The Best Man (2 page)

 She let him guide her to the small
dance floor. She moved into his arms, trying not to react to his warm smile. He
was accustomed to holding a woman. He held her close comfortably, resting a
hand on the rise of her rump. “I’m afraid you have me at a disadvantage,” she
said, eyeing him levelly. “You know my name, but I don’t know yours.”

“Jared Jacobs.”

“Friend of the groom, or the bride? I’m
afraid since Susan moved out here, I don’t know most of her friends.”

“I’ve been a friend of Brad’s family
for years. I’ve met Susan several times. You’ve done a fine job raising your
daughter, Ms. Paige.”

“Thank you. Do call me Kitty. Ms.
Paige makes me sound too motherly. So do you live in Seattle?”

“Nope. I’m a fan of the sun. I work
out of San Diego.”

“That should be sunny enough. You
say
work out of
. Don’t you live there, too?”

“You’re not only a beautiful woman
and a lovely dancer, you’re a good listener.”

The music stopped for more toasts by
the best man.

“And you’re a bullshit artist.” She
laughed at his scowl. “I’m not easily charmed—unless I want to be. So you haven’t
answered my question.”

“I’m a businessman. I have several
interests,” Jared said, handing her a glass of champagne. “I’m a middle man for
various overseas companies seeking buyers in this country—copper, steel,
aluminum. Most anything, really.”

“So you travel a lot.”

“Maybe that’s why it feels like I
work out of San Diego rather than live there. I understand you’re a successful
business woman yourself.”

She shrugged her shoulders. “That’s
a matter of opinion. There’s always room for improvement.”

“I also travel some to follow my
horses.”

“Horses?”

“Race horses. Do you ever get out to
Arlington Park?”

“Of course. It’s such a beautiful
place.” She’d heard the catch in his voice when he mentioned the horses. She
understood the awe those majestic animals could inspire. “I’ve been to the Derby a couple times.”

“Ah, so you have more than passing
interests in the addictive beasts.” He gave her a broad smile, took her hand
and guided her back to the dance floor.

“Doesn’t every girl dream about
horses?”

“Most girls give up their childhood
fantasies as reality smacks them in the faces.” He leaned away from her as they
swayed to the music. “Somehow, I don’t think you do.”

She grinned. “Maybe I should’ve, but
I’m too stubborn for my own good. Someday I’m going to own a racehorse. I just
haven’t gotten around to it yet.”

“Maybe you haven’t found the right
partner?”

She saw his eyes teasing before she
rested her head on his shoulder. “Maybe I’ve been too busy to look.” She’d add
racehorses to her
to do
list as soon as she got back to Chicago. She had plenty of contacts. She might not have given up on her childhood fantasy,
but she’d nearly forgotten it. She smiled into Jared’s suit coat. Maybe her
daughter’s wedding would rekindle a dream.

They danced to the slow music. Kitty
smiled at the other couples on the floor. Most were rooted in place. Jared apparently
liked to dance. They moved easily together.

They danced in silence. By the third
song in the set, they were in a darkened corner moving no more than anyone
else. His large hands curved around her butt. She’d laced her fingers behind
his neck.

“Um,” he whispered. “You smell
heavenly.”

Kitty hid her smile. She’d been
thinking the same thing about him. She couldn’t determine if it was his cologne
or his manliness. “If you think you’re dancing with an angel, you’re going to be
disappointed.”

His fingers dug into her bottom. She
wanted to purr when she felt his arousal growing larger. She’d been aware of
its presence for a while, but now it was rising to serious proportions. Too bad
she had a plane to catch.

She swayed on her tiptoes, grinding
her pubic bone against his thickening penis. If the ballroom had been darker,
she would’ve lifted a leg to cradle his butt.

“Jesus,” Jared said, gasping into
her ear. “Jackson said you were hot.”

Kitty jerked out of his grasp. “What?”
She narrowed her eyes and ground her fists against her waist. “What the hell
did you say?”

