by Lucia Jordan
He strode in and walked forward, his eyes scanning the place woodenly. “Who said I was in Australia? I was calling you from the airport.”
“You were? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“There wasn’t enough time.” He turned, staring at her meaningfully. “Because you put me on hold to welcome your boyfriend, and then forgot about me.”
She chuckled, blushing. “I didn’t forget about you.” His eyes narrowed and she blushed. “I was shocked to see Jason here. It was…I forgot.”
“My point exactly. So are you going back?” He had to force the words through his lips.
“Back? No, no. Of course not. I have a job here now. Can’t go back.”
He relaxed instantly. “Job. Right. At least something’s keeping you here.”
“Why are you being so cranky? It’s been ten days since I saw you!” she blurted out, and regretted it instantly as his gaze flicked to hers inquisitively.
“Did you miss me?”
“Of course not. I mean sure, but…not miss miss. Just …” She trailed off as he smiled knowingly. Flushing red, she plopped herself onto the couch. “How was your trip?”
He chuckled at her attempt to change the topic. “It went well. Where is he anyway?”
“He who?”
“Your boyfriend. “
“He’s not my boyfriend!” she said forcefully, trying to convince her own cluttered, mixed feelings.
“Are you sure? I heard the whole conversation you know.” He motioned with his eye toward the check lying on the table.
She laughed. “Couldn’t you have just hung up after you realized I had forgotten you were on hold?”
“Of course. And miss out on all the details? Never.”
She laughed, enjoying the normal friendly banter. Ten days away had certainly dulled the distracting longing she had developed for him. The impromptu make out, and aborted attempt at sex had certainly messed up her head. “You’re incorrigible.”
“And you’re beautiful,” he said in the same casual tone.
Bloody hell! He did not just say that! “Why do you have to do that again?”
He didn’t reply. His lips pursed as if he was deep in thought and he glared at her meaningfully, before striding toward his room.
**
Jenny stood in the shower, hot water cascading down her body. She felt pathetic and helpless. In the past, she would’ve never been in this situation. She would’ve never had to live with a man who she didn’t want to live with.
Her utter trusting nature, and precarious financial state had propelled her from one preposterous situation to the next. She had left her own apartment because she cringed at sharing a place with Jason, albeit over a misunderstanding. And now, she was here, helpless and at Cooper’s mercy, and she didn’t want to live with him.
No matter what Jenny thought, she had no place to go to. She didn’t have many friends she could count on and Annabelle, her only close friend, had just gotten married. There was no way she could go to her. It was just Cooper. He was all she had – the only friend she had been able to reach out for help.
And now, the crazy, mindless lust that had overtaken her was as fresh in her mind as if it had happened two minutes ago. She cursed Cooper for bringing that up again. Why couldn’t he have just let it go? Now, she couldn’t get what happened out of her mind. He had kissed her, sucked her breast, stroked her bare skin, and then told her it was…uncomfortable.
She clenched her eyes shut and focused on breathing evenly. She was heating up in embarrassment and shame. While she had been moaning and writhing, clawing at his head so he’d never let go of her mouth, he had been uncomfortable.
It was the most stupid, cringe worthy situation, and she seemed to be having a lot of those since she came to Cooper’s apartment. The image flashed across her mind as if she had been a third party watching the moment. He had been so forceful, hurried, as if he couldn’t wait to get on top of her and inside her. He had kissed her with such ferocious urgency, and his tongue had claimed her mouth in fervent need.
She opened her eyes and gawked at the marble wall, horrified at the direction of her thoughts. Stop! Stop it! Not happening! It’s not happening again!
Her pussy tingled and burned and she fought to push away the tantalizing image. His hands had scorched her where they touched, and her breasts…the nipple Cooper had sucked and bitten had been swollen and red while the other one had remained perfectly fine. The scars of those few minutes in his arms had kept her awake for several nights. She swallowed to fight the urge to walk out and give herself to him, tell him that she wanted him inside her body, and that she couldn’t wait a moment more. But she knew she couldn’t do that. It just wasn’t her. She had always been reserved with men, and that’s why Jason was the only man she had ever been with. With Cooper, things had been so natural, so swift…so right.
