Rand stepped out of the shower, unsure of where they went from that point. Red knew. Jake had announced they were getting married, and they had…well, been intimate. Did they go to the courthouse?
She walked out of the bathroom, wrapped in a towel to find Jake sitting on her bed, the side of his face ugly, purple, and swollen.
“You look like hell,” she said unsympathetically.
“Yeah well, hopefully this isn’t a sign of what our marriage will really be like. I’m kind of partial to my face, you know,” he said and surprised her by reaching out and pulling her across his lap.
Holding her towel, she shrieked, “What are you doing?”
His mouth captured hers, and she melted, kissing him back eagerly and forgetting about the slipping towel as she wrapped her arms around him.
“Can I take you out later? After work,” he asked between kisses, and his hand crept up and over her breast, making her purr with pleasure.
“Mmmm…like a date?” She was having a hard time focusing with his hands and mouth working their magic over her body.
“Yeah, like a date. You and me out to dinner and maybe a movie…” His hand drawing little circles along her inner thighs was making her squirm impatiently.
Grabbing his hand, she slipped it up to where she wanted and sighed as he obliged her, ignoring his chuckle as she arched against his searching fingers His thumb rubbed against her clit. She moaned and bucked as that fantastic, trembling drum started beating in her core until finally she grabbed Jake’s shoulders and hung on tight, riding the waves of blissful satisfaction that followed her orgasm.
When he kissed her forehead and started to get up, she held tight. “You’re leaving before… I mean you aren’t…”
“I think we should wait until tonight. You might be a little sore,” he said, his hands rubbing over her back.
Disappointed, she started, “I think I’ll be fine…”
He stopped her argument with a kiss. “It’s okay. We have plenty of time.”
She almost argued but let it go when he kissed her one last time and stood. “I’ll pick you up at seven?”
“Okay,” she said, watching him walk out of the room. When she heard the door open and close, she flopped back on the bed.
Did all that really happen? Did she just agree to marry Jake?
Something close to glee was swirling around inside her, and before she knew it, she was squealing like an idiot.
* * *
Rand was looking forward to their date. She’d pulled out a simple black shirt with a V-shaped neckline and jeans. She’d left her hair down, just like he liked it, and wore her best pair of boots.
She grabbed her jacket and walked out of the bedroom just as a knock sounded at the front door. Rushing to open it, she tried to appear calm, even though her heart and stomach were doing cartwheels and backflips.
Before she could say anything, his arm snaked out and pulled her against him. “You look beautiful.”
Rand couldn’t stop her hands from slipping under his shirt and around the warm skin of his back. She knew she wasn’t really beautiful, but the way he said it, his deep voice so rumbly and sincere, made goose bumps break out all over her skin. “You don’t have to say that stuff.”
“It’s true. Why wouldn’t I say it?” he asked, frowning.
Rand shook her head. “Never mind…”
“Rand, you are. I will never lie to you. Don’t you trust me?” he asked, his tone hurt.
Jake, her friend, she trusted above everyone else. Jake the fiancé? She still wasn’t sure.
* * *
They drove to the next town over and settled on a little Mexican restaurant with one other couple inside. Jake looked around at the small area, the brightly smiling waitress, and wondered if they should back out slowly. It was never a good thing when a restaurant was nearly empty on a Friday night.
“Sit wherever you like,” the waitress said as she went back to the kitchen, and Jake whispered out of the corner of his mouth, “Do you want to go somewhere else?”
The look she shot him was puzzled. “No, this is fine. You love Mexican food. Why would you want to leave?”
He let it go and led her to a booth next to the window. “I was just worried when I saw there were only a few people inside.”
“Probably because there’s supposed to be a big thunderstorm rolling in,” she said.
“Well hi, y’all, welcome to Carlos’s. I’m Tandy, and I’ll be your server. Can I get y’all a margarita or beer?”
He smiled at the perky blonde waitress. “Well, hi ya, Tandy, I’ll have a beer and can you make sure it comes out ice-cold, darlin’?”
Tandy bobbed her head. “Sure can, and how ’bout you, honey?”
Jake saw Rand was scowling at him, and he had no idea why. He watched her transfer her gaze to Tandy, and her frown eased. Slightly. “I’ll just have a Coke, thanks.”
Tandy stared at Rand for a bit before her smile widened. “Coming right up.”
