“Holy fuck,” he breathed out. “You inked my name on your flawless skin.” His fingers lightly hovered over the lettering that went down my spine, starting just above my shoulder blades.
“Dammit,” he groaned. “The kids just woke up about thirty minutes ago, so I won’t be able to show you just how much I fucking love this until later tonight.”
I shivered at the dark promise in his tone.
“You may want to go take a nap of your own because it’s going to take me hours and several orgasms to come close to making you understand what this means to me.”
It was a good thing I took his advice because I didn’t get any sleep that night. But I did have enough orgasms that I was looking forward to seeing how he’d react to the tattoos of our children’s names I was planning to get in the future.
Bonus Scene: What’s Sex?
Aspen
I stopped at the partially open door and peeked inside, trying to remain invisible. The sight before me almost took my breath away, until I heard what was being said and had to choke back a laugh.
My badass, tattooed, pierced husband was rocking in a chair with our three-month-old daughter, Lucy, in his arms.
“I know it might make you mad sometimes, but just remember, if your brother kicks a guy you like in the balls, it’s for your own good. Besides, no one will ever be as awesome as your dad, right? Great, I’m glad you agree. So, here’s the plan. No dating. And definitely no sex. Ever.” He made a fist with the hand not cradling her and gently bumped it against hers while she intently chewed on it. “Deal.”
“Mommy, what’s sex?”
My heart stopped. Well, crap. I looked down to see my three-year-old daughter peeking into the nursery from where she’d sidled up next to me. The door opened before I could respond, and Weston scooped Willow up with his free arm. “It’s something mommies and daddies do for fun, munchkin.”
Willow’s eyes got wide and she clapped her hands excitedly. “I want to have sex!”
Weston’s face drained of all color and he looked at me with wild eyes. I smiled, crossing my arms over my chest and shrugged, deciding he would have to clean up his own mess.
“Umm…you’re not a mommy…” he trailed off, his expression hopeful as he waited to see if she would buy his answer.
Willow’s little face scrunched and her green eyes filled with tears. “But, what about my dollies? I’m their mommy.”
“Of course you are, munchkin,” he hurried to reassure her. “But…um…” he looked to me once again, and I decided to take pity on him.
“You’ll have to wait until you’re a grown-up, sweetie,” I told her gently.
“Or never,” Weston muttered quietly.
I chuckled, but kept my focus on our daughter. “How about we make cookies instead?”
“Yay!” she exclaimed, clapping her hands again. She wiggled until Weston carefully set her on her feet, then took off down the hall toward the kitchen. “Carter! We’re makin’ cookies!!!” I watched with amusement as another door in the hall slammed open and our almost five-year-old son went streaking after her.
Weston sighed, his relief palpable. “Nice save, beautiful.”
“You totally owe me, babe,” I retorted playfully as I started to walk away. I put a little extra sway in my hips before tossing another comment over my shoulder. “I’ll have to think of a reward for the next time we have some grown-up ‘fun time’.”
I laughed at the sound of Weston’s growl as I disappeared into the kitchen.
Brief Me, Baby
Guy Rule: No sleeping with the competition.
Jaxon Croix is a smooth talker who’s used to success in life. But despite the law firm partnership, showcase home, and expensive sports car, something is missing… until he meets Natalie Gardner. He knows she’s meant to be his, and he doesn’t waste any time going after her.
Natalie fell into Jax’s bed before she knew his history with her new employer. She’s in for a rude awakening when she finds him sitting across the table for a deposition in her boss’s divorce. Knowing her job is on the line, she tries to put the brakes on her relationship with Jax… only he’s not willing to let her go.
1
Natalie
“Is anyone using this chair?”
The deep rumble sent shivers down my spine, but I didn’t look up from the file my boss had given me during our morning meeting. This case was too important for me to mess up. Being the new kid meant I had to work twice as hard because I needed to make a good impression.
“No,” I mumbled, expecting the owner of the delicious voice to drag it to some other table so he could sit with a group of friends, or his girlfriend, or whatever. What I didn’t expect was to spot a masculine hand out of the corner of my eye as it nudged one of my stacks of papers to the side.
Jerking my head up in surprise, I found myself staring into warm brown eyes. My cheeks filled with heat as I took in the incredibly gorgeous man who’d sat down in the seat across the table from me. He had thick, dark hair that looked like someone had been running their fingers through it. His full lips were stretched into a stunning smile, showing perfectly straight teeth. The scruff on his face went beyond a five o’clock shadow, even though it was early afternoon, but it only enhanced how hot he was.
Taut muscles strained against his French blue dress shirt as he propped his elbows on the surface and leaned towards me, tanned skin visible at the unbuttoned collar. His long legs were stretched out under the table, the tip of one of his brown, leather wingtips less than an inch from my feet. He was, by far, the sexiest man I’d ever seen in my life, and all of his attention was focused on me. It was exhilarating, and I took a deep breath to try to settle my nerves.
I glanced around the bakery, surprised to find most of the surrounding tables empty. I hadn’t made it out of the office for lunch until a little past two, but I expected the bakery to be full since he was sitting in my extra chair. Why else would a drop dead gorgeous guy pick the only table with someone else sitting at it?
