You Can't Go Home Again (8 page)

“Ah, Christ. You’re so beautiful.” He glanced down and saw
her breast, the dark pink nipple pouting, begging for his kiss. “I want to
taste you, to suck your nipples till you come.” He ran his tongue around the
edge, teasing without satisfying. “Are they still as sensitive as they used to
be, Dani? Can I make you orgasm this way?”

Jace ran his free hand around her back, sliding lower to cup
her ass. He pulled her closer, lifting slightly until her sex pressed against
his shaft. He didn’t think she was even aware of her hips rolling gently
against him, but he was. He grabbed her thigh, hitching her leg up, her knee at
his hip. He groaned, thrusting against her, when she wrapped her leg around his
back. He felt his cock throb, pressing against his zipper until he thought it
would bust. The need to touch her, to feel her wet heat was overwhelming.

* * * * *

She loved it when he talked to her like this. Just the sound
of his voice, throaty and slurred with desire, was enough to send shivers
through her. When she felt his lips finally close over her breast, his tongue
teasing the tip before suckling deeply, Dani couldn’t help but urge him on.
“Yes. God, yes. That feels so good.”

Dani was already on the verge. Her sex was throbbing. If he
touched her right now, he’d find her wetter than she’d ever been. She could
feel the damp heat and wondered if he could too. When his shaft pulsed against
her, she thought she might come apart right then. She grabbed his head, pulling
it back to hers for another kiss.

And the doorbell rang.

She and Jace jumped apart like two teens caught necking in a
closet. Which, was not entirely off base.

She looked up at Jace, horrified at what had just happened,
what would have happened if the doorbell hadn’t rung. He was all but engaged to
someone else. Nicole was sweet; she didn’t deserve this.

* * * * *

Jace saw the expression, the horrified look. At once, the
anger that was never far away around her boiled back to the surface.
Remembering her last comment, he let the venom come. “It’s not just anyone,
sweetheart. Apparently it’s only fucking you that makes me act like this.”

He turned on his heel, heading to the front door, just as
the handle turned. He saw Jenn and tried to calm the angry look, knowing he
hadn’t quite succeeded.

He nodded at her, his attempt at a greeting. She raised her
eyebrows in response.

* * * * *

Jenn watched Jace pull away on his bike, leaving black tire
marks in Dani’s driveway. She turned to Dani, and saw a shocked, slightly
devastated expression. Jenn sighed. Apparently Jace’s apology hadn’t gone well.

She held out a bag, grease leaking through from its contents.
She gave Dani a small grin, trying to help without really knowing the problem.
“I brought tacos and French fries, both. Which do you want first?”

She and Jenn ate the greasy tacos, then headed back to
Jenn’s house to clean up. She could feel Jenn’s eyes on her, watching, waiting
for her to tell her what Jace had said. But she didn’t ask. Just waited
patiently.

They got the kitchen cleaned and made some salads for lunch.
Of course, since breakfast had been after eleven a.m., lunch was around three.
When all was said and done, they ran back to the grocery store to pick up some
things they needed for tomorrow.

Walking through the store, her mind wandered. Dani sighed a
little at the thought of tomorrow’s barbeque. More questions, more people to
see. More of Jace. And she’d have to face Nicole.

Dani hadn’t been lying when she’d told Jace she liked
Nicole. She really did. The woman was way too sweet not to like. Now she had to
look her in the eye and pretend that she hadn’t been wrapped around her
boyfriend in the last twenty-four hours. Another wave of guilt swept through
her. As much as she was enjoying being here, coming back had been a huge
mistake.

She thought about the fight with Jace. She still couldn’t
believe she’d screamed at him, let alone what she’d screamed. She had always
been the calm one, more in control of her temper, her emotions. He seemed to
bring out the worst in her. She had managed to keep control of her own anger
the first two times he’d insulted her, so maybe this venting was exactly what
she’d needed. Maybe now they could talk and put all of this behind them.

Dani rolled her eyes at her own thoughts. Not bloody likely.
So, tomorrow, instead of allowing another scene at the party, she would simply
avoid him. If she managed to avoid Nicole in the process, well, then so much
the better.

