."
Melanie walked into the kitchen, "hey Joe," she called, "put away those ingredients. I brought you some dinner, but I didn't cook it, so you're safe. It's a loophole!" Her bright eyes were sparkling and her perfectly white teeth shined as she smiled.
Joe looked over at her, chuckled and gestured to the ingredients on the counter, "I was gonna make stir fry." He loved it when she got so excited about little things.
Mel lifted her eyebrows, "oh, yum!"
"So you do want me to make dinner?"
"It is one of my favorites," Mel replied, smiling at him, thinking about the delicious dinners he always made. He turned back to the refrigerator and continued to get the things he needed out of it for dinner. She watched him for a few seconds, then she shook her head, "no. I don't want you to make it. I got you this food because you did something nice for me. So I want you to take the night off and let me do something nice for you."
Joe stared at her for a second and collected the ingredients to put them back in the refrigerator, "well aren't I just a lucky guy?"
She smiled and put the food down on the table, "I'm gonna go change and then we will eat, okay?" Joe nodded and continued returning the ingredients.
He glanced up at the brown paper bag full of Chinese food and smiled. He was glad he went down there to talk to that reporter about Mel.
She really was a great person and he didn't want the public to think otherwise.
"Alright, you ready?" She walked over to him, smiling and opening a cabinet. "What do you want to drink?"
Joe licked his lips, "wine would be great."
She smiled at him again, closed the cabinet and pulled two wine glasses down instead. After pouring up the wine, she walked over to him and handed him a glass, their fingertips touching.
They both were silent as they took a sip of the squashed grapes. Mel placed a hand on his forearm and gave it a squeeze. "I really don't know how to thank you Joe."
He pressed his lips together and nodded. He could think of a few ways.
He cleared his throat to break the silence, "you bought me dinner, that was nice of you."
"I feel like it's not enough though," she said, then placed her wine glass on the counter behind them, "you really saved my image."
He placed his wine glass down next to hers and put one of his hands on top of hers that was on his arm, "infinitely worth saving," he said softly. He normally would have teased her about her 'image', but for some reason the mood in the room was different tonight.
She looked down at his lips and he looked at hers. It was so quiet he wondered if she could hear his heartbeat as loud as he could. He'd never admit it, but being this close to her always made him nervous.
"You don't have to thank me," he whispered, "you've done so much for me, you know, letting me move in here, giving me a job."
"I'm so glad you're here," she said sweetly. She leaned up to place her lips on his cheek, but he turned his head and kissed her on the lips instead.
She looked into his brown eyes and moved forward again, and he made the path to him easier when he unfolded his arms and wrapped them around her, pulling her close.
She opened her mouth and deepened the kiss, running her hands over his arms and torso, down to his sides and back up again.
Joe uncrossed his legs and straightened his back, trying to balance her weight leaning on him.
She backed up a little to break the kiss, but didn't move back from him, mostly because his strong arms were wrapped around her, a fact that both of them liked.
An idea came into her head on how to properly thank him. "Where are the kids?" She asked breathlessly.
"Lennox is at the mall with her friends and Ryder is at Holly's house," Joe whispered, thanking God above.
"Good," Mel replied, "I'd hate for them to walk in for a few minutes." He started to get excited as she took a step backwards and ran a hand down his body and to his belt buckle.
"What are you doing?" He asked, watching her intently as she pulled on his belt, then pulled up on his shirt to untuck it.
She stuck a finger on his lips, "shh," then tugged on his shirt some more, "just enjoy this. Will you take this off for me?"
"In the kitchen?" He asked, looking outside just to double check and make sure the coast was clear.
"Yeah," she said back to him, tugging on his shirt again, "anything different and I might lose my nerve."
He swallowed hard and nodded once, letting go of her for just a second to pull off his shirt. She smiled and leaned up to kiss him, her hands exploring the newly exposed skin of his arms and chest all over again.
"You are so handsome," she breathed against his lips.
He smiled and kissed her again, he could feel his jeans getting tighter by the second, "I'm glad you think so," he said back to her.
She smiled and unbuttoned his jeans, then slid both of her hands to hips between the denim and his boxer briefs.
He let out a deep breath as she moved one of her hands and slowly pulled down the zipper.
"You sure know how to torture a guy Burke," he said through shallow breaths, trying to get his mind wrapped around this, what was actually happening.
She chuckled softly and ran her hands across his body and back to his hips, finally lowering his jeans.
He moaned when she leaned up to kiss him, gripping her hip with the arm that was wrapped around her.
She lifted her eyebrows in shock when her palm finally ran over him through his boxers.
She was pleasantly surprised at what he had been hiding from her. She let her mind go to the place in the future when she could really feel all of him.
She broke the kiss again and looked down at the task, rubbing her palm there some more, causing him to groan with impatience.
He used his left hand to move her hair and planted his lips on her neck, smelling her perfume and allowing it to intoxicate him even more.
She leaned her head away from him, enjoying what he was doing to her neck. She moved her hand up to his face and placed it on cheek, causing him to stop kissing her neck and look at her.
