Authors: RG Alexander
“You’re soaked, Caroline. And not that I’m complaining, but why are you here and why the hell did you jump in the pool with your clothes on?”
She raised her head and fell into his eyes. “I felt like a swim. And I’m here because the producers of your show called your sister looking for you.”
His full lips tightened. “They shouldn’t have bothered her. What they really need to do is kiss my ass.” Jefferson kicked a rolling bottle out of the way and moved toward the sliding glass doors that would lead him inside. “I agreed to crash a car, ride a bull and jump off a building or two, I didn’t sign over my soul.”
She hesitated a moment before following him in, her damp socks leaving prints on the wood floor. Thank goodness she’d taken off her boots. She loved those boots. “Sick of dating supermodels? Or are they forcing you to attend another party with free food and all the adoration you could desire? You should have read the fine print, Junior. This is Hollywood, and the rent on a pleasure palace like this doesn’t come cheap. You aren’t in La Grange anymore. Nothing here comes without a price.”
Jefferson turned so fast to grip her shoulders she gasped. “
I
pay for this place, Caroline. They offered to cover all my expenses in the beginning but I turned them down. I had a lawyer look over my contract before I agreed to anything. I’m not some con artist trying to sucker them out of their money. I’m not a child, and I’m not the star-struck hillbilly everyone here seems to think I am.”
They actually called him a hayseed, but he didn’t look like he’d be receptive to that information. “No one thinks you’re a con artist.”
“Just a blind idiot.” He lowered his long, dark lashes and studied her mouth. “Where are my manners? You’re shivering. Why don’t you go upstairs and undress so we can put your clothes in the dryer. We’ll get you warmed up, and then I’ll let you play doctor like I know you want to.”
Caroline was having a hard time catching her breath. This was for Trudy, she reminded herself again, almost desperately. No undressing. No kissing. No warming up her body on his hot, delicious flesh. “Doctor first. Broken glass and blood trumps soggy jeans.”
He nodded but gripped her elbow with his uninjured hand to guide her toward the stairs. “We can do both. First aid kit is in the master bathroom.” He snorted. “My pants should be up there too in case I’m offending your feminine sensibilities. But this is nothing you haven’t seen before. In fact, this kind of reminds me of the first day we met.”
“You, injured and naked, surrounded by broken glass? That does ring a bell.”
His fingers tightened on her arm, but he didn’t respond.
“Trudy sent me,” she offered lamely, her usual confidence abandoning her at the feel of his callused fingers on her skin. A young, naked demigod was taking her to his bedroom. If only it were under different circumstances and she hadn’t sworn to snub any advances he made. “She was going to come if I didn’t, so you’re welcome. If she saw you like this she might drag you home by your ears. But she said you haven’t been answering your phone and she’s worried—”
“Talking about my sister when you’re wet and I’m naked isn’t what I’d call a good bedside manner. One thing at a time. I’m sure the lectures and guilt will still be waiting when we’re done.” Her throat closed and her body instinctively responded to the sound of command in his voice. She barely restrained her “Yes, sir.”
The large bed was the first thing she saw when she walked into the master bedroom. It was a tall mass of twisted toffee-colored comforter, crumpled white sheets and pillows that had apparently been beaten into submission. Whiskey bottles lay on the floor at the foot of the bed, along with a broken cell phone—its casing crushed and glass cracked.
“That explains why no one could get a hold of you,” she murmured as he let go of her and walked into the bathroom.
Something was definitely wrong. She knew from Trudy that addiction ran in the family, but Jefferson had never struck her as having any vice apart from arrogance. He was still sexy and irresistible, but she had noticed the shadows under his eyes, the dark line of stubble on his jaw. Had he eaten? Had he slept? What was going on?
Caroline’s curiosity and concern disappeared the moment she turned to ask him what had happened.
He bent over, rifling through a cabinet below the sink and giving her another view of his bitable ass, the back of his muscular thighs and the tempting shadow hanging between his legs. He had no shame at all.
It was one of his best qualities, and possibly the only other thing they had in common.
She couldn’t stop her groan of arousal this time, but she tried to disguise it as one of irritation while she covered her eyes. “You said something about finding pants?”
