“As I’ll ever be,” she said.
And then, he opened the door to reveal his parents.
* * * * *
“I’m so happy to finally get to meet you,” Jax’s mother said warmly.
Kassie finished dicing a red bell pepper and looked up at Mrs. Taylor. Call me Lane, hon, she’d said during the introductions they’d shared at the door. But Kassie couldn’t bring herself to do it. His mother was petite and blonde, with vivid blue eyes like Jax. She seemed as genuine and easygoing as her son, but Kassie was still a jumbled ball of nerves. She wanted to make a good impression. Because Jax was different from any man she’d ever known, and she had a feeling deep inside that told her he was the one.
“I’m happy to meet you too,” she echoed, and then a certain word his mother had said belatedly struck her. “Finally?”
Mrs. Taylor waved a hand airily. “Oh, you didn’t think there were any secrets in this family, did you? I heard all about your chocolate cake from Slade.”
Great. Kassie hoped that was all she’d heard. The last thing in the world that she wanted was for Jax’s sweet mother to know that she’d been having endless rounds of wild sex with her son. God. That would be worse than emerging from the bathroom with the hem of her dress tucked into her underwear. Which she’d done once. So she knew.
She scooped up the pepper and tossed it into the salad bowl. True to his word, Jax and his dad were manning the grill while she and his mother put the finishing touches on dinner in the kitchen. Leaving her to navigate the new waters of winning over a boyfriend’s mom on her own. It was something she hadn’t attempted in years, and even then, she’d never succeeded at it.
“I hope you heard that the cake was edible,” she joked at last, striving for a lighter note.
She still wasn’t sure exactly what Connor had said to Jax after that night to make him hit the brakes on their relationship. Whatever it was, she suspected he hadn’t said as much to his mother. Not after the genuine warmth Mrs. Taylor was exuding. But that didn’t mean that a sliver of worry didn’t embed itself in her stomach anyway.
“He was impressed.” Jax’s mother smiled softly. She was a pretty woman, her beauty no less faded by her age. “Not much impresses Slade other than vehicles, and Jax isn’t one to easily have his head turned, so I knew I’d like you too.”
Kassie resumed breathing, but she knew it couldn’t be this easy to win over a mom. No matter if she was the sweetest, most bubbly mom she’d ever met, complete with the exact adorable Southern drawl that Jax had. Not to mention the best maxims.
“Thank you.” She tossed the ingredients of the salad together. “That’s really sweet of you.”
“Oh honey, I’m not sweet.” Jax’s mother chuckled. “I may seem like I don’t have a mean bone in my body, but my husband always says that when it comes to my boys, I’m feistier than a cornered crab.”
Kassie found herself smiling back at Jax’s mom. She could well imagine just how angry a blue crab could be. She made a mental note to stay on Mrs. Taylor’s good side. “That’s the way it should be.”
“Darn right it is,” she agreed with a wink. “So tell me, Kassie. Do you have any siblings?”
Kassie found it easy to see where Jax had gotten his charm. He had a lot of his mother’s mannerisms. And he had his father’s height, dark hair and good looks. She liked meeting his family, nerves or no. It helped her to understand him, who he was, where he’d come from.
It made her love him even more.
Oh no.
She forced her mind back to the conversation. “A stepsister,” she answered. “My dad passed away when I was young, and my mom remarried. Lisa is eight years younger than I am.”
Jax’s mother nodded. “Jax tells me you’re from New York.”
“From Pennsylvania originally,” she said, finishing tossing the salad and leaving the salad fork and spoon in the bowl. “But yes, I spent the last ten years in New York.”
“What do you think of our tiny slice of the world?” Jax’s mom opened a cabinet, clearly at home, and took out four plates to set the dining room table. “It’s probably quite an adjustment for you.”
“It’s an adjustment I’ve discovered that I like.” Kassie carried the salad into the dining room and deposited the bowl onto the center of the gleaming hardwood table. Jax’s mom had followed her, laying out the plates.
