Текст книги "Can't Resist Him"

Автор книги: Molly McLain

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Текущая страница: 8 (всего у книги 14 страниц)

Chapter Fourteen

“You slept with him.”

Ugh. Thank you, Brody and your sexy morning whiskers.

“Why the heck would you think that?” Behind the lid of her Cedar Street Brew to-go cup, Jenny made an incredulous face she had no chance in hell of pulling off.

“Besides the spontaneous case of poison ivy in March, I also have it on good authority that you just rolled back into town.” On the other side of the coffee shop counter, Ally flicked a glance at her watch. “It’s after two, sunshine.”

Jenny blinked at her best friend for five solid seconds. “Tell your husband I just cancelled his haircut appointment. Indefinitely.”

Ally laughed. “Hey, he’s just doing his job. Not his fault he happened to be on the road the same time as you.”

“Yeah, well, I’m pretty sure it’s not in any sheriff’s job description to report gossip back to his wife.”

Her redheaded friend arched an eyebrow. “The hell it isn’t. Section six, right below ‘Must never give wife’s best friend a ticket for blowing a stop sign’.”

Shit. “He saw that, too, huh?”

“Uh huh. He said you were totally spaced out. Had a stupid, lovesick grin on your face.” Ally tipped her head to the side and gave a smile of her own. “Kinda like the one you’re wearing right now. Damn, you really like this guy.”

Really was an understatement. “His name is Brody. You should probably get used to calling him that, since he’s coming to town in a couple weeks. Continually calling him ‘this guy’ might get a little awkward.”

Ally’s eyes widened. “You mean I actually get to meet Brody?”  She drew out his name, making him sound like some scandalous secret. “How very un-Jenny-like.”

She rolled her eyes. “Please. It’s not like you don’t already know who he is. It’ll just be...official now.”

More wide eyes, this time with a gasp. “Official in what way? Like boyfriend official?”

Um... “Maybe?” She gave Ally the abbreviated version of her ‘let’s give this a try’ conversation with Brody, minus the hot ‘I’m going to own your pussy’ reinforcer. “We didn’t really discuss the details.”

“Well, no. You were too busy rubbing all over each other like wild meerkats.”

“As opposed to tame meerkats?”

“Shut up and go with it. I have preggo brain, for God’s sake.” Ally popped a chunk of pistachio muffin into her mouth, moaned like she wanted to leave her husband for it, then flipped Jenny off when she laughed.

“As much as I love the harassment, I’ve gotta run. I have to grab some paperwork from the salon before I meet Heather’s friend Elena for dinner. She seems super excited about the prospect of coming on board and, if we can work out a reasonable salary, I think I’m going to do it.” She’d be strapped for fluid cash, but she’d have more time for her mom, which trumped everything else.

“I actually met Elena last night. Heather brought her out and Luke kept tripping over his damn tongue. Elena didn’t seem to mind.” Ally made her goofy squicked-out sister face and Jenny perked up.

“Luke’s finally coming out of his shell?”

“Ugh, I don’t know. Maybe. Much as I’d love a sister-in-law someday, I don’t really want to watch it unfold, you know? It’s gross. And embarrassing.”

“At least you have a sibling to humiliate you.” Jenny waggled a finger at her friend and smiled ruefully. “I’d give anything to have someone here to help out with Mom.”

Ally wilted a little. “Ugh, you’re right. I’m sorry.”

Jenny winked when her phone chimed in her purse. “No worries,” she said, as she dug it out. “At least I’ve got you—oh, my God.”

Those panties we lost in the kitchen this morning? Sam just found them.

“What?” Ally demanded, leaning over the counter as far as her baby belly would allow. “Something happen with Helen?”

“No! It’s just...” Four hours away and he could still make her blush. “It’s just Brody.”

Ally grinned, her wedding ring sparkling from atop her baby bump. “Be careful, girlfriend, or you’ll end up like me.”

That’s what I’m hoping.

“Mmm-hmm, I see that look in your eye, Jenny Lynn, but the warning still stands—be careful. Take your time. If this guy—Brody—is the real deal, he won’t mind the wait.”

