by Stella Rhys
“You – what?”
“If you answer a question for me, I’ll find us a private little spot where you can see me wearing these boots. And only these boots.”
Jake stared in surprise. He wet his lower lip, feasting his eyes on the body I’d just promised him. But he quickly shook himself out of his lusty haze. “Lara – as much as I fucking hate a lot of my brother’s decisions, I know we really shouldn’t be – ”
“He told me to.”
Jake blinked. “What?”
“He told me to sleep with someone to make it even. Three times because he slept with Gabrielle three times,” I explained in a hush. “That was why I was at that bar in Brooklyn that night. That night I found you.” I bit my lip, watching Jake, waiting for him to be swayed. When it took longer than I expected, I widened my stance, crossing my arms and standing with my legs apart. Jake’s eyes followed my dress as it rode slowly up my thighs. He wiped at his lips, muffling a groan as his gaze traveled up the front of my dress and to my cleavage, which I pushed out as I crossed my arms.
“Fuck.” His jaw tightened as he looked into my eyes. “What’s your question?”
“I want you to tell me everything you know about Audra.”
Jake closed his eyes. “Lara. It’s not my place to tell you this. It’s up to Jack – ”
“It’s been four years and he hasn’t said a word. I deserve to know so please, Jake, tell me what happened between you two.”
He squinted. “Between me and Audra?”
“Jackson said you two had a bad relationship from the start and he always implied that something happened between you two that was the last straw.”
Jake’s expression turned to stone. “It was the last straw but it happened between Audra and Jackson. Not Audra and myself.”
Why was I even surprised? Playing tough, I braced myself. “Tell me, Jake.”
“Lara, you need to know that this was complicated and there were a thousand incidents that led up to this but – ”
“Tell me what happened, Jake.”
“He slept with her.”
My heart slammed itself against my ribs. I closed my eyes, only just realizing that I’d suspected this the second I’d laid eyes on them upstairs.
“But that was almost ten years ago and she moved to LA shortly after, so it couldn’t have gone on for long. He was twenty-five, she was twenty-three.”
“How long at that point had she been a part of your family?” I barely wanted to ask. I’d still be disturbed if they’d slept together the night of their parents’ wedding. Jake turned his gaze to the side as he answered.
“Three years.”
My stomach turned. “How often did Jackson see her after that? She had to have visited New York.”
“I don’t know. I moved to Australia a year after college and I only came back to New York five years ago, when my mom got heart surgery. I left again shortly after and Jackson never brought her up when he visited me.”
“Yeah, well, from what I’ve learned, Jackson doesn’t bring up a lot of his extracurricular activities.” Crossing my arms tighter, I stared at the wall beside Jake, trying to talk myself down. Audra wasn’t related to Jackson and they’d already been living separate lives when their fling began nearly a decade ago. I couldn’t hold that against him. Unless he was still sleeping with her. No. He couldn’t possibly be that stupid. But he was certainly stupid enough to let her drape herself all over his body and wrap her arms around him in a way that only I should. I chewed my lip, feeling my cheeks get hot again. Peering up from under my lashes, I cast Jake a look. “Thank you for answering.”
He paused, as if suddenly remembering that we’d struck a deal. “Lara… I would’ve told you regardless. You’re right. You should get to know a lot of what Jackson doesn’t tell you. You deserve that much for being so good to him.”
Too good to him, my lip curled. I smirked at Jake. “Are you trying to back out of my end of the deal now?”
The way he bit his lip was irresistible. “I’m trying to talk myself out of something I know I won’t feel right about later. But it’s not going great.”
“Good.” I nodded at the powder room door. “Then let’s go.”
Chapter Twenty-One
With the door behind us, I turned around, hot anticipation bursting through me as I presented Jake with the back of my dress. The second I felt his touch, my breath went jagged, my breasts heaving under the confines of my skintight bodice. My dress felt too tight and I thanked God for Jake as I studied him in the mirror, his sleeve tightening around his strong bicep as he unzipped me all the way down.
