Hard to Resist (The Girl Most Likely To) Read online

  He didn't give a damn. Coming to his ten year reunion had never been about getting reacquainted with people he no longer had anything in common with, and everything to do with Renee Griffen and finding out if all those emails and late night chats had affected her as much as it had him. Not just physically—clearly, they both wanted each other badly—but emotionally, too. Because at some point, when he'd least expected it, she'd become more than just a fun, sexy “do-over” to indulge in at their ten year reunion.

  Never would he have imagined that a Facebook friend request from the girl he'd lost his virginity to back in high school would develop into a more intimate and romantic relationship. Especially when he’d spent the past four years keeping his affairs brief and impersonal because he’d been burned badly enough by one woman to keep him from opening himself up to that kind of pain again.

  Yet over the span of a few shorts months of online conversations and flirtations with Renee, he’d developed a deeper connection with her. At first, their emails and chats had been safe and fun—an unexpected blast from his past that initially provided an enjoyable late night distraction from work and other responsibilities in his life. There had been no pressure to impress, no pretenses between them, and knowing that she lived in another state made it easy to believe that their online meetings wouldn’t interfere with real life.

  But as days turned into weeks, and weeks into a month, he realized that he looked forward to their easy banter, their reciprocal teasing, and how she made him laugh and relax after a long, stressful day at work. What had started as just a friendly exchange had gradually progressed into something far more meaningful he knew was worth pursuing. Skyping long distance was no longer enough for him.

  If this weekend went the way he hoped it would, then Jake knew he wanted a real relationship with Renee. And that would mean it was time for him to tell her about his seven year old daughter, who he'd always kept far removed from his brief affairs and the women he’d casually dated.

  After Addison’s mother had signed all her parental rights over to Jake and walked away from the two of them, his natural instinct was to protect his little girl from experiencing that kind of abandonment again. Addison had been three years old when Lacey had decided she couldn’t deal with being tied down with a child, and it had taken Addison months to get over the loss of her mother—even though Lacey had never been the loving, affectionate type. And Jake had always sworn that he’d never put his daughter through that kind of emotional trauma again.

  Thus began the cycle of meaningless trysts with women who never needed to even know he had a daughter. He’d never allowed any of those encounters to get serious enough to have that discussion, and he’d preferred to keep his personal life private. Renee was the first woman to tempt him to want to change all that.

  This weekend was potentially a game changer for Jake, and hopefully for her, too. But for this evening, she was all his.

  He knew Renee was probably expecting him to take her up to his hotel room after the way he’d seduced her back at the cocktail party, but instead he headed outside and followed a moonlit pathway that led to a secluded gazebo he’d scoped out earlier. Once they were inside the shadowed bower draped with fragrant night blooming jasmine, he backed her up against a thick post, buried both hands into her silky auburn hair, and tipped her face up to his.

  Her green eyes were wide and luminous with desire, her lips already parted and waiting for what he was about to deliver. He dragged his thumbs along her jawline, drawing out the sensual moment until her breath quickened and his own body flashed hot and hard.

  She moaned softly, anxiously. “Kiss me, already,” she whispered.

  Unable to refuse her command, he lowered his head, tracing her soft lips with his tongue before sealing his mouth over hers and claiming her completely. Her hands smoothed up his shirt, her fingers splaying against his chest as he angled her head ever so slightly and took the kiss to a deeper, darker, more sinful place. With a shiver and a sultry groan in the back of her throat, she joined him, tangling her tongue with his, and that's all it took to set ablaze all the pent-up lust between them.

  For the past few years, kissing a woman had become little more than a means to get to the main event. He'd forgotten how hot and exciting making out with the right woman could be. How the anticipation of wanting someone could ramp up his need and shock his system into feeling truly alive.

  That's what kissing Renee did to him.

  As he continued to explore the recesses of her mouth, he moved closer, slid an arm around her back, and pressed his aroused body more fully against hers so she could feel exactly what she did to him, and just how much he wanted her.

