Yep. That’s what she needed to do. Sass squeezed her eyes tight, playing the scenario over in her mind. Knocking on Michaels’ door, starting the conversation with, “Hey, you want to hear a funny story…?” In her mind’s eye, Sass went through the whole speech, telling him her side of the story from seeing Carlos on the dance floor with Tori, to realizing her mistake at the shop. She’d apologize for lying and assure him she’d fix his car better than new. In her fantasy, Jordan would accept her apology and even laugh with her about it.
With no warning, her fantasy went rogue and out of nowhere laughter turned into kissing and suddenly Sass was tearing at Jordan’s clothes with the hopes of having her very first sleepover.
Insistent tapping on her driver side window took her by surprise. She jerked, and in the process accidentally laid on the horn. Lights came on in adjacent rooms and someone poked their head out, shouting a string of obscenities.
Jordan called out an apology, knocked again, and made a turning motion with his hand. She rolled down the window and he leaned into the opening. “You okay?”
“Mmhmm.”
He cocked his head to one side. “Did you…want to come in for a minute?”
She rubbed her lips together, considering his offer. If she went in, it was to tell him the truth. That was all. “Um. Okay.”
She rolled the window up and climbed out of the car. Her palms were sweating and her breath was coming hard and fast. He opened the door and she walked in. The rooms at the Greenwood were all the same. White walls, brown carpet, two queen-size beds with peach comforters and pictures of woodland scenes hanging above. A small, round table and bar-sized fridge and three lamps with yellow shades.
God. The room brought back so many memories. Some good. Most bad.
“Was there something you wanted to talk about?”
She nodded.
“Did you want to sit down?” He motioned to the bed.
Sass shook her head.
The two of them stared at each other, neither moving. Was he breathing hard, too? Was that why his chest was rising and falling like that? Then she noticed his eye again. It wasn’t completely swollen shut, but it was pretty bad. She pointed. “You should put some ice on it.”
He touched his face. “Yeah. I will.” Then he took a step toward her.
Why was it so hard to breathe? It was like there wasn’t enough oxygen in the room. She tugged on the neck of her T-shirt.
His eyes followed. They lingered. Then, he swept his gaze back up to her face. “You sure you’re okay?” He took another step forward.
He was too close. She could smell his aftershave. She could hear the sound of his breath and she’d been right. He was breathing heavy. Panting. Like her.
She licked her lips and Jordan’s gaze dropped to her mouth. He took one more step toward her, and they were almost touching. With each chaotic breath, the material of her shirt grazed his. His skin was warm. Sass could tell because the sliver of air between them was sweltering.
He was so close now, she had to tilt her head back to look up at him. Even his good eyelid was at half-mast.
Oh God.
There was no stopping her. Sass was on him like Velcro. She mashed herself against him, pulling his head down to hers and kissing him like her life depended on it. She slipped her tongue inside his mouth and slid her hands down to his wonderfully firm backside. His groan spurred her on.
“We shouldn’t do this,” he said when he came up for air.
“No, we shouldn’t.”
She thought he might stop then, particularly when he captured her hands in the midst of her undoing his belt buckle. But he didn’t stop her. Oh no. He backed her up against the door, raised her arms above her head, and brought his mouth down on hers…like he meant it. Like he wanted her as desperately and illogically as she wanted him. God, he felt so good, his big, hard body, his soft lips. It was exactly what she needed. For the first time in days, Sass’s anxious energy began to ease.
He released her wrists and slid his hands up underneath her shirt, massaging her breasts, and squeezing her nipples. Oh, yes. Sass gave herself over to the sensual haze of his hands on her flesh, a little rough, igniting sparks inside her chest and tummy. Her breath rasped in and out of her lungs and her hands tingled as she slid them from the wall to Jordan’s shoulders
When he whispered, “Do you know how sexy it is that you don’t wear a bra?” She could only murmur an incoherent response because what he was doing to her felt so damned good and…oh! He managed to pull her shirt off and leaned down to nibble her, first one nipple and then the other, sending flames through her chest, and tremors down her belly and lower. No one had paid her breasts much attention before. Sass was convinced that if he just kept doing what he was doing, she’d feel more relief than she had in a very long time.
