She glanced up at him. “You have no idea.”
He scooped her up in his arms and started toward the bedroom. “Jase, what are you doing?”
“I’m going to get you a bath started. I’ll bring you dinner, and then put you to bed,” he said with military-like precision.
Okay, that sounded pretty good. Arms around his neck, she relaxed against him.
He pushed open the door, and she saw that the whole room was filled with candles and the pink and white roses he’d been bringing her. He called them carrousel something. She sucked in a breath. There were vases and vases of the roses, and rose petals were scattered all over her bedspread. Her heart skipped. Then she realized they spelled out something, and she looked closer.
Prom?
She couldn’t hold back the giggle. “Are you asking me to prom?”
“I am.” He set her feet down and held her hands in his. “Heather Reese, will you go to prom with me?”
“Did Babushka know you were doing this? Is that why she gave you the key?”
“I have to have some secrets, don’t I?”
She pressed the back of her hand against her lips. “I can’t believe you left a massacre of flowers in my bedroom.”
“That doesn’t answer my question,” he said on a growl.
“Of course I’ll be your date, you loony tune.” She pressed a kiss against his lips.
“Okay, good. Because otherwise it’d be really awkward.” He pecked a kiss on her nose. “Now, bath for you.”
He started toward her bathroom. Deep breaths, Heather. She took in the room: he’d also added a bottle of champagne and two champagne glasses to her nightstand. Funny, when she’d come up from work, she’d been exhausted. Now? Now, she was exhilarated.
He’d asked her to prom. And his promposal was fantastic.
She did a twirl that would’ve made teenage Heather proud.
The bathtub faucet turned on behind the closed door. And now he was filling a tub for her? She practically had to pinch herself.
She followed him, latching the door behind her. He was on his knees filling her soaker bathtub. He’d lit her candles in there, too. The whole place smelled like jasmine.
Hands at her sides, she moved to him and ran her palms over his back. “This is really amazing, Jase.”
He grinned up at her and something shifted in his eyes. It was almost unnoticeable, but she seemed to be so tuned into him lately, even the smallest change affected her.
She pulled her polo work shirt over her head and tugged the band from her hair, finger-combing it. He hadn’t stopped looking at her. She undid the clasp on her bra and let it fall to the ground. As the bra hit the bath mat, his pupils dilated in anticipation of what would come next.
She continued her striptease, unzipping her jeans and pulling them over her hips, down her thighs, past her calves, and kicking them away. He continued to drink her in. The bathtub continued filling, but she wasn’t done. She pulled her panties down, pushing them aside with her toe, so she was completely bare in front of him.
His nostrils flared, but still he didn’t say anything. A step into the bath and she tested the water—of course it was perfect. She slid beneath the water and glanced at him. He still hadn’t moved. Hadn’t said anything.
“Aren’t you coming?” she asked.
“I should ask you to prom every night.” He pulled his shirt over his head and made quick work of removing his jeans and boxers.
“Front or back?” she asked as he stepped into her soaker tub.
“Can’t go down on you from the back.” He knelt between her legs, pulling them around his hips.
“We’re in a bathtub, pretty sure you’ll drown if you try.” She sat up and wrapped her arms around his neck, then traced a fingertip along the anchor tattoo on his arm.
“I do believe you just dared me.” He grinned against her mouth and started kissing his way down the column of her neck. “I used to defuse bombs underwater. The difference was I didn’t want them to go off when I was done.”
Oh.
He continued kissing down her chest, over her nipples, and just as he got to the waterline, he took a deep breath, and, holy shit, he was actually going to go down on her underwater in a bathtub. He gripped her hips, positioned her under his mouth, and…he was doing an amazing job. How was he able to do that with his tongue and no oxygen? Well, she’d never know.
Back pressed against the tub, she ran a hand over her breasts and down to his shoulders, ready to pull him up from the water. He released his grip on her hips only long enough to pull her hands from where she was tugging him up by his shoulders.
Okay, so he wasn’t wanting to be done yet. That was fine. She could keep doing this. Really, if he could hold his breath this long, she’d just appreciate it for the feat it was. Everyone had their skill set, and if this was his, she was a very, very lucky woman.
He licked and sucked and then he released her hips to get his hand in on the action. Breathing hard, she wrapped her ankles around his back, careful not to press down. But he was Jase, and he did what he wanted when he wanted. If he wanted to come up for air, there was nothing she would be able to do to prevent that.
At the moment, he apparently didn’t require oxygen because he was doing things with his mouth and tongue that she’d only read about in books.
He pulled away from her, emerged from the water, grinned, took a deep breath, and without a word, he disappeared under the water again.
This was such a better way to unwind than watching Jeopardy. All those months she’d decided to go off men, apparently, she’d just not picked the right one.
The coil inside her began to tense, and she relaxed against his mouth, ready to let him take her over the edge. And he was really giving it his all as he kissed and licked and, really, how did he do that thing with his finger? He pressed her sweet spot with his thumb—at exactly the right place. She moaned as the orgasm took over, her head falling against the side of the bathtub.
Best. Promposal. Ever.
She was still coming when he finally came up for air.