She figured it had to be better to avoid him, since she
wasn’t at all sure she could hold her tongue any more. She had been trying to
keep things calm for Jenn’s sake. After this morning, finally letting her anger
run loose, she didn’t think she’d be able to rein it back in. In fact, she was
fairly sure she would scream at him again. And she would enjoy it. Again.

After the kiss, and her response, she’d been humiliated.
She’d always found cleaning therapeutic, and about halfway through Jenn’s
kitchen, she’d gone from humiliated to irate. Dani had always had a fairly long
fuse, but once she was mad, the mad tended to stay awhile. And right now she
was furious.

When Dani grabbed a container of Ex-Lax and tossed it in the
cart, followed by denture cream, Jenn couldn’t hold her tongue any more.

Giggling her way through the words, Jenn asked, “So… You’re
constipated and you need more denture cream? When did you lose your real
teeth?”

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

Jenn laughed even harder at the completely stumped
expression Dani was wearing as she pulled the two packages out of the grocery
cart. “You’ve been out of it all morning. So far, I have pulled out a package
of diapers, a gallon of apple juice, fabric softener and…oh, I left the
maxipads. Did you need those?”

Dani stared at her, holding the Ex-Lax in her hand. “I
grabbed this?”

At that, Jenn roared, laughing so hard tears started to run
down her cheeks. “Okay, just tell me what he said this morning. You were
obviously upset when I got there, but I was giving you time to work it out. So,
what happened?”

Dani set the package back on the shelf, pulling out the
maxipads as well. “Nothing, really. We just fought again.” She shrugged. There
really wasn’t much she could tell Jenn without telling her everything, and she
really didn’t want to get into that.

“He was going to apologize. He told me last night.” Jenn
kind of wiggled her head at Dani’s look. “He came back while Brian was taking
you home. He apologized to me, said he’d talk to Bri today and that he’d
apologize to you, too.”

“Well, that at least explains part of the conversation.”

“So, what explains the rest of it? You looked shell shocked
when I got there, like someone had just shot your dog, or something.”

“It’s just…” How did she explain this? “It would be like
fighting with you. We’re friends, or we were at least, so it feels worse. Plus,
just like with you, he knows me too well. Knows too much about me. I still
don’t really know why he’s mad, not the whole reason, but he’s pissed enough to
strike out at me, and knows me well enough to have perfect aim.”

Jenn nodded. “I get that part. I really do. If you or Brian
were ever really pissed at me, it would hurt a lot worse than anyone else. But,
Dani…well, last night he seemed more hurt than mad.”

“That doesn’t make any sense, Jenn. Other than leaving town,
I’ve never done anything to him. And that seems a bit excessive, really.”

“Well, there’s something that I think I should tell you…”

Dani heard the hesitation, even thought she sensed
nervousness in Jenn’s words. She waited a beat before finally prodding, “What?”

“No, never mind. It probably doesn’t matter anyway. Let’s
just finish shopping so we can go rent a movie. I think we need more beer. Oh,
and champagne. I have a three-day weekend before the last-minute rush of next
week, so let’s enjoy it.”

* * * * *

Jace picked Brian up at his office, heading over to the
local Mexican food place for lunch. They grabbed some food and sat down at one
of the tables outside. Jace needed to apologize and wanted a little quiet to do
it in.

Before he even opened his burrito he blurted out, “I’m
sorry. I shouldn’t have done that last night. I was an ass and I’m really
sorry.”

Bri set down his food, wiping his hands and mouth before he
said anything. “I know. Jenn told me you came back last night while I ran Dani
home. You apologized to her, made her feel better, so we’re square. But, Jace,
man… What the hell is going on with you?”

“I don’t know. Every time I look at her I get pissed off all
over again. I even tried to go talk to her this morning, to apologize to her,
and I just made things worse.”

“But why? Seriously, dude, I’m kind of tired of having this
conversation.”

“I know…you and me both.”

“So, knock it off.”

Jace laughed without any real humor, scrubbing his hand over
his face. “Yeah…I’ll do that.” An image of Dani, flushed with arousal, lips
swollen from his kisses, flashed in his mind. Easier said than done.

