Chapter Nineteen

 

 

 

Jared

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chris cried the entire way home. I wasn’t kidding when I told Steph that he hated the car. My son was generally a happy baby but putting him in the car was like torture to him.

Stephanie met me at the car once I was parked and when she went to the popped trunk, I shook my head.

“Why don’t you grab Chris? Since the weather’s so nice, I’ve been leaving his seat in the car rather than lugging it up.”

“You twisted my arm,” she teased as she brushed by me to open the door to the backseat of the car. I unashamedly watched her bend down and almost groaned at the way the black slacks she was wearing tightened around her perfect ass. Chris’s cries had reduced to whimpers but they picked back up the second he saw Stephanie. I knew the moment she had him in her arms because he went completely silent.

I grabbed all of the groceries and closed the trunk, smiling at my son and the gorgeous woman who was holding him. She held him so they were chest to chest and gestured to the car with her head.

“I think you need to raise his base a little bit so it’s at an incline. That might help reduce his fussiness.” The look on my face must have shown my confusion because she chuckled slightly. “I’ll explain more later.”

Howie was waiting for us with a grin on his face. He looked at Stephanie with affection and she halted in her steps to kiss his cheek. Once she was through the door, he turned his friendly eyes on me.

“Good evening, Mr. Hart. How was your first week back?”

I clapped him on the shoulder and nodded my head. “It was good to be back but I’m glad it’s the weekend.”

He laughed softly and hustled to the elevator so he could call it for Stephanie. She thanked him quietly and we both stepped inside. I turned to look at her, ready to make a comment about how my doorman liked her better than me, but someone stopped the doors from closing before I could.

A pretty, young woman stepped inside and her face lit up when she saw me. “Jared.”

“Hey, Carla.” I wanted to pat myself on the back for somehow managing not to wince at her overly excited voice.

Carla Swanson was another resident of the building and someone that had been dropping less-than-subtle hints about dating me for months. Hell, she had even done the cliché and asked to borrow a cup of sugar the week before. I had been trying to let her down gently but she didn’t seem to be quite grasping my cues. She was nice enough but I just wasn’t interested. I only had eyes for one woman and she just happened to be in that elevator, too.

“What are you up to this evening?” She paused for about one second before rushing on, her voice still chipper. “My sister and I ordered some Thai food and there’s plenty. You and Chris should join us.” She frowned, as if realizing for the first time that I didn’t have Chris.

Her gaze settled on Stephanie, who was huddled in the corner with her cheek pressed to the top of my son’s head. Gone was the smiling woman from a few minutes ago and a closed-off person was left in her place.

The look on her face was one I was familiar with because I had been sporting it just thirty minutes before.

Jealousy.

“Actually, I have plans tonight but I appreciate the invitation,” I said, stepping closer to where Stephanie and Chris were. Carla narrowed her eyes ever so slightly as she appraised the woman next to me but recovered quickly, plastering a smile on her face.

“Another time then. You know where I am.” She stepped out onto the sixth floor and winked in my direction. I released a long breath when the doors closed and glanced over at Stephanie.

She refused to look at me and was making faces at Chris instead, who was eating up all of her attention. I didn’t try and force her to talk and just placed my hand on the small of her back when we exited the elevator.

I unlocked the door to my condo and gestured her in first. She stepped through the door and started to head down the hall as I placed the groceries on the kitchen counter.

“I’m going to change his diaper.”

I opened my mouth to respond but before I could, Stephanie stopped. She whirled around until she was staring at me. Her face was determined and I felt like I needed to brace myself for what she was about to say.

“You were jealous. Before you realized Austin was my brother, you were jealous.”

“I, uh, I… What?” I stammered, completely taken aback and unsure of how to reply.

I mean, she was right. When I had been walking through the grocery store and spotted Stephanie, happiness had hit me hard in the gut. That happiness had been swiftly shoved away when I watched a man walk up and wrap his arm around her. A minute later, he was affectionately kissing the top of her head.

Jealousy like I’d never felt had hit me. That was the moment I realized that only being Stephanie’s friend was going to be harder than I ever thought it could be. I wasn’t sure I could watch her be happy with another guy. So when I found out he was her brother? Well, that was the best news I’d heard in a while.

Stephanie watched me stumble over my words and she moved back towards the living room. I stayed rooted to where I was near the entrance to the kitchen and tracked her as she placed Chris on his play mat that was set up on the living room floor.

