Wilde Forever (Wilde Women Book 1) (14 page)

B
RYNN WAS ON FIRE FOR the rest of the day. Swinging between anger that he so quickly assumed she could behave like such a slut and dismay because she was coming around to really liking Jax Merrill, it was all she could do to get through her daily list without screaming.

Amy had seen her angry retreat from the tearoom and had wisely kept her distance, until three o’clock rolled around and it was time for her to take off for the day. The sweet-face college student Brynn had recently hired to work part-time in the afternoons was more than capable of handling the counter and the tearoom so when Amy braved a face-to-face, it was simply to say good-bye for the day and to let her boss know everything was fine outside the kitchen.

“Thanks Amy,” Brynn mumbled while she furiously scribbled on the list she was making for tomorrow. “Have a nice night.”

Her assistant sighed deeply and cocked an eyebrow at her. “Boss,” she began. “You are a piece of work.”

“Excuse me?” Brynn sniped. She was in no mood for any of Amy’s commentary. Being of the same age, give or take a year or two, meant they had similar perspectives on life although the fact that the other woman was happily married gave her an unfair advantage.

“Only you could alienate the first decent looking man under the age of fifty who’s showed an interest in you in, oh, I don’t know how long. Like years, maybe? What the hell is wrong with you?”

Snarling and frowning like it was in her job description, Brynn answered tartly. “Don’t even go there. Seriously.”

Amy snorted and groaned. “
Pffft
. Honest to God Brynn. What the hell?”

Oh my God. Could this day get any worse? Throwing her body against the back of her desk chair, Brynn crossed her arms over her chest and glared for all she was worth. “I don’t want to discuss Mr. Merrill with you. Conversation over.”

“Yeah,” Amy quipped with sarcasm. “Nice try but that’s not going to happen. You two all but set off wildfires just from the way you look at each other. Now, I don’t know what happened earlier but your dramatic retreat and the way he looked like you’d just removed his balls strikes me as a bit over the top for a casual business relationship. I’m not stupid Brynn. Something happened between you two or you wouldn’t have exploded that way.”

“I assure you, there is nothing going on.”

Her assistant barked out a laugh. “Oh, for God’s sake. There’s a big difference between ‘nothing going on’ and ‘nothing happened’ and you know it. Which is it?”

Fuck. Amy was good. Must be why she’d recently become Rhiann’s number one confidante. Deciding that no answer was the best answer, she simply stared off into space.

“I know that look,” Amy muttered. “What did he do? Kiss you? Is this all about a kiss?”

Dammit if she didn’t feel the rapid rise of a blush spreading across her face and down her neck. Yeah. It was about a kiss. A very erotic lover’s kiss. The kind where his lips between her legs doing all sorts of wicked things had her screaming and shaking and coming on command.

Amy chuckled and came to her side, leaning down for an unexpected hug, while Brynn sat stoically, arms still crossed. “For someone so smart, you are a mess when it comes to men,” she murmured.

“Did he say anything before he left?” Brynn inquired.

Amy cackled with glee and taunted, “What makes you think he left?”

Brynn shot out of her chair like a cannonball and ran to the glass window so she could see into the shop. “What?” she shrieked. “Fuck! Is he still here?”

“Man, you have a lot to learn if you think storming off like a drama queen auditioning for the
Real Housewives of Bucks County
was going to make that man slink away with his tail between his legs. Unless I’m missing something, he has a serious case of the hots for you, boss. And yes. He is most definitely still here. He set up camp by the tearoom fireplace and has been sketching something and making phone calls all afternoon.”

Brynn was speechless. He was still here? After her little performance? That didn’t make sense.

“Um,” she stammered. “Has he said anything?”

“Yes. In fact he did.” Amy grinned at her like a loon. “Said I was to tell you, if you asked of course, that he was sorry. Mumbled a bunch of nonsense about jealousy and being a guy. Any of that ringing a bell?”

“Oh,” Brynn muttered, her forehead puckering with the weight of her thoughts. “He actually used the word ‘jealous’?”

“Yep. That was the exact word. Let me guess,” Amy ventured gently, “he opened his mouth and inserted his foot, right?”

“Both of them,” Brynn winced.

“Ever heard the expression, ‘by the balls’?”

Brynn nodded.

“Well lady, that’s where you’ve got him. By the short hairs. Seems to me that you’re calling the shots at the moment so maybe you want to think about what you want from this guy ‘cause from where I’m standing, you’ve got Mr. Jackson Merrill on his knees.”

It didn’t take much to imagine exactly what she wanted from Jax, and if Amy was correct and Brynn had the guts to take what she wanted, maybe the fire he’d ignited inside her last night could be put out with a frontal approach. The idea of the hot-as-fuck guy with the crazy, amazing ass on his back with Brynn riding him like a rodeo bull was appealing. Very appealing.
Hmmmmm.

Amy was chortling as she exited, calling over her shoulder, “Ding. Ding. Ding. Go get ‘em lady. And enjoy!”

At exactly five o’clock, Brynn appeared in the shop to say good-bye to the young lady who took over after Amy left. Just like the day before, she’d let her hair down but kept on her sneakers, and though she didn’t so much as glance in his direction, Jax was positive she knew he was there.

Wandering here and there she turned off lights, locked doors, inspected the counters, and closed out the cash register, all while maintaining a reserved air that he was pretty sure cost her a lot in the composure department.

Jax waited and observed her every move but said absolutely nothing. Gaging her mood was no easy task as long as she kept her distance, but it hadn’t taken him very long at all to pick up on a couple of subtle hints that let him know he wasn’t in imminent danger of her doing him bodily harm.

