“Yes, but does she know it?”
Sara giggled again and felt some of the tension relax in the body walking next to her. The arm she pressed up against no longer flexed in agitation. “Believe it or not, when Riley stood on stage, she’d come alive. She used to be more like Sage than opposite her.”
“That, I definitely don’t believe.”
Yeah, Sara wouldn’t either based on how the two women were now, had she not seen it for herself. “They’re the closest in age, with only ten months separating them. Sage has middle child syndrome, but Riley didn’t start acting like the oldest of the pair until five years ago.” Sara sobered as she remembered the instigating cause. “A few nights after Tessa’s open heart surgery, doctors told Maddie to prepare for the worst. Riley and Sage went to a club and got shitfaced. From what I’ve been able to piece together, somewhere toward the end of the night, Riley jumped on stage and sang the most heart wrenching song about a mother losing her child. It’s one of those that stays with you for days, weeks, months after it’s over. The video’s on YouTube. Since you seem to like internet stalking, you should try to find it. I still get chills listening to the recording.”
“Is Tessa’s condition why she decided to leave that behind and go to nursing school?”
“Probably. She doesn’t talk about it, though. When she finished that song, she walked off stage and hasn’t touched a drop of alcohol or sang solo for an audience since. Every so often, Bel or I can get her to sing with one of us at a karaoke bar, but nothing more than that.”
“What about—”
“Oh, no. It’s my turn.” His willing forgiveness made Sara brave again. There was so much she didn’t know about the man. “See, that’s how getting to know someone works. You listen a little, talk about yourself a little.”
“Ok, smartass. What do you want to know?”
Everything. “What’s your favorite color?”
He looked surprised that she’d asked such a simple question, but he didn’t give his answer right away. He wound a lock of her hair around his finger and gave it a gentle tug, holding her gaze with his own. “At the moment, I’d say it’s a toss-up between blue and green, like your eyes.”
Sara’s heart lurched for the third, or was it the fourth, time of the night. How had she ever thought this man was a player? He’d shown her nothing but kindness ever since they’d put their first meeting behind them.
“Does this mean it’s my turn?” he asked.
She nodded, incapable of speech.
“What do you like to do for fun?”
That answer came easily. “Laugh.” With you. As it turned out, Sara found that more appealing than almost anything. Almost. She’d still never tire of hearing about his life. “Did you always know you wanted to work at the bank?”
“Not even close. I enlisted in the Marines as soon as I turned eighteen.”
So, that was where his commanding presence came from.
“Now I’m wondering if I should’ve considered other options besides working at BCF when I left the Marines. Your excitement for the fundraiser has rubbed off on me. I’ve donated money to various organizations throughout the years, but being a part of this from the ground up is something different entirely.”
Sara kept her feelings on the subject quiet, not because she feared retaliation since he was her boss, but because speaking her desire out loud would only heighten her disappointment. She didn’t live Jacob’s life. She had money concerns he probably couldn’t fathom. “Why did you leave the Marines in the first place?”
“Two years after I enlisted, 9/11 happened, and I spent the next six years in Afghanistan.” Jacob stiffened yet again.
Sara slipped an arm around his waist as understanding set in. His fear of children still didn’t make sense to her, but the demons in his eyes were beginning to. She’d seen those same shadows in many of the returning veterans she volunteered to help. “Because it isn’t happening on our soil, people here have a tendency to forget how much we lost, and are still losing, over there.” Jacob had served their country. There was no greater service than that. She kissed his shoulder while emotion constricted her chest. “I’m glad we didn’t lose you.” He’d been in her life such a short time and already she couldn’t imagine having never met him.
She wanted him. All of him. Not because he was sexy, but because he was Jacob.
They turned back toward the jeep. With each step they took, the desire to let him know exactly that caused her to be more brazen than she’d ever been. She held out her hand and glanced toward the parking lot. “Do you trust me enough to let me drive? I’ve always wanted to test out a jeep.”
