Strictly Business (14 page)

She stepped back. Feeling bold and brazen, she undid her
jeans and slid them to the floor. She was left in only red lace g-string
panties. She walked up next to him, pressed her body against his front and
kissed him for all she was worth.

It worked.

* * * * *

Jake picked her up, tossing her onto her back in the middle
of his bed. Then he climbed up next to her, kissing her, rubbing his hand over
her breasts. The tips hardened even more, drawing him in like a moth to a
flame. He leaned down, gently pulling one nipple into his mouth. She cried out
and arched off the bed. He switched to the other breast, licking around and
teasing before finally taking the peak into his mouth. This time, he suckled
deeply and she screamed out his name.

Jake was overwhelmed by her response. She was relaxed and
wild. Totally uninhibited. Very non-virgin like. As much as he loved her
reactions, it was making it harder for him to resist her. His shaft was
throbbing, pulsing for her. He found himself grinding his hips against the bed
as he slowly made love to her breasts. When she whimpered again, arching into
him, his cock jumped in response, driving him to bury himself in her, to please
her. He brought his mouth back up to hers, rubbing his chest over her distended
nipples.

“Look how tight your nipples are. Tight and red and swollen.
Do they ache?” She nodded, biting her lip. “What else aches Jess? Tell me and I
can make it better.”

He trailed a hand down her stomach, stopping at her ribs,
just under her breasts. “Does it ache here?” She shook her head no.

He ran his hand lower, stopping on her belly, between her
hips. “How about here?” She shook no, again.

He slid his hand lower, grazing softly over her mound making
her moan and writhe against his hand. His hips thrust against the mattress. He
was ready, now, to come. He had to find control. Digging down deep, he slowly,
very slowly, slid his finger inside the edge of her panties, between her legs,
softly pushing the lace aside so he could feel her hot flesh. “How about here?
Does this ache?” She nodded and arched against his hand, crying out.

He slipped his finger between her folds, startled by how wet
she was. Jake gritted his teeth, fighting to keep his hips still and his hands
slow. He slid his finger up until he found her secret nub. He traced one lazy
circle over her with his fingertip. She whimpered, pressing harder against him.
He leaned over, sucked her nipple back into his mouth as he made quicker
circles over her clitoris. He groaned as his cock jumped. He couldn't resist
grinding his pelvis against the bed again. He was going to come in his jeans
like a damn teenager!

He felt her muscles tightening in her abs and knew she was
close. He tossed a pillow up to her, figuring she would need it soon. He moved
his hand, sliding his fingers down until he reached her core. “Jess, you’re so
wet. You’re just killin’ me.” His words were slightly slurred, desire making
speech difficult.

Finally he slipped one finger inside her sheath. “God,
so…hot…tight.” He slid his finger out, and back in, thrusting his hips against
the bed in rhythm with his finger. Out and back in, a little harder, a little
faster. Soon, her hips were pushing to match his hand. He brought his thumb up,
placed it on her nub and rubbed quick circles as she writhed against him.

After less than a minute, he felt her muscles clench, her
breathing stop. When she finally moved again, it was fast and furious
accompanied by a scream. Feeling her tight little sheath contracting around his
finger was almost enough to push Jake over the edge. Hearing her scream was too
much.

Jake held on until he felt her body relax, then he bolted to
his bathroom. He shoved his pants and boxers out of the way and wrapped his
hand around his cock. He could still feel her moisture in his hand, making his
fist slide easily up and down his aching dick. One pull, then two. Aahhh, he
wanted to fuck her. To lose himself in her. Knowing she was lying on his bed
was killing him. He thrust harder into his own hand as his orgasm ripped through
him.

When Jake came out of the bathroom, she was gone, only her
bra was left. He thought about bringing it down to her room but knew that would
be a mistake. They would either fight or make love. And he didn’t have the
strength to resist her twice in one night.

He stripped off his pants and climbed into bed. He would
have to apologize in the morning. He had promised to be gentle, and he’d been
anything but. Damn it, he’d kept his promise, though. She was still a virgin.
So why had she run off? And why, as he lay here in the dark, did he find
himself wishing she’d stayed. Not just for sex. Why did he want her curled
beside him?

