The Sexy Jerk World

by Kim Karr

  With his trash in his hand, Perry tossed it in the can. “Fair enough. Hannah and I will iron out the details, Jace, don’t worry.”

  I nodded in his direction. “Never do. Now get out of here, and go have fun with your kids.”

  Hannah gave him a wave. “See you Monday.”

  And just like that he opened and closed the door, and it was Hannah and I alone in the room.

  She pushed her black-framed glasses up on her nose. These were new. She’d never worn glasses before. They were also sexy as hell. “I was thinking,” she pointed to the proposed schematic for Date Me, “that we roll it out to a subset of our established clients and their matches only in the markets where Uber is most active that way we can evaluate the rating system, and are more likely to understand the value behind it.”

  My gaze connected with hers and there was a flare of appreciation in it that wasn’t only for the idea she was presenting, albeit a majority of it was. The minority of it couldn’t help but appreciate her—from the killer dress she was wearing that hugged her in all the right places, to the fuck me pumps that I wanted to see her wearing with nothing else, to the upswept hair that was begging for me to let down, to the smart woman who I was lucky to have on my staff.

  Thinking of her in the way I had been was all kind of wrong. A sexual harassment lawsuit came to mind. And I wasn’t proud of it.

  “Jace,” she prompted. “What do you think?”

  There was a lot I was thinking of, but none of it was appropriate to say out loud to a woman who worked for me. The same woman that I once fucked with my best friend in the room, sharing her. I still had no idea how I lived through that with my sanity intact, although I guess that was subjective.

  I blinked the past away. “I think it’s a great way to measure the success of the trial, but I’m wondering if we shouldn’t do the opposite and test in the markets where Uber isn’t as strong.”

  Hannah bit her lip in contemplation. “I’m not sure. I need to think about the implications of that. Can I give you my definitive thoughts on it Monday?”

  I relaxed back in my chair and smiled up at her, pleased to see her giving it so much thought. “Yes, I look forward to it.”

  “Great,” she said, gathering the papers scattered around the table into a neat pile.

  I went back to studying the schematics in front of me.

  “Jace,” she said softly.

  I glanced up.

  “I know I shouldn’t bring this up at work, but I wanted to say thank you in person for the cleats you bought Jonah last week. And I wish you’d let me pay you for them.”

  I raised a brow. She’d texted me and asked how much they were so she could reimburse me. I told her it was my contribution to the 2032 NFL Draft, and I wanted a piece of his action. She replied with a smiley face, and I was fairly certain she didn’t really know what I was talking about. Sports were never her thing. Computers and analytics occupied her mind, not athletics.

  “Well, he really loves them and has refused to wear anything else at home but those. He says he has to break them in.”

  “Good, I’m glad. But I have to tell you that is all Scarlett, and her wisdom.”

  Hannah laughed. “She’s a very special girl. You should be proud of her.”

  “Yeah, I am. And I can’t wait to see how Jonah does tonight wearing them. Oh, by the way, next week, Nick’s brother, Lucas, will be in town. He’s the quarterback for Notre Dame, and Nick and him, and Nick’s son, are going to meet us at the park, so we might be a little later than usual.”

  She blinked. “Nick has a son?”

  I nodded. “And a daughter.”

  Her eyes widened now. “Wow. I never would have imagined he would have gotten married and settled down.”

  Perhaps we could do this friend thing. Nodding I said, “Yeah, everyone grew up. Believe it not, Ethan has a son older than Scarlett and Jonah. Max goes to Preston, as well.”

  The pile of papers was rather large, and Hannah was just standing up with them when she froze in place. “Max? The boy with the blonde curls in the first grade?’

  “That’s him.”

  “I’ve met his mother, Fiona,” she said, and her mouth fell open. “Fiona is Ethan’s wife?” As if she’d put two and two together, the stack slid out of her hands and all over the ground.

  The jerky movement gave me a moment to realize she wouldn’t have had a clue Ethan was married, or that he had a kid, or that he lived close by. He wasn’t from Chicago, after all.

