When he stopped, I started to protest until I saw him pull his shirt off. Instead I stood there, transfixed by seeing his body in daylight. I was starting to touch the ripples on his hard stomach when his hands fell to his jeans and started unbuttoning them.

He had his jeans undone and hanging on his hips. I realized I was panting with anticipation. Then he stopped and let his gaze slowly caress me from my red heels all the way up until his eyes locked with mine.

“I want to take my time and enjoy every last inch of you, but right now all I can think about is putting you up on that bar over there with your legs thrown over my arms and these red heels still on your pretty feet. Next time I’ll go slower, but I need to fuck you now.”

My knees buckled and I reached out to grab his arms to steady myself. Jason muttered a curse, and in seconds his jeans were off. He picked me up and carried me to the bar, which put me at eye level with him, and sat me down on it. His eyes were smoldering with need, and it only made me more frantic. He lifted one of my legs and ran his hands down it before placing my foot on the edge of the counter, causing me to lean back. He did the same with my other leg, and when he had me laid out and spread open for him, he stood back.

“That’s an image I’ll never forget,” he said as he tore open a condom wrapper and slid it on. “Fuck, Jess. That’s a fantasy I’ve had for a long time,” he said, taking a step toward me as his eyes roamed over my very exposed body. “But no one was ever right. I never wanted them like this.” He sucked in a breath and let it out slowly. “You’re fucking perfect.”

My body heated under his praise, and I wanted to be perfect. For him. That scared me, but I wouldn’t think about it right now. I knew this was temporary, and I wanted to enjoy it while I had it.

JASON

I had never wanted to worship anyone’s body. I appreciated them and I enjoyed them, but they were always the same. Jess . . . wasn’t. She was different from every other girl I had been with. I had tried the sweet and innocent type, the wild groupies, and then the girls who were in my circle of friends. They were privileged and spoiled, but I understood them. I knew them. Each kind had been nice. The wild groupies didn’t want anything but sex and attention. The good girls like Amanda were the kind you built a relationship with. Then the others understood my life.

Never had I been with someone as complex as Jess. She was wild and fun. But then there was this insecurity and innocence in her that, mixed with that body every man dreamed of, made her irresistible. I couldn’t seem to calm down enough to take my time with her. I kept wanting inside her again, and fuck me if she wasn’t willing. Her legs propped up on the bar without hesitation was the hottest thing I’d ever seen. And I’d seen a lot.

I wanted to slow this down. I wanted to make her feel special, because I was pretty damn sure after meeting her ex she hadn’t been treated like she deserved. But my need for her was taking over.

Her legs trembled as her tongue came out and swiped her bottom lip. I wasn’t going to be able to stop myself. I slid my arms under her knees and pulled her hips to the edge of the bar. Cupping her ass, I rested my head on her chest and inhaled the sweet smell of her skin. Her breasts rose and fell quickly with her breathing.

Lifting my head, I looked directly into her eyes as I sank into her. It was so wet and tight my eyes wanted to roll back in my head, but I kept them locked on her. Her lashes fluttered and her head fell back as a moan escaped her. I couldn’t think of anything other than how good this felt.

Then she did something that made her already tight hole even tighter as it clenched around me. I stilled and a wicked smile touched her lips. Then the extra tightness eased up, and I started to move when she pulled it tighter again.

“Jess,” I said, trying to decide if she was doing this on purpose or not. I was going to come way too fast if she kept it up.

“Yes,” she said sweetly, then pumped my dick again. She was doing it on purpose.

“You keep that up and this will be over before you want it to be,” I told her in a strangled whisper.

She lifted her hips and did it again, causing me to tighten every damn muscle in my body to control my need to release. “I wanna make you come this way,” she said, then pulled her plump bottom lip between her teeth.

“I’m real damn close,” I warned her.

She squeezed me again and again quickly. “Then come,” she whispered, her encouragement before starting a relentless pull with her body.

I was past the point of words.

Chapter Twelve

JESS

I felt like I was in a movie. Seriously. Just being in New York City after seeing it in movies for so long—it was as if I had stepped into one of those movies. I didn’t want to look like a redneck bumpkin come to the big city, but I couldn’t stop looking at everything through the window of the limo. The buildings were huge and people rushed down the streets just like in Gossip Girl. It was exactly what I’d expected.

“Welcome, Mr. Stone. I’ll have your bags taken to your room,” a man said, greeting us as we stepped out of the limo. Jason nodded and took my hand.

I was too busy watching the people on the street and soaking everything up to pay attention to anything else. I doubted I would ever make it back to New York, and I didn’t want to miss anything. I needed to memorize it all.

“You want to go inside, or would you rather go explore?” Jason’s amused tone made me blush. I was probably embarrassing him, but I decided I wasn’t going to worry about it.

