Top Shelf (Five for Fighting #4)

by Amber Lynn

  He sighed as he rubbed his eyes and walked over to the shower. The bathroom was a large space, with a separate bath and shower. The bath was big enough to fit a small party in, but John normally only used it when the aches and pains from the game got a little much. It was a feature many of the women he brought home asked to explore, but he tended to have them dressed and out of the apartment before they got around to bathing.

  He knew he was a jerk sometimes, but it made it easier to remain unattached. It was amazing how hard some people clung to the impossible, and so far in his life, a meaningful relationship was impossible. It didn’t matter how hard someone clutched onto him, in the end, he always let them go.

  The thoughts of relationships going through his head wasn’t usually how John spent his showers, but he did most of his best thinking in the shower, so weird things sometimes cropped up. As good as the hot water felt, he made things quick. It was really just a rinsing off the sleep shower, because his game day superstition had him running five miles after the shower, before taking another one.

  Out of all the superstitions he knew of, John’s was weird, but pretty mild. There were a few guys on the team who ate some crazy delicacies pre-game and he didn’t want to think about the last time certain articles of clothing were laundered.

  After toweling off his body, John wrapped a towel around his waist and headed towards his closet. He thought about checking his phone again as he walked by it, but stayed determined to avoid the electronic device.

  “Why don’t you check your messages? I’m pretty sure you missed a few.” The voice coming from the doorway to his room sounded as irritated as he felt, and he couldn’t help admitting the way she purred her words out was as sexy as hell.

  John’s stride slowed to a stop as he tried to decide if he was imagining the woman standing in his doorway. Even when he was smashed in the early hours of the morning, he hadn’t dreamt up a version of the vixen to taunt him, so he determined she was indeed in his apartment.

  Before responding to her statement, John made note of the fact she looked just as gorgeous in a pair of jeans and plain white t-shirt as she did in a skintight dress. Of course the shirt being thin enough to show her black bra didn’t leave a lot to the imagination, nor did the way her jeans molded to her thighs.

  “There’s only one person I trust with a key to my place, and I doubt he handed it to you. What are you doing here, Jasmine?”

  The question should’ve been how she got in, or maybe how she’d figured out where he lived, but John was more concerned with what she wanted. Something about her was different from the night before. She wasn’t as dolled up with makeup and hair products, but even if she was, it wouldn’t have hid the tinge of something John could see in her eyes.

  She tried to conceal it by perusing his naked torso, and pretending to like what she saw. Technically, she might not have been pretending, but the something John saw in her eyes told him her mind was miles away, even if he couldn’t define what the something was.

  It was like a piece of the vibrant light he’d seen in her the night before was missing. His mind had really done a number on him that morning if he was able to notice things like that. Usually he didn’t get by the superficial looks of a prospective bed companion.

  “I’ve been trying to get in touch with you and you haven’t answered your phone.”

  She looked like she had more to say, but John interrupted. “How long were you trying to get in touch? Five minutes? I just got up and jumped in the shower, but not once did I hear my phone ring.”

  Jasmine rolled her eyes, and John got a small glimpse of her fire, before she stomped into the room and headed towards the bedside table with his phone on it. How she knew exactly where it was wasn’t clear, but she didn’t hesitate by looking around for it.

  “Maybe that’s because your phone is dead. I guess that makes me feel a little better, since I’ve been calling for three hours.”

  Jasmine’s back was to him as she looked at his phone, which gave John an opportunity to admire how well her jeans fit her derriere. It was the only view he hadn’t seen the night before, and he liked what he saw. Her tush was rounded, so he’d be able to get a firm grip, but it didn’t stick out to insane levels, like her breasts.

  Without realizing he’d moved, Klinger found himself standing behind Jasmine as she worked to plug his phone in. It took his arms moving to reach out to grab her hips before it dawned on him that he wasn’t in his original spot. He quickly dropped his arms, but before he could move back across the room, she turned around.

  A deep sigh was on its way out of her lips as her eyes widened in surprise. “What are you doing?” The question was a soft whisper.

  “Wondering if you’re ever going to answer my question about what you’re doing here?” It was the only logical answer John could come up with, but it didn’t make a lot of sense, so it came out as a question.

  “I did answer that. You weren’t answering your phone and I needed to talk to you. So here I am. Are you going to get dressed anytime soon?”

  She still hadn’t answered the question to his liking, which didn’t cause a hurry to get dressed to spark in John. The fact that she asked meant she probably wasn’t looking to see how soft his sheets were.

  “Just as soon as you tell me why you’ve been crying.” It was a guess on his part, but seeing her up close made it easier to see the telltale red squiggles of bloodshot eyes. There were plenty of reasons for her to have them, but the fact that she had spent time trying to find him told him she was probably upset about something.

  Jasmine opened her mouth to say something and quickly closed it. Her eyes squinted as she thought about her response. John was trying to pick up any of the scents his mind had been engrained with the night before while he waited. Other than the orangey scent and taste he’d had on his lips the rest of the night, he hadn’t pinpointed exactly what other scents made Jasmine her. Whatever they were, they evidently weren’t something that followed her around every day, because Klinger only picked up the smell of a floral laundry detergent.

