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  It turned out, promises were really just dressed up hopes, and doing it again soon proved harder than either of them thought.

  At first it was Julie’s work schedule, but then it was Jason’s. He disappeared for two weeks, which he’d been able to give her a cryptic heads up about, but then he was only back for seventy-two hours and he was tasked with leading a joint-training exercise.

  He was staring at two solid weeks of prep work, and then another ten days in the field.

  At first it was fine. Of course it was, because Julie was awesome and understanding, but Jason knew there was a limit to any woman’s patience.

  One night when he was on a late dinner break, but still had a conference call with his counterpart in Hawaii before he could go home, he texted her.

  Jason: You up?

  Her response was immediate.

  Julie: Of course. I’m only a little old lady on M/W/F.

  Jason: Ha. Can I call? I miss your voice.

  His phone lit up with a picture of her that he’d taken on her couch, post-takeout dinner, pre-movie cuddles. She looked relaxed and sexy, and he missed her like crazy. Voice. Heart. Sexy curves. The entire package was too damn far away.

  “Hey, Jules.”

  “I miss your voice, too.”

  They’d been talking most nights, but it didn’t take long for him to need another hit of her sweetness. He wasn’t surprised she felt the same way. “What are you doing right now?”

  “Watching a reality show and making a to-do list.”

  “Sorry to interrupt.”

  She laughed. “I’m glad you did.”

  “What’s on the to-do list?”

  “I want to try a new cookie recipe, so I have a bit of a shopping list and notes on a recipe for that, and I need to renew my driver’s license soon, that kind of thing.”

  Did she realize she’d just told him her birthday was coming up? “When do you have to do that?”

  He pictured her freezing on the other end of the line. Her cheeks turning pink. There was no limit to how adorable he found her. “Uhm…”

  He lowered his voice. “Because generally speaking, that happens on one’s birthday.”

  “Generally speaking, I believe that’s true.”

  “And, hypothetically, it’s fun to celebrate that date with people you know. Fun people.”

  “Ah.” A beat. “Do you know any fun people you could introduce me to?”

  He deserved that. He chuckled. “Brat. Tell me when your birthday is.”

  “I don’t want to.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because it’s while you’re away, and either you’ll feel guilty about that, which I don’t want, or you won’t care enough to feel guilty, and I don’t want that either.”

  “Damn, that’s some rock and a hard place kind of logic, babe. I still want to know.”

  She sighed. “Two weeks tomorrow.”

  Three days from the end of his joint-training exercise. “Well, I feel guilty.”

  “Great.” But she sounded sad, and he believed her that she didn’t want him to feel guilty.

  “I’ll make it up to you.”

  “You don’t need—”

  “But I want to. Really, truly, madly. I. Want. To. Maybe we could meet in L.A., go to Disneyland or something like that.”

  She puffed out a breath, and he let the silence stretch. Maybe she wanted something specific. If he let her think it through, maybe she’d ask for it.

  “Can I come visit you?”

  “Definitely. I’ll let you know as soon as I’m back.”

  “Do you surf?”

  Not usually, but he knew the basics. “Yeah, I surf.”

  “I want to do that.”

  “Then that’s what we shall do. And have cake.”

  “Gotta have cake?”

  “Exactly.” His computer chimed at him. The network connection had popped up. “I’ve got three minutes left in my dinner break, babe.”

  “Mad bachelor life you lead.”

  He laughed. “Hardly.”

  Her voice gentled. “It might be harder with a family waiting for you at home.”

  That had always been a hypothetical problem, but now he could see that. Julie. A kid or two. “Harder for them, maybe. Not so hard for me. I’d have a reason to wrap up my next conference call as soon as possible.”

  “Wouldn’t be so hard for them that it wouldn’t be worth it.” Her voice was quiet now, and hesitant. He knew the feeling. Damn. He was holding his breath. “That’s a mouthful. I’m just saying, it would be worth it. The time away, and sharing you with the job.”

  “You’d be able to handle that?”

  She sighed. “I’m handling it already, aren’t I? And I don’t even get to call you mine.”

  “I’m yours.” He took a deep breath. “We should have had the girlfriend talk. As in, I’d like you to be my…”

  “I didn’t know if it was too soon. I don’t want to tie strings to you if you don’t want them…”

  They were both being so wishy washy about it. “Jules, I can’t stop thinking about you. I wish to hell you were here so I could haul you into my lap and show you just how much I want your strings.”

  “Okay. I’m sorry I’m so far away from my boyfriend, then. The lap hauling sounds like a lot of fun.”

  “Soon.” It was an empty promise. The truth was, it would be a solid three weeks at the earliest. But he meant more in that one word than just a reference to time. “As soon as I can, you know that, right?”

  “Of course.”

  Another chime. “Miss you.”

  “Miss you, too.”

  And before he could say anything else, she hung up, leaving him holding a quiet cell phone, listening to the pounding of his heart.

  Well, hell.

  Chapter Eleven

  Julie’s birthday started with roses delivered to her door and ended with wine and cheese and all her girlfriends teasing her mercilessly about the texts she’d been exchanging with Jason all day.

