Sweet as Candy - Karla Doyle Page 0,29
her more of everything.
He answered with more pressure. From his lips, from his hips.
She wrapped her arms around his neck, rocked her hips back and forth, getting more friction, getting closer to the point of no return. She hadn’t wanted to have sex in a very long time. That time was over—with a capital O. But have an orgasm on his lap after telling him tonight wasn’t a booty call…
“Not yet,” he said, holding her in place when she tried removing herself from his lap.
“I don’t want to be a tease. It wouldn’t be right if I—” Hair fell around her face as she shook her head.
He tucked a strand behind her ear, robbing her of her hiding place. “If you what?”
“If I got more out of this than you.”
His eyebrows rose as the unspoken meaning clicked, then a killer-sexy smile spread across his face, practically ear to ear. “Believe me, sweets, that would be more than right.”
“Not if I didn’t reciprocate. And I want to, Jake, I’m just not sure I’m ready. I know that sounds ridiculous coming from somebody in my line of work. But the things I do at Lucky’s, those are jobs. Performances, staged and played out. I haven’t been with anybody in a personal way since Macy’s dad. It’s been so long, I’m afraid I won’t know how to separate work sex from real sex, that it’ll be Candy doing things to you, not Candace.”
Jake’s gaze remained locked with hers. He stroked her cheek, freed her bottom lip from its place between her teeth. “I get it,” he said, gently framing her face between his hands. “And I’m not going to rush you into anything until you’re ready. But know this—whatever happens, whenever it happens, it won’t be you doing things to me. We’ll be doing them together. I promise you, Candace, you’ll know that it’s real.”
Maybe it was the million butterflies that’d taken flight in her stomach, or the fact that her heart was beating as if she’d just sprinted a mile, but nothing came out when she opened her mouth. Actions were better than words anyway.
She leaned in and kissed him. The lingering, lips slightly parted kind, an invitation to resume what he’d started.
He cupped her nape, splayed his other hand across her back and held her close. Then took the lead, kissing her slowly, guiding their mouths in an erotic, intimate dance that left her breathless when it ended.
“That was…”
“Real,” he said, finding the perfect description in a single word.
“Yes,” she whispered.
He eased her from his lap to a made-for-cuddling position tucked under his arm. “Ready for the movie?”
She was seriously tempted to say no, to climb back onto his lap and spend the next hour and a half kissing him. But that would make her a tease. After proving his gentlemanliness many times over, he certainly didn’t deserve to go home with blue balls. Plus, this was nice. She liked having Jake’s arm around her, being warm and safe next to his strong, sexy body.
His chest expanded as he yawned.
“How long have you been up?” she asked, when a second yawn followed hot on the heels of the first.
“Since the day I met you.” Always with the quick comebacks. One of his best traits.
“Jake.” She bit the inside of her cheek, tried for a stern expression. Not easy to do while looking at his smiling face. “Seriously. How long?”
“Doesn’t matter. I’m good to go.” He leaned forward and grabbed the remote from the coffee table. A point and click later, the Netflix logo lit the TV screen. “What’re we watching? No list, you choose.”
“Okay.” The options she’d narrowed it to earlier didn’t fit the current mood. “How about You’ve Got Mail? It’s one of my favorites.”
“Sold,” he said, bringing up the search screen.
“Are you sure it’s not too chick-flickish?”
A softer smile curved his lips. “I grew up in a female-dominated household. Me, my mom, and my two sisters. Between the three of them, I’m pretty sure I’ve been subjected to every chick flick ever made.”
“See, you said ‘subjected to.’ That’s totally different from watching for enjoyment.”
He set the remote aside and settled back into place, playing with a lock of her hair while looking into her eyes. “Doesn’t matter what movie you pick, it’s already the best one I’ve seen in a long time.”
Suddenly, her reasons for keeping him at a distance didn’t matter. Not when there were so many more reasons to let him get close.
Chapter 8
Candace
“Jake.”
No movement from the