Lizzie turned and headed back to the house, calling Bailey with a slap of her hand against her thigh. Wimp or not, she'd had enough of the night.
But it seemed Bailey hadn't. He dropped the ball at Lizzie's feet with playful eyes, waiting impatiently for her to pick up the ball and give it a throw. Lizzie obliged. And, as usual, Bailey ran in the wrong direction. She rolled her eyes and walked toward the weeping willow where the ball landed. As she leaned down to pick up the ball, Bailey's bark jerked her head around just as weight descended on her opposite shoulder.
A hand.
She didn't think beyond that, just went with frayed nerves and instinct. With a blood curdling scream, she swiped out a leg, effectively knocking the feet out from beneath her attacker, just as his "Hey, Darlin'" processed through the adrenalin takeover of her brain.
Oh shit.
5
Jake
"If you wanted me flat on my back all you had to do was ask." He'd hit the ground hard, landing on his ass right where his cell phone was tucked in his pocket. From the way it dug into his flesh, he just knew when he took off his jeans, he'd find a bruise the exact size and shape of the damn thing.
"Damn it, Jake! What were you thinking sneaking up on me like that?"
His ego might not have taken the toss so hard had she been wearing a dress, or even shorts, so he could sneak a peek. As it was, she was wearing tight sexy jeans that hugged her thighs and ass—a damn fine sight—but still not as interesting as a dress would have made it. Especially if she had on one of those skimpy little thongs she wore in his fantasies. Oh man, the red one. He shook off the image then wrapped his hands around her ankle, just above the strap of her barely-there sandals, and cautiously lifted her foot off his throat.
If looks could kill, he'd be dead twenty times over.
"You scared me to death!" Her hand went to her chest, covering the heart he figured was beating faster than a fleeing rabbit. "Where did you come from anyway?"
"I was out with Brand by the silo, so when I saw you go through the barn and head out this way, I took the path through the trees thinking I could catch you."
"Well, you caught me alright."
"This isn't exactly the greeting I was hoping for, Lizzie." Expecting yes, wanting no.
He sat up as she let out an "ugh" mixed with equal parts frustration and disgust. And just where the hell was his hat?
"You could have given me some warning you were there, or was it your goal to try to get me to wet myself?"
He bit back the chuckle and the dirty thoughts that were fighting to burst forth, figuring she wouldn't appreciate it. Well, that and he wanted to keep her from literally kicking him while he was down. "I figured you heard me. I saw you turning around, and I could have sworn you looked right at me."
"Yeah, like anyone can see you in the woods at dusk. In the dark. When you're wearing black."
She had a point, which he acknowledged with a tilt of his head. It gave Bailey just the right angle to start licking his face. Jake gave the dog a playful scratch behind the ears and held out his hand for the ball. When Lizzie dropped it in his hand, he gave it a toss with a, "Go get it, boy". Bailey let out a playful bark and scampered after it.
Staring after him, Lizzie plopped down on the grass beside Jake. She leaned back against the weeping willow with a dejected, "Figures".
"What figures?"
She threw her arms up. "It's just that when I throw the ball, Bailey usually runs in the other direction."
Poor Lizzie was feeling sorry for herself. "I'm sure that's not true all the time."
"Watch and see. Here boy," Lizzie said with a pat on her thigh and the dog obediently ambled over. She reached up to take the ball from his mouth, and because his Lizzie had a point to make, she threw the ball with a, "Go get it, boy." Bailey took off at a dead run…in the opposite direction.
Then she turned to him, eyebrows raised in challenge. "See?"
"Maybe it's those negative vibes you're putting out."
Lizzie rolled her eyes, absently picking blade after blade of grass. He grinned at the telltale sign of her agitation. She always had to be doing something with her hands when she was irritated or, to be frank, pissed off. Her auburn hair was down tonight, just how he liked it—long and wild—sparking memories of her taking him deep in her hot, wet mouth while he laced his fingers through the curling softness. She'd taken him, his seed, and his soul.
She had been open and responsive then, but now she was keeping him at arm's length, and he wanted to know what the hell was going on. One day of "space" was about all he could stand. For three days he'd tried getting in touch with her, and for three days she'd avoided his calls. He wasn't sure what'd spooked her into taking a giant leap backwards and pushing him away, but he was getting sick and tired of listening to her voice on the answering machine when he wanted to hear the real thing. Mrs. T's invitation to Sunday dinner gave him the perfect opportunity to pin the frustratingly evasive woman down for some answers.
"I remember teaching you how to defend yourself, but I think you've picked up a few new moves."
"There were self-defense classes for women at college, and I took every one of them. You just never know what's going to happen."
"You must have been a hell of a student."
A slight blush stained her cheeks. "Good enough to become the instructor's assistant."
"Well, you sure as hell have nothing to worry about if you find yourself alone on a dark street at night. You took me down easily enough and I'm nearly twice your size," he said picking up and brushing off his hat that lay next to the tree, then putting it back on his head.
"Sorry. You just caught me off guard, that's all."
Somehow, he knew it was more than that. "Do you want to tell me what's going on?"
She stopped plucking the grass and looked over at him. "What makes you think something's going on?"
"Maybe because you don't usually go around greeting people by knocking them on their ass."
"Maybe that's because people don't usually sneak up on me in the dark. What are you doing out here anyway?"
"Sitting under a tree with a pretty woman and her dog." Said dog was currently in heaven, lying next to Jake on his back, getting his belly rubbed.
Lizzie rolled her eyes. "Am I supposed to be charmed by that cheesy line?"
She was hard on his ego. Okay, so sweet talking her wasn't going to work. "Like I said, I saw you headed out this way. I figured I could get you alone for a few minutes."
"Why?"
