A Tricky Proposition (10 page)

“Call me tomorrow,” he told her. “I’ve got to go shopping for Max and Rachel’s wedding present.”

“You haven’t done that yet?”

“I’ve been waiting for you to offer to do it for me.”

Robbed of a dreamy night in Jason’s arms and the pleasure of waking up with him in the morning, Ming let her irritation shine. “You said no about going in on a gift together, so you’re on your own.”

“Please come shopping with me.” He put on his most appealing smile. “You know I’m hopeless when it comes to department stores.”

How could she say no when she’d already agreed to help him before they’d started sleeping together. It wasn’t fair to treat him differently just because she felt differently toward him.

“What time tomorrow?”

“Eleven? I want to be home to watch the Oilers at three.”

“Fine,” she grumbled.

With disappointment of her own weighing her down, she plodded up the stairs and let herself into her house. Muffin met her in the foyer. She danced around on her back legs, wringing a small smile from Ming’s stiff lips.

“I’ll take you out back in a second.” She waited by the front door long enough to see Jason’s headlights retreating down her driveway, then headed toward the French doors that led from her great room to the pool deck.

While the Yorkie investigated the bushes at the back of her property, Ming sat down on a lounge chair and sought the tranquility often gained by sitting beside her turquoise kidney-shaped pool. She revisited her earlier statement to Jason. It made no sense for them to rendezvous each afternoon and have the best sex ever if all they were trying to do was make a baby. Only, if she was completely honest with herself, she’d admit that a baby isn’t all she wanted from Jason.

Her body ached with unfulfilled desire. Her soul longed to find the rhythm of Jason’s heart beating in time with hers. From the beginning she’d been right to worry that getting intimate with her best friend was going to lead her into trouble. But temptation could be avoided for only so long when all you’ve ever wanted gets presented to you on a silver platter. She would just have to learn to live with the consequences.

Finding nothing of interest in the shrubbery, Muffin came back to the pool, her nails clicking on the concrete. Sympathetic to her mistress’s somber mood, the terrier jumped onto Ming’s lap and nuzzled her nose beneath Ming’s hand.

“I am such an idiot,” she told the dog, rubbing Muffin’s head.

“That makes two of us.”

*

Jason hadn’t even gotten out of Ming’s neighborhood before he’d realized what a huge error he’d made. In fact, he hadn’t made it to the end of her block. But just because he’d figured it out didn’t mean returning to Ming wasn’t an even bigger mistake. So, he’d sat at a stop sign for five minutes, listening to Rascal Flatts and wondering when his life had gotten so damned complicated. Then, he’d turned the car around, used his key to get into Ming’s house and found her by the pool.

“Let’s go upstairs,” he said. “We need to talk.”

Ming pulled her hair over one shoulder and began to braid it. “We can’t talk here?”

Was she being deliberately stubborn or pretending to be dense?

Without answering, he pivoted on his heel and walked toward the house. Muffin caught up as he crossed the threshold. Behind him, Ming’s heels clicked on the concrete as she rushed after him.

“Jason.” She sounded breathless and uncertain. She’d stopped in the middle of her kitchen and called after him as he got to the stairs. “Why did you come back?”

Since talking had only created problems between them earlier, he was determined to leave conversation for later. Taking the stairs two at a time, he reached her bedroom in record time. Unfastening his cuffs, he gazed around the room. He hadn’t been up here since he’d helped her paint the walls a rich beige. The dark wood furniture, rich chestnut bedspread and touches of sage green gave the room the sophisticated, expensive look of a five-star hotel suite.

“Jason?”

He’d had enough time to unfasten his shirt buttons. Now, as she entered the room, he let the shirt drop off his shoulders and draped it over a chair. “Get undressed.”

While she stared at him in confounded silence, he took Muffin from her numb fingers and deposited the dog in the hallway.

“She always sleeps with me,” Ming protested as he shut the door.

“Not tonight.”

“Well, I suppose she can sleep on Lily’s bed. Jason, what’s gotten into you?”

His pants joined his shirt on the chair. With only his boxer briefs keeping his erection contained, he set his hands on his hips.

“You and I have been best friends for a long time.” Since she wasn’t making any effort to slip out of that provocative halter-top and insanely short skirt, he prowled toward her. “And I’ve shared with you some of the hardest things I’ve ever had to go through.”

