Treat Me (One Night with Sole Regret #8) (17 page)

“Mommy says princesses can’t be fat, so I can’t eat junk food if I want to be a princess when I grow up.”

Jacob supposed such a claim would be a good deterrent from unhealthy eating. Of course, it might instead lead to a lifelong harmful relationship with food.

“Are you sure you want to be a princess?” Amanda asked. “Sounds like a lot of rules to me.”

“I’m not sure she’s being exposed to the right kind of role models,” Jacob commented as he closed the grill lid. “Why are all the female characters in Disney movies princesses? Gives a girl a skewed perception of romance and the real world, doesn’t it?”

Jacob started when a wet hand touched the small of his back. Lost in his musings, he hadn’t heard Amanda get out of the pool. “Gives a girl something to dream about.”

“Is that what you dreamed about?” he asked. “Having some girly prince rescue you?”

“And live out my life in a castle, wearing beautiful gowns, and attending balls every night?”

“And singing!” Julie said. “All princesses sing.”

Jacob turned to look at her. “Is that why you want to be a princess? So you can sing?”

She smiled, her eyes lighting up with excitement. “I love singing.” She stopped beside him to stare up at him worshipfully, her pruned fingers supporting her chin.

Another way she was just like him. Well, except for the wanting to be a princess thing. He cupped the back of her head and hugged her against his hip. “I think you need to be exposed to other ways girls can be singers.”

“Daddy, your singing place is too loud.” She titled her head back and cringed, as if she’d insulted him.

“My singing place
is
loud,” he said agreeably and glanced at Amanda for help.

“There’s opera,” Amanda said.

Jacob produced a breathless laugh. “Loudest singers on the planet. They don’t even use sound equipment.”

“What’s opera?” Julie asked.

“Singing in Italian.”

“I don’t know Italian,” Julie assured him. “Is there singing in Spanish? I like learning Spanish on
Dora
.”

“There’s singing in every language, baby.” He stroked her hair, trying to think up ways to expose Julie to more than singing princesses. He wished he had more time to spend with her than every other weekend.

“We could take her to the theater,” Amanda suggested. “A musical.”

The thing he liked most about that suggestion was the “we” part.

“Is there a thing with singing and swimming and hugging animals and wearing crowns?” Julie asked, touching her hair where she’d wear a gilded crown. Her imagination was obviously running wild.

Jacob tapped her nose. “Not that I know of, but you can do anything you set your mind to.”

“Tina will never forgive you if she joins a circus,” Amanda said with a laugh.

“The Little Mermaid,” Julie said, jumping up and down when the answer came to her. Yet her face fell almost right away. “But Ariel hugs fish. I don’t think I’d like to hug fish. They’re smelly.”

And they were back to Disney princesses. “This kid needs to get out,” he said to Amanda, who smiled in agreement.

Lunch started with the excited chatter of Julie’s ideas for her swimming and singing animal show—a crown would be involved, of course—but as her belly filled, her enthusiasm began to wane and soon she was nodding off in her plate. Within a few minutes, she slumped back in her chair midchew.

“Julie,” Jacob said quietly, “finish what’s in your mouth.” He didn’t want her to choke while she slept.

Eyes shooting open, she jerked upright in the chair, chewing vigorously. An instant later she was asleep again—her tiny elbow on the table supporting her tiny chin on her tiny hand. Jacob stood and scooped her into his arms. She lazily opened her eyes.

“Are you finished eating?” he asked.

She swallowed the bite in her mouth and nodded. He snuggled her against his chest, and she pressed her face into his shoulder. Her swimsuit had dried while they ate, so he didn’t bother changing her out of it. He entered the house and tucked her into her bed for a much deserved nap.

He returned to the outdoor dining table to find Amanda had deserted her lunch. He located her in the pool.

She was floating on her back in the water again, but this time she was topless.

Amanda hid a self-satisfied grin when Jacob entered the pool with a loud splash. She figured removing her top would instantly put him in the mood, and for that, she was thankful. Watching that man wander around in nothing but swim trunks all morning had been hell on her self-control.

When he surfaced between her legs and latched on to her mound right through her bikini bottoms, Amanda’s head went under and she sucked in a mouthful of water. She flapped her arms to push her head above the surface and forced the water out of her mouth before she took a deep breath.

“You’re going to drown me,” she said, reaching out until she touched the top of his head with one hand.

