Not Quite Dating (14 page)

Jack wrapped his arms around her. His lips lifted from her sweet skin and found her mouth. She groaned into their kiss but made no move to rush the moment. It was as if they had an agreement not to hurry, to make love slowly, thoroughly.

Her lips were soft, savory. Jack’s mouth lingered on hers, exploring first with his lips, learning every curve, every motion that made Jessie moan, then he offered something deeper and mated his tongue to hers. Nails, hers, dug into his back as she pressed closer. Her breasts flattened against him as she gave in to sensation and let him ravish her with his needy mouth. Heat built and Jessie started to melt in his arms.

Jack backed her up to the bed and followed her down to the mattress. Jessie’s hands were free to roam over his flesh, and she did so with bold, long strokes, down his back and over his jeans-clad ass and thighs. If he wasn’t clothed, he’d be inside of her already; best to keep his pants on as long as he could stand the wicked torture of her touch.

Jessie was on fire. The weight of Jack pressing her into her bed was just as pleasurable as his hands roaming over her hip, past her panties, and
down her thigh. His lips were lethal weapons; his tongue, ammunition that threatened to undo every restraint she possessed.

He kissed her until she was breathless, and then left her mouth to kiss her neck, her shoulder. His hands cupped her taut breasts, and waves of desire shot to her belly and settled between her legs.

Jessie lifted one leg and laid it over one of his until his knee settled firmly against her core. It was so delicious having him in her arms. Thoughts of stopping didn’t penetrate her brain. Only the desire to feel him touch her everywhere ruled her thoughts.

When Jack’s mouth touched her nipple, she lifted off the bed and pushed her hips up and against his thigh. That tiny motion and friction, that connection, needed repeating.

She wanted him so desperately but wouldn’t speed them up any more than he would.

Jessie slid her hand down his thigh and pulled it up between her legs. Jack laughed over her breast. “You laugh now,” she said as she shamelessly tilted her hips against his leg. “I know what you’re doing.”

“Do you?”

“Holding me off, making me pay for all the times I’ve denied you.” He pinched her breast, tossing the words from her mouth and brain.

“Holding you off, but not for payment…for pleasure.” His hand snaked down her taut stomach and teased the edge of her panties.

She held her breath, waiting.

When he hesitated, Jessie opened her eyes and found him staring at her. The smoky flecks in his eyes glistened in the dim light of the room. He moved his fingers between the lace and her skin and slowly sought her wet, throbbing core. There was no way to keep her eyes open when he opened her to pleasure. It had been so long since anyone had touched her, and
if she was honest with herself, no one had ever taken such care of her needs.

His hand moved with her hips. Her breath grew shallow as her body started to tighten and strain. Slowly, Jack backed her down from the growing tidal wave of ecstasy, leaving frustration. “You are a brat, Jack Moore.”

“Good things come to those who wait,” he quoted.

Wait? Hadn’t they waited long enough?

I’ll show you wait.

Smiling, Jessie ran a hand up Jack’s thigh. Her fingers grazed the inside of his waistband until she felt the button snap free.

“Oh no,” Jack moaned when she grazed the outline of his arousal through his jeans. “I’m in trouble, aren’t I?”

Jessie pushed him off her and leaned over him for a change. “Big, heaping mounds of trouble, cowboy.”

Those sexy dimples of his poked through his smile as his hand lifted to her face and stroked her cheek. “I can take it,” he said.

We’ll see about that.

Jessie took her time undoing the series of buttons holding his pants together. She purposely stayed away from the hottest part of his body when she inched his jeans down his hips.

Jack lifted and helped in taking off his jeans. Once they were kicked free of his body, Jack settled back with a grin and wide-open eyes.

He wears boxers
, Jessie thought as she stroked his hip and butt before coming around and purposely avoiding his impressive length. Leaning in, she set her lips to his and opened for his questing tongue instantly.

Jack’s hand returned to her waist and pulled her closer. Her leg settled between his, and now it was Jack’s turn to ride her thigh. Moving quicker, Jessie smiled under his kiss and reached between their bodies to cup him through the cotton of his boxer shorts.