Uncomfortable!
The word kept sliding back to claim her brain, thrashing all naïve hopes and impulses. Her pussy was the only thing that stayed unaffected. It clenched and unclenched, and unthinkingly, Jenny slid her hand down her navel to her pussy. It was wet, covered in the juices of her body’s insane demands. Her throat was dry as she tested the wetness, and thoughts of Cooper’s big hands crushing her breasts returned. Her tits tingled, her chest, her neck. She didn’t remember ever being so aroused before. Furiously, she yanked her hand away before swiftly turning off the water, grabbing the towel and drying herself off.
Stop thinking about him! Stop before you get yourself in deeper shit than you are now! He’s a player. He has the bad-boy aura around him, all the time. It’s going to be just sex for him, and it will never be just sex for you!
Jason wanted her back. She didn’t know if she wanted to go back. She didn’t feel guilty about Jason anymore. She should’ve, but once she saw Cooper again, her resolve to stay away from Jason hardened.
Regardless of everything, she couldn’t deny that Cooper had done a lot for her. If she had known beforehand who he was, if she had been even minutely interested in his accomplishments, she would’ve never come to him for help. Besides never being able to summon up the courage to contact the Cooper Farrell, she would’ve cringed at the idea that he would think she was using him. The call she had made to Cooper asking for help was one of the weakest moments of her life. She had been broken. She had been lost and bereft and she had grabbed a lifeline for survival.
Now, she was terrified of letting the lifeline go. If she did, or the lifeline got damaged and broken, she would be submerged in the same lost, terrifying waters that would drown her.
Cooper was her friend. He had been nothing but sweet to her from the beginning, but then her stupidity had shaken the balance. Their relationship would forever be tarnished by that few minutes of passion. Celia, the blonde model was still there in her head, but she forced herself not to think about her. Even if she was his girlfriend, it was Cooper’s problem not hers. She just had to keep her lips away from his and her legs clamped tightly shut. The rest would get sorted itself.
**
Cooper changed into black PJs and stood in front of the mirror. His lips were pursed, his expression ominous and dead at the same time. His mind wouldn’t stop whirling. He had seen the expression on her face when he had completely destroyed the friendly moment they had had. She had been shocked.
The moment he had heard Jason explaining himself on the other side of the phone, he had bolted back to his apartment. He had half expected to find him and Jenny locked in a torrid embrace. My Jenny. His jaw clenched. He didn’t know what he would’ve done if that had happened. As far as he was concerned, Jenny was his.
She felt the same way. He felt it. When he said making out with her had been uncomfortable, she had hurt written all over her naïve face. She wasn’t so good at hiding her feelings.
Maybe he was flattering himself, but she seemed to not agree on the statement he had made. She had not thought it was uncomfortable. He had known. He had felt it in
the way she had clasped him to herself, the way she had met the harshness of his kisses with ruthlessness of her own. Her nipple, pink and soft, had felt so perfect in his mouth. The scent of her skin had been consuming. She smelled of herself, and soap. It was incredibly fascinating, and he had been full of the scent of her. He had showered just to get rid of it. It was embedded in his hands, in his lips, in his skin.
He glared at the bed accusingly.
Although not uncomfortable in the least, it was a mistake. What happened that day was a horrible mistake. It was his fault. All of it. He had made the wrong call. When he had reached forward and kissed her, he had destroyed everything, the balance between friend and …whatever he had been thinking.
But what if Celia hadn’t put an abrupt stop to their frenzy? What if she hadn’t barged in and stopped them? Would Jenny have been in his bed at that moment? Would I have felt her naked body beneath mine?
He shook his head and grabbed a shirt. There was no way he was going shirtless again. It was hard enough as it was. If she ogled his chest again, he was pretty sure he would throw her on his bed and take her. And that he could not risk.
