God, I’d thought about that mouth a few times throughout the day, when I’d seen him on his phone on the sidelines during the shoot, when we’d exchanged glances and he’d smirked in just the right way. As I pushed my tongue between his lips, he opened that mouth sowillingly.
Keeping one hand on his back, I positioned my other against his face and ran the side of my thumb through the soft hairs across it. When I finally managed to pull away from him and gaze into those beautiful hazel eyes, I said, “How do you like mysurprise?”
He rolled his eyes. “It’salright.”
“Is this going to impress you enough to let me…” I slid my hand down his back, cupping that ass, feeling his erection pushing up againstme.
His hand found my ass cheek too, and he said, “Just don’t forget our deal.” Hewinked.
“Oh God. I’ll have to remember that the sooner I get in there, the sooner you get inhere.”
“That’sright.”
“Well, seems like I’ll have to takenotes.”
He didn’t seem to enjoy my teasing, just scanned my face. I wasn’t sure why. “You’re a hard man to figure out,Jace.”
“I could say the same thing aboutyou.”
He still seemed puzzled—troubled even—and it was starting to worry me. “You’re looking really serious right now, Dax. Am I pressuring you too much about messingaround?”
“No, it wasn’tthat.”
“Then what was just on your mind? Why do you look soserious?”
“I was talking to Benny earlier at Fever Pitch, and he told me about the time you saved hisniece.”
“Little Rae Bae, or so I call her. Yeah. I remember. Poor thing was shaken up, but she’s hardly been fazed by it. After it happened, I told her it was an adventure, like in the movies or in one of those books she read with her parents. She took to that pretty well. Now she tells the story all wide-eyed and like it was this great adventure she made itthrough.”
“That’s what I was referring to. Isn’t it weird that you have a moment like that, pulling a girl from the second floor of a house while it’s on fire, but then finding out all the world cares about is that you saved a Shar-Pei?”
Of course I’d thought about that plenty, but I was surprised by the way Dax seemed so rattled by it, as though there was more to this conversation than anything to do with my work. “It’s kind of funny to me, really. A little random. Plenty of guys do far more than anything I’ve ever done, but never get the praise for it. I can’t complain that I was lucky enough for it to happen to me. But something about it clearly plays on your mind. Something you want to talkabout?”
“I’ve been working in publicity for a long time, and it’s just strange how it all plays out. Even when they see all these pictures of you, none of them know the real Jace Kruse. They’re gonna see what they want to see and miss some importantshit.”
“Ah, you think there’s important shit here? Cute of you to say. But who gives a fuck about what anyone else thinks? I don’t do what I do because I need anyone else’s approval. You can’t live your life thatway.”
“My entire career is based on other people’s approval,” Dax pointed out. “Not of me, but my clients. I think that’s part of what fascinates me about you. You don’t seem to give many shits about what other peoplethink.”
“Not true. I care whatyouthink…about this.” I kissed him again, and while I was being serious, I was also hoping to soothe his discomfort since I could tell how much it bothered him. Sliding my hand around his ass, I pushed my fingers into the crack between his cheeks. He pulled closer to me, his body, those muscles feeling so good pressed up against me. As I pulled away and looked into his eyes, I could tell he’d easedup.
“I think I’m aboutready…”
“Tobottom?”
“To have another jump. First one to the top gets ablowjob.”
I erupted into laughter as he slipped out of my grasp and started swimming toward the shore. I tailed behind him, knowing I was going to lose by his clear advantage and the fact that I was still chuckling as I made my way ashore. We hurried up on the well-worn path to the top, which Dax beat me to, hurling himself off effortlessly this time. And the little prick assured me with a wink and a flash of those pearly whites that I didn’t have to blow him rightaway.
We stayed at the little private paradise for some time, goofing off and sneaking kisses, then dried off and returned to the car, heading back to myplace.
The conversation had shifted to more typical subjects. I told him about growing up in Fever Falls, and he talked about the difference in how he grew up in Los Angeles. We didn’t talk about more serious aspects of our childhoods. Kept it light. And there was an effortlessness to chatting with him that was enjoyable. He’d always seemed like this cool guy to hang out with, and even more fun when we got to do the other stufftoo.
19
Dax
On the wayto Jace’s townhouse, we got to laughing as he told me a story about his buds at work. Once we arrived, he led me to the front door, and unlike previous times when one of us would invite the other to join him, there wasn’t any question about whether or not I was going to come in. He simply set his hand on my back and urged meinside.
