The Keys to Jericho (29 page)

“I said it was nothing. Just hand me my phone. Pretty please?”

“Nope. Come and get it.”

She scoffs and I pick the phone up, waving it out of her reach. “Here, kitty, kitty.”

Kat disbelievingly laughs. “Jared Beckett!” No trifecta from her, either.

“I guess you don’t want it enough.” Fuck me, I do.

In a certainly unanticipated move, Kat dives onto my body, reaching for her phone, which I’ve all but forgotten that is still in my hand. I’m too busy staring at her tits near my face, tempting me. I could easily reach my hand up to slide my fingers into the side of her tank top, or raise my head to lick her nipple through her shirt.

This is another red alert situation if I don’t want her to notice my adamant hard-on, which is rapidly becoming fully displayed in my nylon Bermudas.

“Are you not going to give me my phone?” Kat sits up more, stretching to reach it that way. Desperate to distract both of us, I lightly toss her phone into the grass. “Hey!”

I’d laugh, but instead, I’m freaking out that she’ll see my erection and…I don’t even know what she’d say, but since I have no idea what she’s thinking, I don’t want to find out. If she saw what she’s doing to me, besides her possibly getting upset, it could make things beyond awkward for us and she could give up trying to get her license, altogether.

As Kat moves to sit back, apparently to stand, I impulsively grab her by the hips and twist her, and before I realize what I’m doing, she’s straddled over my abdomen. Fuck. Fuck. Not a good move. At. All. Counterproductive as hell.

She nearly looks as panicked as I feel. “Wh-what are you doing?”

I force a grin as I imagine what she’d look like riding me, and though we’re in a public place, we’re physically so close that screwing could become a reality if I took her hand and reached it behind her. It doesn’t help that Kat won’t sit motionless on me. She’s shifting and squirming, which only fuels my imagination of her gliding up and down my long-suffering cock.

Fuck…

The look on her face is undeterminable, but for some reason, it makes me unpredictably laugh and as I do, I close my eyes; only the sunlight can be seen behind my eyelids. I concentrate on that to somehow cool me off.

However, I didn’t take into account Kat having her own idea in this moment. Feeling her body suddenly resting on mine, my eyes fly open to see her brown eyes up close and personal. Now I’m the one asking, “What are you doing?”

“Just looking. You?”

“The same.” I’m instantly drawn to her lips, which are mere inches from mine, but when I glance up, I notice her eyes are downcast, possibly staring at
my
mouth. Does she want me to kiss her? Fuck. I want to, but having never initiated a kiss, I don’t want to fuck it up. Not with Kat, since she’s the only one I’ve ever wanted to kiss.

We stare at each other as she continues to shift her hips on me, close to rubbing my frustrated dick with her ass, driving me past insanity and close to me pleading for us to fuck in the open at a park. I’d have a great time explaining that one to anyone I’d have to call to bail us out of jail.

Kat’s gaze sweeps my face and with a slight headshake, she whispers, “What is it?”

Unthinkingly, I raise my hand to brush the hair that fell over her eye, my fingers slowly trailing over her cheek, feeling the rush of tingles spreading throughout my entire body, and at the same time, hearing her take in a quick breath. Her lips part and with my curled fingers resting on her cheek, I move my hand to the back of her head and instinctively tilt mine, but I hesitate urging her closer.

Kat whispers, “Jared.” She shifts again, the inside of her thigh grazing my shaft, and like a shot, I sit us up. My hands go to the back of her legs, lifting her off of me before she unknowingly dry humps me. Setting her on the blanket, I hurriedly pull my legs up, crossing my arms over them.

Kat regards me with gloomy suspicion. “What’s wrong?”

Clearing my throat and checking my watch, I say, “Nothing. We need to get you behind the wheel soon.” When I look up, her confusion is now a perceptive smile, which unsettles me. Uncomfortable, I glance down to the blanket, and cautiously ask, “What?”

