The Sweetest Fling (A Stupid Cupid Book) (15 page)

Jace leveled her with another hot stare. “So do you.”

A waitress took their order, including the Strawberry Sin dessert, Claire’s favorite and hopefully, an ideal yet subtle seduction tool. Large, ripe strawberries, chocolate dipping sauce, three kinds of chopped nuts, and a pile of freshly whipped cream. If she could pull it off, that is. Whipped cream up the nose and seeds in the teeth probably wouldn’t work quite as well.

Claire swallowed, forcing her mind back on track.

“You found it without any trouble?”

Jace nodded. “I live near here.”

“Oh?” Why did that fact hurt a little? “Where?”

“Two miles north of here.” His gaze fell to Claire’s mouth, then tore back up to meet her eyes. “Close.”

“Wow.” Why couldn’t they have run into each other a year ago? Claire shrugged one shoulder, struggling to find something to say. “I mean, I’m glad it was easy for you.” If only everything else were, too.

Jace smiled wider and leaned forward a bit, baring a bit of tanned skin and hard muscle. Claire fought to keep her hands on the table instead of shoving them under her thighs—or worse, reaching over just to touch him. She had to take this slowly.

“Do you want to see it?” Jace said. The beginnings of a five o’clock shadow showed on his jawline as he tipped his head. “My place, I mean.”

Claire gulped. She wanted him. Again and again until her body collapsed, crying for a reprieve from pleasure and touch. More than that. She wanted that night. That sunrise. His fingers tracing her palm. She needed to know that wasn’t a lie. But she would not push. “Of course. I’d love to,” she said, going for a tone that sounded easygoing, like,
sure, anytime
. Not,
yes, please, now
.

Even if that was what she meant.

Jace straightened, the fabric of the T-shirt straining. Claire rubbed the back of her neck soothe the heat running over it. Her body beat with something more than her pulse, though that was there, too, drumming. Jace opened his mouth to speak, and then shut it. The waitress arrived with their cappuccinos and strawberries.

Swallowing a groan, Claire smiled at the young woman and reached for a strawberry. Jace did too, and their fingers collided. Jace’s hand went still, and his gaze fixed on their touching hands. He relaxed his, making it bump hers even more. He wanted her? He wanted her to push him, thereby taking the choice out of his hands? A prove it sort of test? She’d bet her grandmother’s pearls on it.

She’d never played Spin the Bottle. She’d hardly ever in her whole life took a dare. But this was playing for keeps. She had to be bold. Claire swirled the fruit into the small pot of chocolate and brought it, dripping, to her lips.

Claire couldn’t meet Jace’s eyes. Porn style wasn’t her. But he was a man, and he wanted her. So she ate the berry slowly, sucking the chocolate off with care, closing her eyes to the sugary taste and smooth heat.

Sweetness exploded into her mouth when she bit, awakening every taste bud. Chocolate dripped down her chin. She let it, feeling Jace watched her. She chewed slowly, wiped the chocolate, and sucked it off of her finger.

“Wow,” she said and looked up. “Don’t you think?” Jace was staring at her, eyes heavy lidded and glassy. His hand hung in midair, holding a strawberry above the whipped cream, partly dipped.

Claire’s breath caught in her throat—or was that her heartbeat? Her senses buzzed with anticipation. Jace looked down.

Oh, no. Had she gone too far?

Jace closed his mouth, bringing Claire’s gaze to the original source of all these years of incomparable want and need and longing—his damned perfect lips.

They gave Claire ideas that only grew more vibrant since she’d tasted them, felt them, and knew that no others matched. In trying to sweep Jace away, she found herself spinning her own web of seduction. His mouth, his broad shoulders, the lines at his eyes—
oh, those eyes!—
now intent on her, pinning her with naked desire.

Jace’s eyes lowered, but the gesture didn’t break the spell. Instead, Claire felt drawn closer to him. The air somehow warmed around them. Or was it only that the space between them seemed to pull?

“Why did you ask me here, Claire?” he asked, dunking his strawberry.

How honest should she be? What could she say? “I guess I just wanted to see what it was like. Just you and me, with nothing to do but sit here.”

