Chapter4
“Come in,” Jared held the door open for A.J. and welcomed her into his rental.
He’d accepted assistance from Rick’s family to make his house less bachelor pad and more mod-chic as Marie so aptly named it when she reminded Jared that women did not appreciate gaming systems and fast food bags.
“Not bad for a rental,” A.J. remarked, surveying the front room. She wore a simple dress, green, and cut to emphasize her curves. “I’m not sure I would have come at all if I’d known it was your house, a bit forward for a first date, isn’t it?”
“I wanted to cook for you,” Jared said simply. It was definitely a bonus that his bedroom, complete with newer, king-sized bed, sat just a few steps away.
“You mean you ordered take out,” A.J. teased.
“No, I mean, I actually cooked a meal for you.”
Jared led the way to the kitchen. Without a dining room, he was forced to create a more intimate setting with a smaller table for two. Not without its charm, the vintage café table complete with candles and a long-stemmed rose in a vase drew a subtle gasp from A.J. Jared smirked, maybe he stood a chance at breaking down A.J.’s icy front after all. He gestured for her to have a seat,
“I hope you like eggplant Parmesan.”
“You, Mr. All Star, made eggplant Parmesan?” A.J. sounded incredulous. “I was expecting mac and cheese at best, maybe something tossed on the grill.”
“I know what you expected,” Jared mocked, just enough, “you expected a fancy restaurant with a lot of extravagant touches.”
In truth, it’s what he’d planned, but Marie dissuaded him. Once she found out he could cook, well, all bets were off and his plans changed.
A.J. seemed a little disappointed that he’d figured her out. “Yeah, kind of. This is much better.”
“I agree.” Jared served the salad first, a fresh kale, spinach, and romaine with juicy strawberries and a homemade vinaigrette dressing. “My mom taught us all how to cook before we were allowed to leave her house. She went to culinary school and never quite got away from it.” Jared felt strange revealing such intimate stories to A.J. but she seemed to be eating it up. “Most guys buy cars and homes for their moms when they make the big time but I didn’t. She never asked either, never commented on the gifts she didn’t get.”
“You’ve been making millions of dollars and you haven’t done anything for your mom?” A.J. frowned, disappointed.
Jared’s mouth twitched. “You really have no faith in me, do you? No, A.J., I didn’t forget my mom. How could I? I just didn’t think a car or a home was enough reward for everything she gave me, everything she sacrificed to do right by our family. It took a long time to do things the way I wanted, but eventually, I bought her a restaurant and gave her all the money she needed to remodel it and make it her own. Then, I bought a house for my family that was closer to the restaurant. Mom’s made it the most successful place in town.” Jared dug into his own salad to avoid A.J.’s gaze.
“Wow.” A.J. set her fork down. “You are full of surprises, aren’t you?”
“I try,” Jared responded coyly. “Not many people know that I paid for Mom’s restaurant, so if you could keep it on the down low, I’d appreciate it.”
“Wait, nobody knows?” A.J. studied him, challenged him. “How is that possible?”
“Like I said, it took a long time.” Jared shrugged. “I wanted to make sure she would own it free and clear, no debt for the start up, and I didn’t want to be tied to it so people would accuse her of using my fame to gain her own.”
“You really thought of everything,” A.J. admitted. “I’m impressed.”
“Thank you. So was she,” Jared replied. “Of course, if I messed up this eggplant, she’ll never forgive me.”
He pushed away from the table, collected the salad dishes and deposited them on the counter. He opened the stove to remove the ceramic dish bearing their main course. It looked amazing and smelled even better.
“That looks delicious.” A.J. breathed in as Jared set the dish in front of her.
“Again, thank you.” Jared offered a mock bow and served A.J. first. “This is my mom’s recipe and the first gourmet meal I learned to cook.”
“Impressive.” A.J. cut into the eggplant, blew a few times onto the piece to cool it, and took a bite. Her eyes flared as she chewed slowly. A small moan escaped her lips, much to Jared’s delight. “This is the best eggplant parm that I’ve ever had.”
“Now that is a real compliment.” Jared took a bite, chewed thoughtfully, and ultimately agreed with A.J. “Except that my mom makes it better than this.”
“I think she would be proud,” A.J. assured him and took another large bite. Jared took her cue and shoveled in a little more himself. “I’m sorry, we should be talking, but I’m starving. I only had time for a power bar and some of that popcorn today.”
“Then by all means, eat,” Jared smirked, “we can’t have you wasting away into nothingness.”
She glared at him for that crack and made a show of shoveling another bite into her mouth. A.J. chewed slowly and watched him closely as if waiting for something. Jared simply held her gaze, a half-smile plastered on his face. She finished chewing and swallowed, chasing it with a drink of wine, the first she’d had. “Why are you doing all of this?”
