Jo wrinkled her nose when she opened the door to her hotel suite. Dingy yellow walls, red shag carpet, and street noise filled the room. Despite the outdated décor, the scents of laundry detergent and cleaners offered hope. After a sigh of resignation, she yanked the cover off the bed and tossed it aside.
“You never what’s on those things. Have you seen the TV shows where they use the black light?” A shiver wracked her petite frame. “It’s disgusting what they find.”
“Yeah.” I shoved my hands in my pockets, painfully aware of the number of times I’d had sex on random hotel bedspreads. From my perspective, this hotel ranked one step above the jail. It was fine for a hookup but not for a respectable girl like Jo. “Come on. Let me take you home.”
“No.” The finality of her denial reverberated in the air between us. “I’ll be fine for one night.”
“Okay, well, guess I’ll take off then.” I needed to retreat, to deconstruct my motivations for letting her off the hook. Despite my intentions, my feet stuck to the floor, immoveable.
“You don’t have to go.” The unfamiliar glint in her eyes sent my heart into arrhythmia. “Please.”
Thump. The wall shook from the force of an impact on the other side. Thump, thump. Jo and I flinched. The framed landscape above the dresser vibrated. A high-pitched moan, female in origin, carried through the plaster. Thump, thump, thump.
“That’s right. Take it, baby,” a man’s voice growled. Thump. Thump. “Do you like that?”
Jo’s lips quivered. She drew her bottom lip between her teeth. An adorable shade of pink lit up her cheeks. Mirth sparked in her blue eyes. “Oh my God.”
“Somebody’s having a good time.” My mouth twitched as I tried to hold back the laughter. “You could ask for a different room.”
“No. It’s fine. I’ll turn on the TV.” Her gaze dipped to my mouth and held. Fuck my heart. It skittered against my ribs, my erratic pulse drowning out the thud of the headboard next door. She took a step toward me. “Or maybe we could show them how it’s done.”
“I’m not so sure that’s a good idea.” Another step closer, and my mouth went dry.
“Why not? We’ve never done it in a bed.” The next step brought her within inches. I swallowed and stared down at her, my body on high alert at her proximity. “You don’t like having sex with me?”
“You know damn good and well that I like it.” To prove the point, my blood raced to my crotch, leaving me lightheaded. “But we were supposed to be a one-time thing.”
“But not good enough for another encore?” One of her hands landed on my chest and slid slowly over my sternum. She hooked a finger in the waistband of my jeans and jerked my pelvis against hers. “Do you want more?”
If I’d been a better man, I would have pushed her away, but the sight of those baby blues blinking up at me through long lashes wrecked my good intentions. “Yes.”
With her gaze still locked on my mouth, her fingers found my belt buckle, unfastened it. The leather hissed through the belt loops as she yanked it free. “You know what I like about you, Carter?”
“For the life of me, I have no idea,” I said, unable to think with her touch whispering over my fly.
“You don’t want anything in return. It’s just sex for you. Uncomplicated. No strings. No lies between us.”
Guilt mingled with arousal. I needed to tell her. “Jo, I—”
She stopped me with a press of her fingertip to my lips. “Don’t. Whatever it is, don’t say it. Not right now. I just need you to make me forget all the ways my life sucks.” As she spoke, she edged her small hand into my pants and wrapped it around my shaft. “Let’s pretend we’re two strangers, fucking for the first time.” The soft fullness of her mouth pressed above the notch in my collarbone. Her breath burned down the front of my T-shirt, moving lower as she kneeled in front of me. “You can do that, can’t you, Carter?”
I wanted to answer, but her lips enveloped the swollen crown of my dick. The heat and wetness and velvety smoothness of her mouth erased every excuse in my head. With a hand around my base, she took me in, all the way to the root. Instead of replying, I groaned and fisted a hand in her hair to guide her mouth. My tip hit the back of her throat. When she swallowed, the convulsing of her muscles made me shudder. Nothing had ever felt this good, this perfect, this amazing. I fought against the urge to take her face between my hands and thrust. She pulled back, letting go with a pop.
