She looked around the small break room as she tried to remember why they were there. The space would work well, but the idea of mixing business with pleasure still made her uneasy.
“You like?” He kissed her again. Remnants of her scent lingered on his mouth.
“What you just did? Do you even have to ask?” She knew he meant the space, but she could feel his arousal pressing against her belly, and she became too distracted to think about anything else.
“Mm. That’s a great answer.”
She hooked her finger in one of the belt loops on his jeans and tugged him through the only other door she saw. “Show me the naked stockroom, please.”
The door clicked shut behind them, surrounding them in total darkness.
“I feel like a teenager sneaking into a closet to make out.” She was whispering, even though they were the only ones there. “It’s my turn,” she said as she tugged his shirt over his head.
“Come here.” He pulled her close and kissed her. His skin was hot, and the muscles in his back bunched as he rocked his hips and deepened the kiss.
“I could kiss you all night,” he said against her mouth.
“I have something else in mind.” She unbuttoned his jeans and tugged them down his thighs.
She kissed her way down the treasure trail of dark hair to the tip of his erection. Licking the bead of wetness waiting for her, she closed her eyes and relished the greedy moan coming from deep within his lungs as he fisted his fingers in her hair. She licked him from base to tip, then teased his sensitive sac with one hand as she stroked his erection with the other. She loved the feel of him, thick and ready, in her hand, and when she took him in her mouth, the way he sucked in air between his teeth heightened her arousal.
“Oh yeah, that’s it,” he said as she moved along his eager length. “Christ, Jana, you’ve got me so hard I ache.”
She smiled around his erection, quickening her efforts, pushing him back against the wall. He thrust his hips, and she knew he was close.
“Jana. Fuck. Jana.” The restraint in his voice only spurred her on. “Shit. Stop. I’m gonna come.”
She loved that he warned her, but there was no way she was pulling away before she got a taste of him. His hips thrust once, twice, and the third hard thrust brought his salty, warm release. She struggled to swallow, but the desire to pleasure him, to give back to the man who was giving her so much, overrode her discomfort, and she accepted every last drop.
Afterward, while he stroked her hair, whispering about how incredible she was, she touched her forehead to his navel, savoring the feel of being so close to him.
“Baby. You spoil me.” He lifted her to her feet, tucked her hair behind her ear, and kissed her tenderly. “Let’s finish looking around, go home and clean up, and then let’s go out to Race Point and watch the sunset.”
As they drove back to her place, she wondered when it had become his home, too.
Chapter Twenty-One
THE NEXT MORNING Brock took Jana through a grueling workout. They worked the heavy bag, the speed bag—her least favorite, because she wasn’t very fast—and then he had her jumping rope and sparring for four rounds.
“You don’t have as much steam as usual,” Brock said as she took a drink from her water bottle. “Anything going on you want to talk about?”
She shook her head. “Not really. I just have so much going on right now.” She’d been thinking about the exhibition match. As much as she loved to fight, she knew she wasn’t up to par. She simply didn’t carry the same level of aggression as she had a week ago, and she knew it was the change in her and Hunter’s relationship. Maybe giving up the fight, easing up on her need to do absolutely everything, was the slowing down that she needed.
“Hunter told me about the exhibition match, but would you be upset if I don’t fight in it? I’m just so crazed with trying to decide about the studio and everything right now. I feel like one more thing might push me over the edge.”
He handed her a towel and she wiped her face.
“Not at all. Listen, fighting was your idea, and if it’s causing you stress, or you’re not enjoying it, don’t continue because of me. Take some time off if you need it.”
“Thanks, Brock. I’m okay. I just don’t want the added pressure of an exhibition match. Thank you for understanding, though.”
“I have to admit, I was surprised to hear from Hunter the other morning.”
She’d wondered when Brock was going to get around to mentioning the call, and in the days since, she’d tried to figure out how to handle it when he finally got around to it.
“Sorry about missing that practice and not calling you myself. The night before had been a particularly rough night.” She sat down on the bench and leaned her back against the wall.
“Yeah, Harper told me.” His stare was steady, and she wondered just how much Harper had shared. “Sorry about the Seaside space. But I’m sure you’ll find someplace else.”
“Do you think it’s a mistake?”
“Opening a dance studio? Hell, no. You’re so talented, Jana, and you love teaching. Why work for a guy who doesn’t appreciate it and takes advantage of you?”
She nodded, thinking about Hunter, who appreciated everything about her and pushed her to do the same. “Hunter offered me his place out on Route 6.”
“Seriously?” Brock’s eyes narrowed, as if he were questioning why Hunter would do that, and just as quickly the look faded and he smiled. “That’s prime space. Can you afford the rent?”
“Gosh, we haven’t even talked about the rent. I don’t know how I feel about renting from Hunter.”
“Why?” He cocked his head in that older brother sort of way that said, Do I need to hurt somebody?
She shrugged, trying to act casual. “He’s a friend. What if something goes wrong? It could kill our friendship.”
“Listen, I might have warned you about dating Hunter because I think he plays around a lot, but he’s a good man. Even if you burned the place down, he’d know it was an accident.”
Hearing Brock talk about Hunter playing around and knowing that the only playing around he’d done in the last six months was with her made her want to defend him. She contemplated telling Brock that they were seeing each other, but she wasn’t ready to take that step yet. She gazed up at him waiting patiently for her to respond, like he had all the time in the world, when she knew that he, like her, had a million things he had to take care of.
“Can I ask you something?” she finally asked.
“Anything, sis.”
“Why do you think none of us have settled down with anyone? I mean, you’re twenty-nine, superhot, nice as can be, and you don’t have a steady girlfriend. Harper is, like, made to be married or something, and Colton’s successful and truly the nicest guy around.” She smiled at Brock. “No offense, but you’re big and scary-looking when you’re mad, and Colton doesn’t have that same edge. Did Mom and Dad mess us all up somehow?”
Brock laughed. “Mom and Dad didn’t mess us up. We had great role models. They love each other; they just have old-fashioned values. Don’t you think?”
“Yeah, that’s the thing that worries me. I was kind of hoping you’d say that they did something that I don’t remember, because if that were true, it wouldn’t come down to me being too fucked up to commit to a relationship.” She wasn’t about to tell her brother that she had no idea why she was willing to give so much to a man who was obviously willing to give even more, but she was still having trouble fully committing. Hunter had called her his girlfriend that morning instead of his girl, and it had sent a wave of panic through her again.
Brock shrugged. “We all have our reasons. I’m busy with the club and I’m picky as hell. Harper’s been working on her writing career, and Colton? Well, from what Colton says, it’s different for gay guys. They’re less into monogamy than chicks are.”
“Maybe I’m really a gay man,” Jana teased.
He pulled back to arm’s length and searched her eyes. “Huh?”
“It scares me, committing to a relationship. I just know I’ll mess it up.”
Brock leaned his elbows on his knees and wrung his hands together. “The guys you dated when you were younger really did a job on you. And I think that mess with Spencer broke something in you, Jana. It’s always worried me.”
“That’s just it, Brock. I don’t think it was them, or specifically Spencer. This is all on me. I’m the one who screwed up my relationships.”
“That’s not true. All guys aren’t all clingy like Spencer.” His tone turned serious. “If you’d just give yourself a chance—”
“Thanks, but this isn’t about Spencer. He’s just the last guy I committed to. This is about me. You guys all have good reasons for not wanting to commit, and I don’t have anything more solid than knowing I’m not good at relationships.” She’d committed to not committing. It made no sense, and it worried her that she’d throw that away on a guy with a reputation that even her brother couldn’t deny. But her heart told her otherwise.