by Megan Hart
“This is nice. Meeting like this. Thanks for asking me.” Jimmy sounded hesitant, uncertain. Not his usual self at all.
But what was his usual self? Did Katie even know? She had to admit she probably didn’t. Everything about Jimmy was late-night conversation, and just because she’d bared her soul to him didn’t mean he’d done the same.
“Thanks for coming. It’s nice to see you.”
They never talked like this. Even the first time he’d called her, they’d slipped into a loose back-and-forth that had only gotten easier over time. Now it was as though they’d only just met and had no reason to get to know each other better.
Jimmy’s smile amped up a notch, still far from his usual bright grin, but noticeable. “Yeah. Two times in one week, that’s some kind of crazy, huh?”
Katie had always believed honesty to be the best approach, but facing Jimmy across the tiny café table, all she could think of was how she wanted to make up some lame excuse for why she wanted to see him instead of just telling him the truth. “Yeah. Super crazy.”
Jimmy seemed to relax a little bit, his long fingers turning his cup around and around on the table. His knee nudged hers. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay.”
This was going nowhere. Katie hated it. She wanted to ask him if he liked her, or if she was just some myth, a story he liked to tell over the phone. She wanted to tell him about how she smiled at the sound of his voice. Of how she wanted more.
Jimmy glanced over her shoulder toward the counter. “I’m going to grab a refill. You want one?”
Katie shook her head. “No, I’m fine, thanks.”
He touched her again as he passed. A hand on her shoulder, fingers curving and squeezing just momentarily. It was too much, the final straw, that casual touch that felt too good.
She got up without thinking, without looking back, heading out of the coffee shop and down the street. The wind burned her eyes, not tears, she told herself as her heels click-clacked on the sidewalk.
She was almost to the alley before he caught up to her.
“Katie!” Jimmy hooked her elbow, turning her as she stiffened at the sound of her name. He didn’t let go. “Hey. Wait.”
Katie opened her mouth to protest or maybe just to walk away without a word, she wasn’t sure and had no time to decide before Jimmy was kissing her. Openmouthed and hungry, his hands on her hips pulling her close up against him. He tasted better than she’d imagined, his kiss deeper, his body harder.
He pulled away, shoulders rising and falling with his breath. His gaze searched hers. “I didn’t...was that...”
Katie kissed him. Softer than he’d done, her tongue stroking his as her fingers wound in the hair at the back of his neck. She pulled a little as his hands gripped tighter on her hips. She felt the bulge of his crotch through denim against her belly, and she pulled away, her own breath coming fast and sharp.
Jimmy smiled, his lips wet. “I should’ve done this a long time ago.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“I wasn’t sure you wanted something like this,” he said. “With me, I mean.”
People passed them on the street, some giving them curious glances but most ignoring them. He stepped her backward into the relative privacy of the alley and leaned against the brick wall of the storefront without letting her go. Katie pressed against him, noticing he’d run out after her without a coat.
“Why on earth not?” she cried, pushing at him with her fists but not too hard. “God, Jimmy. We’ve been talking for months. You know the color of my favorite panties and the name of my first dog!”
“I know, I know, but...hell, I’m better on the phone than in person,” he said.
Katie frowned and swiped her tongue over the taste of him lingering on her lips.
“That sounds like a very bad excuse.”
He sighed, looking serious. “I know. B-but...” Jimmy paused, drew a breath. “Well, I’ll tell you. Until I was about fifteen, I stuttered.”
Katie raised a brow.
“I grew out of it, or taught myself not to, whatever,” Jimmy said slowly. “But by then I’d already found out I was better on the phone than talking to someone face to face. On the phone I could take my time or something, I don’t know. It became a habit.”
She shook her head. “I don’t care if you stutter. You could’ve told me.”
Jimmy nudged her just a bit closer into the space between one cocked leg and the opposite thigh. “I liked you the first time I met you, Katie. But then we started talking...”
“And you didn’t like me any more?”
“No.” He laughed. “I liked you more. A lot more. I didn’t want to ruin it.”
She made a disgruntled noise, already forgiving him because to do anything else would only spite herself. “You almost did.”
“I know. I’m sorry.” Jimmy kissed her again, lingering this time. “Do you think we could start over?”
“Hell no,” Katie told him, wrapping her arms around him and getting up on her toes to return the kiss. “Start at the beginning? No way. Let’s go straight to third base. Unless,” she paused meaningfully, “you really are better on the phone.”
Jimmy grinned, eyes gleaming, and leaned in close to whisper in her ear. “Why don’t we go to my place and you can decide for yourself?”
“That,” Katie said, “sounds like an excellent idea.”
* * *
Dean had brought flowers.
He didn’t even know if Jacob liked flowers.
Dean liked flowers, purple and red and yellow, tied with a green ribbon. He liked them in vases around his house. Dean liked flowers because they were pretty and they didn’t last long, and he didn’t have to take care of them the way he’d have had to be responsible for a potted plant.
Maybe it was time he stopped being so afraid of taking care of things.
He’d just tossed them into the bushes by Jacob’s front door when he was caught by the door opening. Jacob looked at the bushes. Then at Dean.
“Why are you throwing flowers into my bushes?”
Dean tried to look innocent and knew he failed by the way Jacob’s eyebrows rose.
“Uh...”
Jacob peered behind the bushes, then put a hand on his hip. “Did you bring me flowers and then throw them away?”
“Yes.” Dean’s jaw tensed.
Jacob smiled.
When Dean kissed him, it felt right. Like coming home. When Jacob kissed him back, it felt even better.
“I like flowers,” Jacob said against Dean’s mouth. “Thank you.”
Dean pulled away just enough to look into Jacob’s eyes. There was probably more to say but nothing came to him just then. He spoke with his body, his mouth using kisses instead of words to express what he wasn’t sure he should say aloud. Jacob seemed to understand, though.
He smiled against Dean’s mouth. “Come inside.”
Dean nodded. Then he smiled too as he followed Jacob through the doorway, walking behind him.
Not walking away.
* * * * *
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ISBN: 978-14592-4453-5
AN EROTIC COLLECTION: VOLUME 2
Copyright © 2013 Harlequin Books S.A.
The publisher acknowledges the copyright holders of the individual works as follows:
Reason Enough
Copyright © 2008 by Megan Hart
Gilt and Midnight
Copyright © 2007 by Megan Hart
Newly Fallen
Copyright © 2009 by
Megan Hart
The Challenge
Copyright © 2010 by Megan Hart
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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