NextMoves (8 page)

“No, Joci, I’m not, and this stops here. Whether you admit
it or not, you’re always showing who’s in charge. I’m not the right choice for
the job, Derrick Karsen is, and you know it.” Storm warnings flashed across his
eyes, deepening the blue to midnight black.

“I used every advantage I had to end that session in my favor.”

“Listen to yourself, Joci. I’m not an advantage, I’m your
lover. Everyone follows your lead without question, but they expect you to
carry their burdens. I don’t. I make my own decisions, babe, and take care of
my own messes. You want me to do something, ask me first.”

Next thing she knew, she was in his arms. He breathed her
in, his kiss a cocktail of anger and desire, threatening to detonate every
nerve ending in her lips, tongue, throat, chest, womb, legs.

Bites trailed up and down her jawline. Words snarled hot
against the flesh of her neck. “Your authority turns my cock to iron but don’t
wield it over me, Joci. I want you next to me, our power feeding each other,
equal in all things. Upstairs. Now.”

Jocelyn nodded, swallowing a groan. She needed to reflect on
his words, but right now she wanted him naked.

Clothes gone in a blink, they were in each other’s arms. His
tongue plunged through her mouth. Frenzied hands furrowed down her back and
ass, his cock stabbed her belly. He backed her to the wall and jammed his body
against hers. Hands and mouth fierce, demanding all she had to give and more.

“Been wanting to do this all day,” he said. He turned her
around to take her from behind. “Brace your arms against the wall.”

One hand cupped her breast and rolled her stiff, sensitized
nipple between his thumb and forefinger. The other stroked the labial folds,
one finger teasing the channel entry with promises of delight. “So wet, so
ready.” He groaned against her neck.

A low moan escaped her lips. Oh yes, she was ready.

He impaled her, pounded pleasure through her with deep,
rapid strokes. His fingers continued to torment her breasts and clit. Stars
exploded behind her eyes.

“Harder, baby, more,” she gasped. Need clawed an insatiable
pit in her belly, demanding to be fed.

He let loose. Bodies sweaty and slick, lost in the rhythm of
each other until they came together, growling in subdued tones.

“Equal in all things,” he said against her shoulder, nipping
it gently to drive the point home.

She nodded, unable to speak, dizzy in the afterglow of
pleasure and emotion.

Jared carried her to the bed.

They couldn’t stop touching each other. His hand glided up
her thigh, over her hip, settling in the soft curve of her waist. Her fingers
explored the roads of muscle across his chest and abs, relishing their
hardness, the solid, secure feel of them. “I love your body,” she said.

“The feeling’s mutual.” He kissed the soft flesh underneath
her breast, licking the wetness that gathered in the crease.

“Jared, about what happened earlier…” Words wouldn’t come.

“I get it, baby, you’re used to being in control, you’ve had
to be. But that can’t be what’s between us.”

“I can learn.”

“Let me give you an added incentive.”

After a playful kiss on the nose, he flipped her to her
belly and a massage began in earnest. Strong hands pinched the knots in her
shoulders into submission, kneaded the skin around her ribs and stroked side to
side turning her spineless, a mass of jelly that oozed over the bed.
So this
is bliss.

They slept with legs and arms intertwined, bodies pressed
together. One.

* * * * *

Jocelyn had her team working all morning to prepare for the
emergency Chamber board meeting. It had her spooked. The board would determine
the strategies for the business community in a closed room, outside the eyes of
the politicians, education and community representatives. Fear defined the
health businesses, and under Don’s leadership, they’d push for immediate
remedies, which might help them, but also could drag the rest of the town
under. Somehow she’d have to convince them that her approach would be in
Madison’s best interest.

The phone interrupted her meeting prep. “Jocelyn Wade.”

“Hey, babe.” Jared’s baritone voice greeted her.

“Hey yourself.” She couldn’t stop the giddy smile that
spread across her face. She was acting like a love-crazed teenager.

“How you holding out?”

“Okay. Meeting starts in an hour and we’ll see what falls.”

“Something’s got you worried?”

Gorgeous and psychic too? Could he hear her tapping her
fingers through the phone? “The board composition is biased toward health care
companies. I’ve been trying to rebalance it with the upcoming new businesses
but that’s been a long, slow process. I’ll be all right. How are you?”

“Missing you. When can I see you?”

“Saturday? Kylie will be at a sleepover.”

