Read Happy Hour: From the Black & White Collection Online
Authors: Mari Carr
Mari Carr
Happy Hour
“A hot, stalker stripper.” Grace laughed as she added the adjective and Jamie simply nodded. He
couldn’t deny the truth of that statement. He’d gone to a bachelor party a few months earlier and gotten more than a little bit inebriated. In his drunken state, he’d asked the stripper from the party out on a date.
He’d only gone out with the woman, Carmen, once and he hadn’t done anything more than kiss her
goodnight. Since then, Carmen had called, stopped by his house and managed to track him down at
whatever bar he was hanging out in, until Jamie was ready to skip town simply to escape her once and for all.
“If she sees me, we’ll never shake her.”
“That’s because you’re too fucking nice to the bitch. Just tell her to go away.” Trey took a drink of
beer, his voice and face betraying his annoyance. He suffered as much as Jamie whenever Carmen showed
up and attached herself to their group. She talked incessantly about the most mundane things, demanding attention from every male at the table.
“She’s a nice girl, Trey. I don’t want to hurt her feelings.”
Trey groaned. “Yeah, well, you better figure something out because I think she just spotted you.”
Jamie refused to have his night with Grace ruined by Carmen and he reacted before he thought. He
leaned over and kissed Grace, a hard, full-on, open-mouthed kiss. He half expected her to pull away and slap him, so he was pleasantly surprised when she wrapped her arms around his neck and returned the kiss.
He wasn’t sure how long he inhaled the sweet scent of her breath and tasted the tang of beer on her
tongue. He gripped her waist and held on, reveling in the moment. Their first kiss and it was better than he’d ever imagined. Her lips were soft against his, but her response proved she wouldn’t be a passive or timid lover. She touched his tongue with hers, exploring his mouth while her fingers tugged his hair, pulled him closer.
The kiss betrayed her true feelings and had his mouth been free, he’d have shouted his happiness to
the entire bar. She was as hungry for him as he was for her. For a moment, the rest of the world faded
away, leaving just the two of them, lost in their own private Eden.
And then reality intruded.
“Jamie?” Finally, the female voice penetrated his lust-clouded mind and he regretfully pulled away.
“Jamie?”
He turned to find Carmen standing beside the table, looking confused—and shit—upset. He hated
hurting her, but she didn’t understand when he said he wasn’t interested in dating her. When faced with the idea of listening to her nonstop boring conversation another night, he’d acted on instinct. “Hey, Carmen,”
he said, forcing a nonchalant tone to his voice.
“Hi,” she said. “I thought I spotted you over here.” An awkward silence fell, and Jamie decided it was
time to carry the subterfuge to the next level.
“Have you met my girlfriend, Grace?”
Mari Carr
“Girlfriend?” Carmen asked.
He nodded and was grateful when Grace smiled kindly. “I think we may have met a few months ago.
At another happy hour, maybe?”
Carmen shrugged and Jamie saw Trey roll his eyes. No doubt Carmen didn’t remember the fact she’d
met Grace at least three times in the past. She wasn’t exactly bright and she certainly never paid a bit of attention to the other women at the table, usually saving all of that mind-numbing banter for him or Trey.
“Isn’t she a little old for you?” Carmen asked.
Jamie fought back the urge to tell the woman off for her cruelty. “No. She isn’t.” His words were
clipped and halting and any fool could see he was furious. Unfortunately, Carmen was the queen of fools.
She looked Grace up and down and then dismissed her as a serious threat. “What are you guys doing
tonight?” she purred, thrusting her breasts forward as if the mere sight of her big tits bursting out of her too-tight top would make him come to his senses and fall madly in love with her.
“We’re having a few drinks together.”
“That’s cool,” she said, looking around for an extra chair. Mercifully, they’d given their extra seats to a large group at the next table.
“Well, it was good to see you again, Carmen. Maybe I’ll see you around sometime.” Jamie’s
dismissal was curt and he silently prayed it would be enough because if she persisted on hanging around, they’d have to leave. After the kiss he’d just shared with Grace, he’d rather cut off his left nut than cut this evening short.
