by Lauren Dane
Asa ducked his head to brush his lips against hers, flattered but not wanting to belabor who did what. She needed to feel like everyone she loved was concerned about how she felt and what made her happy. He didn’t need a blue ribbon to do it. PJ was pleased and felt cared for and that was the natural order of things.
Her family came in right as they were being seated. He tried not to be too hostile. Lenore had, as Asa had told PJ, taken care of preordering the food and had cocktails waiting for them, the flowers on the table and soft classical music playing in the background.
But she hadn’t protected her daughter again, and he really didn’t like that.
“What the hell is the deal?” he asked Jay later on. PJ was between Julie and Audra, listening to a story his mom was telling them at the other end of the table, so he could speak without worrying she’d overhear.
Jay shook his head. “I don’t know. I thought he was coming. I talked to him at work yesterday and reminded him of it. He didn’t say anything then.”
“You people are really beginning to piss me off. She’s important and she wants your goddamn love and you disappoint her over and over.”
“I get that you’ve seen a lot of bullshit, but you don’t know anything about us or our family. I love my sister; you don’t have any right to claim otherwise.”
“Yeah? I know your father called her a failure in a crowded restaurant. I know he didn’t come to an event that was incredibly important to his child. I know he let her quit without even trying to stop her. I know all she wants is his approval, so much she bent herself into a pretzel for years and it still wasn’t enough. And I know your mother could have given me a heads-up about this so I could have taken the time to prepare PJ for disappointment, and she didn’t. I know what I need to know. Which is that your sister wants to do the right thing. She wants you all to be proud of her and support her and she’s been let down right and left. You got some other way to spin any of that?”
Jay exhaled hard. “Chances are, my mom thought she could get him to come tonight and she worked up until the very last minute. She wasn’t raised to contradict her husband. It’s hard for her to stand up to him. She loves him and in a lot of ways is dependent on his affection and support. As for my father, you’re right. PJ’s wanted him to notice her since she was tiny and he just… I don’t know. It’s something about her in particular. We’re trying, Asa. Trying to do what’s right, not only for Colman and each of us, but for the four of us as the caretakers of something our grandfather built. None of us wants PJ hurt. None of us was happy our dad was a no-show. I like that you want to protect her, but cut us a break.”
Asa snorted. “Not my job. You get yourself someone who loves you and she’ll cut you a break when it comes to this sort of thing. But my job is PJ’s well-being.”
Jay nodded. “Fair enough. How about this? Give us a chance to do the right thing here.”
“I’ve been doing that.”
“We heard promising news from the attorney and we’re going to try to meet this coming week to talk about our options at Colman. We want to bring PJ back into the family and into the business.”
Asa knew how much PJ wanted this, so he clenched back the words he preferred to say and instead shrugged. “All right, but my patience is thin when it comes to this.”
“Mine too. It’s time for us to step out of the box, and PJ’s the best at that of all four of us.”
At the end of the night, as everyone was out on the sidewalk saying their good-byes, Lenore waited with PJ, speaking to her quietly. Asa walked his mom and sister to their cars and headed over to see what was going on.
“I was just telling Penelope that I was sorry for her father not being here tonight and that I wanted to invite you over. We used to do a Friday-night dinner once a month, but over the last two years or so we’ve fallen away from it. We’re in dire need of them again, I think. Would you come? This Friday?”
Asa looked to PJ. She needed to make this choice. He’d back whatever she said.
“We’ll be there.”
Her mother hugged her. “I love you, darling, and I’m so proud. I’ll see you both Friday night at seven.”
Shawn nodded his thanks to Asa, who shrugged. This was PJ’s show. He’d had more than enough Colmans but for one.
“Thanks for being so nice to my mom. I know you’re mad,” PJ said as they started back to his house.
“I’m nice to you. Because I love you. And I’m not mad at you at all.”
“I know.” She rested her head in her hand. “Thanks for that dinner too. I know you put it together. Just because my mom set up a meal there doesn’t mean I don’t know you were the reason it all happened to start with.”
“I love you. I want you to be happy. I’m proud of you, and so is every person at that table tonight. Your family included. I don’t know about your father, but you don’t need to go over that right now.”
She put a hand on his thigh and he let that touch settle his annoyance.
They’d get through. Her family needed to get on board. But one way or another, Asa would be sure PJ got her happy ending.
He’d planned on taking the Jag back to Twisted Steel, leaving it there, and switching to the BMW, but she looked tired and he didn’t want her to have to wait around.
But when he parked at the curb she turned to face him. “You can’t park this on the street.”
“Of course I can. I park my extra cars in the driveway and at the curb all the time. Nothing has ever happened.”
“What’s in your garage?”
“What’s the matter, baby?” She’d never cared where he parked what, and it was unusual for her to keep on at him.
She unbuckled his belt and then his suit pants. “Wait,” he said around a tongue that felt too big. “A minute and we’ll be inside.”
“I don’t want to wait.”
She pumped her fist around him to the root and up again. It was late enough that the street outside the car was empty; most people were already at home and in bed.
She had that look she got when she wasn’t going to be swayed. And with her hand on his dick, he wasn’t too invested in trying to talk her out of whatever she wanted to do with it.
