Hollidae Fling

by Joy Avery

  “So is that handsome creature who just strolled through the door.”

  Sienna glanced over her shoulder to see Jake standing across the room, looking oh-so-delicious. She hadn’t expected him to make it, but was glad he had.

  Like always, the draw between them was undeniable. He chatted with a group of men, one of which her trifling ex just happened to be a part of. She watched Jake for a while. As if he could sense her looking at him, he glanced in her direction. When their eyes collided, he flashed her one of those dazzling smiles that quaked her entire body.

  She melted.

  “Just friends, huh?” Evelyn said.

  Sienna bit at the corner of her lip. Okay, maybe a little more.

  The only thing Jake had looked forward to tonight was seeing Sienna. They’d spent damn near every day together since they’d met a little over two weeks ago. He wasn’t sure exactly how a fling was supposed to work, but what was happening between them had never once felt like a simple friends-with-benefits type of arrangement. But the label seemed to appease Sienna, so he’d rolled with it.

  Arriving at Archer and Evelyn’s home, Jake grabbed the bag containing the several bottles of Ruinart Brut Blanc de Blancs he’d brought along. The sparkling champagne with notes of lemon curd, apple and almond was one of the best sellers at the farm. Personally, he preferred a plain ole beer.

  When Jake entered, Archer introduced him to several of his frat brothers. One of the faces instantly jumped out at him. Sienna’s ex-husband. Malcolm, if Jake remembered correctly. What the hell was he doing here? Not that he had any say-so over who could or couldn’t be invited, it just seemed odd that he would be here. But then again, Archer had introduced him as a frat brother, so that would explain his presence.

  “Jake and I have met,” Malcolm said, offering his hand. “He’s my wife’s electrician.”

  It burned Jake up inside that Malcolm had referred to Sienna as his wife. But riling him had more than likely been the man’s intent. “My memory is horrible these days. I can’t recall your wife,” Jake said.

  “Sienna,” Malcolm said, his feature’s hardening, then relaxing again.

  At that moment, Jake felt a pressing need to glance across the room. When he did, his gaze connected with Sienna’s, standing across the room with her sister. Damn, she was beautiful in the Christmas green dress. He smiled. When she smiled back, heat blossomed in his chest.

  Returning his attention to Malcolm, he said, “Ah. I am your ex-wife’s electrician. Apparently, the last one had no idea what it took to keep the juices flowing. In her craft room,” he added after a subtle pause. “All those electronics and things.”

  Several of the other men snickered.

  Malcolm scowled. “That’s strange. She never voiced any complaints about the last guy.”

  “That is strange, because she told me he just kept falling short of the job. She requires a lot of voltages to stay turned on, with all the equipment she uses. Clearly, the last guy had no idea what he was doing.” He tossed a quick glance in Sienna’s direction, then back to Malcolm. “Luckily, I do.”

  Malcolm’s fingers tightened around the glass he held. “You sure about that?”

  “I guess you can never really be too sure about anything. But I think she’s extremely satisfied with my work—or so she says. Over and over again. Even gave me a rave review of my performance…on Yelp. I should probably go and say hello. Excuse me.” He started away. “Oh, by the way, if you happen to bump into the last guy. Let him know Sienna has someone new. From what I understand, he keeps sniffing around for another opportunity. He’s wasting his time.” With that, Jake walked off.

  That’ll teach the bastard.

  Jake felt lighter and lighter the closer he got to Sienna. As badly as he wanted to pull her into his arms and kiss her breathless, he resisted. Instead, he offered her the same innocent hug he’d given Evelyn. He wasn’t sure what Sienna had shared with her sister, if she’d shared anything at all. However, the way Evelyn’s eyes danced happily between them, odds were she knew something.

  Evelyn excused herself to carry the bag Jake had given her to the kitchen.

  “So, what were you and my trifling ex discussing?”

  “Job performance,” he said.

  Sienna eyed him curiously. “O…kay.” She took his hand. “Follow me,”

  Sienna led him to the back of the house. Inside the laundry room, she pressed her warm body against his. “Kiss me,” she demanded.