“I’d rather make you come,” he said. He started towing her through the water toward the edge of the pool.

She’d rather he did that as well. Hard cement dug into her shoulders when she leaned back against the pool edge and Jacob grabbed her ass to lift her pussy to his mouth. She watched him with wide eyes as he blew hot breaths through her wet suit bottoms and then sucked water up through her seam before forcing it back down in a warm gush over her clit. She shuddered, surprised by how good a little water could make her feel.

Jacob’s tongue pressed fabric into her aching center, driving her mad with need. She wanted his tongue inside her, licking her in deep, wide arcs. She reached for him, but felt herself slipping into the water, and had to cling to the pool edge instead, giving the man free rein over everything between her legs. His fingers slid beneath her suit, touching bare skin. He stroked her sensitive lips while drawing water through her bikini bottoms and into his mouth.

She gasped when the tip of his finger slipped inside her. “Take them off,” she pleaded. “I want your tongue inside me.”

He bit into the fabric and tugged. The action did little to relieve her of her bikini bottoms, but the excitement of it had her core clenching with need.

His lips and tongue and teeth worked against her swollen flesh through the thick fabric, and the sensation drove her insane. She grabbed the strings tied into neat bows at both hips and tugged them loose. This time when he grabbed the bikini bottoms with his teeth and yanked, the fabric tore free. The small scrap of orange material floated along the surface of the water beside her.

“In a hurry?” he asked with a soft chuckle.

He had no idea. Taking a deep breath, she pushed off the wall and sank to her knees before him, her head disappearing under the water. Chlorine stung her eyes as she searched for the object she was after. She’d never been good at collecting items from the bottom of the pool, but she had a sturdy guidepost to help her find her way this time. She tugged at the bright red trunks Jacob wore until they slipped down his slim hips. His cock sprang free, rigid and proud, but she’d already run out of air, so she had to surface.

Water sprayed from her lips as she took greedy gulps of air.

“Find what you were looking for?” he asked.

She smiled her naughtiest smile and nodded before taking another deep breath and going down for a second look. Afraid she’d accidentally draw water into her lungs if she tried to suck him off, she settled for stroking his length between both hands and licking the swollen tip. When she surfaced the second time, his eyes were glazed with passion.

“I’d try to suck—”

Her words ended in a gasp of surprise when without warning he spun her around, grabbed her by the hips, and lowered her onto his cock. She reached between her legs to help him find her opening, then gasped as he struggled to enter her. The water kept washing away her natural lubrication, so he could only claim her an inch at a time. She grabbed the edge of the pool and straightened her arms to give him an anchor to push against. When he was finally buried inside her, he moved his hands from her hips to her breasts and pressed his face into the center of her back.

“I love you,” he whispered. “Amanda.”

Tears sprang to her eyes. She loved him too. She knew she did. But instead of saying the words, she rocked her hips impatiently, working his cock in and out of her body as best she could.

“You’re still not going to say it?” he asked, kissing her bare shoulder. “What are you afraid of?”

“Julie waking up from her nap and catching us like this.”

“We’ll just tell her you have something in your eye.” He chuckled.

“And you’re assisting me by standing behind me and grabbing my tits?”

“I’m talented that way,” he said.

Her attempt to distract him worked. His hips began to pump, driving his cock deep inside her before withdrawing. She bent her knees, hooked her feet together behind him, and let him carry the rhythm. His gentle kisses along her spine intensified her pleasure, and the rhythmic squeezing of her nipples made her pussy tighten around his driving cock. She soon forgot where they were entirely. Only the building excitement of being joined with him—two bodies as one—mattered. Within moments she was spiraling out of control, her hand diving beneath the water to grab her pussy and squeeze her mound as the intensity of the waves of pleasure ripping through her demanded to be contained.

“As much as I want to come inside you . . .” Jacob murmured against her shoulder before he pulled out. She felt the warm bursts of his cum against her ass as he groaned into her hair.

Amanda’s post-orgasm daze lifted quickly when she realized what had happened. “Shit, Jacob! You weren’t wearing a condom?”

“You had to know that,” he said. “You’re the one who forced me inside you that way.”

It wasn’t a lie. She had jerked his trunks down, taken his bare cock in her hand, and pressed it inside her. She obviously hadn’t been thinking clearly.

