Straight Up Love (Boys of Jackson Harbor 2)

Smiling, he opens my palm and presses a kiss right in the center—first lips, then the briefest touch of his tongue. My back arches. I want to catapult myself out of this seat and onto his lap. I want to claim all the dirty promises he’s making with his lips and tongue.

“So those are only for me to enjoy when we’re alone together?” he asks.

I blink at him. Straddling his lap would be heaven. I want the hard length of him pressed between my legs and his mouth . . . What has gotten into me? “What?”

“The cutoffs?” He shakes his head slowly. “You’re so fucking cute when you blush. You know that?” He puts my hand down and stands. “But Cindy’s going to kill me if I leave her out there alone much longer.” He winks at me, then turns the knob to open the office door.

Another woman might let him leave then touch herself to relieve this pulsing ache between her legs. Another woman might tell him not to go and climb him like a tree. Another woman might not instantly ruin the moment with worry.

I bolt up from my chair and chase him out of the office. “You don’t have to do this, you know.”

He stops and turns in the middle of the kitchen. “Do what?”

I bite my lip and look away. “I don’t know. Flirt with me, I guess. Seduce me with . . .” I swallow, a delicious chill running up my spine with the thought of his hot mouth on my skin. Are knuckles an erogenous zone? Because I’m pretty sure Jake just made them into one. “With your mouth. You don’t have to. You’re doing me a favor. It’s not like I expect you to . . .”

“Because you have lube?”

My jaw drops, and I swing my gaze back to him and glare. “Oh my God, if you say that word one more time, I’ll kill you.”

He stalks toward me, something different in his eyes. Something darker and more intent than the playful Jake who sucked my fingers, and I back up until my legs hit the cold stainless steel of the walk-in cooler. He puts a hand on either side of my head and leans in, his body close to mine. Our gazes tangle for long, silent beats before he finally speaks. “I don’t have to seduce you, or you don’t want me to?”

I lick my lips. My heart is pounding, my body asking for so much more than I should ever want from Jake. “I don’t think we need to over-complicate this.”

His gaze drops to my lips. “Does it make you uncomfortable when I’m close to you?”

I swallow. “A little.”

“Why is that, Ava?” He dips his head, and his mouth is so close to mine that speaking or moving at all feels intimate. “I know you feel this. I see it in your eyes.” He tilts his head to the side and runs the bridge of his nose along the column of my neck. “In the flush of your skin,” he whispers in my ear. “I hear it in the hitch of your breath. And before you threw the brakes on your own pleasure last night, I could feel it in the arch of your back, and the way your hips moved under me like you wanted to rub against me.”

My eyes float closed. His voice is low and husky, and I want more of his words so much right now. “We’re friends, Jake.”

“We’ve always been friends. That’s never going to change. But for the next few months, I’m going to be more than that, so it’s time for you to get used to the idea. I’m going to do things to you that are a hell of a lot more pleasurable than a fucking burger can ever be. Don’t fight it.” He nips at my neck and sucks. When I release a soft cry, he groans into my ear. “Christ. You’re going to be my undoing, Ava.”

I’m not sure what he means by that, and I’m in no position to ask. If I weren’t leaning against the cooler, I’m pretty sure I’d be in a puddle on the floor.

He backs up, and there’s so much heat in his eyes that I don’t know if I should shut this down before we do something we regret or drag him back into his office and shut the door. I’m walking on a dangerous precipice, and I’m terrified. I like the earth steady and solid beneath my feet, but Jake’s offering the wind in my hair, the thrill of the fall.

His tongue touches his bottom lip as he gives me a final once-over. Then he disappears through the swinging door. My heart is hammering, and my skin is tingling, and I’m not even sure what the hell just happened.

Jake

I push out of the kitchen and head straight to the taps. I need a drink, and water isn’t going to cut it. Jesus. I could get off on nothing more than the little sounds Ava made when I sucked on her fingers, and my dick aches from the way her eyes went dark and her lips parted. I’ve never been short on fantasies when it came to Ava, but that little interlude just added a few dozen images to the list. And then she fucking ruined it by chasing after me to tell me I didn’t need to seduce her. As if I’m just the stud who can show up a couple of times a week, get off inside her, and walk away.

Fuck that.

I pour myself a snifter of our imperial stout and drain half of it before turning back to the bar to play catch-up. My steps falter as I spot a beautiful blonde. She hops off her stool immediately when she sees me. “Jake! Oh my God! It’s so good to see you!”

“Molly.” I swallow, take a breath, and paste on a smile. Fuck, I’m rock hard in my jeans from touching Ava and then her stepsister suddenly appears, like fate is trying to remind me that I fucked up once, and that I lost the right to ever make Ava mine. “How are you?”

“I’m good.” She stops, squeezes her eyes shut, and shakes her head. “That’s bullshit. Sorry. You deserve better than that. I’m not good. My stepdad’s an ass, my mom is a doormat, and my life’s a mess.”

“Sounds like not much has changed since last time we talked.” I grimace the second the words leave my mouth. I really, really don’t want to talk about last time. In fact, I’d rather we pretended last time didn’t exist. “How long has it been?” I ask softly, but I know the answer. The last time I saw Molly McKinley was the night I found out Ava was engaged. The night I made the most epic mistake of my life.

“Almost five years.”

“That’s a while. I must have scared you off.” I try to smile, but guilt makes my expression waver.

“I’ve come home a couple of times but never stayed long.” She grabs her pint glass off the bar and hoists it in the air. “But now that I know the beer is as good as I remembered, I’ll be sure to swing by next time I’m forced to visit.” She looks me over slowly, and when she lifts her gaze back to meet mine, her pink lips are stretched into a smile. “I wonder if anything else is as good as I remember . . .”