Just Sex (15 page)

“I hope
I’ll
be okay at the end of this. I have never loved anyone so much. It will be the most painful thing I’ve ever gone through when she leaves.”

Patty sniffled. “Me too.”

“I’m sorry.” J.J tugged her into a hug. “If it wasn’t for me, I feel like she would stay.”

“If it weren’t for you, Kat would be miserable. I have never seen her this happy.” Patty squeezed his waist. “We’ll change her mind.”

Chapter Fifteen

Kat parked in J.J.’s spare parking space, next to his truck. She took one last glance in the mirror to fuss with her hair and to make sure the rings around her eyes weren’t visible. Kat and her mother had spent the rest of the day avoiding each other. After she put Sam to bed, Kat tried to be the bigger person and went to talk to her mother.

What a huge mistake that ended up being. They had another nasty fight. The floodgates opened and tears flowed hard and fast, along with resentment. Kat now looked at the wreckage. She wished she had something cold to help with the puffiness her crying had created. Kat sighed, stepped out of the car and walked to J.J.’s door. She knocked and pasted on a smile.

J.J. opened his door with a sexy grin. His handsome features hardened.

She wanted to hide her face in his chest. She yearned to feel the soft shirt laced with J.J.’s scent against her cheek. “What’s wrong? Do I look that bad?”

“No.” He tugged her inside. “You look perfect, but you’ve been crying.”

“Just some PMS.” She leaned into him and pressed a kiss on his lips. The contact filled her with need.

“Do I have to hide the knives?” He nipped her bottom lip.

“Maybe.” She forced herself to step back. “It smells great in here.” Kat walked into his tiny kitchen. “Oh I love pasta.”

He followed Kat into the small space. “It’s my mom’s secret recipe. I ran into her at the grocery store this afternoon and she helped me make it.”

Kat lifted the lid to the sauce. “Looks good.”

“You look good,” he said from behind her.

She placed the cover back onto the sauce, turned into his arms and ran her hands to his tight ass and her body ignited.

“We’re going to eat first.”

She licked her lips and shot him a seductive glance. Kat needed her world set back to rights. The only way she knew how to do that was to feel his body in hers. “But I’m not hungry.” She knew he was as turned-on as she was.

He dragged her to the sofa. “I spent a lot of time making this meal and we’re going to eat it.” He gave Kat a slight shove onto the couch and walked back to the kitchen.

“Do you know this is the first time we’re eating before we have sex? We’re acting like a real couple.”

“We are a real couple.”

The realization of that fact struck Kat in the heart. She pushed herself off the sofa and went to J.J. She wrapped her arms around his waist. “I love you and I’m sorry about my mother.”

J.J. turned off the stove and took her hands. “Why mess with our routine?” He led her into his bedroom. “I want to make love to you in my bed,” he said. “I have tossed and turned in this bed and dreamed of you in it.”

He started to unbutton her top. She tugged at his shirt. J.J. looked into Kat’s eyes. “I love that you wear silky clothes,” he said. “You always feel great in them.”

“I’ll make a note to wear silk more often.” She yanked at his pants.

He unfastened her black slacks and she wiggled out of them.

His mouth dropped. “What are you wearing?”

She ran her fingers over the cherry red lace push-up demi-bra and red ruffled panties. “Just a little something I picked up at The Sassy Lady.”

“Wow, I love it!” He laid her on the bed and kissed her breast where it bulged over the cup. Her panties dampened as she ran her hand down to his big stiff cock.

“God, you do it for me.”

“Shh.” He placed his finger on her lips. Then ran it down her body. She shivered and arched when his finger got to the waistband of her cherry red panties.

J.J.’s mouth followed his finger. The steam of his mouth warmed her soul.

She had never experienced such mind-numbing pleasure. Kat willed her hand to move to his dick. She stroked his throbbing member. She loved the weight of it in her palm.

He grabbed both hands and tugged them over her head. That always drove her nuts with lust. J.J. fastened his lips on her mouth, making her head spin.

She pumped her hips instinctively. His erection pressed into her belly. Kat loved how his hard planes fit against her soft valleys.

He moved one hand to her waist, hooked a finger into her panties and tugged them down. Anticipation raced down her spine and settled inside her core.

J.J. rose, moved to the nightstand next to his bed, yanked open the top drawer and retrieved the Shataki egg.

Cool air flowed over Kat’s damp skin. Goose bumps dotted her flesh. She sat up. “That’s where that went.”

