Christmas With the Best Man (6 page)

Jasmine relaxed, at least, as much as she could with her entire body taut with need.

She wanted to touch him. Wanted to place his hand beneath her legs where she craved his touch. She was wound more tightly than anyone had made her before.

Finally, he rolled her onto her back, rose and took off his jeans. His arousal stretched his gray shorts. Before she could reach for him, he unfastened her pants. “Lift.”

Her panties remained in place. Joey licked his lips as he reached for them. She lifted her hips again, but he just cupped his hand over her panties.

The pressure of his fingers wasn’t enough. She needed him inside, yet he stroked the lace beneath his fingers. He toyed with the edges and she grew wetter.

“Please…”

“Please what?”

She met his gaze, those burning eyes… “I need you.”

“Need me to what?”

She pushed her hips against his palm. “Touch me.”

One finger slid beneath the lace. “Like this?”

Her gasp preceded an airy, “Yesss.”

He probed her slick heat, teased the throbbing point of her need. Again, he worked slowly, so slowly she wanted to take his hand and force him to bring her to orgasm.

Waiting was the hardest thing she’d ever done.

Then tension began to build in her core. A knot of pleasure threatening to burst. “Oh, Joey…”

“Come for me. Let me watch.”

She was so far gone, self-consciousness wasn’t even on the horizon. She rocked against his fingers, the butt of his palm, losing her grip on awareness of anything but the explosion rising to the top.

And it crested. Her nerves shattered, waves of pleasure, of ecstasy, rolled her, sucked her under.

She was floating, everything out of focus, until she heard his breath beside her.

Joey had tugged off his shorts. His erection throbbed against her thigh. She grasped him, stroked the soft skin.

He grunted. He spread her legs again and knelt between them. “I can’t wait. Slow ain’t gonna work.”

She laughed deep in her chest. “You can say that after what you put me through?”

“You seemed to enjoy it.”

“Just a little.”

He slowly slid inside her. “Never say little to a man who’s making love.”

“I enjoyed it a lot. Ginormously. Immensely. Monumentally.”

“Okay, that last one was a bit over the top.”

“Not from this angle.” She grabbed his hips, her fingers digging into the firm muscles of his butt, and pulled him deeper, harder.

Joey’s eyes closed, and she saw the muscles in his shoulders tense each time he thrust. She felt the hardness of his arousal. Heard his breath speed up.

She rocked her hips to let him in still deeper, until they were one insatiable being. He bent his arms and breathed in her ear, his chest hair bringing her breasts to a peak.

Then her own need built again, tensed, ached, brought her higher than anyone before him had. She hoped he never stopped thrusting, yet she’d shatter if he didn’t.

He took her higher, made her breathless, until she cried out his name and he collapsed on her.

The weight of him on her was perfect. Skin to sweaty skin, their panting breaths mixing in the cool air. Joey was limp, and she was mush. She could stay that way forever.

Eventually, he rolled off her, wrapping his arm around her and curling her into him. Jasmine sighed, every inch of her body sated.

As she lay in Joey’s arms, she felt his retreat into himself as clearly as if he’d gotten up and walked away. She traced a finger through the rough hairs on his arm. Hairy men weren’t her thing, but he had just enough chest hair to make it clear he was a man, which was perfect.

And the way he made her feel when they’d made love…like a beautiful goddess he worshiped. No man had managed to pull that off before.

The silence grew uncomfortable. Get dressed, make an excuse and go home, uncomfortable. That was one reason she preferred to have sex at a guy’s house. She hated having to boot someone out the door when they were done.

Neither she nor Joey could leave. She was on the outside of the narrow bed, so getting up was up to her. Without a word, she grabbed her clothes and ran into the bathroom.

When she came out, he was dressed already and standing by the window.

Lord, what do you say to a guy who gives you the best sex of your life, then closes a door to any insights to what he’s thinking? “Want another Coke?” She bit her cheek. That was a definite cop-out.

Without waiting for an answer, she trotted downstairs and grabbed two cokes, the remainder of the brown bread and cheese.

“Thanks,” Joey said, taking his drink.

“No problem.” Unless she sat in the bathroom all afternoon, there was no escape from the tension in the room. The elephant in the corner. She and Joey had to continue to share this room until the weather finally cleared. They needed to at least acknowledge the elephant.

Jasmine tapped her fingernail against the can, trying to decide how to broach the subject.

“Don’t do that, please.”

Wow, he spoke. That was a start. “Okay. It’s a nervous habit when I need to say something I don’t want to.”

“Hey, you can’t tell me you didn’t like it. I was there, I heard you come. Several times.”

Really? If he was this big an ass after sex with other women, it’s no wonder he was single. “That wasn’t what I had in mind, but good to know you enjoyed it so much. And I know you did, too, so don’t argue that point.”

Setting his Coke on the windowsill, he shoved his fists into his pockets and slumped his shoulders. “Yeah, I enjoyed it. If I had my way, we’d be going for round two. Or is it three or four?” He didn’t laugh, showing no sign of humor.

She let the matter drop. People said women were moody, but women had nothing on this guy.

Her warm and cozy comfort had been drenched with a bucket of ice water.

Chapter Six

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Shit, shit, shit
.

He had no self-control around Jasmine. She wiped out any strength he had, making him a babbling bowl of jelly. They were on a dangerous, dead-end road. Chaz would hate him. Kenzi would despise him. But he couldn’t take back the last few hours.

This whole thing made no sense. No one could go a year knowing someone without noticing some chemistry. Good chemistry. Fucking hot, explosive, shattering chemistry. The energy he felt after making love with her would amp up his concert performance a million times.

