Date Night (Wish Come True Book 1) (12 page)

Jordan

I pulled the ingredients out of the
grocery bags as JT searched for the supplies we needed.

“It should all be here somewhere,” JT
said, reaching into the back of a cupboard and pulling out a large pot. “Like
this Jordan?”

“Yep,” I said, smiling at him.
“That’s perfect. Just fill it up with water and set it to boil. Then find a
frying pan for the ground beef. I also need a mixing bowl for the cheese
filling. Where would that be?”

“Bottom shelf in the island.”

As I bent over to grab a bowl, I felt
his large hands rub seductively across my bottom. I took my time retrieving the
bowl to fully enjoy the sensation but jerked upright when his hand slid between
my thighs to palm the crotch of my jeans.

“Whoa!” I slid into his waiting arms.
“Won’t Derek be home soon?”

“I don’t think so,” he said with a
gleam in his eyes. “I told him to beat it and find somewhere else to crash
tonight.”

His hands began to explore my body,
slowly moving from my shoulders down over my breasts and finally to my bottom,
caressing and pinching along the way as his tongue plunged freely in and out of
my mouth. The rock hard bulge in his pants rubbed provocatively against my
belly, sending waves of heat pulsing into the apex of my thighs. He pulled back
and gazed down at me with sultry eyes.

“What reaction did you expect when
you dress like this Jordan?”

“Hmmm,” I grinned up at him. “Note to
self. JT
really
likes this outfit.”

I let my hands fall to his hips,
ready to pick up where we’d left off the other night before Derek’s untimely
arrival, but JT jumped out of the way and wagged his finger at me.

“Not until I get my dinner.” He
wiggled his brows. “Once I get you in my bedroom, there’s no way we’re coming
back out until morning.”

My mouth went dry at his words. JT
naked in a bed and all to myself? All night? What would I tell my mother? I’d
worry about that later. O.M.G! I needed to text Leah and have her go meet Steve
at the pool hall. They would get on great.

“Well get moving then.” I pushed him
out of my way to start the ground beef cooking on the stove while I mixed the
eggs, cottage cheese, parmesan and seasoning.

JT stood unnervingly close behind me
as I went about my work, rubbing up against me so I could feel the hard bulge
in his pants against my bottom, and letting his hands roam here and there. When
his fingers worked my nipples into tight buds, I almost dragged him into the
bedroom, but just as I reached the edge of losing control, he’d stop and pull
back for a few moments. It was incredibly distracting and torturous but totally
hot. My body was screaming for release by the time I had the lasagna baking in
the oven and the garlic bread prepped. 

If I had known JT was ready to head
to the bedroom I’d have prepped the lasagna before I came. I excused myself to
use the restroom and immediately texted Leah, begging her to meet Steve at
Fifth Avenue in exchange for ANYTHING she wanted. I would’ve been screwed if
Steve didn’t look like that guy on
Pacific Rim
and there wasn’t a
sleepover at stake. As it was, she reluctantly agreed.

With that problem resolved I started
washing the lettuce for our salad. I smiled at JT. “I’m so happy you want to
move forward in our relationship JT. When are we going to tell Derek and
Jared?”

“Can’t we just enjoy our time alone
and keep it low key for a while?”

I continued to wash the lettuce with
my back turned to him. What the hell did he mean by that? Was he hoping to get
to try out the goods and return them with no one the wiser if he wasn’t fully
satisfied?

“Are you ashamed of me?” I asked,
turning and staring him straight in the eyes. I folded my arms across my chest
and wondered how he planned to dig himself out of the hole he was in.

“Don’t be stupid,” he said with a
frown and tried to pull me into his arms.

I put my hands up protectively to
keep him at a safe distance. We needed to hash this out. If I was going to
sleep with him, then we better damn well have a common understanding of where
this relationship was going.