“And eat,” he said, plopping the chunk of fruit in his mouth.

She laughed a little. “Yeah. And eat.” This might be her chance. “I wanted to see if I’d remembered it all correctly.”

He chewed, swallowed, and picked up another berry to toy with. “Remembered that night correctly, you mean.”

“Yes,” Claire said, the relief it brought catching her by surprise. “I keep wondering, was it all in my head? Was it just because we were younger and a little drunk, or was it bigger than that?”

“Or, did we make it bigger than it was?”

“Yes. I mean, how would we really know, unless ....”

Jace nodded, wiped his mouth, and leaned back in his chair. He seemed to be mulling it over. God, he looked so good. How could one twin do this to her, when the other looked exactly the same? Jace did, though. He sent her mind into a spin, and her body into a flutter. She’d never had anyone do this to her.

Ever.

His silence made her nervy. She hadn’t meant to put the question up for decision. She’d just wanted to see him. No, that was a lie. She wanted to keep him. She wanted to feel him. She wanted to lie naked in his arms and know—really, really
know
—this was real.

“Can we ... uh,” she said, her building attraction encouraging her to ask what she swore she wouldn’t. “Can I come over?”

Jace bit into his strawberry, a strange gleam in his eyes. He chewed at length, tipping his chin down, unnerving Claire with his stare.

Claire refused to squirm. He might say no. He might walk away and never look back. She might leave here crying, but she could leave knowing that she’d tried. Fully and truly tried.

* * *

Could she come over? Hell, he’d already practically laid out the welcome mat and handed her a key. But he found himself unable to answer, so stunned by the instant physical need to claim Claire.

Her question made him feel carnal. Primal.

Jace was insane, completely and utterly crazy, for even considering taking Claire home. This was supposed to be about him hearing Claire out, to finally know what her intentions were. From the moment he’d spotted her outside the window, all he could think about was getting her naked. With her every move and every word, the idea took on new life, sucking logic away.

Every time he saw her, it got worse. Last night should have been a splash of cold reality. He could not do this. Not without knowingly hurting Tyler.

Then she spoke the words that destroyed Jace’s resolve.

How stupid of him to think he could resist this woman. Her eyes bore into Jace’s, searching for an answer. Jace’s body hardened under such bare heat. But a small voice whispered for him to ask, to—

“What about your fiancé?” His voice sounded faraway even to his own ears.

Claire lowered her lashes, making shadows under her eyes. When she looked up again, her eyes were shiny. “His name is Oliver,” she said softly.

Pain shot through Jace’s heart. “What about Oliver?”

Claire shook her head, reached out to take his hands. He pulled them away.

“I didn’t know, Jace. I didn’t admit to myself, until that day in the shop, what you mean to me. I’m trying to do what I should have done six years ago.” Her voice fell away, emotion seeming to choke any other words that may have followed. “But I’m new at this.”

Jace’s mental protests silenced. A feeling of unreality pervaded his thoughts. Sitting there, hearing the words he’d longed for, for so long, drugged his sensibilities.

He found himself nodding, taking her hands, and turning them palm up so Claire could lace her fingers into his. And her skin—her warmth—felt like it belonged there, holding his hands. He shouldn’t say yes. “Do you want to follow me in your car?”

Claire let out a shaky gasp and nodded.

The server boxed up the strawberries and chocolate. Claire took them with her. Jace paid the bill and had difficulty walking, rather than sprinting, to his car. Keeping Claire’s SUV in his rearview sights, he sorted out his muddled thoughts over the short drive. Yes, this seemed too good to be true and, of course, there were still the very sticky matters of Oliver and Tyler to consider. The chance of having Claire, naked and wanting him, took over. Everything else became secondary to claiming this woman as his own.

His tires squealed as he cut the last corner and maneuvered slowly into his driveway. He waited, steadying his breath. He refused to become a bumbling idiot in these last few moments, until Claire pulled in.

He wanted to grab her hand and walk her up to the door, into his home, but he remained staid. Claire seemed just as affected, thankfully, and kept equally quiet and stiff. He stepped inside after Claire. With the click of the lock, time spilled away.