“Everyone here knows everyone,” she said as she carried out her task. “It seems like if someone sneezes, it makes the front page of the Atlantic Gazette. I’m sure you’ve figured that out already.”
Kassie hadn’t had a great deal of time to mingle with anyone other than Jax. Which she certainly hadn’t minded. But she’d definitely noticed the small-town vibe. It had taken some getting used to at first. Now she found it appealing. There was something about anonymity that lost its luster after a while. She’d spent so many years on the subway and walking the streets with strangers in New York, everyone plugged in to their cell phones and iPods and turned off to the outside world.
In Atlantic, people smiled and waved when she walked by rather than running into her in their hurry to get to wherever they were going. When she’d moved to the city as a college freshman, the pace of it all had taken some getting used to. Even riding an escalator had proper protocol. In New York, the left side of the escalator was the speeding lane, and if you blocked it, you’d better be prepared to feel the wrath of the hurried New Yorkers attempting to get to their destination.
“Believe it or not, I find Atlantic refreshing,” Kassie told Jax’s mom. “I grew up in a small town and couldn’t wait to get out of it, but I guess things change as you get older. Your priorities change.”
“Yes,” Mrs. Taylor agreed, giving her a searching look. “They certainly do.”
Kassie couldn’t shake the feeling that, like Jax, his mother was too perceptive for comfort. She didn’t want her to see the depth of her emotions for Jax. It was too new, too raw. Too deep. She glanced down at the table, noticing that it was bereft of utensils and glasses. “Do you know where the utensils are?” she asked. “I’m kind of new around here.”
“Of course I do.” Jax’s mom smiled. “Every good mama knows her way around her son’s kitchen.”
It sounded like another one of Mrs. Taylor’s maxims. Kassie smiled back at her. “Lead the way.”
* * * * *
Jax slid his arm around Kassie’s waist as they stood together on his porch, waving as his parents’ taillights disappeared down his driveway. She leaned into him, her curves fitting to his lean angles. Her sweet scent teased his senses. Damn, the things she did to him without even trying. She was dangerous.
But his pedal was stuck to the floor, and he was traveling at full speed anyway.
“Thank you for being my hostess,” he told her, lowering his head to press a kiss to her long, silky hair. Jesus, even her hair smelled wonderful. Not like cloying flowers as some women smelled, but like sugar. Yeah, that was it. She was sweet, outside and in, his Kassie. He wanted to lick her all over her luscious body just to see if she would melt on his tongue.
“Welcome,” she said, leaning her head against his arm. “I’m glad you wanted me to be here.”
“Of course I did, darlin’.” He wasn’t making the same mistake twice. The way he felt for Kassie was scary as hell. But he didn’t care. He loved being with her, and being away from her for that godforsaken week and three days had proved to him that there was only one place where she belonged. By his side. That, and in his bed. Two places, he decided, a lazy knot of desire unwinding within him.
“I hope your parents liked me.” Her voice was nervous. Adorable.
He turned her into his arms, staring down into her beautiful face. Her blue eyes looked almost gray in the dimmed light of his porch. But he knew just how vivid they were. Just how easy it was to get trapped in them. There was something unbelievably sexy about standing on his porch with Kassie, the night fallen around them, stars twinkling above, lo
custs humming in the air, the last remnants of summer.
“They loved you,” he assured her, unable to resist from reaching up to caress her soft cheek. “You made it easy for them.”
She turned her face to his palm, pressing a kiss there. “Thank you.”
He went hard at the brush of her lips on his rough skin. Damn it, he hadn’t meant to lose his control so quickly. “For what?”
“For saying that your parents loved me.” Her arms went around his waist, drawing him more firmly into her soft body. Her hands drifted down to his ass, giving him a squeeze that sent a fresh wave of desire to his already stiff cock.
He groaned, pressing himself against her. He couldn’t help himself. He wanted to be inside her again. He didn’t think he would ever be able to have his fill of her. His head dipped, bringing him closer to her full lips. “I wasn’t just saying that, baby. They did love you. I could tell.”