She made no attempt to stop him as he tugged at the thin ribbon holding up her top, but she did grab at the fabric as it began to fall away from her breasts. “If you’re saying I know you better than anyone except Max, I’d agree.”

Jason hooked his fingers in the top and pulled it from her fingers, exposing her small, perfect breasts. His lungs had to work hard to draw in the air he required. Damn it. They had been together all week, but he still couldn’t get over how gorgeous she was, or how much he wanted to mark her as his own.

“Then it seems as if I’m doing our friendship an injustice by not telling you what’s going on in my head at the moment.”

Reaching around her, he slid down the zipper on her skirt and lowered it past her hips. When it hit the floor, she stepped out of it.

“And what’s that?”

Jason crossed his arms over his chest and stared into her eyes. It was nearly impossible to keep his attention from wandering over her mostly naked body. Standing before him in only a black lace thong and four-inch black sandals, she was an exotic feast for the eyes.

“I didn’t like seeing you dancing with another man.”

The challenge in her almond-shaped eyes faded at his admission. Raw hope rushed in to replace it. “You didn’t?”

Jason ground his teeth. He should have been able to contain the truth from her. That he’d admitted to such possessive feelings meant a crack had developed in the well-constructed wall around his heart. But a couple weaknesses in the structure didn’t mean he had to demolish the whole thing. He needed to get over his annoyance at her harmless interaction with some random guy. Besides, wasn’t he the one who’d initially encouraged her that there was someone out there for her?

To hell with that.

Taking her hand, he drew her toward the bed.

“Not one bit.” It reminded him too much of how he’d lost her to his brother. “It looked like you were having fun without me.”

“Did it, now?” His confession had restored her confidence. With a sexy smile, she coasted her nails from his chest to the waistband of his underwear. “I guess I was imagining that you were otherwise occupied with your exotic dancers. Did they get you all revved up? Is that why we’re here right now?”

He snorted. “The only woman I have any interest in seeing out of her clothes is you.”

Heaven help him—it was true. He hadn’t even looked at another woman since this business of her wanting to become a mother came up. No. It had been longer than that. Since his brother had broken off their engagement.

The level of desire he felt for her had been eating at him since last weekend when she’d kissed him good-bye at the track. That had been one hell of a parting and if his knee hadn’t been so banged up he never would’ve let her walk away.

This isn’t what he’d expected when he’d proposed making love rather than using a clinic to help her conceive. He’d figured his craving for her was strictly physical. That it would wane after his curiosity was satisfied.

What he was feeling right now threatened to alter the temper of their friendship. He should slow things down or stop altogether. Yeah. That had worked great for him earlier. He’d dropped her off and then raced back before he’d gotten more than a couple blocks away.

Frustrated with himself, he didn’t give her smug smile a chance to do more than bud before picking her up and dumping her unceremoniously on the bed. Without giving her a chance to recover, he removed first one then the other of her shoes. As each one hit the floor, her expression evolved from surprised to anticipatory.

It drove him crazy how much he wanted her. Every cell in his body ached with need. Nothing in his life had ever compared. Was it knowing her inside and out that made the sexual chemistry between them stronger than normal?

While he snagged her panties and slid them down her pale thighs, she lifted her arms above her head, surrendering herself to his hot gaze. The vision of her splayed across the bed, awaiting his possession, stirred a tremor in his muscles. His hands shook as he dropped his underwear to the floor.

Any thought of taking things slow vanished as she reached for him. A curse made its way past his lips as her confident strokes brought him dangerously close to release.

“Stop.” His harsh command sounded desperate.

He took her wrist in a firm grip and pinned it above her head. Lowering himself into the cradle between her thighs, he paused before sliding into her. Two things were eating at him tonight: that picture of her dancing and her preoccupation with Evan and Lily’s romance.

“You’re mine.” The words rumbled out of him like a vow. Claiming her physically hadn’t rattled his safe bachelor existence, but this was a whole different story.

“Jason.” She waggled her hips and arched her back, trying to entice him to join with her, but although it was close to killing him, he stayed still.

“Say it.” With his hands keeping her wrists trapped over her head and his body pinning hers to the mattress, she was at his mercy.

“I can’t…” Her eyes went wide with dismay. “…say that.”

“Why not?” He rocked against her, giving her a taste of what she wanted.

A groan erupted past her parted lips. She watched him through half-closed eyes. “Because…”

“Say it,” he insisted. “And I’ll give you what you want.”

