He sat beside her, turning on the bedside lamp so he could see her. The digital clock showed that it was after eleven and he had heard movement in the other part of the house. Some of the family had returned. It was early, so it probably wasn’t Isaac, but he would be home eventually. Jacob was at peace. He had his family close, and he wasn’t alone. Tonight had been a dream come true for him. “I’m all ears, Baby.”
Since he was still naked, Jessie knew that wasn’t true. Even flaccid, his cock was impressive. And now she knew what it felt like as it pushed deep inside of her. It was an experience that she wanted to repeat again and again. “I just want to set a few ground rules.”
“Ground rules?” He didn’t like the sound of that. “What do you mean? I never have been fond of rules.”
“Yea, but these rules are meant to protect you.”
He still didn’t like the sound of that. “I sure as hell don’t need protectin’, especially from you.”
“I want to stay in Kerrville, for a while, to be near you,” she explained. At his questioning look, she just laid it on the line. “Tonight has been the best night of my life, and I would love to explore this amazing connection that we have. But, I don’t expect anything permanent from you. No strings. No promises.” She was going to say it first; it wouldn’t hurt as bad that way. He started to speak, but she placed a hand over his mouth. “Let me finish, then you can say what you feel. I want to make love to you again and again, as many times as you’ll let me.” He reached for her, but she backed out of his way. She still had some things to say. “That said, I also want to be near you for the baby’s sake. If the test proves that you are the father, I want to give you the chance to share in his or her life in any way that you want to. Selfishly, I feel safer near you. Keith McCay made me very uneasy. I’m sure that he’s glad that we are out of his life and on our way, but just in case, being near to you is good.” She watched his face. He was listening, but he wasn’t happy.
“Tell me about McCay. Why are you afraid of him?”
“They insisted I live with them. I had to quit my job. Actually, I just became their live-in maid. But, that was all right. I would have been bored to tears without something to do. But Keith, he wasn’t right, he was strange. He watched me all the time and he would come into my bedroom during the night.” Jessie twirled a lock of hair around her finger as she relived the uncomfortable memories. “Sometimes, when his wife wasn’t around he would find excuses to touch me, but I always managed to find somewhere else I needed to be. After we received word that he wasn’t the father of my baby, they both lost it. She yanked me by the hair and tried to get me to go to an abortion clinic. I told her there was no way. It was no problem to give their money back, and leaving their house was a relief. But, Keith - Keith said some things that bothered me. He said that I would be sorry if I had anyone else’s baby, but his.” The other things that he said didn’t bear repeating. Jessie didn’t like to even remember - much less enunciate them.
“Have you told the sheriff about any of this? Maybe, we should get a restraining order against them. It’s better to be safe than sorry.” Jacob was already mentally making a list of everything that needed to be done for Jessie. “And about the test. . . . .” He had changed his mind. He didn’t need a damn test to prove that her baby was his. He didn’t know if it even mattered if it wasn’t. “We don’t need it. I know . . .”
“No, you don’t.” She was adamant. “You have taken my word and the word of a bunch of lab technicians that have made mistakes before.” At his stubborn look, Jessie placed a hand on his arm. “I insist. I don’t have the money to pay for it, but I’ll pay you back.”
“That’s ridiculous,” he protested. “If you get tested, I’ll pay for it.”
She wouldn‘t argue about who paid for the test. It was better to pick her battles - like this one. “And I want to work. I need to get a job.”
“Now just wait a damn minute,” he sputtered. This discussion was getting completely out of hand. “You don’t need a job. If you’re pregnant with my baby, I’ll take care of you.”
“That’s what the McCay’s said.” As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she knew they had been a mistake. Flat on her back, there was an angry bull of a man right on top of her. For a second, she was afraid, and then she realized that even though he had forced her on her back and was covering her, she wasn’t being hurt at all.
“I am honest, hard-working and reliable as the day is long. I would never, ever let you down, Baby.” He bit the words out, his deep blue eyes drilling deep into hers.
