28. Checkered Flag
TWENTY-EIGHT
CHECKERED FLAG
Flynn
I lean back in my saddle, trying to ease my sudden erection. It isn’t easy. I’ve been at half-mast since the moment I’d seen Jackie’s blond hair behind the wheel of the car I rebuilt. Then she’d stepped out of the vintage ‘vette, one long leg at a time.
Damn .
I shift again, but my zipper is trying to indent itself on my dick, so the only option for relief is to dismount and will my hard-on away.
I switch the reins to one hand and swing my leg over the side of my horse, my boots kicking up dust as I land. Willing away my hard-on. I’m pretty sure greeting her with both hand and dick waving is not the best way to win Jackie back.
Jackie shades her eyes against the sun and gestures to the animal. “That your horse?”
“Yeah. This is Boss.” I reach up and stroke Boss’s neck. “He’s a Mustang.”
“Like your car?”
I’m surprised she makes the connection, though I stop myself from reading too much into that. Genius that Jackie is, I’m sure nothing really escapes her notice.
“The horse came first.” Sweat trickles off my forehead into my eye. I bring the hem of my shirt up to wipe the sting away.
When I look back up, Jackie’s leaning against the side of her car.
I take a step forward. “Hey, you okay?”
She runs a hand across her forehead. “Yeah,” she says, her voice strained. “Yes, yes. Fine.”
The sun beats down on us, even this late in the day. Not so much as a whisper of a breeze offers relief from the heat. Boss nudges my shoulder, impatient for his rubdown and feed.
Jackie pushes back off the ‘vette and takes a step toward me, shoving her hands into her back pockets. “We should talk.” She rocks back on the heels of her Converse. They have rhinestones on them. “I know you punched Brian.”
Fuck. I run my hand through my hair. My chance of convincing Jackie I support her astronaut career probably just lessened if she knows I went out and publicly assaulted her ex. No doubt I’m in for a sexy-as-fuck lecture about brains over brawn.
My dick twitches at the thought.
“Yeah. Sorry.”
“Don’t be.” She shrugs. “He’s an asshat.”
I chuckle. “Another Rose term?”
She nods.
We stare at each other for a moment, the silence making me twitch.
“Do you like it?” I finally ask, gesturing to the car.
She brightens, a wide smile jostling her glasses. “I love it.” She turns her attention to the ‘vette, her right hand running along the roof. “But you shouldn’t have. It probably cost a fortune.”
Unease creeps in, but I force it away. “We should talk.” Boss pulls on the reins. “Follow me to the barn?” I tilt my head down the road.
She nods, her glasses slipping down. I start walking Boss to the barn and Jackie follows at a distance.
Once Boss is in his stall, I give him a feed bag and a quick brushing. Jackie’s quiet the whole time, but her eyes never leave me. I can feel her stare, even when my back is turned. I wonder what she’s thinking. I wonder what it will take, if anything, for her to accept my apology.
I’d already given her the ‘vette. It had been the only thing I could think of that could say everything I wanted to say but didn’t know how. That I believe in her. That I support her dreams. That I love her.
I pause at a truly horrific thought. Did she drive the ‘vette all the way here just to give it back? She can’t. I need her to accept that car. I put the brush down and close the stall gate.
“Jackie—”
Jackie launches herself at me. I stumble back a step, the stall gate keeping me upright.
She’s everywhere. Her hands are through my hair, then one glides under my shirt, scraping her nails across my chest and around my back.
Her other hand follows but takes a detour past my belt, grabbing my dick, which is now back to full attention.
When her fingers palm me though the denim, her glasses slip down her nose, tilting to one side.
I pluck the glasses from her face with the other, placing them on the bale of hay by the stall.
Then I move us both across the aisle and back her up against the adjacent wall, shoving a thigh between her legs, giving me the leverage I need to free my hands.
I want to touch her. I have to touch her.
Things have gone from zero to sixty in the blink of an eye and I love every goddamn second of it.
“I’m rich,” I say, on a breath between kisses, though I don’t remember making a conscious decision to do so.
“Okay.” She pants, lifting her mouth to mine again.
I pull back. “I mean, I have a lot of money, Jackie. My family does. From the ranch.”
She nods, seemingly unconcerned, eyes focused on my mouth.
“Like millions.” My hands are still full of her ass, but they’ve stilled, waiting for what I’m saying to sink in.
She tilts her head to the side, arms still lopped around my neck, considering. “ Like millions, or actual millions?”
“Actual millions.”
“Huh. Who knew cattle farming was so lucrative.”
My lips twitch. “Cattle farming?”
“Is that not the term?” She frowns. “When people raise fish for food it’s called fish farming. I saw a documentary on it.”
“I see.”
