Mara had barely gotten out of bed. She ran a hand through her wild hair, fairly doubtful that her cotton, pink pajamas were really turning him on right now.
“You look beautiful,” Jared drawled slowly, as though he could read her mind. “You look warm, luscious, and cuddly, like you just crawled out of bed.”
“I did,” she told him unhappily, still trying to finger comb her hair. “I never thought you’d be here this early, and I’m behind schedule.” She walked to the cupboard and took out some ibuprofen for her headache. “I think I had one too many strawberry daiquiris with the bridal party.”
“So the girls were playing last night?” Jared asked with amusement in his voice.
Mara shrugged. “Talking mostly and putting together the bags for wedding favors. And drinking.” She swallowed the pills with a sip of her coffee, trying to forget just how much she’d said that she wished she could unsay now. Groaning inwardly, she wished she hadn’t spilled her guts about Jared. Not that she thought the women would gossip, but just because the relationship was way too new to be so intense.
“How many did you drink?”
“Three? I think.”
“Tell me you didn’t drive home,” Jared growled, crowding her against the cupboard.
“I didn’t drive,” she assured him quietly, knowing how sensitive he probably was after what had happened to his friend and girlfriend. “Dante just lives down the road. I walked. And please don’t try to tell me you guys were angels at Grady’s house.” She looked up at him expectantly.
He lifted a brow. “We had a few. It was all very tame. Evan dropped us off. He wasn’t drinking.” Jared moved away from her and into the living room. “Do you want to see your website or not?”
She drained the rest of her coffee by taking several gulps, then set her empty mug down on the kitchen cupboard. “Yes,” Mara squealed, then regretted it because it made her head hurt worse. Still, she was excited to see her completed site. Moving behind Jared, who now had his laptop open, she wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head against his back. “Thank you.”
Placing his coffee carefully on one of the low tables near the couch, Jared held the laptop with one hand and pecked the keys with another. Without stopping what he was doing, he muttered, “If you move those hands down another six inches, you won’t be seeing this site until this afternoon.” Setting the computer on the coffee table, he turned and wrapped his arms around her. Stroking a hand down her back, a lopsided smile on his lips, he said lightly, “Hmm . . . I was right . . . very cuddly.”
Mara shivered as she felt the warmth of his palm through the light cotton of her pajama top. “I know, right? Very sexy lingerie.” The top was flimsy, with spaghetti straps and lace, but it was far from seductive. The matching drawstring shorts hung almost to her knees. It was light, comfortable sleepwear for summer, but nothing to inspire a man to ravage her.
Jared tipped her chin and kissed her, a lingering, sensual kiss that nearly made Mara’s toes curl.
“You look hot in anything you wear,” he told her hoarsely, his mouth trailing over her temple. “Even hotter in just your soft, perfect bare skin.”
Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pulled back and smiled at him playfully. “Uh-huh. Smooth talker.”
Reaching up, he pulled her hand from his nape and moved it down to his cock. Mara’s fingers flexed as they met his rock-hard erection.
“I’ll never say anything I don’t mean to you,” Jared told her harshly.
Mara shook her head. “I’m sorry. Sometimes I just find it so hard to believe that you feel this way about me.”
“Ditto,” he answered in a gentler voice, pulling her hand away from his erection and wrapping it around his neck again. “I missed you last night. That’s why I woke up early. I couldn’t wait to see you, find out how your night went. I wanted to call you, but your lights were off and I didn’t want to wake you up.” He bussed her on the forehead tenderly and stepped back, fishing something from his back pocket. “I got this for you. I know yours was destroyed, and you’re going to need it.”
Mara gawked at the sleek, beautiful new iPhone. “For me?” she asked incredulously. She took it, cradling it in her hand. Her old cell phone had been a relic, and she hadn’t planned on replacing it anytime soon. Every penny she had that wasn’t needed for basic necessities was going back into the business.
“When I couldn’t see you, I texted you,” he said huskily.
Pushing the button to activate the phone, Mara clicked on the one text message showing as unanswered.
I miss you.
The message had been sent at two o’clock in the morning. Just three simple words that tugged at her heart.
Fumbling with the newer model phone that she wasn’t used to, she didn’t look up at Jared as she replied.
I missed you, too.