“The lock is broken on this door.” He jiggled it as evidence as he turned his head, glancing back over his shoulder, keeping his arousal facing away from Jessie.
“What?” she asked as she too looked over her shoulder. An expression of confusion clouded her gorgeous face for a moment before she blinked and nodded. “Oh, that. I know. I saw that when I came in. We could tell Margie, but I figured that I’d just call a locksmith in the morning.”
Then with no further comment, she turned her head back as if the fact that she was not going to sleep on the couch was completely unrelated to the fact that she was not staying downstairs with a door that anyone could just walk through.
“I already called one,” Zach explained.
“Oh, okay.”
He saw the back of Jessie’s shoulders shrug underneath her form-fitting, sleeveless black dress, which hit her right above the knees. He could see the outline of her back as she leaned casually against the countertop. Her dress perfectly hugged her hourglass figure, leaving little to the imagination. It reminded him of something that Audrey Hepburn would wear in one of those movies his mom had liked to watch when he was a kid. Even though Jessie looked nothing like the film star, she definitely embodied the same classy, sex appeal that Audrey had so effortlessly exuded.
“Well”—she pushed off the countertop and clapped her hands—“I’ve got a long day tomorrow. Goodnight.”
Shit. He’d gotten so distracted by studying the curves of Jessie’s backside that he’d totally abandoned their very important conversation. The only positive thing to come out of his realization was the fact that blood had once again begun traveling to his brain, so he was no longer sporting wood.
Zach turned around to face her as she reached out to gather her jacket and purse. “Jessie, I can’t let you sleep down here alone.”
She froze, and he watched as the arched brow above her right eye lifted. Her dark-brown eyes stared directly at him with a coldness that he suspected might make a lesser man shiver.
“You don’t have a choice in the matter. I’m a big girl. I’ll sleep where I want,” Jessie said slowly, deliberately.
Zach wasn’t an idiot. He knew that, when a woman dug in her heels this deep, it was futile to argue. So he didn’t.
“Okay,” he said plainly.
Zach didn’t miss the look of surprise at his easy acquiescence before Jessie quickly masked it. She gave him one sharp nod before gathering her purse and jacket, spinning on her heel, and clicking her way out of the kitchen. After she disappeared through the darkness, he heard the door to the downstairs bathroom shut.
After walking across the kitchen, Zach pulled out a folding chair he’d seen tucked between the counter and the tall, white refrigerator. Once he unfolded the seat, he set it against the wall and lowered down into it. His straightened his legs out in front of him and crossed his ankles. Leaning his head back, he folded his arms, closed his eyes, and tried to get as comfortable as possible.
The thought did cross his mind to head upstairs and get a pillow to prop up behind his back, but he seriously doubted that would add that much to his comfort factor. So instead, he tried not to think about the fact that, if he got any sleep at all—and that was a big if—he was probably going to be in some serious pain tomorrow.
But at least he’d know that Jessie was safe. There was no way in hell Zach could have brought himself to leave Jessie, or any woman for that matter, downstairs in a house that was not secure. He’d lived in the city his entire life, and even though the odds of anything happening were slim, there was always that one-in-a-million chance that something could happen. Even those odds were too high for Zach if he could do anything about it.
It would be a hell of a lot easier if Jessie would just take her stubborn ass upstairs and sleep, safely and securely, in his bedroom. Then maybe they could both get a decent night’s sleep. But he had to admit that she was pretty damn cute when she put her heeled foot down. The fire in her eyes alone had been enough to set off an inferno of blazing lust inside of him.
Which was bad. Really bad.
All week, he’d been enjoying texting back and forth with her a little too much. His level of anticipation over their new living situation was a little too excessive for his peace of mind. He’d even started dreaming about her, which was what her arrival tonight had interrupted.
The worst part was that they weren’t even really sex dreams. At least they didn’t start off that way. They usually started off with one or the other of them doing mundane tasks around the house. He’d be vacuuming. She’d be dusting. He’d be cooking dinner. She’d be doing laundry. Then there would be some flirting, which would turn into foreplay, and dammit if he hadn’t woken up each time before he’d been able to slide inside her body.