  So, he did. Hard and raw. By the time their mouth’s parted, his lips were numb. Pinning her back against the closed laundry room door, just in case anyone tried to enter, he lowered to his knees, hiked Sienna’s dress and removed her panties, stuffing them in his pocket.

  Resting one of her legs on his shoulder, he buried his face in her sex and savored her like she was his last meal before execution. Since he’d shaken so many hands, he resisted putting his fingers inside her. He always derived great pleasure from how she rode them every time he did.

  “Oh, God,” she whimpered, holding his head in place. “Right there.”

  This alerted Jake that she was close to her breaking point, so naturally, he intensified his efforts: licking, lapping, suckling. She shattered.

  Jake returned to a full stand, kissing Sienna gently. “We’ll continue this tonight,” he said, tortured by the idea of having to wait hours before he could be inside her.

  Sienna’s eyes fluttered open. “Thirty minutes tops and we’re out of here.”

  “Deal.”

  Jake made a motion to open the door, but Sienna stopped him.

  “Aren’t you forgetting something,” she said.

  Nothing he could think of.

  “My underwear.”

  He smirked. “Those stay with me.”

  Chapter Ten

  The first thing Sienna noticed the second she woke up in Jake’s bed was the fact that he wasn’t in it. Stretching, she groaned at the stiffness in her muscles, then beamed at the reason why.

  They’d left her sister’s place a little after ten the night before, gotten to his house close to eleven and were naked by 11:05. They’d had sex, napped, talked and had more sex, until the wee hours of the morning. She glanced at the clock on the nightstand. 7:16.

  The smell of bacon told her Jake was cooking, something he often did when she slept over. How did he even have the energy? The man had put in some serious work. In fact, he’d made her come so hard, so many times, her stomach hurt.

  Closing her eyes, she listened to the sound of the rain hitting the window. She was in trouble. And by trouble, she was referring to the fact that she was falling for Jake. It didn’t even seem feasible, but she had the couldn’t-get-enough-of-him syndrome to prove it.

  Lord, please give me a sign. What type of sign was she asking for? One that would show her Jake was the one for her or one that showed he wasn’t. Hopefully, she could distinguish it when she saw it.

  Tossing her legs over the side of the bed, she grunted as she stood. Note to self: having your legs pinned to your chest comes with consequences. Instead of pouring herself back into her dress, she slid into the white button-down shirt Jake had draped over a chair. The scent of his cologne still lingered on it.

  Sienna crept down the stairs, sneaked into the kitchen and hugged Jake from behind. “Good morning,” she said, kissing his bare back.

  He peered over his shoulder and kissed her cheek. “Good morning to you. I hope you’re hungry.”

  “Depends on what’s being served,” she said.

  Sienna slid her palm down his midsection and cupped his dick through the thin pajama pants. He swelled in her hand. God, she loved the effect she had on his body. He slid the pan off the stove’s eye, rotated to face her and encased her in his arms.

  “Did you not get enough of me last night and this morning?” he asked.

  “I’m not sure that’s possible.”

  Jake fulfilled her in ways she could have never imagined a man she
’d known a little shy of a month could. Maybe it was the newness of it all; she didn’t know. All she knew for sure was that she liked it. He stimulated her mind, body and soul.

  When he hoisted her onto the counter, she yelped.

  Concern spread across his face. “What’s wrong?”

  “This stone is cold.” She positioned her mouth inches from his ear and whispered, “I’m not wearing any underwear,” then nipped his lobe.

  Jake moaned, then slid her to the edge of the counter. “Neither am I. We should spend all day in bed. Without underwear.”

  “I agree.”

  A second later, he ripped open the shirt she wore, causing buttons to fly through the air. Cupping her breasts, he lowered his head, sucked one of her hardened nipples into his mouth and ran the pad of his thumb across the other.

  Wetness pooled between her legs when Jake licked his way up to her lips and claimed her mouth in a heady kiss. Scrambling for the waistband of his pants, she hooked her thumbs inside and inched the fabric down.

