by April Angel
“Have you been packing some more?” she asked, noticing the new boxes lining the hallway.
Nina nodded, opened the cupboard, and pulled out two mugs. “I have to, or Max said he’ll get professionals to do it. While I don’t mind them doing the bigger items, I can’t stand the thought of some stranger touching my photos or personal stuff.”
She put the mugs on the table along with sugar, cream, and cinnamon. Lucky grinned. Nina always remembered she liked cinnamon in her coffee.
Once the pot was brewed, she sat down across from her and waited for Lucky to speak. God! Nina always did that. She was, like, frickin’ psychic. Her mom had always said that, but Lucky wasn’t so sure.
“I met a man last night,” she said, filling a cup with coffee, cream, sugar, and sprinkles of cinnamon.
“I saw that.”
Her gaze jerked up to Nina’s. She was blowing on her mug and smiling, her eyes twinkling with delight.
“He was…” Fucking amazing. Incredible. The best lover she’d ever come across. “He was nice.”
“Well, that’s good. You needed to meet someone after Nick the Dick.”
“I don’t know. We didn’t exactly exchange numbers or anything.”
Nina’s eyes went wide with disbelief. “Why the hell not?”
“Well…we had a great time, but I wasn’t really interested in the awkward morning-after conversation, if you know what I mean. That is just not something I am ready for.”
“You and Nick the Dick broke up almost six months ago. He was cheating. He got his ex-pregnant. He—”
“Please,” she said, rubbing a hand over her brow. “Spare me. I know what he did, I was there.”
“My point is that you have let what he did fester inside you far too long already. Look how long it’s taken to get you to come back home. Are we going to have to get married and divorced every few months to see you?”
“No. You already know I’m coming back up here. It’s just the relocating of Jazz and Kaylani I have to worry about, but otherwise we will be coming back.”
“Good. Now back to the man you were with. How much did you like him?” She grinned and waggled her brows.
“Enough.”
Nina chortled. “You are hilarious. You say enough and your face is red as a tomato. Hmm…” She tapped her fire-engine red nail on her chin. “Should I believe what your mouth is saying, or what your face is saying?”
“Fine. He was so fucking fantastic in bed, I swear to God.” She bit her lip, remembering Jared’s gorgeous body. “I wanted to tie him up in his sleep and chain him to my bed, just so I could look at his body and take advantage of him whenever I wanted. There. Are you happy now?”
Nina’s gales of laughter reverberated around the kitchen, and after a while Lucky found herself laughing too.
“Wow. That’s one way to put it.” Nina drank from her cup and stared at her. “I have a feeling you and Mr. Fantastic will be seeing each other again.”
Great, just what she needed, for Nina to start telling her what she really didn’t want to know. “Cut out the psychic shit, Nina! You know it creeps me out.”
She giggled. “It’s not psychic. Sometimes, I have this feeling.”
“Look, let’s stop the weird talk and go pick up Jazz and Kaylani at the airport. I want to get going on your wedding plans with the vendors and venue.”
“Fine, but we’re going for breakfast first. And you are paying for my pancakes. It’s one way to make it up to me for my lack of sleep.” She filled her mug again and stood. “I was sitting here all alone. Max ended up leaving because he had to concentrate on work for a last-minute meeting this morning. He said when he’s with me, he loses all track of thought.” She grinned. “Isn’t he cute? Anyway, I was here alone all night, worried about you.” She pointed a finger. “So, yeah, you’re paying for pancakes and bacon.”
Chapter Five
“All right, let’s get this meeting started.” Jazz’s voice was filled with command. He ruined the effect by giggling. “As much as I love to hear how hot Andrew and Max are—which I hate both of you for, by the way. Why can’t I meet a man who’s good-looking, rich, and great in bed?” He sighed dramatically. “The good ones are either taken or straight.”
The women burst into laughter. Alex cleared her throat and grinned. “Jazz, honey, I think you said that wrong.”
“Oh no, I didn’t. See, you girls always say it the other way, but then you meet these hot, sexy men that make you go bow chicka wow wow. So now I’m hoping if I say it my way, I’ll meet my own version of Mr. Bow Chicka Wow Wow.” He winked.
