by Jessie Cooke
“Jacob?”
I felt him chuckle against me. “Yeah baby.”
“I’ve never felt like this before. I never knew it could be like this.”
I felt his body jerk and in a strangled voice as his own orgasm approached he said, “I promise it always will be…but only with me baby, okay?”
I didn’t even have to think about that one. “Absolutely.” I heard him suck in a breath of air through his gritted teeth and as he held my body down tight against his pelvis, and then he made one of those deep primal sounds he does that sends me hurtling through space. His orgasm rocked through him and I held on tightly until he finally relaxed and his arms fell back onto the bed. I had my head against his shoulder and I started to sit up when I felt his hands on either side of my face suddenly. He began showering me with kisses all over my face and my neck. I just relaxed and enjoyed it until he wound down and slid his back down off the headboard and onto the bed. I put my head on his chest and draped a leg across him. One of his arms was underneath me and resting on my hip and the other over me and on my waist. If I get to pick when and where I have to leave this earth…it will without a doubt be in Jacob’s arms.
We lay there like that for a long time and I thought he was asleep when I heard him say, “Are you going to dinner with me tomorrow night?”
I nodded. “Yeah. Lizzie says she completely understands that you’re a lot hotter than her.”
“True story,” he said. Then I felt him laugh. “I’m glad you’re going…but I have to warn you about something.”
“What?” he was stroking my hair…petting me. I loved it when he did that.
“My dad’s a complete asshole. If he says or does anything to intimidate or upset you, we’ll leave, okay?”
I propped myself up on my elbow and looked at his face. He opened his eyes and looked back at me. “Do you think he won’t like me?”
“Oh God no, baby. That’s not it at all. He’s an ass but he’d have to be blind deaf and dumb to not like you. It’s me he has a problem with. I just don’t want him taking it out on you. I’m hoping he’ll be on his best behavior in front of his fiancé.”
“I can’t imagine why he would have “a problem” with you. I mean look at you. You’ve done so well for yourself at such a young age, you’re smart, you’re gorgeous, you’re funny…what more could he possibly expect from you?” I felt myself getting passionate about it. I really couldn’t understand it. He was grinning at me. “What?”
“Maybe I won’t have to worry about standing up for you. Maybe you’ll be the one standing up for me.”
“Damn straight!” I laughed. That sounded stupid coming out of my mouth. “Seriously, you and Ian both are such good people. What’s his problem with you?”
“He’s been moody since my mother died. He sent us away so that he didn’t have to deal with us and when we came home he expected us to just fall in line and be company souls right away. I got beat up a lot when I was a kid…”
I giggled but then I realized he was serious. “Were there giants at this school?” He smiled. I love his dimples.
“No. But I was a skinny kid for a long time. I was tall, but my muscles hadn’t caught up with my height yet. I was away from home and feeling abandoned so that made me seem vulnerable…I guess. They used that against me. I attracted every bully in a ten-mile radius, I think. One day I just had enough and that was when I started researching nutrition and figuring out what to eat and what exercises to do to bulk up. I worked out and ate a lot of protein the summer after my sophomore year and I came back stronger. I refused to walk away from a fight then and I got expelled from two different schools in my junior year. By my senior year, Dad had me in a private school in California. I was huge and the bully’s left me alone but I was still angry so I picked fights over everything. I barely made it through senior year without getting expelled or put in jail.”
“Wow, I’m sorry.”
He smiled. “I don’t want you to feel sorry for me baby. I have a good life. Better now,” he said, pulling me back into him. “I just want you to know me and maybe understand why my dad is the way he is about me. It never seemed like I could do anything to please him. We used to have these huge shouting matches and I would break things or punch holes in walls to keep from hitting him. He can make me angrier than anyone on the planet. After I graduated high school I got a trainer…a neat old guy who was a retired cop. He helped me learn how to channel all that anger into the ring. I stopped fighting with my dad eventually and channeled that. Instead of yelling back at him, each time he got pissed at me about something I’d get another tattoo. Each time I won a fight, I’d get another. They started becoming my badges of defiance and he hates them. He hates what I do and he has no respect for me. A lot of the things I’ve done in my adult life were strictly to piss him off.” He got quiet for a second, thoughtful…then he looked at me with soft eyes and said, “I’m realizing now what a waste of time that was. I want to make some changes in my life…starting with you.”
