His Pickle Her Jam (Cherry On Top Tales #4)

Prologue-Buck

Ihad to admit watching my best friend find his happy ever after was fun at first. Delani was perfect for Sonny in ways I didn’t even think the man himself could guess.

I adored the woman, and not just for her chocolaty confections. She was sweet, kind, funny—simply put, a beautiful person all around.

There was only one thing wrong with Delani, and that was her best friend.

Jan Morrow.

I’d never met a more maddening woman in my life.

Fine.

Maybe that wasn’t entirely true.

My cousin Melanie was a helluva lot more annoying. Jan didn’t annoy me. She just drove me crazy.

I mean, she had some redeeming qualities.

Like her ass.

I wasn’t some male chauvinist pig.

Really, I’m not.

The woman simply had an ass that wouldn’t quit. One of those glorious round numbers that swayed from side to side when she walked.

It was the kind of ass that kept a guy up for nights on end thinking how good it would feel to sleep pressed against all that softness all night long.

Fuck. I’m sick.

I wanted to hit on her the second I saw her, but she was Sonny’s woman’s best friend. I wasn’t sure about the rules on that, then after meeting her it didn’t matter.

“Hi, I’m Buck,” I’d said, introducing myself.

But she took one look at me and shook her head.

“Don’t even think about it, Buckeroo. I am not in the market for any of what you’re offering,” she’d said, waving her hand in my general direction.

At the time, I didn’t know if she was referring to my job as a bartender, or my appearance, or what.

It didn’t matter.

What did matter was she had sent some rather strong no fucking way, pal vibes in my direction.

I liked to think I was smarter than I probably was. Just like a million other guys, I supposed. But I read the room, and I stayed away from Jan. Even though it wasn’t easy.

I mean, the woman drew me to her like a magnet without even trying. Still, I was raised to be respectful. She clearly was not into me, so I backed away, resigned to let this one get away.

Only, well, we were thrown together a lot. Like a lot a lot. Especially over the past few months. But that’s what happened when your besties became an item.

As Sonny’s best friend, it was inevitable I’d run into the woman with the sassy attitude and curvaceous body.

When Sonny proposed to Delani, he asked me to be his best man, which meant Jan and I were thrown together even more.

She was Delani’s maid of honor, of course, so yeah, we had to do a lot of crap together. Which was super hard since the exasperating female never agreed with anything I said.

If I wanted to host the engagement party outside, she found ten reasons why it should be inside.

If I said we should get an arch of balloons, she pointed out why that was environmentally irresponsible.

If I suggested a DJ, she was emphatic they needed to have live musicians.

Jan found fault with everything I did.

Every. Single. Thing.

I didn’t like to feel like an idiot. But she managed to bring it out in me. So, I did what any sane man would do when confronted with a woman who made him completely insane.

I lusted after her in private. Yes, I spent many a night stroking myself to completion with an image of Jan’s fine ass ingrained firmly in my brain.

I wasn’t proud of it, but I wasn’t ashamed either. Human beings had needs, and Jan brought out the beast in me.

But in person, I tried to make myself scarce whenever she was around.

Not an easy feat by any means.

After the wedding ceremony, and the subsequent incident in the closet at the venue, things between us only got worse.

She was closed off, dismissive, and downright fucking callous. I wasn’t used to being ignored. And I really didn’t like it.

Payback for all the times I skipped out on a woman? Maybe.

I wasn’t about to ask the universe for any favors. It was what it was. And Jan just wasn’t into me.

If only I could forget her sweet taste and the way her soft body felt quivering around me. Those throaty moans, and how good my name sounded, spilling from her lips.

Fuck.

I really needed to get over it.

But it was harder than you think. I mean, I felt that woman explode around my fingers, and I knew she’d been as hot for me as I was for her.

I didn’t understand her reason for cutting me off after we’d been so rudely interrupted. I mean, no one knew about our little petting session—thank fuck.

Well, no one except for me, Jan, and Melanie, who’d barged into the closet where Jan and I had just rounded third base.

My cousin used to be so cute. A little snot-nosed kid always tagging along whenever we had family reunions and holiday get-togethers. She wasn’t so cute anymore.

The annoying brat had been asking me for status updates relentlessly after she walked in on Jan and me in the closet at Sonny and Delani’s wedding, going at it like teenagers.

Shit.

My cock pulsed just remembering the way her voluptuous curves felt under my searching hands and the sweet, strawberry taste of her lips from the fruity margaritas she’d been drinking earlier that night.

My one regret was that I hadn’t fucked her.

It was close.

Real close.

I still remembered the warm pulsing of her pussy around my fingers when I made her come on my hand. I’d had the condom in my pocket and was just about ready to pull it out when Melanie barged in with a gasp followed by a snicker of amusement.

Maybe that was why I couldn’t get Jan out of my head.

This was all new for me. I never had a problem being casual with the women I saw or slept with.

Except for Jan. The wedding was a month ago, and I should have already moved on. Casual sex wasn’t everything it was cracked up to be, especially not now that I was in my late thirties.

But I didn’t sleep with Jan. She was the fuck that got away. Or maybe it was the fuck that never was?

Whatever.

The point was, I’d been so close, mere seconds away from sinking into her tight, hot cunt. But Melanie’s untimely interruption had Jan putting the brakes on hard.

Even now, my brain still recoiled from the way the woman had reacted the day after, pretending like I didn’t even exist.

The thing about it was my body sure as fuck hadn’t gotten the memo. It still wanted Jan.

With a fucking vengeance.

My dick got hard whenever I heard the troublesome minx’s name.

I tried to think about something or someone else, but my fucking cousin wouldn’t stop with the goddamn texts.

Mel always seemed to send them at the wrong possible moment. Teasing, insinuating, and being generally obnoxious.

Like right fucking now.

I growled and took my phone out of my pocket, recognizing the ringtone as one I assigned to Melanie.

Are you engaged yet to the girl with the big ass? I know you love her. And I know a nice villa in Spain. You can rent it super cheap for the honeymoon, cuz. Better get a move on!

I shook my head. We were both well into our thirties, and Mel was still a freaking brat.

Engaged?

Ha!

As if.

Jan fucking hated me. And Mel was no relationship judge, that was for damn sure.

My cousin’s latest romantic misadventure had sent my wild cousin backpacking through Spain. Last I heard she’d taken up with some sort of orange grower who had a villa and chickens.

She called him a cock farmer—her words, not mine.

FML.

Melanie was too damn old for me to keep up with her affairs. Besides, she was an Antonetti, and we could handle ourselves.

But back to the issue at hand.

My current situation was this: I was stuck. And I needed help getting unstuck.

“Hey bro, you see that for sale sign on the corner?” Sonny asked.

“Jones’ Grocery?”

“That’s the one.”

I looked outside, the wheels in my head spinning, and I grinned. I didn’t have a plan for getting Jan off my mind, but maybe this would help.

Time for me to get unstuck.