Tearing his lips away, he hissed
out, “Damn, darlin’, this is going to be over too fast if you continue that.”

Jessie eased her hand into the fly of his shorts and took him in her firm grip. “Good things come to those who wait,” she mimicked, teasing him.

Something inside Jack snapped, and Jessie was pinned beneath him in the space of one breath. Jack had her wrists in his hands as he held her away. He kissed her hard, and Jessie had never felt more aware of a man before in her life.

Shaking with desire, Jack lifted his hands from hers, leaned down her body, and removed the scrap of material between her legs.

Lifting from the bed, he tossed his shorts with her panties and reached for his jeans. From his wallet, he produced a condom and quickly covered himself with it. Even that was sexy as hell.

When he returned, Jessie opened for him, cradling him amid her thighs. He leaned in and kissed her softly, the tip of his erection sliding against her, intimately, teasing.

Neither of them could stand the wait any longer.

Jessie ran her hand down his torso, his hip, and rounded in front to position him.

They stared into each other’s wide-open eyes as he took her in slow, satisfying degrees.

Her body fluttered awake; dormant for so long, she knew her body gripped him tight.

“Lord,” he gasped once he was fully seated.

Full and still hungry, Jessie waited for Jack to catch his breath before she rocked up against him.

Jack found her lips and kissed her as they began to move and her body tightened around him. Both of them fought to breathe, an effort in their goal of pleasure. Jessie gloried in the feel of him sliding against her, bringing her higher with every pass.

She lifted her legs around his waist, and he stroked
her perfectly over and over.

“Yes,” she said in a rough whisper. So close to exploding, so close, and then she was there, stifling her moan into Jack’s shoulder and feeling her body spasm around him, draining every nerve ending that had held back for so long.

Jack rode her, prolonging her orgasm, until his breath caught and he moved faster.

“Jessie,” he cried as he found his release and his strokes became slower, longer, until he collapsed on top of her.

Glorious. There was no other way to describe what the two of them were together. She hugged him close and pushed away rational thought.

There was only now. The afterglow of their loving.

Jack shifted to her side and pulled her back up against him, holding her close.

Jessie weaved her fingers with his and closed her eyes. She wanted to say something, but words escaped her, so she settled on silence and Jack’s warmth as they fell asleep in each other’s arms.

The smell of
coffee woke her. Jessie’s eyes fluttered open to find the space next to her in bed empty. Surprisingly, the clock on the dresser told her it was after eight in the morning. Danny usually bounded from bed by seven, but either the lil’ guy was still sleeping or he was doing a superior job of keeping quiet.

The previous night brought an immediate smile to her face. She stretched and felt a slight ache in the muscles she’d used. Oh, but the pain was a very good thing.

She rolled off the bed, tucked her feet into her slippers, and slipped on her bathrobe.

Walking out of her room, she heard the sound of the television running some type of cartoon. In the living room, Danny lay on the couch with a blanket tossed on his lap. In his hands was a bowl of cereal. She didn’t usually let him eat while on the sofa, but he looked so comfortable. After the night he’d had, Jessie didn’t have the heart to encourage him to move to the table.

“You’re up.” Jack smiled as he walked toward her, greeting her with a cup of coffee. The expression on his face told her he wanted to kiss her, but he glanced over at Danny.

The fact that he was worried about Danny, or at least that’s what it appeared to be to Jessie, expressed how very much Jack understood her. “Thank you,” she said
as she brought the coffee to her lips. He’d even put cream and sugar in the cup.

Thoughtful. Always thoughtful.

“Good morning, Mommy.”

Jessie stepped to the couch and placed her cup on the table before touching Danny’s forehead. “How are you feeling this morning, buddy?”

His cheeks and nose were still rosy, and his eyes were droopy. But his skin wasn’t nearly as hot as it had been the night before.

Danny coughed a couple of times and then said, “Better. I think I could go to the park later on.”

Ah, yeah, right
. “I don’t think that’s a good idea today. Maybe by tomorrow.”
Or the day after.