“Don’t make a scene,” he said, in a
low breath grabbing her hand. “Remember your daughter.”

Heeding his advice, she let him
hurry her out an exit to the hallway, where she whirled on him. “Explain
yourself, you bastard. Who the hell is Jackson?”

“I’m sorry,” Jared said, turning
redder still. “The words just came out. I hadn’t expected you to try to get
yourself off that way.”

“I wasn’t.” Her denial didn’t ring
true, even to her ears. She’d lost her bearings there for a moment. She never
lost her bearings, particularly with a man. “What the hell did you mean?” She
had him on the defensive, and that was where she wanted to keep him.

“Jackson. Jackson Jacobs. My son. The
best man.”

“The best man,” she gagged. “Your
son. Hot! You bastard.”

“But that didn’t have anything to do
with me wanting…”

“A piece of the bride’s mother? Dream
on.” Kitty gave him her best icy glare—the one she’d practiced as a young woman
before her bedroom mirror. No man could withstand it. “I hope for the sake of
any woman you ever hook up with, you’re a hell of a lot better than your son.” She
peered down her nose. “But that seems doubtful. Thank God I’ve got to catch a
plane.”

She spun on her heel and marched
down the hallway, leaving him fumbling for words.

- o -

Struggling for breath and
equilibrium, Jared watched the shapely ass covered in yellow satin strut away
from him. It was tempting to chase after her, press her against the wall, and
convince her why she shouldn’t be worrying about making a plane.

“She is hot,” he growled, jamming a
fist against the carpeted wall. Damn, how had those words slipped out of his
mouth? He never fucked up like that, not with a woman.

Shit. They’d been so close. He could
swear he’d felt her juices pooling as she’d begun to rub her pussy against his
stiff cock in earnest.

He looked down the empty hall. Maybe
she had more self-discipline than he did. He tugged on the corner of his
mustache. Closing his eyes, he easily recalled every curve of the woman in
yellow.

He smiled. She must like yellow. Would
she like yellow roses? He didn’t take having a woman rebuff him easily, even if
it was his mistake that led her to explode.

Kitty Paige might be a bigger
challenge than he’d expected, but he was sure she’d also make a very worthy
conquest. It might be fun to get to know her better. A woman of complexity
intrigued him.

And she was that. A successful
business woman. An able mother. A woman comfortable enough in her own skin to
flaunt her beauty. She dressed hot, talked hot and apparently fucked hot. She
should know better than to compare a youngster, even his son, with a mature
man. Jackson probably had no clue what he’d held in his arms.

But
he
did. Not entirely,
though. She wrapped her persona in enough mystery that it would take some time
to really know her. Yet he knew a few things about her. She had a fascination
for yellow, a fascination for race horses, and—at least briefly—a fascination
for his cock.

That was enough to move forward on. He
turned and whistled softly, making his way down the hall toward his hotel room.
He’d have to call his trainer. Surely they must have a horse or two in their
string they could ship to Arlington Park.

- o -

Lifting a leg above the steamy,
sudsy water, Kitty washed it carefully. She paid it the same sort of attention
she’d devoted to her other leg, her arms, her breasts and her loins. There wasn’t
much she enjoyed more than a thorough soak and scrubbing. Like lovemaking, she
believed a bath should seldom be rushed.

She’d realized long ago that for
her, bathing was an act of self-love. She had no qualms about that. There was
long period in her life when she hadn’t had the time for such pleasure.

Kitty tucked her leg back under the
hot water and rested her head on the lip of the tub. This was a luxury she’d
earned. Never again would she work for a boss—male or female. She thoroughly
enjoyed being her own boss. Any mistakes she made were hers. The same could be
said for her successes.

She closed her eyes, replaying her
trip to Seattle. Although never pleased with redeye flights, she felt like a
soothsayer having booked that return trip. Events swirled too rapidly in the
Pacific Northwest, even for her.