A soft knock on the door made him turn. His heart began hammering wildly. Has she come to tell me that she wants to continue where we left off?
“Can I talk to you, please?” Jenny said from the doorway and he nodded, slipping his hands into his pockets. “Um...can I talk to you in the living room?”
“Sure!” That was a better idea.
He sat on the couch and she sat on the rug, her elbows resting on the coffee table.
“About what happened before you left, Cooper, I feel like we were both too angry, and shocked to really sort it.”
“What about that?”
“Is…Celia your girlfriend? I’m only asking because you argued, and I feel bad, terribly. It’s obvious from the way she was calling you …baby,” she stammered, “that you’ve been…you know.” Cooper smiled and she caught it. “But it’s none of my business.”
“Jen, stop acting differently. It happened. We forgot about it. It’s over.”
She pasted a smile on her lips. Forgot? I’m still getting wet over it!
“And Celia is not my girlfriend. She and I met several times,” he said meaningfully and Jenny bit her lip as her cheeks burned.
So Celia had felt what it was like to be naked with Cooper. Her eyes trailed hungrily over his long legs, over the cotton stretched taught over his crotch because his thighs were parted. She jolted her gaze back guiltily when he spoke again.
“She has never even been up here, and she shouldn’t have had a key. I'm going to have a word with my architect in the morning.”
“It’s none of my business though.”
Cooper sighed. She was one tough cookie. “Are you sure we’re okay?”
“What do you mean?’
“I mean…we did have a bit of a…if Celia hadn’t come…”
Jenny blushed and laughed swiftly, thinking madly for something else to talk about. “Isn’t she a model? She looked familiar.”
“Yes, she is.”
“Wow, Coop. I left you a pale thirteen-year-old, and I find you a rich businessman who dates models.”
He chuckled. He was onto her. She was joking around, trying to make light of a situation that had so not been funny when it happened. “I'm not rich, and I didn’t date her,” he said pointedly with a wicked smile, and her grin faltered before getting wider. Cooper raised his brows as he chuckled. She was acting like a jealous girlfriend. She was feigning not caring, so she didn’t have to face her feelings.
“Mhmm. And who else did you…not date…from the fashion industry?”
“Uhh…there’s this blonde, Molly Klum? Have you seen her?”
The conversion was getting really uncomfortable. She had not expected him to be so open about it. “Yeah, I have…not in person of course.”
He laughed. “Well there was her and then…”
Jenny had an impulse to hurl something at Cooper’s face. A few days ago, he had been fondling her naked breasts and kissing her like he wanted to have her for dinner. Now, he was telling her about all these models he had slept with. Who were all…blonde! “So you have a thing for blondes?” she burst out with a smile and he stilled.
His Adam’s apple bobbed while she waited for him to say: ‘Yes, I have a thing for blondes.’
Cooper suddenly didn’t like the game they were playing. There was no point in this game. It was obvious that she was forcing the conversation. It was obvious that there was no way in hell they were going back to the unforced cordiality they had enjoyed for a day before he left.
“I have a thing…for a certain brunette,” he said slowly and stood up, striding toward the kitchen.
Jenny bit her lip, and her eyes flicked from one side to the other as she tried to assimilate what he meant. A certain brunette? Does he mean me? Of course not! He had made it clear that they were friends. That what had happened was a mistake. That it had been uncomfortable.
No! He can’t mean me. Not now, not ever. The man dates models! No…he doesn’t date! The bastard.
When she turned, he was holding a mug of coffee and staring into it as if it held an interesting treasure. She narrowed her eyes, getting irrationally angry. “What do you have there?”
“What? Coffee.”
“And how interesting is your coffee that you’ve been staring at it for the past minute?”
He chuckled, smiling lopsidedly. He knew what she was trying to insinuate. “Would you like to watch a movie?”
“Sure!” she drawled as if she didn’t give a damn.
