5

Kelly went with Rori the next day to the garden store and the two of them planted a wide variety of colorful flowers and some strawberry plants in colorful containers, which they placed on her front landing and the deck off the living room. Rori wore cutoff jeans and a raggedy tank top and had her hair pulled back into a pony tail. Her place was taking shape as containers spilled a riot of color all over the place.

She’d just finished the last pot and was taking her gloves off when she heard someone come up the stairs.

“Hey there, Rori. How are you?”

Jude. She turned and drank in the sight of him. He looked good with his sun-kissed skin and that honey-blond hair. She fiercely reined in her galloping libido and casually smiled. “Oh hey, Jude. I’m good. Kelly and I were making planters for my deck. Please, come in.” She motioned him inside and he walked in after her.

“You’ve already made this place look like a home.”

“It’ll be better when my stuff gets here. I’m borrowing Kelly and Max’s television but my stereo is being shipped, as are most of my CDs and my books, clothing, linens, dishes, cookware, artwork, that sort of thing.”

“Where is my lovely sister-in-law?” he asked, glancing around.

“You just missed her. She had to run home to pick up the boys and Max. I’m making dinner here to thank everyone for helping me move my new furniture yesterday. You’re welcome to come, too, if you’d like.” She made sure her tone of voice said, hey, I’m just a casual friend.

He stood there and looked at her. She stared back just as boldly.

“Can I take you out afterwards? To ice cream or for a ride?” he asked. And she might have been lured by his request but the cockiness of his stance snapped her out of it.

“No, not tonight. Thanks for asking, though.” She smiled. His cockiness morphed into confusion. It occurred to Rori that he may never have been turned down before. Still, she didn’t do the date on the spur of the moment thing very often. As it was, she’d broken her rule twice in one week and it was time to re-establish some order. Especially in light of the way he apparently thought she’d fall over from excitement simply at being asked out to ice cream.

“Oh, well how about tomorrow?”

“I’m busy. Wednesday night would work.”

“Okay. I get off at six. How about I make you dinner at my place? Come over at seven?”

“All right.” She smiled.

“Um, so, about dinner tonight. Are you sure it’s all right?”

“Of course. I’m making salmon and chicken on the grill. I’ve already made the pasta salad, and the asparagus is marinating. Plenty of strawberry shortcake and iced tea to go around.” She cocked her head as she waited for his response.

“Okay then, what time should I come back? Or can I help?”

“Come by at five. Thanks for the offer of help but I can handle it.”

There was an awkward pause until he stepped closer, leaning down to kiss her lips quickly. She responded, kissing him back and then grinning when he pulled away.

“Well, I’ll see you tonight, then,” she said, still wearing that goofy grin, her lips tingling from the brief contact. She had to shove her hands in her pockets to keep from reaching up to touch them.

His cockiness restored, he raised his eyebrows in a lascivious arch and took his leave.

Dinner was fun. The boys played on the grass with Max and Jude while a few of the other men grilled. They put blankets out on the grass, brought out the food and ate picnic style. Unfortunately though, Ryan got called to work at the last minute and could only stop by for a few moments.

“I’m so sorry,” he said.

“That’s okay. It’s your job. I packed up some food for you to take with you.” Rori held up a canvas bag filled with containers. “The Tupperware has strawberry shortcake in it. I put salmon and chicken in. I didn’t know which you’d prefer so I gave you both.”

He gave her a brief kiss on the corner of her mouth. “Thanks, Rori. I haven’t eaten in hours and I’ll be stuck at the desk doing paperwork for still more hours. This is great. I’ll see you later. I’ll be calling you.”

“You’d better.” She waved at him as he left. She noticed Jude watching and she smiled inwardly.

“Well, isn’t this interesting,” Kelly said with a smirk, approaching after Ryan had walked away.

“What?”

“Jude hasn’t taken his eyes off you yet.”

“He’s probably in shock because he asked me out for tonight and tomorrow night and I said no. I did tell him that I could get together Wednesday, though. I don’t know, Kel, I almost feel bad for doing this. Ryan is a nice guy but he just doesn’t sizzle my toes off like Jude does.”

“Oh hell, Rori, Ryan is going out with other women right now, too. And it’s not like you promised to marry him or anything; it’s just a date. Jeez. Listen, both those boys play the field. I know what they get up to. You forget that they’re Max’s best friends and I hear about it constantly. All’s fair in love and war, Rori, and you want Jude, don’t you?”

Rori snuck a look at him and discovered he was looking right at her. She smiled and waved and he waved back. “Yes,” she answered.