* * * * *

Jess lay her head on the pillow and felt the tears starting.
Why was she always so wrong? Her hair, her eyes, her body. And being a virgin
at twenty-nine was odd indeed. Even now that she’d finally had an orgasm, she’d
done something wrong. He’d run out, without even a kiss or a “hold on.” He’d
just left. As the tears began to dry, the anger set in. Somewhere, someone wouldn’t
think she was weird. There was someone out there that would like her, just the
way she was. Including her apparently inappropriate reactions to sex. She spent
the night wavering between hurt, embarrassment and anger.

When she woke the next morning, Jess had settled on the
anger. She’d decided that playing it cool would be the best approach. She was
sure that with all his past partners, Jake’d had bad sex before. So, at least
this time it hadn’t gone quite that far. She would just be cool. Icy, in fact.

As she looked in the mirror to put in her contacts, for the
first time in fifteen years she resented them. She had always appreciated the
shield they offered, but right now she felt like she really was hiding. And she
was tired of hiding. She looked at them, brown circles in the dish. She knew it
was foolish to place so much importance on two little pieces of plastic, but
she was done. Done hiding, done fighting who she was and done trying to please
other people. She found herself dumping the case, the contacts and the solution
in the trash before she even thought it through. She also left her hair down
and put a rubber band in her pocket for later, when it got hot.

She walked into the kitchen, expecting questions and
staring. No one was in there except Marsha. She grabbed a mug of coffee, sipped
with great pleasure, and said, “Good morning Marsha.”

Marsha looked up and stared. Just long enough that Jess
started to regret tossing her contacts. Finally, she shook her head and said,
“Good mornin’, Jess. Are you off to the house this mornin’?”

“Yeah.” She smiled back at Marsha, appreciating her more
than ever before. “In fact, I think this week we need to get over and take a
look at cabinetry. I think Jake’s going to want some custom-made cabinets, so
we’ll have to order them way in advance. I’m sure he’ll want your input.”

So, maybe her voice did catch a little when she said Jake’s
name. So what? She managed to get it out, right? She finished her coffee,
rinsed her cup and headed to the door. Maybe her luck would hold and she could
get over to the house site without seeing Jake at all this morning.

* * * * *

Jess showed up on the site, hair down, no over-shirt, eyes
silver. The guys, who had started framing that morning ahead of schedule, all stopped.
A strange hush came over the build site. She was trying to ignore the hush, the
staring, but it wasn't easy. She felt the tension starting in her shoulders.

Mike looked up when everything stopped. He looked around,
stopping when he saw Jess. He was obviously shocked since it took him almost a
full minute to even move. Finally, he walked over, leaned in, kissed her on the
head. “Hey, gorgeous. Let’s go take a look at the blueprints. I was thinking we
might change the location of the kitchen island just a little. Nothing
structural, just switch the angle.” He turned and headed toward the left part
of the house. Jess gladly followed.

They managed to work until lunch time, when Mike called it a
day and sent the guys home early. Jess was still onsite, finishing up some
notes and measurements for the kitchen. When Mike came over and tapped her on
the shoulder, she was so startled she dropped everything.

“I sent everyone home. I saw some of the guys at the bar
pretty late last night, so I knew they were beat, and it’s Saturday. Plus,
we’re right on schedule, a little ahead actually. I figured they could use the
break.”

Jess threw her arms around his neck and held on for dear
life. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”

Mike’s arms came around her, squeezing. “It’s just an
afternoon off,” Mike said laughing.

“No, for this morning. For just being you, being normal.”
It’d only taken about ten minutes of Mike acting normal for the rest of the
crew to fall in line. And no one had asked any questions. Jess loosened her arms
from Mike’s neck, grabbed his cheeks and kissed him right on the mouth. There
was nothing romantic in the kiss, just simple gratitude. “Thank you.”

* * * * *

Jake walked up the ramp where the front porch would be and
into the kitchen area, just in time to see Jess kiss Mike. He'd been on edge
since he woke up this morning. Having tossed and turned all night, dreaming of
a certain brunette wrapped around him, he hadn't slept very well for the few
short hours he'd been in bed. Tap on the fact that he spent all morning
fighting arousal and the need to track her down and find out where she'd run
off to, and edgy had worked its way over to pissy. And now, the person who had
caused him such misery was in the arms of another guy. He felt the temper he’d
been fighting with all morning boil over. He tried to tamp it down, tried to
find his normal sense of calm, and failed. Without any conscious thought he
felt the water bottle fly out of his hand, across the room and hit a beam just
next to Mike.

