Sweetened With a Kiss (17 page)

“I win, you give me my money, I sign whatever you need to give you permanent control over the stock and you call off this whole farce of a wedding.”

His arms tightened around her as he buried his face against her neck. “And if I win?”

“If you win, we’ll already be married, won’t we?”

“True, but I need a sweetener.”

“You don’t like sugar,” she reminded him.

“That’s where you’re wrong.” His tongue lapped along her throat and Jen almost came unglued. “Very sweet.”

“What do you want?” she asked.

“You move the bakery location out of the French Quarter.”

She tried to wrench away from him. “You realize this means war?”

“I was hoping you’d say that, baby.”

“The Seller's Calm  is going down,” she promised him.

“Can’t wait.” His voice was like silk against her ears. “Deal?”

“Deal,” she snapped.

“Excellent,” he whispered. “Even if I lose I still win.”

“Proving you really don’t want to marry me at all.”

“See, you have got to start paying attention. You said wedding not marriage.”

She wrenched away from him and jerked the door open.

“I warned you not to play with me,” he reminded her.

“You’d better come eat before I spit on your steak!” She stalked out of the office, furious when she heard him laughing.

Stefan’s victory was short-lived. Sitting at the table watching her with Jared Marshall turned out to be an exercise in pure, white-hot masochism. Oh, he had no doubt that they were just friends. There wasn’t even a hint of a spark of anything between them other than silliness. They acted like a couple of kids around each other. He couldn’t even hate the younger guy because it was so clear that Jared Marshall had the unique ability to make Jen radiantly happy.

Stefan had known Jen all her life but not once had he ever seen her like this. She was completely relaxed, meeting every crazy thing Jared said head on. They laughed. She giggled and teased him viciously. Stefan was seeing the real, unguarded Jen Taylor for the very first time. His gut twisted painfully. He should have seen this side of her way before now. Why had she been so guarded with him all this time? How much more of herself was she holding back? He’d had glimpses of her wicked sense of humor before, and he had been learning first hand over the last few days that she could cut him to ribbons with her smart mouth. Her little declaration of war earlier in his office had almost brought him to his knees. He had no idea how he’d kept from dragging her down to the floor of his office and letting her win.

Now he wasn’t sure he really knew her at all. He’d thought she was shy, quiet, and timid. Timid? Ha! She wasn’t even close to that when she let herself go. And she was letting herself go tonight. She was telling Stefan in great detail all about Jared’s patented seduction technique.

“He’ll sing that John Mayer song about your body is like Disneyland,” she crowed and Jared almost flung potatoes at her with his spoon.

“Wonderland, freak. It’s Wonderland,” he corrected her.

“Right,” Jen nodded. “Wonderland. I guess I get confused because you’re like Peter Pan with an oversexed libido. Then, when he finishes the song, he’ll take a break, unplug his guitar, and leave Adam to do all the work. He’ll hop off the stage, grab the girl, and disappear into the back with her. He’s got a make-out spot in the back of Trick’s. It’s his lair.”

She was oblivious to the fact that Stefan wasn’t laughing, because she was too busy making faces at Jared. The hippie grinned like an idiot and didn’t deny a single thing she said. “And if they manage to resist him, he invites them over for a quiet dinner and cooks them pasta and feeds them his chocolate cheesecake, and before sunrise there’s another notch on his guitar case.”

“You are so full of it,” Jared told her, sitting back in his seat. “I would never notch my guitar case. Are you crazy?”

She turned to Stefan and her smile dimmed. It might have been kinder if she had just stabbed him in the eye. Because he didn’t want the light going out of her smiles when she looked at him. He wanted her to glow and shine like she had been. He wanted her. All of her. And for once, he wasn’t quite sure how he could go about getting what he wanted. He didn’t like that at all.

“What kind of guitar?” he asked Jared.

