4. Jeremy

CHAPTER 4

Jeremy

S apphire eyes glare at me but there's so much heat in them that it feels like my clothes are gonna burn right off my body.

"You alright, Pet?"

She glares at me and then stomps off to the first-floor bathroom. She doesn't say one word but I know that sooner or later she's gonna have something to say.

I'm here for it. I love it when she gets spicy!

I step outside and watch the guys charge into the house next door. So far I haven't seen any flames but the dark smoke is still pouring out. Even heavier since they opened the door.

It seems to only be minutes and Petra still isn't out yet when I see the Chief come back out talking to a few of his guys.

"Hey, Chief? How bad is it?"

He grins at me. "Well, the microwave is a mess but that's all. She apparently left something in there too long and burnt the hell out of it. He nods his head and I grin, waving, relieved.

"Thanks, man."

"That's alright," he chuckles. "But when you write this up for the paper, maybe don't mention what y'all were wearing."

I cringe and then smirk. "Yeah, we'll see."

Because I've got an idea and it's so devious and awful that I should be ashamed of myself.

But if it gets me the woman of my dreams, maybe it's all to the good.

That's what I'm gonna choose to believe anyway!

I hear a soft patter of feet and then Pet comes outside. Her step is light and when I look back at her, her arms are crossed and she's glaring at the floor like it's the most annoying thing she's ever seen.

The guys are leaving and chuckling as they go. I'm sure they love a call like this. No injuries except to bruised egos and apparently a nuked microwave.

Her blue eyes come up. "Why are they leaving? Is it over?"

I grin and run my hands through my wet hair. "Yep. It's all over, Pet."

Her mouth thins and she glares at me.

But she doesn't say one word. I don't like being ignored. "Apparently you nuked your microwave."

She flushes and bites her lip and I want to take a crack at it too. My jaw aches from clenching it so hard to keep from touching her.

"Oh. The popcorn. That stupid microwave is older than dirt. I'm not surprised it malfunctioned. I told them that would happen eventually" she mutters under her breath.

I throw my head back and laugh so hard tears pour down my face. "Yeah. Think you're gonna need something else for dinner."

The Chief comes over and smiles at Petra. "Sorry, Miss. You're gonna have to let your house air out at least overnight. It's pretty bad in there."

The look in her eyes has me wondering what's going through her head. She looks terrified.

"I'll call Promise and see if I can stay over."

Ah. That explains it. I wouldn't want to stay with them either. Those two are like bunnies.

"You can always stay here, Pet."

She's shaking her head before I finish the sentence. "No way! I can't do that!"

"I've got plenty of room, Pet. I can easily put you up for a night."

"No fucking way, Jeremy! I'll check with Promise."

She pats her pockets and flushes when she realizes that she doesn't have her phone.

"I need to go in and get my phone."

Chief nods. "Go ahead. But only five minutes then get out of there. It's still pretty smoky."

I grab my sneakers and tug them on. "You don't have your shoes and I do. I'll get your phone. Just tell me where it's at."

"No!"

"Yes." I stand there, my arms crossed and make no move to let her past me.

"Fine," she huffs. "It's on the desk in the little office off the front door."

"Got it."

I cross the yard and step inside the door of the old house, almost choking on the smoke. Damn, it's pretty bad in here!

I go in the office and immediately spot the phone. I pick it up and that's when I see the cursor blinking on the monitor. I peer closer and then a smug grin curls my lips.

I'm her perfect match. I know it. But it's funny that her own research says the same thing.

And now my plan seems perfect.

I grin as I grab the phone and head out the front door. I hand her the phone and watch as she calls her best friend.

But nobody picks up and I pretend to study the flowers by the front door.

After a couple of minutes, she hangs up the phone and bites her lip. Biting back my own smug smile I ask, "She wasn't there?"

Petra shrugs. "I don't know. She didn't answer me. Maybe I should just go over there."

But again she flushes and again, we both know how much the two of them are going at it like bunny rabbits. Walking in on them is definitely a possibility. Even if you wait for them to open the door, who knows what will happen next?

"Why don't you just stay here?"

"I can't do that, Jeremy. This is a small town and you know exactly what would happen if I stayed here. Before dinner the news would be all over and they'd say we were having a steamy affair. Or you killed me and buried me in your backyard after a fight. It's hard to tell with the small-town grapevine."

I laugh and then reach out to touch her hand. "I actually need to talk to you anyway. Why don't you come in and we'll discuss all of this?"

She demurs but then she sighs and steps inside when I hold the door open for her. "Fine. I suppose it will be fine. I mean, everyone knows us. There's no way that they can think that we're involved in some torrid affair."

My dick hardens when she says those words and I immediately picture her spread out on my bed while I lick her and then plunge into her silky heat.

I start running through baseball stats and anything else I can picture in my head that will hopefully bring my throbbing dick back under control.

I close the door and then realize when I walk past her that she smells like me. A little smoky but layered over it is the smell of my cologne and my clean clothes and I sit down quickly to cover my raging dick again.

Uncomfortable, I blurt out…"I think we should pretend to be dating."

Her mouth falls open and my mind goes blank except for picturing her pretty lips wrapped around my aching cock.

This is gonna be a long night if I can't get this shit under control.

Not to mention that my Pet is glaring at me like I just asked her to participate in a horrible halloween ritual killing like I'm in a horror movie.

This is gonna be hard sell, especially since I'm currently hard enough to pound nails.

I need to focus on how to get her to agree to this. ASAP!