Chapter Two
Mandi washed and dried her face, added a light moisturizer and a dab of lip gloss, then looked up into the mirror. Jaz was there.
Naked, save for her bra, her body still hummed with pleasure from how he’d taken her. From behind. Against the table other girls used to put on their makeup. She could hardly believe she’d admitted to crushing on him and that he’d admitted the same thing …
Turning forty wasn’t so damn bad after all.
“So, where do you want to get something to eat? Here?”
His voice curled in her belly, warm and sexy. She’d never come across anyone like him before. He was a huge brick wall covered in tattoos. He looked every inch a man who would as soon rip someone limb from limb as look at them if they crossed him wrong. “No, not here.”
She remembered being a little afraid to talk to him when she first met him. He looked as though he hated her on sight, but then he’d watch her with lust burning in his dark blue eyes. Her own reactions bothered her a little at first, too. Every time she saw him, she wanted to climb up his large, solid body and never climb down. She wanted those strong arms around her. That deep voice rumbling through her. Those lips on hers. And his cock easing the ache inside her. Her need made her shy when it came to him for fear she’d blurt out her feelings, her desires.
All that changed the minute he walked into the dressing room. He was hers for her birthday. She was going to have to hug Jackie for making the move it seemed neither Jaz nor Mandi were going to make on their own.
“Then where? It’s not like we’ve got a huge selection of places that are open after midnight here.”
Mandi pulled a black sweater and a pair of jeans out of her bag, along with a new pair of panties. She always carried a duffle with her to work with a change of clothes inside. Tonight, she was more than grateful for it. After getting dressed, she slid her bare feet into a pair of pink glittery flip-flops, grabbed her things, and returned to Jaz.
His gaze took her in, stopping at the V-neck of the sweater. “Like what you see?” she asked when he didn’t appear interested in looking up.
“More than words can say.”
Men looked at her all the time. Being a waitress in an adult entertainment club, she didn’t expect less. It was, in fact, expected. It didn’t hurt that the club also sold the best cheeseburgers in the tri-county area.
But Jaz? The way he looked at her? It was different, intense. It made her tingle. Everywhere.
“Pancakes.”
He raised his eyes to meet hers, one dark brown brow lifted in question. “Pancakes?”
Mandi nodded with enthusiasm. “Yes. One of my favorite foods in all the world and a tradition on my birthday.”
“Well then, if it’s pancakes my birthday girl wants, then it’s pancakes she’ll have.”
He stepped to the side and opened the door for her in a grand gesture, sweeping his arm for her to walk out ahead of him. She couldn’t stop her smile, knowing she must look goofy with it plastered from ear to ear. She didn’t care. The reality of his interest in her … God. She was one lucky girl.
Once in the hallway, they slipped out the back entrance to the employee parking lot. “I’ll take you around to your car and I guess … Do we want to take one car?”
“Yeah. You can leave yours here. Jackie’ll make sure it’s safe. I’ll be your driver tonight.” He took her hand and pulled her along. His long legs ate up the gravel lot, and it was all she could do to keep up. In flip-flops no less.
Until … he stopped and lifted her in his arms much as he had earlier.
“Jaz, put me down.”
“Nope. I like holding you and carrying you.”
“I can walk.”
“I know, but we’ll get there faster if I have you like this. Besides, it makes my cock happy to have your pussy so near.”
“Oh God,” she groaned. “I can’t believe you said that. Out loud. Outside.” Mandi buried her face against his neck as he laughed. The sound vibrated through her and she laughed a little too. He was different than she thought he’d be—lighter, fun, easy to be around and not at all intimidating. Although the lust she’d glimpsed and touched for a moment … She wanted more of it.
“I have a feeling there are going to be a few things you won’t believe I’d say or do.” With his lips grazing her ear, he slid a hand down her ass and between her spread-around-his-waist thighs. “A few things you won’t believe I’ll make you do.”
