A Week for Love to Bloom (13 page)

“I realized it Fr
iday, too. My heart shattered when you left. I can still see the anguish on your face when I told you to go. It was horrible.” Huge tears trickled down her cheeks as she recalled how Justin pleaded with her not to walk away.

J
ustin pulled his body away from her. “Shit, Lauren, I can’t stand to see you cry. This should be a happy moment. Look at me. I love you, Lauren Evans. In only seven days, I loved you.”

“I love you, too, Justin. In one week I loved you, too.” S
he smiled up at him as she wiped away a tear.

Lauren started giggling. “Do
you realize you’re standing in your driveway hugging me in your underwear?”

It was not the way
either envisioned saying those three words for the first time, but it was their cherished moment, and it was perfect.

Before knocking on Justin’s door, Lauren took a deep breath to calm the knot of anticipation that simmered in her stomach. When he opened the door to her standing in front of him, wearing a green halter top matched with white shorts, she watched his gaze go to her chest. She wasn’t wearing a bra, and she could clearly see from his expression that he noticed.

“This is an awesome
surprise, and damn you look smokin hot. Please tell me you’re not leaving anytime soon.”

“Actually,
I’m all yours for twenty-four hours ... that’s if you want me.” Lauren revealed an overnight bag she was hiding behind her back. She seriously doubted he’d turn her away.

Justin grabbed h
er wrist and pulled her inside as he took her bag and dropped it to the floor. She felt his hands on her waist as he picked her up. Instinctively, she wrapped her legs around him and pushed her hips forward as she kissed him ferociously.

He carried her over to the
bed and climbed on it, sitting back onto his legs. “Lauren, I could never get enough of you,” he groaned.

Straddling his lap, she looked up and saw the same
predatory craving in his deep blue eyes; the look when he’s lost control and desperately
needs
to devour every inch of her. Lauren didn’t care. She loved when he went there. It was as if she was all he needed for his survival.

His gaze
never strayed from her eyes as he slowly untied her halter top. The straps fell as he placed his hands around her neck and slid them down to her flushed, voluptuous breasts. He cradled and massaged them as he stared at her. “Shit, Lauren. Seeing the look of pleasure on your face makes me want to explode. I have to devour you, baby—all of you.”

S
he threw her head back and clenched his waist. He leaned down and sucked on one of her nipples while twisting the other between his fingers.

“Ahh, Justin that feel
s so good.”

He
leaned over and lowered her onto the bed. Standing at the edge, he unbuttoned her shorts and slid them to the floor. Placing his finger on her stomach, he glided it slowly down between her legs.

She saw his voracious, glazed eyes staring at her wet, satin panties before he slid his fingers inside them and into her.

“I want to pleasure you and taste
you, Lauren. Do you want me to?”

“Yes,” she said, taking short, raspy breaths.

“Then it’s time for some
exploring
.” She didn’t hear any playfulness to his voice and could clearly see he was on a lust filled mission.

Justin lowered to his knees
and grabbed the sides of Lauren’s thighs, pulling her swiftly to the edge of the bed. He slowly inched her panties down her legs, causing every one of her nerves to dance.

An
icy tingle crawled its way over her entire body, causing her head to spin with stinging anticipation. She hadn’t thought of it happening. Lauren wanted it, but her curiosity and fear were all wrapped into one, causing her to quake. She closed her eyes and tried to relax as the chills encompassed her entire being.

Spreading her legs apart, Justin
grazed his lips up and down her inner thighs as her scrumptious scent lured him along. Her legs trembled from the taunting encounter of his hot breath on her delicate folds as her candy wetness felt the swirl of his tongue. Lauren became numbingly lightheaded as she felt incessant delight throbbing in her most sensitive spots of pleasure. Her knuckles turned white from the firm hold she had on the sheets while she moaned and whimpered. Lauren didn’t think she could take more of the irrefutable pleasure, splendid yet painfully teasing.

“I swear I co
uld erupt this second from your sweet taste and moaning, but I want to wait to be inside you,” Justin said before he continued his vigorous onslaught. He sucked, licked and swirled her hot flesh before he thrust his tongue inside her. Digging his fingers into the top of her hips, he yanked her further against his scorching mouth and held her down to writhe in epic rapture.

Lauren lost con
trol and cried out as she convulsed and climaxed. She felt as if all the blood had escaped her, leaving her weak and barely able to gain control of her exertive breaths. Justin lay next to her on the bed. She didn’t open her eyes or say a word for several minutes.

“Baby, are you OK?”
he asked while moving wayward strands of hair from her face.

She opened her eyes and looked over at him.

“I ... I had no idea.” She rolled up against him and buried herself into his chest. “Thank you. I had no idea it would feel that amazing.”

“
I can’t begin to describe how erotic it was to watch you. I need to be inside of you, Lauren.”

“I want you there,” she whispered.

***

Justin watched
her breathe and sleep for close to an hour. He was her pawn, defenseless against her captivating qualities, waiting every minute of the day to see her next move so he could follow.

If only you knew the strength of the spell you hold over me, an intoxicating spell.

H
e lightly ran his fingers through her hair, unable to resist touching her any longer. He grazed his nose along her neck, breathing in her floral scent.

Lauren awoke
from his touch. The only light was from the lamp on the nightstand.

“
I’m sorry I woke you.”

“How long have I been asleep?”

