A Tricky Proposition (7 page)

Ming toyed with the belt of her robe. The pain of being dumped eased a little more each day, but it wasn’t completely gone. “It really doesn’t matter how I feel. The reasons we broke up haven’t changed.”

“What if they did? What if the problems that came between you were gone? Out of the picture?” Lily was oddly intent. “Would you give him another chance?”

Ming tried to picture herself with Evan now that she’d tasted Jason’s kisses. She’d settled for one brother instead of fighting for the other. That was a mistake she wouldn’t make again. She’d rather be happy as a single mom than be miserable married to a man she didn’t love.

“I’ve spent the last six months reimagining my life without Evan,” she told her sister. “I’d rather move forward than look back.”

*

At a little after 8:00 p.m., Jason sat in his car and stared at Ming’s house. When she’d left him in Mendocino, his pride had kept him from chasing after her for a little over two hours. He’d come to California to spend the weekend with Ming, not to pace a hotel room in a frenzy of unsatisfied desire. Confident she wouldn’t miraculously change her mind and return to him, Jason had gotten behind the wheel and returned to the San Francisco airport, where he’d caught a 6:00 a.m. flight back to Houston.

He hadn’t liked the way things had been left between them, and her text message gave him hope she hadn’t, either. After catching a few hours of sleep, he’d come here tonight to talk her into giving his strategy one last shot.

But the sight of his brother’s car parked in Ming’s driveway distracted him. What the hell was Evan doing here? Had he come to tell Ming that he was dating her sister? If so, Jason should get in there because Ming was sure to be upset.

He had his hand on the door release when her front door opened. Despite the porch light pouring over the couple’s head, he couldn’t see Lily’s expression, but her body language would be visible from the moon.

Ming’s sister was hung up on his brother. And from the way Evan slid his hands around her waist and pulled her against him for a deep, passionate kiss, the feeling was mutual.

It took no more than a couple of seconds for an acid to eat at Jason’s gut. He glanced away from the embracing couple, but anger continued to build.

What the hell did Evan think he was doing? Didn’t he care about Ming’s feelings at all? Didn’t he consider how hurt she’d be if she saw him kissing Lily? Obviously not. Good thing Jason was around to straighten out his brother before the situation spun out of control.

A motor started, drowning out Jason’s heated thoughts. Evan backed out of the driveway. Jason had missed the chance to catch his brother in the act. Cursing, he dialed Evan’s number.

“Jason, hey, what’s up?”

“We need to talk.”

“So talk.” Considering the fact that Evan had just engaged in a long, passionate kiss, he wasn’t sounding particularly chipper.

“In person.” So he could throttle his brother if the urge arose. “O’Malley’s. Ten minutes.”

The tension in Jason’s tone must have clued in his brother to Jason’s determination because Evan agreed without protest. “Sure. Okay.”

Jason ended the call and followed his brother’s car to the neighborhood bar. He chose the parking spot next to Evan’s and was standing at his brother’s door before Evan had even turned off the engine.

“You and Lily are still seeing each other?” Jason demanded, not allowing his brother to slide from behind the wheel.

“I never said I was going to stop.”

“Does Ming know?”

“Not yet.”

“She’ll find out pretty quickly if you keep kissing Lily in full view of Ming’s neighbors.”

“I didn’t think about that.” Evan didn’t ask how Jason knew. “I was sure Ming wouldn’t see us. She’d gone up to her room.”

“So that made it okay?” Fingers curling into fists, Jason stabbed his brother with a fierce glare. “If you intend to flaunt your relationship, you need to tell her what you and Lily are doing.”

“I started to tonight, but Lily interrupted me. She doesn’t want Ming to know.” And Evan didn’t look happy about it. “Can we go inside and discuss this over a beer?”

Considering his mood, Jason wasn’t sure consuming alcohol around his brother was a wise idea, but he stepped back so Evan could get out of the car. With an effort Jason unclenched his fists and concentrated on soothing his bad temper. By the time they were seated near the back, Jason’s fury had become a slow burn.