Jake’s gaze was focused on Rand and not on the sassy blonde’s retreat when he asked, “Why are you looking at me like you want to string me up?”
She looked down at the menu in her hands and snapped, “I’m not.”
He watched her concentrate on her menu with her forehead wrinkled and smirked. He reached out and touched her menu, but she ignored him.
Man, the woman was sulking about something.
“Well, I don’t know what twisted your girdle, but you picked a fine time to start acting like a typical woman,” he teased, trying to get a rise out of her.
She slapped her menu down and hissed, “I just don’t get why you need to flirt with any girl who bats her lashes at you.”
He couldn’t be more surprised if she lifted her shirt and flashed him. “I wasn’t flirting with her, I was just being friendly.”
She batted her lashes at him and mimicked, “Oh darlin’, would you mind making sure my beer is ice-cold?”
“First of all, I don’t sound anything like that, and second of all, I am nice to waitresses so they don’t spit in my food.” The last was said with a grimace just thinking about it.
He saw her lip twitch and her expression start to ease before she snapped her scowl back in place. “Right.”
Rand usually just rolled her eyes or made snorts of disgust when she thought he was flirting. He reached out and grabbed her hand, holding fast when she tried to yank it away. “Are you jealous?”
“Here ya go. Extra-cold beer and a Coke.” Jake caught her looking at Rand appraisingly as she said, “I just love your top. Where did you get it?”
Rand pulled her hand away from him, and he covered his smile with his hand as she looked surprised by the compliment. “I don’t remember.”
Tandy leaned on the table, and the woman’s look was downright sultry. “Well, it looks awesome on you.”
Jake blinked. The girl wasn’t being friendly. She was flirting…with Rand.
Rand seemed oblivious to Tandy’s interest. “I got it as a present for my birthday and was going to take it back, but my granddaddy couldn’t find the receipt.”
Tandy actually batted her lashes. “Well, that would have been a damn shame.”
All right, it was funny at first, but that was too much. “I’ll have the chicken enchiladas with two tacos.” Both women turned to stare at him, and he focused all of his attention on Rand. “Honey, what do you want to eat?”
Rand looked back up at Tandy when she answered. “I’ll have a bean-and-cheese burrito with rice and beans.”
“Coming right up,” Tandy said.
Tandy’s smile faded when her gaze shifted to him, her expression downright hostile. This time he watched her walk away and turned back to Rand with wide eyes. “Did you see that?”
“You checking out our waitress?” Rand asked with false sweetness.
It was his turn to be angry. “No, the glare she sent me.”
“Right, because women usually glare at you.”
Jake said very patiently, “Rand, honey, I have no interest in that woman and I’m telling you, I am not her type.”
“How do you know that?”
He leaned back in his seat and grinned. “Because it wasn’t me she was checking out.”
“What are you talking about? Who else…” Rand’s brown eyes jerked toward the kitchen and then back to him. “Really?”
He laughed. “So you see, you were jealous for no reason.”
“Just because she wasn’t flirting with you doesn’t mean you weren’t flirting with her,” she quipped.
He’d finally had enough and sat forward with a deadly serious tone. “Rand, you have known me for a long time. When I tell you that I’m not flirting with anyone else, believe me. There’s only one woman I want to have…in every way.”
She lowered her eyes, and a dull red covered her cheeks. She was quiet, even when Tandy brought their food and tried to engage her.
Jake took a bite of his food and got a funny aftertaste. “How’s your food?”
“It’s hard to screw up a bean burrito,” she said quietly.
He took another bite of his meal and swallowed forcefully. “Mine tastes a little funky.”
“Then don’t eat it. We can grab something else if you want,” she said, taking a bite of her meal without looking at him.
He didn’t mention it again, but he only ate half of it. After Tandy brought them their bill, he gave her cash and stood up. “You ready?”
Rand followed him out quietly, and by the time he reached the truck, he’d had enough. “Rand, are you trying to start a fight? First I was flirting, and now you’re giving me the silent treatment for God knows what. I wanted to just take you out and have a good time. I always have fun with you, but it just seems awkward and…”
Suddenly, she was on him, her mouth mashed over his, her arms wrapped around him to bring him closer. He didn’t question it, just slipped his arms around her and returned her kiss. He rubbed his hands over her back and down to grab her ass.
She didn’t jerk away, just kept kissing him until he leaned against his truck and slid his hands up to hold her face. He broke the kiss, breathing hard, and asked, “What was that?”