Placating him, she placed her hand on his chest. “I didn’t mean to imply that you would. I just want to pay my own way. It’s important to me.” She actually intended to find a room to rent in town, but something told her suggesting that, tonight, would be like baiting a bear. “It would have to be a behind the scenes type job, I don’t want to be out in public - just in case Keith comes to town.”
Jacob could tell he was going to get a whole lot of new gray hairs over this. He didn’t remind her that he had Roscoe checking into all of this. From what Jessie said, he was glad he was having the McCay’s investigated. There was no telling what Roscoe would find.
“I wonder if any of the restaurants need a cook?” Cooking was one thing that she could do. Her dyslexia kept her from doing so many things. But, as long as she didn’t have to read a recipe, Jessie could make magic in the kitchen.
“Why can’t you help Libby plan the party and help her with Joseph? Wouldn’t that be work enough to make you happy?” He sounded so grumbly that she wanted to kiss his pout away. “Besides, I’m going to put my foot down. As long as there’s any chance that idiot could be a threat to you, I want you at Tebow. If you go off, I’ll worry myself down into a knot. You don’t want to make me miserable do you, Jess? Can’t you stay here with me, and let me love on you? Can’t you stay and let me take care of you - just until you find a job you like and get on your feet?“ Jacob knew that he should be shot for lying. He didn’t mean a word that he was saying about her leaving him. He didn’t want to put a time limit on how long she stayed. Right now, however, he was saying whatever he had to. He had to get her to agree to stay. Hell! He didn’t know he could be this sneaky.
“Okay, if I were to help out around here. . . .” she said slowly.
“You could give me full body massages or come to bed wearing nothing but a big red bow. Those things would really help me out.” He wasn’t kidding, either.
“Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of what I did the past couple of days; weeding in the garden and working in the barn.”
“No.” he stated flatly. “Not just no, but hell no. You don’t need to be exerting yourself. “You’re pregnant, for God’s sake. I want to wrap you in cotton wool and set you on a shelf.”
His concern warmed her heart. “All right, I guess I could help out in the house.” She noticed even though they were well off, there wasn‘t a live-in housekeeper. She had seen a woman come to clean for a few hours one day, but she left when she had finished. Libby seemed to have everything else well in hand. “But only till I can find a job, and the minute that you and I agree that it’s safe for me to leave and live on my own - I will get a place in town. I don’t want to impose on you and your family. If we’re going to share a child, we’ve got to lay a foundation of respect and trust.”
God, she was beautiful; cute, sweet - Lord, he just loved to watch her lips move. He didn’t necessarily like what she was saying - but he could overlook that, for now. The most important thing was that he intended to take care of her and their child - whether she liked it or not. “Good, I’m glad that’s settled. Now, can I hold you?”
He had his lips pooched out like a cute little boy. She couldn’t resist, she gave him a soft, sweet kiss.
Groaning, he tried to deepen it, but she pulled away. “One mor
e thing.”
He groaned. “What else could there possibly be?”
“I have been reading a lot of these erotic romance novels and I have a whole list of things that I’d like to try. Do you think you’d be interested in trying them with me?”
His eyes widened, and his lips slid into the sexiest, most confident smile that she had ever seen. “You have a list?”
She nodded, realizing that the wicked gleam in his eye might seriously get her into trouble.
“Can I see it?”
Oh, Lord! How embarrassing. “I guess,” she winced as she remembered some of the things that she had written down. Now, he would know all of her deepest, darkest desires.
“I can’t wait to get my hands on that list. I’ll make it my personal mission in life to fulfill all of your fantasies, Baby. I want to make all of your dreams come true.” He watched her eyes soften. She wanted to be loved. He could tell. But, he wanted it too. The greatest desire of his heart was to have a wife and a child to call his own. Jacob was ready to have it all. He had been looking for that perfect woman everywhere. And where did he find her? In his own backyard - so to speak. But, he knew he had to take it slow. He had to be careful with her. She was fragile and uncertain of her own appeal. Jacob closed his eyes. This was going to take time. He could see that he had his work cut out for him. If he wasn’t careful, he might lose out on the best thing that had ever happened to him.
