Some strong emotion slid through her veins and weakened her resolve. She couldn’t fool herself any longer. She was dangerously close to falling for him again. How reckless could she be?
Soon, he was asleep. Only then did she allow herself to lean back and close her eyes.
* * *
J.B. dreamed about angels. Perhaps he should have been alarmed. He wasn’t prepared for his life to end. But this particular angel whispered to him, words he couldn’t quite catch.
He awoke with a start. For several long seconds confusion reigned. Then the familiar surroundings grounded him. Worry for his mother arrived first. And then concern about Mazie.
Good Lord. How long had he been sleeping in her lap? The poor woman must be a glutton for punishment. He sat up carefully, noting the awkward bend to her neck. A glance at his watch told him it was not quite eight thirty. Still time to rest. And no messages on his phone.
Without overthinking it, he grabbed a pillow and scooped Mazie up long enough to change their positions. She murmured in her sleep but didn’t wake. With his back against the couch, he tucked her up against him and sighed. This would do.
The scent of her hair tickled his nose. He had danced around his attraction to her for years, never quite willing to admit it existed. Now here she was. In his house. In his arms.
This relationship was snakebit from the beginning. Even if Mazie learned to trust him, what did he need from her? Marriage was out of the question. He’d learned that lesson the hard way.
Women were duplicitous. And he was bad at reading their wants and intentions.
He closed his eyes for the second time, and slept.
When next he awoke, the sun poured into the room through a crack in the draperies. As he crooked his arm to see his watch, Mazie stirred. “J.B.?”
“Right here, darlin’. We both went out cold.”
She appeared charmingly befuddled. “Oh.”
He stroked her cheek with the pad of his thumb. “Are you always this beautiful in the morning?”
It was a cheesy line. But hell, it was true. Her skin was soft and flushed. Those big golden eyes were underscored with shadows, but still deep enough for a man to lose himself.
Mazie bit her lip. “I must look a mess.”
He threaded his fingers through her thick, glorious hair. The waves clung to his hand. His heart beat faster. “I’m going to kiss you.”
It was a warning and a plea all wrapped up in one. He felt remarkably off his game. Ever since that incredible episode in the bank vault, he’d been obsessed with the need to touch her again.
He’d been compelled to ask her out. Some would say it was his subconscious that had taken over and proclaimed the false engagement.
He shifted his weight and leaned over her on one elbow. “Mazie,” he whispered.
She put a hand behind his head and pulled him closer. “Yes.”
The single word shot arousal through his veins like a powerful stimulant. He was trembling, almost out of control. Yet they had barely begun.
Her lips clung to his, not submissive, but challenging. He was hard in an instant. Desperate. Ready to beg. But the incredible woman beneath him was not erecting any barriers at all. She arched into his embrace, melding their bodies from shoulders to hips, completely his except for the fact that they were fully clothed.
The look in her eyes was his undoing, part yearning, part caution. She didn’t completely trust him. He’d have to work on that.
“Easy, love.” He distracted her with a hungry kiss while he wrestled with her thin sweater. Once he ripped the garment over her head, he was treated to the sight of raspberry-tipped breasts cupped in a lacy confection that was meant to drive a man wild.
He teased her nipples through the semi-transparent cloth. “I’ve pictured you like this in my head,” he groaned. “But I never thought it would happen.”
She nipped his bottom lip with sharp teeth. “And why is that? I thought the larger-than-life J.B. Vaughan was irresistible to the female sex.”
“You’re sassy. And no, I’m not irresistible. You aren’t even sure you like me, Mazie Jane. And you sure as hell don’t trust me.”
The flicker of her gold-tipped eyelashes told him he had hit a nerve. But her voice when she answered was steady. “I discovered something in that bank vault, J.B. Something that shocked me. Apparently, it’s possible to crave someone even if he’s a bad boy with a terrible reputation.”
His smile widened. “You crave me, darlin’? Well, I must be doing something right.”