His eyes sparked. “Yup.” He twisted the egg. The small hum filled the room. “Lie back.”

Kat gazed at him suspiciously but did as he asked. J.J. kneeled on the bed and unhooked her bra. She moved her arms to keep her breasts from shifting.

“I like that this sexy thing hooks in the front.” He moved Kat’s arms back over her head.

“I love the way you look,” J.J. said. He switched the light on the nightstand.

Lust heated his face. J.J. rubbed the buzzing egg over her vulva. She gasped and hitched her hips into the delectable vibrations. He opened her folds, exposed her nub and placed the egg on just the right spot.

She reached for him. Her whole body quivered.

He cleared his throat and pressed the egg harder against her clit.

Kat needed him like she needed to breathe. Every inch of her body ached. Her soul felt empty, the feeling causing Kat to shift from the sensation.

J.J. pressed the buzzing egg even harder. “I want to see you come. You are so beautiful when you come.”

“Please. I need you inside of me now.”

“I want you to come first.” He adjusted the egg.

Waves of pleasure crashed over Kat. She splintered into a million tiny pieces.

He kissed her and kept the egg on the magic spot.

She tried to inch away from the vibrations. “I can’t take any more.”

“Yes, you can.” He rolled her limp body onto her stomach and pulled her hips up to meet him.

He thrust into her and held the egg on her clit. She clawed at the bed and screamed. The walls of her pussy closed around his fat cock. J.J. shuddered and kept pumping hard into her.

Kat thought that she might pass out. “Please.”

J.J. exploded inside her and she climaxed again. He dropped the egg and collapsed.

Kat couldn’t breathe under his weight. Her chest pushed against the bed. Her lungs burned and her heart pounded. “J.J.”

“Mmm.”

“You need to move.”

He shot off her. “Sorry, are you okay?”

The scent of sex filled air and streamed over her exposed skin. “That’s better.”

J.J. stood and grabbed a corner of his comforter and placed it over her. “You hungry?”

Her stomach rumbled. “I guess I am.”

“Stay right there.” He tossed on his boxer briefs. “I’ll get dinner.”

* * * * *

Kat crept into her house a little after four a.m. “God, I haven’t done this since I was seventeen.” She and J.J. spent the night in conversation and sex. She smiled to herself and maneuvered down the hall.

A light switched on behind her. “Crap.”

“Katherine Elizabeth.” The disappointment in Bev’s voice caused Kat’s sex-hazed mood to flee the scene.

She rolled her eyes and straightened her spine. “Why are you up so late, Mother?”

“What self-respecting woman comes home from a date at four in the morning?”

Kat spun to face her mother. “A thirty-five-year-old widow. That’s who.”

“Katherine, people will talk.”

The last remnants of her good mood evaporated. “Let them. People have been talking about me almost my whole life.” She turned and started back down the hall. “I’m done caring what people think of me.” Kat marched into her bedroom and shut the door. “Who does my mother think she is? I’m a grown woman.”

She toed off her pumps and ripped off her top. “I can come in at whatever time I want.” Kat shimmied out of her pants and tossed them across the room. “I can’t believe she waited up until four in the morning.”

Kat stomped into the bathroom and turned on the shower. She stepped into the steam and sighed. “Being in love is fabulous.”

She had fallen in love with a man she could never be with permanently. Tears built behind her eyes. A sob bubbled from her chest.

She grabbed the bar of soap J.J. left in the shower, so he wouldn’t smell, in his words, like a girl. “How could you let this happen?” Kat lathered the bar and let the smell of him envelop her. She slid to the shower floor. Uncontrollable sobs racked her body.

A knock sounded at the door. “Shit.” Kat swiped at her eyes. “Go away, Mother.”

“Kat, we need to talk.”

“I’m in the shower.”

“When you’re done, meet me in the kitchen.”

She thumped her head against the tile. “Mother, I’m tired. Can we talk later?”

“No, Katherine. I’ll be waiting for you.”

“Oh all right. Give me a few minutes.”

Ten minutes later, Kat walked into the kitchen and went to the refrigerator for a can of diet soda. “What is so important?”

Bev sat on a stool at the breakfast bar. “I want to talk to you about this boy you’re dating.”

“J.J.’s not a boy,” Kat grumbled. “He’s a man.”