“Oh, don’t get him started on the real love of his life,” Jen said, standing up suddenly and clearing dishes. Then she did something that Stefan was pretty sure he would remember and treasure for the rest of his life. She leaned down and kissed him on the cheek, pausing before she raised her head. “I made dessert, so I assume you’re having some?”

He turned his head and found her smiling at him. A real smile. “Absolutely,” he said, and watched her smile finally meet her eyes for him. He absolutely loved that.

While Jen was in the kitchen, Jared leaned back in his chair and downed the rest of his wine.  “You’ve never seen her like this, have you? Really happy, I mean.”

Stefan shrugged, sitting back in his chair, watching her move around in her kitchen. The house was starting to feel like home now that she was in it. Stefan hadn’t felt at home in a very long time.

“I’ve seen her happy,” Stefan told him. “Just not giddy, unguarded, and relaxed.”

“She was like this every day in Paris,” Jared informed him.

“Your point?”

Jared shrugged, looking older and very serious. Stefan finally understood what it was about the other guy that he’d never been able to put his finger on. Jared reminded him of Robert. Robert had been wild and crazy and full of laughter and life the way Jared Marshall was. Maybe that was why Jen was so attached to him.

“Jen is special,” Jared said, keeping his voice low. “I just hope you appreciate what you have. Because she loves you, and does not believe for one single second that you feel the same way for her.”

Stefan nodded, feeling his lungs starting to seize up.

“If you hurt her,” Jared warned, “if you really hurt her, I won’t have to beat the shit out of you, Sellers, because losing her will devastate you. She might not think it now, but eventually, she will get over you.  She can do so much better than you. But that beautiful girl in there,” Jared told him, nodding his head towards the kitchen. “You will never do better than her. You really lose her, you won’t ever recover.”

Stefan stared at the younger man a long time. The deadly serious brown eyes staring back at him were so like Robert’s, Stefan had to remind himself that Robert had died a long time ago. “I like you,” Stefan said finally, fighting a smile at Jared’s confusion. “I’m glad you have her back.” He meant it too. So, Jared Marshall wasn’t a complete fuck up. Whatever. Granted, he should have known that anyone Jen was that attached to wouldn't be, but he wasn’t about to admit to himself or anyone else that he resented the time she spent with Jared.

Jared nodded, then smiled reassuringly at Jen when she looked up and watched them closely. She gave them a wary look then went back to putting strawberries in bowls.

Stefan downed the rest of his wine and set the glass down a little too hard. “You know, you remind me so much of Robert it’s scary.”

“Robert?” Jared asked, his brows narrowing.

“Her brother,” Stefan explained, and the surprise on Jared’s face gave Stefan a tinge of satisfaction. “She doesn’t talk about him?”

“No,” Jared admitted, his eyes going back towards the kitchen. “She never talks about her family or the accident.”

“Because she doesn’t let herself think about it, and most of it she can’t remember. I’d like to keep it that way.”

Jared nodded, surprising Stefan by not arguing with him. The hippie might be irritating, but Stefan accepted that they were on the same side when it came to Jen. He could live with that.

Jen stepped up with three bowls of berry shortcake. “Are you two bonding over here?”

“Not even a little bit,” Stefan assured her, noticing that Jared got his bowl first. “I’m going to beat the shit out of him as soon as you go to sleep.”

“As if,” Jared sputtered around a mouth full of whipped cream.

She grinned. “There’s no sugar in it,” she said, as she set Stefan’s bowl down in front of him. “I used Stevia. See what you think.”

Jared made a face. “Stevia?”

She turned to him. “I put sugar on yours, idiot.”

“Has she made you pancakes yet?” Jared asked, shoving a huge spoonful of berries and pound cake in his mouth.

“Yes,” Stefan said, wondering if he should mention there was no pound cake in his bowl. Just berries and whipped cream. He didn’t really want to get into another white flour argument.

“They’re not as good as my waffles,” Jared insisted and Jen threw a blueberry at him, which he caught with his mouth.

