by Shara Lanel
“Otherwise you’ll see me at work.”
He smiled a bit sadly. “Yes. See you Monday.”
Christine was incredibly grateful that Kyle was such a decent man, waiting to see if she was okay and not blowing out swear words at her puking on him. Not many men could deal with that. She knew from experience, from the many times she’d suffered from a hangover and the guy she was with wanted nothing to do with her, but she’d never thrown up during sex before. That was new. Geez! And because Kyle was a decent man, she knew he wouldn’t go into work and blab about her.
She took a brief, scalding shower, dried off, threw on a robe and went in search of some Pepto. Logically it should have been in the bathroom medicine cabinet, but she had an eclectic array of OTC meds in the breadbox in the kitchen. Her organizational skills applied to her work only. She forgot every principle once she got home. The bread, of course, was in her fridge. As she grabbed the pink bottle, her phone rang. She once again saw Jake’s glaring eyes as if he stood right in front of her. She picked up the phone.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
She ignored his attitude, choosing instead to hyperventilate. How had she known with a certainty that it was Jake on the phone?
“Christine, answer me, dammit.”
“Stop swearing at me, you jerk!”
She heard his swift inhale and slow exhale. His next words came across more calmly. “Did you do it? Did you let another man fuck you?”
She held the receiver away from her and stared at it as if it was a two-headed rattler. Realizing the phone was inanimate, she brought it back to her ear as she slowly revolved, checking every window and doorway for a silhouette. “Are you spying on me? Are you here outside my house or something?”
“No. Shit. I so do not want to explain this over the phone.”
“Explain what exactly?”
“Look, I need to come down and see you, but Dean’s mom is being a royal bitch about taking him and he’s been pitching a fit about me pulling him out of school for a trip.”
A thought shot through her brain and she slapped her forehead. “I’m not pregnant, am I? We used condoms every time, didn’t we?”
“No, that’s not it.” Like he would know. So strange.
She lowered her butt to the floor and leaned against the wall, feeling relief in every muscle and bone, but she retained the feeling that Jake had an enormous secret to tell her. “Jake, you need to tell me what’s going on now.”
He sighed. “God, I have to get up in two hours. Look, let’s just say that you and I are connected and that connection’s going to grow stronger as time goes by.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Her voice moved closer to screeching level.
“Is it okay if I come down to see you? I might have to bring a grouchy son along, but I have to explain this face-to-face.”
She closed her eyes and ran her palm down her face. Every word he said was nuts, but every instinct in her said she had to listen to him. And she knew with absolute certainty she didn’t want to hear anything else Jake had to say. Just get him off the phone. “Hey, you know, we had a little fling. You don’t need to come down here. Maybe I can see you next time I visit my parents.” When would that be? “Like Memorial Day weekend maybe.”
He snorted. “Have you been feeling restless without knowing why?”
“Yeah, so? I mean we had awesome sex, so of course I’m still thinking about you, but that doesn’t mean we have a relationship.”
“That restlessness is going to get worse as long as we’re apart, plus I’m going to kick the ass of the next guy you try to get in bed with.”
“How did you…What are you…? Shit, Jake, I can’t think at this time of night. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“You’re lying.”
“I’m not!” But she had no intention of calling him. “You call me, then.” And she would be conveniently away from her phone.
“I’ll call with the details of my flight. I’ll stay with you.”
“Are you full of shit? You can’t just invite yourself to spend the night at my place. I have to invite you.”
“Then do it already.”
“What?” She was growing more and more dazed and fatigued.
“Invite me.”
“Screw you.” She hung up the phone. If he called back, she’d take it off the hook. Luckily he didn’t bother her for the rest of the night.
Chapter Five
“What do you mean I have to take a week off school so you can go screw someone?”
“Watch your mouth!” Dean was pissed, but Jake didn’t have a choice but to take him along. None of Dean’s school friends could take him for more than one night. “Look, it may only be a couple of days. I’m sorry, but I’m not willing to risk leaving you here alone. If your mom would stop being so selfish…” He let that trail off. He tried his damnedest to keep from berating Lynn in front of Dean. None of this divorce crap was his fault, and he had half of her DNA. Jake didn’t want to stomp on his son’s self-esteem by coloring his mom as a villain…even if sometimes she was.