The smallest moan escaped my lips when I felt the cold air hit my skin. Jake groaned at the sound, falling into me, burying his face into the side of my neck and kissing down its curve. I reveled for a minute in the sensation of his tongue on my hot skin. But then I ripped my body away.
I let go of the front of my dress as I walked away from him, listening to his audible arousal as I tugged it down. I licked my lips, making out the sound of Jake rubbing his cock over his pants as I let the dress fall in a puddle around my heeled feet. Stepping out, I turned around, facing Jake in just a black thong and thigh high boots.
“Fuck,” he hissed, grabbing the edge of the marble vanity. I bit my swelling lower lip, my naked chest rising and falling as I restrained myself. All I wanted was for Jake to touch me. But at the same time, I wanted to see how long he could wait before his hands could no longer resist. So I simply stood before him, watching his green eyes flash with an unbridled awe that made me feel the sexiest I’d ever felt in my life. “You’re fucking perfect,” he breathed out, looking pained as he feasted his eyes on my naked breasts, my stomach. Between my thighs. “I’d give fucking anything for this to be what I woke up to every morning,” he murmured as I turned toward my reflection, gathering my wild hair around my shoulder. He watched with content for a minute before coming up behind me. My breath hitched in my throat when he hooked his fingers into my thong. He tugged the slightest bit, so that the lace rubbed against my clit. And suddenly, my control was gone.
Spinning around, I gripped his tie and pulled his lips to mine. His kiss was instantly hard and hungry.
“Jake,” I moaned, my pussy throbbing as his hands gripped my ass and squeezed. Taking his wrist, I slid his hand down the flimsy front of my thong. To my delight, his fingers immediately pleasured me, his jaw dropping as he felt the incredible slickness between my lips.
“Fuck, I want you so bad. You have no idea how fucking bad I wish you were mine.”
I squeezed my eyes shut and exhaled. “Then fuck me now.”
He groaned something unintelligible. “I don’t have a condom.”
Fuck. I dug my nails into his chest. I could feel the heat of his full erection between our bodies and I wanted nothing more but to feel it inside me. I had to. So gripping his belt, I tugged. Angrily, I began to undo it.
“Lara… I don’t – ”
His mouth snapped shut when I lowered myself to my knees. In no time, I had my hand wrapped around his cock, his shaft pushing between my swollen lips.
“Fuck, Lara.” His deep grunts sent pangs of pleasure between my thighs. As if reading my mind, Jake squeezed a handful of my hair. “Touch yourself.” The sound of his low growl hypnotized me. Right away, I circled my finger around my clit, satisfying myself as I did the same to him. I hummed against him, my mouth stretching around his thickness. I could hear the sound of his guttural appreciation with every tight, wet pull and it only made me want to suck him harder. Parting my lips wider, I let him rock into me, gripping his flexing thigh muscles as I took every last inch. His helmet pulsing hot against the back of my throat, I could feel him nearing the edge.
He didn’t have to tell me that he was going to come.
I pulled him out with a naughty pop just in time, pointing his cock at my body and letting him finish with a roar onto my breasts. He gnashed his teeth, his awed eyes unblinking as he watched
the endless streams fall onto me, one by one.
Our lips were still locked as he cleaned and zipped me up.
Back at the party, while chatting with Sawyer and Sloane, I could still feel a drop of Jake under my dress, in my skin. Silently, I savored it.
Chapter Twenty-Two
I had hoped to talk to Jackson about our fight at Buccieri, but the next morning, he was at a meeting by the time I woke up. The morning after, I found him passed out with Caleb and Sawyer on our couches downstairs, still wearing the suits they’d gone out drinking in. That entire Sunday was spent nursing all three of their hangovers. When I brought Sawyer his 2PM breakfast, he kissed my cheek and asked Jackson if he knew how “fuckin’ lucky” he was to be marrying me.
