Читать книгу Best Friends…To Lovers - Jules Bennett - Страница 22

Fourteen

Mac lay in bed beside Jenna and watched her sleep. He couldn’t shut his mind down even if he wanted to. After their intense encounter against the front door, Mac had carried her to bed where she’d promptly drifted off to sleep. Yet even in her sleep she kept a hand on him.

Swallowing his guilt, Mac stared at her delicate fingers on his abdomen. She’d given herself so completely, so honestly, and he wasn’t worthy of any of it. He’d planned on taking her tonight. Had planned on making her his, when the last thing he deserved was sweet Jenna in his life, let alone his bed.

He’d ordered a kill only hours earlier and the reality still weighed heavily on his shoulders. He’d made the call in the past, but that was when his father had been alive and the situation called for such extremes.

Now his father was gone, Braden was incapacitated and Mac was in charge. Ryker had demanded over and over that Mac let him do his job and Mac knew Ryker didn’t kill just for sport. The man may be their secret weapon, but he was also a professional. If there was another way, Ryker would’ve found it.

Still, Mac had made the final decision.

Delaying any longer could result in Laney getting hurt, even killed. Braden, Mac and Ryker preferred to keep Laney on the technical side of the family business and not in harm’s way. But Shane was a ticking time bomb. Who’s to say he wouldn’t come for Zara—or even Jenna? The man was smart enough to know who mattered most in the lives of the men he was trying so hard to bring down.

Shane had to be stopped, permanently. Braden would understand.

Mac laid his hand over Jenna’s as if to draw some of her innocence into his life. She was sweet, charmingly so, and completely the opposite of what his world entailed.

She arranged flowers for a living, for crying out loud. She literally made things around her beautiful while he dealt with lying, stealing...and murder.

His chest ached because no matter what he wanted, anything beyond a physical connection was impossible. But he hadn’t been able to hold himself back any longer. Jenna had stirred something in him so primal, he needed her like nothing he’d ever known. And that fact scared the hell out of him.

Jenna shifted in her sleep and rolled toward him. Mac lifted his arm, allowing her to nestle deeper into his side. Call him a bastard, but he wasn’t about to push her away. No, he didn’t deserve her, but he wanted her. He was an O’Shea. They saw something they wanted and they took it. Simple as that.

For tonight, Jenna was his. She trusted him with her body and she’d given him full control. Only days ago they’d been friends pretending to be more. Could Jenna slip back into the friend role once this wedding was over?

The bigger question was, could he?

* * *

Jenna stood back and stared at the flower arrangements in the dining area where the reception would be held tomorrow. Everything was absolutely perfect. The purple from the lavender popped against the white tablecloths and the greenery. The fresh, yet simple arrangements were just what Amy had asked for.

The room was breathtaking anyway, with floor-to-ceiling windows encompassing the entire back wall. With the ocean view and the romantic ambiance inside, the small reception tomorrow would be absolutely stunning.

“Looks beautiful.”

Jenna spun around to see Martin standing in the doorway. Great. The last person she wanted to be alone with.

Mac had gone back to the bungalow after he’d helped her carry the arrangements in. He’d stated he had some work to finish up, but she had the feeling something was bothering him so she let him go without question. After the sex they’d had, she was more confused than ever and perhaps he was, too.

“I’m not in the mood right now, Martin.”

She had been given the okay to stay in the event space as late as she needed as long as she found a worker to lock up when she was done. This way no one would bother her...well, no one was supposed to bother her.

“I didn’t come to argue,” Martin told her. “I actually came to tell you that even though I think you’re making a mistake, I’m not going to pursue you—us—any longer.”

Jenna crossed her arms, not bothering to comment on the fact there was no “us” where she and Martin were concerned.

“What changed your mind?” she asked, her attention fixed on his bruised eye, compliments of Mac.

“Whatever you and O’Shea have going on is something beyond what you and I had.” Martin shrugged and shoved his hands in the pockets of his shorts. “I saw how he looked at you during the rehearsal. He stayed on the sidelines, but his eyes never left you. He’s intense, and I’m not getting in the way of what you have.”

Jenna figured he didn’t want to get in the way of Mac, period, but she kept her opinion to herself.

Had Mac been focused on her the entire time? She’d glanced his way more than once during the rehearsal and had seen him looking her way, but...the entire time? Maybe last night had switched something in him. Perhaps he was looking at her as more than every other woman who came before her. Maybe he’d been telling the truth when he told her she was special.

