NextMoves Page 8

  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.

  Chapter Ten

  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 beca
me 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.

  Chapter Eleven

  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, s
he 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.