He sat on the couch while grabbing the remote from the coffee table. “Do you want to sit on the couch maybe?”
“No, I’m fine. Thank you.” The couch. He was sitting on the couch. She could not sit next to him. She didn’t trust herself and her out of control impulses.
“Come on, Jenny.” He was getting pissed. “Just let it go,” he said meaningfully and Jenny swiftly stood up. She plopped herself down next to him. There was no way in hell she was letting him know that she couldn’t get over a minor make-out.
He sat back and she felt her body tense, her follicles standing up in heat. She was cold and hot at same time and her breath became harsher. He tilted his head toward her and smiled.
Half an hour into the movie, just when she thought that she had gotten a grip over the insane effect of Cooper’s nearness, he reached around her and held her shoulders.
Cooper couldn’t ignore it anymore. He had to admit the obvious fact. He wanted Jenny. She was there, and they were alone, and he had a constant erection for the past half an hour. She was stiff in his hold, and he knew the reason.
He stroked her shoulder and held her tighter, trying to make her relax. The urge to turn around and kiss her was too strong and he swallowed, looking at her. She tilted her face up, smiling sweetly, and he grasped her chin between his thumb and forefinger.
Jenny’s heart stopped. His mouth was so close. When he had kissed her before, it had been quick, and she hadn’t known what hit her until her pussy responded with fervent need. But at that moment he was ogling her lips like he wanted to feast on them, like he was starving to bite them while stroking her chin gently. The movie played and he didn’t turn to glance at the TV, nether did she. His breathing was deep and even, but hers was getting shattered. I have a thing for a certain brunette. At that instant she knew; plain, brown-haired, brown-eyed Jenny was exactly what he had been talking about.
He’s playing me. He’s not looking for a relationship. He just wants to get laid and I’m here.
No. He can’t do that. He can’t do that to me at least. She swallowed. She didn’t know anything about him. Cooper was definitely capable of anything. She barely knew the man that he had become. He just wants to get into my pants.
The conflict went on furiously in her brain and he leant closer, clasping her chin tighter while gauging her expressions. She hadn’t pul
led away yet. He had given her a chance to stop him. She hadn’t. No matter what she said or did, she wanted him to kiss her.
He gazed into her eyes, watching the confusion cross her beautiful face, and pressed his thumb down onto her bottom lip. Her mouth opened and she gasped as he bent over determinedly. Pushing at his shoulders, she tilted her head to the side and jumped off the couch, striding to the kitchen as if nothing had happened.
There was a storm spiraling in to madness in Jenny’s body. Her legs were shaking, and so was everything between her thighs. She grabbed a mug and poured herself a cup of coffee. He was going to kiss me. She hadn’t even known that she had pulled away until after she had, and now she was just in a daze. She brought the mug to her mouth and took a long sip, lurching backward as she burned her tongue and lip.
“Unh!” she groaned and bit her lip, clenching her eyes shut as the scalding coffee burned a path down her chest. “God!” she whispered, clasping the marble counter, her eyes watering from the fire in her throat.
“Are you okay?”
She whirled at the sound so close behind her and he grasped her face in both hands. She tensed, pulling backward, but the marble countertop was digging painfully into her back.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” She attempted to push past him but his hold became tighter, unrelenting. She glared up at him and he stared emotionlessly back. “Let me go. I wouldn’t want to make you uncomfortable again,” she hissed irately through her teeth, and Cooper caught the hint of hurt in her eyes.
So that was it.
His eyes narrowed and he let her face go free, moving out of the way. She strode back to the couch and sat on one corner, while he watched her from his vantage point in the kitchen.
Now he really was uncomfortable. His cock was aching, his balls getting heavier by the second. Having Jenny around in his apartment hadn’t been the smartest idea after all. Maybe I should set her up somewhere else. A hotel or some place. But she would never agree.
As soon as he took a step toward the couch, she stood up casually, straightened her loose, baggy t-shirt, and moved toward her bedroom. “I'm exhausted. I think I should go to bed early.”