"Don't put a hickey on my neck," she warned, "make up doesn't cover them well."
He wanted to leave marks all over her body, but understood that a person in politics couldn't possibly show up to work with a hickey covered up with makeup.
"Can I leave one somewhere not visible?" He asked, his voice scratchy.
She laughed softly and leaned in further to kiss him again.
She slid her hand back down his body and finally pulled down his underwear, a small gasp escaped her lips.
He smiled and moaned into her neck when her hand surrounded his cock, it was growing harder by the second and he couldn't wait for what came next.
She finally began to move her hand back and forth very slowly, ensuring to pay attention when he groaned and jerked his hips, learning what his favorite parts were.
She used both of her hands to rub him, sometimes one, cork screw, fast, slow. He was trying his best to control himself, hold back and enjoy this longer, but she knew exactly what she was doing and he hadn't been touched like this in a long time.
He wanted to touch more of her, but she had on a dress and he couldn't get his hands on her without interrupting what she was doing, and he certainly didn't want that. He should have taken her upstairs to her bed or even down to the basement to his, but this wonderful surprise was just that, a surprise.
Next time, he thought, next time things would be done the correct way. Where he could touch and kiss anything he wanted.
She moved one of her hands down into his underwear to play with his balls, and he groaned even more when she used the other to pump him at the same time.
"God damn it baby," he exclaimed, kissing her cheek and then letting his head fall backwards.
She smiled at his reaction, slowing down the pumping on his shaft just a little.
When he looked at her again, he found her biting her lip in concentration, a look he now knew to be his favorite, "kiss me," he panted.
She leaned up and kissed him, and he held her head in place while he kissed her with all his might.
She began to pump him harder again and broke the kiss when she felt his breath getting shorter and shorter, "you're getting close," she said.
"Yeah," he managed, not very sure if she needed clarification or not, "really close."
She leaned up again and nibbled his chin, and he would never understand how she mastered kissing him like that without stopping what she was doing with her magical hands.
"Please don't stop," he begged, his left hand tightening his grip on her butt, his right gripping the counter.
Mel didn't stop, in fact she squeezed him and pumped his shaft even harder until his head fell backwards again.
A few seconds more and he came, spilling all over her hands and dripping onto the floor.
He was breathing hard, having trouble standing and felt completely amazing.
Once he was able to return from the haziness of complete and total bliss, he looked at her and grabbed her head, kissing her deeply and passionately. She pulled back and pecked his lips, then moved away from him. "Be right back," she said, then left him standing in the kitchen with his shirt off and jeans and underwear pulled down.
He didn't care. He wouldn't care if there was a fire or flood. He didn't think he could move.
She kept her promise and returned to him, drying her hands. She giggled when she saw that he hadn't moved a muscle.
"Want me to help you get cleaned up?"
He looked down at himself, wondering if he had the strength to do anything at all anymore.
She knelt down to the kitchen floor with a bottle of cleaner, spraying and cleaning off the floor.
She stood back up and smiled at him as he cleaned himself and pulled up his boxers and then his jeans, buttoning them and zipping them back up.
"That was amazing," he said to her, "now it's my turn right?
She smiled and picked up her wine glass, looking at him as she sipped it.
"Our food is getting cold," she pointed out, but he ignored that and stepped right up to her to kiss her. She moaned into the kiss, placing her hands on his still bare shoulder.
They broke from each other when they heard a car door shut and voices outside of the kitchen. "Ryder is home."
Mel put down her wine glass and bent over, catching him staring when she stood back up. She smiled coyly at him as she handed him his shirt.
He slipped the shirt on and buckled his belt buckle, leaning down right at her ear again, "it's my turn later," he whispered, nibbling at her ear as he spoke.
He moved away from her just as the door opened.
"Joe! Are you coming to eat this with me or are you going to continue standing there with that weird look on your face?" Mel asked, sitting at the table.
Joe looked around the kitchen, still
in a lust state of mind. Was that all in his mind? It couldn't have been. It was so real.
"Are you okay?" He heard Mel ask, and he looked at her again. She had went upstairs and changed, in jeans and a T-shirt now instead of heals and a dress.
He nodded, "yeah, I'm okay."
Mel pushed a glass of wine towards him as he slowly approached the table, "you sure?"
He swallowed and nodded, "um yeah. I'm sure." He looked around again, "Were you down here earlier?"
"Yeah," she said, nodding slowly and looking at him like he was crazy, "I told you I got us dinner and I was going upstairs to change."
He nodded at her again, "okay."
"Are you sure you're alright? You look a little drained or something."
He nodded and tilted his head at her use of the word drained. "Yeah I'm good. Let's um, lets eat."
She nodded and took a sip of her wine, picking up the Chinese container and using a chop stick to grab a piece of chicken.
She put her hand on his arm, "thanks again for what you did today, Joe. I really owe you one."
He smiled and pressed his lips together, nodding at her.
Here we go again, he thought.