One Timer: An Nashville Assassins Novel Read online

  I press my lips together as I close my eyes. “Okay.”

  “Okay,” he says, and I swear his face is bright with happiness. I don’t have to see it to know it’s true. “Can I take you away when I get back?”

  “Away?”

  “Yes, I want to go away, just us. No distractions.”

  I lick my lips. There is no answer other than “Yes.”

  When Jakob said he wanted to take me away, I really didn’t think he was serious about the no-distractions part. He was. We’re in the middle of nowhere, and I’m pretty sure the only signs of life here are bears. I’ve never been to Gatlinburg before, but it’s beautiful. Stunning, really, but I wish there were a Target around. The closest thing is a gas station, and it’s twenty miles away. Jakob came prepared, though, with food galore and card games. Yes, card games, because we’re teenage girls at a sleepover. Or maybe I’m being bitter because he’s beaten me twelve times at Uno.

  “Uno,” he says, all proudly.

  I glare. “You win. I quit.”

  He laughs. “You’re such a sore loser. Come on!”

  I change the color to yellow, and this guy puts down a yellow card. His last card, winning the game. Bullshit. I shake my head, throwing down the cards, but before I can complain, he takes me by my ankles and pulls me to him like I don’t weigh anything. Once he has me in his lap, he kisses me ravishingly, and I fall into the kiss. I always do. He holds me by the back of my neck, his cock brushing against my center. When we aren’t playing card games, we’re playing with each other, and that part of the no distractions is really nice.

  He tears his mouth from mine and sloppily kisses down my neck. He settles in the crook of my neck and runs his tongue along the hollow part. “Erik and I played all the time. That’s how I’m so good. I used to let him win, though.”

  I lean into his head, cradling it as my eyes fall shut. “Can’t let me win, huh?”

  “No way. I gotta show off.”

  I snort. “You’re such a pain.” I inhale his scent, my body going lax against his. “Your brother is the same age as my sisters. We should hook them up.”

  He laughs. “Which one?”

  “Probably Reese. Piper is too soft for someone like Erik.”

  He nods. “I wouldn’t know. I’ve never met them.”

  I grin against his forehead. “Well played.”

  “I know,” he says simply, kissing my neck. “I think this is the perfect time to ask if I can take you and your family out to dinner when we get back.”

  I move my lips along his brow as I tighten my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck. We’re basically one big ball, and I refuse to move. “I know my mom would love that. She’s been begging to meet you since Elli told her I was dating you.”

  I feel his lips curve. “Elli always has my back.”

  “Yes, it’s annoying,” I tease, and he laughs. “Speaking of, apparently dinner with her family did not go well for her and Shea. Her family, minus her dad and uncle, are real pieces of work. They treat Elli like she’s basically a fat cow. It’s annoying as shit. She’s perfect.”

  Jakob kisses my neck. “Funny, I think you’re perfect.”

  I nuzzle my nose into his hair. “I am far from perfect. You, of all people, should know that.”

  “How so?”

  “I won’t get where you are.”

  “You are where I am. See? You’re in my arms.”

  He kisses up my jaw.

  “You know what I mean.”

  “I do, and my position on the subject stands.”

  I exhale heavily. How is he so confident? So sure of us? I bite my lip as I thread my fingers through his hair. I didn’t want to bring this up, but the more I think about it, the more I need to know. “Elli told me that Shea told her you’ve been in a lot of relationships.”

  “You talking about me?”

  I set him with a pointed look. “She also said Shea told her you talk about me constantly.”

  He shrugs. “He isn’t lying.” He pulls back to look at me, a sly look on his face. “And yeah, I have been. I told you how many women I’ve been with—”

  “No, I know, but I didn’t realize those were all relationships. Did you love them?”

  His eyes search mine. “To be honest, I thought I did love them. But I know, after meeting you, that wasn’t true.”

  “How so?”

  “It’s different now.”

  Our eyes are locked as I ask, “What makes this different?”

  “You,” he says as simply as taking his next breath. “I swear to you, Harper, I’m not fucking with you when I say I saw you and I was done for. I know you just wanted sex. Hell, I knew that going in, but I didn’t care. I knew this would be more. You gotta admit, that first time, something exploded between us.”

  I could admit it, but I won’t. As I stare into his eyes, all these feelings start to suffocate me. I know when we get back, he has to leave again, and it’s killing me to know he won’t be in my arms like this. I know I should keep this light, but it actually stopped being light weeks ago.

  “I think it was you who exploded.”

  He chuckles against my skin, setting me on fire. “Of course I did. You drive me crazy.”

  “That’s been my plan all along.”

  His fingers glide up around my waist, dancing along my skin as he sucks on my neck. When he pulls back to look at me, I cup his cheek, and he leans into my hand. His eyes are dark and set on me, drinking me in. He’s so damn handsome. He has stubble dusting his jaw, and his hair is longer than it’s ever been, falling into his gorgeous green eyes. I lean my head into his, and he cuddles me closer. “When we get back, I want you to meet my parents and Erik.”

  I kiss his nose. “Might as well have a huge dinner so we all can meet everyone.”

  “I’m down,” he says without skipping a beat. “Name the time and place. We’ll make it happen.”

  I grin. “You’re serious.”

  “Like a heart attack.”

  “What if they don’t like each other?”

  He laughs. “Who cares? I like you, and you like me. So there.” The certainty he has in us makes me confident. I want to be scared, but how can I when he’s looking at me like this? Like the world is in the palm of our hands. He slides his nose against mine and along my top lip. “I found our song.”

  I eye him. “Our song?”

  “Yeah, like how Shea and Elli have one.”

  I fight back my grin. “Is it good?”

  “I think so,” he says, and then he pulls out his phone. When he pushes play on the screen, I immediately recognize the song. Gavin DeGraw’s “More than Anyone.” I love this song. I’ve heard it so many times, and I even saw him in concert. It’s a beautiful ballad, professing that he’ll love her more than anyone else. As Gavin DeGraw sings with the soul only he could have, I rest my head against Jakob’s shoulder. He holds me to him, running his hand up and down my back as the song plays. No one has ever given me a song and especially not one like this. I feel as if I’m on cloud nine. This one is special, super romantic, and I can’t stop myself from loving it. I don’t ever want to.

  Man, all my emotions are firing like crazy right now. I feel so damn good.

  I press my lips to his as his hands slide up my back, pulling my shirt up my body. When he pulls it off, he grins at me before capturing my lips once more. Since I’m not wearing a bra, he cups one of my breasts gently, squeezing it and loving my tit with his fingertips. When he trails his lips down my jaw to my neck, I lengthen my neck for him as he licks down my throat. I feel him growing underneath me as I lean back so he can nibble at my chest. He licks around my nipple before biting it gently. I cry softly, my whole body on fire as I arch into his mouth, needing more. He kisses the center of my chest and down lower before I use his shoulders to stand.

  He watches as I push down my shorts, and he very quickly unfastens his jeans, releasing his cock. I hover over him and lower myself down onto him, and