He growls softly, leans in, and sucks my lip from my teeth. “This works, too.” Then, he crashes his mouth to mine, his hands clenching onto my skirt, pulling it slowly up to expose my legs. His fingers drag slowly over my skin to my inner thigh and keep moving north until they brush against the silk of my panties.
His lips leave my mouth, his breathing heavy as he pants into my ear. “Jesus, Sydney, you’re so wet.”
He drags his fingers heavily across my swollen clit, and I push into his hand as I moan. “Your fault. Too good looking.” I whimper and bite his shoulder when he slips a finger under the material and pushes it into my center. I feel myself throb around him and push down, wanting so much more.
“You’re so fucking hot, Sydney.” He takes my hand and moves it to his hard, hard length. “Look what you do to me.” He nips my neck and sucks hard when I grip him and squeeze, still grinding into his hand.
“I’m going to come if you keep doing that.” I wither under his touch, wanting and not wanting it at the same time. We’re in the library for God’s sakes!
He runs his tongue up my throat and bites gently on my lobe, thrusting another finger in as he does, my legs almost giving out under me. “Good. I love watching you come. You look so gorgeous when you do.”
I mewl as he uses his thumb to rub my clit in combination with the thrusting, and then bite down hard on his shoulder again as my body quakes around him. My legs turn to jelly under me, and I feel his other arm wrap around my waist and hold me up as I shatter, sparks flying in a thousand bright shards behind my clenched eyes. His lips seal over mine, kissing me until the world spins back into place. “Oh my God, Justin. How do you do that every time?”
He peppers small kisses over my cheeks, my nose, and my lips, as his hand slides from between my legs and then up to his mouth where he inserts two fingers and sucks, his eyes closing in satisfaction. Just watching him do this gets my pulse racing again, and I trail my hand over his hard length, pressing as I go. He groans and pulls his fingers from his mouth, pressing it back over mine, his tongue sweeping across my lips, the taste of me still lingering.
I bring my hand to the button of his jeans, pop it open, and begin sliding the zipper open…
“Hello? Is anyone here?” A deep, male voice freezes us both in place.
“Shit!” I whisper and push Justin off of me, pulling my skirt down and back into place. I run my hands over the rest of myself and try to smooth down my hair. “How do I look?”
“Like you just came all over my hand,” he drawls out, a content smile spread across his face.
“Just one second!” I flash a scowl at him. “Just putting something away back here!”
“Yeah, my cock.” He chuckles at his own joke but then stops when he sees the worry on my face. “What’s the big deal?”
I stomp my foot and then turn and hurry down the length of the stacks and out of the corner into the main library. “Hey, Dad! You didn’t tell me you were coming by today.”
* * *
D AD? Fuucck! I fasten the button of my jeans, my cock immediately soft. After making sure my shirt is tucked in, I grab the first book I see off the shelf. I follow after Sydney and hold the book up. “Here it is, Syd! Found it!”
She spins around, her face flushed, and grimaces, her eyes flying wide for just a moment as she mouths silently, “thanks”, and grabs the book from my hand. “Perfect! Thanks, Justin.”
She twirls back around, book in hand, and walks to her dad, giving him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “This is a nice surprise.”
He kisses her back. “Oh, I had to go down to the hardware store to pick up some bird seed, so thought I’d stop by while I was in town.” His eyes travel in my direction and lock on me, and I immediately feel like I’m under a microscope. “Who’s this?”
She turns her head toward me and then motions for me to come closer. “Dad, this is my friend, Justin. His parents own the big farm over on County Road. You know, the one with all the cows?”
I watch as he takes me in, his eyes raking me over from head to toe, a hard glint present as he nods. “Yup, I know the farm. Your dad Tom? Tom Jeffries?”
I take a step closer and nod my head. “Yes, sir, that’s him. I’m his oldest son, Justin.” I hold my hand out to him, and then cringe when he grasps it, remembering that less than ten minutes ago, it was rubbing against his daughter’s private parts. My face heats as my pulse speeds up, and I pray he doesn’t notice my palms are beginning to sweat.