He smiled at that thought. If they made love like that before every concert, he’d be dead in a year.

His smile faded. They’d never last a year. She would grow tired of him not being there for her birthday, or for spending Valentine’s Day in a face-to-face phone call.

Nothing he’d done in the past made him want to undo an act as much as these last few days. He was a grown up. He was capable of keeping his fly zipped no matter how attractive a woman might be.

His best friend’s wife’s best friend. At least she wasn’t Chaz’s sister. But Chaz was very protective of Kenzi’s friends. He was going to kill Joey when he found out.

Rain continued to fall outside. Well, fall wasn’t the right word. Blow past at ninety miles an hour was more like it. He couldn’t make an excuse to take a walk or anything. They had no car to drive around in and see the Christmas lights and displays.

He was trapped in a tiny flat with the girl he just slept with, and his conscience. A bad combo.

Talking things out could make them even more uncomfortable, but it was the only way for them to have a chance at being able to speak to one another in the future. Now he just needed the nerve to talk about something he’d never even mentioned to Chaz.

“She couldn’t handle me being gone all the time.”

He heard Jasmine set down the magazine. “Who couldn’t?”

“Her name was Terri. We fell in love about the time Marino was being invited to open concerts for some bigger names. We’re talking real road trips, sleeping on a bus and eating fast food. There were always women available, and Terri couldn’t believe I wasn’t taking advantage of that.”

Glancing at Jasmine to be sure she heard him, he added, “I wasn’t.”

“I believe you.”

“A woman can’t be expected to put up with the lifestyle we have.”

“You’re basically saying the same thing my high school boyfriend did. Long distance relationships don’t stand a chance. Military husbands and wives are idiots for even thinking they can be faithful to each other.” Her voice oozed sarcasm.

“That’s different. Soldiers don’t have a reputation for sex, drugs, and rock and roll. There has to be trust for a relationship to work.” He ran his hand over his head, then scratched that spot on his arm that itched so much lately.

“Now that part I agree on. Why do you keep scratching your arm? Do you have a bite or something? And why are we talking about your ex-girlfriend?”

“You know.” He motioned toward the bed. “This.”

“We had sex, and now you think I’m going to start nagging you about who you’re sleeping with on the road?”

“When you say it like that…” He laughed. “I just mean this was a bad idea.”

“Funny, I thought it was a pretty good fuck.” Jasmine wasn’t smiling, but she didn’t look angry, either. He couldn’t tell what she was thinking.

“It was pretty good. It was excellent. But that doesn’t change who we are. We have to see each other in the future.”

“And we aren’t adult enough to see each other again without creating drama.”

Drama wasn’t the point he’d been going for, but he didn’t know how to say what he meant. “I don’t want us to be fuck buddies.”

“Okay.”

“I like having you as a friend. I know my sarcasm makes that hard to believe sometimes—”

“Sarcasm? I’d say burying your nose in your phone all the time sends a pretty clear message. We had to endure the loss of our phone service for us to connect.”

“That’s why I think we need to pretend this never happened.”

“I can’t do that.” Jasmine’s voice rose in pitch. “You can’t take back such a beautiful moment. You forget it if you want, but I won’t.”

He crossed his arms over his chest. He was an ass for thinking he could discuss this with her and not make things worse. And now he was stuck with her for the rest of the day. Nowhere to escape to.

And on Christmas day, no less.

He was an ass.

~*~

Dinner with Ned and his wife passed a few hours peacefully, but the distance remained between Joey and Jasmine when they reached their flat for the night.

Jasmine undressed in the dark in the bathroom, washing her face without even caring if she washed off all the eye makeup. She had no energy to deal with Joey. No desire to stay any longer with him in that tiny space. She couldn’t stay anywhere else, though, especially since it would be so immature.

She’d repeatedly said they were grownups and could handle the situation gracefully. Yet she’d love nothing more than a hug from her mom as she cried herself to sleep.

She’d save the crying until she was back in Oakland, though. She’d never let Joey know how bad she felt. How disappointed she was.

~*~

They woke the next morning to sunshine. Splashes of sunshine fought to poke through the clouds, but no rain. Jasmine moved about quietly so she wouldn’t wake Joey. He’d be glad to know they’d be leaving soon. He’d get to sleep on a mattress again.

By the time she cleaned up and dressed, he was awake, his phone in his hand.

“Do we have a signal?” She picked her phone up from the table by the bed.

“Yeah, finally. I’m booking us on a flight late tonight. It’s the soonest I could get.”

“That’s awesome!” That meant she only had one more day to suffer his moodiness. She could sleep for most of the plane flight and not have to fake pleasant conversation.

He was right about one thing. What they’d done was such a mistake. If he’d kept quiet, she could have set him aside with no heartache, even when she had to see him again. Kenzi would be so busy being a wife, she wouldn’t expect Jasmine to be around much. And Joey would probably go back to Austin to do whatever he does when they aren’t on the road.

She hated when she lied to herself like that.

Before she started packing, she sent a text to Kenzi.
We’re finally getting off this freakin’ island!

That’s awesome!
Kenzi sent back.
I’ve been so worried. Did you and Joey get along okay on your own?

Looonnnnngggg story.

Spill!

It can wait until you’re back from your honeymoon.

Ok. You’re still coming over New Year’s Eve, right?

Yup. See you then.

Maybe by New Year’s Eve she could talk about the past few days. Right now she’d either break into tears or throw a raging fit.

When she became too restless to sit in the flat any longer, she bundled into her coat and scarf.