He leaned back, easing himself out of his pants a little better. Then she fucking leaned over, got his cock wet with her spit and he nearly came right then. His sweet Penelope Jean just spit on his cock as she gave him a hand job in public.
He got hot and shivery all at once at the carnal power of that.
“Jesus, that’s dirty.”
She cocked her head to look at him. “Yeah?”
He tipped his chin. “Yeah. Give me more.”
She did it again, continuing to pump her fist around him, now wet with his precome and her saliva.
She leaned close, putting her head on his shoulder as she paused to give his piercing some love until he shuddered, right on the edge, before resuming her rhythm.
Her voice came, a sultry murmur in the dark. “I want you to come, Asa. I want you to feel good. We’ll go inside and you’ll be in me because I want that too and you always give me what I want. Do you realize how that makes me feel? Like a goddess. You’re there for me. Not just tonight, but the entire time we’ve been together. Steady. Solid. Fierce. I love that you’re like this now with me. So big and strong and yet you never scare me, not even a tiny bit.”
He strained not to thrust up into her grip and sent the car rocking. He was so close and her voice was like a stroke of her fingertips up his spine.
She gave herself then, like the gift she was, and he couldn’t do anything but come. And as he did, she shifted her skirt over his pants to protect his suit.
He cursed and then said her name as another wave of pleasure rocketed through him.
After what felt like twenty minutes he blew out one long breath and tipped his head back against the seat for a few moments.
When he could form words again, he sat straighter and tucked himself in. “I’ve never thought mu
ch of hand jobs one way or the other, to be honest with you. But that was one of the hottest fucking things I’ve experienced. You kill me in all the best ways.” He kissed her hard and then looked down at where she’d folded her dress back. “Sorry about that.”
She grinned up at him. “I’ll throw it in the washing machine once we get inside. It’s not the first time you’ve come on my clothes. At least this time I don’t have to wash my hair.”
Joy shot through him as he burst out laughing, hugging her to his side. “True, and I didn’t even smear your lipstick.”
“There’s always next time.”
“This is why you wanted me to park in the garage.”
She shrugged. “It’s all right. It was hotter out here. Though you have to unlock the door so I can go get this dress off.”
“Yes. Do that. I’ll bring in your stuff and meet you in the bedroom. I think you promised I could come inside you next.”
He kissed her and went to go deal with the front door.
She headed inside, pausing to kiss him on the way past. The house felt like home to her as she headed to his laundry room and realized she couldn’t unhook or unzip her dress.
She called his name when she heard him turn on his alarm.
“What is it?” He came in.
“I can’t undo the back of my dress.”
He was really good at getting her out of her clothes, so it wasn’t long before she slipped free and tossed it in the washer.
“Mmm. I like that slip thing.”
Suddenly it hit her. The utter fuckery of that night. The way he’d been at her side the whole time. The way it had felt with him out in his car. Dirty and taboo and yet it was Asa and PJ just the same. Hard, soft, romantic, in trouble, or in good times, it would always be PJ and Asa.
And here she stood in a laundry room in his house and he looked at her like she was magnificent when all she wore was a pretty but basic chemise.
What a thing it was to have this man see her as desirable. It made her weak in the knees.
She slid the straps from her shoulders and let it hit the ground, stepping free of the silk. She shimmied from her bra, letting it drop and smiling at the way his gaze followed it and then jerked back up to her breasts. She left the panties and heels on as she turned around, braced her hands on the dryer, and looked back over her shoulder at him.
“We’ve been tested twice now. I want to feel that piercing without a condom.”
He groaned. “Goddamn. Look at you. My filthiest girl-next-door fantasy come to life, complete with a badass sense of humor and a lot of talent.”
He’d already gotten rid of the jacket, shirt, tie, and shoes, but she was glad to be paying attention when he pulled his pants and boxers down and his cock sprang free. So hard it tapped his belly.
“I have excellent recovery time when my hot blonde thrusts her ass out at me and tells me to fuck her.” He shoved her panties to the side and she closed her eyes a moment at the urgency in his touch.
He pushed in agonizingly slow. She squirmed and tried to move, but he held her in place with his forearm at the center of her back.
“Don’t rush me. You feel so good I plan to enjoy every single second. You’re so hot and wet. Fucking you this way tugs on my piercing.” He shuddered and she swallowed hard.
He wasn’t lying. Having him in her naked that way felt a million times better, and it had already been amazing.
Once he finally got all the way in he reached around her body, cupping her breasts as he pulled out slowly, only to reverse course just as he was nearly all the way out.
She’d expected hard and fast, the way he’d yanked her underpants aside. But instead he devastated her with hard and slow. He kept one hand on her nipple, playing with the bar, and the other slid down between her legs, where he made slow taps against her clit with the pad of his middle finger until she unraveled in the most delicious way.
He continued to fuck her at his own pace, touching her, kissing her wherever he could reach. Loving her and making everything all right again.
He came after making her come once more and grabbed some clean towels from the basket. “You don’t have to wash your hair this time either, but no condoms is messier. Plus I want to rub soap on your tits.”
