Three (3 page)

The elevator reached the third floor and they both got off. Jackson tried to think of safe subjects to talk about, to get her to open up. He knew he only had a small window of time to make sure she was into him individually from Xander. She had to be attracted to both equally in order for this to work, but most women weren’t going to show that she was into two men at the same time if they were in the same room. This moment alone with her was pivotal.

“I know this is rude to ask a female this question, but I wanna ask it anyway…how old are you, Simone? I know you just finished school, so you have to at least be twenty-two or twenty-three, right?” Jackson looked down at Simone as they walked along the hallway to her suite.

“Oh I don’t mind saying my age. I’m twenty-nine.” Simone said softly.

“Really?!  You seem so much younger, especially with these braids.” Jackson reached out to touch a braid as they came to a stop in front of her suite door.

Jackson watched as Simone’s breath hitched in her throat. He faced her and gently grabbed both braids that were lying against her breasts. The backs of his fingers barely grazed the tops of her breasts. He noticed the pulse in her neck quicken and her body start to tremble slightly. Jackson pulled smoothly on the braids, forcing Simone’s head back to look up at him. Her already sloped bedroom eyes looked even more heavy-lidded behind her glasses. Her full lush lips were parted and her breath rushed out in anticipation.

“I…I…I waited ‘til later to get m…my undergrad in Biology. Then…then I took a br…break, working full-time to…to save up more money f…for nursing school. That’s wh…why I’m so much ol…older.” Simone said nervously, obviously trying to distract Jackson from his apparent intent.

“You’ve worked hard, and I’m sure your parents would be really proud of you.” Simone’s eyes widened slightly at Jackson’s thoughtful words. “And I know your career is very important to you. But don’t you think you should enjoy yourself sometime? Enjoying life makes all the hard work worth it, don’t you think?” Jackson finished, caressing his knuckles down her cheek.

All Simone could do was nod her head yes, mesmerized by his piercing gray gaze.

“I thought so.” Jackson replied as his lips descended towards her.

Jackson gave Simone a soft gentle kiss on the side of her mouth and her breath drew in sharply. He pulled back just enough to brush his lips across hers and then kissed the other side of her mouth. Simone held her breath the whole time.
She’s gonna pop a lung if she doesn’t breathe soon.

“Breathe, Simone. Just enjoy it.” Jackson whispered against her lips.

Simone blew out a ragged breath and then drew in much needed oxygen.

Jackson rested his forehead against hers, as he too drew in a breath to calm his pounding heart and cool down his raging need for her.

“Have you ever been kissed before Simone, besides today?” Jackson asked as his breathing calmed, not giving away the fact that he knew Xander had a small taste of her earlier.

“Well, kind of, one time in high school.” Simone tried to look away, but Jackson brought her face back up to look at him with his index finger.

The answer to that one simple question, they both knew revealed so much more than she wanted to admit.
Shit! She
is
a virgin!

“God, your innocence is killing me. I want to kiss you more, but I don’t want to scare you.” Jackson squeezed his eyes closed, trying to contain himself.

“It…it’s okay. I…I…want you too.” Simone shyly raised her face up.

Jackson looked down at her, wondering how he’d be able to remain in control if he kissed her the way he really wanted to. “Just breathe through your nose.” Jackson said, reaching up to gently remove her glasses before placing his lips on hers.
Jesus, I’m teaching a twenty-nine year old how to kiss.

He started with a soft peck. The peck developed into soft nibbles on her bottom lip. Jackson reached for her clenched fists at her sides and brought them up to rest on his wide chest, and they grasped his shirt in a death grip. He clasped her face in either hand, bracing himself to take the kiss to the next level.

Jackson flicked his tongue against Simone’s firmly closed lips and they opened on a gasp. He took advantage of the access and plunged his tongue into her mouth. She gathered more of his shirt into her fists as if she was going to pull him closer or push him away. Her tongue stayed still, not knowing what to do. Jackson flicked and caressed hers, coaxing it to do the same.

Slowly and timidly, Simone touched her tongue to his. Jackson’s tight control slipped a little and he pulled Simone in closer and deepened the kiss, growling in the back of his throat. Getting the hang of the intense kiss, Simone started to mimic his tongue, diving into his warm mouth shyly when his retreated from hers.

When her hands slowly snaked around his neck and her fingers made their way into the hair at the nape of his neck, what little control he had left, snapped. He walked her backwards towards the wall, pressed her against it and his hips thrust instinctively into hers, his painfully hard erection aching to get inside of her.

But the first touch of his hardness against her broke the passionate spell. Simone gasped and pulled away from his lips.

“Stop…stop please.” Her voice shook with need and fear.

“Oh God! I’m so sorry Simone. I didn’t mean to lose control like that.” Jackson apologized looking into her large dark brown eyes that were filled with confusion, as they both panted trying to calm their pulses.

Jackson knew that she must have been confused with her body’s reaction to his. She probably didn’t understand what was going on inside of her body. She was more than likely afraid of him and her need for him.

“I…I better get my bags, so we can get going. I’m sure Xander is wondering what is taking us so long.” Simone looked anywhere but at him.

“Ah…I doubt he’s too worried.” Jackson hedged.

Simone just gave him a perplexed look, not sure of what he meant by the comment. She turned and put the keycard in the lock, opening the door. Jackson walked in slowly behind her, not wanting to get too close and freak her out.

“Here let me take those down for you.” Jackson offered.

“Thank you. Uh…can you give me a second while I call my friend Amber? I need to let her know that I won’t be able to call her for a couple of days. I don’t want her to worry.” Simone said, shyly looking at him from under her lashes, too afraid to make full eye contact with him again.

