Page 8 of Ember
“No,” she said, “for a long time, I just stuck with work and going back to my apartment. It was my first place, so I wanted to spend as much time there as possible.
“That’s how I felt when I bought this place,” he admitted. “I grew up with nothing, and when I bought my house, I felt as though I had finally made it, as crazy as that sounds.”
She shook her head, “It doesn’t sound crazy at all, Jack. We have that in common.”
“Well, that and having deadbeats for fathers,” he said. He didn’t want to give her a chance to ask about his dad, so he asked her another question. “When did you meet your ex?” he asked. She let go of his hand and snuggled into his side, needing the comfort.
“Is this still okay?” she whispered.
“Yes,” he breathed, kissing the top of her head. “It’s more than okay.”
“I met Marco one night when a few of the girls from the salon went out to the local dive bar. If I could go back in time and tell them no, like I was planning to, none of this would be happening now.”
Jack wrapped a protective arm around her, and she snuggled closer against him. “I’m glad that time travel doesn’t exist then, honey,” he said. “Because I’m actually glad about this happening.”
“Me too,” she breathed. “I started hanging out with the band members,” she said. “And when Marco asked me out, I felt as though I had hit the lottery. He was good-looking, and all the other girls at the bar wanted to date him, but he chose me. Some luck, right?” She wasn’t sure how much more he’d want to know about her relationship with her ex. Most guys didn’t want toeven talk about a girl’s ex, or at least, that’s what she assumed to be true.
“When did he start to hurt you?” Jack asked.
“Not at first,” she breathed. “He was sweet when we first started dating. It was the accident that changed him. He had a traumatic brain injury, and well, he was never the same afterwards.” She hesitated before asking her next question. “Can I ask you something?” she asked.
“Sure,” he said. He was running his big hand up and down her arm, and she wasn’t sure if she’d be able to maintain her train of thought much longer.
“What happens between the two of us now?” she asked.
“Whatever you want to happen,” he quickly said. “I know that you’ve been through a lot, but it doesn’t change how I feel about you, Ember.”
“I don’t want a relationship, Jack. But I want to be with you, too. Can you do casual?” She knew that she was setting herself up for heartbreak, but she didn’t care right now. She could think about that all later, when she had to leave Jack to move on with her life.
“What are you asking me for, exactly, honey?” he asked.
“Um, I’m asking for you to give me a night, and we can see how things go. If we both are good with it, then maybe you and I can promise each other another night. But beyond that, I’m not sure how much I can promise you, Jack.”
“Honey, I’ll take you any way I can get you—night by night, hour by hour, minute by minute. It doesn’t matter to me as long as we’re on the same page.”
“Well, I’m on the page where you take me upstairs to your room, and we see where the night takes us, Jack,” Ember said.
“Yep, we’re on the same page,” he said, standing from the sofa and pulling her up with him. He picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder as though she weighed nothing.
“Jack,” she squealed.
“I’ve been wanting to do that for a while now, honey. You’ve been driving me crazy by wearing my T-shirts to bed. Just go with it and let me have my fun.” She stopped fighting him and relaxed against his body as he carried her up to his bedroom. Ember just hoped that her heart was on the same page as her brain, but the more time she spent with Jack, the more she worried that wasn’t the case.
Ember loved the way Jack looked at her as she stripped out of her clothes. She knew that teasing him wasn’t playing fair, but she didn’t care. “I can help,” he offered.
“I think that I like torturing you, Jack,” she said.
“Yeah, I think that you do, and you’re damn good at it.” He stood from the side of the bed and crossed the bedroom to where she stood, giving him a show.
“My turn,” he growled. Jack grabbed the hem of her shirt and tugged it up over her head. She had already shimmied out of her jeans and tossed them to the floor, and Jack did the same with her T-shirt.
She stood in front of him in just her bra and panties as he took her in. “Beautiful,” he whispered. “Turn around.” He was even more bossy in the bedroom than he was in their daily lives, and Ember had to admit that she liked it. She’d never have to guess what Jack was thinking or what he wanted because he told her.
He spun her around and wrapped an arm around her waist from behind as he worked on getting her bra unhooked. As soon as he freed her breasts, his hands were everywhere—plucking and teasing until she needed more from him.
“Jack,” she whimpered.
“See, getting teased isn’t fun, is it, honey?” he asked.
