Chapter 37
Dexter
Goddammit, where is my mind?
Apparently, stuck on one fact that’s going to throw me deeper into the abyss I’m already tumbling down.
Juniper Winkley tastes fucking divine.
She might be the first sweet thing I’ve ever had that I don’t instantly hate.
It’s the subtle wine on her tongue, the lingering sweetness of the chocolate, the delicate flutter of her moan.
She’s like a wet dream come true, soft and pliable in my arms, her mouth moving against mine with the same hunger flowing in my veins.
I didn’t know how much I wanted her until this moment. Women aren’t my normal weakness.
I’ve never met a girl who dominates every sense the way Juniper does. She drags her nails through my hair and pulls me closer to my self–destruction–and dammit, I want her to.
What I really want is to carry her to the house, throw her against the wall, and explore every lush curve and smooth line of her body until her whimpers come like music.
I want to take so much more than her mouth. I want to claim her.
Fuck me to death, I want her.
And the torn noise she makes when I slide my hand to the back of her neck and tilt her head back has me harder than granite.
Calm the fuck down, you demented monkey, a voice warns.
There’s that little pipsqueak called a conscience, right on time to put the pin back in before my lust goes off like an armed grenade.
Yeah, I know.
I need to calm down before it’s impossible to reverse this mistake. Now definitely isn’t the time.
Not when it’s too easy to forget about the show we’re supposed to be putting on for her nana.
Not when we’re two warring tongues hopelessly in love with our own destruction.
Not when this is make–believe.
Snarling, I pull away, sucking air into my depleted lungs.
Chapter 37
Junie breathes almost as heavy as I do. She looks at me through hooded eyes. Her lips are swollen, an invitation to bite her I can’t accept.
Though I can’t resist running my fool thumb along her bottom lip. The way her breath hitches makes me want to kiss her again.
Fuck, how is this happening?
I’m a grown man with zero interest in love because I know where it leads.
I’ve seen how it shreds a heart to ribbons. Like I could ever forget the long nights with my mother, watching from the chaise next to her bed, guarding her from her own demons.
I mastered myself ages ago, and yet I’m behaving like a wild beast.
Junie blinks some of the dazzle off her face, glancing back at the house with a gasp.
“Oh. Oh, crap. Um, that was probably more than enough for Nana…” she whispers, hurling me back into bland reality.
“I’m not sure she’s swayed yet,” I growl, loving how her face flushes. “Do you want to get back inside?”
Say yes.
Fucking say it before I do something so reckless it’s irreversible.
“Y–yeah. Give me a sec. I need to catch my breath.” That makes two of us.
I need a moment to come down from the high, too, considering my blood’s still liquid fire and I need to convince my body I’m not about to fuck Junie senseless.
It was a fake kiss. Nothing real.
Nothing good, except for the fact that it’s left me humming with need.
I touch her cheek–stupid, I know–but I can’t help myself when my hands want to roam.
All over her. Every waking minute. “You okay?” I grind out.
“I’ll live,” she says, brushing the back of my hand with her fingertips. “I’m just… Wow. Didn’t know you had that in you.” She laughs, and I’m reminded she’s not quite sober.
I also know I’m the jackass who’s full of surprises here.
The so–called responsible, levelheaded one who wound up being anything but.
“Wow is an understatement,” I agree.
She looks too appetizing in this light, and with the way she licks her lips
Chapter 37
-shit, it’s like she can still taste me on her and she wants me to know it- I’m about three seconds away from losing the last thread of my sanity.
“You ready or what?” I urge. “I think she’s probably finished her phone call.”
Her face screws up. “Seriously, the only calls Nana’s making tonight are to tell everyone in the family I’m dating again. I guarantee it.”
“It’s nice having a supportive family,” I tease.
She shakes her head and slips her hand through my arm as we head back into the house. “Supportive, judgmental, and gossipy as hens. Take your pick.”
I shrug. “Your Nana seems lovely, her sugar pact with Satan aside.” She laughs again.
Another damn mistake.
At least the tension eases, though, and I know that was the right thing to say.
I’m sure there’s more going on in the Winkley family–no dad, by the sounds of it, and no mention of a mom either–but that isn’t my business.
It’s about time I started respecting boundaries, even if my dick hasn’t figured out the concept.
