The mulish look of her face made him want to grin. She’d always been so sweet, so accommodating, but he didn’t think he minded this feisty woman who was still trying to shove him off her body—even if her heart wasn’t really into it. And he knew it wasn’t.
Her scent, the womanly part of her aroma, sharpened. Her pussy, open and glancing against his cock every time she bucked against him, was soaking wet, even through the silky panties.
He wrestled with her, wrapping his fingers around her wrists to hold them still beside her head, and captured her legs beneath his, forcing her open. Her soft, jagged breaths shuddered against his chest, and he couldn’t help the tension that filled him, hardening his cock until it felt like a steel rod, heavy and throbbing and prodding naturally against her entrance.
Drawing back, he shook his head. “Tell me this isn’t what you want,” he said, his voice rougher than he would have wished, but she had him so tight, so ready. “If I’m scaring you, tell me to back off.”
Jolie’s mouth opened, but she didn’t say a word. Her dark eyes flashed fire.
He bent and nipped her bottom lip. “Do you like this? Do you like it rough?”
Her body shuddered, and her abdomen rolled, pressing her mons against his dick while her expressive eyes widened.
She did like it. Fancy that. Every day was a new discovery with her.
He let go of her hands, pushed her panties down her legs then reared up to force her thighs wide. He covered her again, keeping one foot on the ground and wrapping her wrists again, trapping her thighs.
He nudged her entrance with his cock and sank an inch inside, just far enough to wet the cap.
Her sex clasped him, making a succulent, nasty sound that only made him harder.
She bucked beneath him, trying to curve her belly and take him deeper, but he lay over her, pinning her down.
“Still like it?” he whispered.
“I hate it!” she said, but there was a catch to her voice, just a hint of frustrated tears.
That hint of sensual distress he could handle. He nudged deeper then slid away. “Jolie, look at me.”
She curled her lips in a snarl, but her gaze locked with his.
“I can’t walk away. But I can’t give you more. Tell me this is enough.”
Her eyes filled, and she turned her head aside. “It’s not fair.”
Exactly what Mike had said. And he knew it was true, and that she had to think he was the biggest bastard ever. “It’s not you. It’s not that I don’t want all those things you want. But I’ve seen how bad it can be. I watched my mother’s whole world crumble when my dad died. I don’t want that for you.”
“But you won’t let me go. You think if we don’t share a roof that I won’t grieve over your sorry ass?”
“My mother wouldn’t give away my dad’s things. She pulled them out, over and over, wore his clothes. She never let go. Not until the day she died.”
“So you’d deny me your things, your clothes, and you think that will save me from grieving?” Her gaze raked his face. A frown settling on her forehead, but her expression softened just the same. “Fine. We do it your way. For now.”
He swallowed and leaned down to kiss her. Thankful she wasn’t going to end it. Grateful he’d won. It was for her own good, even if she didn’t know it. “Still want it rough? Or do you want to move to the bed. I can be gentle. I’ll do anything you want.”
A faint smile lifted the corners of her mouth, and Gabe hadn’t known until that moment how much he’d missed her smiles and sassy humor.
“Anything at all?” she said, her voice sliding sexily.
“You can reward me later.”
“With muffins?”
He grinned. “I wanna rub them on your tits. Your fault. You put that image in my head.”
A laugh gusted, jerking her chest against his. “Maybe I’ll let you lick away the crumbs.”
They smiled at each other.
“Have you decided what you want?”
Her eyelids drooped. “I know how hungry you get, baby.”
His cock jerked inside her entrance. “A little salty before the sweet?”
“A lot of salty, baby.”
He growled playfully then pulled away from her body. When she stood, he swung her into his arms again.
“A girl could get used to this,” she said, breathless again.
If it pleased her so much, he’d carry her fucking everywhere. Jolie hadn’t kicked him to the door. She understood now that he only meant to protect her.
Mike and Lucy had both been wrong. Nothing had to change.
Chapter Four
‡
Jolie tallied the orders for the day and set aside her pencil.
