By the time she parked the Jeep behind Noah’s truck on the driveway and shut off the engine, she’d made up her mind. She wanted Noah and he wanted her.
Noah was leaning against the truck, but he straightened with a smile on his face. She locked her car and hurried into the garage, throwing herself into his arms. Anyone might see her now, but at this second she didn’t care. She couldn’t wait any longer. She kissed him.
Reaching up, she framed his face and drew his beautiful lips to hers. He returned her kiss with obvious enthusiasm, and his hands were soon cupped under her butt as he lifted her against him.
“I want you, Jessie.” He kissed her cheek, her ear, her neck as he slipped off her sweater. “Upstairs in my bed.”
“Yes,” was all she could manage.
He stepped back and grabbed her hand. Together they hurried through the kitchen and up the stairs to his bedroom. Her heart pounded harder now, and she was never more certain of this happening tonight.
She was soon on his bed, Noah kissing her again as he unbuttoned her blouse. Her cardigan was somewhere on the first floor and her shoes were at the bottom of the stairs. He kissed every piece of her as he undressed her, his lips grazing her shoulders and the swells of her breasts.
When he kissed her belly, she let out a low moan. The memory of his loving her with his mouth made her panties damp. Stroking his hair, she purred with growing pleasure.
“I can’t believe you’re here,” he said, coming back up to kiss her lips. “In my bed.”
He removed her bra and panties and then came up on his knees and stared at her. Hard. His gaze was hot and his nostrils flared. Every inch the hungry male, his expression nearly made her swoon.
“Noah,” she breathed.
“Look at you, Jessie.”
She was spread out on his bed and she resisted the urge to cover herself. “What?”
“I thought you were a hot little Pixie but, Christ, you’re a fucking goddess. A fantasy.”
His words of praise blew away any lingering doubts that might have reared their heads. “Reality bites,” she said with a smile. “Take those clothes off.”
He grinned and stood beside the bed. “You got it.”
Pulling his polo shirt up and over his head gave her more than a glimpse of masculine perfection. His khakis were soon gone, and she guessed his work boots and socks too because he now wore only his boxer briefs. She could see him outlined through the thin cotton, and her mouth went dry. She ached for him, which surprised the heck out of her. He must have seen the desire in her eyes, because his face changed from teasing to intense.
He covered her body with his, tangling his legs around her before easing between her thighs. He felt so big, so warm and solid, that she couldn’t help wrapping her arms around his neck and arching against him. His fingers began to weave their magic on her flesh and she shivered as her passions rose.
“Noah, please,” she gasped.
“I will, Jessie.” He kissed her, and then nipped at her lower lip. “I promise.”
He reached over to his nightstand and rolled on a condom. She’d seen his cock before. She’d held him. Stroked him. Kissed him until he’d come. But to know he was going to be inside of her? She melted.
Coming over her, he began to enter her. She froze, suddenly anticipating pain. He must have sensed it, because he began to kiss and caress her again.
“Easy, baby.” Reaching down between them, he teased and tickled her clit until she was aching to have more of him inside of her. “That’s it. Take me inside.”
Moving smoothly now, he sank into her with a groan. As he began to move, pleasure spiked over every inch of her. She gasped, heat flashing over her skin.
“You okay?” he asked, bracing himself on his arms as he held himself still.
His strength was coiled and held in check. Oh, it was sexy as hell.
She stared into his pretty eyes and nodded. “Very okay.”
He softly voiced his relief and started to move again. Faster and harder than before, he brought out every sensation she’d ever imagined. The times they’d messed around at the tent-cabin paled when compared to the bliss of having Noah make love to her.
She wrapped her legs around his narrow waist, locking her ankles as she arched off the bed. He took her hands from his neck and pinned them over her head. She gave into it, feeling none of the discomfort that had come before when she was with Mitch.
Noah kept thrusting in and out of her, bringing her closer and closer to climax as he moved above her. A wave of heat burst inside of her and she began to come.