“Can we explore?” I asked, not wanting to look away from everything.

He chuckled. “Of course. Kane will get us checked in. What do you want to see?”

What did I want to see? Everything. Was that possible in one day? I stopped and looked up and down the street as horns blared and a cab driver shouted at another car stopped in front of him. I laughed. It was perfect. “I just want to see everything,” I said honestly.

“That would be impossible, but we’ll do our best to get in as much as we can. I’m getting hungry. What about a busy café crammed full of people?”

I nodded and grinned up at him. “That’s perfect,” I replied.

Jason just smiled and shook his head. Then he reached for my hand. “Come on. I know the perfect place.”

I kept my hand firmly tucked in his as we walked past the people talking on phones or rushing from one place to another. Some had shopping bags and others were hailing cabs. How could I even begin to explain to my momma when I got home how unreal all this was?

“You like pickles?” Jason asked randomly.

I turned to look at him. “Pickles?” I repeated, confused.

“Yeah, pickles. This place has some of the best ones I’ve eaten.”

Oh. I liked pickles. Even if I didn’t, I would try them. I wanted to try it all. “I love pickles.”

Jason opened the door to a small café that was, in fact, packed with people. He pushed through the crowd. “Most of them are waiting for to-go orders,” he explained.

We walked toward a long table, where it looked like other people were sitting. The last two seats beside the wall were open. “Go on inside,” he said.

I frowned and looked at the other people at the table. They weren’t paying us any attention. “What about them?” I asked, confused.

Jason grinned. “They aren’t using those seats.”

“You share tables here?”

Jason moved closer to me. “Place isn’t big enough not to use every available seat. It’s the way it works. Promise. Sit down.”

I did, and he pulled out the seat beside me and sat down. A waitress was there immediately, handing us two menus and asking what we wanted to drink.

I was too busy listening to the many conversations going on at our table to think about the menu. This was wild.

“I always get the Reuben. It’s my favorite. But all their sandwiches are good. Just huge.”

I watched as the waitress set an opened-faced sandwich down in front of the guy beside us. There was more meat piled up on the sandwich than I ate in a month. Holy crap.

“Want to share?” Jason asked with an amused smirk on his face as he watched me.

“Yeah, I like Reubens. That sounds good. I couldn’t eat a fourth of that thing,” I said, glancing from the sandwich up to Jason’s pretty blue eyes.

Our drinks and a bowl of pickles were placed in front of us. The pickles all looked different, and Jason explained their differences. I didn’t want to eat a whole one and started to cut off a slice when Jason picked up the pickle and held it to my mouth. “Take a bite, Jess.”

I did as he instructed. Jason watched me as I chewed it up, and then he took a bite before winking at me and reaching for another pickle. He held each one and had me taste them. Once I had found my favorite, he handed it to me and told me it was mine. “Eat it.”

The sandwich was the biggest thing I had ever seen, but I ate as much as I could. Jason finished off the rest, calling me a wimp.

After we left, he took me to Central Park and we took a carriage ride as he told me about different parts of the park. I felt like I had my own personal tour guide. He kept me tucked against him and played with my hair while he talked. Liking this too much wasn’t smart, but I couldn’t help it. I liked it a lot. I loved the way Jason made me feel.

Shopping on Fifth Avenue was another experience. The first thing I admired, Jason snatched up and bought me. I didn’t want him doing that. So I was careful not to touch or look at anything longingly again. He still managed to watch me closely enough to see my interest in a pair of gray leather stiletto boots. Even with me insisting I didn’t want to try them on, Jason somehow managed to get the lady to bring out my exact size. Giving in so I didn’t make a scene, I tried them on, and Jason’s eyes did that smoldering thing that made it hard for me to breathe.

“We want them,” he told the lady without looking away from me.

When she took them and walked to the register, I grabbed his arm. “You don’t have to buy those,” I whispered. I had seen the eight-hundred-dollar price tag.

“Yeah, I do,” he replied. “Trust me, that was a selfish purchase.” He turned to hand the lady his card.

“They cost too much,” I said through my teeth, not wanting people to hear me.

“Can’t put a price on the way your legs look in those boots,” he replied.

My face felt hot and my heart was doing funny things. When he said stuff like that to me, it was hard to remain calm. It also tore down more of my protective walls. The lady thanked him and handed him the bag and his card. Jason took the bag in one hand and then reached for my hand with his other one.

“What do you want to see now?”

“I don’t know. I never imagined I would come here, so I don’t know what to do.”

Jason pulled me close to his side as a crowd of people rushed by. “We have about two hours before we need to head to the party. How long will it take you to get ready?”

“An hour,” I replied.

“Then it’s time you saw Times Square,” he said.