“I pulled out in time,” he said, rubbing his still hard cock against her ass. “And being inside you felt amazing. Don’t make me regret it.”

“You’ll regret it if I get pregnant,” she said.

“I won’t,” he whispered, pressing tender kisses along her shoulder. He brushed her hair aside and continued up her throat, his mouth igniting a trail of pleasure toward her ear. “I’d be the happiest man on earth.”

What?
Her brain struggled mightily with his claim. First he said he loved her and now he was thinking that making babies with her was a good idea? Was he out of his fucking mind?

“Daddy!” Julie called from inside the house. “Where are you? I had an accident in my bed.”

“I’ll be right there, princess,” he said. He adjusted his trunks to leave the pool. “Accidents happen.”

Amanda turned and slumped against the pool wall, her bare breasts concealed beneath the sparkling blue water and watched him—dripping wet and more gorgeous with every breath—enter the house. When he loved someone, this man was all in. No reservations. No fear. But was Amanda ready to plan a future with Jacob when she couldn’t imagine telling her sister that she even
talked
to him?

“Oh, Jacob,” she whispered. “How will this ever work?”

Jacob handed Julie her stuffed monkey and set her bag on the floorboard of the SUV. He squatted down in front of her next to her mother’s car and stroked her silky hair, her smooth cheek. “I’ll call you this week when I can.”

“Okay, Daddy. I know you’ll be singing a lot.” Their schedules never seemed to mesh. When he was bored on the bus or in his hotel room, Julie was busy with school and activities. When she had free time in the evenings and before bed, Jacob was preparing for shows, dealing with bullshit, and entertaining the fans.

Julie kissed him with sticky smacking lips and gave him a huge hug before climbing into the back seat of her mother’s SUV.

“Did you have fun with Daddy?” Tina asked as she fastened Julie into her booster seat.

“Oh yes. We went to Aunt Mander’s zoo and then the other zoo that has just one lephalant and we had a tea party and Daddy singed me a song and then I went swimming and—”

“That’s nice,” Tina said as she shut the car door.

“Did you want me to swing by your house to pick her up weekend after next?” Jacob asked. He missed the kid already, and she was only a few feet away.

“I’ll just drop her off,” Tina said with an annoyed huff. “Can’t seem to rely on anyone but myself.”

Jacob bit his tongue so he didn’t remind her that he had offered to pick up Julie, but she had refused because she hadn’t wanted to “deal with him.”

“What time?” Jacob asked.

Tina shrugged. “Whenever I get around to it. You’ll wait.”

He would wait, but it grated on his last nerve that Tina would consciously use that fact just to annoy him. Why couldn’t she be more reasonable, like her sister? How could two people with such similar genetic makeup, who’d been raised in the same household, be so very different?

Tina touched his arm and leaned closer. So close, he caught the familiar scent of her perfume. He fought the urge to step back. A year ago, he might have considered this an opening to get close to her, to win her back. But now? Now he didn’t want to win her back. If not for Julie, he’d have gone out of his way to avoid his ex entirely.

“I guess I’ll see you in a couple weeks,” she said. “Maybe . . .” She blinked up at him with a set of beguiling blue eyes. “Maybe we can take Julie somewhere together or something.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” He wondered how pissed Tina would be if he told her that Amanda was the only woman he wanted to go on outings with. He kept silent, though. Julie was sure to drop enough hints that Tina would figure their situation out very soon, and he was pretty sure Amanda would forgive a four-year-old for being unable to keep their secrets. He wasn’t so sure she’d forgive him, however. He didn’t have the excuse of being a child. He should know better than to intentionally stir up shit.

“Well, think about it,” Tina said. Before he could say anything else, she reached up to touch his cheek with her fingertips. She stared into his eyes for a long moment before slowly backing away as if she didn’t want to lose contact with his skin.

He was too stunned to do anything but gawk at her as she hurried around the SUV and climbed inside. Julie’s enthusiastic wave caught his attention, and he bent his head so he could see her better and waved back. He kept waving even after the vehicle pulled away and turned out of his driveway onto the street.