Noah didn’t stop moving as she lost herself. He simply cursed softly as he joined her over the edge a few seconds later.
“Jessie,” he rasped, bending his arms as his big, beautiful body touched every inch of hers. “Christ, Jessie.”
She closed her eyes and nodded, licking her parched lips as she made some sort of verbal agreement. He withdrew and held her closer now. His face was tucked against her neck, and he kissed her as his breath finally began to slow.
When he lifted his head she managed to open her eyes. “Are you okay?” he asked again.
His lower body was still holding her down but she didn’t feel trapped. It was the same as when he’d held her hands captive. There was something about this particular guy that made her feel safe and secure. That was a big difference from trapped and afraid.
“I am.” She licked her lips again and lifted her head to press her mouth to his. “And you know what?”
“What?”
She ran her hands over his arms to clasp them behind his neck. “We’re going to do that again.”
That startled a laugh out of him and he rolled over and held her above him. Her legs draped on either side of him and she felt him start to get hard against her belly.
“You got it, Pixie.”
Chapter 17
Noah crossed his arms and stepped back to regard the house under construction. The block walls were secure, the roof shingled and the windows were being installed today. Soon the mammoth one-story would be weathertight and ready for interior construction.
This home had a more coastal feel to it, with clapboard-look siding on the front façade and deep eaves. It was a gorgeous design, and another reason he loved bringing Ben’s vision on the paper or computer to life in the real world.
He drew out his tablet and pulled up the exterior paint package colors for this particular home. The body would be a rich blue-gray with creamy white moldings, eaves and columns. Since Ben ordered slate-colored paver tiles for the front porch and drive, the colors for the shutters and front door would be burgundy to tie in to the varying shades of grays, blues and reds in the pavers. It was going to beautiful, and building it as a model on speculation would pay off big-time for Forbes and company when the time came to market it.
He made a mental note to have Jessie stage it. She’d made his home feel beachy and he knew she would go to town decorating this place before they declared it open for business.
“That’s an awfully big front porch.”
“Yep.” Noah lifted his head to see one of the guys from the design committee standing at the curb. “It’s a pretty big house.”
The guy was broad and a few inches shorter than Noah, and his Florida State shirt was stretched taut over his beer belly paunch. “What color are you painting it?”
Noah took a breath to hold back a sharp response. He recognized this guy now, and thought his name might be Jerry. He’d come around the worksites a few times before, asking questions about things that were none of his damn business. He also had a reputation for giving current homeowners a really hard time when it came to making improvements to their own homes. Even when Rick and Harmony wanted to change the color of the front door and shutters on their house, this guy made the mistake of asking Rick to jump through way too many hoops.
“The design committee doesn’t have any input on new construction, Jerry,” Noah said, keeping his tone ev
en.
“It’s Johnny,” the guy said with a sniff.
Like it matters. Noah gave him a small smile. “My mistake.”
“What color palette are you thinking of using on this house?” Jerry/Johnny asked.
“That’s up to the architect,” Noah said.
The guy frowned, giving his face a pinched expression. “We wouldn’t want to see any loud or overly-vibrant colors in this environmentally-friendly neighborhood.”
“Ben Chapman has never chosen inappropriate colors,” Noah said. “The developer is very pleased with every one of his designs, down to the hardware holding the handle to the front door.”
The other guy held up his hands. “I’m just saying.”
“Don’t just say, please.” Noah stared at him until the man began to fidget. “Did you have anything else to say, Jerry?”
“Johnny.” Noah just continued to stare hard at him, and the man shook his head. “I guess not, no.”
The guy turned and walked away, still looking over his shoulder at the impressive edifice of Noah’s largest project in Cypress to date.
“Tool bag,” Noah muttered.
“What’s that, boss?” Mike asked him, peeking around the side of the house at him. “Anything wrong?”
Noah shook his head. “Nothing, man. I’m glad I don’t work in the home-improvement business anymore, though.”