“You don’t trust me, do you?” Dean’s face was red from the effort to yell as loud as he possibly could. Just what Jake needed—for the neighbors to complain to the super about noise. He needed to regain control of this conversation.
“Dean, I trust you for your age. I know you think you’re a little adult but you’re not and some problems would be beyond your control, like a break-in, a fire, a problem with school.”
“I can handle school!”
“Whatever. I’m not leaving you in the city unsupervised.”
“You suck.”
“Have you ever considered that you might enjoy Florida? The weather said it got up to the low eighties yesterday. We were in the low forties.” That certainly sounded good to him. He wished Dean had a place to stay so he could hash out his mess with Christine without worrying about what Dean might hear, but he wouldn’t bend on this staying-alone issue. Dean wasn’t even a teenager yet.
“My life is here and you’re screwing it up!” He stomped off to his room and slammed his door, which was getting to be a daily habit. Jake tried to step back and remember his own adolescent craziness but sometimes it was hard not just to react.
“It’s only a few days,” he shouted at the door, but Dean had probably already donned his headphones to block him out.
Jake dealt with the silent treatment by setting up a flight reservation for that night and packing his duffel. He emptied his gym bag for Dean. When was the last time his son had been out of the city? Three years ago? That camping trip to the state forest? He probably couldn’t even remember it. Kids in the city, whether Manhattan or the boroughs, grew up so fast. This trip would be good for him, as long as he and Christine could get along, and since Christine might not even let Jake in her house, this was far from a sure thing.
Dean left his cave at seven when he was too hungry to deal. Jake let him cook some Easy Mac and gobble half of it down before he told him the time of their flight.
“Tonight?”
“Look, you’ve pushed me as far as you’re going to. Here’s a bag. You’re packing as soon as you finish eating. Got it?”
He left the half-eaten bowl of mac on the table, grabbed the bag and stomped to his room again.
Two hours later, Jake guided his cab into long-term parking at Newark. It was so weird to leave it there since he never actually parked when he came here normally. Dean picked up his backpack and marched toward the walkway, so Jake grabbed the other two bags with a sigh. He wished he knew if his son was second-natured or not, and whether the were side could wreak havoc with hormones. Was Dean normal for his age—if so, God bless every parent of an adolescent—or did he have that extra magic against him? Jake’s change had occurred during winter break his freshman year of high school. His parents had left him alone for the weekend. They would not have survived had they been with him.
Jake hated acceptin
g a full-body pat-down at security, but he wasn’t sure if his second nature caused any anomalies in his body. He hadn’t seen a doctor in years. Dean did the same, joking that he wanted a female security agent to do his. He got a female, but she had the attitude of a prison warden and the face of a tank. Jake did his best to repress a chuckle as his son scowled.
Everything else went smoothly. The plane actually left on time and he’d paid extra for a direct flight. Dean had shoved his ear buds deep into his ears the moment they sat down. Jake enjoyed the silence. They hadn’t checked either bag so they wouldn’t have to wait at the retrieval belt. They did, however, have to go to the car rental counter.
“It’s so weird not to be in my cab,” Jake commented, mostly to himself as he steered the rental car away from the airport.
Dean snorted. “I bet it is. You need a hobby or something. Get yourself a life.”
He was about to get a life in spades.
“So where’s the hotel? Nearby?”
“Actually, we’re not staying in a hotel.”
“We’re staying with her?” Jake didn’t need to see his son’s scowl to know it was there.
“It’ll be fine,” Jake said as he fiddled with the GPS. He hated not knowing his way around a city. Still shaking his head, Dean donned his headphones and ignored him the rest of the journey.
They reached Christine’s and Jake parked along the curb. The whole block was dark except for the occasional security light. She didn’t even have her door light on. Did they not have crime here? Lights were the cheapest and most obvious form of security. All she had to do was flick a switch.
“Is she here, Dad?” His son looked up at him as they started walking up the short drive. “Does she even know we’re coming?”
