by CM Foss
He never moved.
Chapter 14
“There is so much happiness in this room.” I looked around over the rim of my glass, one eyebrow raised.
Chrissy flipped her dark and glossy red-tipped hair over her shoulder. “Wow. Don’t sound so excited.”
“I am excited. For you.”
She scoffed. “You’re just happy it’s not you.”
I held out my glass of vodka and clinked it lightly on her champagne flute. “True story. But I’m still happy for you.”
“Thanks.” She sighed dreamily in the direction of her fiancé. “Me too.”
I took a careful sip of my drink, not wanting to overdo. “I can’t believe you’re getting married. It’s very grown-up.”
“I know. I’m getting old.”
“True. Almost past your prime.”
“I should have at least four kids by now.”
“Any self-respecting Southern girl would.”
She sighed dramatically. “Well, at least there’s just one daughter left for Momma to find a man for. Then she can rest.”
I snorted and took another sip. “Poor Mom.”
“Yes, poor me.” My mom came up behind me to perch on the arm of my chair.
I smiled up at her. She looked so elegant in her cream suit, tailored to fit the small waist I marveled she still had after so many kids. Her honey-colored hair was swept up, for sure not her natural color anymore, but it looked good regardless.
“Sorry I was late.”
“That’s all right, dear. You got your tire all sorted?”
“Yep.”
“It was nice of Jace to help.”
Psht. Help. “Mm-hmm.” Another sip.
“Oh.” She placed a manicured hand on my arm. “Look.”
I turned in my chair to see Lawrence and his girlfriend, Steph, dancing elegantly around the small dance floor. Steph had given him the runaround for years, but they’d finally gotten their shit figured out. I liked her a lot. She was frequently inappropriate, and I dug that about her. She also loved my brother wholeheartedly. That was important to me too.
I scanned the room, my heart stalling when I saw Jace talking to my dad. Jace winked in my direction, and the vagina heartbeat thing happened again. I switched my legs, crossing them tightly, tamping down the flare of desire. I took a long swallow of vodka to cool myself off. I needed to be careful how much I consumed, but I had a few days before racing again, and tomorrow was a day off, so I could afford a little celebratory action. A little.
Chrissy and my mom left to make their way to the dance floor, so I stood as well, swaying slightly as a wave of dizziness washed over me. Whoa. Not enough food. Too much booze. Story of my life.
Jace appeared beside me, one hand on my lower back, the other holding a piece of cheese in front of me.
I snatched it immediately and groaned as I popped it into my mouth. It was creamy and salty and smoky and caloric. Jace watched in amusement as I savored the bite.
“Dude, it’s just cheese.”
“I was starving. It was heaven.”
“Past tense? You’re already not starving after one bite?”
“I told you I have simple needs.”
“Hmm.”
“What’s that mean?”
“I don’t know. How ’bout a dance?”
“Uh… um… okay.” I didn’t get the segue but I was going with it.
He didn’t take my hand, as his were stuffed in his pockets as he led the way. That was appropriate though. We were just family friends, off to dance. No reason to hold hands. I clenched my fists at my sides, warding off the thoughts of being in his arms in the bottom of a boat. Fuzzy thoughts, but…
I took the opportunity to peruse his rear view just because. Until I got to the flip-flops and let out an inappropriate bark of laughter. He turned to look at me over his shoulder.
“What?” His eyebrows were drawn close.
“Nothing. You’re just odd.”
He looked down at his feet, turning them side to side. “I make this look good.”
I couldn’t argue with him there.
I hesitated when we reached the dance floor. It was fairly crowded, filled with family and friends and laughter. Lawrence and Steph had disappeared, and I was pretty sure I knew why and where and also that I didn’t want to think about it that much. My parents and sisters were all paired up, aunts and uncles and cousins. There was a gaping hole where Shane should have been. Of course it wasn’t visible to the eye. It was merely in my heart.
Jace drew me into a proper hold like we’d all learned at cotillion back in the day and began to lead through the motions. My head just reached the top of his shoulders when I was in my heels, so at least I could look over. Except I didn’t really know where to look, and I could sense that Jace didn’t know either. He was usually pretty confident and collected, nonchalant. The air between us was different, thicker. I’d started it all those months ago by being an idiot, but I’m pretty sure the lingerie incident didn’t help matters. It was still funny though.
I started to smile at the memory, and as I thought back to his reaction and the look on his face, I couldn’t take it anymore. My shoulders started to shake, and laughter erupted from deep within until I had to rest my forehead on his chest and allow him to keep me upright. Once composed, I lifted my head to meet his stare. His eyebrows were raised and his full lips were beginning to curve upward.
“Do I have to guess what was so funny?”
I shook my head and blinked away the moisture gathered in my eyes. “The look on your face when you were holding that mesh thing…” I couldn’t finish; I broke down once again. And this time Jace joined in.
“I hesitate to ask this, but who on earth gave that to you?”
I snorted again. “Nacho. He’s a… work colleague. He likes to give presents.”
“That’s fucked up.”