“Why doesn’t Lily want Ming to know?” Jason sat with his spine pressed against the booth’s polished wood back while Evan leaned his forearms on the table, all earnest and contrite.

“Because I don’t think she intends for it to go anywhere.”

If Evan wasn’t running the risk of hurting Ming all over again, Jason could have sympathized with his brother’s pain. “Then you need to quit seeing her.”

“I can’t.” Despite the throb in his brother’s voice, the corners of his mouth relaxed. “The sex is incredible. I tell myself a hundred times a day that it’s going nowhere and that I should get out before anyone is hurt, but then I hear her voice or see her and I have to…” He grimaced. “I don’t know why I’m telling you this.”

“So you two are combustible together.” Resentment made Jason cross. He and Ming had great chemistry, too, but instead of exploring some potentially explosive lovemaking, they were at odds over what effect this might have on their friendship.

“It’s amazing.”

“But…?” Jason prompted.

“I don’t know if we can make it work. We have completely different ideas about what we want.” Evan shook his head. “And now she’s moving to Portland.”

Which should put an end to things, but Jason sensed the upcoming separation was causing things to heat up rather than cool down.

“Long-range relationships don’t work,” Jason said.

“Sometimes they do. And I love her.” Something Evan looked damned miserable about.

“Is she in love with you?”

“She claims it’s nothing but casual sex between us. But it sure as hell doesn’t feel casual when we’re at it.”

Love was demonstrating once again that it had no one’s best interests at heart. Evan was in love with Lily, but she obviously didn’t feel the same way, and that made him unhappy. And finding out that her ex-fiancé was in love with her sister was going to cause Ming pain. Nothing good came of falling in love.

“All the more reason you should quit seeing Lily before Ming finds out.”

“That’s not what I want.”

“What
you
want?”

Jason contemplated the passion that tormented his brother. The entire time Evan and Ming were dating, not once had Evan displayed the despair that afflicted him now.

“How about what’s good for Ming?” Jason continued. “Don’t you think you did enough damage to her when you broke off your engagement two weeks before the wedding?”

“Yeah, well, that was bad timing on my part.” Evan paused for a beat. “We weren’t meant to be together.”

“You and Lily aren’t meant to be together, either.”

“I don’t agree.” Evan sounded grim. “And I want a chance to prove it. Can I count on you to keep quiet?”

“No.” Seeing his brother’s expression, Jason relented. “I’m not going to run over there tonight and tell her. Talk to Lily. Figure this out. You can have until noon tomorrow.”

As his anger over Evan’s choice of romantic partner faded, Jason noticed the hollow feeling in his chest was back. He sipped the beer the waitress had set before him and wondered why Ming had chosen to pick a fight with him in California instead of surrendering to the heat between them.

Was she really afraid their relationship would be changed by sex? How could it when they’d been best friends for over twenty years? Sure, there’d been sparks the night of senior prom, but they’d discussed the situation and decided their friendship was more important than trying to date only to have it end badly.

And what they were about to do wasn’t dating. It was sex, pure and simple. A way for Ming to get pregnant. For Jason to purge her from his system.

For him to satisfy his curiosity?

Maybe her accusation hadn’t been completely off the mark. He wouldn’t be a guy if he hadn’t looked at Ming in a bathing suit and recognized she was breathtaking. From prom night his fingers knew the shape of her breasts, his tongue the texture of her nipples. The soft heat of her mouth against his. That wasn’t something he could experience and then never think about again.

But he wasn’t in love with her. He’d never let that happen. Their friendship was too important to mess up with romance. Love had almost killed his father. And Evan wasn’t doing too well, either.

Nope. Better to keep things casual. Uncomplicated.

Which didn’t explain why he’d offered to help Ming get pregnant and why he’d suggested they do it the natural way. And Jason had no easy answer.

Six

B
y Sunday afternoon Ming still hadn’t heard from Jason, and his lack of response to her phone calls and texts struck her as odd. She’d apologized a dozen times. Why was he avoiding her? After brunch with Lily, she drove to Jason’s house in the hope of cornering him and getting answers. Relief swept her as she spied him by the ’Cuda he’d won off Max a few months ago. She parked her car at the bottom of the driveway and stared at him for a long moment.

