“You look good enough to eat,” he stated as he stepped into the foyer, taking her into his arms. With one hand, he pushed the door closed. With the other, he held the back of her head as he lowered his mouth to cover hers, brushing his lips back and forth over hers until she opened for him. Then he moved in for a deeper kiss, his tongue invading her mouth, his hands moving over her back, her waist, sliding against her sides and causing her to shiver in anticipation as his hand moved closer to her breast. But he didn’t go there, sliding his hands back down to her waist before pulling away.
Jessa tried valiantly for relaxed and casual, but suspected that she actually looked pained and overly-eager.
“Something smells good. Did you cook tonight?”
She laughed nervously, still a bit stunned. “Yes. I cooked,” she said as she led him through the house to the kitchen. “Although, I’m not sure what you like or dislike so I kept it pretty safe tonight.”
“I like just about everything,” he replied and she peered over her shoulder. For some reason, that comment sounded…suggestively sexy.
“Right,” she whispered and turned back to walk into her kitchen. Her kitchen wasn’t as big or as fancy as his, but it suited her perfectly. It was cozy, with yellow walls and blue cabinets. She had bright, colorful plates in different patterns that she picked up whenever she traveled. The mismatched plates brought back memories of whatever she’d been doing, what she had researched on a trip. She loved each of those memories, as well as the plates and cups. It made stacking a bit of a challenge, but she didn’t mind, especially since it was mostly just cooking for one.
“This is really nice,” Jayce commented, looking around at her colorful kitchen that looked out onto the water. “Very cozy and bright.”
She looked around, smiling at the views as she poured him some iced tea and herself a glass of lemonade. “It took me a long time to figure out the style that I wanted, and an even longer time to pull it together, but with Daisy’s help, I finally got it right.”
“What did you do today?” he asked.
“I met your sister, actually. Carly is…” Jessa paused, trying to find the right word.
He chuckled. “She’s a force of nature,” he filled in. “No need to be polite about it. She drives me nuts sometimes, but she’s a dynamo at running the business for us.”
“She runs your business?”
“Yeah. She’s in charge of everything, although she stays in the office, preferring not to travel. We’re the ones she sends out on all of the activities or sales calls.” He shook his head. “I swear, I think Carly used to make up some of the trips because we’d pissed her off.” He looked at Jessa with a cringe. “We don’t do that anymore. At least, not intentionally. Sometimes though…” He didn’t finish the statement, but Jessa understood what he wasn’t saying. “So, what did she want from you?”
Jessa led the way out through the kitchen doorway so they could walk down the lawn to their usual place. For some reason, she needed to get back to their previous routine of sitting out by the water and talking quietly. It would center her, help her feel more balanced. More as if the world wasn’t going a bit nutty.
“She didn’t really want anything,” Jessa replied, smiling secretively as he took her hand to help her down the stairs. Stairs she walked about four times a day, but it was still nice to feel his hand holding hers. When they were once again on flat ground, he didn’t release her hand. And Jessa didn’t pull away. Holding his hand felt good. It felt…right!
“Carly always wants something,” he groaned.
“Well, she introduced herself and asked me if I was the author. But she didn’t ask for an autograph.”
“Do people usually ask for that?”
She looked up at him and she suspected that her response was important to him. “Not really. I’m pretty shy, so I’ve never done a book signing. My publisher says that my lack of interaction with my readers makes me more mysterious. But I think she’s just making excuses for me because she knows that I won’t do the book signings. I suspect that if I ever told her that I was willing, she’d line up an entire nationwide book tour.” Jessa shuddered as if the idea was a nightmare for her. Which it would be.
“You don’t like meeting your readers?”
Jessa shrugged as she took her usual chair. “It isn’t that I don’t want to meet them. Mostly, it’s that I don’t think any of them would want to meet me!” she laughed. “I mean, really, I’m just the hired help, in a way.”
