Brothers of Paradise Series

“Cool?”

“Yes. I mean, Ivy and I spoke afterwards. She’s a model. An actual model, and she’s gorgeous. She’s shot campaigns.”

My smile widens. “They’re normal people.”

Jamie looks at me like I’ve lost my mind. “They’re not,” she insists. “Come on, Ivy is probably the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”

I laugh. “Wow,” I say, tightening my hand on her leg. “Should I be worried here?”

“Come on, Parker, she’s stunning!”

I shrug. “While I like my sister-in-law, the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen is in this very room.”

A blush creeps up her cheeks. “Don’t tease me.”

“Not teasing.” Her skin is soft and warm beneath my hand. “Do you know how hard it’s been not kissing you? When I see you walk through the restaurant, in your uniform? To not pull you into this very room?”

“Really?”

“God, yes.”

Her lips part. “I didn’t know that.”

“I want you a great deal,” I say. “The other night? I’ve thought about it. How it felt to kiss you on your couch.”

It’s the truth. And seeing the small, quick exhale of breath from her, I think it’s something she needs to hear. I never want her to doubt herself again. I want to silence every single word her ex ever said.

I only want her to hear mine.

So I lean in and kiss her neck.

Jamie exhales shakily. “Oh.”

“I want you,” I say again, sliding my lips up to her cheek. Her ear. Back to her jaw. “And I won’t pressure you, but I never want you to doubt that, either. I’ve thought about you so many times.”

Her legs shift beneath my hand, widening in the chair. And then she’s kissing me. It takes every ounce of my self-control to do nothing but kiss her back. I don’t pull her onto my lap, I don’t move my hand up her inner thigh.

I just kiss her back, pouring everything I’ve learned over the years into it. The slow, the steady, the teasing. When Jamie finally pulls back, she’s red-faced and liquid-eyed. “I want you as well,” she murmurs. “And I’ve thought about it, too.”

The words send red-hot desire through me. My jeans feel uncomfortably tight, strained around the fly.

“I should get home,” she continues, but her hands around my neck don’t move. “To Emma. To dinner…”

“Good idea.” I don’t move either and catch her lips with my own for another kiss. “When can I see you again?”

“Tomorrow, probably, at work,” she says, smiling against me.

“Jamie…”

She kisses me again, not long enough for my liking. “I know what you mean. I’m not sure. Soon. I’ll try to get my mother out of the house.”

“I have a house, too, you know. You’re welcome to more than just my garage.”

“What a gentleman,” she whispers, and when she kisses me again, her chest against mine, I groan at the contact. Her body is too sweet.

But it doesn’t last, and I can’t help following her when she gets up. “Let me walk you to your bike.”

“No bike today,” she says, digging through her bag for her phone. “My mom is picking me up.”

I kiss her temple while she sends a text. Being near her and not touching her is impossible. My hands, my head, my body, are all full of her. “I could drive you home, you know.”Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“Yes, but then everyone would see.” She kisses me one final time. “She’s on her way.”

“Let’s go.”

Despite her protests, I walk her out onto the parking lot. It’s mostly empty. Lunch is the yacht club’s busiest time, not dinner.

“Jamie,” I say.

She smiles up at me. It’s a teasing, flirtatious smile, and it sets off something deep inside me. “Yes,” she says. “What is it now?”

I raise an eyebrow. “Taking a tone with me?”

“You’ve always liked it when I argue.”

“I always have,” I agree. “It was the best part when Lily invited you over.”

“Masochist,” she says, and aims a soft kick at my shoe.

“Sadist,” I reply.

She laughs and I pull her close. One last kiss. She lets me, her lips soft. I release her as quickly as I caught her. “Couldn’t resist.”

Jamie grins. “I’m that irresistible?”

“You really, really are. Come work out tomorrow morning. Come swim with me. Have dinner with me, have lunch with me.”

“Wow.” She presses her hands to her cheeks. “You’re really not playing hard to get?”

The dirtiest of answers comes to mind. I open my mouth, ready to go for it, before I remember her hesitations in the bedroom. Old Jamie would love it. New Jamie might not.

But a flash of lights close by breaks off the convo. Jamie’s mother is here. I aim a quick wave at the tinted window and nod goodbye to Jamie. One day.

JAMIE

“Mom,” I say. “Please don’t.”

She shakes her head and keeps chopping chives. Her eyes are on the knife, not on me, but there’s amusement in her voice. “He’s a good man. He has a great job.”