Janie (The Casanova Club Book 15) Read online

  I ran my hands down the back of her thighs. Janie quivered. I squeezed her ass, nipped at her bottom lip, and found her clit with my thumb. I pressed down and rolled in circles and Janie gasped as her pleasure mounted once more.

  She begged me not to stop. I had no intention of doing such a thing. I wanted to make her scream again. I wanted to feel her tighten around me.

  I fucked her harder. Janie let out a short cry before struggling to stay quiet in the office. She shook her head, knowing she couldn’t hold on to her scream as her pussy started to clench.

  “Come for me,” I growled and clamped a hand over her mouth.

  Janie came undone within seconds. Her legs shook and trembled against me. Her eyes rolled back and her back arched. Her pussy gave me the final pulse I needed and I let my orgasm consume me too. We rode it out together until we were both spent and breathless.

  We didn’t break apart.

  I was still inside her when she ran her fingers gently through my hair. “So is the ring on the screen the one you were going to get me?”

  I chuckled. Sneaky woman. “I’m not telling you a single thing about the ring.”

  “Pretty please?”

  “No, some surprises are worth waiting for.”

  She ran her hand over my bare chest. “But I feel like I’ve already waited forever.”

  “And I feel like I’m at a serious disadvantage having this conversation with my cock still inside you.”

  Janie giggled. “I love when your cock is inside me.”

  I peppered kisses across her chest.

  Janie rolled her hips, grinding against me. “I can never get enough of you, Max.”

  I could hear the heat in her voice. The girl wanted more. I reached down between us and found her swollen clit. She flinched when I touched her, but softened after a couple of seconds and kissed me while she held my face in her hands.

  “We should stop,” she said breathlessly. “Whoever knocked—”

  “Isn’t as important as this.”

  “But—”

  I ran my finger down her slit to where my cock was pressed inside her. I teased her stretched skin. “I want to make you come one more time before this moment ends.”

  Janie could hardly catch her breath beneath me. I pulled out of her and replaced my cock with my fingers.

  “Max,” she whimpered.

  “Yes, baby?”

  She took my wrist in one hand and guided me in deeper. “One more time.”

  “Good girl,” I praised her as I filled her with another finger.

  Chapter 23

  Janie

  “Janie?”

  A groan escaped my lips. I didn’t open my eyes as Max put his hand on my hip and gently shook me awake.

  “Janie?”

  His voice was a gentle hook pulling me up from my world of dark slumber, drawing me to alertness. The darkness behind my eyelids ebbed away and they began to glow red as sunlight streamed through the bedroom window.

  I groaned once more and rolled over to bury my whole face in my pillow. “No.”

  “Time to wake up. I have a surprise for you.”

  “If it’s your dick, I don’t want it.”

  “Ouch.”

  “Too comfy. Too warm. Go bother someone else.”

  “But you’re the only one here.”

  I snuggled deeper into the pillow and drew my knees up and to the side so I was twisted in a weird pretzel fetal position. “If you wanted me to be a morning person, you should have bought a more uncomfortable mattress when I moved in.”

  Max and I wasted little time after we got engaged. We went from boyfriend and girlfriend to fiancé and fiancée quickly. After all the time we’d lost between our old breakup and now, neither of us wanted to waste another second. So, Max had made arrangements and hired a moving company to help me pack all my belongings and bring everything from the apartment he’d set me up with to his mansion.

  Or rather, our mansion.

  That was a trip and a half.

  My new home not only came with a drop-dead-gorgeous fiancé, but also an in-ground pool, a stunning painted glass skylight, gourmet kitchen, six bedrooms (one of which I planned on converting into an in-home gym complete with a spin bike and yoga equipment), and plenty of space to frolic.

  Did I mention fast cars? I also now had access to a lot of those. My personal favorite was the pearl-white Audi, and not because it was the only automatic of the bunch.

  Max nudged my hip again. “Open your eyes, Janie. Seriously. You’ll want to see this.”

