“Why is that?”

  She turned to look at him. “He’s too pretty.”

  He started to cough. “I’m not sure if I’m insulted or happy to hear that. I guess I need another explanation as to why you think that.”

  She laughed at him and put her sandwich down on the coffee table, then took his out of his hands and did the same. She crawled into his lap, spread her knees around his hips and said, “I like a guy that is a little more hands on. Or works with his hands and not someone just putting them in someone else’s mouth while wearing a suit and lab coat. Or whatever Coy wears.”

  Alex grinned. “Hands on like this?” he asked, his going to her waist and under her shirt slightly, touching her soft skin.

  “Definitely like that,” she said. “Are you going to make me ask for it? Do we have to wait until our dinner is done?”

  “No,” he said, his hand going into her hair and pulling her mouth close to his. “You’re a woman that knows your mind.”

  “Damn straight I do,” she said. “Now let’s see if what is on my mind is the same as yours.”

  15

  Going To Happen

  Jennie realized that if she didn’t make the first move, it wasn’t going to happen.

  And sitting next to Alex on the couch and trying to force herself to eat the club sandwich she ordered without thought wasn’t helping.

  Somehow the conversation turned into this direction...like it always seemed to do...and she was taking advantage of it.

  She was positive once they got this out of the way she could relax around Alex some more.

  She threaded her fingers through his hair, her mouth landing on his, her tongue going in and dancing the way they seemed to do so often now.

  When his hands touched her bare skin under her shirt, she knew this was finally going to happen.

  “Keep going,” she said, her hand landing on one of his and pushing it up.

  He laughed and pulled her shirt over her head. Now they were finally getting somewhere.

  “We are thinking alike, don’t worry. But let me take my time. Maybe I don’t want it fast and something tells me you do.”

  “I do,” she said. “It’s taken you long enough to get here so I’m not sure slow is the way to go. At least this time.”

  He groaned. “Talk about tempting. Telling me I’m going to get it more than once.”

  “I was hoping so,” she said. “If you’re good for that.”

  “Now you’re yanking my chain,” he said.

  She scooted back and dropped her hands to the button on his jeans. “I know what I want to yank.”

  “Jesus, Jennie,” he said, letting out a grunt.

  Most of their text messages lately or phone calls turned in this direction. Maybe not that blunt, but she was finding she was going to be the way she wanted with Alex.

  Too many times in life she watched what she said or did around guys and it backfired.

  She was at a different point in her life and was going to try to blend the person she was to who she had become.

  Her fears and worries would always be there, but she had to let some of it go to just live.

  “You were thinking it and you know it,” she said.

  “Maybe,” he said. His hands slid to the clasp of her bra, undid it, and then pulled it off her shoulders, the cool air hitting her nipples and hardening them rapidly.

  His eyes landed on one, his mouth slipping closer and she let out a groan of her own.

  Her head fell back and she decided to savor the feelings while she could.

  The only problem with it was he sure knew what the hell he was doing with his tongue stabbing at her, then his teeth nibbling the tender flesh.

  His other hand moved to the other nipple and was pinching and flicking and the dual sensations were tearing her in two and making her want to yank him in to finish the job.

  “Are you trying to distract me from getting my hands on you?” she asked.

  “Yes,” he said. “I’m not sure how long I can last once you do that.”

  “I’m feeling the same,” she said.

  “Which is why we are both still clothed there.”

  “Do you need to get a condom?”

  “I do,” he said.

  She slid off his lap. “Go do it,” she said. “It will give me a minute to calm down.”

  “You like to give orders,” he said, standing up and tapping her on the nose.

  Her eyes went right to his cock that was straining at his jeans. It was hard not to with him standing in front of her. “Remember that.”

  He held his hand out. “Do you want to go to the bedroom?”

  “No,” she said, grinning. “I want to finish what we started right here.”

  She looked up and saw the smile on his face. “Yes, ma’am.”

  He walked out, her eyes on his ass. He did have one hell of a body on him that she was dying to see more of.

  When he came back into the living room, she said, “Take your shirt off too. Fair is fair.”

  “It is,” he said, lifting it up over his head.

  “Oh shit,” she said. “Maybe I should have told you to keep it on.”

  This was a guy that worked with his hands. Or worked out. She was guessing it was both.

  His abs were ripped, his biceps were bulging and those sexy muscles that tapered down to his jeans that you normally only saw on models was present.

  She knew he’d be in good shape, but she wasn’t expecting this.

  “You said you wanted it off.”

  “I did. Damn. Wow.”

  “You are boosting my ego,” he said, sitting back down, then returning her to the position she’d been in before.

  His mouth went back to her nipples and the condom was put in her hands. “For when I’m ready?” she asked and was touched over that move.

  “Exactly,” he said.

  She let him do his magic with his mouth until she couldn’t take it anymore. She was grinding against him to the point she was going to make herself come and didn’t want that.

