Jenson (Wild Men Book 4)

by Melissa Belle

“Well, families are always hard. Especially around relationships.” I think about Jenson and me. “You and Cara have to put yourselves first. You have to. Or else you’ll drown underneath all these other people’s agendas.”

  Sheldon picks up a chicken strip and points it at me. “This is why I called you. You’re right. So what do I do?”

  “Don’t let them get in between you,” I say. “Simple as that. No matter what you have to do, don’t let that happen.”

  I take another bite of my chicken as Sheldon starts brainstorming about how to make sure he and Cara make it through their wedding intact. “You’d think your relationship would be the biggest hurdle,” he says to me. “And it is. But it’s the biggest hurdle because of all the other people in your life who are involved. You know?”

  “Yes,” I say slowly. “I think I do.”

  Sheldon looks at me more closely. “I ran into Hayley the other day. She said you two had yourselves some fun after the fair.”

  I rest my cheek on my hand. “We did. I should never be allowed to get drunk.”

  “God, I can’t believe I missed that,” Sheldon says. “You always tell secrets when you’re drunk.”

  “How do you know that?” I ask him suspiciously. “I’m never drunk around you.”

  “Not in a long time, no. But remember my college graduation? You were underage, but we went to that party after—you and that guy you were seeing, and me and Jeanne.” He shudders. “God, they were both nightmares. Anyway,” he continues, “you were plastered. And you took me aside near the end of the night—” He pauses. “Did I never tell you this?”

  My tongue is in knots, and I can’t answer him at all except to shake my head. I can’t breathe for fear of what he’s going to say next.

  Sheldon grins. “First you started cursing that guy you were with. What was his name?”

  “Ken.” I pray he can’t hear the way my voice is shaking.

  “That’s right!” Sheldon snaps his fingers. “Ken! God, I just kept drawing a blank. I wanted to say Ben, and then I thought Dale, for some crazy reason, and then…”

  “Sheldon,” I say tersely. “Finish the story?”

  “Right,” he says. “So you took me aside, talked about how much you couldn’t stand to be with Ken another minute and said you were going to break up with him by morning. And then you said something else, something interesting.” The curiosity in his face is clear. “You told me there was somebody else, a man you’d wanted for quite a while but that you’d been torn apart by circumstance, and the whole experience with him had made you lose all faith in relationships. But you never mentioned his name. No matter how much I tried to get you to tell me, you said that was a secret you could never share, especially with me.”

  Shit. I look away from Sheldon. The hall is starting to fill up now, and my father’s up on the stage with Cindy, who’s setting up his microphone.

  “Olivia?” Sheldon’s voice calls me back to the table.

  I turn to face him and force my eyes to focus on his.

  “Is it true?” Concern has replaced the curiosity. “Was there some guy who meant that much to you? And why couldn’t you tell me who it was?”

  Knowing I can’t answer him without making it sound even more mysterious, I simply shrug. Sheldon loves a mystery. He loves them so much I’m surprised he never cracked my secret when I gave him such an enormous clue all those years ago. But putting two and two together in this love story isn’t something he would imagine: his sister and Jenson Beau, the little kid who came from nothing and was born into the Graham family? It wouldn’t enter his mind.

  “I’m sorry.” I stand up. “I have to go see Dad for a minute.”

  “Olivia!” Sheldon calls after me, but I keep walking as fast as I can toward the stage. “Olivia, wait!”

  Chapter Sixteen

  I don’t get more than twenty feet before a warm, familiar voice calls my name.

  I turn to see Jenson standing by the long table of hors d'oeuvres.

  He nods hello when I reach him, and his green eyes flash with mischief. His sexy scruff is still covering his square jaw, and his blond hair is combed back neatly. He’s wearing dress pants and a collared shirt with the sleeves partially rolled up. Holy hell, he looks hot.

  “Hey, J,” I say softly.

  “Olive.” He takes a step like he’s going to touch me, but then he doesn’t.

  We stand in silence for a moment as the tide of people grows around the table of food. Jenson tilts his head for me to follow him, and we walk toward the restroom hallway, stopping once we’re alone.

