The Back-Up Plan (10 page)

Tell that to her past lovers. She wasn’t sure any of them could have found it if she’d drawn a map and given them a GPS.

Jason distracted her again when he wiggled that same wicked finger, applying just the right pressure and speed. “Once you figure out that you and I are inevitable, I’m going to lay you down on a bed and suck on that pretty little clit until you come.”

Oh God. Dirty talk. She was done for. She loved that shit. After all, words were her job. She and Jason used them to sway juries, unnerve witnesses and appeal to judges. There was no way she could resist when Jason used them against her like this.

“But until then, we’ll have to settle for this.” He continued to move his finger against the swollen nub, working it until every brain cell in her head evaporated under the magic of his touch. She shifted lower in the seat, giving him better access as her hips started thrusting in tandem, allowing her to participate in what was sure to be a beautiful demise.

As Jason stroked her, he cupped the back of her neck with his free hand, tugging her face closer to his. She thought his intention was to kiss her, but instead he just looked at her. She could only imagine what he saw. She felt the light sheen of sweat on her brow caused by the heat of the car and she didn’t need a mirror to know her face was flushed.

She licked her lips, hoping Jason would read the invitation in her gesture. She was hungry for his kisses, but he didn’t move. He simply kept driving her higher and higher up the mountain.

She was going to come. Soon. And pushed there by nothing more than Jason’s caresses, his tight—completely alpha and sexy—grip on her neck and the look on his face that told her there was nowhere else on earth he’d rather be right now.

“Kiss me,” she whispered, hoping that would dispel some of the intensity radiating between them. The moment was too heated, too passionate. She wasn’t used to this. Wasn’t sure she’d ever felt anything like it.

Jason shook his head. “I want to watch you.”

That idea made her uncomfortable. It felt too personal. Her past encounters usually involved darkened rooms, closed eyes, privacy. Jason was thrusting her out into the light, demanding more than she’d ever been willing to give.

“Please.”

He didn’t release his grip. Didn’t give in. Instead, he dipped two fingers inside her pussy, thrusting faster and with a strength that drove her out of her mind. Then he used the moisture discovered there to stroke her clit again. Inside. Out. Faster. Harder.

It was too much. Kristen gripped his shoulder with one hand as the other still clung to the arm that was wrecking the most incredible havoc on her body.

“God, J. Please.” Her plea came out in harsh breaths as her vision went cloudy. He wasn’t granting her a reprieve, wasn’t going to settle for less than he’d demanded. He was going to watch the walls fall down.

She wanted to twist her face away from him. She even tried, but his grip was resolute.

“You’re beautiful, Kris. Stop trying to hide from me and come.”

He whispered the last word, but it was as if he’d shouted it from a mountaintop. Kristen shattered in his arms, her body writhing, her face contorting as the most astonishing, pleasurable, almost painful tremors ripped through her.

No vibrator in the world had ever provoked that kind of orgasm. No lover had ever brought her to such completion. And the most amazing part was they were both still fully dressed.

As her climax began to subside, Kristen fell back against the seat. Jason slowly pulled his fingers from her body, the slight motion provoking another smaller climax.

She gasped. “Shit. Whoa.”

She kept her eyes closed, her face forward, unable and unwilling to look at him just yet. She wasn’t sure how long she hid. Jason, bless him, didn’t force her to talk about it. To try to get her to admit to something she simply couldn’t accept. Not yet. Maybe not ever.

Her brain slowly started to emerge from the wreckage and it wasn’t pleased. She’d thrown every bit of logic and common sense out the window for a few minutes of physical pleasure. With her playboy, party-hardy, clown of a law partner.

Jason chuckled softly. The sound prompted her to turn her head and look at him.

He glanced at his watch. “Took a full five minutes for Miss Practical to reappear. Your response time is slowing down. I’m getting to you, aren’t I?”

She blew out an exasperated breath. “Jason. We can’t keep doing this. We’re completely and utterly wrong for each other.”

Even as the words came out, she knew they were a lie.

But there was a difference between lust and love. She’d said as much in the bar. And right now, she couldn’t figure out which category they fell in. Neither of them was exactly expert in the field of relationships. What if they really were suffering some sort of midlife crises? What if they were mistaking lust for love? Jason wasn’t exactly known for denying himself his pleasures. What if he only thought he had feelings for her because of the unrequited desire? And if she gave in, would he figure it out and run for the hills once the novelty wore off? Could she take a chance like that?

She had zero experience when it came to affairs of the heart. Her parents had never been married. Her dad got her mom pregnant twice within the course of two years, then hit the road. Her mother hadn’t been too far behind him, which left Kristen and her brother in the care of their grandmother. Grandma had done the best she could by them and Kristen didn’t doubt she loved them, but her grandmother didn’t show affection easily. Kristen was more like her than she wanted to admit, finding life much easier if she kept everything and everyone at a distance.

Now Jason was prying things open that had never seen the light of day and it was freaking her out.

He dragged her from her confused thoughts, running his finger along her nose playfully. “It’s okay, Kris. This is a marathon, not a sprint. There’s no mad dash to the finish line.”

“Matthew is perfect for me.”

He grinned. “Yeah. I know that.”

“You drive me crazy.”

Jason cupped her cheek, encouraging her to look at him when she started to turn away again. “I know that too. So I’m stepping away for now.”

Her heart lurched at the thought he wanted to break off whatever it was that was going on between them. Though she didn’t know what she wanted, she wasn’t sure she could stand to see this end. “What do you mean?”