“Oh Katherine, that boy is a lot younger than you are.” Bev waved her hand toward Kat. “What does a handsome young man want with you?”

Her mother’s words hit close to home. Kat slammed down her soda can. Liquid splashed over the side. “Do you think I’m so fat and ugly that no one will find me desirable?”

“Well, look at you. You obviously don’t take care of yourself.”

Kat stopped listening after that. She had been given the same speech since she was twelve and could not shop at the exclusive children’s boutique that all the other little girls in their social circle did.

Rage and hurt welled inside her. Years of childhood pain boiled in her gut. When Kat was a child, her grandmother was there to make it all better. Even now, her father stood as a buffer, but tonight, Kat had to fend off her mother alone. Her words from earlier played in her mind
. I’m old enough to fight my own battles.

She took a fortifying sip of her soda and waited for her mother to wind down.

“Katherine, are you listening to me?” Bev demanded.

“I’ve heard it all before.” She took another sip and set the can down.

“Don’t you talk to me in that tone.” Bev sighed and continued on the thousand and one ways Kat disappointed her and Kat’s father.

Kat leaned against the kitchen counter, her gaze roaming the large space
. I wonder if my mother realizes how much she needs me.

The mill was in financial ruin and her father mismanaged his trust. Kat knew that Axel had been tapping into the family trust for months. She didn’t say anything about it, she just sent a check to cover the debts every month.

Thank God for her business sense and her ability to live well within her means.

Bev revved back up and spouted something about how Kat was just like her grandmother. At this point, Kat wished that was true.

Her grandmother would have thrown Axel’s bad decisions in her mother’s face and told her to screw off. Maybe she would have cut her parents off financially.

She smiled and continued to sip her soda. Snippets of what Bev droned on about filtered into Kat’s thoughts. Maybe if she’d been a better wife. Maybe if she’d taken an exercise class. Maybe if she’d had more kids, then Gary wouldn’t have cheated.

Her mother blamed Kat for the hysterectomy and apparently the national debt. Kat finished her soda. She opened the cabinet to the recycling and tossed the can away.

Kat glanced at the microwave clock.
God, she’s been at it for twenty minutes.
Kat knew Bev’s all-time record was two and a half hours. Set during Christmas, her first year at Wesleyan. That year, Kat’s grandmother gave her the power of attorney to the family trust. Kat remembered being shocked and scared. She wasn’t ready for the responsibility.

Bev was so pissed that day, Axel had to take her on a cruise to appease her. Her mother finally ran out of steam.

A sense of calm filled Kat. “Mother,” she said. “Fuck you.” Kat sauntered out of the room.

Chapter Sixteen

“I hate paperwork.” J.J. flipped through invoices and spreadsheets.

Ron walked into the office they shared. “If you didn’t spend all your free time with a certain woman, then you wouldn’t be behind.”

He balled a scrap piece of paper and tossed it at Ron. “Funny.”

Ron caught the missile with one hand. “Why are you here so early?”

“I couldn’t sleep after Kat left this morning.”

“You got it bad.”

Boy, did he. And he knew it too. All he thought about these days was how he could convince Kat to not walk away from him. She always seemed to have one foot out the door. It all but ripped his heart out of his chest to think about life without her in it.

The tip of his pencil snapped. “Shit.”

Ron chuckled.

“Shut up,” he grumbled. “You chase after Patty like a puppy.”

“Damn straight,” Ron said and powered up his computer.

Patty strolled into their office. “Did I just hear my name?”

“J.J. thinks I nip at your heels like a puppy.”

“Well, instead of you giving me a collar, maybe I should give you one.”

J.J.’s cell phone rang. “I don’t think I want to know.” He picked it up and checked the screen. “It’s Kat.”

Patty strolled over and sat in Ron’s lap.

J.J. rolled his eyes. “Hi, sexy.” He stood and left the room.

When he came back into the office, Patty straddled Ron. They were making out like two teenagers. “Get a room,” he teased.

Patty pulled back. “Is everything okay at Kat’s house?”

“I guess. She sounded happy.”

“I talked to her earlier, things have been tense between Bev and Kat since Kat told her mother off a few days ago.”

“She wants me to come over for lunch,” J.J. said.

Patty smiled. “Is that code? Kat and Sam were supposed to go with Bev to pick up her father at the airport at twelve thirty.” She rose off Ron’s lap. “I guess Bev is just taking Sam now.”