“And let’s face it, your little plan may not work, so why not go out with Ryan? It’s not like you’re engaged to him or anything. But you know what, little sister? I’ve never, in my life, seen you fail at anything. You wanted to get out of Oakley, you did. You wanted to go to Washington University and you did. You wanted to be a Rhodes Scholar, and you were one.

You wanted to get into that prestigious graduate fellowship program and you did. You wanted to be a writer and you are. You want Jude? Go for it. You know I’m your number one fan.” Kelly hugged her tight.

Rori pushed the hair out of her sister’s face. “Thanks, hon.”

“But Rori, don’t lose sight of what Jude is, right? ‘Cause I’ll have to kill him dead if he breaks your heart.”

They both dissolved into laughter.

Max approached. “What are the two of you up to?”

“Us? Nothing at all.” Kelly looked anything-but-innocent as she spoke.

Max looked at them through narrowed eyes and sauntered off to go sit with Jude.

“What are they up to?” Jude asked, suspiciously when Max sat back down.

“Who knows?” He laughed and shrugged his shoulders. “They’re women, Jude. It’s best not to try and puzzle over this too much. I’d think with all of the women you juggle, you’d have figured that out by now.” Max paused to spear a bite of salmon into his mouth. He raised a brow at the sour look on Jude’s face. “What’s up your butt?” “Nothing. How can she be busy? She’s been in town two days.” He gestured toward Rori with a tip of his chin. Jealousy and uncertainty burned in his gut. These were new emotions to him -- and he didn’t like them one bit.

“What? What are you talking about?”

“I asked her out, twice. She said she was busy.” Ack! He actually sounded petulant about it. Jude Callahan was not petulant, for god’s sake!

Max threw back his head and laughed heartily. “Oh how the mighty have fallen!”

“Ha ha. I’m glad you think it’s so funny. Laugh while you can, asshole. Do you know what she’s doing tomorrow night?”

“I know she went out with Ryan last night.” Max watched him intently and Jude wanted to squirm under the big brother examination.

“Yeah, I know that, too. I bumped into them when I was with Amy. She saw me with her yesterday morning. I told her I rarely bring women back here and the one time I do, I bump into her, going into Ryan’s place.”

“So what’s the problem? You have five other women you’re going out with. Why does it matter if she sees other people?”

“It doesn’t,” Jude replied, but it was obviously a lie. Max snorted at the comment but to Jude’s relief, let it slide. Damn it, Rori Simon was getting under his skin and he had no idea what to do about it.

Rori and Kelly cleaned up and by nine, everyone had gone home. Under the cooler cover of dark, Rori changed clothes and went out for a run. Running was not only great exercise, it was often the time she worked on story plotting and other things she needed to puzzle over. She determinedly did not think of Jude, instead focusing on a story problem she was having. Thankfully, as usual, the time outside and the rhythmic beat of her feet on the pavement helped her achieve that state of concentration that enabled her to work her way past writer’s block.

On her way back to her apartment she cut through the parking lot and ran into Jude, who was pulling his Harley into his parking space.

“Hey! Plans change?” he called out, catching up with her.

“What? No, I went for a run; too hot during the day already. Did you have a nice ride?”

“I thought you said you were busy tonight.”

“No, I said I couldn’t go for a ride with you tonight. If you must know, I have a policy.

I never accept invitations for dates asked on the same day. I broke it twice already. I am not some last minute or third choice date. Only a boyfriend has the right to be last minute.”

“That’s not how it was.”

She put her hand up. “I’m not trying to be insulting or to insinuate anything. You asked, I gave you my reasoning.”

“What about sudden kisses?” he asked, stalking the last two steps to her. He pulled her into his arms, crushing his lips to hers. The pressure of his mouth was insistent, passionate.

His tongue stroked over the seam of her lips, and she opened to him, twining hers with his.

The hand that he’d slid down her back and over her ass pulled her closer, bringing her pussy into contact with his erection. He ground himself into her, bringing a whimper from her, and he responded with a satisfied growl, sliding his other hand under her tee shirt and stroking her back.

Desperate to touch him, she stroked down his chest, finding her way inside his shirt.

The heat of his bare skin against her hands was intoxicating. His muscles jumped and flexed beneath her touch. Dragging her fingernails across his nipples brought a deep groan from him and he arched into her when she ran her thumbs across them in the wake of her nails.

“Oh my god, Rori, you are so fucking sexy,” he gasped out, breaking the kiss.

