by Mia Carson
“Take your time. I haven’t had too many dates these past few weeks.”
She frowned. “I hope it’s not because of me.”
The smoldering gaze he gave her left her breathless as she realized it was definitely because of her. “Get yourself settled back in and I’ll cook for us tonight.”
“I look forward to it.”
He backed out of her room, leaving her to unpack her bag and take a long, hot shower to wash away her unstable emotions over being back in the same house with Walker. For three weeks, she pictured him spending all his time with the three women, but none of them were there tonight with him. She was, and she would find the courage to say something.
Days passed with Jaylyn back in the house, but every time they were together, he was tongue-tied and couldn’t bring himself to say the words he’d spent three weeks figuring out. He wanted to kiss her even more, but for reasons he couldn’t fathom, he froze each time he considered making a move. She seemed as uncertain as he was, and they played a game of avoiding each other from the time they met in the kitchen over coffee to the time they turned in for the night.
Douglas sighed every time he saw Jaylyn leave a room without Walker saying anything besides a normal conversation. “You’re letting her slip away,” he whispered.
“Aren’t you the one who told me I shouldn’t do this? That it might be too much for her? What if it doesn’t work out?” he argued.
“Then it doesn’t work out, but I will admit I think I was wrong.”
“You’re saying I should try to be with her?”
“If you fail, then you fail, but at least you’ll never regret not trying.”
Douglas’ words stuck with him for the next few days as June passed by and July drew closer. He was planning the end of summer family get together—at his home this year—when Douglas said he was taking off early. Walker frowned but didn’t argue and watched the man leave out the back door.
“Where’s he going?” Jaylyn asked as she exited the pantry with a basket of spices in her hands.
“Had to get home for something,” Walker said, and she nodded absently.
The house was empty and would be the rest of the day. This was his chance to talk to her and explain that he wanted more than a damn fling and knew she did to.
“So this party you’re having in a month,” she asked, her back towards him, “you going to call Frankie and ask him to cater it? I think it’d be good business for him.”
Walker stood and walked towards her slowly. “I was planning on it, unless you want to call him for me, get the ball rolling so to speak. I think he likes you better than me anyway.”
“Hmm, he’s just a good friend.”
“We all need those sometimes, and sometimes…” He hesitated when he was only a few feet from her. So close, he could reach out and pull her in his arms. “Sometimes, we find someone we want to be more than just friends with.”
The hand sorting the spices froze and he heard her sharp intake of breath. “Walker.”
“I wasn’t sure if you’d come back,” he whispered. “I was worried I’d lost my chance.”
“What chance? We don’t have a chance and you know it,” she argued, not facing him.
“You don’t know that, and don’t you dare stand there and lie to me saying you don’t want to see where this could lead.” She didn’t respond, but he took it as a good sign. “Jaylyn, please. I know that night you felt something more.”
“How could you know that? You can’t know that.” Her voice was quiet, but he heard the pleading in her words, wanting it to be true. Wanting them to be together. “This is stupid. We’ll have to what, date in secret, and then what?”
He shrugged. “Then we figure it out. We worry about it when the time comes.”
She sagged against the counter, but he wasn’t giving up yet. He turned her around, forcing her to look him in the eye as she decided whether she wanted to take this chance. Their gazes met and he decided words were pointless. He kissed her passionately, crushing her to his chest as his lips moved with a hunger he could no longer control. He waited for her to pull away, shove him back, slap him even, but she melted into him. Her arms wrapped around his neck and she stood on her toes to kiss him better. He picked her up, needing to feel her, needing to have her after so many days apart. He wanted this to be romantic, to carry her off to his room and make love to her the proper way, but their desires were too great. Her body thrummed in his arms with pent up energy, and he laid her out on the closest thing he could find: the kitchen table.
