by Piper James
“You got it,” I said, smiling as I pulled my SUV into a parking space.
Ivy was a country girl at heart, and she had a massive collection of cowboy boots. She had at least three rows of them in her oversized closet, and had sworn to stop buying more until she got rid of a few pairs. The problem was, she couldn’t let any of them go. So she’d been staring at these particular boots for a month, trying to decide if getting them was worth disposing of a pair she already had.
But me buying them for her got her off the hook, and I used it to my full advantage. Having her cooperation was well worth two hundred bucks.
“But I can’t promise I won’t try to gouge his stupid blue eyes out with my fork,” she added, making me laugh.
Women usually fell right into my brother’s lap when he turned those baby blues on them. With his dark, Hispanic coloring, they shone like a glowing beacon from his face, drawing women from near and far like moths to a flame.
But not Ivy. She never fell for his long eyelashes and playboy charm, and it drove Nate crazy. When his advances didn’t work, he stooped to throwing insults because that was all that got a reaction out of her.
All thoughts of Ivy and Nate’s hostility flew from my head as I spotted Jessa’s Jeep pull into the lot. My lips turned up into a grin, and I tried to climb from the car so fast, I bumped my head on the doorframe. Cursing, I ducked out and slammed the door behind me. Ivy got out and laughed at me from the other side of the car as I rubbed the pain away.
“What’s the hurry, stud?” she asked.
“Ha. Ha,” I shot back, flipping her my middle finger over the roof of the car.
“Oh, hey, Ivy. I didn’t know you’d be here.”
We both turned toward the sound of the voice to see Jessa standing near the hood, looking delicious in a white, strappy sundress that bared way too much skin. My hands itched to touch every inch the dress revealed, plus every inch it didn’t. I squeezed them into fists while ordering my dick to stand down and not salute Jessa in greeting.
If I walked into that restaurant with a hard on, Nate would never let me live it down. Neither would Ivy, for that matter.
“Hey,” I said, moving toward her. “Ivy had no plans for dinner, so I told her she could tag along.”
I could feel my best friend’s glare burning a hole in the side of my head, though I didn’t turn to confirm it.
“Yeah, thanks for letting me crash,” she said politely.
“Of course,” Jessa said, stepping slightly away from me and closer to Ivy. “I’m glad you came.”
I didn’t know if I was imagining it, but Jessa seemed…different. Normally, she would’ve at the very least given me a good eye-fucking by this point. But no. She seemed almost as skittish as the first time I met her.
We turned to head inside, and I latched onto Jessa’s wrist, slowing her down so Ivy would pull ahead of us. Jessa looked up at me expectantly, but there was a shadow in her brown eyes I couldn’t decipher.
“Is everything okay?” I asked in hushed tones.
“Yes. Of course. Why wouldn’t it be?” Her words came out hurried and almost manic. Taking a deep breath, she let it out slowly before meeting my gaze again. “Everything is fine.”
Then she raised herself up a few inches to press her lips to mine in a quick, chaste kiss. Before I could react, she darted forward to catch up to Ivy. I watched them as they approached the door, then realized I was still standing in the middle of the parking lot. I rushed to catch up, my hand stopping the door mid-swing before it hit me in the face.
I caught sight of Nate and Lola already seated at a table near the back, and I stepped up next to Jessa, silently guiding her in their direction with a hand on her lower back. She accepted my touch without flinching, but her body didn’t gravitate toward mine the way it usually did.
I was so confused.
The last time I saw her, I’d been a bit of an ass, treating her coldly when I thought her father might have relapsed while I wasn’t paying attention. Getting the text from her that Greg was feeling ill had hit me right in the gut. As an educated man, a physician, I knew it was most likely nothing to worry about. But in that moment, my brain had translated her fear into my own failure.
I had failed. If Greg was relapsing, that was on me.
After seeing him, I realized it was nothing. He’d confided in me that he’d eaten an entire bag of peanut butter cups behind Jessa’s back. His overindulgence had been the cause for his nausea. But the scare had affected me, and I’d started to consider ending things with Jessa. Spending time with her had become far too high on my list of priorities.
