Page 8 of Jasper

“Tons of first dates that never turned into second dates. No woman is ever up to Jasper’s impossibly high standards. I thought—” Annie is interrupted only by the server taking her order. She requests a stack of blueberry pancakes, though I have no idea where she’s going to put it all in that tiny frame of hers.

“Tons of first dates, huh?” I ask when the server leaves, unable to resist the temptation to hear more about Jasper from someone who has no reason to lie about anything. She thinks I’m his girlfriend, after all. I probablyshouldcorrect her, but this is much more fun.

“Most of them don’t even make it through a meal before they get up and walk out.”

“Annie, c’mon now?—”

“He’s been looking for this perfect woman who I swore didn’t exist.” She grabs his untouched glass of ice water and stabs a straw into it. “But it seems like he’s found you, after all.”

Part of me wonders if Jasper has been comparing his dates to me, the same way I compared mine to him these past four years. It feels a bit conceited to think it, yet I can’t help the thrill that races through me. What if…what if this really is meant to be something more? What if fate brought us together again?

6

JASPER

After I makegood on my promise to allow Vanessa to check out the festival grounds—and her assistant chases her off insisting everything on this setup-only day is running smoothly—I decide to take her to one of my favorite places in North Haven. We have a few hours to kill before I’m due to meet a guy from theCaribou Creek Breweryto store kegs in my garage until the festival setup for vendors opens tomorrow morning. Then later this evening, I have to pick up a couple of passengers from the airport coming in from Caribou Creek. But before all that, I don’t want to make it too easy for Vanessa to slip away from me.

“Your sister seems fun.” Vanessa’s eyes twinkle with mischief as I slow the truck. “You’ve really never made it past a first date infouryears?”

Damn Annie. I love the hell out of her, but at times, her inability to hold her tongue really irks me. Her outspoken boldness has gotten her into trouble more than a few times over the years. “Ignore her,” I say, parking the truck on a dirt pull off. “Now come on. I want to show you something.”

“I really thought you’d be married by now,” Vanessa says, catching up to me as I wait at the start of a dirt-packed trail.

“I could say the same about you. Who is David, anyway?” I shouldn’t care. I don’twantto care. They’re broken up. He’s a non-issue. At least, I hope he is.

“Jealous much?”

I step into her path, and she throws out her hand to keep herself from colliding with my chest. Except those slender, silky fingers dig into my peck. Her palm flattens against me. I don’t think I’m the only one sliding back into memory. My hand drops to her hip, my fingers digging in.

I lean in, my cheek brushing hers, and say against her ear, “I could say the same for you, sweetheart.”

“Annie’s your sister.”

“You didn’t know that at first.” Remembering the jealous flare in her eyes when my sister strangled me in a hug amuses the hell out of me. It reminds me of Vanessa’s feistiest side. On the outside, she’s all elegant and poised. A business professional. But on the inside is a she-wolf, both dangerous and wild.

“At least I can get past a first date.”Ouch.She pushes off my chest and moves around me, heading down the hard-packed trail ahead of me.

I chase after her, admiring the sway of her hips and the view of her incredible ass all the way down to the rocky beach. Waves crash against the shore, the sound amplified by the private alcove. If we have time, I’m bringing her back here with a blanket and making love to her with the ocean view before us.

“You know, sweetheart,wenever got past the first date and you didn’t seem to mind that.”

“We did too.”

I answer with a wicked smirk and let her play out the sequence of events in her head. We started at the seaside bar and moved the night to a nearby restaurant with some pretty phenomenal clam chowder—not that it could compete with Mom’s—and ended up in a hotel room the rest of the weekend,opening the door only for room service so we didn’t have to leave.

“That doesn’t count,” she argues.

“Why?” I challenge, coming close to her again. Relishing in the way waves of heat dance between us despite the chilly ocean breeze. My cock stands at attention, begging to get the fuck out of this uniform and into her pussy.Down boy. All in good time.

“We didn’t…” She can’t seem to find the words. Probably because they don’t exist.

I comb the breeze-tangled hair from her cheek with my good hand and tuck it behind her ear. Forgetting the reason I brought her out here. Ignoring the scenery I know would steal her breath away if only she’d look at it. Right now, the only thing that’s going to steal her breath is me. “Admit it, sweetheart. It was the best first date of your life.”

“Jasper.” Her name is a plea I don’t dare deny. Maybe it’s a moment of her walls weakening. Walls she might very well fortify soon after. But I don’t worry about that as I lean in, closing the gap between us. Staring hungrily at her lips without apology.

It’s only the first brush of our lips that’s gentle. Testing. Seeking permission.

Before the second, Vanessa grabs the back of my neck and pulls me in for a kiss that threatens to unravel me to the very fucking core. It’s hungry, raw, and filled with the passion we shared four years ago. A fire between us that could set the world ablaze. We cling tightly to one another as the waves crash against the shore.

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