Page 89 of The Business of Love Box Set 1: Books 1 - 4

HAILEY

J ack’s lips were warm. So was his tongue. He tasted like pizza and beer and hopefulness, so I let him lay me down on the blankets and pillows in the middle of his living room.

It was romantic until half-eaten bags of chips crinkled and popped beneath me.

Jackson chuckled against my lips and tore them out from under me. His gray T-shirt was getting caught up and sliding up my thighs as he kissed me, and I didn’t know if I should pull it down or let it go.

My panties were showing. So was some of my tummy. I instantly wished I hadn’t eaten so much pizza.

Girl. What are you doing? This is your best friend. This is Jack.

A shrill, desperate, cautionary voice pleaded with me to put my hands against his chest and gently push him off of me. But his kiss was so urgent and my insides were tingling in the most delightful way. I didn’t want to put a stop to something that felt so good.

What if it never happened again?

What if this meant he wanted to stay?

What if—

His kiss deepened and I let out a soft whimper.

Why did I want this so badly? Sure, I’d indulged in the occasional fantasy of what it might be like to be with Jackson like this, but I’d never actually believed something like this could ever happen. Was the beer making me delusional? Was this all happening in my head?

Get a grip. This is happening. Either push him off or let this happen.

I didn’t push him off.

I hooked one leg around his and grabbed the front of his shirt to hold him down on top of me.

His lips curled in a smile and I felt his teeth against my lips as I kissed him like I meant it.

His hands moved up under the hem of my shirt, or rather his shirt, and nothing could prepare me for the heat that rippled through me as his palms slid up over my hips and waist.

He paused when his fingers found the underwire of my bra.

The kiss halted and he gazed down at me. There was no memory in my desire-addled brain of a time where his eyes ever looked so green.

“Are we doing this?” His breath hitched in his throat.

Was he as shocked as I was that this was happening?

Probably.

“I think we are,” I whispered.

He smiled like the devil.My panties were suddenly wet. My fingertips began to tingle and I could feel my own pulse fluttering under the skin.

Jackson descended upon me once more for more deep kisses that stole my breath. I didn’t need it. In this moment, I was willing to give him anything and everything he wanted.

His touch moved up from the underwire of my bra to the cups. He squeezed none too gently. The pressure was delightful. I arched my back and reached behind myself to snap open my bra clasp, but he beat me to it. With a flick of his wrist, my bra snapped open.

I giggled softly. “I should’ve known you’d be a pro at that.”

“I’m a pro at a lot of things.”

It was my turn to grin like Satan himself. “Well, we’re about to put that to the test, aren’t we?”

He laughed. Without warning, he flipped over and pulled me with him.

I ended up on top of him, straddling his hips, and he lay beneath me with his hands on my thighs and his eyes lingering on my breasts.

My nipples were hard beneath his oversized shirt and I could tell by the look in his eyes that he wanted to see me.

But I was going to make him wait.

I rolled my hips until I felt him get hard between my legs.

His grip tightened on my thighs and he guided me with his hands to sit a little lower.

I leaned over him. My breasts grazed his chest and he succumbed to temptation.

Jackson’s hands were back up under my shirt and he was cupping my bare breasts before I realized it was happening.

He flicked his thumbs over my nipples until I trembled and flinched, and when I couldn’t take it anymore, I sat up straight, hooked my fingers under the hem of my shirt, and drew it over my head in one flourish.

My hair got caught up in the collar and fell in a wild mane around my shoulders when I managed to pull it free.

I tossed the shirt aside while Jackson gazed at my naked body.

“Damn,” he breathed. “I knew you had nice tits, Hails, but I never thought—”

“Don’t ruin it.” I silenced him with a kiss and held his jaw in one hand. His chin and cheeks were smooth. He’d shaved recently. I could smell his aftershave. The masculine scent had all my senses on edge.

I began working to roll his shirt up. He helped by lifting his arms over his head. We broke our kiss to let his shirt pass between our lips as I yanked it over his head. It joined my already discarded gray T-shirt and bra on the floor.

Jackson sat up and wrapped his arms around my waist. I sat in his lap with my legs hooked around his hips and we kissed like we were lovers in a movie scene.

And for those few moments, I felt that surreal bliss society had been forever telling girls and women they should feel when they were in love.

The white noise of my life faded to nothingness and my focus narrowed to a tunnel.

The only two things in the world that existed in that moment were me and Jackson.

Our lips. Our hot flesh. Our breath. Our heartbeats.

