Just say when nc, p.2
Just Say When NC,
p.2
“Or,” she said quietly, throat tight. He loved her. That simple. This is what she got from him. Total support. Total acceptance and understanding.
She hadn’t done a very good job of returning the favor, but she intended to change that. Without a word, she handed him the fudge. He opened the bag and his lips quirked.
God, she’d missed his smile. “It’s so good to see you,” she said softly. An understatement, of course. He was gorgeous and sexy, and just looking at him tugged at her poor, beleaguered heart. “You look …” Perfect. She smiled. “Heart-stopping.”
He raised his head to look at her and laughed, the sound as always causing a smile to curve her mouth. “I’m covered in sawdust,” he said and met her gaze. “I missed you, Julia.”
His words danced in the air around them, brushing her skin, filling her heart. “I missed you too,” she said. “So much.”
“Then why did you wait so long to get a hold of me?”
She took the fudge from his hands and set it aside before
leaning into him, touching his jaw. Meeting her halfway, his fingers sank into her hair as he pulled her even closer, and then onto his lap. “Because I’m a little slow at this,” she admitted.
“But I think I’m getting a handle on it. I was wondering … are you done for the day? Did you have Christmas Eve plans?”
‘You’re my Christmas Eve plans.”
When she smiled, he stood and reached for her hand. They walked to the street. “Do you want me to follow you home?” he asked.
She met his gaze and bit her lower lip. “I took an Uber here.”
The meaning of that, being that she’d come purposefully for him, lit in his eyes. Without another word, he drove them to his place. Inside, he locked up behind them and turned to her with a slow, naught smile that made her heart skip a beat.
She smiled and threw her arms around his neck as a weight seemed to lift off her chest.
“You take my breath away when you look at me like that,”
he said, his voice a sexy rumble. “I really hope I’m reading you right, or it’s about to get awkward.”
“What is?”
“This.” Using the fist he had in her hair, he gently tugged her face to his. He started with a light, questioning kiss, but it wasn’t enough for her and she touched her tongue to his, letting herself fall into the sensations of his taste, his scent, and the heat radiating off his body. She’d always loved the way he held her, like she was the very best thing that had ever happened to him.
He was certainly the very best thing that had ever happened to her.
Raising his head, he looked right into her eyes. “I love you, Julia. I won’t ever hurt you. Please tell me you know that.”
She nodded, and he kissed her again, the kind of kiss that lead to long, sensual, erotic nights. When she next took stock, they were on his bed, all over each other. She’d gotten his shirt off and had one hand in his pants and the other tangled in his hair. She had one shoe off, her shirt hanging from one arm, her
bra somehow around her waist, and her pants dangling off one foot.
He was no better. His jeans were opened and shoved low on his hips, his hair wild from her fingers, and he had his hands fisted in her hair, his eyes dilated black, and, she was pleased to note, his breathing was just as labored as hers.
Their eyes met and she started laughing.
“You’d laugh at a man in my condition?” he asked.
“I always laugh with you.” And it was true, it was one of her favorite parts about being with him.
His eyes softened. Nothing else, just his eyes. And just for her. “I love you,” he whispered, palming the back of her head to kiss her again, and all her amusement vanished as she sank into it, into him, putting all her need and want she’d caged up into it. It must have worked because his arms crushed her to him.
They kissed, long and slow, fast and intense. Their clothes had melted away. She had her fingers on his face, scratching them gently down his jaw, feeling the shadow of his unshaven skin. He sucked on her lower lip, gently bit until she curled her fingers around his ears and applied pressure, because as delicious as his kisses on her lips were, she wanted that mouth of his elsewhere. She felt him smile as he obliged and moved to nip along her jaw and then down her throat. She squeezed her thighs against his sides as he headed south, and by the time he finally found the spot that made her toes curl and sucked hard, she was twisting up against him. He rewarded her low moan by starting to rock that amazing body against hers. After that, it took him almost no time at all to send her flying off the edge.
When she managed to open her eyes again, he was watching her. “Show off,” she managed and felt his lips curl into a smile against her.
“I’ve got plans for you tonight” he said on a rough growl.
“That should probably terrify you.”
“It doesn’t. It makes me impatient. More action, less talk, James.”
With a soft laugh, he kissed her hungrily, then pulled back
to stare at her like he couldn’t get enough. Like maybe he couldn’t ever get enough. He was so beautiful. The way his mind worked, the details of his face when he smiled at her, the way he moved…
They’d been this far before. They’d been further too, much further. But this time, he felt different to her. In the past, he’d still had a sense of control. Now it felt like, for the first time, he was letting go of something. Whispering his name, she pulled him down closer. He groaned and slid his hands to her ass, holding her still as he continued to tease her.
She said his name again, more insistently, definitely more desperately. Moving a hand, he entangled it in her hair, resting his forehead against hers. She wasn’t sure what he was looking for, but he seemed to find it in her gaze as she moved back against him. Letting out a pleased rumble, his eyes held hers, his scorching as he entered her. She was already half gone again, her body tightening under his hands as he moved. She watched his face change, saw when the hunger overtook him, when he let everything go and surrendered, which turned her on every bit as much as the physical act. It sent her flying, and she took him along with her.