  But not here in the gazebo. No, the next time he was buried inside her he planned to have her totally naked and spread out on a soft mattress beneath him, so he could take his time pleasuring her and prove that he could last more than the few urgent thrusts he'd given her in the backseat of his cramped car ten years ago. He wanted her wild and wanton, twisting urgently against him, so breathless with need she begged him to make her come.

  Oh, yeah, especially that. Renee deserved foreplay and seduction and a night of unbridled satisfaction, and he had every intention of giving her plenty of all three.

  Much too soon for his liking, he ended the kiss, enjoying the sweet sigh that escaped her lips.

  “Wow,” she said, her voice husky as she released the fabric of his shirt she'd fisted in her hands during their very passionate kiss. “That was certainly worth waiting for.”

  He grinned, meeting and holding her bright green gaze. “So were you,” he said, meaning it. “You look amazing.” They hadn't had much time to just talk back in the cocktail party, but he was completely focused on her now. And there was no denying that she'd knocked his socks off with the body skimming, sexy-as-hell dress she'd worn—even if he couldn't wait to peel it off of her.

  “Thank you. You look good yourself.” She smiled, looking more shy than the confident woman who'd just kissed him senseless. “I have to admit, I was nervous about seeing you again.”

  She worried on her lush bottom lip, making him ache to taste her once more. Instead, he slid his hands to her waist, his touch possessive, yet gentle, too. “Really? We've been seeing each other for awhile now,” he said, laughing and hopefully putting her at ease.

  “Emails, Skyping, and talking on the phone are very different than being together like this, face to face, in real life.” Her hands absently smoothed the wrinkles she'd left on his shirt. “There's always that possibility that the chemistry isn't the same in person.”

  Judging by the way she'd responded to his kiss, there was no doubt in his mind that their attraction burned hotter now that there was nothing separating them. He could only imagine how intense and wild things were going to get once they were skin on skin. “Are you disappointed?” he teased.

  She rolled her eyes at the absurd question. “After that kiss? Hardly. More like thrilled. Being with you like this feels natural and right. Like we never parted ways after high school.”

  “I agree.” But ten years had passed, and things had changed significantly for him. In ways that would drastically alter her life, too, if she agreed to pursue this thing between them beyond this weekend. Taking on a seven year old was a lot for any woman to accept, but he and Addison were a package deal, and it was all or nothing arrangement.

  “We were such good friends in high school,” she said. “I don't know why we didn't stay in touch after we graduated.”

  He shrugged, though he'd often wondered the same thing. “I suppose we each had different visions for our future, and once you left for Europe and I headed off to college, our lives took different paths.”

  “Yet here we are, together again.” She smiled, looking very much like the young girl she'd been back in high school, even as the body she pressed against him was one hundred percent woman. “Maybe it was fate.”

  He chuckled, not sure that romanticized approached appli
ed to them. “Actually, it had more to do with how easy social media makes it to find people these days.”

  She ducked her head sheepishly. “Okay, that's true.”

  “I don't know that we would have lasted had we tried to make things work when we were younger,” he said honestly. “We both wanted different things, and we've both changed and matured and are different people now. I'd like to think for the better.”

  “Definitely for the better,” she agreed with a nod. “And I needed to travel the world and get that out of my system before I could ever think about settling down.”

  “And have you gotten all that traveling out of your system?” he asked, gently tucking a silky strand of hair behind her ear. He realized he was holding his breath, because her answer was important to him, and potentially, them as a couple.

  “I've been everywhere I've ever wanted to go.” She slid her hands up to his shoulders, then around his neck, her fingers toying with his short hair and the shell of his ears. “But I love going to new places and seeing what kind of adventures await me. I don't think I ever want to give that up completely.”

  And she shouldn't have to. He was prepared to offer her a lifetime of adventure, but their relationship didn't have to exclude what she loved the most. “Maybe you and I can take a trip together sometime.”

