by Josie Kerr
“Don’t. Don’t go. Please.” He sucked in a shaky breath. “Please,” he whispered.
Meghan’s face softened and she nodded. “Of course.” She wrapped her fingers in his, and he let them into the house.
Jason sank onto a bench sitting beside the back door and took off his shoes after he’d dropped his bag on the floor. Meghan still had her hand on him, her touch reassuring him that she was real, that she was there with him. She pressed her lips to the top of his head and moved her hand to his back.
“Let’s get you to bed,” she whispered and tugged gently on his arm until he got up and followed her upstairs. He let her undress him and put him into the bed. He watched her disrobe, the bedroom lit with the soft hues of the early morning sun. She slipped into bed and pulled him into her arms. He nestled his cheek against her collarbone and slowly relaxed against her as she stroked his head and his back. Her soft body was warm against his, and Jason felt his eyes grow heavy. Then he slept.
☆☆☆
Meghan woke up when she realized Jason wasn’t in the bed anymore. A quick glance at the bedside clock told her they hadn’t been in bed for long, just four hours. Definitely not long enough for him to be rested. She pulled on his T-shirt and headed downstairs, where she could hear the television playing.
She hesitated at the foot of the stairs. Jason was sitting on the couch, upright, bare-chested, and wearing a pair of shorts so small she thought he was naked. His eyes were closed and he seemed relaxed, though he was sitting up, and Meghan wondered if he was asleep.
“Hey,” he croaked. He rubbed his hand over his face and gave her a weak smile. “What are you doing?” He motioned for her to come and join him on the couch.
Meghan sat next to him with her feet tucked under her. He still looked exhausted, which she was sure he was. She remembered how bone-tired she was after her father’s death; hell, half the time the fatigue was still overwhelming.
“Could you not sleep?”
He shook his head. “I only sleep a few hours at a time anyway, and when my head’s for shit like it is right now, I don’t really even try.”
“No Tori today?” She tilted her head at the television.
He huffed a laugh. “No, no Tori today. I don’t even know what this is.”
They watched a perky blonde woman fight to save her cupcake shop from some evil developers for a while, until Meghan snorted. “This is kind of like watching a bizarro version of my life.”
“Yeah, it is,” he whispered. Meghan glanced at him and saw him swallow hard, so she laid her hand on his arm, hoping her touch would soothe him, at least for a bit.
“Roper was one of those guys who was so freaking simple. Not dumb at all—actually, he was really smart, but just . . . stripped down, you know? It didn’t take much to make him happy. His mom and his girlfriend would send these awesome care packages to him and another one for the rest of the crew. He would have overnight duty, and when we’d come to relieve him, he’d stay to watch the sun come up, even though he’d been on for thirty-six hours. Said it reminded him of home.
“And then we came back from Christmas leave one year and found out that that high school sweetheart of his had turned down his proposal because she was pregnant by some other guy. He was never quite the same.” Jason rubbed the back of his head with his free hand. “He was on patrol with Dan when that whole thing happened. He was actually the one who pulled Dan out of the wreckage and got him to safety so the corpsmen could do their thing. He went back two times before the fire got too hot. Fucked him all up, physically and mentally.”
“Jason, you don’t have . . .”
“We weren’t surprised, not really. All he wanted was to be a Marine, you know? And then some asshole loaded a dog’s carcass full of explosives and . . . nothing. So what was he left with? His sweet mama had passed away when he was in the sandbox, his girl left him, and then he couldn’t even do his job anymore? Man, talk about adding insult to fucking injury.”
Meghan couldn’t think of anything to say. What could she say? So she just sat and was there for him until he began to talk again.
“I called him the night before. Cash and Gunny—they’re two of the guys who were in our platoon—had just driven in from California. Roper said Cash was trying to convince him to come with them to Oklahoma. I told him he should go with them and then come out here. I thought I’d convinced him; he sounded so upbeat. Better than he had in a long, long time.”
