Heat (32 page)

And in this neighborhood, they didn’t provide much.

I pushed open the door that I had walked through every Tuesday and Saturday for the past three months. The SAT tutoring room. We did other kinds of tutoring too, but the main focus was improving test scores. For some reason my parole officer had gotten fixated on that part of my high school transcript.

I was sort of good at taking those stupid tests for whatever reason.

Not that I enjoyed it. It was just like breathing. Easy.

The usual suspects were there. Some new kids. And a flash of red hair in the back of the room where Mrs. Kelsey used to sit.

I knew the head of the program had been replaced for the summer. I stopped in my tracks when I saw who was now in charge.

Speak of the God Damn Devil.

Or think of her. And I had been. Non-stop. Even after that impersonal text she’d sent me.

What the fuck had that been about?

Little Miss Frannie Turner stood by the back wearing the most erotic pair of pants I’d seen in my life. They weren’t skin tight exactly. They just showed a hell of a lot more than her jean skirt had. These pants hugged her curves in a way that made me want to toss her down over one of the desks and have my way with her.

I walked right the fuck up to her. Not that I had a choice. I had to check in or I didn’t get credit for the hours. I would have liked to think of something clever to say first.

Fuck it.

“Hey.”

She turned and her eyes widened.

“What are you doing here?”

“I work here.”

She glanced down at her list and back at me.

“Jace!”

One of my favorite kids, Theo, came up and high-fived me.

“What’s up, my man!”

“Just talking to this pretty woman here.”

“You gonna help me with my summer reading or what?”

“I’ll be there in a minute T.”

He nodded wisely. Theo was pretty fucking smart for a fifteen- year-old.

“Wow, I had no idea you were so civic minded.”

Frannie was staring at me. I could see I was gaining points with her. I hated to do it but I had to disillusion her.
 

The sooner the better.

Right fucking now.

“I’m not doing it out of the goodness of my heart. This is community service.”

Her eyebrows shot up.

“I got arrested last year.”

She recoiled slightly. Shit.

“For what exactly?”

“Racing my car. My Uncle’s car actually.”

“Racing?”

“Drag racing.”

“That sounds dangerous.”

“It is.”

I smiled at her.

“You should come watch.”

Frannie

It was my first day on the job and I was thinking inappropriate thoughts.

Very, very inappropriate thoughts.

Why did he have to be here of all people? Not that I wasn’t happy to see Jace. In fact, it was a bit alarming just how happy I was to see him.

Way, way too happy.

I sighed, picking up another box of files. There was one for each kid but they were completely out of order. I gave up, deciding that was something I should do after hours. Right now, I had to focus on the kids that were actually here.

Not to mention the tutors…

I walked through the room, checking in on the students. I couldn’t seem to stop looking over to where Jace was sitting. His students seemed to adore him.

That didn’t surprise me.

I wasn’t surprised by his intelligence either. That had been obvious from the start.
 

What surprised me was his patience with the kids.

His kindness.

Uh oh.

I was starting to have those thoughts again. Those impossible thoughts I’d been having since the moment I met Jace.

Thoughts about kissing him.

Touching him.

Being with him.

And not just sexually, though that was a lot of it.

In my fantasies, he was my boyfriend.

Yeah right, Frannie.

He looked up and caught me staring. He gave me what I could only describe as a devastating smile. My heart melted.

So did the spot between my legs.

I forced myself to concentrate on something else. Anything else.

A young girl opened the door, staring around nervously. I recognized the look in her eyes. I had felt the same way every time I walked into a new classroom.

“First time?”

She nodded shyly. I held out my hand.

“I’m Frannie.”

“My name’s Vanessa.”

I spent the next hour creating a file on Vanessa and getting her set up with study hours. I was surprised to find out she was almost seventeen. She looked like a kid to me.

I had been that same age just a few years ago… and far more awkward. I liked working with these kids I realized. It was a dream job really. Other than the sketchy neighborhood.

