Night with Sole Regret

TAKE ME VII

“You’d do that for me?” Jacob said, turning in his seat and leaning into her field of view so he could look into her eyes.

“Yeah, of course I would. I should’ve thought of it sooner.”

“Thanks, Amanda. You’re a real sweetheart.”

She stifled a cringe. She didn’t want him to think of her as that one nice, forgettable girl. The one who guys always seemed to think of as their friend. Their buddy. She didn’t want to be called a real sweetheart. Not after Jacob had flirted with her ever so briefly moments before and made her believe her fondest wish could come true.

Amanda turned into Jacob’s drive and coasted to a halt behind his car.

“Um, Jacob?” she said. “Isn’t that your car?”

He didn’t answer her, just tore open the door and leapt out of her car. He was hugging the shiny black hood of the roadster before she could release her seat belt. She climbed out and went to stand beside him.

“I thought you said it was stolen.”

“I thought it had been.”

“Then how did it get here?”

“No idea.”

Amanda noted the piece of pink paper stuck under one wiper. She pulled it free and read the note aloud. “Shade, I know you won’t mind that I borrowed your car to beat you home. I’ll be in the hot tub waiting to rock your world, stud. It’s signed Veronica. And she dotted the i with a heart. How precious.” Amanda pretended not to be affected by the note, but she’d really been looking forward to spending the evening with him. Unfortunately, some other woman had beaten her to it. And unlike Amanda, Veronica probably had the self-confidence, beautiful face and hot body to actually attract someone like Jacob.

“Fuckin’ Veronica,” Jacob bellowed. “I wondered where I’d left my spare set of keys.”

Probably in her skirt the last time she’d been in his hot tub. “I guess I’ll go on home,” Amanda said. “I’m glad you got your car back. It was good to see—”

Jacob moved to stand in Amanda’s path. She wasn’t sure how he managed to so easily trap her between one gorgeous hunk of metal and one gorgeous hunk of metal vocalist, but it got her attention. With her back pressed against the side of the car, she tried to regain her senses. No good. Her heart thundered out of control as she slowly lifted her gaze to look him in the eye.

“You’re staying,” he said. “I invited you. She’s leaving. No one invited her.”

“Maybe I don’t want—”

Jacob touched her cheek, and her breath stalled in her throat. “You’re staying.”

She couldn’t look away from his intense blue eyes. “I’m staying,” she said obediently.

He smiled crookedly, plucked his sunglasses out of the neckband of his T-shirt and put them on. She stared at the cross around his neck.

“Do you want to wait out here while I call her a cab or would you rather wait in the house?” he asked. “She’s sure to cause a scene.”

“Um.”

“You could go to the family room and pick out a movie to watch or scrounge in the kitchen for food. It won’t take me long to get rid of her.”

“Well, okay. Do you have the movie Steel Magnolias?” She kept her poker face firmly in place as she blinked up at him. “It’s been ages since I’ve seen it, y’all.”

He laughed. “I thought we agreed no chick flicks.”

Amanda huffed as if she was very put out by his demands, when in truth she just wanted to put out. She couldn’t blame Veronica for inviting herself to a night in a hot tub with this man, but Amanda was oh so glad that Jacob was making the woman leave.

“I suppose we did.”

He tucked his forefinger under her chin and stroked the skin just beneath her lips with his thumb. “I’d kiss you,” he said, “but I don’t want Veronica to think I’m sporting a hard-on for her.”

What?

Had he actually just said that? He couldn’t possibly have meant it. Too flabbergasted to form a comeback, Amanda gaped at him.

He laughed. “What a priceless expression.”

He squeezed her shoulder, and her legs began to tremble uncontrollably.

“I’ll see you inside.”

“Uh huh,” she might have said around her mouthful of drool.

Jacob turned and hurried to front door, unlocking it and leaving it open so she could go inside. He then strode to the walk along the side of the house that led to the pool and hot tub out back.

It was all Amanda could do to keep from sliding to the ground in a puddle of lust.

Shade covered the distance to his back yard in long, angry strides. He couldn’t believe Veronica had had the audacity to “borrow” his car without asking. And then she thought he’d be happy enough about it to f**k her? Not tonight. Maybe not ever again. Of course, if she hadn’t taken his car, then Amanda wouldn’t have driven him home and he wouldn’t be anticipating an evening with one of the few people who allowed him to let his guard down.

A trail of discarded clothing started at the back corner of the house and continued to the hot tub that was surrounded on three sides by a cedar privacy fence. As he continued around the house, he picked up her clothes one sexy item at a time. Lace-topped stocking here. Black satin thong there. Shade dumped the clothing on the slate patio at the bottom of the hot tub’s wooden steps.

Veronica was right where she’d said she be. She had a glass of wine in one hand, her ebony hair piled on top of her head, her eyes closed and her beautiful naked breasts hovering above the surface of the water. She had a fantastic set of t**s. Yeah, he noticed. There wasn’t a heterosexual male alive who wouldn’t have found her sexually inviting. And if Amanda hadn’t agreed to stay, Shade would have undoubtedly stripped off his clothes to join Veronica. But Amanda was here and strange as it seemed, he’d much rather spend the evening teasing her than f*****g the hot-tub s*x goddess until he couldn’t move.

He cleared his throat, and Veronica’s sultry brown eyes blinked open. An inviting smile spread across her lush lips. “There you are, lover,” she said. “I was starting to regret not just waiting for you in the parking lot, but you were hours past due and I was all hot and sweaty.” She pouted. “And not because you made me that way.” She took a sip of her wine. The green bottle sat in a Styrofoam cooler of ice behind her. “Would you like a drink?”

“I have company, Veronica. You need to get dressed and leave.”

“Company? What kind of company?”

He struggled to come up with the best way to describe Amanda. Friend? Family? Long-time crush? “Female company.”

“So? I have no problem with her joining us, Shade. Is she sexy?” Veronica emitted a throaty chuckle. “You know how much I enjoy women.”

While normally he’d have thought that would be a great idea, he didn’t think Amanda would be into threesomes with a woman she didn’t know. Shade loved to flirt with Amanda, tease her, but she was off-limits. He had no intention of ever sleeping with her. Which made him wonder why he would rather spend the evening with her than enjoying the t**s and ass in his hot tub. Probably because he was still recovering from that crazy chick in Tulsa. What had her name been? Nikki. Damn, the woman had tried to wear his d**k down to a nub.

“No, Veronica, I came back here to tell you to leave. You can’t just take my car without asking. You’re lucky I don’t call the cops and have you hauled in for grand theft auto.”

“Did you expect me to wait out in the parking lot for hours?”