“You started this year with a goal. To find a guy and settle down. I know you believe Matthew is the right man for you. So I’m going to give you a chance to figure out if that’s true. I didn’t plan on this—” he waved his finger between them, “—happening. I’m not intentionally trying to mess with your head, but I think I am. So I’ll steer clear, give you some time to sort it all out. Okay?”

It was a wonderful gesture. A kind gift.

She hated it.

But realistic Kristen saw the wisdom in his words. She did need to put some distance between them. She couldn’t think when he was standing so close to her. Maybe if they weren’t in each other’s faces all the time, she could catch her breath and her wits and recall how to put two and two together once more.

“I’m in court all next week, so I probably won’t be in the office much. In fact, I might just set up camp in one of the conference rooms at the courthouse.”

She nodded. “Okay.”

“The week after that I’m driving to New York for that law conference.”

He hadn’t been kidding about distance. He’d already managed to put two weeks between them. Her stomach actually ached at the thought.

“After that, we’ll play it by ear.”

She swallowed heavily, trying to dislodge the lump that had formed there. For some insane reason, she felt the urge to cry. She never cried. God. Maybe it wasn’t Josie with the hormonal issues. Maybe it was her. Perimenopause?

“So I guess this is goodbye for a little while?” She didn’t fail to hear the tightness, the misery, in her own voice.

It wasn’t lost on Jason either. His gaze softened. “It’s just for two weeks, Kris. Then I’ll be back in the office, making you nuts again, playing the music in my office too loud, taking long lunches, flirting with that cute new intern to make you jealous. You know, business as usual.”

She laughed, appreciating his attempts at lightening the heaviness that had settled on her chest. “I knew we should have gone for two guy interns. I was a fool to let you convince me otherwise.”

Jason reached for her and she moved toward him, accepting his hug, loving the extra squeeze he added just before he released her.

“Good night, sunshine.”

“Behave at the conference.”

He winked. “You know I don’t work well with limits.”

“Bye, J.”

She got out and walked slowly to her front door. He hadn’t bothered to start his car. She knew he’d keep an eye on her until she got safely in her house. The problem was once she got inside she’d be alone again.

She thought that loneliness had been insufferable at New Year’s. Apparently she hadn’t known what unbearable was until now.

Chapter Six

In Massachusetts, it’s against the law for women to be on top during sex.

Three weeks had passed since her interlude with Jason in the parking lot outside her house. Three weeks of nonstop work and activities. Kristen had thrown herself into her daily routine with a vengeance, hoping that by constantly moving, by filling every waking hour, she’d be able to block Jason from her mind.

He’d been true to his word, keeping his distance for two full weeks. Then last week, he’d returned to the office, filling the quiet, boring space with his unique brand of lightness and laughter and fun. In the past, she’d found his constant jokes and pranks at work annoying, unprofessional. Now she found herself waiting and wondering what he’d get up to next, looking forward to his silly antics.

She stepped next to Laura, soaking in a deep breath of the sunshine, and handed her friend a beer. They watched Jason tighten a bolt at the bottom of the lifeguard stand. She’d been surprised when he’d stopped by her office yesterday afternoon. Though he’d been around the entire week, he had still attempted to keep some space between them, making sure they were never alone together.

Then he’d popped his head in the doorway and asked if she wanted to be his date for the Buffett concert.

She hadn’t even considered her response. Instead, she’d just said, “Yeah, sure.”

She’d spent most of last night torn between anticipation and the desire to kick her own ass.

“Regretting your back-up plan with Jason?” Laura asked. “I mean it is June. Only one more month until the big four-oh.”

While she had talked to Zoey about Jason, Kristen hadn’t clued Laura or the rest of the wine girls into this sudden attraction to him. She wasn’t sure what was holding her back—typically there wasn’t much she didn’t tell her friends. Was she afraid that if she spoke the words aloud, somehow it would make things real? She couldn’t deal with real and her partner. “There’s no way in hell I’m marrying that man. I never would have made that damn pact with Jason if he hadn’t caught me on a bad night.”

Laura asked for more details regarding the back-up plan. Kristen filled her in, recalling how easy it had been for her to sign that napkin five years earlier.

“I wouldn’t worry too much, Kristen. He’s probably forgotten all about it.”

“That’s just it. He hasn’t. And he’s mentioned it several times in the last few months. I think he intends to hold me to it. Christ, if I didn’t know better, I’d think he wanted to marry me.”

Laura gave her a curious glance and started to say more, but Jason looked over his shoulder at them and grinned. “You ladies want to be the first to try out the stand? Only rule is once you’re up there you have to flash us.” Jason wiggled his eyebrows, accepting the beer Laura’s boyfriend, Bryan, offered him with a quick thanks.

Kristen was grateful for his timely interruption. She’d said way more to Laura than she’d intended, so she walked over to look at the structure. It stood nearly eight feet high and was painted in vivid colors with a spray-painted sign that did indeed declare it was a Topless Lifeguard Stand. She questioned whether it was safe and Jason assured her it was. Then he encouraged the other men in their group to grab a seat for the show.

Kristen shook her head. “You are king of the male chauvinist pigs.”

“Have another beer, Kris. Might help you lighten up.” Jason held out his hands as if he’d just delivered them all to paradise. “After all, it’s Buffett. Anything can happen.”

Anything. That was exactly what she was afraid of.

Georgie and Nick joined them as they circled their lawn chairs around the small encampment, passing around bags of chips and drinking beer. Bryan had arranged for his daughter and a couple of friends to arrive after the concert to serve as their DDs.

The music, laughter and time with good friends were just what the doctor ordered. Kristen had been running herself ragged, trying to refocus her goals, to plant her feet firmly on the right path once more. She’d spent more and more time with Matthew, fully determined that eventually her common sense would rebound and she’d realize he was the perfect guy for her.