  There isn’t a soul within ten feet of us, and all attention is focused on either the food or the stage where Dad is already standing at the podium and clearly close to speaking.

  “I miss you,” I say so softly I barely hear myself.

  But Jenson’s eyes fill with pain. “I know what you mean.”

  “Right this second,” I say, my voice barely above a whisper. “I miss you. I didn’t miss my ex-husband when I was away from him. I didn’t ever miss anyone the way I miss you, J.”

  “You’re killing me, Olive.” He glances out toward the hall and then back to me.

  I suck in a breath. “My brother was just reminding me of my penchant for spilling shit when I drink. Are you ever going to fill me in on whatever crap I told you the other night?”

  “Let’s wait till this dinner is over. It will be easier.”

  “Why? Was it that bad?”

  He just starts walking back into the center of the hall. “You worry too much,” he says over his shoulder.

  I sigh and follow him.

  We haven’t made it five feet before Sheldon calls out to us. As we reach him, he hands me his phone, and I spend the next fifteen minutes chatting with Cara and trying to calm her down about seating for the reception.

  As soon as I give the phone back to Sheldon, Mom waves from the front table where she, Cindy, and Dee are sitting together. The table is set up with benches for seating. Daphne rushes toward us, saying that Amy and Alec both got poison ivy and Todd’s at home with them.

  Before I can respond, Sheldon puts away his phone and picks me up.

  “What the heck?” I say, mincing my language in front of Mom and Cindy. “Please put me down.”

  “Little sister.” He hugs me tightly before letting me go. “Cara says you helped her so much with seating chart ideas. Saved my damn ass.”

  I nod. “Well, great. She had it pretty well covered already.”

  “She’s so much calmer,” Sheldon says. “I was pretty useless.” He turns to Jenson. “Whenever Cara got upset, I told her not to invite so many people to the reception. That didn’t go over well.”

  Daphne makes a face at Sheldon. “Of course that didn’t go over well,” she says. “A woman planning her wedding needs a solution that makes sense, not a cop-out plan.”

  Sheldon jumps to his own defense, and within five minutes he and Daphne are in a full-on argument.

  Mom intercedes by reminding them the cameras are around. “My goodness, you two fight worse now than when you were kids,” she says.

  Sheldon turns to me. “See, Olive, this is why I like you. We don’t fight as soon as you walk in the door.”

  I shake my head at him. “Don’t put me in the middle, or I will start fighting with you.”

  Jenson claps Sheldon on the back. “Two sisters, man. You should know by now not to try to make them choose sides.”

  Sheldon puts his arm around me and pushes the two of us in next to Mom at the table, saying it’s best for everyone if he and Daphne are separated. Jenson slides in on the side of Dee and his mother, and Daphne sits next to Jenson on the end.

  “Olivia, how did you hit it off with Patsy’s son, Will?” Mom asks immediately.

  “Yeah, that’s not going to work out, Mom,” I say.

  “Oh?” Mom says. “Did you give it an honest try, honey? Because sometimes these things take a while to sort themselves out.”


  “So true, Nora,” Cindy says. “I introduced Jenson to this delightful woman at the fair, and he wouldn’t have anything to do with her. He said something about no chemistry, and I tried to tell him chemistry is a tricky thing. Sometimes you don’t feel it right away, or even all the time, but it doesn’t mean you’re not perfect for each other.”

  “Honey, let Jenson figure out his own love life,” Dee says.

  Jenson’s focus doesn’t leave my face as he says, “Mom, chemistry is important. And sometimes you do know right away.”

  Sheldon laughs. “So Olive, did you and this guy exchange bodily fluids?”

  “Only if that includes his alcohol-induced vomit,” I say.

  Jenson breaks into a laugh as the waitress delivers our drinks.

  “Ah, the old ‘get so drunk you puke on your date’ story,” Daphne says. “We’ve all been there, Olive.”

  “Yeah, in high school,” Sheldon says. “Seriously, how old is this guy?”

  “He’s twenty-eight in chronological years,” Mom says. “Obviously that doesn’t count for everything.”

