“Yeah, well, the hours in the gym have been put to good use.”

  He leaned in and caught her lips for just a second, capturing her lower lip as he pulled away. The move pushed him up and into her just a little more, bumping against her cervix. There was a slight pain that tinged through her, but she did her best not to let it show on her face.

  “So, how should this work. I think some friction should start happening, but I’m waiting to see if you’re continuing to lead the way, or if you want me to take over.”

  Jake had probably done a little too much reading. He was clearly doing everything in his power to not push buttons, which was sweet, but other than some issues letting others see her, sex wasn’t usually a problem. Of course, in years past, sex was associated with coke, so she didn’t give two fucks what anyone thought about her body.

  It wasn’t until after the coke was done and she’d gone crazy about restricting her food that her body image issues took over. In the few years since then, not many of her relationships made it to the sex level, and if they did, it was a one and done kind of thing.

  “As long as you aren’t going to pull out and run the other direction, I’m good with you taking over.”

  Kelly had started things, but she was nervous about doing something to scare him away. She mounted him to make sure there was no confusion about how intimate she wanted to be. When he’d mentioned just touching, she’d about screamed.

  He chuckled and leaned in to take her lips in earnest. Her body lifted to meet his mouth as he pushed it against hers. His mouth opened wider, pushing his tongue into her mouth, where she readily greeted it by curling hers around it and sucking on it.

  As their tongues met, Jake’s body pushed her backward, so she could lie on the bed. While they moved, he pulled himself out of her some, but pushed back in gently once they got to their new position.

  He started slowly working in and out of her, syncing his movements with the battle going on above the neck. Kelly’s hands slid up and down his back with every thrust she met.

  A guy generally didn’t care about making Kelly comfortable during sex. In fact, she hadn’t met any guys who thought sex would be any different with her than the next woman. That was what made Jake so different. She was worried that she wouldn’t like the careful approach over the fast and sloppy sex she was used to, but it made it feel like it wasn’t just sex.

  Jake’s lips pulled away as he gulped in a breath of air. Kelly hadn’t even noticed she wasn’t breathing, when she quickly did the same thing.

  “Oh, God,” she managed to moan out as air made it to her lungs.

  “We’re just getting started. Please tell me you haven’t already forgotten my name.”

  Kelly wasn’t sure how he could make a joke during his calculated thrusts, but she laughed at the attempt. Since joking didn’t seem to mess up his rhythm, she thrust forward as he pulled out, causing a short growl accompanied by him snapping his teeth at her.

  “I remember your name, but I’m not sure if you remember that I’m not going to break if you decide to be a little rougher.”

  He pulled out and slammed back into her, probably not at the full force his muscles allowed, but more than enough to cause her to moan and dig her nails into his back. She didn’t have long nails, but at least little crescent divots were going to be visible.

  “I’m not going slow for you.” He stopped his line of thinking and shook his head. “Of course, I’m going slow for you, but it’s not just because I’m worried about hurting you. When you climbed up on my lap, I about came right then. I’ve been imagining what this would be like for months, so I’m trying to make sure it lasts more than five seconds. You didn’t exactly give me a chance to get you off first. I’m not going to be the only one reaching a climax.”

  His words were all said with complete sincerity, which was surprising enough. The fact that he’d been able to say so many without skipping a beat in his thrusting was downright award-worthy.

  “My goal was to make sure you’re physically attracted to me and aware that I’m not going to break. It seems I’ve proven that point.”

  Jake scoffed and stopped for a second to lean down and kiss her forehead. He pulled out of her, leaving her feeling empty, as he started kissing his way down her body. Her eyes got wider the further he went, until his warm breath blew on her blonde curls.

  The second the warmth went away, she shivered from the coolness it left behind. She hadn’t been with a guy for a while, and even though she thought things were getting serious with Jake, she hadn’t thought of doing a little landscaping.

  That didn’t deter Jake one bit as he swiped his tongue from the hole begging for him to come back in up to her little bud. With how wet she was, there was no way he didn’t get a good taste of her juices.

  “Fuck,” she said as she bit her lip.

  He’d just mentioned almost coming, and just like that, one lick had her feeling like she was about to go over the edge. He used his tongue a few more times, before latching on to her button and sucking hard.

  Whether it was the build-up or the fact that she was just that easy to push over the edge, Kelly grabbed a hold of his hair and pulled as her vision slowly ebbed to black and she started screaming. A hand quickly reached up and covered her mouth, reminding her they weren’t in the house alone.

  Thankfully, she’d been confident enough things would work in her favor that she’d closed the door to their room and locked it. She wasn’t in the state of mind to care who walked in on them, but it was smart to make sure the kids weren’t privy to their nighttime activities.

  Jake climbed back up Kelly and thrust inside her, this time with much more force than any of the times before. She cooed at the friction, dragging her orgasm along even longer. Her poor legs tried to wrap around his back, helping push him back in each time, but they were quivering too much to be any help.

  With the new urgency to his speed, it wasn’t long before his grunts got more breathless and his body froze above hers. She felt the first jerk inside of her, followed by a handful of others. Thinking about him coming inside of her and feeling the sensation made her thrust her body against him as she climaxed a second time, or maybe it was just a big aftershock from the first one. Either way, she closed her eyes and fought the scream trying to break out of her chest.