“Yup, I played ball against your old man back in the day. He was a hell of a pitcher.” He lets go of my hand and shakes his head. “Probably could’ve gone pro if he didn’t have to work that damn farm for his father.”
I always knew my dad had played ball but didn’t realize he was that good, nor did I ever hear that taking over the farm was a sacrifice to him. I’ll have to ask my mom about that. “Not sure about that, sir, but I do know he still likes to throw the ball around with me and my brother from time to time.”
“Dad, did you need anything specific or are you just stopping in?” Sydney’s voice is a little shaky, and she keeps shifting back and forth from one foot to another like she’s getting ready to run.
“Oh, no, just wanted to stop in and see my girl.” He pats her gently on the arm and then wraps it around her in a half hug. “You gonna come up and see me one of these weekends for dinner? It’s been awhile.”
“I know, Dad. I’m sorry. I’ve been really busy the last few weeks.” Her eyes dart to me, and I look away, not wanting to feel any guiltier. “How about I stop over Saturday for lunch before my shift at Hook’s? I can make lasagna for you?”
“Now, that sounds good.” He smiles brightly and rubs his stomach. “You know I love it when you make your mom’s lasagna.”
“Great!” She steps closer to him, hooks her arm through his, and leads him toward the exit. “It’s a date.”
He pulls her to a stop and turns to look at me and then back at her. “You can bring him, too, if you want. Looks like maybe I should be getting to know him a little better, eh?”
Her face turns five different shades of red in a matter of seconds as she tugs him away again. “Dad! Don’t be rude!”
“How am I being rude? I’m telling him to come to lunch.”
She gives him one more kiss on the cheek and pushes him out the door. “Bye, Dad. See you Saturday.” She watches him exit before leaning her back against the door and banging her head against it lightly.
I rush up behind her and pull her away, turning her into my arms. “Hey, it wasn’t that bad.”
Her head arches up, wide eyes staring, her lips turned down. “Not that bad? Justin, he almost caught me giving you a hand job! How much worse does it have to get before it’s bad?”
She clunks her head against my chest and lets out a pathetic moan. I chuckle, push my finger under her chin, and tilt her face back up. Brushing a light kiss across her lips, I try to ease her worries. “It was fine. I don’t think he suspected a thing.”
“Well, he definitely seems to think we’re a thing!” She pushes out of my arms, stalks over to the desk on the other side of the room, and plops down on the stool.
I make my way over slowly and lean over the counter across from her. “Aren’t we?”
“Aren’t we what?” She blows out a puff of air, trying to move a piece of hair hanging in her face, and then gives up, gathering it in her hands before knotting it on top of her head and stabbing a pencil through its center. So sexy, and she doesn’t even know it.
“Aren’t we a thing?” I frown, surprised that I even have to ask the question. It’s new territory for me. I don’t usually put a label on any of the girls I’m with because they don’t usually hang around longer than a few rolls in the sack.
“Don’t you know, Justin?” She smiles coyly at me and tilts her head suggestively.
“Know what?” I ask tentatively, not sure where this is going.
“I let all the hot, local m
usicians take me in the stacks and have their way with me. Why ever would you think that means we’re a thing?” She bats her eyelashes and pushes her lips into a slight pout.
“Why, Ms. Porter, are you telling me that you’re one of those librarians? And here I was thinking you were something special.” I grin roguishly and watch as she slides off the stool and walks back around the desk to where I’m standing. I turn to face her, my back leaning against the desk, my brows lifting when she comes to rest between my legs.
“Oh, you’re something special all right, Mr. Jeffries.” She stretches up on her tip-toes, placing her hands flat on my chest. Her tongue darts out, licking along my bottom lip, before she bites it gently. “I’ll be more than happy to show you later just how special you are.”
I smack her lightly on the ass, holding on once my palm lands there, and pull her closer to me. Fusing my lips to hers, I seal them tightly as I kiss her deeply. When I release her, she’s breathing heavily and looks up at me, her eyes hooded. “You’re my thing, Syd. Just to be clear.”
