At First Kiss

by Gwyneth Bolton

  How dare he just assume I’m going to lose!

  Troy smirked at her and stood up to leave. “Yeah, whatever. Picture that? I’m out of here.”

  Jazz stared after her husband for a minute before turning back to her new father-in-law.

  Jordan eyed her with concern. “Are you really doing okay with your mom’s passing?”

  She swallowed and nodded. She didn’t know if she would continue to be okay if Troy divorced her. But thanks to his strength and being able to lean on him, she was doing a heck of a lot better than she had been.

  “I’m glad my son was there for you in your time of need. And I’m glad you two fell in love and got married. The two of you are in love, aren’t you?”

  Jazz’s eyes widened as the realization hit her, almost knocking her out of her seat. She had been so focused on mourning her mother, worrying about the stupid will and getting used to being married to her former nemesis that she hadn’t even realized it was happening…

  A warm, tingling sensation started in her heart and then coursed through her body finally landing in her brain.

  She was in love with Troy Singleton.

  And she was in trouble because there was no way he could possibly love her.

  He was probably going to divorce her, and it didn’t even matter that her deadbeat father would be getting the money. The money didn’t even matter. The only thing that mattered was she loved Troy Singleton and he probably hated her more now than he ever did when they were frenemies.

  “Do you love my son, Jazz?” Jordan asked.

  Jazz nodded. “Yes, I do.”

  “Well, then, everything will work out fine. This contest won’t hurt your marriage if the two of you really love one another. And trust me, if my eternally single, bachelor-for-life-son married you, he must be in love. Love is the only thing that could make that boy give up his player card.”

  She swallowed.

  Jordan didn’t know the half of it. Helping out a friend and the possibility of being able to stick it to his father were two other reasons Troy would get married.

  She fiddled her hands in her lap and nibbled on her bottom lip. “Well, I’m going to meet some of the staff for the show and then head back home. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “Okay, Jazz. And don’t worry. Things will be fine. Everything has a way of working out the way it’s supposed to, no matter what we do. Things between you and Troy will end up the way they are supposed to. I have faith in that. And I think your mother would’ve had faith in that as well.”

  She just stared at him for a moment, wondering why he kept bringing up her mother. It was almost as if he knew something. But she had no idea what he could possibly know. It wasn’t as if he and her mother had been close friends or anything like that. He couldn’t possibly know about the money and the will. And she certainly wasn’t about to bring it up, or ask him. Then he’d know the real reason behind her sham of a marriage to Troy.

  So she just nodded and hightailed it out of there.

  The only thing she could think about was how she was going to be able to fall out of love with Troy Singleton.

  Troy sat in his home office going over and over the day’s events, which caused him to go over and over the events of the past week, all in an effort to figure out how exactly it came to be that the player had been played.

  The smallest bedroom in his home had been custom-designed with cabinetry, a desk and shelves all built to fit the space at the maximum level of efficiency. Even though the room had been designed with work in mind, it still met the level of style he and his decorator, a lovely woman whose name he could never remember, had achieved with the rest of the house. From the mocha Caesar Stone countertops to the espresso wood Shaker-style door and shelves, the room had the same depth and strength as the rest of his home.

  “So are you just going to give me the silent treatment forever or do you plan on acting like a grown-up soon?”

  He looked up to find Jasmine standing in front of him with her hands on her hips. She had the nerve to look upset, when he was the one who had been betrayed by his father and her.

  Confidentiality clause his ass!

  She knew he would have had a problem with having a cohost! She should have told him that before he married her. But then he probably wouldn’t have married her. And then he wouldn’t have known how sweet she tasted and how good it felt to go to sleep holding her in his arms. And he never would have been made to own and admit how much he really secretly liked their verbal sparring matches and adored the way her flashes of Bajan heat brought such joy to his heart and made him smile.

  He glanced up at her. She had changed into a pair of jeans and a sweater from the sexy purple sweater dress and thigh-high boots she’d worn earlier. The jeans hugged her curves like a glove and the red sweater clung to her perfect breasts in a way that made him want to reach out and touch.

  He shook it off.

  “Jasmine, I really don’t think you want me talking to you right now. Trust me, you want me to cool off some.” He dismissively waved her away after breaking eye contact.

  “Why drag out the inevitable? You hate me and you want a divorce, right?”

  “I don’t hate you, Jasmine.”

  “But you want a divorce, right?”

  He sighed. Here was his escape hatch. He’d married her, made unbelievably mind-blowing love to her and for all intents and purposes, the old Troy would have been through with her and would have happily divorced her and moved on to the next one.

  But this was Jasmine. His Jasmine. His wife for as long as she would have him, no matter what kind of contest his father had cooked up. He didn’t want it to end yet.

  Even more so, he really didn’t want to question or examine why he didn’t want it to end.

  He just wasn’t ready. He wasn’t ready to let her go and he wasn’t ready to question why.

  He heard a soft, whistle-like sigh come out of Jasmine’s mouth, and her shoulders sort of slouched. “You do want a divorce.” This time it was a statement instead of a question. She turned to leave.

