by Aly Martinez
“Are you sure you don’t want to wait the mandatory three days between dates?” she asks. I have no idea if she is kidding or not, because she looks worried about my answer.
“Yes, I’m positive I don’t want to wait three days. If you decide to avoid me for three days, just to play hard to get, I will remind you that I’m a detective and I know where you work,” I joke, trying to lighten the mood again.
“Brett, I’ve asked you out twice now. It’s safe to assume that I don’t understand the concept of playing hard to get.”
“Good. Then it’s decided. Dinner tomorrow night. I’ll pick you up at seven. Oh and, Jess, please don’t let Kara dress you this time. I won’t be able to handle seeing you dressed like that again without being able to touch every inch of that sexy body.”
And just like that, my mission is accomplished. Her eyes go wide and her cheeks turn pink as she sucks in a shocked breath. She looks so damn adorable that it causes my dick to get hard all over again.
Chapter Thirteen
Jesse
AFTER BRETT dropped me off last night, I stayed awake for hours, replaying every moment of our date to Kara. I ran directly into her room, jumping on her bed to wake her up. I needed someone to help me analyze this whole situation. Kara isn’t exactly the best person at giving advice about guys though. It usually ends with her saying, “Then just buy crotch-less panties, and he will be eating out of your hand in no time.” Although, at midnight on a Sunday, I didn’t have any other options.
“Holy shizzle, Jesse, you twisted tongues with half of the Sexy Detective Duo!” she shrieks when I get to the kiss at the bowling alley.
“I know! It was such a good kiss too! His lips were so soft, but still in command. He didn’t drool on me at all either. He even had good breath after drinking a zillion beers. God, it was amazing. Then, we lay on the couch for hours, just making out. He does this thing with his teeth on my neck—”
She interrupts hopping to her feet and jumping on the bed, mimicking me a few minutes earlier. “Oh my God, Officer Hot Ass is a freak in the bed!”
“No he’s not!”
“Wait! Do you have firsthand knowledge of his bedroom behavior?” she asks, raising her eyebrows questioningly.
“No!”
“Damn it! Why not? I’m dying to know what that man is hiding under those slacks.”
“Jesus, Kara. Even if I did sleep with him, you will never know what he is hiding in his pants.”
“What? I thought we were best friends? Best friends tell each other everything.”
“We are, but that’s a bit much, don’t you think?”
“Fine. I don’t need details, but you have to at least compare it to a vegetable it resembles. I bet it’s a large zucchini.” She smiles, staring off into space, lost in her imagination. “If it will make you more comfortable, I’ll start. That guy Jason I was seeing last week was a small carrot. I’m talking the baby ones you dip in ranch dressing.” She winks as I stare at her with my lips curled in disgust.
“That’s terrible, Kara.”
“You’re telling me. I wasn’t even sure they made condoms that tiny.”
“Oh God, this conversation is over. I need to go to bed. We have to be up in five hours.”
“You didn’t finish telling me about the rest of the date,” she whines as I walk out of her room.
“I’m guessing it went really well since he’s taking me to dinner tomorrow night,” I say, walking down the hall in to my own room.
Just as I start to close my door, I hear her scream, “Shut. Up.”
* * *
THE NEXT morning, I can’t contain the huge smile on my face as the guys walk into Nell’s. However, Brett looks anything but happy. If it weren’t for Caleb behind him with the world’s biggest grin, I would have immediately run to hide in the back office. My mind comes up blank as I try to figure out what could have ticked him off in the eight hours since he dropped me off. So instead, I go straight to the point.
“What’s wrong?” I ask as my heart begins to race. Maybe he regrets last night? We had been drinking, but by the time he drove me home and he gave me that toe-curling kiss outside my door, we were both very sober.
“Nothing,” he answers shortly as Caleb slaps him on the back of the head.
“Stop being a dick. You’re scaring the poor girl,” Caleb scolds before looking back at me and saying, “Jesse, you little minx,” and flashing me his million-watt smile.
