Page 24 of 40 and Flirting (with Disaster) (Silver Foxes of Black Wolf’s Bluff #5)

Twenty-Four

“ T hat is not how I expected this night to go.” Iris breathed deep of the night air, eyes on the stars twinkling in the sky as Jamie walked her to her car.

His warm hand rubbed up and down her back. “Me neither.”

She hesitated. “What will happen to him?” She didn’t want to care, but she’d spent a lifetime caring what happened to Kirk. If she was honest, though, that wasn’t what concerned her now. What concerned her was how what happened to him would affect her children.

Jamie sighed. “Hopefully he’ll spend the night in the drunk tank and be let out in the morning. I called Ronnie.”

Iris literally skidded to a stop. “The police chief?”

Jamie pulled her close to his side, bringing their hips together, and restarted their walk. “Yes.” He squeezed her gently. “Hopefully this will be a wake-up call for Kirk to get himself together.”

One could only hope. Still, it blew her mind that Jamie would intervene on behalf of her ex.

Maybe he was thinking of her kids as much as she was.

They reached her car, and Jamie placed a kiss on her forehead. “Meet you at the apartment?”

They’d spent more time at his house, but tonight she wanted—no, needed—complete privacy. No Michael wandering in and out, no housekeeper showing up in the morning. She loved that Jamie had a good support system, but she needed him to herself for a while.

“Definitely.”

Jamie kissed her lips this time. “Be careful driving.”

“I will.”

Jamie had told her he needed to close out a few things, but Francisco would take care of the rest. He’d be a half hour or so behind her.

When she got to the apartment, she climbed the steps with legs that felt like lead and realized the reality of everything that had happened that night was finally hitting her.

Inside, she left the lights off and absorbed the quiet of the peaceful home she’d built for herself as she left a trail of clothes on her way to the bathroom.

The water gushed from the faucet when she turned it on to heat.

Taking off her makeup took no more than a minute, and then she was sliding into the slowly rising water as it steamed up the bathroom.

Whirling thoughts shouted at her from all corners of her brain, but Iris sank deeper into the water and let the heat and humidity gradually wipe everything else out.

That’s where Jamie found her when he arrived, half asleep in the bathtub. She murmured drowsily at the sight of him in the doorway. “I knew there was a good reason I gave you a key to my apartment,” she said, a smirk waking up her face.

“Not having to get out of the hot bath?”

“Of course.” With her toes she reached up and flipped the plug open to allow some of the cooling water to drain. Jamie reached down and turned on the faucet to refill the hot water.

He winked in her direction. “We make a good team.”

“We do.” She narrowed her eyes on him as he began to unbutton his shirt. “Which reminds me…”

His shirt fell open, revealing the wide expanse of his chest. Her fingers itched to travel through the hair that raced down the center to his slacks.

Jamie dropped his shirt on the floor. “Reminds you…?”

His fingers went to his zipper, and every thought but seeing him naked fled her brain. “Gimme a minute.”

His gaze was indulgent. And sinful. He unzipped his pants, which dropped to the bathroom floor to join his button-down. Tight black boxers cupped him lovingly, just like she wanted to.

“Off.”

He cocked a brow at her but complied. Boxers and socks landed on the rest of the pile. Jamie moved toward the tub.

“Stop.”

The slow rise of his cock told her he wasn’t bothered by her demands. “Was there something you wanted?” he asked, the words gravel-rough.

“Just to look at you.”

His shaft hit full mast. He leaned a shoulder against the tile wall and waited, giving her full rein to look.

After a long moment, Iris sighed. “You’re beautiful.”

Jamie huffed a laugh and climbed into the opposite end of the too-small tub from her. “Women are beautiful.” Gripping her feet, he pulled each up until they lay across his thighs, which he settled on the outsides of her legs.

“I know what I’m talking about,” she protested.

Jamie didn’t object further. “Where were we a minute ago?”

She squirmed.

“Oh yes.” He took each foot in hand and began a hard massage of her arches that had her eyes rolling back in her head. “You said, that reminds me…”

She allowed her body to slide down until her chin was at the level of the water. Jamie reached behind him and turned off the water, then speared her with his green gaze. “You were saying?”

She gathered her courage. “What was that Krista said to her father about you?” Not that she didn’t know. She knew very well what words had left Krista’s mouth, but somehow she couldn’t bring herself to say them out loud.

