Give Up On Me (11 page)

Nerea covered both ears, glaring at Janae’s dad. “Pop-pop,
ruidoso
!”

He gaped. “What did she call me?”

Janae burst out laughing. “She didn’t call you anything, Dad. Well, except for Pop-pop. She said you’re noisy.”

He chuckled. “You’re right, Nerea. How about you teach your old Pop-pop some of that Spanish so he can talk about people without them knowing?”

“Dad, for real? You’re already starting with the bad influence. I don’t want her thinking she can talk about people in Spanish. Way too many people speak the language in America.”

“Darn.” He snapped his finger.

Janae shook her head “Nerea, don’t listen to Pop-pop. He’s just being silly.”

“
Tonto
,” Nerea said.

“What’s that one mean?”

“It means silly. See what you started?” She stood. “We have to get out of here. It’s been a long day.”

She crouched to start helping Nerea put her crayons away. Her daughter whined but a look from Janae made her get her act together. The pouty lip stayed put though, and Janae tried to ignore the cute face.

“Janae.”

“Yes?” She looked over at her dad.

“I’m serious about this. You need to tell him. He has a right to know.”

“If I tell him, he’s just going to get worse.”

“He’ll respect whatever it is you want.”

“Why do I feel like I’ve heard that before?”

“Because it’s the truth.”

She straightened. “Then maybe the problem is what I want.”

“You don’t want to be with him?”

“I want it more than anything.”

M
att opened
the door to find his brother on his doorstep. He didn’t unblock the entrance. “Why are you here?”

Kyler shrugged. “Do I have to have a reason to visit my brother?”

“I tolerated you stopping by occasionally at the hospital and the rehab center. I don’t have to deal with you now that I’m back home.”

“Matt, don’t be this way.”

Matt frowned at him. “What you think, because you climbed down from the throne you share with Margaret to search for Janae and bring her to me that I’ll forgive you? You thought you were doing me a favor with that recording? Fuck you, Kyler. We’ve hardly spoken in four years. Let’s keep it that way.”

He started to shut the door, but Kyler shoved back on it. Matt’s luck was out because he had one of his infrequent leg pains. The ache unbalanced him a little, and Kyler made it inside his house. Not wanting to look like a weak idiot, Matt decided not to threaten his brother with calling the cops on him.

“What do you want?” Matt asked after he’d shut the door and walked as normally as possible to the living room. Kyler followed.

“Margaret wants you to visit her. You’re mobile now, right? You’ve been cleared to drive?”

“Oh, she wants me to come to her? Right, I forgot. The queen.”

“When did you get so bitter?”

Matt rubbed his jaw. “Let me think. Oh, now I remember. The day you recorded Janae asking for money.”

“And you’re blaming us for her greed?”

“Say it again,” Matt bit out.

“Chill, little brother. I’m not here to ruffle you. I certainly don’t need you to break my arm again.”

Matt shrugged. From Kyler’s expression he imagined his brother expected him to apologize. Matt had no intention of saying he was sorry for what he didn’t regret doing. What he did hate was the attitude in himself that Kyler brought out every time he came face-to-face with him. Matt didn’t like spending all his energy angry.

“I want us to act like a family again,” Kyler said.

Matt burst out laughing. “That’s funny.”

“I’m serious. We weren’t close before all this happened, but I’m beginning to look at things differently.”

“How? By accepting Janae?”

Kyler swore. “All I see is man that was strong, weakened by a woman. I had to admit it, but you’re worse than you were before she left. You run behind her like she’s a drug and you can’t get enough.”

“You’re close.”

“Damn it, man, do you hear yourself?”

Matt sat down before his stupid leg made him fall. Of all days to deal with the pain, it had to bug him when Kyler showed up at his door. He resisted massaging his thigh. “It’s obvious to me that you will never understand loving another person, let alone a woman.”

Kyler’s face reddened. “Are you calling me gay?”

Matt chuckled. “No, I’m saying your heart has never been engaged. Let me lay it out for you. I’m going to do everything in my power, and I do mean
everything
, to make sure Janae stays with me.”

“She’s just a woman, damn you. Matt you’re obsessed. I thought if she came back she could—” He stopped.

“She could what?”

“Nothing.” Kyler pushed fingers through his hair. “We’ve had it drilled into our heads ever since Granddad died that we’re privileged, that if we don’t stay on top of things, there will be people out there who will try to take what we’ve earned. And we are above most.”

“And you think you’re above Janae?”

“She’s proven what she is by taking the money.”

Matt ignored his leg and stood to walk over to his brother. “Why do you hate her so much?”

“I don’t hate her.”

“No?”