He moved to his desk and opened the bottom drawer. “I have an estimate to do at the Jones estate.” He pulled out a folder and shut the drawer. “I’ll be back after lunch. Try to keep your hands off each other and get some work done.” He grinned and marched out.

* * * * *

J.J. climbed out of his truck in front of Kat’s home at twelve o’clock on the dot. Memories of the first time he met her flashed in his mind. He remembered Kat’s friendly smile and the way her hand felt in his when he shook it.
I can’t let her leave me.
He dashed up the flower-lined walkway.

Kat opened the door and smiled. Desire filled him. It seemed to happen to him every time he saw her. “I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too,” she said.

“Are we alone?” He tugged her to him and stepped inside the door.

“Yes.”

He would never tire of the way she felt in his arms. “Let me show you how much I missed you.” J.J. yanked her white T-shirt over her head.

“Oh well, let me help you with that.” Kat wiggled out of her pants and giggled.

The sound of her laughter sent blood right to his groin. Love and lust flowed through J.J. in searing waves.

They dispensed with their clothes and stood in her living room panting.

“I’m so wet for you. I need you to do me, hard and fast.”

“Oh my God, Kat.” He grabbed her and planted a hot kiss on her lips. He needed to imprint himself on her. J.J. needed to mark Kat and make her his, only his.

He turned her and bent her over an antique Queen Anne chair. Something animalistic overtook him. J.J. growled and thrust into her hard and fast, marveling at how perfectly they fit together. Didn’t Kat know she was made just for him?

Kat moaned, her perfect pussy milking his cock. He pounded into her, needing to fuck her deeper than anyone before him. J.J. wanted him to be the only man her body knew. His cock bumped her G-spot and hit her cervix.

Spikes of pleasure rippled through him. He bit his bottom lip to stop from exploding. Kat screamed and bucked under him.

The sounds that came from her pulled at his balls. His muscles convulsed.

“Oh fuck,” Kat bellowed. “Yes, J.J.”

The words sent him over the edge. His hot spray washed into her.

Her spasms pushed J.J. out of her pussy. He collapsed and Kat fell onto the chair.

J.J. stood her up, turned her around and pressed a tender kiss on Kat’s forehead. He wanted to take care of her.

“One continuous orgasm can make a girl lightheaded.”

He chuckled, tucked her into a hug and kissed the top of her head. “I love you.”

Kat leaned away and smiled. “I love you.” She glanced at the mantel clock. “My mom and Sam will be back with my dad soon. We need to get dressed.”

There she goes again, one foot out the door.
He let go of her and bent to retrieve her T-shirt.

She took it from him. “Come to dinner. We’re having spaghetti and meatballs.”

“What do you want me to bring?” He jerked on his jeans.

“The wine.”

J.J. felt all the blood leave his face.

Kat rested her hand on his cheek. “What?” She rubbed her thumb over his skin.

“Nothing.” He brought his hand to hers. “What kind of wine do your parents like?”

Realization must have dawned on her. “You don’t know wine.”

“Not to the level that your parents probably do. If it doesn’t come in a box, I don’t know shit.”

She smiled and let her palm slide to his shoulder. “Go to Rocky’s liquor store and ask for a good bottle of Chianti.”

Relief filled him. “I will do you proud.” He let her go and headed to the door. “What time do you want me back?”

“Dinner’s at six, so be here at five-thirtyish.”

“See you then.” J.J. shut the door.

* * * * *

Kat hung up the phone with Patty and glanced at her watch.
Five forty-five, he’s late.
She stirred the homemade sauce and checked on the meatballs.

Sam ran into the kitchen and skidded to a stop. “Mom!”

“How many times do I have to tell you to stop running in the house?”

“Sorry.” He grabbed a handful of grapes from the bowl of fruit on the kitchen table. “Can I go over to Nick’s for dinner and a sleepover?”

She tapped the wooden spoon on the pot. “Is it all right with Nick’s mother?”

“Yes, she said to call her and she’ll come and get me.”

“Okay. You can call Nick back and tell him it’s okay with me.”

Sam ran off in search of a phone.

“The phone’s right here.”

He dashed back. “Thanks.”

“Slow down! Stop running.”

I wasn’t,” he called from the other room.

The doorbell rang. Kat wiped her hands on a dishtowel and slid her fingers through her hair. “Coming,” she called when the doorbell rang for the second time.

