The crowd stares, so I pull out of Jack’s embrace, brushing my slacks as though they’re covered in dirt. “I guess someone named Sara read chapter fourteen, Traits Make the Man, and decided he wasn’t the right choice for her. Apparently it was my fault that she found him lacking.”
Jackson picks up my table and sets it right. “Must’ve been one helluva chapter.”
I roll and unroll the gossip rag. Less than twenty-four hours. Man, the rumor mill sure doesn’t waste any time. I get out of the car.
When Ronnie answers the door, she’s wearing some sort of yoga get-up. Her nipples poke out under the thin fabric of her top. The heat that’s been simmering barely under the surface since I last saw her stokes into a low boil.
I tweak the tempting pebble.
She smacks at my hand with a grin. “Hey. What are you doing here? You didn’t call.”
I close the door and lean against it, holding out the paper to her. “Here; I figured I may as well be the one to break the news.”
Ronnie reaches, but pulls back before she takes it, eyeing it like it might bite.
I hold it up, letting it unroll. A large photo of me clocking the douche at the bookstore with her hanging onto his arm in the background takes up almost the entire cover. A smaller thumbnail picture of me holding her close, her head tucked against my shoulder, is off to the side. The headline reads, Jackson Tremaine, Knight in Shining Armor.
I shrug. “Probably not a huge problem. But it might be best for us to avoid being seen together, or speculation will grow.”
She gives me side eyes. “And our little bet won’t work?”
I nod. “Exactly.”
She turns on her heel and heads down the hall. “I hate that bet—just so you know.”
I jog after her. “Hey. It could be worse. I mean, it’s bound to help you sell some books.”
She stops and whirls around to face me. “Or it can sink my career when I lose. You’ve seen Shay. How do I possibly stand a chance going up against her?”
I slide my hand along her jaw and push my fingers through her hair, pulling her to me. “How does she stand a chance up against you?”
The hardness around her full lips melts and a little glimmer comes into her eyes. She shakes her head. “You sure are a smooth-talking son of a bitch.”
“Want to know what else I can do that’s smooth?”
Her fingers walk up my chest. “I think I might know.”
I close in, slipping my other hand under her shirt, palming her tit and rolling that tempting little bead between my fingers. “You gonna let me show you?”
She pulls back, mischief in her eyes. “You promise to do that thing you did the other day? With your thumb?”
My cock grows three times its size and hardens ten times over. I move my hand from her tit down into her pants to her ass, letting my finger slip between her cheeks. “You mean back here?”
She answers with a hmm, and her head falls back. Her hand finds my engorged dick as it tries to escape my jeans.
I walk her backward, my cock pressing into her hand. My finger finds her tight little hole and slips down to tickle her pussy lips, dipping into the wetness that’s already waiting for me to have a taste.
“Damn, woman, you’re addictive.”
She laughs. “Yeah? You think?”
I push her onto her high bed and drop to my knees at the edge of it. “Fuck yeah. Now, bring that pussy over here and let me have a taste.”
She scoots to the edge, and I strip her pants off. I slide my hands between her thighs.
Ronnie puts her hands over mine. “First, I wanted to say thank you for yesterday. I don’t know what that guy would’ve done if you hadn’t been there to stop him. That was amazing.”
My chest swells around the gratitude she just deposited. Then my hunger overrules the need to bask in her praise. I smile. “You can thank me by opening those legs. I’ve been dreaming about this pussy for the last couple of days. I need my fix.”
She rolls her eyes but lies back and opens to me. Her milk-chocolate slit waits for my tongue. I slip my fingertip between her folds. My cock hardens a little more. I undo the button on my pants to let him out.
Ronnie watches as I free my hard-on of its confines. She licks her lips.
Her gaze finds mine. “I want a taste too.”
“Never let it be said that I don’t do whatever it takes to please my lady.” I stand. “Turn around and hang your head off the edge of the bed. Wait. Is that going to hurt your cut?”
“It might throb a bit, but I bet there will be a stronger throb somewhere else.”
She turns, and I push my jeans down below my ass. Ronnie opens her mouth. I aim my dick for her plump lips. She takes me in hand. Licking the head, she sends a curl of heat through my balls. Then she guides me into her mouth and closes around my shaft.