  “I’m not going to play stupid and ask why you think I’ve been crying, but it’s been hours since I made the tears stop, so I’d really like to know how you knew.”

  John smiled, a somewhat sad, half-smile. He didn’t like that he’d been right, but it was nice of her to admit he was right without a fight. “It’s obvious something’s bothering you, and as much as I’m sure you hate it, your eyes gave it away. What’s going on?”

  John reached out and took her hand so he could guide her to the bed. She’d tried to keep her dominate attitude at the forefront, but whatever was bothering her made her seem vulnerable. John didn’t really do the whole shoulder to cry on thing, so he wasn’t sure how the next few minutes would play out.

  “I’d prefer not to talk about it right now, because I’d rather not be seen leaving your place in tears.” Jasmine sat on the bed facing straight in front of her, while John turned his body so he could face her. He watched as she took a deep breath before she continued. “I know this is going to sound crazy, but I did pay a lot of money for a date with you and my original plans have changed slightly. I need you to pretend to be my boyfriend for the foreseeable future.”

  No matter how much attraction he felt towards her, the term boyfriend still caused him to cringe when she said it. “The foreseeable future?” John questioned.

  “I don’t have a timetable, so, yeah, the foreseeable future. It’d be helpful if it seemed like we were heading towards marriage, but I’m guessing two hundred grand isn’t going to buy that. I’d be willing to double the donation if that would persuade you to get down on one knee in a week or so and propose. Or I could just give you the money.”

  Klinger didn’t immediately come up with words to formulate into a response. Not only had the dreaded word boyfriend come up, but marriage had somehow found its way into the conversation. As much as he liked to have his little fantasies of finding something like Doug h
ad with Lizzie, the word still filled him with a mixture of fear and disgust.

  While he thought about the right response, he reached out and turned Jasmine’s head so she’d have to look at him. It was one thing to ask what she had to the floor. Having to look him in the eyes while she requested he put his night activities aside while pretending to be her potential fiancé was different. She hadn’t specifically said anything about those night activities, but he figured it wouldn’t be good acting if he was caught sneaking around with other women.

  Tears were welling up in her eyes as he studied her flawless face. It didn’t look like she had a stitch of makeup on, yet she was still one of the most beautiful women John had come across. The tears softened her, and even though he didn’t like the idea of her crying, they made her seem like a real person compared to the larger than life personality he’d met the night before.

  “Are you pregnant?” Probably not the best question to ask an emotional woman, but whether she was having someone else’s kid did factor into his response. He wasn’t having any luck coming up with other reasons for her request, so he settled on the only thing he could think of.

  “Why does everyone always think that’s the reason I do something out of character? Does this look like I’m pregnant?”

  John’s hand was still caressing the side of her face after moving it, so Jasmine had to smack it away to make sure he could see what she wanted to show him. What that ended up being was her well-defined abdominal muscles on her slightly caved in stomach. She lifted her shirt so the bottom cups of her black bra were just visible.

  Since the shirt was see through, John already had a decent view of what was underneath it, but that didn’t stop him from silently wishing she’d take the shirt off. Like her face, her stomach was sun-kissed, a beautiful shade almost copper in color, but not a dark variety of the color.

  John reached out and encompassed her narrow waist with his hand. A slight intake of breath caused a smile to spread across his face. It was such a simple thing to actually cause a reaction in Jasmine.

  “It takes a few months to show, so it’s hard to say.” John leaned in a little so he could whisper. “The question right now really should be whether you think it’s a good idea to show me all that skin when I’m naked and we’re sitting on my bed.” He growled softly as he bit gently on her earlobe.

  It seemed to be his fallback when things got too heavy, he always turned things sexual. Her mind may have been a million miles away, but the way her body leaned into him told her it was game for anything.

  “My grandma is dying, and the only reason she claims to be holding on is me finding someone to spend the rest of my life with. If it takes appeasing your carnal side to get you to agree to play my boyfriend, we can take things there. It’d probably even make things more believable.”

  Instead of the purring Klinger was used to when he turned on the charm, there was a sad finality to her tone. Hearing the reason behind her request, he understood a little more about why she’d found her way into his apartment.

  John felt a slight quiver of her lips as they softly touched the side of his neck. Even with the mood a little depressing in the room, his body didn’t have a problem reacting to the feather-like touches. As if it hadn’t reacted to finding her in his room. His towel did very little to hide the excitement a certain part of his body felt.

  “Would this be the grandma I’m supposed to wine and dine next week?” John already knew it was, something inside him told him it was stupid to even ask.

  Jasmine’s forehead dropped to rest on his shoulder. “She’s the only grandma I have, and she was told eight months ago she only had six months to live.”

  As he let the statement settle in, he felt the tears she’d been holding in start to fall. John wasn’t totally emotionally stunted, but there was a reason he didn’t do relationships. Comforting someone else wasn’t his strong suit.