Except that he stopped. She opened her eyes and he was watching her with a pained expression. “We can’t do this,” he said, out of breath.
“I know.” She threaded her fingers through the hair at the back of his head and guided him back down to her chest.
Oh yes! That was better. His tongue was so talented. Oh! And, his teeth? Good God. She arched her back to give him better access and then got to work on the buttons of his shirt. To feel his big, solid warmth against her? That would be heaven. Absolute heaven.
There. Ah. Better than she thought. His chest was hard as steel but also warm and delicious. She ran her hands up and down his sides and over his broad shoulders. So strong. So wonderfully strong. She arched into him and he groaned.
“Sass. We should stop.”
“Yeah, we should.” she said, panting.
He took her hands again and spread her arms, pinning her while he nuzzled her neck. “Why do you have to be the sexiest goddamned woman I’ve ever met,” he murmured.
It was a lie. It had to be, but damn if it didn’t do the trick. A few words, a little white lie, and she vibrated with eagerness. His hips ground into her—hard—just the way she liked it, and she hoped she’d never come down from the exquisite tingling sensation that encompassed her whole body.
He moaned as he circled against her. “Tell me to stop.”
“Later.” She moved up on tiptoe, trying to coordinate the deliciousness behind his fly with the heat at the apex of her jeans.
“No.” He pressed her shoulders into the door. “It’s now or never.”
“I choose never.”
As if she weighed next to nothing, Jordan picked her up and carried her over to the bed. He set her down gently before tending to the button on her jeans. She lifted her hips so that he could pull them off. Once they were discarded on the floor, he stared down at her for a moment as she lay there in only her panties. Sass licked her lips and opened her mouth to ask him about condoms. Instead of words, a low moan slipped out.
“Lord, woman, you are trouble.”
He found a packet in his back pocket and quickly undid his fly, but for Sass, in her current state of arousal, he was taking too long. Even though he hadn’t taken the time to remove his jeans, the whole condom application was killing her.
She needed him…now! She told him as much.
He shook his head and grinned, coming at her while she still wore her panties. He roughly shoved the damp material to the side so he could slide right into her as his thumb pressed down on her clit. She arched as he filled her, loving how he hit all the right spots, and pulled her so tight. Libby was right. This was what she needed after all.
“Ah, Sass,” he whispered into her hair as he thrust. “You make me want to come so fast.”
“Good,” she purred. “I like it fast.” She grasped his still jean-clad butt and pulled him into her.
Jordan pulled out and then thrust nice and hard all the way in. Sass wrapped her legs around him, holding him inside for a brief moment before he pulled back again. The next time Jordan withdrew, she scooted up out of his reach and sat on her knees.
“Don’t tell me you want to st
op now?” His breathing was fast and furious and Sass loved hearing the need in his voice.
“No way. C’mere. Leave your jeans on.” She patted the bed beside her and Jordan fell onto the spot, rolling over onto his back. She straddled him with her panties still on. Pulling slip of material to the side, she slowly lowered herself on top of him. By the way he squeezed his eyes shut and grunted, she figured it felt as good for him as it did for her.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to take my jeans off?”
“Uh-un.” She sighed as she felt the denim rub against her inner thighs. “It’s a huge turn-on.”
“Jeez, Sass. Everything about you is a turn-on.” He grasped her hips and pulled her down hard and then lifted her up again.
It wasn’t exactly her idea of being in control, but damn! It felt so good. It felt…like her body had been just going through the motions up until now and Jordan was the first man to switch her on. She felt every inch of him along nerves she never realized she possessed. As he lifted her up and down, up and down again and again, faster and faster, she was aware of each of his fingers digging into her hips and she wanted him to dig harder. Wanted all of him inside of her, his fingers, his tongue, his cock…she wanted it all.