“And then he just . . . just . . . shit.” Jason collapsed in her arms, and Meghan held him while he sobbed. “We should have known. We should have fucking known.”
Meghan rocked him and held him tight while he gasped for air. Eventually he calmed down, gulping some deep breaths and slowly blowing them out until he was breathing regularly. Meghan felt him shift his body, and when she looked down, his eyes blazed with emotion and he pulled her to him, capturing her mouth with a hot, desperate kiss. It was hard, rougher than his usual sweet kisses, and Meghan let him possess her mouth as he moved over her, pushing her back into the couch.
“Need you,” he rasped in her ear. “Please.”
She answered him by spreading her thighs and hooking one leg around his waist. He grunted when his hand came in contact with bare skin as he grasped her ass to grind into her. Meghan tightened her arms around his neck and rolled her pelvis against him.
“Do it,” she whispered. She groped inside the silky underwear, stroking him root to tip. “Take me.”
He looked deep into her eyes, and she nodded. Then he did exactly as she asked, sliding into her in one smooth movement, burying himself deep inside. Meghan rocked her hips up, her legs tightly clinched around his waist.
“Fuck,” he whispered as he began to thrust into her. He moaned as she gripped him with her core.
“So good,” Meghan groaned, her voice shaking each time he drove deeper into her. “So, so good.”
He kissed her hard as he grasped her ankles and moved her legs to his shoulders, driving even deeper. This new position allowed both of them to watch as he penetrated her over and over. She began touching herself because she knew he liked it when she did, and suddenly he pulled out, his seed erupting in ropy spurts across her T-shirt and exposed abdomen.
“Holy shit, Jason,” she exclaimed as she watched his face contort with pleasure. His chest heaved, his mouth slack as he tried to catch his breath.
She got ready to sit up, but Jason put his hand in the middle of her chest. “I know you didn’t come,” he growled, his face intense. “That’s unacceptable.”
“Jason—” she began but lost all sense of speech when he fastened his mouth around her clit and drove two, then three fingers into her core. He ate her like a starving man, feasting on her with big, soft bites and long, luxurious licks. He lifted her ass, forcing her to spread her thighs wide so he could consume all her full, flattened softness. He bit at her thighs, flicked his tongue against her clit until she thought she would lose her mind, and then he did it all again, but slower, deeper, more intense. Then, with one well-placed thrust, she came apart under his tongue, and he held her firmly until her core stopped spasming around his fingers.
He lay with his head on her mound as she stroked his hair, loving the feel of his burred hair under her hands. Slowly he roused and moved up her body to kiss her sweetly on the mouth.
“Thank you.” He swallowed hard. “I . . .”
Meghan put two fingers over his lips, and he kissed them.
“Do you think you can sleep some more?” she murmured.
“Yeah, I think I might be able to.”
“Good. Let’s try.”
Chapter 15
When Meghan opened her eyes, she saw Jason propped up on one elbow, watching her sleep.
“Because that’s not creepy at all, Edward Cullen.”
He laughed, his eyes twinkling with mischief, and stole a kiss before pulling her to him.
“Good morning, Sullivan.”
“Good morn
ing, Richards.”
He closed his eyes when she drifted her fingers across his stubbly cheek. After their emotional morning, they had indeed slept for a few hours, long enough that their first meal of the day happened in the early evening. After eating a delivered pizza, they spent the rest of the day making love and talking about everything except the Foley’s project or his trip to Texas.
Now, she was deliciously sore, wide awake, and acutely aware that they needed to discuss the pub.
“What is that look, baby?” He kissed that spot on her neck that made her toes curl and got her instantly wet. He pulled her closer and rubbed against her so she could feel how hard he was. Then he suddenly stopped. He pulled away just a bit, though he was still close enough for the tip of his erection to bounce against her belly. “I think it’s the look of someone who knows we both need to get back to work.”
“Yeah, it is.” She kissed him, and he rolled to his back, pulling her along with him so she was snugged against his side, her leg thrown over his thighs, his hand protectively cupping her ass.
