A Christmas Affair: A Seaside Cove Romance (Seaside Cove Romance Series Book 1) (11 page)

"No, I won't," Jack said, and Molly thought he looked like he wanted to say more. She waited another moment, but he did not say anything.

"Okay, thank you." Molly licked her lips. Her mouth felt dry, like sandpaper now. "Can I have a beer?"

"What kind?" Jack asked.

"I hear you have a Christmas blend that is pretty popular." Molly smiled and hoped that Jack would counter with a smile of his own. But he did not.

Jack turned and filled a glass from a tap. Molly was not much of a beer drinker, she preferred a glass of red, but she did not see any bottles of wine on the wall rack. But, she needed a little bit of liquid courage to say what she needed to say next. Jack set the full glass in front of her and Molly brought it to her lips and took a tiny sip.

"That is actually not bad for beer," she said, and she swore she saw the corners of his mouth twitch.

"Thanks," he said dryly, but a flicker of laughter in his eye betrayed him. Molly tilted her head back and gulped down half the glass. "Thirsty?"

"Just a little. How much?" Molly pulled her wallet out of her purse, but Jack shook his head.

"First glass is free; that's how I get everyone hooked."

Molly smiled. He was joking. Maybe she could get through this. "I have to talk to you about Izzie."

Jack's posture straightened and she saw a darkness clamp down over his eyes. "I'm not talking to
you
about Izzie."

"Then you'll listen," Molly said with more strength in her voice than she actually felt. "We decided you were just listening anyway, remember?"

"I've worked a long time to put that all behind me, but when I see you Molly…" Jack looked out the front window and Molly noticed it was snowing again. "Especially when I think about kissing you, all those memories stir up. It hurt so much to lose you the first time, I don't want to go through it again. I'll never forget the look on your face in the months that followed prom. I'll never forget what I did."

"I'm so sorry," Molly felt tears welling up. How many times would she cry over Jack? "I've been so sorry for years."

"What do you have to be sorry about?" Jack's voice lowered to a growl. "I'm the one who attacked Izzie."

Molly almost fell off her chair. "What Jack? No you didn't."

"I did, Molly, I remembered so many things from that night over the years, Izzie on the ground crying. Her torn dress, the hatred in your eyes." Jack was walking away from Molly, to the empty side of the counter. His hands ran through his hair and Molly felt an urge to run to him. She gave in to that instinct and ran around the opening in the bar to grab him by the shoulders. Jack turned around.

"Jack, Izzie lied.” How did he not know this? She was there was Izzie made the call. She stood there until Izzie told Jack everything. “She made it all up. You found her crying, you tried to tuck her strap into the back of her dress. Chad attacked her, and then he attacked you. You drank so much that night, you must have blacked out, lost control of the memories," Molly could feel her words blending together as she sped through them, but she did not want him to walk away.

He had to know the truth. How could Jack be carrying this around with him when she known for years what happened? "You aren't mad at me for believing you could do that to someone? You're mad at yourself for something that didn't even happen?"

Jack pushed Molly away from him. "What are you playing at?"

"I'm serious Jack, she told me, junior year of college. She told me everything. You had been following her and Chad around because you found out he was abusing her. Chad almost had me convinced you guys had a thing going on behind our backs."

Molly reached for Jack again but he backed up. "Then that night you were so drunk and he beat the crap out of you. You couldn't remember. You always said you couldn't remember. You blacked out. She was afraid of Chad. That's why she went along with Chad’s story that it was you that attacked her."

Jack leaned in close and Molly thought for a moment he might kiss her. But instead she felt the heat of his anger flowing from him. "You've known, all these years? You've known and you never told me? You let me carry this guilt around?"

"No." Molly noticed the tears had stopped flowing down her cheeks now. "The minute she told me, I made her call you. She called you and told you Jack. It was late, the middle of the night, but I made her call you that second. I stood there while she called you, while she told you what happened.”

“She called me?” Jack said squinting at Molly. She thought it was as if he was looking through her. Trying to look back in time. But he was not seeing the big picture. He was putting up road blocks that did not need to be there.

“See? You don't have to feel guilty anymore. We don't have to be apart, there’s no reason." Molly stood and waited for Jack to take her in his arms, to tell her everything was alright now. He was not mad at her; he had never been mad at her. She couldn't believe it. He had been mad at himself. And now that she took away the reason, they could be together. She was not ready for what he said next.

"Leave. Right now."

"Jack please listen to me," Molly pleaded, but Jack grabbed her by both arms and pushed her out from behind the counter and towards the door. Even in his anger though, his touch was gentle and Molly could have escaped his grasp easily if she tried. He stopped at the door and walked back to the counter, grabbing Molly's purse and threw it at her feet. "Jack, please just tell me what-"

"I'm not going to tell you again," Jack said turning away from her. "Go. I need to think, and I can't do that with you here."