She straightened up and walked towards me, only stopping when she was about a foot in front of me.

“Are you dating her?”

I blinked at her several times as I tried to catch up on the conversation. “What? Who?”

“That woman from the elevator.” She used one hand to gesture towards the front door. “Carla. Are you and she together? I saw you two flirting in the mail center a few days ago and not knowing whether or not you’re together has been driving me crazy.”

I scoffed and shook my head, balling my hands into fists to keep from reaching out to touch her. “I’m definitely not dating Carla, Steph.” I paused and raised my brows. “Are you jealous?”

She threw her hands up into the air, almost hitting my face in the process as she let out a noise of frustration. “Yes! I’m jealous, okay? I’m so jealous that I want to scream! I wanted to grab her by her perfect hair and shove her pretty little face into the elevator doors!”

“And before I realized that he was your brother, I was ready to rip you from Austin’s arm and throw him into the meat case,” I growled, unclenching my fists and stepping forward. My hands moved on their own until they were resting on Stephanie’s hips and her palms pressed to my chest at the same time. “I was jealous. I don’t like the thought of another man touching you, Stephanie.”

Before she could say another word, I covered her mouth with mine.

I almost expected her to be shocked, to freeze underneath me, but that didn’t happen. Stephanie responded by wrapping her arms around my neck and parting her lips almost immediately. When our tongues touched, it was like everything had been unleashed. She tasted like something I could never name and felt like perfection.

I ran my hands up her sides, feeling all of her amazing curves under my palms before wreathing one arm around her back so I could pull her flush against me. I nipped at her bottom lip, loving the sexy little whimper she released, and used my other hand to tilt her head slightly. I deepened the kiss, pouring months of wanting into my movements, and I knew she could feel exactly what she was doing to me against her stomach.

A shrill, happy squeak from the living room penetrated my haze of lust and I slowed the kiss down until our movements were languid. I placed a hand on her cheek and pulled back just enough so I could rest my forehead against hers.

“Wow,” she murmured and I opened my eyes to find hers still closed. I nodded slightly and released a long breath.

“Yeah, wow.” I brushed my lips against hers again and her eyes finally fluttered open. Her cheeks were flushed and her blue eyes glazed over with lust. “I’ve wanted to do that for four months, Vanilla Latte.”

A wide grin overtook her entire face and her fingers gently tugged the hair at the nape of my neck. “I’m trying to remember why we didn’t.”

“You had a bunch of silly reasons,” I teased gently, leaning in to drop a kiss on her nose. Chris squealed again but that one was more of a warning. He was done playing. “Do you mind getting the little guy changed so I can start dinner?”

“I can do that.” Stephanie stepped backwards, letting her hands graze my chest as she dropped them from my neck. She offered me a small, almost secretive smile and turned around. My eyes stayed on her as she kicked her heels off by the door, something she had done so many times before, and moved into the living room where Chris was.

I could hear her interacting with my son while I seasoned the steaks and scrubbed the potatoes clean. I knew the only way she would eat the asparagus was if it was full of flavor so I rubbed the stalks in olive oil and seasoned them, too. Once I had everything prepared, I headed out to the balcony where the propane powered grill was.

Almost an hour later, I had everything ready to eat. I put the food on two plates and took them to the dining room table. Stephanie had bathed Chris and put him into a pair of pajamas while I made dinner. She strapped the fresh-smelling baby into the little bouncer that had been placed in the middle of the table. When she turned to look at me, she offered me a smirk.

“I was looking through his closet for the insert to his little bathtub and can you guess what I found?”

I had no idea what she was talking about so I shook my head. Her smirk only widened when she took her plate of food from me.

“A wipes warmer.”

“Oh, crap.” I placed a drink in front of her and held up my hands in surrender. “Look, I know you said no gimmicky items but it looked really cool when I was buying all of the baby gear.”

“Uh huh,” she replied, the smile still on her face as I took my seat at the table. “Funny how that cool item is tucked away in the back of the closet with a slight layer of dust covering it.”

I sighed and plastered on my best reproachful look. “It was worthless. The wipes came out warm but were cold like three seconds later.”

“The only thing I just heard is that I was right.” She flashed me a smile before sliding a piece of steak into her mouth. Even though I knew it wasn’t supposed to be, the way she savored that small bite was incredibly sexy. Her eyelashes fluttered shut and she made a satisfied noise in the back of her throat. When she reopened her eyes and caught me staring, a light blush filled her cheeks. “What?”

