“You don’t know the man, Todd. He spent four months dating me and just as long rejecting me. He’s obsessed with his business and has a more intimate relationship with his cell phone than me. So it’s not so obvious that he cares,” Jenna said harshly.
“He makes you happy—at least in some ways,” Todd said quietly, hoping to defuse the unexpected bomb he set off by asking his lovely wife to dance and spy. “If you seriously want me to, I’ll go drag Linda away from the man who is not your date, but I’m guessing he’ll just find another woman to dance with. He’s a good-looking guy. If you’re not dating him, someone else is going to come along and snap him up. It’s only a matter of time.”
“Fine. If you’re not worried about your wife, then I’m not either,” Jenna said, ignoring the rest of Todd’s commentary about Seth being good-looking and getting snapped up. She couldn’t think about Seth and another woman. It made her want to kill people.
Jenna went back to stand and wait politely for Cristo to finish his third dance in a row with the brunette. Jenna pulled out her cell phone while she waited and typed a reply to Seth’s earlier message that was sure to get retaliation.
Maybe I scream because I like drama. Maybe it’s nothing you’re doing at all.
Then Jenna waited, but Seth never missed a step in his dancing or pulled his attention away from his partner. Normally, he would have stopped to take the message or the call. When had Seth suddenly become Mr. Attentive, she wondered? And why to Linda Warren?
The dance finally ended and Cristo came back to her side. She let him lead her out for the next dance even as Linda led Seth across the room to meet Todd.
Great, she thought. Now she’d have no peace at work. Seth was too honest to lie about the nature of their relationship no matter how embarrassing the circumstances of it were to her. Todd finding out was almost as bad as their family discovering what they were doing.
She watched Seth talk to Todd for two whole dances without checking his phone.
By the time the second dance ended, she was ready to leave—but not with Cristo.
“Cristo, I think I’m going to have to go,” Jenna said. “I’ve been working very long days and they’re catching up with me.
Cristo raised a hand to her face and smiled in sympathy. The short brunette tapped him on the shoulder again. He looked at Jenna.
“Stay. Enjoy your evening. I mean that,” Jenna said, mentally saying goodbye to yet another good-looking guy because of Seth Carter. She leaned forward and dropped a kiss on his cheek in farewell.
When she turned, it was to find Seth staring hard at the man leading the brunette out to the dance floor again. He looked puzzled when his gaze came back to her.
Jenna lifted her chin and walked over to where Seth stood. She ignored Todd and Linda completely.
“I suddenly find myself without a way home. Can I get a lift?” she asked Seth.
“Sure,” Seth said, surprised and not able to hide it completely. “I need to drop a check off with the hosts. Be back in a couple of minutes. Todd. Linda. Nice to meet you.”
“I see you’re still hooking up the guys you dump with other women,” Linda said, when Seth had walked away. “Seth Carter is a very nice man—dances well too. I bet he’s good at a lot of things.”
“He is,” Jenna said automatically before turning a frowning gaze on the older beautiful woman and catching the twinkle of amusement in her eyes as she laughed. “You don’t know anything.”
“I know Seth Carter is into you in a major way,” Linda said, hearing her husband laugh in agreement. “He talked about you the whole time we were dancing.”
“Damn it. Why can’t the man be discreet instead of honest?” Jenna demanded.
“Well, Seth didn’t tell me stories or anything. That’s pretty discreet if you ask me. I was really pumping him for information,” Linda said, laughing. “What’s your problem Jenna? He’s a perfectly pleasant man.”
“No. He’s not. Seth’s a lot of things, but pleasant isn’t one of them,” Jenna said.
“You need to get over whatever you’re mad about and reel Seth Carter in while he’s still interested,” Linda told her. “Don’t be as hard-headed as your mother. She spent a lot years alone.”
“Mama waited for love,” Jenna said defensively. “And she found it.”
“Yes, she certainly did, and it was with the older version of that perfect guy, right? You’ve found love too, girl,” Linda told her. “Open your eyes and see it. Quick now. He’s walking back your way.”