It was as frustrating as it was scary. The frustrating part was obvious. It was irritating the shit out of him that he was getting blue-balled in his dreams. The scary part was just because, historically, if Zach had a ‘sex dream, it was just that. It was a dream that he was having sex with one or more random, anonymous women. Never before had it been someone he knew co-starring in his nocturnal pornos, and it hadn’t even played out like any good X-rated film should. All sex—no story line.
Zach didn’t even know what to call the—sometimes twice—nightly heavy-petting scenarios that played out in his brain, which he remembered in excruciating detail. Torture. That was what he’d call them.
“What are you doing?” Jessie asked loudly.
It startled Zach since he hadn’t heard her leave the downstairs restroom. His eyes opened to one very displeased roommate. Jessie stood just outside the kitchen still wearing her form-fitting black dress, but the hair, which had been pulled up, now fell in waves around her shoulders, her face was scrubbed clean, and her pink-painted toenails were now visible on her bare feet. She looked far too sexy for Zach’s liking.
“I was trying to get some sleep,” he said, attempting to keep his tone as lighthearted as possible even though his body was wound so tight that one look, one breath, one lick of Jessie’s lips and he was afraid he would come in his pants.
“You can’t sleep in a chair in the kitchen.” Unlike Zach, Jessie did not seem to be attempting to temper her tone at all. She was pissed and not afraid to show it.
“I’m a big boy. I can sleep where I want,” Zach said, repeating the sentiment Jessie had used for her argument.
At his words, he saw her tiny nostrils flair as her full lips scrunched. He could see the wheels turning in her head. There was no doubt in Zach’s mind that Jessie was trying to formulate her next strategic move. Sadly, he knew it was all in vain. She could move anywhere she wanted in this little game, but the outcome was going to be the same.
Check. Mate. Baby.
“I could just drive home,” she said with a lot less conviction than he assumed she’d wanted to.
“Yep. You could.” He didn’t like the idea of her driving alone at night, but at least he would know that she was sleeping in a safe house. Or at least that was what he would tell himself.
She glared at him, and he wasn’t sure if this was a staring contest or a pissing contest, but either way, she wasn’t winning.
After several silent minutes, her jaw ticked and she put her hands up. “Fine. I’m too tired to deal with this.” With that statement, she spun around on her heels.
Zach stood from the hard foldout chair, and by the time he stepped into the living room, she was halfway up the stairs. “My t-shirts are in the top drawer if you want to sleep in something more comfortable,” he offered, happiness over the fact that she’d decided to cry uncle and head upstairs more evident in his voice than he’d meant it to be.
“Thanks,” she said tightly, sounding like she’d rather eat glass than utter any appreciation for his gesture.
He smiled at the fact that, even though she was so blatantly furious, she was still the poster child for decorum. This girl was unlike any he’d ever met. Just before he turne
d to head over to the much more comfortable option of his sleeping destinations for the evening, he caught her shadowy figure flipping him the bird.
His head fell back as he laughed out loud.
“Goodnight.” Jessie’s voice sounded overly sweet as she shut the door the door to his room.
Zach was still chuckling as he lay down on the couch that had come with the brownstone. His large body sank deep into the old cushions. He felt the soft, worn fabric rub against his back as he shifted his position in an attempt to get more comfortable. The wooden legs of the ancient piece of furniture squeaked loudly beneath him. Closing his eyes, he tried to relax and get some sleep. He knew that he wasn’t going to pass out like he normally did. Usually when he turned off the lights and his head hit the pillow, he was dead to the world.
As he tossed and turned on the lumpy cushions, flashes of Jessie kept popping up in his head like a slideshow. Her lips. Her legs. Her voice. Her eyes. Zach knew that sleep was not going to come easily. It was going to be a long night.
A long, Jessie-filled night.