  He held her close to him without saying anything while rubbing her back and thinking about his next move. It went against everything that made him who he was, but John knew he’d agree to go along with her boyfriend ruse. In a way it worked in his favor. He wouldn’t have to deal with Casey trying to set him up. He wasn’t sure how convincing things would be for her grandma, but as long as Jasmine was seen on his arm for a few weeks, his friends would think things were serious.

  “I’m not good in these situations, but if you want me to at least temporarily take your mind off things, I’m told I’m more than capable of doing that.” It wasn’t easy to keep the words from sounding too cocky, but John had only ever received good reviews, so he thought he could back things up.

  “Does that mean you’ll pretend to be my boyfriend?” Jasmine sat up so she could see his face.

  John reached out and wiped the tears from her cheeks. The melancholy should have been a mood breaker, but dang if her sadness didn’t touch a part of his mind that turned him on. If anyone questioned whether John was all there in the head, he simply needed to provide the evidence in his lap to prove he wasn’t.

  “Yes. I can’t promise I’ll be any good at it, but if it’s my number one fan’s last wish, it’s kind of hard for me to say no.”

  A slight smile played across her face before it vanished. It made him briefly wonder if he was being set up. She was an actress after all. He was so used to women trying to manipulate him that suspicion came as second nature, but he didn’t really think she was conning him.

  “Then I would very much enjoy it if you could make my mind stop thinking for a little bit.” The relief in her eyes made him feel a little better about how he planned to make her forget her troubles. Slow wasn’t usually in his game plan, and the abrupt ripping of the thin fabric of her shirt was his way of telling her she was probably biting off more than she could chew.

  Chapter Six

  As Jasmine stretched awake, she felt a tinge of pain from her inner thighs. She remembered the vice grip she’d wrapped around John’s torso and it wasn’t surprising to feel like she’d done a workout. When John Klinger said he was going to make you forget your troubles, he delivered on that promise.

  She wasn’t sure how long he’d brought her a little joy, but she was left exhausted and quickly curled up with his heavenly sheets for a little nap. The sun was shining in the west-facing window, so between the workout and nap she’d been occupied for at least a few hours. After staying up most of the night crying and making plans, the few hours helped clear her mind.

  Jasmine still couldn’t believe she’d actually cried in front of John. Having other people witness her emotions was one of her least favorite things. It helped a little when the other person didn’t make a big deal about the tears, other than weirdly kissing them off her cheek as he started his assault. The move was really the only gently moment when the beast was unleashed.

  Thinking about that beast, Jasmine reached over to see if his body warmed the other side of the bed. She’d expected him to be curled up next to her, but as her arm searched for a few seconds, she realized she was in the bed alone. She took in a deep breath and sighed.

  “I can’t remember the last time a guy wore me out, and you’re not even in bed to rub it in.” Jasmine rolled over on her back, looking to see if he was standing around watching her.

  She listened for any sound that he was in the room, the closet or the attached bathroom, and was a little disappointed to hear silence greeting her. He was lucky his silky sheets felt good against her skin, because if they’d been scratchy cotton or flannel, she would’ve hollered her disappointment at waking up alone.

  Generally she wasn’t worried about showing off her naked body, but she felt a little vulnerable, so she gathered the top sheet around her as she got up to search for John. He’d shredded her top, so it wasn’t like she had a lot of other options.

  “John,” she called out as she made her way to the bathroom. He should’ve heard her from the bed, so she didn’t think he was in there. Plus, the light was off and the door was open.


  Their playtime had ended with John showing her how relaxing the large bathtub could be, and that he liked playing in water. The man was amazing and seemed to know where every one of her buttons hid when it came to satisfying her needs. Jasmine wasn’t sure how she felt about that. She’d found guys who could appease her needs, but total satisfaction was something that always eluded her.

  It had taken her most of the morning to get an address for him. She’d been texting and calling him since seven, but between him sleeping and the phone going dead, he hadn’t made it possible to do it the easy way. Her fallback of getting in touch with Casey hadn’t been any speedier. Evidently she’d had an early morning yoga class followed by brunch with the girls where phones weren’t allowed.

  When Jasmine finally got to his building, she’d had to smooth talk the manager into letting her in. Apparently John had a strict policy against letting women into his place. It took a few autographs and turning on the news to show the manager that everyone seemed to think the pair were going out since photos were leaked of them kissing the night before.

  It’d been a crazy twelve hours, but for the first time in hours Jasmine didn’t feel like crying. That was at least some progress. She’d left Meemaw’s before the older woman had woken up, to ensure she didn’t spend the day curled up in a ball crying. She had to make sure John was on board before she tried to make her grandma’s last days a little easier.

  To say Jasmine had a lot on her mind while she relieved her full bladder was an understatement. At least John hadn’t given her any grief about her request. She knew he wanted to ask more questions, his inquisitive eyes told her that. Yet, he either knew she wasn’t ready to talk or he was just too horny to really push. Jasmine wasn’t sure which option she preferred.