Jessa James - Hot as Hell

She tried to tidy up as she ushered him toward the kitchen.

“It’s not much,” she said. “Just a one-bedroom.”

“It’s great,” he said as he set down the bags, and he meant it.

The main room was set up as a combination kitchen, living room, and dining room with an ornate round wooden table painted and distressed in white. A makeshift chandelier hung overhead, a circle of faux crystals that encased the bare lightbulb on the ceiling.

“Creative,” he said.

“Jean-Michel calls it ‘French shabby chic,’” she said as she kicked off her heels.

“You two are pretty close, huh?” he asked. Cade felt a tug of jealousy.

“Yeah, I guess,” she said. “I mean, he’s teaching me how to actually bake like a French chef.”

“You didn’t get enough of that in culinary school? You went up to Portland, right?”

“Ugh, it’s nothing like what he knows.”

Over her shoulder, he could see her bedroom. The canopy bed was covered in fluffy white down comforters with oversized knit baby pink throw blankets.

“Want me to look up the menu and call it in?” he asked. Anything to stop thinking about what could happen in that room just a few feet away.

“Sure. I’m going to change. Be right back,” she said, and disappeared into the bedroom.

He pulled up the menu, happy to see his favorite combination was still there.

“Hey, Lily? You know what you want?” he called.

She poked her head out of the bedroom door. “Uh, some kind of spicy shrimp and noodle something,” she said.

“Okay.”

She reemerged just as he’d placed the order, drowning in a huge Le Cordon Bleu sweatshirt and tiny shorts that could pass for underwear.

“What do you call that outfit?” he asked. He had to work to swallow the lump in his throat.

“Comfy clothes,” she said. “You try working in a starched shirt and heels all day. Wine?”

“Uh… sure.”

He watched as she hunted for a bottle in the cupboard. As she stretched on her toes, the shorts hiked up even higher. Cade could see the swell of her cheeks as they peeked out from below the lacy trim of the shorts.

“I have red and white. But the white’s not cold.”

“Either,” he said. “Doesn’t matter.”

Lily opened the red and poured two glasses.

“How much do I owe you for dinner?” she asked as she took a generous swallow.

“What? Nothing, don’t be weird.”

“I’m not! Come on, you already gave me a ride home.”

“Lily, it’s Chinese takeout. It’s hardly dinner at the Joel Palmer House.”

She wrinkled her nose. “I’m not some damsel in distress, you know. I know you’re used to rescuing helpless women from balconies or whatever, but—”

“Hey, sit down and behave or I’ll cancel the order.”

“Fine,” she said with a fake huff and draped herself across the couch.

They sat side by side on the loveseat, the only seating option besides the two chairs at the dining table. She was silent, but her eyes stayed lit with defiance.

Cade was drawn to that rebellion more than he’d like to admit. “So, tell me. What’s Lily Hammond been up to since 2015?”

She tucked a stray lock behind her ear and took another sip of wine. “Finished up at Oregon State, went to culinary school, then came back here. That’s about it.”

“Why back here? Portland doesn’t do it for you?”

“Honestly? I missed Elijah and Aiden.”

“Really?”

She laughed. “I know, right?”

“I’m guessing the Salem party scene has livened up though. Or at least I hope so.”

“You’re asking the wrong person,” she said.

“You get all your partying done at OSU?”

“Sure,” she said with a laugh. “But no, if I’m being honest I don’t have much going on with my social life.”

“Yeah. Me either,” he admitted.

“Yeah, right.”

“I’m serious!”

“Okay, Mr. Morn—never mind.”

“It’s okay, I know what you were going to say. So. No boyfriend?”

She blushed. “I used to have one, but—”

Cade leaned toward her. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. But it ended. Actually, he dumped me as soon as he, um…”

“He what?”

“It doesn’t matter. Never mind.”

“It does now. You have to tell me. You can’t leave me hanging like that.”

“Well, I sort of… refused to have sex with him? And as soon as I did, he broke up with me. And—God, I don’t know why I’m telling you this? Anyway, like two days later I saw him out with another girl.”

“Well, that sucks,” Cade said. “He’s an asshole. Want me to kick his ass?”

Lily laughed. “No! It was awhile ago, anyway. And there… well, there hasn’t been anyone serious since.”

“No? No one?”

“No one,” she repeated as she stared into her glass.

A sharp knock came at the door.

Lily pulled the small coffee table forward as Cade opened up the food. He handed her a pair of chopsticks and they started eating.

“So,” Lily said as she dug into the shrimp lo mein, “what’s your deal?”

“My deal?”

She blushed. “Your deal with dating.”

He felt a warm tightness in his chest.

Is she still interested in this topic? He stole a glance at her amazing legs, taut and slender.

“Well, there’s been no one serious since ever, really.”

“Ah. Too bad.”

He could feel her eyes on him. Cade saw his own desire reflected in them.

What would it be like to just grab her, wrap those legs around my waist? Press her up against the wall, kiss her neck?

Would she moan his name? If he reached for those tiny shorts, would they be damp?

Cade snapped himself out of the fantasy. That couldn’t happen, for a number of reasons. Her brothers would beat the living daylights out of him, and that didn’t even touch on the destruction of their friendship. Cade cleared his throat.

“Do you have some water?”

Lily hopped up to get it. As she bent over and leaned into the refrigerator, he couldn’t stop staring. As she returned with the glass, he reached for it too quickly. Cold water spilled down his shirt.

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry!” she said. “Here, I’ll go get a towel.”

She raced to the kitchenette and back, then started to blot at his chest. It was innocent, but her touch was too much for him to take. Cade leaned forward and kissed her.

She wasn’t expecting it, but her body responded instantly. Just as she began to open her mouth, she froze and stepped back.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“I’m… shit, I’m sorry,” he said. “I need to go.”

Lily looked startled as Cade jumped up and bolted toward the door.

As he started up the truck, he berated himself.

Fucking stupid! Now she’ll tell her brothers… God, what if she tells them everything? There’s a lot to tell…

He’d made a mess and he hadn’t even been in town a week. He cursed as he pulled away and sped toward home.

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