mouth with his.
Like a match on dry timber.
Her arms wound around his neck as she went up on tiptoe, molding her body to his. Yeah, God yeah. Her lips immediately parted and her tongue slid to his, hot and wet, and he groaned into her mouth as he stroked up her ribs, his thumbs lightly brushing the underside of her breasts.
Making a low purring noise, she tried to climb up his body. “Dell-”
His answer was to press her up against the wall, dragging his mouth down her throat to taste the pulse racing at the base of her neck.
She moaned and held his mouth to her skin with a hand on the back of his head, again rocking the apex of her thighs into him. He wanted to take her right there against the wall, he wanted that more than he’d ever wanted anything in his life. He sucked in a breath and reached for the hem of her T-shirt to rip it off when he heard someone clear their throat behind them.
Jade went stock-still, and Dell pulled his mouth away and rested his forehead against hers.
“Huh,” Adam said behind them. “The hand thing makes a lot more sense now.”
Jade tore free of Dell. Putting her hand to her lips, she stared up at Adam, her chest rising and falling like she’d just run a mile. “We-we were training.”
The corners of Adam’s mouth quirked as he rubbed his jaw, doing his best to hide his amusement. He failed. “Yeah? You could make a million bucks off a DVD of that kind of training.”
Dell gave him a shut-the-fuck-up look. Jade moved past them both and grabbed her purse.
“Jade-”
“Sorry, it’s late. I didn’t realize how late. I’ve gotta go, I have a thing…”
But she was gone and two seconds later the front door shut somewhere above them.
“You are such an asshole,” Dell said to Adam, and shoved past him, heading for the stairs.
“Really? Because I’m not the one kissing my receptionist, the receptionist who’s clearly battling some demons.”
Dell turned around on the stairs and nearly plowed Adam over. Adam arched a brow, silent.
Dell blew out a breath. “You’re an asshole.”
“Repeating yourself. It’s the first sign of guilt, man.”
“She’s not just a receptionist. She’s…” More. She was much more to Belle Haven, and it was to his own shame that he’d only begun to realize it as she’d effortlessly taken over the dreaded bookkeeping with seamless ease, freeing up hours a day for him. “And I told you we were training tonight.”
“Yeah. You were training real hard.” He shook his head. “Do you have any idea what you’re doing?”
Dell shoved his hands in his hair. “Does it look like it?”
“You could hurt her.” Adam paused. “Don’t.”
“I-”
“You really think I’d hurt her?”
Adam just looked at him.
Okay, so he didn’t have a good track record. Who did?
“Just slow down,” Adam suggested.
Slow down? He and Jade had been co-workers and friends for a year and a half already. She was leaving in a matter of weeks. How much slower could they go? He pushed free and took a shower and a drive, and look at that, he ended up at Jade’s place. As he got out, he knew that for once Adam’s radar was off. It wasn’t Jade in danger of getting hurt.
It was him.
An hour later Jade was on her couch. She’d checked her locks, engaged her alarm, fed Beans, and had her
Jade watched movies with Matt Damon in them. With the movie playing in the background, she was working her way through her things-to-do-in-her-spare-time spreadsheet. This meant she was painting her toenails, reading the stack of
All while trying to not think about the fact that she’d thrown herself at Dell.
Because she had.
Thrown herself.
With a remembered groan and a hot blush, she covered her cheeks and closed her eyes. “This is bad,” she whispered to Beans.
“Mew.”
“I was hoping you’d disagree. Although…” She blew out a breath and leaned back. It’d felt good to have his hands on her. Really good. And his mouth.
God, his mouth.
It’d been too long for her, way too long. Her own doing, of course. For a long time after the attack, she hadn’t wanted to be touched. Even though she hadn’t been raped, she’d felt a disconnect from others and hadn’t wanted physical contact.
Seemed that was changing.
On the coffee table, her cell vibrated an incoming call.
“Darling,” her mother said. “You missed your weekly check-in, I was worried.”
When Jade had left Chicago, her family had threatened to come after her and drag her back. Lovingly, of course. They had only her best interests at heart, and she’d scared them.
She’d scared herself.
But she’d needed the space and the time, and they’d finally come to an agreement. She would call and check in once a week, and in return, they’d let her be. She called them every Wednesday evening. “
“I don’t like the new judges,” her mother said. “You need anything?”
This was always the first question asked. Followed quickly by the second: “And are you okay?”
Jade shook her head and pinched the bridge of her nose. “I’m fine, Mom. Really.”
“You don’t sound it. You sound nasally. Are you sick? If you catch a late-night flight, we could have you taken care of by morning-”
“Not necessary. How’s Dad?”
Her mother sighed. “Okay, the same as always, I expect. Stubborn and working himself into the ground, of course. Which means he’s overworking himself running the show. And we all know that only speeds up the symptoms of his Parkinson’s.”
“He’s not listening to his doctors?”
“Your father? Hello, have you met him? He knows it all, remember? And we both know there was ever only one thing that kept him home, happy in the knowledge that he didn’t have to work every day, and that was you being in the office instead of him. Baby, you know I don’t want to rush you…”
Jade kept her unladylike snort to herself.
“But you’re really coming home?”
Jade closed her eyes. “Yes.”
“Have you given notice there then? At your little dog place?”
Jade rubbed her forehead and stared down at her toes. She’d done a damn good job with them if she said so herself, though they needed another coat. “It’s an animal center, Mom. We see all animals, not just dogs.”
“And you… enjoy it. Checking in dogs.”
“I know you don’t get it, but I’ve been very happy here.”
“In Idaho.”