Carmen hovered by the table for a moment until Trey and Grace both added their goodbyes, then she
left.
“Damn, man,” Trey said. “Quick thinking on that kiss. Well done.”
He nodded, though he was still fuming over Carmen’s insult. He glanced at Grace. “I’m sorry she was
so rude to you.”
Grace reached over and grasped his hand. “That’s not your apology to make. Besides, I think we’ve
already discussed her lack of intelligence.”
Trey laughed, but Jamie continued speaking. “With any luck, that will be the last time I have to deal
with her.”
Grace squeezed his hand. “Oh, I think you made your point. You’ve tried to break things off with her
gently at least a dozen times, Jamie. Sometimes, you just have to be less subtle, more direct.”
“That kiss was pretty fucking direct,” Trey said.
Grace looked at him and smiled. “Have to admit I didn’t mind pretending to be your girlfriend for a
few minutes. Wow.”
“Few minutes? Felt like you were swallowing each other’s tonsils for hours.”
“Shut up, Trey,” Jamie said with a grin, pleased by Grace’s compliment.
Mari Carr
Happy Hour
“You know, Grace, I think I see an old stalker girlfriend of mine over there. Mind giving me one of
those kisses?” Trey asked.
Grace shook her head. “Don’t you guys have anything better to do tonight than harass this old
woman?”
“Carmen’s a fucking idiot. I don’t see any old women at this table,” Jamie said, hating for her to feel the sting of the insensitive woman’s words.
“Maybe not, but I still don’t get why you two are here. Despite my fears of pumping up your already
overinflated egos, you’re both totally hot. Why are you sitting here with me tonight rather than going out on dates? Getting laid?”
Jamie shrugged. “Spending the night with you is a hell of a lot more fun than spending all our money,
buying drinks and trying to get into the pants of some stranger.”
“We’d rather buy drinks and try to get into
your
pants,” Trey teased. The image of the three of them in bed together floated through Jamie’s mind and he silently cursed the denim cutting into his rock-hard cock as he was reminded of Trey’s proposition.
“Ha ha. God. I can’t tell you how glad I am I’m not still out there, trying to maneuver my way around
the dating scene.” Grace picked up the pitcher and freshened up all their drinks, clearly dismissing their come-ons as harmless teasing. When Jamie considered how often they’d made sexual jokes in the past, he
could understand.
“Why aren’t you out there, Grace?” Trey asked. “You’re single, hot, young.”
Grace looked as if she wanted to refute his friend’s words and Jamie felt something inside snap. “And
before you call Trey a liar, you might want to consider the consequences.”
Grace and Trey both turned to him, astonished by his sharp tone.
“Consequences?” Grace asked.
“Everything Trey said is true. I’m sick of hearing you put yourself down, angel.”
“I don’t put myself down,” she argued.
“Tell me you weren’t about to tell Trey he needed to get glasses, that you’re old, past your prime or
some other stupid shit like that.”
She closed her mouth and he could see he’d hit the nail on the head. His eyes narrowed. “Say
anything else like that again tonight—or any night for that matter—and I’ll be forced to punish you.”
His words provoked a nervous laugh from her and he could see Trey’s scowl from the corner of his
eyes.
“And just how would
you
punish
me
?”
She stressed the wrong words and Jamie felt his hibernating grizzly bear begin to wake. “I’d pull
down those skin-tight jeans of yours, lay you out and bring you to orgasm with just my hand. Over and
over.”
Mari Carr
Grace flushed and he could see in her eyes she was struggling like mad to read in his face whether he
was joking or not. He made sure she saw the veracity of his words. This was no joke.
“I’m pretty sure that’s physically impossible.” Leave it to Grace to find her footing quickly. She took the middle ground, not giving away anything and once more, he was left to try to decide if she was
interested or horrified by his comments. Damn woman never made anything easy.
Fuck it. He was going to lay it all out for her tonight. He was tired of holding back because of their
age difference, because of Maddie, out of respect for her dead husband, because he was afraid of rejection or losing her friendship. All his excuses faded away as he looked at her lovely face.
