Chapter 9
The foursome snacked on chips and queso while waiting for their order. Most of the conversation centered around the party the night before. Will and Winter had been just winding down for the night in their suite at the hotel when the call had come in.
“Those suites are pretty nice. I stayed there a couple nights when I was looking for a place a couple months ago,” Leo said.
“I didn’t want to stay if Will wasn’t with me so I just headed home,” Winter admitted, taking a large sip of her beer.
“Babe, I wish you had stayed and taken advantage of the hot tub,” Will argued, as he took a couple more chips out of the basket.
“Meh, it wouldn’t have been fun all alone.” Winter shrugged her shoulders, the disappointment evident in her voice.
When Will leaned over to give her some kisses, Jasmine snuck a glance at the man she had been trying to avoid looking at for the last ten minutes.
Trying to be stealthy while stealing glances didn’t work, though, because Leo was not only staring directly at her, but he had seemed to be waiting for her to grow some balls and look at him. At least that’s what she assumed by the cocky smile he tossed her way when she finally met his eyes. Unable to ignore the heat in his gaze, Jasmine felt her eyes lock on his.
There goes that damn dimple again.
“Stop that.” Jasmine hadn’t realized the words had tumbled out of her mouth until Leo barked out a laugh.
“Stop what?” Leaning forward he braced his elbows on the table, his smile growing wider.
“All of that.” Jasmine waved her hand in the air to encompass Leo’s entire area.
“All of what?” Leo cocked an eyebrow in confusion.
“The dimple, the sexy smile and the bedroom eyes,” Jasmine whispered in a hushed voice, trying not to get Winter and Will’s attention, as they sat still making googly eyes at each other.
“Sugar, what you are seeing is the normal Leo.” Raising his hands, he sat back as if he were surrendering.
“Well…normal Leo needs to tone his shit down,” Jasmine said, feeling heat rise in her face.
“And why is that?”
Jasmine stared at him a moment, taking in his genuinely curious expression. “Because I can’t think when you look like that and it gets worse when you focus that look on me.”
“If you aren’t used to those kinds of looks then you haven’t been around the right kind of men, Jazz.” Leo reached over and covered her hand with his own on the table. “What are your plans for the rest of the day?”
Jasmine sat silent for a moment, confused at the abrupt change of subject. “I’m going to the station to drop off some cookies for the guys.”
“Ahhh…these must be the cookies that you were talking about when we got here?”
When Leo let go of her hand to reach for his own drink, Jasmine missed the warmth but was grateful for the reprieve. She was sure her hands were dripping with nervous sweat and that was one thing that she didn’t want him to notice.
“I decided to test out the cookie cutter that I got for Winter’s bachelorette party.” Her words were somewhat jumbled since Jasmine had shoved a chip in her mouth.
“Don’t sugarcoat it, Jazz.” Winter chuckled after taking another sip of beer. “She made dick cookies.”
When the guys both looked at her with wide eyes, Jasmine tried to appear innocent.
“I wanted to have a practice run before the party and you guys had a late night so I thought I would kill two birds with one stone.”
Both men turned their gaze to Winter, now wanting to see the cookies in question.
Winter leaned down and pulled out the container from her bag. Unwrapping the parchment paper, she held out the small square so the men could see the cookies in all their penis glory.
“Is that ball hair?” Will chortled, unable to not laugh at the cookie on display.
“Yes?” For some reason the answer came out of her mouth like a question. Jasmine looked around the bar making sure that nobody else was listening to their conversation.
“How did you—” Will wiggled his finger, encompassing the blush tone she had applied to the cookie to give it a fleshlike color.
“I iced them in white and then used a sponge to apply the pink color. I wanted to make it look like there was blood flow.” Jasmine covered her face with her hands, knowing that her attention to detail sounded sex crazed. “Maybe giving them to the guys wasn’t the best idea….”
“No, it’s perfect. The guys are going to get a kick out of them.” Leo nodded before looking at her with laughing eyes. “How long did these take you?”
“Just a couple hours, I had some spare time this morning since I made the trip into KC yesterday to see the parental units.” Jasmine’s eyes widened when she realized their server was on the way to their table and the cookie was still out and about in all its cock and ball glory. “Put that away!”
Winter rolled her eyes but folded the parchment back over the X-rated snack and snapped the lid back on.
“So, you left my house this morning after I specifically asked you to stay just so you could make some dick cookies,” Leo asked, uncaring that Winter and Will were now watching them with wide eyes.
“No, I left because you weren’t there and I didn’t see a coffee pot.” Jasmine shrugged as if it wasn’t a big deal. “Plus, I had errands I needed to run and laundry I needed to do.”
“Ah yes, laundry.” Leo’s eyes twinkled at her words. “I take it that you were able to put the flamingos away?”
“Flamingos?” Will repeated, the only one at the table out of the loop.
Winter touched his arm and shook her head indicating that he should be quiet.
Jasmine’s face turned red when she remembered that yes, she had indeed put the flamingos away, but had forgotten to put on a freshly laundered pair of panties so she was still commando. Squirming in her chair, she stopped the movement when Leo narrowed his eyes at her.
“Yes, the flamingos are put away…and that’s enough talk about that. I suggest we all just finish lunch.” Grimacing inwardly at how prim she sounded, Jasmine picked up her hamburger to take a big bite.
