Page 18 of Whispers of the Lake

“Why don’t you join me?” I suggested, my heart beating faster. “Sage Hill is only two hours away. There’s lots of room in the place I’m renting. I’m having some groceries delivered. . .” I let the sentence fall short, waiting to see what he’d say.

That was the thing with Jayson. We weren’t supposed to get too serious. We’d agreed early on that sex was the focus. It would be the thing we sought each other out for to scratch that itch.

He’d just gotten out of a toxic relationship a year prior and . . . well, we knew my situation. Committing to anyone else was not in the cards for us at the moment.

However, a cozy cottage on a lake, just the two of us, sounded extremely romantic—like, next level romantic. I wouldn’t have blamed him for making an excuse.

But to my surprise, he said, “Sure. Shoot me the address.”

Once again, I grinned as I felt that naughty tug in my belly.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Imet Jayson Daniels on a rainy night in his bar called The Drop. I’d decided to do a casual piece for my boss on the best places to stop for a drink while in Charlotte and his bar was number three on the list.

That night, he served me the best cocktails to taste-test. I didn’t miss the way his eyes connected with mine as he poured the liquor. Or the way he licked his bottom lip and held my gaze as he mixed everything together. The way he teased and joked, shooting his game, was flattering.

That same night, he led me to his office to conduct the interview in a “quieter” space. Before I knew it, my knees were parted and he was between my thighs, his tongue colliding with mine and my fingers threading through his dreads. I like to blame it on the drinks, but truth of the matter is I wanted him—pure and simple.

Jayson was unlike any man I’d ever met. He could be greedy but not selfish. Dominant but never overdid it. He made my toes curl the first time we had sex in an uptown hotel, and things hadn’t been the same since. To put it simply, being separated from a cheating husband wasn’t so intolerable with a snack like Jayson around. How we acted in that hotel the first night was exactly how we were now. My ass planted on the dining table, panties removed, his boxers lowered so he could bury himself deeper inside me.

As soon as I swung the door open when he arrived, he cupped my face in his large hands and kissed me. Passionately. Thoroughly. And with our lips still locked, he shut the door and picked me up to place me on the dining table. I mentally apologized to Alex Reed and any other person who had to eat at that table because we didn’t care about the mess we made or what might get broken in the process.

“Damn, I missed you,” Jayson breathed in the crook of my neck. We panted raggedly, both of us having reached our peak.

I smiled, unsure what to say to that. If I expressed how much I missed him, that would take things a step further. Ididmiss him. But saying it out loud was risky considering how fragile my trust was. Not that I didn’t trust Jayson in a sense. He seemed like an honest man. In fact, the first night we slept together, we’d lain naked under the sheets afterward, discussing personal tidbits about our lives.

When my emotions had gotten the best of me, I told him about my separation and how I’d found my husband cheating on me with my best friend in our house. Then I got on the topic of losing my mom when I was fourteen because of a fire, and that’s what truly bonded us: the loss of our mothers. He’d lost his mom in 2009 to cancer.

When he pulled himself free and stepped back, I climbed off the table and picked my panties and leggings up from the floor. “So are you going to stay both nights or just tonight?” I asked, side-eyeing him.

“Just tonight.” He slipped into his boxers as I tugged my panties up. “Wish I could stick around both nights, but the bar needs me. Big corporate party tomorrow. They rented out the whole place and I have to make sure they don’t destroy my shit.”

I laughed. “I get that.”

He smiled down at me with those warm brown almond eyes. His hair was freshly tapered at the edges, his dreadlocks bound in two strands with rubber bands on the ends. His skin was light brown, the hair above his lips lined precisely. Curling a muscled arm around me, he reeled me close and kissed me.

I kissed him back, moaning softly. “I should shower,” I said when our lips parted.

“Can I join?”

I laughed behind the next kiss. “If you want.”

Our mouths drifted apart but his hovered above mine.

He smirked. “I’ll let you have a moment,” he murmured. “I’ll make us something to eat while you shower. That cool?”

“I would love that.” I stood on my toes and kissed him once more before pulling away and going for my bag. “I didn’t order much though. Just a few things.”

“All good.” He pulled his basketball shorts on. “I’ll work with what you got.”

I drifted around the corner as he made his way to the kitchen, digging through the groceries still bagged on the counter. Still shirtless. Damn, that man was fine.

Once I was in the bathroom, I took everything I needed out of my toiletry pack. I was grateful for the clean folded towels on the rack built into the wall. As I stuffed my braids into a shower cap, I stood in front of the mirror and my eyes shifted up.

I hadn’t realized it before, but there was a rectangular window just above the shower. I twisted back around, not liking that at all. I hated bathrooms with windows. Not that anyone could see through a window that high or with opaque glass unless they were ten or eleven feet tall, but still. It was the principle.

Ignoring it, I undressed and stood beneath the stream. As the minutes passed, I kept thinking about the ice cream in the freezer. Where was Eve now? Had she returned to Charlotte? Was she staying at some other friend’s house that I didn’t know? Or was she with Cole? Had he been lying aboutnotseeing her?

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