  Jake let his body gently collapse on to hers, still using his arms to hold him up some. He was heavy, but there wasn’t a chance she was going to complain about that. She was too busy feeling her grip onto him tighter, trying to milk every drop out of him.

  “Well, I think that solves that problem.”

  His voice was amused, bringing Kelly somewhat out of the daze she’d fallen into. She had no problem just lying there connected as they were until she fell asleep. There were words that needed to be said, though.

  “What problem?”

  She managed to get the words out before he settled his lips on hers. At first, he seemed hesitant to open his mouth too wide, but she stuck her tongue out, tasting the musky flavor of herself on his lips. Once he got the idea she was okay with it, he opened up, letting her inside to taste her essence mixed with his peppermint toothpaste. It was an interesting flavor, one she didn’t mind at all.

  He broke the kiss and rolled off her, again leaving her feeling empty. She groaned at the sensation. He was quick to pull her up, so they were on the bed with their heads at the pillows, her body half draped over his.

  “The problem I was referring to is whether we’re compatible sexually. I’m going to say…”

  His words trailed off as he pretended to have to think about it. Kelly lifted her knee slightly, connecting lightly with the softening appendage curled up to his stomach.

  “Hey now,” he said as he reached down to grab himself, stroking a few times.

  At some point, his boxers had disappeared, so his full body was on display for Kelly. Curled up with his arm around her, it was easy to see every inch of his front. After the workout they’d just done, it surprised her that she had an urge to reciprocate the oral pleasure he’d given her.

  It was embarrassing to think that the only times she’d really given head were when someone offered it in exchange for a line. She’d always equated the two actions together, so it wasn’t generally something she volunteered to do post-rehab. Yet, she wanted to climb down there and sample what they tasted like together.

  The only thing stopping her was the fact that she didn’t think she could move. Lifting her leg three inches wore her out.

  “What I was going to say, before your knee got a little unruly, is that I think we are absolutely compatible in every way. Don’t be so hasty to throw out the wedding idea, okay? When I thought of it as a way to help out, I realized that I do see us getting married. Obviously, I thought we’d spend a little longer getting to know each other and everything, but that doesn’t change the fact that I love you, and I can easily see you and the kids becoming my family. So, I think we should just go ahead and go with the original plan. What do you say? Will you marry me?”

  With his free hand, he lifted her chin, so she had to look at him while he proposed. Her mouth fell open when she realized what he was doing. It was one thing to offer because it could help her out. It was another thing for him to say it was because he loved her and wanted to be a family.

  Her heart started pounding faster as she shook her head up and down. His eyes had seemed a little nervous, but as soon as he saw the answer, the smile on his face made it up to his eyes and his brown eyes looked like they had flecks of gold in them.

  “Of course, I’ll marry you. Since Fiona found out it might be a possibility, I’d be stupid to turn you down. I’ve heard she’s good with knots and tying people to chairs.”

  Kelly laughed at her words, and for the first time in months she almost felt lighthearted. Shoot, it wasn’t even just months. It’d been years since she’d been as happy as she was there in Jake’s arms. It was going to take some getting used to, but Kelly hoped she could keep her positive outlook on life going.

  Eventually, she’d have to make sure Jake knew everything about her past, including the fact she could still have a child out there that she’d given up. There had been a couple of times she tried to tell him, but the timing never seemed right. She’d work up to it, but not tonight. They were celebrating.

  “Well, obviously, we can’t upset Fiona. We should probably try to get some sleep. I’ve got practice in the morning and a full day of looking around for rings. Any recommendations there? You don’t seem to wear much jewelry.”

  Kelly shook her head. She wasn’t a jewelry person, even though her ears were pierced twice. Having to wear huge pieces during shows had turned her off wearing jewelry for fun.

  “Okay, I’m sure I can figure something out. Gold. Platinum. Giant diamonds.”

  He was fishing, which only caused her to roll her eyes. Things couldn’t have been more perfect. Kelly was so completely sated, she wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to get up from the bed, and the man she was hopelessly in love with was trying to figure out what kind of engagement ring to get her.

  “By the way, I love you, too,” she said as she craned her neck to kiss him on the cheek.

  Chapter 22

  “Did we really need to come with you for this?” Brady asked, his voice sounding distracted.

  Jake looked up from the display case he’d been studying for at least five minutes. His teammate was two cases over, bent over it as he looked inside.

  “You guys are the ones who invited me to lunch and said it was okay if I made a quick stop.”

  Curtis and Brady told him the store was the best one to find a ring. He hadn’t mentioned that was the errand he needed to run. Since they’d both congratulated him on the proposal their wives had told them about, and he asked about the ring, he thought it was obvious.

  “Yeah, but I didn’t think you were running straight for the ring. Then again, I heard the wedding is in two weeks, so I guess there isn’t a lot of time to waste.”

  “What’s up with the quick run to the altar?” Curtis asked as he nudged Jake with his elbow.