“Does your ego ever take a rest?” She caressed his chin, smiling faintly.
He ignored her gibe. “Get undressed before someone like your brother decides to interrupt us.”
Mazie wriggled away from him long enough to dispense with her pants and socks. J.B. did the same. He leaned forward to grab his wallet and extract a condom. His hands were shaking.
She curled her arms around him from behind and rested her cheek on his back. “We’re probably going to regret this.”
“Yeah. Maybe.” He pulled her in front of him, standing her on her feet and kissing her cute, tiny belly button. Gooseflesh rose on her pale skin. “You have no idea how much I want you.”
“That might be the sleep deprivation talking.”
He slid her bikini underwear down her legs and sighed. “Nope. It’s you, Mazie Jane.” He parted her damp folds with his thumbs and caressed her intimately. Her whimper of pleasure hardened his erection a millimeter more, if that was possible.
In another situation, he would have taken his time with her. He might have paused to savor the smorgasbord of delights. But he’d only been half kidding about Jonathan. Given the situation at the hospital, someone could call at any moment. He dared not turn off his phone.
“We should hurry,” she panted, perhaps reading his mind. “I’m ready for you. More than ready.” She played with the shell of his ear, leaning down to whisper naughty suggestions.
J.B. cursed. He shed his boxers with more speed than finesse and sheathed his sex. Mazie was still wearing her bra. It was too late to do anything about it. He had to have her in the next thirty seconds, or he was going to die.
Moving to the edge of the sofa, he gripped her wrist. “Come here, sweet thing. Let me love you.” He took her by the waist and helped her straddle his lap, her long, smooth legs spread on either side of his hips.
Mazie took over before he could do more than groan and bury his face in her chest. She sank down onto him, taking him inside her, joining their bodies with the sweet wild slide of passion.
His vision went dark. Everything inside him focused on the sensation of Mazie’s tight, hot sex accepting him. Sweat broke out on his brow. “Slower,” he begged. He was close to embarrassing both of them.
Mazie combed his hair with both hands, massaging his scalp, toying with his ears. “What if I like it fast and hard?”
He gripped her soft butt so tightly it might leave bruises. “Bad girl.” He thrust upward, filling her, claiming her.
Mazie laughed. The soft, husky chuckle drove him mad. Suddenly, he was sorry he had chosen this position. It was too passive. He was in a volatile mood. Lack of sleep blurred the edges of his control.
“Put your legs around my waist.” He stood abruptly. Mazie was a tall woman, but he was extremely motivated. He eased past the coffee table and tumbled them both to the carpet, their bodies still joined.
Mazie smiled up at him, her eyelids half closed, her breath coming in short pants. “Who knew you were so strong? I’m impressed Mr. Vaughan.”
His chest heaved. “You make me nuts. Why is that, do you think?”
“Mutual antipathy?”
He pumped his hips.
Her eyelids fluttered shut. She arched her back, gasping.
“Look at me, Mazie. I want to see your eyes whe
n you come.”
She obeyed. Her amber-gold gaze locked on to his. He felt naked suddenly, raw and exposed. Those eyes saw everything.
Mazie wet her lips with the tip of her tongue. She reached up and traced his features with her thumbs. “I won’t break, J.B. Give it all to me.”
The sexual challenge dissolved the last of his rapidly winnowing willpower. With a groan of helpless inevitability, he pounded into her, thrusting again and again until his world went black, and his entire body spasmed in hot, desperate pleasure.
Dimly, he heard Mazie’s cry of release and felt the flutters of her sex on his shaft as she came.
When it was over, they lay in a tangle of arms and legs and fractured breathing. Mazie was still wearing her bra. J.B. couldn’t feel his legs. Her body was soft and warm beneath his. He never wanted to move, though that wasn’t a viable choice under the circumstances.
After several long moments of silence, he rolled to his back and cleared his throat. “I don’t know what to say. I’d offer to fix you bacon and eggs, but that seems a paltry thank-you for what just happened.”
