Jared: Red, Hot & Blue, Book 4

by Cat Johnson

  It appeared she had nothing else to say. He nuzzled her neck. “What’s the matter, darlin’? Run out of problems and excuses? You may have to actually enjoy yourself.”

  “You are so…oh—” She was panting softly, but still managed to start to bitch at him. She never got to finish though as he redoubled his efforts and felt her shatter beneath his touch.

  One hand still very busy, he wrapped his free arm around her waist as he felt her knees start to fold. “Hold on to me, darlin’. I got you.”

  Mandy clung to his neck as she came. He didn’t let up until she was slumped against him. It was almost as good feeling and hearing her orgasm as having one of his own. Almost, but not quite, and it left Jared with a hard-on that he could hammer nails with.

  Coming back to her senses, even though he wished she wouldn’t, Mandy moved away and pulled the bottom of her skirt down until she was decent again.

  She looked up at him with heavily lidded baby blues. “I have to leave for LA for a bit to get everything ready for the taping. When I get back, this is one of the things we can’t do once the camera crews are here.”

  “No more of this? Hmm. Is a blow job out of the question then?” He laughed as she raised one brow in his direction.

  “Out here in the open? Yes. Definitely out of the question.”

  He pulled her close and growled low near her ear. “So how about in the hay room?”

  Her eyes opened wide and before she could protest, he grabbed her hand and pulled her into the barn.

  Jared hopped up and sat on a waist-high stack of hay bales and pulled her between his legs. She looked around the room lit only by the sunlight filtering through the cracks in the walls. “I’ve never rolled in the hay before.”

  He laughed. “I don’t recommend it. It’s itchy. This was my brother’s favorite hiding spot when he had a girl, not mine, but it’ll serve our purposes.”

  “You have a brother?” She pulled back, looking a little too interested in his brothers.

  “Yup. You didn’t know? I’ve got two.” He could see the wheels in her head turning, no doubt still thinking about work, even now.

  “Do they live around here? Do they look anything like you?”

  Stifling jealousy over her interest in his brothers, Jared decided to consider that last question a compliment. She could ask all she wanted and it didn’t matter anyway. Jared still couldn’t tell her his brothers were both covert special operatives and couldn’t be on her little show.

  He’d just have to get her mind back on him and off them and work.

  “Hey there now, darlin’. They’re both taken, and I plan on being more Gordon than you can handle as it is.” He placed her one hand on the bulge in the crotch of his jeans. “Forget about them and leave me something to remember you by while you’re away in LA.”

  With her hand on his belt, she smiled like the devil. “Oh, believe me. You’re not going to forget me any time soon.”

  Mandy made short work of his belt and the fly on his jeans She took a wider stance, and lowered her head. She was really going to do it. Right here in the hay room. His little city girl never failed to surprise him.

  She reached into his underwear and stroked what he knew was rock hard and more than ready for a little attention. Jared drew in a sharp breath between his teeth. Mandy stroked him again, harder, and he couldn’t stop his groan. As he watched she ran one perfectly manicured fingernail down the slit, letting it slip inside him just a bit. He hissed as a shudder ran through him. Smiling, she repeated the action, and got a similar reaction.

  “Go easy there, darlin’.”

  “You didn’t go easy on me, did you?”

  She had a point there. He was about to concede that when she lowered her head and ran the tip of her tongue where her finger had just teased him.

  As he willed his eyes to stay open so he could watch, she looked up. Her gaze met his and she slipped the tip of her tongue inside the tip of him. He knew she’d taste how ready he was to finish this. That was probably the reason she smiled at him before she began to work him in earnest, taking in the length of him.

  Her mouth left him long enough for her to say, “Oh, and by the way, I like to use my teeth too.” Mandy went on to prove that was absolutely true and Jared found it impossible to stay upright.

  Booted feet still on the floor, he lay back on the bales until he was staring at the cobweb-filled ceiling. Last night on the dresser. Today on the hay. Maybe one day, they would actually make it to a bed. Not that he was complaining, but imagine what they could do on a nice big mattress. That was the last coherent thought he had once she pushed his briefs farther aside and began to use both hands and mouth on him.