“Why is that stupid? You asked me to
spend the night with you JT. I don’t sleep around. Sleeping with a guy means
full-blown commitment to me. If you want the goods, then there’s no way in hell
I’m sneaking around like we’re doing something wrong. It’s all or nothing. Are
you in or out?”

He cursed under his breath and it was
a full five seconds before I realized it wasn’t directed at me but at the
telltale noise of the garage door opening.

“Thought you told him to beat it?”

JT groaned and rubbed his hand over
his eyes. “I did—the little shit doesn’t listen to me.”

Derek inhaled deeply as he walked
through the garage door and then let out a prolonged sigh. “Mmmmm. That’s
smells delicious Jordan. What’re you cooking? And what do I need to do to get
some?” He leaned over and pecked me on the cheek in a brotherly manner.

“Lasagna, garlic bread and a garden
salad,” I said, resigned to the fact that the sleepover party just went from
definitely to unlikely. “You’re going to have to fight your brother for it.
This is his payback for enduring an entire evening with me planning my
wedding.”

“Oh, right.” Derek rolled his eyes.
“Like going out for an evening of free food with a hot chick, drinking and
dancing the night away was a lot of work. Sounds to me like you drew the short
end of the stick Jordan.”

JT scowled at Derek and reached for a
tomato. “Just for that comment, I’m not going to share with you.”

“Stop it.” I scolded as I slapped
JT’s hand away. “I’m supposed to be making dinner for you, remember? You earned
it. I’m sure it was painful being stuck in public with me for several hours.”

“Very funny,” he said, glaring at me
for a second as if to say knock-it-off. He turned to his brother. “Important
decisions were on the line, man; like whether to wed in a chapel or gazebo and
what color balloons we wanted. Not to mention posing with my lovely fiancée for
our engagement pictures. That was my favorite part. Hey, did the photographer
ever send those pictures over to you?”

I cleared my throat and bent my head
further while violently chopping the carrots for our salad. My hair fell
forward and shielded my face, effectively hiding the sudden blush that had
swept over me at the memory. Bastard. I was mad at him right now.

“Mr. Rogers emailed me yesterday to
let me know the photos should be ready tomorrow for pick up.”

“Take it from me,” Derek said,
leaning up against the kitchen counter. “You can do a lot better than this guy.
He likes to leave me a gift every morning in the bathroom and never puts the
seat down.”

“If it’s yellow, let it mellow,” JT
said, grinning broadly at me. “It saves water—and money.”

“Ugh.” I laughed while shaking my
head. How was I ever going to stay mad at him if he made me laugh? “We’re about
to eat. Seriously. T.M.I.”

An ear splitting grin covered Derek’s
face. “See what you get for hanging out at a bachelor pad? You’re going to make
JT share with me aren’t you Jordan?”

JT shook his head vigorously in the
negative and began to wrestle his brother out of the kitchen towards his
bedroom. “Don’t you need to go get ready for work or something? I thought I
told you to beat it.”

“Nope,” Derek grunted and lowered his
right shoulder to gain some leverage. “Now I understand why—didn’t want to
share your lasagna did you? Don’t think I didn’t see the pie too. I’ve got all
night to hang out with you two.”

I groaned inwardly at his words;
sleepover went from unlikely to non-existent. There was no way we were going to
finish our earlier discussion and make up by jumping in the sack. It was time
to shift back to plan A. JT was going to be pissed but now, more than ever, I
wanted to move our relationship forward and wide open to the public.

“Looks like it will be a bonding
night for the boys,” I called out casually over their grunting and shuffling as
they wrestled their way across the kitchen floor. “I have a date tonight after
dinner so I won’t be able to hang out for very long.”

“But tonight’s Saturday.” JT came to
a full stop and stared over at me with a slight frown turning down the corner
of his mouth. “I thought you were hanging out here all night?”

“Duh,” Derek said, smiling over at
me. “Saturday night is usually when young hot chicks go out on dates JT. Why
don’t you get a life?”