Kyler sighed. “She’s not on our level. I look at it as a simple fact. I don’t hate her for her station in life.”

“What is this the seventeenth century?” While Kyler’s words angered him, Matt was relieved to feel less like hitting his brother as he had done in the past. “You look at me as what, some kind fool for loving her? Maybe you see me as weak because I chase her. You know how I see in you?”

Kyler flushed. “I don’t need to hear your opinion of me. You told me four years ago.”

“You’re the weak one,” Matt said, and his brother’s expression darkened. “You pretend to be superior to Janae and to me, but in reality, you don’t have your own mind. Margaret snaps her fingers, and here you are to do her bidding. If I refuse to see her, was the order to beg?”

“Don’t be stupid.”

“If she said jump would you, or how does that expression go? You ask how high? Either way, you move when she tells you to, but you think I’m weak. Despite what you or Margaret or anyone on this planet thinks of me, I love Janae. Period. Even when she denies that she loves me to my face, I love her. Do you get me, Kyler?”

“Matt, all I’m—”

“That’s strength. It’s also conviction.” Matt stabbed his brother’s chest with two fingers. “So believe what you want, think whatever. I don’t give a fuck. We’re done here. Get out of my house.”

Kyler started to speak again than hitched his shoulders. Matt walked back to the front door and opened it. Janae stood there with hand extended as if she intended to ring the bell. Joy filled him, and he swept her into the foyer and into his arms. He claimed her mouth, crushing her shapely body to him. With his tongue practically down her throat, he tasted her sweetness until she wriggled in his arms to get free.

Matt took his time letting her go, and she shoved at his chest, scowling at him. “What do you think you’re doing?”

He smirked.

“Janae,” Kyler said just behind him.

She yelped and looked around his arm. Her eyes widened in fear, and alarm bells went off in Matt’s head. He pivoted slowly, keeping himself between Janae and his brother. “Kyler, why would she be afraid of you?”

“I’m not,” Janae rushed to say. “I was just surprised we had an audience. I mean not that we were going to…uh…”

Matt watched his brother for a reaction as Janae stuttered behind him. Kyler straightened, looking every inch down his nose at both Matt and Janae. “She took money to go away, didn’t she? Why shouldn’t she be nervous when I catch the two of you kissing?”

“But you brought her back.”

He knew Kyler well enough that he could never back his brother in a corner. “Yes, so? Janae knows how Margaret and I feel. Her fears are her own, not ones I placed on her. Don’t go jumping to conclusions.”

Matt wouldn’t get anything more than Kyler wanted to share. He turned to face Janae and rubbed her arms. “You don’t have to fear either of them. I’ll protect you.”

She shook off his hands and moved away. “I can take care of myself, but I appreciate the sentiment. The way you acted just now, I realize I shouldn’t even have come here. Get ready. I’m taking you to lunch.”

He grinned. “A date, huh?”

“It’s lunch. You haven’t been out much, so I thought I’d give you a treat. I’ll call it off if you get grabby. Keep that in mind.”

“I don’t make any promises.”

“Matt!” Her beautiful lips tightened, and he grinned. The day had just gotten a thousand times brighter, and the pain in his thigh might as well be a pinprick.

“All right. I’ll behave,” he said.

“Good.”

Matt looked at Kyler. “You were just leaving, weren’t you?”

Kyler hesitated and glanced from him to Janae. After a minute he nodded and moved toward the door. “Remember what I said, Matt.”

“Likewise.”

“Consider going to see Margaret. She misses you, and the only time she got to see you was when you were in a coma and just after you woke up. That’s not fair to her.”

Matt said nothing, and Kyler admitted defeat and left them alone. After shutting the door, Matt joined Janae in the living room. She sat gingerly on the edge of the couch as if she were uncomfortable. Up until today she refused to visit his home. Instead, she met him at his physical therapy appointments and spent only as much time with him as his session lasted. He of course had booked longer sessions just to keep her close. To have her show up at his house today was a great surprise, and it gave him ideas.

Matt took in her appearance, a denim mini-skirt that showed off her sexy chocolate legs, and a blouse, which accentuated the fullness of her breasts. His cock hardened, and all he could think about was getting her out of the clothes. “You had a reason for coming to my house today,” he said from the living room doorway. “What is it?”

She glanced up at him and then away. Sure enough, she was nervous about something. His gut tightened.

“Janae?”

“You’re all better.”

“Mostly,” he agreed and shifted his weight off the leg with the aching thigh.

“You don’t need my help much anymore.”

“No.”

She blinked at him in surprise.

He pushed off from the doorframe and approached her. “I don’t need your help physically or mentally. Well, not physical in the sense of therapy. I can think of another type of physical ‘help’ you could give.”