My mystery man chuckled at my obvious confusion, drawing my gaze back to his face. His smile had widened and the corners of his eyes were crinkled up with humor. I was so nervous that I couldn’t even describe the feeling in my stomach as butterflies taking flight, it was more like my insides were doing somersaults.
“Umm,”—I glanced around the empty room again, wondering if someone was pulling a prank on me—“Can I help you with something?”
“Sure you can, sweetheart. You can tell me your name.”
He was hot, there was no denying it, and the confidence in his voice made it clear he was well aware of the affect he had on women. I’d been around enough arrogant men in my life to know it was better to steer clear of them. It was why I’d come half-way across the country to take a job outside of my step-father’s sphere of influence. I wanted to make it on my own, without the stigma that would follow me if I let him help me. I’d never truly be taken seriously with everyone assuming I’d been given my career rather than having earned it.
I knew I should nip this, whatever it was, in the bud before it even started, but I couldn’t bring myself to actually do it.
“Natalie,” I answered softly.
“Natalie,” he repeated, his eyes lazily sliding down my body and back up again before he continued. “I’m Jax.”
Jax. I should have guessed he had a hot guy name. Although, I doubted he’d be any less attractive if his name had been Harold.
The waitress, who’d only been by my table to take my order, then drop off my latte and sandwich, made a beeline towards us as soon as she noticed Jax sitting across from me. The flip of her hair over her shoulder and sway of her hips were clearly for his benefit.
“What can I get you?” she asked breathily, bending forward to give him a clear view of her cleavage.
“Black, dark roast coffee for me,” he told her without looking up. “You want a refill, Natalie?”
Her crestfallen expression made
me laugh, considering she’d had the nerve to try to flirt with a guy who very well could have been my boyfriend for all she knew. “No thanks. Just the check please. I need to head back to the office.”
“Then I guess I’ll take mine to go since my reason for staying will be gone.”
The waitress sighed in disappointment and moved away. I waited until she was far enough away not to hear our conversation before asking the obvious question. “How could I be the reason you’d stay when you don’t even know me?”
“My plan was to grab a quick cup of coffee to go, but it flew out the window the second I spotted you sitting here.”
I would have found myself flattered except his answer came way too easily for him. “Why do I get the feeling you’re entirely too smooth for my own good?”
“It comes in handy in my line of work, but I promise I’ll be good to you.”
As a lawyer, I was adept at using words to my advantage, but I had a feeling I was in over my head with this guy. Between his good looks, deep voice, and charisma, I was finding it hard to concentrate on what I wanted to say. “What is your line of work, exactly? Sales? Advertising?”
“Have dinner with me tomorrow, and I’ll tell you.” His mouth said dinner, but his tone and eyes told me he wanted more than just a meal.
“I can’t.” Or, at least, I shouldn’t since I still had boxes to unpack and prep work to do if I was going to be ready for an early morning deposition the next day.
The waitress chose that moment to set his to-go cup of coffee on the table in front of him, along with his check. I couldn’t help but notice her name and phone number in red ink at the bottom. It was another reason not to go out to dinner with him since I had a feeling this kind of thing wasn’t unusual for him.
I flipped mine over and there was only the amount due circled in red. Before I’d had the chance to read the numbers, my check was yanked out of my hand, slapped on top of his, and handed back to the waitress along with a twenty-dollar bill.
“Keep the change,” he told her, making it clear to both of us that he had no interest in pocketing the ticket with her phone number on it. The move was well played, and I found myself relaxing a little—right up until the moment his dark eyes latched on to mine again and refused to let me go. “I’m not going to take no for an answer.”
His confidence was starting to grow on me, but that didn’t mean I was going to make it easy for him. “What if I’m married?”
His hand slid across the table, snagging mine, and he rubbed his thumb across my fingers. “No ring. It was the first thing I checked.”
“Boyfriend?”
He flipped my hand over and laced his fingers through mine. “I have a feeling you’re not the type of woman who would have looked at me the way you did if you were committed to someone else.”
The heat from his hand seared into my palm like a bolt of electricity. “And if I was?”
“For the first time in my life, I’m not sure that would be enough to keep me away from a woman. Not when it’s you.”
Holy shit, there went my panties, right along with my desire to say no to dinner with Jax.
“Dinner. Just dinner.” The reminder was for myself as much as it was him.
“Six o’clock?”
I thought of the stack of papers on my desk, along with the work I’d brought to lunch with me. Tomorrow’s work load wouldn’t be any better. “Can you do seven instead?”
He smiled, and I almost laughed at the triumphant gleam in his dark eyes. “Tell me where and when, and I’ll be there to pick you up.”
“I’ll meet you at the restaurant,” I corrected, pulling my hand from his and gathering up my paperwork to shove it into my briefcase.
Oddly enough, his eyes filled with approval. “Smart girl, not trusting me with your address yet.”
“It’s a moot point since I’ll be coming straight from work.”
“Sounds like a long day.”
“New job,” I explained.
