by Jillian Dodd
The cop peers around in every direction. “Do you swear, I’m not on camera?”
“We swear,” I say.
He takes the toilet paper and heaves it into the air. “Gosh, that’s fun. I’ll be honest, I was a bit of a hellion when I was young. Those who knew me are shocked I’m a cop. I was always having run-ins with the locals in my small town.”
“Things were different back then though,” I say. “The cops knew everyone. They didn’t have to threaten with arrest. They just told us they were calling our parents.”
“I know, right?” he says with a grin as he catches the TP and throws it back in the air. “And they’d confiscate our beer. Or make us pour it out.” He grins at Jennifer as I hand him a few forks to place in the yard. “You ever get caught parking by the lake?”
“Hell,” Jennifer says with a laugh, “where I grew up, all we had was a pond.”
“We didn’t even have that,” I add. “We just pulled into a cornfield.”
“I can’t believe I’m reminiscing about the good ole days and committing trespassing, littering, and criminal mischief with Jennifer Edwards and Danny Diamond. Best night ever.”
“Well, the good news is, it’s easy to clean up,” Jennifer says.
“And we’re doing my house,” I say, “so my friends won’t know who to blame.”
“Now, that there is sheer brilliance,” the officer says, shaking my hand before he gets back into his car and takes off.
Jennifer and I run to the corner where we parked.
“Ohmigosh, that was such a rush,” she says, pushing me against the side of my truck. “I was so imagining myself in an orange jumpsuit and a mug shot in all the papers.”
“Another nice thing about living in a small town,” I say, holding her eyes and enjoying the feel of her body against mine.
“Kansas City isn’t small,” she counters as she pats down my chest and pulls the flask out of my pocket. She takes a slug and then offers it to me.
I take a shot and then say, “No, but our neighborhood feels like a small town. That’s why I was originally drawn to it.”
“And how did Phillip and Jadyn end up living next door to you?” she asks as she runs her hand across the nape of my neck, causing me to instantly harden.
“It’s kind of crazy now that I think back. I got drafted and bought the house. Lori wasn’t thrilled with it even though it was bigger than I ever imagined. It needed remodeling, which I knew was quite an undertaking. But it was the exact location I wanted, had a panoramic lake view, and the back faced west, so we could watch the sunset. You know that Phillip and Jadyn grew up door next to each other, and when I was in sixth grade, my family moved into the neighborhood. I was a cocky little shit and wanted to play catch with Phillip. Said something about girls not being able to play football. Jadyn ran into her house in tears and then came back out, demanding to play. When I balked at the idea, she slugged me.”
Jennifer covers her mouth, trying to control her giggles. “Oh, that’s awesome. And let me guess; you’ve been best friends ever since?”
“Yep. I told you about how I took the gang to Vegas for Jadyn’s and Phillip’s bachelorette and bachelor parties?”
“No, you didn’t. You just told me that you bought the car in Vegas.”
“Phillip and Jadyn have never liked to be apart. He didn’t know the girls were even there the first night. We did the typical routine with the drunk limo and strip club while the girls did a spa day and drank a lot of wine. Anyway, that was the night I bought the Ferrari, and Lori was pissed I hadn’t consulted her. I know we were married and all, but I used a small portion of my sign-on bonus, which I felt was mine to spend since I’d gotten it before we were married.”
“How did Phillip find out Jadyn was there?”
“Oh, that’s classic. The next afternoon, I hired these masked strippers to come into our penthouse suite and made Jadyn dress like them and dance on Phillip.”
“Oh my gosh. She danced and stripped in front of you all?”
“She didn’t really get to the stripping part. Phillip knew it was her right away because he saw her tattoo. But Jadyn didn’t think he recognized her, and she was getting mad that he was being so handsy, but he played it perfectly. I was dying. Let’s just say, Jadyn would starve before she ever earned money as a stripper.”
“I had a stripper fail once, too! I was in Vegas with Riley Johnson and Knox Daniels. I was so drunk, and I totally fell. Made a fool of myself.” She hoots.
“I saw the video. I thought you were damn sexy, and that was before we met. Even though I’m sure it was embarrassing, it looked like a fun night.”
“It was,” she says with a smile. “I used to have a lot of fun. And I had fun tonight. Thank you for taking me.”
“I haven’t had this much fun in a long time. Although watching you in the bounce house in that little skimpy costume, jumping around, is high on the list.”
She smacks my arm and then leans in to kiss me.
All of a sudden, the lights come on in Joey’s house.
She says, “We’re busted,” against my mouth as we instinctively duck.
We watch Joey move from window to window, turning on lights, until he’s in the kitchen, drinking milk from the carton.
“I don’t think he knows we’re out here. Good thing we parked on the corner.”
As soon as the lights all turn off, we hightail it back home and decorate both my house and the Mackenzies’.
Jennifer
It’s late when we sneak up to my room.