  “Sorry, this was really clumsy of me,” she apologized while casting me a weary look from down on the ground on her hands and knees.

  Something erupted within me, and before I could stop myself, I was on the floor. But I wasn’t helping her with her mess. Fuck no. What I was doing was pushing her onto her back and crashing my mouth over hers.

  Her breath caught and hiccupped roughly from her lips, but she didn’t push me away. Instead she swept her tongue into my mouth and grabbed hold of my tie, using it to pull me closer.

  It wasn’t like I could stop myself when my hands skimmed up the inside of her thighs. “I want you,” I said, my voice thick with hunger.

  The force she used to push me away from her was slight. “I can’t do this,” she whispered. I used my palms to brace myself and stared at her in question.

  Her breath was ragged and her eyes half-lidded with lust. “You don’t want me. You just want someone to help you fill a void. I get that you’re lonely, but Jace, I can’t be that someone to help you through it. I just can’t. Not when I still have feelings for you. Not at the expense of my heart.”

  We stared at each other and the tension between us pulled, like we were once again part of a triangle, but this time it wasn’t Ethan at the third point. I wanted to tell her she was wrong, that it was her I wanted. Fuck, it was her. The problem was bigger than that, though. The guilt too immense to put into words. All of a sudden I felt like my skin had caught on fire. It burned and itched and I wanted to claw my way out of it.

  She lifted her hand and caressed my face. “Tell me what you’re thinking?”

  With a long-suffering sigh, I shoved to my feet and ran a hand through my hair. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”

  Hannah sat up. “Jace, look at me.”

  I did.

  “Be my friend, Jace. Let me in,” she said in a whisper.

  I hesitated a moment as I looked at her. God, I still loved her, too. But it wasn’t right. Nothing about this was right. “I’ll send someone in to help you with the mess,” I said, keeping my voice monotone.

  Tears welled in her eyes, and I couldn’t take another minute of seeing her looking at me that way. Expectant. Waiting. Wanting. That’s when I strode out of the room.

  And for my own self-preservation…I didn’t dare look back.

  24

  Less Than Ten Years Earlier

  Hannah Michaels

  The heater in the station wagon stopped working somewhere between Iowa and Nebraska.

  We had been in the car for more than twenty hours and Ethan refused to allow Jace or me to drive. Insurance issues.

  Wrapped in a mound of blankets, I was laying down in the backseat when we reached the heart of the Rocky Mountains.

  “Take a right,” Jace directed, blowing on his hands. He had been sitting shotgun and giving direction the entire trip. Wherever we were headed in Vail, he’d obviously been there before.

  Snow-covered mountains surrounded us, and when we started up a driveway, I sat up and looked out the window through the dozens of evergreens that surrounded it.

  The closer we got, the further my jaw dropped open. I’d expected to see a small A-frame building in really bad shape or a manufactured home tipping on its concrete base. What I hadn’t expected to see was a huge stone-covered house that looked like it belonged on the television show The Homes of the Rich and Famous.

  Ethan stopped the car and put it in park, and then he glanced over at Jace. “T
his place is over the top.”

  Jace had raised his hips and was searching his pockets. He pulled out a single key and then turned around. “Come on, let’s get inside and warm up. It’s fucking freezing in here.”

  Tongue-tied, I couldn’t even speak. I opened the car door and got out, and then I followed Jace up to the huge wooden double doors and watched him unlock it.

  Flicking the lights on, he walked in and dropped everything in his hands right where he stood. He moved around like he’d been here before, turning up the heat, lighting the fireplaces, and checking the refrigerator.

  Ethan came in with the rest of our stuff, and unlike Jace, set it neatly on one of the bottom steps.

  “Beer?” Jace offered to each of us.

  As he searched for a bottle opener, I sat on the huge sectional sofa and took everything in from the wood paneling to the fine furnishings to the sheepskin rugs. The extravagance reminded me of the house I spent a lot of time in as a child. It was the house that was never my home.

