“Can I see you again tonight?” he asked, bringing her fingers to his mouth, where his lips brushed against her knuckles.
“I’d like that,” she whispered, blushing shyly. After everything that they had done… she was shocked she could still blush.
“Do you want to meet me at the restaurant at close?” he asked.
“Will Grant be there?” she murmured, raising her eyes to his. She had hoped that he would show up at the condo while she wasthere with Van, but he’d never shown. Van said he just needed time. “I just want to talk to him…”
“Yes, he will be there,” he said and kissed her knuckles again. “I can point you in the direction of his office, let you two have a little time. I can’t promise that he will be ready to talk, little one.”
“I can be very persuasive,” she said and grinned coyly, to which he laughed.
“That you can,” he chuckled, shaking his head. His emerald green eyes were soft as he stared at her. “I don’t want to let you leave.”
“I promise I’m not going anywhere,” she said quietly, squeezing his fingers. “I’ll see you tonight?”
He nodded, then leaned over the console and kissed her, long and hard and deep. She was breathless and achy between her thighs when he finally pulled away. He grinned, reaching down to adjust himself in his pants, and she smiled against his lips.
“Fuck I can’t wait to be inside you again, Hope,” he whispered huskily. “This waiting is killing me, but I know it will be worth it.”
She smiled, kissing him again. “Thank you.”
He kissed her once more, then climbed out of the car, rounding the hood and coming to her side to open the door. He assisted her out—such a gentleman—then walked her to the front door.
“I’ll see you tonight, little one,” he murmured softly, grazing his fingers along her cheek, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. “You have my number now. Just shoot me a text when you’re on your way. Feel free to sit at the bar and have a drink, I’ll let Jackson or Michelle know to watch for you, and then I can come fetch you when we’re done with cleanup.”
She nodded, smiling up at him. He was so unfairly handsome. His blonde hair fell boyishly over his forehead, andshe reached up to push it back. It was so soft against her fingertips.
He lowered his head and kissed her once more, ravenously, thoroughly. He used his entire body in his kisses, and she was quickly losing the battle against her raging libido. She needed him.
She shoved against his chest and laughed breathlessly. “Go, before I give in.”
He pecked her once more on the lips and squeezed her hand. “I’ll see you tonight.”
He waited until she unlocked the front door and opened it, and then he was trotting down the concrete pathway toward his car, where he climbed in and waved before pulling away from the curb.
She stepped inside, greeted by Bruno, and then her sister stepped around the kitchen counter and planted both hands on her wide hips. “Umm. Okay. So I’m like, totally happy for you and not at all jealous… You know what, no, scratch that. I’m totally happy for you and a lot jealous. Because goodlawd, Hope! That man is so fucking hot and so into you it’s insane.”
Hope blushed and set down her purse and a small black backpack that Van had sent home with her. The clothes she’d worn to dinner the night before were tucked inside, and she was wearing a pair of his navy sweatpants and an oversized crewneck sweatshirt that Van had rolled the sleeves up to her wrists. He’d made her wait in the car while he ran inside the local Walgreens to purchase a pair of slippers for her, just so she didn’t have to wear her heels. He was incredibly sweet, and thoughtful. And hot.
Waggling her strawberry blonde eyebrows, Jade asked lasciviously, “So… did y’all…”
She blushed again, but shook her head. “No. We did not.”
“Woman, I would have jumped that man like he was a trampoline,” Jade muttered, shaking her head in disappointment. Hope laughed.
“Just because things were hot and heavy in Chicago doesn’t mean we just jumped right back into bed now,” she murmured, crossing to the refrigerator. She opened it, pulled out a bottle of water, and uncapped it before taking several long swallows. “Besides, Grant is… upset, at how I left that weekend. I want to talk to him before anything else happens. It’s only fair. And…”
“And you want both of them, I get it,” Jade said and nodded. This was why her sister was her favorite person. They just… got each other. No judgement. No censure. “If I could have my cake and eat it too, I would in a fucking heartbeat.”
Hope sank down into a corner of the couch, her shoulders sagging. “You won’t tell Mom or Dad, right? I don’t want to cause a heart attack for Dad…”
Jade waved a hand dismissively as she sank into the opposite corner. “Let me share a childhood trauma with you; Mom and Dad were swingers when they were our age. Remember their best friends’ Pam and Ed?” Hope’s mouth fell open, and she nodded slowly. Jade raised her eyebrows and smirked. “Remember that big falling out they all had when you were like, I’d say… fourteen?” Again, Hope nodded, her brain short circuiting with the new information. “Yeah… They were all swinging together. Came home sick from a sleepover at Angie’s one weekend…” she shuddered and Hope made a strangled laughing sound in the back of her throat.Oh my gawwwd. Ewww.“Anyway. I guess they all ended up catching feelings for each other and it got messy, so things ended, as did their friendship. Ran into Ed at a bar once, like two years ago. He washammeredand told me the whole thing. So much childhood trauma brought back.”
“That… is so much more information than I ever needed to know about our parents,” Hope whispered, staring blankly ahead of her. Jade slapped her thigh and laughed.
“You’re welcome,” Jade chortled as she pushed herself up from the couch. “I’m on my way to the gym, I’ll see you later?”
Hope nodded, then waved as her sister picked up a gym bag and headed out the door. Bruno padded over to her, resting his white muzzled chin on her knee. She ruffled his ears and bent low to whisper, “Your Mom just scarred me for life. She’s evil.”