******
“Avery Rose, you need to leave. This bar is no place for you,” Isaac set a glass of diet coke in front of one of the sexiest women in Texas. “Drink this, and then you’re leaving. I’ll walk you to your car myself.”
“I’d rather stay, Isaac, if that would be all right,” she said politely. “Tomorrow, I’m leaving for a few weeks. I wanted to spend a few minutes with you before it was time for me to go. I’m going to miss you.” Avery steeled her nerves and made her play. It was now or never. Isaac’s hand lay on the bar about six inches from her own. Slowly, she covered his hand with hers, letting her thumb caress his knuckles.
Isaac jerked his hand away as if it had been burned. “All right, that’s it. I don’t get paid extra to baby-sit.” Walking around the bar, he took Avery by her arm and led her to the tavern door. The bouncer, Terence Lee, gave Avery a sympathetic look and opened it wide enough to let her and his boss exit the building.
Avery was about to cry. She had thought for sure Isaac liked her. What about those hot, hungry looks he had been giving her? Were those just her imagination? “Isaac, please don’t make me leave. I won’t cause any trouble, I’ll be quiet.” Stopping at the door of her beige minivan, Isaac looked down at her conservative little skirt and demure matching blouse. Actually, she was so beautiful that it hurt his eyes to look at her. He wanted to kiss her trembling plump lips until they were fiery red from passion.
“Why don’t you go to a church outing or take a bus tour and see the foliage or something,” anything to keep her out of his sight. She had no idea how tempting she was.
Going for broke, Avery closed the short distance between them. Leaning up on tiptoe, she fitted her mouth to his. If she could only show him how much she wanted him, surely he would admit he felt the same way.
Jerking back, Isaac almost fell trying to get away from her. “Don’t do that, Avery! Have a little pride!” Isaac was about to do something that he’d swore he would never do. He was going to hurt a sweet and innocent little thing. It was Isaac that picked up the kittens and puppies that people threw away on the side of the road. It was Isaac that climbed trees and put little birds back in their nests and fed baby squirrels on bottles when hunters would kill their mamas and leave them to starve. But, sometimes you had to hurt somebody in order to help them. “Go home, Avery. I don’t want you.”
Avery looked aghast. This was not the Isaac that she knew. “You don’t want me?”
Frustrated, Isaac pushed his hand through his hair. “No, I’m sorry. You misunderstood. I don’t want you.”
“But, what about . . . . .” Avery stumbled, unable to go on.
“I was just being nice,” Isaac was lying like a dog. Now, for the killing blow. Isaac braced himself. It was going to hurt him a hell of a lot more than it would her. “You aren’t my type, Avery. In fact, I don’t think you’re anybody’s type.” At her wounded expression, he knew that he was almost there. He pulled back the knife and prepared it for the final thrust. “You’re not woman enough to interest me, Avery. I like my dates to excite me. Face it, baby - you’re just not woman enough to interest me. Go home.”
Isaac watched her little body reel backward as if he had physically hit her. “I’m sorry, Isaac. I won’t bother you again,” she fumbled with her keys and unlocked the van door. “Forgive me, I didn’t know.”
Isaac forced himself to stand there and watch her drive away. He felt like he had just lost his best friend.
******
Heaven! Jessie had never slept with anyone before. She wasn’t really lying beside Jacob. She was more laying on top of him than anything else. He had one arm across her back, holding her close. She had one arm tucked at his side and the other was clasped around his waist. One of her legs was stretched across his thighs. His even breathing told her he was asleep. Very lightly, she kissed his chest. He had no idea how much she loved to be held like this.
