Chapter 10
“No! I’m not going and you can’t make me!” Haley said as she tightened her grip around the edge of the kitchen sink.
“Haley-”
“I’m not going!”
Jason tried not to smile as he placed his hand on Haley’s round bottom but failed miserably.
She went completely still.
“What the hell are you doing?” she demanded as she tried to shift away from his hand.
“If you don’t let go of the sink and get your ass in the car in thirty seconds, you’ll leave me with no choice but to spank you,” Jason said, probably enjoying having his hand on her ass more than he should, but clearly, she’d left him with no choice in the matter.
Sure, he could have easily picked her up and thrown her over his shoulder, but where was the fun in that?
“You wouldn’t,” she said through clenched teeth, glaring over her shoulder at him.
He squeezed her ass.
She gasped, jumping away from him and running towards the front door. “Bastard!” she yelled over her shoulder before throwing the door open and leaving.
Jason followed her at a leisurely pace, whistling happily, half-hoping that she’d refuse to go a half-dozen more times before he got her in the car. He stepped out of her house, locking the door behind him, and nearly groaned in disappointment when he spotted her waiting for him in his car.
Damn.
There went his plans for her ass.
He climbed into the driver’s side and sent her a huge grin, knowing that it would piss her off. Her eyes narrowed on him before she looked away, mumbling all sorts of unpleasant things about his manhood that he simply chose to ignore.
“You’ll pay for this,” she promised.
“Haley-”
“Rot in hell, you betraying bastard!” she hissed.
He couldn’t help but chuckle. “It’s just a family dinner. I really don’t understand why that has my little grasshopper all riled up.”
“I. Hate. You,” Haley bit out.
“You love me,” he said, turning on the radio.
“Hate. I hate you.”
“Uh-huh,” he said absently, searching for her favorite radio station, hoping it would calm the little demon down.
Haley had been on edge since this morning when her grandmother called to ask him to join her family for dinner tonight.
He wasn’t sure if she was pissed because her grandmother called him before her or what.
All he knew was that when she’d overheard her grandmother asking him to join them at dinner tonight, she’d gone a little insane.
It hadn’t mattered that they’d been standing in line at the bakery.
Haley tried to snatch the phone out of his hand.
He’d been too surprised, and admittedly laughing his ass off when she tried to take him to the ground, to give it much thought.
Of course, it did surprise him that her grandmother wasn’t shocked to hear her granddaughter scream all sorts of threats of violence at him.
Jason really didn’t know what the hell was going on, but he liked Haley’s grandmother and didn’t want to disappoint her by saying no. So, he’d accepted the invitation and tried not to wince when Haley kicked his shin.
From that moment on, she’d been royally pissed at him.
She’d ordered the last four apple fritters, knowing that he looked forward to his apple fritters every Friday and didn’t offer him one.
Even worse, she gave away his delicious treats during the morning meeting.
He’d spent the entire meeting glaring at the bastards eating his fritters.
It only got worse after that.
During their lunch break, not only had she refused to eat with him, but she’d somehow managed to steal his lunch, toss it in the trash and made sure there were no delectable treats in the staff refrigerator for him to steal.
When he went to buy lunch in the student cafeteria, he’d discovered another lovely surprise.
She’d somehow lifted his wallet.
By the end of the day, he’d been so pissed and hungry that he’d decided she was damn well going tonight, whether she wanted to or not.
When he got home, he hadn’t been all that surprised to discover that Haley had barricaded herself in her room.
That was more than fine with him because it gave him plenty of time to recoup his strength.
After devouring everything in her fridge, he broke into her room.
She’d put up a good fight, but he’d eventually managed to drag her into the living room, where she pretended to hurt her ankle.
When he’d released her to make sure that she was okay, she’d shoved him, knocking him flat on his ass, and took off for the backdoor.
She made it as far as the kitchen sink before he was on top of her.
“Are you still mad at me?” Jason asked as he turned into the parking lot of Harrington’s, the five-star restaurant that her family was dining at tonight.