He pressed a kiss against her mouth.
She toyed with the close-cropped hair at the base of his neck. “The last time a guy asked me to prom, all I got was a dozen roses.” And a night alone when prom came.
Jase was kissing her neck—the sensitive skin right under her ear. She pressed her palms against his hips, moving them to his…yup, he was hard as a rock. Reaching around him, she snagged a bottle of bath oil and poured it into her palm.
He watched her, his eyes heavy-lidded while she got to her knees, her hand between them gripping his dick, rubbing up and down the length of him. So maybe she could deal with one more dick that day. If she could hold her breath longer than twenty seconds, then, yeah, maybe she would’ve tried the underwater thing. As it was, they’d have to go with her hand.
He gripped her hair, tipping her face up to him, leaning down to kiss her while she continued working his shaft. He urged her on with his tongue. She moved her hand faster, splashing against the water until he finished—both of them breathing hard, his mouth still pressed to hers.
He closed his eyes. She released him. He shifted behind her, settling her on his lap in the water. Using her toe, she turned on the hot water knob to heat it up again. The water trickled, and he held her against his chest, and everything felt right.
“Are you going to stick around and watch game shows with me?” she asked.
He scooped water up and over her chest, trailing his fingertips along her skin. “I don’t do TV.”
She settled more firmly against him, her back to his chest. “I don’t do roses, but that seems to be changing.”
“Really, TV’s not my thing. But you can watch.” He was totally snuggling her in the bathtub.
She relaxed against him, linking her fingers with his.
He cleared his throat. “TV gives me flashbacks.”
She stilled. What the hell had happened to him
over there, anyway? He continued toying with her fingers, as though he hadn’t just cracked the shell on taking their relationship deeper. Sharing things like this.
She pulled his hands in hers and squeezed. “We don’t need to watch, then. We can just hang out.”
“I want to watch with you.” His voice had gone husky in a way she hadn’t heard before. “But the way the lights on the TV flash and the way they cut the commercials—I don’t sleep after.”
“Okay, you don’t need to.” She held his hand tight, unsure what the right thing to say or do was. No way would she push him on this. And she didn’t know how to tell him how much it meant to her that he’d shared.
The silence wrapped them both. The only sound was the trickle of hot water coming from the faucet.
“You like games, though. We can do board games,” he said finally.
Did she even have any board games? They could buy some. She’d do that tomorrow. First thing. “That wouldn’t really be fair. I mean, I’d win all the time.”
She turned off the faucet with her toe, and the silence was back. Not an awkward silence, just the quiet of two people together.
“Thank you,” he said softly against her ear.
“For what?”
“For not pushing.”
Well, given what she’d seen of his family, she’d bet he wasn’t used to someone choosing not to push him. “I like you, Jase. If something bothers you, we don’t have to do it.”
He squeezed her closer. “I like you, too, Heather Reese.”
She turned on his lap so they were face-to-face, readjusting herself so her knees were on either side of him, her core pressed against him. And, dammit all, if he wasn’t ready for round two.
“You like me?” she asked.
“Uh-huh.” He pushed her hair from her face.
“Like, like me like me?” She giggled.
“Uh-huh.” Damn, he was hard before, but now his erection full on pressed against her. “Do you like me like me?”
“Will you go down on me in the bathtub again sometime?”
“Anytime you want.”
“Then, yeah. I like you like you.”
He smiled big. “You want to go steady?”
She laughed and dropped her forehead to his. “Yes.”
“Ladies and gentleman, she said yes.” He kissed her hard, the heat between them intensifying. This was so much better than The Price is Right.
24
Chapter Twenty-Four
Senior “Senior” Prom Countdown: 1 Day
Jase was late to work. Well, late by his standards. But Heather had made his tardiness worth the effort. Usually, he got to work before dawn, unable to sleep. With Heather, sleep wasn’t an issue. They played hard. They slept hard. Then they played hard again. And after the night he’d had with her, there wasn’t much that could ruin his morning. When he walked into his shop, both brothers and his sister were lounging around his arranging table, a half-eaten box of doughnuts in the center and a to-go carafe of coffee next to it. His heart dropped.
Early-morning family wake-up calls were never a good thing.
“Glad to see you let yourselves in.” He snagged a chocolate-frosted doughnut and bit into it, but the glazed dough held no taste. Not when he was prepping himself for whatever shit his family was about to sling.
“We needed to escape Mom.” Anna flicked sprinkles off of her own doughnut. “We figured the one place she wouldn’t look for us is here.”
“It’s like the tree fort when we were kids, but with flowers,” Zach said.
“Remember when we all sardined in there because Jase accidentally lit the roof on fire?”
“I put it out.”
“Still, when Mom found out?” Zach grimaced. “She was ma-ah-ad.”
“What’s her beef this time?” As if he didn’t already know that Heather and her fireman penis cookies were the culprit.
Zach stared him down. “Puh-lease. You’re dense, but you’re not stupid.”
“You’ve got a girlfriend taking Babushka to naughty places and making naughtier cookies. Do you need me to spell it out?” Anna continued her assault on the sprinkles. “It’s kind of fun that it’s you and not me this time.”