On the contrary. The way she was rolling her hips and flicking her hair off her shoulders were the sorts of signals that got a guy’s cock twitching.
Hmmm
. Interesting. He didn’t doubt for a second that she was going to make him pay for his earlier gaffe. Noting that her ass was relaxed and swaying with a sexy arc instead of the tight, clenched way her bottom had looked earlier when she was ready to rip his fucking head off told him she thought she had the upper hand.

Oh, nice
, he thought. The possibilities involved with Brynn in the command and control position fired up an endless riot of hot and heavy scenes that spoke to pretty much all of his wildest desires.

When there wasn’t anything else for her to do, she strolled in his direction with a surprisingly wicked gleam in her eyes that got his blood pumping.
Jesus fucking Christ
. He had no doubt he was in for a wild ride. Quickly doing a mental check he made sure there was a condom or two in his backpack, then met her steely-eyed gaze with his own.

“Come with me,” she husked, then turned and walked away from him. The rather deliberate and in-your-face undulation of her hips got most of the blood in his upper body rushing to his dick with frightening speed.
Unf, this was going to be good.

“Yes, ma’am,” he muttered, grabbing his backpack and scurrying in her wake. He smiled when his deliberately obedient and submissive answer made her feet falter but she recovered quickly and kept up her ‘Naughty Mistress’ performance as she led the way from the shop.

There was no idle chitchat as there had been last night. She leered at him as she held open the door for him to walk through and this time, instead of him placing his hands on her waist, she slowly palmed his ass as he slid by.
Holy fuck
. Whatever was going on in that head of hers was making him hard as stone. The notion of pissing her off on a regular basis seemed like something worth considering if her actions were any indication of how anger made her react.

He had to force the shit-eating grin off his face as he pretended to meekly follow her along the path. Jax liked this kind of play—letting her take the reins was fun as shit and was going to give him a front row seat to how her desires played out. He wondered if she realized how much she was going to give away with this little performance. He sure as shit wasn’t going to tell her. This way was far more amusing and hot as hell.

Instead of heading for the house, she veered off toward the garage, which he noted with satisfaction she had thought to illuminate with the lighting remote that gave her control over the dimmers.

She hadn’t been kidding about the garage being renovated as a studio workspace. Using an open concept, the space was littered with comfortable seating and a mish-mash of easels and artist tables. A galley kitchen ran along the back wall and a small compact bathroom was tucked in the far corner. An open stairway climbed into what he assumed was a loft that looked down onto the big room.

“Studio,” she announced with a gleam of mischief in her eyes. “Kitchen and bathroom,” she added, pointing out the obvious.

He nodded and struck a casual pose, his hand at his shoulder holding on to the strap of his backpack.

With all the aplomb of Vanna on the
Wheel of Fortune
, she waved at the stairs leading to the loft and commanded, “After you.”

Yeah. He was enjoying this. She’d caught him leering at her ass on more than one occasion. He supposed the way she’d palmed his backside, and the obvious demand that he walk up the stairs first was her way of evening the score
. No problem there
, he thought. Let her look all she wanted. If there was one thing Jax knew for sure, it was that he was in possession of a seriously ripped body thanks to the physical work he did and the countless hours he spent at a gym, any gym, letting out his aggression on a punching bag.

Making sure to give her the performance she wanted, he casually strode past her and up the wooden staircase with calm assurance, into the surprisingly open loft in the peak of the garage. There was a queen-size mattress on the carpeted floor under a huge arch-shaped window and two easy chairs sitting side by side with a small table between next to an antique-looking armoire. Simple. Efficient.
Private.

Dropping the backpack next to the bed, he turned and looked at her with his hands on his waist and the best passive expression he could muster.

For the briefest moment he saw hesitation flash in her expression, making him grin inwardly.
Ah.
She wasn’t all that sure of herself. Awesome. Another piece of inside information to tuck away for later.

“Think this will do?” she asked in that husky voice that made his insides quiver and his sex sit up and start begging.

He leered suggestively at her, dipping his eyes to that place where his face had been buried last night before slowly moving up her torso, paying extra attention to her breasts before finally landing on her face.

“Perfect,” he growled. When her eyes flared and pupils dilated with arousal, he knew she’d interpreted his answer correctly.

That slight hesitation returned and he wondered if he should help her out but decided against it. Nope. This was her show. Better to let it play out and see what kind of passions fired up the naughty woman trying not to show her shyness.

Going to a light panel at the top of the stairs, Brynn lowered the dimmer switch until the loft was filled with low lights and shadows. Since it was early autumn in Pennsylvania, twilight had come and Jax thrilled knowing that the massive arched window would fill with moonlight later.

“Shoes.
Off
,” she instructed, pointing at the chair for him to sit. Deciding to needle her just a bit he murmured, “Yes, ma’am,” again and saw her eyes widen at his reply.

Sitting, he removed his shoes and socks, noting out of the corner of his eye that she had toed off her sneakers and was now barefoot. At the sight of her toes painted a soft shade of raspberry, his balls tightened with interest.

To his utter astonishment, she pulled several condoms out of her jeans pocket and tossed them next to the bed.
Holy fuck.
No, really. Holy.
FUCK.
One would have made him smile. Two would have got him thinking but the handful she threw down felt like the ultimate fuck challenge.

Standing, he started to unbutton his shirt but she quickly stopped him with a throaty hiss. “No!”

Dropping his hands to his sides he watched with a shuttered expression as she rolled and swayed in his direction, her wicked eyes fixated on the rather impressive bulge he knew was pressing at the zipper of his dress pants. In jeans the hard-on he was sporting might not have been so obvious but in a pair of tight, tailored pants, she had no trouble mapping his ridiculously hard cock with her eyes. God. Paybacks were a bitch. He had to get control of his response if he didn’t want to go off like a firecracker before they even got started.