“Ready to go?” Seth asked, looking into Jenna’s face for her answer.
Jenna nodded and headed across the floor frowning harder as she walked several steps in front of Seth. Despite her reaction to Linda’s teasing, she was not in love with Seth Carter. And Jenna did not believe he was in love with her. They had some sort of infatuation caused by their intense and very consuming sex life. They had lust. They did not have love.
“By the way, I just saw your message,” Seth said easily, holding the door of his car open for her. “We’ll test that theory when we get home.”
“Fine,” Jenna agreed, wanting to slam the door of Seth’s car, but couldn’t since he helped her inside and closed it gently behind her.
Seth climbed into the driver’s seat and sat there for a few moments, keys hovering over the ignition.
“I’m really trying not to let this go to my head, but frankly I have to ask the question. Did you just dump your date for me?” Seth asked her.
“Just drive, Seth. Don’t talk to me until I calm down,” Jenna told him. “You didn’t have to get so chummy talking to Linda.”
“Oh. You were jealous again. Well, good—welcome to my world. One minute my hand is on your ass pulling you into me, and the next I’m handing you over to another guy who’s a genuine date for you. So don’t start bitching at me for innocently dancing with your boss’s wife. You’re going to lose this argument hands down,” Seth warned.
“We shouldn’t even be having any argument about either of us being jealous,” Jenna hissed. “We are not dating—damn it.”
“Oh, that’s abundantly clear,” Seth told her, new anger and hurt feeding his growing irritation with her. “If we were dating, I’d have kicked the weight lifter’s ass tonight, or at least tried. He’s a big step down from Stedman, by the way. That guy didn’t care which woman he danced with. What’s that all about? He was supposed to be your damn date, not that brunette’s.”
Jenna was quiet for a moment, and than she laughed at the ridiculousness of the conversation. “This is the kind of relationship drama I precisely did not want but can’t seem to avoid with you. What happened to our sex-only relationship? It was supposed to keep things simple.”
“Don’t be naïve, Jenna. Our sex life has never been simple. We go up in flames every time we get together,” Seth told her. “That’s not typical and you know it. You’ve just chosen to see it like you wanted to and I’ve let you get by with your illusion because I’ve been avoiding this fight.”
“Why are we at my house?” Jenna asked when Seth pulled into her condo’s parking lot. “I mean, it’s fine, but why are we here?”
“Because I’m seeing you home safely instead of taking you home with me,” Seth told her. “I want you, but I can’t keep up my side of the deal tonight. I want more. I should have been the date on your arm tonight. I met your boss, who thinks you hung the moon, but I didn’t get to share the moment, and you didn’t get to hear me tell him how proud I am of you. Even friends have more than we have, and tonight made that really clear to me. So here you are, safe and sound at your house. Give me a couple of days to get over feeling used before you call me again for just sex.”
Jenna sat in the car and didn’t get out. “We are friends, Seth.”
“Are we?” he asked, his sarcastic tone emphasizing the simple question. “You haven’t asked anything about my work since we’ve been sleeping together. I’ve been out to your job site, and now I’ve
met your boss and his wife. I’m tired of being your walking vibrator and nothing more.”
Jenna laughed even though Seth had not meant the comment to be funny. Truly, if looks could kill, the one Seth gave her over laughing would have certainly done the job.
“If all I wanted was sexual release, I would have bought a real vibrator. But mechanical boyfriends have never been my thing. I like the human connection. That’s why I was so mad at you for not sleeping with me before. I had the female equivalent of blue balls for four months and you didn’t seem to care. I’m still mad. I can’t seem to get over it,” she admitted.
Seth didn’t want to laugh, but he did at her “blue balls” analogy. Regina hadn’t put it in those terms, but it was still the same thing. When he thought about how uninhibited Jenna was now in her response with him every time, Seth knew she wasn’t exaggerating the level of her frustration. Having had many opportunities now to satisfy her physically, he had at least gone from feeling like shit about how he’d ignored her to just feeling sorry he’d been so stupid about sleeping with her.