Jaylyn voiced no complain as he set her on it and they fumbled for each other’s pants. He tore at her chef’s jacket and pushed it over her arms, tugged up her tank, and struggled to undo her bra as she made quick work of his pants. Her hands closed around his hardened shaft, and he groaned as she pumped him hard and fast. He pulled himself free so he could suckle her breasts and she whimpered, wanting to hold him, but pressed his head closer at the same time. Pants… he needed to get her pants off. Their limbs were a flurry of movement as he lifted her enough to drag her jeans down along with her thong that shouldn’t even count as underwear. He grabbed himself and laid her back, spreading her legs wide so he’d fit.
She was dripping, waiting for him to pierce her slick folds. The moment he thrust home, they gasped in unison. He grabbed her hips and thrust again. She held onto the edge of the table as each powerful thrust moved her entire body. He shifted his hold so his thumb massaged her clit, and her back arched off the table as a moan escaped her lips, those lips he’d waited too long to kiss again. This moment, this was what he wanted with a woman. Every move and sound was raw and real. There was no faking. Jaylyn and he, in that moment, this was real.
The intensity grew and he lost himself in the sound of her cries, thrusting faster, filling her with more than simply his cock. He gave himself over to her freely, trying to explain with every caress that he wanted her to take him, all of him, body and soul.
Her body thrashed against his as she squeezed every drop from him, her orgasm igniting his. He threw his head back with abandon, bellowing his release as she cried out with him. They came together as one being, their bodies quivering until they were both sated and collapsed to the table. Except he didn’t want to let her go, and she clung to his body as if he was the only thing in her life that mattered. He kissed her as he slipped free, making them both shiver from the loss. He scooped her up into his arms and carried her to the stairs. Neither said anything. He reached his bedroom and laid her down, falling beside her as their touches became less frantic and more exploratory and loving. He stripped out of his jeans completely and removed his t-shirt so she could see every inch of his body. It belonged to her anyway. He knew it in his heart. No other woman would ever make him feel like this again. Only Jaylyn.
She kissed down his chest and lower still. He was about to tell her he was far from ready to go again, but the moment she licked his shaft, it jerked and perked up as if they hadn’t had a quickie on the kitchen table.
While her hands massaged his thighs, her tongue lathered his cock until it was hard and standing again, ready to be buried in her burning hot sheath. But she didn’t move to straddle him. One hand pumped down him followed by her mouth and those perfect lips. Her tongue licked his tip each time she moved back up, and he grunted, digging his fingers into the sheets as curses fell from his lips.
“That shouldn’t be legal,” he muttered then drew in a breath as she sucked hard on him. When he managed to glance down, he saw her lips curled in a mischievous grin before she took almost all of him into her mouth. He felt himself bump against the back of her throat and nearly came. His eyes rolled back as her mouth moved faster and he finally had to beg for mercy.
“Don’t you want me to keep going?” she whispered seductively.
“Not until I hear you scream again first.” He rolled over, pulling himself from her gasp, and spread her legs wide. His fingers spread her swollen lips and filled her a mome
nt later. He twisted and turned them as his mouth sucked on her clit until her hips bucked and she tried to pull away, but he wouldn’t let her go. He moved up her body and captured her lips hotly in his, his hand fucking her hard and fast. He took a nipple between his teeth, nibbling and sucking as she rode his hand without a care. But it was too much for Walker to simply watch. He couldn’t take it any longer.
Removing his hand and grinning at her annoyed whimper, he rolled her to her stomach, grabbed her hips, and spread her legs easily with his knee. He rubbed his cock against her lips and she shivered, pressing her ass back into the cradle of his hips. Guiding himself in, he took her from behind. She twisted her hands in the sheet, her cries turning into one long scream. Walker closed his eyes, losing track of his body as he thrust until he finally filled her completely and was overcome with ecstasy. He remained deep within her until he couldn’t hold himself up anymore. They tumbled to the bed in a mess of limbs and sheets. His hand rested on her thigh and hers on his, their panting the only sound in the room.