Stefan watched as they started up again with their craziness. This time he smiled, and even started to enjoy it. And even when he tossed Jared out to bunk on Rogan’s couch in the carriage house, Jen was radiating so much happiness that Stefan was almost drunk on it. Rogan grumbled until Jared announced he had leftovers. Stefan suspected Rogan would get pound cake too. He had no idea why he resented that.

“Admit it,” she shouldered him as he shut the door. “He’s not so bad.”

Stefan gave her a doubtful look. “I admit nothing.”

“You finished your steak,” she pointed out.

“Okay, yes, I admit the hippie can cook.”

“Thank you,” she said softly, and he stopped, turning back to her.

“For what?”

She nodded. “For looking at our business plan.”

“It’s solid. I just want you to pick a different location.”

“I’m not going to do that.” Her smile went out completely. She sounded so tired and resigned. He couldn’t take his eyes off her. The set of that delicate jaw and the steely determination in her eyes undid him. Rogan and Elliot were right. This was important to her and he had no right to stand in her way. Besides, her refusal to back down was turning him on like crazy. They’d never clashed about anything before and Stefan was still shocked at just how sexy she was when she was spitting fire at him. He loved it. A lot. So for a minute, he was tempted to not tell her what he’d decided because, damn him, he was enjoying her refusal to give in.

But he wanted her light back more than he wanted the sexual tension that came with the arguments. He wanted her smiling and dancing on air for him. He just wanted her happy more than he wanted to take his next breath. And if the bakery would do that, then she would have the best bakery the city had ever seen. And if it had to be in the French Quarter, well then, “I get complete control and approval over your security system and during Mardi Gras you agree to let me hire security guards.”

She hit him so fast, he almost lost his balance. Long arms and legs wound around him and he was rewarded with more kisses than he could count. He caught her easily and walked the few steps back to the sofa, thinking that ecstatically happy Jen was a helluva lot sexier than angry Jen. He sat down before he could fall down and allowed his fingers to trace through her hair. He pulled her head back so he could see her face. She smiled at him, really smiled, even brighter and more beautifully than she did for the hippie. And gravity lost all its hold on Stefan Sellers as he gave up part of himself he hadn’t even known he was still holding on to.

“And I get pancakes,” he told her, his voice pure gravel again.

“Definitely,” she agreed, leaning to kiss him, and he let her. Let her explore his mouth, slick that pink tongue along his bottom lip and tangle with his. He lasted about thirty-seven seconds before he seized control of the kiss and tried to lose himself in the sweetness of her.

And as usual it all started raging out of his control, but a part of him he just couldn’t seem to stop wouldn’t let it happen.

She was pulling at the buttons on his shirt but her fingers were trembling too hard to work them loose. Finally, he caught her hands, eased her back, wincing at her cry of protest. He raised her hands to his mouth and kissed them. “Slow down,” he told her. “We’ve got plenty of time.”

All the air left his lungs when she batted his hands away and got the buttons loose this time. Then her hands were on him and Stefan could feel his hinges coming loose. Why had he ever believed he was in control? Was he insane? Control and Jen could not occupy the same space for him. If she ever really called his bluff, he was in big trouble.

“Jen,” he hissed, then laughed and choked at the same time when her mouth opened against his stomach. “Baby, hold on,” he gasped, not believing how hot her mouth was on his skin. Also not believing he was actually trying to stop her. Yes, he was crazy. Unfortunately. Or just plain stupid.

“No,” she breathed against him.

He couldn’t remember what they should hold on for. In fact, he didn’t actually have a good reason for stopping her. Her mouth ran havoc up his throat, across his chest, and further down until she was tracing the lines of his abs with her tongue. He groaned, his head going back on the couch as he closed his fingers into tight fists telling himself just one more minute and he’d stop her. Thirty more seconds and he’d slow this down. His belt buckle clinked and the alarm bells won. He caught hold of her frantic hands.