Falling Star (6 page)

"That good, huh?"

Dean had his feet propped up on the coffee table. He wore the same old U.C. Berkeley ash grey sweatpants every night. One of these days Jade would take scissors to those ugly things and put them out of their misery, but until the threadbare knees turned to outright holes, Dean wouldn't part with them. The sweatshirt hadn't made it through his four years of college, but these pants were still hanging on.

"What do you mean?"

He turned the volume down as the credits of the detective show scrolled up the television screen. "You're wearing your lacy nightie instead of flannel sleep pants. That means it was a good date." He scratched his bare chest and winked.

She rolled her eyes and smothered a smile. Dean knew her way too well. "It was good. Nothing fancy, just dinner at Buster's."

"A hell of a kiss, though."

Jade landed on the couch beside him, and picked up a green suede decorative pillow to fan herself, only half in jest. "Even that is an understatement."

"Not much of a view from the peephole, but I thought the front door would combust." Dean slipped his arm over her shoulders, and she leaned against him, loving the peace and security she found in his arms. "Why didn't you bring him inside? Still afraid to introduce me?"

"No, not at all. Maybe if he hadn't kissed me until my toes curled I would have invited him in, but I didn't want to do something rash."

"Must be nice to have only one head to do the thinking."

She elbowed him in the ribs. "Another reason I couldn't bring him in. I know you. You'd have your eyes trained on his crotch and you'd embarrass yourself."

"Impressive?"

"From what I could tell."

"I believe I might be jealous."

"After the male model that left our house in the wee hours this morning? One of these days I'm going to hide behind your curtains for a front row seat."

"You'd like that wouldn't you? Maybe if I find one that will stick around I'll work on convincing him to let us put on a show for you." Dean pulled her hair back to twist it at her nape with one hand, and flipped through the channels with the remote in the other.

"Maybe if you didn't send them packing at three a.m., they'd be willing to come back."

"He snored!" As if that was reason enough, and in Dean's mind, it probably was. He was terribly picky about his lovers.

Jade smiled. "One of these days, Dean Chambers, a man is going to come along and knock you on your ass. He'll probably snore too."

"I doubt it."

"And he'll like his steak well done," she continued, picking out all of Dean's pet peeves. "He'll chew on his fingernails. He'll watch old musicals on the classic movie channel…he'll wear tube socks with dress shoes. He's going to have a tiny dick…" Dean tried to cover her mouth, but she pulled his hand away and continued through a laugh. "He'll buy you a new pair of sweats, and
you'll wear them
!"

"Never!" Dean shoved her onto her back against the leather couch and pinned her down, tickling her until she couldn't speak. "Any man who loves me, will love my sweatpants. We're a package deal." Dean dodged her flailing arms and legs, and continued torturing her.

Only when she screamed "uncle" did he let her up, but she couldn't resist a final slug in his arm before they returned to their original position on the couch while Dean searched through the channels. There wasn't anything on.

"So tell me about him. Should I trust him with my best friend?"

"I think so." She tried not to sound uncertain, and damn if Dean didn't pick up on it.

"You
think so
? What does he do for a living?" Big brother was back.

"I'm not exactly sure…"

"Didn't you ask? Didn't he volunteer that information?"

"He was a little…um…hesitant to talk about his job. He said he works in the entertainment industry, and he has a professional name."

"Which is?" Dean pulled away from her, obviously serious about his concern now.

"Well, he didn't exactly—"

"Jade…"

"It's not bad! At least, I don't think it's bad." She chewed on her lip.

"But he's hiding something. That isn't good."

Leave it to Dean to get down to the brass tacks. Jade knew it, but she didn't want to analyze his mysteriousness. Now she scrambled to defend him to Dean. "Maybe he's a struggling actor, and he's too embarrassed to tell me that he hasn't had a part in years, or maybe he's a back-up singer in a garage band."

"Maybe. But maybe he just got out of prison for luring beautiful young women to his sleazy motel room with promises of a big break, when really he rapes and murders them, chopping them into—"

"Dean!" Another elbow to the ribs shut him up. "He said he's directed some, so maybe he wants to move from directing into acting?"

"Maybe he's a porn star."

Jade smiled. "I asked him about that. He says no."

"Married."

Her mouth dropped open. She hadn't thought of that. That would explain why he wouldn't give her his last name! Her mind whirled.

"Jesus, Jade. That freaks you out, but you laugh at the serial murderer scenario." Dean ruffled her hair.

"He gave me his cell phone number. He told me I could call him anytime. That doesn't sound like a married man, does it?"

"No it doesn't. Relax. I'm sure it is as you say, and he's just struggling to make a name for himself."

"He must be doing okay," Jade relaxed again. "He was able to pay for dinner, and he has a decent car. He was well dressed. Very well. And he smelled good, not like cheap cologne."

"Don't forget his impressive cock."

"I'll reserve judgment."

"Let me know."

"Get your own impressive cock, Dean."

Dean grinned, turning the television off, and using the same remote to start up the stereo. "I've got one, thanks. My problem is I need to have another impressive cock to make the damn thing work."

Jade opened a bottle of wine, and spent the next four hours filling Dean in on her two hours with Adam Herlihey.

* * * *

He stood her up.

Jade flipped the sign on the door, and locked herself inside Earth Scents. She peered through the window, her heart racing with each silver sedan that drove by, and hating the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. All day she'd been thinking about him, watching the clock until closing time, getting more and more anxious as time went by, which made the letdown at his absence even more painful.

She turned off the lights in each of the floral coolers and picked up after some of today's more rambunctious customers. Ella had already gone through the place once before she left that afternoon while grilling Jade on her upcoming date with the mystery man.