  She felt so good, he grit his teeth and prolonged it for as long as he could. Considering he’d been ready to go off the moment she started, he felt like he’d lasted an impressively long time, but he wasn’t going to be able to fend off the inevitable for long.

  Her mouth left him again. “You’re holding back.”

  Gasping, he managed one word. “Yup.”

  He lifted his head and got a glimpse of her hand wrapped around him as her lips hovered just over him.

  “Don’t.” She narrowed her eyes at him and then went back to work.

  He’d been close before, but Mandy’s renewed enthusiasm drove him over the edge. Her mouth, her hands, her tongue and fingers, they did things to him that no other woman had ever done. It all combined to make him shoot off like a cannon.

  Good thing the boys really were clear on the other side of the farm because Jared came with a loud shout that he couldn’t have controlled even if he’d wanted to. His body was still jumping with the aftershocks when she finally rose and smiled.

  “Holy cow, woman.” Jared was having trouble catching his breath. “What the hell did you do to me?”

  “You needed to relax. I helped you.” She shrugged, but there was nothing casual about the smoldering look she sent him.

  Jared reached out and pulled her until she was sitting across his lap. “Mmm. Yeah, you did. Just remember that what’s good for the goose, is good for the gander.”

  “And that means what?” She batted her eyelashes at him.

  “It means you better watch that sweet ass of yours, darlin’, because I sure will be.” He slid his hand beneath her skirt and cupped her ass with one hand.

  “I’ll try and remember that.” She pulled away. “But now, I have to go.”

  He drew her back to him and nuzzled her breasts through her blouse. “No, you don’t.”

  She laughed. “Yes, I do. First of all, this suit probably cost as much as one of your horses and it shouldn’t be doing any more rolling in the hay. Second, I have to catch my flight back to LA.”

  He sighed and released her, sliding her gently back onto her feet on the hay strewn floor.

  “First of all, there is no way that suit cost anything near one of my horses, but I’ll forgive that insult being you’re a city girl and all. Second, go catch your flight, because the sooner you get to LA and do what you gotta do, the sooner you’ll be back here with me.” Jared kissed her softly.

  “God, this is such a bad idea.” Mandy shook her head in the dim light.

  “Do I have to prove to you again that it’s not?” Standing, he took both of her hands in his, and then stepped forward until he was pressed against her.

  “No. You don’t and I don’t have time now. This is a problem I have to deal with on my own.” She stepped back.

  He frowned. He hadn’t thought of her being with him as a problem, but she seemed to see it as one.

  “A problem shared by two is only half as big, darlin’. Remember that.” He lowered his head and kissed her long and hard as she let his tongue tangle with hers. Then he pulled away. “That was something to remember me by.”

  “Don’t worry. I won’t be forgetting you anytime soon, Jared Gordon.” She turned and left, but not without a backward glance that told him she regretted going as much as h
e hated seeing her go.

  Then he realized he was standing alone in the hay room with his jeans wide open and his dick hanging out. Blowing out a long, slow breath as he relived the past few minutes, Jared righted himself and tried not to miss her already.

  Footsteps interrupted his reminiscences.

  “Well, well, well. You two have a little romp in the hay room?” Bobby grinned wide.

  Good thing Bobby hadn’t been a few minutes earlier. Although, being deputy sheriff, Bobby had probably caught every young person in this town doing it at least once.

  Jared rolled his eyes and slowly shook his head. “No.”

  “Don’t bother trying to deny it. I saw your city girl getting into her car. There was hay in her hair. She looked like she wanted to crawl into a hole in the ground when I pointed it out to her. Never thought I’d see that one blush, but she was blushing all right.”

  “I’m not denying it.” Jared screwed up his mouth unhappily. Poor Mandy. She was having enough trouble as it was with this situation, although why, he didn’t know. To top it off, here his supposed friend was teasing her. “Don’t give her a hard time anymore, Bobby. I like her. A lot.”