  Jake fisted himself and teased her swollen lips, clit and opening with the head of his erection. It drove her insane with need. And when he thrust himself inside her, she screamed his name. The raw, hot feel of him drove her mad.

  Jake released a guttural groan, his body shuddering right before going completely still. This was not the time for him to be playing with her. He buried his face in the crook of her neck, his breath heavy against her skin. He hadn’t come; she would have felt it. So, what was the problem?

  “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  “I’m afraid to move,” he said.

  Afraid to move? “Do you have a cramp?”

  “No.”

  She didn’t understand. “Then what is it?”

  “You feel too damn good.”

  Sienna smirked. She’d been at his mercy all this time. It was time he fell to hers. Tightening her legs around his waist, she wrapped one arm around his neck and pressed the other against the counter and started to move up and down his shaft.

  “Stay still. Please stay still,” he said.

  Ignoring his pleas, she continued, moving slowly at first, then increasing her tempo. Just when she felt the onset of an orgasm, the sound of shattering glass, followed by a blood-curdling scream broke her concentration.

  Until this moment, Jake had never regretted giving Janet a spare key to his place. Typically, she used it to leave him casseroles, cakes and the such. Her popping in had never been an issue…until now.

  Despite this awkwardly tense situation, Jake introduced Sienna and Janet. While Sienna spoke, Janet dismissed her cordialness with an ungodly eye roll. So much for the child of God moniker she often tossed around to describe herself.

  “I’ll give you two some privacy,” Sienna said.

  “How dare you,” Janet said the second Sienna cleared the room.

  Jake’s head snapped back. “Excuse me?”

  “How could you disrespect my sister this way?”

  “Disrespect… Janet, what are you talking about?”

  Janet scowled as she moved toward him. Jabbing a finger at him, she said, “Where’s your wedding ring, Jake? Huh?”

  The way his name rolled off her tongue sounded sinister. He’d never seen Janet this way before.

  “You were just at my house wearing it a week ago, playing the grieving husband. Now you’re here, screwing some random in the home you and Nicole shared. In the kitchen where my sister prepared your meals.”

  “Janet, you need to calm down.”

  “Don’t tell me to calm down,” she said, practically screaming. “I won’t stand for you disrespecting Nicole this way.”

  For the next several minutes, Janet vented her outrage. Jake listened, maintaining his cool. But when she stated he never deserved Nicole in the first place, it triggered something inside him.

  “You think your sister was so perfect, huh?”

  “She worshipped the ground you walked on?”

  Jake barked a laugh. “Really? If that were true, why was she sleeping with someone else?”

  Janet’s eyes were wild, when she said, “My sister would never. She was a God-fearing woman.”

  Jake snatched open one of the kitchen drawers, removed the stack of letters he’d tried several times to burn and tossed them onto the counter in front of Janet. “Maybe your sister didn’t deserve me.”

  Janet’s mouth fell open. She stared at the pile as if it were a pit of viper snakes, stumbled back and dropped into a kitchen chair as if her limbs could no longer support her weight. For the first time since she’d arrived, she didn’t have anything to say.

  “Your perfect sister wasn’t so perfect, after all. But you can continue to pretend she—”

  “The letters weren’t Nicole’s.” Her tone lowered to a whisper. “They’re mine.”

  Jake froze, certain he hadn’t heard her correctly. If he had, that meant he’d damned Nicole, devalued their life together, cursed her name, all for nothing. “What did you say?” He needed absolute clarification.

  “They’re mine. I was the one having the affair. Not Nicole.” She pinched her lids together. “Nicole hid them for me. I never meant...” Her words dried up and tears ran down her cheeks. Opening her eyes, she looked at him. “I couldn’t risk Benjamin finding them. I’m so—”

  Jake flashed a palm and Janet stopped as if on cue. Several beats of silence passed between them as he processed it all. His heart pounded against his rib cage and blood whooshed in his ears.