Her chest rose and fell in shallow, agitated breaths. “What I want…”

He lowered his head and drew circles around her breast with his tongue. His willpower had never felt so strong before. When she’d started dating his brother, he’d been in the worst sort of hell. Deep in his soul, Jason had always believed if she’d choose anyone, she’d pick him. They were best friends. Confidants. Soul mates. And buried where neither had ventured before prom night was a flammable sexual chemistry.

Both of them had been afraid at the power of what existed between them, but he’d been the most vocal about not ruining their friendship. So vocal, in fact, she’d turned to his brother before Jason had had time to come to his senses.

“Mine.” He growled the word against her breast as his mouth closed around her nipple.

She gasped at the strong pull of his mouth. “Yours.” She wrapped her thighs around his hips. “All yours.”

“All mine.”

Satisfied, he plunged into her. Locked together, he released her wrists and kissed her hard and deep, sealing her pledge before whisking them both into unheard of pleasure.

Nine

M
oving slowly, her legs wobbly from the previous night’s exertions, Ming crossed her bedroom to the door, where Muffin scratched and whined. She let the Yorkie in, dipping to catch the small dog before Muffin could charge across the room and disturb the large, naked man sprawled facedown in the middle of the tangled sheets.

“Let’s take you outside,” she murmured into the terrier’s silky coat, tearing her gaze away from Jason.

Still shaken from their passionate lovemaking the night before, she carefully navigated the stairs and headed for the back door. After cuddling against Jason’s warm skin all night, the seventy-degree temperature at 7:00 a.m. made her shiver. She should have wrapped more than a silky lavender robe around her naked body.

While Muffin ran off to do her business and investigate the yard for intruders, Ming plopped down on the same lounge she’d occupied the night before and opened her mind to the thoughts she’d held at bay all night long.

What the hell had possessed Jason to demand that she admit to belonging to him? Battling goose bumps, she rubbed at her arms. The morning air brushed her overheated skin but couldn’t cool the fire raging inside her.
His.
Even now the word made her muscles tremble and her insides whirl like a leaf caught in a vortex. She dropped her face into her hands and fought the urge to laugh or weep. He made her crazy. First his vow to never fall in love and never get married. Now this.

Muffin barked at something, and Ming looked up to find her dog digging beneath one of the bushes. Normally she’d stop the terrier. Today, she simply watched the destruction happen.

What was she supposed to make of Jason’s territorial posturing last night? Why had he reacted so strongly to the inflammatory photo? She’d understand it if they were dating. Then he’d have the right to be angry, to be driven to put his mark on her.

Jason hadn’t changed his mind about falling in love. Initially last night he hadn’t even wanted to spend the night. So, what had brought him back? It was just about the great sex, right? It wasn’t really fair to say he only wanted her body, but he’d shown no interest in accepting her heart.

Ming called Muffin back to the house and started a pot of coffee. She wasn’t sure if Jason intended to head home right away or if he would linger. She hoped he’d stick around. She had visions of eating her famous cinnamon raisin bread French toast and drinking coffee while they devoured the Sunday paper. As the day warmed they could go for a swim in her pool. She’d always wanted to make love in the water. Or they could laze in bed. It would be incredible to devote an entire day to hanging out.

Afternoon and evening sex had been more fun and recreational than serious and committed. Ming could pretend they were just enjoying the whole friends-with-benefits experience. Sleeping wrapped in each other’s arms had transported them into “relationship” territory. Not to mention the damage done to her emotional equilibrium when Jason admitted to feeling jealous.

She brought logic to bear on last night’s events, and squashed the giddy delight bubbling in her heart. She’d strayed a long way from the reason she was in this mess in the first place. Becoming a mom. Time to put things with Jason in perspective. They were friends. Physical intimacy might be messing with their heads at this point, but once she was pregnant all sex would cease and their relationship would go back to being casual and supportive.

“I started coffee,” she announced as she stepped into her bedroom and stopped dead at the sight of the person standing by her dresser.

Lily dropped something into Ming’s jewelry box and smiled at her sister. “I borrowed your earrings. I hope that’s okay.”

“It’s fine.” From her sister, Ming’s gaze went straight to the bed and found it empty. Relief shot through her, making her knees wobble. “I thought you were in Portland.”

“I came back early.”

Since Lily wasn’t asking the questions Ming was expecting, she could only assume her sister hadn’t run into Jason. “Ah, great.”

Where the hell was he?