Jenna focused on Martin, still standing only a few feet away. “I’m glad you’re moving on,” she told him.

Martin nodded, then stared at her another minute as if he wanted to say something else, but finally he turned and walked away. Jenna blew out a breath and turned to survey the room one last time.

The lights went off and before she could fully react, a reflection in the windows caught her attention. Barely had she spun around when hands curled over her shoulders, lips feasted on the delicate spot beneath her ear.

“Stubborn man finally came to his senses,” Mac growled. “And now you’re done and all alone.”

The veiled promise had Jenna shivering. “I thought you had work.”

“I did.”

He snaked an arm around her waist and drew her body back against his. Her head fell against his shoulder as his lips continued to slide up and down her heated skin.

“You know what I’ve thought about all day?” he muttered against her neck.

“Wh-what?”

“Seeing if we can make last night’s encounter seem tame.”

Jenna gasped as Mac whirled her around in his arms, her body crushed against his as he slammed his mouth onto hers. Wrapping her arms around him, she opened, needing to feel that connection and anxiously wanting him to deliver on that promise.

“We can’t do this here,” she managed to mumble against his mouth.

“I locked the door after he left. Nothing to stop us.”

Anticipation rolled through her as she threaded her fingers through his hair and tugged. “Then you better get to work because last night was pretty amazing.”

His lips tilted into a grin. “Is that a dare?”

“Take it how you want.”

“I’d rather take you how I want.”

Mac smacked her bottom and grabbed hold of her as he walked her backward toward the dark corner away from the windows. She didn’t want to analyze what it meant that he’d come to her and was so eager to have her. She only wanted Mac, wanted this experience that was unlike any other.

He kissed her lips, her neck, her bare shoulders. He eased the thin straps of her dress down, tugging until the scoop neckline fell below her breasts.

“You’re so damn sexy, Jenna.”

Pretty words could be said by anyone, but the way Mac showed her how he felt had Jenna believing every word. He did find her sexy, and because of that she had a confidence she’d never known before.

Feeling daring, she whispered, “Then stop talking and show me.”

Mac sat her on the edge of a built-in bar and stepped between her spread legs. He grabbed a condom from his pocket, ever prepared, and rid himself of his shorts. Laying the foil packet beside her hip, he quirked a brow.

“You have on too many clothes.”

Whipping the dress up and over her head, she tossed it to the floor. Were they really going to do this here? In the wide open room where anyone with the key could walk in and flip on the light?

Jenna had never thought herself staid, but this wasn’t something she’d ever even imagined. Somehow sex always conjured up images of a bed, yet she and Mac had never even considered getting between the sheets.

After she wrestled out of her panties, Mac grabbed her hand and placed the condom in her palm. The silent command sent an even bigger charge of arousal shooting through her. She ripped open the packet and carefully covered him. She’d never done that with a lover before.

Mac cupped the back of her head with one hand and placed the other one on the small of her back, pulling her to the edge of the bar. Jenna slid her knees up his sides and locked her ankles behind him as he surged into her.

“Lean back.”

Following his orders, she eased back slightly on her hand and watched as he took total control. With only the moonlight streaming in through the windows behind him, she had a sense of deja vu from the previous night. But this was better, far better. The nerves were gone, replaced by passion and need.

The desire that coiled low in her belly spread warmth throughout her body as Mac gripped her hips and kept his eyes locked on to hers. She didn’t know how he managed to make her feel so special and, dare she say, loved. She knew this wasn’t love, not in the sense she’d like, but he cared for her, he wanted to be with her and she’d have to be content with the here and now.

Jenna tipped her head back, bowing her body when the pleasure became too much. Mac reached between them, touching her in the most intimate spot, sending Jenna spiraling out of control.

Bright light burst behind her lids as her entire body convulsed. Mac’s body stilled against hers as he leaned forward and covered her mouth with his. She wrapped her arms around him as they tumbled into the abyss together.

Heavy breathing filled the silence of the room as reality settled back in. What would happen next? Would they go back to the bungalow and sleep together as they had done last night? Would she wake up in his arms again?

With the wedding tomorrow, she wondered just how far Mac intended to take this escapade. Only time would tell, but Jenna had another day to enjoy her best friend and she intended to do just that.