CHLOE WOKE IN her own bed with Jackson spooning her from behind, both of them naked, though, she remembered, they’d fallen asleep almost as soon as they’d lain down the night before—each of them exhausted from their long day and from the stress of the break-in. Somehow, wrapped up in Jackson’s arms, waking with him, felt more intimate than even their hot sex at the racetrack yesterday. He stirred behind her, shifting slightly against her back.
“Morning, gorgeous,” he whispered in her ear, squeezing her tightly. She turned, rolling around in his arms so she could face him. His eyes were so starkly blue.
“Morning,” she echoed, snuggling up to his thick, muscular chest. The man was all hard ridges, all muscle, and she felt protected in his arms.
“I think he also wanted to say good morning.” Jackson pushed against her, and she could feel his thick hardness resting against her belly.
“Well, good morning.” She reached down and wrapped her hand around him, and he groaned in appreciation as she worked the length of him, her hand steady, knowledgeable, sure.
“At that rate, we’re never going to get to brunch,” he said.
“Brunch can wait.” She ducked down beneath the sheets, determined to drive him just as wild as he’d done her the day before in his wood workshop.
She flicked her tongue across his wide tip. He rolled over on his back.
“Oh, Chloe,” he murmured, and she felt a little jolt of delight. She remembered Annaliese that first night taking him in her mouth. She knew he liked that, and she wanted to please him. She wanted to be better than Annaliese, better than Laurie, better than any other woman he’d ever had. She wanted to give him everything. The rush of competitiveness surprised her, and yet she wanted to erase all other women from his mind. She wanted to make sure he didn’t regret his choice.
She took his tip in her mouth, working her tongue around it, amazed at how little of him filled up her entire mouth. Chloe used both hands to work his shaft and celebrated as he grew harder with each movement.
“You’re so good at that,” he said, running his fingers through her thick hair, grabbing it up into a ponytail and giving it a little tug. He urged her to go faster, and she did, taking what she could. “Yes, Chloe. Oh, God, yes.”
She worked to take more of him, not sure she could, but then, in a burst of white-hot heat, he came, so deep down her throat she couldn’t help but swallow. She rolled off him, panting, but he took her in his arms and kissed her.
“That’s one helluva good morning,” he declared, and she laughed.
They spent a lazy Sunday together, first walking to brunch at a nearby café, and then strolling through a farmers’ market, with Jackson warmly holding her hand. Laurie’s intrusion receded to the back of Jackson’s mind. He’d instructed his lawyer to look into a restraining order, which she’d promised to do, and now he was able to just enjoy time with Chloe. The more time he spent with her, the more he was convinced that she was the one. She’d even taken one of her pills from her pack in front of him. He felt reassured: she was on the Pill. Unless she was going much further than Laurie ever did to trap him. His gut told him that Chloe was nothing at all like Laurie.
He felt comfortable with her, more so than he had with any other woman. She was one of the first women he’d ever met who felt like his true equal. Of course, part of him still felt guarded. He wasn’t used to trusting anyone, especially not women, and the feeling didn’t come naturally. The warm summer’s day cooled toward the evening as a breeze rolled in from Lake Michigan, and the two moved their marathon date to his rooftop deck, where he grilled up some chicken skewers and roasted vegetables as they both sipped wine.
“This has been the perfect date,” Jackson said.
“And the longest,” Chloe pointed out. They’d been together for most of a weekend, and yet it had felt like no time had passed at all. Jackson wasn’t the least bit edgy or tired of Chloe’s company, and the more time he spent with her, the more he wanted to spend.
“True. This might be the longest date I’ve ever been on,” Jackson admitted.
“I figured, since I think the Annaliese date was under an hour,” she joked, and Jackson had to laugh. He loved her humor, her playful teasing. He deserved it, all the grief she could give him.
As he turned over the roasted veggies wrapped tightly in tinfoil on the grill, his phone pinged with an incoming message. He glanced over and saw Chloe lighting a citronella candle, as he checked his phone.
You up for a little naked time?
He frowned at the message, not sure who it came from since he deleted his contacts.
Sorry. No can do. In a relationship now.
Oh—good luck, then. If it doesn’t work out, ping me.
Jackson had no intention of it not working out. He slipped the phone into his pocket. It would be quite a change, he realized, slowly weeding out the women he’d been using in his life as fillers, and yet it didn’t feel like a sacrifice. He wanted Chloe to know she was the woman for him, and he didn’t want women who didn’t mean much to him to scare her off. For the first time in a long time, he was beginning to feel hopeful that maybe he’d found his match. Jackson had never considered himself a romantic, but as he glanced at Chloe’s profile in the warm light of the summer sunset, he wondered if he’d been wrong about himself. Maybe he’d just never met the right woman.
“What is it?” asked Chloe, seeming to feel suddenly self-conscious beneath his gaze.
“You,” he said. “You’re so beautiful. So perfect.”
“I’m not perfect. Not by a long shot.” Chloe laughed uneasily. “My ex-boyfriend used to say that I was lazy, which was why I worked from home. He thought I didn’t have the competitive edge or the know-how to work for a ‘real’ company.”
“Your ex was an idiot,” Jackson said, feeling anger welling up in him. “It’s far harder to work for yourself. And scarier, too.” Jackson studied her a second. “Was that the reason the relationship didn’t work out?”
“Kevin was cheating on me,” she said, simply. “He felt entitled to, I guess.”
“Forget me saying he’s an idiot. He’s also a fool.”
Chloe took a step closer to Jackson, and he folded her into a side hug, pulling her into him. He wanted to protect her suddenly from everything that could possibly hurt her. He wanted to make sure she was safe.
