Carved In Stone

“I can’t let you go. I need you in my life, Jessica. If you can’t forgive me immediately, give me two weeks at least,” Will ordered harshly, even while she shook her head from side to side, “Promise me—promise me not to sleep with anyone else for two weeks. That’s not a long time. If I can’t convince you of my feelings in two weeks, or we’re still fighting about this, I’ll leave you alone to do what you like. You can even have the super-sized box of condoms I bought because I sure as hell am not going to use them without you.”

“Stop making fun of me,” Jessica commanded loudly, punching Will hard in the shoulder. “I don’t care how noble you think you are. I refuse to apologize for my life or my dating habits whether you understand them or not.”

Will could see her unwillingness to hurt him in her gaze, but it was probably too much to expect her to admit it when she was so upset with him.

“I don’t want an apology or a damn justification. All I want is two weeks, Jessica,” he said, fighting the urge to sigh in relief as he watched her close her eyes and drop her head to her chest. Jessica was never going to find a man who wanted all of her the way Will knew he did.

“Promise me,” Will said quietly, the words a plea now more than a command.

He wasn’t an idiot. The only idiotic thing Will had done was not take what she offered when he’d been waiting so long for her to want him back. All this time they’d spent arguing could have been spent doing something else. If he could wind the clock back just fifteen minutes, Will thought, they’d both be having an orgasm right now. The idea of how close they had been made him crazy now.

“No. No promises,” Jessica said coldly, but then was shocked when Will fiercely covered her mouth with his demanding one again.
His hands slid down behind her, lifted her hips to align with his again, and just like that they were back to where they had been in the bedroom before he’d rolled off her. Again, her arousal was instant and complete. If her mouth had been free, Jessica would have simply begged Will to take her back to bed, even with her common sense warning her to run now before it got worse.

With his mouth on hers again, Will couldn’t believe how quickly the heat grew between them. Oh god, why hadn’t he just taken what she offered this morning? When Will finally forced himself to let her go, his body was screaming for hers. He was pretty sure he’d never wanted a woman quite so much in his entire life. Today was going to be a miserable, frustrating day without even a chance of being inside her.

“Honor this. Give me two weeks,” Will ordered fiercely, kissing her hard one more time. Then he opened the front door and pushed a very surprised Jessica Daniels outside the house, slamming the door closed behind her sputtering protests, and throwing the deadbolt to keep himself inside.

If he hadn’t done all that, Will knew he would have chased down the sidewalk after her.

When he heard her walk away swearing, Will leaned his forehead against the locked door, cursing himself again for not just sinking into her when he’d had the chance. He turned around to find his son Michael standing in the kitchen doorway sipping coffee and smiling at him.

“Sorry. I didn’t intend to eavesdrop or watch the show. You two were just oblivious to me,” he said, taking in his Dad’s wild eyes and flushed face with interest. “Want some coffee now or after your cold shower?”

“Don’t start with me. Your teasing is getting to be more like Shane’s every damn day I’m here,” Will said darkly.

It was all he could do not to turn Michael into a target for his frustration with Jessica.

“Well, lately you’re giving me a whole new opinion of you too, Dad,” Michael told him honestly, not even trying to hide the smirk. “I’m starting to understand where Shane and I got our—well, never mind.”

When his father had stopped Jessica Daniels from leaving, when he had ordered her not to sleep with other men, Michael had had to stop himself from hollering out his support. It would definitely not have endeared him to Jessica, who already had a semi-poor opinion of him. So he’d settled for a quiet fist in the air in the kitchen.

“I have a newfound respect for you after how you handled this morning, though I have to tell you, if that had been me with Carrie, I would never have refused her anything. I don’t know how you managed it with Jessica,” Michael said sincerely, taking a long drink of coffee.

“I managed it because I want more than she’s given those other guys. I want it all,” Will said fiercely, running a hand through what was left of his hair. “I don’t want her pity any more than she wants mine. I want her in my life, willing and accepting of what is between us.”

“Great,” Michael said, laughing and walking into the kitchen. “I want that for you, too. I might even be able to help you make that happen.”
He poured his father a cup of coffee when he noticed he’d followed him into the kitchen. Ah, the dead really has returned to life, Michael thought relieved, letting himself smile at his father in approval. He would need to share the news with Shane so he could stop worrying as well.

“Help me?” Will asked, almost fearful about what his grinning son had in mind. “How can you help me?”

“I know where Jessica Daniels is going to be on her—what did you call it?—oh yeah, her damn date tonight,” Michael said, grinning at the sudden look of determination in his father’s gaze. He would love nothing more than to help his father bust up Jessica’s date.

“Where is she going to be?” Will demanded, surprised.

“There’s an art show in Cincinnati. Jessica is registered to show several pieces of her art,” Michael said.