Mike reacted first, stepping back and turning to face Jake.
“Dude, it’s not like that.” Mike held his hands up, ready to explain.

Jess finally seemed to snap out of her daze and turned to
face Jake. It was then that he saw her eyes. That made it worse. He knew he was
glaring and she was glaring right back. Jake took one step toward her, not sure
if he was planning to yell, throttle her or kiss her. He stopped right in front
of her, still glaring, teeth bared at her, still unsure what he was going to do
when she started yelling.

“What the hell are you thinking? You threw a bottle at him.
Are you insane? Mike’s my friend. I can hug him any time I want to! And you…you
are…”

“I’m what?” Jake’s voice was cold, though he felt anything
but.

“What you are doesn’t matter, but I know what you’re not.
You’re
not
my keeper!”

In that same cold voice Jake asked, “After last night, you
think that I’m going to let you kiss another man? Especially Mike?” He had her
bent backward over a frame piece for the kitchen wall, trapped between his arms.
Even though Mike was standing right there, even though he was so angry he could
strangle her, Jake’s body still responded to her. He felt himself growing hard
and instead of trying to hide it, he pressed his erection against her belly.
And he heard her quick intake of breath.

“You get no say in the matter. My life, my body.” She shoved
her hands against his chest, trying to push him away.

He held her there, still unsure of what exactly he was going
to do. She had been so warm and welcoming last night. Then she ran off. And
now, not only was she wrapped around Mike, she was screaming at him. She pushed
against Jake’s chest again and he finally eased back a little bit.

“You lost your rights to any say in who I kiss when you ran
out last night!” With one hard push she shoved Jake away and walked toward
Mike, grabbing his hand as she passed him. “Let’s go.”

Just before she headed down the ramp she yelled without even
turning around. “This week we need to go pick cabinetry. Clear some time in
your
busy
schedule.”

Tuesday morning, Jess strode into the kitchen at six. She
wasn’t sure what time Jake wanted to go into town to look at cabinetry, so she
thought it best to be up and ready before it even occurred to him. They hadn’t
spoken since Saturday. They’d been in the same room, several times, and once
she’d bumped into him in the barn. He didn’t even nod at her and she wouldn’t
acknowledge him either. She knew he was still angry. His rage was almost
palpable, leaving a residue every time he entered a room. Everyone could sense
it. You could almost feel the universal sigh of relief when he walked out
again.

She had dropped a note off on his desk yesterday reminding
him that they needed to go pick cabinets
today
. She still wasn’t at all
sure how they were going to manage that without speaking to each other, but she
was willing to give it a try. They were close to seven weeks into this project,
and with everyone putting in overtime it was coming along really well. She
always thought of timelines based on tract homes, or even for large business
structures, so she was amazed at how fast this was going. Building one house
was certainly different to building twenty at once. They absolutely had to pick
out cabinetry and counters. Appliances, flooring, window coverings. So much to
do. She would have to speak to him.

This was going to take at least one entire day, probably
more, unless he already knew what he wanted. Jess perked up at that thought.
Maybe he already had some ideas. He was so damn opinionated about everything
else, maybe this would be easier than she thought. Then he walked in and that
hope went right out the window.

* * * * *

Jake saw her sitting there, looking stunning as always.
Dressed and ready for the day before he was. He wondered again how they’d ended
up here. She’d been in his bed one night and in Mike’s arms the next day. Now
they hadn’t spoken to each other in three days. And instead of getting over it,
getting past one night and a few kisses, he still wanted her. He couldn’t get
her out of his mind. Every night was a struggle not to walk into her room and
kiss her senseless. The constant desire and following torment of seeing her
there in his home only added to his anger. He shouldn’t want her like this. He
hadn’t even made love to her. It had occurred to him, on more than one
occasion, that maybe if he just took her, lost himself in her one time, he
could move on. Get over this desire for a woman that made him crazy.
Unfortunately his mother had taught him better than that.