Molly nodded and stepped out into the cold night.

Jack stood against the back counter. His mind was spinning with what Molly had told him about Izzie. He remembered her call, it must have been seven or eight years ago. She called him in the middle of the night, and when he answered and heard Izzie's drunk voice on the other side of the phone, he had hung up.

Izzie called to tell him the truth, and he hung up the phone. He spent the last ten years punishing himself for nothing. Keeping women at an arm's distance. Only ever having one night stands. Never a relationship. Because he hated the man he thought he was. He hated what he thought he was capable of. Another realization hit him. He had never been in love with anyone but Molly. If Izzie had not happened, would he still be with Molly?

Molly thought I was mad at her because she believed what Izzie said all those years ago?
Jack had believed Izzie, too. How could he be angry at Molly for believing the same thing? The front door opened jarring him back into the present.

Rachel
. Her smart mouth was the last thing he needed to hear right now.

"I need to talk to you," she announced loudly walking to the counter.

"Jack, how many woman troubles do you have?" one of the men asked and the others laughed. Jack forced a smile.

"I'm not in the mood Rachel," Jack said.

"What did you do to Molly?" she asked.

"What I did to Molly?" he asked, taken aback. It was more like what did Molly do to him? Coming in here tonight and turning his whole world, everything he knew, upside down.

"Yeah, she has been moping around ever since you guys started doing Santa's workshop together. She has completely lost her Christmas spirit. I mean, I was glad when she toned it down, but now it is just completely out. So what did you do to her?" Rachel asked again, arms folded over her chest.

"I think you're asking the wrong guy," he said. "Now do you want to order? Because seats are for paying customers only."

“Since when?” She snapped.

“Maybe Molly just grew up and realized Christmas wasn’t all it’s cracked up to be,” Jack said, clenching his fists at his side. No one in this town ever let him be alone to think.

"I knew it you... you... Jack Frost, bah-humbug asshole," Rachel stood up. "Your shitty attitude rubbed off on her. What did you do, lay her a load of your Christmas commercialism complaints? Did she watch you tell one too many children off for asking Santa for a doll instead of a job?"

“Why does everyone think I hate Christmas so much?” Jack asked.

"All I know, is after she broke it off with Jeremy, all she could do was talk about you," Rachel said. "Next thing I know she came home from the first workshop in tears because you got halfway down her pants, and then you turned her away. And now, she's back with Jeremy?"

"Maybe they are meant to be," Jack said. Fake or not, it still broke something inside of him to think of them together. "Just leave them alone Rachel."

"Leave them alone? I want to kill that asshole." Rachel shook her head and stopped talking.

"Join the club," Jack muttered.

"So you know? You know what he did to her, and you are just going to stand by and not do anything?" Rachel fumed.

Jack pointed at his hand. The wound almost heeled. "I showed him how I felt."

Rachel smiled, the first real smile Jack had seen from the woman that evening, but it was gone as fast as it appeared. "I heard you punched him, but I didn't know why. I hoped it was because he attacked her. But I also hoped she wouldn't end up back with him, and look what hope got me."

"What the hell do you mean he attacked her?" Jack asked, feeling his voice rising as much as he tried to control it. His fist throbbed with anticipation as he thought of connecting it to Jeremy's face more than twice this time.

"The day he came back. You don't know about this? Then why did you hit him?" Rachel said drumming her fingers on the counter.

"I didn't like what he was saying." Jack squeezed the mug he was cleaning in his hand so tight he was afraid it might break. But he could not put it down. "Rachel. Did Jeremy hit her?"

"You seem to care a lot about what happened to her for someone who doesn't want to be with her." Rachel stood eye to eye with Jack, and for the first time he noticed the woman was almost as tall as he was.

The room was silent except for the football game on TV. Jack felt the temple in his head pulsing. "Rachel, tell me right now."

"I knew you liked her. I don't know what big macho thing is keeping you from just sweeping her off her feet-"

"Rachel!" He said her name so loud that the men at the other end of the room sat up and turned around briefly, before going back to watching the game.

Rachel sighed. "She should be the one telling you. I was with her half the evening afterward. He terrified her." Rachel leaned forward and lowered her voice. "The minute he showed up he kept trying to drag her upstairs like a Neanderthal, but she told him she couldn't just shut the shop down, especially while she had customers. He practically kicked the shoppers out, and then tried to force himself on her there on the shop floor. She actually broke two of his toes to get him to leave her alone."

Jack sank back into the barstool as the room began to sink into a deep red. "I left her there alone with Jeremy."