It was Jared’s turn to be surprised. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, why me? Why all of this?” A.J. asked. “Why go through all of this trouble, the wedding, the kids, this date?”
Jared leaned toward A.J. “I thought you knew. I like you.”
“Right.” A.J.’s voice changed. She tensed and turned cold again. “I’m not interested in being your toy while you recuperate.”
“Who said I was looking for a toy?” Jared asked defensively. “I genuinely like you. I want us to be friends.”
“I see.” A.J. set her fork down. “Do you do this for all of your friends?”
“Only the ones I want to keep,” Jared answered automatically. “Honestly, there are not many people I care to keep close because I find that most people want something from me. You clearly do not because you hate me, or at the very least, just want me gone from your life. I don’t like how it feels and I want to change it.”
“So, it’s a game to you,” A.J. stated slowly.
Jared’s stomach sank, not how he wanted this to go. “No, that’s not it. Dammit, you are impossible.” He ran his fingers through his hair, frustrated and annoyed by her suspiciousness.
“Not impossible, guarded,” A.J. stood, “and I think it’s best that I go.” She made it to the doorway to the living room before he moved.
Jared grabbed her by the wrist and pushed her up against the wall. He leaned in until they were nose to nose.
“Why are you so impossible?” Jared asked again, this time in little more than a whisper. “You are different. Beautiful and brilliant and…” Jared trailed off. “I want you, I want you for more than just a friend.”
A.J.’s breath caught in her throat. Something behind her eyes changed as they stood there, locked in a silent war. She challenged him with every breath, waiting for the punchline that he never delivered.
“I’m going to kiss you now.”
Jared took a breath before slanting his mouth on hers; he tugged at her lower lip gently, slid her wrist up the wall and over her head. He pressed his body against hers, a challenge to stop him, but she didn’t. A.J. submitted, even arched into the kiss. She moaned into his lips, a sound that drove him to deepen their connection. Jared pulled back, just enough to look into her eyes again.
“Do you believe me now?”
A.J. blinked at him. “No.”
“Then you can’t leave yet.” Jared pushed closer to her, covered her entire form with his body, and slid the hemline of her skirt up to just below her ass. “I’m not done convincing you. In fact, I think it’s going to take quite a while to properly convince you.”
He kissed her again and traced across her cheek, down her jawline to her neck. Jared released A.J.’s wrist and slid his hands down her body, relishing every curve until he reached the swell of her ass. He pulled the bottom of her dress up and grabbed her surprisingly bare ass with both hands. The knowledge that A.J., the object of his desire, wore a thong to their date was almost too much for Jared to take. He pressed his bulge against her thigh, and was rewarded with a gasp as A.J.’s hands grasped at his shoulders, slid a hand up into his hair and guided his head back to her neck.
Jared didn’t need to be told twice. He traced the curve of her neck with the tip of his tongue, relished the salt on her smooth, chocolate skin. Jared’s hands massaged A.J.’s ass, then slid down her thighs, supple beneath his callouses. He nibbled at her earlobe then worked his way back down to the tops of her breasts, just visible above the neckline of her dress.
Jared’s hands traveled around to A.J.’s back, searched out the zipper holding her dress in place and worked it down. He pulled the dress down and let it puddle at A.J.’s feet. She stood before him, clad only in a lacy black bralette and matching, barely-there thong. Jared stepped back to admire her body. His eyes roved over her, paused at her breasts and made sure she was watching him as he dropped to his knees before her.
Jared looked up her body into her eyes as he kissed up her inner thigh to the vee of her legs where he hovered briefly to toy with her before he worked up her flat, lightly muscled abdomen toward her breasts. His hands deftly unfastened A.J.’s bra and he cast it aside, not caring where it went so long as her breasts were released. They were even better than he imagined, firmer, larger, and with perfectly swollen nipples that teased him.
Jared pressed his face between her luscious, heaving breasts. He wrapped her legs around his waist in one smooth motion and moved toward his bedroom.
“Your leg.” A.J. exhaled and detached from his body, careful to avoid his leg as she dismounted. Instead, she slid an arm around his waist and leaned up to kiss him. “Don’t undo all the work we’ve done or I’ll be really pissed off.” She smiled coyly. “Now about that convincing…”
A long, low growl reverberated from deep in his chest. He led her back to the bedroom and shut the door behind them. Without a word, A.J. was on him. She tore at his shirt, popped off several buttons in her bid to remove it. Jared shrugged out of the ruined top as A.J. fumbled at his belt. Her breasts wobbled with every movement, teasing him until he couldn’t take it any longer. Jared’s hands flew to her ripe breasts, he massaged them, tugged at her hard nipples as she worked his pants off.