“I, uh, I missed you,” he said finally, and she laughed.
“I’d be an idiot not to say the same.” Her laughter died away, and he propped himself up to see the worry gathering in her eyes again. “We’re going to wing this and see what happens?”
“We’ll keep it low key,” he promised. “But I can’t keep my hands off you. And I don’t want to.” He brought her hand to his lips, kissing her knuckles.
“I don’t want you to,” she whispered, even though her brow furrowed with confusion.
“What’s wrong?’
“Besides what’s going on with my dad, nothing feels wrong about this,” she said sincerely, entwining their fingers. “It’s better than the first time we fell into bed together.”
He found his way to her and kissed her sweetly. “I’m yours. Don’t think I can picture myself with anyone else.”
“Good.” She kissed him back, and they hugged until her stomach growled and his echoed it a second later. “I think a trip back to the kitchen might be in order.” She hopped off the bed and scooped up his t-shirt.
He leaned back, admiring her legs as his shirt covered the rest of her body, but barely. She dug her thumbnail into her palm and he grabbed her hands. “What are you so nervous about?”
“Nothing, I just…I’ve never been very confident about certain parts of my body. Too much extra fluff in certain areas.” She glanced down and frowned.
“There is nothing wrong with any part of your body, and later, after we’ve eaten, I’ll prove it to you,” he said with a wink as his stomach growled again. “But you realize I haven’t eaten all day.”
“I made breakfast.”
“If I recall, you didn’t eat it either.”
“I have a lot on my mind—well, had. Now it’s dropped quite a bit.”
He tugged on his jeans, and slipping his hand into hers, they left the bedroom. “Glad I could be of some help.”
Tomorrow, maybe they would find time to come up with a better game plan for what they were getting themselves into, but for now, all he wanted was Jaylyn, smiling and happy by his side.
14
The rest of June flew by in a blur, and when the time came to host the party for Walker, she was beyond turning back. Whatever the two of them fell into was more than a fling. It was more than simply sex—not that she’d admit that aloud yet, and neither did he. Still, she couldn’t even count the number of times they snuck a quickie in the pantry or on the desk in his study. Or the living room couch, or the kitchen island. Once, they even did it outside at night under the blanket of stars, and she’d never felt so alive.
That morning when she woke up in his bed again, she ran her fingers down his cheek as he slept. The three dogs snored loudly around the room, and she let herself believe this could be her future. Waking up to his face every morning.
She slipped from the bed and took a quick shower before making her way downstairs to get the dogs fed and the kitchen prep started. Frankie would arrive in a few hours with his crew of cooks to get the food ready for the upcoming party. She’d barely started a pot of coffee when the door swung open and two strong arms wrapped around her waist. Walker nuzzled her neck and she giggled as he kissed her.
“You have to be hands-off today, remember?” she reminded him as he continued to hug her as she moved around the kitchen. “Walker.”
“What? We still have a few hours.”
“And you don’t think this is going to be weird at all? Me here with your three ladies roaming around?” She expected to feel a spike of jealousy knowing he would spend the day talking to them and ignoring her, but at the end of the day, she knew who Walker wanted to be with.
“It is, but my father will be present as well, so there’s not much I can do unless you’re ready to lose the restaurant.”
She spun in his arms and stared up into his face. Darien told her the restaurant wasn’t everything, and she knew that, she honestly did, but at the same time, she wanted Jaybird’s back. Wanted to run it and carry on her dad’s legacy.
“You’re right, I know. I just don’t want to make life difficult for you.”
He kissed her again and held out a purple bandanna for her hair. “The only thing you do is make my life about a hundred times better. Don’t forget it.”
“I’ll try not to.”
The back door opened and Douglas walked in, muttering under his breath about the dogs trying to get at the bones in the shopping bag. “You confounded beasts. No one’s going to get anything if you don’t settle down,” he tried, but the dogs kept bouncing around him. Walker clapped his hands to try and calm them, but that failed too.
