Chapter 5

Five

JAKE

I dragged my eyes away from Hannah, giving my body time to cool down. Except they landed on the bag the clerk was filling with cups of extra frosting.

Pictures of Hannah covered in it filled my mind, and my mouth watered at the thought of licking it from every inch of her skin.

When I’d first asked Hannah to leave the bar with me, I had every intention of sharing an evening and saying good night. One-night stands were not my style, probably because I’d grown up with parents who were disgustingly in love. I wouldn’t settle for anything less than what they had.

But Hannah was making me rethink my decision. The more we were together, the more I liked her, and not just her body—I definitely wanted her with a fierceness I couldn’t remember ever feeling before—but she was also funny, smart, and fascinating. A forever kind of girl.

Then she’d made that sound…fucking hell. I wanted to hear her make it when my head was between her legs, or my lips wrapped around her nipples, or my cock gliding in and out of her pussy. Before I made her scream my name until she passed out from coming so fucking hard.

Son of a bitch! I couldn’t be thinking about this shit right now.

When I shoved the deliciously filthy images away, I was shocked at what was left. I’d already suspected that my desire for Hannah ran deeper than the need to fuck her. There had been a special connection from the moment I laid eyes on her. Hannah was definitely a forever kind of girl. And even though it seemed bizarre, I was beginning to suspect that she was my forever.

However, considering we’d known each other for less than an hour, it seemed crazy to be thinking like that. And what the hell would Hannah say if she knew I was contemplating a future together after such a short amount of time? She’d probably throw the cupcakes in my face and run away.

I wasn’t even sure if I could trust my instincts, not when they were so clouded with sexual hunger.

Mentally shaking my head at myself, I turned my attention back to Hannah. She ordered a brownie, and the clerk added it to the box of my cookies. Then she filled two to-go cups with hot chocolate and added whipped cream. If I hadn’t known it would melt before we got back to my hotel room, I would have asked her for a container of that, too.

I paid for everything, ignoring Hannah’s protests and insistence that she pay for some of it.

With our drinks and bags of goodies in hand, we headed back out into the chilly night air.

“My hotel is just up there,” I informed her, lifting my chin in that direction. Then I grinned. “I know it sounds like a cheesy line, but my room has a spectacular city view.”

Hannah’s brow furrowed as she glanced that way but didn’t say no.

“It has a kitchen and a big living room. So we can store the food and make more drinks if we want.”

“It sounds great,” she mumbled, her tone hesitant.

A gust of wind swept down the road, and she shivered. “There is also a giant fireplace to warm us up,” I added with a grin.

She laughed and shrugged. “Okay. As long as you play some Christmas carols, I’m in.”

“Deal.”

The temperature had continued to drop, so we hurried down the block to the Lennox Hotel and Casino. Once we were in the opulent lobby, I heard someone call out my name.

Looking toward the voice, I spotted a young couple—friends from home. We hadn’t seen each other since he and his wife moved away a couple of years ago. “Hey, Keen,” I said with a smile.

“I grew up with Keen and his wife, Meena,” I told Hannah as they approached.

When they were close enough, I introduced Hannah. Meena had a thoughtful expression and greeted my girl, but she said nothing other than hello. Meena loved figure skating, so I guessed she probably recognized Hannah but couldn’t remember from where.

“Hannah is a champion figure skater and will be competing in the games,” I boasted.

Hannah rolled her eyes and nudged my arm with her elbow. “You’re going to jinx it!”

Keen laughed. “Jake’s never been superstitious. Even when the universe told him he should be.”

“Keen,” I growled in warning. I knew what story he was warming up to tell.

Hannah’s face brightened. “Oh, do tell.”

“How about we all go get a drink?” Meena suggested. “If you aren’t in a hurry?”

“As long as Keen wants to tell me embarrassing stories about Jake.” Hannah giggled.

I opened my mouth to protest, but they were already walking toward a small lounge area with a bar. Grumbling about interfering friends and silently vowing to kill Keen for interrupting my time with Hannah, I followed them to a table.

After setting down our boxes of treats and drinks that were quickly becoming cold, Keen took drink orders, and we went to the bar.

“You are in serious jeopardy of losing your balls tonight, Keen,” I snarled. “You’re not dumb enough to miss the fact that Hannah and I were on our way up to my room.”

He grinned unrepentantly. “Just a little payback.”

“Payback?” I had no idea what he was talking about.

“You don’t remember?” He looked insulted, then laughed. “When you ditched your date to the prom during senior year? Meena and I were supposed to go to a hotel that night. But when you cancelled on her best friend, Meena felt guilty about having fun when Christy was miserable. So she asked me to take her home early.”

I rolled my eyes. “You’re paying me back for a case of blue balls when we were eighteen?”

Keen laughed. “Hey, Meena and I didn’t get a chance to be ‘alone’ again until after graduation.”

“I’m not going to—hold up.” I paused as the incident came back to me. “I didn’t ditch Christy. There was a snowstorm in Montreal, and I couldn’t get back from my competition in time.”

The drinks were set on the bar in front of us, and we each took two. As we turned to make our way back to the girls, Keen smirked. “That’s why I’m only delaying your fun for a drink.”

“Fine,” I muttered. “You have twenty minutes, or I tell Meena about the time you stole her bikini from the locker room so she couldn’t wear it on the float at the homecoming parade.”

Keen blanched. “You wouldn’t.”

“Oh, yes I would,” I replied with a wicked grin.

Meena had been homecoming queen, and since the theme was something to do with the beach, the girls had planned to wear bathing suits in the parade. I couldn’t really blame Keen because, if I remembered right, it barely covered anything. But Meena had been forced to wear a Speedo from the swim team—one that had a full, short-sleeved top—and she’d vowed to kill whoever had done it.

At our fifteen-year reunion, it had been pretty clear that the incident still made her want to go on a murderous rage.

Keen deflated, looking so disappointed that I couldn’t help giving in a little more.

“One hour. Tops,” I grunted just before we reached the table.

Several drinks later, I didn’t have a clue how much time had passed. When I glanced at my watch, blinking a few times to clear my slightly blurry gaze—from a couple of drinks too many—and saw that it was thirty minutes to midnight. We’d been sitting with Keen and Meena for almost two hours, and I was pretty sure that Hannah and Meena had consumed even more alcohol than Keen and I. They were giggling and nearly falling out of their chairs.

A loud cheer drew our attention, and we all turned to watch the entrance to the hotel wedding chapel as a bride and groom burst through the doors, laughing and kissing.

“A wedding on Christmas Eve,” Hannah gushed dreamily. “How romantic.”

“You’d be a gorgeous bride.” Meena sighed to Hannah. Then she clapped excitedly. “You’re even dressed for a wedding! You two should totally get married!”

Hannah laughed, but her expression was wistful.

Hmm…

I eyed her sexy white dress. Then I grinned and winked at her before leaning in close to whisper, “That dress is perfect, baby. But if I were your groom, I’d rip it off you the second we returned to our hotel room.”

Hannah flushed, her skin turning pink from her cheeks all the way down to disappear into the top of her dress.

“You wouldn’t hear me complaining,” she breathed.

“I think we should test that theory.”

From the way we were seated, only Hannah had a view of my lap—thankfully, because she was the only one who could see my giant hard-on trying to tear through my pants. “If you like it, then you should put a ring on it,” she purred.