I shrugged. “Eh. He’s harmless.”
“Any other line of work and he’d be sued in a flash.”
“Guess he picked the right career path then.”
Jace just shook his head and tightened his grip on my waist. “You look nice tonight.”
“Thanks.” I rested my cheek against his chest with a sigh, ignoring the feel of him when he tensed briefly. The small amount of alcohol in me was overtaking the even smaller amount of food I’d had, making me forget where I was and who I was with and what I was doing.
“You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m just tired.” My eyes fluttered shut, my body content and relaxed in his warmth.
“Why don’t I take you home?” Each word made his chest reverberate, and I nodded against him, then pulled back and looked to his face.
“That’s probably not a great idea.”
The muscles in his arms went taut. “What’s not a good idea is your driving home in your condition.”
“I’ll call Drew. No worries.”
“No, you won’t.”
I pushed off his chest again and glared at him through narrowed eyes. I could practically feel the smoke puffing out of my ears.
As soon as I opened my mouth to tell him off, he grasped my elbow and stalked off the dance floor and out of the damn house with his fingers pressed into my skin.
I stumbled behind in my heels, cursing the stupid things, cursing the stupid man dragging me around like he had any right to.
Once we were on the front porch, I kicked off my shoes, instantly regretting it as I became four inches shorter, putting me at a distinct disadvantage.
“You don’t get to do this Jace. I roll back into town and you get to be big brother? I don’t think so.”
He stalked toward me, hands on his hips. “I am not playing big brother here. I think you know better.”
I spun around, unable to face him, unwilling to let him see the flush cross my cheeks. As I did so, I pulled out my phone to furiously text Drew. “We’re not anything else either. You turned me down, remember?” I muttered as my finge
rs tapped.
Then I waited there, absently chewing on my thumbnail as the silence behind me stretched… and stretched. Entire minutes passed, and our standoff became almost comical. Almost.
“Are you gonna talk?” I asked.
“Are you gonna turn around?”
I shook my head. “I don’t really want to.”
“Why not?”
His voice was closer, and I groaned loudly. “Because it’s embarrassing. This is so embarrassing, and I never want to talk about it. We were doing such a good job of ignoring it.”
He chuckled, his breath tickling my neck and causing goose bumps to break out across my body. “I never turned you down.”
I froze, goose bumps gone. “What?”
“You were leaving. We were drinking. I didn’t want to start something that I couldn’t… we couldn’t finish.”
I dropped my hands from my face but resisted the urge to face him. “How is that not turning me down?”
His voice was rough and low. I’d missed it. “How could you think that kiss was anything I could turn down? I’ve thought about it every day you were gone.”
Duh. Me too. “Why?”
“Will you look at me?”
I didn’t want to. Or I did want to. I don’t know, but I turned, one step at a time, until we were face-to-face. Well, kind of. Face to chest. I tilted my head back so I could look into his face. His expression was searching but otherwise unreadable. He lifted his hand, cupping my jaw in his palm. I leaned into his touch, afraid of what was next and yet dying to know.
The sound of an engine and the crunch of gravel startled us apart.
Jace dropped his hand, his eyes hard and flat. “You texted Drew? In the midst of this?”
My mouth parted, but no sound came out right away. “I… I’m sorry. I wasn’t… I didn’t know what”—I took a deep breath and held it—“I didn’t know what you were planning to say.”
“Because you never intended to give me a chance.”
I chewed on my lip as Drew honked his horn and hollered through the window, in a hurry to deliver me home and go back to his business. I felt bad for pulling him away, and worse now that I wanted nothing more than for him to scram.
“I gotta go. We’ll talk later. Right?” I pleaded with my eyes.
He gave a curt nod and marched back inside, leaving me barefoot and feeling young and stupid. I picked up my shoes and trudged out to Drew’s Mercedes. He looked at me with raised eyebrows as I slid in.
“Not a word.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.”
Chapter 15
We pulled up in front of my house and let the car idle at the curb. I sat in my seat, toying with my fingers.
“Uh, Tessa. I don’t mean to be a dick, but are you getting out?”
I snorted, unable to keep a laugh from escaping. “You are a dick. And I’m thinking.”
“Well, can you think in your house? I did my good deed, you owe me a few extra wins, and now it’s time for me to get back to work.”
“I need you to drive me somewhere else.”
He shook his head. “No. No way.”
I turned, folding one leg under me. “Come on. Please? It’s not far.”
“I’m not just leaving you somewhere, bug girl.”
“It’s not just somewhere. I want you to take me to Jace’s house.”
“Fuck no. I’m not dropping you at some guy’s house.”
“Yes, you are. He’s not some guy.”
He sat staring stonily ahead before a resigned expression crossed his face and he put the car in gear. “I don’t want another sad rescue call tonight, just so you know.”
“There won’t be one.” I was certain. Ish.
But a few minutes later after pulling up to Jace’s, he stopped me before I swung my legs out.
“You know you actually can call me, right?”
I smiled and patted his hand. “And I promise I won’t tell anyone how nice you actually are.”