“Very lucky,” Jackson said distractedly as he read a text on his phone. I glared at him so hard that I knew poor Sawyer could feel the tension because he randomly excused himself to make a call. But even with him gone, Jackson didn’t look my way. He knew I was there but he kept his eyes glued on his phone, blissfully ignoring the fact that I was livid – livid to the point of leaving. He’d done nothing but hurt me for the past couple of months. And every time I tried to make things work, I uncovered another one of his terrible secrets. And somehow, he was the one angry with me.
I had gazed into my closet for a half hour that night, a glass of wine in hand as I wondered what I’d pack if I left. Staring, drinking, I eventually decided on nothing because everything would remind me of Jackson. Then, in my fury, I sat in bed, let the buzz fade, and with a fully sober mind, resolved to talking things out with my fiancé before having any more irrational thoughts.
So on Monday, I awoke shortly after Jackson and found him on the terrace with a cup of coffee. He was half-dressed for work – in checkered boxers and an unbuttoned dress shirt, his grey tie draped around his neck. He looked undeniably adorable, answering emails with one hand and unsuccessfully trying to button his shirt with the other. But I fought the smile curving my lips as I readied myself for a heated discussion.
“Jackson.”
He barely looked up. “What’s up.”
“I don’t know if you’ve noticed but we’ve spoken probably a total of eight words since Jake’s party.”
“Yeah.”
You ass, I crossed my arms. “Jackson, can we talk about what happened that night?”
He didn’t look up from his phone. “I thought we agreed not to bring it up again because it was ridiculous.”
“No, you said it was ridiculous but I still think it’s pretty valid,” I said, my words measured. “And considering the other dramas we’re coming off of this year, you should probably understand why I might be sensitive to the fact that you’re getting a little too cozy with another woman. The fact that she’s your stepsister and someone you have history with only makes it worse.”
Jackson finally looked up at me. “History?” he repeated.
As in sex, I wanted to say. But since Jake would be my obvious source on that information, I held back. “Yes. History. History that you’ve purposely never told me about, that led me to think it was something traumatic and upsetting when it clearly wasn’t considering how close you two looked the other night.”
Jackson laughed, setting his phone down and standing up. “This Gabrielle thing’s made you paranoid, hasn’t it?”
“Are you kidding me, Jackson?” I felt instant fire in my eyes. “Don’t you dare try to make me look like I’m the crazy one here – I’m not.”
“Then what are you? Audra being in town has to do with Jake coming back to New York. You know my mom, Lara. She’s pushy. She wants things her way and what she wants right now is to see me and Jake reaching out to our stepsister. That was why Audra was at the party and that was why I made an effort to talk to her. I can’t help the way she acts around me.”
“You don’t think you were encouraging her behavior by letting her drape her body all over you and rub her foot on your leg?” I asked incredulously.
“Look, she’s not right in the head.” Jackson jabbed his finger against his temple. “She’s a little crazy. And she’s sensitive. One wrong word and she’ll be running in the other direction and doing something drastic. Last time that happened, my mother blamed me, so forgive me if I’m careful with Audra because I don’t feel like reliving that bullshit again,” Jackson snapped, heading back into the apartment. Heated, I followed.
“What kind of relationship did you two have in the past then? Why don’t you tell me about that?” I asked. “What did you even do that made her leave and why did you make it seem like it was about her and Jake when it was clearly about you?”
“Jake never gave her a fucking chance,” Jackson muttered, tossing his cup of coffee into the sink.
As in he never slept with her? I felt my lips itching to bring that up. “I thought you were going to work,” I said instead as I watched Jackson pick up a packed leather duffel and place it by the door.
“I told you last week that I’d be in Boston for two days.”
“I don’t remember that. Who are you seeing?”
Knotting his tie, Jackson smirked at me. “It’s a business trip. Caleb’s going too, so ask him if you still think that I’m going away to play footsies with Audra.”
My lip curled. “I’m glad you can still make jokes when you know I’m upset.” When Jackson rolled his eyes, I felt my control breaking. I wanted to drop the bombshell on him – that I knew what he’d done with his stepsister ten years ago. But instead, I blurted it as a question. “Did you ever sleep with her?”
