Date Night (Wish Come True Book 1) (6 page)

“Holy crap!” Derek laughed out loud
while leaning into the driver side window to give Grannie a peck on the cheek
and check out the black vinyl interior. “When did you get these digs Grannie?”

She cut the engine and let Derek help
her out of the car. “I just picked it up at the dealership. Happy Graduation,
Derek!”

“I can’t believe it!” His jaw dropped
as tears quickly flooded his eyes.

I beamed at him…so happy to be a
witness to his joy. He opened his mouth to say something more but then thought
better of it and simply lifted Grannie off the ground to twirl her once around
in his happiness.

“You really shouldn’t have. I mean
don’t get me wrong—I’m glad you did—
wow
!”

“Don’t thank me too much.” Grannie
chuckled and handed him an envelope. “It has a lot of miles. But it’s from the
original owner. He took real good care of the car. It was time for you to have
your own wheels. You’ll need it to get back and forth from college. I know
you’re living on campus but we’re all going to want to see you now and again. I
got you a few years of insurance too. You just need to cover the cost of your
gas.”

“Thank you so much,” he squealed,
taking the keys she offered. “You’re the best.”

JT stood with his arms lightly
crossed over his chest and ogled the Camaro with a twinge of what looked to me
like envy. But he was clearly happy for his brother. It would mean JT didn’t
have to share his own car anymore. Nothing bad about that.

“Go on,” JT said, nodding his head at
Derek. “Take it for a quick spin before the rest of the guests start to arrive.
I know you’re dying to try it out. I’ll hold down the fort.”

Everyone seemed to descend on the
house within a fifteen minute time span and I rushed around with my mother
getting the food arranged on the tables set up in the garage. There was no
shortage of food and drinks with pasta, pulled pork sandwiches, plus a variety
of appetizers and salads. Rounding out the meal was a full sheet of cake from
the grocery store where Mrs. Jenkins worked. My mother and I finally fixed
ourselves a plate of food and made our way to the tent to find a seat to enjoy
the fruits of our labor.

“Come sit here dear,” an older woman
with shoulder length blond hair said while patting the empty seat next to her.
She looked somehow familiar. It took a few seconds before it dawned on me who
the stranger was.

“You must be Aunt Mary.” I beamed and
extended my hand to the woman. “JT told me you were hoping to make it up for
the party. I’m glad to finally meet you. This is my mother, Judy.”

“Oh, yes.” Mary acknowledged my
mother with a nod of her head and held out her hand to shake. “We’ve met
before. It was quite some time ago. Good to see you again, Judy. You couldn’t
have been more than three or four at the time Jordan. That’s probably why you
don’t remember me.”

Mary and my mother fell into polite
conversation while I attacked my food with gusto. All of the preparations had
caused me to develop a ravenous appetite. I quietly observed Mary hoping to
glean some more information about her. I knew JT’s family used to visit his
aunt at least once per year while his folks were alive but those visits had
ceased after their tragic accident. Their relationship became somewhat strained
when JT had respectfully declined her offer to move to Atlanta five years
before to live with her. My ears perked up when I caught the tail end of Mary’s
sentence.

“…legal guardian. I was so worried
for the two boys and wished they would have come down to Atlanta to live with
me. Did you know his mother and I were raised by our Aunt? To be able to give
back in the way that our Aunt gave to us…well…it wasn’t meant to be. I must say
JT has done a fine job.”

Well that shed a little light on why
his Aunt Mary was upset with JT’s decision. JT had adamantly refused to move
away from their childhood home, certain that doing so would devastate his
younger brother even more. The life insurance proceeds had made it possible for
JT to pay off the mortgage and keep the monthly running costs of the home low
while he pursued his college degree.

I couldn’t recall Mary’s profession
but I suspected that in a pinch she would offer financial assistance to JT if
he really needed it and condescended to asking for help. But that wasn’t in his
nature. He was proud and resourceful and stubborn. Just like his ex-Marine Corp
father. I scanned the party tent and found JT sitting a few tables over with a
group of Derek’s friends and Chloe glued to his side.

JT looked up and his eyes connected
with mine. He acknowledged me with a slight nod of his head and a brief smile
that set my heart racing in my chest before he turned to answer a question from
the group of guys. Were we eventually going to have to talk about the make-out
session from the night before or did he plan to pretend like it had never
happened? Not if I had anything to say about it. I watched him get up from the
table and head into the house with his empty plate of food and Chloe nipping at
his heels.