***

“You’re driving this week, by the way.” His back on the weight bench, Sam hefted a solid three-forty into the air with a grunt.

Brody frowned from the spotter’s position above his friend. “No way, dude. Pretty sure it’s your turn. I caught the trip to St. Louis.”

“Yeah, but you got laid this weekend. I didn’t.” Sam brought the bar back down, his arms shaking.

“Since when does that count for anything?” And when did his sex life become Sam’s business anyway?

His buddy laughed as he got to his feet and Brody took his place. Sam took off sixty pounds and Brody did six easy reps.

“So, there’s something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about. The timing’s kinda shitty now that you’ve got thongs and shit laying around, but...” Clamping another forty back on, Sam winked.

“I’m glad you’re entertained. Now get to the fucking point.” Up, one, down. Up, two, down.

“I’m moving Dani into my place for a while. I can’t have her raising my nephew in that damn slum she’s in now. The guy in the apartment below her got busted for dealing heroin last week.”

Up-three-down. Up-four-down. “That’s brutal. But what’s it got to do with me?”

“My tolerance for anything under three feet tall is about as weak as you right now.”

Fucker. “Add the goddamn weight already.”

Sam chuckled and slid on another forty. “I’m just thinking I might need a place to escape every now and then. You’ve got a pretty decent couch.”

“You wanna crash here while Dani and the kid can have free reign at your place?” Imagine that. Sam thinking about someone other than himself.

“More or less. I’ll tough it out when the little mama comes to town though, so you two can fuck like bunnies on the kitchen counter or wherever else it is you like to bend her over.”

Boom. Brody dropped the bar and jack-knifed up. “You’re gonna ask for my help and disrespect my girl in the same sentence?”

Sam held up his hands, a cocky grin on his face despite the gesture. “Whoa, man. I’m just giving you shit. It’s been awhile, right?”

Not long enough apparently.

“She’s cool as hell,” Sam added. “I like her. You like her. Maybe she’s good for you, too, if you know what I mean.”

All too well. “You had to go there, huh?” Once again, bringing up his inability to control his shit.

“Avoiding it is exactly why you’re still dealing with it.” Sam pointed to the bench sternly and Brody glowered.

“I’m keeping my appointments.” Started doing that meditation shit Doc Sherman had recommended, too. Felt a little like a hippie while he did it, but it worked, so whatever.

“Only since Jenny, bro.”

Yeah, well... “Does it matter as long as I’m going?”

“You gotta work this out for you—not because you wanna keep her around.”

“It ain’t like that.” Brody reclaimed the seat and got in position once again.

“Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. I’m just saying it’s a narrow friggin’ line. Try and stay on the right side of it, yeah?”

He was. Every damn day, one night at a time. “Yeah, man, I got it. You ready?”

Sam nodded and Brody pounded off two shaky reps.

“Hit me again.”

“You sure?” The arrogant bastard smirked. “You haven’t pushed over three-sixty since the desert.”

“Only way to get back to that guy is to be that guy, right?”

Sam gave him a respectful nod, added twenty more, and grinned like a fool while Brody pumped it out, not once, not twice, but three times. “Holy fuck, buddy. Welcome back.”

***

“I can’t offer you full-time right now, but a solid twenty hours a week is doable.” Jenny smiled at the pretty blonde seated across from her near the front of The Lodge, River Bend’s requisite upper-crust restaurant. Truth be told, it wasn’t even that classy, but it’s warm, cabin-like decor and flickering fireplace, gave a cozy, semi-professional feel that the diner did not.

“Heather got me a few hours at McCauley’s, too, so I should be set for a while. Frankly, I’m just happy to get away from Hastings. I need a fresh start.” Eyes cast down, Elena stirred a straw through her lemonade. While she definitely looked the part of a cosmetologist, with her perfectly coiffed do and pristine make-up, she had an anxious edge about her that made Jenny nervous.

“Any chance you’re running from a man?” she asked gently, knowing that burned look all too well.

“More like sprinting.” Elena gave a genuine laugh, as the waiter quietly removed their empty plates from the table. “I hope that doesn’t freak you out. I mean, it wasn’t that bad a situation. He only hit me the once.”

