“Forget it.” Jessie exhaled sharply.
“I don’t want to forget it, Jess. I don’t know how to explain it.” Braydon kept his eyes on the road as he continued. “It’s as though we broke up, although we were never actually together. And in the same regard, it’s like we’ve been apart for years and I want to make up for lost time.”
Jessie didn’t say anything, and he could feel her frustration.
“We don’t have to dissect this, you know. Can we just enjoy it for now?” He knew that probably wasn’t the right thing to say, but he didn’t know how else to get his point across. Braydon had never been the smooth talker that Brendon was. That was one of the reasons Brendon usually ended up with the women and Braydon usually ended up as the tagalong. It had never bothered him before now.
“Fine.”
They were pulling into her driveway when Braydon noticed Jessie reaching for the door handle as though she were going to jump out while the truck was still moving.
“Don’t you dare,” he ordered. “Sit your ass right there until I come around. Understand?”
Braydon put the truck in Park and looked over at her. Her eyes were wide as she stared back at him. At least she was still in the truck.
“If I didn’t stink so damn bad, I’d pull your shorts off and fuck you right here in this truck.”
Holy hell, where had that come from?
Braydon had been thinking it, but he hadn’t expected the words to come out of his mouth.
But there they were.
He was watching Jessie intently, so he noticed that her breathing had grown labored. She liked that; he could see it in the flush on her face. She liked when he took control.
Not that it changed anything at the moment, because he did stink. He needed a shower. “Stay right there.”
He hurried out of the truck and around to her side. When he opened the door, she slowly moved to get out, her eyes raking over him as she did.
Braydon surprised them both when he walked her to the door and stopped before coming inside.
“I’m gonna head home and shower. I’ll be back in thirty minutes to pick you up. Find a movie that we can go see. Pick a place and a time. We can either go eat before or after. Your choice. But be ready when I get back.”
Jessie nodded and Braydon knew he’d surprised her.
He leaned in and pressed his lips to hers in the softest of kisses. When he stood back up, he whispered, “Oh, and Jess. Put on a dress, and don’t bother with panties.”
The last thing he noticed as he turned to leave was the sexy smirk on Jessie’s perfect lips.
JESSIE WAS PACING the floor fifteen minutes after Braydon left. It had taken her five minutes to change clothes, another couple of minutes to put on a little makeup and brush her hair. Now she was just one giant ball of anticipation as she waited for Braydon to return.
Her thoughts wandered back to the moment in the truck right before he came around to let her out. Braydon had shocked her to the roots of her hair with his statement.
If I didn’t stink so damn bad, I’d pull your shorts off and fuck you right here in this truck.
Sweet, laid-back, nonconfrontational Braydon Walker had nearly given her an orgasm with his words alone.
Never had she heard him talk like that.
Brendon, yes. Braydon, no.
It had been unexpected and so fucking hot, she was surprised she hadn’t burst into flames.
That made her think about last night and the way he’d taken control then, too. Jessie had needed it. Not that she didn’t know what to do with Braydon. She did. And she had plenty of ideas about what she wanted to do with him in the future, but for him to take control so easily . . . It made her burn for him.
For some reason, she hadn’t expected it from him.
Braydon was one of those guys that women liked to be friends with. Although he was sexy as hell, he was just so nice. Too nice sometimes. The kind of nice that girls ignored in high school because they were always looking for the bad boy. Jessie had found all the bad boys she cared to find. Braydon was a breath of fresh air.
And then he’d gone and set her blood on fire with this statement.
Like he was the best of both worlds. A gentleman with a salacious side.
Yum.
Clearly she hadn’t known the real Braydon all those months ago. That, or he was just adept at keeping that part of himself locked down.
She liked that he was opening up. It was shocking and intensely sexy.
Although Jessie had given plenty of thought to her relationship with Brendon and Braydon when she’d been with them, she hadn’t spent much time considering the differences in their personalities. For instance, it never dawned on her that Braydon always took a backseat to Brendon because Brendon was so outspoken.