“What are you talking about?” I ask, completely confused, but nonetheless embarrassed.
“Just ignore him,” Brett jumps in, looking only slightly less furious than he did a few minutes before.
“Um, okay. What can I get you guys today?”
“You serving up any hickies today?” Caleb asks, laughing as Brett punches him hard in the arm.
Obviously something is going on, and I’m the only one in the dark. “What the heck are you guys talking about?” I ask irritated.
“Oh man, Brett. Jesse said heck! She must be serious,” Caleb mocks me.
Before I can even respond to his rude comment, I look over at Brett to see that the angry ogre has returned.
“Make fun of her again, asshole, and I will punch you in the face.”
“Whoa, calm down there, buddy!” Caleb laughs, surrendering with his hands in the air. “Although, I have to say, I am digging this caveman thing you have going on right now.”
“I am too. It’s hot,” Kara chimes in from behind me, her eyes glued to Brett.
By this point, I’m beyond annoyed. Nothing is making sense, and no one is stopping to fill me in. I don’t know why Brett could possibly be mad at me. He was kissing me breathless only a few hours ago. Now, his best friend is making fun of me, Brett is threatening physical violence in my honor, and my best friend is staring at him like she wants to throw him down to service his vegetable right here in the middle of the shop. It’s a madhouse!
“I’ll be right back,” I say, quickly escaping into the back office. I shut the door and flop down in the chair to gather my thoughts. It only lasts for about thirty seconds before I hear Brett around the corner.
“Jesse?”
“Crap,” I say to myself as footsteps approach the office door.
“Jess?”
“Come in. It’s open.”
“You okay?” he asks, locking his incredible green eyes on mine.
“Yeah,” I answer simply.
“Why are you hiding back here then?”
“I’m not hiding.”
“Yeah, you are. Don’t lie. Your eyes got big and you sprinted back here like a cat with its tail on fire.” He crooks a smile.
“Oh my God, don’t say that! I love cats. I don’t need that visual in my head.”
“You like cats?” he asks surprised.
“Of course I like cats! Well, not all cats. The black ones kind of scare me. When I was a kid, I watched this scary movie made by Disney, and it had the scariest black cat in it. So I only really like the white ones.” I ramble, not exactly clear why we are having this conversation.
“The Watcher in the Woods!” he shouts.
“Yes! You saw that movie too?”
“Scared the shit out of me. I slept with the lights on for… Well I still sleep with the lights on.” He smiles a brilliant, white toothy grin before getting serious again. “Now, why are you hiding?”
“Fine. I’m hiding. You guys were all talking out there. You were noticeably mad at me. Caleb was making fun of me. And Kara was drooling over you. I had no idea what the heck was going on. So I came back here to see if I could catch my breath and sort things out.”
“I’m not mad at you, babe. I was annoyed with Caleb. He has been giving me shit all morning. We were at the gym working out and he noticed this.” He loosens his tie and pulls his collar over to the side, revealing a quarter-sized bright red hickey.
“Oh my God! Did I do that?” I ask in horror, covering my gaping mouth with my hands.
“I am so sorry. I had no idea I was leaving a mark—”
“It’s no big deal. If I’m being honest, when I saw it in the mirror this morning, it made me hot remembering last night.” He winks and uses my hands to pull me to my feet. “I had a lot of fun, Jess, so I don’t want to hear any apologies out of that sexy little mouth of yours.”
I try to change the topic, slightly embarrassed by his dirty compliment. “You were really mad at Caleb out there. I know I told you I’d point out when he returned, and that was definitely an appearance from the angry ogre.”
“I promised you last night that I would never laugh at you. I’ll be damned if I’m going to stand by and listen to anyone else ever do it either. You’re already too skittish around me. I want you to feel comfortable and safe with me, gorgeous. If Caleb said or did anything to make you feel otherwise, I would be more than happy to remind him to watch his manners.”