Outside of us, there was nothing.

I let myself fall deeper into the dream.

Jackson lowered me back down onto the pillows.

This time, he didn’t stay on top of me for more kisses.

He began working his way down my body. He pressed his lips to the side of my neck as he moved lower and lower.

Soon, his lips grazed my collarbones and then my breasts, stomach, and hips.

As he peppered kisses to my hip bones, he hooked his fingers in my panties.

I lifted my ass from the blankets and pillows. He pulled my panties down.

Jackson pulled them off my thighs, over my knees, and down to my ankles. I kicked them off.

He pinched his bottom lip between his teeth as he looked at me. For once, he didn’t have anything to say. He lowered himself back down and settled between my thighs.

As I stared down at his face between my legs, I had a moment of fear.

Was I really about to let my best friend go down on me?

There was no going back from something like this.

My heart did a little hop step in my chest.

But when his tongue grazed my clit, my worries evaporated. He swirled his tongue over my sensitive clit and worked his way down, tasting me. I shuddered beneath him.

As sounds started to escape me, I could feel him smiling down there.

Smug bastard, I thought. But damn him. His smile was contagious. I hid my own smile beneath an arm that I draped over my face.

Jackson stopped licking and suckling. He reached up and pulled my arm from my face. “No,” he grated. “I want to see you.”

My cheeks burned.

His eyes were on me as he moved back down. His licks and flicks had my body trembling, and soon, I was on the cusp of losing control. I closed my eyes. The darkness washed over me and the pleasure tugged at a place deep inside me.

“Let go,” Jackson said.

It was easier said than done.

He slipped a finger inside me, and I moaned. Little stars exploded behind my eyelids.

“Let go,” he said again. His voice was rough. Strained.

He pressed up with his finger, right into my G-spot. He sealed his lips over my clit and sucked hard, and just like that, I broke.

My hips bucked, my toes curled, and a cry tore from my throat. Any self-conscious feelings I had melted away in the afterglow of my climax. Jackson went up on his knees and plunged a hand in his pocket. He pulled out a condom and tossed it on my stomach.

I picked it up and turned it over in my fingers as he stood up and undid his jeans. “Do you always carry one of these with you?” I asked breathlessly.

“No harm in being prepared.” He did a little hop step in place as he pulled his jeans off.

My heart did a frantic pitter-patter in my chest as I realized I was about to see him naked. Sure, I’d seen him practically naked dozens of times over the years of our friendship but never like this. Never rock hard and ready.

I swallowed.

He tore his boxers off.

“Wow.”

He blinked at me. “Wow?”

I hadn’t realized I’d spoken. I covered my mouth with one hand and he came back to his knees between my thighs.

He took the condom from me with a cocky smirk. “Like what you see?”

“Looks aren’t important. It’s how you use it.”

He tore open the wrapper and rolled the rubber on. Jackson pushed my legs apart with force and dropped his hips. His cock pressed against my clit and he rocked his hips, rubbing himself against me. “You aren’t wrong.”

“Don’t tease me, Jackson Smithe.”

“Or what?”

Good question.

I was at his mercy. I wanted him. Badly. Immediately. I wanted him deep inside me and I wanted to make him feel good.

He chuckled. “Empty threats, Hails. Empty threats.”

“Just put your money where your mouth is.”

Jackson pressed inside me. His size took my breath away. I gripped his forearms and he took it easy on me. When I could take all of him, he gave me sweet kisses and we stayed like that, caught up in each other, until I relaxed.

He thrust his hips and worked hard to hit all the right spots.

I couldn’t stay in control. I fought the urge to keep my composure for as long as I could but it was a losing battle. He had me on the edge of another orgasm within minutes, and when he flipped me over onto my hands and knees and took me from behind, I lost it.

Jackson grabbed my ass and pulled my hair. I cried out when he grabbed my hips and pulled me hard against him as he bucked wildly until he too lost control. We both spiraled together toward oblivion.

When we were done and well spent, he fell onto his back beside me with his eyes closed. I admired the lines of his jaw, his dark brows, and his long eyelashes.

He cracked open one eye and peered at me. “Well. That was a first.”

I giggled breathlessly.

It was a first. A good first.

After a night like this, could he really pick up and move to New York? Or would he see what could still be here in Nashville and decide to stay?

Would we look back at this night years from now and smile and look at each other and wonder aloud what might have happened had he moved away? As I lay there beside him, it didn’t seem so crazy. It seemed possible.

Please don’t go, Jack.