“Me?”
“Yep, you. I want you Cassie. Not just for sex like I’ve wanted every other woman I’ve met since I was eighteen. I want you…all of you…but I have a confession to make.”
I propped up and looked at him again. “What’s that?”
“I’ve never had a girlfriend before. I’m not sure I’ll know all the right things to do at first. But don’t give up on me, okay?”
“So far, you’re doing it all right,” I told him, truthfully. “I want you too, Jacob.” I put my head back down on his chest and closed my eyes. He was still stroking my hair with his fingertips. It gave me chills.
“Baby?”
“Yeah?”
“I need to tell you something else.”
“What’s that?”
“Remember when you made me promise not to tell Lance about the baby?”
I sat up and looked at his face. “Yeah?”
“I need you to do the same for me where Lizzie is concerned…at least until they both figure out what the hell it is they’re going to do.”
I had no idea what he was talking about. “What is it that I’m not supposed to tell Lizzie?”
He took a deep breath and said, “Lance is gay.” I sucked in a loud breath and he said, “And I’m pretty sure that my brother is in love with him.”
20
Cassie
As I dressed for dinner, my mind went back to last night. It was…incredible, amazing and shocking all at the same time. I’m falling hard for Jacob which is entirely opposite from my norm. I don’t fall for the players. I fall for the broken ones like Scott, hoping I can fix them. Jacob tells me that I’m different…and I want to believe that he means that, but I guess only time will tell. I have two choices…walk away, or stay and see where it goes. Right now I can’t even wrap my head around walking away. He makes me feel like I’ve never imagined that I could.
I’m struggling with something else now too. Lance is gay? Ian is too…and in love with him? I wouldn’t take issue with either of those things if my poor Lizzie hadn’t looked completely smitten with him last night…oh and for the fact that she’s carrying his baby. I’ve text her several times and called her once today. I promised Jacob that I won’t tell her…but I have to at least try and discourage her from getting too wrapped up in Lance again. The first time I text, she didn’t answer. I got worried so I called. She didn’t answer that either…so I text again and told her I was worried. I got back a text that said,
“LOL, I’m fine…Mom, just hanging out with Lance and Brock at their place. I will call you later.”
Now I get to wonder if she hung out there all night. Did she and Lance have sex again? The longer he led her on, the worse it was going to be. I wondered if she told him about the baby. With a heavy sigh, I plugged in my hot rollers and went out into the kitchen to get some water. Dad was at the table surrounded by a calculator and all the household bills. He looked stressed.
“Hi Daddy.”
“Hi pumpkin. Did you and Lizzie have fun last night?” I felt a tickle of guilt begin in my belly and start working its way up into my chest. He would freak out if he, (a) Knew I was spending the night with a guy I’ve only known for a few weeks, and (b) Knew said guy was a fighter.
“We did. We had a lot of fun.” Not really a lie, right? “What are you doing?”
“Paying bills…or I should say, deciding which ones to pay.”
“I get paid today…”
“No Cassie.”
“Dad,” I sat down in the chair next to him. “I live here. I use the electricity and the gas and the phone you pay for…I am an adult. I should be able to pay my part.”
“You shouldn’t have to…”
“Oh stop, Daddy. If I was living in an apartment with Lizzie like she wanted me to, I would have even more bills. This is more for me than it is for you. Please let me help.”
He sighed and said, “I’ll make a deal with you.”
“What’s that?”
“You can help until business picks back up and then I pay you back.”
I laughed. “Modification of that deal: I’ll help until business picks up, but I won’t accept any paybacks. Like I said, I use all this stuff too…probably more than you. It’s time I learned how to pay my own way. This is you teaching me, being a good father…like you always have been.”
