CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
VELVETHADJUSTfinished preparing the math problems for this week’s test when she heard a car pull up outside. She knew without looking that it was Jaye. She stood, placing the files in her briefcase. Lenny hadn’t come to her class so he hadn’t been there for the review. She’d seen him earlier in the halls, so he had been at school today, and she hoped he didn’t think that skipping her class was the answer.
She knew a lot of students detested math and struggled with algebra. However, instead of seeking the extra help she’d offered, he honestly believed he would pass her class because his father said he would. And what was sad was that Lenny seemed to be a nice kid. He was always well-mannered and respectful. His other teachers concurred with that.
When she heard the knock on her door, she wondered if accepting Jaye’s offer for dinner had been the smart thing to do. At the time, it had seemed convenient, knowing she had that community committee after school.
It didn’t help matters when at the end of the meeting, Robin Dyer, one of the single teachers in town, who was also on the committee, asked how it was having such a gorgeous hunk for a neighbor. Other women had overheard Robin’s question and had been interested in hearing Velvet’s answer. She had shrugged and said with their schedules she and Jaye rarely saw each other, which wasn’t the truth now that they jogged together. What she should have done was tell Robin it really wasn’t any of her business.
She opened her door to find Jaye with several bags. “Come in, Jaye.”
“Thanks. Do I get to join you?”
“Join me?”
“Yes, eat with you. Share this meal with you?”
Since he had been kind enough to bring her food, the least she could do was share dinner with him. “Sure.”
Velvet headed toward the kitchen, and as he followed, she swore she could feel the heat of his gaze on her backside. He’d always said he loved every part of her body but liked her ass the best. “What would you like to drink, Jaye?” She opened the refrigerator.
“Iced tea will be fine.”
She peered over her shoulder at him. “When did you become an iced-tea drinker?”
“After you left.”
Lifting her brow, she turned to face him. “It took me leaving for you to try iced tea?”
“No, it took you leaving for me to realize all the things I resisted were probably good, as well as good for me.”
Velvet honestly didn’t know what to say to that. She turned back to the refrigerator and grabbed the pitcher of tea. It sounded like he had regrets. Unfortunately, it was too late and didn’t change a thing.
Placing the pitcher on the counter, she leaned up on tiptoes to grab glasses from the top cabinet. Usually, she would use plastic cups but felt the least she could do was service him tea from a glass.
“I can get that for you,” he said, and suddenly she felt the heat of Jaye’s breath on her neck and the front of him resting against her rear end.
She eased off her tiptoes and immediately wished she hadn’t. Doing so made her backside fit more snugly against him and she had to take deep breaths to calm her raging hormones.
“Are you okay, Velvet?”
Velvet could tell him that no, she was not okay and that being this close to him, inhaling his scent and feeling his erection were doing all kinds of salacious things to her. That wasn’t good, considering the unfinished dream she’d had last night.
When he took a step back, she could no longer feel him, but she still felt his heat. “Yes, I’m okay.” She concentrated on filling the glasses with iced tea while trying to get her mind and body under control.
When she finally turned around with both glasses in her hands, she saw he was standing at the kitchen window and gazing out. Apparently, he’d needed to get his mind and body under control as well. Without saying anything, she walked over to the table and started pulling the food containers out of the bags.
“The food smells good,” she said.
That’s when he turned around and his gaze locked on hers. At other times whenever he’d looked at her that way, he would cross the room, sweep her into his arms and carry her to the nearest bedroom...or table or floor. Whenever the urge hit to make love, they did it. All over the place.
“Where can I wash my hands?” he asked, breaking the stretching silence.
“The hall bath.” There was no need telling him where it was since he had passed it that night when he’d taken her to her bedroom.
“Okay. I’ll be back in a minute.”
And then he was gone, and she hoped by the time he returned that she would have pulled herself together.
JAYELEANEDAGAINSTthe closed bathroom door and drew in a deep breath. No help there because her scent was even in here. She loved jasmine and this bathroom with the scented candles placed on the vanity smelled like her. Except when they made love. During those times, her pheromones dominated and intermingled with the scent of them making love.
He knew Velvet and the one thing he was certain about was that she wanted him as much as he wanted her. Desire was something she could never hide from him. Nor him from her. For three years, it had ruled his mind and his senses, which was why he was in the predicament he was now.