“Perfect.”

“Seven o’clock at my house. We’ll decide what to do after
you get here.” She ended the call.

Board members trickled into the Chamber’s main conference
room. Floor-to-ceiling windows showcased the Madison River and canopied a
handcrafted, spit-polished wooden conference table surrounded by butter-soft
black leather chairs. State-of-the-art technology gleamed throughout, from the
mics built into the table to the flat-screen teleconferencing video on the far
wall, all designed to flaunt the power of Madison’s business community.

Don opened the meeting with a shocker. “While we will fight
to keep Health Corp open, I’ve unfortunately come around to Jocelyn’s
conclusions—saving the company is unlikely at this time. That forces us to
reconsider Chamber strategies as a whole.”

Anxiety crawled around in Jocelyn’s belly. Her knuckles
turned white from gripping the chair arms so tight, dreading Don’s next words.

“Belt-tightening is the name of the game and we can no longer
afford to maintain the current tax structure and level of school support.”

Her pulse skyrocketed, cheeks turned hot as she processed
Don’s betrayal and watched too many faces around the table nod in support. The
Chamber would renege on its public commitment? Their reputation—her
reputation—for integrity destroyed in one policy change. Oh no, not on her
watch. Biting her bottom lip to keep from reaming into Don, she gave a pointed
look at Glenda Frederickson, the owner of a local software company, goading her
to counter Don’s rhetoric. Business owners listened best to other business
owners and Glenda could better make the case than Jocelyn, who was too consumed
with rage to act rationally.

With a wink to Jocelyn, Glenda dove in with a pro-school
investment argument. Other business owners nodded in agreement but not enough
to out-vote Don’s supporters. In search of firepower, she caught the eye of
Derrick Karsen, the Madison Foundation Director. When she reached out to Ben
Clancy, he looked everywhere else. Several others avoided her glances. Not
good.

Rage burned through her chest at their shortsightedness.
They threatened to tear down everything she’d busted her ass over the past
decade. If the Chamber followed Don, the collaborative politics she had built would
collapse. Madison would spiral back to the dysfunctional political shenanigans
they had when they courted ghost town status.

After an hour of meeting deadlock, her nerves razzled and no
longer content for others to fight her battles, Jocelyn cut loose. “The Chamber
publicly promised to support the schools. We rebuilt our economy with our hard
work, a reputation for integrity and the community behind us. This will destroy
that.”

Don’s response was so icy her blood froze. “Jocelyn’s always
been an excellent leader of this organization. Today, however, she’s taking us
in the wrong direction. I believe her views have been unduly influenced and the
economy is no longer her first priority.”

She straightened up into full alert. Where was he going with
this?

“As anyone at last night’s meeting can attest, our Ms. Wade
is Jared Wyatt’s lover. I believe that biases her assessment of our current
plight, moving her to support schools rather than appropriate business
investments.”

“Don, my private life is not up for discussion.” The flush
of anger crept up her neck and across her cheeks. Her fists balled, ready to
hit something.

“Absolutely correct,” said Glenda with a pound on the table.

“All information that sheds light on this debate is critical
for our decision making,” Don spat back.

Her stomach churned as she watched the nodding heads and
furrowed brows around the room.

“My stance on education has never wavered since I became
Chamber leader. This is about the Chamber keeping faith with the community. We
gave our word.”

“While that’s true, things have changed since we made that
claim,” Ben Clancy said. With Ben’s declaration the others fell quickly in
line. Don called for the vote. Only Glenda and Derrick voted with her. Damage
done. Chamber policy would be changed. It was now left to her to clean up the
mess, but her heart was no longer in it.

After the meeting, Jocelyn escaped to her office balcony, a
mug of black coffee in hand. The cool wind pelted the knot out of her hair. The
steady flow of the river did nothing to calm the rage tearing through her
bloodstream. The Chamber broke a public promise, her judgment was questioned,
her leadership challenged, and her private life paraded out for all to see. Her
insides shredded from the betrayal, she wrote and rewrote her resignation
letter in her head. The idea of quitting—of walking out the door right
now—seduced her. It stroked her skin like a lover and let the discomfort with
the compromises her job made on her out of its cage into the air. After this,
she didn’t think she could ever stuff it back down.

