by Amber Lynn
“Maybe it’s time I quit living on the safe side and experience a little heartbreak.”
Hope couldn’t deny it would happen down the road. She’d even vaguely mentioned it to Jason when she brought up her falling in love and him moving on to someone a little more appropriate for him. It was the way of the world. Hope was already making plans to buy some stock in tissue for the days she spent curled up in her bed crying.
“Why put yourself through it? Your dad and I have been married for over thirty years and I’ve never known a day of heartbreak.”
Much like Jason and his ex, Hope’s parents had been high school sweethearts. Growing up, Hope didn’t remember them even bickering over things, which was something she saw couples do every night at the bar. There were people who were meant to be together, and her parents fell into that category. Most of the world didn’t work that way, and evidently her mother didn’t do enough searches on the internet to find that out.
Explaining that to her mother was useless. It wasn’t happy news realizing she was going to be the first person in her family to break away from the young marriage and big happy family, but Hope was okay with holding on to whatever happiness she could find with Jason for as long as she could.
“You know, when I’ve gone back and forth about whether it was smart to get involved, I’ve focused on the fact that most people are going to look at me as a gold-digger. That’s what I lose sleep at night over, not whether or not he’s going to break my heart.”
Marie scoffed. “Anyone who thinks you give two nickels about his money doesn’t know you. Is it a coincidence he doesn’t come in until after your father leaves? I haven’t told him about your little friend yet, but you should introduce them and see what your father has to say. Why don’t you invite him over for family dinner Sunday?”
They hadn’t had a spontaneous dinner with the whole family in years. It had only been a little over a month since Christmas and they had another month before her father’s birthday. Hope loved seeing everyone, but she didn’t fool herself into thinking having Jason there would be a comfortable situation.
She knew the offer was a dare more than anything else. She also knew she had to accept unless Jason refused or had an issue with his schedule. He didn’t have a game Sunday night, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t planned something else.
“I’ll ask Jason if he has any plans. I’m sure he’ll be thrilled for round three with you.”
“It’s your father he needs to worry about. Even though your brother is technically the baby of the family, you’re your father’s little girl.”
“And yet you haven’t told him I’m hanging out with Jason.”
Being a daddy’s girl hadn’t really come into play before. A few tears at her high school graduation were the only indication there might be a slight preference.
“I found out Jason’s last name because of him, but I didn’t mention you were acquainted.”
“What do you mean you found out because of him?”
There was a slightly evil glint in her mother’s eyes. It made Hope think her mother was going to keep her methods a secret.
“I knew his first name and since you mentioned him playing some sort of game, I figured he was an athlete. I could’ve taken that information and gone straight to searching the internet, but I saw your father first, and since he knows his sports, I told him I thought we had an athlete of some sort in the bakery and ran the information by him. From my description, he told me if it was anyone, it was Jason Miller. The long hair was a pretty big giveaway.”
“We’re going to have to buy you a funny hat and a pipe so you can go around solving crimes.”
A family coming through the door stopped Marie from responding to the flippant comment. If Hope had it her way, the bells on the door wouldn’t stop jingling the rest of the morning, but two new customers in thirty minutes didn’t give her much confidence.
“We’ll see who’s laughing when your new friend breaks out in hives at the prospect of meeting your full family.”
“Only because he’d be afraid the rest of the family would gang up on him. You have to promise that if we come over, you let everyone else make up their own minds about him.”
“That won’t be a problem.” The smile on her face wasn’t comforting. “Your father will know who he is the second he sees him.”
After that lovely thought, Marie laughed as she walked back to the kitchen. Hope still had another lovely hour at the bakery before she could call it a day. Since Jason walked into her life, she’d wanted to get off work early almost every day.
With the way her mom was acting, for the first time she was considering letting her parents hire someone else to man the counter. Hope enjoyed having the income of both of her jobs, but she could live on what she made at the bar. Since it seemed she may actually have a life, a little free time would be a nice side effect of not having to deal with her mother.
Whether she went through with the idea would depend mainly on how the rest of the family acted during dinner. If everyone decided Jason was the scum of the earth, like her mother had, a little break from the family business was probably in order. Marie had mentioned it was time for her to grow up, and maybe that was the first step.
Chapter Eleven
Hope had texted that she was on her way, so Jason was at the door waiting for her knock. Her fingers had barely brushed the door when he swung it open.
“Hey, beautiful.”
He gave her a quick peck on the cheek as she walked in and handed him a bag. The small sigh of contentment she let slip made him wonder if she was happy to see him or just happy her time at the bakery was over for the day. Jason knew showing up wasn’t his best idea, but he thought he could get in and out before he was seen. He’d even waited outside for a few minutes to make sure there was no sign of Mrs. Nacin.
“What’s this?” he asked, curious about the bag. It was white without any distinct markings.
“The doughnut you forgot earlier. I saw how you licked your lips when you were looking at them, so I brought you one.”