“Clearly you’ve never been finger-fucked. I’d have you begging for my cock in minutes,” he replied,
leaning closer to her.
She flushed as he added the last statement, but her suddenly shallow breathing and the turgid nipples
poking through her blouse answered the most pressing question in his mind. He didn’t have to wonder
about her sexual interest in him anymore. Her body was screaming
Yes!
loud and clear. Now he needed to clear the hurdle of her mind.
Trey’s voice broke the silence surrounding them. “You two do realize I’m sitting here and can hear
everything you’re saying, right?”
Grace laughed, but it had a breathless quality that sent a fresh surge of blood to Jamie’s cock as he
imagined that sound in his bed as he came into her body. “I hope you’re driving tonight, Trey. I think
maybe Jamie is a little drunk.”
Jamie reached down and pulled her chair roughly toward his until she was sitting between his
outstretched legs. “You had to go there, didn’t you? You couldn’t help yourself. It’s easier to make a joke than admit to yourself that there’s a guy sitting at this table who wants to fuck himself to death inside you.”
Jamie saw Trey move his chair closer to Grace and as he looked away from her astonished face, he
saw his friend’s hands resting on Grace’s waist.
“Two guys,” Trey added. “There are two guys who want you, Gracie.”
Grace looked from him to Trey and he could see her mind fighting to process what they were saying.
“This is a joke.” The words were weak, almost a question. Hell, he thought they sounded like a plea.
He shook his head. “I’ve wanted you for years, Grace.”
Trey bent forward and as Jamie watched, his friend pressed a soft kiss to the side of her neck. Grace’s eyes drifted shut and he grasped her hands when they began to shake. “Open your eyes and look at me,”
Jamie said.
She opened them, looked at him, her gaze full of questions and if he wasn’t mistaken, lust. “How long
has it been?” Jamie whispered.
“Too long,” she replied breathlessly.
Mari Carr
Happy Hour
He suspected—hell, he knew—she hadn’t been with anyone since her husband’s death. They were
good enough friends she would have told him if there’d been another man since then.
“Come home with us,” Jamie said, his heart pounding as he spoke the words, the realization of what
he was asking dawning hard. He was inviting Grace and Trey to his bed.
Trey’s lips still lingered by her ear and he heard his friend whisper, “Please, Grace. Just tonight. One night.”
She shuddered and Jamie tightened his grip on her hands. For Trey, it would be one night, but Jamie
was hoping for much, much longer.
Grace took a deep breath and Jamie sensed her struggle to recover her wits. “I feel like we should talk about this. There needs to be some conversation, some discussion.”
Jamie cut her off. “Do you want to sleep with us?”
“God, yes.”
“Discussion over. Let’s pay the tab and get out of here.”
Chapter Four
Grace fought back the urge to start giggling hysterically as Jamie unlocked his truck and Trey helped
her into the passenger seat before playfully shoving her ass over into the middle. Was she out of her mind?
Was it a full moon? Had she fallen into some bizarre parallel universe where wicked fantasies came true?
Cheryl had thrown her on this path earlier in the night with a few well-phrased words about living
again, putting herself first for once. She’d had more then her fair share of sex dreams about the two men crowding her into the middle of the front seat of Jamie’s truck, but she’d never imagined for a moment she would actually act on them.
Had she had too much to drink? No, she hadn’t had more than a couple beers—dancing, talking and
laughing far more than imbibing. It was always the same whenever she was out with The Cougar Club. She
had too much fun to remember there was a drink in front of her. Suddenly she was wishing she’d consumed a bit more liquid courage. Shit, a lot more.
Jamie started the truck, but paused before putting it in gear. He turned to look at her for only a second before bending forward to kiss her. Unlike their earlier kiss, this one was tentative, probing. She returned it, running her hand along his rough cheek, enjoying the feel of his five o’clock shadow.
As their lips parted, Jamie placed his forehead against hers. “If I was a better man, I’d ask you if you were sure. Give you a chance to change your mind.”