Oh, God. “Elena...that’s....” Unforgivable.

“Yeah, I know. One time too many. It’s just...I was with him since high school. I’ve never known anything else. I’m not going to lie—making this move scares the hell out of me. I have Heather, though. If anyone understands what I’m going through, it’s her.”

Really? Did Heather have skeletons in her closet, too? She’d never let on. Then again, some things were just better left in the past. Another lesson Jenny had learned the hard way.

“I’m not heading back until tomorrow. Maybe I could swing by the salon in the morning for a tour?” Elena pepped up, her eyes bright again.

“Absolutely.” The waiter slid their bill onto the table and Jenny tugged it her way before Elena got any silly ideas. “We open at nine and I think my first client is a color job, so that should be perfect.”

“Great.” The skittish woman reached for her wallet, but Jenny waved her off.

“I got this. Business meeting and all that.”

“You sure?”

“Positive.” But her reassuring smile turned chilly when Reed approached their table from the bar. Great. She’d been so concerned about Elena that she hadn’t noticed the group of county workers assembled for one of their frequent ‘team building’ nightcaps. “Ugh, this is my past rearing its ugly head,” she muttered and Elena shot a not-so-discreet glance toward Reed.

“In that case, I’m going to scoot. I’ll see you tomorrow?” She stood and slung her purse over her shoulder. Her wispy blouse and snug leggings should’ve caught Reed’s perpetually wandering eye, but he never even acknowledged her. Just smiled at Jenny as Elena waved and snuck away.

Jenny gathered up the forms and scheduling info she’d shared with Elena and stuffed it into her bag. Maybe if she got up fast enough, Reed would leave her alone. Funny how having a man in your life that actually respected you opened your eyes to the ones who didn’t.

“Hey there, princess,” he greeted her in his too-smooth, typical Reed voice. “You’re not leaving already, are you?”

“That’s usually what happens when you’ve finished your meal.” She pasted on a fake smile and then felt bad about it. She didn’t want to hate Reed. She wasn’t even sure she did. She was just sick of the humiliation she felt every time he came around.

“I won’t keep you long, then. I just wanted to check in and see how things were going.” He gave a sincere smile and she sighed. See? He was trying. Maybe she should, too.

“Things are good. I just hired a part-time stylist.”

“That’s great. More time with your mom, right?” Casually, he slid into Elena’s vacated seat, his bulky, athletic body taking up too much room.

Brody was just as imposing. Not quite as tall, but built the same. Same pretty, bad boy glint in his eye, too, though a hell of a lot sexier with all that ink on his arms.

“Um, yeah. She’s doing better than expected at home, but she’ll want to get out more as the weather gets nicer.” She reached for her water to keep her hands busy.

“How’s your wounded Marine?” he asked, not as casually.

“Really?” she laughed, locking her gaze with his unapologetic one. “That’s what you really came over for, isn’t it? God, you really are a dog.”

He lifted a hand, his smile as unrepentant as his stare. “If worrying about how he treats you makes me a dog, then so be it. I’ve been called worse.”

She shook her head. “You’re unbelievable. You won’t even tell me who you’re seeing, but I’m supposed to share the details of my relationship with you? That’s ballsy, Reed. Even for you.”

His jaw ticked as he brought his beer to his mouth and took a pull. “So it’s a relationship now?”

“Oh my God, stop. Seriously.” She pushed a hand through her hair and sighed. “You don’t get to do this, okay? You don’t get to stick your nose in my personal life and act like it’s completely normal. We may be friends, but we’ve also seen each other naked.”

He quirked an eyebrow and rocked his head from side to side, considering her point.

“See, that’s weird. Why aren’t you weirded out by this?” Her face began to burn and she started to feel like Elena had looked. Twitchy and ready to jump out of her skin.

“Come on, Jenn, you know it’s easy for guys to separate sex and friendships.” He leaned back in the seat and tapped the bottom of his beer against his jeans, still looking her in the eye. “What isn’t easy for me is knowing you’re involved with a potential loose cannon like Brody Nelson.”

“He’s not like that.” He’d never been volatile with her. Even when he’d tossed and turned in bed that first night in Vegas, he hadn’t been aggressive. He thought he was a mess, but the truth was, he was dealing with what he’d been through a lot better than she ever could.