Jason laughed as he shut the door. “It wasn’t so much the doughnuts I was thinking about licking. I just thought it’d look better if I focused on them.”
That being said, he opened the bag to see a glazed doughnut waiting for him. He wasn’t ready for dessert since he hadn’t had dinner yet, but he planned on eating it a little later.
“I’m pretty sure you didn’t fool anyone.”
Hope was already on her way over to the couch. Jason had been a little uneasy sitting on it couch since he could still smell her in the air all around it. It was bad enough that he relived the moment every time he closed his eyes.
He put the bag on the breakfast bar and worked his way over to join her. She’d ditched the apron and long-sleeved shirt she’d been wearing for a t-shirt that clung tightly to her chest. It was hard to tell if she knew she was playing with fire or just thought the shirt was more comfortable.
“It looks like I got both you and a doughnut, so I think I came out ahead.”
Jason leaned over and took a quick taste of what he was hungry for. Her lips were as sweet as any doughnuts.
“So, how bad was it after I left. I tried not to let her get to me, but it’s clear in her eyes that she’d like to smite me.”
“With the force of a million suns apparently. She is counting down the days until you move on to greener pastures and leave me crying my eyes out.”
“Hmm. I can honestly say I’ve never had to deal with a protective mother before, but I guess it makes sense.”
They were sitting on the couch facing each other, so it wasn’t hard to see the sad smile on her face. She’d made it clear she already knew where things were heading between them. It couldn’t feel good for someone close to her to reiterate those thoughts.
“Hey,” Jason grabbed both of her hands and squeezed them. “No one can predict how things will work out.”
“I know, and right this seco
nd, I’m really not worried about what is hopefully months down the road.”
“Ouch. That stings a little.”
Jason was caught up in the rush of what was going on between them, so he really hadn’t thought long and hard about what the future would bring. After spending a year licking his wounds and finding a way back into the dating world, he thought he had a little more stamina than months.
“You know what I mean. It wasn’t that long ago that all I heard from you was beer orders. What’s going on between us seems to change daily, so I’m not holding my breath that you’ll be talking to me tomorrow.”
She had a point, but it wasn’t one Jason wanted to hear. It did strengthen his resolve to try to ease her worries about tomorrow as much as he could.
“I like when you hold your breath for a little something else, so why don’t we limit the breath holding to pleasurable events only.”
“About that,” Hope paused to bite on her lip.
“I’m sorry I moved so fast the other night. I didn’t know how sensitive your neck was and I thought it’d be mean to get you all revved up without helping you out.”
Hope shook her head. “I wasn’t complaining, Jason. I was only going to comment on the fact that I could tell you were affected and you brushed it off when I brought it up.”
Her cheeks turned pink as she spoke. It was almost as cute as when she bit her lip. Both actions made him want to wrap his arms around her and pull her into his lap.
“You call it affected. I call it horny as hell. Either way, I took a long cold shower because we didn’t have time before you had to be to work. Not to mention I didn’t think it was appropriate to immediately jump your bones after I’d gone back and forth so much with what I wanted from us.”
“I could’ve taken a cold shower too.”
Jason smiled. Kate had never been as innocent as Hope. They’d been high school sweethearts, but he wasn’t Kate’s first. In fact, she’d taught him most of what he knew when it came to sex. The thought wasn’t as comforting as it once had been.
“You could’ve, but my fingers were willing and able to help. I did have my own question about that night, if you don’t mind me asking.”
Hope waited for him to continue instead of giving any verbal or physical cues that she was okay hearing what he had to say. It wasn’t something he had to ask. He was just curious.
“You said you haven’t had sex before. Is that just physical intercourse or was I the first person to touch you like that?”
Coming right out and asking her whether she’d had an orgasm before ended up feeling a little weird, so Jason muddled through with a question that would hopefully get him an answer. Hope’s cheeks hadn’t gone back to their normal coloring and the question turned them from rosy to a full shade of red.
“I’ve never touched myself like that.”
That was the question he should’ve asked. She’d already told him the only thing another person had done was a kiss, so obviously asking if someone else had drawn an orgasm out of her was stupid.
“And you’d be okay with us doing that again sometime, right?”
Carrying on with idiotic questions seemed to be his theme for the night. He was trying to get a sense of what pace to drive things. He wanted to move forward like a train getting ready to run off its tracks, but he wanted to make sure he thought things out clearly before rushing into action.
“Are we going to do more than just that? Since you haven’t asked ten times whether I enjoyed it, I assume you know I did, but I wouldn’t feel right if only I got to feel it.”
Jason could feel his cheeks warming a little. He’d dreamt about what their next encounter would be like and he got hot just thinking about it. It was going to be a while before the water heater had to click on from him taking a long hot shower.
“I’m not going to be selfless forever, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
Hope nodded. “Maybe we should talk about something else, unless you want to fool around. I’ve got to get some sleep in the near future, but I don’t have anything else planned before work.”
Her tongue darted out to moisten her lips. Jason wanted to catch it in the action and suck it into his mouth. She made it hard not to take her up on the offer.