A dark brow lifted in surprise. “You don’t think of yourself as a sort of celebrity? You sell thousands of books every month.”
She just about choked on her lemonade. “A celebrity? Are you serious?” She shook her head. “No. I’m not even close.”
“I bet you are to your readers.”
She rolled her eyes, not believing him for a second. “So, how was your day?” she asked, changing the subject in a too-obvious manner.
They talked about random things, just like normal and Jessa started to relax again. Unfortunately, an hour later, she checked her watch and gasped at the time. “Are you hungry for dinner?”
Jayce looked at her, watching her glance around nervously. She’d been so relaxed a moment ago. But there was a tension about her now. Was it awareness or nervousness?
“I’d love whatever you have cooking, it smelled amazing,” he admitted.
“Good,” she replied and stood up. They walked back up to her house and he stood back, enjoying the gentle sway of her hips as she moved around in the kitchen. The sight of her bent over to pull the casserole out of the oven, the material of her jeans pulling tight against her backside was devastating. And the tee-shirt she wore…he doubted that she realized how thin it was. He could see the lace of her bra through the material. He could also see her tight nipples pressing towards him and his mouth watered.
But Jayce pulled his gaze away from those inviting nipples and looked at the food. It was chicken covered in some cheesy sauce that looked and smelled amazing! “Wow!” he announced and held the chair out for her. “This looks incredible!”
“Thanks,” she said as she sat down, putting her yellow napkin in her lap. “Help yourself.”
Jessa watched as he took one chicken breast and served her, then placed another on his own plate, adding in green beans and a helping of the tossed salad. She almost laughed at his tiny portions. “Really, Jayce?” she teased, then took the serving spoon and placed another chicken breast on his plate. “I know you’re a big guy and need a lot more energy than I do.”
He laughed, but he didn’t deny her statement. They ate and talked and laughed about things. It was nice and Jessa felt as if they were an old married couple. Except for the sexual tension that seemed to increase with every bite. It was so thick, Jessa wondered if steam might start rising up between them.
When dinner was over, she sat back, twirling her wine glass with her fingers nervously.
“Jessa,” he called to her, pulling her eyes up from her plate. “Nothing is going to happen that you don’t want to happen.”
She smiled at him. “Thank you for that.”
He took the plates and carried them over to the sink. “I have a suggestion for you.”
“What’s that?” she asked, thinking that perhaps she didn’t want to hear it. Jayce’s ideas were what had gotten them into this mess.
“You’ve never truly enjoyed sex before now, right?”
“Well, I wouldn’t say that I never enjoyed sex,” she replied, even though she hadn’t.
He finished rinsing the dishes. “Have you ever had an orgasm during sex?” he asked point blank.
Jessa’s mouth fell open and she felt her cheeks heat up. “What? No! Um…” she then realized what she’d just said and tried to back track. “Well, um…” she placed a hand on her cheeks, trying to hide the blush. “Jayce, I don’t think that’s any of your business.”
He chuckled, and pulled her into his arms. “Honey, of course it is my b
usiness. We’re going to be lovers. I need to understand your sexual past, and your preferences.”
“That just seems so…intimate!” she gasped.
“Of course it is intimate. We’re going to be intimate, Jessa. It’s just a matter of you becoming more comfortable around me. Once that happens, then we’re all in.”
She pulled out of his arms, her face still burning with embarrassment, but she tried to pretend that the conversation was normal. “Well, what about your past?”
“I always have orgasms during sex,” he teased, then became more serious. “I know that a lot of women don’t and that’s a shame.”
“How do you know that women don’t?”
“Climax during sex?” he clarified, taking the casserole dish out of her hands and started scrubbing it. “Because women talk. I listen. I read.” He turned to look at her. “Women think that sex is all about men, and asking for what they need makes them into a slut.” He paused. “It doesn’t, Jessa. It just makes them assertive and sexy.”
