Choosing Fate (Love in Eden 1.70)

"It's… It's the car," I blurted. "I'm just upset about my car."

He studied me for the longest moment, and it was all I could do to hold his gaze and not drop my eyes. Jackson had always said I wasn't much of a liar, but I knew if I wanted Zander out of there, I needed to convince him that he and I were fine.

"I can fix the car, Joli. If Pete doesn't have a starter, I might be able to find one from a scrapped car that’s still good and won't cost much. Or I can talk to Pete about getting you one at cost and I'll install it for free. There's some other things I can check on your car to make sure you don't have any problems going forward—"

I had no clue what possessed me to do it. Maybe it was because he seemed so truly worried about upsetting me or maybe I just couldn't stomach lying to him any longer. Either way, I ended up doing the one thing I’d promised myself I wouldn't do.

I told him the truth.

Chapter 5

Zander

"I didn't forget to give you your jacket back last night. I kept it on purpose so I’d have a reason to see you again."

Jolene's words stunned me into silence for a moment, which gave her enough time to pull free of me and step into the house. I instinctively put my foot between the door and the frame as she began to close it. My head was spinning with the idea that she'd wanted to see me again.

After leaving her the night before, I'd had to go back to the garage to lock up. By the time I'd gotten back to my motel room, my thoughts had been so consumed with Joli that I hadn't even made it to the shower before I'd pulled my hard dick out of my jeans and rubbed one out. The orgasm had wrung me out in the best possible way, but the imagined sounds of Jolene's moans and the image of her wrapped around me as I’d thrust into her had made my cock thick and full by the time I'd gotten the shower going and the water warm enough.

I'd taken my time with the next fantasy, torturing both her and myself in the process. Jolene's wet body had fit mine perfectly as I'd taken her from behind against the shower wall. Every moment of the dream-fuck had felt so damn real. Up until the point where I'd looked down expecting to see my dick covered in her sweet, hot juices, anyway. Instead, I'd had to watch my release mix with the shower water as it had slipped down the drain. I'd managed to make it to my bed before passing out, but by morning, I'd woken up needing her again and I'd let my mind imagine what it would be like to fuck her hard and fast until she was screaming my name, begging me to let her come.

Fantasies of her were safe. Whatever was happening right now wasn't. She had that white knight syndrome or whatever, that was all. I just needed to explain that to her. And I needed to tell her that I wasn't the kind of guy who stuck around. I needed to tell her those things and then turn and walk away.

But I couldn't command my body to move, at least not backward. Instead, I pushed into the house, forcing Jolene to step back as the door swung closed behind me. I flipped on the light switch near the door so I could see her better. Her eyes were wide and her breath was coming in heavy pants, causing her generous breasts to lift up and down. Unlike the night before, she was wearing nothing more than a simple pair of jeans and a pretty, flowing tank top with flowers on it. Her hair was in a neat ponytail and I didn't see even a lick of makeup on her. I hadn't thought it possible that she could be even more beautiful, but I’d gotten that wrong too.

I managed to stop myself from approaching her, but that actually seemed to make her more nervous because she said, "I don't do this kind of thing. I—I have to be… people expect me to be…"

Her hand was on her stomach as she tried to get out whatever she was attempting to say. At first, I thought she was tapping her fingers nervously against her shirt, but then I realized she was actually pressing her fingers into her body. Her hand kept moving in small increments over her abdomen, always pressing in slightly before moving on. When her hand dipped just a little lower, I felt like my dick was going to explode behind my pants. But Jolene was absolutely clueless as to what she was doing. I could see that when I lifted my eyes to meet hers. She was clearly turned on, but she was afraid of it. At her age and after having been married, I didn't even understand how that was possible.