  At least he wasn’t overseas. He was busy most of the day, but he’d apparently told whoever he was working with that it was his girlfriend’s birthday, and he got away a bunch of times to message her.

  Jason: How drunk are you now?

  Julie: Solidly tipsy. Turns out cheese isn’t that great at absorbing alcohol.

  Jason: Drunk enough to send me a dirty picture?

  Julie: You’ve got that backwards, mister. It’s my birthday, I want a…

  Jason: You can’t even type dick pic, can you?

  Julie: No.

  Jason: That’s adorable. I miss you like crazy. So does my dick.

  Julie: Awwwww. So sweet!

  Jason: He might be. Been a while since you tasted him.

  Emme bounced into her arm as she flopped onto the couch, then gasped as she read the messages over Julie’s shoulder. “What are you guys talking about?”

  “Nothing.” Julie’s cheeks burned up as she pressed the phone to her chest. “You’re drunk.”

  Emme laughed, because she wasn’t drinking at all. She pointed to her still flat belly. “Nope. Babyproofed on that front.”

  It turned out that Emme’s bout of food poisoning had actually been morning sickness, and now Nathan was pressing her hard to have a quickie wedding in Monterey instead of waiting until they moved back to San Diego.

  Part of Julie’s birthday party had turned into a big debate on eloping versus backyard wedding, casual-style versus hiring a wedding planner to work her connections and find the big fancy stuff at the last minute.

  “There are always cancellations,” Nikki had said confidently. “Broken engagements, new venues, out-of-the-box thinking. That’s what a pro does, make the impossible happen just like magic.”

  Julie, having never planned a wedding, didn’t have an opinion one way or another. So she’d sat back and watched her friends take different sides. And in between debate-watching, she’d starting sexting with Jason.

&
nbsp; Ooops.

  “You are exchanging dirty messages with a boy,” Emme teased.

  “Jason is hardly a boy,” Julie said drily.

  “You know what I mean. This is fun! So things are going well between you.”

  “He sent me flowers this morning.” It was a non-answer. Things were going well, as well as they could considering they only got to date once every six weeks. And so far, they’d only managed one of those.

  But he was really courting her every day. In little ways, whenever he was available. Dirty messages, sweet messages, flowers and phone calls. It all counted because it was from the heart.

  Once her friends left, she cleaned up with her roommates and then escaped as soon as she could to her room.

  They couldn’t talk tonight, but they texted until she was hot and bothered and ready for Dream Jason to help her celebrate by proxy.

  Jason: You all tucked in?

  Julie: I am.

  Jason: Night, beautiful.

  She couldn’t type all the things in her head, so she sent back an emoticon of a heart, and left it at that. And when she went to sleep, her birthday dreams were sweet indeed.

  The next two days flew by. First a birthday hangover, never fun, and then she got slammed at work, with her regular shift and two more flights added to her schedule at the last minute.

  So when she dragged herself home early in the afternoon on the third day, wondering about the mind fuck that was being done with work “early,” but still having worked nearly twelve hours already, she wasn’t even thinking about the fact that it was Jason’s last day of training.

  Not until she wearily climbed the steps to her room and looked at the calendar.

  The giant red circle helped remind her.

  She grinned and stripped out of her uniform, hanging it up in the dry clean bag. A hot shower, and a long sleep, and she’d be that much closer to tomorrow, when Jason would be able to take a breath and figure out when they could see each other again.

  So complicated, she thought as she pulled on a tank top and sleep shorts. Complicated, but worth it.

  She didn’t drift off completely, but she was heading in that direction when she heard distant knocking, a pause, and then knocking again. Whoever was at the door downstairs was persistent, and annoying. And not her problem, because literally the only person worth getting out of bed for was up in Tacoma doing God knows what. Probably jumping out of helicopters or something crazy. She shivered and rolled over in search of her phone. White noise might be what she needed to go to sleep. She hit play on an audio file she’d saved, and pulled the covers over her head, but the music was soon cut off by her phone ringing.

  She whipped the blanket back and glowered at the phone, but her black mood vanished when she saw it was Jason calling. “Hey.”

  “Did I interrupt anything?”

  She stifled a yawn. “Nope.”

  “You’re in bed?”

  “Mmmhmmm.” She stretched. “I was thinking about you earlier.”

  “What were you thinking?”

  “You know, stuff. How distance makes everything harder. I miss you. Do I tell you I miss you too much. Stuff like that.”

  “Yeah, me, too. All of that. Except, no, not too much. I like hearing that you miss me. Makes me feel less crazy.”

  She could hear noise in the background. “Where are you now?”

  “Traveling home. I have a layover before my last flight. Are you alone?”

  “Of course. The only person I’d want anywhere near my bed is you.”

  “Oh shit, that’s not what I meant.” He laughed. “Although, that’s always nice to hear. I meant, are you alone in the house?”

  “Yeah, my housemates are all on flights now.”

  “Did you lock the door?”

  “You’re security conscious, aren’t you?”

  “It is my job. But even if it wasn’t, your safety is of paramount concern to me.”

  She waited for him to continue, but he was obviously waiting for her. “I don’t think that I did, actually. I suppose you want me to get out of this nice, warm bed and go and do that?”