“Let’s check out the gazebo for a minute, since you’ve never seen it before.”

“Go ahead. I’ll be over after I check my email.” Shit. I’ll never get rid of this hard-on. I yank my phone from my pocket to go along with my excuse.

She sighs. “Okay.”

As Kat walks to the gazebo, I watch her, noticing she appears to be more on edge than she did before.

What the fuck just happened? I was going to kiss her, but I froze. I’m a grown man and I’m having performance anxiety about damn kissing. Then, she bumped into my cock, and I panicked. There isn’t hope for me at this rate.

After a few minutes, it’s safe for me to stand. When I go up the stairs and into the gazebo, I see Kat walking across the benches lining the perimeter. Baffled, I laugh. “What’s going on, Kit Kat?”

“Just walking.”

“Why?”

“Feel like it.”

“We still have to walk to the car.”

“I know.” She reaches the end of the bench at the gazebo entrance, and promptly turns around to retrace her steps. She seems antsy, like Dash does regularly. “Have you ever seen
The Sound of Music
?”

“Once or twice. Another unfortunate fact.”

Kat grins and tucks hair behind her ear as she hops to the next bench. “I love that movie!” She stops walking to look at me with a giggle. “Holy shit! I’m Liesl and you’re Rolfe!”

“Who?”

“The messenger who danced with Liesl in the gazebo during a rainstorm?”

“Yeah. I guess. I believe my dad used that movie as a punishment for me when I was grounded for something, so I really didn’t pay attention.”

“Not even funny.”

“Not even joking.”

Kat holds out her hand and beckons me with her index finger, and I ask, “What?”

“Come here,” she impatiently instructs.

When I approach her, she holds out her hand. I glance up at her as I take it, and the tingling starts anew. She pulls me along with her as she returns to walking the benches. She says, “Thank you for bringing me here today.”

“You’re welcome.”

Halfway to the other side, she stops and turns to peer down at me. “I’ve had such a great time with you.”

“Me, too.” Those two small words seem to say too damn much for me.

Kat stoops and puts her hands on my shoulders, bringing our faces close together once more. Vowing not to lose it this time, I inhale a steady breath.

Smiling, she wistfully looks around us and says, “I want to get married here someday.”

“Oh.” Even though I know I’ll never get married, the thought of Kat marrying someone else pillages me. Yes, she was married before, but I didn’t know about it or have to watch her marry him.

“You’d come to my wedding, wouldn’t you?” Seriously?

I scowl. “Why would you want me there?”

“Because we’re friends, aren’t we?”

“Yeah.” I grit my teeth. I really want to stop talking about this.

“So, you’d be there for me?”

I bite the inside of my cheek as I nod. “I would.”

Kat smiles. “I’d love that. I want you around for everything. Maybe I’ll even name my first baby boy after you.”

I wince. “What?”

Clutching my shoulders, her smile broadens. “You wouldn’t like that?”

I irritably roll my eyes. “Kat, come on.”

“You don’t have to name your son after me.” She laughs, but I don’t find this conversation entertaining at all.

“I’m not having kids.”

“Oh.” Her smile falls and she oddly looks disappointed, which makes no sense, since she just told me she’s going to have a baby with a man she’s never met.

I restlessly say, “Let’s get going so you can drive.”

She sighs, suddenly perturbed. “Can I not do that today? How about you take me back to my apartment, so I can change? We can grab takeout and sit outside one of the runways at the airport to watch planes take off and land.” I can’t be totally alone with her. In the dark. Without an audience hovering nearby. I have absolutely no willpower left. Especially now that I realize she’ll promptly continue her life right after I leave town. Isn’t that what I had expected her to do, though?

“Kat, you’ve got to practice.”

“I will. When you get back from your trip. I promise.”

She pulls me closer, sticking out her bottom lip, and I can’t resist her plea. “Fine.”

Kat squeezes my shoulders. “Can you help me down?”