Nina laughed and cleared her throat. “The first order of business is to tell you all how happy I am that you could be here to help plan this. I loved that we came together for Alex’s wedding, and I’m hoping we can make some magic happen for mine.”
Jazz lifted his brows high. “Listen, honey, I’m not responsible for Alex’s getting pregnant before the wedding. Lucky, you’ve explained to them we didn’t make that kind of magic happen for Alex, right?”
Lucky giggled at the way Jazz draped his hand over his forehead and dropped his head back on the cushion as though ready to faint. “I have explained we are not fertility specialists. They will need to go explore those types of miracles with their chicka wow wow men.”
“Oh, Lucky! Tell us how the McKinley-James wedding turned out. You were so excited about it,” Alex asked, and rubbed her tummy over her strapless pink dress.
“Err…”
“It was hell!” Jazz fired. “You don’t even know the half of it. First of all, the venue told me we were not allowed to bring live plants, and we’d have to get fakes.” His eyes went so wide Lucky thought they would fall out of their sockets. “Fake, for such an important event! The nerve.” He shuddered.
Kaylani chuckled and took notes. Lucky’s sister was the quietest one of the group, but she was also the youngest and tended to have a busy mind with a million event setups.
“The food!” he gasped, and ran a hand through his short black spikes. “The food was atrocious. Lucky specifically asked for a particular chef to be brought in, Sev Constanzo.”
“Oh, I’ve seen him on TV,” Nina said, and took a sip of iced tea. “He’s hot and knows how to cook.”
Jazz took a drink and fanned himself with his hand. “He is an artist in the kitchen. He’s also a very good friend of Lucky’s. She’s worked with him a few times. Unfortunately, Mrs. McKinley swore that some other chef she knew was better and made it a point of contention to use her man. Lucky, the doll that she is, allowed the change, even after I told her I’d scratch the fat little man’s eyes out for looking at me weird.”
Alex’s eyes went saucer-wide. “How did he look at you?”
Jazz waved his hand. “He looked at me like I was some kind of freak, and not in the good way.”
Alex was immediately sympathetic. “Aw, that’s awful, Jazz. You’d think people would be used to a fantabulous gay event artist by now.”
Jazz laughed. “I don’t think that was the reason he looked at me like I was a freakazoid.”
Nina frowned. “Then why?”
Kay cleared her throat. “Because he told him that the kitchen smelled like animals had pooped there, the food looked like someone had stepped on it, and the dessert made his stomach turn.”
Both Nina and Alex gaped at him. He sniffed and lifted his chin. “Well, it was true. Besides, that was no excuse for him to look at me the way he did.”
“No, it wasn’t,” Alex agreed.
“I know,” he said, and leaned into Alex’s side so she could pat his back.
Lucky rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to speak when Jazz whipped up in his seat.
“I almost missed the best part.” Lucky’s throat closed up, and the room began to spin. Oh no. She didn’t want to rehash her breakup with Nick in front of the two happy women.
“Jazz, they know Nick and I broke up there.”
Jazz deflated. “O
h. Well if that’s the case, wasn’t it just awful how he did that?”
Both Alex and Nina gave her sympathetic looks. She tried to swallow past the knot in her throat.
“Yes, it was the work of a prick.” Alex’s face scrunched with distaste. “A small prick from the sounds of it.”
Lucky thought back. He definitely wasn’t Jared size. Her body flared to life remembering Jared’s kisses and touches. Shit, none of her past lovers were anywhere near Jared’s size or matched his performance.
“Girl, he was a little weasel, and I wanted to smack the shit out of him, but Lucky did fine all by herself.”
She flushed, embarrassed that the conversation was still on her ex, a man who deserved to have none of her time wasted on him.
“What time is the pre-wedding party tonight? And what time is it being set up?” Kay asked.
“The set-up crew will arrive in a few hours. Guests won’t be here until later this evening. You guys have time to go home and change if you want to.” Alex grinned.