“How come Jason’s car is in the driveway?” Lily asked.

Ming hovered near the doorway to the hall, hoping her sister would take the hint and come with her. “Max’s bachelor party was last night. He had a little too much to drink so I drove him home and brought the car back here.”

Too late she realized she could have just said he was staying in the guest room. That would at least have given him a reason to be in the house at this hour. Now he was trapped until she could get away from Lily.

Her sister wandered toward the window seat. “I put an offer in on a house.”

“Really?” What was going to happen between her and Evan if she was moving away?

Lily plopped down on the cushioned seat and set a pillow in her lap, looking as if she was settling in for a long talk. “You sound surprised.”

Ming shot a glance toward the short hallway, flanked by walk-in closets, that led to her bathroom. He had to be in there.

“I guess I was hoping you’d change your mind.” She pulled underwear and clothes from her dresser and headed toward the bathroom. “Let me get dressed and then you can tell me all about it.”

Her heart thumped vigorously as she shut the bathroom door behind her.

Jason leaned, fully clothed and completely at ease, against her vanity. “I thought you said she was spending the weekend with Evan.”

“She was.” Ming frowned when she realized he clearly thought she’d lied to him. “Something must have happened. She seems upset.” Ming dropped her robe and stepped into her clothes, ignoring his appreciative leer. “Did she see you?”

“I was already dressed and in here when I heard you start talking.” Readying himself to make a break for it.

“You were leaving?” Ming shouldn’t have been surprised. Last night was over. Time to return their relationship to an easygoing, friendly place. Hadn’t she been thinking the same thing? So why did her stomach feel like she’d been eating lead? “Did you intend to say goodbye or just sneak out while I was downstairs with Muffin?”

“Don’t be like that.”

“Why don’t you tell me exactly how I’m supposed to be.”

Not wanting her sister to get suspicious, Ming returned to the bedroom without waiting for Jason’s answer. Her heart ached, but she refused to give in to the pain pressing on the edge of her consciousness.

Since Lily seemed entrenched in Ming’s room, she sat beside her sister on the window seat. To catch Lily’s attention, Ming put her hand on her knee. “Tell me about the house.”

“House?”

“The one you put an offer in on.”

“It’s just a house.”

“How many bedrooms does it have?”

“Two.”

Curious about whatever was plaguing her sister, Ming was distracted by Muffin investigating her way toward the bathroom. “Nice neighborhood?”

“I think I made a huge mistake.”

“Then withdraw the offer.” She held her breath and waited for the terrier to discover Jason and erupt in a fit of barking.

“Not the house. The guy I’ve been seeing.”

With an effort, Ming returned her full attention to her sister. “I thought you were just friends.”

“It’s gone a little further than that.”

“You’re sleeping together?” She asked the question even though she suspected the answer was yes.

Although the fact that her ex-fiancé was dating her sister continued to cause Ming minor discomfort, she was relieved that her strongest emotion was concern for her sister. When jealousy had been her first reaction to the realization that Lily and Evan were involved, Ming had worried that she was turning into a horrible person.

And lately, on top of all her other worries, Ming had started to wonder how Evan would feel if he found out about her and Jason. Something that might just happen if they weren’t more careful.

“Yes. But it’s not going anywhere.”

Ming’s gaze strayed to the bathroom door she hadn’t completely closed. Muffin had yet to return to the bedroom. What was going on in there?

“Because you don’t want it to?”

“I guess.”

That tight spot near Ming’s heart eased a little. “You guess? Or you know?” When her sister didn’t answer, Ming asked, “Do you love him?”

“Yes.” Lily stared at her hands.

Ming’s throat locked up, but she couldn’t blame her sister for falling for Evan. The heart rarely followed a logical path. And it must be tearing Lily apart to love the man who’d almost married her sister.

“I think you should forget about moving to Portland.”

“It’s not that simple.”

Time to rattle her sister’s cage a little. “Funny, Jason told me Evan’s dating someone, but his situation is complicated, too.” Ming gave a little laugh. “Maybe you two should get together and compare notes.”

“I suppose we should.” Lily gave her a listless smile.

Was there a way for Ming to give her sister permission to have a future with Evan? “You know, I was glad to hear that Evan had found someone and was moving on with his life.”

“Really?” Despite Lily’s skeptical tone, her eyes were bright with hope.

“He and I weren’t mean to be. It happens.”

“That’s not how you felt six months ago.”