He was dizzy, and his feet were cold.
Mazie patted his cheek. “Don’t be silly. It was sex. Great sex, I’ll admit. But just sex. I can grab breakfast at home.”
When she stood up, found her undies and began to get dressed, he gaped at her. “What are you doing?”
She pointed at the antique clock on the mantel. “It’s late, J.B. Your family will be expecting you at the hospital. And even though I told Gina that I wouldn’t be there to open the shop, I still need to get to work.” She fastened her jeans and sat down to put on her socks and shoes.
“But you’re the boss.” What the hell was happening? The sex had been incredible, wild and hot. How could she pretend as if nothing had happened? Was she really as unaffected as she seemed?
“It’s the Christmas shopping season. I need to be at my store. But more important, your mother will be asking for you soon. Grab your shower, J.B. I’ll call a car service. No worries.”
She picked up her purse and jacket. “I’ll be in touch to check on your mom later today.” She blew him a kiss. “Gotta run.”
As he rolled to his knees and stood up, he heard his front door open and shut.
Eleven
Mazie leaned her back against J.B.’s front door for half a second, barely long enough to catch her breath, and then she fled. She jogged three blocks before she called a car service, desperate to make sure J.B. wasn’t going to follow her. With her heart pounding and her eyes blinking back tears, she felt like a crazy woman.
Her whole world was upended.
How could puppy love have stayed alive all these years? She knew what kind of man J.B. was. Thanks to his sister’s candid remarks, Mazie also knew J.B.’s views on relationships and marriage.
Only the worst kind of masochist would allow herself to be sucked back into his realm. Pretending like morning sex was no big deal had required all of her acting abilities. Harder still was erasing the mental image of a naked J.B. sprawled on the plush carpet.
The man had a seriously ripped body.
He was also funny and smart, and kind to his mother and the rest of his family. That didn’t erase his willingness to squash other people in his drive to get what he wanted in business.
He had hurt her once before. If she allowed him to get too close, odds were, it would happen again.
Despite her panic and all-out flight from J.B., she arrived home in a slightly calmer frame of mind. She would survive whatever this was. She had to...the past was not worth repeating.
Jonathan was at work, of course. She had texted him from the car to let him know Mrs. Vaughan was stable. He had answered with a single word. Good. That kind of clipped response was typical of her brother when he was neck deep in shipping crises.
Her father was dozing in the living room with a paperback novel in his lap. Mazie sat down beside him and touched his arm. “Hi, Daddy.”
He opened his eyes. “Hello, baby. What are you doing home this time of day?”
She explained about Mrs. Vaughan’s heart attack, glossing over the details about her date with J.B. and why Mazie was at the hospital at all.
Her father nodded. “I’ll have Jonathan’s assistant send flowers.”
“That would be lovely.” She paused, shifting gears. “How was your dinner last night? Did you have a good time?”
He grew animated as he shared details of his evening.
Mazie spotted an opportunity and took it. “Daddy, have you ever thought about moving to one of those places where your friends live? Here at the house you’re awfully isolated and lonely, and besides, you know that Jonathan and I might not always be around.”
“I like it here,” he said. “It’s safe.” Then his smile grew wistful. “Are you planning on leaving your old dad, Mazie? I knew it would happen one day.”
“No plans,” she said lightly, witnessing his frail emotions. This thing with J.B. had made her even more aware of how dysfunctional her family was. She sighed, needing reassurance, wanting answers. “Daddy, please tell me what happened with Hartley. Jonathan won’t talk about it.”
His face darkened. “And neither will I. It’s best you don’t know. Just understand that he’s probably never coming back.”
She wasn’t a child. What secret was so terrible that it had ripped their small family apart?
With an inward sigh, she stood and stretched, feeling the strain of not enough sleep and the fact that several of those hours she did doze were sitting upright on J.B.’s sofa. It was frightening to realize that she already missed him. “I’m going to take a shower, grab a quick lunch and head to work. Do you need anything before I go?”