Needing to do something, she sat up straight, squeezing and massaging her breasts the way Jordan had earlier, pretending her hands were his. It was all the stimulation she needed. That and the feel of Jordan filling her again. All the way. The convulsions started slower this time but the intensity was stronger, making Sass cry out loud and long.
Jordan pulled her down one last time and held her there as he arched into her, moaning and uttering oaths under his breath. The button from his fly bit into her flesh but only added to her pleasure. Wave after wave of unprecedented pleasure washed over her, pulsing, pulsing. Her body wavered to the pulsing rhythm, like sea grass in the surf. Finally, Jordan released his hold and she rolled off him. He lay there, on his back, breathing hard. After a few seconds, she crawled off the bed and began to gather up her clothes, which proved tricky because her legs didn’t want to support her
A few near topples later, as she struggled to get her jeans on, she was dressed and searching for her keys.
“Where the hell do you think you’re going?”
Sass scooped her keys off the cabinet and then stood over Jordan, who hadn’t moved from his position on the bed. She let her gaze linger on his spread-eagle form—holy Hannah, he was a gorgeous male specimen—before motioning to the door. “Gotta go.”
Jordan sat up, frowning as he pulled off the spent condom, and zipped his fly. “You got somewhere you’re supposed to be?”
“Yeah, home in bed.”
“I’ve got a bed right here. Why don’t you stay a while?”
Jingling her keys against her palm she said, “I didn’t take you for the cuddling type, Michaels.”
Jordan stood up and approached her, using all his six foot two inches to intimidate her. “I’m not talking about cuddling, Sass. I’m talking about at least giving time for the postcoital bliss to recede. Plus…” He cupped her chin. “Maybe I’m not done. There are things I’d still like to do.”
“Oh?” Sass tried to sound indifferent, but wasn’t sure she’d succeeded.
“Yeah.” He bent down and kissed her neck just beneath her jaw. “I want to taste you, all of you.” His lips moved down her neck as his hand slid under her T-shirt. “I want to have you in the shower all clean and dirty at the same time.” Those goddamned fingers of his were pinching her nipples again as his tongue slid into her ear. “I want to lie naked with you and touch your whole body.”
How was it possible for his words to make her feel ready? Again? So soon?
“I want to make love to you all night long.”
Sass stood there for a few minutes, allowing him to nuzzle her and touch her, all the while thinking that the things he suggested sounded so damn good, but…completely unnecessary. She’d gotten what she wanted, her nervous energy was gone, and she didn’t need all that other lovey-dovey stuff. It was just pointless. Particularly with Jordan.
Stepping away from his embrace, she said, “Thanks, but no thanks. I’ve got to work tomorrow.”
Jordan stood up straight and studied her in the dim light.
What exactly was he trying to figure out by looking at her like that? Thinking about her conversation earlier what Libby, Sass shrugged. “Jordan, it was just sex between us. That’s all.”
“Right.”
“I’m not like other girls. I don’t need all that…”
“All that what?”
“You know, that soft, gentle crap.” Oh, she was really lying now, but the words were falling from her mouth because this had been her mantra for so long.
Jordan tilted his head to one side as he slowly backed away. Finally he laughed. “You’re right.” He collapsed on the bed, throwing his legs out before him. He reached for the remote and turned the TV on to ESPN. With his hands crossed behind his head, he reclined against the headboard. Without another glance at her he said, “See yah.”
She stared at him, all the while chewing on her thumb and struggling internally because her still wobbly legs didn’t want to carry her out of the room. Stupid body. “Okay. ’Bye,” she finally said.
Just as she was opening the door to leave he called out, “Hey, Sass? Thanks for the ride.”