“Do we have an agreement?” she asked. “Or do you want me to stop?”
“Hell no, I don’t want you to stop.” The sight of her on her knees in front of me, my erection bobbing between us, glistening from her mouth, obliterated the last of my misgivings. With both hands on her biceps, I hauled her to her feet and crushed my mouth against hers, powerless to stop myself. The attraction between us was too strong. I surrendered to it, teasing her tongue with mine, savoring her. She tasted of toothpaste and bubble gum. When we broke apart, blind need broke the last of my self-control. I picked her up and tossed her onto the bed. “Take off your clothes.” My voice was harsh and raspy. “I’m going to give the guy next door a run for his money.”
Chapter 16
Carter
With my rules broken and my pants around my ankles, I tossed caution to the wind. Jo writhed and moaned beneath me, meeting each pump of my hips with a soft grunt. Her sounds made me wild. The smoothness of her skin, the vise of her legs around my waist, and the squeak of bedsprings filled my senses.
When this was over, I’d deal with the consequences, but for now, all I could think about was quenching the unending thirst for her body. I swallowed her moans with my kisses, devoured her lips and tongue, claimed her tight pussy. Her nails dug into my back, scraping over the skin, clawing and raking. I brought her to climax twice before I allowed myself to come, and once we’d caught our breath, we began again.
When dawn glowed behind the closed drapes, we collapsed next to each other in a mess of tangled bedsheets. Jo groaned and stretched lazily, her tits jiggling from the movement, nipples still tight. I turned on my side to face her, propping up on an elbow, and drew a fingertip down the creamy stretch of skin between her breasts and navel. With a giggle, she caught my large finger in her small hand.
“Don’t. I’m ticklish.”
“Are you?” To test the statement, I poked her in the ribs. She doubled up, face bright red from sex and repressed laughter. The sound lodged in my chest, somewhere around the vicinity of my heart.
“Yes. Stop it.”
“And what if I don’t?” I challenged her with my gaze. An unbearable lightness expanded inside me. I hadn’t felt this happy or carefree since—well, ever.
“Then I’ll have to teach you a lesson.” In one smooth motion, she straddled my hips and pinned my wrists at my sides. I could have broken her hold without effort, but I didn’t want to escape. In fact, I liked it when she got feisty and took control. I bucked, pretending to struggle, rewarded by more of her laughter and smiles. She slapped my thigh. “Behave.”
“You behave.” I rolled her beneath me, stretching out on top of her, enjoying the glide of my hairy legs against her smooth, bare skin.
“Where’s the fun in that?” Her voice softened, eyes going hazy as her sex rubbed against my stirring cock.
I kissed her again, long and slow and deep, with the intent of stealing everything she offered to me. The last time I’d made out had been in junior high school with Melissa Martin. Afterward, Melissa had gone straight to the bleachers and made out with one of my classmates. I’d forgiven her because she’d taught me some mad skills, skills that had come in handy when my voice had changed and I’d shot up another six inches in height, skills I put to use with Jo. In fact, that was the last time a girl had given me this strange euphoria. The galloping organ in my chest bounced between my ribs. In the back of my mind, I knew this bliss had to end, probably sooner than later, and I meant to make the most of every precious second.
“Carter, wait.�
�� Jo squirmed. I pulled back, admiring the flush of her cheeks and her red, swollen lips. “I need to go to the bathroom.”
“Alright, hurry back.” I gave her a little slap on the ass. She smiled at me over her shoulder and sashayed naked to the bathroom. There was nothing I loved more than a confident girl, one who didn’t cling to the bedsheets or hide her body. In my opinion, all women were beautiful in their own way, and I’d never been one to discriminate according to age or weight.
I rolled onto my back, clasped my hands behind my head, and stared at the water stain on the ceiling. My muscles ached in all the right places. For the first time in my life, I didn’t want to sprint out the door, making lame excuses, anxious to move on. I was content to lie there, eager to find out what came next. Maybe it was time to give this monogamy concept a chance. Rhett seemed to think highly of it. I was bumbling into uncharted territory, having never had a girlfriend, but Jo seemed like the perfect choice.