He came to a stop and removed his hand. She wanted it back. She missed the heat from his palm mixing with the heat from her sex. And again, for a second time that night, he let her slide down his body until her toes touched the ground. He kissed the top of her head and took the duffle from her hand.
The car he popped the trunk on was a Dodge Charger, classic ’72 or ’73 from the looks of it. Damn and double damn. In awe, she walked around it, dragging her fingertip across the glittery blue finish. It sparkled in the moonlight with black gleaming wraparound pinstripes.
“You like it?”
“It’s gorgeous, Jaz. What year?”
“’73.”
“That’s what I was thinking.” He shot her a puzzled look but didn’t question her. She loved being able to throw guys off with some of the inane knowledge of cars she had. She stroked the tip of her finger across the edge of the hood. “Did you do the work yourself?”
“Uh yeah. Most of it. Belonged to my foster dad and he’d always told me he wanted me to have it when he died. He kept it in amazing condition, and when he passed, I found out he’d meant what he said and left it to me. It meant everything to me, that even after all that went down between us, he kept his promise, kept his word. I knew how much he loved this car and finally realized too late how much he …”
His voice trailed off, and Mandi thought it best to let that emotional subject go. She understood what he was talking about, that thing called unconditional love. She’d had it from her parents and her brothers. She knew Jackie had it for him and …
Yeah, she needed to let that idea go for the moment too. She turned her attention, and his, back to cars. They were safe there. And with sex. Most definitely with sex.
“My brother, Trae, has a Charger, too. White with reflective red and orange stripes. White leather interior, dash included. My other brother, Trevor, has a Mustang. Red with black leather and chrome.”
Jaz beamed at her from ear to ear. Boyish charm and enthusiasm transformed his usual hard countenance and melted her heart. So much for not going there. Would he catch her when she fell? Or would he hightail it out of there, leaving her to introduce her heart to the pavement?
“That’s awesome. They still have them?”
“Yeah, both. They run a garage and work on these old muscle cars nonstop.”
“Amazing. I would love to see their shop.”
And she’d love to take him, love to see the looks on her brothers’ faces when she introduced them to Jaz. Neither would be able to match him in bulk or height, and they’d be hard-pressed to pick on her in front of him. She’d seen his protective side with Jackie. It was as long and wide as he was tall.
But introducing him to them … That meant more than a twenty-four hour birthday present of sex and pancakes and more sex.
She let his comment go.
“I love older cars. The paint is custom and new. The seats are original, but I had them recovered. New carpet, new dashboard. The interior had a complete overhaul.”
“What about the engine?”
“Restored. She runs like a dream.”
Mandi looked inside the passenger window then did a double take, finally looking up at him. “Did the laundry basket of towels come standard with the Charger back then? Or is it something restoration shops are doing now?”
“Smartass.” He slid the key in the lock and popped it, opening the door. He reached in and pulled the clothesbasket out, walking around to deposit it in the trunk. “They’re from work,” he offered by way of explanation. “Someone has to wash them.”
An image of him folding laundry flashed through her head. What a trip that’d be to witness.
“Get that smirk off your face and get in the car.”
Mandi bit back a grin and slid down into the soft-as-butter leather seat. Jaz was in her face before she got the seat belt pulled around her body. He was even larger in the close confines between her chest and the dashboard. He cupped the side of her face and licked at her lips before pressing forward with his tongue. When he lifted his head, he was smiling. “You’re a dangerous little minx, you know that? Inside that building, you tempt and tease with that sultry voice. You use those expressive eyes and that curvy body to twist us all. And underneath it all, with your blonde curls, your sweet, soft face … You’re still anything but innocent. I can’t wait to strip you down until there’s nothing but your hot-and-bothered soul begging me to sate your hunger.”
He was gone before she could say a word. More than his body was big. His mental, emotional and most definitely his sexual presence was as big as his physical one.
He got in behind the wheel and started the car. “Pancakes?”
It took her a moment to gain her wits about her again. “Yeah. With a side of bacon. I’m gonna need my strength.”
“No doubt.”