It took all of my self-control to
rejoin the conversation with my mother and Mary instead of bounding into the
house after them. It bothered me when my green-eyed monster reared its ugly
head. I knew JT couldn’t help the way Chloe felt about him and he’d not given
me any reason to feel jealous. Hell! He wasn’t even my boyfriend. Yet the
feelings were there all the same.

After ten minutes passed without JT
reappearing, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to clear our used plates. I
picked up more used plates as I made my way toward the house, almost convincing
myself that my real intent was to help clean up, rather than spy on JT and
Chloe. I shifted the pile of plates into one hand in order to pull back the
screen door to the house but paused at the sound of Chloe’s words which drifted
outside.

“Let me show you how much I care
about you JT.”

I jerked the door open to find Chloe
on her tippy-toes with arms wrapped around JT’s head, pulling his face down
towards her for a kiss. Chloe jerked around at the sound of the opening door to
glare at me, clearly unhappy with the unexpected interruption. I bit down hard
on my lip and shoved past them to toss the large pile of waste I’d been
carrying into the full trash can.

“Sorry,” I gritted out through
clenched teeth. “I’ll be out of your hair in a second after I grab some more
trash bags from the basement. There are a ton of plates that need to be picked
up.”

I raced down the stairs taking large
gulping breaths in an attempt to control the riot of feelings coursing through
me. Damn it. Why couldn’t I just have let well enough alone? Of all the things
I didn’t want to see, top on my list was JT about to kiss another woman. Red
hot tears scalded my face in an unending stream as I made my way to the storage
room in the basement, locking the door behind me. My body wracked with the
force of my tears.

Why was this happening? Just a few
weeks ago I was happy by myself and blissfully unaware of the insatiable
tingling sensations that the right man could evoke in a woman. The sudden
rattling of the door startled me. I leaned my forehead against the door and
groaned.

Jordan

“Jordan,” JT said in a stern voice.
“Open the door.”

“Just go away.” I tried to mask the
devastation in my voice as I wiped furiously at my tears. “I’ll be up in a few
minutes, JT.”

“I’m not leaving.” His tone made it
clear that he meant it. “And I know how to unlock this door without your help
so save us both the hassle and open it. Now.”

The second the lock clicked open he
was through the door and standing behind me. I kept my back to him with my face
lowered, unwilling to let him see the depth of my pain. The gentle touch of his
hands on my shoulders nearly set me off again and I struggled to contain the
fresh batch of tears welling in my eyes.

“Jordan,” he said softly. “It’s not
what you think. Look at me.”

“No,” I whispered. “I’ll be fine.
Just give me a minute.”

He wrapped his arms around me from
behind and nuzzled his face into my neck. “I have no interest in Chloe
whatsoever. Do you hear me? What happened up there was all about her and what
she wants. Not me and what I want.”

“Really,” I snapped, “because I don’t
recall seeing you putting up a fight.”

“I was in shock.” JT said with
irritation lacing his words as he turned me around to face him. He forced my
chin up with his finger and gazed into my eyes. “And you interrupted before I
had the chance to react and pull away.”

“Interrupted?” My jaw dropped. “That
smacks of disappointment.”

“Jordan, stop it.” He scowled down at
me. “You know damn well who I want to be kissing and it isn’t Chloe. Or don’t
you remember last night?”

Before I could retort with a smart
comeback, his hands laced into my hair to hold me tightly into place while his
mouth came down on mine with the force of his desire. Gone was the playful
nipping of our first kiss. His tongue claimed mine the instant I gasped for breath
and refused to relinquish its hold until my body fully acquiesced and molded
itself to his. As his tongue explored my mouth in lazy twirls, I felt his hand
leave my hair to begin its own exploratory path down my shoulder and over my
chest to land firmly on my breast. A soft moan escaped me when his fingers
pinched lightly at the expanding bud beneath my sweater.

“Do you believe me now?” He began slowly
trailing wet kisses along my neck on a definite path towards my aching nipple.
“Or do you need more evidence of my feelings for you?”

The soft timbre of his voice lulled
me into submission and I watched dreamily as he pulled the wide cowl neck of my
sweater and lace bra down to expose my full breast. The moment his mouth
enclosed around the pulsating bud and suckled hard, I was lost and threw back
my head with a guttural moan. An explosion of heat gathered in my nether
region. No. I had no doubt he wanted me physically but that wasn’t going to be
enough for me.

