by B. Cranford
For someone who’d spent a large part of her life wanting to be noticed, Jade sure did love not having all eyes on her.
She only needed one set of eyes on her, in actual fact. The gorgeous gray ones currently perusing the rest of her attire.
Carolina Tar Heels jersey, the name Young across the back.
Bright yellow heels.
And nothing else.
“You know, these shoes don’t really match this jersey.” Declan ran a hand down her leg, stopping at her ankle but not touching the shoe. “One or the other is going to have to go.”
Jade fluttered her eyelashes at him, trying to give off a naïve, innocent air. She knew very well that the jersey, which she’d found while packing the clothes in his bedroom, was about to hit the floor, but she wanted to draw it out as long as possible.
After all, anticipation was key. He’d waited over a year to lock her down, surely he could wait another few minutes while she enjoyed his attention and her little game.
“I figured out your favorite team,” she said, aiming for coy, the words coming out needy. “It’s the only one in your closet that has your name on it.”
It’ll be your name too, Freckles. Soon.
Declan so badly wanted to say those words to his girl, who sat on the counter in front of him, looking like sex personified.
For the first time since she’d gone back to her natural color, Jade had dyed her hair and she’d chosen the color synonymous with his college. Then she’d draped herself in his too-big jersey and slipped into the yellow heels that would always be his favorite of her elaborate collection.
Their new house had a special area just for her shoes. He’d rolled his eyes but had given in when she’d asked about having it added to the walk-in closet, because he always seemed to give in to her.
That she gave in right back was the icing on the very delicious, Jade-flavored cake.
Speaking of . . .
Declan brought his hands to the hem of her jersey, and rocked her side-to-side on her ass to free the material from underneath her.
She gasped. “Cold.”
“I’ll warm you up,” Declan promised, finding a spot on the underside of her jaw to nibble at, making her body shudder. “I love this outfit, but I’m afraid you’re going to have to lose the top.”
“Oh no,” she exclaimed, exaggerating the words and bringing her mouth into a perfect little “o” of shock.
He laughed at her antics, but sobered when he drew the jersey up and over her head, exposing her bare, soft, sweet skin. As he’d suspected, she wasn’t wearing anything underneath the jersey.
And once it hit the tiled floor, all she had on was Tar Heel blue hair-dye and the sexiest pair of yellow shoes he’d ever seen.
Lowering his head to her breast, Declan sucked a nipple into his mouth, relishing the way she arched into him, offering him more. Offering him her, which amazed him every day.
Mine.
“Hey, Declan?” Jade’s voice came from above him even as she laced her fingers into his hair to hold him in place.
“Mmm,” he groaned against her chest as he moved from one nipple to the other, offering the same treatment because he didn’t want it to feel left out.
What a travesty that would be, he chuckled to himself. His lips curved into a smile, his mind and ears only half listening as Jade kept talking.
“You said a long night. It was going to be a long night. Why?” He felt her tug on his hair, as if she was trying to get his attention, but he was stronger, and he wasn’t ready yet to move. “Baby?”
Baby. Baby. Baby. “Oh shit.” He pulled his mouth away from Jade, a pang of regret coursing its way through him as he took in her swollen, reddened breasts. “Brighton’s water broke.”
“What? Why didn’t she call me?” Jade lifted herself off the counter—sliding made impossible by her bare skin sticking to the granite counter-top. “I need to get dressed.”
Declan mourned the idea of his girl in actual clothing, but if it was going to be for any reason, the birth of his best friends’ child would be it, he supposed. “She tried to call, you didn’t answer.”
Jade didn’t answer him, either, racing off towards the bedroom, still bare to the skin but for the heels. He took a moment to appreciate the way her naked body moved, before following her. In the bedroom, he caught her as she was throwing clothes on haphazardly. “She’s okay, Freckles. Seb said they’re on their way to the hospital and to meet them when we’re ready.”
Jade groaned, picking her phone up from the bed. “I turned it on silent when I was getting my hair done. Shit.” She threw it back on the red comforter, then plonked down on the bed beside it to pick up a pair of yoga pants that had been on the floor.
“Don’t worry abou—” He tried to reassure her, but she cut him off by standing and heading into the bathroom she’d been in only minutes earlier.
“I’m ready,” she announced coming back into the room, a pair of flip flops on her feet, a toothbrush sticking out of her mouth. “Well, nearly.”
By the time Jade was, in fact, ready, Declan estimated an hour had passed. First, she changed her clothes, twice, wanting the right outfit to meet her goddaughter. Then, she had to find the gift she’d bought and had apparently packed away into one of the boxes when Brighton had passed her due date with no sign of the baby. Then, she wanted to stop for food, worried that they wouldn’t be able to eat whatever the hospital had to offer.
Through it all, Declan laughed and smiled and imagined what it might be like when it was them in the hospital waiting for their baby to make its arrival. Jade, her blonde-and-blue hair sweat-soaked and stuck to her head. Him, cursing up a storm because she was hurting.
And Brighton and Sebastian waiting for them in the waiting room, smirking because they’d done it all before.