His eyes looked sad, but he smiled. I thought about the dinner tonight to celebrate Jacob’s dad’s engagement. I wish my dad could find someone who made him happy. If anyone deserves it, it’s him. “Why don’t you put the bills away for tonight and go out and have some fun?”
He chuckled. “I’m not sure how to do that anymore.”
I covered his hand with mine and said, “I know and that’s my fault too.”
“No. Don’t say that! You didn’t ask to be raised without a mother. Those bad choices are on her and me…”
It was my turn to protest. “I won’t say it again, if you’ll stop too. Those bad choices were on her. If she didn’t want to be a parent or a wife, then she shouldn’t have chosen to be one. You can’t start a family and then change your mind and walk away from it. You stayed and you did an amazing job. Look at me, I’m practically perfect.” I was beginning to sound like Jacob. But Dad smiled and that’s what I was going for.
“You’re not practically perfect. You are perfect. I guess I did something right.”
“You did everything right…but I’m a grown up now Daddy. You need to go get a life for yourself. She took so much away from us. Don’t let what she did take your future too.”
He leaned over and kissed my cheek. “I love you, pumpkin.” He really looked at me then. I had my hair pulled back because I hadn’t done it yet, but I had my make-up on. “Where are you going? Is there a fight tonight?”
“No, the fight is tomorrow. I have a dinner to go to tonight.” Still not a lie, right? Jacob is insisting on picking me up though, so unless Daddy takes my advice and goes out…he’ll know it wasn’t exactly the full story, either.
“Okay, well you be safe.”
“I will. You go find some fun and be safe yourself.”
“Okay, Mom.” I laughed and said, “Lizzie just called me that too. I guess I’m a little bit of a mother hen.” He kissed me on the top of the head and said, “Yes you are. But it’s part of your charm so don’t ever change.”
I got my water and went to finish getting ready. I bought a new dress. It’s form-fitting and the neckline is pretty conservative. You can’t see any cleavage, just the tops of my breasts, but the back is plunging and now that I’m looking at it, I’m worried that maybe it’s too much for an engagement dinner for a dad. I don’t want them to think I’m a slut. Jacob told me that’s all his father thinks he dates anyways…Hmm…I started digging through my closet then, desperately searching for something else. What was I thinking? Damn! Nothing else seems right…too short or too long…too low-cut! I was getting too stressed out so I went in and finished my hair first. I concentrated on taking deep breaths in and breathing them out slowly while I wrapped my long hair around the hot rollers. When I had it all wrapped up, I went back in and picked up the dress. I held it up to me and measured how low the back plunged. I guess it wasn’t too bad. It wasn’t like I was going to be showing ass crack or anything…I bought shoes to go with it too…and a purse…Damn! I’m going to have to risk it. I laid it back down on the bed and there was a knock on my bedroom door.
“Cassie?”
“Yeah Daddy. I’m not dressed.”
“Okay honey, I just wanted to tell you that I called Mike and I’m going to meet him over at the Nugget for a drink.”
I rolled my eyes. Mike was an old, fat, bald married guy that my dad has been friends with for thirty years. He won’t get any action with him around. “Okay Dad. Try and have some fun.”
“That’s the idea.”
“Yes, it is. If you see a lovely lady…dump Mike fast.”
“You’re mean baby,” he said with a laugh.
“I’m just team Daddy. Love you.”
“Love you too. Be safe.”
I heard him leave and I went back to my ruminating over the dress. When my hair was ready I took out the curlers and fluffed it up. Then I fastened one side away from my face with the only thing my so-called mother ever gave me. It was a silver hair comb with black pearls across the top of it. She told me it was her grandmother’s. After a while, I didn’t believe a word she said though, so who knows? I took a step back and looked at myself. That’ll work, I guess. Standing on the arm of the hottest guy on the planet made a girl a little bit self-conscious sometimes.
