by Zee Irwin
While he leaned in closer to my ear and whispered, goosebumps invaded my skin. “Well, what do you think? Should we take it all?”
“Can we take one more look and talk about it? Alone?”
“Sure, let’s go.” He held out his hand for me to dismount from my stool and I took it, happy to find shelter in his grasp. It was comfortable, like a step forward for us.
To Marcie, I left her with, “Thanks for the talk.”
We shared a quick smile, but her eyes still contained a warning message within. Maybe if things progressed with Jace, given time, we could be friendly. We’d have to, because Travis and Jace were best buds.
Walking back to the garage, I still nestled my hand within his. When would I admit the fire in his palms heated me more than any cozy blanket in winter? Marcie was right. This had serendipity written all over it. Maybe even Fate had a hand in this. Jace had come into my life, masked online, and now in the flesh. Every time he did something nice for me, like holding out his hand, he chipped away at any doubts I had about where we headed.
Out in the garage, he talked animatedly about his plans, where he thought the cabinets could go, even showing me his crude sketches of the space. I watched his gestures. The enormous, talented hands remodeling and building everything I needed fixed in my building. The powerful hands that caught me when I fell, and oh, how those hands radiated heat. I knew exactly where he could place them to heat me up for good, and it’d be hotter than any romance novel I’d ever—
“Lily? Are you listening? I asked if you’d want to keep the cabinets white or strip them or paint them, maybe like teal, to match your Pyrex collection?”
This man, who knew my secret obsession with anything vintage, spoke the word Pyrex with such respect? I melted.
I reached for him, grabbed his sweatshirt, pulled him to me, lifted my chin, and stood on the tips of my toes. I almost kissed him, but I paused. Both of us needed a second to catch up. I wasn’t sure he was ready for us to kiss until his hands wrapped around my back.
“So, you’re ready for this, then?” His eyes moved to my lips, and he questioned me with a voice like syrup, as if ready for a smooth transition to something more.
“Yes, I am.” No question from me. I wanted him. My body needed him.
A growl emitted from his throat. “This kiss better count then, since I fucked up the last one. But there’s something you need to understand, because I have a feeling one kiss will change everything between us.” He pressed back stray hairs behind my ear, and outlined my jaw with his fingertip. “I’m messed up sometimes. I get in my head, insecure about my burns. So I’m warning you, the road ahead might not be an easy one with me. Are you very sure I’m what you want, Flower? Because once something is mine, I won’t let it go so easily.”
“Is that a threat or a promise?”
“Both.”
I cocked my head to the side and licked my lips. “Then I hope you don’t let me down.” I pushed off higher with my toes, almost on point like a ballerina, to get closer to his lips. He lifted me into the air and I was floating in his arms once again.
The man possessed the strength of ten bears inside of him, but all I needed was one. He placed me gently on the top of my soon to be vintage stove. My legs parted to bring his body closer to mine, and we glued our eyes on each other.
“My flower . . .” In his whisper, we moved in for the final approach, when suddenly the garage door rolling down took our attention away from each other.
Travis appeared, pulling down the garage door. “Looks like you need some privacy. Take your time.” I could hear his deep laughter as he tread back into the house.
We chuckled as well, and Jace’s forehead rested on mine. I couldn’t wait for what would come next.
14
Because. Garage.
Jace
My nostrils flared an inch away from her. The only distinct scent from the old garage was the fragrance of her. The rush of her floral scent, of some flower species unknown to me . . . Things I’d like to do to Lily, everything I dreamed of doing to Flower65, tripled in intensity with the real woman in my arms.
This wasn’t the time for sexy thoughts. It was the moment of our first kiss. And it had to be magical, because Lily read all those romance novels, and I’d already mucked things up before when trying to kiss her in a drunken state. No pressure.
Now, with her forehead on mine, this was the moment. She waited for me to land on her lips. It needed to be tender, not rough. A kiss that would draw her into my world, just a tease, leaving her wanting more.