“I like being your thing.” Her teeth capture her lower lip as she tries to hide a smile.
I kiss her one more time for good measure and smile. “Well, good. Glad that’s settled ‘cause I have to get back to the farm.”
She steps back out of my arms and sighs. “Okay, so, I’ll see you later then?”
I pull her in for one more kiss and give her a nod as I back out of the room. “Can’t wait. I wanna find out just how special I am.” I throw her a playful wink and push out the door, her laughter echoing behind me as I go.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
I t’s just after three-thirty when Justin and I push through the entrance to Hook’s carrying his equipment for his gig that night. The cool air feels so good after spending the last three hours at my dad’s house, who incidentally refuses to turn the air conditioner on unless it’s over ninety degrees. It’s eighty-eight, by the way, and I was in a kitchen with a hot oven on for half of the time. I feel like a sweaty mess. “I’m going to go clean-up a bit, okay?”
I give him a quick peck on the lips and slip under the bar and through the doors to the kitchen. “Hey, Kell!”
She looks up from the lemons she’s cutting and gives me a smile. “Hey there, stranger. Please, don’t tell me you’re all flushed from having even more wild sex with that walking sex on a stick out there?”
I giggle and throw a lemon at her. “I wish! I was at Dad’s cooking him Mom’s lasagna, and of course, he refused to turn on the air. I feel like a hot, sticky bun right now.”
“I’ve got a couple clean shirts in the back if you want to go wash up and borrow one.”
“Yes! I was praying you had some here. I didn’t want to have to run home, and Justin and I came in his truck, so it would have been a pain.”
“Wait, one vehicle?” She sets the knife down on the table and raises a single brow at me. “Did he go to your dad’s with you?”
“Uh-huh.” I nod my head, knowing what’s coming next.
“Syd! You’ve never brought anyone to meet your dad!” It comes out like a squeal, and I seriously think every person sitting in the bar had to have just heard her.
“Kelly, shhhh!” I giggle and quickly tell her what happened in the library and how my dad definitely knew something was up.
“So, was dinner good? Is Justin still alive?” She’s moved on to cutting limes now but is completely engrossed in knowing every little detail of my life.
“It went really well. I can’t believe it.” I think back to the last few hours we spent at my dad’s and still feel a bit surprised by how easily my dad and Justin seemed to hit it off. I think my dad was thrilled to finally have someone debate baseball with him, and of course, the lasagna was a hit.
“Hello?” Kelly and I both turn our heads toward the kitchen doors as Justin comes strolling through. “Ah, now this is a sight to behold.” He comes up and wraps his arms around my waist from behind. “Two beautiful women in the kitchen.”
Kelly throws a lime at him, but he ducks and it sails over his shoulder and plops onto the floor. “I’ll show you a beautiful sight.” She lifts up the knife, her eyes going wide and her smile turning lunatic large, and she cackles. We burst out laughing, Justin’s chest vibrating against my back.
“Kell, I think you might just be an inch shy of crazy.” I feel his lips next to my ear, and then his soft voice. “And, you, you just make me crazy.”
I turn my head and press my lips to his, the kitchen forgotten for a moment, my insides flaring to life. He pulls away and swipes a finger across my bottom lip before nipping it gently one more time. “I’ve gotta go to the farm for a few hours, okay?”
I nod my head. “Okay.” He releases me from his hold, places a parting kiss on my head, and leaves the kitchen with a goodbye to both me and Kelly.
“You are in so much trouble!” Kelly warns, collecting the bowl of lemons and limes and heading out to the bar.
I follow behind. “What? Why?” I push through the doors and help her load the fruit into the bar containers.
“You are so falling in love with him.” She looks at me, a wicked grin on her face. “Admit it!”
“I am not!” I feel my face heat, and my heart begins to thump like a bass drum against my chest as I absorb her words, wondering if she’s right.