  “What else is new?” Bobby laughed.

  “I mean it.” Sure Jared had his share of women, but things felt different with Mandy. He needed Bobby to see that.

  “This isn’t just two adults scratching an itch the way it was with Sue Ann?”

  “No way. This is nothing like Sue Ann and me.” Jared shook his head violently. He blew out a frustrated breath. “Damn, I’ve got it bad. I miss Mandy already and she’s barely out of the drive. What the hell am I gonna do when the show is over and she goes back to California for good?”

  “Show?” Bobby appeared about as surprised as Jared thought he would at that little piece of news.

  “Yup. I signed her consent form to be in the show.”

  Bobby raised a brow. “Really? Hmm.”

  “Hmm, what?” Jared crossed his arms in front of him.

  “I’m just wondering why, that’s all. You sure were set against it before you left the bar last night to go see Mandy in her hotel room.”

  He knew exactly what his friend was insinuating. “I signed because it’s good for this town, that’s why.”

  Jared didn’t add that it was good for him too. He figured he had two months to convince Mandy she couldn’t live without him. That should be plenty of time. Hell, he was a Gordon, after all.

  Chapter Seven

  Never ever in her entire career had Mandy mixed business with pleasure. Yet here she was driving as fast as she could from the airport, rushing back to Jared Gordon and she was actually feeling not so bad about it.

  She couldn’t deny the attraction between them was there from the very beginning, regardless of their business dealings. She believed him when he said he hadn’t signed the consent form because she’d slept with him, but because it was good for the town.

  Mandy had finally stopped beating herself up about all that had happened between them after the first week back in LA. After that, she started to enjoy the idea of being Jared’s city girl, as he called her. How crazy was that? A horseman from Pigeon Hollow and a television producer from LA. They were taking the term long-distance relationship to a whole new level.

  Of course, Jared’s nightly phone calls helped bridge that long distance. His smooth southern voice could, and did, do things to her that most men couldn’t accomplish with their entire body. Not to say that she wasn’t looking forward to enjoying his whole body too. She definitely was.

  The rest of the production crew had flown with her, and were currently divided among a few rented minivans, along with their equipment. They’d go directly to the Hideaway to get settled in, but Mandy had claimed she had errands to run so she could be alone in the car and go directly to Jared.

  The phone rang and, speak of the devil, Jared’s name came on the screen.

  “Hi.” She smiled uncontrollably just hearing his voice. Damn, she was in big trouble.

  “Hey, darlin’. You close?”

  “Just outside of town.”

  “Good. Come straight to me, darlin’. I’ll be waiting to welcome you back.”

  She laughed, but there was nothing funny about the desire welling deep inside her. “I’m sure you will be. Are you home?”

  “I’m at the diner with Bobby, but I’ll be leaving shortly. I’ll be home before you get there.” She recognized the deep timber of his voice. It was a tone she was convinced he reserved only for her. Mandy liked that a lot.

  “Okay. I’ll see you in a few minutes.” She wanted to hear that voice in person and not through a cell phone.

  “Mmm. I can’t wait.” She disconnected the call and slammed the accelerator. What was the good of renting a car with a nice big engine if you didn’t use it?

  She sped down the highway and didn’t slow until she was turning onto Main Street, smiling as she took in the familiar sights. It was nice to know some things didn’t change.

  In front of the diner was a Gordon Equine truck parked next to Bobby’s official deputy sheriff’s car. It looked like she wasn’t going to have to drive all the way to the farm alone after all. She could hop in Jared’s truck with him, and maybe even give him a little surprise while he drove.

  It was lunchtime, so there was an uncharacteristic amount of traffic and no parking spaces in front of the diner. Mandy was forced to drive farther until she finally found a spot. She turned off the engine, got out and locked the door behind her, but it was an effort to restrain herself from simply abandoning the car and sprinting to the diner.

