Read Forty Candles for Free Online

“Chloe.”
    She was everything he remembered, but riper, warmer, hotter. At his husky whisper of her name, her eyes flashed open, triumphant.
    The plan.
    Suddenly, he remembered the plan and the simple fact that sex with Chloe, at this point, would only make it easier for her to lump him into the commitment-free category. Need cramped his stomach while he forced himself to catch her wrists, stopping the motion that, right then, seemed more important than breathing. “What are you doing, Chloe?”
    Licking her lips, which only made him want to duck closer and kiss her again, she shook her head instead of answering and moved to nibble at his shoulder.
    “Chloe.” Gently, he caught her shoulders. “This is a bad idea.”
    Putting distance between them, before he nixed the plan, bent her over, and took her on the kitchen island, he rubbed one hand down his chest then readjusted himself, refusing to look at her. If he looked at her, skirt hiked up and breasts bare, he was going to fuck her stupid and not give a shit about the plan. He heard her moving behind him and figured she was putting back her shirt on.
    “What exactly is wrong about sex, Jack?”
    Nothing was wrong with sex and with her, well, everything was right about it. Saying that was contrary to the plan so, instead, he said, “I’d like to have something more than a meaningless fuck. Chalk it up to old age, but I’m looking for something and I’m not sure you’re offering that particular something.”
    “You’re going all moral on me? Since when was it a bad idea for two healthy adults with a hunger for one another to have some consensual sex?”
    “I’ve always been moral, especially when it comes to you.” He spared a glance her direction, found her dressed but no less tempting, so instead focused on the glass mess.
    He didn’t feel even a little guilty about wanting her, though, regardless of what he said. If he got his hands on Chloe in the process of winning her back, it wasn’t cheating. It was retrieving what was his.
    “You weren’t very moral when you bent me backwards over—”
    Turning, he clamped a hand over her smiling mouth. “That wasn’t immoral. That was fun. Maybe I want more than just fun? That doesn’t mean I’m feeling any shame...”
    Removing his hand before she bit him, he saw she hadn’t lost the grin. “Dare you to tell your parents about it, then.”
    “Red, you don’t want to dare me something that is going to embarrass you far more than it will me.”
    Laughing, she seemed recovered from their bout of desperate passion, although he felt pretty sure he was in for a case of blue balls from hell if he didn’t jerk off in the near future. “Look, sorry. Lost control for a minute there.”
    “No worries. What is a little tonsil hockey between friends? So…I made dinner.”
    Laughing out loud, she bent to help him with the broken glass. “If I’m staying for dinner, put on a damn shirt.”
    Jack worked to hide his grin.
    The plan seemed to be blasting off better than expected if just the sight of him without a shirt made her dive across a bar at him.
     
    ***
     
    “Jim, I really would like it if you came with me.” Yanking on white shorts over her bikini, Chloe spoke loudly so he could hear her on speakerphone. “We haven’t spent much time together lately.”
    He’d been all about them getting together, practically begging her to date him and, now that she returned his texts and made time for him, he couldn’t find a spare moment to hang out with her. Sadly typical, but…He was the one who tried to pursue her, claiming their friendship could be so much more if she gave him a chance.
    “Things are really crazy at work right now. You know how it goes, Chloe. Just go, enjoy yourself, and we’ll get together later tonight.”
    Frowning, Chloe adjusted the girls in the mirror. For someone who seemed incapable of getting laid, her breasts sure were perky. “I kind of wanted some alone time, just you and