Chapter Thirteen #2
“Jeremy will do anything you want,” he said, his voice low for her ears only, and damn if that didn’t make them even sexier.
She slipped the phone into her pocket and met his gaze. “I’m going to hold you to that.”
“Good. And I hope you hold me to your sexy body, too.”
Her eyes widened. He thought her body was sexy?
Another round of warmth rippled through her. She liked this playful side of him. A lot.
“Yo! Mercer!” Nico called out “Quit putting the moves on Elle and get back to the game. You don’t want her to think you don’t finish what you start, do you?”
Smiling, she leaned closer to the fence and Jeremy. “Not something either of us has to worry about.”
He chuckled. “Ever.”
Her smiled widened, and they stared at each other a beat before he blinked.
“I can grab some pizza for us after you text, if you want.”
She nodded. “Perfect. And I’ll get the hot tub ready.”
Elle didn’t wait for a response. By that time, her legs were threatening to give out, so she turned and headed for the table. But she could feel his gaze on her most of the way there, which didn’t help her wobbly leg situation one bit.
Dropping back into her seat, she sighed and reached for her drink. Her throat was so parched, she downed half of her lukewarm mocha before setting the cup back on the table and worked to get her body back under control. And her brain because she only heard the tail end of Faith’s question.
“…or should I just ask?”
Elle frowned and glanced sideways at her friends, who were grinning from ear to ear. “Ask who? What’d I miss?”
“I don’t think you missed anything.” Jenna chuckled.“I think you caught my brother pretty good.”
Faith laughed. “I don’t think caught is the right word, but had has a good ring to it.”
Unable to stop the heat from flooding her face, Elle knew she’d be wasting her breath trying to deny it. She shrugged instead.
“So, you two are really a thing now?” Jenna asked, her eyes wide and no longer full of mirth.
Elle frowned. “Not exactly a thing. We…combusted.”
“She means they had sex, Jenna,” Faith said, reaching for another mimosa.
Jenna cleared her throat. “I knew what she meant. I’d just hoped, well, that you two were a couple. He looked so happy talking to you. It’s been years since he actually smiled with his eyes, you know?”
Faith nodded. “Yeah. Naomi really did a number on him.”
Elle’s heart rocked in her chest. “Who’s Naomi?”
Damn, the question was out before she’d had a chance to swallow it down.
“His ex-girlfriend,” Jenna replied with a twist to her lips. “She was a journalist who played him along in order to get a good story or two from him.”
Elle’s chest tightened.
How horrible…
“Yeah,” Faith scoffed. “The bitch sent him a Dear John while he was deployed then slinked off to work at a big newspaper in New York City.”
She inhaled as anger heated her blood. How could a person do that?
At least she and Callum had hashed things out before he even signed up for the Navy.
But this Naomi thing started to make sense. No wonder Jeremy had been so opposed to her riding with him and so closed off. Actually, he’d been a jerk.
But wouldn’t that mean he’d been attracted to her from the start?
Elle’s heart did that rocking thing again. That shouldn’t be so shocking, considering her knees had gone weak the first time she’d looked into his gorgeous blue eyes.
What did it all mean?
Nothing, she told herself. And it changed nothing, either.
“So, you’re sure it’s just a combustion thing?” Jenna asked.
“Yeah,” she replied, then blew out a breath. “I’m only here until I get this series written, and he isn’t looking for a relationship because it doesn’t mesh with his job, which is his priority. So, once we each realized neither of us was looking for something permanent—”
Faith smiled. “Combustion happened.”
“Yeah.” Elle nodded.
“Well, regardless of the length of time, I’m just glad you’re both happy,” Jenna said. “Because you’ve been doing nothing but smiling today, and it’s great to see.”
“It’s true,” Faith agreed. “You’ve been grinning all day today, but also yesterday at Gabe’s when I was having lunch with Evie.”
A smile tugged at Elle’s lips now. “Well, he definitely put me in a good mood.”
“Are you going to see him again?” Jenna asked.
“Yeah, tonight, after I get my writing done.” She nodded, rising to her feet. “So, I’d better get going.”
“Don’t forget your cinnamon bun,” Jenna reminded, pushing the box to her. “We finished ours already.”
Elle grabbed the box and smiled. “Thanks. I’ll need the pick-me-up in a few hours.”
“You sure you don’t want to stay and watch the macho show?” Faith asked, nodding toward the men and their blatant display of muscles and brawn.
Her gaze immediately picked out Jeremy and settled on his broad shoulders and fine ass. Heat washed through her again.
“That’s exactly why I need to go. It’s too distracting.” And by “it” she meant Jeremy. “Thanks for the mocha.”
As she made her way through the yard to the driveway, Elle’s mind flickered back to what the girls had revealed about Jeremy.
He definitely had trust issues, and she didn’t blame him. But he needn’t worry about her. She wasn’t going to make any demands on him. Well, other than when they were naked.
If she wanted to keep things light, and she did, then the less time spent with him, the better. Elle still wanted to see him but was going to have to space their…hookups apart.
Good thing she had a book to finish and three more to write. And it was also a good thing that he wasn’t likely to seek her out all that much, either.
Otherwise, she feared they would be in big trouble.