Jackson had never used sexting, but desperate times called for drastic measures. Twice, he'd had Greer close to sex and both times stopped it. He figured it was up to him to get it started again, and since she wouldn't answer a call, or agree to see him, text sex seemed the best form of foreplay.

He'd started out sweet. Flowers. An apology. Even though she didn't respond, he knew her well enough it got her attention. She was still pissed, but all he needed to do was keep her thinking about him. She'd come around. Her desire was too strong not to. If each text was dirtier, he'd force her hand. Or, there was always the chance she might be repulsed, and if that was the case, he'd blown it again.

*

Waiting in the school pick-up lane, Greer read over the texts again. They just kept coming, each more explicit than the last. Her soft skin, lips, the way she fit against him, her moans, and the effect she had on him. He'd gone into detail about what he wanted to do to her. Everything from burying himself deep inside her to licking her sweet rosebud until she screamed his name. Rosebud? God help me. He was killing her one text at a time. Turned on for most of the day, it was a wonder she'd not dragged a stranger into her car for a quickie.

Turned out, flowers and dirty talk was something she liked—a lot. So far, she'd not responded to any of them, her resistance, was running thin. If she wanted to confirm the date for tomorrow, she'd have to contact him.

By the time she got home, helped Emma change into her leotard, and took her to gymnastics, Greer was wound so tight she thought she might explode into a thousand pieces. Earlier, she'd gotten the address of Jackson's office. It wasn't too far from Emma's lesson. Maybe it was time she let him make good on some of those text promises.

*

The last person Jackson wanted to see was Halley, but Nellie had just warned him the psycho was in the parking lot. At the sound of her heels in the hallway, he laid his phone aside, and braced himself. With her, lately, he never knew what to expect.

She leaned her head around the doorjamb and smiled. A good sign. At least she didn't have that wild gaze like before. "Come in."

She eased into a chair. "I won't stay but a minute. I just wanted to come by and let you know I'm moving. I've taken a job in Albuquerque. Pueblo Designs. Are you familiar with them?"

"Yeah. Architecture Digest just ran an article about them. I'm happy for you."

"I know, right? They actually contacted me. I couldn't believe it. My first client, who had horrible taste, recommended me." She stood. "I apologize for acting so awful the last time I was here."

"Apology accepted, and I wish you the best."

She walked to the door, then faced him again. "Strange how things work out. With this new opportunity, we would have broken up anyway. I guess everything happens for a reason."

*

As Greer rounded the corner onto his street, Bellefonte and Bellefonte's building came into view. She checked her watch. Four o'clock. He should still be there.

Greer angled the Lexus into the space next to Jackson's truck, got out, smoothed her skirt in place, and took a deep breath. When she pushed the entry open, the woman behind the desk glanced up and eyed Greer from head to toe. Probably hadn't seen many clients with purple hair.

"May I help you?"

She smiled. "If Jackson has a minute, I'd like to see him."

Keeping her eyes on Greer, the receptionist picked up the phone. "What is your name?"

"Greer."

"Greer is here to see you."

The secretary's eyes widened. "Yes, sir." She pointed down the hall. "Second door on the left."

*

Hearing her name caused Jackson's heart to stop. She'd had enough. Intended to tell him to leave her the hell alone. Why else come to his office? Well, no need to keep pursuing someone who wasn't interested. Halley had been a reminder of that.

He fidgeted in his seat first leaning back, then forward and putting his hands on the desk. That looked too fake. He dropped them into his lap but that looked too relaxed. He picked up papers and straightened them, then decided to hell with it, and shouldered back in his chair and waited.

When she reached the doorway, she leaned against the jamb. "You look flushed, Padre. What's wrong, surprised to see me?"

By calling him that, how mad could she be? Or maybe that was her way of leading into what a liar he'd been using the cover to get close to her. She grabbed the door knob, swung it around and pushed it closed with her hip, then locked it. Holy shit. She might plan to throw things. He put on his poker face. "A little."

She strolled to the blueprints laid out. "So, this is your drafting table?"

"Yeah."

She trailed her fingers across the wooden top. "I bet you satisfy a lot of clients with the plans you draw here."

The way she emphasized the word caused his heart to kick start. He licked his lips. "I like to think so."

Moving to the built in book case, she removed hardback from the shelf, flipped it open, then replaced it and moved to the window. "Hmm, nice view." She closed the blinds.

Jackson's mouth went dry. Oh God, she was going to throw things. Or worse.

She moved to the other side of the room and looked out again. "Pretty trees. Are those rosebushes?"

"Yeah."

"Looks like they're about to bloom. Lots of little rosebuds." With one quick jerk, she drew those blinds.

Damn. Was this some type of torture? Reverse text warfare, or was she leading up to something much nicer. "Yeah."

She turned her gaze back to him. "You have a great office. I like it."

"Thank you."

Gliding to stand at the edge of his desk, she propped a hip onto the top, dangled her foot, and let her sandal drop to the floor. "I like this wood." She slid her hand across the surface. "It's hard."

He didn't know what game she was playing, but he liked it. "Plenty hard."

Now she placed both palms flat and leaned in close to his face. "You ever had sex in here?"

What the hell? This personal visit must be her form of retaliation to his dirty texts, and damn if it wasn't effective. "Uh—no."

"Do you want to?"

He lifted the phone and pushed two buttons. "Nellie, why don't you call it a day. I'll lock up. See you tomorrow."

[[WARNING: MATURE THEMES AHEAD]]

He wasn't sure if Greer was teasing or not, but he planned to find out. He grabbed her hands, pulled her onto his lap and kissed her like it'd be the last one he'd ever get. But he was just getting started. He framed her face and held her in place while he devoured her mouth with one hot kiss after another. Within seconds, he had her gasping and tearing at his pants. Damn he loved when she did that. Wanted him as much as he wanted her and not ashamed to show it.

