“We are,” she said. “I want to put it from my mind. I talked to Griffin.”

  “I saw that. Are you going to tell me what was said?”

  “No,” she said. “It’s between us. Just like the rest of this night is going to be too.”

  He would honor her words. “That’s more like it.”

  She ran her hands up his shirtfront, loosened his tie, then pulled it off. One by one she undid the buttons and pushed them aside. He’d ditched his jacket hours ago and had carried it up and set it on the chair.

  Her hands went right to his belt, undid that, the same with his button and zipper to his pants and pushed everything down to the floor.

  He was going to step out of them, but she didn’t give him a chance before she got on her knees in front of him in her fancy dress and made-up hair.

  Her mouth closed over his cock that was standing firm and almost ready to burst as it was just by looking at her in that dress all night.

  She applied a little pressure with her lips and went down and he all but swallowed his tongue holding back a moan.

  “You can make some noise,” she said. “Just don’t get hotel security called to our room. I don’t want to stop and answer the door.”

  He let out a laugh though there was nothing funny about what was going on.

  She went back to work, moving her head up and down, her hand cupping his balls, the other stroking him.

  There were so many sensations he was feeling at once and the speed she was doing it all, that it started to unleash and wanted to explode.

  He tapped her on the shoulder to get her to stop, but she didn’t. She shook her head and kept going and he figured she knew what she was doing. She’d told him enough.

  When the pressure got to be too much, he started to squirt into the back of her throat, expecting her to stop, but she didn’t. She shifted and swallowed and then did it again and he just let his body go and felt a relief he hadn’t in a long time.

  When she was done, she sat back on her heels. “Wow, that worked.”

  He didn’t know what to make of that statement, as his mind was somewhat muddled. “What?”

  “Nothing,” she said, smiling. “I didn’t gag as much as I thought I would.”

  He didn’t give her a chance to say anything else though before he pulled her up and tossed her on the bed. She started to laugh like she had earlier when they were taking pictures of each other.

  “What are you doing?”

  He lifted her dress up, yanked down her panties and went right for her dripping heat.

  He was going to attack her the same way that she had him.

  Two fingers thrust inside of her, he curled them when he felt the tender flesh inside of her and she jerked on the bed and let out a little shout.

  His mouth latched onto her swollen bud and he started to suck like she loved so much.

  This time though, he added a little bit of pain to it. He used his teeth and nibbled and when he felt her getting close he bit down enough for her to feel pain mixed with the pleasure.

  “Jesus,” she shouted out and began to come, her hips lifting up and jamming into his face, but he wasn’t going to stop until her hips were on the bed unmoving.

  He was pretty sure it was almost a minute before that happened and he sat back on his heels.

  When she started to laugh he asked what was so funny. “You. Your pants are around your ankles and my dress around my waist. The wrinkles we are going to have to get out of our clothes tomorrow.”

  “Totally worth it,” he said.

  She sat up and opened her arms for him. It was the first she’d done that and he went in for the hug. “Yeah, it absolutely was.”

  27

  A Little More Care

  The following Sunday, Jennie was putting the cake she made into her car. She was going to pick up Alex and they were having dinner at Griffin and Penelope’s.

  As pissed off as she was last weekend at Hailey’s wedding over the fact that her brother and her boyfriend had words about her, she was glad that she and Griffin were able to talk for a few minutes about it.

  He’d apologized to her for saying what he had to Alex. He should have apologized to Alex, but she wasn’t going to get in the middle of that. Two males butting heads wasn’t something she was into.

  Then he offered an olive branch and said he’d like them both over for dinner. It was the first time she was bringing a boyfriend she had to a family dinner and though she shouldn’t be nervous, she was.

  “What kind of cake did you make?” Alex asked her when he hopped into her car. She liked that he wasn’t getting all macho and saying he’d drive around the island.

  “Chocolate with peanut butter frosting.”

  “Yum,” he said. “I’m all for anything chocolate.”

  “Me too. So is Penelope. Griffin has a crazy sweet tooth and he loves peanut butter too.”

  “So it’s a cake for him to sweeten him up?” he asked. “I would have never figured him for a sweet tooth. I would have had candy sent to him before now.”

  She laughed. “He’s always had it. We didn’t get a lot of things like that as kids. My father was very controlling of the money and who got what.”

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “I had no idea.”

  “It’s not something you’d know. It’s funny. I guess I shouldn’t say this, but I will. I have to tell myself Griffin is who he is, but sometimes little things like this remind me that he has a heart of gold and tries.”

  “I never doubted otherwise,” Alex said. “What is it you have to say?”

  “We were always given toast and peanut butter as kids for breakfast. That is it. Nothing else other than on a holiday. Then we could have a bagel and cream cheese, but Griffin didn’t like cream cheese that much. So my mother always gave him a bagel toasted with peanut butter and it’d get all gooey and melted.”

  “That’s the best way to eat them.”

  “I like cream cheese on mine,” she said. “But back to Griffin. I found out that he still eats a bagel and peanut butter daily. He has breakfast with Eli and Eli always has that for him.”

