Guilty Pleasures: A Collection (2 page)

After a while, she finally caught sight of him talking to a few of his old high school buddies, and the thrill of seeing him in the flesh rejuvenated her excitement. He turned his head, met her gaze, and the dazzling smile that curved his mouth made her weak in the knees, as giddy as an infatuated school girl who'd just been noticed by her secret crush. She tingled from head to toe. She couldn't remember the last time any man had such an instantaneous, all-encompassing affect on her. That in itself said a lot for her crazy attraction to Jake Copeland.

Doing her best to reign in her enthusiasm, she leaned toward Ali and spoke softly. “There he is,” she said, torn between going to Jake yet not wanting to ditch her friend. “Will you be okay if I leave?”

Ali gave her a reassuring smile. “Go and have a good time.”

Hearing the sincerity in her friend's voice, Renee only paused a fraction of a second before she started toward Jake, who was already on his way to meet her. Tall, dark-haired, and devastatingly gorgeous, he not only turned female heads but he exuded a confidence that was so freakin' hot it made her heart skip a beat. With his stunning good looks and amiable personality, she had no idea how some lucky woman hadn't snatched him up by now—though, admittedly, his single status was one topic of conversation he'd managed to avoid during their late night chats.

He was dressed in a dark purple shirt that elevated the brilliant blue of his eyes and a pair of casual black slacks that tailored to his lean, toned physique. As he neared, his heated gaze took in the emerald green, strapless bandage dress she'd bought specifically for tonight's reunion with Jake. The material hugged her curves, the form fitting bodice doing a decent job of enhancing her bust and giving her a bit of cleavage. Judging by the appreciative look in his gaze, her choice of dress had been a worthwhile investment.

They reached one another, and he didn't hesitate to wrap her up in a warm, sensual embrace that melded their bodies and felt so good in so many ways. There was absolutely no awkwardness between them, and by the time he let her go, she felt dizzy and breathless and aroused . . . and wished they were already alone.

Staring down at her, he tipped his head curiously, the boyish smile curving his lips so at odds with the tempting man he'd become. “You still use the same shampoo,” he murmured as he wound a long auburn strand around his finger and gave a small, playful tug that tingled from her scalp right down to the tips of her breasts.

Of all the things he could have said to her, this was the most unexpected, and his intimate comment caused her stomach to do a little flip. “Yep, Suave Fresh Mountain Strawberry.”

The one and only time Jake had gotten close to smelling the scent of her hair was when he'd thrust inside her that first time, groaned roughly, then buried his face against the side of her neck where her hair trailed across her shoulder. He'd inhaled a deep breath right before he'd lost control and everything ended before it truly had a chance to begin.

That he'd kept such a simple memory of that night locked away made her want to believe he was a romantic soul. However, the smoldering look in his eyes bypassed simple sentimental fancy and took a flying leap straight to lust.

Let the seduction begin . . .

She shivered in delicious expectation, but instead of whisking her away to somewhere more private, he splayed his hand at the base of her spine and together they made the rounds at the cocktail party. He didn't seem to care what people thought of his affectionate touches and subtle caresses that suggested they were a couple, and when someone questioned them about their relationship, he just smiled and told them that they were definitely getting reacquainted, leaving his vague response up to individual interpretation.

When the conversation around them turned to someone else, he leaned closer, his hand oh-so-casually dipping lower on her back to the curve of her ass. “You look beautiful and so amazingly sexy,” he murmured huskily.

Her pulsed raced, wreaking havoc with her equilibrium. With just a look from those devastatingly blue eyes, he made her feel incredibly desirable, more than any man she'd ever been with. And vulnerable, too, because her heart was involved, far more than she'd ever planned or anticipated.

In time, they mingled toward another gathering of classmates, and yet again he unraveled her senses with another teasing, exhilarating invitation, whispered so only she could hear. “I can't wait to get you alone so I can kiss you the way I've been wanting to since the moment I saw you across the room.”