“You have a lovely garden. Your bluebells would make my mother jealous,” I tell Mrs. Winkley as we head back inside and she greets us in the kitchen.
“Oh, yes. It’s one of my passions now that I’ve handed the store off to Junie. Gotta keep my hands dirty somehow,” Jo says with a smile that was
probably magnetic when she was young.
I can see where Junie gets it.
We stay for a few more minutes, following her into an old–fashioned sitting room where Junie leans against my side with distracting warmth, until finally Jo Winkley sends us off with a flurry of hugs and kisses and I escort Junie back to the vehicle.
She presses her head back into the seat as I pull away.
“Huh,” she says, exhaling. “That went better than expected.” “You were very convincing.”
“I would’ve been lost without your help.” She glances across at me, her face artificially pale from the dim light of the screen, her eyes too dark. Goddamn, she’s every sort of desirable right now in that dress that shows just a hint of cleavage and shapely legs that go on forever.
I need to get a grip right now.
“Thanks for keeping it light. I hardly kept a straight face when she gave you that plate of desserts,” she says, giggling infectiously. “You looked like you had to eat a plate of spiders.”
Chapter 37
“You’re lucky I let you laugh at my predicament,” I throw back,
“Hey, I took some of the fudge cake off your hands!” Her head rolls slightly against the seat as she looks at me. “I’m pretty sure that earns me a pay raise,”
“I’ll leave a big tip on the next order,” I say dryly. “Miser,” she whispers.
“Choking down fudge wasn’t storming the beaches of Normandy, and you helping wasn’t worth a Purple Heart,” I growl
She laughs again like the insufferable brat she is. This time, I chuckle too.
The car echoes with our mingled laughter for a second before I catch myself.
When was the last time I ever laughed like that? What the hell am I actually doing?
After a few minutes of stony silence, I pull up outside her building and cut the engine. The sky rumbles and splits open, pelting the car with another evening shower.
She frowns over at me, her eyes twinkling with questions. “What are you doing?”
“Walking you inside. Might as well finish the night like a gentleman since I couldn’t keep it together for that kiss.”
“Dex, it’s like twenty feet away and-” “Don’t give me that.”
This area is shady as hell with half the streetlights burned out and a couple abandoned cars just a block away. The last thing I need is my fake fiancée getting murdered on the way back to her own apartment.
“Besides, it’s still raining and I don’t like loaning my umbrella,” I lie.
She rolls her eyes, but at least she doesn’t try to fight me as I grab the umbrella and help her out of the car.
Her hand lingers in mine for a second before she pulls away.
When she reaches the front door and uses the keypad to unlock the door, she turns back to me with a challenge on
her face,
“You don’t need to come inside,” she says, “I’ll be fine from here. We only had like two break–ins last year, and not on my floor.”
“Only two?” My eyebrows go up.
She shrugs sheepishly, staring at the ground.
“Junie, what the hell?” I reach for her chin, gently tilting her face up to look at me again. “What’s the big deal with making sure you’re enfe?”
“maybe because aside from Nana, no one’s ever cared this much.” Damn.
Just like that, I know I’ve lost my mind to this fake flancée scheme, and I wonder if I’ll ever be able to stop.
Chapter 37
There’s a certain stubborn vulnerability to her that tells me she’s not going to give me more, not tonight, and that’s honestly best for both of us.
“Good night, Junie,” I whisper, holding her gaze.
The atmosphere thickens as she looks at me, eyes wide, the light from the lot reflected in twin green pools I can’t look away from.
For a second, I’m consumed by having her in my arms, feeling her warmth, reaching into her so much deeper with my tongue.
Only, if I start that here with no Nana, it only ends one way. And that’s one curse I won’t bring down on her yet.
That’s one colossal error I can still prevent before it happens, however much every molecule of me wants it.
Thankfully, she moves before I do.
“Night,” she whispers, shoving the door open and practically running inside.
Smart, smart girl.
I head back to the car and throw the umbrella in the back, still shaking my
Chapter 37
Dexter
Goddammit, where is my mind?
Apparently, stuck on one fact that’s going to throw me deeper into the abyss I’m already tumbling down.
Juniper Winkley tastes fucking divine.
She might be the first sweet thing I’ve ever had that I don’t instantly hate.
It’s the subtle wine on her tongue, the lingering sweetness of the chocolate, the delicate flutter of her moan.