She pushed away, lifted her leg to straddle him and arched against him. Hell, she'd had him hard at rosebud. He slid his hand up her skirt and found bare skin. "Damn."

"You have a habit of not following through, so I wanted to give you a head start. I left my panties in the car."

With a flick of her fingers, she released the button on his Levis, opened the zipper, and his cock tented his underwear. She tugged the elastic of his boxers beneath the hard shaft and circled it.

He groaned.

Her grip eased.

"No, no, no. Don't stop."

She leaned away to look at him. "Twice before we've tried this and both times you've stopped. I need you to promise it'll happen this time."

His fingers skimmed under her blouse. Then he raised it, gripped the cups of her bra and tugged forcing her breasts to spill over the tops. Damn he loved how the lace forced those beautiful mounds together. "I promise." He took one tight nipple into his mouth and sucked hard.

She whimpered. Her chest rose and fell with short gasps. "What if a tornado rips through the backyard?"

He freed the nipple. "Won't stop me." Then he closed his lips over the other one.

"If a plane crashes into the building?"

Liberating that stiff peak, he licked it, and grinned up at her. "Won't even notice."

He pushed her breasts together, then licked, giving each one the same attention, while she ground against him.

"What if your mother should walk in on us?"

He stopped and leaned his head against the back of his chair. "That might be a deal breaker."

"Well, I guess it's a good thing I locked the door." She maneuvered her chest to his mouth again, and he resumed the back and forth routine.

She opened her legs wider. He inched his hand up her thigh, cupped her, pressed his palm against her crotch, then slipped his finger inside her. "You're so fucking wet."

"Thanks to you, I have been all day. You can't send me dirty texts unless you make yourself available."

"Noted." Then he stopped. Withdrew. "Shit!"

"Holy hell. Now what?"

"Condom. I don't have a condom." Damn, he'd used the last one from his wallet with Lauren and not replaced it.

She took a deep breath. "I can't believe this."

"I'm sorry. I should have one in my wallet, but I don't."

She ran her hand over her face, and he thought she might throw something for sure. "When is the last time you have sex without one?"

"More four years ago."

"Do you trust me? I'm on the pill, clean, and I haven't had unprotected sex since Mason."

"Better question. Do you trust me?"

She took her bottom lip between her teeth. "Four years ago?"

"I swear."

"And you're clean?"

"Yes."

"Okay."

"You sure?"

"Yes."

He didn't give her time to rethink the decision, he glided inside her so smooth, like he belonged there, then cupped her bare ass, pulled her in tight and buried himself deeper. She arched back, rested her hands on his knees, and met every thrust. Slivers of sunlight streamed through the top of the closed blinds, glinted against the purple streaks in her hair, and he'd never seen a wilder, more beautiful woman. A raindrop riding a tornado.

She clenched around him and he thought he'd lose his mind. All that hot, wet heat pulling him deeper until buried to the hilt. He pushed down hard to hold her in place as she yo-yoed on top of him.

"Oh, yeah. Just like that. Oh, God, Jackson. That's so good." She heaved the words out, and he gave her more. Damn, he didn't remember when he'd been this hard or sex felt so damn good. She panted and he could tell she was close and it was a good thing because he didn't know how much longer he could last.

Then she let go of this knees, gripped his shoulders and lunged forward as she spasmed around his dick and he shattered, too. He wanted to tell her he'd fallen in love with her. Beg her to stay in Fairhope. Give him a chance to prove she could have forever. But this wasn't the time. She'd claim it was lust, not love, and he couldn't argue that point, because he did lust after her. More than he had for any other woman—ever.

She pressed her lips to his with another hot kiss, and as spent as he was, his cock twitched. Damn, what had she done to him?

She broke the kiss. "You are unbelievable. I'd fantasized about us, together, but that was so much better."

She rocked against him. "Sweet Jesus. You're gonna get me hard again." She didn't stop. Slow and steady she moved and his balls drew tight. "Damn, baby."

She let her head loll back. "Oh, God. Stay inside in. I'm going to come again. Just a little more."

Even though he was in pain, he couldn't stop because with every movement she begged. "More. Almost. There. Right there. Oh. God. Oh. Oh. Oh, yes. Yes."

She fell forward and rested her head on his chest. He pulled out of her before she could try again. He wasn't sure his dick would survive a double, much less a triple. "Damn, Greer. Are you trying to kill me?"

"That'll teach you to toy with my emotions." She looked at her watch. "Crap! I've got to go or I'll be late picking Emma up."

She slid from his lap, grabbed her purse, then looked at him. "Bathroom?"

He nodded toward a door to the left.

He got himself back together. Hands down, that was the best sex he'd ever had. Maybe because he'd not used a condom or because of the way she talked the whole damn time, but whatever it was, he wanted more. A lot more. A lifetime.

[[MATURE THEMES OVER]]

Within a couple of minutes, she came out, looking as good as when she arrived. He went to her and wrapped her in his arms. "I take this means our date is on for tomorrow?"

She grinned. "Yeah."

She pushed away and started to leave, but he followed. "Can I come over tonight?"

"I'd like that."

"How about we go for pizza?"

"Sounds good. Around six?"

He kissed her one last time, hanging on until she pushed him away. Then she hiked her purse over her shoulder, opened the door and stepped outside.

------------------

Sorry I am such a crappy updater these days. I often get so into reading fanfics (and started writing one on ao3/fanficnet that I forget Wattpad exists sometimes. I will do better.  ALSO, another apology for anyone that isn't comfortable with smut, as this was most of this chapter. Sorry. Hopefully my warnings at least provide some relief to those who wish to avoid it rather than just throwing caution to the wind.

Til next time,

x zuz