Danny is barely inside the door when I say, “Is it weird that I’m here?”
“A little. It’s like I’m living out a fantasy, a dream.”
“Have you thought about me since we stopped talking?” I ask, leaning back a little and nervously biting my lip.
“I’ve seen every one of your movies. I have dreams about you,” he says as his fingers move across my shoulder.
“What kind of dreams?”
“We are on the beach that night. I relive it. It was one of the best nights of my life,” he says sincerely.
“Hmm, I’ve dreamed about that night, too,” I tell him. “But it had a much better ending.”
“Can I kiss you again?” he asks.
“You’d freaking better. You don’t know what I went through to get here.”
He shuts me up by pressing his lips hard against mine. I let out a little moan and part my lips as he shoves his tongue into my mouth. I run my hand wildly through his hair and then find myself grabbing the hem of his shirt and pulling it off. It’s then, while our lips are apart and he’s stripping my shirt off, I see the same hunger I saw in his eyes that night on the beach. The same emotion. How much different would our lives have been had we succumbed to that hunger then?
But he wouldn’t succumb even though I totally threw myself at him.
Repeatedly.
After what I’ve just been through, I can really appreciate a faithful man.
“You’re even more beautiful than I remember,” I tell him, my hands gliding from his broad shoulders, down his hard pecs, thick abs, and to a really impressive V-line. Troy might have been a hot rock star who left girls swooning in his wake, but I can tell you, he does not look anything like this.
Danny effortlessly picks me up and carries me to the bed. I grab his waistband and quickly unbutton his jeans, dying to see what’s below. I used to stare at his underwear ads and think it would have been better marketing had he been naked, and the undies were lying on the floor.
Or maybe not. Heck, no one would have noticed the brand.
As I start to reach inside the boxer briefs that have girls chanting his name on more than game days, he stops me.
He shoves his hands through his hair. “It’s all backward.”
“You want me backward?” I start to turn around. I’m fine with doing anything he wants.
“No, I mean, we’re all backward.” He sits on the bed next to me, looking
distressed. “I want you, Jennifer. God, I want you. Like, you have no idea how much I do. But I don’t just want sex from you.”
“What do you want?”
“I want you. In my life. For the rest of my life. You’re supposed to ease into a relationship. You date, you get to know each other, you sleep together, and you get more serious. But things are different from when I was young. I have two kids. We have lives, careers, friends. We live in two different cities. The guy you were with for years cheated a little over a week ago. I was a wreck after Lori left me. I don’t know what I would have done without Phillip and Jadyn.”
“I don’t know what I would have done without them either,” I admit. “I don’t have that many friends left, Danny.”
“Do you get what I’m saying?” he asks. “Do you understand?”
“Yes, and no. The logical side of me understands what you’re saying, but my heart feels like it did when you told me we couldn’t talk anymore. It aches.”
His hand moves to my chest, to the spot directly above my heart. “The last thing I want to do is cause you pain.”
When his lips land on mine again, it feels like all his emotions and desire are funneled into the kiss.
“Wow,” I say, taking a breath. “That might have been our best kiss so far.”
“I don’t want you to leave,” he says, standing up and apparently needing to talk. “Are you just looking for a fling? Troy broke your heart, so you need to sleep with someone else to feel better? Because, if that’s all you’re looking for, I’m not that guy.”
“Why not?” I ask. “You know we’re going to have fun.”
“Because I never wanted just a fling with you. I wanted your heart and soul and love.”
“Do you still want that?” I ask, holding my breath in anticipation of his answer. Although my body is telling me all that matters is that we hook up, my heart has other ideas.
He sighs and runs his hand through his hair, like he doesn’t know what to say.
“It’s a simple question, Danny. Yes or no?” I stand up, ready to kick him out of here the second he says no. Because my heart can’t take it.
His blue eyes settle on mine. He’s breathing heavily and all worked up.
And I get it.
He’s not divorced. I’m fresh out of a relationship. We do probably need time to heal. Things are all backward. We shouldn’t have to think this hard about whether or not to take this next step. It’s what we’ve both wanted. Based on the look on his face, I know that I am not going to like his answer.
But then his expression changes—his jaw set and his eyes squinted in bold determination.
“The answer is yes,” he says, his muscular body launching toward me, fluidly picking me up as his lips slam against mine, and my back is pushed against the door.
The rest of the night is a flurry of emotions combined with the most incredible, fulfilling sex I’ve ever experienced. It’s like all the love we feel, all the love we missed out on in the past, is wrapped into one highly combustible package and lit tonight, incinerating every other experience before it.
November 1st
Danny
I wake up in the most wonderful way—with Jennifer in my arms. Last night … I can’t even. I remember telling Jadyn after I met Jennifer all those years ago that, if I’d slept with her, I would have never left the bed. That it would have been the most amazing sexual experience of my life. Fun combined with friendship mixed with passion and sex.
