Chapter 35 JR
JR
“No Josie tonight?” Cheyenne asked as she slid onto a barstool in front of me.
“Why do you ask?”
“Nothing,” she shrugged, glancing around the bar. “Just heard from a birdie that you two had a thing going, and now it seems you don’t.”
I narrowed my eyes at her, not at all enjoying the gossip. “I don’t even know you.”
“I’m in here all the time! I come with Bailey, who happens to be the owner’s sister-in-law!”
I would have laughed at her attempt to prove to me that she knew me, but I wasn’t in the mood for games, not when I hadn’t gotten laid in over a week.
“Just because you’re related to the owner doesn’t mean jack shit to me. My personal life is all for me.”
“And Josie,” she smirked.
“So, why are you here trying to get information out of me?”
“Why?” She scoffed, slumping on the bar, her chin resting in her palm. “Because I’m sad and pathetic, okay? My bestie is off with her husband and I’m lonely. I no longer have a roommate, and I’m bored.”
That piqued my interest. “You’re looking for a roommate?”
Rolling her eyes, she snapped, “Not you. The last thing I need is some loner who can’t even hold onto a woman like Josie.”
I gritted my teeth, ignoring her remarks. I wasn’t interested in Cheyenne any more than any other woman around here. Aside from Josie, and it fucking pissed me off that she knew I wasn’t good enough for her.
“Not me. But I might know of someone who needs a place to stay.”
“Is she trustworthy?”
“Completely.”
“Then why would you want her to stay with me?”
That was not what I was expecting. “Are you a murderer?”
“No.”
“Do you steal?”
She scoffed at that. “I work at the bank. Trust me, if I stole, I wouldn’t be there.”
“How do you feel about men?”
“Love them. I just wish I could find one who loved me back.”
“Do you let many men up to your apartment?”
Again, she scoffed. “As a rule, no. I never let a man come up unless I’ve known him a really long time.”
This could be interesting, but I had to be sure she could handle what was in store. Leaning in, I kept my voice low. “I think you’ve already heard there’s a woman staying with me.”
She nodded. “Rumor is, she’s your sister.”
“She is, and life hasn’t been the best to her. I would appreciate you keeping that to yourself.”
“Of course,” she said sincerely. “I’ve heard some of the rumors. I can’t imagine how hard it is for her.”
“Look, if I don’t find a place for her to stay, she’ll think she’s in my way, and then she’ll run off. I won’t be able to keep an eye on her.”
“You could always go after her,” she offered.
It was a possibility. I’d done it in the past, but she usually got pissed when I followed her around. And then there was the other issue that I couldn’t seem to shake. I had a neighbor who I was becoming more and more obsessed with every day.
“That’s not a possibility,” I went with. “But if I could convince her to stay, I could keep an eye on her. A town like this—as insane as it is—would be good for her.”
“Well, I can definitely understand that. I would have to meet her first. Living with someone is an intimate thing.”
I nodded. “Can I give her your number?”
“Sure.” She pulled out her bank card and slid it across the bar to me. “Just one question, how is she going to pay the rent?”
“Don’t worry about that. You’ll get the rent until she can get on her feet.”
“Then I guess it’s a deal. Now, about Josie—”
I turned my back on her and mixed her the drink she always ordered— a cosmopolitan—and slid it across the bar. “Go away.”
“Thanks,” she grinned, taking a sip. “You know, you really aren’t so bad. Maybe you should consider giving it a chance. A woman like Josie doesn’t come around very often.”
I rolled my eyes, and was about to tell her to piss off when she added, “You know, rumor has it that something really bad happened to her.”
That got my back up. “What are you talking about?”
Glancing around, she leaned in close. “Look, I wouldn’t tell you this, but I think you need to know. Rumor has it that she was attacked by Austin.”
My anger kicked up a notch as I tried to remember who that was. Then I remembered the asshole who’d tried to attack Lizzy in the bar that first night I was in town.
“What do you mean, he attacked her?” I gritted out, already losing my cool.
“I think you know what I mean. She seems like she’s doing okay, but that doesn’t mean she’s not hurting. Don’t fuck her up.”
As she walked away, I took a minute to contain my anger. It wouldn’t do me any good to march out of the bar right now and confront her over something that was rumored around town. It happened in the past. There was nothing I could do.
Except, this was the kind of thing I handled all the time. It would be nothing for me to drop by his place and find a hole to bury him. No one would even know he had been murdered. Not if I did it right.
But what right did I have to interfere anyway? She hadn’t mentioned a word to me. She hadn’t asked me to step in and take this asshole out. And the only way I could do that was if she was mine.
But she wasn’t.
I didn’t want her that much anyway. This connection I was feeling with her was all sexual. But the way I had reached for her last night, just to pull her closer, and the disappointment I felt when I remembered she wasn’t there, proved there was something deeper going on.
Something I wasn’t yet ready to admit.
Yes, I wanted her, but I knew she wouldn’t want me if she knew the real me. I wasn’t the man for a woman like her. All I would ever be was a good lay.
