Cockpit: A Second Chance Romance (4 page)

He looked at me, listening. He was more present than anyone I'd ever talked to before. Maybe that was his appeal.

Or his dimples.

Or his broad shoulders and thick arms.

Or his ass.

I looked away, trying to ignore the rush of desire I felt. The attraction was still there. Unfortunately.

"I'm sorry. I lost my family too."

I swallowed, feeling something all too familiar well up behind my eyes. Tears. Jagger was going to make me cry.

Damn him. He wasn't playing fair. He wasn't supposed to have his own sad story.

He wasn't supposed to be nice.

But my mother had raised me to use good manners. So I wasn't going to be rude. Besides, I had a sudden feeling he was telling the truth.

"I'm sorry, too."

He looked at the ground, then at the sky, then back at me.

"So, you are out of your wild phase?"

I nodded. He grinned and reached for me.

"Me too."

I gasped as he pulled me against him. His body felt good. The heat of him felt good.

He felt good.

"But I'd love to get wild with you."

His lips came crashing down on mine. I made a sound that was half protest, half surrender. I was frozen as his lips angled over mine, encouraging them to open.
 

With a moan, I gave in and opened my lips. Instantly, the kiss went wild. We were all over each other, practically inhaling each other as our tongues tangled. It was not a gentle kiss. It was not a sweet kiss.

It was a Jagger kiss.

Then I felt his hands close over my ass cheeks and squeeze. I remembered what he really wanted. What he was after. One thing and one thing only. I remembered the manwhore he was.

I remembered how he'd knocked me up.

I loved my baby girl with all my heart, but I did not need to be a single mother with TWO mini-Jaggers running amuck.

I reared back and slapped him with everything I had. His head swung to the side and then back. He stared at me, clearly shocked. He probably didn't believe that there was a woman on Earth that could resist him.

I lifted my finger, pointing it in his face.

"Don't you ever,
ever
kiss me again!"

I pushed away from him and stalked to the back door of the bar. My heart was racing. My lips were tingling. My hand stung from smacking his surprisingly smooth and soft skinned face. Halfway across the parking lot I turned and shouted.

"And don't call me sweetheart!"

Chapter Four

Jagger

✈

I rubbed my cheek where she'd slapped it, admiring the way she looked in those tight jeans of hers as she stomped off. She was a redhead alright. Only a russet haired woman would slap a man after kissing the hell out of him.

And Jenny was one hell of a kisser.

I took my time coming back in. Not because I was worried she'd slap me again. I was just deep in thought.

Mostly thinking about gettin' deep in her.

I sat down and ordered a watered down pitcher of beer. I had a long night ahead of me. I had someone to walk home.

Jenny scowled at me while she took my order, and scowled when she watched the other bartender bring it back. She scowled when she brought me a basket of fries.

The woman basically scowled up and down the whole night.

I sat back and waited for her shift to end, enjoying the memory of the way her luscious body had melted against me. It was getting close to time when she asked me if I wanted anything else. I took my time, staring up and down her body.
 

"Oh yeah honey, I can think of a lot of things."

"I'm not a piece of meat, Jagger!"

"No, you're definitely not a piece of meat. But you do look tender."

Jenny threw my check at me and turned tail to see to her other tables. I made my last beer count, sipping it slow as molasses until I was the last guy in the place. She started getting ready to close up. She 'accidentally' mopped right over my boots.

I smiled and stood up, throwing a fifty-dollar tip on the table. Her eyes widened. She stared at me as I walked out of the bar.

'Course I was waiting out front for her when she came out fifteen minutes later.

She stared at me. I stared at her. Then she walked up to me and tossed that fifty-dollar bill in my face.

"I'm not for sale you sonofabitch!"

I looked right at her. She was angry. But she had mistaken my meaning.

"I didn't say you were."

"Then what are you doing tipping like that?"

"I took up a seat in your section all night. Seemed fair."

She stared at me belligerently.

"Well, I'm not taking it."

"How about a twenty?"