Chapter Seven
“Rise and shine, princess.”
Krista’s voice drifted into Jessie’s sleepy consciousness, but she kept her eyes closed so that her sister would leave her alone and let her continue to sleep in blissful peace. Even in her half-awake state, Jessie knew that she was getting better sleep than she ever remembered having. No way was she going to let her sister ruin that.
“I saw your eyes twitch.” Krista’s voice once again sounded. “I know you’re awake.”
“If you’re still tired, we can let you sleep,” Haley offered. “The moving van won’t be here for another hour.”
Moving van?
Jessie’s eyes popped open. Her sisters were both dressed in sweatshirts and jeans. Each had her hair up in a ponytail. And they were both staring down at her, standing beside the bed.
The bed?
Jessie’s eyes flew to the charcoal-gray comforter that was covering her body. Everything came back to her in a rush. Last night. Zach insisting she sleep in his bed. Her not being able to go to sleep because she was overwhelmed with more desire than she’d ever known existed in real life.
It had been bad enough that the imprint of Zach’s half-naked body was burned into her mind’s eye so that every time she’d shut her eyes, that was all she’d seen. Then there was also the fact that he’d bested her not once but twice. First, she’d conceded to the rent, and second, she’d agreed to sleep upstairs. Jessie had thought that would have pissed her off and made her borderline hate Zach, but instead, she found it kind of hot, and it made her want Zach even more than she already had.
On top of that, the sexy, deep sound of Zach’s laughter had been playing on repeat in her mental iTunes library. Every time she heard it, a little thrill would run through her at the fact that she’d caused him to crack up. It shouldn’t matter to her that he found her amusing. But somehow it gave her more pride than getting promoted to VP of public relations after only being at SPC for five months had.
All of that she still might have been able to ignore or suppress long enough to drift into sleepy-land, but the thing that had made slumber impossible was not the internal battle of good (represented by her) and evil (repped by Zach, of course!) that was waging in her psyche. Nope, the cherry on top of the sleepless sundae was completely external in nature.
It was the scent of Zach’s sheets and pillows. From the moment Jessie had slipped into his bed, it had felt like he was surrounding her. Which he kind of was. His smell, anyway. Every time she moved, even the slightest bit, his uniquely masculine, earthy aroma would waft up through her nostrils, and before she could stop herself she’d inhale. Deeply. She’d lain in bed sniffing Zach’s scent harder than a druggie sniffs glue, and she feared it was probably more addictive.
“Hello!” Krista waved her hand in front of Jessie’s face. “Anyone home?”
“Sorry.” Jessie shook her head as she pushed the comforter off of her and sat up, her legs dangling off the side of the large, king-sized bed. “I’ll be down in a minute.”
Jessie gathered her hair up off her neck and twisted it into a bun at the top of her head. Standing up, she almost walked into her sisters, who were both staring at her wide-eyed, mouths open.
“What?” Jessie snipped.
Krista’s head ducked and lifted dramatically as she looked Jessie up and down in an exaggerated fashion. Then, raising her hands, she said, “Nothing. Nothing at all. It’s perfectly normal that we find you sleeping like a baby in Zach’s bed, in one of his shirts.”
Crap.
Jessie had forgotten that she’d indulged herself last night and taken advantage of the offer Zach had made her. She could blame it on the fact that her dress had been tight and wouldn’t have been comfortable to sleep in, but that would make her nose grow longer than Pinocchio’s when he was lying. The truth was, she hadn’t been able to resist the opportunity to sleep in Zach’s shirt. Plain and simple.
Luckily, her sisters didn’t need to know that. It was none of their business.
“I’ll be down in a minute,” Jessie repeated, hoping that her sisters would take the hint and leave so she could have a moment to compose herself and get dressed. “Did you bring my suitcases?”
Last night, she texted both of her sisters to ask if they could bring the green suitcases she had sitting beside the door and planned to bring herself this morning.
