Page 15 of The Hot Mess

The sirens were going off in my head again as I reached for the cocktail menu, trying to place the perfect one that seemed to suit Jada and whatever assumptions I could make about her tastes. I didn’t know why it seemed like a good idea to get us both drunk. Actually, nothing about that seemed like a good idea, but here I was doing it anyway. I tossed back my drink and proposed a suitable one for Jada to order, silencing the warning sirens whether it was smart or not.

“Your sister says you’re somewhat of a ladies’ man,” Jada said after her first cocktail was down. She must have liked that one better, because she ordered another. “I wasn’t surprised to hear it, but it does seem funny that so many of us permanent singles keep flocking to work on this dating app.”

“Who better to solve the needs of the dating community than those of us who are still in it?” I proposed. “I don’t date much, though. I’m always too busy and never in the same spot for long.”

“Oh. So you don’t date, but you…”

“But I what?” I shouldn’t have asked, but the whiskey was setting in. I didn’t realize I was walking right into the danger zone until it was too late.

“Have a lot of sex?” She asked before laughing and hiding her face. “See! Good practice interview. That’s a question I now know never to ask anyone ever again. I should slow down on drinking now.”

I was wrapped up in her for a moment, entranced by her laughter. “Or maybe I should just drink more so I stay on your level. I have a higher tolerance, so it will take twice as much.”

“If you say so,” she smirked, lifting her glass. “Cheers.”

“Cheers.”

Several rounds later, I was laughing harder than I had in a long time. Being around Jada was like hanging out with one of your best friends, but one of your sexy, attractive friends that you had to pretend you didn’t want to sleep with.

The effect she had on me was intoxicating, which I guess was what led me to suggesting we take a walk by the river. If she had been a woman I was trying to get into bed, the river was an obvious spot to follow up dinner. The air that night was crisp and clear, not too hot or cold. The moon was full and the stars were in plain view, sparkling across the water’s surface as we walked along it.

We were both buzzed and in a great mood. Maybe that was why I accidentally slipped her hand into mine while we walked.

8

Jada

Iwas so shocked by the feeling of Jack’s hand brushing against mine that I almost jerked away. I certainly didn’t want to, and maybe that’s how I managed to stop the initial instinct to run. But the current it sent shooting through my body, along with all the alcohol I drank, was overwhelming. My whole body tensed up with awareness, like I could feel every last hair standing on end. My skin prickled with goosebumps, and there was a stirring in my core that I had only felt from reading my romance novels up until that moment.

Jack must have picked up on my anxiety. He stopped and pulled his hand back, dropping his head. “I’m sorry,” he laughed at himself. “I don’t know what’s gotten into me. I swear…I didn’t invite you out tonight to…I never had any intention of…”

I turned to face him, finding it hard to swallow with how close we were standing. “No intention of what?”

“This,” he whispered in a low sexy rasp before dipping his head down and pressing his lips to mine.

The whole moonlit scene around us seemed to spin as my knees grew weak. The sensations of Jack’s tender lips stroking mine, his scent, his taste…it all swirled together, making it impossible to stand up straight. I stumbled, but barely noticed because I landed against his chest. My fall into him only deepened the kiss, and finally I relaxed into it. I tilted my head back and opened my mouth wider, inviting his tongue in to swirl across mine.

He pulled his lips away finally, but didn’t move back an inch. I was still wrapped up in the warmth of his arms as he cupped his hands around the nape of my neck, guiding my eyes up to his. He almost looked as terrified as I was, but his fear was clouded by something else. I could see a desire in his eyes that he was all too familiar and comfortable with. He didn’t know that I wasn’t so confident when it came to certain things.

“Do you want to come back to my place?” he asked finally.

The dreaded question. I had avoided moments like this with men my whole adult life, just to evade that question and everything that would come after if I agreed. But I never dreamed of having a moment like this with Jack. With him, it all felt different.

“Okay,” I murmured, surprising myself.

He took off his coat and wrapped it around my shoulders before leading me back to his car. All I could think on the drive was how badly I wanted to kiss him again. My body was burning with a need that no one else had ever satisfied before. If anyone was going to do it, I wanted it to be Jack. I may have never thought it possible, but now that it was happening…I couldn’t imagine it ever being any other way.

No matter how nervous I was, nothing could overshadow the intense need growing inside of me. A need for more of that kiss…more ofhim.

But things felt less like a gravitational pull when we got into his room. For one, I was reminded that Jack wouldn’t be around forever. Maybe that was for the best, if this happened and then he left, removing the temptation to really fall for him. But then I remembered everything Isabella said and wasn’t so sure. He wouldn’t just be flying off to the next place. I now had an all-too-vivid idea in my head about how Jack operated and spent his time.

I wanted to make small talk…to procrastinate. But when his eyes met mine again and he cupped my face in his hands, I was helpless. I had no choice but to give into him again, relishing in the rolls of his delicious tongue. I ventured to press my own tongue into his mouth, eliciting a sexy grunt that shot straight between my legs.

My head was spinning so much, I barely noticed him leading us over to the bed. I fell backwards with him moving gently over me, not letting the kiss be broken for too long. Our movements became more urgent and desperate, our breath more ragged. My whole body tingled from the sensation of him kissing down my neck, and that is when my breath caught.

I sat straight up, alarming him.

“You okay?”

---