“No, but I didn’t expect it.”
There will be a lot happening this weekend that you won’t expect, she thought as they walked to his four-wheel-drive SUV. “I told you that Ritz showed me how to do it myself when I’m not wearing my cap. Of course it doesn’t look as good as when he did it, but it will suffice.”
“Well, I think you did a great job.”
“Thanks. How was your trip?”
“It was okay. I missed you, though,” he said, putting her bag next to his in the backseat.
JoJo couldn’t ignore the flutters in her stomach as he opened the car door for her. This was not the first time he’d gone away on a trip and come back to tell her he’d missed her. But this time felt different. Of course, it was all in her mind, but still.
“I missed you, too,” she said, meaning it. Although they had talked every night, she had deliberately kept the calls short, afraid she would slip and say something stupid—like confessing she loved him.
“Anything interesting happen at work this week?” he asked after getting in the car and snapping on his seat belt. It was then that he turned those dark, sexy eyes on her.
She sucked in a breath. It was as if she’d taken a dose of some kind of sexual stimulant. The air suddenly felt charged. She could place the blame on all those dreams she’d had about him all week. Or that romance novel she’d read this week thanks to Wanda. The love scenes had almost blistered her fingers they’d been so hot.
“Nothing happened. Except Walter called Beeker on Monday and transferred his auto records. I guess I’ve lost him as a customer.”
“You don’t sound too sad about it.”
She smiled. “I’m not. So how did things go with you in Florida? Did you close the deal?”
“Yes.”
Her smile widened. “I’m happy for you.”
“Thanks.”
She reclined her seat. Stern preferred to do all the driving. All she had to do was sit back and relax or take a nap.
“Tired?” he asked when he came to a traffic light.
“Yes. Busy week. Any weekends when I can get away are nice. Thanks for inviting me to come with you.”
“You’re always welcome.”
She wondered if she would be welcome when she brought up the next topic of conversation. Even though Wanda had been the one to suggest it, the more JoJo thought about it, the more she liked the idea of them becoming best friends with benefits. She just wasn’t sure how receptive Stern would be to the idea.
She glanced over at him. “Stern?”
“Hmm?”
“I’ve been thinking.”
“What about?”
“You. Me. Our relationship.”
He quickly glanced over at her before returning his eyes to the road. “What about our relationship?”
“We’ve been best friends forever.”
“True.”
“And there’s no other man I trust more.”
“Thanks.”
“I’m getting older.”
“So am I,” he countered.
She nodded and smiled. “Okay, we’re both getting older, but there are plenty of things you’ve done that I haven’t tried yet.”
“Such as?”
“Sex.”
Stern braked to avoid running into the back of the car in front of him. He then checked his rearview mirror before pulling to the side of the road. Killing the engine, he turned to JoJo. “What did you say?”
JoJo didn’t realize she’d been holding her breath until now. She began nibbling on her bottom lip while he stared at her. “I said, you’ve had sex and I haven’t.”
“Were we supposed to be competing or something?” he asked, frowning.
She could feel heat gathering in her cheeks. Of all the topics they’d talked about over the years, sex had never been one of them. She’d only known that he’d become sexually active when she found condom packs in his belongings. Once, a pack had fallen out of his book bag at school, and she had quickly picked them up and given them back to him. All that day she’d wondered if what she’d heard about him and Melanie Hargrove was true.
“Nah, we weren’t competing, Stern. I was just making an observation.”
“Why?”
“Why?” she repeated.
“Yes, why?”
She nibbled on her bottom lip again. “I’m in a dilemma.”
He frowned. “What kind of dilemma?”
“I’ll be thirty in a few months.”
“And?”
“And I’m still a virgin.”
She watched the way his Adam’s apple moved in his throat. “So?”
She shrugged. “So, I know it’s my problem, but I was hoping you could help me out.”
“How?”
His curt questions were beginning to annoy her. “How?” she repeated.
“Yes, how? How can I help you out?” he asked.
“By agreeing to do something.”
He raised a brow. “What?”
She drew in a deep breath. “By agreeing that we become best friends with benefits.”
* * *
Stern could only stare at her. Of all the things he’d assumed she would ask, that was not it. Never in a thousand years would he have expected a request like that to flow from her lips. But she had asked, and whether she knew it or not—and he was certain that she probably didn’t—she had made things easy for him. All last night and earlier today he had racked his brain trying to figure out how he would seduce her without coming across as a jerk like Walter Carmichael.
At one point, he’d decided that just coming out and confessing that he loved her would be the best thing to do. But then he doubted that she was truly ready to believe him. So he’d decided that his original plan—to use their one night to prove that they could be more than best friends—was the best way to go.
Now, though, she had taken the decision out of his hands and he planned to run with it. All he had to do was go along with her idea and he’d have his chance to prove to her that best friends with benefits could easily transform their relationship into something more meaningful and everlasting.
