“More like desperate,” he chuckled.
“You haven’t brought home many girls, huh?” A pleased smile twitched at her mouth.
“You really wanna go there, sugar?”
“Chances are your mother will tell me anyway, so maybe I should hear your version first.”
Christ. One, she’d more or less just agreed to go with him tomorrow. Two, her fingers were skimming closer and closer to his balls.
“You may have a point there.” Good thing there wasn’t much to tell. “I had a serious girlfriend in high school. Liz. She left a bra in my bedroom once and it got mixed in with my laundry.”
“Oh, shit.” Jenny’s eyes went big.
“Yeah. Total disaster. My mom gave it to Father Joe and asked him to talk to me about premarital sex. I still can’t look the man in the eye.”
Collapsing backward, Jenny rolled with laughter. “Your priest? That is so wrong!”
“You’re telling me?” He shifted until he was stretched out beside her, his legs hanging off the short side of the bed. “Then there was this one girl in college. Victoria. She came home with me once at Christmas because her family was going through some shit. She ended up stealing some of my dad’s Royals cards. Pawned them so she’d have money for weed. Turns out her parents had been split for years, and getting collector cards out of hock costs a small fortune.”
“Aww, you got them back for him?” She snuggled into his side and laid her hand on his stomach, so he curled an arm around her shoulders and watched the fan go round on the ceiling.
“Yep. Believe it or not, I wasn’t always this badass, inked dude.” He gave her a playful squeeze and she wriggled her fingers into his abs.
“Don’t ruin my fantasy, Superman.”
“Sorry, babe. Beneath it all, I’m just an average guy.”
“Who’s gone to war three times. Who’s saved God only knows how many people. Yep. Totally average.” Her hand slid down to his junk and he braced himself, sure her intent was to assuage the war talk with sex. But instead, her touch was gentle again. Intimate, but not sexual at all. And it felt fucking amazing.
“Tell me about you. Feel free to skip the part about how much your mother loved Reed, though. I don’t need to hear that shit.”
Jenny gave a short laugh. “You’re safe then. She only tolerated him because I did. For the most part, she thinks he’s got a stick up his ass.”
He liked her mother already. “My kind of woman.”
“Hey now. Don’t get any ideas. She’s single, but she’s recovering from a major cardiac event. She couldn’t keep up with you.” Down her fingers went, sliding over his sac, then back to his dick, tracing the outline of his head so lightly that he shivered. “Sorry. I didn’t even realize I was doing that.”
He couldn’t see her face, but he heard the embarrassment in her voice. “Don’t apologize. Don’t stop either. It’s feels good.” He kissed her temple and ran his fingers through her hair. This time she was the one who trembled, and a crooked grin quirked on his lips. Petting. They were fucking petting each other and he wasn’t even thinking about getting laid.
Except now. Now he was thinking about sex. Dammit.
“Go on,” he prompted her, tugging gently on a dark lock of her hair.
She sighed. “The only guy I ever actually brought home was Jake. I mean, I guess there were a couple boys in high school, but they don’t count. They just picked me up at the door and dropped me off a few hours later.”
Fucking Jake. Dudes named Jake were always trouble. “Tell me about this Jake.”
She shook with amusement and he imagined her rolling her eyes. “Not much to tell. He was a decent guy, but he wanted to travel and I didn’t want to leave my mom. I’m the only family she has here.”
Sounded a little more current than he’d expected. “When was that?”
“A few years ago.”
He nodded, not thrilled, but not wanting to act like a caveman either. Of course she had a past. She’d been upfront about it from the beginning.
She pushed up on her elbow and look down at him. Her dark eyes sparkled against the light. “I’ve never actually met anyone’s parents before. I’ve never been that girl.”
Just like that, his Neanderthal reared to life, full force. “You know why? Because you’ve always been mine. Not theirs. Mine.”
She smiled. “I shouldn’t like that proprietary BS, but I do. It’s hot as hell.”
“You finally admitting you belong to me?” He winked and she gave his jewels a light squeeze.
“Keep it up, Superman.”
“No need to get bent out of shape, sugar—you’re literally and figuratively holding my balls right now.”
“Aww. I can’t wait to tell Josh and Tony you said that.”
God, this woman. He pinched between his eyes, laughing. “Let’s just go to bed.”
“Only if I can keep touching your junk.”
“I’m never going to complain about that.”
They flipped around and climbed under the blankets, reassuming the position. One of her legs hitched up over his and he turned his face into her hair, letting himself get lost in not only her touch, but everything about her. Fucking perfection.
Then she went and topped it off with a whisper. “I think you’re my person, Brody Nelson.”
“Your person?”
She nodded and nuzzled into his chest, draping a leg over the top of his. “The one I call when I accidentally start the toaster on fire or hit a deer and start to cry. Or when I’m sick and need soup but can’t find the strength to put on pants.”
“Ah.” He smiled into the night. “Not to worry, babe—I got you covered.” Because he had a sneaking suspicion that she was his person, too.
Chapter Seventeen
The next morning came quickly, and Jenny was sure she’d never been more nervous in all of her life.
“You’re shaking.” Brody closed the truck door behind her and grabbed her hand. Before them sat a modest, suburban bungalow with light blue siding, white shutters, and window boxes. Window boxes, for God’s sake.
She twined their fingers and held on tight. “This is nice, but frankly way more wholesome than I expected. I’m afraid the walls might give way when I walk inside. There may be smoke. And fire.”
Brody pulled her along, chuckling softly. “You know I’ve been inside before, right? And the place is still standing?”
“You’re not helping.” She tried to dig in her heels, but he kept pulling her forward.
“They’re going to love you, babe. And that dress makes you look like a good Catholic girl, so you’re in like Flynn, I swear.”
She glanced down at her green and purple floral-print shift. Maybe he was right. She did look pretty Peggy Sue. Or in this case, Jenny Lynn.
“Is it too much? Maybe I should’ve worn jeans.” Crap, this family stuff was hard.
, Brody came at her, shaking his head, his hands smoothing around her waist. “You’re beautiful.” He dipped down to her ear, discreetly sliding one hand down to her ass. “I like the easy access, too.”
“What? No!” She shoved him away, but he laughed, slinging an arm around her waist to reclaim her.
“Come on, sugar. We got this.” He led her through the garage and to a side door he didn’t bother to knock at. The jovial voices inside the kitchen hit her like a gust of warm, pleasant wind and she blew out a breath. We got this.
“Son!” a voice as deep as Brody’s rang out above the others and Brody slowed down, giving her time to catch up behind him. She’d much rather stay right there, staring at his denim-clad ass like a wallflower all day, but he pulled her to his side, giving her the full view of his family sitting around the small kitchen table.
A woman with shoulder-length brown hair jumped to her feet with a hand slapped over her mouth. Brody grimaced as she rounded the table and Jenny’s heart stammered a little more unsteadily in her chest.