Bare except for a pair of cargo shorts that rode low on his hips, he was preoccupied with eliminating every bit of dust from the car’s yellow paint. His bronzed skin glistened with a fine mist of water from the hole in the nearby garden hose. The muscles across his back rippled as he plunged the sponge into the bucket of soapy water near his bare feet.

Ming imagined gliding her hands over those male contours, digging her nails into his flesh as he devoured her. The fantasy inspired a series of hot flashes. She slid from behind the wheel and headed toward him.

“I think you missed a spot,” she called, stopping a couple feet away from the back bumper. Hearing the odd note in her own voice brought about by her earlier musing, she winced. When he frowned at her, she pointed to a nonexistent smudge on the car’s trunk.

Since waking at six that morning, she’d been debating what tack to take with Jason. Did she scold him for not calling her back? Did she pretend that she wasn’t hurt and worried that he’d ignored her apologies? Or did she just leave her emotional baggage at the door and talk to him straight like a friend?

Jason dropped the sponge on the car’s roof and set his hands on his hips. “I’m pretty sure I didn’t.”

She eyed the car. “I’m pretty sure you did.” When he didn’t respond, she stepped closer to the car and pointed. “Right here.”

“If you think you can do better…” He lobbed the dripping sponge onto the trunk. It landed with a splat, showering her with soapy water. “Go ahead.”

Unsure why he got to act unfriendly when she’d been the one to apologize only to be ignored, she picked up the sponge and debated what to do with it. She could toss it back and hope it hit him full in the face, or she could take the high road and see if they could talk through what had happened in California.

Gathering a calming breath, she swept the sponge over the trunk and down toward the taillights. “I’ve left you a few messages,” she said, focusing on the task at hand.

“I know. Sorry I haven’t called you back.”

“Is there a reason why you didn’t?”

“I’ve been busy.”

Cleaning an already pristine car was a pointless endeavor. So was using indirect methods to get Jason to talk about something uncomfortable. “When you didn’t call me back, I started wondering if you were mad at me.”

“Why would I be mad?”

Ming circled the car and dunked the sponge into the bucket. Jason had retreated to the opposite side of the ’Cuda and was spraying the car with water. Fine mist filled the air, landing on Ming’s skin, lightly coating her white blouse and short black skirt. She hadn’t come dressed to wash a car. And if she didn’t retreat, she risked ruining her new black sandals.

“Because of what happened in Mendocino.”

“You mean because you freaked out?” At last he met her gaze. Irritation glittered in his bright blue eyes.

“I didn’t freak…exactly.”

“You agreed we’d spend three days together and when you got there, you lasted barely an hour before picking a fight with me and running out. How is that not freaking?”

Ming scrubbed at the side mirror, paying careful attention to the task. “Well, I wouldn’t have done that if you hadn’t gone all Don Juan on me.”

“Don Juan?” He sounded incredulous.

“Master of seduction.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“The roses on the bed. The vanilla candles. I’m surprised you didn’t draw me a bubble bath.” In the silence that followed her accusation, she glanced up. The expression on his face told her that had also been on his agenda. “Good grief.”

“Forgive me for trying to create a romantic mood.”

“I didn’t ask for romance,” she protested. “I just wanted to get pregnant.”

In a clinic. Simple. Uncomplicated.

“Since when do you have something against romance? I seem to remember you liked it when Evan sent you flowers and took you out for candlelit dinners.”

“Evan and I were dating.” They’d been falling in love.

She picked up the bucket and moved to the front of the car. This time Jason stayed put.

“I thought you’d appreciate the flowers and the candlelight.”

Ming snorted. “Men do stuff like that to get women into bed. But you already knew we were going to have sex. So what was with the whole seduction scene?”

“Why are you making such an issue out of this?”

She stopped scrubbing the hood and stared at him, hoping she could make him understand without divulging too much. “You created the perfect setting to make me fall in love with you.”