He was glad he’d finally found his wallet during their little wrestling match since this meal was most likely going to give his credit card a workout.
Haley sighed heavily, shifting to look at him. “No, I just don’t want to do this.”
“Really? I couldn’t tell,” he said dryly.
“I’m really sorry,” she said as he pulled up behind a line of luxury cars.
He shrugged, thinking that she was apologizing for starving him.
That reminded him that they were going to have to stop by the grocery store after this to refill her fridge otherwise, she might be pissed to discover that he’d left her with only three eggs, a jar of olives, and some expired girly yogurt that he wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot spoon.
“I’m sorry if I hurt you,” she said, sounding serious.
He had to bite back a smile at the thought of his little grasshopper kicking his ass. “I’ll, ah,” he just barely stopped himself from laughing, “I’ll survive.”
She nodded regally. “I know. I held back.”
“And I really appreciate that.”
“You know you’re going to starve here, right? Even I have to hit the drive-thru at Burger King after coming here,” Haley pointed out desperately as Jason dragged her from the safety of the car.
Jason simply sighed, wondering if she really knew him at all. As if the prospect of eating two dinners would upset him.
Puhlease.
“Fine,” Haley said, giving him a sly, little smile as she stood up, straightening her lavender blouse and dark skirt.
“If you take me home right now,” she said in a sultry tone, reaching up to run her fingertips down his tie, “I promise that I will fulfill every single sexual fantasy that you’ve ever had and some you didn’t even know were possible. ”
With a bored sigh, Jason simply grabbed her arm and gently tugged her towards the front entrance, ignoring the valets as they choked on their tongues.
If he thought for one second that she was serious, he would have hauled her ass back into the car and raced to the nearest pharmacy, all while he had his hand shoved up her skirt.
Not that he really wanted to do that.
Much.
“B-But I’m offering you sex! Lots and lots of sex!” Haley hissed urgently as they stepped into the large foyer.
“You would have had more luck offering me meatloaf, my little grasshopper,” he informed her, catching her arm as she tried to make another escape.
Haley exhaled heavily as she pushed her glasses back up her nose. “I was going to offer that, too.” She gave him a hopeful smile. “What if we go home and I cook-”
“Too little, too late, my little grasshopper. Besides, there’s nothing in your fridge.”
She frowned up at him. “But I just went shopping the other day.”
“I got hungry,” he simply said, ignoring her adorable glare.
“You better not have touched the last slice of pumpkin pie,” she warned.
He had to laugh at that. “It was the first thing to go,” he informed her as they stepped up to the ma?tre d’s podium. She sent him a glare that promised all kinds of retribution. Where Jason could eat just about anything, and often did, his little grasshopper was a pumpkin pie junkie.
“Welcome to Harrington’s. My name is Elizabeth. How can I help you?” the woman asked them both as she sent Jason an inviting look that let him know he’d be getting offered more than just the specials tonight.
He looked down at Haley to see if she’d caught the inviting look and wondered what she thought, not that he wanted her to be jealous or anything. He had to smile when he caught her gazing longingly at the exit sign.
“It won’t be that bad,” Jason promised her, taking her hand in his, mostly to keep her from bolting again.
“Yes, it will,” Haley mumbled pathetically.
Jason turned his attention back to the woman who was now frowning unhappily at their entwined hands.
“We’re joining the Blaine party,” he said, tightening his grip on Haley’s hand when he felt her trying to pull away.
“Right this way,” the woman said with a tight smile.
As they followed her through a richly furnished sitting room, Jason couldn’t help but wonder why Haley settled for losers when she was clearly used to so much better.
He’d seen some of the losers she’d dated over the years and doubted they’d pulled out their wallet for much more than Denny’s and even then, probably only if they had a coupon.
She should be dating someone who was willing to bust his ass to show her how much she meant to him. He’d have to work on that with her, but that was for later. Right now, he had to focus on dragging her alongside him.