“Here.” I put my hands on her hips and pick her up, stepping away from the bench to set her on the ground.

“Thanks,” she says, peering up at me.

“Anytime, Kit Kat.”

When I let go of her, she grabs my wrists and says, “Jared, when—” Voices and stomping interrupt her and we both look to see people encroaching on us. Kat heaves a hasty sigh. “Let’s get out of here.”

Packing up the blanket and the rest of our shit, we make it to the parking lot in record time. Not because I’m rushing her, but because she seems to be in a hurry to leave now. She had wanted to stay here all day.

Driving to her apartment is distracting because of her constant leg bouncing. “Why are you so antsy?”

“I’m not.”

“You seem agitated or something.”

“I’m fine.” Not fine.

Kat’s phone vibrates and when she looks at the screen, she loudly groans, “Shit!”

I instantly look at her. “What?”

Her head goes to the headrest. “My dad is at my apartment, waiting for me on my porch.” I’m suddenly irritated by that, even though I shouldn’t be. I’m trying not to fuck her…yet. Maybe if I wait until I’m close to moving. However, what my dad said about romancing her and then leaving enters my mind, and I grind my teeth.

What the fuck is my problem? Do I need to fuck her or not?

Hell, yes I do. It has to happen. She’s currently looking for her second husband. After I move, the next time I hear from her could be from a fucking wedding invitation, so it’s now or never, apparently. I just have to present the issue to her somehow or make a move and hope she goes for it, opening myself up for that rejection.

I have to, though. I can’t live with the
what ifs
anymore when she’s right here in front of me again.

Firmly decided, I glare at the road. “Why is he there?”

“He brought pizza and wants to visit. He wanted to surprise me.”

“Oh. I should pack anyway.” I don’t give a shit about packing.

“You can come in and eat with us.”
Not
what I had in mind.

My knuckles ache as I clutch the wheel. “No. It’s cool. Thanks, though.”

Pulling alongside the one-car driveway, behind her dad’s Range Rover, she says, “I’m going to go let him in. Don’t go anywhere. I’ll be right back.” She jumps out of the car and tears up her stairs.

Holy fuck. I’m more than ready to consummate our
friendship,
not caring about the aftermath anymore. We’ll work it out so it’s not weird. Truthfully, I don’t give a shit about afterward. I’ve waited so long for her, and I’m so close that I won’t let something like that stop me.

“Did you miss me?”

I jump as she slides back into the car, but I smile. “I did.” Her perfume grabs me by the nuts and I squeeze tighter through the pain in my knuckles.

Kat says, “I want to thank you for indulging me today. I know I should’ve been practicing, but after last night, I needed a day like this. With you.”

“Me, too.” There I go again.

She drops her gaze, and falters, “Jared, I need to tell you something. I don’t know if you’ll laugh at me or say you don’t care.”

My eyebrows sharply pinch together. “I would never laugh at you or say that.”

She takes a deep breath and quietly says, “In high school, I liked you.” What…?

I lick my suddenly dry lips and tentatively admit, “I liked you, too.”

She shakes her head at the console before peering up to me. “No. I mean, I
liked
you. I had a massive crush on you.”

“Uh… What?”

Taking my blank expression as a negative, she recants, “Shit. I don’t know why I just told you that. You must think I’m…  I didn’t want to mention it, but I needed to. I’ve wanted you to know that for years. I wanted us to be more than friends in school, but now you know the extent. I never thought I’d ever have the chance to tell you that. Now I did, and I’ll leave you alone.”

She reaches for the door handle, but I grab her arm faster, making her freeze. “Wait. You can’t drop a bomb on me like that and leave. I know your dad is waiting, but…”

She shrugs and looks out the windshield. “He’s already on the phone, so he’s okay.”

“Kat, I had no idea you liked me.” How’d I fucking miss that? She gave me no signs that she liked me while I was throwing myself at her.