And it was true. He wasn’t just paying Kassie lip service. His mother, who he didn’t even think had ever so much as smiled at Mandy, had been all glowing happiness. By the time he and his dad had come back inside after grilling the filets they made for dinner, Kassie and his mother had been chatting like a pair of old friends. He’d seen the easiness between them. And when Kassie had volunteered to clean up the plates after dinner, Mama had caught his gaze and mouthed this one’s a keeper.
He’d pretty much figured that out on his own. Yeah, he’d taken a detour, but now he knew. She was his. End of story. He just had to overcome the nerves that were never far from her, creeping into her expression without her realizing it. He knew that the baggage from her last relationship was following her around, just like his was. But together, they could learn to let go. To trust.
His conscience reminded him that part of trusting meant he’d have to come clean to her. He couldn’t keep skirting around the fact that he owned and ran J.T. Contractors, and that he’d intentionally omitted that little tidbit in all their conversations. He’d painted her with the same brush he’d painted Mandy before he’d gotten to know her, and that was a fact he wasn’t proud of. He opened his mouth, knowing he should bite the bullet and tell her now, but the look on her face was so happy. Contented. He didn’t want to ruin the moment.
She exhaled and he felt the tension draining away from her. “I don’t think I was ever so nervous to make a good impression in my life. Not even my job interviews were that nerve-racking to prepare for.”
“I owe it to you to help you relax.” Later, he decided. He’d tell her later. His hands went to her shoulders, gently squeezing the corded muscles and feeling the tension there. “How about a massage?”
His dick went rigid at the thought. A naked Kassie beneath him on his bed, her bare skin coated in massage oil. Fuck. If he thought too much more about it, he’d be pressing her up against the side of his house and taking her right there without ever even getting to the massage.
Kassie made a pleased sound deep in her throat, and it wasn’t helping his ability to keep his cock in check. “I’d love a massage. But I should really get home. It’s getting late.”
She’d already spent the night the previous evening. She’d had to drive home this afternoon to shower and change her clothes for dinner. He knew that having her stay with him two nights in a row was setting a precedent. But he didn’t care. He’d gotten beyond his initial case of the doubts. And now he never wanted her to leave. He wanted to take her to bed, fuck her silly, and wake up with her every morning, fucking her silly all over again.
Ah, hell. Was that too much, too fast? Probably. Jax couldn’t help it, though. Mission to go slowly not accomplished. He’d never experienced such strong feelings for a woman before, the kind that shook him straight down to his bones. It affected him. Took away all his defenses, his common sense. He was like a teenage kid with a crush, hoping he’d get to take her to prom, cop a feel in the back seat of his car.
Jesus. This was getting bad.
He realized Kassie was looking up at him expectantly, her mouth ripe for plundering. So he decided to plunder. He lowered his head, taking her lips with his, slipping his tongue between her lips to taste the sweetness of the apple crisp his mama had brought for dessert. He loved his mama’s apple crisp, but he loved Kassie more.
He loved Kassie.
The thought struck him like a fist plowing into his gut. It knocked the wind right out of him. Shit. A few weeks in and he was already in love. He didn’t even know that much about her, and half the time she seemed poised for flight, not sure if she was ready to stay or ready to run. But none of that mattered. As his mama was fond of saying, the heart works in strange and mysterious ways. And he loved Kassie anyway.
He must have stopped kissing her in his shock, because Kassie tilted her head back, gazing up at him. “Is something wrong?”
Only that he was doing exactly what he’d promised himself he’d never do after Mandy had plowed through his life like a bulldozer. He was in way too deep, way too soon. “No,” he lied, hoping she wouldn’t notice how very shaken he was. “Why?”
“You weren’t kissing me back,” she said, confirming his suspicion.
“Mulligan?” he asked, framing her face in his hands and tilting her chin up once more.