  No reason to tell Alex the game Penelope told her that Griffin and Eli had going back and forth of Eli never saying he didn’t like peanut butter or Griffin not saying he didn’t like cream cheese. They made each other the one they’d eat themselves and the other just ate it anyway.

  “You’d think he’d be sick of peanut butter by now,” he said.

  “Or have a bad memory of it,” she said. “But Penelope said Griffin told her that he eats it because my mother made it for him and that is the memory he has.”

  “Which shows his soft side.”

  She laughed. “I don’t think there are many out there other than Eli and Penelope that would dare say my brother has a soft side.”

  “No,” he said. “I’m saying it to you, not him.”

  “My point is, I’m trying to cut him some slack. We both have baggage like you wouldn’t believe, but Penelope is good for my brother.”

  “I’d like to think I’m good for you,” he said.

  There went her heart racing again like it had so many times.

  She just wasn’t sure if she was ready to say what she thought Alex wanted to hear. “You are. I’m getting there, Alex.”

  It was the best she could do for now.

  “I know you are. I’m giving you that space. I know there are things you need to work out and you need to do it with Griffin.”

  “I do. I’m sorry.”

  “Why are you apologizing?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t say that much in my life, but I feel like you need to hear it.”

  “No,” he said. “I don’t.”

  She nodded her head. There wasn’t much more she could say at this point.

  They got to Penelope’s house and she parked at the bottom of the driveway, the two of them getting out. “This is a huge house.”

  “You’ve never been in it before?” she asked.

  “No. I haven’t been in a lot of my cousins’ homes. Not the more distant ones. Or at least the women. The men, we tend to hang out more.”

  “I could see that,” she said. “I like Penelope’s house. It’s old but redone inside. It’s modern but still has the dark wood and lots of charm. It’s really cozy.”

  They got to the front steps and she knocked on the door and then let herself in. She could hear Zandra making noises in the back of the house so walked that way.

  “Hey,” Penelope said. “Griffin is on the deck lighting the grill.”

  “What are we having?” she asked.

  “Steaks, but the charcoal needs some time to heat up.”

  “Nothing better than a steak over charcoal. It’s great on a gas grill too,” Alex said.

  “Charcoal is the best,” Griffin said, pushing the screen door open and coming in. “Can’t light one of these up at the casino or it sends the fire department over.”

  Alex smirked. “No grills of any kind,” he said. “Not unless you want a code enforcer fine. I’m sure if you want a good steak you just order it.”

  “Griffin hardly ever cooked,” Penelope said. “He and Eli got most of their meals from the casino kitchen.”

  “Not true,” Griffin said. “We never ordered breakfast.”

  Jennie laughed over that statement. “Nothing wrong with not having to cook,” Alex said. “I do it, but I’d rather not.”

  “I’ve seen your fridge,” Jennie said. “It’s pretty empty except for leftover pizza or takeout. Lots of sandwich meats too.”

  “Easy things,” he said. “I don’t starve.”

  “Speaking of starving,” Penelope said. “Let me have that cake before Griffin decides that has to come before dinner and teaches our daughter bad habits.”

  She handed over the cake and watched as Penelope put it on the counter, then turned to pull some snacks out of the fridge and bring them to the table. “Are we staying in the house or going on the deck?” she asked. “It’s nice out.”

  “The deck,” Griffin said. “I don’t get outside much and it’s not too hot.”

  “Can I get you a drink, Alex? A beer maybe?” Penelope asked.

  “A beer will go down well,” he said.

  “I’ll help you bring everything out,” Jennie said.

  “Alex can get Alexa out of the playpen,” Griffin said. “Unless he’s afraid to pick up a baby.”

  She caught the two of them smirking at each other and knew that was progress. “I get kittens out of trees; a baby is nothing,” he said.

  Jennie laughed over that comment, glad they both were joking now. It almost didn’t feel uncomfortable.

  Alex wasn’t used to family dinners with women he was dating.

  Hell, he wasn’t sure the last time he had one.

  He’d never been one to bring a woman to any Bond family function. And he wasn’t sure he’d been with anyone long enough to do a family function with them.

  Friend’s parties, yes, that happened. Even his cousins’ parties. But dinner with family? Immediate family? Yeah, no, he didn’t do that. Not once since Lizzie.

  But here he was on his cousin Penelope’s deck holding her daughter and his girlfriend’s brother was watching him.

  Zandra was reaching for his shirt and pulling on it when Jennie came out with a plate of food and Penelope with the two beers.

  “Penelope,” she said. “Your daughter is trying to take Alex’s shirt off. Maybe she realizes he’s a fireman.”

  “That calendar of Alex’s is going to go down in history. You guys raised so much money that year. I’m surprised you didn’t do it again.”

  He felt the heat fill his face. It was kind of a sore topic in his mind around Jennie. Not only that, he didn’t think it was one that Griffin wanted to be reminded of.

  “Once was enough,” he said.

  “Are you always going to call your daughter Alexa?” Jennie asked Griffin. “You will be the only one to do it most times.”