  “Or anything,” Daphne adds. “Sounds like you can do better than that, Olivia.”

  Mom starts tripping over herself in apology-mode, saying she feels like she pushed me into it.

  “It’s okay, Mom. And he wasn’t my date. I ran into him at the bar. It was unplanned.”

  I’m still staring at Jenson. The green of his eyes dances flirtatiously as Dad’s speech starts and goes on for so long that we’re nearly through our meal by the time he’s done.

  As I reach for a roll, I accidentally bump Jenson’s hand as he’s reaching for the same piece.

  “Here, you have it,” we both say at the same time.

  My body fires off on all cylinders, and I have to swallow hard. Jenson smiles softly at me and puts the roll onto my plate.

  I want him so badly my chest aches. And I can’t possibly sit in between Mom and Sheldon anymore. I excuse myself and hurry to the back hallway where I turn the corner and duck into the restroom.

  Jenson

  I watch Olivia walk away, clenching my jaw so hard I feel like I’m going to break a tooth. Being sandwiched in between our families is fitting for us, but I’m not a teenager anymore, and hiding the fact that the woman I want has been sitting across from me sucks.

  “So who are you dating these days, Jenson?” Daphne asks me. “I never get to hear about your life.”

  I shrug. “Nothing to tell.” Nothing that I can say out loud, that is.

  “My son is so picky,” Mom says. “Every time I fix him up with a new, wonderful woman, it’s a bust.”

  “He and Olivia must be drinking from the same water cooler,” Nora says. “I was so hopeful when she got married, and then bam—she divorced him! I know he brought that on himself, but…”

  I blow out a deep breath.

  “Olivia’s ex-husband was an ass,” Sheldon says. “She never should have married him.”

  I want to fist bump Sheldon for defending Olivia.

  “I only met him once, but I didn’t like him, either,” I say, unable to keep my mouth shut. “He was completely wrong for her.”

  Sheldon nods at me. “We’re guys, Mom. We can read the asshole vibe from a mile away. You’re too busy trying to see the good in all these jerks you’re setting Olive up with that you’re missing the fact none of them have been right for her.”

  “Well, what can we do about it?” Nora asks, furrowing her brow. “Olivia doesn’t seem too adept at finding ‘the one.’ And she deserves that in her life.”

  I open my mouth and nearly say something I can’t take back.

  I have to tell you something.

  I blink. Apparently I say that out loud without realizing it because the entire booth is staring at me like I’m about to announce something life-changing.

  “What did you say, honey?” Nora asks me. “You have to tell us something?”

  “What is it?” Sheldon asks.

  I let out a deep breath and try to sound casual. “I just mean that Olive will be okay. She’s going to be so happy in love one day soon that you’ll forget you were ever worried about her.”

  Nora beams at me. “Thank you for that, Jenson. You know Olivia better than anyone, and I really hope you’re right.”

  “Excuse me for a moment.” I stand up and walk down the hall toward the restrooms.

  Olivia

  It’s a one-person bathroom, and I turn the lock in relief before rinsing my face at the sink.

  I turn off the faucet and look at myself in the mirror. My face is wet with water, and my eyes are sparkling blue. I look better than I feel, a feat women have perfected over the years. How can make-up and putting on a brave front help to hide the pain so well?

  A knock on the door startles me, and I don’t answer. But it comes again louder.

  “Just a minute!” I call out.

  “Olive.” It’s Jenson. “Can you open the door?”

  With my face still damp, I unlock the door and pull on the knob. Jenson’s standing right outside. His eyes are blazing with heat, and I stare up at him as he steps into the bathroom and closes and locks the door behind him. Before I can say anything, he backs me up against the wall and puts his mouth over mine.

  I kiss him back like I’ll never get enough. His tongue sweeps across my lips and inside my mouth, and I clutch at his back. Then, I come to enough to remember where we are, and I pull back.

  “My face is wet,” I mutter to him.

  “I know. You want to dry it?” He puts his hands on my ass and lifts me off the ground and tighter against him.