And there was no doubt in his mind he wanted forever with JoJo.
“Okay,” he said.
“Okay?” she asked, staring at him.
“Yes, okay. Best friends with benefits it is.”
She lifted her brow. “You’re agreeing? Just like that?”
“Yes. Were you expecting me not to?”
She shrugged. “I guess not. But I had expected you to think about it.”
“What’s there to think about? I want you.”
She looked surprised. “You do?”
“Yes. I had time to think about us when I was in Florida, and I believe one of the reasons I have a tendency to lose control when we kiss is because deep down I want you. That explains a lot of things.”
“It does?”
“Yes. I guess the desire has been there for a while and kissing you brought it to the forefront.”
“Oh.”
“But then I need to be sure that you want me and that I’m not a replacement for Walter Carmichael.”
“You’re not.”
He thought she sounded pretty sure of it. “Are you certain?”
“I’m positive. I didn’t know Walter, but I thought I wanted to get to know him. In the end, I discovered he wasn’t anyone I wanted to know after all.”
“So you hadn’t fallen in love with him?”
“Of course not! In fact, I can’t believe he’s the one I picked to replace—”
She stopped talking rather abruptly, leading him to believe she’d almost said something she hadn’t wanted to say.
“He’s the one you picked to replace what?” he inquired.
“Nothing. Not important.”
He remembered having bits and pieces of this same conversation before and suspected she was hiding something that was important. “Okay, so we’re in agreement that our relationship will be changing. Right?”
“Right.”
He smiled as he pressed the keyless ignition back on. “You sound tired. Why don’t you relax and take a nap. I’ll wake you when we get to the lodge.”
“All right.”
Stern watched as she closed her eyes. She looked beautiful while asleep. When he’d picked her up and she’d opened her front door he had blinked when he saw her hairstyle. And instead of wearing jeans she had on a denim skirt with leggings and boots. Her attire was definitely new and she looked damn cute. But she still looked like JoJo. His JoJo.
As he headed the car toward the interstate, the knowledge that she didn’t do casual sex weighed heavily on his mind. So if she was willing to experiment with him in the bedroom, that meant something. Hell, he hoped it did.
Could Zane have been right on all accounts? Could JoJo feel something more than friendship for him, too? But if that was the case, why had she gone after Walter Carmichael? Stern wasn’t sure, but he was determined to find out.
* * *
“It won’t take but a minute to start up the fireplace, JoJo.”
“Okay.”
JoJo looked around. She loved it here and always enjoyed coming to the lodge with Stern. It seemed fitting that any change in their relationship should take place here, where she had first realized she loved him. Shivers raced through her at the thought that they would probably share a bed tonight. She’d dreamed of him for months and months. At some point while she was here all of her dreams would come true.
She jumped when Stern eased up behind her and placed his jacket around her shoulders. She glanced up at him. “What’s this for?”
“You were quivering. For you, that means you’re cold or nervous. If it’s the latter, you have no reason to be nervous with me, JoJo. No matter what might change, I won’t. I’ll still be your Stern.”
Her Stern... Boy, she wished. She knew in the real world, a lot of women would love to make that claim. He’d always been a heartthrob and she had found the number of women who had envied their relationship amusing. She was certain there were some women who still did envy them. She knew there were some who questioned their relationship, too. But never had Stern let any of them diminish their friendship. She’d heard he’d put several women in their place when they had tried.
She watched him walk back over to the fireplace. Usually, he would call ahead to have Mr. Richardson, the older man he paid to look out for the lodge, get the fireplace roaring with heat before they arrived.
“Did you forget to call Mr. Richardson?” she asked.
He was kneeling and she couldn’t help but appreciate the way his jeans stretched tight over his muscular thighs. And that blue sweater he was wearing looked good on him. She’d known it would when she’d purchased it for him last year as a Christmas present. He had just the chest for it, hard-muscled and solid.
While she was thinking of all the things she’d done to that chest in her dreams, he glanced over his shoulder at her and said, “No, I didn’t forget. He and Mrs. Richardson left a couple of days ago for a two-week cruise to Hawaii. It’s their fiftieth wedding anniversary.”
She smiled. “That’s wonderful. We need to send them a gift when we get back.”
He returned her smile. “Yes, we do.” He then went back to starting the fire.
She could stand there and ogle him all night but decided she needed to help in some way, to stay busy for a while. It was way past midnight, but because she had slept on the long drive here, she was wide-awake. “I’ll go upstairs and check the bedrooms...I mean the bedroom...to make sure it’s okay.” Oops. Already she’d forgotten they would need only one bedroom because they would be sharing a bed.
He straightened to stand. “Come here for a minute, JoJo.”
Swallowing deeply, she crossed the room and came to a stop in front of him. “Yes?”