“You don’t know that, Jenn. You’re here and he’s there and all you see is what he wants you to see.”

Was he for real right now? She counted to five, then leaned in and spoke carefully. “I’m quite capable of judging his character on my own, thank you very much. I’m not, however, appreciative of your insinuation that he’s hiding something from me. He’s not, Reed. Not all guys are assholes.”

She wanted to tell him exactly how honest Brody had been. How they’d had this intimate connection from the start and how it already felt like she knew Brody better than some of the friends she’d had for years. But those were private things. They belonged to her and Brody.

“I’ve never seen you like this before.” Reed smiled and she scoffed, grabbing her bag from the seat beside her. Done. She was so done with this.

“You mean me having a spine when it comes to you? Yeah, it’s a new development.” She stood and grabbed the bill, stopping before she walked away. “Maybe I wasn’t clear at Josh’s, but you really do need to back off. Brody isn’t the monster you want him to be and, even if by some chance, he isn’t the man I think he is, I’d much rather find out on my own—not from you.”

“I’m won’t stop watching out for you,” he said calmly, despite her warning. “Maybe I am wrong—stranger things have happened—but I’d rather be wrong than let you get hurt again.”

Out of obligation or sincere concern? She couldn’t tell, and she wasn’t sure it mattered.

“Her name is Mia, by the way. And we’re not together. Yet.”

“What?” Jenny reared back, caught off guard. His timing was all kinds of awful these days.

Reed chuckled and stood, too, sudden vulnerability in his moments-ago so confident face. “Believe it or not, I want the real deal just as badly as you do. For both of our sakes, I hope we find it.”

She nodded. “I already have.”

Chapter Fifteen

“I miss you.” In the privacy of the stock room, Jenny sighed in her phone, half-heartedly mixing a boring natural blonde for sixty-something Lorna Miller. “It’s only been a week since I saw you and it already sucks.”

“I know, sugar. I hate it, too. But it’s what we’ve gotta do right now.” In the distance, she heard other male voices, more than a little raucous as they arrived at the training center for drill weekend.

“Good thing you’re busy for the next couple days or I’d cancel my appointments and drive across the state again.” So much for going slow. Brody consumed her mind twenty-four/seven. Wondering about when he’d text next, when they could talk, when she’d be able to smell him again...

He chuckled. “I’d already be in River Bend if it weren’t for training, believe that.”

She smiled and caught a glimpse of her pink cheeks in the mirror. When had she become this enamored woman? “So next weekend then...”

“Friday night. Like a jet, baby. No stopping ’til I’m at your door.”

Shivers raced down her spine. “Holding you to that.”

“You won’t have to try hard.” He paused and the noisy background faded away. Had he ducked into someplace private? “You thinking about me lots while we’re apart? Maybe taking care of business with the memories of what we did last weekend in mind?” he asked, his voice low and sexy.

Splat! Mrs. Miller’s bowl of color hit the floor with a thud, golden cream darting across the tile.

More chuckling. “Catch you off guard, babe? Or are you that revved just from talking to me?”

Both. “You’ve got a dirty mind, Superman.” Nasty mouth, too. Her heated, quickly dampening sex remember that part especially well.

“Always when it comes to you.” She heard a door shut on his end of the line. “Where are you right now?” he asked. “It’s awfully quiet.” Jesus, was that a zipper?

“I’m mixing hair color in the back of the salon. Where are you?” Fingers edging toward the elastic waistband of her leggings, she was pretty sure she already knew where this was going.

“Don’t worry about me. You got a door? A lock?” Definitely a zipper. He was already breathing a little harder, too.

She bit her lip, a giddy, he’s-totally-thinking-what-I’m-thinking-grin on her face. “You are so bad.” Then again, so was she. Her fingers were already in her panties.

“I’ve been fucking hard since you left. Jerking off isn’t even helping anymore. It’s like I’m in goddamn high school all over again.”

“I didn’t know how to do this in high school,” she confessed, scooting up onto the short counter after she flipped the lock on the door.

