“I’ll give you two. Naomi and Jake are christening Noelle in two weeks and getting married in three.” I duck my chin, keeping my gaze on Jamison’s wrinkled shirt. “It’s their time to be in the spotlight. We don’t want to distract from their special days or make things awkward.”
“How would we make things awkward?”
“If the godparents, who also happen to be the maid of honor and the best man, who also happen to be the sister of the bride and the brother of the groom, have recently been through a break-up, that would be pretty awkward,” I force my eyes up to his face, surprised to find him smiling. “What? It’s not funny. It would be awful. We’d been standing within a few feet of each other at the church and seated at the same table at the reception and Naomi and Jake would be worried about us being miserable and—”
“I seriously doubt I’m going to get tired of fucking you in two to three weeks,” he says in a husky voice that sets things low in my body to buzzing. “But on the off chance you decide you’re done with me before then, I have the perfect solution.”
“What’s that?” I ask, trying not think about sex, which is pretty damned difficult when I’m pressed against every delicious inch of this man I know is capable of giving me multiple orgasms without even seeming to try that hard.
“We don’t tell anyone that we’re dating until after the wedding,” he says. “So, if we break up before then, there’s no awkwardness. No harm, no foul, no distracting from Jake and Naomi’s special day with their baby or their wedding.”
I frown. What he’s saying makes sense, but I’m still pretty freaked out by the thought of dating Jamison. He’s just so…dangerous. And the chances of this becoming something more than temporary are slim to none.
But what about seizing the day?
Having a little fun while you wait for Mr. Right?
You and Jamison clearly have fun together, and you were just moaning and groaning about how sad you would be if you never got to have sex with him again. So what’s your problem, woman?
“I don’t know…” I mumble.
“Take today to think about it,” Jamison says. “There’s no reason to decide right now. Mull it over and we can decide tonight whether we want to keep seeing each other after we go home.”
After a moment, I nod. “Okay.” There’s definitely no harm in thinking about things. And maybe a little time to turn this over in my head will help me sort out my mixed emotions.
“Good.” He nods back toward camp. “Want to go get some breakfast? They have coffee and cinnamon buns out on the picnic tables near the host tent.”
“I should probably shower, and clean up,” I say as we start down the path. “I’m sure I look like a shipwreck survivor.”
He shoots me a sideways glance. “Nah. You’re hot. Beautiful. As usual.”
I turn to demand he stop blowing smoke up my skirt, but he looks so sincere I swallow my words and mumble a soft, “thank you,” instead.
“You’re welcome,” he says, then adds with a grin, “Though you look best with fewer clothes on and my hands all over you.”
I shake my head. “You’re shameless.”
“Takes one to know one.” He winks. “Catch you after dinner, gorgeous.”
He breaks into a jog, trotting off toward the camp, leaving me to trudge through the gravel on my own, accompanied by nothing but the voices warring in my head and the sizzle his words left simmering across my skin.
Chapter Six
Jamison
By the time dinner rolls around I’m uncharacteristically nervous as fuck.
I’ve told myself a dozen times it doesn’t matter what Maddie decides.
There are other fish in the sea, after all, several of which I can probably convince to swim back to my tent before sunset if I need comforting after she turns me down.
There has been no shortage of lingering glances my way while I played beach volleyball with the guys, and Debbie doesn’t seem to be holding a grudge over the fact that I abandoned her on the beach after Maddie caught us kissing.
But my inner pep talk falls flat.
I don’t want any of the other fish in the sea, or the women on the retreat, or any other woman in Bliss River, for that matter. Ever since that day in February, when I suddenly saw Maddie through new eyes, I can’t stop thinking about her.
Hell, after last night, I’ll be lucky if I can jerk off to anything but memories of being balls deep in Maddie for the next year.
She blew my damned mind. I’ve always known she’s a sweetheart with a secretly wicked sense of humor, but I had no clue she’s as much a sex fiend as I am—four times in one night and I’m sure she would have been up for more if we hadn’t gotten a late start—or that sleeping with her would feel so…right.
Good, natural, easy, and hot as ever-loving fuck.
As far as the effect it might have on our families, I don’t know if dating Maddie is a good idea or a bad one, but I can’t bring myself to care too much. Our families are made of tough stuff and I want more time with Maddie.
I want her in my bed for a hell of a lot more than one night and I’m not about to let her shoot me down without a fight.
I’ve haven’t felt this way about a woman since before Wendy, the woman who ripped my heart out of my chest and spurred my move back to Bliss River from Atlanta last year.
But unlike Wendy, Maddie isn’t off-limits. Not really, not in any way that we can’t find a work around.
And unlike Wendy, I know Maddie won’t give me emotional whiplash.
If she decides to give this a chance, she’ll be honest with me. About what she wants. What she feels. Maddie’s always been an open book. It’s one of the things I like most about her. You never have to wonder where you stand with her. She’ll tell you exactly what she’s thinking, call you on your bullshit, and do it all with a gentle touch because she doesn’t have a mean bone in her body.
I think it could be…good between us.
Maybe even really good.
Now I just have to hope she comes to a similar conclusion.
“Hello, Earth to Jamison.” Eric, one of my friends from my old department in Atlanta—and the man responsible for strong-arming me into coming on this camping trip—waves a hand in front of my face.
I blink and pull my thoughts back to the present, surprised to see that Eric and Freddie have already finished eating. My own plate is still half-full of ribs and potato salad. “What?”
“What do you think?” Eric asks. “You want to go?”
“Go where?” I sigh, not missing the look Eric and Freddie exchange across the table. “Sorry, I was zoning out.”
“Yeah, we noticed.” Eric smirks. “Does it have anything to do with the woman you’ve been staring at all day with ‘need to hit that’ shooting from your eyeballs? If so, you should go talk to her. I’m sure she’d be up for some private time. Women can’t resist you, right?”
There’s a hint of resentment in his tone that makes me bristle.
With his thick blond hair and gym rat physique, Eric looks like the kind of guy who would have no trouble finding a date. But something about him turns off all the genuinely interesting single women he meets.