Love Required (17 page)

“Unbelievable,” Jason muttered as he exited the lot and headed toward home.

When he pulled into the driveway at Jake and Gillian’s, a small crowd met them as all their kids came out to greet them, with Mike and Allie trailing behind. Jake and Jason grabbed the suitcases, giving Jason the opportunity to ask, “Seriously, they talk about
everything
?”

Jake laughed, “Yeah …
everything
.” He slowly emphasized the word to get his point across. Jason was having some serious doubts about bringing Tori to the barbeque. He had never brought anyone before because he just never had the desire. Suddenly he was a little relieved about that.

“And you’re okay with that?” he asked. Jake was nodding when Mike came around the back of the car.

“You guys need help with anything?” Mike asked.

Jake spoke up first, shaking Mike’s hand. “We’re good. Hey, thanks for helping with the kids this week.”

“No problem. It was kinda nice having a baby around again,” Mike said with a smile. Jason had to wonder if his smile meant he and Allie were planning on having one. He knew she wanted to be a mom, and it would be great when it finally happened for her.

“Yeah, Ella’s a good baby, but I’m sure you’ll be happy to have Allie all to yourself again,” Jake said with humor.

Jason closed the trunk and helped carry stuff inside. Gillian, Allie, and the kids had already made their way in, so the men were able to speak freely. Mike smiled. “I’m not gonna lie. We’ll be out of here just as soon as I can pry her away from Gillian.”

Setting down the suitcases, Jake asked, “What about you, Jay? You got time for a beer, or do you have plans?”

“No plans, I’m good,” Jason offered. “She’s working tonight, if that’s what you’re asking?”

Jake laughed as the three of them made their way toward the other end of the house. Mike asked, “Is the
she
you’re referring to the beautiful redhead from the wedding?”

“Seriously, you sound like a chick when you say that. Call her a hot chick or something like that,” Jason threw over his shoulder.

Mike just shrugged. “That’s how Allie has been referring to her so it just came out that way.”

They made it into the kitchen when Allie interrupted, handing Mike a beer and saying, “We are officially off duty.” She took a swig of her own beer before asking, “Okay, so how have I been referring to whom?”

Mike lowered his beer and answered, “The beautiful redhead from the wedding.”

Allie smiled big at Jason. “Yes, who I will now call Jason’s woman.”

He dropped into a seat as Jake handed him a beer. “Not that I mind her being called
my woman
… but her name is Tori.”

Allie shrugged. “I know that, but I prefer to be less traditional and pick my own names,
gigantor
.”

“When has anyone ever accused you of being traditional?” Jason asked, pulling on her purple hair.

“Exactly,” Allie said smugly as she moved to where Mike stood, leaning against a counter. Jake pulled up a seat at the bar where Jason sat with Ella perched on his lap. His thoughts immediately went to Lexi and how much he enjoyed holding her last night—probably because he was finally able to hold a baby without having to fight Allie for her. But he had a feeling it was more than that, because just like with Tori, he felt connected … a little possessive.

Gillian came into the room, yelling orders over her shoulder to Ryan and Dylan, before she smiled and asked, “So, is everyone coming tomorrow so we can feed you and say thanks?”

Everyone said yes, and Gillian seemed satisfied with that. Then she directed her stare to Jason and asked, “So you’ll be bringing Tori. What about her daughter?”

Jason nodded, assuming she would bring Lexi since there was no reason not to, and Allie perked up. “She has a daughter? How old?”

He smiled smugly. “Lexi is ten months old, and I get first dibs,
half-pint
.”

Allie scowled. “You can’t call dibs when the baby isn’t even here. Standard shotgun rules apply.”

“Well, considering I’ll already be holding her when I walk in, I’m not worried about it.”

“That sounds a lot like a challenge—” Allie was going to say more when Gillian interrupted.

“Stop it you two. Allie, if Tori sees you two acting like that you might scare her away.” Jason smirked at Allie before Gillian continued, “And we don’t want her being scared away Al; she’s a total cow, and I want to keep her.”

Allie nodded, and Jason almost spit out his beer. In disbelief and a little defensively, he asked, “Did you just call her a cow?”