After, long after, when she could breathe again, she slid her hand from the nape of his neck to his chest, where she could feel his heart pounding beneath her hand. It wasn’t the first time she’d realized just how important she was to him, but it was the first time it really sank in.
Deep.
“I hope you meant what you said before,” he murmured.
“Because you’re it for me, and I don’t want to let you go. But I can’t half ass this, Julia, not even for you.”
She let out a shuddery breath. “I know.”
“And…?”
She drew a deep breath, knowing she had to find the right words or lose him forever.
He stilled, and while she was still trying to formulate what she wanted to say, he gently set her aside and stood. To walk away, she realized. “James, wait.”
He turned to her, eyes dark and intense and more than a little wary.
She grabbed his hand. “I had some thinking to do. And some growing up to do, too.” She squeezed his fingers. “I realized some things, like the fact that I’ve never loved anyone as much as I love you …” She tried to smile, but felt the sting of tears.
He stood there, watchful, waiting, saying nothing -- one of the things she loved about him. He always let her come to her own decisions in her own way, in her own time.
“I let it mess with me,” she said. “Love’s never worked out for me before.”
With a low, very male sound from deep in his throat, he crouched in front of her, his weight balanced on the balls of his feet. “It only takes one person to get it right,” he said.
Trust him to narrow it down to one, easy sentence.
She crawled off the bed and threw herself at him.
Catching her with no effort at all, he held her tight, his voice low, husky. Warm. “Julia,” he breathed against her jaw.
“Stay with me, I want you to.”
“For tonight?” she asked, tracing his lips, the line of his jaw.
He leaned down to kiss her, his hand stroking her hair from her face, smoothing down the rough curls. “Tonight. Tomorrow.
The next night. Just … stay with me. Forever.”
“Forever,” she vowed and knew he’d give her the very best forever she could have ever dreamed of.
THE END.
About Jill Shalvis
New York Times Bestselling Author Jill Shalvis lives in a small town in the Sierras full of quirky characters. Any resemblance to the quirky characters in her books is, um, mostly coincidental. Look for Jill’s bestselling, award-winning books wherever romances are sold, and visit her website, ww.jillshalvis.com, for a complete book list and daily blog detailing her city-girl-living-in-the-mountains adventures.
If you enjoyed this short, don’t miss Ivy’s love story in
WRAPPED UP IN YOU
A Heartbreaker Bay Novel
It’s love. Trust me.
After a lifetime on the move, Ivy Snow is an expert in all things temporary—schools, friends, and way too many Mr.
Wrongs. Now that she owns a successful taco truck in San Francisco and an apartment to call home, Ivy’s reinvented life is
on solid ground. And she’s guarded against anything that can rock it. Like the realities of a past she’s worked hard to cover up. And especially Kel O’Donnell. Too hot not to set off alarms, he screams temporary. If only his whispers weren’t so delightfully naughty and irresistible.
Kel, an Idaho sheriff and ranch owner, is on vacay, but Ivy’s a spicy reason to give his short-term plans a second thought.
Best of all, she’s a tonic for his untrusting heart, burned once and still in repair. But when Ivy’s past intrudes on a perfect romance, Kel fears that everything she’s told him has been a perfect lie. Now, if only Ivy’s willing to share, Kel will fight for a true love story.
Read an Excerpt
Return to Wildstone, California, where two completely opposite sisters—who are still nursing wounds from the past—realize they need each other more than they think…
THE LEMON SISTERS
Brooke Lemon has always led the life she wanted, wild adventures—and mistakes—included, something her perfect sister, Mindy, never understood. So, when Mindy shows up on Brooke’s doorstep in the throes of a breakdown with her three
little kids in tow, Brooke’s shocked.
Wanting to make amends, Brooke agrees to trade places with Mindy, taking the kids back to Wildstone for a few days so she can pick up the pieces and put herself back together. What Brooke doesn’t admit is she’s just as broken …also how does one go home after seven years away? It doesn’t take long for Brooke to come face-to-face with her past, in the form of one tall, dark, sexy mistake. But Garrett’s no longer interested. Only his words don’t match his actions, leaving Brooke feeling things she’d shoved deep.
Soon the sisters begin to wonder: Are they lemons in life? In love? All they know is that neither seems to be able to run far enough to outpace her demons. And when secrets surface, they’ll have to learn that sometimes the one person who can help you the most is the one you never thought to ask.
READ AN EXCERPT
Heartbreaker Bay Novels
Sweet Little Lies
The Trouble with Mistletoe
Accidentally on Purpose
Chasing Christmas Eve
About That Kiss
Hot Winter Nights
Playing for Keeps
Wrapped Up In You
The Wildstone Series
Lost and Found Sisters
Rainy Day Friends
The Lemon Sisters
The Good Luck Sister
Coming Soon
Almost Just Friends
The Summer Deal
Jill Shalvis, Just Say When NC
