The car windows steamed with their bodies’ collective heat along with the cars running air conditioning. Wes continued to stroke the inside of Jo’s sweet mouth with his tongue and his one hand naturally slid to the side of her breast that he strummed with his thumb.
Jo recognized that if she didn’t halt this soon it would lead to more than she was ready for. The man was a force and he kissed so well. She hated to pull back, but it was now or never.
“Wes.” She panted; as he looked at her doe like eyes. “We have to stop.”
Wes cupped her face with his hands and dove in for another kiss that melted her insides. He then pulled back, but not before giving her a tender little kisses on her lips, then her cheeks, and then her eyes.
“For the record.” He said softly. “I like kissing you.”
Jo smiled at him bashfully. “You re a smooth talker Mr. Tobin.”
“Actually.” He said smiling at how adorable she looked; all disheveled from their little make out session. “I’m really not smooth at all. Now Jace, he’s the smooth one.”
“Well then.” She said in a bit of a husky voice that made Wes’ cock pulse. “You have obviously learned a thing or two from him.”
Jo thanked him again for the drinks and the ride home and before she could open the door he told her to wait right there. Wes hopped out of the car opened the trunk, retrieved her case, and then opened her door. He extended his hand and helped her to stand from the car.
When she was standing in front of him her head only reached to his sternum. He put the case down and wrapped her up in his arms again, lifting her about four inches off the ground, giving her a hot, body against body, steamy kiss. He then gently set her down. Jo was amazed at his strength. She weighed about 125 and he lifted her easily. Wes walked with her to her front door and waited for her to unlock it. He wanted to go in and make sure there were no surprises waiting for her, but he didn’t want to tip her off that he knew about the accidents.
“I enjoyed being with you tonight, Jo.”
“I had a good time too, Wes. Goodnight.”
Jo entered her house and turned back to Wes.
“Goodnight.”
“Goodnight Jo.” Then Jo slowly closed her front door.
Wes walked back to his car and then remembered he had never gotten her phone number. Inside Jo had flopped down on her couch, giddy from her entire evening until she too thought about the fact that he had never asked for her number.
Wes thought about going back to her door but he knew he could get it from Jill, even though that would be awkward.
Jo was thinking to herself, ‘well if he wants to see me again, he will find a way to get in touch with me.’ She so hoped he did.
Chapter 10
Jo
On Saturday morning Jo woke later than usual to someone banging on her door. She looked through the peephole to find Nick. When she opened the door she saw that he was in his running attire.
“Hey sleepy head.” He said looking at her pj’s and sleepy expression. “Let’s run. I’ve been waiting for you. Thought maybe you got lucky last night.” He teased her.
“Maybe I did.” She said laughing.
Nick froze and his face fell. His hand dropped from the doorframe.
“Jo?”
Jo saw that she’d shocked Nick and she was uncomfortable that he looked upset by the fact that she may have been with someone.
“Nick, come on. I’m only fooling. Remember I had that singing gig? I was out later than usual."”
Immediately Nick relaxed and Jo watched his playful attitude reappear. She knew he liked her, but she had thought they had come to a mutual understanding. They were friends. She didn’t get all crazy when he spent nights out, or dated. Jo knew they were going to have to chat about this, but she was in too good of a mood to do it now.
“Come in and let me get dressed. “ Jo said widening the door to let Nick in.
They ran the half-mile to the lake and chatted amicably side-by-side. Nick avoided all talk of his date last night and she did not press him for details either. They stopped at a tree that had a low hanging branch that Nick liked to use for pull-ups and while he did that Jo reclined and did crunches.
They were within sight of where Wes said he lived and when she stood up and looked at the condos she tried to guess which place was his. She was daydreaming about their steamy kiss in the car and Nick had to swat her butt to get her moving again. As they ran in front of the six story condominium complex Jo looked up and saw Wes standing on a balcony, staring at her.
Wes stood there with his arms crossed watching his pretty little Jo running with her neighbor. He didn’t like how much time they spent together, not one bit. He fisted and unfisted his hands wishing he could use it on the guy's face. When Jo was almost in front of his unit she waved up at him and sent him a ridiculously, sexy smile. The guy running next to her looked up at him too, after seeing that Jo had just waved to someone. Wes could see he wasn’t happy that someone else had caught Jo’s attention.
Wes uncrossed his arms and gave her a small wave. He had a large grin on his face knowing he had just pissed off her neighbor, and that she had the most dazzling smile he’d ever seen. He was definitely calling that girl today.
Jo had a sappy smile on her face and managed to not stumble when she saw Wes on the balcony. He was so gorgeous. His body was magnificent, all hard and toned, and his face was beyond handsome. She couldn’t believe how lucky she was to have run into him again. Strike one in the ‘good’ category.
“Who was that Jo?’ Nick asked after they had run past the condos.
“That’s the man that helped me after my purse was stolen.”
“Oh, but I thought you didn’t know him?”
“Well I happened to run into him last night.”
Nick didn’t look pleased and Jo was annoyed that he was making her feel like she was cheating on him. She picked up her speed so that they couldn’t talk anymore.