“This has nothing to do with
feelings,” I challenged as I ran my hand down his back and around his hip to
rub provocatively against his rock hard length. I hadn’t had many lovers but I
knew enough to know he was exceptional and I was more than curious about how
he’d feel buried deep inside of me. His head reared up at my touch and he
sucked his bottom lip into his mouth with a gasp when I enclosed him tightly in
my hand.

“This is just physical need JT,” I
murmured. “Don’t get me wrong, babe. I’m definitely enjoying your desire. But
what I really want to know is what you’re feeling in here.” My hand traveled up
to rest on his heart.

“Lord knows I wish I could explain
what I feel when I’m around you.” He pulled back and took a step away from me
while running his fingers through his hair and exhaling deeply. “I’m trying
desperately not to feel anything. You’re my best friend’s sister for crying out
loud. Not just any old friend; but my best friend since birth. What if we
pursue this relationship and things fall apart? Have you thought about that
Jordan?”

He paused a moment as if needing to
collect himself before choking out the next logical consequence. “Jordan your
whole family…well…you’re the only family I’ve got besides my brother Derek. If
I lost all of you…”

When his voice cracked on the last
words, my heart ached with the force of an alligator snapping at its prey. I
reached out to grab his hand and felt ashamed for pushing him so hard. The
thought had never crossed my mind until he’d spoken the words. What if, indeed?
JT’s only living relative was his Aunt Mary and she lived thousands of miles
away. He barely knew her. But my family had always been JT’s home away from
home—even before his parents had died—and even more so after they were gone.
Was it selfish of me to want to push him into seeing where a relationship might
take us?

“But you won’t lose us,” I reassured
him. “We’ve known each other our whole lives. The last four weeks have been
amazing with you. I know what I feel and I don’t think there’s anyone else out
there who’s as wonderful as you are.”

“You can’t know for sure.” He leaned against
the storage room shelving and stared at a spot above my left shoulder. “You
haven’t even been on a second date with any of the morons you’ve met. What if
you’re just attracted to me because you subconsciously want to fulfill
Grannie’s wishes and compared to all the deadbeats you’ve met, I’m looking
pretty damn good?”

I knew he was trying to be serious
but I couldn’t help the grin that tugged at the corner of my mouth. “You think
I’m attracted to you just because of Grannie? That’d I’d risk pissing off my
brother and shackling myself to someone to make someone else happy? Well then
you don’t know me very well.”

“Maybe you have a point,” he conceded
and slowly approached me again. “But I’m not going to be bullied into rushing
into a relationship. The timing isn’t right.”

“So all those things you said to
Jared earlier about you being unable to commit to a relationship now. That was
meant for me?”

“Jordan,” he sighed and leaned down
to brush his lips softly against mine. “The pressure is too much. I can’t
support you and give you the attention you deserve over the next year while I’m
finishing college.”

“You can’t,” I said, raising a brow
to him. “Or you won’t?”

“I don’t know.”

I stared into his deep blue eyes and
hesitated at the depth of pain and confusion I saw reflected back at me. There
was some validity in what he’d said to me. But I wasn’t willing to give up on
him. He
was
going to be mine eventually.

“Ok. Take your time and figure it
out. But in the meantime I’m going to continue dating to give Grannie hope and
to prove to you and me that you’re
The One
.”

***

J.T.

I gazed down at Jordan’s pert
expression and knew she had me by the balls. I couldn’t tell her that I wasn’t
willing to commit to a relationship, yet still expect her to abstain from
dating other men. Hell! I’d basically challenged her to find someone better.
But that didn’t mean the idea sat well in my gut. I consoled myself with the
knowledge that she hadn’t found a single kiss-worthy date in the past four
weeks. Until it dawned on me that the odds were now probably in favor of her
meeting someone who wasn’t a complete idiot. They couldn’t all be jerks.

“Fair enough,” I said, trailing a
finger along her bottom lip. “But before we go back up, I think it only right
to remind you of what it feels like to kiss a frog…or perhaps a prince. That’s
for you to decide.”

A burst of emotion exploded in my
stomach, like fireworks on the Fourth of July, as I watched the desire light up
in her dark eyes at my slow, deliberate descent to her mouth. I focused on her
lips, deciding on the best course of worship; slow exploration of every nook
and cranny or red hot branding? As my lips found hers, I pulled her body
against mine, gently enclosing her in my arms, and I knew this was a kiss of
pure love. Not a kiss stolen in front of a camera or fueled by alcohol or
anger. But a kiss meant to brand her with the depth of my feelings. She may be
going on other dates but she’d damn well remember this kiss…and me. My hands
explored her back and bottom at the same torturously slow pace as my tongue
traced her lip and then I slipped it into her mouth to find hers. Her tongue
was pure silk against mine, warm and delicious.