His laugh was wicked. Knowing. “Did I? I was sure that I said something about taking yours off. After I stop bleeding all over the bathroom, that is.”
His hand. Caroline silently cursed herself for being a pervert. “Fine. I can’t very well let my best friend’s brother die from blood loss on my watch, can I? The wedding ceremony would be ruined.”
“Compassion must be your middle name.”
She stalked to the bathroom and reached for his arm, avoiding everything but the hand she cupped in hers. She cleaned it carefully, patted it dry and applied antibacterial ointment. She was reaching for the bandage when she spoke again. “Are you going to tell me why you’re on a hardcore bender or just leave it to my imagination? I warn you, it’s vivid.”
When he didn’t respond she decided to keep talking, babbling really so she wouldn’t have to look into his eyes or anywhere else. “The show? No, you can’t be upset about that, not really. You’re the star. Even if you don’t win the grand prize and it goes to that Navy guy, you’re still Mr. Big Stuff. Navy guy didn’t even get a nickname. Unless, you know, you count Navy guy. Anyway your commitment will be over in a few weeks after the finale, so it shouldn’t be that difficult to endure.”
She took a breath. “I’m certain it’s not your best man duties. John made it clear he didn’t want a bachelor party, which is romantic and irritating at the same time but takes away your only job apart from buying a tuxedo. Just between you and me, I’ve planned something of a coed party that everyone can enjoy together. I may be run out of town when it’s over, but it will be worth it if it means giving Trudy a memorable wedding.”
Another breath and she forced her hands to remain steady as she wrapped his wounds. “There was a woman, I bet. There’s always a woman. Probably one of those aspiring actresses you’ve been seen with. She broke your heart when you found out she wasn’t who you thought she was, and she only wanted you for your reality stardom.”
His hand jerked away from hers the moment she’d taped the bandage and he brushed by her, his body heat scalding her chilled skin.
“This is not a conversation worth having. You need dry clothes.”
So it
was
a woman?
Of course it was. Caroline tried to hide her disappointment as she followed him into the bedroom. He was young, sexy and virile and this was Los Angeles.
Of course
he’d had his heart broken by another woman. Slept with another woman. Probably more than one.
She glanced at herself in the mirror over his dresser and saw a rueful expression cross her face. She couldn’t exactly work up a good rage about that. It wasn’t like she’d been saving herself for him all these months. She’d gone to the club religiously to try and drive him out of her mind, participating in scenes that made even the most cynical lifestyler blush. And then there was last night and Robb, though despite the blow it would cause to the Scot’s ego, she wasn’t sure that counted.
Jefferson grabbed a pair of boxer shorts out of a drawer and slid them on swiftly before reaching for another pair and a thin white t-shirt for her. “Your turn, Caroline. Strip and put these on so you can stop leaving puddles all over the floor.”
Danger.
All her red flags were flying and alarm bells were ringing in her ears. This was not a good idea. She was already one heartbeat away from offering to pick up where they left off in La Grange and that would be a huge mistake. Wouldn’t it? He’d been drinking for at least a day, he wasn’t himself and she was beyond sexually frustrated and rattled by last night’s disappointment.
Yes, she assured herself. Huge mistake. If she got into his boxer shorts she’d stay and share a cup of coffee. Coffee would lead to lingering stares, possibly flirting and definitely touching. Touching would lead to her spending the rest of the day and night taking advantage of Jefferson while they were both vulnerable and riding him like her favorite rollercoaster at Disneyland.
She knew herself too well. She had to get out of here. “I’ve been wet before, Junior. I’ll survive. Here’s what’s going to happen. You’ll take a shower, shave and make yourself some coffee. I’ll go home and change, call Trudy and tell her about your phone. You should get a new one as soon as possible, though, before she flies in to rescue you. I have plans tonight, but I’ll stop by and bring you dinner on my way, since I have a feeling you haven’t been shopping in a while.”
She realized she’d made a mistake in her delivery the instant she looked into his eyes. A moment later she was gasping again as she landed on the bed, his hands hard on her hips and his body leaning over her.