She smiled at him. “Thank you. Right back atcha.” She leaned forward and sucked the lobe of his ear into her mouth, worrying it with her teeth, satisfied when she felt the shiver work through him. She pulled back, breaking the kiss.

“Goodnight, Jude, see you Wednesday,” she said over her shoulder as she walked away.

Jude took a cold shower but it didn’t work. He wanted Rori Simon and he wanted her badly. The memory of their parking lot kisses slid through his feverish brain. Her skin had been salty from the sweat of her run. She tasted spicy and sweet all at once. He’d been so damned hard wondering what her pussy tasted like. The soft scent of her body had been on the wind. It tortured his mind and his cock even then.

She’d had a glow about her -- hair in disarray, golden tendrils framing her face as they’d escaped her pony tail. She’d looked tousled and rumpled and yet she’d never been more beautiful to him.

He couldn’t recall ever being so affected by a woman’s taste before. Couldn’t remember a woman’s smell ever invading his every thought throughout the day. This was more than wanting to fuck her -- though he did want that, so much he ached. No, this was about Rori.

About wanting to know her, craving her smiles and the sound of her voice.

But it wasn’t simple, for a host of reasons. Besides his not being a one-woman type of man, he was also aware she evoked some deep feelings from him. He’d had loads of casual affairs but he found himself imagining Rori Simon bound and helpless. Utterly at his mercy, begging him to fuck her. She tantalized the dominant that lurked inside him and he wasn’t quite sure what to do about that. He stood on his deck and looked at her windows. Her life was right there, right across from him, and the normalcy of watching her walk into her bedroom and grab clothes clutched at his heart. She must be on her way to shower, he thought, momentarily shaken by the image of her naked wet body, slippery with soap running down the curves of her body, over her breasts and down her thighs. Instead of going over there to be a part of her everyday life, he turned and went back into his apartment.

Rori took a hot shower, when a cold one would have been better. She felt unfulfilled, but she did have the thrill of the kiss, of feeling how much Jude Callahan wanted her to get her through until she could have the real thing.

Rori’s life in Oakley began to normalize; she began to build a routine. She wrote all day Monday and Tuesday, had dinner with Max and Kelly Tuesday night, and took Alex to baseball practice Wednesday afternoon. When she dropped her nephew off at home, Max told her that her boxes had come and he followed her over to her apartment and brought them all in for her.

Once he’d unloaded everything and carried them all up the stairs and into her apartment, she gave him a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. “Thanks, Max. I appreciate it. Tell my fabulous sister that I’ll get all of her stuff back to her by the end of the week.”

“It’s no problem. In fact, just call me at work when you’re ready and I’ll pick them up on my way home to save you a trip. Rori, it’s really nice to have you back in Oakley. It makes Kelly so happy to have you here and it’s nice to be able to get to know you as an adult.

Plus, I must tell you that it gives me a heck of a lot of amusement to watch my brother have to chase a woman, for the first time. Ever.” He chuckled.

“Is he chasing me?” She snorted as she started opening boxes.

“Let me put it this way, I hear he asked you out, twice, and you told him you were busy.”

“Yeah? What, is Jude the only person in Oakley who has an active social life? And besides, I’m seeing him tonight for dinner. He claims to be a good cook.”

Max gaped at her. “He’s making you dinner?”

“Yeah. And?”

“Never mind. Anyway, I don’t think that Jude has ever been turned down, especially not twice. Frankly, I can’t recall the last time he did the asking; it’s almost always the women who do that.”

“Well, Max, there’s a new sheriff in town, so to speak. I don’t make myself available on the spur of the moment to men, especially men like Jude, who have a Rolodex of women. I’m not a last minute substitute, not for anyone. It doesn’t matter how much I like Jude.”

Max chuckled again and hugged her. “You’re good for him, Rori, I hope this works because he’s needed someone a long time now and you’re just the woman to tame him.”

An image of herself with a whip and a chair, trying to tame a wild lion that was Jude Callahan came into her head and she bit back a snicker. Instead, she shrugged. “I don’t want to save Jude from himself. I want to date someone, not redeem them. I like Jude, I always have, but I know what he is and how he operates. I’m going into this with full self-respect, as well as an understanding that he views me like every other woman. I know we’re all interchangeable to him. He loves women, but not any particular woman. If I don’t remember that, I’ll end up hurt and I’ve been there, done that. Don’t want the tee shirt.”

“Good luck, Rori. Have a good time tonight. I think you are wise to remember that Jude isn’t the picket fence kind of guy. I’d hate to see you get hurt.” He waved and was gone.