The way she stared up at him, with wonder and happiness. No one had ever looked at him like that. “I just wanted to show you that I want you too. In every way.”
Jake raised his brow and teased, “Really? Because I draw the line at whips and chains.”
She laughed and surprised him. “Even if I promise to be gentle?”
Rock-hard went his cock at the picture of Rand going dominatrix on him. He kissed her again, slipping his tongue into her mouth and rubbing her against his aching front. When she moaned in his mouth, he pulled back enough to ask, “Do we go to a movie, or straight home?”
Her breath was a mere whisper when she answered, “You promised me a Jason Statham movie.”
“We could wait until DVD.” He nibbled her bottom lip.
“But it’s so much better on a big screen when he takes his shirt off,” she said, arching into him.
That surprised the hell out of him, and he pulled all the way back to look at her face. “You want me to take you to a movie so you can lust over another guy?”
She smiled. “No, I want you to take me to a movie so I can watch cars blow up and bad guys get shot.”
Her tone was sarcastic, and he growled, “Maybe I’ll make you watch a chick flick.”
She shrugged. “That’s okay, chick flicks usually have hot, half-naked guys too.”
“That’s it, no movie for you. We’re going home.” His tone was gruff, his expression fierce, but he was enjoying her flirtatious teasing. She just kept surprising him, and he was loving every minute of it.
“Aw, come on. I promise to cover my eyes at the naughty bits,” she teased as she backed away from him around the side of the truck.
“Maybe I want to take you home so you can see all my naughty bits,” he countered as he unlocked the truck doors. He jumped into the seat and turned to face her, hoping his grin was obnoxiously wolfish.
And again, she shocked the hell out of him as she reached out and took his hand, lacing her fingers through his. “Maybe after.”
After? Oh man, the anticipation was going to kill him.
* * *
Rand could hardly concentrate on the movie, she was so distracted by Jake. When he wasn’t skimming his fingers over her hand, he was leaning over to kiss her neck and graze her breast as he reached for popcorn. Her nerves were a jumbly, jittery mess. Every time he teased her, that place between her legs started aching again, and she had to twist in the seat to get comfortable.
When he reached over and his hand went between her legs instead of the popcorn, she started to tell him to stop it, but his hand cupped her, and she lost all train of thought. He rubbed his fingers and palm on the outside of her jeans and she couldn’t stop a small noise from escaping.
The rubbing stopped abruptly, and she turned to him, catching his glittering eyes in the light of the big screen. “What are you doing?”
He leaned in close to her ear and breathed against it. “Tempting you.”
She shivered and turned her mouth to meet his. After a long, slow kiss, he pulled back and took her hand. “We’re leaving.”
She didn’t even argue as he led her out to the truck and opened her door. She jumped in and unlocked his door as he hopped into his seat and started the truck. He backed up and tore out of the parking lot, making her laugh nervously.
“What’s so funny?” he asked.
“Just thinking how crazy this all is,” she said, smiling as she scooted over next to him.
He slid his hand over to take hers and brought it up to his mouth. “Crazy bad?”
She shook her head, and a wicked idea popped into her head. Curling into his side, she kissed the spot where his neck met his shoulder, her hand sneaking between his legs.
“Oh God, Rand…” he groaned.
“Eyes on the road, cowboy. I don’t want to end up in a ditch.” She massaged him through his jeans as she kissed and nibbled his skin.
She listened to his breathing grow harsher. It was a powerfully heady feeling, to know how bad she was making him want her. Her fingers went to the button of his jeans, and as she unsnapped it, his breath hissed out, the sound matching the rasp of his zipper. When she slipped her hand inside, going through the band of his underwear to wrap her hand around his cock, she felt his hips lift. Releasing it, she pushed his jeans down and got a better grip on him. She pumped him in her hand, using her other to tickle the back of his neck as she took his earlobe into his mouth and teased it with her teeth.
A flash of red and blue filled the cab, and Rand looked behind at the police cruiser.
“Shit.” Jake flipped on the blinker and added, “Help me get my pants up.”
Rand’s heart was pounding as she did as he asked, hysterical laughter bubbling up in her throat. She managed to get his jeans snapped before the officer got out of his patrol car and ambled his way up to the window.
He tapped the glass, and Jake rolled it down. “Evening, sir.”
“License, registration, and insurance,” the officer said, looking from Jake to Rand with a sour frown.
