Losing Him (Mitchell Family #8)(23)

He held his hand up. “That’s just wrong in so many ways.”

“That’s not how the story ends though. As much as he loved his wife, he couldn’t bear the thought of losing his daughter, that he’d considered his own. He said her life depended on it. I knew what I was doing was wrong, but I just stopped rationalizing with myself. If he was willing to sleep with me, I was going to let it happen. I wanted him to be miserable.”

“So he agreed?”

“At first, no. He left, after saying a few choice words to me. It took him a while to come back. He showed up at my door in tears. It had been weeks, and I hadn’t heard a single thing from him. Then all of the sudden he’s at my door, saying Miranda left him.”

“Did she?”

“I was skeptical, so I decided to put him to the test. If he was telling the truth, then he would sleep with me.” I paused and stared at the empty bottle of wine. I needed more, much more. “Ty was willing to do whatever it took to protect his daughter. I should have called things off. Looking back, I know how wrong it was, but I did it anyway.”

Jessie leaned into the table, getting closer to me, like he was actually excited to hear. He would soon change his mind. Soon, he would learn the truth and think I was the devil, just like Ty and Miranda. “You slept with him, then?”

“Not exactly. You see, I think I knew he was lying about them fighting. He even pretended to have a phone call with her, but I wasn’t buying it. When he asked for a drink, I spiked it with a pill. I just wanted him to get drunk fast and tell me the truth. I wanted to catch him in his lies.”

“You could have killed him. As much as I really don’t like the f*cker, he could have been allergic or had a reaction.”

I laughed. “Ty ate pain killers for dinner after his accident. I knew it wouldn’t hurt him. However, it did make him pass out. Then I had a choice. I could make him think we’d sleep together, or have someone pick him up and never talk to him again.”

He shook his head. I could tell he was disappointed. “Let me guess. You picked revenge, didn’t you?”

I nodded. “Yes.”

“Is this what you couldn’t tell me?” He reached over and grabbed my hands. “Because I have to tell you, I don’t blame you. He strung you on for a long time. Did he really think that it was okay? Obviously, he didn’t consider hurting you for all those years. It sounds like he didn’t even care about your feelings at all.”

It hurt to hear him saying that. After all this time, hearing someone say that Ty never loved me still hurt. “There’s more to the story.”

He stood up and walked around to where I sat. I watched him, wondering what his intentions were. He took my hand and pulled me to face him. He reached up and ran his fingers over my cheek. “If I would have known you back then, I would have helped you forget all about that dickhead.”

I smiled, feeling his breath on my face. He nudged toward me, almost able to touch my lips with his. “Ty wouldn’t have existed if I knew you first. He doesn’t compare to you.”

He rubbed his lips over mine, but didn’t kiss me. “I hate that he hurt you.” He guided his lips across my chin. “I can take the pain away,” he said in a whisper. His hands reached up my dress, touching me that perfect way that ignited a fire between my legs.

I was immediately weak in the knees. He was going to want the rest of the story, but I could take a break for a chance to be close to him. “Okay.” Our lips touched again, this time holding on for a deep kiss. I heard the zipper moving down on the back of my dress.

“Tell me you want me.”

I was panting. “I want you,” I said softly.

“Say my name with it. Tell me who you want.” He never talked to me like that before. I ran my hands underneath his shirt, feeling his warm skin against the palms of my hands.

He grabbed the top and pulled it over his head. While standing there shirtless, I leaned into him and licked around his nipple. My hand slid down into his pants, getting a feel for what was in there. He was so hard, turned on by emotions and fueled by stress. I pulled out my hand and backed away from him, still looking deeply into his eyes. Since my dress was already unzipped, it fell to the floor with ease. Then my slip followed.

I reached behind me, while taking another step back, and removed my bra and then my panties. I stood there in front of him, naked and fragile. “I want you, Jesse.” My hands slid up my skin and cupped both of my breasts. I looked down and watched myself. Then without knowing his exact thoughts, I turned around and started walking into my bedroom. Our conversation was far from done, but as I heard him coming up behind me, I knew he wasn’t going to change his mind. I needed him after the day that I’d had. I just needed to forget about everything, like he promised he could make me do.

Chapter 12


Jessie


When it came to sleeping with Heather, I lost all willpower. Her body was my kryptonite, never refusing to taunt me until I broke. I wanted her, not because of her sad life, but because I felt so connected to her. When she told me that I was the only man that had loved her, she was telling the truth. Even though I couldn’t say it, I still felt it. Try as I might, I couldn’t get her out of my system.

She said she wasn’t done telling me the story, but how bad could it be? She probably lied and told him that they had sex. He probably told his wife and they had to decide whether to stay together or not. The secret had to be why she felt so bad. I couldn’t think of anything else that would cause such a fuss. Maybe Miranda let him for a while. I could see why she’d hate Heather. She probably felt threatened.