He leaned forward, running his tongue across where hers had been to get a small taste. The move caused her to scoot her body towards him so she was leaning over his lap. There hadn’t been a lot of space between them, but she made it so there wasn’t even a slight gap.
“I could spend the rest of the day tasting every inch of you, which won’t get you any sleep. It’s probably best if we get you something to eat and then tuck you into bed for the day.”
Hope sighed and rested her head on Jason’s shoulder. “I’m thinking about quitting my day job.”
Even with the tension he felt with her mother, that was a surprise to hear. Hope’s reasons for working at the bakery were important to her. As much as he liked the idea of her having some more free time, he didn’t want to be the cause of it.
“I feel like I should apologize for that. If it helps, I’ll promise not to come in again. I know it was pushing my luck, but I really wanted to see you.”
Jason could feel Hope’s head shake from its spot as she moved it to nuzzle with his neck. Her hair was soft, not to mention a little dangerous, as it brushed against his neck. He’d never considered the spot to be sensitive, but warning signals started flashing a bright yellow in his head. They weren’t quite red yet, but they were on their way to changing.
“There’s nothing for you to apologize about. It’s me who’s going to be apologizing. During the fight that continued after you left, she basically dared me to bring you home to meet the family and have dinner Sunday night.”
Hope let her words die off and settle in. Jason could understand why she’d be a little worried how he’d take the notion of a family dinner. They hadn’t been established as a couple long and usually it took longer than a week to bring someone home to meet the parents.
“Is she hoping your dad and brother tear me into tiny pieces she can use as confetti for the next family celebration?”
“I think she wants to scare you off more than anything. My sister would be bringing her kids, who have been called terrorists on multiple occasions, and my dad will probably spend the night trying to intimidate you.”
“And this little dose of reality is supposed to send me running out the door.”
Jason scoffed at the idea. He faced opposing players who made attempts to rearrange his face multiple times a week. A loving father trying to protect his daughter didn’t scare him.
Kids weren’t an issue either. People probably thought he stayed away from them on account of losing the baby he thought was his own. Jason couldn’t lie and say he didn’t feel regret when he saw other people holding babies, but that didn’t keep him from interacting with people under three foot tall.
“That would seem to be her intention. We don’t have to go. I got caught up in the challenge of it all and told her I’d ask.”
“What time Sunday? I have practice early in the day and usually spend a little time in the pool, but I should be free after two or three.”
Dinner was a night event to him, but he knew some people had it earlier in the day, especially on Sundays. Hope’s schedule was crazy enough that she just ate whenever it suited her. First impressions of Mrs. Nacin told Jason that she was a little stricter on her timing.
“It’s usually around six, but if you needed it juggled around, I don’t think anyone would complain.”
“Any particular dress requirements? I’ve always got a clean suit if I need to look a certain part. I don’t have a tuxedo hiding in my closet, but if you really want to go crazy, I can rent one.”
Hope pushed away from him so she could look at his face. The spot where her head had been was instantly cold, making him want to push her head back down to warm it up.
“You’re dangerous enough in what y
ou’re wearing, so let’s try not to overwhelm anyone.”
Jason looked down at his green t-shirt and jeans, trying to see what was so dangerous about them. There was a sliver of an outline of a dragon on his shirt, but nothing that screamed daddies should lock up their daughters.
“I should wear shoes, though, right? It’d be weird if I showed up barefoot.”
Hope laughed and leaned forward to press her lips to his. It was the first time she’d kissed him without him initiating the touch. He could feel a little hesitation, but after the initial touch, she had no problem shedding the uncertainty and diving into the kiss.
Jason let her take control, but at the same time he made sure she didn’t push too far. He was already hard, painfully so. The border between the state of safe and him losing control was a little blurry. He didn’t stop her tongue pushing into his mouth. When he felt her arms push down on the couch and her body getting ready to lift up so she could get in his lap seemed to be a good spot to draw the line.
His body wasn’t appreciative of the brakes being tapped, but it didn’t get a say in how far things were going. He remembered how Hope’s body felt when it ground against him and it was best they keep that from happening.
Separating for a little air, Jason rested his forehead against Hope’s and stared at her eyes as they slowly reopened. The little flecks of gold he saw at close range made him want to remain sitting there like that so he could try to map them out.
“I know we’ve talked about having sex, but I still haven’t picked up condoms. As much fun as it would be to throw responsibility out the window, I think it’s best we wait until I’m a little more prepared.”
Hope chuckled as her right hand lost its grip on his shirt. The next thing he knew, there was a silver square package taunting him out of the corner of his eye.
“Mom gave me a handful of these before we left the bakery today and told me to make sure you wore them. From the way she said it, she wanted you to wear them all at once.”
Jason groaned. It wasn’t so much the thought of Marie wanting him to ensure his dick was wrapped tight causing the groan. It was the fact that he’d purposefully not had condoms handy so he had an excuse to put the brakes on.