“I need to check in with Mr. Karen this morning. He sent me a plan that actually looks sane, and I want him to sign off on it before Karen gets a hold of it and overcomplicates matters. We have a deadline of eleven—that’s when she gets back from tennis—so I’ll be at the pub by noon. I think we’ll be okay still, schedule-wise.”
“I’m not sure the schedule is all that important anymore.”
She felt him tense. “What do you mean?”
Meghan groaned. She sat up, pulling the sheet around her in a makeshift toga. There was no way she could tell him his hard work, their hard work, was most likely for naught when she had contact with all that glorious naked skin.
“It’s so fucked up, Jason. Just . . . ridiculous.”
He sat up, his face serious, and she told him about the Perfect Pour fiasco and the possible domino effect of her not being a listed competitor. Meghan carefully watched Jason’s face as she relayed the details, omitting the fact that Crabtree had delivered the news in person.
“That son of a bitch. He’s using this arbitrary condition to game the system.” Jason’s jaw hardened. “I’m not letting him get away with this.”
“Jason, don’t get crazy. I think I might have figured out a way to beat Geoffrey at his own game. I called the original sponsors, and the rep I talked to had no idea they’d been replaced. I haven’t heard back from them yet, but . . .”
She shrugged, and she could tell Jason was still furious and plotting. Desperately hoping she hadn’t made a mistake by telling him, she moved closer, letting the sheet drop away from her.
“Let’s ride this out for a few days, at least until I hear back from the rep. Okay?” Meghan leaned into him, kissing the side of his mouth and letting her breasts brush against his chest.
“You’re trying to distract me,” he muttered even as she straddled him and he pulled her close.
“Is it working?” She nipped his earlobe.
“Maybe.”
She took his hand in hers and began to touch herself using his fingers.
He chuckled. “Definitely.” His voice was a rasp as he watched their linked fingers dance around her folds. He scrabbled in the box of condoms and pulled out a square.
“Last one, baby.”
Meghan kissed him and plucked the condom from his hand. “Then let’s make it count.”
☆☆☆
After his surreptitious appointment with Karen Dothan’s husband, Jason found himself headed toward Midtown Atlanta. He sat in the parking lot of the Knoxtree Development offices and fumed. He didn’t know if he was going to go in—he knew he shouldn’t—but the thought of a technicality preventing Meghan from participating in the Perfect Pour competition made him so angry he couldn’t see straight. Who the hell did that fuck think he was?
He was weighing the pros and cons of confronting Crabtree when he saw the man in question walking through the parking lot. Hot damn. Jason leapt out of the car. He knew a confrontation in a parking lot, while still on Knoxtree property, would be miles better than inside the building, where he could legitimately be arrested for trespassing.
“Geoffrey Crabtree!” Jason jogged toward the other man, now standing, facing him on the sidewalk in front of the building. “We need to have a discussion!”
“Jason Richards, I was just talking about you.” Geoffrey gave him a mean smile and pointedly shoved his hands into his pockets.
Jason ignored Crabtree’s obvious attempt to distract him. “I want to talk to you about Meghan Sullivan and Foley’s Public House.”
Crabtree arched an eyebrow in response. Jason wanted to punch that eyebrow so hard Crabtree would have to search for it across the street. Instead, he took a deep breath—he couldn’t claim it was really calming, but it stopped him from immediately reacting—and repeated his request, which seemed to hit a nerve.
Crabtree took a step closer, attempting to crowd him. “I’ve done some research on you, Richards. You seem to be building quite the reputation for quality work. It’d be a shame for an up-and-coming renovation business to torpedo their future prospects by aligning themselves with a failing business. People might assume Land and Sea Renovations provided an inferior product, when the business just wasn’t up to snuff.”
“Is that a threat of some sort, Crabtree?”
Crabtree rocked back on his heels and shrugged. “Take it any way you want it.”