When they got home Jo felt great. She had set a hard pace and pushed herself, sweat poured off her face and she flopped down on the grass outside her townhouse to stretch. Nick sat down next to her.
“You are getting faster Jo.” He commented.
“I feel good, thanks.”
“So do you have any plans for tonight?’ He asked. Normally this would be a run of the mill question but for some reason it irked Jo.
“No plans as of yet. You?”
“I, uh, have another date.”
Jo finished her stretch and stood up.
“That’s good Nick. Have fun.”
Nick stood up quickly following her. “Jo, if you want to do something, you know, with me, I’ll cancel my plans.”
“Nick don’t be silly. Go on your date.”
Jo unlocked her door and as she stepped inside she said, “Good run today.” over her shoulder before shutting her door. She knew Nick was still standing there but she didn’t care, he had pissed her off today. Jo leaned back against her door and closed her eyes. She locked on to the image of Wes standing on the balcony watching her. She could feel his eyes roaming her body and she remembered how wonderful his hands felt on her.
Her phone pinged signaling she’d gotten a text message so she walked to the kitchen, grabbed a towel and then sat down at the table with her phone. She didn’t recognize the number.
I’m hoping you are home from your run. Dinner tonight?
I’m home and yes that would be nice.
Pick you up at 7:00pm?
Perfect
See you sweet Jo.
She sent him back a happy face.
Wes had called Jill the second Jo had disappeared from his view. As predicted Jill was a bit snarky, but she finally gave Wes Jo’s number. Wes didn’t care that Jill was put off, her act was getting old, he’d never led her on and he was pissed that she continued to pursue him; even after he had flat out told her he was not interested. The guys never really believed him when he said she flirted with hi
m, and he hadn’t said anything in a while because he didn’t want to hurt Andy’s feelings. He always felt bad when she did shit in front of him.
Jo floated through the rest of her day. She did laundry, showered and laid out an outfit for her date. Then she spent part of the afternoon putting away her files from the newspaper that were still in the boxes. When she got to one file she saw that the manila folder was empty. The file contained hard copy notes from an investigative idea that she had been starting to work on when she’d been told she was being let go.
About a month earlier Henry had sent Jo to interview the mayor of Summit, the construction manager, and a member of the town council regarding a large low-income housing project that the town was putting up. Henry had said the project needed good PR, and the staff member that usually covered these types of events was out. After the interview, as Jo was walking back to her car, a construction worker had covertly pushed a piece of paper in her hand. Jo knew better than to look at it right there.
When she got far enough away from the site she pulled over and read the tiny slip of paper. All it said was ‘bad material.’ When she got home she did a little research using LexisNexis, a subscription site that gave her access to all forms of public documents. Jo didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, but she didn’t know much about the construction business either.
The next day Jo had spent hours putting together more research regarding construction and that particular project. She mentioned what she was working on to Henry and he encouraged her to ‘go for it’, however she had not had any more opportunities to do more research because Henry had kept her busy doing other fluff pieces that he insisted needed her writing skills. Then a week later she’d been laid off. During her final two weeks at the paper, Henry continued to keep her busy, so she had been unable to work on her new story.
Jo couldn’t believe the entire file was gone. There hadn’t been too much in it, but she did remember she had gotten her hands on the investor list. Jo sat back wondering what could have happened to everything. She had no idea when they were even taken.
Jo got up and turned on her computer. She rummaged through her files and found that her folder that was labeled Housing Project was empty. She couldn’t believe it. Someone had taken her hard copy files and wiped her computer files. Then Jo had a sickening thought. She backed up her work documents on her phone, not iCloud, but simply on a word application on her phone, and that had been stolen. Jo didn’t like what she was thinking. For most people this would have been scary and most importantly a major deterrent, but to BJ Ross it was a battle cry. She’d obviously been on to something, and someone didn’t want her to pursue the story.
Jo thought about the purse snatching and the paint thrown at her car wondering if it all three things could be connected. The only thing that didn’t make sense was that she hadn’t worked on the article in three weeks. Jo glanced at the clock and saw that it was 6:30pm. She closed her laptop and went in to change for her date. She put all thoughts of the lost files out of her mind. She was so ready for a good evening with Wes.
Chapter 11
Date night
Wes rang Jo’s bell at precisely 7:00pm. The door next to hers opened and Nick stepped out. Both men stood surveying each other before Jo opened her door.
“Hi Wes.” She said happily looking at her date. She then saw Nick. “Hi Nick."
“Hi Jo.” Wes handed her a bouquet of wild flowers.
“Oh my gosh I love these thank you.” She took the flowers from Wes.
“Wes this is my neighbor, Nick O’Malley.”
The men shook hands. They were the same height but Wes had more muscle packed on to his large frame than Nick did.
“Are you guys going out?” Nick asked.
“Yes, why?”
“Oh, no reason, have fun.” Wes watched Nick walk to his car on the street, before following Jo inside her home.
“Nice place.” Wes commented.
“Thanks. It's home.”