Chapter Eight
It was after eleven by the time Sass got home. She felt restless. So much for sex satisfying her. She was also hungry, having left half her steak sandwich at the Pit uneaten. She dug in the freezer for a frozen pizza and then put it on a plate and nuked it on high for a couple of minutes.
Just as she was sitting down to eat a soggy slice of meat-lover’s pizza, Sass noticed the blinking red light on her answering machine. The thing was ancient, but like all things, Buck refused to replace it until it was beyond repair. There was no point getting rid of something that did its job. However, his definition of what worked and what didn’t was slightly different than hers and the house was riddled with semifunctioning, past-their-expiration-date devices. The phone display showed that there were two new messages. The first was from Libby, coyly asking where she was and how much she was looking forward to the following evening.
Sass erased the message.
The other message was from Buck. As soon as she heard his voice her heart dropped. He never called while on vacation, not unless something was wrong. He was due back Friday, so why was he calling late on Monday night?
“Hey, kid. Sorry to call so late. But I’ve got big…” The tape was so damn old and had been erased so many times, Buck’s words were garbled. “…and, I won’t be back for another week. Maybe more. I know you’ve got everything under control at the shop. But the thing is, I…it’s a shock, I know but…more later.” Buck’s words sped up and then slowed down making them incomprehensible. “I’ll call again. ’Bye, kiddo.”
What the hell! He didn’t sound sick, but then Buck had never sounded sick, even when he’d had the flu and run a temperature of one hundred and three. She would have called him immediately, if he was a normal, modern man, but he wasn’t. Buck didn’t believe in cell phones, and Sass had no idea how to get hold of him on the cruise. She didn’t even know what cruise line he was on. Shit. Talk about bad planning. The idea that something might happen to Buck had never even entered her mind. Or rather, she never allowed herself to entertain the idea because, if something happened to Buck, it meant she would be left totally and completely alone.
…
Tuesday morning, Sass sat in Buck’s chair and absently surfed the Net, checking out her favorite rod blogs. She’d finally talked Buck into getting a computer system but she was one of the only employees to use it. Today, however, she wasn’t paying much attention to the monitor. After Buck’s call, she’d barely slept and now felt like things were rapidly fishtailing out of control.
Her first thought was of Jordan Michaels. How could she have slept
with him? The sexual release lasted all of five seconds. Now she felt worse than ever. To add to the mess, she was worried about Buck. What was he trying to tell her in that garbled message? Was he sick? Dying? What?
Then there was the car that was sitting in bay three. Jordan would soon be calling the police and that opened a whole new can of worms. Did she honestly think she’d be above suspicion after the scene between Carlos and Jordan in the bar last night?
Which brought her to her final problem. City-boy. What was she going to do about him? He was getting under her skin and into her panties way too easily. She had to get rid of him. But that was problematic considering she was doing the repairs on his car, which meant seeing him was inevitable and the minute she was near him her rational side went on holiday.
Damn! Life was complicated. And, one of those complications had just strolled into the shop as if he didn’t have a care in the world.
“Hey,” she called to Carlos as she walked toward him. “You’re here early.” She leaned against the doorframe to Buck’s office, watching him with wariness.
“With Buck gone, there’s a lot to do.” Carlos signed his time card and leafed through the work orders as if nothing was wrong, as if he hadn’t started a fight with Jordan last night.
“What the hell was that in the bar last night?”
“Nothing, Sass. It was nothing.”
So that’s the way he was going to play it? Fine by her.
“Where’s the Mustang order?”
“I’ve got it.”
“Give it to me.”
“You’re not working on it.”
Carlos stuffed the papers back in the wall-mounted file holder and stared hard at Sass. “Like hell I’m not.”
“Oh, get over yourself, Rodriguez. The car’s mine, there’s plenty other stuff to keep you busy.”
Carlos walked straight up to her until he was standing close enough for her to smell him. She used to like his scent, a bit of musk, soap, and car grease all mixed together. But now, one whiff made her want to shove him away.
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