“It’s not? Okay. Then how about this. I’m not looking for a relationship, Bishop. I don’t want to settle down with anyone. But I am a woman with needs, and I want you. No-strings-attached sex, that’s it. You don’t have to worry about hurting me and Ashley. That’s all I want from you. Sex. I want a few good mind-blowing orgasms. I want to fuck. Here, in your truck, in a hotel…anywhere. All I want is for you to make me feel like a woman. I want to scream out your name while you fuck me from behind. That’s it. Just fuck me.”
“What?”
Jax reached down and pulled her sweater over her head and tossed it to the floor. Then she started to unbutton her jeans. She slid them down to reveal lace panties that matched the black lace bra she had on. She kicked them off and held her arms out wide.
“Fuck me right here and now, Bishop. We can skip dinner. You can leave when we’re done.”
I was positive my mouth was on the floor.
When she took a step toward me, I instinctively stepped back. One of her brows rose.
“Jax, this isn’t what I wanted.”
“Why not? I’ve heard around town that you’re quite the ladies’ man. I’m yours, Bishop. Do whatever it is you want with me.”
I didn’t even realize I was still backing up until I hit the front door.
Jax slid her fingers into her panties and started to pull them down until I practically screamed, “Stop!”
She froze.
“I’m not fucking you, Jax. I’m not doing that.”
With a carefree shrug, she replied, “Then make love to me. I don’t care.” She reached behind her back and undid her bra, letting it fall down her arms.
“Damn it,” I swore as I grabbed for a blanket on the arm of a chair and covered her up. “Jax, I can’t do this. I don’t want to do this.”
She smiled and took a few steps back. Reaching down, she picked up her bra and sweater. “You don’t want to do this, Bishop, because you’re still in love with her. The two of you need to talk.”
I pushed my hand into my hair and sighed.
“It’s okay to be angry with her,” Jax said. “But you’ll never truly be able to move on until you let go of the past. She clearly wants to talk, so talk it out. Let her say what she wants to say, and if things don’t work out, you know where to find me.”
I dropped my head back and let out a low groan. “Shit, Jax…I’m so sorry.”
“You don’t have anything to be sorry about. Let me go change, and we can have that dinner. Then you need to go home and do some serious thinking.”
Abby
Arabella opened the door to her little cottage and smiled. She was dressed in jeans and a light blue sweater. Her blonde hair was pulled up into a sloppy bun on top of her head and her blue eyes sparkled.
She tilted her head. “You’re up and about early.”
I smiled. “I was hoping you were still an early riser. Do you have some time this morning to chat? I have something to run by you.”
She motioned for me to come in. “You want some coffee?” she asked as she walked toward her kitchen. The little cottage was decorated almost exactly the same way it was two years ago.
“Sure, no cream or sugar.”
She gasped. “What? No sugar? When did you give that up?”
I walked over to the cabinet that I remembered held her coffee cups. “Cups still in here?”
With a nod, she replied, “Yep.”
“I gave up sugar pretty much after I filed for divorce from Bishop. Truth be told, I almost gave up eating entirely. I was in pretty bad shape for a while. Then I met Carol. She won’t admit it, but she really pulled me out of the hole I had fallen into.”
Arabella gave me a warm smile. “I’m glad you met someone in Boston who was there for you.”
I leaned against the counter and chewed on my lip as I looked down at the cupcakes sitting on the table before I glanced back up. “I’m really sorry I haven’t been in touch with you. It was pretty crappy of me to just leave like that.”
Arabella shrugged. “You already said you were sorry at least a dozen times. You’re forgiven, Abby. You did what you thought you needed to do at the time. Who am I to judge? I did pretty much the same thing, except I ran to this little cottage and hid out here.”
I pressed my lips tightly together and thought about whether I wanted to broach the subject of Hunter. “Do you, um, ever see Hunter?”
Arabella’s back was to me as she spoke. “Every now and then. It’s hard, though, ya know?”
I nodded. “Believe me, I know. After seeing Bishop the other day and having him pretty much kick me out of our…I mean…his house, well, it sucked ass. Not to mention he made it pretty clear…” She handed me the cup of coffee. “Thanks. Anyway, he made it clear he was dating someone.”