Gillian clearly picked up on the irritation in his voice. “It’s a good thing, Jason. Do you think I would be mean like that?”

“No. That’s why it bothered me.”

Gillian and Allie chuckled, and then Jake said next to him, “It’s their language, don’t even try to understand it.”

Jason downed the rest of his beer and nodded. “I don’t think I could if I tried.” Standing up, he added, “I’m heading home so I’ll see you tomorrow at noon.”

Accepting a kiss from Gillian, he asked, “Do you need me to bring anything?”

“Nothing but Tori and Lexi.” She smiled. He returned the smile before heading out to his car. When he got in, he checked his phone but found no messages. He sent Tori one anyway, telling her that he was on his way home and would love to talk to her when she had the chance.

About two hours later his phone finally rang. Seeing it was her, he smiled as he answered.

“Hi there.”

“Hey, how are you? It’s not too late to call, is it?” she rushed to ask.

“Of course not; I wanted to talk to you. Are you just getting home?” He hoped she was. He didn’t like the thought of her being out alone at night with Lexi—another thing to add to his list of stuff he’d never really felt before.

“Yeah, we got home a little while ago. Lexi is asleep and I squeezed in a quick shower because I couldn’t wait. I had frosting in my hair,” she whined in a voice that implied he’d understand the horror. If only she knew how turned on he now was—thoughts of her wet and wearing only a towel battled against those of her covered in frosting he could lick off.

He stifled his groan. “Dare I ask how you got frosting in your hair?”

“Tessa,” she said grumpily. He made a mental note to thank Tessa for the erotic image.

“And by Tessa, you mean what exactly?” he asked, trying to form the correct visual in his head.

“I mean that she really has no idea when to behave. We were talking in the kitchen about …” She paused and Jason recalled how Gillian said women talked about everything. He realized that Tessa was her Allie. He perked up more, wondering if maybe he was the subject of their conversation. Her reluctance to continue gave him hope, since he really liked the idea of his name on her lips, but he wanted to know.

“You were talking and somehow got frosting in your hair? That must’ve been
some
conversation,” he said with a smirk he knew she’d hear.

“All right, smart ass. I realize now that I’ve opened the door to a conversation that I had no intention of sharing with you. But I’ll give you the abbreviated version so you can wipe the smug look, I bet you’re wearing, off your face.” She knew what she was talking about, and he loved that she seemed to figure him out so quickly.

A laugh escaped. “One of those secrets to keep you mysterious?”

She sighed. “Yes, one of those secrets. Now listen up because I’m only saying this once. I was telling her about our date last night, and she then proceeded to give me pointers on how she thought I should handle things. One thing led to another and somehow she felt that frosting on my neck would make things interesting between you and me so she demonstrated. So not only did I ice over a hundred cupcakes tonight, but I had the smell of cream cheese frosting overwhelming me for three hours.”

He couldn’t contain the groan this time as he asked, “Damn, she smeared it on your neck?” Imagining her with the sweet frosting on her neck had him instantly hard and ready for action.

“Yes,” she said in a shy voice that added to his already alert status.

Unable to help himself, especially since they always seemed to come back to the sexual innuendos, he said, “I’m really sorry I missed that. I would have loved to help you with that.”

“You like cream cheese frosting?” This time her voice had taken on a husky vibration, and he knew he was in trouble.

“Yes I do … very much,” he answered in a voice to match hers, hoping to arouse her the same way she’d done to him.

There was a few moments pause before she said, “I’ll have to remember that.”

“I can give you reminders if you like,” he teased.

She giggled, the sound going straight to his groin. “Oh, I won’t forget … see you tomorrow? At eleven-thirty?”

Knowing he was going to have to take matters into his own hands, even though he didn’t want the call to end, he answered, “Yeah, I’ll be there to get both of you at eleven-thirty.”

“Good night, Jason,” she said in a seductive whisper.

“Good night, Tori.”