His hands slid down her sides and caused her to shiver. He pulled at the ties to A.J.’s thong until it fell to the floor in a heap of strings. He stepped out of his pants, kicked them away and A.J.’s eyes flared as she realized he wore no underwear at all.
Jared pushed A.J. toward the bed, propelled her backward until they fell on it, a heap of limbs struggling to gain the upper hand until Jared submitted and allowed A.J. to straddle him, her weight a welcome sensation on his chest. He could smell her, sweet, sticky and welcoming. Jared knew she was wet and longed to bury his face in her mound, to force her to watch him bring her to the very edge without sending her over. Not yet.
A.J. had other plans and dug her legs into either side of his torso to lock him in place. She dipped her face forward, tugged at his lower lip and seductively pulled at it, teasing him as he’d teased her. Jared reached for her breasts but again she silently shut him down, just pushed his hands to the bed and held them there while she toyed with him.
A.J.’s hair fell over his face, tickling his chin as she kissed along the corded muscles at his neck. She finally released his hands only to guide them to her hips, a reminder that A.J. remained in control. Jared pulled her closer, maneuvered her up his body until his tongue could reach her core. He entered her, held her in place while he licked and probed her velvety folds, pushing deeper with every moan that escaped her lips. A.J. rocked into him, muscles quaking as Jared pushed her further, closer to the edge until she began to quake.
He didn’t relent, not until she began to jerk and cried out her approval. Jared sucked and teased until A.J. succumbed in a violent explosion. Her neatly trimmed mound glistened in the dim light of the room but Jared didn’t get to admire it for long because A.J. rolled off and collapsed beside him.
“Holy shit,” A.J. gasped between pants.
“Convinced yet?” Jared shifted to his side so that his own arousal pressed against A.J.’s thigh. She looked over to him, eyes blazing with need as her fingers made their way down his abdomen to his shaft. The warmth of her hand sent shock waves through his body.
“Not quite,” A.J. teased. “But you’re getting there.”
Jared slipped his hand under her hip and rolled her back on top of him.
“I love a challenge.”
He pushed the tip of his erection into her luscious mound and guided her hips until she completely sheathed his sex. A.J.’s eyes flared and Jared maneuvered her up and down his shaft with increasing speed. He watched her face, her every tic as she rode him, building toward another orgasm.
To buy more time, Jared slowed and rolled them over so that he could cover A.J. He made a show of lifting one of her long, muscular legs over his shoulder before he drove into her again, deeper than before. Jared rocked into her with renewed fire and better access to her luscious breasts. He teased her rosy nipple with his free hand as he fell into rhythm pounding at her silky sex. Jared pushed harder, quickening his pace, until A.J. panted harder beneath him and moaned his name, her body covered in a thin sheen of sweat like his own.
The world fell away until only A.J. existed, hair splayed on his pillow and eyes closed as she bit her lip in anticipation of the blossoming tidal wave building in his core. Jared focused on her lips, then his eyes traveled to her breasts and down to where they joined. He couldn’t refrain any longer and lost it, exploding into her with a force unlike any he’d experienced before. Jared collapsed on the bed beside her, one leg left lazily over hers. He shifted an arm to cover her breasts, one hand strategically cupped one of them and toyed with the nipple as A.J. recovered beside him.
“That was pretty convincing,” A.J. slurred.
“That?” Jared laughed. “That was just me warming up.”
A.J. chuckled, rolled away from him, and slid out of bed. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Wait, where are you going?” Jared lifted his head to follow her as she walked away, toward the door, as if to leave.
“This has been… enlightening.” A.J. smiled at him. “But I have to go. I have responsibilities that I’m sure Ally has told you all about.”
Jared nodded. “Your sister, right?”
“Yes. My sister,” A.J. agreed, fastened her bra and adjusted herself. She plucked her underwear from the floor but didn’t make an effort to put them back on. “Do you understand?”
“Absolutely,” Jared lied. He didn’t know much about the story because Ally had said it wasn’t her tale to tell. But, that apparently had to wait for another time. He crawled out of bed and pulled on a pair of track pants and caught up to A.J. in the hall.
“I would love to see you again,” A.J. said cautiously.
“Does that mean you’re convinced?” Jared flashed his favorite boyish grin and followed her into the kitchen to reclaim her dress.
“Almost,” A.J. replied as she pulled her dress up and turned for him to zip her up.
Jared complied and added a soft kiss to the nape of her neck. “I look forward to persuading you.”
He led the way to the front door and opened it for her. A.J. leaned up and kissed him full on the mouth. She tugged at his lower lip just a bit then backed away.
“I’ll see you soon.” A.J. turned on her heel and took off for her car before Jared could say another word. He closed the door but watched from the window as she backed out of the driveway and disappeared from sight. Jared leaned against the wall and grinned to himself.