What the hell had that been about? Tina had seemed almost rational. But she also acted like she wanted to forge some sort of relationship with him again. His life would be a lot more tolerable if they got along better, but he prayed she didn’t think he was interested in her as something besides his baby’s mommy. He didn’t love her anymore, and he knew without a doubt that he’d never be able to love her again. Not after Amanda had showed him that his passion could burn just as brightly with someone who made him feel good about himself. Tina had been a beautiful trophy, and for a while it had been enough to be referred to as the guy with a hot wife, but she’d always made him feel bad about himself, as if he’d never be good enough to make her happy no matter how much he tried. Amanda was so different. She seemed to think he was just fine the way he was and that her happiness was her own responsibility and not someone else’s. Even though she hadn’t said she loved him yet, he believed that she did. He knew he loved her.

Jacob grinned when the woman he loved pulled into the driveway and stopped directly in front of him—missing his toes by less than a foot. Amanda climbed from the car and peeked at him over its beige top.

“Is it safe?” she whispered.

His grin turned wicked. “Depends on what you mean by safe.”

Now that Julie was back with her mother, possibilities for sexual adventures with Amanda were limited only by their imaginations, vitality, and bendiness. She circled the car, and he lost all power to resist her.

He pulled her against him, whirled them both around, and pressed her against the side of the car, holding her there with his rapidly hardening cock against the beckoning warmth between her thighs. His fingers clutched at her hair as his mouth crushed hers in a devastating kiss. Her hands slid up the back of his T-shirt, nails digging into his flesh. He had a mind to fuck her right there against the car. He might even have gone that far if the sounds of a gunning engine and screeching tires stopping just short of ramming the back end of Amanda’s car hadn’t yanked him out of his lust-fueled daze.

“I knew you were seeing someone!” Tina shouted as she jumped out of her SUV. “I knew it. Did you fool around with your little whore in front of Julie?”

Jacob instinctively shifted Amanda behind his back to shield her from Tina’s wrath. He could feel Amanda trembling as she clung to his shirt with both hands.

“Hi, Aunt Mander!” Julie called from inside the car.

Tina stopped in her tracks, her furious gaze shifting from Jacob’s face to the car parked in the driveway. Her jaw dropped, and for a minute Jacob was certain her head would explode as her face turned from a shocking red to a violent purple.

“You’re sleeping with my sister?” Tina blurted. “My
sister
?”

“It’s none of your business,” Jacob said calmly. His belly was churning itself into a massive knot of anxiety, and he was pretty sure Amanda was going to shake herself to pieces if she didn’t stop trembling so hard behind him, but what he did with Amanda
wasn’t
Tina’s business. He refused to deny what was going on between the two of them just to make Tina happy.

Tina’s arm shot out, her fingers bent into vicious claws. Jacob threw up an arm in defense, but Tina didn’t grab him. She went after Amanda.

“How could you?” Tina screeched, yanking Amanda out from behind Jacob.

“Ow!” Amanda protested, throwing off Tina’s hold before Jacob could intervene. “Calm down.”

“I’m not going to calm down,” Tina yelled. “I’m going to fucking
kill
you.”

Amanda stepped back to avoid an incoming blow. Jacob didn’t understand why Tina was attacking Amanda and not him. He tried to catch Tina’s flailing arms to prevent her from hurting someone.

“Will you stop?” Jacob said, grabbing Tina’s left wrist in an iron grip. He trapped her right arm against her side as he wrapped his arms around her from behind. She struggled against him, lifted one leg, pressed her foot against the door of Amanda’s car and shoved. Jacob had to take a couple of steps to regain his balance, but he didn’t release her. “Have you lost your mind?”

“How can you do this to me?” Tina railed at Amanda, who’d taken a defensive stance with her back against her car, her arms in front of her body and her hands clenched into loose fists. “You know I still love him!”

Jacob was so stunned, his grip went slack. Tina immediately launched herself toward Amanda.

“If you hit me, I
will
hit you back,” Amanda warned as she slid sideways around the hood of the car. She obviously didn’t want to fight, but Jacob was glad she didn’t plan to take a beating lying down.

“And what do you mean you still love him?” Amanda yelled. “You hate his guts. You just don’t want
me
to have him. You never want me to have anyone.”

Tina shook her head, her silky blond hair dancing around her shoulders. “I only hate him because I still love him so much. I don’t want to love him. But you,
you
can’t have him! I’ll kill you before I’ll let you.”

“Do I have a say in this?” Jacob asked, wondering if he still had water in his ears from swimming and was hearing everything entirely wrong. Tina loved him? She had a strange way of showing it.