“You’ve been out about an hour. You pretty much passed out after … well, after what I would call the most amazing sex ever.” He kissed her forehead, her ear, and then her neck. “You’re so sweet and beautiful,” Justin said solemnly.

“What’s wrong?”

“I was watching you sleep, thinking of what your father did.”

“Yes
, about that, I don’t appreciate my mother telling you.”

“She didn’t s
ay much ... but enough. I want you to know you can talk to me about it. I can tell that you take on the world alone and keep things bottled up. It appears we’re a lot alike and have been alone because of it. From what I’ve discovered about you this last week, I’m actually shocked you’ve opened up to me as much as you have.”

“When my dad, Tom, left
us it was like a death. I didn’t have time to grieve because of our business, so I had to suck it up.”

“This is definitely new terrain
for me, but I think when two people love each other, they’re supposed to lean on each other for support. Lean on me, Lauren. I want you to.”

“
You’re incredibly sweet. I’ve never dated a man who wanted to make my life easier or better. They only had one thing on their mind, so they didn’t get far. I’ve really let my guard down with you physically, and I’m working on the emotional side of it. It’s just going to take time for me to get use to talking about things. I’ll tell you what happened with my dad.”

“I can’t stand the thought of anyone el
se trying to get into your pants, but now that you said that it makes me feel a little shitty. I mean, I was in them in a short amount of time. I know I was terrible at showing it, but I honestly did want to wait.”

“Why did it
affect you so much that I was a virgin?”

“To elaborate on that
I’d have to talk about other women, and I don’t want to.”

“You just said you want me to open up, so now
you
need to spill it. I can take it.”

Justin put
his hands behind his head and stretched out his defined body that was only covered by a sheet draped across his mid-section. He fought a smile when he noticed Lauren’s steady gaze move along the length of his body.

“My
first time was with a girl that lived next door to me. We grew up together but were never in the same circle of friends at school. We were fifteen and curious, so we decided to give it a try. We were just experimenting, and it wasn’t special, whatsoever. Then came Beth. Are you sure you want to hear this?”

“Yes, go on.”

“Beth was a virgin when we started dating. She wanted to please me, so we did it. All was good until I ended it with her. She thought we would get married. I think that’s the only reason she had sex with me. She took it hard when I broke it off, and she threw the virginity thing in my face. I felt horrible about it. I swore then I’d never take that from another girl, and I didn’t, that is until you came along.

“
You’re so gorgeous, Lauren. I assumed you had boyfriends before I met you. If I couldn’t keep my hands off of you, I figured a serious boyfriend hadn’t. Things would’ve been different had I known up front I’d be your first, but by the time I found out, I’d already touched your soft skin and had a taste of that sweet mouth. I still tried, but
someone
became obsessed with seducing me.”

“
I’m sorry. I had no idea you were made to feel guilt over that,” Lauren said, running her fingers between the planes of his chest. “I want you to know I’d never throw that in your face. I don’t want to think about it, but if this didn’t work out, I wouldn’t regret it. You know why?”

“No, why?”

“Because I loved you when we did it. My first time was with love. Yes, there was lust thrown in there, too, but definitely love,” Lauren said, grinning. “And speaking of lust, you lying here with that sheet draped just so is really turning me on.”

Justin threw the sheet
aside and rolled onto her naked body. “You took all that so well. I figured I’d mention
her
name and you’d want to leave. You’re special, Lauren.” He held her head and ran his thumbs along her temples as he showed her the love he felt for her through his enchanting blue eyes.

“
I’m not threatened by her anymore. You’ve made it abundantly clear that I have no reason to be. You know, your naked body is lying on top of me, and you’re saying sweet nothings in my ear. Do we need to have the man card talk?” Lauren asked, snickering.

Justin grabbed each of her wrists and held them up near her head, pinning her to the bed. “
You’re going to get it now,
woman
, and you’re being very greedy tonight. What will this make, orgasm number three? I’m running out of condoms.”

Jeffrey Garrison walked to his son’s office at their law firm. “Jonathan, a truck was parked near the guest house all night. I’m pretty sure a woman stayed with Justin. I was curious if you know who that might be?”

“I imagine
it’s Lauren Evans—as in Evans Garden and Nursery. Dad, this is not good. We have to tell Justin.”

“We can’t. Until she gets served the papers, we can’t tell him.”

“Dad, he’s going to blame us for this and then leave again. I don’t want that. I think it’s reasonable to give him some warning.”

“No
, Jonathan. It’s her personal business, and if there’s a chance she knows, then she might not want to share that with him. Justin has never had a serious girlfriend, so I believe it’ll blow over in time.”

“Fine, but let’s face it,
eventually, he’s going to fall for someone. I have a terrible feeling this is going to blow up in our face. I better go there and check it out.”

“Wake up, beautiful.” Justin swatted her backside.

She let out a yawn
and a groan as she rolled over toward him. “I get a day off, and you wake me up early? What kind of boyfriend are you?”

“
The kind that doesn’t let you sleep past ten o’clock, and I loved the sound of that word rolling off your tongue.”

“What?” Lauren sat up
. “I can’t remember the last time I slept this late.”

“You
must’ve needed it, we were up late. Come take a shower with me.”

She
gave him an alluring look. “As long as I get to be pressed up against you again.”

“Do you honestly think I’d
say no to that?”

Lauren raised her brow and pursed her lips
.