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  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.”

  As if on cue, Jocelyn entered the front door. She kissed each hello and just when her smile hit her eyes, she saw the package and slumped. “Oh no, Tommy’s parcel.” Her voice was a whisper, her eyes closed in apparent frustration. “We’ll finish it after dinner. I’ll send it out tomorrow.”

  The oven timer beeped and they sat down to eat. “This is excellent,” Jocelyn said. “What did you do differently, Kylie?”

  “Nothing. It was Jared. He added some stuff. And it’s really good.”

  “You can cook too?”

  Jared gave her a big, toothy smile. “I’m a catch, what can I say?”

  After dinner, they worked together to finish the care package. The quiet rhythm of family life tugged at Jared’s heart and filled the hole Joci’s absences had created. Here was where he wanted to be—in the throes of lust and the tranquility of routine.

  “You want to tell me what’s going on, babe?” Jared asked after Kylie went to bed. His fingers stroked her cheek. “Why are you avoiding me?”

  “I’m not. There’s just too much work right now.”

  “Why don’t you quit? You said your job no longer fits.”

  “The Chamber betrayal undid over a decade of my blood, sweat and tears. I can’t—I won’t—lose that. I’ve got to fix it before I go anywhere.”

  He heard words she didn’t say. She wasn’t ready to leave Madison even if he had to. “So this is about your own ego.” The anger was getting away from him, leaking into his words.

  “No, it’s just something I need to do.” Her gaze focused on his cheekbones, unable to meet his look.

  You can’t avoid me that easily. He gripped her arms, forced her eyes back to his. “So if you can’t restore the school budget, you’ll keep working in a place that doesn’t value you, rather than build a life with me?” As much as he was in love with Joci—and he was in love with her—his work defined him, was part of his soul.

  “It won’t come to that. I’ll raise the money.”

  “At what cost? You seem to be throwing us to the wayside to do it.” He would consider staying in Madison, but not as one item on Joci’s to-do list.

  “Trust me. Please.”

  “Give me something, anything to hold on to.”

  She put her arms around his waist and pressed kiss
es against his throat. “Hold on to me. Trust what’s in my heart.”

  His body relaxed against those soft curves. Tension eased out of his bones as she continued fluttering kisses up his neck, across his chin. Passion replaced it. He possessed her with his kiss, made his ownership clear. His heart nearly burst with her acceptance of it. “Upstairs.”

  He had her naked, splayed on the bed, open and waiting. A private playground offered up for pleasure. His. Alone. He was going to play, hard. Brand her with his touch. Own every inch of her until she had no choice but to follow him.

  Her taste filled his mouth, her scent, his nose as he kissed and licked every part of her. Starting with the right foot, his mouth explored up the calf, nibbling the thigh and belly. Stopping at her breast, he suckled and nipped until the peak darkened to a ruby red, eliciting unending moans and whispered, “so, so goods” as she arched into him, greedy for more. Continuing his journey, he let himself drown in her kiss before making sure her left side received equal erotic attention. He finished at his favorite place, her pussy, all dewed up and ready, and lapped himself drunk on the honeyed taste of her. Her groans and writhing fueled his hunger, made him insatiable. After she came, she insisted on having her turn.

  On his back, he lay there and let her have all of him. Her mouth claimed every inch of skin on his body, trumpeting her ownership of him as completely as he did for her. When she sucked his cock into that warm mouth of hers, he gave himself over to the bliss of it. Her tongue stroking him sent blinding pulses racing down his spine, pooling at the base, and urged him to release. He wanted inside her, for every part of her to make claim on his body. He pulled her up to meet her face-to-face, fastened his lips to hers and entered her very tight, very greedy channel.

  They made love with their bodies and lips intertwined, clutching each other desperately as if they both feared they were breaking apart. As their climaxes overtook them, they groaned through the kiss, neither willing to let any connection go.

  Still holding each other, Jocelyn lay her head against Jared’s shoulder. “God, what you do to me, Jared,” she uttered, still breathless.

  “It’s mutual, babe.” He threaded his fingers through her hair, forcing her to look at him. “No more three-week separations, Joci.”

  She cupped his cheek. “I missed you too.”

  As Jared drifted to sleep, he realized that she had not made him any promises. For now, he would take her on faith, wait and see what happened next. They really did not fully have this trust thing down, either of them. He might be in love her but he wouldn’t accept another Cara. He needed to be a priority in his woman’s life, not the one who waited in the shadows.

  Chapter Twelve

  Jared parked his car at the French Kitchen, the finest restaurant in Madison. Early for his date with Jocelyn, he strolled down Main Street, window-shopping along the darkened storefronts. He hadn’t seen her in two weeks. She’d canceled two other dates but tried to keep in more regular touch.

  In the corner of his eye, he caught her in the window of Carousel, leaning in toward a good-looking, thirty-something man he vaguely remembered from the Sunday-night meeting at her house a month or so ago. Her hand pressed lightly on his arm as their conversation grew more intense. Even from a distance, he could see the determined set of Jocelyn’s jaw.

  The she-mine caveman part of him surfaced with a roar. It took every ounce of control not to go in and drag her out over his shoulder. He jogged around the block to give the adrenaline flooding his bloodstream something else to do other than give in to his beat-up-the-man-touching-my-woman instinct. He knew the encounter was innocent, Joci was clearly in a fighting stance, but his patience was wearing thin. Here he was waiting, watching from a distance while she worked. Again. Another lap to keep the demons at bay then he headed into the restaurant and ordered a bottle of wine.