Kat opened the door to find J.J., his arms filled with five different kinds of Chianti. “Hi, sorry about ringing the doorbell twice, but these are not easy to hold on to.” He pushed past her and set them on the entry table.

Sam flew by a few minutes later. “Nick’s mom is here.”

“Hey, come back and give me a kiss.”

Sam rushed to Kat and kissed her on the cheek. “Bye, Mom.” He looked over to J.J. “Bye, Mr. Adams.”

She waved at the leaving car and closed the door. “That kid is always on the move.”

He snaked his arm around her waist and placed his lips to hers. Kat’s mind always emptied when he kissed her.

He released her. “Mmm, you taste like sauce.”

“Do you like it?”

“Let me taste again.” J.J. nipped at her bottom lip and invaded her mouth with his tongue.

A throat cleared behind them. He rested his head on Kat’s forehead for a brief moment to collect himself and turned.

Her father held out his hand. “Hello. I’m Axel.”

He rubbed his hand down his pant leg. “Hi, sir, I’m J.J. Adams.” He took the other man’s hand and gave it a hard shake.

“Nice to meet you, J.J.”

Bev walked in. “Axel, do…” She stopped short. “Oh hello, J.J.”

He straightened. “Hello, Mrs. Harper. How have you been?”

“Just fine. And you?”

A timer sounded in the background. “The pasta’s done.” Kat hurried back to the kitchen. “Dinner’s in five minutes.”

“Can I help?” Bev called after Kat.

“Could you set the table, please?”

J.J. grabbed the wine and followed Kat into the kitchen. “What do you want me to do with these?

“Let my dad deal with it.” She dumped the massive amount of spaghetti into a colander. “Could you please take the bread out of the oven?”

He grabbed potholders off the rack and opened the oven door. Heat filled the space. “Smells good.”

“Thank you.” Axel came up next to J.J. “It’s the only thing Bev allows me to make in the kitchen.”

J.J. set the bread pan on the trivet Axel set down.

Axel picked up a bottle of wine and examined it. “Wow, you really went all out.”

“I bought the Chianti that was recommended.”

Axel chuckled and patted J.J. on the back. “Son, you did a good job.”

He understood why Kat loved her father the way she did. The man had a way of making you feel comfortable around him. Did Kat realize she had that same quality?

“Let’s go to the dining room,” Kat said.

They all moved into the dining room.

“Sit next to Kat,” Bev said to J.J.

Axel opened the wine and screwed on the aerator.

J.J. sat and unfolded his napkin.

“J.J., Kat told me that you had a hectic day,” Axel said.

His hands fumbled his napkin.
Yeah, fucking your daughter
.

Kat placed her palm on his thigh. She must have read his mind. “I talked to Patty before you got here and she told me about your afternoon.”

He cleared his mind. “Yes, I took five new jobs today.”

Kat scooped pasta onto a plate.

“That’s good to hear,” Bev said. “Anyone we know?”

“No, I don’t think so. All of them just moved into a new neighborhood in town.”

A knowing smile crossed Bev’s lips. “Oh, one of Ron’s developments?”

“Stop it, Mother!”

J.J. found Kat’s hand under the table and gave it a gentle squeeze.

“No, they got my number from one of my other clients.”

Axel poured the wine. “This looks good, honey. Let’s eat.” He handed J.J. a glass. “So, what are your plans with my daughter?”

Kat choked. “Dad, he has no plans. I’m moving to Maine in the summer.”

He set down his wineglass with a thud. He was going to stop this once and for all. “I do have plans for us!”

Kat wiped her mouth with her napkin. “We’ve discussed this and we decided that it would be better if we called it quits in June.”

“No, you decided we’d call it quits.” J.J. stood. “I don’t want to call it quits. I love you.”

“I won’t have you throw your life away on me. I can’t give you a future.”

“My future is for me to decide, not you. I want to see where this goes, but you’ve put a time limit on this relationship.”

She threw down her napkin. “That’s right, I did. I have more to lose than you.”

“Like hell you do. I have just as much to lose as you,” he yelled.

Tears ran down Kat’s face. “Well, maybe we should just call it off now then.” She stormed out of the room and ran up the stairs.

He gazed around the room. Axel and Bev had left sometime during the argument. He stalked to the bottom of the stairs. “Kat, we need to talk this out.”

“We’re done!”

The finality in Kat’s voice sliced his heart in two. “Fuck it!” J.J. stomped out of the house. “I need a drink.”