“Brody,” she moaned, her fingers winding tight into his sweatshirt. God, how she wanted him stay. “You should really go.”

“I know.” His breath was hot against the side of her face, as his lips brushed from hers to her ear, and then to the spot behind her jaw that always made her lose her mind. “Just making sure you don’t forget me.”

“I won’t.” God help me, I won’t. She clung to him harder, coming up on her toes to give him better access, despite her warning. She felt his smile against her skin before the hot, wet flick of his tongue sent shivers racing down her spine. He played, licked, and nuzzled until she turned into a panting, groping pile of jelly in his arms.

Would it be so bad to give into him just one time? What if she never saw him again?

“When you go to bed tonight,” he rasped, “I want you to think about all the things I’d do to you if I stayed. I want you to touch yourself like I would, loving every last inch of your body until you can’t take it a second longer. Make it my face between your thighs, sugar, and be sure it’s my name on your tongue when you cry out into the night, because one day soon I’m gonna want to hear it for myself. When that time comes, I want to know it’s me you’re thinking about, not some selfish prick who never deserved you in the first place.”

Before she could conjure up a coherent thought that didn’t include fuck me now, he brushed one last kiss across her lips and was gone.

She stood on the porch watching him leave, with her silly heart hammering in her chest and her greedy sex pulsing with arousal. She was wet. So, so wet from just his words that it wouldn’t take more than a minute to find the release he’d taunted her with.

But it wasn’t his wicked tongue that fueled the fires of her needy soul—it was the promise that he’d be back.

Chapter Nine

“Mark’s got his money on Vegas, but I say it happened in the fall when he came to town for Josh’s discharge party.”

Polish brush in hand, Jenny shifted her focus from the foot in her lap to her best friend’s waggling eyebrows. No matter how cute and innocent Ally looked with her burgeoning baby bump and cheery, pregnancy glow, the statement still stung.

“I’ve done a lot of questionable things in my life, but seeing two guys at once isn’t one of them.” Assuming, of course, that seeing meant dating and not screwing, because unfortunately she had done that. In one night. At the same time. With some not so reputable guys. Shudder.

Ally’s face fell as she realized what her wager implied. “That’s not...I didn’t...shit. Sweetie, I know you’d never do that. My inner bitch, however...I think she might’ve been trying to concoct some kind of revenge on Reed.”

Now that was funny. “And just like that you’re forgiven.” She wiggled one of Ally’s toes and went to work finishing the polish.

“Thank God, because I’ve been dying for the details since Nicole texted me this picture on Friday night.” Ally turned her phone around and an image of Jenny and Brody standing in Josh’s driveway filled the screen. His hands in her hair and her tongue in his mouth left little question about what they were doing, though she supposed she owed her long-time friend an explanation since the last she’d shared about her love life had been her departure from Reed.

“One, I can’t believe Nicole spied on us. She comes off so sweet and unassuming, but she’s really just as evil as you.” Leaning back quickly, Jenny dodged a hard nudge from Ally’s already-dry foot.

“Just for that, you should know that it wasn’t just Nicole—all of them watched. Even Reed.”

Ugh. “Yeah, I know. We shared a few words about it afterward.”

“So was it Vegas then? Mark said something about seeing Brody there.”

Nodding, Jenny put the finishing touches on the last toe and rehashed the story about meeting him at the bar and then him ending up in her room.

“But you didn’t sleep with him,” Ally reiterated, her eyes narrow, like she couldn’t quite believe what she’d heard.

“Nope. Well, wait—I guess technically we did sleep together, but we didn’t have sex. Or even kiss, for that matter.” She shrugged and capped the polish.

“This is the guy who gave Tony condoms for his birthday, right? The totally hot jokester?”

Hot was an understatement. “Yep, and underneath all the funny, he’s actually a pretty intense guy.”

“That’s usually how it goes. So did you nail him on Sunday, then? Please, God, say yes. My second trimester hormones are kicking in and all I think about is sex.”

Jenny laughed. “Sorry, but you’ll have to get your fix from your husband. Brody and I just talked. It was...nice.” Really, really nice.

“So you’re telling me that all you did was chit-chat in a fishing shanty. In the butt-ass cold. On a frozen disc of ice that could have given way at any time.” Ally blinked disbelievingly.

“That pretty much sums it up, yes.”

Her oldest friend shook her head, her red ponytail swinging. “I don’t believe it.”

“What don’t you believe? That I’ve kept up my resolution this long?” Jenny laughed like it was no big deal that even her best friend didn’t have faith in her. Much safer to erect her defenses than give into the ball of emotion gathering in her throat. “Yeah, I’m surprised, too. I mean, you’ve seen Brody, right? Totally fuckable. Maybe next time I see him.”

“Jesus, Jenn, why do you do that?” Ally climbed down from the pedi chair and pulled up a stool beside her. “We both know you’re not really the slut you claim to be. That’s just a bunch of self-protective bullshit you feed yourself so you don’t have to deal with the fact that the guys you’ve slept with have been complete assholes.”

“Yeah, I sure know how to pick them, don’t I?” She rose, tossed the wet towels into the laundry bin, and brought the pedi supplies back to the cupboard.

“No. Don’t you dare take that on. Guys are good—damn good—at making us believe they’re gonna be our very own version of Prince Charming. It’s in their stupid DNA. Fuck or fail or whatever the hell that biological motivator is that makes them think they need to spread their seed far and wide.” Ally got up and followed Jenny into the back room of the salon, her determination kicking into overdrive. “You like this guy, don’t you?”

Jenny nodded with her head down and hands gripping the edge of the counter. The thing was, she’d liked a lot of guys before. She’d even convinced herself that a few of them had liked her, too. But after the sex, they always left. Always. Reed and Jake were the only two who’d come back more than once and, in the end, they’d left, too. Kinda gave a girl a complex. Made her wonder if the entirety of her destiny consisted of being the town whore turned crazy, reclusive cat lady.

“What makes him different?” Ally asked softly, reaching out and smoothing Jenny’s hair over her shoulder.

“I don’t know that he is different.”

“Maybe you haven’t noticed, but you’re a smokin’ hot chick, and he slept in the same bed as you without making a move. Either he’s different or he’s gay.”

Jenny smiled. “He’s definitely not gay.”

“Really? How do you know that?”

No way was she sharing the details of their mini-makeout session on her porch. “Let’s just say he’s made it pretty clear that he’s attracted to me. Which is why I’m not sure if he’s just trying to get into my pants or if he’s legitimately into me. I mean, I am an awesome lay. He’s probably heard the rumors.”

Ally snorted. “I’ll let that one fly because it was funny, but that’s the last time you get to say shitty stuff about yourself. Got it?”

“Yes, Mother.”

“Damn right. Now listen to me...” Ally grabbed Jenny by the shoulders and turned her so they were eye to eye. “You’re off to a great start with Brody, but it’s going to get harder and harder to keep up the Catholic nun routine. As you pointed out, he’s pretty damn fuckable.”