“Nothing.” I cleared my throat and focused on my own food. We ate in silence for a few minutes before she sighed and told me about the bad new she had received from her boss earlier. I reached over and took her hand in mine. “It sounds like the prognosis is really good, sweetheart, and I’m sure knowing she can count on you takes a lot of weight off of her shoulders.”

“I hope so.” She offered me a smile and stood from the table, grabbing both of our empty plates. “I’ll get dessert.”

I chuckled and rose from my seat, unbuckling Chris so I could take him into the living room. Steph had put a wrist rattle on him earlier and he happily gummed on that when I sat down on the couch.

She reappeared a moment later with two plates of the chocolate mousse cheesecake, a dessert I knew was one of her favorites. We ate together and laughed when Chris’s eyes followed the direction of my fork, joking that he was already taking after Stephanie.

We finished our dessert and I made Chris a bottle. I took him in the bedroom, fed him, read him a book, and rocked him until he was asleep. Once he was settled in the bassinet, I rushed back out to the living room, almost afraid Stephanie would be gone. I wasn’t sure how she was feeling about the kiss earlier and I knew that she had a tendency to get into her own headspace and overthink things.

So when I saw her sitting on my couch, her legs tucked up under her body while she pointed the remote at the TV, I released a long, relieved sigh. She must have heard it because she turned her head and smiled at me.

“You thought I’d be gone.”

It wasn’t a question but a statement and I nodded my head. “Honestly? Yeah. Let me clean up the kitchen and then we should talk.”

“It’s done.” She patted the spot on the couch next to her. “Come sit, City Roast.”

I did exactly what she said, taking a seat right next to her so our thighs were touching. I brought my arm up so it was along the back of the couch and Stephanie didn’t waste any time snuggling up to my side.

It was a normal position for us usually but felt completely different in that moment. Her hand and cheek both rested against my chest and it was everything I could do to not kiss her again.

“I don’t want to fight this anymore, Jared.”

Out of all of the things she could have said, that was by far one of the best. I wrapped my arm around her and settled my cheek against the top of her head.

“Thank god, because I don’t think I can fight it anymore. Not now that I know what more is like for us.” I pressed my nose to her hair and inhaled a deep breath. “Is this going to cause a problem for you at work?”

She shook her head. “Robin gave me her blessing last week when she was grilling me about you. I’ll have to reassign your case to someone else but it’s not a problem.”

I ran my fingertips down her arm slowly and felt another weight lift from my shoulders. “Good.”

Steph moved until she was looking up at me and I couldn’t help myself. I had to kiss her.

With one of my hands on her cheek and the other wrapped around her, I pressed my lips to hers and felt her hands grip the front of my shirt as she kissed me back enthusiastically.

I lost myself to her. We shifted until she was laying on the couch with my body hovering over hers. Her hands were in my hair and her hips moved beneath me, searching for friction. I ran my hands up her stomach, over her shirt, and she pulled her mouth from mine when I reached the underside of her breasts.

“Jared.”

I stared down at her, watching her chest heave, and tried to get my own breathing under control. “Sorry. I lost my head a little bit. I’ll slow down.”

“I…” Her face was already slightly flushed but obvious embarrassment caused the red in her cheeks to darken. “I’m not that experienced.”

“What?” I had no idea what she was talking about. I sat up, pulling on her hands until she was sitting in my lap. She leaned into me but stared down at her hands.

“I know that sounds stupid but I was in a ten year relationship, right?”

Frowning, I nodded my head. Thinking about her being with anyone else wasn’t something I was too keen on. She sighed and chewed on the inside of her cheek nervously.

“Troy was my first.” She paused to clear her throat. “Troy was my only, Jared.”

“Oh.” Understanding dawned on me. I placed a finger under her chin to force her to look up at me. “Sweetheart, you have no reason to be embarrassed about that.”

She rolled her eyes in an attempt to cover up her discomfort. “I know but I’m nervous. I’m just… Can we take it slow?”

“As slow as you need or want us to. Twenty-four hours ago I was fighting to keep my hands off of you so I’m perfectly happy holding you in my arms.”

“And making out like teenagers?” A small smile was slowly stretching across her face and it turned into a full blown grin when I nodded.

“And definitely making out like teenagers.”

We surged back together and did exactly that.