She swallowed, wanting to pull away from the intensity in his eyes. But she couldn’t. It was like…he was like a magnet and she wanted to go to him, demand that he prove it. Unfortunately, she wasn’t that brave when it came to sexual matters. With everything else in her life she was fully capable and assertive. Sex? Nah! Looking down, she smiled at his hands. “I think the casserole dish is clean now.”
He looked down as well, realized that he’d worked up a huge lather and that he couldn’t even see the glass dish. “Right,” he laughed and turned on the water to rinse it off. Sure enough, as soon as the water rinsed off the suds, the dish was spotless.
“What else?” he asked, looking around.
“Nothing. Everything is cleaned up,” she replied, folding her hands in front of her.
He tossed the sponge into the small dish on the side of her sink, then looked over at her. He had that look in his eyes. The look that made her toes curl. And a whole lot of other body parts that she wasn’t going to mention. Okay, so she wasn’t going to tell him about her toes curling either but…
“What are you thinking about?” he asked, taking her hand in his and leading her out of the kitchen and into the big, comfy sitting room.
“Umm…my toes,” she told him honestly.
He sat down and pulled her down so that she sat pressed against him. Closer than she’d ever sat. She was overwhelmed with sensation, his body heat, the smell of his aftershave, even though it had been hours since he’d shaved. In fact, he looked extra scrumptious with that five o-clock shadow along his strong jawline.
“What about your toes?” he asked softly, his fingers sliding through her hair, caressing the back of her neck. Good grief, she’d never realized how sensitive the back of her neck was!
“Umm…” what was he talking about? Toes. Why was he talking about toes? Who cared about toes when he touched her like that!
“Jessa,” he whispered, his lips dangerously close to her ear.
“What?” she whispered back, not wanting to break the intimate silence of the moment. He might stop doing that thing with his fingers if she disrupted the silence.
“When is your next period?” he asked softly.
Screeching noise! The kind of noise one hears when someone runs their fingers down a chalkboard. “What?” she gasped, pulling away. Unfortunately, her knee-jerk reaction dislodged his delicious fingers from her neck. Why’d he have to go and ask something like that?!
His green eyes looked back at her steadily. “I need to know, honey. If you want to get pregnant, then I’ll need to know when to…uh…perform.”
She blushed again. Never in her life had she felt her cheeks grow this hot. “Um…well, how about if I just…”
“You’re embarrassed and I’m sorry, but you shouldn’t be, honey. It’s just a regular thing, Jessa. Why would you be embarrassed about something that is just a natural part of being a woman?”
She jerked up from the couch. “Because it’s private!”
He leaned back against the cushions, his gaze moving up and down her body, stopping at her breasts for a long moment. For some reason, that made her body feel all tingly again. His look was almost as nice as those fingers against her neck. Almost. Not quite.
“Jessa, if I’m going to help you get pregnant, I can guarantee that I’m going to be a whole lot more intimate than this.” He took her hand and pulled her back down to the couch. “Just pretend that I’m your doctor.”
“My doctor is a woman.”
He laughed and the sound of his laughter made her toes curl again.
“Okay, that reminds me of several more fantasies with you as the leading lady,” he teased.
Jessa knew where he was going and smacked him. Lightly, because she knew that he was only teasing. “Get serious,” she grumbled.
“Oh, you have no idea how serious some of my fantasies are,” he chuckled, and grabbed her hand before she could smack him again. “But not the point. I understand. So, I’m not your doctor. What about if you just pretend I’m your doctor?”
She frowned at him. “Another one of your fantasies?” she asked, then laughed when he shrugged slightly. “You’re bad.” She shook her head at him.
“No, I’m really good. I promise, you’re going to love how good I am.”
“Now you’re just bragging.”
He let his fingers slide back underneath her hair. “Not even a little,” he countered. “So when was your last period?”
She shifted, but not enough to dislodge his fingers. “I’d have to look it up.”
“Good. Text me the date after I leave tonight.” She closed her eyes again, relieved that the subject was closed. “I have a suggestion.”