It was kind of heartbreaking to realize that most of these kids called this area home.

The rest of the day passed quickly. Before I knew it the sky outside was turning pink. I was working on the files again when I heard a gravelly voice that sent chills down my spine.

“You ready?”

I looked up to see Jace leaning on my desk. Everyone else had cleared out. We were alone.

“Huh?”

“Let’s get out of here.”

“What do you mean?”

He held up a pair of keys.

“You want your car back don’t you?”

“Oh, is it ready? I don’t have my check book with me…”

“That’s okay, you need to change first anyway.”

“Change?”

“The price of these keys is coming out with me tonight.”

My mouth must have dropped open. He wasn’t kidding. He really was going to blackmail me into going out with him?

But then I saw the twinkle in his eye and laughed.

He was joking. I could turn him down if I wanted to.

But I didn’t want to turn him down.

I smiled up at Jace, wondering if I was losing my mind.

Realizing I didn’t care if I was.

“Why not?”

Chapter Seven

Jace

I threw my arm over the back of the seat and looked to the side, letting my eyes slide over her body. Frannie didn’t seem to notice. Her hands were gripping the bar that had locked us into place in the Ferris wheel seat.

I leaned back and watched her as the ride started to spin.

She looked like a little kid, nervous and excited. Her cheeks were pink and her eyes sparkled when she turned to look at me.

“I thought you didn’t like Ferris wheels.”

“I don’t! I’m petrified.”

I grinned at her.

“I’ll protect you.”

She laughed as if that were the wittiest thing I could have said. I laughed too, her laughter was that infectious. As soon as we got to the top of the wheel I slid over to her. Her face was startled as she looked into my eyes. My eyes lowered to her soft inviting lips.

I leaned in and tilted my head, angling my mouth against hers.

Her lips felt like pillows underneath mine. Warm and sweet. Her breath mingled with mine as I slowly eased into the kiss, nibbling and licking her until she opened her mouth.

Then the kiss went wild.

My hands reached for her hips as I pulled her against me. Her breasts mashed against my chest and I moaned, diving back into her mouth to tangle my tongue with hers.

I felt like my dick was a fucking rocket, it was so ready to lift off.

The next thing I knew the ride had stopped and a crowd of people were staring at us. I guess we didn’t notice. I wanted the ride to go on and on. As it was I had to hold my jacket in front of me as I climbed out.

I glanced at Frannie. Her pretty lips were swollen and pouting. I wanted to get horizontal with her right fucking now.
 

Jesus Christ, what was she doing to me?

The girl had the moves that was for fucking sure.

I took her hand and pulled her toward the boardwalk, desperately looking for a place to be alone with her. She smiled at me shyly. There was an innocence in her gaze that made me absolutely sure that she had no fucking clue what I had in mind.

I had a sinking feeling that Frannie was a good girl. That her innocence might be a problem. That it might take more than a Ferris wheel ride to get into her pants. It wasn’t going to stop me from trying though.

I knew something else too.

I knew it without a doubt.

This girl was going to be mine.

Frannie

I couldn’t believe I was here. On a date. With Jace.

The most gorgeous guy I had ever laid eyes on.

And he liked
me
.

How crazy was that?

Nevada was going to flip when I told her.

Crap, I better take a picture…

How was I going to do that without being a total dork though?

We walked down the stairs that led to the sand. It was cooler down here, and really quiet. I looked around, staring up at the moon. And then Jace grabbed me and pulled me under the boardwalk.

I had a split second of wondering what the heck he was doing before his mouth came crashing down on mine.

He moaned as if he’d been dying to kiss me.

Like he was in the desert and I was a cold drink of water.

Like he was drowning and I was a life raft.

His hands were all over me, pressing and molding me against him and he pushed me backwards. I slammed against one of the wood pilings and then he was there, his hand gripping my thigh, opening me, wedging his body between my legs.

Oh my God.

