“If you like it, then it’s worth it,” he replied, rolling to face her. “Time for talking now?”
She looked down at where she was tracing a pattern on his comforter with her index finger. “I need you to understand that I was never dating Aiden. Never even interested in him like that.”
Jake laid his hand over hers, stilling her restless movements. “The night of the Brick Babe auditions—”
She cut him off, embarrassed to admit this part. “I… may not have vetoed the idea of making you a tiny bit jealous that night.” She was startled to feel a growl rumble through his chest, and she bit her lip to hide her pleasure at his reaction. “But it’s only been you since the week you pulled me up from the gross old greenroom couch and then jumped the station van.”
A slow smile spread across his face. “Poor Murdoch.” He shook his head in mock pity. “If only he wasn’t such an ugly bastard, maybe he’d have stood a chance.”
Mabel gave his shoulder a little shove, remembering her own distress over Thea. “You’re not off the hook here. Why were every one of my replacement’s limbs wrapped around you Tuesday at the station?”
“I can’t believe you saw that.” Jake groaned and mashed his face into the comforter, which did a world of good at dissolving the ugly knot of jealousy lodged in her chest. “She was excited because you taught her to run the boards, and I guess that manifested itself as an enthusiastic hug. If you’d watched for another two seconds, you’d have seen me take three big steps back. I promise you, I’mnotinterested in Thea like that.”
Then his smile fell, replaced by a creased-brow expression that she usually only saw when he was contemplating long rows of numbers. “Something you should know about me.” He drew a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “This”—he gestured between the two of them—“doesn’t happen for me often.”
Her own smile slipped as his serious tone sank in. “What do you mean?”
His shoulders tensed. “I mean sex. I need an emotional connection with someone before I take them to bed.” He held up a hand as if he anticipated the question forming in her mind. “And not in some old-fashioned courtship wait-until-marriage way. I mean that sexual attraction just doesn’t happen for me if I don’t feel strongly about someone.”
She blinked, frowned, processed. “Emotions first, then sex?”
“Yeah. Demisexual, if you’re trying to come up with the word. I had one serious girlfriend just after college, and one friend who sparked something for me that I didn’t pursue, but hookups and casual relationships aren’t my thing.” He rolled to his back, a trace of bitterness creeping into his voice. “It’s what makes me such a good corporate drone actually. I rarely have the time or opportunity to get to know anybody well enough to see if those feelings develop. So I work long hours and weekends without complaint. Until you.”
He turned his head to flash a small, secret smile at her, and she struggled to wrap her arms around the tiny miracle thatshe’dbeen the person who drew those feelings to the surface for him. The new information joined the Jake-puzzle she’d been assembling in her brain and her heart over the past few months, and this piece fit right in the center, filling some gaps. But she still required a bit more clarification.
“So sex for you is…?” Uncertainty colored her voice, but God, everything he’d done tonight had turned her on and made her want him more. What if she couldn’t return the favor for him in the same way?
“It depends. If the person isn’t right?” He shrugged. “I can take or leave it. It’s not something I need.”
“And with the right person?”
“With the right person, I love sex.” He smoothed his palm down her waist with a wicked smile. “Fucking love it.”
His hand was heavy on her leg, and her breath was heavy in her lungs. She was scared to ask the next bit, but she had to. “And—”
“And you’re the right person.” His eyes scorched her, and his fingers clamped down possessively on her hip. “You may be the rightest person I’ve ever met. You’re perfect for me here.” He pressed his hand to his forehead, then moved it downward, pausing briefly over his heart before it landed on his groin. “And here. And now I need to make up for lost time.”
Fire surged in her veins at the strain in his voice. Need. Not want,need.Jake needed her and only her. And she needed him too. Now it was time to show him how much.
“Hmm.” She turned onto her stomach and wiggled a bit, feeling the shirt ride up her thighs. “What else do we need to discuss tonight before we do this? International trade policy? The city’s new ban on leaf burning? Which Taylor Swift album is the best?”
Jake grinned, and his big hand traveled up the back of her leg to cup her butt. “I’m sorry. Were you talking?”
She shot him a laughing glance over her shoulder, and he flipped her onto her back and rolled on top of her in one smooth motion. Her heart battered against her ribs; this wasfinallyhappening.
“Keep talking,” he murmured against her neck. “I fucking love your voice.”
“Really?” She sounded breathy all of a sudden.
“Really. Your voice iseverything.I’ve wanted to get you naked since I picked you up and put you on a desk in that furniture store. But your voice? I haven’t been able to get enough of it since the first day I met you.” His hands slid up her sides until his thumbs rested just below her breasts.
“Jake,” she breathed, putting as much weight to his name as she could, and his eyes burned into hers.
“I’m just going to start kissing every part of you now. Lost time, remember? Keep talking.”
When he claimed her mouth with his and nibbled at her lower lip, she wondered how he expected her to say anything at all. Then he moved down her body, pulling off the T-shirt and unhooking her bra. He tugged it down her arms and tossed it to the floor, inhaling hard at the sight of her breasts. She felt a surge of power at his speechlessness.
“Like what you see?” Her normal speaking voice never sounded that decadent, but she was pouring as much rich honey into it as she could and was rewarded when he looked up at her with naked want in his eyes that made her blood churn.