“Hey, Jolie!”
Jolie glanced up.
Rachel Pettigrew snapped her fingers in front of Jolie’s face. “Where’d you go, I was calling you for five minutes. You moonin’ over your policeman?”
Jolie snorted. “Never should have promoted you,” she groused. “You think you run the place, including me.”
Rachel shook back her blonde hair, wrestled it into a pony tail, and wrapped a pink hair band around it. “We were busy up front. Could have used an extra hand.”
“You got it under control, didn’t you?” Jolie closed her book and dropped it into the top drawer of her desk. “It’s why you get paid the big bucks,” she teased.
“Yeah, right.”
Jolie knew Rachel could earn more working as a pastry chef for one of the large restaurants around the city, but Jolie had lured her with the promise of a partnership. Jolie had built Jolie’s Delights on the small nest egg her daddy had given her and had paid him back in three years. Her recipes and insistence on only the finest ingredients had quickly earned her a reputation for her delicious deserts. They sold pastries from their storefront bistro but also catered to some of the finest kitchens in the city.
If only her love life were as successful.
“Was I right?” Rachel asked, hooking a ladder-back chair and pulling it toward Jolie’s desk. “Were ya daydreamin’ about tall, dark and studly?”
Rachel rarely let her Texas twang out to play, but when she did, Jolie couldn’t help but smile. “Think Gabe’s cute?”
Rachel sighed. “Completely edible. Wish I were as lucky.”
“You had your shot at Mike. But you passed.”
Rachel shrugged. “He wasn’t the one. Besides, he’s happy with Lucy. You’re both so damn lucky.”
Jolie snorted. “Yeah, I’m lucky all right.”
Rachel’s green eyes darkened. “Uh-oh. Trouble in paradise?”
“Yes…no. Oh hell. I all but asked him to marry me, but he shuffled back so fast you’d have thought a bee stung his ass.”
“But he’s still seein’ you, right? Has to count for somethin’. Some guys hear the ‘M’ word and all you see is the dust they kick up as they head out of town.”
Jolie eyed Rachel’s face, noting the pallor of her skin. The girl wasn’t getting enough sleep. “Talking about cowboys now?”
Rachel shrugged. “Maybe. I don’t know why men get so antsy when women start makin’ plans. You’d think they’d appreciate the fact we love ’em enough to want them to hang around awhile.”
“Gabe doesn’t have a problem hanging around. He has a problem committing.” A scowl tightened her forehead. “Thinks he’s protecting me.”
“Doesn’t sound like such a bad guy. Maybe a little brain-damaged, but not a bad guy.”
Jolie cracked a reluctant smile. “Gabe’s not bad. Or mean. He can be a lot of fun.”
“Good lover, too? He looks like he’d be good in bed.”
Jolie raised her eyebrows. “Oh yeah? What clued you in?”
“Any man who moans like he does over a doughnut has to be just as responsive in the sack. Am I right?”
Jolie shook her head, a full-fledged grin stretching her mouth. Heat filled her cheeks when she thought about the moaning that had gone
on when he’d eaten a muffin she’d stuffed between her breasts the night before.
Rachel grimaced. “Ah, dang it. I don’t think I want to know. You’ll make me envious, and I was just gettin’ used to bein’ celibate.”
Jolie raised her eyebrows. “How’s that going, by the way?”
Rachel screwed her nose up in disgust. “Didn’t know the longer I went without the more I’d think about it. I might just have to lower my standards. Gabe got any single friends left?”
Jolie laughed. “I’ll ask. You need to get out more, girlfriend.”
A bell chimed from inside the bakery, and Rachel sighed. “Better get those bear claws out of the oven.”
Jolie pushed up from her chair and tilted her head side to side to ease the ache.
On Saturdays, they only opened for the morning, and these days she didn’t have to be there at the break of dawn, which suited her just fine since Gabe liked to have a schedule and know when she’d be available.
