How Sweet It Is (19 page)

“Three hundred.” The bid came from the back of the crowd, but Jordan knew without looking. She located Molly, who calmly held Celia’s gaze, at the edge of the lawn. The crowd seemed to enjoy the new development and murmurs of “uh oh” and “Mikey’s got a sidekick” rippled down to the front row. If the town thought Molly was in cahoots with her brother, it made the scenario all the more perfect. But Jordan knew differently and the secret she shared with Molly made things exceptionally alluring.

“Three hundred going once, twice, and sold to one Molly O’Brien. Sorry, Jordan. There’s no telling what lies in store for you.”

She tried her best to look appropriately nervous. “I can hardly wait to find out.”

*

Several hours later and Molly, once again, couldn’t sleep. Instead, she tossed and turned and marinated on the events of the day. There was the fun she’d had at the booth with her coworkers. The fact that they’d sold out of MollyDollys hours in advance of the close of the festival. The unexpected meeting with Grant Tranton that could lead to so much more. And of course, tucked in the middle of all of that had been her interlude with Jordan.

And let’s be honest, she’d surprised even herself with that impulsive bid.

The slash of jealousy that had cut across her at the thought of Summer spending hours of downtime with Jordan took precedence over her more reasonable side. Her bank account couldn’t really take the hit, but she’d figure out the logistics later, which seemed to be how she was operating most of her life these days. Without a net.

She hadn’t seen Jordan after the auction. She’d slipped away on purpose, helping with the last of the booth cleanup before heading for home. The heat between them had been unmistakable that night, and she didn’t want to do something she’d regret later.

Her feelings for Jordan were complicated.

And she’d have to sort them out in due time. But what was wrong with enjoying whatever this was for a little while first? She didn’t consider herself a selfish person, so for once, she’d like to do something just because she wanted to.

One thing was for sure when it came to Jordan. She had a way of creeping into Molly’s thoughts with a persistence unlike any other.

Like now.

Their tryst in the funhouse had rocked her in a way she hadn’t been prepared for, and as she lay there, staring up at the ceiling, her body latched on to the memory of Jordan pressed up against her, all soft and demanding at the same time. She’d worn shorts and a tank top to bed, but as the memory took over, the covers were becoming too much. She threw them off of her and let the cool air move across her skin as her mind continued its very detailed recollection. She closed her eyes and let the movie play on as the rest of her responded with a slow burn. God.

There was a clinking sound.

She turned onto her side, and resumed her daydream, chalking it up to her aging house.

But there was that sound again.

Clink.

She sat up and surveyed the window in confusion. It wasn’t raining was it? It didn’t sound like rain.

Clink. Clink.

She moved to the window, just in time to see something fly up and hit the glass. What in the world? She peered down and her mouth fell open when she saw the culprit. It took her only a moment to lift the window and hang her head out. Jordan stood beneath with the wind in her hair. For a moment she just stared, because it was a breathtaking image. “What are you doing?” she finally whispered.

“Just making sure you got home okay,” Jordan whispered back. She was smiling and Molly couldn’t help but smile back.

“I did. Look. Here I am.” She rested her chin in her hand. “It’s after midnight, you know.”

“I know. I couldn’t sleep. I wanted to say good night.”

Molly stared at Jordan, the air around them heavy. She made a decision. “I’ll come down.” She closed the window, considered putting on a robe, but decided against it. She descended the stairs and opened the door.

And there she was.

Blue eyes, full lips, glossy, windblown hair. But it was the way Jordan was looking at her that stole her breath and sent the ripple of longing through her. Her body responded noticeably, as if Jordan had already touched her. What happened next was clear to her.

They moved to each other at the exact same time, their mouths colliding, no preamble needed. It was hot, bewildering, and hazy. Molly slid her hands into Jordan’s hair, holding her in place as her lips and tongue began to explore. Somehow, they stumbled inside and that was good. That’s what she wanted.

Jordan kissed her back like she was starving, but Molly was right there with her. Kissing, tasting, reveling. Then hands got into the fray. Jordan grasped her waist and lifted Molly onto the small entryway table. Her palms moved up Molly’s ribcage to the outsides of her breasts. There was a moan. Hers.