  He hesitated for a beat. “That’s okay. I’ll let myself in.”

  She blinked at the phone, then leapt of bed and flew down the stairs, bare feet slapping on wood. She heard the latch give way as he turned the doorknob and her heart skipped, then sped up, spurring her descent again. His footsteps, heavier and less familiar with the house, carried him toward her and as she swung around the post at the top of the bannister on the second floor, he was there and they were touching and it was everything she had ever wanted.

  “You…” She paused, out of breath and still in disbelief.

  “Me,” he said, his voice rumbling through his chest, vibrating against her neck as she pressed herself closer. “Hi.”

  “Hi.”

  They stared at each other, Julie craning her face, finding Jason’s grey eyes stormy with need. She knew hers were the same. He started to say something and then abandoned it, wrenching her hard against his body so he could take her mouth with his. She returned the kiss, then twisted one hand into his shirt and tugged him toward her room.

  She stepped back, breaking the kiss as her heels hit the bottom step, and he growled. “Don’t stop, not even for a second.” He closed the gap between them, sliding his hands down to her ass, and lifted her fully off the ground. “Wrap your legs around me.”

  “Jason, put me—” Her protest was cut off as his mouth found hers again, and she tightened all four limbs around him.

  “Upstairs?” He muttered against her mouth, stumbling toward the last flight of steps. Julie nodded, and he started to climb, rocking his erection into her with each slow rise.

  He had to stop carrying her around.

  She hoped he never did stop, though, because it made her feel cherished.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked breathlessly as he pressed her against the doorjamb leading into her room.

  “Birthday kisses.” He dusted his lips across one corner of her mouth, then the other. “A few days late, but the absolute earliest I could deliver them in person.”

  “This is the best present ever.”

  He raised one eyebrow. “You’re a cheap date, Jules. I’ve got a lot more kisses where those came from.”

  “Bring it on.”

  Her heart thumped wildly in her chest as he carried her to her bed, then kissed his way down her body and tugged off her shorts. His face was smooth today, a totally different feeling on her inner thigh compared to the few days of stubble when he’d visited last time. The nip of his teeth was the same, as was the suction as he sucked on the softest skin, right at the top of her leg.

  He’d mark her there and she’d wear it for days, knowing she was his even when they were hundreds of miles apart.

  His breath blew across her sex as he shouldered her legs apart, then she felt his fingers. She was already wet for him and she closed her eyes, sinking into the muzzy heat of being loved so intimately.

  He took his time, stroking and licking, until she was good and squirming and more than ready for his mouth to latch on to her clit. He already knew she liked his tongue firm and constant there, like a true kiss, and his fingers—

  Yes. Inside her, just like that. One at first, then two. Not too fast, just enough pressure on the inside to keep stoking the fire.

  She pushed up on her elbows, wanting to see him between her legs. The visual was just as hot as the act, and once she was watching, all it took was a few deep tugs on her clit for her to explode.

  Stars were still bursting in every cell in her body when Jason entered her, filling her in three slow strokes. Each was deeper than the last, until she was clawing at his shirt and begging him to make her come again because he’d found that spot.

  “Never get enough of you,” he muttered. “You feel so good.”

  He did, too. The solid length of him inside her, his arms around her, and the rough scrape of his jeans ag
ainst her legs.

  He needed her as much as she needed him. She tightened up around him, squeezing him with each pulse. Welcoming him into her body and soul.

  Begging him to stay, if she was being honest.

  Stay with me forever. Love me forever. It was a heady, desperate thought. But not dangerous, not anymore.

  She might get hurt again, but this time, it would be more than worth the risk. Because she could feel the possibility of more zinging between them. She heard it in every grunt and groan. It was fostered in the way he touched her, all over, constantly, and the sure and steady way his gaze held hers.

  Like now, his steely eyes right in front of her face. In his face she could see that he was fighting for control, and she whispered for him to let it go.

  “Take me as hard as you want,” she whispered. “Turn me inside out. Best birthday present—ahhh!”

  His fingers wove through hers and pressed her against the mattress as he thrust harder. He was taking her, definitely, but he was still watching her. He always did. And when she tipped her head back and screamed, he lowered his mouth to her neck and sucked.

  That gentle pull of his mouth, the swirl of his tongue, soft to the hard everything else, was what sent her spiraling toward her second orgasm.

  Higher. Tighter. Brighter, even, as her room swirled around the two of them. Wetter, as his mouth found hers and claimed her.

  Oh, oh, oh… “Jason!” she keened, digging her heels into his ass.

  He jerked hard against her, losing his rhythm as her climax made her seize up from the outside in and ripple into a million circles from the inside out.

  Like she’d been turned to fluid inside a steel cast of her body.

  Like she was permanently altered on a cellular level by this big, beautiful, glorious man.

  “Shit,” he muttered against her neck as he reached between them, grabbing the condom as he slipped out of her.

  Well, at least one of them had been mindful of protection.

  “Shit?” she asked, tentatively. She’d need a hell of a lot more protection than her sheet if he regretted what they’d just done.