But the second I walked back into the living room with her, the idea of breaking off…whatever it was we had going made me feel nauseous. So, I did what any adult person should do—I talked to her about it, and we hashed everything out.
Everything was fine. Or so I thought.
This weird limbo we seemed to be stuck in was making me edgy, and I felt an intense need to fix it. I just wanted things to go back to the way they were. Fun. Simple. Extremely enjoyable.
We said our hellos as we sat down at the round table Nate and Lola had occupied. Ivy sat between Jessa and Lola, as far away from Nate as she could get. I took the seat on Jessa’s left, subtly sliding my chair closer to hers as I sat down.
I rested my arm across the back of her chair, letting my fingertips graze the sensitive skin of her tricep. She shivered as if it tickled, but didn’t otherwise acknowledge my touch. I could hear her quick breaths, though, which gave me some hope.
She wasn’t as fully unaffected as she was pretending to be. But why was she pretending? Was it because we were with my family and Ivy? No, she’d spent time with them before, and hadn’t acted this way. It had to be the way I’d acted the other day at her house.
Oh, God, please don’t let me have fucked this up.
Some recessed part of my mind realized how desperate my thoughts were. Too desperate for a girl who was supposed to be a “temporary fling.” But I ignored it and rationalized my desperation as a desire for more sex.
And that made me sound like a prick. I was so fucked.
“Aren’t you going to say hello to me, Ivy?”
“Go fuck yourself, Nate.”
Now, Jessa reacted. Her gaze flew from Ivy to Nate and back again before she turned those question-filled eyes on me. I shrugged and shook my head, mouthing, “This is normal.”
“I’m sorry for these two, Jessa,” Lola said right before our brother grunted in pain. She’d obviously kicked him under the table. “I don’t know why Rafe thought it would be a good idea to bring them together like this, again.”
“Is it so wrong that I want my family and my best friend to get along?” I asked, feigning total innocence and good intentions.
Ivy snorted, but held her tongue. Nate mumbled something under his breath, and Lola frowned at me.
Our waitress materialized beside the table, taking our drink orders while batting her eyelashes at Nate. He slouched in his seat, giving her the sexiest bedroom eyes he could muster as he bit his lower lip and ordered a sex on the beach.
Jessa snorted…loudly. The waitress stuttered something about getting our drinks right away, but my eyes were on the brown-eyed vixen next to me as she shook her head at Nate.
“Really?” she asked, the word dripping with sarcasm.
“What?” he shot back. “Maybe I like fruity drinks that don’t taste like alcohol.”
It was my turn to snort. I knew for a fact that Nate drank light beer, and always limited himself to three. Our family history may not have affected him as strongly as it had me, but it had affected him, nonetheless.
“You know she’s a bartender, right?” Ivy cut in. “She can spot a skanky guy ordering a skanky drink to try to get laid a mile away.”
Nates eyes narrowed as Jessa lifted her fist toward Ivy, who raised her own and bumped them together. As if that action were some kind of catalyst, Jessa’s posture relaxed a lit
tle. She didn’t lean into me, exactly, but it didn’t feel as if she were holding herself away from me either.
“I’m disappointed in you Jessa,” Nate said, a sorrowful look on his face. “You’re supposed to be on my side.”
“And why is that?” Jessa asked, her smile growing wide.
“Yeah, why is that?” Ivy repeated. Then, for good measure, she added, “Chicks before dicks, asshole.”
“You wouldn’t say that if you’d taken a whirl on this di—”
“That’s enough, Nathaniel,” I said, cutting off his crude comment. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
He and Ivy had never really mixed well together. They’d always been like oil and water, but tonight? Tonight they were like gasoline and a flame thrower. If this continued, they were going to blow this whole place up.
“Sorry,” Nate mumbled, more toward me than Ivy.
I’d hoped Ivy would provide a distraction, a buffer against my siblings asking questions and making Jessa feel uncomfortable. But this was quickly turning into a dumpster fire. And I’d lit the match.
