New Life (22 page)

“Whew,” I breathed as I threw my arms around
his neck and he held me close in a slow dance. “You
have
been practicing.”

“Yeah. With Katie.” He chuckled. “
Not
that last part.”

I laughed too and clung to him, simply
enjoying swaying together. I’d missed his arms around me, the
length of his lean body pressed against me. Sharing a dance floor
with dozens of other people didn’t stop us from rubbing up against
each other. In fact, it encouraged closeness. Around us, couples
were dirty dancing in much more suggestive ways.

I tipped my head back to look up into Jason’s
eyes. “This is fun. I’m glad you suggested it.”

“Me too.” His breath brushed my mouth and
then his lips did. Soon we were making out more than moving, and
grinding against each other pretty hot and heavy.

After another song or two, we peeled apart
and left the floor in search of refreshment. The crowd at the bar
was three deep, and the waitresses were as impossible to catch as
gazelles. I glanced over at Jason’s face, gauging how tired or
overwhelmed he might be by the heat and crowd and noise. He caught
me studying him.

“Stop it. You don’t have to worry about me. I
promise to tell you if I need to get out of here.”

“What if
I
need to?” I asked, leaning
close and teasing his ear with a few kisses. “This is great but I’d
rather be alone with you right now. It’s up to you.”

An adorable grin stretched from ear to ear as
he took my hand and tugged me toward the door.

When we reached my car, we made out so hot
and heavy the windows steamed. At last I dragged myself off him and
put the car in gear. I drove home in a haze of lust, nipples tight,
panties wet, my pulse thudding between my legs.

In the foyer of my building, Jason caught
hold of me and dragged me to him again. The little knobs of the
bank of mailboxes dug into my back as he pressed me against the
wall. Our mouths crashed together, tongues swirling deep and breath
mingling.

“God, I missed this,” he rasped when he
pulled away at last. He dipped his head and nuzzled my throat,
nipping lightly and making me squirm. I tilted my head back to
allow it, and my eyes flickered open to see someone approaching the
door from outside.

“Uh, I think we should go up to my apartment
now. We’re about to get busted.”

I took Jason’s hand, and we hurried
upstairs.

Once inside the apartment, our reunion was
interrupted by Baby, who trembled with excitement and left a damp
splotch on the floor as she welcomed Jason back into our lives. He
lowered himself stiffly down so he could take the dog into his
arms. Watching him ruffle her fur and murmur endearments while
avoiding her sloppy kisses, I was touched at his affection for
her.

“You should be working with animals,” I said
out of the blue. “Maybe they have job openings at the day care
where I take Baby.”

He looked up. “That’d be cool. I’ve been
thinking about trying something like that. I just started for my
dad though so I feel like I owe him some time, and honestly, I need
to save up some money before I start searching for apartments
again.”

You don’t have to. You could move in
here.
I wanted to make the offer from the bottom of my heart,
but it was too much, too soon. Being impetuous hadn’t served us
very well last time. As it was, we were rushing back into sex—but
there was no way I was turning that down.

I offered a hand to Jason to help him to his
feet, and then we were all over each other again, kissing and
touching and tearing off clothes, much to Baby’s excitement. She
barked and pranced around us all the way to my bedroom. When I
closed the door, she immediately began to whine and scratch, so I
took a break long enough to put her in her crate and remove Jason’s
sock from her mouth.

“Be patient. We’ll let you out soon,” I
promised, rubbing her muzzle.

I returned to my room to find Jason naked and
lying on the bed, arms behind his head, the position showing off
the muscles in his arms to good advantage. I finished taking off my
underwear with a stripper’s flourish, then leaped onto the bed and
his body with the speed and agility of a jungle cat.

“Hi,” I purred and nuzzled his chest, teasing
his nipples until he gave a soft groan.

I kissed and licked a trail down to his
groin, then took his erection in hand. I couldn’t help, just for a
moment, thinking about the girl who’d done this to him while we’d
been dating. But I’d accepted Jason’s apology, and I didn’t believe
he was a cheater at heart. I trusted him when he promised never to
do anything like that again. So if I said I was letting it go, I
had to
really
let it go. I shrugged off thoughts of Lisa and
concentrated on the moment we were in now.