She couldn’t help noticing that he was staring at her mouth. And then instead of answering her, he leaned down and captured her lips with his. She heard herself moan on a breathless sigh, which gave him the opening he needed. Immediately, his tongue slid between her lips and lured her into a mating that made her wrap her arms around his neck.
Stern knew how to do more than stoke the fire in the fireplace because his kiss was definitely stoking the fire in her. His tongue left its mark on every area it touched. Instinctively, she leaned into him and moaned again when she felt his erection pressing into her stomach.
A rush of desire consumed her. She tried calming her body down but couldn’t do so. It was as if her mouth had finally gotten what it had longed for. She was consumed with love for him and he was doing a good job stoking their passion. It would not have bothered her in the least if he’d stripped her naked and made love to her right here in front of the fireplace.
Too soon to suit her, he ended the kiss and stepped back, taking her hand in his. “We need to talk, JoJo. While you were asleep in the car, I had six hours to really think about this.”
Her heart took a dive into her stomach. “And you’ve changed your mind about everything.” She stated this as if it was a fact and not a question.
Stern wrapped his arms around her waist. “No, I haven’t changed my mind. But what I want you to do is really think about what you want for us.”
“I know what I want.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
He stared at her for a moment before easing her down with him onto the huge throw rug so they could sit facing the fireplace. “This best friends with benefits thing... What exactly is your definition of it?”
She nibbled at her bottom lip and then said, “Just like it says. Basically we have to be best friends, and we get the benefits of that friendship...which I guess is something we’ve been doing all along.” She paused a moment and said, “Except...”
“Except what?”
“We also get to explore a level of intimacy we haven’t explored before.”
“You haven’t ever slept with a man, JoJo.”
“Yes, and that’s one of the advantages of friends with benefits. The sex.”
“And you only want to indulge in sex because of this age thing?”
“No. I want the sex because I want to know the pleasure I can feel. But I don’t want to share it with just anyone, Stern. That would make it too casual for me. Meaningless. Sharing it with you makes it personal. Special. I trust you. And if you’re worried that I’d assume there will be a commitment between us, don’t be. I know that won’t be the case. It will be whatever it is.”
He didn’t say anything for a minute but looked at her in a way that had her heart jumping. He took a step closer. “Now that’s where you’re wrong, JoJo. If we start this, it won’t be reserved just for when we get an itch to make love. I couldn’t handle a relationship with you that way. Somehow it cheapens what we share.”
“Oh.”
“I couldn’t sleep with you tonight and then sleep with someone else next week. That would make me no better than the Walter Carmichaels of the world. If we become best friends with benefits, we’ll also become a couple.”
“We will?”
“Yes.”
“And you’d want that?”
“Why wouldn’t I want it?”
She shrugged. “Your lifestyle. You’re single and you’ve stayed that way for a reason.”
“Yes, but then so have you, right?”
“Yes, but it’s different for me. There’s
not a flock of men running behind me like the flock of women running behind you. You seem to like the chase and I can’t see you giving it up.”
“I will give it up. I’ll be dating you. Only you.”
She frowned. “But will I be enough?”
He smiled. “Oh, yes, you’ll be enough.”
She was skeptical. “This is going to be harder than I thought.”
“Why?”
“I honestly never thought of us dating exclusively,” she said.
“But you have thought of us having sex?”
She figured she could be honest with him about that. She didn’t want him to think that her desire to be intimate with him was just a hormonal thing. “Yes.”
He arched a brow, surprised. “When?”
“Recently. Most of the time.”
A slow smile curved his lips. “You don’t say?”
Now she wished she hadn’t said. She wasn’t sure it was cool, letting a man know you wanted him.
“And how did Carmichael fit into this? The last time we were here you insisted I give you some ideas about how to make him want you.”
JoJo leaned back on a pillow and stared into the fire that blazed and sent warmth all through her. She then shifted her gaze to Stern, knowing he was waiting for her response. She nibbled on her bottom lip again. “It’s complicated, Stern, and I’d rather not go into details. All you need to know is that I thought he was someone I wanted to get to know and I was wrong.”
He stared at her for a long moment and she could imagine what he was thinking. He probably assumed she was fickle and shifted her interest from one man to another at the drop of a hat. But to tell him the truth—that she loved him when he didn’t love her back—would make her feel pathetic. For him to commit to become her lover was one thing, but for him to find out she loved him might make him run in the other direction.
“Like I told you before, I recently figured out that the reason I enjoyed our kisses so much is because I was becoming attracted to you.”
“Wow,” JoJo said, smiling. “It still feels nice to hear that. I was becoming attracted to you, too, so this best friends with benefits thing would have happened between us eventually.”
Brenda Jackson The Westmoreland Collection: ZaneCanyonStern Page 46