His sister had been through a bit of a phase in her early twenties. The good part about that was Jase had been the favorite child for a while.
“She is on a tear.” Roman tossed back a slug of coffee. “I haven’t seen her this worked up since she got kicked off the Parade of Lights committee for telling the mayor to shove his foot up his own ass.”
“Ahh…memories.” Jase pulled a stool up to the table and straddled it. “She’s pissed at Heather. She’s pissed at Babushka. I’m sure there’s some left in there for me. And I do not care.”
Because he had an amazing night wrapped up in Heather.
“What would it take to break up with your girlfriend?” Zach asked, totally serious.
No. Not going to happen. “More than Mom being pissed off, that’s for sure.”
“Can’t we just tell her that you two broke up?” Anna asked. “I mean, I’m pretty sure Heather isn’t going to want to come by the house anytime soon.”
“And by the time Mom figures out you two are still together, you’ll already be broken up.” Zach sat taller. “Actually, this isn’t a bad idea.”
Right. It was an epically idiotic idea.
“No.” Jase poured himself a cup of coffee.
“What if I tell her?” Roman asked. “If I tell her, then I get my two weeks of peace while I’m here and you all can deal with the fallout after.”
“Or we can just make sure she never finds out,” Anna suggested.
“And in a few years when Heather has her grandkid, you don’t think she’ll realize we’re hooking up?” Whoa. Why was his mind and his mouth going to kids? He was having fun with her. They were together. That was enough. Besides, Jase had played the fake breakup game already; convincing Heather to do it again would probably cost him a Mercedes Coupe S 550 and any hope of more Heather bathtub time.
Anna seemed to choke on her coffee. “You’re having kids with Heather?”
Well, not yet, but maybe someday.
Seriously, why was his mind going there?
“He’s not having kids with Heather, he can barely keep a pet mouse alive.” Roman toyed with his coffee mug.
“I’m not lying about my relationship with Heather.” Jase may be willing to change his personal limits regarding frosting on certain appendages, but he wasn’t going to lie about what was going on with Heather.
“That’s the beauty of my suggestion,” Roman said. “You don’t say anything. And as long as you don’t say anything, everyone is happy.”
Seeing as he wasn’t particularly speaking to his mother at the moment, talking to her about his relationship status wasn’t a big deal.
“If Roman tells her, then I don’t have to hear any more about penis cookies and strip-club steaks?” Zach asked. He held his fist out to Roman. “Dude, I will owe you.”
“Perfect. Problem solved.” Anna hopped off her stool. “I’m so glad we solved this.”
“You guys are idiots,” Jase muttered, clearing the box of doughnuts and coffee so he could get some actual work done.
“Yeah, well, we’re idiots who won’t have to listen to Mom rant, aren’t we?” Roman slid from his stool and headed toward the door. “And the next time you tie me to a fucking appliance, I’m going to kick your ass.”
“Big talk for a guy who ended up hugging a refrigerator.” Jase wiped off the table.
Roman tossed him a one-finger salute.
“I’ve gotta head to work, too.” Zach followed Roman. “For what it’s worth, I actually like Heather. Anyone who visits strip clubs and can make a cookie look like a fireman cock is my kind of person.”
Jase pointed at Zach with the spray bottle of cleaner. “Stay away from her.”
“That’ll be easy because officially you two are no longer toget
her.” Zach rubbed his hands together.
Jase ignored him. Whatever, he was happy in his bubble. Let his family do whatever they were going to do. His siblings were a bucket of stupid in a sea of dumbass, and he’d protect Heather by keeping her out of it.
25
Chapter Twenty-Five
Senior “Senior” Prom Countdown: 0 Days
Heather rolled another round folding table into place, pulling the legs open as she propped it on its side. Then she hefted it up into position.
The room was coming together. Prom was going to happen, and she was pretty sure this time her date was going to show. She looked to where he stood on a ladder stuffing flowers into a trellis, the defined muscles of his arms bunching as he worked. As though he felt the weight of her stare, he glanced to her, his eyes warming on contact. She still got that fluttery new-relationship feeling in her stomach whenever he looked at her like that. The little flutter of anticipation of what was coming next.
“Heather?” Velma asked from where she was ironing tablecloths. “I think we’re short a few?”
“That’s not right. I know I counted.” Heather grabbed the box of supplies and rummaged through, certain they were there.
She’d recruited Velma and Candy for help with setup. Jase had recruited Eli and Brek. They’d all been at work for a few hours already, but the tables were now set, the trellises were placed, and Jase was looping a bazillion flowers onto them.
Heather found the missing cloths in the bottom of the box. “Got them.”
“This one’s ready.” Velma began covering the table Heather had just set up.
“Hold off on those,” Jase said from his position on the ladder. “We’re going to want to move the tables a bit.”
Eli pulled off the tablecloth. “What’s wrong with the tables?”
Yeah, what he said.
Jase rubbed the back of his arm over his forehead. “They’re too close to the dance floor. If we move them about two ticks to the left, we’ll utilize the space better.”
Blow Me Away: A sexy, friends to lovers rom com! (A Mile High Matched Novel Book 2) Page 18