“Look, there’s only a couple more times you’ll have to see
her, and there will be a lot of people around most of the time. Just try to
stay away from her. Tomorrow at the barbeque, stay with Zack and Sean. Dani
will be with Jenn most of the time, so just steer clear. I promise not to take
it personally. Austin’s pretty big. You should be able to avoid her for the
rest of her stay. And Jenn already adjusted the seating for the rehearsal
dinner this morning. She had you guys sitting next to each other, but she moved
everyone around.”

Jace nodded. “I’ll do that. Tell Jenn I said thanks.”

“I will, although I think it was more for Dani’s benefit
than yours. Just hang with Nicole and the other guys. Speaking of… Have you
talked to Nicole today?”

Jace shook his head. He was ashamed to admit that had been
the farthest thing from his mind. He couldn’t tell Brian that. “I didn’t get up
in time this morning, and she’s working right now.”

“Well, you’d better go see her tonight. She wasn’t real happy
with you either, from what Zack says. I don’t think she’s ever seen you be that
big a jerk. To be honest, I’m not sure I have either.”

“I’ll talk to her tonight. I don’t think she’s ever even
heard me yell. We’ve never even been in an argument, Bri.”

“Really? In a year, you’ve never had a fight?”

“No, not that I remember. But that’s good, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, sure. I guess.”

The words were right, but the tone didn’t sound so sure.

“What? Do you and Jenn fight all the time?”

“No, not often, really, but yeah, we fight sometimes.
Nothing like the bullshit you pulled out on Dani last night, and Jenn usually
yells back, but we do fight.”

Jace’s mind rushed again to this morning. Dani on her
tiptoes going face to face with him, staring him down. She’d always been direct,
and she’d gotten even stronger over the years.

“Maybe a fight will do you some good.”

“Yeah, maybe.” He thought that might be just the ticket.
Maybe instead of avoiding her, he should just pop on by one more time. A good
heated argument might just clear the air. If he could keep his hands off her.
“You might just be right.”

“Besides, the make-up sex definitely makes it worth it!”

Jace’s head whipped up, confusion and shock evident in his
eyes. “Make-up sex?”

“Yeah. It’s the best sex you’ll ever have in your life,
dude. Surely you remember from college? You and Nicole never fight, but you
used to fight with some of your girlfriends then.”

“Right, Nicole. Make-up sex.” Guilt started to creep in.
Jace had never cheated on anyone in his life, not even in high school. And now,
instead of worrying about Nicole, he was still thinking about Dani. While he
hadn’t slept with her, he knew that what they’d done was still cheating. Shit!

Jace watched Bri’s head tilt to the side as he seemed to be
trying to read Jace’s mind. When he saw Bri smirk, Jace knew he’d been caught.
Bri knew he hadn’t been thinking of Nicole. With another silent cuss word, Jace
figured it was time for a change of subject.

* * * * *

Later that night, as Brian and Jenn snuggled down in bed, he
leaned over and pressed a soft kiss against her shoulder.

“Jace came by today, took me to lunch. He did apologize.”

“That’s good. He stopped by Dani’s first and screwed up an
apology. Hopefully he did better with you.”

Bri laughed. “That doesn’t surprise me.”

“Really, why’s that? I’ve never known Jace to be this much
of a jerk. He and Dani had another fight before I got there. She is such a
mess. I don’t get why he’s being so awful to her. What happened with them?”

Brian smiled against her neck, letting out a little chuckle.
Jenn rolled over, seeing the humor in his eyes. “What? What do you know that I
don’t? Did Jace finally tell you what happened?”

Bri shook his head, still smiling. “No, but I figured it
out.”

He waited a beat, seeing if Jenn would piece it together
herself. When she didn’t say anything, he finally told her.

“Jace is in love with her.” At the shocked and doubtful
expression, Bri continued. “I’m serious. I don’t think he knows it yet, not
sure when it happened, or how. But that’s why he’s so pissed over her being
gone so long.”

Bri watched her try to process this a minute before she
quickly shook her head.  “I don’t see it, Bri. I know you get paid to read
people, figure out how they feel about things, but I think you blew this one.”

“Just watch them tomorrow. Jace said he was going to avoid
her, but I’m betting that doesn’t happen. Just watch how they are together with
that thought in the back of your mind. I’m right. You just wait and see.”