“Didn’t know how to have phone sex? I sure as hell hope not.”

She giggled. “I meant touch myself.”

“Is that what you’re doing right now? Touching that pretty pussy?” She was pretty sure the rustling sound was his pants hitting the ground. Was he wearing his training gear already or jeans? She’d pretend it was the gear. So much hotter.

Circling a fingertip around her clit, she clamped her lips together to keep from moaning aloud. Mrs. Miller would probably go into cardiac arrest if she overheard. “Yes,” she breathed, her heart already beating faster in her chest. “Tell me what you’re wearing.”

“Isn’t that my line?” he laughed, but the sound morphed into a strangled groan. “Fucking hell, this is gonna be quick. Uh, I’m in my utilities. Mostly. I’ve got my cock in hand, pretending you’re on your knees in front of me.”

Wish I was. Closing her eyes, she slid her fingers further south. Yeah, she was thinking about him, too, but her fantasy probably wasn’t all that different from reality. Just him in the locker room all alone, camo piled around his boots while he leaned against the wall with one hand, stroking himself slow and tight with the other. “God, Brody.”

“Finger yourself. I wanna hear how wet you are.”

“Very,” she whispered. “I can feel it on my thighs.”

“No, babe—I wanna hear.”

Oh, sweet Lord. “Like...?”

“Uh huh.”

He was going to make her come before she even got to the good stuff. “You’re bad, Superman.”

“All your fault.” He grunted and she indulged his fantasy, despite the burn in her cheeks. Never before had she been so willing to please...and never before had wanting to please ever turned her on so much. “Ahh, shit, that’s hot. Does it feel good?”

“So good. ” Her head spun, almost as fast as the pressure building between in her legs. “Wish you were here,” she panted, fingers feeling like they were everywhere at once, hitting all the right spots.

“Mmmmmm...” His strained hum crackled the line. “Me, too.”

She gasped as stars lit up behind her eyelids and her orgasm locked in hard. “Brodyyy...”

“That’s it, baby. Christ, I love my name on your lips.” Another strangled sound somewhere between a groan and growl preceded his quick intake and then, “Ahh, fuuuck.”

The mental image of him coming, jetting over his hand sent another wave of heat through her sex and she shuddered. It was going to be one hell of a long week, even as the sated, blissed out fog fell over her.

“You okay?” she asked quietly, discreetly adjusting her panties and her leggings, suddenly all too aware of the elderly lady she had sitting in her chair with a issue of Good Housekeeping. Had she heard? Would she say anything if she did?

He gave a gritty chuckle. “You’re a wet dream come true, babe. Can’t believe you just did that with me.”

Me either. She sighed, a goofy grin breaking through the composure she tried to gather. “Believe it,” she said, mimicking him. “I’m sure it won’t be the last time.”

“That a promise?” She heard rustling and then water running. “Because I’m game if you wanted to make a plan.”

“Sunday night?”

Another rumbling laugh filled her ear. “You really are going to kill me. Death by jerking off. I can see it already.”

She smiled, washed up, and began mixing another batch of hair color. Hopefully the stuff on the floor wouldn’t ruin the tile, because it’d have to wait until later for cleanup. “And you’re going to make me lose customers. I’m surprised she hasn’t come looking for me.”

“Who’s bad now, huh?”

No doubt about it—he’d officially corrupted her. And she wasn’t complaining one bit. “Thank you for that little soiree. Call me Sunday on your way home?”

“Fuck, yeah. We’ve got a date, remember?”

***

“Jennifer Lynn Riley...”

Her mother’s voice, in that admonishing tone that only mothers and grandmothers could pull off, sounded before Jenny turned the corner into the main part of the salon.

“Mom?” God, she was totally going to know. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to take my daughter to dinner after she closed up shop, but it looks like she’s planning to be here all night.” Helen scowled, looking between Jenny and Mrs. Miller, still content in the chair with her magazine, thank God.

Talking about her in third person. Hmm, not a good sign.

“This won’t take long at all. Just a little touch up.” She set the bowl of color down, pumped Mrs. Miller’s chair a little higher, and adjusted her drape. “How did you get here anyway. Please tell me you didn’t drive.”