Mike just nodded and disappeared around the block wall. Noah blew out a breath as he swiped through his tablet to find the rendering of the finished house. Coastal elegance, and it was as energy-efficient as it was beautiful.
“Stay out of my way, Jerry,” he said to himself.
Jerry/Johnny was easily shoved to the back of his mind as he drove back to the Sales Center at the end of his work day. He’d given Jessie some space yesterday, which hadn’t been difficult since she worked at the Cypress Institute all day. Maybe that was a good thing, since he couldn’t think about Tuesday night without breaking into a grin. Damn, loving her had been incredible. And having her that second time? It had been even better.
He waved a hello to Sharon Walsh and went down the hall to find Ben in his office, just packing up.
“Hey, Ben.”
“Hey, man.”
“That blowhard from the design committee stopped by the model site.”
Ben rolled his eyes. “Don’t tell Rick. My big brother is just looking for an excuse to tear him a new one.”
Noah chuckled. “I just wanted to check in before heading out.”
“Plans tonight?”
“Maybe.”
Ben shut his laptop and leveled a look at him. “With Jessie?”
Noah opened his mouth to answer in the negative, but shut it with a snap. “She doesn’t want anyone to know.”
Ben arched a brow. “Tell you what. Tammy and I were going to hit the End Zone tonight for wings. The little ravioli has been wanting spicy lately.”
Noah nodded. “Sounds like your wife.”
Ben grinned. “That’s what I’m afraid of. Why don’t you come by and maybe Tammy can ask Jessie? It shouldn’t feel too date-y, right?”
“It sounds like you’re familiar with this kind of play, Ben.”
“Let’s just say that Tammy wasn’t hot to date me,” Ben said. “Or to let anybody know we were dating, either.”
“That sounds just about like my situation.”
“Then six thirty at the End Zone.”
“Okay,” Noah said. “I’ll just text her to let her know.”
He drew out his phone and found her in his contacts.
What are you up to tonight?
Nothing. Why?
Wanna go out to dinner with Ben and Tammy?
There was a long pause and Noah looked over to find Ben watching him closely. “Hey, can Jessie ride with you? Then I’ll meet you all there.”
“Yeah, sure.”
Noah quickly texted that info to Jessie and got a response in a second.
Good. He could feel her relief in that one little word.
See you later.
A smiley face came through his phone and he chuckled.
Just a couple of messages back and forth and he had a non-date with Jessie. He pocketed his phone and nodded to Ben.
“I’ll see you guys there,” he said.
Ben nodded. “Later.”
Noah went out to his truck for the short ride home. He was kind of excited for this non-date with Jessie. He just hoped he didn’t do anything to screw this up.
***
Jessie washed her hands in the ladies room at the Sales Center, taking a few seconds to fluff her hair after. She was meeting Noah for dinner, and with their friends on top of it. When he’d texted her, a surprise in and of itself, she’d simply answered as any friend might. Then he’d asked her to dinner and she’d been frozen. Thank goodness he’d come up with the plan for her to go with Ben and Tammy wherever it was and meet up with Noah then.
“So.” Tammy stepped out of one of the three stalls and joined her at the sinks. “Dinner with Noah, hmm?”
Jessie tossed her paper towel and faced Tammy. “It’s not a date, you know. I’m going with you and Ben.”
Tammy nodded as she washed her hands. “And meeting the guy there.”
“Yes. So?”
“So it seems pretty coincidental to me.”
Jessie blew her bangs off her brow and pushed the door open. Tammy followed her out.
“Not a coincidence,” Jessie said. “If Ben told Noah to meet us there, who am I to argue?”
Tammy snickered. “Okay, Pixie. I’ll play it your way.”
Jessie walked down the hall to her desk and picked up her sweater and messenger bag. As she turned, she saw Tammy had grabbed what she needed as well.
“Where are we going, by the way?” Jessie asked her.