  I rolled my head and cracked open the one eye that wasn’t still hidden in my pillow. “What?”

  His smiling face made it hard to stay mad at him. He looked like he’d woken recently too. His voice was nasally, like it always was after sleep, and a bit hoarse. His eyes were heavy but bright, and his hair stuck every which way.

  I narrowed my one open eye at him as he pulled a hand out from under the blankets. I was surprised when he placed a small ring box on my pillow.

  That got my attention. I lifted my face from the pillow, rolled onto my stomach, and propped myself up on my elbows as I picked up the box. I turned it over in my hands. “What’s this?”

  Max propped himself up on an elbow too. “You know what it is.”

  With excitement fluttering in my chest, I flipped the ring box open.

  I gasped.

  The ring sat nestled on a tiny bed of velvet folds. The diamond band disappeared into the middle, like the box itself was giving it a warm hug, but the large stone in the middle sat on proud display. It wasn’t teardrop shaped like the picture I’d seen on Max’s computer. This one was a halo cut with tiny clusters of diamonds forming a bed for the oval stone to rest on. It caught the sunlight as I turned the box side to side ever so slightly, and fractures of light danced on the ceiling above our heads.

  “Max, this ring is magnificent.”

  “So are you.”

  “It’s too much.”

  “No,” he said, wrapping me up and pressing a kiss to my cheek. “It’s just right. Here, let me put it on.”

  Max took the box and I held out my hand to him. He gently lifted the ring from the folds and slid it over my ring finger, where it slid effortlessly past my knuckle to rest at the base. It fit perfectly. For a moment, it looked foreign there, like it didn’t quite belong, but the longer I stared at it, the more it began to feel like it was mine.

  “I love it,” I whispered.

  “I love you.”

  “You’re all right.”

  Max threw his head back and laughed. I cracked a grin of my own but couldn’t manage to look away from the glittering diamond on my finger until Max wrapped an arm around my waist and rolled me over with him. He stopped with me on top of him, knees pressed to the mattress, straddling him.

  I planted my left hand in the middle of his chest, where I often put it when I was bracing myself and riding him. I arched an appreciative eyebrow. “You look even hotter when this ring is on my hand.”

  Max chuckled. The vibration beneath my palm sent shivers through me. He closed a hand over mine. “And here I was, thinking you weren’t materialistic.”

  “I wasn’t. But now I’m rich. Things change.”

  He laughed again. “I should’ve known.”

  “Yes, you should have. Now move your hand. I’m not done staring at my ring.”

  He lifted his hand. The sunlight caught the diamond again. It glittered like it was made of magic.

  I leaned over him and kissed him softly. “Thank you. You’re an amazing man, you know that?”

  “I don’t mind being reminded.”

  I shoved at his chest before rolling off him and waddling on my knees to the edge of the bed, where I hopped off and made for the bathroom to have a shower. “Are you coming? We have a big day ahead of us.”

  Max clasped his hands behind his head and watched me retreat to the bathroom. “What’s in it for me?”

  I spun arou
nd, showed him my ass, and wiggled it for him.

  His booming laughter followed me as I ducked into the bathroom and turned on the shower. The water hadn’t even begun to heat up before he caught me, pushed me through the open door, and trapped me against the wall under the stream of icy water. My shrieks of protest did nothing to spare me from his wrath, but the heat of his kisses warmed me up until the water caught up to us.

  I held up my left hand so it was in the frame as I talked to Piper on a video call. She gasped and pulled her phone right up to her face. Her right eye took up my whole screen as she stared at the ring on my hand.

  “Holy shit, Janie! That thing is huge!”

  Max, who was working on cutting vegetables behind me in the kitchen, snorted. “That is not something I want to hear my ex saying to my fiancée.”

  Piper and I giggled and I rolled my eyes. “Ignore him.” I wiggled my fingers. “But it is stunning, isn’t it? I can’t believe it’s mine. I can’t believe I’m engaged. Does it ever stop feeling surreal?”