  She thought he was struggling too since there were a lot of noises coming out of his mouth that sounded more like pain than pleasure.

  Her hands went to his jeans again, undid them and slid in to set him free. He was big and long and firm like the rest of his body.

  When she started to stroke him, he stopped her. “Don’t,” he said. “I can’t take it.”

  She stood up and undid her jeans, dropped them down with her underwear and toed her shoes off, then wiggled out of it all.

  Alex moved her forward while she was standing before she could climb back into his lap.

  He placed a kiss on her trim pussy. She never shaved completely bare but kept a nice neat ship down there.

  She was looking down at his thumbs spreading her wide. He slid his finger between her legs and her lips, dispersing her body fluids everywhere, then slipping his finger inside of her.

  “Oh God,” she said.

  She was trying hard to keep her eyes on his dark head and what he was doing, but it was hard when she was so caught up in the pleasure happening to her body.

  He lifted his head to look at her, the smirk there before he yanked her closer, his tongue coming out and finding its way to her swollen bud.

  She stood there, him tapping and tasting, pulling her in like he had her nipples, then sliding a second finger inside of her and pumping in and out.

  This wasn’t how she thought her first orgasm would be with Alex, but she had no control when it slammed into her making her knees buckle and the shout come from her mouth.

  “I’ve got you,” he said. His fingers had withdrawn from her with his hands holding in place to keep her from falling down, but his mouth was still working her over.

  It was a good thing he did have her because she was shaking so much with the intensity of what just ran over her body.

  If she was waiting for him to stop and move back, she realized it wasn’t going to happen until she told him to and it occurred to her he was working her up again because she was damn close to coming a second time.

  “Alex,” she said. “I can’t take much more.”

  “Thank God,” he said.

  She realized the condom was still in her hand, so she climbed back in his lap after he kicked his jeans off. She opened the condom and covered the length of him, her hand lingering for a minute. She just needed to touch him a little.

  That little bit might have been too much for him though, because he roughly yanked her up and then sat her down right on top of him. Good thing she moved fast enough to line him up.

  The minute he filled her, her hands gripped his hair and plastered their mouths together as she started to ride.

  It was slow at first. Slower than she thought she’d do, but she wanted to prolong this when she’d said she wanted to go fast. Maybe it was good she’d come already; otherwise she wouldn’t have been able to do this.

  Alex put his hands on her hips, more like her ass cheeks. He was gripping her hard, almost spreading her apart back there too in a way to get her to move more.

  Somehow the air hitting the crack of her butt as she moved up and down added another form of pleasure she hadn’t known she could feel.

  He sure the hell knew what he was doing and she had to get that thought out of her head as she was riding him, that he’d had a lot of experience with other women perfecting what he was doing to her.

  She started to ride him faster, the breeze almost picking up. She wasn’t sure if she was doing it for that reason or not and told herself it didn’t matter.

  Alex’s hips were rising with her movements and she was so close she just wanted to drop down and grind to get there.

  It was almost as if he knew she might need that little bit more or he had to get her there faster. One hand moved between their bodies and found her bud that had already been worked over, but he flicked at it with this finger to the point she was screaming out his name and riding him so fast she thought for sure he’d buck her off as he tried to keep up.

  With his hands holding her in place now, there was no way that would happen.

  He had her like he said he did earlier and he sure the hell showed her what it was like to be a woman with a man that knew what he was doing.

  “Are you okay?” he asked a minute later. Maybe it was longer. She had no clue. Her head was on his shoulder and she was gulping in great gobs of air while she tried to slow her heart rate down.

  “I think so,” she said. “You’re an EMT, right? You tell me.”

  His hand went to her wrist and she started to laugh over the fact he was taking her pulse. “Hey, you told me to check.”

  She moved off his lap and sat bare-assed on his couch. “That was intense.”

  “Good or bad intense?” he asked.

  “I think you know the answer to that.”

  He stood up and kissed her on the forehead. “I do.”

  She watched his impressive ass as he walked out of the room, she was assuming to go to the bathroom.

  Rather than stay there naked, she grabbed her underwear out of her jeans and put them on, then her bra.

  She was reaching for her shirt when he came back in and she started to laugh. “That’s a sexy sight.”

  Her eyes were on the bright teal and blue patterned socks he was wearing. The only thing he had on. They were just ankle socks, but it sure was funny.

  “I didn’t have much of a chance to get them off,” he said, bending down to get his jeans and underwear and slip them on. “It didn’t seem to me that it affected you any differently.”

  “Nope,” she said. “Keep your shirt off. I need to admire the view while we finish our dinner.”

  “I’d ask you to do the same, but you put that on first.”

  She pulled her jeans up next and sat next to him, then put her plate on her lap. “I find I’m starving now.”

  “Me too,” he said.

  They continued to eat their sandwiches and she wasn’t sure what to make of the awkward silence. She wanted to have sex to get it out of the way to avoid this and yet it seemed to be worse.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked him.