“I checked his temperature when he woke up,” Jack told her. “It was 101.2, so I gave him the Motrin like the doctor said to.”

Jessie glanced between Jack and Danny before brushing Danny’s hair away from his eyes. Danny watched the TV, hardly glancing at her. She stood and walked into the kitchen, where the smell of toast filled the tiny space.

“Thanks for helping Danny out.”

“I hope you don’t mind.”

“Mind? Jack, please, I appreciate it.”

He leaned a hip against the counter and sipped his coffee.

“I can’t believe I slept in. How long have you guys been up?”

“About an hour. I heard Danny in the bathroom and thought I’d sneak out to check on him and let you sleep.”

Jessie stepped around Jack and pulled him out of direct sight of Danny. She leaned up and kissed him. “Thanks,” she said before he pulled her down for a more satisfying kiss.

When he let her go, she smiled and felt her cheeks warm. Jessie stared into the warmth of his gaze, unable to pull away.
What is he thinking?
She looked a mess. Hair brushed
by her pillow, sleep in her eyes, but still he smiled at her as if she were dressed for the ball.

“You’re beautiful,” he told her softly.

“I’m a mess,” she corrected. But the fact he saw through her messy state first thing in the morning was a huge plus.

He brushed his hand against the side of her face and stared directly into her eyes.

“Marry me.”

At first, Jessie thought she’d imagined his words. When Jack kept staring at her, a slight grin on his face, she knew she’d heard him correctly.

“W-what did you say?”

He laughed and wrapped a hand around her waist. “I said, marry me.”

No, not this. Not now.

The air in her lungs started to push through with difficulty, and not in a good way. From the expression on Jack’s face, she knew her face showed her confusion.

Her smile fell, and her hands began to shake. Jessie’s head started to shake. “Jack,” she said breathlessly.

“I want this, Jessie. You, me. Danny. I know you have reservations—”

She pushed out of his arms. “No. Don’t do this. Please.” Dammit. He knew how she felt about dreamers and forever.

Jessie glanced around the corner and saw that Danny had laid his head on a pillow. She grasped Jack’s hand and pulled him into her bedroom. There, she shut the door behind them and spoke in a hoarse whisper. “Why are you doing this? You know I can’t marry you.”

Jack’s smile started to fade. The reality that she was turning him down started to sink in. “Because I’m not rich?”

“N-No.” She spun away from him,
away from the cold that started to penetrate his eyes. “I care for you. Really. Last night was amazing…”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“Think about it, Jack. We get married, you move in here. Then the newness wears off and the bills are making us snap at each other. Or you remember how much you love Texas, but then realize you can’t afford to move back there. You’ll want to run off and I’ll be here, holding on.” She was rambling. Barely making sense. Why did he have to do this to them? Couldn’t they just enjoy a physical relationship? Why make promises he’d want to break later on down the road?

“That’s not going to happen.” He reached for her arm and she pulled away.

“It will. You need to find someone who can run off with you to make your dreams come true. You don’t need me and a kid holding you back.” And he’d regret her and Danny before a year was out. Dreamers hated it when reality slapped them in the ass.

“What if I told you I had money?”

“Stop it! Just stop!” She hated this. Hated that she felt her heart breaking after it was so full of life only minutes before. “We’re friends, Jack. I don’t want to regret last night, because for a moment there I thought maybe we could be ‘friends with benefits’ or something stupid like that. Obviously that’s not the case.” She still saw hope in his eyes, and Jessie knew she needed to say something to get him to find his forever with someone else. “It was just sex, Jack.”

“That’s all it was to you?” he asked harshly. His tone made her want to weep.

Her lip quivered and tears stung her eyes. “Yes.” She did her best to sound convincing. When he continued to stare at her, she spun away. “I think you should go.”

I’m not going to cry. I’m not going to cry.

“Jessie?”

“Just go.” She didn’t turn around. She couldn’t. If he saw the pain in her eyes, he’d know he meant something to her and keep
trying.