“That’s not what I was doing.”

“I know you don’t plan to make women fall for you, but it’s what happens to everyone you date.” She applied the sponge to the hood in a fury. “You overwhelm them with romantic gestures until they start picturing a future with you and then you drop them because they want more than you can give them.”

The only movement in his face was the tic in his jaw. “You make it sound like I deliberately try to hurt them.”

“That’s not it at all. I don’t think you have any idea what it’s like when you turn on the Sterling charm.”

“Are you saying that’s what I did to you?”

It was the deliberate nature of what he’d done that made her feel like a prize to be won, not a friend to be helped. Another conquest. Another woman who would fall in love with him and then be dumped when she got too serious. When she wanted too much from him.

“Yes. And I don’t get why.” She dropped the sponge into the bucket and raked her fingers through her damp hair, lifting the soggy weight off her neck and back so the breeze could cool her. “All I wanted was to have a baby. I didn’t want to complicate our friendship with sex. Or make things weird between us.” Dense emotions weighed on her. Her shoulders sagged beneath the burden. She let her arms fall to her sides. “That’s why I’ve decided to let you off the hook.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m going forward as originally planned. I’ll use an anonymous donor and we can pretend the last two weeks never happened.”

“I’m tired of pretending.”

Before she’d fully processed his statement, chilly water rained down on her. Ming shrieked and stepped back.

“Hey.” She wiped water from her eyes and glared at Jason. “Watch it.”

“Sorry.” But he obviously wasn’t.

“You did that on purpose.”

“I didn’t.”

“Did, too.”

And abruptly they were eight again, chasing each other around her parents’ backyard with squirt guns. She grabbed the sponge out of the bucket and tossed it at his head. He dodged it without even moving his feet, and a smattering of droplets showered down on her.

The bucket of water was at her feet. Seconds later it was in her hands. She didn’t stop to consider the consequences of what she was about to do. How long since she’d acted without thought?

“If you throw that, I’ll make sure you’ll regret it,” Jason warned, his serious tone a stark contrast to the dare in his eyes.

The emotional tug-of-war of the past two weeks had taken a toll on her. Her friendship with Jason was the foundation that she’d built her life on. But the longing for his kisses, the anticipation of his hands sliding over her naked flesh… She was on fire for him. Head and heart at war.

“Damn you, Jason,” she whispered.

Soapy water arced across the six feet separating them and landed precisely where she meant it to. Drenched from head to groin, Jason stood perfectly still for as long as it took for Ming to drop the bucket. Then he gave his head a vigorous shake, showering soapy droplets all around him.

Ming watched as if in slow motion as he raised the hose in his hand, aimed it at her and squeezed the trigger. Icy water sprayed her. Sputtering with laughter, she put up her hands and backed away. Hampered by her heels from moving fast enough to escape, she shrieked for Jason to stop. When the deluge continued, she kicked off her shoes and raced for the house.

Until she stood dripping on Jason’s kitchen floor, it hadn’t occurred to her why she hadn’t made a break for her car. The door leading to the garage slammed shut.

Shivering in the air-conditioning, Ming whirled to confront Jason.

He stalked toward her. Eyes on fire. Mouth set in a grim line. She held her ground as he drew near. Her trembling became less about being chilled and more about Jason’s intensity as he stepped into her space and cupped her face in his hands.

“I’m sorry about California…”

The rest of her words were lost, stopped by the demanding press of his lips to hers. Electrified by the passion in his kiss, she rose up on tiptoe and wrapped her arms around his neck and let him devour her with lips, tongue and teeth.

Yes. This is what she’d been waiting for. The crazy wildness that had gripped them on prom night. The urgent craving to rip each other’s clothes off and couple like long-lost lovers. Fire exploded in her loins as pulse after pulse drove heat to her core.

She drank from the passion in his kiss, found her joy in the feint and retreat of his tongue with hers. His hands left her face and traveled down her throat to her shoulders. And lower. She quaked as his palms moved over her breasts and caressed her stomach. Before she knew what he was after, he’d gathered handfuls of her blouse. She felt a tremor ripple through his torso a second before he tore her shirt open.