"What are you, a cash machine?"

She huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. Her glorious, perfect, mind-bending chest. I pulled out a ten and a five.

"Fifteen?"

She yanked the money out of my hand so fast I got rug burn. Then she stomped off. The woman had a pair of legs on her. And she made good use of them.

I was whistling as I followed her back towards the base.

Jenny

✈

I was enjoying the memory of Jagger's face after I'd slapped it when I stopped in the middle of the road. Someone was behind me. I knew who it was before I even turned around.

Yep, Jagger was trailing me. I shooed him away. He just smiled at me, like the daft man that he was. I stomped my foot in frustration, kicking up dust on the gravel road.

"Are you a stray dog?"

"No."

"Then stop following me!"

"I'm not following you. I'm escorting you."

"Ha!"

I kept walking. He kept following. I stopped again, pointing my finger at him.

"You are either the dumbest or the bravest man alive."

He grinned.

"Shoot, honey. Why can't I be both?"

I scowled at him, suspicion dawning. I pointed at him again, wagging my finger.

"You just want to know where I live!"

He shrugged.

"I sure would like to sweetheart but that's not what this is about."

"Then what?"

"Look around, cupcake. There is no one around for miles. It's not a safe walk to take alone at one in the morning."

"Oh, so you are going to protect me?"

He nodded smugly.

"That's right, buttercup."

"I'm not a fucking buttercup. Or your honey. Or a cupcake!"

He whistled.

"You sure have a mouth on you. I'd like to sweeten that up for you."

I made a sound of pure aggravation and turned to continue walking. He was right though. I wasn't super psyched to be out here all by myself. I wished I had my old ten-speed. Maybe it was still in the garage...

I rode it all over the last base we lived on. Before I got knocked up by you-know-who. That reminded me that he was still behind me. If he followed me the whole way home, he might accidentally meet my dad or worse yet, get a good look at Hallie.

I had to distract him. Shake him somehow. He could not find out where I lived on the base.

I waited until we were just inside the base and stopped. I looked over my shoulder and gave him a come-hither look. It wasn't all that hard to pretend I wanted him to kiss me.

Especially since part of me
did
want him to kiss me.

The sad, pathetic, lonely part.

The part that was susceptible to wavy haired hunks who followed them home.

And hormones. I had a lot of hormones. And pretty much all of them were in favor of making out with Jagger.

He raised an eyebrow as I crooked my finger, sauntering off towards one of the less populated areas of the base. I leaned against the side of an empty house and waited. I figured he might assume I lived near here when I took off in a couple of minutes.

After I'd scratched the itch.

Jagger was right behind me, almost touching me when I turned. Well, he certainly didn't waste time. I guess you had to give him credit for that.

He stared at me hungrily as I tilted my head, looking at him.

"What changed your mind sweetheart?"

I grit my teeth at the endearment, forcing a sickly sweet smile.

"You did, Jagger. You're a true gentleman, did you know that?"

He looked like he was blushing as he stepped closer. He was inches away. Suddenly I felt breathless and lightheaded. then I peered at him in the darkness.

He
was
blushing!

Derek Jagger, blushing. Who would have thought it?

I reached out and grabbed one of his belt loops, tugging him against me. His eyes flared, locked onto my lips. I licked mine and he moaned.

Whatever else he was, he was not faking his attraction to me. Even if he was a manwhore, this was real. His reputation was for loving them and leaving them, not following girls home and blushing when they pulled him into an alleyway.

I felt strange suddenly.
 

Guilty almost.

I revised my earlier plan to tase or pepper spray him. I was always protected, and carried a taser and hot spray. I had since I was 13 years old. Daddy dearest had seen to that.

No, Jagger did not deserve the taser.

I would just trick him instead.

There. My conscience was clear. I would kiss him and then run off on him. That seemed fair, all things considered.

That's the last thing I thought for a while, because Jagger was kissing me. I couldn't help the soft moan of pleasure as he pressed himself against me. His hands were all over me, sneaking around my waist and hips, tugging me hard against his chest.