Just as she was crunching through the pickle and lettuce, Jasmine felt a warm hand on her thigh.
High on her thigh.
Finishing her bite, she pretended to reach down for the napkin and flicked her finger hard against Leo’s tanned paw on her fleshy thigh. Even though he jumped at the sting, he didn’t remove his grip. Instead, he rubbed the soft skin with his thumb.
“I need use the restroom. Excuse me.” Jasmine stood up and then gave Winter a pointed look which didn’t take her long to decipher.
“Me too. Back in a jiffy.” Winter stood up and followed Jasmine to the bathroom, understanding the time-honored tradition of women going in pairs so they could talk about the men.
The minute the bathroom door closed, Jasmine turned to Winter in pure panic mode.
“What the hell is happening right now?” Jasmine ran her hands through her hair then turned to the mirror to fix the mess she’d just made.
Winter eyed her for a moment before walking into a stall to take advantage of the bathroom break.
“Aren’t you going to say anything?” Jasmine mock yelled.
“I’m thinking you’re crazy, bish.” Winter flushed the toilet and walked to the sinks. “He’s obviously into you, he’s hot and he’s single….”
“You’re telling me things I already know.” Jasmine waved her hand to activate the paper towel dispenser for her friend.
“I guess I just don’t know why you’re freaking out.” Winter took the towels that Jasmine handed her with a quick, “Thanks. Plus, it’s not like you’re seeing anybody now. All the guys that your parents throw in your way are basically just boring speed bumps that you either drive over or go around. You’ve never given them a call back, and I’ve never seen you this worked up over a guy in the years I’ve known you. You even said yourself that you needed to get laid. Well here is the perfect candidate! And I do mean perfect, he was helping Will fix the fence the other day and they both had their shirts off….” Winter’s voice trailed off for a moment as if she were reliving the moment in her head. Just as quickly as she had drifted off, Winter snapped back with a shake of her head. “This could be a good thing.”
Jasmine stood there for a second thinking over what her friend said. “I guess you’re right, but what if I get attached? I don’t want to date a firefighter.”
“That is a problem….” Winter tapped her finger against her chin as if thinking hard. “How about you lay out some ground rules and keep it casual only. I mean, if you go into it knowing that it’s not going any further than just some fun in the sack, what harm would there be?”
“I guess you have a point.” Jasmine chewed on her lip for a second, trying to think of a way to have her cake and eat it too. Leo being the cake in this scenario.
“Just keep it light, right,” Winter suggested as if it were the simplest answer in the world.
“I guess,” Jasmine answered still not sure if she was going to be able to guard her heart from the dimpled hunk of gorgeous man that was able to make her crazy by just touching her leg.
“Plus, I think Nix was asking about you yesterday after he realized how big he fucked up by bringing Veronica to the dinner. I think he’s wanting to settle down. Either that, or he’s having a crisis now that he’s getting ready to turn thirty.” Winter opened the bathroom door and started to lead Jasmine back to the table.
“Nix? Really?” Jasmine thought about what she would do if the big guy asked her out. Before Leo, she would have said sure, knowing that it was going to be harmless fun. Nix wasn’t a guy that you would say screamed ‘stability,’ or ‘family man’ for that matter. No, Nix was a big guy who worked hard and played harder by all accounts. He was also incredibly sexy in a dark and mysterious way, and quite a few of the ladies in their circle had given in to temptation and sampled the dangerous man. None of them came back with complaints other than they were upset because he wasn’t interested in a second helping of what they were serving. “We’re talking about the same Nix, right?”
“How many guys do you know named Nix?” Winter asked sarcastically.
“What about Nix?” Leo asked when they sat down, obviously having overheard the women on their way back to the table.
“Oh, just that Nix was asking about Jazz,” Winter blurted out before looking wide-eyed at her.
Leo leaned back in his chair and folded his arms over his wide chest. When he focused a glare at her best friend, Jasmine realized Leo was not happy with that news.
“Really?” The question was short and to the point and Jasmine was unsure how to answer it.
When she stayed silent and picked up her burger again as if he hadn’t spoken, Will chuckled and filled in the gap. “Take it easy, man. Nix was just wanting to know if she was single still. He didn’t realize that you and Jazz were a thing.”
“Wait, we’re a thing?” Jasmine asked with her mouth half full while Leo simply nodded. Will’s answer obviously pleasing him.
“Jazz, if I have to show you how much of a thing we are, we may need to have a little bit of privacy,” Leo drawled tossing his napkin down on his now empty plate.
At those words, Winter choked on the bite of food she was trying to swallow while all Jasmine could do was stare open mouthed at Leo. Will chuckled and patted Winter’s back, trying to help her while she struggled to breathe.
Jasmine felt herself melt a little when Leo reached over and closed her mouth with a soft nudge to her chin.
“Okay,” Jasmine agreed with a breathless voice, and with that simple answer, she took Leo’s outstretched hand. Tugging her from the table, Leo nodded to Winter and Will.
“That should be enough to cover our half,” Leo said dropping a couple twenties on the table before hustling Jasmine out the door.
“Holy Hell.” Winter’s voice followed the pair as they exited the bar.