  Her eyes lit up at his suggestion. “I'd like that. A lot.”

  “Me, too,” he said, realizing just how sincere the offer was.

  She tipped her head to the side, her mouth curving up in a sassy, seductive smile. “So, are we going to stand out here and talk all night, or are you going to take me up to your room and finish what you started with that kiss?”

  It wasn't a difficult choice to make. “My room,” he said, grabbing her hand and leading the way back to the hotel.

  But even after he made love to her, they were far from finished.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  By the time Jake closed the door to his hotel room, Renee’s blood hummed in her veins and her body buzzed with anticipation. She truly thought she’d be more nervous when it came down to following through on their pact to replace the memories of their awkward first time together, but the warm, caring look in Jake’s eyes chased away any possible anxiety.

  In that moment, she was hit with the realization of just how far and fast she’d fallen for him and the man he’d become. The knowledge was both frightening and exhilarating because she still wasn’t sure what all this meant to him, but she was willing to put her heart on the line and hope that this weekend would change the status of their current on-line relationship.

  He walked to where she stood by the king-sized bed, his steps determined as he approached. And when he framed her face in his hands and kissed her again with single-minded purpose, she melted against him, completely relaxing in a way that opened her up to the luxurious, far more sophisticated experience awaiting her.

  By the time he lifted his mouth from hers minutes later, she was trembling with need and aching for more. The heat glittering in Jake’s dark eyes and the confident smile on his lips stole her breath and escalated her excitement—and he knew it, too.

  He dragged his thumb across her damp bottom lip, his eyes tracking the movement. “This time around is going to be so good,” he murmured huskily.

  “Yeah?” Feeling frisky, she nipped at his finger, delighted by his surprised catch of breath. “How good?”

  “Amazingly . . . phenomenally . . . Mind-blowing good,” he promised silkily, as he moved to stand behind her. He pushed her hair over one shoulder so the vibrant auburn curls cascaded down to her breasts, then softly kissed the side of her neck as he oh-so-slowly unzipped her dress.

  “You’re very sure of yourself,” she teased, unable to hold back a full-bodied shiver when he trailed his fingers down her bared-to-him spine, and reached the curve of her bottom.

  “If you think our phone sex is hot, you’re going to go up in flames when I do all those wicked things to you in person,” he whispered in her ear. “And this time, we have a big, huge bed to stretch out on.”

  She swallowed back a moan, but there was nothing she could do about the wet heat throbbing between her legs or the way her breasts swelled and tightened and ached for the touch of his hands, the stroke of his tongue. It was all she could do to keep from telling him to hurry up because she was already on fire.

  With a gentle tug from Jake, her dress slithered down her body and pooled around her feet. She stepped out of the circle of fabric then started to turn around, but Jake stopped her before she could face him.

  “Not yet, sweetheart.” He skimmed his hands from her hips, along the curve of her waist, then unhooked her strapless bra and tossed it on the floor, too, leaving her standing there in just her lacey panties and high heel shoes. “Ten years ago, I didn’t take the time to appreciate your body and enjoy your breasts, and I plan to do that now. There’s no rush tonight, no worry about getting caught, and I promise I have a helluva lot more stamina now than I did back then.”

  The humor in his voice made her smile, until he reached around her and cupped her breasts in his palms and rolled her hard nipples between his fingers. She gasped in initial shock, then released a long, blissful sigh and pressed her flesh more firmly into his hands, encouraging him to continue the decadent torment. She arched her back, deliberately pushing her bottom against his groin. The hard ridge of his erection strained against her backside, and oh, Lord, she couldn’t wait to feel all that heat and strength pushing deep, deep inside her.