She sighed and yawned. No matter what
people said about traveling first class, the seating space was still too
confined to get a good rest. Though she had to admit that was better than
traveling in coach with the other sardines.

She hoped Susan would be as happy in
the future as she looked on her wedding day. Some of Kitty’s divorced friends
rued the day of their marriages. Everything apparently went downhill from
there.

Kitty scrunched her shoulders
together. She peered through eyelashes at her breasts breaking the surface of
the water. Her nipples immediately pebbled under the cooler air temperature,
causing her to smile. She wouldn’t know about weddings. She’d never had one. And
that was fine with her.

She’d never had to worry whether a
husband remained faithful to her. And—she searched and found the bar of soap under
the water—she didn’t have to wonder if she could be faithful. Remaining single
meant she could pretty much find a cock whenever she needed one without all the
domestic expectations and inevitable grief.

She had no need to depend upon a
man, and more importantly, no need to trust one. She only had to rely on her
good sense and judgment.

She winced—she hadn’t used such good
sense after the rehearsal dinner. Uncharacteristically, she’d been whipping
herself over that one all the way back from Seattle. Usually she let
misadventures roll off her back, trying to learn from them and move one.

This one still gnawed at her gut. What
the hell was the best man’s name? His dad had called him Jackson, right? It
didn’t really matter. Her vibrators were a hell of a lot more reliable than his
cock. She smirked and pushed the soap bar down to her pubic area. She shouldn’t
blame his cock. It was rather nicely proportioned, actually. Too bad its owner
didn’t know how to use it to its fullest potential.

She’d had decent young lovers
before, but Jackson wasn’t among their ranks. Still, she preferred an older man
who knew how to treat a woman like she was aging wine. She preferred long
sensuous lovemaking—she slid the soap bar down one side of her labia and back
up the other—like a luxurious bath. She wasn’t opposed to primal fucking,
either; she could do quick and hard, but that had to be with a man who knew
what he was doing. She wasn’t going to be any guy’s fuck doll to simply be used
to bring himself off—quickly or not—without paying attention to her needs, too.

She spread her labia between the fingers
of one hand and eased the soap along the resulting crevice. The damn kid hadn’t
even helped her come.

The image of the thin mustached
father crept into her awareness. His smile disarmed her, making her shiver. “Damn,”
Kitty moaned, widening her thighs. The soap bar slid farther in. She slid it
back and forth, cleansing her inner reaches and gulping for air. He’d been
right. She’d been close to climaxing as she ground her pubic bone against his
massive cock. Clothes weren’t going to prevent her from that pleasure, but his
words had certainly jolted her out of any pre-orgasmic haze.

Her fingers stilled below the water’s
surface. How much had his son told him about her? She grazed her navel. Did Jared
know she wore a belly ring? She eased the soap bar in and out of her vulva
again. Did he know she kept her pussy bare of all pubic hair? He wouldn’t have
to be bothered with getting little hairs caught in his teeth.

Kitty trailed fingers from her belly
ring to her clit. She stroked it between thumb and forefinger, keeping time
with the soap cleansing her pussy. What would his tiny mustache feel like
pressed against her pussy lips? Would it tickle? Would it scratch? And if it
did, would he soothe her with his tongue?

“Good God,” Kitty panted, leaning
forward and jerking against her fingers and the soap bar. Her head bobbed up
and down as she sought release, as she welcomed release.

At last she sighed and settled back
into the warm water. It had been a long time building—since before the wedding.
What a strange little trip she’d taken.

She shuddered once again, imagining
Jared’s dark head between her legs sipping at her flow. Instead, her juices
merely mingled with the bathwater. She smiled. That seemed like a waste, even
to her.

Once she’d gotten out of the tub and
dried herself with a large Turkish towel, Kitty sat down at her makeup desk. She
considered her image in the small round mirror. Even though she had that clean,
well scrubbed, satisfied look about her, she confessed she hadn’t been able to
rid herself of Jared Jacobs as easily as she had other aspects of her trip.