Chapter 12

chapter

twelve

Chelsea

The reception is briefer than originally planned because the skies opened up and poured torrential rain down on us. I'm betting the bride and groom got some amazing wedding pictures out of it, though. Since they were out dancing in the rain as if that's what they'd intended all along.

We've been riding in relative silence since we left. My body is still buzzing from all the little touches and glances JD gave me at the wedding. Pretending that we were really a couple.

"Why?" I finally ask.

"Why what?"

"Why did you do all of that? Say all of that tonight?"

"We're almost to my house, then we can get dried off and not be in the dark for this conversation. Sound good?"

"Sure." I mean no, it doesn't sound good. I want him to tell me now. Was tonight some kind of punishment for me? Teasing me with what I could have had with him?

Do I want to get out of my wet clothes? Yes. Do I want to watch him get out of his wet clothes? Abso-fucking-lutely.

But he's right, we do pull into his driveway and then the garage a few minutes later.

"I didn't bring anything to change into. I wasn't exactly planning to stay," I say.

"What were you planning?"

"Other than just getting you to stop ignoring me, I hadn't thought much past that."

He laughs. "I've got something you can put on."

We go back into the house the way we left and he stops in the sizable laundry room. He pulls off his boots and socks, then starts taking off his shirt.

I'm standing here like a weirdo just watching him. He pauses when his hands get to the button and zipper of his jeans. He cocks a brow at me.

I toe off my shoes, but I'm still just looking at him.

He closes the distance between us, then turns me around. His hands go to the zipper at the back of my skirt and pulls it down. My senses are so heightened at the moment, I swear I hear every click of the metal teeth. The soft material slides down my hips and pools at my bare feet.

His big hands grip my biceps and he turns me again. This time, he takes off my shirt, and I hold my arms up like I don't know how to undress myself. Then I'm standing there in nothing but my panties and bra. They don't match because this—nearly naked moment—was not even on my radar.

My nipples harden. I already know my underwear are soaked and that has nothing to do the rain.

His dark eyes slowly peruse every inch of my body. Every curve and bump and roll.

"Christ, Chelsea," he says, his voice so deep and husky. He makes quick work of removing his jeans and then he's hanging our wet clothes up, presumably to dry.

He crowds into my body, once again picking me up, and puts us chest to chest. This kiss is just as hungry and needy as our first one. Most of the fabric between us has disappeared, leaving little but delicious friction between my damp seam and his hard ridge.

His lips leave mine to trail hot kisses down the column of my throat. Then he's walking us out of the laundry room and through the house. Every step rubs his erection against my greedy clit and by the time he stops, I'm already on the verge of coming.

"JD," I whine.

He looks into my face, searching for something I don't understand.

"Chelsea, I don't want to pretend anymore. This is the first time we're going to be together. I don't want to pretend it's just another night. Because to me, it's so much more."

"Is that what we were doing tonight? Pretending?"

He puts me down, letting me slide down his long, hard body. His thumb rubs over the two words inked into my bicep. No fate .

"It was our alternate timeline," he says. "If you had met me before Mike."

"JD," I say.

He shakes his head. "You don't know how many times I wanted to beg you to choose me instead of him. All the business trips where he was gone for weeks at a time. Never sending you flowers or taking you on proper dates. No weekend flights to the Bahamas. It made me so fucking angry that he never treated you right when I was ready to spoil you rotten."

My heart pounds so loudly, I'm surprised he can't see it beating through my chest. He's going to hate me, but I need to tell him the truth.

"JD, there's something I need to tell you."

He sits on the edge of his bed and pulls me to straddle his lap. His hands grip my hips, squeezing the plump flesh. "You don't know how I fought with myself. How I wanted nothing more than to press you face down on my desk and fuck you from behind. Plant your perfect round ass on top of my desk and kneel between your thighs, showing you exactly what I can do with my tongue and this beard."

I gasp. Where did he get this filthy mouth?

"Tell me the truth, baby, did you ever think about those things? With me? Did you want them too?"

"God yes, all the time."

Another tight grip to my hips. I know I'll have fingerprint bruises there tomorrow. Oh, how I wish it meant he was marking me, claiming me.

"Were there times when you wished Mike was nothing but a figment of your imagination?" he asks.

I start to answer, then I pause.

Shit .

He knows the truth. He's about to drop me flat on my ass and tell me to get the hell out of his house.

"You already know, don't you? The truth about Mike? How did you figure it out?"

A ghost of a smile appears on his lips. "I didn't figure anything out. Your sister actually texted me."

I roll my eyes. "Of course she did. She just can't help but stick her fingers in everything."

I go to move myself off his lap, but his arms band around me, keeping me in place.

"I'm glad she told me."

"You are?"

He nods. "You should have told me yourself, but none of that even matters anymore. What matters is what happens after this."

"What do you want to happen? Because I know what I want. What I've wanted for three years." I hold his face in my hands and look into his eyes. "I know because I love you. I've been in love with you. I'm tired of hiding that. Tired of pretending that I want anyone else but you."

His eyes close and he leans into my touch.

"Is that really how you wish things had gone between us? Everything you said tonight? Did I ruin our entire relationship—before we even have one—with my silly lie?"

He smiles. "No, baby. You didn't ruin anything." He lifts me off his lap and sets me on the bed. Then he stands.

It puts me just about eye level with the enormous bulge in his boxer briefs.

"I love our story," he says, peeling those boxers down. "It's not perfect, but it's ours. Not a single moment of time with you has been a waste. You were worth the wait."

" We're worth the wait."

When he stands to his full height, I get the full picture. His impressive chest and those abdominal muscles, his tree-trunk thighs, but I am staring at his dick as if I've never seen one before.

I clear my throat. "So I know that JD stands for James Dean."

He grunts. "My mother and her strange obsession with old movies."

"I think what it really means though is Jumbo Dick." I glance up at him. "Sir, how do you even walk around with that monster between your legs?"

He throws his head back and laughs. "I'm going to need you to make that announcement in the town square. Better yet, I'll have a t-shirt made for you, telling everyone the truth about my name."

"You think I'm kidding."

He looms over me, pressing us down onto the bed. "Are you worried it won't fit?"

I roll my eyes. "No. That channel can widen to fit a baby head, I think it can fit your gargantuan erection."

He laughs again. Then he looks into my eyes. "I'm in love with you, Chelsea. You're the only woman I've ever loved."

"We're in love," I tell him. "Now, can we please transition to the physical portion of this love story?"

He gives me a shit-eating grin. "Yes ma'am."