Page 66 of Above ’N’ Beyond

Before continuing, Jimmy exhaled heavily. “He was the getaway driver for a bank robbery. He agreed to it because he was desperate. One of the guys he was with shot and killed someone inside the bank. My dad wasn’t even armed, but it didn’t matter. He was a co-conspirator and was charged the same as everyone else. That’s the way the law works. He was lucky he wasn’t sentenced to life in prison. The triggerman was.”

“I’m sorry.” Bella squeezed his clenched hands. Her parents had died young and unexpectedly. She’d never had to go through what Jimmy was experiencing. “Is there anything I can do?”

“No.” He shook his head. “But thanks. I’m working on something to get him out. I’ve just gotta work faster.”

“Is it something I can help you with?”

He lifted his gaze to hers then gently cupped her face. “You already are.” The lines on his forehead creased deeper, the pain in his demeanor so intense she could actually feel it radiating off his body.

“But I haven’t done a thing,” she countered, rubbing the tops of his thighs and wishing there really was something she could do to help.

“Haven’t you?” He slid his hand to her nape and pulled her in for a gentle kiss. “You’re here with me. That’s all I need.”

Of all the things he could have said to crack her heart open to him, just a tiny bit, that was it. There may not be anything she could do logistically to help him, but she did know a way to ease his pain, if only temporarily, and for a few short moments make him forget.

When she reached for the button on his jeans, he let her. She popped it open and slid down the zipper. As she began tugging off the jeans, he lifted his hips, the ridges of his abs bunching and flexing. She turned to throw the jeans on the table and found herself pinned by Jax’s and Gnocchi’s watchful stares.

“Jax.” She gave him a quick conciliatory scratching behind his ears, then took a play out of Jimmy’s handbook and pointed to the front door. “Guard.” Jax lowered his head and made the most human whine Bella had ever heard a dog utter. “Please? And take Gnocchi with you. I can’t do this in front of a child.” She caught the quick nod Jimmy gave his dog in the direction of the door.

Bella gave Gnocchi a gentle nudge. The puppy jumped off the sofa and followed Jax to the door, where they both lay down exactly as they’d done earlier. Jimmy’s eyes glittered, his lips quirking.

“Now, where were we?” she asked, using the same words he’d said to her in the kitchen not two hours ago. Her question elicited the sexiest smile she’d ever seen grace a man’s lips.

She leaned over to blaze a trail of kisses along the inside of his thighs. The coarse hairs on his legs tickled her lips. His muscles tightened, and he shifted to the edge of the sofa to spread his legs wider.

The robe slipped from her shoulders, only this time she didn’t care so much about her nakedness. The sincere appreciation in his expression told her everything she needed to know. He really thought she was beautiful.

She took the tip of his length into her mouth, stroking the rest of his erection with her hand while he cupped her breasts, kneading them gently. He was hot, hard, and slightly salty. Steel sheathed by smooth, taut skin.

He groaned deep in his throat and shifted to pump gently into her mouth. The rest of his body tightened, and his breath came in gasps.

“Bella!” He pulled her off him. “Come here. I don’t want to come in your mouth, but I don’t have another condom with me.”

“Did I mention that I was on the pill?” she asked.

He arched a brow. “And why exactly are you on the pill? You got another boyfriend I should know about?”

Another boyfriend? She smiled, thoroughly liking the implication that Jimmy had indirectly referred to himself as her boyfriend. “No, but about two months ago, I decided to give online dating a whirl, and I wanted to be prepared in case any of those dates went anywhere.”

“Did they?” He narrowed his eyes.

“Not even close.” She laughed softly. “The last one I went on was in Manhattan. I met him at a restaurant.” That was when things had gotten weird. Really weird. “There was something odd about this guy that I didn’t pick up on when we chatted online.”

Jimmy grinned. “This sounds interesting.”

Again, she laughed, remembering the awkwardness of what had come next in the conversation. “I was making small talk, trying to get to know him better, so I asked if he had any hobbies.”

“I can hardly wait to hear this.” Jimmy’s grin broadened.

“He said he liked to meow.”

“Huh?”

“Seriously, that’s what he said. He liked to meow like a cat. So, I took the train all the way downtown, paid for a cab, which, I might add, is ridiculously expensive, then he tells me about his bizarre meowing fetish and sticks me with half the dinner bill.”

Jimmy threw back his head and burst out laughing. “You’re kidding.”

“Don’t laugh, I’m dead serious.” She punched his shoulder. “In the end, I told him, ‘You do you, I’ll do me.’ Just not together.”