Jo put the flowers in a vase and placed the vase prominently on her kitchen counter. She plucked off a daisy and wove it through her bracelet so the flower sat right on top of it.
“That’s clever.” Wes said taking her hand in his. He looked at her handiwork then turned her hand over and kissed the underside of her wrist.
His simple kiss took her breath away. “My Mom taught Lou and me all sorts of crafty things like that. She was a hippy at heart.” Jo giggled. Wes liked hearing her laugh and how her face lit up when she smiled.
“Are you ready?” Wes asked.
Jo nodded and once again Wes put Jo in front of him and placed his large hand at the small of her back guiding her out the door. When she went to lock the house he took the key from her hand and did it for her. They walked to Wes’ Porsche and he opened the door for her before helping her to sit. As Wes walked to his door he surreptitiously surveyed the area. He was looking for the car that had been there the week before. Instead he saw Nick’s car parked down the road, hidden around the corner. He knew that he would personally be checking out Mr. Nick O’Malley.
Wes drove to a nearby town that was known as a Lake community. The area homes were posh and the ones that sat right on the large lake were multi-million dollar mansions. He pulled into a lot near the water and sprinted around the car quickly to open her door. He then extended his hand to her and as he’d done before, he gently pulled her to her feet and shut the door. This time however, he did not back up, and she found herself flush against his firm chest.
Jo gasped and Wes held her to him and tilted her chin up seductively.
“There is no way, sweet Jo, that I can sit through dinner without kissing those luscious lips of yours first. Do you mind?” His voice was gravelly and Jo dampened immediately.
Her response was to place her hand on the back of his neck, stretch up on to her tip-toes and pull his face down to her. Their lips met in a soft reunion. The kiss lasted for a good ten seconds, Jo clung to his strong shoulders and Wes’ hands spanned her hips holding her against him.
When they pulled apart Jo touched her lips with her fingertips and smiled up at Wes who was content simply touching and looking at her.
“You are so good at that.” Jo whispered.
Wes chuckled. “I am so glad you think so because I would like to do more of that and it helps if you like it.”
“I do.” She said breathlessly.
Wes kissed her tenderly on her forehead and then took her hand to walk into the restaurant. As they entered the door a pretty little hostess approached them and Wes said, “Tobin.” The hostess gave him a saucy smile and told them to follow her. Jo noticed, as the young woman walked ahead of them, that she had a pretty good sashay going on. Jo looked up at Wes and noticed that he was not even looking at the flirty hostess. He was looking at her. It made Jo feel all gooey inside.
Wes held out Jo’s chair and then pushed it in after she was seated. She loved how mannerly he was. He took the chair opposite her and asked if she was comfortable.
“Yes, thank you. This place is so quaint.” Jo said as she looked around.
“It used to be a shack, literally, but it was renovated last year. Boater’s can dock over there.” Wes said pointing out an area where several boats were tied up. “It’s gaining in popularity.”
“So what is the house specialty?”
“Oysters.” Wes said with a devilish grin and Jo burst out laughing.
“Of course it is. “ She said still giggling.
They split an order of oysters and then Wes ordered a steak and Jo ordered the same thing, but not as big of a cut.
“So we like the same food.” Wes said with a smile.
“It seems we do.” Jo said.
“I wonder what other similarities we share.” Wes replied.
Jo beamed; she had been thinking the same thing. The rest of their dinner was spent talking about movies, books, music, and even animals. They found they did have a lot in common. They both liked act
ion adventure movies, but Jo feigned acting appalled that Wes had never seen Little Mermaid or Beauty and The Beast. The biggest differences they had was that Jo liked reading romance novels and Wes liked historical biographies. She teased him that he might like a few chapters in some of her books. He bantered back that he would be happy to let her read him some of those chapters. Jo loved how witty he was and how easy he was to talk to.
Wes was enjoying himself with his Jo. She was funny, smart and he loved looking at her. Her face was so expressive. Her eyes were such a pretty light blue that they were mesmerizing. When she laughed he swore that they twinkled. Wes looked at her pink full lips and wished he could kiss them again, right now.
“Wes? Are you even listening to me?’ She laughed.
“I was, until I thought about kissing you again, and then I’ll plead the 5th.” Jo burst out laughing and that drew the attention of other diners, looking to see what was so funny.
“Oh I’m sorry.” She said trying so hard to rein in her mirth.
“Don’t ever stop laughing Jo.” Wes said almost too seriously.
It sobered her up immediately. He took her hand and kissed her palm.
“I love hearing you laugh." He said planting another kiss on her palm.
Jo quieted and felt her heart pitty patter. She thought that the man sitting across from her, gently holding her hand, was seriously swoon worthy.
After Wes paid for dinner, he quickly stood to help her out of her chair. They walked slowly back to his car. Wes had his hand on her back, and before he opened her door he turned her towards him and backed her against the door.
“I am usually a very patient man Jo.” He said as he bent for a kiss. “But for some reason with you.” He kissed her again. “All I seem to think about is kissing you.” He kissed her again. “And I just can’t seem to wait.” He leaned in for another kiss, but this time he found her tongue with his own.
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