But even his remorse over not sleeping with her then wasn’t reason enough to let her keep their relationship from progressing to something more than just mutually gratifying sex now.
“Come inside, Seth,” Jenna pleaded. “I’ll let you make me scream. You know you want to.”
The degree to which Seth was motivated to satisfy Jenna Ranger again and again was familiar to him now. He already knew he was going inside with her. Pride be damned, he was still going in. It was just a matter of deciding under what circumstances he would concede.
Stalling, Seth tried to think of an instance where he might say no when Jenna asked him to have sex with her. Seth couldn’t think of even one. That’s how much trouble he was in.
There were a lot of terms, Seth knew, that were often used to describe men in his condition, and he’d heard them all over time. Seth had always been one of those men who laughed at the poor guy being labeled, thinking that he would never have an obsessive sexual attachment to a woman, especially a woman like Jenna who knew and would use it against him.
Boy, how wrong he had been.
He could smell her perfume in the confines of the car, feel the heated excitement of her waiting to see what he would say or do, and had to fight the images he played like a movie in his head about ripping Jenna’s clothes off before he did what he wanted to her while she screamed. It was very difficult to bargain for a better life while he wrestled with his conscience just to be civilized with her.
“I’ll come inside with you on one condition,” Seth told her quietly, keeping both hands on the steering wheel and off her until the deal had been made for sure. “I want to date you—really date you. We don’t have to tell the family.”
“Oh, damn—family,” Jenna said, laying her head back on the seat as she remembered. “I saw Lauren and Jim there tonight. I meant to go over and say hi, but I forgot.”
“Lauren and Jim were there? Why didn’t I see them?” Seth demanded, truly surprised.
“Probably because you were dancing and flirting,” Jenna said meanly, and then could have bitten out her tongue for sounding jealous again. She closed her eyes and swore. The f-word fell viciously from her lips and resonated in the car. Vicious swearing was a side effect of working around blunt men.
Seth laughed openly at her ugly swearing, pleased that Jenna was suffering, and pleased that she was at least marginally worried about him.
“I wonder how jealous you’d have been if I had brought a real damn date tonight like you did,” Seth said, glaring at Jenna in the dark. “If I missed seeing Lauren and Jim, it was because I didn’t see anyone else once you got there in that black seduction dress and those damn strappy heels I know you hate wearing. You looked like some fantasy come to life for me. After I held you in my arms, the rest of the crowd might as well have been invisible. All I could think about was carrying you off and burying myself inside you for a year or two.”
Jenna’s heart beat strongly in her chest and just as loudly in her ears. She certainly didn’t like the knot in her stomach at the idea of Seth dating other women. When had the emotions of the situation gotten away from her?
It was the naked truth that Jenna liked being the woman Seth Carter wanted to carry off and ravish. He was a great ravisher.
But what was it worth to her? That was the question.
“Okay. Fine. If that’s your condition for coming inside with me, I suppose we can try dating again,” Jenna said, resigning herself to her fate.
No sense waffling about it, she decided. She had to give their relationship another real try. Maybe with enough fights like this one, they would get tired of each other in a short amount of time. Maybe the next breakup would really take.
“Well, gee, Jenna—try not to sound so excited about spending time with me outside of bed,” Seth said meanly. “On that high note, I still don’t think I’m coming inside tonight. Call me later in the weekend.”
Jenna looked at Seth sitting quietly in the driver’s seat. He had swiped his hand through his hair so many times it was standing on end. The contrast between his messy hair and his perfect suit had Jenna suddenly giggling hysterically. He drove her crazy, but apparently it worked both ways. For some insane reason, it pleased her enormously to see physical proof that she irritated him. It was awful of her to be so happy over something so petty, but she did have intentions of making up to Seth for her bad mood.