She’s like a wet dream come true, soft and pliable in my arms, her mouth moving against mine with the same hunger flowing in my veins.
I didn’t know how much I wanted her until this moment. Women aren’t my normal weakness.
I’ve never met a girl who dominates every sense the way Juniper does. She drags her nails through my hair and pulls me closer to my self–destruction–and dammit, I want her to.
What I really want is to carry her to the house, throw her against the wall, and explore every lush curve and smooth line of her body until her whimpers come like music.
I want to take so much more than her mouth. I want to claim her.
Fuck me to death, I want her.
And the torn noise she makes when I slide my hand to the back of her neck and tilt her head back has me harder than granite.
Calm the fuck down, you demented monkey, a voice warns.
There’s that little pipsqueak called a conscience, right on time to put the pin back in before my lust goes off like an armed grenade.
Yeah, I know.
I need to calm down before it’s impossible to reverse this mistake. Now definitely isn’t the time.
Not when it’s too easy to forget about the show we’re supposed to be putting on for her nana.
Not when we’re two warring tongues hopelessly in love with our own destruction.
Not when this is make–believe.
Snarling, I pull away, sucking air into my depleted lungs.
Chapter 37
Junie breathes almost as heavy as I do. She looks at me through hooded eyes. Her lips are swollen, an invitation to bite her I can’t accept.
Though I can’t resist running my fool thumb along her bottom lip. The way her breath hitches makes me want to kiss her again.
Fuck, how is this happening?
I’m a grown man with zero interest in love because I know where it leads.
I’ve seen how it shreds a heart to ribbons. Like I could ever forget the long nights with my mother, watching from the chaise next to her bed, guarding her from her own demons.
I mastered myself ages ago, and yet I’m behaving like a wild beast.
Junie blinks some of the dazzle off her face, glancing back at the house with a gasp.
“Oh. Oh, crap. Um, that was probably more than enough for Nana…” she whispers, hurling me back into bland reality.
“I’m not sure she’s swayed yet,” I growl, loving how her face flushes. “Do you want to get back inside?”
Say yes.
Fucking say it before I do something so reckless it’s irreversible.
“Y–yeah. Give me a sec. I need to catch my breath.” That makes two of us.
I need a moment to come down from the high, too, considering my blood’s still liquid fire and I need to convince my body I’m not about to fuck Junie senseless.
It was a fake kiss. Nothing real.
Nothing good, except for the fact that it’s left me humming with need.
I touch her cheek–stupid, I know–but I can’t help myself when my hands want to roam.
All over her. Every waking minute. “You okay?” I grind out.
“I’ll live,” she says, brushing the back of my hand with her fingertips. “I’m just… Wow. Didn’t know you had that in you.” She laughs, and I’m reminded she’s not quite sober.
I also know I’m the jackass who’s full of surprises here.
The so–called responsible, levelheaded one who wound up being anything but.
“Wow is an understatement,” I agree.
She looks too appetizing in this light, and with the way she licks her lips
Chapter 37
-shit, it’s like she can still taste me on her and she wants me to know it- I’m about three seconds away from losing the last thread of my sanity.
“You ready or what?” I urge. “I think she’s probably finished her phone call.”
Her face screws up. “Seriously, the only calls Nana’s making tonight are to tell everyone in the family I’m dating again. I guarantee it.”
“It’s nice having a supportive family,” I tease.
She shakes her head and slips her hand through my arm as we head back into the house. “Supportive, judgmental, and gossipy as hens. Take your pick.”
I shrug. “Your Nana seems lovely, her sugar pact with Satan aside.” She laughs again.
Another damn mistake.
At least the tension eases, though, and I know that was the right thing to say.
I’m sure there’s more going on in the Winkley family–no dad, by the sounds of it, and no mention of a mom either–but that isn’t my business.
It’s about time I started respecting boundaries, even if my dick hasn’t figured out the concept.
“You have a lovely garden. Your bluebells would make my mother jealous,” I tell Mrs. Winkley as we head back inside and she greets us in the kitchen.
“Oh, yes. It’s one of my passions now that I’ve handed the store off to Junie. Gotta keep my hands dirty somehow,” Jo says with a smile that was
probably magnetic when she was young.
I can see where Junie gets it.