“You threatened to punch him in the face. That is hardly a friendly reminder.”
“If he made fun of you again, I would have done it, too.”
“Um, please don’t punch him in the face because he picks on me.”
“No promises, but I’ll try to restrain myself for you.” He gives a small chuckle before pulling me tight into a hug. “So where do you want to go tonight?” he asks after a few moments of holding me in silence.
“Oh, I don’t care. Anything is fine.”
“As I recall, you don’t like pizza?”
“No, I don’t.”
“Then don’t tell me ‘anything is fine,’” he half-scolds while pulling me even tighter into his arms.
“I’m okay with pizza…if that’s what you want,” I stutter out.
“What time is it?” he asks randomly.
“Nine twenty. why?”
“Shit. It’s too early to get you drunk.”
I rear my head back, shocked at his statement.
“It seems the only time you actually speak your mind with me is when you’re drunk.”
“That’s not true!” I scream at a decibel only a howler monkey could match.
“Really? Do you like pizza, Jess?”
“No.”
“Well, thank Christ. At least you’re honest.”
“You’re a jerk.”
“And you’re hiding,” he states, meaning it in more ways than one. “Don’t hide from me—ever. Last night, you didn’t take my crap. You were this tiny drunk woman who I had no doubt could conquer the world. You gave me a hickey!” he says firmly, as if that one sentence is the answer to all the world’s problems. “You made bets, which you lost and still have not paid up on by the way. I didn’t forget about that. You still owe me the truth about where you learned to bowl. Don’t worry. I’m a patient man.”
“I said I was sorry about the hickey.”
It’s my generic answer. I have no idea how to react to the rest of his comments. He just said that he wanted to get me drunk at nine a.m.! Regardless, if I’m sober or drunk, I can’t conquer the world. No matter what he thought he saw in me last night, I’m just little Jesse Addison. I go with the flow and try not to make any waves. But I’m no one’s doormat. I might not be a fighter, but I have no problems walking away.
“What do you say you come back out front and I’ll try to figure out a pizza-free restaurant for us tonight?” He folds his hands together, pretending to beg. “Please don’t make me go back out there alone. I’m a little afraid of Kara.”
“You should be more than a little afraid of Kara,” I say, pecking him on the lips and heading back out front.
Chapter Fourteen
Jesse
“HOLY SMOKES!” I gasp as Kara turns me around to face the mirror.
I told Brett that I wouldn’t let her dress me, but she wore me down after begging for three hours straight. She was relentless. I mainly gave in because I didn’t have anything to wear anyway. I’m a jeans-and-T-shirt kind of girl. Nothing about a date with sex-on-legs Brett Sharp says jeans and T-shirt. He didn’t tell me where we were going, so I had to straddle that fine line between dressy and casual. If he takes me to a sports bar, I don’t want to look like the prom queen. But if he takes me to a nice place, I don’t want to look like a homeless woman either. So I allowed Kara to dress me again.
This time, she picked a simple black strapless dress that accentuates my best attributes—my boobs and red slingback wedge heels. All of the real drama is in my eye makeup. She gave me the most brilliant smoky eyes I have ever seen. My usual unruly, long brown hair has been flatironed into submission, leaving shiny, flowing locks in its place. Despite my best efforts, she forced me into a red lace strapless bra and matching thong that she found pushed to the very back of my panty drawer. Even I’m willing to admit I look kind of amazing tonight.
“I know! Right? You look hot! When are you going to learn to trust my expertise?” Kara says beside me.
“From now on, I vow to wear anything you put in front of me.”
“Score! If you think I’m going to forget that, you are sadly mistaken. I have some dirty lingerie you can use next time.”
“Eww, I’m not wearing your lingerie.”
“Okay, fine, but promise I get to go shopping with you when Hottie McHottersen turns you into a sex fiend.”
“Since that is never going to happen, I promise. Cross my heart and hope to die.”