His eyelids were already drooping. “I’m right as rain. Don’t worry about me.”
* * *
Fortunately for Mazie, All That Glitters was madly busy on this bright, sunny Saturday in December.
She waded into the fray, grateful for something to distract her from the unanswerable questions about her fake engagement and her enigmatic fiancé.
Since Gina was far too busy to dig for details about Mazie’s date and the events that followed, Mazie was able to shut out the past twenty-four hours. Mostly.
The day passed quickly. Sales numbers were gratifying. If she took the new building J.B. was offering her, she would have ample room to expand.
The Tarleton shipping business would have had room for her if she had been interested. But she had needed something she could control, a part of her life where she was in charge, where she didn’t have to worry about being abandoned.
If she couldn’t have J.B.—and did she really want him?—her work was going to be her future.
As they prepared to lock up and head home at five, Mazie cornered Gina. “You want to grab a bite of dinner?”
“Oh, gosh, Mazie. You know I would. But we’re having a big extended-family Christmas thing at my aunt’s house tonight. Kind of a command performance. You’re welcome to come with me.”
“No, no. That’s fine. Go. Don’t be late. I’ll wrap things up.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive. You covered for me this morning. Get out of here.”
When the store was empty, Mazie turned the deadbolt and flipped the sign in the window to Closed.
She told herself she wasn’t jealous of Gina, but it was a lie. Gina came from a huge Italian clan. She had more cousins than she could count. Mazie’s parents were both only children.
All Mazie had ever wanted was to belong, to have a big, loving family. First her mother was sent away. Then Hartley left. Now her father’s health was precarious. Soon it would be just Jonathan and Mazie. When Jonathan eventually married, Mazie would be on her own.
The prospect was dismal. Was that why she had let herself be drawn back int
o J.B.’s orbit? Was it the memory of her old crush on him that drove her now, or was there more to this dangerous liaison?
It must be the holidays making her maudlin. As much as she loved the holly and the mistletoe and the beauty of the season, at times all the hoopla amplified her aloneness. She finished the last of the chores that were rote to her by now, and went to the back to get her jacket and purse.
When she returned, her heart stopped. There, standing half-visible in front of the top glass pane of her door, was a huge man. But a familiar one. He was dressed casually in khakis and a forest green sweater.
After her heart started beating again, she opened the lock and let him in. “You scared me to death,” she said. It was already dark outside.
“It’s dangerous for you to be closing up alone. Anyone could bust in here and hurt you or rob you.”
“We have a system,” she said calmly, though her fingernails dug into her palms. “Gina and I usually walk out together, but she had a thing tonight. I sent her on, so she wouldn’t be late. What are you doing here, J.B.?”
He lifted an eyebrow. “Collecting my fiancée?”
“That’s not funny.” Even so, his teasing smile made her heart wobble. The fact that they had been naked together only a few hours before made her skittish.
“Mom’s asking for you,” he said.
“Well, crud.” She frowned. “I know why you did what you did, but how are we supposed to handle this now?”
“We need to buy a ring. I asked my friend Jean Philippe to give us a private appointment at six.”
Mazie heart clenched in alarm. “We’re not engaged,” she said firmly. “And I’m not picking out a ring.”
“You have to.”
“I don’t have to do anything.”
“Be reasonable, Mazie. She’s awake and she wants to see you. She’s worried that her heart attack messed up our special evening. She’s ragging my butt to make sure I put a ring on your finger. Sooner, not later. I couldn’t disappoint her.”
Mazie was appalled at how much she wanted to play his game. At this rate she would end up abandoned at the altar because she didn’t have enough sense to guard her heart. “Tell her I’m picky. Tell her no one in Charleston has a loose stone big enough or perfect enough to suit me. Tell her you and I will be flying to New York after the holidays to hit up Harry Winston and Tiffany’s.”
Blame It On Christmas (Southern Secrets Series Book 1) Page 10