  He had downed a glass by the time she arrived. He stood to welcome her with a kiss and hold the chair for her to sit down. “Hey, babe,” he whispered in her ear before he returned to his seat.

  “A glass of wine waiting for me. What a perfect way to start a date.” The smile she gave him made his heart skip a beat—part pleasure, part pain.

  “All part of the five-star service.” His gaze drank her in. Her usual hair knot had been undone so her locks swung freely against her shoulders, lipstick refreshed and another button opened to better display her cleavage. The jealousy he barely contained earlier shot through his system with a vengeance. “Sexy new look. Is it for me or the guy at Carousel?”

  Her jaw hit her knees. Hurt flickered in her eyes but was soon replaced by anger. “Jealous much, Jared? I did this for you, after my meeting ended. I thought you would like it.”

  “It’s hard to know what to think. You seem to have time for everyone but me these days.”

  “I’m doing this for us, for Madison. I’ve raised almost all the money. It’s almost over.” She glowered at him, frustration and fatigue showing in the white lines radiating from her eyes and mouth. With a sigh, she traced her finger gently along his lower lip.

  He pushed her hand away. “You’re doing this for you, so you don’t have to fully let me in. The harsh truth is we don’t need this job. You want me to keep it.”

  “It’s not just me, Jared. Madison needs you too—needs this level of commitment to all of its children.”

  “Madison will go on just fine without Jocelyn Wade. You may feel burdened by your obligations but you’re also unwilling to let them go.”

  She leaned back in her chair, lines furrowed across her brow as if she were trying to process everything he said. “It’s not easy.”

  “Since when did hard scare you?”

  “You may be right. It’s been a demanding couple of months. For now, how can I make amends so we can enjoy the evening? A whip, handcuffs, restraints? You can choose the punishment. I’m at your mercy.” Her grin promised he wouldn’t regret a second of it.

  “All three might be enough to get you out the hole you just dug…maybe.” Despite his best efforts he couldn’t suppress the grin tugging at his lips at the thought of her in handcuffs. But he wanted more than her body. “You don’t have to do this alone, Joci. Your brother can shoulder more interaction with your dad. You can delegate some fundraising to your staff—guilt is driving you to do it all. Let me help with Kylie. She likes me, you know.”

  Her return smile never reached her eyes.

  When he took her home, he made love to her with a desperation he could not let out any other way. He wasn’t sure she could let go of the life she created for herself and the crumbs she left him were just not enough. Love alone did not make a relationship, that took work. Joci seemed to give that to everyone but him.

  * * * * *

  Over the next weeks, things continued to deteriorate. The one date they snuck into Jocelyn’s fundraising and meeting schedule was interrupted by six phone calls, two from work and four from her dad. The one thing going well was the girls’ soccer team. The Blaze made it to the state championships, a rare victory for a new team. He watched Joci put it in her calendar.

  The day the championship game arrived, Jared had not heard from Jocelyn in a few days. He was warming up the team on the field when he saw Alan Wade wave to him and Kylie from the bleachers.

  “It’s nice to see your grandfather here to watch the game,” Jared said to Kylie when she ran up to him after he called his team back to him.

  “Mom asked him to bring me home. She had some major meeting and couldn’t make it today. Oh, that reminds me, she asked me to give you this.” Kylie took a small white envelope out of the pocket of her warm-up jacket. “It’s pretty special. Mom’s never given this to anyone outside the family before.”

  He took the note, turning it over in his hands. She’s not coming. White-hot anger bubbled through his gut, scorched through his chest and threatened to spill out all over the field. He channeled every ounce of control he owned into not ripping the thing to shreds. Not with Kylie the
re. Shoving it in his pocket, he pushed his hair off his face in sheer frustration. She noticed.

  “You didn’t know Mom wasn’t coming? I’m sure she tried to call. You probably have a message. Coach, Mom always has a really good reason when she misses something.”

  He gave her all the smile he was capable of giving right now, which wasn’t much of one. “Thanks, Kylie. Let’s focus on the game. We have the state championship to win.”

  Jared’s hands shook with anger, he felt the pulse in his temple. An image of him standing alone at Coach Mal’s funeral, Cara at some meeting, not at his side, came blazing into focus. His life repeating itself. This was the last straw. He would not go through it again. Anger washed over him until he was drowning in it. He deserved a woman who wanted to build a life with him, not around him.

  A hand tapped his shoulder. “Coach, it’s the national anthem. You have to stand up.” Sheer habit had him rise and he caught the faces of his team, flushed in excitement, fear, nerves and eagerness, just as they should be. He pulled it together for them. They deserved his best and he would deliver.

  The Blaze played hard. When Kylie snuck behind the defender and slipped the ball into the goal with seconds to spare at the end of the game, the crowd screamed so loud he was sure the next town over could hear them. And he cheered the loudest, his heart bursting with a father’s pride. Damn, he was screwed up. He had not just fallen in love with Joci, but the whole dream of a family. Somewhere along the line, the idea of raising Kylie as his own daughter had crept into his heart. Now he felt that heart breaking into pieces and this time he wasn’t so sure he’d ever be able to put it back together again.

  Where the hell was Joci and what was she doing that was so damn important that she missed this, without even talking it through with him? That was the crux of it. It wasn’t that she wasn’t here—it wasn’t really about the time. She sidelined him in all her decisions—didn’t let him in to the real part of her life. That he could not accept.