He wanted that. He was going to have it, at some point. Jade might not be quite ready for that just yet—something she’d told him when they were looking for their house—but when she was, he’d make it happen.
Because Stella Rebecca Figures would need a best friend.
And who better to give her one than the best friends of her parents?
The End.
Unless you turn the page to find out what really happened in the supply closet . . .
Curious about #StaplerGate? Office Call occurs just a few weeks after the events of The Brightest Star—which, if you’re following along, means it was after Declan stood Jade up, but before he found her drenched on the side of the road. Got it?! *wipes brow* Enjoy!
The sight of her pink hair was a trigger.
It was Pavlov, and fuck if Declan’s cock wasn’t Pavlov’s Dog.
One glimpse, and he was rock hard, desperate and pissed off, all at once.
“Jackass, what are you doing here?” Jade’s voice held contempt, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t disguise the undercurrent of desire in every conversation they had. “Sebastian’s not here.”
Declan looked around the waiting area of Figures Accounting, making sure they were alone before he spoke. “I came for you, Freckles.”
His candor must have surprised her, because instead of her typical sarcastic retort, her mouth formed an “o” shape, and yep, that did nothing for the raging erection currently making itself known in his pants.
“I’m sure you come for me every night, Jackass. In your dreams.” Her response was . . . lackluster. Though the words were right, her heart wasn’t in it. But, instead of bringing it to her attention, he leaned in a little closer to her, propping his elbows on the tall desk.
“Usually more than once.”
“Typical man, getting yours before I get mine,” she snapped, color racing up her cheeks from beneath her black blouse, making him wonder exactly where her blush started.
He’d give anything to know.
“Hey, I’m not selfish—even in my dreams. I always make you come at least twice before I even think about it.”
“That must b
e how you know you’re dreaming then,” she replied, the gleeful look in her eye telling him she was back in their little game and enjoying their banter as much as he was. As much as he always did.
“How’s that?”
She scoffed. “Please, you think you can make me come more than once?”
She stood from her tall chair and walked around her desk toward him. His eyes were drawn to her feet, wondering what color shoes he’d catch on her today. Heels were her weakness, and she was always in one bright, playful color or another. Except the one night they’d made plans and he’d . . .
Well, needless to say, she wasn’t wearing those plain pumps today. The sunny yellow was the exact opposite of her tight black skirt and silky-looking black blouse, and dammit, all Declan wanted was to strip her clothes off, leave the heels on, and prop her up on her desk so he could eat her out.
After all, it was his lunch break.
“I know I can. Gimme a chance, and I’ll prove it.” He stepped in closer to her, making sure to use his larger body to his advantage.
He’d never forcefully use it against her, but if he could make her a little weak at the knees, then so be it.
Weak at the knees could become falling to her knees, and that could become something that even his vivid imagination couldn’t dream up.
Her lips. His cock. This office.
Heaven.
“I’ll pass, but thanks for the offer.” The smile she gave him was a little wobbly, like she was on the verge of giving in. “I have more important . . . things to do.”
It was the way she said “things” that set his heart to racing.
“Things? What things?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know?”
He moved in closer, turning her body without ever touching her, so her back was now to the front of her desk—its height meaning it supported her up to her mid-back—and set his gray eyes directly on her hazel ones. “Yes, I’d like to fucking know.”
Perhaps he should have hidden it, acted like he didn’t care, but if she was implying she had other people to do, like he suspected she was, then he wasn’t going to let it slide. Because, in his mind, she was his.
No one had ever had such an effect on him as Jade Miller had. From the moment he’d seen her, he’d been attracted to her, and with every barb, every name, every insult that slipped from her mouth, his attraction grew.
He knew it was odd, but he didn’t care. He wanted her.
Badly.
She leaned in and lowered her voice, though there was still no one else in sight. “My vibrator does an excellent job of keeping me satisfied. And if that doesn’t work, I can call my old roommate from college. She doesn’t mind helping me out either.”
“Shit.” Declan couldn’t think of any other words, his mind trapped somewhere between the visual of her using her vibrator—in his mind it was as pink as her hair and . . . other areas—while he watched, and the image of her and a faceless girl fooling around while, you guessed it, he watched.
Dammit.
“So, you see, I don’t need you. Dream you or real you. Thanks for stopping by though; I’ll let Seb know you came.”
The emphasis she placed on the word “came” was his undoing. When she started to turn away he reached out and wrapped a hand around her bicep, exerting enough pressure to draw her back toward him, but making it possible for her to pull away if she really wanted to.
She didn’t want to, it would seem.
Jade looked up at him, her mouth opening, undoubtedly to throw more sass his way, but he was done.
He leaned in and pressed his lips to hers. He wasn’t gentle, demanding she met his tongue stroke for stroke, settling his hands on her hips and drawing her even closer.
Their mouths moved together. Bodies pressed against one another. His hands slid from her hips to her ass, and she responded by reaching down between them and cupping him.
He pulled back, staring down into hazy hazel eyes as lost as he was to the moment. “Yes?” he asked not because he wanted to stop, but because he was hoping she didn’t want to.