  “I don’t want a divorce, Jasmine. I just need a minute to process everything. I don’t think we should have this conversation when I’m so—”

  “Angry?”

  He nodded.

  “I don’t want you to be angry with me. I swear I didn’t know that your father planned to make us compete for the hosting position. I did know that I was going to be your cohost and that you would be a little upset about it. But I thought we could work through that because we’d make a good team. I really think we’d be great as cohosts. There’s a…I don’t know…there’s something there when we do our little back-and-forth verbal scrimmages… I thought it could be kind of hot, you know. I never wanted to be in a competition with you. I just wanted to work with you.”

  She sighed again, and the sound pierced his heart.

  He stood up and wrapped his arms around her. Although he was still upset, he didn’t like seeing her upset. Apparently his little wife had him wrapped around her finger, and it had happened without either of them even realizing it.

  “Chemistry.” He whispered in her ear just before he nipped it.

  She gulped as she melted in his arms.

  “Chemistry is the word you’re looking for to describe what we have, Jasmine. It’s what we’ve had from the first minute we met. It was too much for either of us at the time, and it became combustible. But it has simmered over the years, and for better or worse, we are married now. And I’m not letting you go just yet.” He released her and gave her a playful smack on her ample behind.

  “Besides, since you’re my competition now, I have to be sure to keep an eye on you. It’ll work to my benefit keeping you around.” He sat back down at his desk.

  He could see the fire burning in his lovely wife and it turned him on considerably.

  She smiled a smile that was equally sexy and sinister. “Keep your friends close and your frenemies closer?”

  He
grinned. It was actually more like keep the woman you were starting to become irrevocably attached to as close as you possibly could and never-ever let her go. But she didn’t need to know that yet.

  So he shrugged and smirked his best cocky smirk. “Something like that.”

  Her eyes narrowed and she gave him an appraising look before turning and walking away. He thought about following her as he watched her hips sway, but then thought better of it. He was still trying to figure things out. And until he did, maybe it was best to slow things down a bit with Jasmine…

  Chapter 7

  Game recognize game

  “So, Detroit, this is your boy Troy signing off—” Troy started his signature goodbye words at the end of the show.

  Jazz cut him off. She added herself to the mix and finished his closing. “And this is your girl Jazz… And we want you to remember to keep it fresh, keep it funky and keep it all the way live! See you tomorrow, Detroit! Stay peace.”

  She had watched enough of his tapes to know that’s how he closed the show each and every time, and she thought it was okay. She would have gone for something a little catchier. But she figured it would be a nod of collaboration if she didn’t come in with her own closing too soon. She envisioned changing it eventually to suit her own tastes. His closing sounded a little too Soul Train for her. But she knew it was best to invoke her changes slowly.

  As soon as the cameras went off, Troy turned to her and glared. “Can I speak with you for a moment, Jasmine? In the back, please?” His voice was clipped and he seemed a little irritated.

  She had no idea what he could have been so irritated about. It was only their first show, but she was feeling really good about it. Everything had gone well. The live audience seemed to love the banter between her and Troy and they laughed when they were supposed to. The audience watching at home probably loved it, too.

  Once they entered his dressing room she folded her arms across her chest. “What’s the problem, Hubby? I think the show went great.”

  “The problem is you ate my line.”

  She pursed her lips. “Umm, no…we shared the closing. Just like we now share the show.” She arched her eyebrow slightly as she watched him huff and bristle. “Like it or not, Troy, we are cohosts until one of us is the only host. So we might as well suck it up and put on the best show we can.”

  “It’s my closing line, Jasmine.”

  “I know that, Hubby. That’s why I didn’t change it and said the line the way you always say it every single closing, even though I—” She cut herself off. It probably wouldn’t do any good to insult the man when he was all huffy and mad.

  He narrowed his eyes and clenched his teeth. “Even though what?”

  She shrugged. “It’s no biggie. Forget I even said anything.”

  “Even though what, Jasmine?”

  “Even though Don Cornelius called and said he’d like his line back. Love, Peace and So-ul!” She tried to call back her laughter, but it came bubbling forth.

  Troy picked up a pillow from the small sofa and tossed it at her. “I see somebody has jokes. I suppose you think you could come up with a better closing?”

  She caught the pillow and threw it back at him before mumbling, “Sure couldn’t do worse.”

  “I heard that, smart mouth.”

  She laughed and turned to leave but not before mumbling a parting shot. “Good, do something about it then.”

  When she reached the door and opened it she wasn’t surprised that Troy had walked up behind her and closed it. She could feel his tall muscular frame behind her as the door shut.

  She turned around and eyed him with interest.

  He hadn’t come to bed last night until late and he had gotten up earlier than she had. They hadn’t really talked since he’d told her that he wasn’t ready to talk. She was surprised they had been able to do their first show today.

  She nibbled on her lower lip and tilted her head. “Have you decided that you want to talk to me? I mean really talk to me now?”

  “I could think of a lot of things I want to do to you, Jasmine, and talking isn’t anywhere on the list.”

  She frowned. “Well, if you can’t talk to me and you’re going to hold a grudge, then you can’t have sex with me, either.”

