Playing With Seduction (10 page)

Practically and logically, yes, they’d been a good match. But personally and individually, and connecting on a deeper level, not so much. Grant was the first guy she’d gone out with from the dating site and since her divorce, and as much as she’d wanted things to work out, she realized she needed…more.

“It’s just not the right fit for me,” she said honestly. She was tempted to say
it’s not you, it’s me
, but didn’t think he’d appreciate the cliché, even if it was the truth. “I’m sure you’ll find the right woman for you, one who’ll appreciate your wine cellar,” she said, trying a bit of humor to break up the awkward tension.

It worked. He glanced at her sheepishly. “You’re probably right. I’m very analytical, and I think I got too caught up in the compatibility results.” He hesitated for a moment, then said, “I’ve actually been emailing with another woman I met on the dating site who enjoys a good bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon. I think I’ll see if she wants to take that day trip to Solvang with me.”

“That’s a
great
idea,” she said, relieved that there were no hard feelings between them.

“I hope we can still be friends?” he asked.

She nodded. “Of course.”

He finally grinned. “If you ever need your back adjusted or want to give those supplements a try, just give my office a call. I’ll still sell them to you for my cost.”

She managed not to laugh, because he was so serious about his offer. “I appreciate that.”

“I really enjoyed meeting you, and I hope you find what you’re looking for.” He leaned forward and placed a quick, chaste kiss on her cheek. “Good night, Kendall.”

He waited until she got into her car and locked the door before he walked to his. Even after he left the parking lot, Kendall sat in her vehicle, reluctant to leave, and she knew exactly why—because she still wanted the man inside the restaurant and no one else. And until she got her fill of passion and pleasure and worked Jase out of her system, it was impossible for her to focus on the future.

She wasn’t giving up her dreams of having a stable marriage and starting a family, she was just allowing herself to enjoy some sexy fun, guilt-free. A few weeks of being uninhibited and even a little brazen. Daring and adventurous. No modesty, no limits, no insecurities.

She was going to be naughty and bad.

Very, very bad
, she thought with a grin.

So bad she might even need a spanking.

She laughed out loud, feeling lighter and more carefree than she had in a long time. She wasn’t sure what the future held for her, but two things were absolutely certain right now.

She wanted Jase, and she wanted her dessert.

H
e was so
fucking pathetic.

Jase shoved his half-eaten burger across the bar, his appetite vanishing as he’d watched Kendall walk out of the restaurant with her date—a successful, stable, respectable-looking guy who she claimed to have everything in common with and who could quite possibly give her that future she was searching for. A future she one hundred percent deserved.

Jealousy—an emotion he wasn’t at all familiar with when it came to women—nearly strangled Jase. He jammed a hand through his hair and swore beneath his breath, hating that she’d left with the other man, that the guy had the right to touch Kendall when he no longer did or could.

More resentment stirred in his belly and ate at him like an ulcer. He’d never felt this way about any other woman he’d dated, or even Cheryl, who he’d had a year-and-a-half relationship with while they’d both been in the Air Force. Even when she’d ended things¸ he’d understood her reasons, and it had been easy to let her go. No emotional turmoil, no drama, no hurt feelings, no goddamn jealousy or cynicism.

Yet having to witness Kendall leave with Mr. Perfect, and imagining how they might spend their evening, was enough to make him want to punch a hole in the nearest wall, and he so wasn’t a violent person.

“Can I get you anything else, hot stuff?” Mallory, the female bartender, asked him as she picked up his plate and set it in a bin under the counter.

In the few weeks that he’d been coming here, he always sat at the bar, and Mallory always flirted with him. She was young and pretty, and she’d made it clear on more than one occasion that she was interested in him. But since meeting Kendall, it was as though he had blinders on when it came to other women. And now knowing what it felt like to be inside of her, to have her come apart beneath him, he wasn’t sure anyone else could compare or satisfy him.

Yeah, he was fucking pathetic.

He was just about to ask for another beer, or maybe something stronger to drown his misery, when he saw Kendall walk back into the restaurant. She veered toward the lounge area and headed in his direction. Her stride in those sexy, white strappy high heels was purposeful. Determined. Confident. There was a sensual sway to her hips as she walked, and while the pink lace dress skimmed her body in a sweet, modest way, the smile on her lips was far from innocent as she approached.

The woman heading his way was different from the one who’d just left. Hell, this woman was different from any version he’d ever seen of Kendall, and he was intrigued. And hopeful, even though he was probably setting himself up for a huge disappointment.

He had no idea why she’d returned sans her date, but a crazy anticipation filled him, and he couldn’t tear his gaze away, too afraid the gorgeous vision of her would disappear if he even blinked.

“I’m good right now,” he finally said to Mallory. “Real good.”

He hadn’t meant to speak the latter out loud, but his comment made the bartender curious enough to follow his gaze to see what had so thoroughly captured his attention.

“Lucky girl,” Mallory said with an envious sigh before walking away to fill another drink order.

No, not a girl. A
woman
, he silently amended, because that’s what Kendall was. Mature, intelligent, and at thirty-five, she was in her sexual prime. Her breasts were small but firm, and real. She was soft and curvy in all the right places, and as she neared, his body responded, tightened, and his heart beat a little faster. Jesus, he was completely and utterly infatuated with her.

She slid into the vacant chair beside him, so close that her thigh pressed against his. He ignored the flash of heat that simple touch caused, and asked the obvious question.

“Where’s your date?”

“Gone.” She met his gaze and exhaled a deep breath. “Grant and I are done.”