I kiss the top of her head and hug her tight, not wanting to let go. Not wanting to let this end. But I have to go. I have to get the kids up for school. I have to go to the attorney’s office and face Lori.
Being a grownup sucks sometimes.
“That was something,” she murmurs, her lips moving against my chest and her hand sliding down lower, causing me to harden again for about the thousandth time in the last twelve hours.
“You know, when I’m playing a game, I get to rest when the defense is on the field. I get time-outs. Halftime. I’m not sure I can do it again,” I tease, because I so can.
The corners of her ruby lips curl into a smile as she naughtily dives her head under the covers. “Not in my game you don’t.”
An hour later, we’re collapsed in a heap and both breathing hard.
“So, do I get a ring for this?” she asks.
“Like an engagement ring?” I sputter out. Not that I don’t want to marry her, but … “Um, I’m not divorced yet. I wouldn’t want the kids—”
“I’m talking about the Championship of Sex Ring,” she says with a smirk. “I was wondering if I’d won it yet.”
I can’t help but smile. I am so crazy about this girl. “Don’t move. I’ll be right back.”
I hightail it out of bed, track down my clothes from where they are strewed across the floor, and get dressed.
When I get to my house, I’m happy to discover that my children are still asleep. I feel a pang of guilt about not being home last night. I know that I was next door. That I could literally see the house from where I was, but it feels incredibly irresponsible.
But so incredibly worth it.
I grab something from my closet and sneak back over to her room.
She’s still lying in bed. The comforter is hanging off the side. The blanket that usually lies neatly across the foot of the bed is tossed over the chaise. And Jennifer looks beautiful, lying there. She has total sex hair. The soft pale skin of her shoulder is peeking out from under the covers. Part of me wonders if I am dreaming.
“Where did you go, Danny Diamond?” she purrs.
“I want to give you something.” I perch on the edge of the bed.
When she sits up, the covers slide down her chest, revealing her beautiful breasts, which have a few love marks as a reminder of our night.
She grabs my shirt and pulls me close. “I’d say you gave me plenty last night, but I’m up for more.”
I pull a box from behind my back and open the lid, revealing my first Championship ring. I take it out and slide it onto her thumb. “You definitely won the title.”
Tears slide down her cheeks as she wraps her arms around my neck. “You are adorable, but I can’t take this.”
“I’m serious. I want you to have it. I’m going to win another one anyway.”
“You are so cocky.”
“If I recall, last night, you loved my cockiness.”
“Yes, I did.”
We kiss. Another perfect kiss.
“I need to get home and get the kids up and ready for school, but I was wondering if you’d like to go out tonight to celebrate the official announcement of my divorce.”
“Uh-oh,” she says, suddenly looking nervous. “I forgot to tell you. I’m going back home this morning.”
“What?” I ask, my heart nearly stopping. “When were you going to tell me? After you left? So, that’s all this was? You finally getting what you wanted? Me. For one night. Well, glad I could oblige.”
“Wait, Danny. At the game Monday night, Tripp asked if I would come to LA with Jadyn,” she says, talking fast, trying to explain, “and talk to his board about the hotel. So, that’s today. And I felt like I had to say yes. I owe her that, I think. I mean, I have other things I have to do when I’m there, but—”
“Like what?” I ask flatly, even though I already know what she’s going to say.
“Uh, I need to meet my agent and my assistant, find a place to live, and, well, I need to deal with Troy—”
“I see.” I quickly force myself to my feet and burst out of her room. What more is there to say?
She’s going home and not coming back. We’re over again, before we ever got started.
It’s not until later that I realize she left with my ring.
Will Jennifer and Danny find true love after getting sacked, or are they destined to watch from the sideline forever?
Find out in the second book in Danny’s Duet.
That Ring
BOOKS B
Y JILLIAN DODD
The Keatyn Chronicles®
USA TODAY bestselling young adult contemporary romance set in an East Coast boarding school.
Stalk Me
Kiss Me
Date Me
Love Me
Adore Me
Hate Me
Get Me
Fame
Power
Money
Sex
Love
Keatyn Unscripted
Aiden
That Boy Series
Small-town contemporary romance series about falling in love with the boy next door.
That Boy
That Wedding
That Baby
That Divorce
That Ring
The Love Series
Contemporary, standalone romances following the very sexy Crawford family.
Vegas Love
Broken Love
Spy Girl® Series
Young adult romance series about a young spy who just might save the world.
The Prince
The Eagle
The Society
The Valiant
The Dauntless
The Phoenix
The Echelon
By Jillian’s daughter, Kenzie Hart
Young adult romance set in the British countryside.
The Curious Swan
Young adult travel romance.
Girl off the Grid
Beautiful and heartbreaking love story told in verse.
I Fall Apart
ABOUT THE AUTHOR