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I opened my mouth to give Jake a piece of my mind, but he kissed me before I could even get a word out. Damn him. The man had magic lips. I’d been with a fair number of men over my life, and never had anyone been able to kiss me senseless. Literally. When Jake touched me, everything in my head quieted, my focus solely on how he made me feel.
It really pissed me off.
Jake’s kiss was claiming, his hand on my neck dominating. I wished I didn’t like it as much as I did. Normally I liked to be the one in control, but something in me thrilled at Jake’s dominance even as I fought it. I’d been up most of the night reliving our little interlude in the store. I’d even dreamed about it.
Suddenly he stood up and lifted me to sit on the kitchen island, all in one smooth move.
“What are you doing?” I asked, hating the breathless quality of my voice.
“I’ve been dying to get a taste of you since we first met.”
His brown eyes met mine and I’m pretty sure my panties disintegrated from the rush of heat that flooded my core.
He placed one big hand on my sternum, gently pushing me down until I was laying across the counter. In the space of a minute, he’d pulled off my capris and underwear, and sat back down on the stool, shifting my legs over his shoulders. I was never a small woman, and there was a part of me that really enjoyed how easily he could move me around.
Leaning forward, Jake ran his tongue up my slit. The touch of his tongue was enough to make me want to levitate off the counter. He used one large hand to hold my hip down, then began eating me out in earnest. I was already impossibly wet just from sparring with him and kissing him, and the sound of Jake lapping up my essence was obscenely loud in my otherwise quiet kitchen.
I was well and truly ramped up when he suddenly slid one thick finger into my channel. I made a keening sound as he began pushing his finger in and out, then added a second finger. His tongue homed in on my clit, circling the swollen bundle of nerves with rough strokes. I dug my fingers into the short strands of his hair, pressing his face closer against my needy pussy, directing him to where I needed him the most.
Suddenly Jake bent his fingers, finding my G-spot, and that was it for me. I spasmed beneath him, my mouth opening in a silent scream as wave after wave of pleasure raced through me. Jake slowed his rough motions, easing me down as aftershocks wrung me out and left me boneless and panting on the counter.
I looked up as Jake slid back from me, his lips wet with my essence, his face full of masculine satisfaction. He stood up, easing my feet onto the chair he’d just vacated, and I pushed myself up on my elbows. Jake was sporting an impressive erection, and I assumed he’d be opening his zipper for round two. Instead, he stepped back.
“What are you doing?” I asked in confusion. I wasn’t used to guys going down on me just for funsies and not wanting something in return. Then again, Jake wasn’t like any other guy that I’d been with.
“I’m on duty. I need to get back to work.”
My mouth opened and I struggled to sit up.
“What about you?” I asked, pointing vaguely towards his crotch where an impressive erection strained the fabric.
“I’m good.”
My eyebrows rose in shock.
“You’re just going to leave?”
I damn near bit off my tongue as those needy words escaped my mouth. Damn Jake and his magic lips, making me want nothing more than for him to fuck me until we were both exhausted.
Getting a hold of myself, I hopped off the counter on unsteady legs, finding my clothes and pulling them on as he watched with a tiny smirk. I wished I had my paintball rifle close by so I could shoot him again.
“I’ve increased patrols around the store and added your house to our patrol route,” he repeated the same thing he’d told me earlier. Maybe he wasn’t as unaffected by what just happened as he pretended he was.
“Be careful until we bring this guy in. You’ve got my cell number, call me if anything happens. Don’t take any more unnecessary chances,” he ordered in his stern cop voice.
“Don’t take any more unnecessary chances,” I mimicked him. “Let the big strong man protect you.”
Jake frowned at me.
“Protecting people is my job.”
I waved him off. “Yeah. Okay. Well, thanks for the orgasm. You can go now.”
I couldn’t decide what I was more angry about. Getting me off and not moving to round two, or the domineering way he was talking to me. Maybe both.
By the time Jake pulled away from the house, I’d worked up a good mad. And I knew what could help: deep cleaning the house and hanging out with my girls. Emma, Dawn, and I had been friends for over twenty-five years. They knew me better than anyone, and I wanted to process everything that had happened with Jake with the only people who truly understood me.
Evie: Are you two available tonight? I need some girl time.
Dawn: The restaurant is closed on Mondays, so I’m in.
Emma: I’ll let Wyatt know I have plans. What are we doing?
Evie: Margaritas at Jose’s?
Dawn: Sounds great.
Emma: Let’s meet at six and get dinner to line our stomachs.
Evie: Yay. I need all the margaritas after the last 24 hours. See you all then.
***
I squinted against the bright sun coming in the windows. Had I forgotten to close the curtains last night? I opened one eye. Wait. Where was I? And what the hell had I eaten? My mouth tasted like a dead animal.
Feeling someone shift behind me, I looked down and saw one large arm wrapped around my waist. What the hell? I slid my hand beneath the blanket. I was wearing my shirt and underwear, but no pants.
I tried to subtly shift out from underneath the arm, but it tightened against me.