Just then Charles Knox emerged from the building, looking harried. “Geoffrey, you’re needed on—oh.” He looked from Crabtree to Jason and back. “I didn’t realize you were meeting with Mr. Richards right now. I’ll stall.” He took a few steps toward the building but then turned around and grabbed Jason’s hand. “We’re looking forward to working with you. We’ve been really impressed with the restoration work you’ve done, especially on the row houses and apartments associated with DS Fight Club.” Then he was off.
Now that little tidbit did pique Jason’s interest. He turned to Crabtree and found the man red-faced and furious.
“You need to ignore what that idiot Knox just said. I am the principal in Knoxtree Development, and I have the final approval over whom we work with. I have made careers, and likewise, I’ve destroyed them. I’m telling you right now, Richards, you need to check yourself.”
“We need to talk about Foley’s,” Jason ground out, just about out of patience.
“And I’m telling you, we do not. Meghan is in so far over her head, nothing can save her. Not a totally revamped pub, not Cabbagetown Eats, and certainly not that stupid Perfect Pour competition. Honestly, if you were really her friend, you’d convince her to sell, take the money, and fucking run with it. She did it once before. I’m sure it wouldn’t take a lot to do it again.”
Jason grabbed Crabtree’s lapel. “Listen, you fuck. I know what you’ve done. I know how you are. I’ve kept my personal feelings for Meghan separate from the work I’m doing with Foley’s, and it seems like you’re the one who’s conflating the two. You are the one who needs to check yourself, because if you try to fuck with her, you’re going to have a whole lot of people coming after you. And that’s all I have to say.”
Jason shoved Crabtree and walked away without looking back.
Chapter 16
Jason canceled his next appointment. He was furious, though he didn’t know if the object of his fury was Meghan’s situation, the fact that she wasn’t telling him the whole story about her relationship with Crabtree, or Crabtree himself. By the time he got to the pub, he was so angry he was barely rational, and he entered Foley’s with such force that the door swung all the way open and banged into the wall, nicking the new finish. Right now, he didn’t even care.
“Meghan!” he bellowed. “Meghan!”
Meghan came out of the kitchen, drying her hands with a bar towel. “Jaysus, what has gotten into you?”
“I just came from the Knoxtree Development offices—”
“Oh Christ, why the
fuck did you go there, of all places? I thought we agreed to hold off on doing anything until I heard back from my rep?” She threw the towel down on the table and stormed over to him. “And don’t you dare use that tone with me, Jason Richards. No one gets to use that tone with me.”
“Why didn’t you tell me Knoxtree offered to buy this place?”
“They’re going to have to haul my dead body out of this pub! I’m not selling!” She crossed her arms over her chest as if she needed to restrain herself from putting her hands on him. “This is the last thing I have of my da—the last thing. He’d die before giving up the pub.”
“He fucking did, Meghan! He worked himself into an early grave, and deep down you know it. Are you willing to do the same thing? Are you gonna follow your father down the same path? Because if you are, I’m out.”
“What?” Her voice was a whisper, and Jason felt immediately regretful when he saw her expression. The pain in her eyes was like a bucket of cold water, instantly extinguishing the fire of his anger.
“Meghan, baby, come on.” He reached for her arm, only to have her wrench it away and back up two paces.
She shook her head, her bottom lip wobbling. “No. Absolutely not. I will not put myself in this situation again.”
“Baby—”
“I am not your baby, Jason. I am not anyone’s baby, not anymore, but if you think I’m going to give up, to leave this place just because it’s the easier option, you don’t know me like I thought you did.” She licked her lips. “Tell me why you went to Geoffrey, because I know you didn’t go to the Knoxtree offices for any other reason.”
His shoulders slumped. “I originally wanted to talk to him simply as a professional, as your contractor, but then he started spouting all sorts of bullshit about making and breaking careers, and I . . . lost it.”
“Oh my God, what have you done?” Meghan buried her face in her hands. “I’ll never get back into the event now.”