Author: Olivia Cunning

He leaned his forearm against the doorframe, his hand clenched into a fist. “Are you almost finished? I need to use the facilities.”

“Yeah, just a minute.”

Water splashed into the tiny sink. He heard her sniff her nose again, and then she slid the door open. She had her head ducked down as she tried to brush past him. He poked her in the ribs and she glared up at him. Just as he’d suspected. Her eyes and nose were red and puffy.

“You were so crying.”

“Just leave me alone, Sed. You’re the last person on Earth I want to see right now.”

She was the only person on Earth he wanted to see. Ever.

He let her pass and entered the bathroom, closing the door quietly. He didn’t really need to use the bathroom. He’d just wanted to be near her. Even if she did spout her hatred at him. Hatred was better than nothing. Hatred he could deal with. He couldn’t deal with nothing. He’d tried to deal with nothing for two years. It never went away. Just sat there inside his chest as a big empty hole.

Sed flushed the unused toilet and washed his hands. He opened the door and stood in the doorway. Jessica’s shoulder dominated his attention as she sat at the dining room table booting up Myrna’s laptop. He needed an excuse to be in the dining area. Any excuse. His stomach rumbled on cue.

He found some shrimp scampi and pasta primavera in the refrigerator. Leftovers from the feast Myrna had made for Trey the same day she’d agreed to marry Brian. Had it really only been three days ago?

Sed glanced over his shoulder and caught Jessica staring at his naked back reflectively.

When her eyes met his, she jerked and rapidly keyed several numbers into her spreadsheet.

“Are you hungry?”

“A little,” she admitted quietly.

When he placed a plate of warmed-over food on the table beside the computer, she glanced up from her work and smiled. His heart skipped a beat.

“Thanks,” she murmured.

Her gaze dropped to his bare chest. Her tongue darted out between her lips. She shook her head slightly and then focused her attention on her food.

“This smells awesome,” she said. “Did you make it?”

“If by make it, you mean heat it up, yeah. But Myrna cooked it. She has a soft spot for Trey’s stomach.” He chuckled. “All our stomachs benefit from that helpless puppy look of his.”

She laughed. “I don’t think there’s a woman on Earth who can say no to that look.”

“Quite a few men can’t say no to it either.”

She smiled. A genuine smile that softened her features and lit her eyes. Sed’s breath caught. God, he’d missed that smile. And those lips. Against his.

“Is Trey still batting for both teams?” she asked.

“Unless something’s changed since yesterday.”

He dug a couple of forks out of a drawer, handed one to Jessica, and settled into the booth across from her with his plate.

She took a cautious bite. “Delicious!” Jessica slurped noodles into her mouth and shoveled in several shrimp. She gave him an enthusiastic thumbs up.

He chuckled. “Are you hungry?” Typically, she was the slowest eater on the planet. Or she used to be. Maybe she’d changed. The idea unsettled him.

“I forgot to eat today.”

“How do you forget to eat?”

“Between getting fired, evicted, cussed out by a cop, and then hunting you down, it sort of slipped my mind. Which reminds me.” She heaved her massive purse from the table and pulled out a familiar stack of cash. “I don’t want this.”

When he didn’t accept the money, she dropped it on the table.

“You’d rather be evicted than take money from me?”

“Yes.”

He would never understand her. Never. It wasn’t as if he couldn’t afford to take care of her. He wanted to do it. It gave him satisfaction to provide for the people important to him, but she’d never allow him that simple pleasure. The things he gave her—his ring, his money, his heart—obviously weren’t good enough for her.

As soon as the cash was out of her possession, the tension left her expression and she sat up straighter. She took a deep breath and said, “Myrna said I should tell you that I felt insulted by your gift.”

She met his eyes briefly, her cheeks pink.

“Insulted?” He tugged on his earlobe. “Why would it insult you? I was just trying to help. It’s not a big deal.”

“It’s a big deal to me. I want to make it on my own. I need that.”

“But why struggle with money? I can give—”

She lifted her palm in his direction. “I didn’t bring it up to start an argument. I don’t want your money. End of story. I’m doing fine without your help.”

And that bothered him. Made him feel less of a man. Especially when she rubbed it in his face like that. “Well, I’m sorry I got you fired, then,” he lied.

She shrugged. “I hated that job anyway.”

His heart swelled and he smiled broadly.

“What are you smiling about?” she asked, pointing at him with her fork.

“Nothing.” His smile widened further.

She grinned. “Your dimples are showing, Sedric.”

He flushed.

“And you’re blushing.”

He scowled. “I’m not.”

“Don’t stop. It’s adorable.”

He lifted an eyebrow at her. “Sedric Lionheart is not adorable.”

“But you are. Adorable, I mean. When your dimples show and you blush.”

It was impossible not to grin and blush when she said things like that. While he was basking in her compliment, she stole a piece of shrimp from his plate.

“Are you trying to distract me so you can steal my food?”

“Maybe.” She stole another shrimp and popped it into her mouth.

“Hey.”