  “Nothing,” he said, looking surprised. “Something wrong with you?”

  “No. But you’re quiet.”

  “I’m eating,” he said. “Just like you. You’re inhaling that sandwich. I’m wondering if I’ve got something else to feed you in the house or if I have to go out and get you more.”

  She looked down and didn’t realize she was taking such big bites. “Sorry.”

  “Is there something you want to talk about?” he asked. “I thought you wanted to watch a movie before we got to the second part of the night. You did say more than once.”

  She grinned and looked at him. “I did. What do you say that we do it at my place? You’ve got to bring me home. Maybe you wouldn’t mind staying the night?”

  “I can do that,” he said. She finished up her sandwich; he did the same. “Do you want to see the rest of my house so you can see that it’s not all ripped apart?”

  “I’d like that,” she said.

  They stood up and he walked her around his small place. She found it cozy. The type of place she’d go for rather than the one Griffin bought that she lived in.

  Not that she was complaining because her place was starting to look more like her and feel like a home, but Alex had the satisfaction of saying this was his and no one gave it to him. She’d spent so much of her life working to get what was hers and it felt like steps back to not have that now.

  It wasn’t a thought for tonight or even a conversation. It was just one more issue she had to learn to accept or get over.

  “I’ll grab some clothes and things,” he said. “We can stay here and watch a movie or go back to your place and do it.”

  “Why don’t we go back to mine, if you don’t mind?” she said. “We can cuddle on the couch and maybe do the same thing there as we did here. You know fair is fair after all.”

  “I like the way you think!”

  16

  Memorable Night

  Alex rolled over the next morning to see Jennie on her side of the bed sound asleep, curled in a ball, shutting the rest of the world out.

  She liked her space, he could tell. He was never one to crowd anyone, yet he wanted to pull her close and hold her all night long.

  The fact he did want that was enough to scare him to stay on his own side. No way she was the type that would like it.

  She’d said before no one controlled her. No one made her decisions.

  He imagined she felt as if she had little control of her life as a kid and wasn’t about to let it go now. And that included her big brother.

  His hand reached out and stopped right before he ran it down her long brown hair. No reason to wake her when she was sleeping peacefully.

  He threw the covers back and went into the bathroom to shower for the day. He’d start breakfast or coffee or something for her. It was the least he could do for the memorable night she’d given him.

  There wasn’t a chance to do it though when he walked out of the bathroom fifteen minutes later and saw the bed made and Jennie nowhere to be found. Though he did smell coffee and made his way toward the kitchen.

  “You didn’t need to get up,” he said. “I normally sleep longer myself since there are nights I don’t get much sleep.”

  “Why did you get up this early?” she asked, moving closer to him and putting her arms around his waist. He was stunned she’d made that move, as she didn’t seem like the cuddling type.

  He kissed her on the forehead. “No reason,” he said. No way he was going to say he wanted to reach over and sink into her again. Three times was probably her limit. As sad as it was, he was wondering if he had the energy himself with the way they were with each other.

  On her couch while they tried to watch a movie that neither was paying attention to, then once again when they were in bed. Both fell into an exhausted slumber after.

  Yet here they were a little after seven in her kitchen talking.

  “Something tells me there was a reason,” she said, stepping back. “Unless you’re hungry? We did have a lot of activity yesterday.”

  “We did,” he said, kissing her on the forehead again. Come to think of it, he’d never been one to cuddle either, or to show this soft side to a woman.

  In the past, he was all fun and games.

  He was flirty. He was sexy.

  He wasn’t sensitive. Not since Lizzie. And he was shocked he was acting this way again with Jennie.

  “I’ll make you breakfast,” she said. “It’s the least I can do after you helped me sleep so soundly last night.”

  She moved away from him and went to the fridge to get eggs out. She wasn’t wearing anything more than a T-shirt and when she reached her arm up for the eggs, he’d noticed she had nothing on under it.

  She’d thrown that T-shirt on last night, but he had no idea she didn’t put underwear on with it.

  “Anything I can do to help?” he asked.

  “You can put some bread in the toaster,” she said. “The loaf is in that drawer.”

  He went to where she was pointing and grabbed it out, dropping four slices into the toaster while she cracked half a dozen eggs in a bowl.

  “Where are your coffee cups?”

  “Oh,” she said. “I’m sorry. That cup I made is yours.”

  “Thanks,” he said, taking it out from under the spout of the one-cup maker. “But I’ll make yours.”

  “Over the sink and to the right,” she said.

  He moved to get one and started a cup for her. She got some cream out of the fridge, but he was drinking his black.

  “No regrets, right?” he asked.

  She turned sharply. “God, no. Do I look like someone that has regrets about things in life?”

  “I don’t know,” he said. “I’d like to not think it, but I won’t know the answer to that unless I ask.”

  “I don’t regret anything other than how long it took for it to happen. You’re pretty good at what you do. Of course, I guess that makes sense from what I’ve heard.”