“Look, Dad, I’m not going to hurt Jada.” Not in the way he thought anyway, but the idea of being a bit rough with her was giving me a hard-on. “We get on and we are attracted to each other, which will make things much easier. Anyway, if you see her as a ’daughter’ then you should be happy she’s going to be a Brunetti, so stop worrying. You get to help your friend, and I get to have his daughter.”
“Gesù Cristo! You can be such an asshole sometimes, Max, that I often wonder if you really are my son! ”Oh, yeah, he was definitely angry now because he was slipping in and out of Italian. Luckily, I didn’t say ‘I get to bang his daughter,’ or he would have really lost it.
“Yeah, Dad, I am a prick, okay? Which is why you gave me full reign of the family business. You know what I’m like, Dad; I like to control everything, and I’m ruthless and relentless until I get what I want.”
I mimicked the words he uttered earlier to get my point across. “You know this.”
***
I went in search of Jada who was still talking engagement party crap with my sister, mother and her own mother and sister; they were all giggling away as I walked into the lounge. Her green eyes probed mine and I scowled at her. Janet Sinclair beamed at me, obviously beside herself that Jada had snapped up the most eligible bachelor in Australia as her future husband. Not to mention the amount of money I would be pouring into her failing family business.
“Excuse me, ladies,” I interrupted, not giving a shit that I was disturbing them and their little tea party. “There is something I need to discuss with my fiancée in private.”
I led Jada outside onto the wrap-around porch, making sure I touched her every chance I had; that yellow sundress was playing with my mind. As soon as we were alone, I spun her around to face me.
“What the fuck, Jada? An engagement party?” I bit out.
Jada squirmed. “Really, Max, what was I supposed to say?”
“How about NO! Now that would’ve been a better answer.”
“Well, I think we need to look on the positive side of this situation. We can utilise the engagement party as the perfect occasion to convince people we’re really in love.”
“Babe, the only thing I can think of right about now is lifting up that dress of yours and fucking you senseless right here on the porch,” I murmured. “So, how about we take a chance, Princess; let me fuck you right here, right now?”
“Quiet! Someone will hear us, and you are being crass!”
“I know. It’s part of my charm.” I angled my head until my nose brushed her ear. Goddamn. This woman’s scent was like a shot of adrenaline straight to my groin. “Close your eyes, Jada.”
“Max, I don’t think—”
“Don’t think. Just do it.”
She muttered unintelligibly, but she complied. God, she was alluring. I dragged my fingers to the top of her thigh where her hand clenched into a fist. I brushed my mouth across the vanilla-scented skin below her ear. “My lips are a perfect fit for this spot, right here babe.”
She arched into me slightly.
“I could spend hours touching you and lavishing you with my mouth and my hands.”
“Stop, Max, they will hear us.”
“Oh, yeah, babe. Let’s do it. It’ll be fun. First, I’d suck your nipples through the dress; now that will be hot. Then I’d pull it down and kiss each section of skin as I bared it. I’d look and taste my fill.”
“And then?” Her voice was husky and so damn sexy; she gave into me way too quickly.
My lips skimmed the hollow of her throat. “And then whatever you want, babe. Take the risk. Name it.”
“I want…I want…”
Jada never got to finish telling me what she wanted; our interlude was cut short with my ball-breaker of a sister interrupting us.
“Max! Jada! Oh, there you both are. For a minute there, I’d thought I’d find the both of you upstairs in a compromising position,” she laughed. “Gee, when Max said he had to whisk you away in private, I didn’t think that the two of you would be making out like freaking teenagers. Anyway, I’ve got a great idea.” Mia quickly grabbed Jada’s phone out of her hand.
“Jada, give me your phone; mine is dead. I thought it would be great publicity to have a photo of the two of you in the Barossa Times.”
What? Had my sister gone completely crazy? The local paper, my ass! I know my sister too well; she’d have that picture in every goddam newspaper in the country. I pondered that idea for a moment and thought that maybe this could work in my favour.
“Ah…no, Mia, we don’t need a photo just yet. Why not wait until the engagement party? It’s only this Saturday,” Jada said in a panic.