Anger bubbled inside her again. He took a lot for granted. Not that he wasn’t appreciative and attentive. But she wished he knew what she sacrificed for him, how willing she’d been to turn her life upside down to be with him.
Before Gabe, her entire life had centered around the bakery. It didn’t matter that she was making more money than ever, even after splitting profits with Rachel, but she could have been on the fast track to so much more. She’d had dreams of partnering with a manufacturer to sell her confections in grocery stores, but those dreams lost their luster when she’d met him.
Younger, finer than she had any business lusting after, he filled her heart with sappy dreams of babies and a house in a sprawling subdivision where she’d bring him lemonade while he mowed the lawn.
She thought about the black-delicious pumps again and wondered if she’d have the nerve to try them. See whether Gabe stood up and took notice of the fact she was attractive enough to find another man, one who’d want her in or out of bed. Had she been wasting her time waiting for him to realize how perfect they were for each other?
A knock sounded, and she glanced up to find Mike and Gabe grinning at her from the doorway. Speak of the devil…
“You two come by to mooch some doughnuts?” she asked, grinning.
Mike’s eyes widened with innocence. “Can’t we just stop in to say hello?”
She chuckled and walked past them. Inside the storefront, she opened a display case to pluck several of the freshest pastries she had, arranged them on a plate, and handed them to Gabe. “Go take a seat, and I’ll bring the coffee.”
“Only if you’re joining us,” he said, his voice dropping to a low, rumbling purr. “You look hungry.”
Mike groaned. “No sex talk, you two.”
Gabe unzipped his jacket, and the sound had her pressing her thighs together.
Her expression must have betrayed her, because he chuckled as he moved away.
She poured coffee into a carafe, knowing they preferred the straight stuff rather than the more exotic coffees her store offered, and piled cups and saucers on a tray.
Mike was already seated at one of the bistro tables, his jacket draped over the back, but Gabe was standing, took the tray from her hands, and set it on the table before pulling out her chair.
“Thank you,” she murmured, blushing from his attentions.
Gabe was always the gentleman with her in public. She forgot that sometimes because they spent so much time alone.
Gabe poured her a cup, stirred fresh cream and two sugars into her coffee then set the cup and saucer in front of her.
“Quiet day, today?” she asked.
“A couple of tickets. A snatch and grab.” Mike stuffed a doughnut into his mouth, “Oh, and a domestic disturbance. Wife hid the remote from her husband because she wanted to talk.”
“Quiet then. That’s good, right?”
Gabe grimaced. “But boring. Too much time on our hands.”
“Ahhh… Been talking, I take it.”
Mike coughed, and his glance slid away. “I reminded him your birthday was coming up.”
She punched Gabe’s shoulder. “You needed a reminder?”
Gabe scowled at Mike. “I didn’t forget.”
“But he can’t decide what to get you.”
A ring would be nice, she wanted to quip, but that would just be mean, so she lifted her eyebrows. “You should know me by now. I’m pretty easy to please.”
The sound of a scuffle under the table had her wondering who kicked whom.
Gabe cleared his throat. “I thought I might take you to dinner. Somewhere special.”
She nodded, beginning to smile. “A date?”
“Yeah, somewhere public.”
“We don’t do ‘public’ very well,” she reminded him.
Color crept across his cheeks while Mike’s shoulders shook.
“You told!” she cried out, glaring at Gabe.
“Uh…I may have mentioned the park.”
“And the stadium parking lot.” When Gabe growled, Mike lifted his shoulders. “Hey, we spend a lot of time together cooped up in a car. Not much else to talk about but you girls.”
“Lucy know you’re so loose-lipped?”
His eyes widened in mock horror. “You’re not gonna tell her, are you?”
“And why should I do you any favors?”
“Because I’m hot?” he said, waggling his eyebrows.
Jolie laughed. “Get out of here. Both of you. Don’t you know I have better things to do than feed your sorry asses? Out!”
The men chuckled as they left, and Jolie couldn’t wipe the grin off her mouth.
“It’s so not fair,” Rachel moaned from the behind the counter.