“Is that what’s going to happen?” he rasped. “Not that it doesn’t get me hot to hear you bossing me around—because it does—but you don’t appear to have all the facts. Jefferson. That’s my name, Caroline. That’s what you cried out in my bedroom that night. Not Junior. Jefferson. I heard you whisper it again in this room when my face was buried between your thighs and a hundred people were celebrating on the other side of the door. Jefferson.”
Her hands landed on his forearms and she bit her lip, too turned on to be offended by his behavior. Her only hope was that he would let her go, because she didn’t have the strength to push him away. “I’m sorry, Jefferson. I had a rough morning and then I thought you were drowning. Stress makes me bossy.”
Jefferson didn’t let her go, but continued to stare at her as if he knew what she wanted. What she was thinking. Feeling.
“It’s more than stress. You think I can’t see what you’re doing, but you’re wrong.” He shook his head. “Junior’s not a threat. He’s your friend’s pesky brother with that inconvenient crush you tolerate. He doesn’t have any idea how to handle you. Doesn’t turn you on and make you want to beg for more. He’s safe.”
He could see through her too easily. That made her nervous. She wanted to push him off of her and tell him he was wrong. She wanted to wrap her legs around him and pull him closer. “Jefferson, let’s take a minute and think about this. You’ve obviously been going through something. Now is not the—”
“Not the time?” His hand slipped between them to undo the top button of her jeans and his words interrupted her. “I’m going through a rough patch and I don’t know what I’m doing? I suppose that’s true. It’s been one bitch of a week and I don’t appear to be handling disappointment as well as I’d like. Tell me, will I wake up tomorrow hung over but grateful you stopped me from getting you naked, losing myself in this sweet body beneath mine and making you come?”
“You might.” She had three months of proof that he wasn’t exactly beating down her door when he was sober.
“I won’t. But if you really believe that then tell me to stop, sweet Caroline. Convince me I should let you leave before I have a chance to thank you for saving me from a bloody end and give you a proper hello.”
He unzipped her soaked jeans and she covered his hand with her own. There were a million reasons this shouldn’t be happening. More. The fact that he’d just taken a header into his pool stood out. But he seemed okay now. Better than okay. She was the one who felt drunk. She didn’t want him to stop. What did that say about her? Selfishly, all she could think about was how long it had been since she felt like this.
The last time he touched her.
“Damn it, Jefferson,” she whispered, reaching up to pull him down for a kiss as her other hand guided his beneath the denim so he could feel how much she wanted him. Everything inside her cried out for him as soon as his lips touched hers. She could see sparks behind her eyelids and feel his full lips firm and part against hers. It was as good as she remembered.
He kissed her as if he were starving. As if he owned her. He tasted like making out in the back seat of a car. Or playing Spin the Bottle with the Scotch she’d stolen from her father’s office to drink with her teenage crush. He tasted like the first time she’d agreed to be someone’s submissive. Dangerous. Exciting.
Just one more time
, she thought as she opened her mouth to his thrusting tongue and whimpered at how right it felt.
We both need comfort and
it’s been so long.
Just let me have him one more time and I’ll walk away and go back to reality.
He groaned against her mouth like a man in pain as his thick finger slid inside her sex. God that felt good. Caroline rocked her hips, desperate to be filled, desperate for more of him.
His neck tensed under her hand and Jefferson lifted his mouth, green eyes unblinking and bright with need. “Stop me, Caroline.”
She held her breath, watching him.
He jerked her clinging jeans off along with her black thong and wet socks. She didn’t hesitate, dragging the tank top over her head, flinging it over his shoulder and letting a smile curve her lips.
“I know how you can thank me, Jefferson. Don’t stop.”
He swallowed, staring at her breasts. “I thought you had to go. You had plans.”
“I lied.”
Chapter Three
Maybe this was a dream after all. It wouldn’t surprise him. The woman in his bed had been the star of all his hottest fantasies for a while now. She was as wanton and shameless as he remembered, and more beautiful, which he’d thought was impossible.
Caroline’s bare skin was flawless and buttery soft. Small, firm breasts topped with hard, rose-colored nipples burned his palm as her teeth scraped along his jaw in sensual challenge. Her sable hair was held away from her face with an elastic band, revealing the high cheekbones and long neck he couldn’t resist exploring with his lips and tongue.