Chapter Eight
Jade pulled into Jeremy’s driveway and was relieved to find his Jeep parked by the back of the house. Not sure if she should knock at the front or the back door, she hesitated. After building up her confidence, she decided to take the first step confronting this thing they were flirting with—be it a disaster or just an accidental hook up. Grabbing the caddy of coffee, she headed toward the backdoor.
Yellow siding, trimmed in white, wrapped the house. The small rear deck was cluttered with flats of flowerpots. A grill, a Barbie bike with training wheels, and two Adirondack chairs, one for a child and one for an adult, furnished the patio.
He’d said his house was only for him and Mia. The truth was adorably evident in every object she passed.
She tapped lightly on the screen door. Music played from somewhere within the house, so she knocked a little harder and waited. When he didn’t respond, she shifted her purse and the coffee and opened the door.
“Jeremy?” Following the obscenely loud music toward the hall, she pushed the cellar door open. “Jeremy?”
Metal clanked over the music as she took a hesitant step down the stairs. A long desk filled the corner with four computers resting on top. There was an empty office chair and files neatly piled by a modem. Descending two more steps, she peeked under the drop ceiling and sucked in a sharp breath.
An outdated sound system, with speakers the size of mini fridges filled the far corner next to a weight bench. Facing the wall, barefoot and in only his jeans, Jeremy pulled his body off the ground with a bar attached to the ceiling. Holy back muscles, Batman!
His knees bent, calves curling behind him as he pulled his weight off the ground in one graceful lift. His arms bulged as veins stretched under his damp flesh. Dew coated his skin, his musky scent filling the air.
Her stomach cartwheeled at the whoosh of his breath coming through his teeth as he exerted himself. Dear Lord! Tendons and sinew pulsed and twitched at his shoulders and down his back—Come to Momma.
She carefully placed the coffee on the edge of the desk, tempted to run her fingers over his bunching muscles and write her name in his glistening sweat. Every swell of brawn tightened with each repetition. A spattering of jagged scars disappeared beneath the waistband of his jeans. He probably looked incredible in his military fatigues.
Prepared to make herself comfortable and enjoy the show, she grinned. Jeremy released his grip on the bar and dropped to his feet with a grunt of force. He turned and froze.
Biting her lip, she gave diminutive finger wave. “Hi.”
His expression remained blank as he reached for a remote on the weight bench and muted the stereo.
Silence.
“I like that song.”
“Don’t you knock?” He breathed heavily as he mopped the sweat from his neck with a hand towel.
“I did knock. You didn’t hear me.”
“Maybe I didn’t want to be disturbed.”
“Maybe I didn’t care,” she teased, trying to lighten the mood. It didn’t work.
“Are you on your way to a shift?”
She frowned then followed his gaze. She was still in her scrubs from the day before. “Uh, no. I don’t go in until tomorrow at three.”
“Ah, so you came here right from your sleepover.” He turned, tossing the towel into a laundry basket.
If he wanted to be a jerk and make assumptions, fine. “That’s right.”
“What do you want, Jade?”
Okay, he didn’t like being baited. “I brought you coffee.” She pointed to the caddy on the desk. “You know … an olive branch, for not being home this morning.”
He looked at the coffee but made no move to retrieve it or even say thank you.
“Jeremy, about last night—”
“I have work to do, Jade.” Snatching his shirt off the weight bench he yanked it over his head, successfully ruining her view. Well, if he was gonna be a dick…
“Look, Jeremy, I don’t know what you think happened—”
“I don’t care, nor is it any of my business. Like I said, I have work to do, so if you could just go out the way you came in…” He walked right past her, as if she were invisible, and sat at his desk.
Bristling, and a little hurt, her smile faltered. “God, I never realized you could be such an asshole.” Snatching her purse off the floor, she took the stairs.
What a douchebag! He didn’t have all the details and who was he, anyway, to act like she wasn’t allowed to sleep out? He had no claim on her. For a year she’d done everything to get his attention. Just because he finally felt ready to make a move did not entitle him to some sort of claim over her.
By the time she reached her car she was trembling. With shaky hands, she jabbed the key in the ignition and gripped the wheel.
She had nowhere to go and she didn’t want to go home. Maybe her olive branch had actually been a desperate attempt to avoid returning to her apartment.
She needed a plan B. Kat was on her honeymoon, Mia was at her grandparent’s, and Lily was sleeping. Her frustration doubled as her vision blurred. Fuck this. Letting out an aggravated growl, she turned the key and flinched at the sight of Jeremy standing in front of her car.