I washed my hands in the sink and
then reached for a towel. My heart fluttered lightly in my chest. JT looked
pissed at my news. Not that I could blame him after what passed between us in
the last hour…up until the part where he wanted to keep our relationship on the
down low. Screw that. I was tired of hearing his crap about responsibilities
with his brother—unable to support a woman—can’t mess up school—maybe we’re not
right for each other. Yada, yada, yada. He was happy to mess around with me in secret
but I wanted more. Much more.

It sounded like a load of bullshit
anyway. Derek was entering college and could take care of himself now. And what
generation did JT belong to anyway? Should I pull out a lace trimmed apron and
wait for him with dinner on the table after he returned home from work each
evening? Not happening. Besides, there was no way in hell he was going to mess
up school. Who was he trying to kid? JT had single handedly raised his brother
while working part-time and completing five years of college. He was the master
of multi-tasking.

No. Those were all poor excuses for
the real issue at hand. He was being a stubborn jackass who wanted to do things
his way. So I had no choice but to try and call his bluff. If he loved me and
wanted a future with me, then he was going to have to fight for me. Starting
tonight.

“So who’s the lucky guy?” Derek
prodded. JT watched me silently with arched brow, seconding the question.

“Steve Nichols.” I leaned my back
against the counter and lightly crossed my arms.
Keep calm. You can do this.
“You met him last week at the restaurant, JT. Said he was a cousin of one
of your friends. Good guy.”

Of course JT already knew this but I
said it anyway for the benefit of Derek. A flash of surprise registered in JT’s
eyes and I caught a glimpse of his wounded expression before he turned away to
retrieve a beer from the refrigerator. I wanted desperately to reach out and
wrap him up in my arms. Instead I pulled the lasagna out of the oven.

Tomato sauce bubbled and hissed under
the thick layer of golden brown mozzarella cheese. I set the pan down on top of
the stove to let it set for five minutes and busied myself with putting the
apple pie in the oven to bake while we ate.

“I told you he’d call,” JT said and
handed me a Corona. “Where’s the big date tonight?”

“Fifth Avenue.”

Derek hooted with laughter. “Oh man.
He’s going to love your tight pair of jeans, Jordan. All that bending over the
pool table. You’re making wishes come true tonight.”

“Shut it,” JT scolded irritably and
added a light punch for good measure. “You’re embarrassing her.”

A deep, red hot flush had indeed
flooded my face as I stared down at my skinny jeans. I hadn’t thought of my
date with Steve when I dressed for JT tonight. Derek was a guy and probably right.
Fifth Avenue had been Steve’s suggestion and while I wasn’t much of a pool
player, I didn’t have anything against learning and playing for fun. Well, if
my goal was to make JT jealous, then it looked like I shot the puck in the net.

“So have you heard back from your job
interview?”

I glanced at JT as I served up large
portions of the gooey lasagna onto our plates. “Not yet, but I think it went
well. They said I should hear back in a few weeks.”

“Where did you interview?” Derek
asked before shoveling what seemed like a quarter of his meal down his throat.

I watched him with a mixture of awe
and horror. If he wasn’t careful he would burn his throat. “Oak Ridge
Elementary right here in Royal Oak. Not too far away. I’d be able to live at
home a while longer. Save some money.”

“Cool. Any other opportunities?”

I bit my lip a moment, trying to
decide if I wanted to play my card so soon or if I should wait to see how JT
reacted to my date tonight. Grannie had told me I needed to find a way to get
JT to come with me up north. Oh what the heck. I may as well go for the full
court press.

“Yeah, actually. I have two
interviews next week in the area and another one in two weeks on Mackinac
Island.”

JT paused with his fork poised in
front of his mouth and furrowed his brows at me. “That’s a four hour drive.
Kind of faraway don’t you think? Especially with Grannie being sick and all?”

“It’s not ideal,” I said, meeting his
steady gaze. “But if my options are slim I might have to consider it just to
get my foot in the door somewhere. I need work experience.”