Without apparent thought, he tossed her the keys.
Sara took off at a run toward the blue vehicle that had more dents in it than hers. While waiting for him to grab their shoes, she slid behind the wheel, pretending to adjust the seat and mirrors.
Her skin vibrated with anticipation. What would he do once he realized her plan?
Not giving herself a chance to change her mind, once he settled in the passenger seat, she darted out of the vehicle around to his side.
“Wha—?”
“Sorry, I forgot something.” Sara climbed onto his lap and closed the door. The seatbelt clasp dug into her right knee, but that didn’t stop her from straddling him, clenching her thighs around his waist. “Please don’t say no. I don’t need us to wait any longer. Not when all I can think about is your hands on my body. All over my body.”
“Ah, cariño. Be careful playing with fire.”
His growl shook her to her core. She licked her way up the cords on his neck while sinking her fingers into the rich softness of his hair. “I’ve been careful all my life. I’m tired, Jacob, so tired of being careful.” His pulse pounded under her tongue to the reckless rhythm she craved.
“I don’t want you to think this is all I’m about.”
“I don’t.” Not anymore. “Jacob, I want more than one date with you. I want whatever we turn this into. But I also want this. I’ve waited a lifetime to feel what you make me feel. Please don’t make me wait any longer.”
With a groan and fierce grip on her hips, he took her at her word and ground her into his erection. His wonderfully hard, thick erection. She tried to wiggle her hands between them, but he kept her pinned to his lap. “Goddamn you, asshole!” She wanted that length in her hands and in her mouth.
“Impatient, are we?” Instead of waiting for her answer, he kissed her relentlessly until she gave up the fight with his pants.
She didn’t care. She was too drunk on the sensations he created to think past the next touch, the next whisper of his voice against her skin.
“Unzip your jeans for me, cariño.”
Hell to the fuck, yeah. Jacob didn’t need to ask her twice. Her hands trembled, but she managed the front of her jeans, pushing them as low as she could within the limited confines of the jeep—far enough down that at the forward tilt of her hips, his hands gained access to the place that craved his touch the most.
A gasp escaped her mouth at the sweep of his thumbs across her opening. Since she hadn’t worn panties, nothing stopped him from slipping one of his thumbs inside.
Unfortunately, he didn’t give more than the tip, just enough to wet it with her arousal before he removed it. “Oh, baby. You’re so wet. Do you know what that does to me?”
“I hope it haunts your dreams, a year for every minute you torture me.” Sara rubbed her pussy against his hand, trying to coax him to invade once more.
“You’ll be in my dreams a lot longer than that. Now stop talking and take off your shirt before I rip it off.”
Air hissed between her teeth. Thankfully, his request stole her capacity for speech enough it muted her urge to break out into song. Instead, she slid the tank top off her shoulders to her elbows, pushing the material down in front.
While his heated gaze devoured her chest, his thumb moved on her clit in a side to side motion. “Bring them to
my mouth.”
Anything. She’d do anything he asked if it meant his hands stayed right where they were and his mouth joined in.
She lifted a few inches, brushing a nipple across his lips. Just that simple movement and he attacked her, sucking at the peak with a voracity that curled her toes. He slipped one thumb back inside her pussy, giving her more this time, allowing her to rock on his hand. This! Why had she been so afraid of this? Moments like these inspired music and art. They made her believe.
He used his other thumb to circle her clit, stroking over the top of it every other pass and bringing her to the brink so quickly she could only grasp his shoulders for support. She fought to hang on, to draw the feeling out. But he was having none of that.
“Look at me.”
She opened her eyes, unaware she’d even closed them.
For a few seconds, she hung on the edge as if suspended off a cliff high above the sea. After that, the orgasm overtook her, sending her falling until she slammed into the earth so violently she knew she’d lost pieces of herself forever—her body and mind fragmented into a million tiny particles before coming back together.
Fuck. Me.