“Oh yeah, I told her.” It didn’t matter that she hadn’t agreed. He’d told her.
“Did you tell her what time we’d get in?”
“No, I didn’t do that.”
“That was stupid.”
“No shit.” Steeling himself for the coming confrontation, Jake stepped up to the door. “Why don’t you hang back there until I talk to her, okay?”
“Dad, you told her I was coming, didn’t you? Come on. I don’t want to stay where I’m not wanted.”
“Don’t worry about it.” He rang the doorbell, heard it chime clearly in the room beyond but heard no rustle of movement. With his hearing, he’d know if a blanket moved or a foot hit the floor. None of that. Just deep, slow breathing, the sign of someone in REM sleep. He knocked, maintaining what he thought was a polite volume, but if she didn’t get her ass out here, he’d bang down the door. He heard a gasp, rustling, and foot falls, but she seemed to stop at the other side of the room. He knocked again.
“Jake, if that’s you, go to a fuckin’ hotel! Then get your ass back on a plane to New York!”
He didn’t answer, hoping curiosity would prompt her to open her door. It did. The door light flared. “Damn you,” she said in a much lower voice as she checked the street for neighbors. “You can’t stay here.” She was wearing PJ pants with a Disney design on them and a button-down shirt that was actually unbuttoned. She had it tugged across herself, making Jake think she hadn’t worn it to bed, she was just covering up her other top.
“It’s the middle of the night. Just let me in.” He gave her what he hoped looked like puppy-dog eyes. Finally, she took a step back and opened the door wider. Jake turned and gestured to his son, who was rolling his eyes so hard he must’ve been staring at his skull.
“Well, what are you waiting for?”
Dean reached his father’s side. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell her.”
Christine’s eyes widened. “You brought your son?” She met the boy’s eyes and softened her look with a smile. “Dean, right?”
“I didn’t want to come.” God, he had sulky down pat. “He made me.”
“I can believe it. Well, come in before the bugs of the night eat us alive.”
“Is that why you leave your light off?” Jake’s astute son asked.
“You bet, or they’ll spend the night slapping into my screen like an invasion force of aliens.”
Dean laughed.
“Whoa, you’re a miracle worker. I can’t remember the last time I heard him laugh.”
Dean rolled his eyes again and stalked, with his backpack, past Christine. Jake tried to follow. Instead, Christine pushed him, calling over her shoulder, “Make yourself at home. We’ll be just a minute.” She closed the door, leaving just a crack, probably to keep it from locking. “If it weren’t for that boy in there, I’d be calling the cops right now.”
He chucked her chin with his thumb and heard the telltale catch in her breathing. “You want me. Admit it.”
“Wanting you and dealing with you…and your son…is an entirely different thing.”
“Tell me, what happened with your lover before I called?” He wouldn’t growl. He wouldn’t even ask the fellow’s name and address… for now.
“We had a really good fuck.”
“I know you didn’t.”
“You can’t know.”
“What happened?”
She blushed. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Did he lose his woody or something?”
Her blush brightened. Holy shit, what had happened? “I threw up.”
“What?” He cupped his ear, though he’d heard her perfectly well.
“I puked on him right when he was about to…you know.”
Jake whispered, “When he was about to fuck you?”
“Yes.”
He tried to hold back a lopsided grin but decided that was a better reaction than scolding her and telling her he’d be the only man in her bed from now on. He wanted to at least get his feet in her house first.
She smacked his chest, so he grinned wider. “You are such an asshole.”
“I know, but let’s get inside and figure out a place for Dean to sleep. A boy his age needs an awful lot of sleep, you see, sometimes ’til noon on the weekend.”
She smiled at that and backed up so he could follow her inside. Dean had turned on one of the coffee table lights as well as the TV, making himself right at home as Christine had offered. Apparently, only infomercials were available for viewing at this time of night, but he looked engrossed. “Dean, give me a sec and I’ll make up the guest bed, okay? It’s just a small TV in there, but it’s hooked into the cable.” She disappeared through the first door off the hallway.
