Page 41 of The Hometown Dilemma
The others started chirruping with a bunch of comments.
“But you and Wade are like a whole series of romance novels in itself...”
“So many tropes…workplace romance…”
“Sister’s ex…”
“The perfect small-town romance…”
“Oh, God, stop!” I covered my face. “We should get back toKiss Me Ever After.”
After a few more minutes of questions I refused to answer, we finally started talking about the book, the opposites attract, small town romance.Oh, the irony.
Slumping down, I stretched my legs out in front of me, balancing the laptop on my thighs. So engrossed in the call, I started when I felt a feather light touch on my bare ankle. Peering over the top of the laptop screen, Wade’s face beamed back at me. He placed a finger to his lips and bent over again, pressing kisses up my calf, before switching legs and repeating the exact same actions, moving higher and higher up my leg. When he hit a sweet spot behind my knee that I never knew I had, I jumped, the laptop camera turning up towards the ceiling before almost falling off the bed.
“You okay there, Jaime?” asked Mila. “Your screen went funny.”
Wade’s mischievous grin was in place as he shook his head, silent laughter coursing through him.
“Yeah, all fine. I, um, thought I saw a bug.” To keep up the pretense, I flapped about by the bed as if trying to ward off whatever creepy crawly had scared me.
A bug?Wade mouthed.Really?
Pulling my legs away from him, I tried to act normal in front of the girls. “So, when Justin saved Lennon from those thugs in the cafe, do you think he cared about her?”
“Of course. I mean, his ex, Candace, is a total nightmare,” replied Shannon. “How he even got together with someone like her is a total mystery. He should have seen right through her at the start.”
Wade clutched at his chest in mock agony. He tested me right at that moment. I wanted nothing more than to not be on the video call and to be re-enacting one of Lennon and Justin’s steamy times instead.
An idea crept up on me. In all the times we’d been having book club video calls, I’d missed maybe one or two. And I’d never ducked out early, unlike some of the others. Glancing down at my screen, I checked the battery; almost sixty three percent.
“Ooo, sorry, ladies, I need to plug in my laptop, I’m about to lose power any time now.” Pretending to fumble around for a charger, after a couple of seconds, I hit the power off button and instantly the screen went black, losing the call I’d been on.
“What did you do?” Wade’s brows knitted together as I put the laptop carefully on the floor next to the bed.
“Well, someone disturbed me.”
“Abugapparently.” He let out the laugh he’d been keeping in. “Good to know I’m more interesting than some fictional guy called Justin.”
Grabbing my paperback copy of the book from my nightstand, I showed Wade the cover. “I think he might be hotter.”
He glared at the black and white image of a guy with perfect washboard abs. “You think?” he grumbled. “But I bet he can’t make you come like I do.” Tossing the book aside, he grabbed me and pinned me to the bed on my back. One hand held my wrists above my head, while the other unbuttoned my shorts and slid inside my panties.
I knew the girls would give me shit about dropping off the call, my phone already pinging with notifications, but as Wade expertly massaged my clit, sending me into wave after wave of pleasure, I honestly couldn’t care less.
ChapterEighteen
Jaime
The next month flew by.
Wade and I spent a lot of time together, at work, out of work, in bed. We even went on a couple of proper dates when we weren’t working.
Coming back to Abbott Ridge hadn’t exactly worked out as I’d expected. In some ways, it was much, much better, but I still felt there was something missing in my work life. By now, I thought I would have been auditioning forInterior Nirvanaand working with lots of great clients redesigning their homes under the guise of my own business - Harlow Interior Design Executives, HIDE for short. Yes, I’d even worked out the business name.
I certainly hadn’t factored in working at Dempsey’s again. Not that I minded working with my boyfriend and the money certainly helped. But I harbored a nagging feeling that I’d left New York to pursue my dreams and somehow, even with all the good things in my life, I felt I was selling myself short.
One morning, on a rare stint back in my own house, it looked as if things could change again. I was bone tired after last night’s long ass shift, followed by a sleepover at Wade’s, where sleep wasn’t exactly high on the agenda. I had to go home to get a shower and some clean clothes and as I was about to step into the bathroom, my phone rang.