Jaylyn rolled her eyes, put her fingers to her lips, and whistled. All three dogs turned on the spot and plopped their butts down, waiting patiently as they stared at her. Douglas and Walker looked to her, and she planted her hands on her hips. “You have to know how to talk to them.”
“Traitors,” Walker whispered to the dogs, and Strider yipped. “Right, I’ll be upstairs getting ready if anyone needs me.”
Jaylyn wanted to follow and sneak in a quick shower with him, but Douglas was there and Frankie wouldn’t be too far behind. She busied herself with setting up the kitchen before moving to the dining room. They would turn the table into a massive buffet line. Frankie’s boys would take care of the grill out on the gravel drive while he and Jaylyn managed the kitchen. When the horns started honking outside, she threw a towel over her shoulder and went outside to see Frankie stepping out of his catering truck with two more vans behind him.
“You look like you’re in a fantastic mood,” he said when he reached her.
“Is that a bad thing?” she asked and propped open the back door. “Mind the dogs! They won’t bite, but they’ll lick you to death!”
Douglas rushed out after the dogs to try and gather them up and take them around back. They would have to be put on leads for the party, but the day was cool and they had plenty of bones and water to keep them occupied.
“You ready for this?” she asked and lead the way inside.
“Catering a party for a bunch of rich ass people? What’s not to love?”
“At least we get to hide in the kitchen all day.”
Not having to watch Walker speak to those women was a bonus, or seeing Leo Allard walking around with that serious, smug face of his. She wondered if one day, his face would freeze in a permanent scowl.
Hours later as the sun made its downward descent in the sky, guests arrived and the festivities began. Walker set up lawn games out back, liquor flowed freely from the bar in the lounge across the hall from the dining room, and the house was filled with music and cheerful voices. The kitchen bustled with cooks and servers pushing food out of the kitchen and bringing in more from the grill.
“Jaylyn, Frankie,” Douglas said on one of his pass-throughs, “the food is a big hit. Walker wanted me to tell you how impressed he was. He’s throwing in a bonus for a job well done.”<
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“You can tell that man thanks very much,” Frankie said with a wide smile. “You need to make friends with some more rich men. I could make bank in a few years and retire early. Sounds like the perfect plan to me.”
Jaylyn nodded, but she wasn’t really paying attention. Frankie had asked her earlier how living there was going, and she’d lied and said it was boring but doable. She was making money and that was what mattered, but the truth tugged at her annoyingly until she wanted to blurt everything out to her friend.
“What’s going on in that head of yours?” He nudged her, and she set down the knife she’d used to chop vegetables.
“The usual. I’m worried about Dad and the restaurant.”
“Both of which, I think, are doing fine,” he mused.
The kitchen door swung inward, and she caught a brief glimpse of Walker speaking with some men, drinking beers, and having a good time.
“I knew it,” Frankie whispered and she flinched.
“Knew what?”
“Don’t lie to me. You’re turning bright red, woman. I told Hannah. I told her you were hiding something! Are you and him? Are you two…you know…” He bumped his fists together, and her face burned hot.
Grabbing his arm, she dragged him to the mudroom and closed the door. “Stop with the hand gestures and close your mouth, for God’s sake.”
“You’re having sex with him. Jaylyn, what the hell are you thinking?”
“It’s a long story.”
“No, it’s not. You made a deal with this guy to get your restaurant back, and now you’re sleeping with him? You really don’t think this is a bad idea at all? In any regard?” He pressed his palm against her forehead and she shoved it away.
“I’m not sick and I’m not crazy, all right?” she snapped and paced away from him. “I like him, Frankie. I like him a lot and he likes me, too.”
Frankie was frowning when she faced him again. “I thought you said he was engaged.”
She crossed her arms nervously. “Like I said, it’s a long, complicated story.”