Jessie held her breath until she heard him slip from the room. Then she sank to her bed because her legs simply couldn’t hold her up any longer. The sound of her apartment door opening and closing prompted the flood of tears she’d been holding back.

Why? Why couldn’t he be happy with what they had?

Regret was too small a word for the waterfall of pain that saturated her.

She was right in cutting him loose. He would have grown to hate her for tying him down.

But lord, it hurt.

Like she’d let go of something that only came around once in a lifetime.

Jack held back a strong urge to swipe the Christmas tree in the living room of his suite out the window.

The drink in his hand wasn’t numbing him nearly enough. With every hour, his mind vacillated more and more between anger and depression. He blamed himself for blurting out his proposal. If he could have waited, had a ring and done it the right way…

But no. Impulsive Jack jumped right into happily ever after, and now Jessie was out of his reach.

It would be funny if he weren’t so miserable. Jessie had denied him marriage because she thought he was a broke loser with nothing to offer.

How friggin’ ironic is that?

Considering he’d called the damn car dealer that was
working on her broken-down piece of crap and had all but given them a blank check.

He drove away from her apartment thinking he could go back to what they were. Friends.

There was no going back, and moving forward wasn’t an option. Damn. He and Jessie couldn’t even stand still.

His head fell into his hands.

The phone in his room rang, startling him. When he stood to answer it, the room started to spin.

Jack glanced at the clock on his wall. It was six in the evening, and he still wore the clothes he’d tossed on in the middle of the night to rush Danny to the hospital.

The phone kept ringing.

“I’m coming,” he yelled at the phone. Clicking on to the call, Jack nearly dropped the phone before he brought it up to his ear. “What?”

“Well, aren’t you just a ray of sunshine?” a female voice purred over the line.

“Katie?”

“Jesus, Jack, it’s what…six there? Isn’t it early for you to be partying?”

Jack sat before he fell. “You don’t hold the rights to self-indulgence.” Besides, he’d had a bad day.

“First, I hear you’re not coming home for Christmas, now you’re wasted in the middle of the day.”

“I-It isn’t the middle of the day.”

“Blurred speech takes some time to achieve, Jacko. What the hell is wrong with you?”

Women!
“Nothing. I’m fine.”
Drunk, but fine.
As long as he sat perfectly still, the room only swayed when he inhaled…or exhaled.

Katie’s uppity voice dropped. “Who is she?”

Damn woman.
“I’m hanging up now.”

“Jack. Don’t you dare. I’ll be the—”

He lifted the phone in front of his eyes
and hit the End button…twice.

Then, because the bedroom was too far away, Jack sat back and closed his eyes.

The next twenty-four hours were a blur for Jessie. Danny’s fever rose and fell, but by nightfall, she thought she’d seen the worst of his symptoms. By tomorrow morning, he’d be hard to hold down.

Danny asked about Jack too many times to count.

Where was he?

Was he coming back?

Why did he leave?

Would they be seeing him for Christmas?

With every question, another nail was jammed into the coffin she’d made of her life. Monica was due back that night, and Jessie could hardly wait for her sister to get home so she could cry on her shoulder and hear what a fool she’d been.

Without a doubt, Monica would be calling her all kinds of stupid for saying no.

They would argue. Jessie would put into words why she had to cut Jack loose, and Monica would try to change her mind.

But Jessie was older. She knew better.

Her phone rang. Jessie’s heart leapt in her throat. What if it was Jack?

Jessie waited for the answering machine to pick up.

“This call is for Jessica Mann. Ms. Mann, this is Phil Gravis over at Upland Toyota…”

Her car. She scrambled to pick up the phone. “Hello?”

“Ms. Mann?”

“Yes, this is her. Sorry, I was
in the other room,” she lied. “Didn’t hear the phone.” Lie number two.

“Not a problem. Ummm, about your car.”

Oh, please…no more bad news. She really couldn’t take it. “Yes?”

“We had a slight mishap here in the garage.”

“Mishap?” That couldn’t be good.

“A fire, actually.”

Her car. Bad as it was, was only insurance for the other guy. Dammit, the sky was falling and Jessie was standing dead center of the funnel cloud.