How could she keep going? Because it wasn’t just the
Chamber’s reputation, it was hers. She nurtured the relationships, she remade
the Chamber into an organization of status and honor and she couldn’t leave it
in the shambles Don had just created. Never one to act in anger or wallow in
self-pity, she succeeded because she didn’t just react, she planned.

Even as it startled to drizzle, she remained on the balcony.
The cold drops soothed her skin, which stretched too tight and hot on her
bones. Letting the rain calm her aching soul, she sat with the pain, got used
to the new options she faced.

She would fix this and then leave her job.

Saturday night, Kylie at a sleepover, Jocelyn paced around
her living room, a glass of scotch in her hand, stopping only to gulp the
liquid and enjoy the burning sensation all the way down her throat. “Let’s stay
in tonight. I just can’t handle Madison.”

“Whatever you want, babe.” Jared hesitated for a heartbeat.
“Does this affect us in any way?”

“It shouldn’t.” She didn’t meet his eyes.

He lifted her chin and held it so she couldn’t escape his
gaze. “I didn’t ask if it should. I asked if it did.”

“I’m one pissed-off female who just saw everything I’ve
built over the past ten years snuffed out by a vote.” Another swig of scotch
helped keep the pity away. Part of her did blame Jared, irrational though it
was. If she hadn’t been crooning around him like a lovesick puppy, she might
have seen it coming, not let it get away from her.

“You’re feeling helpless, out of control.” He caught her in
a bear hug.

She struggled against his weight before collapsing against
him. Arms around his waist, face buried in his shoulder to fight back the tears
she refused to shed. “Yes and I hate it.”

Frozen in time to the backdrop of beating hearts, she
stilled in his embrace, took the support he offered. His hands stroked her
hair, down her back. He kept at it until the tension released from her body.
“Whatever you feel, helpless and out of control doesn’t sound much like you.”

When had Jared become part of her strength? His warmth, her
courage? Her professional world might have gone to hell in a handbasket, but
nestled in his arms it didn’t seem to matter. She’d take it on, like she always
did, this time with him by her side. It was that
Wizard of Oz
moment,
when her life changed from black and white to vivid color, full of potential
and new roads. It recharged her batteries.

“It’s not. I’ll find a way around the vote, there are things
I can still do.” With a gentle kiss, she wriggled out of his arms and swigged
her drink. A little extra courage never hurt. “No, this has nothing to do with
us. Let’s go out and have some fun. It’s open mic night at Carousel. A chance
to laugh at Madison’s finest if there ever was one.”

His bellow brought a smile to her face. “You never do
anything on a small scale, Joci. Let’s go be seen. I’m driving if you want to
keep chugging scotch.”

“Spoilsport.”

Carousel, a former production factory for ceramic carousel
horses refurbished into a restaurant, was hopping when they arrived. Jocelyn
had helped the owner finance the renovation so she could always get a seat when
she needed it. Vanilla-scented candles topped mosaic tables, each individually
designed by a local artist, creating an eclectic but artsy feel to the room.
Jared’s finger idly traced the blue, green and black tiles of the storm motif
raging across their tabletop. “This is how we met,” he said.

“Looks like we would’ve met anyway.”

“True, but the outcome probably wouldn’t have been the
same.”

Would she have let him in her life had it happened
otherwise? She gazed at his lean, angular cheeks, the blazing blue eyes she had
lost herself in more times than she could count, the hard, masculine nose that
had seen one fight too many, and those soft, warm, sensual lips whose kisses
sent her to the moon. The face of the man she loved. She didn’t know when that
had that happened, but she couldn’t deny the truth of it. “Jocelyn Wade, aren’t
you just full of surprises.” Debbie Hester’s words dripped acid. “Don was
right. Your professional opinion can no longer be trusted.”

“I’ve never known her personal circumstances to cloud her
professional judgment. I don’t believe it now,” said Myron Atwater, who walked
over to join them.

Jocelyn flashed him a grateful smile, glad from head to foot
to see she still had friends.

“Of course, Mayor,” Debbie said through gritted teeth. “I
was just leaving anyway.”

“It’s good to see you two out. May I sit down? We need to
talk.” Before either of them replied he pulled up an empty chair from the
adjacent table and joined them. Myron turned his body toward Jocelyn as if he
wanted to avoid looking at Jared. “As you know, the School Board is about to
announce the proposed budget cuts next week—a one million dollar shortfall.
Then we’ll have a couple of months to figure out where to cut. It’s not going
to be pretty.”