I heard a soft whimper and realized the sound was coming from me. I was making soft, breathy, utterly feminine noises as he kissed and stroked me. His hands closed over my breasts and we groaned in unison. I’d never been touched there. I had no idea it would feel this good.

Suddenly Jace was lifting my t-shirt up and over my breasts. I felt so exposed, standing against the piling with my shirt half off. His hands cupped me through my bra and he glanced up at me, awe on his face.

My breasts were awe inspiring apparently.

“Hmmm… Frannie… Jesus!”

Then he lowered his head and started kissing me there. Little pecking kisses as he tugged my bra cups down. His lips closed over my nipple and we both moaned again.

He spent what seemed like forever there, just sucking on one nipple then the other as his hips ground into me. I could feel his cock. It was rock hard and burning a hole into me through both of our jeans.

And it was big.

Really really big.

Finally he lifted his head and stared at me.

“Frannie… what are you doing to me?”

I could have asked him the same question. I felt like I was drunk. I’d only been drunk once, when Nev and I grabbed a bottle of sparkling pink wine from one of the parties at the Westlake’s estate in tenth grade.

That had been exciting, until the morning after anyway.

But this blew it out of the water.

We were both out of breath as Jace lowered me to the sand. He kissed me again, rocking his hard on against me. His hands went to the buttons on my jeans and I stopped him, rolling away.

“What’s wrong?”

“I can’t.”

“I thought you said you didn’t have a boyfriend.”

I couldn’t look at him as I knelt there. I started adjusting my bra and shirt. Jace said something under his breath that sounded like a curse.

“I don’t.”

He looked at me, a question in his eyes.

“Have a boyfriend.”

“Then what’s the matter?”

I took a deep breath and looked at him.

“I’ve never done this before.”

He grinned at me cheekily.

“Fooled around on the beach?”

I shook my head.

“Fooled around period.”

His eyebrows lifted.

“You haven’t…”

I shook my head, knowing I was ruining it. He was going to think I was a freak. But I couldn’t lie.

“I’ve never even been kissed.”

He laughed and pounced on me, pressing me back into the sand as he lay on top of me.

“Shut the fuck up. You are messing with me.”

Slowly I shook my head no.

He blinked, staring at me with a look of surprise. There was something too. He looked… kind of happy about it.

“Seriously?”

I nodded.

“Seriously.”

He leaned down and kissed me softly. Then he helped me to my feet and pulled me into his arms again.

“That’s okay. We don’t have to rush.”

I stared up at him, not sure what to say. Finally I just nodded, brushing my hair out of my face. Sand fell everywhere, breaking the tension.

We both laughed.

“Come on, let’s find another ride to go on.”

“Okay. There’s one more thing…”

He tilted his
 
head to the side, waiting.

“I want to pay you for the car.”

He blinked at me in the darkness. He had no idea what I was talking about.

“If you thought I was going to pay you like this…”

He laughed.

“How about this, I’ll let you pay for the parts since they are my uncles anyway. The sweat is on me.”

I exhaled sharply and nodded.

“That would be great. Thank you.”

He grinned at me.

“I like the way your mind works though. You can pay me like this for whatever you want.”

He grabbed my waist and pulled me back against him.

“Um Jace, that’s the exact opposite of what I meant.”

He brushed my hair away from my face. The way he was looking at me was hot… and tender.

“I know that, Francine Turner.”

I gawked at him.

“How did you know my name?”

He grinned.

“Triple A, babe. That’s where I meet all my women.”

I laughed. He was ridiculous. I was either blushing or laughing around him non-stop.

I liked it. I liked it a lot.

He leaned in to kiss me as his phone went off.

“Now, where were we?”

We kissed for a moment, our lips and tongues dancing.

His phone beeped again.

“Aren’t you going to get it?”

“Hell no.”

I shoved his chest.

“Go on, it could be important.”

He shrugged, pulling his phone out. It was important. I could tell by the way his eyes changed when he saw the text.