Regardless how much he wanted her, he would not make love to her. If they made love again, it would be because she wanted it and asked for it. Hell, he wouldn’t have a problem if she seduced him. Bottom line, like he’d told her, he was no longer into sex-only relationships. His only relationship would be with her, and if she felt the need to have her desires filled, then it would be up to her to let him know.
Moments later after washing his hands, he returned to find the table set in the dining room. Velvet had removed the food from the containers and arranged it on plates that looked like costly dinnerware. How easily he had forgotten how she liked to do things formal at times. He had gotten used to it and after she left, like so many other things, he had missed it.
“Food is still hot,” she said, not looking at him.
“Okay.”
She was already sitting down, and he moved to join her at the table. He had eaten at LaFitte’s Seafood before with Vaughn but had never gotten the number twenty-two. Since that was what she’d wanted, he had gotten it as well and the food looked good.
“How did your committee meeting go today?” he asked her, mainly to get her to look at him. She did.
“It was great. We’re making plans for the Blueberry Festival in May.”
Jaye nodded as he began eating. He hoped to be married to her by May, and if not married, then definitely engaged. He had the ring already. He had purchased it right before coming here in November. “How many festivals are held in the cove each year?” he asked in between bites of food. The meal was delicious. He’d had crab cakes before, but these were the tastiest he’d ever eaten.
“In addition to the Blueberry Festival, there’s the Shrimp Festival. Whereas the Blueberry Festival is a weekend event, the Shrimp Festival lasts for three days. However, since the water taxis will be available, the mayor wants to make it a four-day event.”
“What happens at the Blueberry Festival?”
He listened while she told him, loving how her mouth moved and how sexy he thought it was, even when she took a sip of tea. This was what he’d missed as well, sharing a meal with her. He couldn’t say he missed hearing her talk because they honestly hadn’t talked a lot. Again, it dawned on him just how much of their time had been spent in the bedroom doing other things than talking.
Jaye blinked when he realized she had stopped talking and asked him a question. “Excuse me? What did you ask?”
“I asked how things are going at the bank?”
“Great. More new accounts and less foot traffic into the bank now that everyone is getting the hang of online banking. We’re planning to increase the number of drive-through lanes and add a couple of ATM lanes. I couldn’t believe there’re only two drive-through lanes, and an ATM that you can’t access from your car.”
“Larson Barrows didn’t believe much in modern technology,” Velvet said.
“Or making things convenient for his customers, either, apparently.” When there was a lull in the conversation, he said, “These plates are nice, and the design is pretty. I haven’t seen them before. Are they new?”
Instead of answering him, she stared at him with an odd expression on her face. “Is something wrong, Velvet?”
She shook her head. “No, nothing is wrong.”
He knew that there was, and it was about the plates. What was it about them? She switched the conversation to something else—the forecaster’s prediction that a cold front was headed to the cove next week.
He knew something was bothering her and it had to do with the dinnerware. When her conversation about the weather trailed off, he said, “The plates, Vel. What is it about the plates I should know or that I don’t know?”
She hesitated before answering. “I was out shopping one day and saw this dinnerware set and fell in love with it. It was a couple of weeks before my twenty-eighth birthday and things between us were going so well. You had been so attentive, so loving and as usual so sexual.”
Velvet stopped talking but Jaye knew there was more. “Go on.”
She smiled, but he saw the pain in her eyes. “Silly me, I had convinced myself that I was getting an engagement ring for my birthday. When the saleslady told me that this particular pattern would be going out of stock, in my anticipation and excitement, I chose this dinnerware as the one I intended to put on my wedding registry. Of course, we didn’t get engaged but I liked it so much that I bought it, anyway. If nothing else, I figured whenever I ate off of these plates, it would be a reminder.”
A hard knot formed in Jaye’s throat. “A reminder that I let you down?”
She shook her head. “No, a reminder that I let my own self down by believing something that wasn’t true.”
Jaye didn’t say anything as he worked his brain to recall what he had given her for her twenty-eighth birthday. Then he remembered. He had given her a designer briefcase. It had definitely not been the engagement ring she’d been expecting.
“Velvet, I...”