“Yep,” Haley chirped happily. “They’re downstairs. I’ll have one of the boys bring them up.”
Jessie nodded. “Thanks.”
Her sisters both turned to leave—finally. But a thought occurred to Jessie and she stopped them. “Wait. What boys?”
“Well”—Haley turned back around, a sheepish look crossing her porcelain-doll face—“I may have mentioned that you were moving in with Zach to Eddie, who may have mentioned it to Riley, who may have mentioned it to Jason and Alex. But only because they love boxing.”
No, no, no, no, no. This isn’t happening.
“Haley, who exactly is downstairs?” Jessie tried not to let the panic seep into her tone.
Haley’s face scrunched up in a worried expression as a wide smile spread across Krista’s face before she answered the question directed at their sister. “There’s quite a crowd.”
Haley shook her head, her blond ponytail swaying back and forth. “Just Eddie, Riley, Jason, and Alex. Oh”—she snapped as if she’d forgotten—“and Chelle, Katie, Jamie, and Joey. Emily was going to come, but she decided to stay and help Mom babysit Mya.”
Great. So not only were her sisters and one of their fiancés here, three of her cousins and their wives plus one of their sons were here as well. Perfect. Just perfect.
“Don’t worry. Everyone is getting along great,” Haley added cheerfully.
“Yep. Zach’s downstairs making everyone breakfast.” Krista informed her, grinning like a Cheshire cat.
“What?!” Jessie shrieked as she ran towards the door.
“You might want to put some pants on,” she heard Krista call out behind her.
Pants. Jessie did not have time for pants. She needed to end this little impromptu breakfast, and she needed to end it now.
As she ran down the staircase, she heard the distinct sound of Zach’s laughter filling the house. It caused that ridiculous flutter to return to her belly. She then heard her cousin Alex telling the story of how he and his wife Jamie had met.
It was actually one of the more romantic things Jessie had ever witnessed. Alex was a firefighter, and he was clearing a building when a beam fell on his head and knocked him unconscious. When he woke up in the hospital, the first person he saw was Jamie. She had just moved to Harper’s Crossing with her son Joey, and it was her third day on the job. Even though he was high as a kite on pain meds, he’d started flirting with her, and before the drugs knocked him back out, he’d asked her to marry him.
Sweet? Yes. Did Zach need to hear about it? No.
Jessie stepped into the kitchen to find Alex snuggling Jamie close as she stood in front of him. His arms were wrapped tight around her waist. All of her other cousins had their wives similarly close to them.
Yep. She was glad to be moving. She wasn’t the third wheel—she was like the fifteenth wheel.
“Hi, Auntie Jessie!” Joey yelled as he spotted her in the doorway. Technically, she was his cousin, but he was a kid, and when you were an adult in this family, you were aunt or uncle.
The eight-year-old was standing at the stove beside Zach, who, thankfully, was wearing a shirt this morning. And it looked like Joey was helping her new roommate cook. Joey’s big brown eyes looked at her with excitement brimming from them.
“It is so cool that you’re moving in with Zach Courtland. He’s teaching me how to make eggs.”
“Great.” Jessie was rarely at a loss for words. She chose not to use them most of the time, but she had them in her arsenal if she needed them. Until now. She also did not usually charge into situations without a clear plan and exit strategy, but it seemed that Zach brought out the unusual in Jessie’s life.
Every single eye in the room was pointed at Jessie, except Joey’s since he had returned his attention to the eggs. Her entire family was looking at her like she’d lost her ever-loving mind. There she stood, in the middle of the kitchen, swimming in a shirt that fell to her knees, without saying a word.
Priceless.
Jessie calculated her options to come up with the best possible outcome. She could deal with her family, but that was difficult to do just considering their sheer numbers. So instead of that, she decided to deal with the other factor that made this equation disastrous.
“Hey, Zach, can I talk to you for a minute?” Despite her best efforts, her voice came out sounding strained and stressed.
Actually Love - Jessie & Zach (The Crossroads Series) Page 7