She swallowed hard as the need inside her intensified, which she suspected was his sole intent. The thought of kissing him consumed her, making her ache to feel his mouth on hers. Late night phone sex and what she imagined in her mind just couldn't compare to the real thing.

Yet again, as they walked away from another couple, he murmured softly in her ear. “I can't stop thinking about your breasts, and how warm and soft they're going to feel in my hands and mouth.”

Her face flushed and her nipples puckered into tight, sensitive points. He’d come so far from the inexperienced boy he’d been, and he had her so flustered and on edge she couldn't think about anything but getting him alone and having her way with him. Or vice-versa. Before anyone else could interrupt them, she brought him to an abrupt stop.

He smiled at her, much too innocently for a man who had her on the brink of combusting, right then and there. “You’re tense. Is everything okay?” he asked.

She exhaled a stream of breath that did nothing to ease the tension he'd caused. The powerful pull of hot attraction, along with the desperate longing for him to make good on his last promise to worship her breasts, overwhelmed her. “Are you purposely trying to drive me insane with lust?”

“Oh, absolutely, sweetheart,” he replied shamelessly. “It's called foreplay, something that you and I missed out on ten years ago.”

She swallowed back a small groan. “You're killing me with all your sexy come-ons, you know that, right?”

The wicked gleam in his eyes confirmed that he had just enough bad boy in him to reduce her to a quivering mass of need. “I take it you're ready to blow this joint?”

She nearly swooned. “I thought you'd never ask.”

Once Jake had Renee's answer, he clasped her hand tight in his and made a beeline for the exit. He walked with such single minded purpose that no one dared to waylay them for another round of meaningless conversation—though they did attract a few curious stares on their way out the door.

He didn't give a damn. Coming to his ten year reunion had never been about getting reacquainted with people he no longer had anything in common with, and everything to do with Renee Griffen and finding out if all those emails and late night chats had affected her as much as it had him. Not just physically—clearly, they both wanted each other badly—but emotionally, too. Because at some point, when he'd least expected it, she'd become more than just a fun, sexy “do-over” to indulge in at their ten year reunion.

Never would he have imagined that a Facebook friend request from the girl he'd lost his virginity to back in high school would develop into a more intimate and romantic relationship. Especially when he’d spent the past four years keeping his affairs brief and impersonal because he’d been burned badly enough by one woman to keep him from opening himself up to that kind of pain again.

Yet over the span of a few shorts months of online conversations and flirtations with Renee, he’d developed a deeper connection with her. At first, their emails and chats had been safe and fun—an unexpected blast from his past that initially provided an enjoyable late night distraction from work and other responsibilities in his life. There had been no pressure to impress, no pretenses between them, and knowing that she lived in another state made it easy to believe that their online meetings wouldn’t interfere with real life.

But as days turned into weeks, and weeks into a month, he realized that he looked forward to their easy banter, their reciprocal teasing, and how she made him laugh and relax after a long, stressful day at work. What had started as just a friendly exchange had gradually progressed into something far more meaningful he knew was worth pursuing. Skyping long distance was no longer enough for him.

If this weekend went the way he hoped it would, then Jake knew he wanted a real relationship with Renee. And that would mean it was time for him to tell her about his seven year old daughter, who he'd always kept far removed from his brief affairs and the women he’d casually dated.

After Addison’s mother had signed all her parental rights over to Jake and walked away from the two of them, his natural instinct was to protect his little girl from experiencing that kind of abandonment again. Addison had been three years old when Lacey had decided she couldn’t deal with being tied down with a child, and it had taken Addison months to get over the loss of her mother—even though Lacey had never been the loving, affectionate type. And Jake had always sworn that he’d never put his daughter through that kind of emotional trauma again.

Thus began the cycle of meaningless trysts with women who never needed to even know he had a daughter. He’d never allowed any of those encounters to get serious enough to have that discussion, and he’d preferred to keep his personal life private. Renee was the first woman to tempt him to want to change all that.