“What are you doing?” Jason asked, smirking as he glanced down at her.
“Nothing,” she said quickly as she tried to discreetly shift so that Jason was standing in front of her.
“Doesn’t look like nothing,” Jason noted, quickening his pace, probably to annoy the hell out of her.
“It is nothing,” she bit out between clenched teeth even as she hurried to keep up with Jason again, angling a little to the right so that her entire body was hidden.
She dared a peek behind Jason’s back and nearly cried in frustration when a pair of smoky gray eyes that she was all too familiar with met hers. She sent him a polite smile and did her best to ignore the determined glare he sent her way.
“Who’s that?” Jason asked as they continued following the hostess through the spacious aisles and around the large tables that surrounded the small dance floor.
“No one,” she lied.
Tonight was going to be difficult enough. She didn’t want to get into the drama of ex-boyfriends, who still took her refusal to sleep with them as a challenge, one that Robert seemed hellbent on winning no matter how many years passed.
The man was a self-professed playboy and truly believed that he could have any woman he wanted.
He hadn’t always been like that. When they’d started dating at fifteen, he’d been shy, sweet, and down to earth.
It wasn’t until their senior year, when his skin had cleared up and he’d inherited thirty million dollars from his grandmother, that he started to change.
He went from the sweet guy that she could watch Indiana Jones movies with to the guy screwing around on her with every bimbo he could find.
When she’d confronted him about it, he’d denied it until finally, he broke down and placed all the blame at her feet.
They’d parted as friends, well, sort of, and since then, every time he saw her, he did his best to get her in bed.
Last time they ran into each other, he’d ended up ditching his fiancée two days before the wedding to pursue her.
His desperation to get her in his bed had nothing to do with love. It had to do with the fact that she was, according to him, the only woman who had ever said no to him. He’d do just about anything to get her into his bed. She really did not need this tonight. She had enough to deal with.
She was not looking forward to being embarrassed and belittled in front of Jason.
Although it wouldn’t be on her top ten favorite things to do on a Friday night, Haley would have gladly come alone tonight to keep her grandmother company.
She couldn’t stomach the idea of Jason witnessing just how little she really meant to her family.
“Mr. Blaine, the rest of your party has arrived,” Elizabeth said, smiling politely as she stopped in front of the round table where Haley’s parents, sisters and their husbands sat. Haley frowned when she didn’t see her grandmother.
“Thank you,” Jason said, ignoring the inviting look the woman was sending him, surprising Haley.
His disinterest in all the women who practically threw themselves at him when they were out always surprised her.
He wasn’t much of a playboy, after all, she absently thought as she forced a smile for her family.
“Haley, sweetheart,” her father said as he stood up. His eyes shifted to Jason before he pulled her into a hug and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. “It’s been too long. I’ve missed you.”
She just barely stopped herself from suggesting that he could pick up the telephone if he missed her so much, but she bit it back. She would not let him know that he’d hurt her when he hadn’t called like he’d promised. It was her fault for believing him since she knew better.
“This is my friend, Jason Bradford,” she said, gesturing to Jason, who extended his hand to her father.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir,” Jason said politely.
Her father shook Jason’s hand as he gave her a curious look. “It’s a pleasure to meet one of Haley’s friends.”
Haley just barely stopped herself from wincing when she realized that Jason was the first friend that she’d willingly invited to meet her family. The fact that Jason was a man was going to be a problem, especially if they thought they were dating.
“Dad?” Haley said, drawing his attention before he sat down.
“Yes, dear?” he asked, throwing Jason another curious look.
“Where’s Grandma?”
He frowned at her. “Didn’t she call you?”
“No, why?” she asked, already having a bad feeling where this was going.
“She called earlier to say that you and your friend,” he said, giving Jason another one of those curious looks that Haley knew all too well, “were going to join us tonight, but that she remembered that she already had plans for this evening.”
Haley just bet she did.