“Let me know what I can do,” Jocelyn offered.

“Help us raise extra funds. Derrick Karsen at the foundation
promised two hundred fifty thousand dollars. Can you implement a campaign to
raise the same amount in two months?” Myron’s gaze remained on Jocelyn. He
never glanced at Jared, whose silence sent alarm bells ringing through her
head.

“Of course.” She couldn’t answer otherwise. Myron just handed
her a way to fix everything, to regain her integrity after the Chamber
betrayal. It would be time intensive, especially on top of the work schedule
set up to deal with the Health Corp closure. And her father seemed to be
worsening. It didn’t matter. She was Jocelyn Wade. She’d make it all work.

“I knew we could count on you. Evening, Jocelyn, Jared.”

“My job’s on the line. That’s why he couldn’t look at me,”
Jared said as soon as Myron was out of earshot.

The caisson song burst out. “That’s my dad’s ringtone. I
need to get that then we’ll discuss this.” She spent the next twenty minutes
talking her dad out of a panic attack and into taking his medication while
trying to ignore the scowl that had taken root on Jared’s face. One problem at
a time.

The situation with her dad under control, she stroked her
fingers along Jared’s cheek. “I’m sorry, babe. Now why would you think your
job’s at risk?”

It took several caresses for his face to soften before he
answered. “Sports and special programs are usually the first to go with the
number of cuts they’ll have to make to balance a budget with a shortfall that
size.”

“Not in Madison. But I’ll raise the money. Everything will
be fine.”

“Joci, I don’t lack for job opportunities. In fact, I have a
couple of offers for the next academic year, one back in Texas, another in
Virginia, close to your brother.”

“You want to leave Madison?” Talk about getting kicked while
you’re down. Her body was one big bruise.

“No, but I love my work, babe. I
am
my work.” God,
she loved him for that, for the miracles it brought her daughter and other kids
like her. She would not want him to give it up but she also knew the economy
here well. If he lost his job, there would be little else for him.

“If I had to, would you come with me? You’re clearly ready
for a job change.” Another punch to the gut. Madison was all she’d ever known.
She was in love with Jared, but this was her home. Her life was here.

“Joci?” His voice was angry, tinged with desperation.

“I don’t know, Jared. It took me years to build a world for
Kylie. My dad needs me. It’s just so sudden.”

“That doesn’t make what’s between us any less real. Would
you follow me if I had to take a job elsewhere?”

“This is
not
a decision we have to make. I’ll raise
the funds. Let’s go and enjoy having the house to ourselves since Kylie’s out
for the evening.”

Jared agreed, but she noticed hollows under his eyes she
hadn’t seen before and couldn’t read. He held her close as he guided her to the
car, his fingers digging into her arm. His hand played with hers during the car
ride home, sometimes squeezing harder than usual as if he wasn’t sure she was
there. She’d remind him how there she was when they got to the house.

* * * * *

At home, Jocelyn headed for the kitchen. “I’ve got some open
Chardonnay in the fridge,” Jocelyn said after they hung up their coats. She
filled the glasses to the top and placed them on the solid oak dining table in
the kitchen. A little liquid comfort to help cope with a life that was
spiraling out of control. Jared moved them to the counter. “Babe, I have a much
better way to make that stress disappear. Get naked.”

He discarded his clothes as quickly as she did and stood in
front of her. His thumbs softly traced over her brows, along her cheek, and his
mouth followed, kissing farther down her neck, licking her collarbone.

With soft kisses, he urged her down on the kitchen table.
His finger dipped in the wine and he brushed it over her lips and watched her
lazily lick it off. Wineglass now in hand, he coated his finger with wine and
let her suck it off. Her tongue swirled around it while her hands kneaded her
breasts. The darkening of his eyes and the throbbing of his cock offered just
reward for her efforts.

He spilled a few drops of wine onto her chest. His tongue
guided them down her breast to her nipple. She arched into his mouth as he
suckled her tenderly then savagely. The coolness of the wine soothed, the heat
of his mouth burned and she couldn’t get enough of either. He drank from her
nipples until the wineglass had only drops left. Swigging those, he kissed her,
his wine-spiced tongue stroked and flicked along hers, sharing the remains.
Hanging on to him, the cocktail of tastes and smells had her body and mind in
flames. God, she loved him, how he made her feel.