This weekend was potentially a game changer for Jake, and hopefully for her, too. But for this evening, she was all his.

He knew Renee was probably expecting him to take her up to his hotel room after the way he’d seduced her back at the cocktail party, but instead he headed outside and followed a moonlit pathway that led to a secluded gazebo he’d scoped out earlier. Once they were inside the shadowed bower draped with fragrant night blooming jasmine, he backed her up against a thick post, buried both hands into her silky auburn hair, and tipped her face up to his.

Her green eyes were wide and luminous with desire, her lips already parted and waiting for what he was about to deliver. He dragged his thumbs along her jawline, drawing out the sensual moment until her breath quickened and his own body flashed hot and hard.

She moaned softly, anxiously. “Kiss me, already,” she whispered.

Unable to refuse her command, he lowered his head, tracing her soft lips with his tongue before sealing his mouth over hers and claiming her completely. Her hands smoothed up his shirt, her fingers splaying against his chest as he angled her head ever so slightly and took the kiss to a deeper, darker, more sinful place. With a shiver and a sultry groan in the back of her throat, she joined him, tangling her tongue with his, and that's all it took to set ablaze all the pent-up lust between them.

For the past few years, kissing a woman had become little more than a means to get to the main event. He'd forgotten how hot and exciting making out with the
right
woman could be. How the anticipation of wanting someone could ramp up his need and shock his system into feeling truly alive.

That's what kissing Renee did to him.

As he continued to explore the recesses of her mouth, he moved closer, slid an arm around her back, and pressed his aroused body more fully against hers so she could feel exactly what she did to him, and just how much he wanted her.

But not here in the gazebo. No, the next time he was buried inside her he planned to have her totally naked and spread out on a soft mattress beneath him, so he could take his time pleasuring her and prove that he could last more than the few urgent thrusts he'd given her in the backseat of his cramped car ten years ago. He wanted her wild and wanton, twisting urgently against him, so breathless with need she begged him to make her come.

Oh, yeah, especially that. Renee deserved foreplay and seduction and a night of unbridled satisfaction, and he had every intention of giving her plenty of all three.

Much too soon for his liking, he ended the kiss, enjoying the sweet sigh that escaped her lips.

“Wow,” she said, her voice husky as she released the fabric of his shirt she'd fisted in her hands during their very passionate kiss. “That was certainly worth waiting for.”

He grinned, meeting and holding her bright green gaze. “So were you,” he said, meaning it. “You look amazing.” They hadn't had much time to just talk back in the cocktail party, but he was completely focused on her now. And there was no denying that she'd knocked his socks off with the body skimming, sexy-as-hell dress she'd worn—even if he couldn't wait to peel it off of her.

“Thank you. You look good yourself.” She smiled, looking more shy than the confident woman who'd just kissed him senseless. “I have to admit, I was nervous about seeing you again.”

She worried on her lush bottom lip, making him ache to taste her once more. Instead, he slid his hands to her waist, his touch possessive, yet gentle, too. “Really? We've been
seeing
each other for awhile now,” he said, laughing and hopefully putting her at ease.

“Emails, Skyping, and talking on the phone are very different than being together like this, face to face, in real life.” Her hands absently smoothed the wrinkles she'd left on his shirt. “There's always that possibility that the chemistry isn't the same in person.”

Judging by the way she'd responded to his kiss, there was no doubt in his mind that their attraction burned hotter now that there was nothing separating them. He could only imagine how intense and wild things were going to get once they were skin on skin. “Are you disappointed?” he teased.

She rolled her eyes at the absurd question. “After that kiss? Hardly. More like thrilled. Being with you like this feels natural and right. Like we never parted ways after high school.”

“I agree.” But ten years had passed, and things had changed significantly for him. In ways that would drastically alter her life, too, if she agreed to pursue this thing between them beyond this weekend. Taking on a seven year old was a lot for any woman to accept, but he and Addison were a package deal, and it was all or nothing arrangement.