Page 52 of The House on Blueberry Lane

“Because whenever you get a sexual itch that needs scratching, he’s right next door. You won’t have to talk yourself out of flying to Phoenix to make a booty call.”

She rolled her eyes. “Another roll between the sheets with Jaye won’t be happening. I’m good for another two years, maybe even three or four.”

“We’ll see.”

“Goodbye, Ruthie.”

“And before you go, I just need to tell you that I read somewhere that making out in a blueberry field is out of this world.”

Velvet knew Ruthie had read no such thing. “Bye.” She clicked off the phone.

After getting up to go to the bathroom, she was sliding back in bed when she heard a noise outside her window. It was close to ten at night. Surely, Jaye wasn’t still outside working on those chairs. She went to the window and discreetly looked out. He had erected a huge bright light in the shed and was still at it. His profile was to her, and she saw he was still wearing his safety glasses and work gloves.

Leaning over the worktable and measuring a slab of wood, she liked how his jeans stretched tight across his rear end. Instead of thinking of what a great tush he had, she should have been concerned that he was still outside working at this hour when they were supposed to go jogging at five in the morning. Did he not believe in getting eight hours of sleep at night? But then when did he ever get that many hours of rest? Although they’d maintained separate households during their three years, they had slept together most nights at his place or hers. Even then he would wake up during the wee hours of the night and make love to her.

Slipping the curtains back in place, she knew Jaye was a grown man who could take care of himself. When he got tired, he would call it a night.

Yawning, she moved back toward the bed, determined to get her proper rest, even if he didn’t.

Hours later, Velvet found herself caught in the throes of one heated dream. She and Jaye were in this house together, in this bed. Again. He was kissing her all over, and every touch of his lips to her skin was precise, perfect, on point. And the wet licks to her flesh magnified her desire for him. Jack Colfax, Jr., knew what to do and how to do it to make her come apart and she was doing it now. She could feel herself thrashing around in the bed, eager for what was to come.

She almost came, and each time she did, Jaye would do something to stall it, make her that much more greedy and needy. Finally, he was positioned above her and was lifting her hips, getting ready to thrust deep. Her body was ready, excited, hungry for this. Only from the only man it knew.

Velvet could feel him begin to ease inside her, and then suddenly...

Her clock’s alarm went off.

“ARE YOU READY, VELVET?” Jaye asked when she opened the door for him early the next morning. He’d always loved that I’m-still-sleepy look she was wearing now or those times he would wake her up in the middle of the night to make love to her.

“Yes.”

“You might want to grab a jacket. It’s cooler outside than it was on Friday.”

“Okay. Come in while I grab one.”

He entered as she hurried toward her bedroom. The last time he’d been here was when they’d made love and the memory of that night was making him aroused. He wished he could say it was too early for that, but when it came to Velvet, the time of day never mattered. He always wanted her.

“I’m back and ready.”

Jaye had news for her. He’d never left and was still ready. He was grateful for the looseness of his jogging pants that adequately concealed one hell of an erection.

“Then let’s go. Early morning jogging is a great way to start your day.” He escorted her to the door, noticing she smelled good. Her scent always had a way of filling his nostrils.

“And your week, I hope. Progress reports go out this week, and I know that parent I was telling you about won’t be too happy. But then he was sent an official warning of what could happen if his son’s grades didn’t improve.”

“Well, at least he’s been put on notice,” Jaye said, opening the door and following her out.

As they walked toward the back to do warm-ups, he said, “Let’s try to do a couple more than we did last week, in the same amount of time.”

“Okay.”

Ten minutes later, they were jogging off toward the blueberry fields. “I forgot to mention that Dad told me to tell you hello. So did Dean and Franklin,” he said, gazing over at her.

“When did you talk to them?”

“Last week on that business trip. The four of us were together then. In Birmingham. We officially broke ground for our new bank. The first in Alabama.”

Jaye figured she was surprised he’d told her that. Usually, she never knew when another Colfax Bank was opening until he asked her to join him for the grand-opening celebration. He was seeing more and more how he’d deliberately shut her out of his life when he should have been including her in it.

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