"Don't start doing that weird man stuff. He's her boyfriend and you barely know Molly anymore. How were you supposed to know how big of a bastard he is?" Rachel said, and then she actually reached out and touched Jack’s hand, surprising both of them. "She doesn't belong with him Jack, but for some reason she isn't letting go. And I never trusted him before, but now…"

Rachel's cell phone rang, and as she answered it Jack helped his patrons settle up their bills while the football game ended. Jack was grateful for the distraction, but had a hard time making change with visions of pummeling Jeremy on his mind. Rachel hung up the phone just as they left.

"That was Brian. You know that McGinley guy? They think he is responsible for a home invasion out on 44th," Rachel said, her voice a little shaky.

"Was anyone hurt?" Jack scanned his brain to remember if he knew anyone out on 44th. Rachel shook her head.

"They were gone when it happened, but Brian thinks this guy is still around here. Too much of a coincidence. He wants me to go home and lock myself away," Rachel said rolling her eyes.

"Do you want me to take you?" Jack asked. Thoughts of Jeremy and Molly swam in his vision, but he needed to talk to Molly first before doing anything drastic. Drastic like killing Jeremy and dumping his body in the ocean.

"No, you don't need to be
my
hero Jack," Rachel said over her shoulder as she left the bar.

Jack stood in the empty room for a moment.
Time to think.
No. He did not need to think. He needed to make a phone call.

Molly wrapped the white silk robe around her frame and ran down the stairs. She had tossed and turned for what felt like hours in her bed and finally fell asleep when the noise started. There was a pounding at the front door, and it made her own heart thud in her chest. She held her cell phone in one hand and a baseball bat in the other as she rounded the bottom of the steps.

"Who would be here at this time-" she stopped in her tracks as she pushed through the storeroom door and saw the figure in the front window.
Jack
.

Molly dropped the bat on the floor and put her cell phone in her robe pocket. She ran over to the door and unlocked the latches, all the time keeping her eyes on Jack. She pulled the door open and he stepped in.

"Izzie did call me about seven years ago, but she was drunk. I hung up on her as soon as she started talking." Jake gaze traveled over Molly's body.

"Oh."

"I called Izzie just now. She lives with her parents," he said as Molly fumbled to the lock the door. Molly turned around, suddenly self-conscious of her appearance. She had on a short red nightgown and had forgotten to tie her robe closed. She felt exposed.

"And?" Molly said, resisting the urge to cover herself up better. She did not want Jack to know she was embarrassed to be seen like this in front of him.

Any doubts she had about her body were gone in the next instant. Jack closed the small gap between them and wrapped a hand around her waist and another around her neck. He tilted her head back, and pressed his mouth against hers. Her heartrate spiked as he gently pushed his tongue against her lips, sliding them apart. It was like coming home and a first kiss all wrapped into one.

Her own body felt frozen one second, then liquid in the next. She allowed his tongue to slip slightly into her mouth. When it made contact with her own, she suddenly sprung to life and pressed back. They began to explore each other's mouths as Molly let the realization that there was finally nothing keeping them apart roll over her.

Molly felt herself instantly become wet, ten years of sexual anticipation for this man, awakening all at once. She wrapped a leg around his and her hands found a home running through his hair. She was glad she had stayed home instead of going to Rachel’s like she had planned after her friend called her about the break in on 44
th
.

Molly moaned as she felt him grow hard against her, and gasped slightly as it kept growing past the point she thought possible. He pulled his mouth back from her and began to nuzzle her neck, teeth grazing against her skin as he explored her from base of her collar all the way back to her mouth again.

"Jack," she moaned. She felt her nipples harden against the soft nightgown and she arched her back. She wanted his hands on them again.

"Mmmm," he answered. He pulled away from her mouth slowly and just far enough to meet her eyes. "Do you want me to stop?"

"Never stop," she said and almost fell apart as he dove back in for another kiss. She felt all the parts of her body grow more sensitive with each graze of his finger, even the parts he was not touching. "Upstairs."

He did not respond verbally, but instead slid his hands under her nightgown, lifting her as he did the other day. Only this time he growled with excitement and passion as his hands touched her bare ass. "You don't have anything on under this?"

"Nothing." She smiled as he walked towards the storeroom carrying her, her legs wrapped around his hard body. His hands stroked her bare bottom, and as he moved a few fingers forward, she knew he was rewarded with her own wetness.

He teased her the entire way up the stairs, running his fingers over her folds, but never separating her. When they got upstairs to the apartment, he set her back on her feet pulling her robe and nightgown off in one swift movement. She felt the doubt about her body return, and when she tried to cover herself up with her arms, he pulled them away.

"No," he said in a scratchy voice. "I want to see all of you. I've waited so long Molly."

She blushed at his interest, and dropped her arms to her sides. She stood in silent excitement as his eyes explored every inch of her body, slowly grazing by her most intimate parts. "More beautiful than I ever pictured."

