His hands moved up my back and his head tilted toward me.

“Since I’m bein’ honest with you, Chiquita, I’l tel you I usual y play with what I want until I feel the time is right to move in. The time was right with you a long f**kin’ time ago but you’ve been so focused on your own shit, you gave me no opening. This hasn’t been fast. You want to see fast, we’l go into the bedroom and I’l show you fast but I’l show it to you slow.”

Oh… dear… Lord.

My stomach curled and that was a pleasant feeling too.

Regardless, for self-preservation, immediately I said, “I don’t want to see fast.”

His arms separated, one stayed up my back, the other one went low on my waist.

His mouth came to mine and I quit breathing.

With his lips against mine he said, “You’ve got one night’s reprieve. Tomorrow, I start movin’ in.” What did I do with that? I mean, I pretty much thought he was already “movin’ in”.

He didn’t give me a chance to do anything.

“I gotta make a cal and then we’re goin’ to bed.” Eek!

Chapter Eight

Eddie Fixes One of My Problems

The alarm went off and, as it didn’t sound like mine, I knew immediately where I was.

I took stock of my surroundings and realized the warm coziness I felt had a lot to do with being tangled up in Eddie Chavez.

My body tensed and I started to move away.

Eddie’s arms, which were wrapped around me, tightened (one of his thighs, incidental y, was wedged between my legs and my thigh was hooked over his hip not to mention one of my hands was pressed against his chest, the other arm wrapped around his waist, um… eek! ).

“You need to turn off the alarm,” I said instead of “good morning”.

“Turnin’ off the alarm would mean lettin’ you go,” he said, his voice sexy-rough.

I decided to ignore his sexy, rough voice.

“And?” I asked.

“I’m not gonna do that,” he answered and snuggled closer (though I wouldn’t have thought that possible).

I listened to the blaring noise, it was annoying.

“You have to turn it off,” I said.

“I’m not turnin’ it off.”

“Someone has to turn it off, you’re closer. I don’t know what button to press.”

He didn’t answer.

I listened to the noise.

I tried to pul away.

This time, Eddie’s arms and thigh tightened.

I was stuck.

“Oh for goodness sake,” I said and then pushed into him, rol ed him on his back and reached over. This meant I was sprawled on top of him and I decided to hate Eddie instead of love him and want to give Blanca grandbabies.

There were at least seven dozen buttons at the top so I just ran my fingers down al of them in hopes one of them would turn off the alarm. Instead, the buzzing went away and an old Big Head Todd and the Monsters tune came on.

It wasn’t just a good song, it was a great song, but it was also a sexy song.

Wonderful.

I pushed against Eddie’s chest and peered closer at the alarm to see which button would turn off the music and saw it was also a CD player. Just when I was about to push

“stop”, he pressed into me and rol ed me on my back, him on top.

Not good.

Last night, after Eddie announced we were going to bed, he was good to his word. He planted a lookout in the parking lot of my apartment building. I cal ed Mom to tel her I wasn’t coming home (to her everlasting glee which amounted to a piercing scream of joy which I could swear Eddie heard from across the room). He’d given me a t-shirt that was faded black and had been washed a mil ion times and was soft and comfy. Then we’d gone to bed and slept, no hanky panky, nothing.

I wasn’t going to press my luck.

I decided to go for bel igerence. I needed to get up, get dressed and get the hel out of there as fast as humanly possible and I figured being a bitch was the way to go.

“Get off me. I need to turn off the music,” I told him, looking into dark eyes that were stil drowsy and doing weird things to my peace of mind.

“I like this song,” he said and then his face disappeared into my neck and I could feel his lips there.

Guess bel igerence wasn’t going to work.

“What are you doing?” I pretended not to like his lips on my neck.

“It’s tomorrow,” he answered and then I had to pretend not to like his sleepy gruff voice vibrating on my neck.

“So?”

His lips glided up my neck, his teeth nipped my earlobe and he said, “Your reprieve is over.”

Damn. I was afraid of that.

“Eddie…” I started to say, but he kissed me.

Real y, it was too much to take. His warm body on me, his warm bed under me, his mouth on mine, his tongue in my mouth, his hands everywhere; I couldn’t withstand it.

So, I didn’t try.

I kissed him back and, just like in my daydreams, I ran my hands over his chest, his bel y, his back. He felt nice…

hard, sleek and warm.

One of his hands went up my shirt, cupped my breast and he rubbed the pad of his thumb across my nipple.

It felt so good, my mouth disengaged from his, I closed my eyes and sucked in breath.

His head came up and I opened my eyes to look in his.

They were liquid.

His finger joined his thumb and they did a rol on my nipple. Electricity shot straight to my doo-da. My neck arched, I bit my lip and I think my nails dug into his back.

He watched the whole show, his face changed, looking somehow hungry, and the look sent a shiver through me.

His other hand came up the shirt, it was whisked over my head and then it was gone.

His mouth was on mine, then it traveled lower, until his lips locked around my nipple. My hands went into his hair, holding his head while he used tongue, teeth and suction until I couldn’t stand it and I moaned.

He came back over me, his mouth on mine and I was kissing him with everything I had when his hand cupped me between my legs, over my panties, his fingers pressing in.

His head came up barely an inch.

“Christ, Cariña, you’re already ready for me.” His voice was hoarse and sounded approving.

Regardless, at his words, I froze. Then I moved my hand down to circle his wrist and pul ed it away.

“No,” I said.

I mean, it was too humiliating.

In the throes of delicious sexual activity, I could forget.

I could forget that I was Just Jet and there would be a time when he’d realize that, when Damsel in Distress Jet was saved and there was nothing interesting about her anymore. I could forget that he was Hot Handsome Eddie and it’d never last because he’d eventual y realize he was out of my league. I could forget knowing that other people would look at us and think, “What is he doing with her?” I could forget for a moment. But the truth was al that was there.