“Done?” He knew he probably sounded like he was dense, but he needed her to explain exactly what
done
meant before he let himself get too excited and optimistic.

“We’re finished.” She shrugged, causing her soft, loose curls to brush across her shoulder. “No more dating. We’re going our separate ways.”

“Why?” he asked cautiously.

A cute smile tugged up the corners of her full pink lips, and her eyes danced with humor. “Because no man comes between me and my dessert.”

His mouth twitched with amusement. He loved this lighthearted side to Kendall, and while he knew her reasons for breaking things off with Grant probably went much deeper, he played along for now. “He wouldn’t let you have dessert?” Jase raised a scandalous brow. “The bastard.”

“Exactly,” she said, and laughed, the sound fun and engaging. “And he was very concerned about how I was going to burn off the extra calories from the pasta I had for dinner. He even offered to get me a membership at his gym.”

Oh, yeah, the guy had totally sealed his own fate. Not that Jase was complaining, considering Kendall was now sitting next to him, relaxed and more carefree than she’d ever been with him before when she was normally so composed, guarded, and reserved.

And because she was being so playful, he decided to test the waters and do the same. He placed a hand on her knee and stroked his fingers just above the hem of her dress in a teasing caress. “Instead of working out at a gym, I know a much more effective and enjoyable way to burn off those extra calories.”

She turned her body more fully toward his, allowing his hand to slip farther beneath her dress. “Yeah?” she asked, the daring look in her eyes blowing him away. “Like what?”

Oh, she was feisty. And he loved this new brazen attitude that made her so irresistible and sexy as hell. They were tucked away in the corner of the bar, looking as though they were having an intimate conversation. Which they were, but it was about to get a whole lot more seductive.

Giving her a wicked grin, he leaned in closer and grazed the tips of his fingers a bit higher, enjoying the feel of her soft, smooth skin. “Like you straddling my hips and riding my cock and getting all hot and sweaty,” he murmured, watching as her gaze darkened with desire while her legs eased open a little wider, inviting his hand farther. “It’s also a great exercise to work out the muscles in your thighs and your abdomen, and you get the bonus of releasing tension with an orgasm.”

She bit her bottom lip as his fingers reached the apex of her legs and stroked along the damp crotch of her panties. A palpable tremor coursed through her, and she tipped her head to the side so that her hair hid her flushed face from everyone but him.

“I think I like your workout regimen
much
better than his,” she said breathlessly.

He pushed a finger against her clit and rubbed against the drenched fabric. A tiny moan escaped her, and his dick swelled painfully against the front closure of his jeans. “You’re already so fucking wet,” he murmured. It was all he could do to resist the impulse to pull her astride his lap and start that
workout regimen
right this second.

She laughed huskily. “That happened when you texted me and told me you wanted my mouth sucking your cock with your tongue between my legs at the same time.”

The quote wasn’t word for word, but the sentiment was the same. “I
do
want that with you.”

His reply was direct, his desire for her undisguised. He expected her to retreat, but she didn’t move away. Didn’t shut down or put up those too-high walls that seemed impossible for him to scale. No, this confident new woman looked him straight in the eyes and nearly knocked him into another dimension with her response.

“I want that, too.”

Mind fucking blown
. At a temporary loss for words, he stared at her to try and read her expression, but then out of the corner of his eye, he caught Mallory heading back down to their end of the bar. Very slowly, he removed his hand from beneath Kendall’s dress, just as the bartender reached them.

“Would you like something to drink?” she asked Kendall.

He watched Kendall gather her composure and smile at the other woman. “Yes. I’ll have a large glass of milk.”

Mallory blinked at her in confusion. “Did you say milk?”

Kendall nodded. “Yes. And I’d like a slice of your double chocolate fudge cake to go with it.”

The bartender laughed. “Ahhh, a woman after my own heart. I’d take chocolate cake over alcohol any day.”

Mallory moved away to place the order, and Jase grinned at Kendall.

“A double chocolate fudge cake,” he said, and shook his head. “You don’t mess around with your desserts, do you?”

“Nope.” Her expression softened, and her gaze turned serious. “I think I’m beginning to realize that life is too short, and you just need to go for it sometimes and indulge.”

He got the distinct impression that she was referring to more than just the dessert. Which brought his thoughts back around to the man she’d just ended things with, and what it meant for the two of them.

“Why did you come back in here?” he asked.

She crossed one leg over the other and gave him a resigned smile. “I came back in here to tell you that you won.”

He frowned, not sure what to make of that. “What have I won?”

“This. Us.” She waved a hand between them, then absently worried her bottom lip. “Obviously, that one night with you at The Players Club wasn’t enough for me. I still want you, and it’s interfering with my ability to focus on any other man.”

He managed not to grin like a fool at her confession, yet he needed a more specific explanation from her. “So, what are you saying, exactly?”

She tapped her fingers anxiously on the bar top. “I’m saying…let’s get this crazy attraction we have for one another out of our systems, so we can each go our separate ways and move on with our normal lives.”

Ahhh, so those walls of hers weren’t gone, after all. She was merely lowering them for a
fling
, while separating anything emotional from what she wanted from him physically. Basically, she was suggesting an affair, a friends-with-benefits kind of situation that was casual and discreet and wouldn’t involve any kind of complicated feelings. She was offering him a man’s ultimate dream scenario—sex without commitment.

That might work for some guys but not for him. Jase wanted more from her. Hell, he might even want it all. The revelation was huge, but he didn’t fight it.

He placed his hand over hers, stopping her nervous fidgeting. “So, you want to use me for sex?” he teased.