21
“Well, well, well. Look who’s here. The grandson who thinks it’s acceptable to forget family.” Mama Bea gave Jacob a stern onceover early Sunday evening. “Nic mentioned you might be stopping by to join them at my table. I have half a mind to send you on your way.”
The smell of honeyed ham and garlic roasted potatoes that came from inside had Jacob salivating, but she wouldn’t give an inch until he sweet talked her. He pulled a rose in full bloom from behind his back.
She swatted him much as he’d expected. “Boy, if you done picked one of my prized roses, I will bend you over my knee so fast—”
His burst of carefree laughter lightened him in a way he couldn’t explain and stunned both of them into momentary silence.
Mama Bea recovered first. She pulled him down to her level and cradled his face in her palms.
He leaned into the motherly gesture as he’d always done with her.
“Good to have you home, son. Good to have you home.”
Those simple words choked Jacob up so much, he had to look down at his feet to avoid her all too knowing gaze. He cleared his throat several times to erase the lump making it impossible for him to speak. “You know I’ve been here for over half a decade, right?” He tried to put distance between them, but she wouldn’t let him do more than straighten to his full height.
“Your body coming back doesn’t mean the rest of you did. I’ve waited six good years to see that light return to your eyes. That girl Nic says you’re dating must be good for you.”
What light? That part hadn’t changed for him. Sara was fun, more fun than he’d expected, but she hadn’t saved him. She couldn’t. No one could completely. There’d always be a part of him that stayed back in that desert with his men. Always. No time could erase that. Two years, two decades, it wouldn’t matter. Working on the fundraiser had given him more purpose than he’d felt since he’d joined the Marines, but... “I—”
“Come on, dude.” Marc waved him in from the kitchen. “We can’t eat ‘til you come in here.”
Jacob pounced on the invitation, trying to move around the four-foot-nine woman.
As if that were possible.
She blocked him by the sheer force of her will alone, calling through the screen door, “You leave us be. We’ll be in when we’re ready.”
Jacob was ready now.
So, so ready, both to leave the woman who saw too much and to go give himself to the woman Mama questioned him about.
It’d been a week since he’d taken Sara to the beach and anxiety rode him like a bitch in heat. Her sexiness surpassed his wildest imaginings, especially after she’d dropped her panties and he’d seen her waxed pussy. Yet, he’d kept his commitment to her. As soon as she’d unlocked her door, he’d turned tail and ran to the sound of her clucking like a chicken. But he’d rather be a chicken and earn her trust than score one night with her and have her push him away afterwards.
Taking things slow the last three weeks of the fundraiser hadn’t proven anything in his mind. They’d been busy, and for the most part surrounded by other employees. If Sara really had an issue with trust, it’d require an effort far greater than that to convince her he was a guy worth keeping around. He just needed to forget about the fact that he wanted to be the guy she kept around and everything would be good.
If only it were that easy. The need to see her drove him to distraction even though they’d spoken on the phone nearly every night.
Mama Bea gave him her pitying look. “You didn’t know, did you?”
Jacob hated that damn look. His tone turned surly, “What don’t I know?”
“That you were falling in love.”
Jacob laughed so hard, he had to hold his sides. “You’re losing your touch, Mama. Here I was, thinking you knew everything.” Jacob couldn’t be falling in love with Sara. He’d just started dating her. He liked her, sure. He liked her a whole hell of a lot. But love? That wasn’t in the cards for him.
He swiped at the tears in his eyes, trying to compose himself. Once he slept with Sara, his overwhelming preoccupation with her would disappear and things would settle down for him. Then they’d move on to dating a few times a month like he had with Elise.
Right?
“So, that’s the way you want to play it, hmm? Well I’m not gonna burn my potatoes for you to stand here and deny it.” Mama held the screen open, inviting him in. She stopped him as he passed with a firm grip on his forearm. “I never should have encouraged you to sign up. You’ve always been noble. You didn’t need to join the Marines to make a difference.” This time it was she who refused to look at him, her face devoid of emotion despite her words, forever the strong, black woman he’d admired most of his life.