I finished out the night and closed down the bar, shooting off a message to Lizzy about how we did for the night. As I suspected, she was still up instead of sleeping like she should have been.
A whirlwind of questions were flung at me, each less important than the last. I finally shut her down and told her I was going to bed.
But when I pulled in the drive, I sat there staring at my neighbor’s house, wondering why the hell she wasn’t talking to me.
I hadn’t seen her or the dog in over a week, and it was really pissing me off.
Killing the engine, I headed for my house, but just as I was walking up the steps, I turned on my heel and marched across the lawn. I was a fucking idiot for going over there, but I couldn’t stop myself. I needed her, craved the feel of her skin under my fingers.
Things never should have gotten so out of control the last time I saw her, but I needed to keep the distance between us. I couldn’t let her think this was ever going anywhere.
I was pounding on the door before I could think better of it. Sanity had fled the building the moment I pulled in the drive. I didn’t know if she would answer, but I was prepared to break down the door if it meant I got to slide inside that nice, warm pussy again.
The outside light flicked on just a few seconds later, and as the door swung open, I charged inside, pulling her to me. My lips sealed over hers, and something sparked inside me, crackling down my spine.
Her fingers instantly wound in my hair, tugging hard as she practically crawled up my body. Fuck, I had to have her now. Gripping her around the waist, I hauled her up in my arms and carried her down the hall to her room, kicking the door open.
I was so lost in her lips that I didn’t realize there was someone else in the room until I laid her down on the bed and a man yelped.
“What the fuck?”
I jerked back when Sawyer turned on the light, staring at me in horror.
My gaze shifted to Josie, wondering some very strange things.
“We switched rooms.”
“Oh, thank God,” I breathed.
She smacked me hard, then got up and tugged me from the room.
“Don’t turn off the light! I’ve got it!” Sawyer shouted.
I slammed his door and practically tackled Josie into her room and onto her bed. My hands moved of their own volition, desperate to feel every inch of her. I tore at her clothes like a madman, and only once she was spread out on the bed for me, did I really take a step back and drink my fill.
“Fucking gorgeous,” I murmured, staring at her peaked nipples and the little thatch of curls between her legs.
“JR,” she moaned, spreading her legs wider for me. “Get between my legs now.”
Her need for me should have spurred me on, but instead, I found myself taking it slow, stripping out of my clothes and tossing them aside before taking a knee on the bed. My finger grazed the inside of her thigh, and my eyes flicked to hers as her skin pebbled under my touch.
“JR,” she moaned in frustration.
But I wasn’t done yet. Leaning down, I brushed my lips over the inside of her thigh, switching to the other leg as I neared the apex. Her pussy contracted with need, begging for me to make my move. But something stopped me.
There was a desperation filling my chest, begging me to take things slow and really savor this moment with her. My tongue slid out, tasting every inch of her skin, dipping into her belly button before sliding up to her perky nipples.
Laving them with my tongue, I sucked a single bud into my mouth and tugged with my teeth. She was writhing for me, begging and pleading for me to fuck her. But there was still too much of her to explore, so much to taste.
It didn’t matter that my cock was aching for her, or that I needed a release more than I ever had before. The only thing I could focus on was taking this time to really get to know her body.
“JR,” she sighed as I kissed my way up her neck.
Our lips met in heated passion. I couldn’t stop touching her, sliding my hand up her thigh and tugging it up over my hip. She moaned as my cock nudged at her entrance, but I held back.
Rolling her over, she sat astride me, my cock bobbing between us as I ran my hand over her smooth skin. My lips had a mind of their own, licking and sucking at her nipples as she tossed her head back and moaned.
I’d never seen something so fucking beautiful in all my life, and I knew right then that I would give anything to keep her.
I just wouldn’t be allowed to.
She rose up on her knees and grabbed my thick erection, then slowly lowered herself down. I gritted my teeth at how fucking painful it was to stay calm and not shoot off inside her with just one thrust. Finally, when she was fully seated on me, I rolled her over and thrust deeply inside her.
I memorized the way her eyes fluttered closed, and the way her lips parted slightly as I slowly worked myself in and out of her, drawing out every second to make it last.
She was so fucking beautiful.
I never wanted this to end, not even for a second.
Her breathy moans filled the room, making it impossible to keep my load down.
My fingers bit into her hips as I tried to control myself, but the beast broke free.
I thrust hard up into her, fucking her hard and fast, but never taking my lips from hers.
Her panting and moaning drove me insane until finally, I came hard inside her as she squeezed my cock, milking every drop.
I dropped my head to her forehead and let my heart slowly drop to a normal speed, but I had a feeling I would never be able to control myself around her again.
She possessed something inside me, made me feel things I didn’t want to.
Josie was working her way so deep under my skin that pretty soon, there would be no way out.
No way out.
There wasn’t a world I lived in where I would ever be good enough for this woman.
And in time, she would see that.