I jogged on my toes up the front path, still carrying my shoes, to knock on the door. It opened as I raised my fist, leaving me standing, once again like an idiot. Jace stood, still in his slacks but with his shirt untucked, feet now bare. His lips were pursed, and in one hand he dangled a half-empty bottle of bourbon. He made no move to let me in but saluted Drew in acknowledgment. I heard the car pull away.
He stepped to the side, holding out his arm to allow me in. As soon as I stepped into the dim light of his foyer, he kicked the door shut and grabbed my arm.
“Holy fuck.” My voice came out in a desperate whisper, rushing from my lips as my body slammed against the cool stucco wall. It was rough and prickly and it should have hurt, but I felt no pain.
Fingers thrust into my hair, tugging at my scalp and pulling my head to the side. Teeth scraped down my neck, nipping at my earlobe and leaving me a quivering pile of female.
This body though, the one I raked my nails down, the one my lips tasted and craved with every breath, the one I sank my teeth into because I needed… I just needed. I needed to remember the feel and the texture. I wanted the bite. Something to remember when I was home alone.
His hands pushed my dress up past my hips, gathering and nearly ruining the material with rough handling, cinching it when he tore a piece of lace. He’d discovered the lack of panties. It just wasn’t a dress that necessitated them.
Part of me wished he could rip a pair off me. I wanted to feel the tug and burn on my skin until the fabric gave. But when his fingers dipped between my folds, I gasped and couldn’t give a rat’s ass about underwear. They were a waste.
“Fuck me,” he muttered, his hands roaming to grip the globes of my ass.
I shifted closer. “I’m trying.”
His breath escaped in laughter, and he captured my lips in our first kiss in months.
How I’d dreamt of it. I couldn’t have dreamt this though.
It exceeded my expectations. I drank him. I absorbed him. I let him into my soul, breath by breath and with every lick of our tongues.
It wasn’t practiced or elegant. It was raw and dirty and noisy. He tossed me onto his bed, a pile of masculine blue sheets and two spare pillows. I shimmied out of my dress, leaving me bare and pale against the darkness. He paused, his eyes raking me. I felt every look like he was branding me, hot and permanent. The wound would heal but the scar would remain, and I was fine with that.
He rose above me, and I pulled the shirt over his head, tossing it aside. I watched my fingers play across the ridges of muscles, tracing the dips and curves, lower. Hooking my fingers in the waistband of his dress slacks, I eased them over his hips, freeing him to grip in my hands.
Hot. Hard. Insistent.
Good, because I was nothing if not eager. Without a single hesitation, I guided him to me, wrapping my legs up and around his waist as he filled me. He stilled for a moment, fighting something—his need, our want, just… us? It didn’t matter. I tugged at his neck, drawing his mouth closer to mine. I nipped at his lip, swiping into his mouth with my tongue. And when he gave in, leaning into me, devouring me, his heart thudding against me as our naked chests pressed together, I gave back.
We were slick with sweat; the air surrounding us was humid and sticky. His teeth nipped down my neck to my shoulder where he clamped down harder, tasting me, marking me. I gasped at how… how good it felt. I wanted more. More feelings, more branding. More bite.
His mouth returned to mine, harsh and demanding. Our teeth clashed, our breaths mingled, our tongues tangled.
He changed his rhythm and I tore my face away to suck in air and keep the world from spinning. My senses were alternating between a heightened sensitivity bordering on pain and the hazy cloud of mild inebriation that allowed me to be there in the first place. I couldn’t decide where I wanted to stay, so I was fine with switching back and forth.
I arched my back when his hands skimmed up my sides, fingers pressing into my rib cage before sliding over to massage my breasts,
thumb flicking over my nipple, sending shocks throughout my system. I sighed with every ripple across my skin as I lost myself in his touch deep inside me, stroking me and coaxing me to the place where I could let go completely. Where we lost ourselves in each other, crying out, gasping, fighting for control and then throwing it away.
Intense.
Profound.
Drunk on each other.
Because weren’t the most intense and profound moments in life found when we were drunk… on something?
But the next morning, with sunlight streaming in like a beacon of reality, I looked down at my brother’s best friend, sound asleep, facedown. His ripped back was bared to my gaze, the contours of his toned muscles leading my eyes all over. I’d seen it over the years, just not like… this. One arm was slung across my belly in a heavy, possessive manner; his head was turned away.
I gently touched the waves of his hair with my fingertips but drew them away quickly when he stirred. Holding my breath, I carefully extricated myself from under his weight, relief flooding over me as he remained limp in slumber.
I chewed my lower lip as I glanced around his sparse room, searching for my clothes. My bra was on the doorknob, my black cocktail dress was lying in a heap, and my sparkly, strappy heels were discarded off in the distance.
My face was pained as I surveyed the damage.
It was going to be one hell of a walk of shame.
“Where are you going?” Jace mumbled groggily into his pillow before rolling over. I froze, getting a phenomenal daylight view of his perfectly formed chest and abs while I was standing naked and skinny and looking for clothes. Daylight was stupid.