“God, you’re sexy,” Jordan murmured into her skin.

The adjective stopped Molly short because no one had ever used that word to describe her before. Girl next door, maybe. Cute or pretty, on occasion.

But not sexy.

“Something wrong?” Jordan breathed, pulling back and studying her face.

She shook her head. “Just the opposite.” And she captured Jordan’s mouth in a searing kiss, encouraged in a way she couldn’t quite explain. She felt confidence for days and it was liberating.

Jordan’s lips found her neck, her ear, and circled back to her lips again. God, it felt good, but she wanted more. She wanted things she couldn’t even name and she wanted them now. Their pace was fast and that was okay too. Once the fire between them took hold, she wasn’t sure it could be any other way.

Molly pulled her lips from Jordan’s just long enough to unbutton Jordan’s shirt and free her of it. She dipped her head to kiss the tops of breasts peeking out from the black bra. Sensing Molly’s need, Jordan reached behind and unclasped the bra, letting it fall to the floor. Molly sighed in deep appreciation then, because Jordan was that exquisite. She didn’t have the luxury of dwelling, however, and settled her mouth first on one breast and then the other, giving each the much-deserved attention until Jordan was writhing beneath her touch.

“Upstairs,” she breathed, helping Molly off of the table.

She nodded wordlessly and pulled Jordan by the hand up the stairs. When they hit the top step, they fell together again, kissing and stumbling their way into the bedroom where they landed at the foot of Molly’s bed.

And they were underway.

Molly wanted Jordan more than she’d ever wanted anything in her life.

She set to work unbuttoning Jordan’s jeans and sliding them off of her. The slinky black underwear she revealed was just icing on the cake. Leave it to Jordan to be sexy in every sense of the word. She stood then and ran an appreciative hand from Jordan’s shoulder, across her breast, down her stomach, and settled ever so gently between her legs, pushing upward just a tad. “Christ,” Jordan gasped, closing her eyes.

With only Jordan’s underwear now separating them, Molly let out a long, shuddering breath before sliding them gently down her hips. Jordan sucked in air.

Control shifted to Jordan and Molly’s tank top was the next thing to go. She kissed Molly onto the bed and removed her shorts and the panties underneath before settling herself on top.

When they finally came together, skin on skin, Molly’s desire had tripled. Lust was a very powerful thing, she decided, as her body rubbed up against Jordan, searching for any sort of purchase. Some kind of relief. Her center pressed against Jordan’s thigh and she began to move, arching upward, as Jordan focused her attention on Molly’s breasts, her tongue tracing first one nipple and then the other.

“Jordan, please,” she whispered. It was all too much. She couldn’t take any more of the throbbing, the sensations that were racing through each and every part of her. She’d never experienced anything like it in her entire life. It was like electricity, this thing between them. Yeah, that was a good word for it. Electric.

Sensing her desperation, Jordan kissed down her stomach as her hand slipped between them, sliding with purpose to where Molly needed her most. As Jordan entered her, Molly’s vision flashed white. On the second thrust, she climbed higher and then higher still as Jordan continued to move within her. Her body undulated, out of control now, but she didn’t care. She cried out and clung to Jordan, her body erupting in a climax so powerful that it was all she could do to just hold on as powerful wave after wave after wave shot hard and fast through her. She was aware of the fact that she was still calling out, which was rare for her because she never called out during sex.

But it wasn’t that way tonight. Not with Jordan. She should have known Jordan would be thorough. With her hands. Her mouth.

Jordan rocked her through it until their bodies stilled against each other.

“Oh my God,” she breathed when it was all said and done. She stared at the ceiling in wonder, trying to make sense of the magnitude of the pleasure she’d just experienced. “That was so good. How was that so good?”

Jordan stared into her eyes from above. “Yeah?”

“Yeah, really, really good. Did I say good already? I should have because I don’t even—” She kissed Jordan in appreciation, but the kiss was like a drug that grabbed hold of them once again, and the passion that had subsided built to a steady rhythm as their kissing continued. Molly slid her hands down Jordan’s back and cupped her from behind, pulling her in, which elicited a quiet moan from Jordan. Encouraged, she rolled them over, a new determination overtaking her. She’d been preoccupied with thoughts of Jordan’s body for weeks now, and she finally had the chance to do something about it. It was excitement layered with anticipation.