I went back into the bedroom and picked up the dress. It’s really pretty. It’s a smoky gray color and it shimmers in the light. I slipped it on over my head, loving the way it hugs my body like a soft glove. I went over to the full-length mirror and obsessed some more over the back. I did realize that with my hair down, it really didn’t show that much skin. I suppose it will be okay. I took out my shoes, a pair of smoke gray strappy sandals with a four-inch heel. I slipped them on and looked again. I was thinking about trying another pair on with a lower heel when the doorbell rang. I looked at the time…six-thirty. Jacob was right on time. Of course he was. He’s perfect. I took one final look, grabbed my little clutch purse and nervously went out to answer the door. If it had just been him and I tonight, maybe I wouldn’t be so freaked out…I looked out through the peep hole. Wow! I turned around and put my back to the door. Jesus! I’ve never seen him all dressed up and cleaned up like that. God, I feel like some freaking Disney Princess with the hero at the door. I turn around and look again. He’s like Gaston with Flynn Ryder’s face. Oh Jesus! I’m sweating in my new dress. He’s wearing a gray suit that looks like it’s made of material so soft that it would melt like butter if you touched it. It fits like it was made for him…and it probably was. The shirt underneath it is black…definitely silk and his face is freshly shaven and I think he got a haircut too. It’s shorter and sticking up in different directions and looking so sexy. I wanted to put my fingers in it and mess it up even more.
I can see him smiling and then suddenly his eye is pressing against mine on the other side of the peep hole. “Are you going to let me in, baby?” God, I love it when he calls me baby. I can’t catch my breath. I couldn’t speak. My mouth was as dry as a bone. After a few more seconds he looked a little worried and said, “Um Cassie…is something wrong?” I smoothed down my dress, took a deep breath and pulled open the door.
21
Jacob
I couldn’t really see Cassie through the peephole from my side, but I could tell she was behind the door looking out at me. She’s so damned cute. At first, I thought she was just fooling around with me…but when it took her a while, I started to get worried. Then suddenly the door came open and holy shit if I didn’t have to pick my jaw up off the ground.
“Oh Jesus,” I said, putting my hand over my heart. It really ach
ed. Her pretty eyes widened and she said,
“What?” She really has no clue how beautiful she is. It’s crazy…and sexy all at the same time.
She’s wearing a shimmery dress that hugs every one of her shapely curves…right where I want to put my hands. It goes down to her ankles, but it has a slit that goes up the side to one of her sexy thighs. Her shoes are even sexy. Holy Mother of God how the hell am I going to keep my hands off of her all night? “Jesus, baby. You’re gorgeous…I mean, absolutely, heart-stopping…no words, baby…no words…” She blushed and I thought I was going to have to take her right there on the foyer floor. I hope her dad isn’t home.
“Thank you,” she said. “You look…the same.” She was looking at me with desire in her eyes and I couldn’t stand it. I closed the space between us and took her tiny waist between my hands and leaned down and pressed my lips to her throat. She leaned her head back, exposing her entire neck and I let my tongue come out and taste her. She’s so fucking sweet, so gorgeous…my pants are tight all of a sudden. Damn! She’s going to kill me. I slid my hands up as I kissed her neck and I realized that underneath all that sexy hair was nothing but skin. Fuck! I let my teeth scrape her neck and she moaned. I kissed up to her ear and with my lips against her flesh I said, “You are so beautiful, Cassie. I’ve never…ever…seen anything more gorgeous than you. You drive me crazy baby.”
“Thank you,” she said again…this time in that breathy voice she uses when we’re making love. Fuck! Did I just think making love? That’s funny. Oh my God, my cock is aching.
I slid my hand up her smooth back to the back of her neck and pulled it forward slightly so that I could look at her face. Her beautiful aquamarine blue eyes were rimmed with a smoky color that matched her dress and her lips were outlined in a dark pink and filled in with a light pink gloss. Jesus, I love those lips. I hated to mess up all that work…No, honestly, I didn’t give a damn. I covered them with mine and kissed her…long and hot and deep until little whimpering sounds were coming from her throat. Fuck this dinner. I need her. Now. I try and walk her backwards…I have no clue where I’m going, but there has to be a bedroom here somewhere, or a bathroom. I’m sucking at her lips while we walk and she’s got her hands in my hair. I let my hands feel that dress and I grip it tightly underneath her ass and I start pulling it up…