Claire turned around, dropped her purse to the floor, and kissed him.

Jace groaned. He no longer cared about resisting, or fearing what this was. Whatever his actions would mean or cause, or who they might hurt, turned moot under such powerful need. For once in his life, he was willing to take a chance.

Greedily. Hungrily.

This woman was his. All his. Only his.

Claire cupped his face and grabbed a fistful of his hair. Her length pressed into Jace’s, her breasts hot and soft, nipples hard and tickling, legs firm and round. Jace’s mouth watered. “You taste like chocolate,” he said, pulling her hips closer.

Claire nodded, capturing his mouth again. Jace pulled her shirt up, accessing her silky skin. His hands roved upward, memorizing the smallness of her back, the dip at her waist. The exact heart shape of Claire’s plump ass. God, she was so much more attractive than he’d imagined or remembered.

His erection strained for freedom. He held back, though. This was the first time. He had to make it perfect. They were alone, yes, and for once, they had the whole world closed off to explore, indulge, and savor every last breath. The realization warred with his body’s urgency to rush.

He had to take this slow. Jace slowed his kiss, slowed his hands, forcing himself to breathe her in. This moment was for all those nights of missing her and wondering where she was, and whether he should have done things differently.

He kissed her lips and licked her tongue. He buried his nose into the spot on her neck behind her ear and stayed there, memorizing the fit of her body against his. He gripped Claire’s ass, pushing his hips forward so that he could feel her firm, soft mound against his erection. Claire gasped, wriggling. She wanted more. So did he. So much more. He needed skin on skin, bare and wet and hot.

He needed to see her face as he sank his body into hers.

* * *

Claire couldn’t think of anything but getting to a bed and tearing all her clothes off. What an idiot she’d been! So many wasted years. Years she could have had this exquisite man all to herself. His kissing alone would have been worth the drama and upset that being together would have caused. And though she tried not to rush, her body reveled in his every touch.

His hot breath on her neck. The way he caressed her thighs like he couldn’t believe they were real. Her ass. God, his erection fit so perfectly against her. She could climax right then and there. Jace’s abated breathing, his tense, desperate movements. The hunger in his kisses. It all electrified Claire’s desire, amplifying the need coursing and coiling within her.

She tore the edge of his shirt up and palmed his hard pecs. Jace groaned, pressing into her. They needed a bed.

“Where can we go, Jace?” she whispered against Jace’s neck, pressing her breasts to the hard contours of his chest. “I need you.”

Jace’s heavy-lidded eyes stared at her. “Bedroom,” he said and scooped her up into his arms.

Claire wrapped her legs around him. No part of her could find a reason to say stop. Not Oliver. Not Tyler. What did that say about her? She just ached for him too much to stop. And, while her heart should be thrilling in this moment, she couldn’t shake the fear that at any moment, he would come to his senses on their behalf. Just like before.

Then they reached the bed, and he laid her down. Something in Jace's blue eyes gave her pause.

“Don’t disappear,” Jace said.

Is that what it had been to him six years ago? Her, disappearing? “I won’t. Promise.”

Jace exhaled, and the strange look in his eyes seemed made her heart squeeze. This wasn’t an easy choice for him. But it was a choice. He was choosing her.

She’d hurt this man more than she’d realized. He’d been willing to face the storm, come what may, six years ago. Fear had sent Claire away. Fear of what her parents would say, of what loving the wrong twin meant in every corner of her world—her very tidy world. Not just the wrong twin, but a regular guy with an amazing family who had overwhelmed her. The enormity of it all had overwhelmed her.

It all seemed so silly now.

She saw now that being with Jace could only have lit the shadows and broken the darkness and the loneliness. Disappear? No. She couldn’t run away again because without this light—which before had scared her, showing her things she wasn’t ready to see—Claire might now lose sight of her true self. Reaching out, she touched Jace’s cheek. This was a threshold that they would cross together. A new beginning. There was no need to rush.

She had to cherish this.

Whatever storms would follow, they would ride them through. Oliver, the wedding, her parents, his parents, her job—all of it. With Jace at her side, she could brave anything.