He didn’t wait for her response before pressing his lips to hers. She opened for him and he pressed his advantage, his tongue sweeping inside. When her tongue tangled with his, his cock went even harder. Kassie gave another sweet little moan, her fingers biting into his ass, urging him into her. There were too many barriers between them. Layers of fabric that only kept him from what he wanted. He ran his palms down the smooth column of her neck, his fingers stopping at the hollow where her pulse beat a rapid staccato. He felt her swallow and knew that she wanted him as badly as he did her.
He slowly led his caress down over her breasts. Tonight she’d worn the kind of dress she might have worn to church on a Sunday. There was no seductive hint of cleavage, only a smooth, dark-purple silk stretched taut. Thank God silk was thin, because he could feel her pebbled nipples poking his palms. He tweaked them, pulling on them just how he knew she liked, all the while never breaking their kiss.
She moaned again, and this time her right hand caressed a trail of fire over his hip straight to the fly of his jeans. She cupped his cock, running her thumb along his aching length while her tongue rubbed seductively against his. He jerked into her touch, his need for her ratcheting up a dozen notches. Jax thought about stripping off her dress. He wanted to be the one in control again. For some reason, the idea of her giving in to him, allowing him to do whatever he wanted to her made him crazy. It had never been this way for him with another woman, and he knew instinctively that it never would be. Kassie was different. Special. She was his, damn it, and he needed to sink his cock deep inside her pussy before he came in his jeans on his front porch.
He forced himself to break the kiss and step back from her. His heart was hammering against his chest, his breathing ragged. His cock was painfully erect. She tugged at his fly, pulling the zipper down. “No.” He grabbed her hand and brought it to his lips for a kiss. “I want to give you that massage, darlin’.”
“If you do that, I won’t want to go home tonight,” she protested, not sounding particularly bothered by the idea.
Good. Neither was he. He grinned at her. “That sounds perfect to me.” He caught her hands in his and tugged her along with him as he strode back in the front door. She allowed him to lead her, not putting up any resistance.
In the better lighting of the house, Kassie’s eyes were bright, watching him with that intensity she had. Her lips were swollen from his kisses. “I really should go,” she murmured. “I’m not sure two nights in a row is such a good idea.”
There it was again, that inner voice she had that kept telling her to run. But Jax didn’t have any problem taking her running shoes. He slid the deadbolt home behind her and flicked out the porch light. “Why not?”
“We said we were going t
o take things slowly.” She bit her lower lip, her gaze sinking to his mouth.
His grin deepened. “We are. Remember? I’m not taking you to the Little White Wedding Chapel.”
She scrunched up her nose, looking sexier than ever. He loved how expressive her face was. “Stop doing that, will you?”
He raised a brow, his hands settling back into their natural place on the sweet curves of her waist. “Stop doing what?”
“Smiling.” Her hands flitted to his shoulders, her body melting into his. “Those dimples of yours are going to be the death of me.”
So she liked his dimples, did she? He kept right on grinning, adding the knowledge to his personal arsenal of weapons of mass seduction. “Sorry, darlin’,” he apologized without a hint of sincerity. He sure as hell hoped he could drive her as wild as she drove him.
But Kassie wasn’t fooled. She narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re not sorry.”
“Guilty.” He dropped a kiss on her mouth, unable to resist. “Let me make it up to you. With a massage.”
“Mmm.” She looked up at him, her long hair framing her face. “Why do I get the feeling that it would be the kind with a happy ending?”
He laughed. “Is there any other kind?”
She shook her head, smiling. “Not with you, I hope.”
“Good answer.” He lowered his head to take her mouth in another long, ravaging kiss. When her tongue slid against his, he pulled back with a groan. “Let’s take this upstairs before I don’t make it.”
Without waiting for her response, he bent down and caught her up in his arms. She held on to his neck. “Jax! I can walk on my own.”
“Nah.” He started up the staircase, holding her against his chest. “I’m not taking any chances.”
“But I’m too heavy,” she objected.
Not that old song and dance again. Did he look like a weakling to her? He sure as hell hoped not. Because he loved having her in his arms, and he intended on doing it as often as possible. There was something about carrying Kassie that turned him on. Big-time. “You’re just right.”
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