“Yeah, life’s not fair. But what are you gonna do about it? Cry?” Jolie picked up the dishes, piling up the plates and cups, thinking about what she’d just said, an idea brewing in her mind.
The more she thought about it, the more the idea dug deep roots and held tight. Oh, yeah. There was something she could do. And it involved sexy little pumps with heels way too high for walkin’ but just right for shakin’ up a man.
“I’m leaving for a while.”
Rachel laughed. “By the look on your face, you’ve got a plan.”
“I do indeed. It might bite me in the ass, but Gabe Devine’s never gonna wipe his feet on me again.”
She gathered her purse from her office and waved to Rachel as she left. She had a plan. A bold one. One that Lucy had to help her with. Lucy had connections, after all.
*
“You sure this is how you want to test out the shoes?” Lucy asked, scooting shiny PVC and leather clothing down the metal rack.
Jolie wasn’t sure of anything, but something had to give—and soon. Mooning over a man who didn’t want her wasn’t healthy, and she didn’t much like herself for being so weak. “Gabe thinks I’m this sweet and sassy woman who only gets her sexy on when he’s around. This is perfect.”
Lucy shrugged. “I wouldn’t have the guts.”
“What’s that tone of voice supposed to mean? Do you think because I don’t have your figure or your nerve I shouldn’t do this?”
Lucy blinked then backpedalled fast. “You have a lovely figure. Plush.”
Jolie stuck her fists on her hips. “Plush, like a teddy bear?”
“Soft. Wish I had your boobs.” Lucy sighed. “But don’t you think this is a little drastic?”
“Desperate, don’t you mean?”
“Okay, it does seem a little desperate. Like you’re shouting for his attention when what you need to do is talk to him.”
Jolie shook her head and reached past Lucy to scoot more outfits down the rack. “I tried talkin’. I want to show him I’m not the woman he thinks I am. I’m not all soft and sweet. I’m not a doormat. And if other men find me sexy too, well maybe he’ll realize I’m quite a catch. One he shouldn’t let slip the hook.”
Lucy’s hand closed over hers. “We found it.” Lucy pulled a shi
ny red PVC bra matched with hip-hugging boy shorts from the rack.
They’d come to a BDSM store one of Lucy’s readers had mentioned visiting. While Jolie had blanched at some of the toys, in particular the ball gag because she couldn’t imagine not being able to talk during sex, she’d been bemused by the rest. However, she wasn’t here to buy toys. She needed just the right outfit.
The deep red of the outfit Lucy held up perfectly matched the soles of her new shoes. “Couldn’t there be a little more fabric to those shorts? My ass is gonna be hanging out of that thing.”
Lucy grinned. “It’s exactly your size. Go try it on.”
Her heart fluttered like a bird’s wings, but Jolie held her head high as she passed the tattooed and pierced patrons on her way to the dressing room. Sliding into the skinny shorts was just as hard as she’d imagined, but when she turned to eye her bottom in the mirror, she smiled.
Gabriel Devine’s tongue would be hanging on the floor when he saw her wearing this.
“You have it on?”
“Just a minute. I’m putting on the top.”
The top was a bra with pointy cones and wide-banded straps that were surprisingly comfortable. She swished the curtain open.
Lucy eyed her up and down, her lips pressing into a straight line.
Jolie gave her a fierce scowl. “Don’t you dare laugh!”
Lucy’s smile crept across her face. “Can’t help it. Gabe’s gonna have a heart attack.” She squealed. “You look amazing.”
Jolie glanced again into the mirror, but all she saw was too much muffin-top hanging over the shorts. “You sure I can pull this off without being laughed off the stage?”
“Jolie, you’re a big, beautiful woman. Be proud. Flaunt it!”
Jolie shook her head, listening to Lucy’s low, dirty chuckles. It had better be worth it. If she didn’t have a promise from Gabe after all this effort, she didn’t think she’d ever have the nerve to strip for another man. “The manager’s down with us coming?”
Bad, Bad Girlfriend Page 4