I shifted my hand to her chin, repeating my nickname for her in a simple whisper on her lips. “My Flower.”
Lingering there for her to take them, she did. Her soft lips kissed gently on mine, like hoping something good was waiting for her on the other side. And there was—us. This could be an amazing thing between us. We just needed a start.
I drew her lips in, sucking, feasting on her sweetness. My tongue swiped along between them, begging for an opening. Asked and received, her tongue danced with mine. My pursuit continued until she moaned and leaned back to catch a breath, but I didn’t stop. The daintiest teardrop shaped pearls dangled from her earlobes, driving me crazy all night with wanting to suck them, and I claimed them both. Her tiny moans, barely audible, escaped her throat as I left a trail of kisses from side to side, down her smooth neck.
“Jace.” Her whisper of my name had me wishing Travis’s garage wasn’t our present location. “We should stop.”
“Give me one good reason?” I kissed a spot near her collarbone and her hands balled up my sweatshirt with a groan. I logged that spot into my memory. All the little clues about what pleased her most would be fun to investigate.
“Because. Garage. But first kiss. Amazing.” She was breathless; I was relentless, kissing back up to her lips and lingering in a soft dance of exploration. My confidence soared like a rocket, acing this first kiss with her.
Finally, knowing I needed to stop or else the garage would become the site of our first sex together, which would not be romantic enough for my Flower, I sighed and pulled my lips away from hers.
She laid her head on my chest, and my nose buried in her hair. I was drunk on her floral scent. We said nothing, and everything, in the seconds that dissolved around us.
We were so close, but the old insecurities returned. After turning away from her close view, she used her hand to turn me back. “No, Jace, don’t hide from me. I need you to be comfortable with me seeing all of you.”
“It’s not that simple, Flower. I’ll need time. There’s stuff that happened in the past, it’s hard to talk about, hard to get over.”
“When you’re ready, then. But, so you know, Marcie filled me in a little about your past.”
“You asked her about me?”
“No, she provided details as we talked.”
“How much did she tell you?”
“Only about Janet.”
My jaw set. “I wish she hadn’t. It’s my story to tell.”
“Marcie meant well, I’m sure. I think she worried about my intentions and doesn’t want to see you get hurt. I hope you know, I wouldn’t purposely hurt you. And I’m not like other women. You said I was different.”
The worry had been on my mind too, maybe holding me back. I thought I’d risen above the pain that bitch Janet had left behind, but I could see it resurfacing now, putting questions in my brain Lily didn’t deserve.
“Are you going to hurt me?”
Her sly smile took me by surprise. She was so sweet and funny in one instance, and a sexy little thing the next. “Well, only if you ask me nicely.” Her hand flew to her mouth.
I brought her in for a hug and laughed. “Damn, I didn’t know you had that in you, Flower. I like it.”
“But how do I know you won’t hurt me?”
“There might be a time and place for hurting a little. As long as it’s our bodies, not our hearts.” I sent a sly smile her way,
but froze. Lily’s hand reached up and with a light touch, she drew her fingertips down my cheek along the scars at my neck. I flinched, not because it hurt, but because of the pain of having someone touch me with desire in their fingers. Lily pulled her hand away.
“I know it’ll take time, Jace. But try—for me? For us?”
I nodded my promise, gave her a quick kiss, then lifted her off the oven. “So I take it you like the cabinets and appliances? I did good?”
Her chuckle told me so. “You did real good. I love them. Are you sure you can make it work?”
“Yeah. I know I can make this work.” I meant about me with her, but the cabinets too.
We headed to the house to tell the news, but didn’t get far. Travis exploded from the back door with Marcie in tow. “Marcie’s contractions are minutes apart. We’re headed to the hospital.” He launched a suitcase into the back of his truck from the top of the stairs.
“Oh shit. I’m going to be a godfather.” I picked up Lily and twirled her around, eliciting a squeal from her.
