Love Is the Drug (13 page)

His dad’s choice of words made Jason want to squirm in his chair like a six-year-old in the principal’s office. He cleared his throat. “Yeah, Dad. I’ll think about it.”

“So? Is she here?”

He cleared his throat again. “Uhmm. Yeah, she is.” He cocked his head toward the door. “In the waiting room.”

“Well, go get her!”

* * *

“Julie! We are so very, very, VERY screwed.”

Julie lifted her head and refocused her gaze from the magazine in her lap to the crazed Adonis barreling toward her. She straightened and tossed the magazine on the table. “What are you talking about?”

Jason dropped down into the chair next to her and leaned back, covering his face with his hands. “My dad—the whole fucking world—knows about this goddamned sham of a marriage we got ourselves into last night.”

Julie’s hand flew to his thigh and her nails dug in. “Oh good God! What are we gonna do?” She nearly bit through her lip.

He dropped his hands and looked at her. “I’ll tell you what we’re going to do: Nothing. Nada. At least until my dad’s recovered—okay? He’s actually
happy
about this and I don’t want to upset him, yet.”

For a long moment, Julie could only stare at him.
Another lie.
But finally, she nodded. “Okay.”

Jason sighed. “Okay then.” He looked out toward the nurses’ station. “I’m not sure what the law states as far as annulments, but I’ll talk to my lawyer later—after we’re done here—and find out.” He took hold of her hand and lifted it to his lips. He gave it a soft buss on the back and then he said, “Thanks, Julie. You’re being so great about all this.” He sat forward then. “Look, he wants to see you. You think you can handle it?”

Oh, God!
“Yeah. Sure.” She looked down at herself and combed her fingers through her hair. “But—Jason, I’m such a mess! I wanted to look more professional the first time I saw your dad! He’s going to think he’s partnering with a rube or something!”

Jason took hold of both her hands and pulled her to her feet. “You look fine—beautiful. Besides, my dad already likes you. Hell, he’s been all for this partnership from the get-go.” He let go of one of her hands and tipped her chin up, forcing her to look directly at him. “Anyway, he’s not going to be thinking of you as just a partner now—he’s going to be thinking of you as his daughter-in-law.”

She blinked at him. Her brain had stalled on the word
beautiful
. Did he really think so? She smiled up at him. “Okay—at least I was able to wash my face and brush my teeth at the airport earlier.”

He grinned down at her and squeezed her hand. “C’mon then,” he said, and pulled her forward. She was surprised, but thrilled, when he continued holding it throughout the remainder of their visit.

* * *

“See, the house is fine,” Jason said three days later as he steered the BMW up the drive. He looked at Julie in the rearview mirror. “No exploding gas.”

Julie shook her head and rolled her eyes at him.

Gabe turned around and looked at her. “Is there a problem with the gas?” He switched his gaze to Jason. “You should have someone look at that pretty quick.”

“Nah, Dad. I was just giving Julie a hard time. She was worried about leaving everything behind the other day.”

Julie sat forward and patted the older man on the shoulder. “Thanks for letting us talk you into this. Neither Jason nor I felt comfortable leaving you to recover alone in Houston.”

Gabe smiled at her but shook his head. “I still don’t think having an old man around on your honeymoon is a good idea.” He gave his son a pointed look. “I want a grandbaby PDQ.”

Julie saw Jason tense and hastily said, “Besides, having my other partner around will make everything run a lot smoother.”

Gabe patted her cheek. “You’re a sweet girl, Julie.”

Julie felt her face flush. “Thanks, Gabe—I mean, Dad.”

Jason grinned into the rearview at her.

She felt the heat spike. It melted her insides.

“We’re here,” Jason said as he turned off the ignition.

Julie looked up at her house and took in a deep breath. “Yes, we are.”
And now the true charade would begin.

* * *

Julie opened Jason’s carry-on case later that day and took out the shopping bags. The past few days, they’d spent so much time at the hospital, or dealing with the media hounds—thank God, the story of their elopement was quickly becoming old news—that this was the first chance she’d gotten to even think about the packages.

She opened the smaller one first. “Oooh, pretty,” she said as she brought out a cream colored short silk nightgown with lace on the bodice. She smoothed the silk over her cheek and sighed. Nice. After laying it on the bed beside the case, she looked back inside the bag. Her brow furrowed as she put her hand inside and stroked her fingers over the material. Leather.
Black
leather.

Alarm bells sounded in her head, but she clutched the garment anyway and pulled it out. A portion dropped to the bed and she stared at it. Shorts. She looked back at what she held in her hand and drew the garment open more. A
bustier?

She looked behind her at the closed door and then walked over to the full-length mirror in the corner. With her head cocked to the side, she positioned the thing over the front of her torso.

“Yep, I was drunk all right,” she said to her reflection. “Drunk as a skunk.”

And then her eyes riveted onto the larger bag and narrowed. She turned and walked back to the bed and pulled out the oblong box inside the bag. She’d thought this would be the cocktail dress they’d talked about buying, but now she wasn’t so sure.

She settled the box on the bed and lifted its lid. “Oh, good lord.” Even though she could see
what
they were, she just had to lift one of the boots out. How did women walk in these things, anyway? She set it down next to her right leg and stood on tiptoe. Even with that, the upper portion would nearly come up to her
hoo-ha
.

She giggled. And then she snorted. And then she crowed.

Oh my God!
Jason
had
to have put her up to this! She fell onto the bed, cackling like a crazy lady. And after the strain of the past four days, it was a much-needed tonic.

Another minute or so passed and then she sat up, wiping the tears of laughter from her eyes and cheeks. She reached over and lifted the silk nightgown to look at it once more.
Perfect.