“No, you don’t.” He pulled her into a bear hug, lifting her feet clear off the ground. “You don’t get to feel guilty for my choices. If not for you when I came back…” Again, he fought the lump in his throat. “If anyone saved me, it was you.”
Her small hand pushed against his chest, demanding he put her down. Once he complied, she met his gaze again. “You listen here, boy, and you listen good. You saved yourself. Never give someone else the victories you’ve fought so hard for.”
“I thought you said Sara—”
“So, she has a name now, does she? Well, I’m glad to hear it. But what I said is, she brought the light back in your life. That’s like the cherry on top of the seven-course meal you’ve slaved over. You’re the one doing the hard work.”
Though he’d never admitted how much he struggled to anyone else, the fact that his surrogate grandmother recognized it only strengthened their bond. “I love you, Mama Bea.” Of that, Jacob was absolutely certain.
“I love you, too.” But her hand swatted his stomach none too gently. “Now let me past, you big bully, before my Sunday dinner is ruined.”
Gladly. After all that, his soul felt a little too exposed for his liking.
Jacob closed and locked the front door behind them, a habit she’d drilled into each boy during their adolescence. That plus everything else about the place spelled home, including the way her fingers trailed the back of the soft rose-patterned couch that had been reupholstered so many times he’d lost count. Once the property of her grandmother, the couch’s quality had withstood age, just like the woman who owned it now.
Jacob followed Mama into the kitchen where potatoes and garlic sizzled in a skillet on the stove.
“Either one of you mess with my food?” Oil popped on the counter when she removed the lid.
“No, ma’am.” Both Nic and Marc kept their hands folded in front of them on the table. They all knew better than to touch anything.
“So, you gonna to tell me about this Sara? Or are you gonna let an old lady die in suspense?” Sixty-nine was hardly old, but she wielded her senior
citizenship like a weapon. No point denying her the answer she wanted.
“Yeah, do tell.” Nic tilted his chair back on two legs until Mama eyed him over the open oven door.
“She’s my girlfriend, I guess.”
“You don’t say.” Mama hid her smirk quickly. She might be soft as a kitten inside, but that softness lay buried under steel forged from a fortitude to survive.
He squeezed between her and the table in the small kitchen and grabbed the mismatched dinner plates from the cabinet. “Slackers.” His elbow landed between Nic’s shoulder blades as he handed the plates over to Marc. “You’ve been here at least ten minutes.”
“We didn’t want you to feel like you missed out.”
Sunday night Mama cooked a feast. Her day to commune with the Lord and family, as she put it. Though the three of them made it whenever they could, when they couldn’t, she collected neighborhood strays. No one went hungry when Mama was around.
No one ignored her requests either.
“Boy, you better tell me now. I have half a mind to keel over right here.”
“Sure you will. You’ll live longer than the rest of us out of spite.” Her favorite mug looked small in his hand. After pouring the coffee she had with every evening meal, he set the cup next to her, then claimed the seat beside Nic. “Sara’s amazing.” Jacob ignored Marc’s snort. What did it matter he’d never used that word to describe a date before? “She’s kind. Sexy.”
“When do we meet her?” Nic and Marc talked over each other. “And her friends?”
Marc eyed Jacob over his water glass, an all too knowing smile on his face. As head of security, his friend knew exactly who Sara Morrow was.
Jacob ignored the man, hoping he wouldn’t make more of it than what it was. “She’s just… Sara. And I don’t know what in the world I’m supposed to do with her.”
Mama placed a full plate in front of him, then slid equally large ones to Nic and Marc. “I’ll tell you what you’re supposed to do.” She piled her plate every bit as high. “This isn’t a balance sheet. Forget about trying to figure things out and just let it happen. You do that, everything else will fall into place.” Her slim figure eased into the last chair. “Now give thanks and bless this food before God thinks we’ve forgotten who’s the ultimate provider of what we need.”
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