If anything, that worried her more. “Jake—”
He silenced her with a kiss. “Let me make you feel good for a little while. Let’s just get through the reunion and then we’ll talk, really talk.” He had to come clean. Holding off was selfish, but he couldn’t imagine a scenario where she wasn’t furious, and he wanted as much time as possible to show her how it could be between them if they just gave it an actual shot.
***
Jessica couldn’t believe what was happening. Not that Jake had forgiven her on the spot and not that he was currently stroking her body in a way designed to set her aflame. She swallowed hard. “This isn’t some kind of intricate revenge scheme designed to put me at ease before you go in for the kill, is it?”
He huffed out a laugh. “That’s quite the imagination you have there.”
“And that wasn’t an answer.” That didn’t stop her from arching against his rough palms as he touched her breasts. Despite the desire pushing her reasoning into the backseat, she shot a glance at the door. “How likely are we to be interrupted?”
“Not likely.” He lightly pinched her nipples. “But if you want to stop…”
“No.” If they stopped, that upped the chance of them never starting again. Even with his forgiveness ringing in her ears, there was still the reunion to weather. No matter what Jake thought, that wasn’t going to be easy. If she owed Jake an apology—and she had—then she owed one doubly to Leah.
They’d never be friends again—not after all the crap Jessica had pulled, and not after the sheer animosity they held for each other, even after all these years. But she could clear the air so that maybe they could move forward without too much bitterness about the past.
And maybe pigs will fly.
“You’re a million miles away, love.” Jake traced a single finger down the center of her body, past her belly button, and drew a slow circle around her clit. He gave a lazy smile. “There you are.”
“Hard to be worried when you’re doing that.” She tilted her hips up, silently offering more, but he seemed content to tease her.
“Jessie…” Jake shook his head. “Tell me about your life.”
“What?” She gasped as he pushed his finger into her, slow and steady. “You want to talk about that now?”
“Mm-hmm. I find myself interested in knowing more.”
They’d already talked about her friends and her job. There wasn’t much more to say, as pathetic as that truth was. “I don’t want to talk while you’re touching me.”
“Then we find ourselves in a quandary.”
She pushed her hair back and glared. “You did not just say ‘quandary’ while you have a finger inside me.”
“Guilty as charged.” He twisted his wrist and pushed a second finger into her, the slow slide nearly making her eyes roll back in her head. “You keep talking, I’ll keep touching.”
“That’s blackmail.”
“Something like that.”
She desperately didn’t want him to stop. No matter what he said about figuring things out after the reunion, the reality was they were operating on stolen time. I really need to write a nice review of that dating site when I get home. Jessica dug her fingers into his shoulders, enjoying the sheer strength of him. “I don’t know what you want me to say. It’s a life. My job is okay. I get to see some cool stuff sometimes. The pay isn’t great, but it covers the bills. I live on the beach.” She hissed out her breath as he circled her G-spot. “I love the beach.”
“You always did like water.”
Waking up to the sound of the waves was one of the highlights of her life. That and her friends. “Brooklyn and Cora are the best. Friday nights are our nights.” She rolled her hips, trying to force his fingers deeper, but he gripped her leg with his free hand and forced her still. She bit down a curse.
“What do you do on Friday nights?”
“We get drunk and watch HGTV.”
He froze and then chuckled. “Tell me about those nights.”
“Jake, you’re killing me.”
“I’ve got you, love.” He shifted his grip to the small of her back and guided her closer until her breasts slid against his chest with each breath and his mouth found her collarbone. “Keep talking.”
“I hate you.” But, this close, she really didn’t. All it would take was for him to undo the towel tucked around his waist and he’d be inside her. She wasn’t so far gone that she was willing to ignore all common sense and have sex with Jake without protection, but Jessica would be lying if she said it wasn’t tempted all the same.
“No, you don’t.”
He had reason to be cocky. If he kept fucking her with his fingers like this, she’d do damn near anything he asked. She tried to focus past the pounding of her blood in her veins, the whole of the sensation centered around her core. “Uh…”
“Friday nights,” he said against her skin. “What do you drink?”
Right. Friday nights. “Red wine.” It struck her that she was missing this week’s girl’s night, and sadness spread through her despite everything. “Cora always has the good stuff because she helped a distributer get equal custody in his divorce, and he’s forever sending her cases in gratitude.”
“Mmm.” Jake licked her throat. “Why HGTV?”
“Because it’s so damn absurd.” She leaned down and kissed him, but he broke the contact and moved along her jaw and back down to the curve of her shoulder. Obviously, he wanted more answer than that. “Sometimes it’s House Hunters, and we all get righteously pissed because no one in real life can afford that crap. Sometimes it’s Tiny Houses, and we bitch about the people bitching about the lack of space in the tiny houses. And sometimes it’s Property Brothers, and we make inappropriate comments about twincest
and then plan all the things we’ll do to renovate the beach house that are totally and completely unnecessary.”
“Sounds like fun.”
“It is.” She didn’t know what she’d do without her friends. When she’d first arrived in LA, her weekends had been filled with partying and trying to network. About a year into it, she realized what a futile aim that was, and she’d started staying home in her crappy little apartment. She had been totally and completely alone.
Cora and Brooklyn had saved her. They might not see it that way, but it was the truth.
“You’re doing it again.”
Wandering.
Jessica gripped his hair. “I’m done talking. Kiss me.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He was as good as his word. Jake took control of their kiss the same way he’d taken control of every single interaction they’d had since she’d stepped off the plane. His tongue traced her lips, demanding they open, and she was only too happy to do so. He tasted of cinnamon, just like he always had, and right in that moment, she felt like she’d come home.
He nipped her bottom lip and picked up the pace of his fingers, coaxing her closer and closer to orgasm. The insane impulse to demand he be inside her when she came rose, but Jessica kissed him hard to keep the words inside. Some things couldn’t be taken back, and she wouldn’t put either of them in that position.
Her orgasm, when it came, sucked her under like a riptide. She clung to him and shook, her body already wanting more despite the release, her mind sure that everything and nothing had changed.
He hasn’t come. Again.
Enough was enough.
Jessica moved before she could telegraph her intent. She slid down between his thighs. Well, she fell more than slid, because her body wasn’t quite working right, but she ended up in her intended place and that was all that really mattered.
“What are you doing, Jessie?”
“Shut up.” She sounded bitchy, but there was no help for it. Jake was a damn shark—if he sensed weakness, he’d use it to his advantage. “I’m giving you a blowjob, so just sit there and don’t say anything to ruin it.”