Tonight, she’d wear this. Tonight, she’d give him what she owed him. Tonight, she’d finally learn how to make love. How to be made love to. How to be a woman. By
Jason Jörgensen.

A fearful, excited thrill went through her. She glanced down at the shorts and then back to the gown. If she were a much bolder person, she’d wear the leather.

But she wasn’t.

Hopefully, the gown would be enough of an enticement.

If
she didn’t chicken out.

* * *

Late that night, Jason walked into Julie’s bedroom and shut the door behind him. She was in her bed already. And—oh, God—he could see her nipples through the pale slip she was wearing. He swallowed hard and then cleared his throat. “Hey,” he whispered, “my dad’s finally gone to bed.”

How was he supposed to resist that? HOW?

She laid the magazine she’d been reading on her lap and sat forward. The front of the gown fell open and he got an unobstructed view of her gorgeous left breast. His dick took notice, too.

“Good,” she whispered back. She tucked her hair behind her ear and when she dropped her arm, one of the straps slipped off her shoulder.

His heart kicked into overdrive.

“Look, Jason, I’ve been thinking. Maybe, it would be safer for us to share the bed instead of you sleeping on the floor—you know, just in case.”

It was an effort, but he managed to lift his eyes to her face.

She licked her bottom lip and Jason bit back a groan. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea, Julie.”

Her shoulders slumped. “Really, why?”

“Because.”
He took several steps toward her. “If I got in bed with you right now, it wouldn’t be to sleep—understand?”

Her eyes widened and her lips fell open. He could see the rise and fall of her shoulders as her rate of breathing increased. And then she shocked the hell out of him. She reached over and threw back the sheet on the other side of the bed and said, “That’s fine. I mean, good.”

“What?”

“Jason, this is hard enough for me—please don’t make me be more specific. Just—just get in bed, okay?”

For a second, all he could do was nod like a dumbass. Then his brain unfroze and he shot a glance toward the bathroom. “I need to get a condom out of my shaving kit first.”

She thrust her hand under the sheet covering her lap and came back with one between her fingers. “I got one already.”

Jason grinned. He was back on his game. He reached over his shoulder, grabbed hold of the back of his shirt, and yanked it over his head. He toed off his shoes, pulled off his socks and pushed his jeans from his hips. He kicked them out of the way as he walked toward her. At the side of the bed, he paused. “This is it, Julie. You sure?”

Her eyes were wide, but she nodded jerkily.

He smiled at her as he lay down on his side next to her. He propped his head in his hand and lifted his other one toward her, “C’mere.”

* * *

Julie’s heart was beating like a scared rabbit’s.
‘This is it’
he’d said—and boy, oh, boy was it. She slid the fallen strap of her gown onto her shoulder and settled back, rolling to her side to face him. Resting her head on her bent arm, she looked at his chin. She just wasn't quite bold enough to look him in the eye. Not yet. They were only an inch or two away from each other now and she could feel his warm breath on her cheek.

“I’m going to kiss you now, Julie.”

She nodded.

He brought his hand up to her cheek and leaned toward her. It was feather-light, his lips barely there before they were gone again, but, oh dear lord, she felt the power of it down to her toes.

“Do you remember kissing me in the hotel room?”

She dragged her eyelids open. “No—you mean that night—after the marriage?”

He chuckled and tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear. He kept his hand there, resting it on her cheek. “Nope. When we first arrived. You told me I had lips like Keanu Reeves—”

She tensed
. “Keanu R—”

“Yeah—and then you laid one on me—but good.”

She rolled onto her back, covering her hands with her face at the same time. “Oh dear God! I’m so
embarrassed!
”

He leaned toward her. “Don’t be. Because—and I am not bullshitting you here—hands down, that was the best damned kiss I’ve ever had. That is, until this last one.”

She moved her hands down her face, away from her eyes, her fingertips stalling on her cheeks. She stared up at him and said, “Really?”

“Really.”

He rolled over, half on top of her and braced himself on his elbows on either side of her head. He looked into her eyes and said, “You know this isn’t ‘til death do us part,’ right?”

That broke her heart a little. “Yeah, I know.”

“And you’re really okay with that? No regrets later?”

She shook her head. “No regrets. I promise.”

He gazed down at her another few seconds, as if he didn’t really believe her, but then he must’ve changed his mind because his lids dropped shut and he kissed her again. But this time, it was raw, hungry. He forced her lips apart with his tongue and devoured her mouth. She couldn’t catch her breath.

And then his hands were everywhere at once, stroking her breasts through the silk and lace of the nightgown, down her waist, over her belly, along her thighs, and then between them.

“Open for me, Julie,” he said against her mouth, and when she did, he cupped her there, massaging, pressing his palm against her, teasing the core of her through the silken barrier of her gown with those long fingers of his. She gasped and rotated her hips. His eyes dropped down her torso then moved up to her face again. “Do you like this?” His breathing was growing as ragged as her own.

And then he lightly ran his fingernail over her clitoris. Back and forth. Back and forth. Back and forth. Her thighs began to tremble. The black centers of his eyes opened wide as he looked into hers. “Have you ever come before, Julie?” he asked. And then, before she could answer, he stepped up the tempo.

“Aaahhh,” she cried out, squeezing her eyes shut and clutching wads of the sheet in her hands.

“Have you?”

“Oh, God!” she gasped. She nodded jerkily. “Yes!”

“You have?”

“Yes!”

His finger halted and he cupped her.

She whimpered.

“By yourself or with someone?”

Her eyes flew open and she gawked at him. The fiery heat of mortification flooded her already flushed face.