Thankfully, our waitress approached, easing the tensions as she handed out our drinks while flirting with Nate. He reacted to her advances more humbly than before, doing nothing to encourage her. Apparently, he wasn’t really interested in her, after all.
“So, Lola, how is school going?” Jessa asked, changing the subject.
I brushed my fingers over her skin, a silent thanks, but she stiffened and shifted slightly away from me. What in the actual fuck is going on? I couldn’t take it anymore. I waited for Lola to finish gushing about her favorite classes, then stood up.
“Jessa, can I speak to you privately, please?” I asked, holding out a hand to help her to her feet.
She looked undecided for a moment, like she was considering denying my request, then let out a little sigh as she placed her hand in mine. Good thing, too. I was ten seconds away from tossing her over my shoulder and carrying her out of here like a caveman.
She didn’t say a word as I led her outside, across the lot, and into the backseat of my car. Her expression was resigned, like she knew she’d been acting weird and had fully expected me to demand an explanation. But still, her lips remained sealed.
“Talk to me, Jessa. I can tell something is wrong. Is it because of how I acted the other day? Tell me the truth.”
26
Jessa
The truth? No way in hell, buddy.
The truth was, I’d allowed Felicia and Karly to get into my head with their accusations about me falling for Rafe. I tried to convince myself there was zero chance that was happening, and had been holding myself slightly apart from him all night to prove it.
But the result had been a series of weird, awkward moments that I knew Rafe wasn’t going to ignore. It had only been a matter of time before we had this conversation—I just assumed it would be later. I never thought he’d interrupt his family dinner and pull me out of the restaurant before we’d even ordered our food.
Now, he wanted an answer, and my answer was to deflect.
“You said I was becoming too much of a distraction. I was just trying to help by keeping things light, but I guess I just made everything uncomfortable,” I said.
It wasn’t a total lie. What I’d said was true. It just wasn’t the whole truth. It wasn’t even half of it. Because the truth was, I didn’t trust myself anymore.
I couldn’t be sure that my traitorous heart wouldn’t overrule my mind and allow me to fall headfirst in love with this man, giving him the power to hurt me. Giving him the opportunity to abandon me.
And he would because he doesn’t feel the way I do. He’s made what he wants perfectly clear, and I could either keep it at that or break things off, completely…and I wasn’t ready to do that. Not yet.
“No, Jessa,” Rafe said. “I never meant that I wanted you to change, or for things between us to change. I just realized that I need to do a better job of focusing on work when all I can seem to think about is you.”
Something about his words—or the way he said them—lit a fuse in me. I was off the seat and in his lap before my next breath, my tongue dueling with his as my fingers undid the top two buttons of his shirt so I could slip my hand inside. His hand crept under my skirt to stroke my thigh, adding fuel to the fire of my already raging need.
“Jessa,” Rafe said between kisses, his voice filled with pain, “we have to stop.”
“Why?” I asked, bucking my hips as one of his fingers brushed the crotch of my underwear.
“Because we’re in a public parking lot, and everyone is waiting for us inside.”
He said the words, and they made sense, but he made no move to actually end our spontaneous make-out session. As my mouth devoured his neck, his fingers pushed at my thigh until my legs were spread wide. His fingers slipped beneath the edge of my underwear, making me shudder as they grazed the sensitive skin there.
His thumb brushed over my clit as one finger slipped inside me. He groaned, whispering something about how wet I was before adding another finger to the first and pumping them in and out. I moaned, gripping his earlobe between my teeth and biting down.
All thoughts of stopping flew right out the window as his fingers worked their magic. I could feel his erection under my thigh, and my imagination went wild, thinking about freeing his cock and riding it right here in this parking lot.
His fingers curled, hitting a spot inside me that set off a series of nuclear bombs. I bit my lip to stifle my loud moans as the orgasm hit while Rafe’s husky voice murmured words of praise and encouragement in my ear.
“That’s it, baby. Come for me.”