Alone in his bed, he groaned and closed his eyes, giving attention to the erection that had tortured him all week. Caught in the grips of a vision where Tori was holding her long hair up on top of her head, exposing her long neck to him, a thick swipe of cream cheese frosting from her shoulder to ear. He could almost taste her, but with the added element of frosting. Shuddering in release, he thought about how he wanted to devour Tori—just like a cupcake.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

TORI licked the little bit of frosting off her finger. Admiring her work, she closed the lid on the container of red velvet cupcakes she whipped up that morning. After Jason’s admission to liking cream cheese frosting, and the way it apparently turned him on, she couldn’t help herself. And the fact that they were going to a barbeque with his family was the perfect cover.

Hearing his car in the driveway, she pulled off her apron and washed her hands before rushing to the door. He knocked just as she opened it, a grin plastered on her face. “Hey you!”

“Well, that’s one hell of a smile to be greeted by,” Jason said as he moved toward her. He pulled her against him with a smile and kissed her softly. “Good morning, sunshine. You ready?”

The tingling sensations from his touch made her shudder in excitement. “Yeah, let me just grab my stuff.”

He laughed. “And by
stuff
do you mean baby?”

“No, smartass. I made something to bring to the barbeque.” She gave his shoulder a playful shove as she moved back to her kitchen area. Picking up the single cupcake she had left out for him, she turned around. Jason paused when his eyes landed on the treat. She smirked at his expression because it was a mixture of more than one kind of hunger. When he grinned and brought his gaze up to hers, she realized she wouldn’t mind being that cupcake.

Stepping closer, he asked, “Is that cream cheese frosting?” His voice confirmed what his expression already told her—he was imagining from where he could lick the frosting.

Unable to speak, she nodded and boldly swept her finger through it to offer him a taste. His eyelids drooped and his nostrils flared. It was hard to believe he could have that kind of reaction over her and a cupcake. With a hand wrapped around her wrist, he leaned in to capture her finger in his mouth. Her eyes went wide as her finger touched his tongue and his lips closed around her knuckle. He hummed his satisfaction, and all she could do was watch as it slowly lid from his lips. The suction was felt in more areas than just her finger, and she clenched her thighs together.

When he let go of her finger, he gave her a sexy grin. “Delicious.” Then he took the cupcake from her and asked, “Is this mine?”

Again, fearing what her voice would sound like, she nodded. When he swiped his finger across the top, loading the tip with a hefty dose of frosting, she thought she would just watch him eat it. Instead, she was treated to something much better when he set the cupcake down and moved her hair behind her shoulder. Slipping his empty hand into her hair, he tilted her head, exposing her neck. “I’m positive it will taste even better here.”

Before she realized what was happening, his finger ran a trail down the side of her neck, leaving frosting in its wake. She sucked in a breath when the warm heat of his tongue laved the skin at and began lapping the sweetness from her skin. He groaned as he licked and sucked his way up her neck, stopping at the sweet spot just below her ear. She shivered and instinctively reached for him. One hand found his waist and the other found his head. Digging her fingers into his hair, she ran her nails along his scalp. Making him moan deeper and his attentions grew firmer.

When he wrapped his arm around her, she gasped as he lifted her, settling her butt on the counter. Jason settled between her legs as he pulled his face from her neck. She could hear her heart racing, and a whimper escaped as she absorbed the arousal mounting inside her. With a wicked and satisfied smile, he gazed at her and said, “I was right. It did taste better there. But I need to check one more spot.”

After another swipe of frosting, his finger was moving across her bottom lip, followed seconds later by his tongue. She sighed at the heady sensation, and he slipped his tongue inside. His taste combined with the sweetness of the frosting was blissful. Her hand tightened in his hair, his body pressed firmly between her legs, and she swallowed his groan as she took the kiss deeper, wanting to remove any and all flavor of the frosting. She could have devoured him—leaving only his taste on her tongue.

Tori was seconds away from wrapping her legs around his waist and demanding he do something about the throbbing sensation she was experiencing when a sound penetrated their lusty haze. Jason must have heard it, too, because he slowly pulled his lips from hers. Lexi squealed a second time, effectively lifting the fog. He smiled and ran his thumb along the side of her mouth before slipping it into his own. “Sorry, I couldn’t help myself. After you told me about the frosting last night … and then there you were with a cupcake. It was a sign.”