  Piper’s big brown eyes grew a little less big as she drew the phone away from her face. She was sitting in her and Wyatt’s living room. He was out on the ranch doing chores while she was nestled up in a cozy armchair surrounded by blankets while a personal back massager worked at knots in her lower back. She’d told me when the time came that I got pregnant I needed to order one of those things online. Apparently, it was helping with a lot of lower back discomfort. From where I was sitting, it looked hilarious because she kept shifting and rolling whenever the pressure changed.

  “No, it feels surreal until you’ve been married for about six months,” Piper said. “Then reality sets it. But whatever the next step is just brings all those surreal feelings back. Like getting pregnant.”

  “We still have time before that step,” I said.

  Max clicked his tongue. “I wouldn’t be so sure about that.”

  Piper arched an eyebrow. “Oh?”

  “Max has it in his head that we should be parents sooner rather than later,” I explained. “He sends me cute baby videos on a daily basis. The man is brainstorming nursery ideas, Pipes. He’s lost his marbles.”

  “He’s in love,” Piper said dreamily.

  “The two are one and the same,” Max said.

  I rolled my eyes. “He’s delusional. We just got engaged. I don’t want to rush things.”

  “There’s no perfect timeline,” Piper said. “Wyatt and I imagined we’d be married for a year or two before we wanted to have kids but it turns out we wanted to make a family sooner rather than later, too. After everything you guys have been through, I can’t blame Max for wanting to jump on the baby-making bandwagon now.”

  “Well, I can,” I said pointedly as I shot a look over my shoulder at Max. “I’m not ready to give up wine yet.”

  Max gestured at the vegetables that still needed dicing and chopping. “Are you going to talk to Piper all afternoon or are you going to help me?”

  “Yes. Sorry, Pipes, I should go. Nana Ridley and Holly are coming for dinner tonight.”

  “Oh, that’s big!” Piper said.

  I’d spoken to Nana Ridley dozens of times over the phone before but she and I had never met in person. I knew how important she was to Max and Holly. She was basically their mother. Max got a lot of his charm and sense of humor from her. He didn’t see as much of her as he’d like because she lived out in New York City, but they still spoke on the phone on a near daily basis.

  Tonight, she’d be coming over and spending a few nights with us. Holly was going to pick her up at the airport on her way here.

  It would be our first dinner as a family and as an engaged couple. I couldn’t wait to celebrate with them.

  “Say hi to Nana and Holly for me,” Piper said.

  Sometimes, it felt weird to remember that Piper had gone through all of these steps before me. Weird but not unsettling.

  I smiled. “I will. Hey, Pipes?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Thank you for choosing your cowboy and breaking Max’s heart. Now we all have our happy endings.”

  Piper smiled so big it looked like she might tear up. “And even happier beginnings.”

  Chapter 24

  Max

  We heard the front door open as Janie opened the oven door and leaned over to check on the chicken roasting in an apple juice and white wine au jus. Fresh herbs were tucked around the bird, and three orange slices rested on top. The smell of citrus and apple flowed out of the oven and Janie looked up at me looking like a deer in the headlights.

  “Are they here?” Janie whispered.

  Seconds later, Nana’s voice echoed down the hall from the front door. “Max, have I ever told you that your house is too damn big for a little old lady like me?”

  I grinned at the sound of her voice. Janie smiled too, but I could see the nerves building in her. She wanted to make a good impression with my grandmother, and even though I’d assured her a thousand times over this afternoon that she would, she was still nervous.

  “She’s going to love you,” I reminded her for the hundredth time. “I promise.”

  Janie closed the oven and nodded. She wiped her hands on the dish towel hanging off the oven even though she hadn’t touched anything. Next, she smoothed out the skirt of her silky maroon dress, fluffed up her dark curled hair, and plastered a pleasant smile on her face.

  I took her hand and gave it a squeeze. “Just be yourself.”

  Nana and Holly came around the corner of the kitchen.