"You need to snap some covert pictures with your cell phone or something." Ella had adjusted the ball cap atop her head. It was a staple in the college girl's wardrobe. If it weren't for the two long brunette braids behind her ears, Jade might have wondered if Ella were hiding a bald spot. "I'm starting to think you're making the guy up so I stop bugging you about getting laid."

Jade just glared, and popped the huge pink bubble that Ella blew with her gum. "I'm not sleeping with him."

"Yet. Geez Jade, don't string the guy on too long, he'll find another florist to play with."

Now, pacing the sales floor, Jade stopped to straighten another shelf full of vases to stall leaving.
I would need to see him in order to string him along
, Jade chewed on her bottom lip.

Maybe he was confused. She replayed their telephone conversation. Maybe
she
was confused. Dinner on Friday? Movie? Jade continued through the shop, closing down the cash register, and cranking off the helium tank.

Ten after six. She searched through her apron pockets for her phone. He said she could call anytime, right?

Where the hell was her phone? She turned off each set of lights on her way to the back room. Just as she dug her phone out of her purse, there was a sharp knock coming from the sales floor.

Since she was alone, she allowed herself to squeal like a little girl. Even her attempts at calming herself down on the way back out front made her laugh.

It was him. He had his sunglasses in one hand, and both hands were cupped around his eyes. His forehead was pressed against the door, and his smile when he saw her made her want to leap into the air.

He wore jeans again, baggy in the thighs, but cinched around his hips as though they were made for him. A grey cotton Henley shirt was tight enough on his broad chest to draw attention to his well-formed muscles. He had pulled up the sleeves exposing sinewy forearms that exuded warmth and strength. She knew how hard his body was beneath those clothes. She ached to touch him again, to rub up against him like some cat in heat.

She let him inside, and locked up behind him. It took a couple of tries, since her hands were shaky.

"Sorry I'm late." He steered her away from the huge windows with one arm around her before he bent over her body in an all-encompassing embrace. She slid her hands around his waist, and breathed in his scent. How odd was it that she felt completely comfortable with this man so close, after that one kiss on her porch. Of course in her dreams there were the many that followed.

"I was starting to get a little concerned, but you aren't that late."

"I called your cell phone, but you didn't answer." He leaned away from her and his eyes drifted across her upturned face. "You know, if you had anywhere near as rough a night as I did, you have no right looking this good today."

Her face grew warm. "A rough night? I hope it wasn't something you ate."

"No." He brought one hand around to brush the backs of his fingers along her flushed cheeks. "But I know the perfect cure. Open your mouth."

She wrinkled her brow, "Wha…?"

"Thanks." He kissed her. And just like its predecessor, this kiss worked its way through her body, warming her blood and weakening her muscles. Thank God he had such a tight hold on her; she was sure she would have melted into a steaming puddle on the tile floor without it. Her sex clenched in a pleading spasm, and she whimpered like a lost kitten.

She gripped his thin shirt beneath her hands, entranced by the taut muscles hidden by the soft cotton. He tasted of coffee. A sweet vanilla-flavored coffee. His lips closed around her tongue, drawing it deeper into his mouth. Two strong hands brought her even closer.

She sucked his scent into her lungs, learning his spicy citrusy essence. If she knew what cologne he wore, she'd buy a bottle of it just to sprinkle on her pillowcases. Maybe not. She'd never get any sleep.

"I've been thinking about that all day," he whispered into her mouth.

Jade brushed her lips against his as he spoke. "Me too."

"Are you finished here?" He pulled her lower lip with his teeth.

"Huh uh. I'm not finished." She brought her arms up to tangle her fingers in the thick tawny hair that brushed his nape, and pulled him back down to her mouth.

He chuckled, and walked her backwards through the swinging doors and into the dark hallway, their lips locked together hungrily. It was a good thing he did, because she had forgotten that anyone who happened to walk by Earth Scents would be able to clearly see the proprietor in a clinch with a man.

Adam pushed her against the hallway wall, and pressed each hard muscle into her corresponding softness. Jade couldn't seem to catch her breath. Her heart pounded to send sufficient oxygen through her veins, and her head started spinning. She was drowning in this man; he sucked the life from her lungs, yet she struggled to give him more.

She tilted her hips against his, and moisture gathered along the folds of her sex thanks to the rock-hard erection pressing against her pelvis. A strangled cry gurgled in her throat, and she trailed one hand down his back and gripped his thigh, right where it met his ass, grinding him against her.

In one movement, he pulled his mouth from hers, and sucked in a deep breath through his flared nostrils. When she blinked him into focus, he gave her a slanted grin. "Hungry?"

Wasn't it obvious? "Very."

"I packed a picnic. I thought we could find a quiet spot in a park somewhere." She squeezed his thigh as he spoke, and his voice cracked. "Unless you keep that up, in which case I'll have to show you what else I've been thinking about all day."

She grinned. "Did it involve a florist and a dark hallway?"

"Definitely a florist." His wandering hands finally settled on the curves of her derriere and held her hips against his. His hard-on fit perfectly in the notch of her thighs. "It's obvious how much I want you. Maybe one day I'll take you up against the wall." He moved his hips suggestively, "but not today."

She could feel each of his ten fingers gripping her hips, holding her steady and caressing her at the same time. At this point, she didn't care that they were in the narrow dank hallway, surrounded by bulletin boards and order forms. She slipped her hands into the waistband of his jeans, then around his hips to meet at his fly. She shouldn't be doing this. Not here, not now. She barely knew him for Christ's sake. She laid her forehead against his chest, and breathed in that clean scent. She took his harsh breathing as a good sign. "Why not today?" Feeling uncharacteristically bold, she wiggled her fingers, searching for the treasure the dark denim hid.