He pulled his cell phone from his pocket. “Then I guess you’d better give me your phone number, just in case something comes up and you can’t make it.”
I cocked my head to the side and narrowed my eyes at him. “Wouldn’t that mean I’d need your number so I could call you and not the other way around?”
“I’ll send you mine as soon as you give me yours,” he smirked.
“Fine,” I huffed good-naturedly and rattled off my number. He typed it in, his fingers flying over the keys. My phone buzzed a moment later with a text message notification. Pulling it out of my purse, I was surprised by what he’d sent me.
See you at 7. Dinner at Charleston. Jax.
“I might be new to town, but from what I’ve heard Charleston is a special occasion kind of restaurant.”
I watched as he uncoiled from his chair and prowled around the table to pull mine back and help me up with his hand at my elbow. “It’s our first date.”
“And that makes it a special occasion?” When his hand slid around to my lower back, my voice came out shaky.
We’d made it to the front door, and when his free hand reached out, I expected him to open it. Instead, he tugged on my shoulder and pulled me into him. His head dropped down, his mouth covering mine in a kiss. My lips parted in surprise, and he took full advantage. My thoughts scattered as his tongue swirled slowly in my mouth. Just as my legs began to shake, he lifted his head and stared down at me. “What do you think, sweetheart?”
It was going to be way more than just dinner if I wasn’t careful, that’s what I thought.
2
Jax
I’d been told my whole life that I was born a smooth talker. I coaxed a kiss out of Jenny Palmer in kindergarten, even though she swore she hated boys. As a teenager, charming my way out of trouble was common place. In college, I was king of the campus. Women wanted to fuck me and men wanted to be my best friend.
I realized how arrogant that sounded, but it wasn’t like I was a manwhore (well, maybe in high-school, but you have to cut my over-active teenage libido some slack) or used my talents to blur the lines between right and wrong. It was simply fact. A fact that made me a damn good lawyer. One who’d only lost a handful of cases in the decade I’d been practicing law.
When I met Natalie, for the first time in a long while, I changed the focus of my charm from judges, juries, and opposing counsel, to a beautiful woman. With her long, honey-blonde hair in some kind of twist, her elegant neck was exposed and immediately I had a craving to run my tongue along every line. Her eyes were hidden by adorable, small, rectangular, black-framed glasses, perched on her small, upturned nose. High cheek bones and luscious lips that were pink from being chewed on as she stared hard at the paperwork in front of her. All attached to a modest but mouthwatering pair of breasts, pressing against her white silk blouse, a tiny waist, and endless, tan legs that stretched out from her thigh length skirt.
I’d managed to tap into my talents to procure her phone number and a date. When she entered the restaurant, she took my breath away and for a moment, I worried that I’d lost my powers. But, I was drawn to her like a magnet seeking its other half and as I met her at the door, I felt my confidence return. Thank fuck. Though, it was a close call when she finally looked up, and I momentarily lost all ability to think or even breathe as I drowned in the most beautiful green eyes I’d ever seen.
Natalie Gardner. Even her name was sexy. We spent the night getting to know each other. I wasn’t really surprised, but definitely happy to find that she was as sweet and beautiful on the inside as she was on the outside. Her wry sense of humor had me laughing, while her body had me on the edge of coming far too often.
Learning we shared the same profession only made everything seem so much more perfect. It didn’t take long for me to be convinced. Natalie was the woman I didn’t know I’d been waiting for. I hadn’t recognized the void in my life until it was suddenly filled by her.
There was a moment of panic when she mention
ed what law firm she’d recently started at. Smith, Yates, and Warren. Fuck. I’d spent my early career with them, back when it was only Smith and Yates. Things went south, and I ended up leaving to start my own firm. Circumstances being what they were, I took most of my clients with me, so there was a lot of bad blood between us.
With less than twenty-four hours under my belt, I couldn’t stomach the thought of scaring Natalie away with the shitty details of that situation. I needed more time with her, so when I finally told her, she would trust my side of the story. It wasn’t like we’d find ourselves facing off in court. Junior associates rarely made it there unless is was smaller cases, like housing court.
I realized the jeopardy I was putting myself in by holding back, the possibility that I would come off looking like a complete asshole. But, I found justification in my reasoning, enough to put it off one more night anyway.
Treading carefully and not wanting to push too hard, at the end of the evening, I walked her to her car and then gathered her into my arms. My mouth crashed down onto hers. A soft moan escaped her mouth, giving me the perfect opening to plunge my tongue inside and fully taste her. Peaches. Just like last time, she tasted like fucking peaches. My favorite.
At last, I pulled back and smirked with satisfaction at the flushed state of her skin and the desire swirling in her eyes.
“I need to see you again tomorrow, sweetheart,” I rasped.
She shook her head, seeming to clear away the fog. Biting her plump lip, making me so jealous of the thing, she stared at me with indecision. “I don’t know. Work is so crazy right now. I really don’t have time—”
Kissing her again, I swallowed her protests and only retreated when I knew I was almost to the point of no return. “That wasn’t a request, Natalie,” I growled. “Tomorrow.”
The Yeah, Baby Series: Limited Edition 9 Book Set Page 34
