Page 23 of Mr. On Your Knees
“No,” she replied with a nervous chuckle. “But you can have me, Jared.” She cupped a hand to his cheek and gave him a half smile. “Even if it’s just for tonight, you can have me.”
Chapter10
The Newness
JARED
He couldn’t believe this was happening. Yeah, he’d gone to the cigar bar with every intention of getting his woman back. But what that really meant in his mind was getting her to talk to him again, maybe leave and go someplace more private so they could really start to put the past behind them. That had seemed like a great plan and he’d even rehearsed everything he wanted to say to her when he got here.
But then he’d seen her. When he first came in, she was standing at the bar getting her drink. Her breasts had looked damned edible in that dress, sitting high and full, all that luscious cleavage on display through the deep V in the front of the dress. And when she’d turned to walk away his gaze had landed on her ass. An ass he vividly recalled bouncing as she threw it back on him whenever she was on her knees.
His mouth had watered and his dick had gone rock hard as he’d stood there staring at her like he’d never had a piece of ass in his life. Truth was, there was no ass like Desi’s. His fingers tingled to touch it again, his tongue wanted desperately to lick all over it one more time. With a groan he’d finally turned away and found himself a seat in the back of the room. It was a shamefully lustful thought but he’d wanted to sit back there in case he needed to massage his dick into some sort of compliance while he was here, because looking at her was turning him on much more than he’d anticipated.
No, he didn’t just want to have sex with Desi, although he was sure that’s what she was most likely thinking as he pulled his truck into the driveway and cut the engine. What he wanted was to have her back in his life permanently so that he could show her how wrong he’d been to doubt what they’d had before. But each time he’d tried to discuss the past, Desi hadn’t seemed like she wanted that discussion to go anywhere toward them getting back to together again. Yet here they were now.
“Where are we?” she asked staring out the front windshield to the Mediterranean style house ahead of them.
“My house,” he said and then undid his seatbelt. He got out of the truck before she could ask another question, even though he was certain she would ask more questions before the night was over.
When he opened the passenger side door, she’d already undone her seatbelt and climbed out. He closed the door and turned to lead the way up the driveway.
“You bought a house?” she asked just as he was about to put his key in the door.
“Yes,” he replied. Then he unlocked the door, pushed it open and stood back so she could enter.
For a few seconds she just stared up at him. It was dark as it was nearing nine in the evening. His house was thirty minutes outside of the city, situated so that he had a partial view of the beach.
“You going inside or you want to have this conversation out here?” he asked her.
She still looked undecided a few moments later when she sighed and walked into the house. He only had a few minutes left on the time allotted to get inside the house and deactivate his security system, so he hurriedly did that when he came in. Then he pressed the button on that same control panel that activated the lights in the foyer and closed and locked the front door.
She stood a few feet away from him, turning in a slow circle as she looked around. He let her look and when her eyes returned to him, he stepped closer to her and touched her elbow. “Come on, we can sit in the living room and talk.”
Again, he expected a barrage of questions to fall from her lips, but she let him guide her further into the house until they made a right turn into the living room. It was the largest room on this floor with its high ceilings and soft beige painted walls. He led her to a seat on the coffee-colored couch and immediately walked across the room, stopping at the bar.
“You want a drink?” he asked. “I know I need one.”
Tonight was kind of going the way he wanted, but then not. He hadn’t realized there was still so much left unsaid between them and yet that same old passion that had driven them in the first few months of their relationship was still there, demanding all their attention just as it had before.
“Scotch,” she said, quickly. “Macallan 25 because I know you’ve got it over there.”
He grinned, glad she’d remembered something else nice about him. “You’re absolutely right about that,” he said and took two glasses from underneath the bar and sat them on the bar top. He picked up the bottle of liquor and poured them both a half glass, then took both glasses over to where she sat.
Desi accepted that glass from him and took a big gulp. She closed her eyes as it went down, probably burning all the way. He sat on the opposite side of the couch from her and took a slower gulp of his because he needed that jolt just as much as she apparently did.
“You bought a house after you told me you didn’t want to?” she asked, her voice cracking on that last word.
He wanted to put his glass down and take her hands in his. To touch her before he started to speak because he didn’t want her to run out of here.
Instead, he held the glass between both hands and shook his head. “I did,” he told her. “About a year after you left, I needed a change. I couldn’t keep walking around that apartment without you.” He lowered his head, staring down at the amber colored liquid in the glass. “You were everywhere, Des. I could still smell all your hair products in the bathroom. That ugly desk you insisted on buying from IKEA was still pushed into the corner of my office. Whenever I went into the kitchen cabinets, I could see the spot where you kept your many boxes of tea. The left side of the bed was off limits and I never moved my stuff to your side of the closet.”
He looked up in time to see her bringing the glass to her lips again. Their gazes held as she sipped and then lowered the glass once more.
“I had to get out of there,” he admitted. “Had to find a place that didn’t remind me of you so much.”
She gave him a slow nod and looked around the room. Then, she leaned forward and set her glass on the table before standing. He took another drink from his glass before putting it on the table too and she walked across the room stopping at the front window.
He had electric blinds that were on a timer to open and close at a certain time so she couldn’t see out, but she eased her fingers between them to try anyway. Jared hurriedly stood and grabbed the remote from one of the end tables. He activated them so that they slowly began to open. She dropped her hand to her side and stared out.