It was a fantastic idea because Jazz and Kay had come straight from the airport and needed to freshen up.
They were deep in wedding plans, the caterers had already set up, and a band was testing their mikes in the background, when male voices drifted from the front of the club. Using Come Again as a base of operations allowed them to plan and meet without the worry of boxes in Nina’s small apartment and the new furniture being delivered to Alex’s house.
Lucky was writing a list of things to follow up on in the following days when a deep voice floated from behind—a voice she recognized. Her head jerked up. Nina was smiling at her.
“What is he doing here?”
“Who?” Alex whispered, copying Lucky’s soft words.
“Jared.”
“He’s the best man,” Nina replied, unperturbed.
“What?” she shrieked. “You mean I—and he—and we…”
Nina’s nod only added to her misery.
“You and Jared what?” Alex asked, clearly confused with her lack of speech. “I’m starting to think I should’ve gone to that party with you guys.” She pouted.
With her back facing the entrance, there was nothing she could do. Panic filled her while she sat there. God, she hadn’t even said good-bye to him, thinking it all a one time thing. And that had been just last night. How the hell was she supposed to know he was that closely connected with Max? His voice sounded closer, and closer, until it was right behind her. She kept her eyes locked on Nina. Her cousin, whom she was going to start calling the devil, grinned and winked at her.
“Hello, guys.”
After Nina introduced Jazz and Kaylani, she made a point of throwing her to the wolf.
“And this is my cousin, Lucky.”
“Lucky?” His voice sounded angry.
She turned on her seat to look up at his stormy gray eyes. “Yes.”
“Is that your given name?”
“No, it’s Luciana.”
“But she’s been known as Lucky since she was born. It’s the coolest story, Jared. My aunt’s water broke on a trip to Vegas right when she hit the jackpot. They dubbed her Lucky ever since. And her luck is amazing. There isn’t a game she doesn’t win.”
She sat rooted to the spot by the intensity of his gaze.
“I’ll bet,” he said.
“If you guys will excuse me, I am going to go into Andrew’s office to make a few calls to some vendors.” She stood on shaky legs, ignoring the confused looks she got from Kay and Jazz and the conspiratorial smiles from Nina and Alex, and made her way to Andrew’s empty office.
She was in the office for thirty seconds before the door burst open. She sensed Jared as his footsteps clunked on the wood floor. Her nerves jumped, and she whirled around to face him. He closed the door behind him. The lock clicked into place, separating them from the rest of the group. He looked so good in the dark gray suit. His features appeared to be carved from stone. The set of his jaw and the thin line of his lips screamed fury, while the fire in his eyes spoke of possession. Her nipples pebbled under her dress. An angry man was turning her on. Maybe she had bigger problems than she knew.
He marched toward her, strides filled with purpose. She leaned back on the desk, like a cornered animal looking for an escape. Her mind reeled. It was hard to think through the maze of visuals her brain decided to play from their previous encounter.
Air fled her lungs. He cupped her jaw, slid his fingers into her hair, tilting back her head. Held her in place.
There was no hesitation in his moves. He struck faster than a snake, kissing her and driving his tongue into her mouth. She whimpered into the kiss, her body becoming a giant lump of need. He pushed her body back on the desk, until she was sitting on it, her legs wide open and her nails digging into his back, hauling him closer. Swipe after swipe, his firm lips dominated and possessed hers. He gripped her hair and pulled her head back. The sting only served to heighten her arousal. Moisture dampened her panties. She glanced up at him, at his passionate, daring eyes, and attempted to blink her vision into focus.
“Why did you leave me?”
His raspy voice lit fires in her pussy. She gulped. She was tempted to tell him the truth. That she couldn’t trust a man not to lie to her lately. That their night together had made her want things she wasn’t sure were for her. That he’d pretty much whipped her into stupidity with the things he’d done to her body.
She cleared her throat. “The night was over. What we had ended at dawn.”
“Don’t kid yourself.” He sounded so self-assured, she wanted to debate with him just for the hell of it. “We started something last night.” He brushed his thumb over her bottom lip. “Something bigger than either one of us may have been looking for. But it won’t go away.”