"You pictured?" she asked coyly as she stepped for him, peeling his shirt off and nibbling at his bare skin. Her hands worked over the hard muscles of his chest and abs, working her way further south by the moment.

"More often than you want to know," Jack answered as she grabbed a hold of his belt and pulled it loose. But before she could open his fly, Jack laid her down on the bed. "Just lay down and enjoy the fruits of my imagination."

He crawled on top of her, and she enjoyed the light pressure his body made against her as he kept his full weight off of her. His mouth was on hers again, more forcefully than it had been downstairs. As if he had already asked for permission, now he was ready to take her. She arched her back as Jack's left hand found the swell of her breast and began to massage, and finally took the sensitive nipple between his thumb and forefinger and began to gently twist.

His head moved down her body until his mouth found her other breast. He began with gentle licks and teases at the tip of her nipple, before he dove in, pulling her nipple and part of her breast into his mouth. Molly moaned loudly as she began to slowly grind the air.

Jack released her nipple from his mouth, then just as quickly pulled the beaded tip in between his teeth and tugged slightly. The hand that massaged the other nipple began to move slowly down her stomach, massaging her body as it went. It finally found her wet folds. Molly felt an anticipation bubbling inside for his touch to go a step further. Gently stroking along the outside, Jack teased her body even more.

"I want-" Molly began, but then she cried out in pleasure as Jack slid two fingers between the folds, found her opening, and pushed himself in.

"Yes?" he said against her breast before pulling his fingers back out, then pushing them back in again. Molly could not find the words to finish her sentence, so she moaned instead. Jack pulled away from her body, leaving his fingers inside of her, stroking the inside of her faster and faster. Each time she moaned, he pushed in a little deeper.

She saw him at the base of her bed staring at her through glazed eyes while he brought pleasures her body had long since forgotten. She wanted to hide under the covers or bury her face into her pillow, but she forced herself to let him watch her as she climbed higher towards a wave of joy. Suddenly, his other hand was on her, massaging her sensitive peak, and she tried to hold back the flood.

"Jack!" she called out as she twisted her face into her pillow, finally giving into her urge to hide. She cried out, "I want you inside me!"

"Technically, I am inside you," he said deeply and she forced herself to pull her face from the pillow. She was rewarded with his sexy lopsided grin. "You're too tight, you couldn't take me right now."

She looked down to his straining pants and her knees quaked at the size of the bulge. Just imagining it was enough to push her over the edge. Her body shook all over as the wave of her climax crashed down over her, and she felt as though suddenly she was even tighter.

"Just ride it baby," he said taking his finger from her clitoris. "I can feel your fingers clamping down on me, you're so fucking tight." He leaned forward and replaced that finger with his tongue.

The feel of his mouth and wet tongue over her was enough to make her climax again almost immediately. He pulled his mouth away from her, but kept his fingers inside of her.

Molly caught her breath. "I mean it; I want you inside of me."

Jack shook his head, and slowly pulled his fingers out of her still shaking body. "Not tonight. Your body needs a rest."

Molly reached for his pants. She bit her bottom lip and looked up at him through her eyelashes. "Then let me, please."

Jack put a hand on hers, but did not push her away. Molly climbed on top of him and pushed him down on his back. She unzipped his jeans and pulled them down as quickly as she could. She was worried about the size when she saw the bulge without the protection of his jeans between them, but only the thin cotton of his boxer briefs. She grabbed the elastic and jerked them down to expose the rest of Jack, and he sprang free.

Molly wrapped a hand around him, surprised that her middle finger could not reach her thumb, but began to stroke him. "You're wet already, too." She noticed with a smile as his mushroom tip dripped slightly.

She wrapped her mouth around the head, and Jack's body jerked in pleasure. She smiled when she realized that he had fantasized about her over the years, just as she had fantasized about him. This whole night was a fantasy coming true. How many nights had they slept across the street from each other, with the same dreams about this moment?

She worked slowly at first, then quickened her movements as she felt his body grow tenser and tenser. Finally, he groaned in his own release, and she pulled away, keeping an open palm on his chiseled stomach. She enjoyed watching him as his eyes still trailed all over her body, as if he had never seen anything like her before. At his final sigh, she climbed over him and laid down on top of him. Naked body to naked body.

His hand stroked her hair, and she almost fell asleep. But he kissed her forehead and whispered, "I've wanted you for so long Molly."

"I wanted you, too." She pushed away the words she really wanted to say. She wanted to tell him she had never stopped loving him, and she never would.

"Let’s go get a shower," Jack whispered. "I'm not done exploring you yet."

Molly giggled as Jack lifted her up over his shoulder and carried her to the small bathroom shower.