She hugged him after he’d taken his pants off and they headed into the shower and then snuggled down into his bed.
“I’m sorry about your dad.”
She sighed, snuggling closer. “No more tonight.”
“All right. You’ve earned it. I love you.”
“Love you too.” She closed her eyes and only let herself think about the design she planned to do on a motorcycle that next day.
CHAPTER
Twenty-seven
PJ took a deep breath as they walked up the front steps.
Asa put his arm around her. “Gonna be just fine. No matter what, I’m here.”
She knocked and it was Shawn who opened up. He smiled at his sister, pulling her into a hug. “Come on in.”
He shook Asa’s hand and they walked through what Asa had imagined would be a cold, sterile mansion but was really a lovely but comfortable house. Clearly Lenore kept it up to entertain in frequently. Her touch was evident everywhere.
He definitely hadn’t expected a fully set table on a wooden back deck with lit candles in hanging multicolored glass containers.
“Wow.”
“I wasn’t exaggerating when I said everyone accepts an invite to dinner at Lenore’s.”
He was impressed but also wondered why Lenore put more energy into candles and flowers and table settings than reining in her jerk of a husband.
“This is beautiful, Mrs. Colman.”
She smiled at Asa, but hugged PJ first. “Thank you. I’m glad you’re both here. Julie just ran to the store to get some Parmesan. I can’t believe I forgot. Would either of you like a drink? We’ve got red and white wine, beer, soda, juice, those fizzy waters Jay likes so much…”
“I’ll get us both a beer.” PJ headed to one of the ice-filled buckets on a nearby table in the large open kitchen overlooking the deck and manicured back yard.
Jay came to join them, greeting PJ and Asa as he poured himself a glass of wine.
Lenore looked the deck over from her place near the stove. “It’s chilly tonight, but I have the heaters out so that should keep everyone comfortable.” Her mother moved around, adjusting, stirring, pouring. Occasionally she’d give an order for a child to do something, but mainly she knew what she wanted to do and everyone kept out of her way.
Julie returned with the cheese, which she then curled over the top of salads before taking them to the table.
But what Asa really wanted to know was where the hell Howard was. They’d been there about half an hour already and he hadn’t shown himself.
Finally, he came out from what appeared to be a home office.
Lenore looked up, smiling. “Oh, there you are. I was beginning to think I was going to have to send an expedition into your office to find you. Dinner is ready.”
The look on PJ’s face broke Asa’s heart. She wanted her dad to be proud of her. To see her as different, and wonderful for it.
Howard looked at Asa and for a moment, he attempted to pull some posturing, dick measuring bullshit. But the lion didn’t give any thought to the concerns of the sheep, as his sister liked to say. Asa was an alpha dog, and soon enough Howard turned away.
“Penelope.”
She nodded. “Dad. You remember Asa, don’t you?”
Howard jerked his head and mumbled a yes. He didn’t offer his hand to shake, which was fine with Asa, though he felt bad for everyone else who was clearly embarrassed.
“Let’s all sit down.” Lenore cut between Howard and PJ, taking her daughter’s arm and heading outside. Julie hung back with Asa.
“Is she okay?” Julie asked him.
“She’s been quiet. But she had a lot of work yesterday and today, so I’m hoping she hasn’t had a lot of tim
e to think about it.”
“We’re meeting tomorrow morning, so whatever he does tonight will have an impact on that. I wish it could play out otherwise, but I just don’t see it at this point.”
“Stop whispering and get out here,” Lenore called to them.
Asa sat next to PJ, placing himself between her and her dad but far enough away that he was out of punching distance, which was probably for the best. PJ might not forgive him if he broke her dad’s jaw.
Food was passed around as everyone attempted to make small talk.
Shawn refilled his wineglass. “Asa, I saw a motorcycle you built for my friend Ernie Patterson. Really excellent work.”
“Ernie is a big guy; he needed that big fat back end.”
“You have a Softail, don’t you?” Jay asked, and they talked bikes and then shifted to cars and racing. Asa hoped Jay stepped up and took care of this thing with his dad like he’d promised, because he could see himself hanging out with Jay. He was a little stiff, but he wasn’t a bad guy.
“Motorcycles are dangerous,” Howard finally said.
No denying it. Asa nodded. “They are. I’ve known plenty of guys who’ve ended up in the hospital after getting into accidents.”
“But you do it to look cool? Is that it?”
Asa wondered if Howard had always been like this, or if he’d started off all right and ended up an asshole.
“I do it because I like it. I try to make it safer, but I do it knowing and accepting it is an inherently dangerous activity. Some things you do despite the risks.” He wanted to say more, but he kept his tongue. For PJ’s sake.
“That makes you a bad bet for my daughter, doesn’t it?”
“Dad. You’re being rude,” Shawn said.
“How am I being rude? It’s a valid question.”
Asa was pretty done with this piece of shit. “Mr. Colman, your daughter would be too good for any man. I’m a grease monkey. I bang out dents for a living. But I’m an honest man doing an honest day’s work for what turns out to be a very comfortable living. For whatever reason, Penelope loves me, and of the two of us, I think I’m the one who understands how special that is. I have no plans to mess that up.”