She certainly hoped that his suggestion had something to do with staying right where they were for the rest of her life. “What’s that?” she asked, a bit breathlessly.
“I think you should let me make love to you when you are not ovulating,” he said, his voice deepening, sounding husky and sexy and oh-so-hot! “I think you should let me show you what sex should be like so that, during those long nights when you’re taking care of your baby and don’t have anyone around to have sex with, you can think back and remember what incredible sex was like.”
Another blush. She couldn’t respond because the sensation of him nibbling along her neckline stole her words away.
“I can make you feel even better, Jessa.” Another nibble. “Just think, by this time next year, you could have a baby. You’ll be so overwhelmed with taking care of your baby, that you’ll need some fond memories to keep you warm and make you smile.” Another nibble, this one lower along her neckline. “Let me be the memory that brings a smile to your face.”
Jessa groaned, putting her hands on his shoulders. “Jayce!” she gasped, wiggling when his mouth sucked a bit harder along her neck before moving again. And again. He really was good at this! He seemed to know where to find every sensitive spot on her neck and shoulders and kiss it, tease that spot until she gasped or shivered or moaned. Or all three!
“I think we should have sex only when I’m ovulating,” she managed to blurt out, although how she’d found the willpower was a mystery.
“If that’s all you want, then I’m fine with that, Jessa.” He kissed her neck again before nibbling on her earlobe. When he pulled away, he looked down at her. “But I think you’ll be missing out on a lot of fun.”
How in the world had they gotten into this position? She was lying on the sofa now, his hips between her legs and his hands sliding along the bare skin of her stomach. Bare skin?!
Before Jessa could figure out what was going on, he pulled them back up to a sitting position, but she was now straddling his lap, his hands dangerously close to her bottom.
“Jessa, I don’t want to push you into anything. But if the past few nights have proven anything, it’s that there’s a sexual tension between us that is hard to deny.”
She opened her mouth, ready to deny his claim, but
the words wouldn’t come. Instead, she whispered, “I’m afraid of losing your friendship, Jayce.”
“I know, honey. And I don’t want that to happen either. Nor am I going to deny the possibility exists. But…” he shook his head. “Honestly, the idea of you getting pregnant through some other man’s donation makes my stomach wretch.” He paused for a moment. “Let me be the man to help you with this. I understand your end goal. But…I’d also love to show you that sex can be good and fun. No matter how long it takes to reach your goal, I vow to you that I won’t cheat on you. I won’t even look at another woman with sexual interest. I won’t do that to you.” He looked at her carefully.
She took a deep breath and, when that wasn’t enough to clear her mind, she stood up again. “Jayce, this is all so…confusing. I think we should keep the sex just during when I’m fertile.”
He looked at her for a long moment and she could tell that he didn’t agree. Jessa actually held her breath, waiting for him to say he wanted more. Praying that he wanted more even though more was too dangerous to contemplate!
“Okay, so how about this. Why don’t you let me show you what it could be like, during a time when you can’t get pregnant? Then you can make the decision based off of full knowledge?”
She laughed, wanting to roll her eyes, but he looked so sincere. “You honestly believe you can change years of bad sex?”
His head tilted slightly. “You didn’t tell me that you’d had bad sex. You’ve only admitted that you’ve never climaxed during sex. Bad sex is different.”
She crossed her arms over her chest, shifting her weight on her legs. “I don’t think that there’s much of a difference.”
He nodded in agreement. “You have a point. If you’re not going to have a climax, what’s the point of having sex?”
“The intimacy of being together, perhaps?” she challenged.
He winked at her. “Ah. That’s the answer a woman gives when she doesn’t know the difference.” He looked at his watch. “It’s late. You’ve been up for a while.” He stood and walked towards her, taking her hands into his. “Will you do me a favor?”
His Baby Deal (The Diamond Club Book 6) Page 7