“Come in and let me smooth your hair for you, Seth. I know how to make all that tension you’re feeling just melt away. I’ll even do all the work tonight if you talk to me nicely,” Jenna said, trying to sound breathy and sexy, but it was hard to do that when she was laughing. “I’ll sit in your lap and let you tell me what to do again.”
Seth looked in the rear-view mirror and used a hand to smooth his hair down. “Tempting, but I’m not that easy. I’m tired of being your sex toy.”
“No you’re not. You’re just mad. If you don’t come inside, I’m just going to sext you until you’re so frustrated you’ll drag me to your wooden foyer floor next time you see me. So save yourself the technological torture of the next few days and just come inside with me,” Jenna said, smiling at Seth in the dark.
“You are a confusing, frustrating woman with a moody temperament like an angry purse dog,” Seth told her. “You yap and bark and snip at me, but you still want to climb into my lap and be petted when you’re in the damn mood. Do you even care what I think or feel?”
Jenna snickered over the analogy. It was more fair than she wanted to admit, but she wasn’t about to confirm it for him. Yes okay—maybe she was high maintenance, but thanks to Seth, Jenna was starting to think she was worth it. It was his praising of her lovemaking, and how sexy Seth seemed to find her, and how no matter how mad Seth was he still sent her flying over the edge with him.
“Sometimes I take the time to care and sometimes I don’t. I’m working on getting better about it. I’m trying hard to be as fair to you as I can. Even if what you say is true about me being a moody purse dog, you sure seem to like petting me well enough, Seth Carter. So I don’t think that argument is going to take you very far in convincing either of us that you don’t want to come inside with me,” Jenna said logically.
Then she watched Seth morph from metro man to caveman with something very close to—what she wondered? As she pondered the strange feeling of satisfaction, Seth pushed open his car door and climbed out, viciously swearing the whole way around the car.
Jenna climbed out and stood by the car door while Seth came the rest of the way around to her.
He stepped into her firmly and pressed her hard against the car, but stopped short of kissing her. “I’m not going to give a damn if I’m hurting you or not tonight. Still want me to come in?”
Jenna closed her eyes. She could already feel it happening.
“You have no idea how much I want you in my bed. I’ve been dreaming about it for weeks,” she sai
d, her voice a quivering whisper between them.
Swearing again, Seth’s mouth sought hers in a blaze of sweeping heat that set both of them instantly on fire. His hands slid down behind her hips and he bent his knees so he could better rock the evidence of his frustration against her.
“I’m tempted to do this right here in the parking lot against my car like some rutting sixteen-year-old,” he threatened.
“Well, I’m wearing garters and my underwear is the unsnapping kind again. So it’s technically feasible,” Jenna said easily, using her business voice. “But if we go inside you can enjoy the show more, and I can do some of what I’ve been thinking about on the ride home.”
Seth moved off Jenna but clamped a hand around one of her wrists as they walked up the sidewalk to her condo. He was practically dragging her as she stumbled in her heels.
“I’m going to have you now no matter what, so if your mood does one of those mercurial shifts again in ten minutes, tough shit for you. I’m beyond nice and just into determined to get what I want tonight,” he informed her.
“I have no problem with that,” Jenna told him. “Is this make-up sex? Or punishment?”
Seth laughed at the excitement in her voice as they walked in the dark. “I’ll know for sure in the morning.” He looked down at Jenna when they stepped into her lighted entrance. “You got a problem waiting that long to find out which it is?”
Jenna felt Seth release her wrist so she could dig inside her small purse for her house key. She found it and handed it over. The symbolism of the action wasn’t lost on either of them. It was more than her home she was surrendering.
Still Seth hesitated, waiting for her reply. He wanted the words.
“No. I have no problem with finding out in the morning,” Jenna said, reluctant but resigned to him spending the night as well. “I have to make an early run out to the site. You might wake up alone.”
“Wake me before you go and say goodbye,” Seth ordered.
Dating A Metro Man Page 14