“Yes!” she squeals, grabbing her jacket and getting ready to leave.
I made her promise she wouldn’t be here when Brett shows up. The last thing I need is for her to be here drooling over him and embarrassing me more than she already has.
“I need every single detail when you get home tonight. Or better yet, when you get home tomorrow morning.”
I just roll my eyes at her. She’s so excited that you would think she was going to sleep with Brett tonight. Wait, no one is sleeping with him. Not even me—well, at least not tonight.
After pacing my apartment for twenty minutes, I finally hear a knock on the door. I do one last boob lift and smooth out the front of my dress, trying to calm my nerves. I take a deep breath and pull open the door to see the most beautiful man I have ever seen standing in the hall. He is wearing dark jeans that are perfectly washed out around his thighs and a black long-sleeved button-up that fits his hard muscular body like a glove. His sleeves are rolled up, exposing his defined forearms. I had no idea a man’s forearms could turn me on like this. He’s wearing black shoes and a belt that so closely match I swear they were made specifically to be worn together. The entire package causes my mouth to go dry. This man could grace the pages of GQ, yet he is here to pick me up. At least I remembered the push-up bra this time. Maybe that will help me rise to his level.
When I finally make it to his face, I see a knowing smile creep across Brett’s mouth. He’s caught me checking him out. Great! I’ll never hear the end of this.
“Jesus, Jess, you look gorgeous!” he says, leaning over to brush a kiss across my lips. “So we’re staying in tonight?”
“Oh, um. Sure.”
“You’re doing it again.”
“Doing what?”
“Settling. I know you didn’t spend that much time getting dressed in that sexy-as-hell dress, making sure every hair is in place, and putting on enough makeup to guarantee there isn’t a man in the world who will be able to take his eyes off of you just to sit on your couch and watch TV. So I’ll repeat. Are we staying in tonight?”
He’s right. After the time I spent getting ready, there is no way I’d want to waste looking this good—and being on the arm of a man who looks that good—on just staying in.
“Nope, you’re taking me out. To somewhere that doesn’t have pizza. And just because you are giving me a hard time, I’m ordering the most expensive item on the menu. I hope you brought your life savings with you.”
“There she is
! No alcohol needed this time either,” he says, pulling me into a hug, running his hands across my bare shoulders. “You really do look incredible tonight. I’m not sure I want to take you out in public. You might cause a few men to spontaneously combust, and I’m terrified one of them might be me.”
I giggle at his silly compliment. “You look pretty handsome yourself.”
“Apparently, I do. I think I saw you froth at the mouth when you opened the door.”
“Not my fault. You were the one who rolled up your sleeves like that.”
“What? Jesse Addison, do you have an arm fetish? It’s not quite as kinky as I was hoping for, but I can work with that,” he says while crossing his arms over his chest and using one hand to slowly stroke his exposed skin. We both start laughing, and it feels awesome to be able to joke with him like this. It’s a welcome change from the nervousness I usually feel. I guess giving a man a hickey can really loosen a girl up.
“Oh God, you’re ridiculous. Can we please go before you start molesting your poor arms in the middle of my living room? You owe me dinner, remember?”
“Lead the way.”
When we get outside, he leads me over to a shiny silver BMW sports car. I freeze as he pulls open my door.
“You have a BMW?” I ask in a voice a little higher pitched than I meant.
“Yes, is that a problem? Do you hate Germans?” he tries to joke, but he looks confused.
“Brett, this is a really nice car.”
He stands waiting for me to get in, but I’m still frozen in place. “She is, isn’t she?” He lovingly runs his hands over the convertible hardtop. The very, very expensive convertible hardtop.
“Where’s your Jeep?” I ask, because when he drove me home last night, it was in an older-model Jeep Wrangler. I surely was not expecting him to show up in a nice sports car today.
“It’s at home. This is my other car. I’m not taking you out on our first date in a beat-up Jeep I’ve had since college.”