  Eyes closed, she let her head fall back against his shoulder, and he kissed her throat, his mouth damp and hot as his lips slid across her skin. She was so turned on, she could barely stand. The heavy pulse between her thighs became an insistent ache, and as if knowing exactly what she needed, Jake skimmed one of his hands downward, his fingers gliding across her belly, then slipping beneath the elastic waistband of her panties. A little lower, and he found her sweet, slick spot.

  Needing something to hold on to, she lifted a hand and curled her fingers around the nape of his neck. He stroked her expertly, his touch knowing and incredibly experienced, and when he slid a finger inside her, her body clenched around him hungrily, shamelessly.

  He groaned loudly, his breathing harsh in her ear as he ground his erection against her bottom, amplifying her desire. He bit her neck, his teeth tugging gently on her flesh, while his other fingers plucked and pinched her nipple. Sensation swamped her, and after just a few calculated strokes her orgasm hit her, vibrating through her body, and she came with a shudder and a soft cry.

  She sagged against him, grateful for the arm he secured around her waist to support her. When she could speak coherently again, she gave him the praise he fully deserved. “Okay, you’re good.”

  He chuckled, though the sound was strained by the fact that he’d yet to find his own release. “I’d like to think my prowess has improved with age. And just think, that was only the amazing part of tonight.”

  “I hope I survive phenomenal and mind-blowing.” Finally trusting her legs to keep her upright, she turned around to face him. His jaw was clenched from restraint, his eyes dark with lust as he tried to keep his own body's demands in check.

  It was the last thing she wanted. Feeling a bit self-conscious standing there in just her panties while he was fully dressed, she reached for the buttons on his shirt. “You still have way too many clothes on.”

  He grinned. “That's an easy problem to fix.”

  He stripped down to just his boxer briefs, and the sight of his nicely muscled chest and gorgeous, toned body made her want to touch and caress him everywhere. She splayed her fingers on his flat stomach, reveling in the flex of muscle beneath her palm and the coarse texture of hair that swirled around his navel and trailed downward. But before she could explore further, he exhaled a hiss of breath and grabbed her wrists, pulling her hand away.

  “You'll get your turn later,” he said, his tone as rough as sandpaper. “I'm not done with
you yet. Lay back on the bed.”

  She did as he asked, making herself comfortable on the mattress with her head resting on a pillow while he retrieved a few condoms from his overnight bag. Then he returned to the foot of the bed, and she watched as he shucked his briefs, allowing her to see him completely naked for the first time. She bit her bottom lip, taking in the impressively thick length of his shaft as he removed her high heels, then reached up to her hips and dragged her panties down and off.

  After donning protection, he pushed her knees wide apart and moved onto the bed. His gaze trailed over her body, along the straining peaks of her breasts, her soft belly, and finally to where she was open and utterly exposed to him. Sensual hunger etched his masculine features, and in the next instant he'd settled himself between her spread legs and lowered his head.

  She gasped at the warm, damp touch of his lips on her inner knee and trembled as he leisurely licked and nibbled his way up her thigh, then started the seduction all over again with her other leg. He took his time getting to where she ached for him the most, teasing her with his mouth and tongue . . . the whole process so luxurious, so agonizing, so erotic.

  She'd never begged for an orgasm in her entire life, but she did now. “Please, Jake,” she pleaded huskily.

  He gave a murmur of approval, and finally put her out of her misery. She groaned out loud at the wet, rough rasp of his tongue against her sensitive flesh, and thanked God the teasing was over. His hands slid up to grip her hips, holding her in place as he opened his mouth over her sex and kissed her passionately, his tongue firm and fast on her clitoris, precisely how she needed.

  Her second orgasm was even more intense than the first, and she slipped her fingers into his hair and hung on for dear life. Her thighs shook, her body bowed, and she cried out in unbridled ecstasy as he pushed her up and over that sharp edge of pleasure.

  She was still trying to catch her breath when he crawled up over her body, until his face was above hers, his dark blue eyes dilated with a primal hunger that, shockingly, peaked her excitement all over again.