We stay for a few more minutes, following her into an old–fashioned sitting room where Junie leans against my side with distracting warmth, until finally Jo Winkley sends us off with a flurry of hugs and kisses and I escort Junie back to the vehicle.
She presses her head back into the seat as I pull away.
“Huh,” she says, exhaling. “That went better than expected.” “You were very convincing.”
“I would’ve been lost without your help.” She glances across at me, her face artificially pale from the dim light of the screen, her eyes too dark. Goddamn, she’s every sort of desirable right now in that dress that shows just a hint of cleavage and shapely legs that go on forever.
I need to get a grip right now.
“Thanks for keeping it light. I hardly kept a straight face when she gave you that plate of desserts,” she says, giggling infectiously. “You looked like you had to eat a plate of spiders.”
Chapter 37
“You’re lucky I let you laugh at my predicament,” I throw back,
“Hey, I took some of the fudge cake off your hands!” Her head rolls slightly against the seat as she looks at me. “I’m pretty sure that earns me a pay raise,”
“I’ll leave a big tip on the next order,” I say dryly. “Miser,” she whispers.
“Choking down fudge wasn’t storming the beaches of Normandy, and you helping wasn’t worth a Purple Heart,” I growl
She laughs again like the insufferable brat she is. This time, I chuckle too.
The car echoes with our mingled laughter for a second before I catch myself.
When was the last time I ever laughed like that? What the hell am I actually doing?
After a few minutes of stony silence, I pull up outside her building and cut the engine. The sky rumbles and splits open, pelting the car with another evening shower.
She frowns over at me, her eyes twinkling with questions. “What are you doing?”
“Walking you inside. Might as well finish the night like a gentleman since I couldn’t keep it together for that kiss.”
“Dex, it’s like twenty feet away and-” “Don’t give me that.”
This area is shady as hell with half the streetlights burned out and a couple abandoned cars just a block away. The last thing I need is my fake fiancée getting murdered on the way back to her own apartment.
“Besides, it’s still raining and I don’t like loaning my umbrella,” I lie.
She rolls her eyes, but at least she doesn’t try to fight me as I grab the umbrella and help her out of the car.
Her hand lingers in mine for a second before she pulls away.
When she reaches the front door and uses the keypad to unlock the door, she turns back to me with a challenge on
her face,
“You don’t need to come inside,” she says, “I’ll be fine from here. We only had like two break–ins last year, and not on my floor.”
“Only two?” My eyebrows go up.
She shrugs sheepishly, staring at the ground.
“Junie, what the hell?” I reach for her chin, gently tilting her face up to look at me again. “What’s the big deal with making sure you’re enfe?”
“maybe because aside from Nana, no one’s ever cared this much.” Damn.
Just like that, I know I’ve lost my mind to this fake flancée scheme, and I wonder if I’ll ever be able to stop.
Chapter 37
There’s a certain stubborn vulnerability to her that tells me she’s not going to give me more, not tonight, and that’s honestly best for both of us.
“Good night, Junie,” I whisper, holding her gaze.
The atmosphere thickens as she looks at me, eyes wide, the light from the lot reflected in twin green pools I can’t look away from.
For a second, I’m consumed by having her in my arms, feeling her warmth, reaching into her so much deeper with my tongue.
Only, if I start that here with no Nana, it only ends one way. And that’s one curse I won’t bring down on her yet.
That’s one colossal error I can still prevent before it happens, however much every molecule of me wants it.
Thankfully, she moves before I do.
“Night,” she whispers, shoving the door open and practically running inside.
Smart, smart girl.
I head back to the car and throw the umbrella in the back, still shaking my head.
What the hell is my malfunction?
I can’t keep doing this, kissing this chick and melting my brain–and I damned sure can’t let it go further.
Tonight has to be it.
The only time we ever let temptation drag us dangerously close to the edge.
This is fake, dammit.
Fake, fake, and if I don’t engrave that into my brain, then we’ll both walk away from this bruised and defeated.
Chapter 38
I can’t keep doing this, kissing this chick and melting my brain–and I damned sure can’t let it go further.
Tonight has to be it.
The only time we ever let temptation drag us dangerously close to the edge.
This is fake, dammit.
Fake, fake, and if I don’t engrave that into my brain, then we’ll both walk away from this bruised and defeated.
Chapter 38
