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His quick grin faded all too fast. “What?”
“My condoms are in my purse. In my stolen car. You don’t have any?”
“No. You threw the one I had on the ground.”
“Dammit.” Served her right for throwing that pissy little temper tantrum. “I guess we’re screwed.”
“Not necessarily. You think Alexa has—“ He stopped and shook his head. “Nope, sorry, can’t do it. I can’t dig through my sister’s condom stash, even for you.”
She giggled and leaned in to brush a kiss over his chin. He had some serious five-o-clock shadow going on. Sexy. “We’ll work it out.”
“Yeah.”
She loved the way his voice softened on the word. Loved even more how he tugged her closer and rested his chin on her hair.
“So back to your question,” he said. ”You must’ve heard the stories about why Mo left town.”
“Something about the Peace Corps. But that doesn’t explain why you guys ended things. You were together forever. I thought you’d get married.” She’d even cried about it in weaker moments.
Jake moved back and swallowed hard. “She moved to Omaha and became a nun.”
Okay, she hadn’t seen that coming. “What?”
“My girlfriend of five years ditched me for the one man I could never compete with.” His short laugh ended with a shake of his head. “Some shot to the ol’ ego, I tell you. I’ve heard guys lose it when their girls become lesbians. But when they turn to the church? A guy can’t help wondering if they’ve turned her off sex with anyone.”
She laughed before she could stop herself. Though she immediately sobered, that he laughed too made her feel better about the lapse. “That’s kind of a backassward way to look at it. She found a higher calling.” And for this turn of events, she would be sure to thank God. Repeatedly. “I’m sure it had nothing to do with sex.”
“No, I know. She’s actually really happy in the convent and I’ve gotten over the ego slam. Mostly. It just knocked me off my stride. We’d been together a long time.”
“You loved her.”
“Yes. I did.” He looked her dead in the eye. Jake would never lie to her. “Then there was the whole not-part-of-a-couple-anymore thing. That was hard to get used to.”
“I’m sure.” Not that any of her relationships had ever lasted more than a few months, but she had a good imagination. Especially tonight.
“So.” He rubbed her bare arms. “Let’s go watch some tube and eat some crap.”
She smiled. “Sounds good.”
Four hours passed in a haze of fried food, good conversation, and laughter. He made fun of her favorite guy band, calling them a bunch of pre-pubes. She teased him about the big-breasted actress hosting the New Year’s Eve special. All the while he kept his hand on her knee or her shoulder or her back. Reminding her, always, that this wasn’t just another night spent watching some mindless movie with Jake.
This was the prelude. Next up would be: The. Big. Sex.
He tucked her hair over one shoulder, moving in close on the couch. Her breath caught and she had a sudden flashback of high school, but the guy at her side was no boy. He wouldn’t casually skim her arm on his way to her breast. Nope, Jake would just go for the gold.
Or maybe not, she decided when he didn’t move for the next half hour.
Finally he brushed his finger down the side of her neck. Lightly. Teasingly. She shivered, angling her head to give him the perfect opportunity. But instead of kissing her, he remained still.
Freaking hell.
“Almost midnight,” he murmured, his breath cascading over her loose curls. “You know what that means, don’t you?”
She grinned at him over her shoulder. “That I’m getting more horny with every passing second?”
“Patience, my sweet.” He rubbed her nose with his own and she giggled. Something she seemed to do a lot in his presence. Was that how they’d be together in bed, too? Laughing between the moans?
“It means,” he continued, his hand again finding the back of her neck, “that it’s almost time for the New Year’s kiss. You know what the legend is, right?”