She laughed and poked another shrimp with her fork. He caught her fork with his before she could lift her prize to her open mouth. Was she flirting with him? And teasing him? Hadn’t she just told him she didn’t want to have anything to do with him? He would never understand her. He didn’t know why he bothered trying.

“If you want my food, you should ask,” he said.

“Can I have one of your shrimp?” She looked into his eyes expectantly. He couldn’t refuse her anything when she looked at him like that.

He picked up one of his few remaining shrimp and offered it to her. She leaned across the table and drew his fingers into her mouth. When her tongue brushed his fingertips, his dick stirred in his shorts, ready and willing to take on anything Jessica had in mind. When it came to this woman, that part of his anatomy didn’t give a flying fuck what was going on in his head or his heart.

Jessica leaned back and chewed with her eyes closed in bliss.

And that would be why. The woman was too damned sexy for her own good.

“It’s soooo good,” she murmured.

Sed’s mouth went dry.

Her bare foot brushed his under the table. His toes curled. He expected her to move away immediately, but instead she rubbed her big toe against his instep. His stomach clenched with need. Cock throbbed incessantly. Did she realize what she was doing to him?

“Are you going to finish that?” she asked.

He shoved his plate in her direction. “I need a drink.” And a cold, cold shower. He slid out of the booth and opened the refrigerator. Why had Myrna insisted they move all the beer to the other bus? He didn’t feel like going over there and getting one, so he reached for a bottle of water. When a hand settled against the small of his back, he froze.

“Is there anything good to drink in there?” Jessica asked, peeking around his body.

The fruity scent of her shampoo assailed him and his eyes drifted closed. What had she asked him?

Oh yeah. Drink.

“All the alcohol’s on the other bus.”

Jessica reached in the refrigerator and retrieved a bottle of orange juice. She pressed the container against his belly and he danced sideways. “Cold!”

She laughed and tried to move around him, but he caught her around the waist and turned her to face him. She opened her bottle of juice and took a long drink, looking unconcerned by his nearness.

“What is this you’re doing?”

She gazed up at him with those remarkable jade-green eyes of hers. “What do you mean?”

“This. This flirting.”

“Do you want me to stop?”

“That depends on its purpose. If you’re doing it to mess with my head, then yes, stop, please, it’s torture. But if you’re trying to work me into a frenzy so I can’t keep my hands off you—”

“The second one.”

His heart stuttered.

She took another sip of her juice. “Drink?” she offered, tipping the bottle toward him.

Juice sloshed out of the bottle and splashed against his chest. It trickled down the center of his belly and disappeared into the waistband of his shorts. “Whoops.” She leaned forward and licked the juice from his skin, working her way down his body.

He wished his brain worked better when his dick was hard. What had turned her from cold to hot in less than half an hour?

“I thought you said you hated me,” he said.

She stood straight again and leaned closer, her hand pressing against the tent in his shorts. He drew a sharp breath through his teeth.

“I still hate you,” she said. “That doesn’t seem to stop me from wanting you, though.”

“So, this is just about—”

“Sex, Sedric. Nothing more.”

Could he have a purely sexual relationship with Jessica? He had no problem having that kind of relationships with dozens of other women, so why was he hesitating with her? Because she was different.

She could hurt him.

She did hurt him.

Just looking at her hurt. When he couldn’t see her, it hurt. When he thought about her, it hurt. When he tried not to think about her, it hurt. But which hurt more, being with her or being without her?

The entire time his internal battle raged, she just stared up at him, waiting for him to make the next move. His hand trembled as he lifted it to cup her jaw. His thumb brushed across her lips. Should he kiss her? She wouldn’t realize that he hadn’t kissed another woman since he’d fallen in love with her. Maybe his body had cheated, but his heart never had.

Her eyes drifted closed as he lowered his head. He hesitated, a hair’s breadth between their lips. Something told him he’d regret this tomorrow, but now seemed more important. He traced the contour of her lush upper lip with his tongue. She sighed, trembling, as her lips parted. His tongue probed deeper, running along the ridge of her teeth, the roof of her mouth, and then stroked the surface of her tongue. She groaned and squeezed his hard-on through his shorts.

He shuddered and kissed her deeply, a ripple of delight streaking down his spine. He drew the tang of orange juice from her mouth into his, kissing her until her unique flavor greeted his tongue. That’s what he wanted. Her taste. God, he’d missed it so much. He couldn’t get enough. She groaned into his mouth.

The bottle of orange juice slipped from her hand. It hit the floor with a thunk and tipped onto its side, its contents glugging out and spreading across the linoleum.

Jessica pulled away. “Oh crap.”

She bent to retrieve the half-empty bottle, put it on the table, and reached for a dish towel. He spooned up against her back, his hand running up her belly under her shirt.

“Leave it.”

“It will just take me a second to clean it up.”

“I’ll go kick Eric out of the bedroom.”

She shook her head. “That’s not necessary. Go grab a blanket and spread it over the sofa. I’ve got something for you.”