Years of being ignored by her parents had made her believe she was unlovable. Her parents hadn’t been rich, not even close. But they had been proper, and very near to perfect in her estimation. Her mom had been a legal secretary and probably never wore a dress any bigger than a size two in her life. Her stepfather had been a high school math teacher. Her own dad had passed away early in life from a sudden heart attack. She hadn’t really felt loved since he died.
Her mom blamed her dad for Jessie’s shortcomings. He, like her, had been dyslexic. Ralph, her stepfather, had been repulsed by her inability to do well in school. As a teacher, he was embarrassed that his stepdaughter was in the remedial classes. So Jessie had dropped out of school in the tenth grade and moved out, finding any work she could. She had rented a small room from a friend until she could afford her own cheap apartment.
It hurt her to think about her parents. She had failed them. Her stepdad wanted her to be bookish, and she had been less than average. Her mom had wanted her to be thin and beautiful, and she had always been chubby and plain. Two years ago, they had both perished in a small plane crash. She had mourned them, but knew that she had actually lost them a long time before that.
Jessie had always promised herself that when she had a baby it would never wonder whether or not it was loved. She would tell it every day. Again, she wondered what she was thinking when she had agreed to be a surrogate mother. How had she ever thought that she could carry a baby for nine months and then give it up?
Despite her parent’s seeming perfection, there had been no savings and no insurance. Not for her. They had left their modest legacy to their church. So, Jessie had been left completely on her own. There had been no man to fall back on either. And, she didn’t go anywhere to meet men. Work. Sleep. Work. That was all she had known for years. Besides, her mother had been kind enough to inform her that men didn’t appreciate women with her body type. Even in her fifties, she had been slim and trim and would skate her hands down her svelte curves and say that her body was the way a woman should look. She once told Jessie that she looked like an unmade bed, and once in a fit of anger her mom had called her ‘a pregnant horse’. Shaking the distasteful memories from her head, she let herself enjoy the here and now. She let out a long breath, totally relaxing against the big body that provided a foundation for all her troubles, burdens, worries and cares.
Jacob wasn’t asleep, either. He was enjoying every second of cuddling with Jessie. She was thinking way too hard, he could tell. As he lay there, he made plans. He knew they still had a lot
of talking to do and questions that needed to be answered. But, he already knew a lot. Sex with her was the best he ever had. She fit in his arms like she was made to go there, and her refusal to make demands of him said more about her character than fifty letters of reference could have. A tiny movement against his side caused his eyes to pop open in the dark. Was that what he thought it was? Jacob let every cell of his body come to a complete and utter stillness. He waited. There it was again. Where Jessie’s tummy rested against his hip, he could feel the baby making itself known. The little sucker was kicking up a storm! Jacob smiled. Visions flowed through his head. He saw himself throwing a football to a dark-headed little boy. He saw them going to hunt a Christmas tree and popping firecrackers. He saw camping trips and trail rides. But, more importantly - his vision included three people: a man, a child and the most beautiful woman in the world. Desire coursed through his body, he couldn’t wait, he needed her now. So, he set out to make her ready – for him.
“Wake up, baby. I need you.”
Jessie had dropped back off to sleep. But something woke her, something wonderful. Through a haze of pleasure, she became aware that her body was being petted and prepared. Jacob was nursing at her breast. Both of his hands encircled one sensitive globe and he was molding and plumping the flesh as he suckled deeply. “Mmmmm,” he moaned. Pushing against her, he chewed on her nipple with tiny bites that caused her sex to ripple with expectations. With wonder, she fitted her hand to the back of his head, holding him in place as he sucked. It was glorious! Jessie never knew her breasts were so sensitive. Of course, pregnancy could make them more so, but she hoped they would always be like this. Jacob opened his mouth wider, drawing in her whole areola and laving it with his tongue.
“Oh, baby,” she moaned. “I ache for you.” His chest rumbled against her, as he turned loose of one breast and kissed a trail down her cleavage and over to the other breast. “Will you let me fuck you here, sometime?” he ran his hand down between her breasts.
Hell Yeah! Box Set With Bonus Cookbook Page 27