I licked his length, then took him in my
mouth, relishing more of those quiet groans and the way his hips
lifted. The musky taste of silken skin and the weight and girth of
him filled my senses. I pumped and sucked until I felt him
trembling on the brink; then I let go and got a condom to replace
my mouth on his shaft.

Straddling him with my hands pressed against
his chest, I eased down onto his cock. My pussy stretched to
encompass him, and I moaned in satisfaction as he filled me.

Gazing down at his face, I etched every
detail to memory, from the beautiful bow of his upper lip to the
strong line of his jaw, from the scar that zigzagged Harry
Potter-style down one side of his face, to the twinkles in the
depths of his mysterious dark eyes.

I seated myself on him fully, deeply, and
began to rock back and forth. Jason grunted, and his fingers dug
into my hips as he lifted into me. His pleasure was my delight. I
worked to prolong every moment, gliding slowly up and down, rocking
ever so slightly, then taunting him by pulling completely off and
keeping my body just out of reach.

He growled and seized my hips harder, pulling
me back down as he thrust up hard. It was my turn to gasp and close
my eyes at the intense sensation that speared through me. Our
bodies slapped together, and sweat pooled between us as minute
after minute oozed by like dripping honey—sweet, sticky,
lingering.

The tension was exquisite and grew more
powerful as we slowly, inexorably approached climax. I bobbed up
and down faster, contracting my muscles hard around him, feeling
every inch of him inside me, and wanting nothing more than this
connection, which seemed far deeper than merely physical.

“Oh God, Anna,” he breathed, and the
desperate gasp of my name put me over the edge. I cried out and
came hard, my body trembling and spasming around him.

Feeling the gush of my release made him wild.
He pushed up on his elbows, canting his body to a different angle
and plunged into me. We were fused together face-to-face. He
grasped a handful of my hair and pulled my face to his. His tongue
thrust into my mouth, mimicking the movement of his cock, and a
muffled groan passed from his mouth into mine as he let go at
last.

I broke off from that last kiss with a gasp,
and together we collapsed back onto the bed in a jellied heap, a
melted pool of bliss.

After I caught my breath, I kissed his salty
neck and peeled myself off him to flop onto my back. “
That
was what sex is all about.”

“Yup.”

“We should give lessons. We are so good.”

“We’d be rich.” He turned on his side to face
me. “Why were we going to wait for a few dates to get to that? I
can’t remember.”

“Me either.” I traced the line of his jaw and
then the beautiful shape of his mouth with one finger. “I’ve been
missing you so much.”

“Not close to how much I missed you,” he
swore.

His hand skimmed lightly down my body from
throat to groin, pausing to rest on my heart and feel several
beats, before drifting down to warmly cup my pussy. “Anna?”

“Mm-hm,” I murmured, drifting in postcoital
bliss. I snuggled closer to Jason and let his arms and the heat of
his body envelop me.

“Can I say something without freaking you
out?”

I snapped out of my daze, immediately alert.
“Sure. What?”

“I kind of feel like I’m…in love with you.”
He paused. “Way too soon, right?”

My heart gave a nervous lurch as the weight
of his words hit me, but I answered, “I don’t think it’s ever too
soon to tell someone how you honestly feel. Thank you for saying
it.”

And then I turned to see him, taking in the
familiar contours of his face and those amazing eyes I’d been
afraid I’d never look into again. I sort of ignited inside until I
felt like I was glowing. I’d never experienced anything like it
before, so I felt pretty safe in replying, “I think I love you
too.”

Part of me was Snoopy dancing all over the
place, but a portion was scared about admitting to being in love.
Thinking in terms of a future together, I still couldn’t quite
envision what that would be. Jason was nothing like the sort of man
I’d imagined I’d end up with. But I shooed away my mother’s nagging
voice and embraced the unexpected. Love came in all sorts of
different packages and mine just happened to be shaped like
Jason.

Chapter Twenty-six

“Don’t touch that. You’ll break it!” Rob
called from across the shop, even though I was two feet away from
his meticulously constructed aircraft carrier and not even
considering touching it.