  “Whose house is this?” I asked Ethan, who had crashed down beside me.

  Just then his phone went off. “Crap, I forgot to call my parents,” he said, standing and answering it while walking into the dining room which had a table that sat at least twenty.

  Jace handed me a bottle of imported beer. “Told the rents he’d call every night at nine.”

  A glance at the grandfather clock told me it was well after ten. “Guess he’s a little late.” I smiled at him and took the beer, letting my fingers linger over his for a few long seconds. We hadn’t so much as kissed without Ethan in the room since the night he told me we’d be together soon. What we had done was spend a lot of time together, and the sexual tension was off the charts, but we somehow managed to fight it.

  Ethan strode back in the room, stretching and yawning before grabbing the open beer on the table. “What do you say we grab a bucket of these and hit that hot tub out there?”

  I glanced over my shoulder to the snow-covered deck that was bathed in moonlight and surrounded by mountains and trees. “Isn’t it a little too cold for that?”

  “Hell, no!” Jace exclaimed, pointing to a control box. “The water temperature heats up to one-hundred and four.”

  Unbuttoning his pants, Ethan wasn’t waiting for anyone.

  “I didn’t bring my bathing suit,” I said.

  A wicked grin crossed Jace’s mouth. “You won’t need one,” he said, reaching for my hand. “Now, come on.”

  After turning it on from a panel near the bank of sliding glass doors, Ethan removed the rest of his clothes.

  Jace grabbed the beers and sent me for the towels, and then we joined Ethan, and like him, we stripped out of our clothes.

  This thing of three we had created had become comfortable. The awkwardness had long passed, and most of the time when I was with the two of them I felt like a queen.

  That night we celebrated spring break by getting drunk and first fucking in the hot tub, and then moving to a huge king-sized bed that the three of us fit in very comfortably.

  It was to be our last hurrah after all…and I figured why not.

  The next morning, I didn’t exactly feel that way.

  When light prickled my eyelids in the most unwelcomed way, I regretted the drinking immediately and vowed I would never get drunk again.

  I groaned, turning my head on the comfortable pillow, and smiling when I did. Jace was laying on his stomach, facing in my direction. He looked so peaceful and relaxed that the smile that already tugged my lips only grew wider.

  Ethan had left us alone in the bed, admitting he was such a light sleeper that he preferred to sleep by himself.

  All of us had only gone to sleep a few hours ago, so I snuggled up to Jace and closed my eyes.

  I think I slept more peacefully that morning than I had in a long time.

  “Hannah.” The low voice rumbled in my ear and lulled me to consciousness.

  “Hey,” I said, opening my eyes, feeling refreshed.

  “Come on, it’s almost noon. Let’s take a shower, grab some food, and go check out the slopes.”

  I groaned.

  His lips twitched. “If you hurry, I’ll wash your back, love.”

  Love.

  That woke me right up.

  I was out of bed and following him into the shower within minutes.

  In the huge marble expanse with at least six jets, Jace took his time rubbing the soap up and down my body. He was erect, and I tried not to notice, not that it was possible not to. Still, I forbade myself from getting on my knees and taking care of him.

  When his palm lifted to my shoulder, he looked into my eyes, and there was a light in them I had never seen before.

  It came all at once. The knowledge so heavy I nearly lost my breath. But I knew what it was. That gleam in his eyes was love.

  This I knew because I felt it too.

  Jace stepped closer to run the bar of soap down the center of my chest. I shivered under his touch. When he bent to kiss my neck, I shivered again.

  “Are you cold?” he asked with coyness clear in his voice.

  I shook my head.

  He smiled then and pulled me to him, but not to warm me. Instead, he dropped the soap and reached lower. Just as his hand found my clit, a very naked Ethan came trumping in.

  Surprise flared in both our eyes, and I jumped back. Jace did too, and slammed right into the glass wall.

  I gulped, suddenly wondering if this was going to end badly after all.

  Ethan walked past us to the small commode room, leaving the door open while he used it. He acted as if finding us together was an everyday occurrence.