She loses her frown, her gaze going over my shoulder. “It was quite fascinating. It reminded me of?—”
“Jackie?” My hands squeeze her ass.
“Hmm?”
“We were talking about my millions.”
She narrows her eyes at me. “Actually, you were about to tell me the correct term for cattle farming.”
“Ranching. And it isn’t just from cattle. The Wests are the wealthiest oil family in Houston. That’s where the money comes from, actually.”
“Ranching?” She pinches her brow. “But that doesn’t give a clear indication of what goes on. At least when one farms, there’s a direct correlation to a business that deals in growing crops and raising livestock. Ranching just means to run a ranch. That’s so ambiguous.”
I’m amazed, but somehow not surprised, that she is more concerned over correct terminology than oil rights.
“I love how smart you are.” I lean down and run my stubbled cheek along the sensitive column of her throat.
“It’s so damn sexy, darling.” I pull back when Jackie squirms in my hold, watching a pretty blush spread down her neck.
“I also see that you truly don’t care about my millions. ”
Peering up at me, she asks, “Why? It’s not my money.” She purses her lips for a moment. “Although I do like how this new fact fills in a lot of gaps.”
She’s got that far-off look in her eyes, like she’s running through her mental file cabinet.
“What gaps?”
“The fact that you own a million-dollar house on an oversized lot in one of the most coveted neighborhoods in Clear Lake and drive a half-million-dollar car.”
I actually sputter. “How do you know all that?”
“I’m looking to buy a house and a car,” she states, like it’s the most obvious answer. “You can’t do any of those things properly without researching.”
“Research.” I run my hand through my hair. “I should’ve known.”
“Yes. And as cars are fairly important to you, I’ve also watched numerous car movies and done extensive research on all the makes and models I saw in your garage.”
“You did?” No one has ever taken an interest in my work before. Beth sure as shit didn’t. Holt and Rose support me, but that’s as far as it goes. But Jackie, a NASA flight controller, and now astronaut, has taken the time to learn about muscle cars. For me.
“The most recent 1969 Mustang Boss that was sold, fixed in what car enthusiasts term ‘cherry’ condition, was auctioned off for five hundred thousand dollars in Naples, Florida earlier this year. Although it was black, which I think is a cop-out. Your green, called Black Jade, is a much more unique, yet original, color.”
It’s like my dick has wings and wants to fly.
“What? Did I get something wrong?” Jackie asks, taking in my shocked expression. “I’m pretty sure my sources were highly credible?—”
I crash my mouth against hers, my hands tunneling under her shirt. No more talking, no more revelations. My dick can’t take it anymore. My heart either. I tell my brain to shut the hell up and savor this moment. These feelings.
I tug her shirt up and over her head. I reach one hand over my shoulder to yank off my own shirt, while Jackie reaches back and unclasps her bra. As soon as it falls away, my hands wrap around her tits, her skin so warm, so soft.
Her hands make quick work of my belt while I palm her breasts before feasting on them with my mouth. But when she starts to shove my jeans and boxers down, I reluctantly let go of her breast to reach back and grab my wallet. I flick it open with one hand and slip the condom out.
She watches, licking her lips as if hungry, as I roll on the condom over my cock.
I set her down, just long enough to grab her waistband with two hands and yank.
Her top button pops off and her zipper wrenches open, allowing me to jerk her pants and panties down her long, strong legs.
She manages to step one foot out before I’m on her again, lifting her against the wall and thrusting home.
“Fuck.”
My curse is met with her moan. Jackie’s head tilts back, her long neck exposed, the cords visible as she arches back in pleasure. Her eyes are closed and her hair creates a wild, tumbleweed-like halo around her face. My chest tightens like a rubber band pulling taut around my heart.
She’s so fucking beautiful.
Jackie lifts her head and looks at me, her gaze focused but soft. One of her hands cradles my cheek, her thumb swiping lightly against the scruff on my jaw. “Flynn,” she whispers. “I’ve missed you, Flynn. So much.”
The band around my chest snaps, as does my control. I lift her higher in my hands then release her, the fall of her weight thrusting me deeper inside her.
She screams my name, her fingertips biting into my skin.
“ Christ , Jackie.” I pause, enjoying the moment of her clenched around me before an urgency to move has my hips pounding into hers hard and fast.
I tangle my hand in her hair, twisting until her face is at just the right angle for my kiss. My tongue dances with hers while she uses her hands to push up on my shoulders, helping me thrust harder, deeper than before.
We find a rhythm, wild though it is, and ride it out. It’s better than racing, better than riding. Fuck.
Jackie is the best feeling in the world.
She clamps down on my dick, her whole body frozen while she contracts around my wet cock. I thrust once, twice more until my own orgasm hits, grinding myself into her, trying to hammer my way inside her, just like she has into my heart.