“I think it needs dusting,” I said, feinting
toward the model with my rag as if I would swab down the deck and
sweep off the miniature jets and crewmen.

“No!” Rob charged toward me.

“Dude, you’re so easy,” I teased as I flicked
the rag over a shelf of boxed airplane models instead. “I think you
should put your toys under glass if you’re so worried about them.
Maybe with laser sensors like they use in museums.”

He stared at the display of ships in the
front window of the shop. They sailed gallantly on a piece of blue
carpeting meant to represent the ocean. “You think?”

I rolled my eyes but decided to stop baiting
him. After all, he’d put a lot of painstaking work into each of
those craft. They were labors of love to him. They mattered, and
who was I to scoff at his babies?

“No, not really. Not an alarm system, anyway,
but maybe they
should
be in glass cases. Some of the dads
who come in here are too busy shopping to pay attention to what
their kids are up to, and you can’t go around yelling at the
customers every time they get too close.”

Rob nodded and leaned over the tableau of
ships to adjust a minute piece of machinery.

I looked at my watch. “Okay, I’m out of here.
See you in a couple of days.”

Rob was so focused on his repair job he
didn’t respond.

“Hey.” I waited until I had his attention.
“Remember not to argue with Phillips when he comes in. The customer
is always right, and you want him to keep buying his supplies
here.”

“Phillips is a douche. It’s common knowledge
that the U.S.S.
Nimitz
—”

“Okay, Rob. I really have to go,” I
interrupted. “Anna’s probably circling the block, searching for a
parking place.”

Rob dragged his attention from the display to
actually look at me. “Hey, man, thanks for coming in. I appreciate
it.”

“No problem.” I bumped fists with him before
I went to get my jacket. It seemed even abrasive Rob could change.
His attitude had noticeably improved since he’d set up shop. And
even though the place struggled financially, which was why I helped
out for free when I could, Rob seemed to be as close to happy as
I’d ever known him.

I emerged from the shop in time to glimpse
Anna’s red Prius down the block. I hurried to the no-parking zone
near the store so she could swing in and pick me up.

I had it so bad my heart soared at the mere
sight of her vehicle. I was in love like a Hallmark greeting card,
syrupy sweet and over the top.

The Prius swerved to the curb, and I hurried
to open the door and climb inside. “Home,” I ordered my personal
chauffeur.

“Yes, sir,” she replied smartly.

I reached over to rest my hand on her
thigh.

“No touching the driver, sir. That’s sexual
harassment.” But Anna left my hand where it was, and moaned a
little when I snaked it higher between her thighs.

“I really need to get you a sexy uniform,” I
said. “Something in leather with a cute cap.”

“Only if you’ll wear a soldier outfit for me.
You know I’ve got a thing for guys in uniform.”

“I still have a janitor coverall.”

“I was thinking more Marine Corps or special
ops, but that’ll do.”

I grinned and snuck my finger under the
elastic of her panties, feeling her wetness and making her squirm
with a flick of my fingertip. I withdrew my hand from her crotch
before I distracted her too much and got us in an accident.

“Seriously, though,” I said. “You don’t have
to drive me around. I’m used to taking the bus.”

“I know, and when it doesn’t work with my
schedule, trust me, I’ll let you know you need to make other
arrangements. But I like giving you rides. I like seeing you
whenever I can.”

“I like seeing you too, baby. And, if I
haven’t said it enough, thanks for inviting me to move in.”

Our big plan of taking things slow had
escalated after a couple of months of carrying on an inconvenient
long-distance relationship. Not that I lived that far away, but I
felt bad that Anna always had to make the effort to come see me. I
was pretty much stranded in Pickens by my inability to drive.

I also realized pretty quickly that I didn’t
want to work at the hardware store long-term. I thanked my dad for
the opportunity to get back on my feet and, with Anna’s
recommendation, it was easy to get a job dog-sitting for PetCare.
The pay was less than what I’d earned as a janitor, but I had no
rent to make once I moved in with Anna. Yeah, I was a kept man, but
the living arrangement suited both of us. I cleaned the house,
cooked, and did laundry. She brought home the bacon.