“You are.” She gives me a gentle shove. “Look at you right now. You’re turning eight shades of red, and your mind is going a mile a minute! You love him!”
“Oh my God, Kelly.” My hand moves absently to my mouth, covering the wide O shape it’s now in, my wide eyes finding hers. “Shut the hell up.”
She shrugs. “What’s the big deal? He’s fucking hot and obviously is completely into you, too.”
“Noooo.” My voice is low and quiet. “I can’t fall in love with him. He’s leaving in September.”
“So?” She puts her hand on her hip and faces me. “Why can’t you just go with him then? I mean, you haven’t taken the job at the university yet, and there are bars and libraries in New York. You can get a job and just write there.”
As if it was even possible, my heart thunders even more heavily as her words tumble through my brain. I look at her and shake my head. “Kell, we’ve only been dating a month. I can’t even think about this right now.”
She tilts her head and smirks. “You’re gonna have to think about it sooner or later, ‘cause you’re falling, girl, and you’re falling hard.”
* * *
“ WELL, look what the cat dragged in,” Jonathan calls out from the back of the barn as I hustle in. “Was beginning to wonder if we were going to see you at all this afternoon.”
I pull on my work gloves and give him a snarl. “Shut it, brother. I told you I was having lunch with Syd and her dad this afternoon.”
“Yeah, yeah. I just thought lunch ended three hours ago.” He grabs a hay bale, cuts the twine, and spreads it across the stall he’s in. “What the hell’s going on with this girl, anyway?”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” I grab my own bale and mirror his actions in the next stall over.
“This just isn’t your style. Spending every night together, meeting the parents, showing up late to work.”
“I like this girl, okay?” I huff out a tense breath and turn in his direction. “What’s the big fucking deal?”
He stops what he’s doing, walks over to the railing separating our stalls, and leans against it. “It’s not a big deal, but you better remember that you’re leaving come fall and I’d hate to see a girl screw that up for you.”
I walk over and stand across from him, glad I have a couple inches on him because I don’t like where this conversation is going. “Why the hell is this any of your damn business, anyway, Jonathan? Who I fuck or who I’m with has never been a concern of yours before.”
His face reddens, a clear sign he’s growing angrier. “Because, big brother, I’ve watched you work your ass off for the last two years to
save the money to go make your dreams come true, and I’m the one that’s going to be left behind here to cover your ass and your share of the work when you’re gone. I don’t want some girl screwing that up for you!”
Hearing his concern softens my temper. “She’s not just some girl, Jonathan. I like her. I really like her. She’s not like anyone else I’ve ever been with before.”
He shakes his head, his lips forming a small frown before he looks at me. “So, what are you going to do? Are you in love with her?”
My blood freezes in my veins, a cold wave sweeping down my body at the mention of the ‘L’ word. I stare across the distance between us, not sure how to answer because I honestly don’t know what I’m feeling. “Love? Shit, I don’t know, man. How the hell am I supposed to know that?”
I turn my back to him, picking up the bale I deserted a moment ago, and use my nervous energy to break the hay apart and toss it around the stall. Am I in love with her? I mean, I like spending time with her. Definitely like spending the night with her. I have noticed that I’m starting to miss her presence, her smell, her laughter if I don’t see her for a day. And, every time she walks into a room, my heart fucking feels like it’s going to fall out of my damn chest.
“Well, you better figure it out, man. September’s going to be here before you know it, and if you love her, it’s going to make it damn hard to leave.”
“Yeah, got it.” I know he’s looking out for me, but him stating the obvious just pisses me off. This isn’t something I want to worry about right now. I like being with Sydney. I don’t want to confuse this shit only a month in. We said that whatever happens, happens. No sense worrying about what might happen in three months.
We work the rest of the afternoon in silence, Jonathan more than aware that I’m in my head and giving me the space to deal with the thoughts I’m trying to pretend aren’t racing through my mind. We finish up around six, and after a shower, I make myself a sandwich for dinner, eating alone at my small table.
Love Notes Page 8