“I think we should start seeing each other,” I said, my voice too high and thin, breaking like a teenage boy.
“What’s this?” Jo asked, her voice strange.
We spoke in unison, our words colliding and smashing into each other.
The ominous tone of her voice sparked confusion. I rolled onto my side, the smile sliding from my face. In her hands, she held the arrest warrant. It must have fallen out of my pocket when we’d torn off our clothing. The bottom dropped out of my stomach. Her face went pale. I jumped out of bed, intending to—I didn’t know what I was intending to do—but I couldn’t lay there with her staring at me like a doe in the crosshairs of a hunter’s rifle.
“Carter, start talking. Right now.”
“I can explain,” I said, my panic growing.
“Wait a second.” She placed a hand in the air between us, palm facing outward, a scowl darkening her face. “Please tell me that you did not just ask me to be your girlfriend minutes before you planned on taking me to jail.”
“I— You— We—” My tongue felt too big and too thick to form sentences.
She closed her hand into a fist then pointed an index finger into the air. “Just to be clear, when you picked me up last night, did you intend to take me in? Is that what you were doing, hunting me down?” The pieces fell into place as shown by the disappointment in her eyes. “That’s why you drove by the jail. Then you must have decided on one last screw before turning me over.” Her nostrils flared. “How very Carter of you.”
“Yes. I mean, no. No.” When she said it like that, I sounded like a huge asshole. “Fu-u-uck,” I growled. Each passing minute drew me further and further into a place I didn’t care to be. “I meant what I said. I think we should go out. It has nothing to do with the warrant.”
“Are you kidding me? How could you do this? You’re such a dick.” She grabbed the nearest item, a bar of hotel soap, and chucked it at me. I became painfully aware that I was naked and my family jewels were under real threat of attack. Using a pillow as a shield, I covered my junk and took a step toward her. Her chin quivered, indignation darkening her blue eyes to navy. “Don’t you dare touch me.”
“What was I supposed to do? You missed your court date. Your bondsman called me to pick you up and take you in, but I haven’t— I’m not.” The excuses tumbled over each other while I tried to string together two coherent thoughts.
“I’m not going to jail.” She stared at the warrant, brows furrowed in confusion. “I didn’t know anything about a court date. This can’t be right.”
“That’s what they all say.” I’d heard this story a million times. The unrest rekindled in my veins. She had every right to be pissed, and now I was angry too, because she was lying to me. “How could you not know? Breaking and entering, harassment, and a restraining order. Those are some very impressive crimes, young lady. Now that you’ve missed your court date, you’re looking at jail time for sure.”
“I’m telling you, I didn’t know anything about a court date.” With her eyes downcast, she skimmed over the warrant. “The address on here, it’s my old address, Harold’s address.”
At the mention of her ex-fiancé’s name, an uncomfortable fire ignited in my veins. Was she still hung up on him? The pain of rejection combined with jealousy. My voice came out louder and angrier than I intended. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t take you straight to jail.”
“Don’t yell at me.” Chin quivering, she raised her eyes to mine, eyes blazing with frustration.
“I’m not yelling.” I sank to the edge of the mattress, feeling weak. “Why did you do all these things? I can’t decide if you’re crazy, a criminal, or just unlucky.”
She shook her head, lips pressing into a tight white line. “You’re calling me insane? Seriously? You came up to my room under false pretenses, shagged me within an inch of my life, ask me to be your girlfriend, then counter the offer with a trip to the Laurel County lockup. What the hell?”
“Talk to me, Jo. I’m not taking you anywhere until I hear your side of the story. Why did you do all those things? Are you still in love with the guy?” An unfamiliar squeeze clutched my chest. If she said yes, I was going to punch something. I knew this story, my mother’s story. She clung to my father, going above and beyond reason to keep him in her life, using whatever means necessary.
