It was a command out of her perfectly prim mouth that I’d never be capable of denying. I came with a fury, buried deep inside of her. I saw stars at the force of my climax, and it was a full minute before I pulled back to look at her again. She had a sated, happy smile on those lips. Another smile that I claimed as my own.
I gently dropped her back down to her feet, and after we cleaned up, we collapsed back onto the couch, nestled together under a blanket.
“I guess I should have told you how I felt earlier,” I said into her hair.
She chuckled softly. “I don’t know that I would have believed you.”
“Why not?” I trailed figure eights into her hip.
“I don’t know. It would have felt too surreal that you’d pick me.”
I kissed her shoulder. “I like everything about you, Jen. The way you light up when holding a camera, your most adorable reaction to your cats, that smile when you think no one is watching, the blush on your cheeks when I tease you…” My voice dropped seductively. “That little noise you make as you come.”
She flushed all over and buried her head in my chest. “Okay, I believe you.”
“Mmm. I can keep reminding you of all the reasons I like you.” My hands trailed lower.
“You have my attention.” She peaked back up at me. “So, I have a question.”
“Yes?” I asked, pressing a kiss to her neck and then her collarbone and then her breast.
“Um…I’m going to Cabo next week for an elopement. Do you...have any interest in going?”
I looked up at her from where I’d been laying kisses down her stomach. “To Mexico with you? Of fucking course, I want to go, Jen.”
She grinned. “Oh well, um…good.”
“My turn for a question,” I said right before I reached the apex of her thighs.
“Mmhmm?” she murmured.
“Does this mean you’ll go to the gala with me as my girlfriend?”
Her eyes flew open. “Not your fake girlfriend?”
I shook my head. “Real girlfriend.”
“I…could probably manage that,” she whispered. “And that makes you my real boyfriend?”
I covered her body with my own. “It sure as fuck does.”
Part IV
A Real Relationship
23
Jennifer
A text from Annie buzzed form my phone as I pulled up to Jordan’s place three days later and parked next to Sutton’s new Range Rover.
Come around back. The gate’s unlocked. xoxo
I plopped a wide-brimmed hat on my head and grabbed my beach bag out of the backseat. Annie’s residency started at Texas Tech in full force tomorrow. Her life was going to be a madhouse, but she had today off, and Sutton and I were taking the rare opportunity to get away for the afternoon. Jason was at summer camp all week, and they’d hired a full-time nanny for Madison. Sutton had jumped at the first opportunity to have a break.
I hefted my bag and walked around to the back. Jordan’s house was on the Wright golf course that Landon had commissioned to PGA standards. But the best part of the house was the immaculate pool and spa.
Annie and Sutton had already stripped down to swimsuits. A pitcher of margaritas sat between their tables.
“Hey, y’all,” I said.
“You made it!” Sutton said with a wide smile.
“I did.”
I held my breath for a second and then stepped into the backyard, carrying the other thing that I’d had in my backseat with me. I walked right up to Annie and dropped a twelve-pack of Coke onto the empty table next to her.
She looked at it, then at me, and then back down. Then she shrieked at the top of her lungs, jumping out of the seat and throwing her arms around me.
“Oh my God!” she squealed. “Yesss! I knew it!”
Sutton’s hands covered her ears. “Dear Lord, what is happening? I escaped the screeches of my toddler for a reason.”
Annie bounced up and down. “I won a bet!”
Sutton arched an eyebrow. “What bet?”
I laughed at Annie’s reaction. “Annie bet me a Coke that Julian was into me.”
“And I said I was so sure that he was that I’d bet her a whole twelve-pack.” Annie hefted the package up to the sky. “And look what I have, bitches!”
Sutton shook her head, laughter bubbling out of her. “So, you’re dating my cousin, too?”
I dropped my bag and sank into the seat next to her. “I am. As utterly surreal as that is to say out loud.”
“Why?” Sutton asked. “Anyone would be lucky to have you, Jen.”
I shrugged. “Well, I sort of thought that I’d make it longer than a few weeks with my no guys for ninety days policy.”
Annie snorted. “No one thought that would last.”
“Least of all if Julian showed interest,” Sutton added.
“I never thought he’d show interest. You know, he was interested in someone like Ashleigh Sinclair.”
Annie wrinkled her nose. “A two-faced, manipulative asshole who tried to ruin his life? Yes, why can’t we all be as perfect as Ashleigh?”