  “So?” Griffin said. “There isn’t anything wrong with having an affectionate name for my daughter. She knows it’s me when she hears it now. Right, Alexa?”

  Alex watched as the little girl in his arms turned to look at her father and put her arms out to be transferred to him. He would have liked to hold onto the little girl longer but handed her off and took his beer off the table, then sat next to Jennie.

  In another month or so his nephew would be born and he could spoil him and watch the rest of the family do the same thing.

  “I think she will go to you whatever you call her,” Penelope said. “Because you spoil her.”

  “Nothing wrong with that,” Jennie said.

  “No,” Griffin said. “It’s not like Jennie ever got that in life.”

  “No,” she said. “But Griffin was there for me.”

  “And I still am,” Griffin said.

  Alex could see the two of them were trying to get through this as best as they could.

  The rest of the afternoon they sat on the deck and talked, ate, and watched the baby play until she went down for her nap after their early dinner.

  “I think it’s time for dessert,” Jennie said. “Are you ready?”

  “I’m always ready for dessert,” Griffin said.

  She got up to get it, with Penelope following, leaving the two men together again.

  What Alex thought might be awkward, Griffin tried to not make it so. “No advice on getting through to her?”

  “You’re asking me?” he asked.

  “You’re the only one sitting here.”

  “I don’t know what to tell you other than what you’re doing. I’ve got my own issues to deal with when it comes to your sister.”

  Griffin frowned. “What’s that?”

  “Nothing you need to know about.”

  “Yet you brought it up,” Griffin said.

  Which he had and wished he didn’t. “Let’s say she goes at her pace and it’s not the same as where I’d like to be.”

  “Must be a Bond family trait. You all want to rush and some of us need to be handled with a little more care.”

  “So I’m learning,” he said, then turned his head when the door opened and Jennie put the cake down.

  “Congratulations,” Penelope said.

  He looked at the cake and saw the words written, a little fireman candy decoration too and Captain Alex Bond added to it.

  “Seriously?” he said. “This was for me?”

  “Dinner was for us,” she said. “The cake for you. It’s official.”

  A few days ago the vote had gone through and it finally was going to happen. One goal down and a few more to go professionally.

  Now he just had to get his personal life on track too.

  “Yes, it is,” he said.

  “We’ve never talked much about your favorite dessert other than I know you like chocolate,” she said.

  “As I said, I’m good with anything, but chocolate is great.”

  “Just like you,” she said. “You’re pretty great too.”

  It might not be everything he wanted to hear, but it was better than where he was at earlier today. And she’d said it in front of her brother with no snarl or wise comment as a result.

  28

  Fishing For Compliments

  Later that night, Jennie dropped Alex off home. He had to start his rotation tomorrow and they didn’t spend more than one or two nights together in a week.

  Though she knew he might want more, she wasn’t ready.

  She liked her space and privacy.

  She wanted to pull out her notebook and write. Something she hadn’t done much in years until she moved back to the island.

  She realized that there was so much bottled up inside of her that it had to come out and a way to do that was to put it to paper like she did as a child. It’d made her feel better and once she started to do it again, she found it helped.

  One thing she was realizing though, was that it wasn’t just Griffin she had to write about, but Alex too.

  There were feelings she had bottled up and she didn’t know how to get them out.

  Not much in her life was healthy, and communicating was one of them.

  She supposed that was one thing she and Griffin had in common. He didn’t come off as the type to talk much, but when he did, he said all the right things.

  She wasn’t ready to talk to Alex about her feelings, but she hoped that the cake expressed more of how she felt about them as a couple.

  She’d seen it in his eyes. He’d been touched by the gesture.

  She finished writing what was on her mind and then put the notebook back in her drawer under her bras and went to watch some TV in the sunroom. That was turning out to be her favorite room of the house.

  Having been living here now for almost five months, she was starting to realize that Griffin did this not for a financial reason but an emotional one.

  He was trying to give her something that they didn’t have growing up.

  A place to live that was calm and quiet. Where no one would bother them or control their lives.

  She was flipping through the channels when her phone rang. She saw it was Alex and picked it up. “Hey,” she said. “What are you doing?”

  “Watching baseball. What about you?”

  “Trying to find something to watch while I’m in the sunroom.”

  “I had fun today,” he said. “Does that sound silly or make me seem like a wuss in your eyes?”

  “No,” she said. “I’m not sure there is much you could do or say to come off like a wuss in my eyes.”

  He wasn’t as big as her brother, but he was just as strong to her. In both physical strength and personality.

  “That’s something at least. Not even holding your niece?”

  “Now I know you’re playing with me. Every guy knows a woman loves a man holding a child. It’s sexy.”

  He snorted. “Not everyone. There are plenty of women out there that don’t want kids.”

  “Lots of men too,” she said.

  “I’m not one of them,” he said.

  “Same here. I’ve never been in a place to be able to have one. I’m still not,” she said. “Not sure if you are getting any ideas in your head or not. We know Penelope and Griffin had the baby first.”