“He has my dog,” she said in a tiny, quiet voice.
I thought she was kidding until I caught the glimmer of tears in her eyes. “For real? You went to jail over a dog?”
“Yes. He was mine long before Harold and I moved in together.” She closed her eyes, like she was gathering her strength. “When we broke up, he threw me out, wouldn’t let me have my things, and told all the neighbors that I wasn’t allowed back. I was furious about the way he’d ended things, and then to steal my dog…it was so unfair. I waited until he left for work and went into the apartment to take Zipper and my stuff. One of the neighbors saw me and called the cops. Harold, being the dick that he is, pressed charges. It wasn’t enough for him to hurt me. He had to humiliate me with a restraining order on top of it.”
“What a fucker,” I said, more to myself than to her. “Why don’t you take him to court?”
“He’s got some powerful friends.” She lifted an eyebrow. “I don’t have enough money or connections to fight him.”
The dejected curve of her mouth twisted my heart. I pulled her onto my lap and ran a finger down the slope of her cheek. “You’re in some deep shit.” The warmth of her small body melted the ice I’d been carrying around my heart and awakened a primitive need to protect her. I pressed a kiss to the top of her head, not caring that the last of my rules had been obliterated. “You need to turn yourself in ASAP.”
“I can’t.” She pushed away, turning terrified eyes to mine. “Please, Carter. I’m begging you. If I go to jail, who will run the coffee shop? Dad will lose everything. We’re already in financial trouble.”
“It’s only a matter of time until someone picks you up. You’re just lucky the guy who wrote your bond is a friend of mine. I might be able to stall for a little while but not indefinitely.” Her lower lip trembled. I ran the pad of my thumb across it, wanting to make her smile again. “Let me make a few calls. I know people. I might be able to help. In the meantime, you should lay low. No more stalking. Stay away from your house. That’s the first place they’ll look. Understand?”
She nodded. Before I could stop myself, I put my lips to hers. For once, my intentions weren’t sexual, although the desire remained. This kiss was filled with the need to protect and soothe the both of us.
“What about work? I have to be there. Lyle is covering for me this morning, but I’ve got to check in on him.”
“No.” I shook my head.
“But—”
“You can’t risk it.” I took her chin in my fingers and tilted her face to mine. The faith in her eyes broke me in a thousand different ways. No one had ever looked at me with such blind trust. She knew my womanizing ways, my inability to form rel
ationships, my flaws—hell, I’d fucked her in a diner and had walked away without a word—yet, she still believed in me. “Lyle can take over. Rhett and Bronte will help. And what about your dad? I’m sure he’ll pitch in.”
“I can’t tell him. He’s going to be so disappointed.” A tear dropped from her chin and landed on our clasped hands. “I’ve made such a mess of things. I just wanted to get my dog back, to have that one thing for myself.”
“Your dad will understand. We’ll tell him together.” I straightened, rising to the challenge. I’d make this work or die trying. It was what I did best—solve problems. Usually, they were of my own making, but this would be a good change of pace.
Chapter 17
Jo
The Escalade hummed smoothly through my neighborhood. Since leaving the hotel, I’d remained silent. In all my life, I’d never been so embarrassed. If I’d known about the court date, I would have made every effort to appear. For Carter, of all people, to haul me in—well, it was beyond demeaning. The humiliation prevented me from looking directly at him or speaking. Instead, I peered at his profile through my peripheral vision. He stared down the road, one hand resting on top of the steering wheel, the other rubbing his forehead like he had a headache.
Well, served him right. I had both a headache and a pain in my ass. Him. In the space of twenty-four hours, he’d managed to give me a record-breaking number of orgasms, followed by the threat of incarceration, and an offer to be his girlfriend. His inconsistency confused and irritated me. For now, my worries centered around the missed court appearance. I’d spent a few hours in jail for the initial charges, and it had been long enough for me to decide a repeat visit could never happen. This girl wasn’t cut out for prison life.
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