A few hours later, my goddaughter was born. Brianna Marie Miller. Seven pounds, one ounce. I didn’t know my heart could occupy so much love for a child. Looking at the pride bursting from Travis, I couldn’t fathom the further depth of love my buddy and his wife must have had.
Making things interesting, Marcie insisted Lily hold the baby.
“Relax, hold your arms in a cradle position. There, like that, keep her head supported.” She transferred Brianna into Lily’s waiting arms.
Holy shit. Between looking at the face of the newborn and looking at Lily, it was as if my heart knocked down a wall, making plenty of room to love more. Seeing her smiling down into the baby’s face was everything. Hope for the future caught up to me, but fear and excitement took up residence, too.
“Jace, come here,” Marcie called out. She pulled me closer and whispered, “I like her.”
I smiled. “Me too.” It wasn’t like I needed their approval for who to date, but it meant a lot to me, anyway.
The late night capped off a long day and Lily was yawning before we even left the hospital. She tossed me her keys. “Can you drive us?” She was half asleep the whole way back, giving me time to think.
Something about seeing new life brought into the world had my mind racing. Thoughts about a future with Lily skipped way ahead of where we were right now.
By the time I parked in front of the shop, my yearning for Lily was stronger, and my heart beat double time. “You shouldn’t drive home tired like this. Can you stay here for the night? At Simon’s? Or hell, even at my place? You could take the bed, I’ll take the couch. Seems to me you have plenty of clothes in the other room to change into for tomorrow.”
“Okay.” She didn’t put up any opposition, and by the time we waded through the seven cats, each wanting attention, pets, loves, and treats, it was even later. We reached the back of the shop and I unlocked the door. To the left was Simon’s door, to the right were the stairs to the apartment.
“We’ve come to a fork in the road. Where will my flower sleep tonight?”
As if the sexy part of Lily suddenly woke up, her fists balled up my sweatshirt, and our lips reconnected, reunited in a fiery swarm of kisses. With her against the wall, my hands settled on each side of her face. Her fingers hooked through my belt loops, daring me into her with a slow grind, but I held back because I was instantly hard. The woman did things to me I hadn’t allowed myself to feel in a very long time. I hoped she didn’t notice how rusty I was.
Our tongues stayed intact, so deep into each other, and her leg lifted on mine. Things were moving fast, but I wasn’t sure what this sudden surge of sexiness was leading to for tonight. Sleep? Sex? Was she ready for the pace of things to accelerate? Was I? Getting closer meant she’d explore my scars.
Sometimes I forget my scars are there, and I think of myself as a whole man able to have an intimate relationship with a woman with nothing coming between us. My scars were a monster, like a third person in a relationship fighting for attention.
The pain from Janet shaming me for my looks crashed back into my heart and I jerked away from Lily. I took a few steps back, allowing every rotten thing from my past to interfere. My hands worked through my hair and I paced.
“Jace, don’t pull away. I see the past hurt in your eyes. But I didn’t put it there.”
“I don’t mean to.” My face burned as words failed me. The fight in my head worsened while her eyes drilled into me. Fuck, I needed her.
She held out her hand. “It’s okay, we’ll take it slow. I promise, no pain, only pleasure.”
My hand met hers. My thumb smoothed across her skin. I studied it for a minute. The shape, the size, the color of hers compared to mine.
Dammit, Delfino, this isn’t the time to cower back. Fuck the past, and man up. The way she looked at me through half-domed eyes nearly killed me with her hope and expectations there. Fuck, I didn’t want to let her down. I’d spent far too long in a lonely world of my own creation. It was time to take another chance.
The scolding worked. I lifted her up in my arms and carried her upstairs, all the way to my bed. I turned out the light on my nightstand, but she turned it back on.
“Do you have something against the light being on?”
Shit. “Wouldn’t you prefer the dark?” Women typically preferred the light off, and it usually benefited me. I wanted Lily badly right now, but I needed to mask my scars—and myself—in order to perform with some confidence. I sunk onto the edge of the bed next to her.