“You know you’re with her because you still want me,” Tina said, taking another swing at Amanda, who proved to be quite good at dodging blows. Jacob wondered if the sisters had turned to physical violence in the past. “Why be with a poor substitute when you can have the real thing?”

“Actually, I have no desire to be with you at all, Tina,” Jacob said. “I’ve been trying to get Amanda to tell you we were involved, but she was afraid you’d freak out, so we decided to keep it a secret.”

“I told you she’d freak out. She hates to lose to me more than anything,” Amanda said and then she narrowed her eyes at her sister. “But you lost, Tina. Jacob is mine now.”

Amanda wasn’t quite quick enough to avoid Tina when she launched herself over the hood of the car and tackled her to the ground.

“You, bitch,” Tina snarled, battering any inch of Amanda she could connect with.

Jacob grabbed Tina around the waist and tried to pull her kicking, punching, screaming body off Amanda, but Tina grabbed handfuls of Amanda’s hair and refused to let go. Gritting her teeth, Amanda slapped Tina across the face, sending her head flying back to connect hard with Jacob’s shoulder. If anything, Amanda’s slap pissed off Tina even more. She yanked Amanda’s hair so hard, Jacob feared she’d rip it all out.

“Let me go!” Amanda kicked at her sister, but couldn’t reach her without scalping herself.

“Stop this,” Jacob demanded, squeezing Tina’s wrists until she cried out and the strength went out of her grip. Free at last, Amanda scrambled to her feet.

The sisters glared at each other like a pair of wolverines. Jacob was sure they’d tear into each other again if he released Tina’s wrists.

“You should go,” he said to Amanda. There was no way he’d be able to calm Tina down as long as Amanda was there.

“What about Julie?” Amanda asked.

Now that the two women had stopped screaming, Jacob could hear Julie wailing inside the SUV. He turned and peered in at her through the windshield. Julie’s face was streaked red, her eyes were overflowing with tears, and she wasn’t simply crying, she was sobbing. This was not something a child should witness. Hell, this wasn’t something
he
should witness. He’d known Tina would be upset, but the woman was practically insane with irrationality. She couldn’t take care of a defenseless child in her current state of mind.

“Take her with you,” Jacob said to Amanda, who nodded and rushed for the back door of the SUV.

“If you fucking touch her,” Tina railed, “I’ll have you arrested for kidnapping.”

“And I’ll have you arrested for assault,” Amanda shot back before opening the car door.

“Why are you fighting?” Julie shrieked. “Why are you fighting with my mommy?”

“Shh, it’s okay Julie Bean,” Amanda said. “I’m going to take you to see Grandma.”

“I want my daddy!” Her piercing scream was like an ice pick to Jacob’s heart.

“I’ll see you soon, princess,” he said as Amanda lifted her out of the car. “Go with Aunt Mander. I need to talk to your mom.”

“I’m not talking to you, you fucking imbecile,” Tina said. “You’d better let me go.”

“I’ll let you go when you calm down.”

“I’m not going to calm down, you piece of shit. I said let me go!” Tina wrenched her wrist from his grasp and immediately started swinging her free fist. He backed away, but not before catching a sharp blow to the temple. The enormous diamond on her finger scraped his flesh as she pulled back to hit him again. The open wound stung as blood welled to the surface and trickled down his face. Jacob struggled to keep his grip on Tina’s other wrist while fending off her attack with his free hand. She was a lot stronger than she looked, he decided as he tried to contain her fury without knocking her out.

“Daddy!” Julie screamed as Amanda tried to get her struggling body into her car. “You’re bleeding. Daddy!”

With his attention diverted, Tina landed another sharp blow to his collarbone before he finally caught her hand.

“Stop this,” he said. “You’re upsetting Julie. What do you think hitting me will accomplish?”

“I want to hurt you as much as you’ve hurt me,” Tina growled, yanking on her arm.

“I’ve never hit you,” Jacob said. “Never.”

“God, you’re stupid.”

Jacob stiffened as if she’d punched him again. Actually, he’d rather she punch him than call him stupid. “Don’t call me that.”

“Why? You’re a fucking idiot. You don’t understand anything.”

“Maybe if you tried explaining it to me in small words,” he said tersely. But he wasn’t interested in what she had to say. He wanted to comfort his daughter, who was still screaming for him in the back of Amanda’s car, not listen to more of Tina’s bullshit.