Dean started up on his dad’s stupidity while Christine was out of the room. “I can’t believe my dad’s a stalker!” Jake kept silent. He certainly seemed that way, didn’t he? He didn’t want an argument when he was so tired and they both were so cranky.
Christine stuck her head out the guestroom door, clearly visible from the couch. “All ready. There’s a half bath with a shower and a white noise machine.”
Dean eased himself off the couch, lifted his backpack and marched toward Christine. “What’s that?”
“It kind of sounds like static, but it’s great for blocking out unwanted sounds so you can sleep. I’m surprised you don’t use one since you live in Manhattan. It’s got to be noisy every night, isn’t it?”
Jake picked up Dean’s other bag and followed him. “You get used to it, so much so that the quiet of the country is as loud as a siren.”
“Hmm, I don’t think I’d get used to it.” Jake wanted to point out that she hadn’t seemed to notice at his apartment, but he didn’t want to say anything in front of his son. Christine moved into the hall, hand on door handle. “Do you need anything? There’s food in the kitchen, of course, but very little junk food.”
Dean scowled, but said, “I’m fine. Thanks.” Jake would let him hit the grocery store in the morning. Yeah, less junk food would be good for Dean, but this trip was not the time to push the issue.
Christine gave Dean a sweet, sleepy smile. “Good night.”
She pulled the door closed and turn
ed slightly, facing the door at the end of the hall. She bunched up the top portion of Jake’s shirt in her fist and guided him to her bedroom. He was lucky to stay on his feet with the force of her pull. A lamp with a heavy shade was the only light in the room, leaving the area near the door in shadows. As soon as Jake cleared the doorway and pushed the door shut, he pulled the woman to face him. Her hand still gripped his shirt, but now she was close enough to kiss. No point in waiting. She scowled but didn’t protest as he lowered his mouth to her lips. The second they touched, he felt a jolt from his lips to his groin. His prick immediately hardened but was luckily somewhat contained in his jeans so she wouldn’t notice right away—that is, until she suctioned her body against his like an octopus. She gasped the second she felt it pressing into her hip. Once again, she exerted force on his shirt, backing up to her bed and giving Jake no choice but to follow. He could’ve stood his ground since he was much stronger than her, but why would he? He maintained contact with her mouth by clamping his arm around her so they both fell at the same rate to her tangled sheets and blanket. She hadn’t taken the time to make the bed on her way to answer the door. Her feminine scent assaulted him, not only from her hair and skin but from the bedding as well. Her button-down shirt cover-up fell open, revealing a skin-tight white tank through which he could clearly see her darkened areolas and her taut tits. He automatically ground his pelvis against her center and moved his lips to that see-through material, sucking in her nipple and the area around it. What a nice mouthful.
* * * * *
Jake’s weight pinned her to the bed, but Christine couldn’t seem to mind. As soon as she opened the front door and saw him, desire had zinged through her body. But she’d still been conscious of her complaints about his freaky phone call and showing up at her house without an invite—and bringing his son. Was that supposed to soften her reaction to Jake ignoring her wishes? Well, it wouldn’t. It would merely delay it until they were out of earshot of Dean. He didn’t deserve to be in on their argument.
But she’d made a key mistake. Thinking only of an extra door between them and Dean so that they could talk without being overheard, she’d hauled Jake into her bedroom. What was she thinking? Most likely her head had been overruled by other parts of her anatomy. Eager, hungry parts. Parts that wanted to be stripped as fast as possible. But she didn’t want to make him stop sucking her so she could pull off those clothes. His mouth and his tongue on her nipple were heavenly, sending messages of pleasure to the V of her legs. He switched to the other breast and maneuvered so he could unzip his jeans. She helped pull them down by pushing on his waistband. He let go of her breast so he could pull them off, which pulled his shoes off as well. The light on her nightstand didn’t light much, but it did light some of Jake’s body, specifically his huge, hard cock. She licked her lips as she stared, and Jake grinned from his he-man stance. He could straddle her on the bed and she could suck him deep in her mouth, laving his sensitive cock with her tongue. She was getting wet just thinking about it.