Flinging off her ruined shirt, Ming arched her back and pressed into his palms as he cupped her breasts through her sodden bra and made her nipples peak. Between her thighs an ache built toward a climax that would drive her mad if she couldn’t get him to hurry. Impatience clawed at her. She needed his skin against hers. Reaching behind her, Ming released her bra clasp.

Jason peeled it away and drew his fingertips around her breasts and across her aching nipples. “Perfect.” Husky with awe, his voice rasped against her nerves, inflaming her already raging desire.

He bent his head and took one pebbled bud into his mouth, rolling his tongue over the hard point before sucking hard. The wet pulling sensation shot a bolt of sensation straight to where she hungered, wrenching a gasp from Ming.

“Do that again,” she demanded, her fingers biting into his biceps. “That was incredible.”

He obliged until her knees threatened to give out. “I’ve imagined you like this for so long,” he muttered against her throat, teeth grazing the cord in her neck.

“Like what, half-naked?”

“Trembling. On fire.” He slipped his hand beneath her skirt and skimmed up her thigh. “For me.”

Shuddering as he closed in on the area where she wanted him most, Ming let her own fingers do some exploring. Behind the zipper of his cargo shorts he was huge and hard. As her nails grazed along his length, Jason closed his eyes. Breath escaped in a hiss from between his clenched teeth.

Happy with his reaction, but wanting him as needy as he’d made her, she unfastened his shorts and dived beneath the fabric to locate skin. A curse escaped him when she sent his clothes to pool at his feet. She grasped him firmly.

Abandoning his own exploration, he pulled her hands away and carried them around to his back. His mouth settled on hers again, this time stealing her breath and her sense of equilibrium. She was spinning. Twirling. Lost in the universe. Only Jason’s mouth on hers, his arms banding her body to his, gave her any sense of reality.

This is what she’d been missing on the couch in his den and on the deck in California. The line between friend and lover wasn’t just blurred, it was eradicated by hunger and wanton impulses. Hesitations were put aside. There was only heat and urgency. Demand and surrender.

Her back bumped against something. She opened her eyes as Jason’s lips left hers.

“I need you now,” she murmured as he nibbled down her neck.

“Let’s go upstairs.”

Her knees wouldn’t survive the climb. “I can’t make it that far.”

“What do you have in mind?”

His kitchen table caught her eye. “How about this?”

Her knees had enough strength to back him up five feet. He looked surprised when she shoved him onto one of the four straight-back chairs.

“I’m game if you are.”

She hadn’t finished shimmying out of her skirt when she felt his fingers hook in the waistband of her hot pink thong and begin drawing it down her thighs. Naked, she stared down at him, her heart pinging around in her chest.

There was no turning back from this moment.

Jason’s fingers bit into her hips as she straddled the chair. Meeting his gaze, she positioned herself so the tip of him grazed her entrance. Looking into his eyes, she could see straight to his soul. No veils hid his emotions from her.

She lowered herself, joining them in body as in spirit, let her head fall back and gloried at the perfection of their fit.

*

He’d died and gone to heaven. With Ming arched over his arm, almost limp in his grasp, he’d reached a nirvana of sorts. The sensation of being buried inside her almost blew the top of his head off. He shuddered, lost in a bewildering maze of emotions.

“This is the first time,” he muttered, lowering his lips to her throat, “I’ve never done this before.”

She tightened her inner muscles around him and he groaned. Her chest vibrated in what sounded like a laugh. With her fingers digging into his shoulders, she straightened and stared deep into his eyes.

“I have it on good authority,” she began, leaning forward to draw her tongue along his lower lip, “that this is not your first time.” She spoke without rancor, unbothered by the women he’d been with before.

He stroked his hands up her spine, fingers gliding over her silken skin, feeling the ridges made by her ribs. “It’s the first I’ve ever had sex without protection.”

“Really?” She peered at him from beneath her lashes. “I’m your first?”