I had no idea how long the kiss would
have lasted if the heavy pounding on the stairs hadn’t warned me of someone
headed down to the basement. I reluctantly pulled back and straightened my
shirt as Jordan did the same. She quickly grabbed for the box of trash bags and
we both turned to see Derek come around the corner towards the storage room.

“There you are.” He reached out for the
box of trash bags. “Awesome. Aunt Mary sent me down here to get these.
Everyone’s pretty much done eating. Almost time for the cake.”

We followed Derek back up the stairs.
My head reeled with everything that had happened in the last thirty minutes.
What the heck was I going to do? I needed time to think.

“Mike should be here soon,” I said,
glancing over at Jordan. “Did you know he’s a DJ in his spare time? He agreed
to come over for a few hours to entertain all of the kids.”

Derek shot me an irritated glance. He
hated when I called him a kid. Maybe it was time for me to accept that my
little brother had finally grown up. He’d be eighteen by the end of the summer
and could technically make his own decisions then.

“Most of my friends should be here
soon,” Derek said. “Can’t wait to show off my new wheels. Promise you’ll stay,
Jordan. It’ll be a good time.”

She nodded her head and smiled at
him. “Of course I’ll stay. But you have to promise to take me for a ride soon
in your car. You know I’m jealous, right? I can’t believe Grannie got
you
a Camaro when she knows it is my favorite car.”

A sheepish grin appeared on his face.
“You bet. Just name the day.”

We all hung around with Mike as he
set up his gear. Mike teased Jordan relentlessly about her date the night
before and her miraculous recovery from what he deemed to be a certain
hangover. I fulfilled my hosting duties as the majority of the older neighbors
cleared out of the party just as the younger crowd trickled in. I kept a tight
lid on the beer, making it clear to my brother that any underage drinking would
put an immediate end to the party. I couldn’t afford to be busted for supplying
alcohol to minors.

The rest of the evening passed
enjoyably. We all danced as a group and I felt certain that Chloe had gotten
the message that I wasn’t interested in her. She seemed to have redirected her
full attention to Jared who was only too happy to focus all of his energy on
her. It gave me the opportunity for a little sexy dancing with Jordan that I
otherwise wouldn’t have dared to do. Jared could be so clueless about his
surroundings when he was into a girl.

When day turned to night and we’d had
our fill of dancing, Jordan and I made our way over to sit down with my Aunt
Mary, Mrs. Billette and Grannie, who entertained us for an hour with stories
from their youth; stories that included both my parents and Jordan’s father. I
smiled over at Jordan knowing she was every bit as glued to their words as I
was. She’d only been eight when her father had died of a brain aneurysm. Her
memories of him must be somewhat fuzzy whereas my memories of my parents were
as clear as day.

“I hate to be the one to break up the
fun,” Grannie said. “But it’s well past my bedtime.”

“Of course,” Mary said, standing up
from her chair. “You must be exhausted. Please allow me to drive you ladies
home on my way back to the hotel.”

Grannie patted Jordan on the arm and turned
to her daughter-in-law. “Just give me a few minutes alone with JT.” Grannie
waited for them to walk away before she dug an envelope out of her purse and
handed it to me. Taking my hand into hers, she locked her eyes on mine and
spoke from the heart. 

“Congratulations in advance for
obtaining your Masters in Accounting. Very likely I won’t be here for the
actual graduation party so I want to give this to you now. Go ahead. What’re
you waiting for? I want to watch you open it…so it’ll...be as if I was there to
celebrate with you.”

“Grannie,” I started but paused to
swallow and clear the sudden lump in my throat. “You don’t have to do this.”

I squeezed her hand and then tore
open the card. It was your typical graduation card…best wishes…and all that
stuff. But the check for twenty-five grand written out to my name was anything
but typical. My jaw dropped at the sight of such a substantial amount of money.
It was an incredibly sweet gesture.

I lifted my head to meet her eyes
dead on. “You know I can’t accept this Grannie.”

“I know no such thing,” she said in a
stern, don’t-even-think-about-arguing-with-me sort of tone. I sighed. This was
going to be a fight and I didn’t want to argue with Grannie. But there was no
help for it.

“This money should go to Mrs.
Billette or Jared or Jordan in the future.”

“What? You think because they’re my
blood relatives, I should give this money to them and not you? Are you saying
you’re not like my family?”