Crazy as it sounds, I believe he does. He has me. Me. I'm his. Yes, I just met him and the books I write, well, they're about 900 pages long and this story is getting summed up real fast because I'm telling it in the space of a day.
He and I, we met in the aisle of a grocery store and his shopping cart was full of cheese. And as crazy as it sounds – as cheesy as it sounds – he is everything I want.
His warm hand slides over my skin as he lifts the metal enough to slide in the cold cutters. His face scrunches up as he uses all his strength to cut through the hard metal. Finally, a glorious snap sounds as the metal parts, and I am free.
“What happens next?” I ask as the belt slides off.
He sets it on the dresser. I don't want to look at it. The metal cutters are set down, now his hands are empty.
My lower half, at least, is utterly naked. He sits down on the bed. “Would you like a pair of sweats?” he asks.
I shake my head. “No,” I tell him, “but maybe a shower.”
“Yeah, that sounds about right. Let me get the water on for you. Make sure it's nice and warm before you get in there. The last thing you need is icy water after everything you've been through, baby.”
“Baby,” I repeat.
His cheeks go red. “Sorry. I just, June, you just…”
“What?” I ask, wanting to tease it out of him.
He smiles. He cups my cheek again. His hand is so warm. I melt against it. “I just like calling you baby. It sounds right. Feels right. Like you're someone I want to take care of, protect.”
I swallow the lump in my throat. “I want you to take care of me. I want you to protect me,” I tell him. The look in his eyes changes, grows to something hungry, needy.
“You do?” he asks with a growl.
“Very badly,” I tell him. “No one's ever taken care of me before. Not really. I mean, Lemon checks in on me and you know, she's my best friend, but no one's ever really taken care of me, protected me. Made sure I was safe. I mean, I came to Polar Bear, Alaska, all by myself at Christmas. That seems ridiculous when I say it out loud. I’m not saying I need a man to take care of me, but yeah, I like the idea of the right man taking care of me.”
He swallows, running a hand over his beard. “And you think the right man … you think the right man might be me?”
I lick my lips, feeling hot in this sweater. It's itchy and tight, and I want it off. I sit up in his bed and I pull it up over my head, very aware of the fact that my bra has gotten twisted with all the running I did. My breasts are practically heaving out of it.
His eyes run over me. I toss the sweater on the ground.
“I feel a little overdressed,” he says.
“So change that,” I say.
“You truly want this?”
“I've never had any of this.”
“You’ve had a long day,” Jacob says.
“Are you saying you don't want me?”
He shakes his head, standing from the bed, unbuttoning his shirt, his belt, his jeans. “That's not what I'm saying at all, Juniper. I'm telling you I want you so bad. Since the moment I saw you, it's all I’ve wanted. But when I have you, it won't be just once. And it won't be a one-night stand. It will be something real. Do you understand me?”
I nod. “I think so. I want to understand you at least. Can you help me understand?” Jacob steps closer in nothing but his boxers. I run my eyes down his body. It’s chiseled, carved out of stone, muscles everywhere.
“You know, you look just like the hero I’m trying to write in my novel,” I tell him.
“That turns you on?”
“You have no idea,” I whimper. “You’re going to have to lead the way.”
Jacob runs his hands over my bare body, unhooking the back of my bra and letting it fall aside. “God, you are beautiful,” he tells me, lowering his mouth to mine.
His kiss takes my breath away. It's soft and exquisite and full and deep. It fills me up with longing, with need. My body pulsing with desire, my core on fire, my body is lit up in a way I've only ever written about.
I've tried, of course, to make this feeling mine in all sorts of ways, by touching myself and imagining things. But this, this – him, Jacob? I moan against his mouth, and I wrap my arms around his neck. The kiss intensifies and the need is more real than ever. He feels it. He knows it. I know he does because his cock hits against my belly. And it's obviously thick and ready for this just as much as I am.