  Unlike Brady, Curtis was trying to help pick out a ring. Pointing out every ring and asking if it was the right one, wasn’t exactly helpful, but he didn’t sound annoyed about it.

  “She’s pregnant,” Jake replied.

  He didn’t believe for a second their wives hadn’t filled them in on everything. Kelly said she told them everything going on, without swearing them to secrecy other than when it came to the kids. There was no way Nina hadn’t run straight to her husband and told him all the juicy details of the gossip.

  “Is that even possible?” Curtis’ voice was filled with disbelief.

  Jake furrowed his brow and looked over at his friend, wondering what would make the idea so implausible. There were plenty of reasons why Jake knew it wasn’t possible, but he was pretty sure Curtis wasn’t aware of all of them.

  “Don’t give me that look. Rumor is there’d be some immaculate conception going on if she’s pregnant. Apparently, Nina already wondered if the rush was because of a bun in the oven.”

  “So, Kelly mentioned we hadn’t slept together yet. I’m going to have to remind her that we can’t say anything around anyone if we don’t want the entire world to know.”

  It was a lesson he already knew, but Kelly had been out of the gossip circles for a while. He imagined the industry she used to be in was just as chatty. He was pretty sure the hockey circle wasn’t as backstabbing, but he only had firsthand experience with one side.

  “Hadn’t? That sounds like someone got lucky last night.”

  Jake looked over to Curtis in time to see him lifting his eyebrows up and down to go along with his words. Rolling his eyes, Jake shook his head.

  “Other than the fact that I’d like to invite you guys to the wedding, I don’t think you need to know much about my love life.”

  “Interesting. I thought the whole marriage thing was on hold until Nina could hook them up with DNA testing. They’re supposed to be getting swabbed or whatever today,” Brady said as he abandoned what had caught his eye and came over to lean on the display case to the left of Jake.

  Jake sighed and leaned closer to the glass in front of him to try to see if anything caught his eye from a different angle. He’d thought it would be as simple as just walking in and seeing the perfect ring. Ten minutes later, he was sure the perfect ring didn’t exist.

  “We’re getting married because we want to get married. I don’t care that we haven’t known each other for years. And I don’t know for sure if we’re getting married in a couple of weeks now, but we are getting married, so I need a ring.”

  “Calm down,” Curtis said, smacking his shoulder. “Neither one of us can say anything about a fast wedding. Brady at least waited until the season was over. I knew Hannah when we were kids, sort of, but we’d only reconnected for a few months when I asked her to marry me.”

  Since Jake had only known Kelly existed for about six months, he was pretty sure he had Curtis beat on the suddenness of the proposal. The timeframe didn’t change the fact that when he’d heard about the issues with the kids’ grandparents, the first thought he had was getting married.

  “Yeah, but this seems kind of weird, right?” Brady asked.

  Jake took his eyes off the rings to look over to Brady. The man had lost all appeal of the store and was staring out the front windows. His deep lean against the glass case behind him only reiterated how bored he was.

  “Care to enlighten me what’s so weird about it?”

  It wasn’t like Brady’s answer would change Jake’s opinion, but he was curious what the man considered weird. Knowing the ring he was looking for wasn’t in the case in front of him, Jake moved on to the next one. When he’d picked out her necklace for Christmas, it took him almost an hour, so he should’ve realized it wasn’t going to be easy to find a ring.

  All the metals and jewels just didn’t seem right. They were all too big for Kelly’s hand, yet at the same time, none were big enough.

  “I don’t know, man. You’ve only been in town since my wedding and you didn’t even try to date anyone. You just saw her and haven’t given anyone else a chance. Don’t you think you should play the field a little?”

  “Don’t listen to him,” Curtis quickly said. “Brady is still getting used to the idea of monogamy. Not everyone is cut out for the dating scene. I say, if you’ve found someone you want to spend the rest of your life with, you should go for it.”

  Brady grunted. “Monogamy has been great for me. From the sound of it, it’s hard to believe you’re ready to walk down the aisle, though. If you really just bumped body parts together last night, either she has a golden vagina or you’ve been snorting something with her. Both of which, I find a little hard to believe. Frankly, you can do whatever you want with your life, but can we please get out of here?”

  Jake glared at his friend, curling his fists as he thought about punching him. There was a line in there that was uncalled for. Brady was lucky Jake was still in a good mood.

  “Yeah, I suppose we can. I’m just not seeing anything that feels right. I thought you guys said this was the place to find a ring.”

  They’d walked in just after noon, which evidently was a busy time, because the three people helping customers throughout the store were all occupied. Since they didn’t show any signs of directing Jake to the perfect ring. He hadn’t made it through every display in the building, but he’d seen most of the engagement rings.

  “Brady said this was the place to shop, and that’s only because he found Nina’s monstrous ring here. I have a feeling you’re not worried about how big the ring is, so maybe this isn’t the right place for you. Let’s grab something to eat, then we’ll point you in another direction.”

  The idea of another direction didn’t sound too promising. Jake thought maybe doing some research online was the better way to go, but he didn’t mention it. Whatever alternatives they came up with were probably places he could check out online before looking like an idiot staring at rings.