“Next course.” Bending her legs up, he kneeled down in front
of her and began to lick up and around her slit. That talented tongue
alternated circling figure eights across her nub and pumping her channel in
wet, demanding thrusts. She screamed until she cried and he kept going,
feasting on her until she lost count of how many times she came. Her head light
and dreamy, for the first time in forever she saw happiness with a man by her
side—the man nipping at her lips and whispering how much he needed to be inside
her.

Still dizzy, she watched him lift her legs, enter her and
thrust slowly. The gentle stroking of sensitive nerve endings had desire
resurface with a vengeance. As she matched the rhythm of his pulses, he took
them higher, harder, faster. He never stayed in place, pushed their pleasure
further and she loved that about him. Someone who gave as much as he took,
which made her want to give it all to him. She fucked him with everything she
had—offering him her body, heart and soul. When he growled his release, she
opened up to it, receiving all of him until she collapsed into a mindless,
boneless mass.

How they got to the bedroom afterward she’d never know. He
slept entangled in her arms. Sleep eluded her. Could she leave Madison? She
wanted to quit her job, but her life was here. Her father, hell the entire
town, relied on her. She’d never let them down. And it took her years to build
up Kylie’s support networks. But to lose Jared… This was not a choice she
wanted to make. She’d pull out all the stops, raise double the money to be
safe. She’d fix the budget, retain Jared’s job, rebuild her reputation and they
could stay in Madison. Plan established, next move set.

* * * * *

“Damn it, Joci, where the hell are you?” Jared asked the
voice mail message droning in his ear during a break at soccer practice. She’d
been AWOL for three weeks. Dates canceled to deal with her dad, general
unavailability as she packed her schedule with fundraising meetings, Kylie’s
appointments—everything but time for him. Hell, he could help with these things
and then they could spend time together afterward. But Joci did it all by
herself and their relationship had descended into a series of hurried texts and
emails and an unending game of phone tag.

Warning bells pounded his temples. This is how it started
with Cara, who had also never been around to fight it out. He was falling for
Joci but he was not going to put up with this crap, never again. How were they
supposed to work this out if he couldn’t reach her? How could he endure another
woman who only let him in the sidelines of her life and her decisions?

Soccer practice over, Joci’s text flashed at him when he did
a phone scan. “Sorry been hard to find. Stuck in meetings. Could u pls bring
Kylie home tonight & stay for dinner? Miss u.” His mouth twisted, caught
between a smile and a frown. He ached to see her but after three weeks a
last-minute pseudo-date didn’t cut it.

“Hey, Coach Wyatt, did you get a text from my mom?” Kylie
sprinted over to his side, her ponytail whipping from side to side, face
flushed. More of her auburn hair showed as the black dye continued to work its
way out. The trust in him her grin revealed had him choosing the smile and the
date. Still wary, he decided he’d at least give Joci a chance to explain.

“Yes, it looks like I’m taking you home. Get your stuff,
text your mom we’re on our way and meet me at the Jeep in the parking lot.”

The house was still dark so Jared parked on the street.
Kylie let them in and slipped into a hostess mantle. “Can I get you something,
Coach Wyatt? We usually have water, juice and beer in the fridge.”

“I’d love a beer. Under the circumstances, why don’t you
call me Jared when we’re in your house?”

“Okay…Jared.” She said it hesitantly as if getting used to
the feel of it. “I usually get dinner started when Mom arrives late.”

“Let me help you.” The poise and maturity Kylie kept hidden
under all the goth shone in full display and he was impressed. Joci carried too
much on her shoulders but not at her daughter’s expense. His heart inched
closer to forgiveness.

“We’re making pizza. Mom heaps on the veggies. Do you want
to chop? I like making the dough.”

They worked together easily, chattering about nothing in
particular as they completed their masterpiece. Before they put the pizza in
the oven, he searched through the spice rack and added a few extras.

“I’ll set the table.” The plates laid, her face scrunched
up, sending lines wriggling across her forehead. “That’s strange. Mom must be
super-stressed.”

“What do you mean?”

She lifted a half-wrapped box from a chair and plopped it on
the table. “Mom sends Uncle Tommy a care package from the whole family on the
tenth of every month. She says having a fixed date gives Uncle Tommy a sense of
routine and connection and gets us into good habits. The tenth was several days
ago. Even when she’s mega-busy, she never forgets.”