What the hell was he doing? Rolling her eyes and lacking the energy to argue, she put the car in reverse. Before she took her foot off the brake, he stalked to her door and opened it. “I’m sorry. Come back inside.”
“Not if you’re going to be mean to me.”
“I won’t be mean. Please.”
She hesitated, letting out a frustrated huff, and put the car in park. He held out his hand.
She followed him back inside, wanting to be done with the misunderstandings. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on with us, but you should know, Dr. Bishop’s a woman. I only slept there because I didn’t want to go home.”
“You could have mentioned that over the phone.”
“Why bother when you already assumed I’d wake up with one man and spend the night with another? There’s a jerk here and I’m pretty sure it’s not me.”
“I was wrong to make an assumption. Sorry.”
Was that a real apology? She supposed so. “I’m sorry I teased you and let you believe Dr. Bishop was a man.”
Eyes on his coffee, he folded back the lid. “What’s this new aversion you have toward your apartment?”
Rather than answer, she sidled closer and slid her arms around his shoulders, smiling up at him. “I don’t like when you’re mad at me.”
“You’re avoiding my question.”
“Just for a little while longer. Feed me and then we’ll talk.” She hoped this time she’d be able to get some words out.
His fingers teased along her arm. She liked that they had reached a point where they could invade each other’s personal space. So long as she remembered it was Jeremy she liked it very much.
His pupils darkened, swallowing the green of his irises and deepening the color to a rich pine. “Do you want to go out to lunch?”
“I thought you had all that pesky work to do.”
“Smart ass.”
Smiling, she glanced down and sighed. “I need to change.”
“We can stop at your place.”
That’s what she was afraid of. Maybe if he went with her she could get in and out without a total mental meltdown. While she was at it, she could grab some personal items to get her through this little nomadic spell. Chances were she’d be staying at Lily’s again—or Jeremy’s. But Lily’s was probably the sensible choice.
When they pulled up to her apartment, her stomach cramped painfully. You can do this.
“Do you want me to come up with you?”
Grateful he offered before she had to ask, she masked her fear with a grin. “If you don’t mind. It’ll only take me a minute to change and grab some stuff.”
As they took the stairs, she focused on ordinary things in an attempt to convince herself her home was unchanged. The lip of loose carpeting in the hall still needed to be tacked down and the stack of her neighbor’s bills littered his doormat as usual. She was fine until she faced her own door.
I don’t want to go in there.
Her tongue lay heavy in her mouth, weighted by the taste of fear, as she took a deep breath and turned the key in the lock. Get in and get the hell out.
“I’ll just be a minute.”
Keeping her gaze on the floor, she darted into her bedroom. Filling a bag with clean scrubs, some toiletries, and pajamas, she went about her task like a person retrieving a quarter from the bottom of a swimming pool.
“How long have you lived here?” Jeremy’s voice echoed from the open living room.
She entered the living room. “Um, about two years. Ready?”
“Wow. That was fast.”
“Yup. Let’s go.”
Tilting his head, he jerked his chin in the direction of her duffle bag. “Are you taking a trip?”
She slung the bag over her shoulder. “No, I just like to be prepared. Come on.” Cutting off further questions, she turned and hustled to the hall.
When he stepped over the threshold she slammed the door and locked it, giving the knob a jiggle to ensure it was secure. “Okay, let’s get out of here.”
She quickly led the way back to the car.
Fury had him gripping the steering wheel hard enough to snap it off the column. Who the fuck was with her? He grit his teeth as the man took Jade’s arm and led her to his car.
He glanced at his Rolex. Ten minutes. They’d been inside her home for less than ten minutes, not long enough to do anything significant.
Shutting his eyes, he calmed his anger by picturing her naked body in his arms again. The scent of her silky hair, the taste of her skin. She was so fucking soft, so warm.
What would it be like to have her awake? Would she grab him? Fight him? His cock stretched and pulsed in his jeans.
Hearing her breath quicken as she tried to fight him off… His eyes closed on a guttural groan. She would need to be subdued, held down. He’d pin her to the bed or the floor and stare at her, waiting until she submitted, accepting that he was ultimately stronger. Oh, she’d be helpless—again. But this time it would be her choice.
His palm pressed over his zipper and he groaned. He wanted to feel that moment of acceptance with her. That specific point when she gave over to his authority and became his, not because he drugged her, but because she chose to go peacefully. Eventually, it would happen.
Opening his eyes, he scowled as the guy slid a feminine print duffle bag into the back of the Jeep. His lip curled at the inconvenience of another man in her home. But she hadn’t been home. She’d been hiding.
Don’t you like your bed anymore, Jade?