Jackson froze in the middle of tying his tie. His eyes were suddenly an icy blue and the ends of his lips quivered. But just as I thought I was set to hear a confession, he broke into a loud, mocking laugh. It continued for longer than I appreciated before he finally spoke again. “So you are paranoid,” he concluded.
I stared. I had no idea what I was and I had no idea what to say as he went upstairs. I didn’t even know if I believed Jackson. All I knew was that I was angry. Dissatisfied. I had hoped for some kind of closure on this argument but it felt like I had gotten none.
When Jackson came back down fully dressed, he grabbed the duffel at the door and barely looked over his shoulder at me to say bye. “I’ll be back Wednesday morning,” he muttered. “And I don’t want to come home and hear about you hanging out alone with Sawyer or any of the guys,” he added before leaving.
Chapter Twenty-Three
It was probably childish, but I called Sawyer that very afternoon, asking if he and Jake wanted to join Sloane and me at the Yankees-Red Sox game. It wasn’t totally unusual – Sawyer and I often went to galas and events together while Jackson was away. Knowing that he could only look and not touch, Jackson never minded. In fact, he seemed to enjoy the fact that one of his friends was so willing to “babysit” me while he was gone.
But apparently, that had changed.
Too bad, I thought as Sloane and I waited for Jake and Sawyer in our ground level seats along the first base line.
“So, here’s what I know about baseball,” Sloane said, already tipsy off half a beer. “There are three bases and a bunch of guys wearing too much clothes for me to really evaluate their bodies.”
“You can see a lot of forearm though. And I know how you like forearms.”
“Yes, I do!” Sloane clapped excitedly, as if only just remembering this about herself. “I wish Caleb showed his off more often ‘cause the first thing I ever even noticed about him was his – oh my God! You know what they should invent? Suits for men that end at the elbow, so we can see more forearm.”
I snorted at her drunken rambling. “I don’t know about that one, Sloane.”
“Are you telling me you don’t want Jackson to wear a short-sleeved tux at your wedding?” she giggled, feigning shock. But the smile slid off my face as she mentioned my wedding. For some reason, the word “wedding” jolted me. I hadn’t thought about mine in what felt like ages. I’d also blown off a couple appoin
tments to check out venues and had yet to reschedule my meeting with the calligrapher. The wedding didn’t even feel like something real to me anymore. Sloane frowned as she studied me. “Are you not excited for you big day?” she asked. “You can tell me. I’m the girl who’s been engaged to her fiancé for ten months with no wedding plans yet because neither of our families can agree on where to have it.”
I cracked a smile. “Thank you but don’t worry. It’s nothing, I’m just… stressed out. And Jackson’s been acting a little difficult lately so it’s making me a little less excited to spend the rest of my life with him,” I muttered. “But I think I’m just being a brat,” I added hastily, just to relieve Sloane. I could see her brows knitting as she mentally prepared to have a long pep talk with me. But now, she exhaled with a smile.
“No, I get it, babe. I’m a brat too. I don’t want to have this wedding unless it’s exactly like I imagined as a little girl but I also don’t have the energy to plan it myself but I also can’t pick a wedding planner to do it for me till I know if I’m getting married in New York or Kentucky. It’s such an ordeal.”
“Oh, fuck me.”
I sat up straight when I heard Sawyer’s voice behind us.
“You two aren’t going to be talking about your weddings all day, are you?” he asked, a big grin gleaming out from under the bill of his worn-in Yankees cap. “’Cause that’s going to kill my buzz every time I hit on you,” he cracked as he took the seat beside Sloane. As he did, I turned around to see Jake charming the hell out of a trio of Long Island moms in the row behind me, fielding their questions about his height and whether or not he used to play sports, since they clearly weren’t going to let him pass till he did so. Holding back laughter, Sloane and Sawyer turned around to watch with me.
“Ah, ah, ah. Don’t you try to get past me till you put your number in this phone,” said the middle one, who patted her big hair as she held out an iPhone dressed in leopard print casing. I bit my lip as I watched Jake laugh that sexy laugh, instantly melting all three women.