  Holly was loaded down with our grandmother’s copious amounts of luggage. She never had been a light traveler. She required outfit options, she always insisted. Nana had always been a good dresser and that was something that hadn’t gone away in her elderly years. In fact, I suspected it was something that helped her feel youthful. She dressed colorfully and oftentimes on trend with whatever season it was or whatever holiday was approaching.

  Today, she wore a pastel yellow cardigan with a floral-printed long-sleeved shirt underneath. Her slacks were cropped a few inches above her gold sandals, which showed off freshly painted pink toes. Rings glittered on her fingers that matched her earrings. Her hair was white, short, and spiky, and today, she had pink streaks in the front of it.

  Nana Ridley held out her arms to me. “I’ve been in this beast of a house of yours for over two minutes and still haven’t received a hug from my grandson. Look alive, Max.”

  Janie giggled as I left her side and leaned over to give my petite grandmother a big hug.

  She patted my back and laughed softly. “You’re always taller than I remember. No wonder you need such a big house.”

  Holly chortled. “It’s for his ego, not his height, Nana.”

  Nana Ridley liked that one. We broke apart and she pointed at Holly. “Nice one.” Her attention then slid to Janie, who hovered by the stove looking out of place and terribly anxious. “My dear, I hope Max hasn’t been telling you stories about how much of an old bag I am.”

  Janie shook her head. “I’ve been looking forward to meeting you for a long time. I’m sorry. I’m just soaking it all in.”

  Nana smiled warmly and shuffled across the kitchen to take both of Janie’s hands in hers. She patted the back of them softly. “I’ve also been looking forward to meeting you for a very long time, Janie. In fact, I’ve been waiting a long time for you to find Max.” She reached up and cupped Janie’s cheek. “I’m so lucky to be here for his next adventure.”

  Janie sniffled.

  I hurried over and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Don’t go making my fiancée cry, Nana. You just got here.”

  Janie wiped at her eyes and laughed.

  Nana released her hands and planted her fists on her hips as she blinked up at me. “Why haven’t you offered to pour me a glass of wine, Max? I’ve been on an airplane and endured two miserable airports to get here to see you, and yet, both hands are empty.”

  Holly had tucked all of Nana’s lugga
ge into the corner and stood slumped against the wall. “I could also go for a glass.”

  Nana clapped her hands together. “Chop chop!”

  And just like that, I saw Janie’s nerves evaporate.

  Where moments before there was tension and unease, there was nothing but joy. Janie flitted around the kitchen and fetched wine glasses while I popped open a bottle of chilled white wine. I poured us all a glass and we took them to the patio to soak up the early evening sunshine while we chatted about Nana’s travels and the passengers she was stuck sitting beside.

  “People are so nosy these days,” she said as she swirled her wine and enjoyed the views of a bright pink and orange sunset. “Nobody’s business is private. Especially on an airplane. You order a whiskey and everyone around you looks at you like you’re a psychopath.”

  Holly sipped her wine. “Maybe it’s because people don’t expect grannies to order whiskey.”

  “Don’t call me a granny,” Nana said. “I put a stop to that before you turned four, Holly.”

  Holly and I shared a knowing look.

  A timer in the kitchen beeped. Janie popped up out of her chair but I told her to sit back down. I’d take care of it. She settled back into her chair beside Nana and smiled graciously at me. I offered to top off wine glasses while I was inside.

  Nana drained the last four mouthfuls of her wine and gave me her glass. “Thank you, Max.”

  “Whiskey on the plane, binging wine,” I mused. “What’s next? Shots of Patron?”

  Nana tapped the side of her nose. “I could outdrink you any day. Just like I can outplay you at chess.”

  “I let you win,” I said.

  “There’s that ego again,” Holly teased.

  I left the three most important women in my life out on the patio and went inside to check on dinner and fill up their wine glasses. Their laughter followed me inside, and as I poured us all new glasses of wine, I couldn’t help but watch them.

  Nana said something that made Janie laugh so hard she snorted. This caused all three of them to descend into chaotic laughter that made them breathless.