Her mouth was on the move and she settled first at Jordan’s collarbone, licking across its expanse. As she moved lower to Jordan’s breasts, she let her hand trail lightly across Jordan’s stomach and down to her thighs. She placed feather light caresses across their insides. Jordan tossed her head against the pillow and moaned quietly. She began to move her hips in attempt to connect better with Molly’s hand, but that wasn’t what Molly had in mind. Taking the cue, she kissed her way across Jordan’s perfectly toned stomach, parted her thighs gently, and allowed her mouth to play. She avoided the one spot that would send Jordan over the edge, kissing around it teasingly until the sounds from above gave her all the encouragement she needed. And she took Jordan more fully.

Jordan jerked and Molly felt fingernails dig firmly into her shoulders. In response, she slid into Jordan, closing her eyes at that feeling of complete envelopment and began to move. She looked up and watched as Jordan threw her head back and rode out the release in beautiful rhythm. God, she was gorgeous. It was quite possibly the most picturesque thing she’d ever watched happen.

Once Jordan collapsed back onto the bed, Molly crawled up beside her and traced the outline of her jaw softly. “Hey, you,” she said quietly after a few moments.

“Hey, yourself.”

“That was incomparable.”

Jordan turned onto her side so she faced Molly more fully. “I can’t believe we just did that.”

Molly laughed. “Me neither. We’re crazy.”

“I think I love being crazy.” Jordan began to absently play with her hair. It was soothing, and she lowered her head onto Jordan’s shoulder and settled in. She could easily fall asleep to this.

“What made you stop by and, you know, throw things at my window?”

“I tried to sleep, but I couldn’t stop thinking about you, us, earlier.” It was nice to hear she hadn’t been alone.

“The funhouse,” Molly said.

“The funhouse,” she agreed. “I’ll never look at one of those things the same way again.”

Molly absently traced a pattern on Jordan’s stomach and squinted to better make out the numbers on the digital clock next to her bed. “Geez, it’s late.”

“Should I go?”

It was an important question.

They hadn’t established anything. Discussed what it was that they were doing. It had been all action with very little logic. But regardless of what the future did or did not hold for them, when she looked at Jordan, Molly felt genuine affection. They had a history. They were friends. Friends who were apparently more than a little compatible in bed, which brought up a lot of questions. “No, you’re welcome to stay. I just made the comment because I have to be up at four thirty. Baker’s lot in life and all.”

Jordan looked at her skeptically. She sensed Molly’s unease. That much was clear. “You know what? It’s probably better that I’m not missing in action when morning rolls around at Tuscana headquarters. Fewer questions, you know.”

But in actuality, she wouldn’t be missed. They both knew the doctors would be too focused on their morning rituals and getting the clinic up and running to check in on Jordan. It had always been that way. They were loving parents, just not always hands on.

“Jordan, you don’t have to—” But Jordan was already up and gathering her clothes one piece at a time. Molly pulled on a robe and followed her silently down the stairs. She waited patiently in the darkened entryway as Jordan pulled on her shirt.

A space had opened up between them. The mood had shifted.

It wasn’t carefree and fun, the way it had been just minutes before. The air was full of uncertainty, protocol, doubt.

From the doorway, Jordan held Molly’s gaze for several seconds before she said anything. “Tell me we’re not going to pretend this never happened.” She stared skyward as she continued. “Because I don’t think I could handle that.”

She looked so entirely vulnerable that Molly closed the distance between them. She lifted a hand to Jordan’s cheek, stroking it with her thumb. It was meant to convey how much she cared and that what they’d just shared mattered to her. “You know, I don’t think that would be possible even if I tried.” She brushed Jordan’s lips with hers. “Sweet dreams.”

Jordan nodded solemnly and headed off down the sidewalk.

Molly went back inside and sat at her kitchen table, alone with her thoughts. And there seemed to be a lot of them. Her mind became very active, and with lust out of the way, the volume of what she’d just done hit home with staggering candor.