  As it was, she was so focused on the single-minded goal of reaching Jared that she wasn’t paying attention to where she was walking. As if out of nowhere, the chubby, ponytail-wearing waitress from the diner and a trashily dressed woman with a bad bleach job smacked directly into her. Mandy stumbled.

  “Oh, you’re back. Good. Sue Ann has something to tell you.” Misty moved to the side and her over-processed friend stepped forward.

  “So, I hear you’re after Jared Gordon.”

  “You heard wrong, sweetheart. I’m not after him at all. He’s already mine.” Why did Mandy feel like she was back in middle school? Worse, why was she letting these women get to her so badly she was acting like she was?

  Mandy went to push past them, but they blocked her path.

  Sue Ann grabbed her arm. “Maybe you’ll change your mind when you hear this.”

  She shook off the hold. “Doubtful. Now excuse me.”

  Mandy walked away and felt the girl smack her hard on the shoulder before she spun her around. But it wasn’t the physical blow that nearly brought Mandy to her knees. It was what Jared’s ex-girlfriend told her that made the whole world tilt.

  Jared finished the last bite of his hamburger and glanced over at the counter. As tempting as the pies in the diner’s glass display case looked, he knew Mama had baked a fresh blackberry pie that morning. That was worth waiting for, no question. Besides that, he was sitting right in the window with the sun beating on his back. It was hot, a/c or not. The diner was more crowded than usual so he and Bobby had been forced to take the only table available, even though it was up against the front window.

  The real reason he was in a hurry to get out of here, the only reason that mattered, was that Mandy had flown in today. She said she would drive directly to the farm when he’d talked to her just a few minutes ago.

  His heart raced at the thought of seeing her again. Phone sex with her was great, but it was not the real thing.

  He threw cash for his meal on the table and was about to tell Bobby he was out of here when Bobby leaned forward, looking out the window. “Is Mandy meeting you here or at the farm?”

  “She said the farm. Why? Is she here?” Jared twisted in his seat, straining to see outside with the glare.

  Bobby let out a breath. “Yeah, with Sue Ann.”

  “Oh shit.” Jared launched himself away from the t
able, sending the chair flying behind him.

  He was out the door and on the sidewalk for what seemed like forever before Bobby caught up with him. Jared strode forward to the group of three women comprised of Mandy, Sue Ann and Misty. The look on Mandy’s face didn’t bode well.

  “Mandy, darlin’.” He reached out to touch her.

  She looked down at his hand, slowly shook her head, and backed away from him. Jared took a step forward and grabbed her by both shoulders.

  “Let go of me, Jared.” She closed her eyes, as if she couldn’t bear to look at him.

  “No. I don’t know what Sue Ann told you, but you have to give me a chance to defend myself.” Shit, that had sounded like he was guilty of something, which he was pretty sure he wasn’t. God only knew what the hell Sue Ann had told her.

  Mandy was breathing hard enough to hyperventilate. “Bobby, make him take his hands off of me now.”

  Bobby was beside him suddenly. “Jared.”

  “No.” Jared shook his head.

  He felt Bobby’s hand on his shoulder. A gentle warning, he supposed. Wasn’t this laughable? His best friend protecting his own girlfriend from him. As if he could ever hurt Mandy. He shook his head again at the ridiculous idea and dropped his hands from her shoulders. With one last hurt-filled look, Mandy turned and got into her car, peeling out into traffic as she drove away.

  Jared turned on Sue Ann. “What the hell did you tell her?”

  Sue Ann shrugged. “Nothing but the truth.”

  He stepped closer and glared down at the girl he actually used to think was attractive. “And what warped version of the truth was that?”

  “I’m late.”

  “No. That’s impossible. You know we used birth control every single time.” Jared enunciated every word to prove his point. His stomach clenched and his lunch threatened to work its way back up his throat.

  “Birth control fails.” He longed to wipe the smug expression off her face.

  “You said you were on the pill and I used a condom every single fucking time. Don’t you dare lie and tell me you’re pregnant by me.” Then a thought struck him, clear as day. “Who else have you been screwing, Sue Ann?”