“I’m not going to say that having him break off our engagement two weeks before the wedding was any fun, but I’d much rather find out then that we weren’t meant to be than to get married and try to make it work only to invest years and then have it fail.”

Ming’s cell phone rang. She plucked it off the nightstand and answered it before Lily could respond.

“If I’m going to be stuck in your bathroom all morning, I’d love a cup of coffee and some breakfast.”

“Good morning to you, too,” she said, mouthing Jason’s name to Lily. “How are you feeling?”

“Tired and a little aroused after checking out the lingerie drying in your shower.”

“Sure, I can return your car.” She rolled her eyes in Lily’s direction. “Are you sober enough to drive me back here?”

“I guess I don’t need to ask what excuse you gave your sister for why my car is at your house.” Jason’s voice was dry.

“I can follow you over there and bring you back,” Lily offered.

“Hey, Lily just offered to follow me to your house so I can drop the car off.”

“You’re a diabolical woman, do you know that?”

“I’m sure it’s no bother,” Ming continued. “We’re going to make breakfast first though.”

“French toast with cinnamon raisin bread?”

“That’s right. Your favorite.” And one of the few things Ming enjoyed cooking. “Pity you aren’t here this morning to have some.”

“Just remember that paybacks can be painful.”

“Oh, I didn’t realize you needed your car to go shopping for Max and Rachel’s wedding gift this morning. I’ll see you in fifteen minutes.” She disconnected the call. “I’m going to run Jason’s car over to him and then I’ll come back and we can make breakfast.”

“Are you sure you don’t want me to drive you over there?”

“No. I think the fresh air will do him some good.”

She escorted Lily to the kitchen and settled her with a cup of green tea before she headed for the front door. Jason was already in the car when she arrived.

“Lily sounded upset this morning,” Jason said. “Did I hear her say she put an offer on a house?”

“In Portland. But she seems really unsure what her next move is.” She drove the car into the parking lot of a coffee shop in her neighborhood and cut the engine. “She’s conflicted about going.” She paused a beat. “Did you know they’re sleeping together?”

Silence filled the space between her and Jason. Ming listened to the engine tick as it cooled, her thoughts whirling.

“Yes.” He was keeping things from her. That wasn’t like him.

“And you didn’t tell me?”

“I didn’t want you to get upset.”

“I’m not upset.” Not about Lily and Evan.

Last weekend she’d discovered what she really wanted from Jason. It wasn’t a baby she would raise on her own. It was a husband who’d adore her and a bunch of kids to smother with love. She was never going to have that with him, and accepting that was tearing her apart.

“Well, you don’t look happy.”

“I want my sister to stay in Houston.” The air inside the car became stuffy and uncomfortable. Ming shoved open the door and got out.

By the time she reached the Camaro’s front bumper, Jason was there, waiting for her. “What happens if Lily and Evan decide to get married?”

Then she would be happy for them. “Evan and I were over six months ago.”

“You and Evan broke up six months ago.”

“Are you insinuating I’m not over him?”

“Are you?” He set his hand on his hips, preventing her from going past.

“Don’t be ridiculous.” She tried to sidestep him, but he shifted to keep her blocked. “Would I be sleeping with you if I was hung up on your brother?”

“If I recall, the only reason you’re sleeping with me is so you can get pregnant.”

She should be relieved that he believed that. It alleviated the need for complicated explanations. But what had happened between them meant so much more to her than that she couldn’t stay silent.

“Perhaps you need to think a little harder about that first afternoon in your kitchen.” She leaned into his body, surrendering her pride. “Did it seem as if all I was interested in was getting pregnant?”

“Ming.” The guilt in his voice wrenched at her. He cupped her shoulders, the pressure comforting, reassuring.

She stared at his chest and hoped he wouldn’t see the tears burning her eyes. “I knew it was going to get weird between us.”

“It’s not weird.”

“It’s weird.” She circled around him and headed to the passenger side. “I should probably get back.”

For a moment Jason stood where she’d left him. Ming watched him through the windshield, appreciating the solitude to collect her thoughts. It was her fault that their relationship was strained. If she’d just stuck with her plan and used a clinic to get pregnant, she wouldn’t have developed a craving for a man who could never be hers. And she wouldn’t feel miserable for opening herself to love.

As Jason slid behind the wheel, she composed her expression and gathered breath to tell him that they needed to go back to being friends without benefits, but he spoke first.