Fake It Till You Bake It(69)

Ah, there it was. But she wasn’t upset. He made her feel safe. Understood. Unjudged. She scoured her brain to conjure up her emotions and thoughts from that night. She wanted to give him as honest an answer as possible. She settled back against his chest, letting his heat soak into her. “Something wasn’t right. He and I weren’t right together.” Her voice quieted. “It wasn’t any one thing I could point to, but my gut was screaming at me to get away.”

“You followed your gut. Nothing wrong with that.”

Jada let out a mirthless laugh. “Except when you have producers in your face constantly asking what went wrong. Lila, the one in charge, wasn’t trying to hear gut instinct. So I invented someone at home.”

Donovan pressed a kiss to her temple. “You sound like you’re not too fond of your instincts.”

“You already know my parents aren’t that tolerant of my dyslexia. They want me to find a real job. A job that makes sense to them. They’re very analytical. Humanities as a major made no sense to them. Being a deejay in Europe made no sense to them. Going on reality TV made no sense to them.” She huffed out a laugh. “They’re not very understanding of things that don’t make sense to them.”

“You have a hard time getting their voices out of your head.”

She faced him again, taking comfort in the understanding in his expression. “Yeah. They’ve been there for twenty-five years.” She ducked her head. “They cut me off as a result of going on the show and further embarrassing them. According to them, I needed to grow up.”

He frowned. “What do you mean they cut you off?”

“It means I’m lucky to have a job to buy groceries and pay my electricity bill. They didn’t kick me out of my condo, at least, but only because they own it outright.”

Shock flashed across his face. “Wow.”

“Yeah. And I can’t tell Grams because she would be furious with my mother, and why am I protecting my mom again?” She chuckled. “In my own way, going on the show was listening to them. It made sense to use what I’m good at—being personable—to launch a new career. Then it all blew up in my face because I couldn’t control my natural tendencies.”

“Your natural tendencies make you you.”

A small smile pulled at her lips. “I seem to recall someone calling me impulsive.”

He entwined their fingers. “I might have been a little hasty in that assessment.”

“At least you’re giving me that. I am impulsive.”

“You are, but I’m learning that’s not all bad.”

Jada maneuvered herself so that she was straddling his hard thighs. She looped her arms around his neck and scooted forward until her breasts brushed against his chest. Oh, yeah. She liked this position. Should have done it earlier. “What else isn’t so bad about me?”

“You want compliments?”

She eyed the up and down movement of his Adam’s apple as he laughed. She wanted to track that movement with her tongue, followed by her mouth. Soon. Very soon. After the compliments. “Yep. Sure do.”

Donovan tilted his head to the side, then snapped his fingers. “You brought more customers to the store.”

She punched him on the shoulder. “Really?”

“Okay, fine. How about you’re funny, quick on your feet, good with the customers, a great event planner? Gorgeous.”

She thought about it. “Okay, that’s better.”

He squeezed her waist with strong, sure fingers and drew her forward another precious inch until only a breath separated their bodies. His gaze locked on her parted lips. Her breathing quickened. Was he going to kiss her now? It had been about thirty minutes since she’d last felt his mouth on hers. A lifetime. Her eyes drifted shut and she leaned forward.

“What about me?”

Her eyes flew open. “What?”

“Where are my compliments?” His eyes twinkled.

Lust was rampaging through her veins, and he had jokes? She narrowed her eyes. Fine. She twisted around and surveyed the large living room with its light, airy feel and ocean view outside the big bay window.

“I like your house. It’s not what I expected.”

“What did you expect?”

She dropped a light kiss on the tempting brown skin of his throat. “Something modern. A high-rise.”

His throat vibrated with laughter under her seeking mouth. “You’re not that far off. When I first signed with the team, I did buy a high-rise. Lived there for a few years.”

She was vaguely paying attention to what he was saying. His lips, the bottom one so full and lush, were drawing most of her focus. “What happened?”

He grinned. “I sold it for a tidy profit.”

She playfully punched him in the arm. “Seriously?”

“Yes, but that’s not all,” he added when she lifted her hand again. “I wanted somewhere quieter. More space. An actual house, not a condo.”

“This is quite a house, though. Big.”

He shrugged. “I like my space, but more importantly, it’s on the beach. The neighbors aren’t too close. I like surfing.”

Okay, now that caught her attention. Her mouth dropped open. “You surf?”

He grinned. “Don’t you?”