  Steadying his breath and his tone, he spoke. “You let me—” His words caught and he paused a moment. “You let me believe the worst about my dead wife, your sister.” His jaw clenched, then released. “Your own flesh and blood. A woman who would have given her life for you.”

  Janet released a single sob before slapping her hand over her mouth. Tears streamed down her face and her body trembled. Jake held little sympathy for the deceitful woman.

  “I’m so sorry. The devil had a hold of me.”

  Jake swallowed the painful lump lodged in his throat. “Leave my house, Janet.” He fought to not say more. More that would cut the unscrupulous woman to her core.

  Janet dragged a hand across her wet cheek, gathered her belongings, stood and moved away. At the door, she paused. Not bothering to face him, she said, “Please don’t tell Benjamin. I’ve already lost enough.” With that, she left.

  Jake stood in utter disbelief for several long minutes. Don’t tell her husband? She’d lost enough? Had she really just said that to him?

  Moving to the counter, he snatched up his cell phone, vengeance pumping like lava through his veins. He wanted Janet to hurt, to experience the same type of pain he had. She’d allowed him to believe the worst about Nicole. His finger hovered over the screen, unable to follow through with the last digit of Benjamin’s phone number.

  Dammit. Do it. Destroy her happy home the same way she’d burned down yours. Make her pay. As hard as it was, Jake ignored the voice chirping in his ear and placed the phone down. Janet’s lies had already caused enough damage.

  He rested his palms against the chilly countertop and lowered his head. He’d loathed Nicole from the moment he’d found and read the letters. Hating her a little more with each line he read, each sordid detail. He’d condemned her, himself, their entire life together, which up until her death, had been perfect.

  He should have known. He should have known Nicole would have never hurt him like that. His eyes slid to his empty ring finger.

  “Jake?”

  The sound of Sienna’s voice startled him. Pulling himself together, he turned to face her. “Hey.”

  “I wasn’t eavesdropping, but it was hard not to hear. Are you okay?”

  Far from it, he wanted to say. Instead, he forced a smile. “Yes. I should get you home.”

  Sienna’s confusion showed instantly on her face, but he understood. Less than ten minutes ago, he’d been the one to propose they spend the day in bed. But that was before
he’d had a bomb dropped on him. Now, he needed to be alone to sort out his thoughts.

  Luckily, she didn’t question his erratic behavior. Simply smiled and nodded.

  “I’ll get dressed,” she said, then walked away.

  When he saw the undeniable hurt in her eyes, he felt like the biggest bastard in the world.

  The drive to Sienna’s place was silent, but it wasn’t the usual element of comfort he was accustomed to. This stillness wasn’t tranquil. It was rigid, thick, difficult. He wasn’t used to it.

  “The rain has stopped,” Sienna said.

  Her tender voice drew him from his thoughts. For the first time, he realized the godawful sound the wipers made against the dry windshield. Deactivating them, he said, “Sorry.”

  When they arrived at her place, Jake walked her to the door.

  “I’ll call you later,” he said.

  “Don’t,” Sienna said.

  Confused, he said, “What?”

  “We had fun, Jake, and I don’t regret a single minute of our time together. But I think it’s time we took a break.”

  To Jake, Sienna didn’t seem fully committed to the words she spoke, like she was only saying them out of necessity, not full intent.

  “You received some shocking news that you’re clearly grappling with. It’s affecting you. You’re fighting ghosts, Jake. I’m only a distraction.”

  Distraction? He wanted to tell her she was far more than that to him. When he finally opened his mouth to say just that, she silenced him again.

  “This was just a fling, right?” She shrugged one shoulder. “We knew it would eventually end. Better now before either one of us got caught up.” Her eyes slid away.

  Too late, because he was caught up. Her words slammed into him harder than Janet’s confession had. His brain sparked in a thousand different directions. This didn’t make sense. None of this made sense. Not Sienna severing ties. Not the severe pain tearing through him. Not her inability to look at him.

  Something needed to be said, he knew this. Unfortunately, he lacked the brainpower to say more than, “Okay.”