Her mother rolled her eyes and hobbled over to a vacant chair with her claw-footed cane. God, but she’d aged since the fall. It made Jenny’s heart ache just to look at her.

“Of course, I didn’t drive. I had Gladys drop me off. Figured you didn’t have anything going on tonight since your love life is in the crapper.”

Mrs. Miller stifled a laugh and Jenny shot Helen a glare. “Really?”

“I don’t know.” Her mom lifted a shoulder, but the all-knowing gleam in her eyes told another story. “You tell me.”

Unbelievable. “Who have you been talking to?”

“Not you apparently.”

This time, Mrs. Miller let her laugh fly. “This is why I love coming here. There’s always a juicy story.”

“Mom, seriously...” Shaking her head, Jenny focused her attention on applying the color. Why did she suddenly feel like she was seventeen-years-old being admonished for breaking curfew?

“Don’t seriously me,” Helen scoffed. “Just tell me who he is, for God’s sake. I’m old. I could die at any second.”

“Why do you always do that?” Her voice rose higher than she intended it to, but she didn’t apologize. Mrs. Miller and her mother went way back. This wasn’t the first argument the woman had witnessed. “You’re not that old and you’re not going to die!”

Helen made a dismissive face. “Is it so wrong for me to want to know the name of the man you might very well marry? What if something does happen to me? I’d like to go with at least a little reassurance that you won’t become a crazy cat lady. No offense, Lorna.”

“None taken. I love my babies.” Mrs. Miller smiled naively.

Jenny narrowed her eyes. “Don’t do the passive aggressive thing, Mom. It’s not flattering. At all.”

“Okay.” Helen nodded enthusiastically. “Since you’ve given me permission, I’ll just come out and say it—I want you married before I go. I want grandkids. Is that too much to ask?”

Jenny squeezed the back of Mrs. Miller’s chair, so hard, her fingers hurt. Her first instinct was to tell her mother to mind her own business. But the little voice in the back of her head shut her up fast. Isn’t that exactly what you want, too?

“Ah, I see.” Her mother smiled and nodded her head softly. “I know that look in your eyes. You want that, too.”

Out of nowhere, a lump lodged in Jenny’s throat. A casual cough dislodged it so she could finish applying Mrs. Miller’s color, but both women continued to stare at her, waiting for a response.

“Who’s put the color back in her cheeks, sweetie?” her mother prompted.

Sucking in a deep breath, she put the bowl down and did the math—her mother, plus one of her oldest friends, added to a discussion about marriage and grandkids equaled no way out. She dropped into the last free chair with a sigh.

“You’re making too much of this, but if you must know his name is Brody. He’s a Marine from Omaha.”

“Omaha!”

“A Marine!”

Her mother and Mrs. Miller gasped at the same time. One frowned, while one grinned from ear to ear.

“Why would you date a boy from the other side of the state? You’re not thinking about moving are you? Is that why you brought on another stylist?” Helen’s face went a little more ashen with every question.

“Mom...” Jenny smiled and shook her head. She and Brody had only been seeing each other for...a week? Could they count any longer? Regardless, it definitely wasn’t long enough to think about a future together beyond next weekend. “One, he’s not a boy and I think he’d take offense to us calling him one. Two, I’m not moving. Pretty sure I’m a River Bend lifer. Three, I brought Elena on so I’d have more time to spend with you. I didn’t want to tell you that, but I don’t want you thinking I hired help because I’ve got plans to leave town either.”

Mrs. Miller’s misty eyes darted between Jenny and Helen like she was watching a soap opera unfold.

“Sweetheart...” Her mother got to her feet again and slowly made her way over, wrapping her arms around Jenny’s shoulders. “I can’t believe you did that for me.”

“I just want you to be happy.” Jenny squeezed back. “Which means you’re stuck with me for a good long time.”

“That’s a relief.” Her mother sighed and whispered in her ear. “By the way, I already knew his name. My heart might be bad, but my hearing is top-notch. Lucky for you, Lorna’s isn’t.”

Oh, my God.

Helen pulled back and patted Jenny’s flaming cheek. “Since he made you blush and not cry, he’s already a keeper in my book.”