Jake reached across Rand to open the glove box and handed him the little cards and paper.
“You know why I pulled you over?” the officer asked as he looked at his license.
“No, sir,” Jake said, and Rand turned away to cover her mouth, a nervous snort escaping.
“You were all over the road, weaving in and out of the lines. You been drinking, son?” he asked.
“I had a beer at dinner, sir, but no, I’m not drunk.” Jake squeezed her leg.
“Well, why don’t you step on out of the car, and we’ll do a little breathalyzer.”
After the officer gave him the breathalyzer and ran his information, he handed Jake back his documents with a warning. “No ticket tonight, but do us all a favor. Keep it zipped until you get home. Or park somewhere.”
Rand ducked down low in embarrassment, and Jake climbed in, slamming the door with a curse. “You…” Grabbing her face between his hands, he kissed her hard and fast, pulling back enough to say, “make me crazy.”
Releasing her, he started the truck and put it in gear.
* * *
When they made it back to the Double C, he ran to her side and opened her door, but instead of letting her walk, he scooped her up and carried her across the drive, up the stairs, and into the house. He was surprised she didn’t protest, but it was just a passing thought.
Scout howled around his feet as he sidestepped down the hallway to her room, shutting the door on the irritated feline.
After laying her down on the bed, he flipped on the light and smiled as he looked down at her, unbuttoning his shirt slowly. He slipped the shirt off and started working on his boots, hopping from one foot to the other. “You’re going to pay for your teasing.”
He jumped onto the bed before she could respond, slipping his hand behind her neck and running his tongue over her lips. When they parted softly, he whispered, “And you’re going to like your punishment. A lot.”
He didn’t waste any time slipping his hands down, grasping the bottom of her shirt, and lifting it off. He stared down at her in her simple white bra, then reached out and cupped her breasts reverently. He molded them with his hands and felt her body shake in response.
He kissed her mouth, her cheek, her neck. “You are so perfect.”
He slipped his hands around to the clasp at her back and released it deftly. Her hands flew up to hold the bra against her chest, and she pleaded shyly, “Can we turn the light off, please?”
He didn’t argue, just flipped it off and knelt in front of her. He moved her hands and gently pulled the bra straps down her arms. He rested his hands on her waist and kissed her, bringing his chest against hers and rubbing. He felt her nipples tighten, and ran his hands back up to stroke them. She made a little breathy sound against his mouth, and he deepened the kiss as he manipulated the little buds with his thumb and forefinger. He moved his mouth away from hers, dipped his head, and took first one nipple, then the other, into his mouth and swirled it with his tongue. He sucked gently, teased the flesh until he felt her fingers gripping his head and her body arching.
He was taken by surprise by a violent cramp in his stomach. He pulled away from her with a gasp.
“What’s wrong?” Her voice came out dazed and worried.
A wave of nausea hit him like a freight train, and he pulled away with a curse as he stumbled to the bathroom and proceeded to vomit the contents of his stomach into the toilet. He heard Rand scuffling around in the bedroom, and the light flipped on. The light and the next cramp sent him back to having his face in the toilet.
He groaned as he hung his head and said hoarsely, “Get out of here, Rand.”
She snorted, and he heard the water turn on. A cool cloth pressed against the back of his neck. It felt wonderful, but the last thing he wanted was her to think about him puking every time he went to touch her. Somebody upstairs had a sick sense of humor. Right when he was about to…
Another round of retching. She rubbed his back the whole time. “It’s not like you’ve never done this for me.”
He started to laugh, but it ended in a groan of pain. “This is different.”
“True. Now you’re not just my best friend, you’re about to be my husband. It’s my job to care for you.”
He turned his head slightly to catch her eye and said wryly, “This wasn’t exactly how I wanted you to take care of me.”
“Me neither, but it’s okay. We’ll have other chances.”
He hoped so, because at the moment, he wasn’t sure he wasn’t about to die, the pain was so excruciating. As he cursed and shook with waves of hot and cold, he was comforted by her soft voice and stroking hands. When the first waves of illness finally subsided, she helped him back into the bed and pulled the sheet over him. She climbed in behind him and spooned him, trailing her fingers over his temple.
He tried to keep his eyes open, but he was so exhausted that he only managed, “Thank you” before his eyes slid closed and oblivion took over.
He felt her breath on his shoulder blade, as if she’d whispered something, but that was it. He drifted off before he could ask her what she said.