Jessica sighed. “I hope I like it more than you liked yours.”
Luke grabbed his foot and stretched his quad. “I liked mine.”
“Pfft … you didn’t even look at me.”
Luke switched legs and smirked.
“What?” She tied her hair back again.
He turned, walking back toward the road. “I looked.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Knight
Jillian waited, fully dressed, under her sheets until she heard Jackson leave for his morning run. Then she retrieved her suitcase and purse from her closet. She knew there would be consequences, but the promise of them didn’t stop her from saying yes to AJ. Yes to Portland. Yes to meeting his parents. Yes to everything.
“Good morning.” AJ leaned against his Jeep. A rogue smile stole his lips.
She dropped her bags by their feet, wrapped her arms around his neck, and pulled him to her mouth. AJ hesitated for a second. He cared what the neighbors thought; she never did.
He kissed her, but pulled back when her tongue brushed his lips.
Jillian fisted his shirt. “Aric James, if you want me to get on the plane with you then you’re going to have to kiss me like you fuck me.”
His eyes searched hers. “How do I fuck you?”
She jumped up and wrapped her legs around his waist, forcing him to hug her to his body. “Like your life depends on it.”
Jillian kissed him again and AJ held nothing back. She loved the exhilaration she felt every time he claimed a part of her body with such unapologetic desire. A desire that felt like something much more than want. It was a need that brought her to life with a mind-numbing shot of anticipation and a heart-pounding jolt of fear.
“I want you,” she breathed as his lips and tongue stroked her neck. He occupied her body. The perfect distraction from her mind.
He grazed his teeth along her carotid, teasing her, playing her game. “I know.” He pulled her arms off his neck, releasing her to the ground.
“I know?” She gaped at him.
He grabbed her suitcase and tossed it in the back of his Jeep. “Yes, I know.”
Jillian hopped in the passenger seat and he grinned at her as he turned the key.
“Cat got your tongue?”
Jillian pursed her lips to hide her smile. “Nope. We’ll continue this conversation on the plane.” She typed Jackson a quick message that he’d get when he got home.
Flying to Portland with AJ. Be back in 3 or 4 days. No need to worry.
“Who are you texting?”
Jillian slipped her phone in her purse. “Not that it’s any of your business, Snoop Dogg, but I was just letting Jackson know about our plans.”
“Snoop Dogg?”
“He’s a rapper.”
AJ pinned her with a quick sideways glance. “I know who he is.” He grabbed her leg and squeezed it. “And just so you know … I think over the past week I’ve definitely made you my business.”
Jillian felt his touch like hot lava on her leg. With each passing day it became more difficult to tame her reaction to him. He’d come to know her in the only way anyone except Jackson could ever know Jillian Knight, and he accepted her—pierced lip-clawed back-broken nose type acceptance.
“We’re having sex on the plane.”
AJ removed his hand. “We’re not.”
“Yes, we are.”
“I’m a highly decorated officer in the US Air Force. We will not be having sex on a commercial flight to Portland.”
“What if I give you a merit badge for it?” Jillian smirked.
“No.”
She squirmed a bit in her seat. All their talk had her vagina feeling very responsive. “Well you’re at least going to get me off with your tongue.”
AJ cleared his throat and adjusted himself. “You’re not going to be able to talk this way around my parents.”
“Well, then you’d better keep me satisfied so I’m not thinking about it all the time.”
AJ didn’t give her a verbal response, but his body was tense. There was frustration in his creased brow, and his jeans looked strained at the crotch. He was just how she liked him.
“Why didn’t you tell Jackson about our plans before leaving?”
“He wouldn’t have le—or wanted me to go.”
“Were you going to say he wouldn’t have let you go?”
“Yes, but that’s not entirely true. There would have been a verbal argument, a physical fight, and a monstrous guilt trip. I didn’t want it ruining our trip, so I’m choosing to deal with him when I get back.”
It was an uncharacteristically vulnerable move on her part. She didn’t back down to Jackson, yet she found herself doing just that to protect her trip—her time—with AJ.
“Who taught you to fight?”
Jillian smiled. Could a lie be the truth if someone’s life depended on it? “Our dad. He taught martial art classes and self-defense.”
AJ nodded, seemingly content with her explanation. Every day he got a little more curious or bold with his questioning. He claimed to not want to know about her and why she was the way she was, but his actions and questions began to contradict his intentions to not care.