“Sure. We’ll be downstairs waiting. Take your time.” Jackson said, the timid look making him want to drop her bags, throw her on the bed and ravish her curvy body for the rest of the day.

“Thanks.” She said as she grabbed her phone.

Jackson looked longingly at her before he closed the door. Still grasping the door handle, he took a deep calming breath, clenching his jaw before releasing the handle and walking down the hall.
Fuck! The next couple of days are going to the best and most frustrating days of my life, being in such close proximity to that body.

~~~

Oh holy hell!
Simone fell back on the bed.
Shit, shit, shit, shit, SHIT!
Simone wasn’t in the habit of cursing, but she felt that now was as good a time as any.
Plus, it doesn’t technically count if it’s just in my head.
Before she could overthink it, she grabbed her phone that she’d dropped on the bed and immediately pulled up Amber’s number.

“Hey stranger! How’s the-?” Amber started cheerfully, before Simone cut her off.

“Amber! I don’t have too much time, but I needed to talk to you…to get some advice.” Simone said in a rush.

“Oh my God! What? What?! You never ask for advice, so this has to be about a guy!” Amber shouted.

Simone could imagine Amber jumping up and down in excitement.

“Well…spit it out!” Amber said impatiently after Simone stayed quiet a moment.

“Uh…well. It’s not just one guy…it’s…it’s two.” Simone said cringing because she knew what was coming.

“WHAAAAAT?!?!” Amber shouted into the phone. “Holy shit! You’ve only been gone twenty-four hours! Two guys?! Now you’ve
got
to tell me. I need the deets!”

“Amber, I really don’t have time to give you too many details.” Simone implored, but knowing there was no use.

“Well then get to talkin’, cause you’re not getting off this phone until you’ve told me everything.” Amber pressed on.

“Fine. Fine. Well the owner of the lodge is Xander and his best friend that is helping him this week is Jackson. And-“

“Damn! Just their names sound hot. And best friends too! You’ve hit the jackpot!” Amber interrupted.

“Are you going to listen or not?” Simone smiled into the phone, teasing her friend.

“Oh sorry…continue.”

“Okay. So Xander is tall and lean like a swimmer and has blond hair, greenish hazel eyes, with crazy plump lips and dimples to die for. And Jackson has this beautiful unruly curly chestnut brown hair with crazy gray eyes and built like a Mac truck. He owns a lumber mill and it looks like he was given an ax the moment he came out the womb.” Simone told her friend.

“Wow”, was Amber’s only response, just imagining the beautiful men.

“And…and…uh…they both kissed me today.” Simone said quietly.

“WHAT!?!?! Amber shouted again into the phone. “You go from never getting any action…ever, to getting kissed by two men in the same day?! And two gorgeous men at that!”

“I know! First it started with Xander when he had me bond with the dogs. One of the dogs jumped on me and pushed me into him. It really wasn’t a full kiss, just a brush of his lips against mine. But just a few moments ago, Jackson walked me to my room to get my bags to take downstairs for the trip and he kissed me. Like
really
kissed me! Like
French
kissed me!” Simone said in wonder.

“You are
such
a virgin.” Amber said exasperated.

“I know. But it was amazing. I’ve never felt anything like that before. But then he rubbed his…his…you know what…on me?” Simone tried to come up with a good word for “it”.

“No, I don’t know. He rubbed what on you?” Amber refused to back down, making Simone squirm.

“He rubbed his
penis
on me.” Simone whispered the offensive word.

“And…?”

“Well…it…I can’t be sure, but it felt
huge
! And I got scared, broke the kiss and told him to stop.” Simone finally finished.

“It sounds promising to me.” Amber said happily.

“But Amber, don’t you get it?! They’re best friends! Am I supposed to choose? And if so, how do I?” Simone said with worry.

“Well you don’t have to choose yet. Just enjoy it…the attention. Have fun with it. You’re only there for a few weeks. If it doesn’t work out, you’ll just come back and never have to see them again.” Amber reasoned.

“I guess. But I’m not really comfortable with all this. How do I go from no experience at all, to being sneaky and fooling around with
two
guys? It just feels wrong.” Simone said sadly.

“Just go with it one day at a time and see what happens. And try not to overthink it, though I know that’s hard for you, since studying and analyzing is your thing.” Amber advised.

“Okay, I’ll try.” Simone said with a voice filled with doubt. “I better go, they’re waiting for me.”

“God, this is
so
exciting! My big sister from another Mister, finally coming out of her shell and wanting to have ‘girl talk’ with me. It makes me want to cry.” Amber sighed dreamily. “Oh hey, make sure you get a pic of them and send it to me!” Amber said at the last minute.

“Uh…okay. If there’s cell reception at the next lodge that we stay at, I’ll try to call you to give you an update.”

“You better. Alright girl, go to your men. Hehehe…I love it! Bye!”

“Bye.” Simone said nervously, and then hung up the phone.

Simone left her room, walked to the elevator and took it down as if she were going to her execution. She had no idea how she was supposed to act normal in front of both men that she had kissed. For one, she didn’t know how to act in front of
one
man that she had kissed.
Am I supposed to act like it never happened?
For another, was she supposed to tell one that she had kissed the other?
God, this is so confusing.

~~~

Xander was loading their gear on the sleds when Jackson came out with a shit eating grin on his face. Xander hadn’t seen the serious man that happy in a long time.

“What’s with the goofy grin, Jax? Xander smiled at his friend.

“Oh, I’d just say things are lookin’ good brother.” Jackson came up and clapped Xander on the back happily.

“So she’s into you?” Xander asked anxiously.

“You have no idea.” Jackson replied, deliberately making his friend stew a bit.