Our lips and tongues seemed to know exactly what to do and when. How hard and how fast... or slow. We were in perfect synchronicity as our heads twisted and turned, trying to get deeper... closer... more intimate.

Speaking of intimacy...

Jagger was hard. Really hard and really big. I'd remembered the size of him just fine, despite the heavy drinking we'd done that night. But maybe I had blocked out the size of his unit.

I'd remembered big. Huge even.

This was... bigger.

I whimpered as he started to push his hips against me. He lifted my thigh and lowered himself slightly so he could grind into me from below. My head fell back and he started kissing my neck.

I wanted more. I wanted a bed. I wanted him inside me.
 

No, Jenny! Bad! No, no, no!

I pushed against his shoulder breathlessly. If we didn't stop, he was going to fuck me right out here. Up against this house. Or on the ground. Outside, where anyone could see us.

Hell, I had a feeling I might be the one fucking
him.

For some reason, I was just easy when Jagger was involved. All the more reason for me to stay away from him. Permanently.

"Jagger- ohhh... hmmfff... I, um, I... I have to pee!"

He lifted his head from my throat. I had the distinct impression he'd been aiming for my boobs. If he'd started doing his crazy tongue work on my bare flesh, I would not have been able to stop.

So, in the nick of time, basically.

"Now?"

"Yes. Sorry. Now. I'll just pee over there."

"We could go back to my place instead..."

"Can't. No time. It's an emergency."

He cursed and ran his hand through his hair. Then he stepped back. I smiled at him and he grabbed me, kissing me hard.

"Hurry back, sweet Jenny."

I nodded, practically stumbling away. I hurried through the buildings, zigzagging my way to the other side of the base where my father's house was. I felt oddly guilty as I ran away from him.

My dad was watching TV and didn't notice my dishelleved appearance as I walked through the living room to shower. I closed my eyes as the hot water ran over my body. But nothing could take away the feeling of his hands on me.

I could still see the look on Jagger's face as I promised him I'd be right back as I snuck into Hallie's room and gave her a soft kiss.

Chapter Five

Jagger

✈

I stood there, not believing this was happening. One minute Jenny was putty in my hands and then poof. She'd run off on me.

Again.

It had taken me almost ten minutes to realize it. I'd been waiting patiently, pleasantly contemplating the night ahead. Then I'd started to get suspicious of her motives.

She'd been awfully angry. Then she'd been awfully agreeable. Then she was... gone.

Sweet, sexy,
conniving
Jenny was gone.

She'd tricked me, plain and simple. I ran after her, not just to yank her into my arms. I also wanted to ask her why. I was riled up but good. She'd played the classic bait and switch on me. But why bother? She could have told me to go to hell just as easy.

Unless... she just didn't want me to know where she lived.

Maybe she had a man. Maybe she'd moved on. It wasn't a stretch by any means. It had been a long while since our night together after all, and she was a damn fine woman. I was sure dozens of men had tried to tie her down since I saw her last.

Hell, probably hundreds.

But if she had a man, why would she kiss me like that? She wanted me, whether she knew it or not. And Jenny didn't strike me as a tease. She'd been a damn virgin the last time I saw her!

Maybe she was making up for lost time now that I'd deflowered her. But if that was true... she would have taken me up on my offer to go back to my place. I knew I'd pleased her the last time we were together. And then some.
 

I was jogging through the base, just on the off chance I might catch sight of her. But the whole time my mind was racing like an engine on overdrive. I would get to the bottom of this, come hell or high water.

Jenny was going to pay the piper, even if it was just an explanation.

I hoped it was a whole lot more than that though.

I went home after an hour of aimless wandering. I took a cold shower, trying to lose the wood she'd given me when we were fooling around. Two kisses. Two boners. All in one night.

I put a sheet on the bed and lay there, staring at the ceiling. It was unnerving how quiet the nights were after Iraq. No feral dogs barking. No bombs. No patrols.

Just... silence.