While running her hand lightly up my back, my skin dimpled from the sensation. “But if it’s dark, you won’t see me. Don’t you want to see me?” She cooed to me in a sweet voice like velvet.
In front of me, she removed her blue fuzzy sweater revealing a white, lacy thing underneath that pushed up her breasts. They were everything I’d imagined they’d be. Perky. Full. Sexy cleavage. I’d have fun with those later. Right now I was all here for this show, anything she wanted to give me.
“You like what you see so far?” Her voice came out creamy smooth. She bit her lip as she traced her neckline with her fingertips.
“Oh yeah, maybe lights on are a good idea.” I didn’t dare move my eyes off her now.
She reached to the side of her pants for the zipper, but stopped. “There’s something I need to show you, and I’m not afraid.”
A tattoo? A belly ring? More curious than ever, I kept tabs on her motions. The unzipping of her pants . . . her hips shimmying the pants to the floor . . . then Lily, my Flower, was standing before me, the lace bodysuit leaving very little to my imagination. My eyes searched, stopping at her thigh—my head tilted seeing her scars.
I reached for her. “Come here. Tell me what happened.” I hugged her tight, like I could feel her pain from whatever caused this. My own pain from the past gnawed away at me. It hurt me to know she’d experienced that kind of pain, too.
“I had a few glass shards land on my leg during the accident. When Simon and I moved in with Uncle Joe and Aunt Barb, it was such a time of transition for us. Simon required so much medical attention, rightfully so, and for a while, I was invisible. Whenever I felt unseen, I cut open the accident wounds repeatedly. It was Frank who found out when we were dating. He told Aunt Barb, and she sent me through an outpatient therapy program.” Hearing her story gutted me, even more so knowing that Frank had been the hero who helped her.
“It took awhile, but I healed. When I came out of my shell and got better, Aunt Barb passed away. Uncle Joe wanted to donate her clothes, but I couldn’t let him. I loved them. When I started wearing the vintage dresses, people saw me again, good or bad, because I was different. I felt beautiful in them.”
I tugged gently at her hair to lift her face to mine. “You are beautiful, inside and out. Thank you for showing me. You’re so brave to share.”
“I want to show you all of me.”
She stood away from me and let the lacy thing fall
to the floor. I swallowed hard, watching as this woman bared all to me. My greedy eyes focused on the apex of her thighs. A pounding in my heart signaled my aching need to be with her.
She checked off all the boxes for me. Brunette. Yes. Petite with big breasts. Another check. And my cock twitched when she removed her glasses and put them on the dresser on top of my latest paperback. More than the physical, Lily turned me on in every way.
“You are exquisite, Lily, and I’m going to devour you. Come here.”
She entered my arms again with a warm, sensual smile lighting up her face, and I swear I saw her heart reflected back to me. As I kissed and sucked my way down her chest, my hands moved down to her ass and pulled her tighter against me.
“Mm. I hope that’s a promise.” She broke away from me. “Okay. Your turn.”
“For what?” My heart sank.
“To show me all of you.”
“You know what? Maybe I am tired. It’s been a long day.” I laid back on the bed, but she didn’t let me off easily. She straddled me and my hands rested on her hips. My cock begged to be let out of my jeans.
“No way, Jace Delfino! You don’t get to have me naked in front of you, baring my secrets, getting me all excited, but then back out last minute when the spotlight is on you. If you need time, fine, I’ll be here for you when you’re ready to share. As for tonight, if you need the lights off, that’s fine too, but I damn well better get some action.” She laughed and pinned my hands above my head as she leaned down for a deep kiss. I was front and center for her brief moment of domination.
Another scolding ran through my brain. When our lips parted, I was ready. “Okay, lights off then. In the dark, I promise you’ll see a different side of me.”
She leaned over me to toggle the light on the nightstand off, and I caught her breast between my lips. The room went dark, and I applied full suction to it, my tongue swirling around her nipple. Her jagged breathing told me she was into it. The cold void in my heart filled with the warmth of desire and, with the dark all around us, I came alive.