“Relax,” a sleepy voice instructed. “We don’t have to be up for a while.”
Oh crap. I recognized that voice. Jake. What the hell was I doing in his bed with him? I swear I’d promised myself to never let that asshole touch me again after what happened in my kitchen.
“I have to pee,” I croaked. The arm loosened and I slid out of the bed and headed into the en-suite bathroom. I sat on the toilet and noticed that Jake had left a new toothbrush and towel on the counter for me. That was incredibly sweet, but I still wasn’t sure what happened.
I stood up and groaned, the movement jarring my throbbing head.
I felt marginally better after washing my face and brushing my teeth. When I came out of the bathroom, Jake was sitting on the bed wearing only boxers. I grimaced as I noticed the large purple-yellow bruise on his pec from where I’d nailed him with the paintball gun. He looked rumpled and sleepy and hot as hell. He held out a large glass of water and a bottle of ibuprofen.
“Here. Drink.”
I shook out some pills and swallowed them down, drinking the glass of water in one gulp. My mouth was dry as the Sahara.
Standing felt like a lot of effort, so I dropped into the armchair across from the bed. It was one of those big, overstuffed chairs, perfect for reading. I glanced at the table and saw a stack of manly magazines, but no books. Did the guy not own a book? No wonder I’d never seen him in the store before the vandalism happened. It was just more proof of how incompatible we were.
“What happened last night?” I finally asked. “Why am I here? And did we—?”
I raised one eyebrow and nodded towards the bed, but Jake shook his head.
“Of course not. You were too drunk. I didn’t want to take advantage of you. But I have to say, you get kind of handsy when you’re drunk.”
An image of me trying to kiss Jake while he helped me into bed flashed in my mind. Ugh, I was pretty sure I’d grabbed his dick too. I squeezed my eyes shut, willing the memories to return from the drunken recesses of my mind. I remembered going to Jose’s with my two best friends and telling them everything that had happened with Jake. I remembered ordering a pitcher of margaritas with our chips and salsa, and another one with dinner. After that things got a little blurry.
“Do you remember leaving the restaurant last night?” he asked. “I understand you were there for a few hours, drinking.”
I shook my head. “It’s all a blur.”
“Johnston called me around ten thirty last night. He was passing by the bookstore and saw you there. He said that you and two other woman stumbled down the sidewalk and went into your store, while repeatedly yelling, ‘Come and get us, Brian!’ and spewing profanities. Then the three of you came out brandishing brooms and a mop like weapons and started marching back and forth on the sidewalk in front of the store screaming for Brian to come get you. Johnston threatened to take you all in for drunk and disorderly if you didn’t calm down, but then the three of you got belligerent and started threatening him with your brooms, so he called for reinforcements.”
“Oh my God,” I whispered as it all came rushing back like a movie in my head.
My friends and I didn’t drink a lot normally, not at our age, but when we did, we tended to get a tiny bit rambunctious. It was as true now as it had been when we were younger. I remembered all the trouble we’d gotten into when we went to the Florida Keys to celebrate my fiftieth birthday. I needed a new liver after that trip. Although the good thing was that my fuddy-duddy sister Teresa had met her husband on that vacation thanks to us. Like Emma, she’d somehow landed herself a billionaire, and a nice one at that.
“When Reyes got there as back-up, you were yelling at Johnston and calling him ‘Doogie Copper’.”
I giggled at that one, and Jake gave me a stern look that made my pussy spasm.
“Reyes apparently knows one of your friends, the one who’s a nurse...”
“Emma.”
“Yeah, so he called Emma’s boyfriend and Johnston called me. Wyatt and I got there at the same time. He and I are good friends.”
I rolled my eyes. Of course he was friends with Wyatt.
“I knew he was dating someone, but I didn’t realize it was a friend of yours. Anyway, Wyatt volunteered to take Emma and Dawn home with him, and I said I’d take you with me and keep an eye on you.”
“Gee thanks,” I said drily.
“Then I drove you here, you projectile vomited into my bushes, and I put you to bed.”
I had a memory of myself hurling into the bushes while Jake held my hair back. Well that explained the horrible taste in my mouth this morning. I’m glad Jake had left me a toothbrush.
“Oh Lord, it’s all coming back to me now. Thank you for taking care of me. And I apologize about your bushes,” I said grudgingly.
Jake shrugged.
“Nothing I couldn’t rinse off with a hose. But there’s something else.”
I looked up nervously. “What?”
The smirk was back.
“You told me that you really like me.”
“I did not.”
He nodded. “You did. In fact, your exact words were, ‘Don’t tell Jake, but I like him. I really like him. He’s hot as fuck.’ And then you passed out.”
I lowered my head into my hands, squeezing against my skull as if that would help everything be better. It didn’t work.
“Can you take me home now please?” I asked in a small voice.
“How about we go out to breakfast?” he countered. “You need greasy breakfast food to help with your hangover.”
It was a testament to how shitty I felt that I didn’t argue.