“Okay.”

He started. “What?”

She stood slowly, and she raised her hands to his sides. Awareness overtook him, and his gaze was drawn to her cleavage. The soft round peaks called for his touch. Janae slid her flattened palms around to his chest and higher until her fingertips brushed his nipples through his shirt. Aching desire arrested him, and he breathed hard through his nose.

“You came here to make love with me?” he asked to clarify.

“Yes.”

She wasn’t looking at him, and he didn’t like it because he couldn’t read her thoughts. “Janae, look at me.”

“Are you going to deny me, Matt?”

“Not in this lifetime, but I am curious about the decision when you were so angry the other day after I kissed you. And just now too at the door.”

“Just now took me by surprise, and I didn’t appreciate your presumption.”

He laughed. “No, you’d rather make a move on me first.”

“I’m not that petty. No, I just…” She hesitated and then looked up at him. “Can’t we skip the conversation and the questions as to why and get down to business?”

“Far be it for me to refuse a lady’s request, especially when it means my pleasure.” He swept her hair aside and stroked her cheek with a thumb. Damn it, she was so beautiful he felt like he would come long before they removed their clothes. Four years felt like an eternity to go without holding her.

Matt took one of her hands and led her to the stairs and up to his bedroom. On the second landing, she moved ahead of him, and he got a great view of her sexy ass. He stared at it, and enjoyed the natural sway of her hips and the grace with which she carried herself. When she glanced back at him, he didn’t hide the fact that he’d been looking. She raised one eyebrow and looked down to find the front of his pants tented.

“You didn’t expect anything else, did you?” he asked.

She offered a small smile. “No.”

Beside his bed, Matt stopped her and moved to unbutton her blouse. He pulled the two sides apart and dragged down her bra so he could free her breasts. Her nipples were puckered and taut, and he plucked them with his thumbs and forefingers.

“It’s been so long, honey,” he whispered.

“Don’t,” she said. “Don’t call me honey.”

Disappointment hit him hard. He saw her desire but sensed her sadness. Why, when he offered her the world? Couldn’t she understand how far he would go for her? Was his approach wrong? He couldn’t pretend to be like men who didn’t care about the women in their lives. To play that role meant deliberately hurting her, and he refused to do it.

“Your body is incredible, Janae.” He leaned down and took one nipple into to his mouth. Sucking gently, he drew her closer and ran a hand over her ass. Her soft moan drove his lust higher, and he drew back. “Take them off. Let me look at you until I can get enough.”

“Is that even possible?” She allowed her blouse to slip off her shoulders and drop to the floor. He stared in anticipation as she undid her bra and let it fall as well. While she worked on the skirt’s button, he thumbed her nipple again. Keeping his hands to himself was too challenging.

The skirt joined the rest of her clothes on the floor, but before she could slide out of the panties, he cupped her pussy through the thin material. Her lips were swollen and he imagined moist with her juices.

Janae’s lips parted, and her head went back as her lashes fluttered closed. He took in every detail, even down to how she curled her fingers in her palms as if she tried to resist his touch.

Stretch marks, he noted on both sides of her belly. Had she been bigger during the time they were apart? Her hips were wider, and her thighs thicker. Didn’t matter.

No, it matters. She’s killing me with this body.

Matt hooked a finger inside the waistband of her panties and dragged it downward. Janae’s soft mound came into view, and he caressed her dark skin. In his pants, his dick twitched. He needed her.

“Take them off,” he said.

She obeyed, and now she stood naked before him. Matt drank her in, taking his time.

“I’m not like I was four years ago.”

“No,” he agreed.

He wondered if he would annoy her if he asked her to lie on the bed with her legs open so he could get a good view of her pussy. Or maybe she’d bend over for him as she faced away. A man loved to look, and Matt could lose track of time studying Janae’s body.

“Well, damn, aren’t you going to say if it turns you off?”

“If what turns me off?”

“My body.”

He didn’t understand the ridiculous question. After unbuttoning his pants and lowering his zipper, he pulled his cock free so she could see what reaction he had in seeing her naked. “Does this look like your body turns me off?”

Matt stroked his erection from base to tip. He was hard as steel and swollen thick. Precome beaded the tip, and he caught it with a fingertip and offered her some. She met his gaze with a beguiling one of her own and sucked his finger between her lips. Oh yeah, she had him lock, stock, and barrel.

Forget about looking. He dropped to his knees and shouldered her legs apart. Just a quick taste, and he’d undress. He slid his tongue over her slit and parted it to push deep into her. Janae grasped both sides of his head, crying out in pleasure. Her come coated his tongue, and he swallowed and then went after ore. She was already so wet, and he hadn’t gone near her clit yet.