  Flicking my eyes over to Jace’s, I pleaded for direction. He was in the middle of blowing out a breath and gave me none.

  Stay.

  Or go.

  We hadn’t done anything wrong, but it looked really bad.

  Stay.

  Or go.

  My heart beat in warning as I started to step out, but then thought better of it. I still wasn’t sure which was worse—getting caught or looking guilty about something we hadn’t done.

  “Hey,” Ethan said as he walked out and paused in front of the huge glass expanse to talk to us. “I think I’m going to pass on the skiing today.”

  “You sure?” Jace said, keeping his voice even.

  “Yeah, I’m exhausted, and going back to bed. Wake me up when you two get back,” Ethan said, and then started out the bathroom door. He paused in the doorway that led to the bedroom. “You two have fun.”

  Jace and I were looking at each other, but neither of us said a word as we allowed the spray from the multiple jets to hit us, and Ethan’s have fun comment to sink in.

  I tipped my head back and rinsed my hair without saying a word. I was so confused. Did Ethan know? Had he known all along?

  “Jace,” Ethan said seconds later, a bit of a strain in his voice. “We have a bit of a problem.”

  Thinking it took him a while to process what he saw, we both looked toward the door just as Ethan backed into the bathroom. Confusion furrowed my brow, but then I saw why he was walking backward. On the other side of him was a very tall, regal-looking, gray-haired woman in an expensive cashmere sweater, and she was pointing the tip of an ebony carved cane at him.

  “Who are you?” she said, poking him in the gut with her walking stick.

  Startled, I jumped when I heard the stern voice, and then began to worry we were in a house we didn’t actually have permission to be in, and that we were going to jail.

  “I’m Jace’s friend, I swear.” Ethan was pleading with his palms raised in surrender. “Tell her, Jace,” he called.

  What was going on?

  Jace cranked the water off and was stepping out of the shower just as the woman pinned Ethan into a corner.

  Instantly, my entire body turned cold.

  “Grandmother!” Jace yelled, grabbing a white fluffy towel and tossing it to me, before snagging another for
himself.

  As soon as I wrapped the towel around my body, I jerked my head toward Jace in question. He wasn’t looking at me. He was staring at the woman with contempt in his eyes.

  “What is going on here?” The woman’s voice was icy.

  “Leave him alone,” Jace snapped. “I invited him here.”

  Her eyes narrowed as she slowly scanned the rest of the bathroom, passing by me with the same contempt I saw in Jace’s gaze when he looked at her. “What are you doing here?” she asked.

  After wrapping a towel around his waist, he snatched one more and tossed it to Ethan, who was shaking. “I’m on vacation. What are you doing here?”

  The woman was not at all pleased, but she left Ethan alone and used her cane to slowly cross the bathroom. “You should have asked me before coming.”

  With his arms crossed over his chest, Jace leaned against the sink. “Why would I do that?”

  Ethan scurried out of the room, but I was frozen where I stood. Was this some kind of sick joke?

  She stopped about a foot away from Jace. “Because this house isn’t yours and isn’t one of your toys to play with, Jace.”

  His temper exploded in a way I had only seen pieces of. “This was my father’s house. Not yours. It is mine to do with whatever the fuck I want!”

  Disbelief was all I felt.

  Her face was a mask of hostility. “You will not use that tone with me, young man. Get dressed and then come talk to me when you are presentable. I’ll be waiting for you in the study downstairs.”

  Jace only glared at her.

  Slowly, she turned and walked out of the bathroom without the aid of her cane. She did not close the door behind her.

  All I could do was stare at Jace as I felt an anger boil up inside me. “Who is she?” I asked through gritted teeth, even though I already knew she was his grandmother.

  When he didn’t respond, there was nothing I could do to prevent my entire body from shaking.

  Finally, I was able to move my feet and found myself standing in front of him before I knew what I was doing. I jabbed a finger into his bare chest. “Who are you?” I took a different approach.