“No, Jaye, it wasn’t your fault. That’s what I got for being overoptimistic, especially when you had told me countless times the nature of our relationship. I honestly had forgotten why I had them when I set the table. When you commented on them, I remembered.”
He wished he could kick his own ass. She began talking about the weather again, pretty much letting him know any discussion about the plates was over.
“Do you have enough wood for your fireplace?” he decided to ask her.
“I’ve never used my fireplace since moving to the cove. From what I understand, the cold front headed this way is pretty unusual for this area.”
“I’ll make sure you have enough.”
“You don’t have to do that, Jaye.”
He had to bite down to keep from saying that he took care of what was his. But after what she’d told him about the plates, his actions in the past had shown him that he didn’t have the right to claim her, her time or her attention. To be honest, he didn’t have a right to be sharing a meal with her served on plates intended to be a wedding gift. Their wedding gift. Knowing that made him more determined than ever to prove to her just how much he loved her.
They continued eating and eventually the tension between them eased away...only to be replaced by sexual vibes, which was evident by the heated looks they periodically exchanged with each other. The last thing he wanted on their minds was sex.
How many times in the past had they started a meal but then in the middle of it began tearing off each other’s clothes when the vibes got too hot? It was a fix they didn’t need to be in right now. So, he began telling her about all the plans they had for the new bank in Birmingham. That ploy helped them through the remainder of the meal.
When she stood to clear off the table, he stood as well. When their hands brushed, he heard her sharp intake of breath. Jaye knew it was time to leave or else he would be reverting to his old ways and take her on the table or the nearest wall. “Do you need me to help you?”
“No,” she said rather quickly. “I got this.”
He nodded. It was evident they both needed their space. “Then I think I better go and will see you in the morning.”
Jaye made a move for the front door. He had wanted to kiss her goodbye but knew that wouldn’t be a good idea. Once he pulled her into his arms and tasted her mouth, he would devour it. Then that would lead to other things.
He had nearly made it out of the dining room and headed to the door when she said, “I don’t think going jogging with you is a good idea, Jaye.”
He stopped and turned to her. “Why not?”
“I think you know why.”
He didn’t say anything as he held her gaze. “At any time have I gotten out of line with you, Vel?”
She drew in a deep breath and shook her head. “No, but it doesn’t matter.”
“And why doesn’t it?”
“Because at some point I might get out of line with you. And if I do, will you stop me?”
His answer was quick and honest. “No.”
“That’s what I was afraid of.”
He shoved his hands into the pockets of his slacks. “When it comes to me, Velvet, you shouldn’t be afraid of anything. I’ve told you my position on sex-only relationships.”
“Yet, you’d go back on that position if I wanted you to do so?”
“Yes, but only for you.”
“Why only for me, Jaye?”
More than anything he wanted to tell her it was because he loved her, but he knew she wasn’t ready to hear it. So, he told her what he’d told her weeks ago. “I will give you whatever you want. No matter what it is.”
When she didn’t say anything, he crossed the room and came to a stop in front of her. Drawing in a deep breath, he just stared at her, willing her to read in his gaze what she would not accept in his words. And then he drew her into his arms and kissed her.
Just in case she didn’t get any reading from his eyes, he hoped this kiss would. He knew he should have kept walking and left, but when she’d asked her question and he’d given her his answer, it had undoubtedly left her confused. He had to try to unconfuse her somewhat.
He wasn’t holding back anything, and neither was she. Devouring her, any part of her, had always been his favorite pastime, and when her tongue took charge of his with an intensity he felt in his groin, it made him groan. But he’d also heard her moan. They were both in a bad way and he knew she had an idea of just how bad at the feel of his throbbing erection pressing against her. He was getting that same idea with her scent. Whenever her womanly scent invaded his nostrils, he knew it was time to take her and thrust his body into hers, all the way to the hilt, and then ride her until they were both consumed in pleasure.
When his hands began to twitch with a desire to sweep her off her feet and carry her into her bedroom, he broke off the kiss. Although he wanted her with a passion that had seeped into his every pore, whenever they made love, she would have to be the one who initiated it. He refused to let her think that was still all he wanted from her.
He leaned in and whispered, “I won’t knock on your door in the morning. You know what time I go jogging. You’re always invited to join me, Velvet. I like having you with me and enjoy your company.”
Without saying anything else, he turned and left.