“Yes,” she whispered.
Jade had no idea how she’d ended up in the supply closet that was situated next to her boss’ office with her panties around her ankles, her skirt hanging haphazardly from a shelf, her blouse shucked up around her breasts. Only her bra remained where it should, though not for lack of trying on Declan’s part.
On second thought, she knew exactly how she’d ended up there.
Declan fucking Young.
He was currently on his knees behind her, his face pressed to her center, licking her and making it very clear that he was enjoying every second of it.
She was trying to be quiet, though she knew that she and Declan were the only ones currently in the office—Sebastian and his father, her other boss, were out at a client meeting. But keeping quiet was hard, so, so hard when Declan was finally using that smart mouth for something other than teasing her and calling her Freckles.
“Yes, fuck yes,” she called as he speared his tongue inside her, causing him to stop. “No, no, noooo, why the hell are you stopping?” She heard shuffling behind her, and knew he’d moved to stand. She spun around to face him. “I did not give you permission to stop, Jackass.”
He chuckled darkly. “Not stopping, Freckles. Just changing things up a little.”
Jade watched in awe as he stripped himself of the majority of his clothing, revealing a body that was—shit—was so perfect she feared she’d come just from looking at it. Awe turned to something more carnal when he held up a condom between two fingers and raised an eyebrow.
She nodded. Yes, we need protection she told him with her eyes.
He made short work of ripping open the foil and rolling it down his length, taking a moment to fist himself at the base of his shaft, like he was trying to head off an orgasm.
“Yes?” he asked her for the second time, asking her again for confirmation that this was happening.
She couldn’t believe it was, but she wasn’t about to stop it. “Yes.”
He lifted her into his arms effortlessly, and she swung her legs to dislodge the panties still holding her ankles in place. Once free of them, she wrapped her legs around his waist, dug her heels into his ass—he’d insisted she keep them on—and urged him forward.
He slid inside her, inch by inch, until she could feel nothing but the pressure and the pleasure of his cock in her pussy, his hands braced under her ass, his waist clamped between her thighs, the slight fluttering of the silken material of her blouse as he rocked her body.
Licking her lips, rolling her hips and smiling at him, Jade leaned in to lay a kiss on Declan’s lips before making sure he knew the score. “Just because I’m letting you fuck me, Jackass, doesn’t mean I like you.”
He responded by punching his hips forward, until Jade was nearly convulsing with the need to come.
Then, as pleasure balled up inside of her and exploded through her body with a force as she’d never felt before, he moved one of his hands from under her ass and brought it to her chin.
Gripping her tightly, he turned her head and whispered into her ear, the heat of his breath making her entire being shiver. “Just because you don’t like me, Freckles, doesn’t mean I don’t like you.”
If you suffer from depression, anxiety, or any kind of mental illnesses, please know that you are not alone—no matter how hard the demons riding you, trying to convince you otherwise.
I know from personal experience that it is not always easy to see the light at the end of the tunnel, to believe that you will be okay. If you, or anyone you know, feels this way, please know that help is at your fingertips.
Call a friend or family member.
Call your doctor.
Call 911.
Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 1-800-273-TALK (1-800-273-8255).
Please, just remember that it’s more than okay to ask for help.
It’s brave, it’s scary, b
ut it’s okay.
There are so many people who made this possible that there’s a 100% chance I’m going to forget someone. Let me start by saying this—if it’s you, I’m really sorry. But also, you’ll get over it, I promise.
To Charles, Annabelle and Dominic, thank you for putting up with me. And you’re welcome for me putting up with you. I love you, I love our little family.
Mum and Dad, I don’t know why I’m acknowledging you right now . . . I mean, I dedicated the book to you. Is that not enough? (It’s not, actually. I couldn’t do what I do without knowing I have the best, most supportive parents in the world.)
Lauren, Michael, Ziggy, Tilly, Evan and Clara. Hi tigers. Nana and Pa, I miss you. Happy birthday, Nana!! Also, Binky Boodle—I ♥ Judd, just FYI.
My MIL, Linda—you’re a lifesaver and the keeper of my sanity. I stand by what I said: if it comes down to it, I get you in the divorce.
To Macey . . . once again you made my beautiful cover, completely flooring me with your general awesomeness, selflessness and talent in the process. THIS THANK YOU DESERVES SHOUTY CAPS.
My beta readers, Karen, Shelly, George, and Katie, who once again saved me from making a total fool of myself, and Lisa, my SW, who read my book just to make me feel better. I appreciate that—you. I hope you know.
My editor, Missy, who also happens to be my Little Spoon; Jill, who formatted this book and who deserves all the hugs in the world; and my Proofing Badass (and new friend, YAY!), Amber. Thank you. Thank you. Like, seriously though, THANK YOU.
Kylie and the Give Me Books team—I know how hard you work. You’re awesome.
To all my author friends, my blogger friends, and my friend friends, your support means everything. I couldn’t do this without people whose advice I value, whose friendship makes me smile and whose ability to create Facebook drama keeps me amused.