“He never really knew you, it sounds like,” Jackson said as he took the food off the grill, onto waiting serving platters. Chloe helped him carry it to the table they’d already set, with a candle flickering in the middle. “Like my exes never really knew me.”
Chloe nodded. “I think you’re right.” Chloe bit her lip, the slightest hint of a worry line etched into her forehead as she slid into her seat across from Jackson.
“What’s wrong?”
“Speaking of exes, do you think Laurie will be back? It was so...weird. Yesterday.”
“I’m sorry about that,” Jackson said. “Truly. If I’d known she was that unhinged... Well, I would’ve acted sooner.”
Chloe glanced at Jackson, the candlelight warming her features as the sky above them turned a cool purple as the sun dipped below the horizon.
“And...how do I ask this...” Chloe pushed the spaghetti strap of her sundress up one shoulder. Then she took a big breath. “Had you...I mean, been leading her on at all?”
His sharp blue eyes met hers.
“No, I hadn’t.”
“She wasn’t a...friend with benefits?” Jackson could see how much Chloe had been thinking about this. It concerned her, and all he wanted to do was reassure her.
“No, absolutely not. The last time I saw her in any kind of romantic way was three months ago, when I caught her in the bathroom, pouring our used condom into her...well, you know.”
Chloe looked relieved. “Good,” she said.
Jackson reached out and grabbed her hand. “I’ve told everyone else on my phone that I’m in a relationship now. If you want to look at my phone, here.” He offered it up to her. “I mean it, I have nothing to hide.”
“I believe you,” she said, and squeezed his hand. He squeezed hers back as they dug into the warm meal in front of them. Jackson was already thinking about the next day, a busy workday in another busy workweek, wondering how he’d manage to squeeze Chloe into his schedule, but already determined to find a way. Dinner flew by, and the sky darkened around them. Above them, stars shone in the cloudless sky. He poured them more wine, and then they moved over to the cushioned outdoor love seat in the far corner of his roof. The air held a slight chill as the moon rose in the sky. Jackson lit the small fire pit, and the warming smell of a small campfire filled the night air. Despite the fact that they sat on a city rooftop, surrounded by other buildings, it felt solitary, as if they were the only two people in the world.
“Now all we need are s’mores,” Chloe said, snuggling into the crook of Jackson’s arm as they both stared at the small orange flames.
“I think all I have are protein bars,” he said, and they both laughed.
“Somehow, I don’t think that would be the same.”
Jackson agreed, hugging her close as the two finished their wine. Chloe looked up at Jackson and he felt, once more, awed by her beauty. He took her now-empty wineglass from her hand and put it on the table with his.
“Do you think we’re moving too fast?” Chloe asked him, a note of anxiousness in her voice. He realized they had moved quickly, but he also thought of himself as a man who knew what he wanted. And right now, that was Chloe.
“When you know, you know,” Jackson said, tracing her delicate chin with his finger.
He dipped down to kiss her lips, and she met him halfway. Her lips, warm and willing, parted for him, and he tasted her once more, the hint of the blackberry in the residue of wine on her tongue. The instant their lips met, he felt the rise of his desire for her, as he deepened the kiss. His want for her knew no bounds, and he wondered distantly if a fire that burned this hot would burn itself out...or if it would continue to blaze. Still, all he knew was that he wanted her again, right here, beneath the stars.
The fire pit began to die down, and the shadows grew larger on the patio, and it felt oddly safe there.
He glanced at her and grinned. “What do you say to a little exhibitionism?”
She laughed a little. “I’d say...hell, yes.”
He moved closer to her. He ran his hand up the edge of her skirt as she straddled him. One of her straps fell down one shoulder, and he kissed her bare skin where it had once been. He inhaled her scent, with a hint of honey vanilla, and put his hands on her hips as she pushed her warm center against him, the heat there unmistakable. Just the small business of his gym shorts and her underwear worked as a barrier between them.
She broke free of the kiss, gasping. “We’re going to get arrested if we keep this up. For public indecency.”
“Not if we’re quick,” he murmured back, determined not to wait a second longer for her.
Her lips found his again as her nails raked his scalp, and his whole body came alive. He felt her soft breasts against him and couldn’t help himself. He tugged down the front of her elastic sundress and found her braless, his mouth claiming her nipple. She moaned, arching her back, and he sucked her as her whole body became taut with need. Yes, he thought. This woman, every day. Every night. She was so responsive, so full of fire. It would take years and maybe even decades before he’d tire of this magnificent body. The stars above them twinkled as her bare breasts were now both exposed to the night. She didn’t seem to care, and that thrilled him. He wanted her and wanted the whole city to know.
Let someone call the police. He’d be long finished before they arrived.
He moved her slightly so that he could nudge the elastic waistband of his shorts down, revealing that he was more than ready. Beneath the cover of her skirt, he gently rubbed against her, against the thin barrier of her thong. He almost felt like he might come just like that.
He hesitated a moment, remembering how perfect she’d felt when he’d been bare, remembering his sour disappointment when he’d come on her belly. Would he come inside her this time? Would he feel her around him when he came? The idea almost made him climax right then, and he wasn’t even inside her yet. This woman, he thought, this woman drives me mad. Chloe straddled him once more, moving her thong aside with one finger, letting him past the last remaining barrier. So easy. So right. Their passion was shielded by her skirt, her bare nipples puckering in the moonlight. In the dying light of the fire pit, he saw desire in her eyes as she took him deeper inside her slick, warm center. She was ready for him, oh so ready. Chloe rode him slowly at first, teasing him, every little movement like agony. He wanted hard and fast, but she was going to put that off for as long as possible. A small smile spread across her pink lips, and in that moment, deep inside her, Jackson had never loved a woman more.