I melted against him, the aftershocks making my entire body tremble. He slowly pulled his fingers out, straightening my panties before smoothing my skirt over my thighs. The sound of our harsh breathing echoed around us, and his erection still throbbed against my thigh.
“We should get back in there before Ivy and Nate kill each other,” Rafe said, the tightening of his arms around me belying his words.
“But…what about you?” I asked, shifting my weight on his lap.
“Later,” he said. “Come home with me tonight.”
“Okay,” I said, my voice calm while my heart flopped over in my chest at the prospect of us spending the whole night pleasing each other.
Rafe’s mouth landed on mine, kissing me with a wild passion that set me on fire despite my loose-jointed, jellified, post-orgasmic body. His hand found my breast, kneading it with soft fingers before pinching the nipple hard enough to make me squirm.
Pulling away, Rafe smirked. “Now we have equal reason to rush through this meal.”
“Jerk,” I laughed, sliding off his lap. “You’re going to pay for that.”
“I hope so, Miss Maddox. I hope so.”
Back inside the restaurant, I headed for our table while Rafe made a quick detour to the restroom to wash his hands. There was a tense, stilted silence at the table, and Lola looked much too relieved to see me as I slid into my chair.
“Everything okay?” she asked.
“Yeah, I’m good.”
Ivy’s gaze scrutinized my face, one eyebrow arching as she gave me a knowing nod. I felt my face flare with heat, and she laughed. Lola and Nate looked at her like she was crazy, which made me forget any embarrassment and laugh with her.
“You chicas are loco,” Nate mumbled, which made Ivy and I laugh even harder.
“What’s so funny?” Rafe asked, slipping into the chair beside me.
This time, I let myself relax against him as his arm wrapped around me. Ivy sobered, but her lips remained curved upward as she watched us. Lola shrugged as Rafe’s gaze moved to her. Nate shook his head and murmured something about not understanding crazy women.
“I’ll tell you later,” I whispered, relishing his shiver when my breath hit his ear.
“We ordered for you,” Nate said. “We didn’t know when you were coming back, so…”
“That’s fine,” Rafe answered, ignoring his brother’s inquisitive stare.
The conversation picked up after that, and soon it was like Rafe and I never made our impromptu exit. Ivy and Nate took every opportunity to take little verbal stabs at each other, Lola quietly reprimanded her brother, and Rafe and I remained completely unscathed in our little bubble.
We’d barely finished eating when Nate tossed his napkin onto his plate and stood up, tossing three twenties onto the table. “Thanks for this lovely dinner, Rafe. Come on, Lola. Let’s go.”
He stalked away, leaving Lola to squirm uncomfortably. Rafe gave her a warm smile and stood to hug her goodbye. She waved at Ivy and me before turning to chase after her brother. Once they were gone, I turned to Ivy.
“What is up with you two?” I asked, cocking my head at her.
“Nothing,” she said. At my disbelieving look, she sighed. “He just rubs me the wrong way, and I guess the feeling is mutual.”
I turned to look at Rafe, and he shrugged. “Don’t ask me. They’ve been like that practically since they met.”
“You guys ready?” Ivy asked, eager to change the subject. “Rafe and I rode together, so…”
“You can take my car,” Rafe cut in quickly. “I’ll ride with Jessa, and you can pick me up for work tomorrow afternoon.”
“Sounds good,” Ivy said, taking the keys from him and grabbing her purse from the back of her chair. “Jessa, I had a lot of fun tonight. We should hang out some time.”
“Sure,” I said, smiling back at her.
“You two kids have fun,” she sing-songed, shooting Rafe a wink before turning to sashay toward the door.
“I like her,” I mumbled, accidentally speaking the thought out loud.
“I do, too,” Rafe said, picking up my purse and handing it to me. “I like you, too, and I’m ready to go home and show you just how much.”
He waggled his eyebrows at me suggestively, making me laugh. He motioned for me to lead the way, dropping some extra cash on the table to cover the rest of the bill, including a generous tip.