  Where the hell did that come from? Hold on now, girly. Don’t be so rash…

  Even though her body seemed to be railing against her words, in her mind she knew she was right. If Troy was so upset with her that he couldn’t talk to her and they couldn’t hash out their issues, then sex would only muddy things up even more.

  But damn….

  He pressed closer and she could feel his desire to do anything but talk to her pressing against her stomach. The feel of him and the memory of him made her think that not talking might not be such a bad idea.

  She shook her head. “I mean it, Hubinator. Don’t try and tempt me with your big ole sexy body and your big ole—well…I won’t be tempted. So you can just back up off me and try and take it down a notch.”

  He bent over and brushed his lips across her forehead. “She thinks I’m sexy.” He moved further down and pressed his lips against hers. “She thinks I’m tempting.”

  “I think you’re a jerk and you’re not playing fair. Don’t forget, Hubilina, two can play that game.”

  “Hubilina? Okay, I really don’t care for that one. Hubby was bad enough.”

  “When you start calling me Jazz, which by the way you have to do on the show. If you noticed, I called you Troy during the taping because that’s your professional name. I’d appreciate it if you called me Jazz when we are on air and tapping the show.”

  He moved away then and walked back over to his chair. “Yeah, that’s not gonna happen.”

  She sighed as she decided which battle she was going to fight today. Like it or not, they had to work together. And like it or not they were married and had to live together. The more important thing was probably getting their relationship, for lack of a better word, on track.

  It was clear that Troy didn’t really trust her. He’d grown weary of her in just one day. Even though he’d said he didn’t want a divorce, that didn’t really tell her where she stood.

  “Troy?”

  His head shot up in shock. “What, no nickname? What happen to Hubby?”

  She walked over and placed her hand under his chin so that his head was tilted up toward her. If he stood she’d have to look up at him. She was so used to doing so that she found this new position a little unsettling.

  “All my nicknames for you haven’t gotten you to call me by my preferred name. So, I’ll leave that battle for now. We have more pressing concerns than what we call each other, Troy.”

  He eyed her suspiciously. “Yeah, right, you’re probably thinking of some new irritating nickname for me as we speak.”

  She shook her head. “I’m not, Troy.”

  He frowned. “Stop that.”

  “Stop what? That’s your name. Troy. See, I can be a big enough person to admit defeat. Nothing I do is going to get you to call me Jazz, so—”

  He stood up and she tilted her head to stare at him. “Silly woman. I call you Jazz all the time. Jazz. Mine. Jasmine. It’s been my own personal joke for years.”

  She gulped. “Years.” Then she narrowed her eyes in disbelief and repeated, “Years?”

  He nodded. “Years, Jasmine.”

  She sighed. “What’s going on between us, Troy?”

  “I’m not sure. But I want to find out.” He ran his hand across his face in resignation. “I think I’m finally ready to find out.”

  “Are you still angry with me?” Her heart raced inside her chest as she waited for the answer.

  He pulled her onto his lap so that she now straddled him. And he kissed her, long and deep. His tongue marked and claimed territory in her mouth only to be followed by his lips and teeth. She moaned from deep in her gut and reached up to wrap her arms around his neck. Her lips pressed and puckered as he pulled
them into his desire.

  His arms moved from her waist to her behind and he cupped each buttock in his big, strong hands. He squeezed and caressed as he nibbled and suckled. She moved her hands to his shirt and placed them underneath so that she could feel his heated, muscular frame.

  She groaned as she pulled away. She couldn’t go there with him if he was still angry with her. “I’m sorry, Troy. I truly am. I should have told you your father’s company hired me and I’d be your cohost. I should have told you before marrying you and definitely before we—”

  “Made love?” Troy finished her sentence.

  She nodded. “I’m sorry.”

  “I forgive you. And I’m not angry with you.”

  “So are we going to set some new ground rules now that you know about my job, and now that we’re competing for the same slot? I can move into the guest room… I mean… I totally understand if you want to put some distance between us now.” She braced herself for the answer she knew had to be coming.

  “I definitely don’t want that.” Holding her, with her straddling his hips, he stood up from the chair they’d been in and walked her over to the sofa in his dressing room. Sitting, he pulled her closer to him so that she fit more snugly on his lap.

  “I’m pretty sure there’s no turning back, Jasmine. We’ve been avoiding this for years, but now that we’ve started down this road, there’s no turning back.”

  She rested her head on his chest and listened to his firm and steady heartbeat. There were a million things she could have said. Instead she just inhaled and exhaled deeply, taking in his scent and the comfort of his embrace.

  “Alicia and Sonya want to take me out this week for the bachelorette party they say you cheated me out of by eloping. They said you guys can watch the kids while we go out on the town.”

  He chuckled. “Tell them not to take my wife to some cheesy strip joint with overly buff Chippendale dancers.”

  “I most certainly will.” She feigned indignation. “A cheesy strip joint for moi? I don’t think so. Only the cheesiest of strip joints will do. And I’ve never had a fondness for Chippendale dancers, not enough diversity. Give me a buff Little Ray-Ray or Tyrone from the block any day.”