“The End Zone.”
Jessie froze again. Shannon was probably working there. When they’d lived together her sister worked pretty much every night. She’d been avoiding anything to do with Shannon for a few weeks now. Maybe it was time to talk to her in a neutral setting. Shannon couldn’t still be holding a grudge, could she?
“I haven’t been there in a while,” was all she wanted to say about that particular sports bar. She took a breath. “Shannon works there.”
Tammy’s eyes widened a fraction. “Your sister works there?” Her lips thinned for a second, and then she gave a quick shake of her head. “You know, I haven’t heard you talk about her much in weeks. Not since you moved out here.”
Jessie leaned against the wall behind her. “We lived together way too long, Tammy. It was high time I moved out.”
“You sound like you feel guilty about that. Do you?”
Jessie took a breath. “I guess I do. Maybe a little.”
Tammy touched her shoulder. “Listen, Jessie. I can totally understand the need to get away and live on your own. Take it from me. I have way too many siblings and too many nieces and nephews to count at this point. Family can make you crazy.”
Tears pricked Jessie’s eyes. “Shannon and I are two very different people, but we have our DNA in common. And I do love her. I just couldn’t stand living with her particular brand of crap any longer.”
Tammy gave her shoulder a squeeze and released her. “Enough said, Jessie. For me, anyway. Let’s go get our hot wings on and not worry about it. You’ll be okay, though? Seeing Shannon?”
“Yeah. It’s not like we argued or anything. We just haven’t spoken in a while.”
“Fair enough. If you see her tonight, say hello or don’t. It’s your call.” Tammy lifted her chin toward the lobby. “Let’s go.”
Jessie nodded and followed her out to Ben’s waiting SUV. Thankfully, Ben and Tammy kept up a steady conversation for the ten minute drive into St. Cloud. She knew in her heart that Shannon would be working tonight. Her sister might party like she was seventeen but she never shied away from work. Jessie had to check that off as another thing they had in commo
n.
Ben parked in the lot in front of the End Zone, and Jessie saw the usual collection of vehicles for this part of the rural city. Shiny hybrid cars, chrome-encrusted motorcycles and mud-spattered raised pickups filled most of the spaces. She spotted Noah’s truck though, and thoughts about seeing Shannon faded to the back of her mind.
“No one will think anything about this, Jessie,” Tammy said. “I promise.”
Ben gave a short nod and Jessie breathed a little easier. “Thanks.”
The three of them got out and headed into the sports bar. The place was dim as usual inside but the large dining room to the right was lined all around with TVs set high on the walls. The screens showed fishing programs and Ultimate Fighting matches along with just about every other sport ever televised. The scent of French fries and buffalo wings hung in the air, along with the ever-present malty beer smell. It wasn’t unpleasant, but Jessie had made it a point to not go there for the past couple of months.
There were several families seated at a few of the wooden tables and booths, but it was a Thursday night. Couples and groups of friends made up the rest of the mid-week clientele.
A long bar stretched along the back wall and the wait staff buzzed around with round trays of food and drink. Country pop songs were playing on the digital juke box and the crack of ball against ball could be heard through the wide opening to the pool room to the left.
“Hey, guys,” Noah said, walking toward the front door to greet them. “They have a table for us over by the jukebox.”
The server currently working the hostess stand gave Noah a perky wave and then walked ahead of them, swinging both her ponytail and her hips as she went. They were soon seated in one of the high-backed booths. Tammy had all but pushed Jessie in ahead of her and slid in behind, effectively making Ben and Noah sit on the other side facing them.
“Wing me, Big Ben,” Tammy said with a smile.
Ben grinned in return and waved down the nearest server. Jessie knew that slight figure anywhere. The hair looked a little lighter and a little longer since she’d seen her last, but it was Shannon. She turned to walk toward them, freezing when she spied Jessie.
“Hey, sis,” she said, crossing her arms. “Slumming tonight?”
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