Jamie’s amusement said he knew exactly which words she was talking about and why she hadn’t voiced them. “Do you mean about you being happy?”

She jerked one foot away and used her toes again, this time to flick water at Jamie. “That is not what I meant.” He was enjoying making this harder for her.

“Hmmm…” He recaptured her foot and rubbed the center pad until she moaned. “What could it have been?”

“Jamie,” she warned.

Chuckling, he brought one foot to his mouth and scraped his teeth over her big toe. A shiver shot through her.

“Close your eyes,” he said softly.

She could feel the vee between her brows as she digested his words. Why did he want her eyes closed? Staring into her eyes, she thought she detected a hint of vulnerability in this man she could have sworn was never vulnerable.

Her response was as soft as his. “Okay.”

When her eyes were closed, he said, the words again as soft as a breeze, “I believe she said I love you.”

Iris kept her eyes closed, not wanting to spoil the moment. Not wanting to open her eyes and see that Jamie was full of regret or ready to dial back his words. Well, Krista’s words, to be precise. Still…

“I think that’s what she said.,” she agreed. “But”—gulp—“I don’t think she meant herself. ”

“No.” He took each of her toes, rubbing them between his fingers. Iris moaned. “I don’t think it was Krista that she was talking about.”

Impatience overcame her trepidation. Iris squinted her eyes open to glare at the man in her bathtub. “So what did she mean?” she asked pointedly.

Jamie’s eyes were tender as he gazed at her across the water. “She was saying that I”—he lifted a hand and pointed at himself—“love you”—the same fingers pointed toward Iris—“and she was right.”

Iris gasped. The movement had her sliding along the bottom of the tub, and her head dipped beneath the water. She came up sputtering. Long moments passed as she got herself back together.

Finally she had to ask, “Was she?”

Jamie moved to massaging her calves. “She was.” He shrugged. “I would’ve told you myself, but she beat me to it.” His grin was wicked.

Something tight and aching in Iris’s chest loosened, allowing her to breathe again.

Jamie loved her. Somehow that knowledge didn’t feel new; she felt like she had known it for a long time, in fact.

No man would be as patient as he had been with her if he wasn’t in love.

And if she was honest with herself, she knew beyond a doubt that Jamie was one in a million.

A man worthy of her trust. A man who understood her background and her trauma and her quirks and loved her anyway, loved her enough to walk with her through them instead of abandoning her to them.

And she also knew, beyond any doubt, that…

“I love you too.”

Jamie’s head fell back against the bathroom tile, and he let out a hearty roar of laughter. Iris felt her eyes nearly bug out. “What is that?”

It took time to get himself back under control, but when he finally did, he gripped her knees hard. “That’s relief, beautiful.”

“Wait. You…doubting?” She shook her head. “I don’t believe it.”

“Believe it.” He sat up, trailing his hands from her knees along her inner thighs, closer and closer to where she wanted him to touch most. “Remember what I told Adam? There’s not a man alive who doesn’t get nervous when he’s waiting for his girl to say yes.”

“You are not asking me to marry you,” Iris said, the words nearly choked off by her closing throat.

“No, I’m not.” His palm met her mound, turned, cupped her.

One finger found her clit and lightly began to tease.

“But knowing you like I do, this may be as close as I ever get to a proposal. And,” he said forcefully, staving off the objection that rose to her lips, “I’m perfectly fine with that in my future. ”

She relaxed back into the water.

“But I needed to know…” He slid one thick finger down, found her entrance, and entered her, pushing deep. “I needed to know you were mine.”

Iris’s back curved instinctively, and she spread her legs as wide as the tub would allow, giving Jamie all the access he wanted. “I’m definitely yours, Jamie.”

“Good, beautiful.” He began a slow out-and-in motion that set her nerves tingling. “Don’t forget it.”

Her chuckle was more breath than actual sound. “I don’t think I can.”

Jamie added another finger. “Now, on to more important things.”

She forced herself to focus on his words even as she tilted her pelvis to meet his thrust. “More important than saying ‘I love you’?”

“Definitely more important.” He picked up the pace. “Let me rock you to sleep.”

He was rocking something, all right. She closed her eyes, breathed in his scent, his presence, and let go.