Jude scowled. “So she’s cheating on her husband.”
I knew his views on cheating. For him, it was a hard limit that completely broke the trust. He said there’s no coming back after that kind of dishonesty. I called him a hypocrite, reminding him of all the other girls he’d been with but he claimed it didn’t count because we weren’t together.
“Technically, she’s not cheating,” I said. “She traveled back in time so it doesn’t count.”
“Still counts. She’s still married.”
I shrugged one shoulder and finished my apple, setting the core on the wood crate that doubled as a coffee table. If the barn had heat, you could almost live here.
“So, if you cheated on me while I was in a combat zone, would it count as cheating?” His gloved fist hit the leather bag with a thwack.
I hated to think of him ever being in a combat zone, but there was no point in dwelling on it. It was done. The day after Thanksgiving, he and Reese enlisted. That was one week ago and I was still in denial.
“It would count,” I said. “That’s different.” I dragged my eyes away from the book to watch him. Earlier, he’d taken off his hoodie and tossed it at me so I was wearing it over my T-shirt and leggings to ward off the December chill in the air while he was only wearing black running shorts and a gray T-shirt.
Jude never felt the cold. He was always warm, like my personal space heater.
Compared to his workouts, mine were a joke, but he liked it when I kept him company and it was no great hardship hanging out on the sofa and ogling him. Every time I looked at him, it seemed as if he got bigger and stronger. He was all lean muscle without an ounce of fat and looked more like a man than a boy now.
The lit bulbs dangling from the rafters created a halo effect around him. But Jude was no angel.
“So if you traveled back in time and you cheated on me, you’re saying it wouldn’t count?” he persisted.
Thwack. Thwack. Thwack. The muscles in his arms flexed with each powerful punch, his eyes narrowed on the bag like it was his enemy and he was picturing the face of the guy I was hypothetically cheating with. If I ever cheated on Jude, which I never would, he’d rip the guy limb from limb before he walked away from me and never looked back.
I knew him so well. I knew his strengths, his faults and weaknesses, and his vulnerabilities. He liked to pretend he didn’t have any weaknesses or vulnerabilities, but I knew better. Once he staked his claim, Jude was possessive and demanded unquestioning loyalty. He was generous with his heart but if you wronged him, he lashed out. His ego was as gigantic as the cock he was always bragging about, and he had a flair for the dramatic that I found wildly entertaining.
Faults and all, I loved him. Truly, deeply, madly. I didn’t think there was anyone else on the planet who could ever fill his size thirteen shoes. So cheating on him had never even crossed my mind. But still, I enjoyed pushing his buttons.
“Technically, her husband hadn’t even been born yet, so I don’t think it should count.” It was a flimsy excuse and I wasn’t even sure which side of the moral debate I stood on. But it was fiction, not real life. “Chances are good that I’ll never travel back in time and meet a sexy Scot so you have nothing to worry about.”
His jaw clenched, unimpressed with my attempt to placate him, but he didn’t comment. He just continued punching the bag to the tune of The White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army” blasting from the speakers.
“How’s the sex?” he asked a few minutes later, wiping the sweat off his forehead with the back of his arm.
“Hot.”
That captured his interest. “How hot?”
“Sooo hot.” I fanned myself with my hand, really playing it up. “Five alarm fire hot. Jamie has alllll the moves.” I licked my lips and let out a low moan worthy of a porn star as my hand slid between my thighs. That was all he needed to hear. Getting him all riled up was child’s play. He was a jealous lover but so was I, and I wasn’t about to complain. Not when it benefited both of us.
Throwing down his gloves, he stalked toward me. A thrill shot through me, anticipation building. I knew what was coming and I was ready for him.
We’d been doing this song and dance for a few months, and I knew what that dirty mouth could do to me now. I knew what his hands, lips, and gigantic cock were capable of too. Well, mostly.
“You won’t be needing him anymore.” He snatched the book out of my hand and flung it across the room. The book hit the floor with a thud.
“Hey!”
Ignoring my protest, he grabbed my ankles roughly and dragged me down the sofa until my back was flat. Hooking his fingers into the waistband of my leggings, he slid them down my legs until they were around my ankles.
“Leave my sneakers on in case I need to make a run for it.”
He laughed and tugged the stretchy Lycra over my sneakers then tossed my leggings over the back of the sofa. I drew my legs up, feet flat on the cushion and he knelt over me, nudging my thighs apart.
“Someone might catch us,” I said, my hands reaching for his waistband and pushing down his shorts, freeing him from their confines, my movements hurried and with zero finesse. Fast and dirty, that was how we liked it.
“Mmmhmm.” He reached for the switch on the wall, plunging us into darkness before his lips collided with mine. I held the back of his head, greedy for his kisses as his hands explored the curves and dips of my body and he slowly rocked