  “I can’t,” I say. “There are no paper towels in here.”

  Jenson tears his gaze off of me to glance around. “It’s just that dryer thing?”

  “Hot air’s more economical than paper. Not to mention more green.”

  Jenson lets me down to the ground so he can untuck his t-shirt and hold it out. “Dry your face on me.”

  “It will show,” I say. “Our mothers have eagle eyes.”

  “Use the bottom, and I’ll tuck it back in. Come on.”

  I smile at him as I dry my face on his shirt. It smells like his cologne; it smells like him. I lift it up to kiss his stomach, and then his chest. Jenson sucks in his breath.

  I raise my head to make eye contact with him. “I’m sorry my mom keeps bringing up Will. I never want to hurt you.”

  He kisses the top of my head. “I don’t care about him. I only care about you. We have enough demons. Let’s not worry about someone our mothers are talking about.”

  I tug on his shirt, pulling him closer. “I agree.”

  He braces his hand on the door by my head, his face inches from mine. “You’re irresistible,” he says against my lips. “I can’t wait to touch you, Olive.”

  He reaches for the hem of my skirt.

  I gasp. “J, what…”

  “Shh.” He slowly lifts my skirt up over my thigh until it reaches my hip. “This will be quick.”

  When his hand sneaks underneath the band of my underwear, I clutch at his arm. “Hurry,” I beg him. “I’ve been dying for you the entire dinner.”

  Two fingers enter me, and I sink my teeth into Jenson’s shoulder to muffle my cries. His thumb circles me while he moves his fingers in and out in an erotic motion that makes my legs shake.

  “I’m going to…I can’t…” Hold myself up anymore.

  Jenson shifts so he can wrap his arm around my waist, holding me close as he continues to pump his fingers into me.

  I come so fast I can’t contain my moans, and I chant his name into his shirt as I climax.

  “You’re going to get us in trouble,” I whisper after I finally regain the ability to stand without my knees buckling.

  Jenson helps me fix my skirt. “I’m getting tired of hiding,” he says. “I nearly lost it out there. I really almost told them.”

  I widen my eyes. “Just now?”

  He nods. “
I wouldn’t do that without talking to you first, of course. And I know it’s not quite the right time, and I don’t want to get suckered into it just because their cluelessness is driving me mad. But listening to them drone on about potential dates for us…”

  “It’s maddening,” I agree.

  “So,” he says, looking at me closely. “Sorry we still haven’t gotten a chance to talk. But of course things didn’t work out the way we hoped on Saturday. I got those calls, your mom called and left that super long message, the delivery guy dropped off a package…”

  Silence fills the tiny bathroom.

  I put my hand in his. “I hope we aren’t going to put a lot of focus on what happened—or rather, what didn’t happen—between us. Because that’s going to make things really awkward…”

  “Not going to be awkward. But I have an idea. The boys are with Meghan, and my mom’s thrilled to take Bernie for a few days. So tonight—you, me, your house? With a quick stop at my new place first.”

  “You already got the house?”

  He pulls a key out of his pocket. “Just signed the lease before coming here. It has no furniture yet or I’d say let’s stay there tonight.”

  “That’s amazing, J.”

  “That’s where my mom thinks I’m sleeping by the way, so she won’t worry when I don’t come home. And this weekend, they all think I’m in Pittsburgh and you’re in New York.”

  “It’s like a regular undercover story. So tonight. Déjà vu?”

  “Not exactly. We’ll draw the blinds, turn out the lights, turn off our cells and unplug the landline, open a bottle of wine…” He brushes my cheek lightly with his hand. “We’ll shut out Liberty Falls for twelve hours. And when we go to Manhattan tomorrow?” His question is laced with promise. “How about we think of this weekend away as a mini-vacation? Just us.”

  That does sound romantic. “I can definitely do that. You think it’ll do the trick?” I’m already imagining having Jenson with me, all to myself, for an entire night and day.

  “Yeah. I think we can pretty much bank on it.” He grins. “No pun intended, Ms. Deal Closer.”

  “Baby, I’ll be home in about an hour.”