She tore her hands away from his waist and rubbed them on the sides of her clingy red dress. Fighting the surge of emotions was hard. She wanted to say yes, that she did want to see where things would go with him, but the stuff she’d recently lived through wasn’t so easy to ignore or forget. She hadn’t been so much heartbroken as trust broken. And that was harder for her. It was said people didn't rule with their hearts, but she’d willingly given Nick her trust and he’d screwed her over.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. We made no promises and both knew what we were getting into. One night, Jared. One night.”
“No, not one night.” He pulled her to her feet and into his arms. “I want more.”
She stared into his uncompromising gaze and was tempted, so tempted to give in. The band started to play and voices carried from the bar area. “I have to go.”
It was hell going around him, stepping away, and walking to the door.
“What we have isn’t over. Won’t be for a long time.”
Air caught in her lungs and she hurried to unlock the office door. She headed for the front entrance, keeping a wary eye out in case he decided to follow her there, and help welcome guests to the party.
Jared growled into his drink. He wanted to hit something, hard.
“How are you holding up there, Mr. Lucky wow wow?” asked the man they’d introduced to him as Jazz. He was a very eccentric-looking individual, but most artists he’d met were, so that was nothing new. And they tended to be very entertaining. The young man wore skin-tight black pants and a gold dress shirt. He’d tied a black and gold scarf around his neck and had changed his button earrings to match his outfit as well.
“Just great.” He winced at the amount of sarcasm dripping from his voice.
“I’m surprised you were able to get into Lucky’s pants with that attitude.” The guy pouted and rolled his eyes, looking so put out by Jared’s words he would hand him an Academy Award if he had one handy.
He probably shouldn’t ask, but what the hell. “What’s wrong with my attitude?”
“So good of you to ask. Lucky is one of the most private women I have ever met. She is loyal to a flaw. So when someone messes up, it st
ays with her.”
“OK, so how’s that a problem with my attitude?” He motioned to the waiter for another drink and turned his full attention on the artistic genius, as Alex had referred to him.
“How you come across will either make her wary or make her want to try things with you. And honey”—he snapped his fingers—“right now you’re coming across as ‘I am man, hear me roar.’ Not good when you are looking to get a wary woman to take a chance on you, Mr. Sexy.”
Jared swiveled on the stool. His gaze moved over the room, looking for his curvy woman dressed in red. She stood off to the side and spoke to Tanner, his and Max’s friend from college. She laughed at something he said and jealousy reared its ugly green head.
“You OK, bro? You look like you want to take someone’s head off.” Max sat down on the stool next to him.
“Oh goody, it’s big boy chat time.” Jazz motioned to a passing waiter for a drink. “I’ve never been included in one of these before.” He frowned. “Probably because I always hang with the girls. But you know what they say, girls just wanna have fun, and I do love me some fun.”
“I’m fine,” Jared said, and glanced away from Jazz, back to the dance floor where Lucky twirled in the arms of his friend—his very single friend.
“So,” Max cleared his throat. “I know you mentioned that you and Lucky got acquainted last night. You do know she doesn’t live here, right?”
“That’s right,” Jazz piped in cheerfully. “You’d have to do some serious maneuvering to get her to move back up here. She’s already moved once for a man, and that didn’t turn out well at all.” He snorted. “Especially for the jerk.”
Jared glanced at the artist, hoping he’d elaborate. Jazz grinned, sipped his pink drink from a neon yellow bendy straw decorated with a flowery umbrella, and pointed back toward Lucky and Tanner.
Jared shifted his gaze back to the dance floor to catch Lucky doing a slow dance with Tanner. She was smiling and appeared to be having a fun time. Fuck. Irritation danced over his skin. He wanted her in his arms, dancing and smiling at him. Why had she left? It had shocked him to wake up alone on the yacht with a raging hard-on. His plans to slide into her warm body had turned into an unfulfilled fantasy. Thankfully, he knew all he had to do was call Max and he’d get the information on her.