"For the last three days I've been feeling like a dog chasing its tail."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
She wanted direct? He could do direct. "I got tired of waiting for you to quit avoiding me."
"I told you I thought we needed space." As if sensing the tension, Bailey rolled toward Lizzie, rested his chin on her thigh, and licked her hand. Then the Lab turned his big brown eyes on Jake, their message clear. Even the dog thought he had his work cut out for him and he hadn't a clue as to why. Great.
Lizzie resumed plucking the grass and he reached out and put his hand on hers, stilling the motion.
"Space? Is that what you're calling it? It seemed more to me like you were trying to call it quits."
"How can you call quits to something that never even got started? It was just sex, Jake. Plain and simple."
"No, it wasn't, and you know it as well as I do."
She glared at him, her eyes blazing with impatience. "Look, Jake. I came back here for a purpose and you're distracting me from it."
"All you needed to do was take a few minutes to dial the phone."
She shrugged off his hand. "I can't give you what you want, Jake. Setting up a business takes time. Paperwork, paperwork, and more paperwork. Then there are meetings with lawyers." She tilted her head, and with an expression that could only be described as defiant, she asked, "Should I go on?"
Why bother? He knew when someone was making excuses and Li
zzie was going at it head on. He decided to call her bluff.
"What's got you running, Lizzie?"
She waved a hand up and down indicating her person. "See me? Sitting here? Not running."
"That's not what I meant, and you know it." Sarcasm was a defense mechanism for her, but it was really starting to grate on his nerves. "Point blank, you're avoiding me, and you know something, Darlin'? I don't like it. So why don't we try the truth for a change?"
"Okay, fine. You want the truth, here it is. You called. I didn't call you back. So what?"
"So you admit it."
"Yes, I admit it. What was it that you wanted?"
"To get back to what we started."
"We didn't 'start' anything. We jumped in with both feet, hence the reason why I asked for space. You do remember that conversation, don't you? You agreed to give me some time to get things settled and I need more than a few days to do that."
"All I wanted was a phone conversation. To touch base, see how you were doing. And we couldn't do even that?" Truth was, he wanted so much more than that, and he was going to have to be a whole lot more subtle about getting it.
She let out a sigh and ruefully met his gaze. "Yes, we can do that. But things are moving way too fast."
That was no lie. They had gone from saying "hello" one minute to jumping each other the next. "Okay. We'll slow things down a bit then. Let's try something a little different."
"Like what?" she asked skeptically.
"Let's start with the basics."
"What basics?"
"A date. There's a dance at the Town Hall on Friday. We could go together, maybe grab some dinner before."
She cringed, shook her head, and plucked another piece of grass. "Sorry Jake, but I can't."
He'd had enough of her bullshit games. "Why not?" he asked, his temper slipping into those two questioning words.
"I'm already going with someone."
What the hell did she mean she was going with someone? They had just gotten things going again, and she had a date? With another guy? He stilled her hand from her haphazard grass plucking and asked the burning question, "Who?"
"Matt asked me."
"Matt?"
She licked her lips and his eyes zeroed in on the sexy motion. Those lips would be going out with Matt on Friday. Those were the lips that Matt might feel free to kiss should she run her tongue over them as sensually without thought as she had just done. He'd be goddamned if that was going to happen.
"Well, yeah."
"Matt Webster. He's a little old for you, isn't he?"
She rolled her eyes. "He's only thirty-one, two years older than you and Brand. Besides, he asked me last night when he helped me haul a few things up to the loft." She rubbed her hands on her jeans. "We're friends."
"Friends." No man looking at her thought friendship, she was way too sexy for that.
She gave him a reproving look then casually told him, "We never said we were exclusive."
"That's right. We didn't. But it was implied the minute you let me stick my dick in you." Exclusive was exactly what they were now and were going to continue to be if he had anything to say about it. And he sure as hell had plenty to say. Because now that he had her back again, he wasn't letting go.
She raised her eyebrows, then quickly blanked her face. "I'm sure you'll have no problem finding someone else to go with you."
Sure, he could find a date easily enough. But he didn't want to. "Well, see, Darlin', there's only one thing wrong with that."
"What's that?"
"I had my heart set on taking you."
He watched as the words sank in. Her expression went soft even as her words were hard.
"Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you."
He shifted against the tree, moving closer, filling her space. She licked her lips and swallowed hard. "You could never disappoint me. Just save me a dance and I'll be content."
Before she could react, he reached out and curled a strand of her hair around his finger.
"What are you doing?"
The breathless quality to the question stroked over his ego. "If you don't know that, my technique must be getting rusty."
Lizzie batted at his hand. "You know damn well it isn't."
She got up and walked over to the corral. Bailey followed, then trotted around the perimeter to the other side of corral to inspect the grazing animals. Lizzie set one sandaled foot on the bottom slat of the fence, folding her arms across the top.
He followed to where she stood, positioned himself directly behind her so his chest pressed against hers, his swelling cock against the curve of her ass. "I used to play with your hair all the time."
"That was a long time ago."
"Not so long ago," he said huskily as he reached up to grab a strand and rub it between his fingers, "that I don't remember that your hair feels like silk." He lifted it to his nose and inhaled. "Or that it smells like flowers on a warm summer day."
"Jake," she chided without conviction as she leaned against him further, her body melding into his. Her head dropped back against his chest, her breathing picking up, her eyes closed.
"What? I haven't had my fill of you yet. I want more." He needed more. He felt the tension move through her body, and she lifted her head from his chest. He'd revealed too much. Shit.
"Well, it's good to want," she said as she pushed back with her body, forcing him to take a couple steps back. "Now, would you stop?"
"Stop what?" Trying to seduce her? No. He'd never stop because he'd never get enough of her. He took in the glory of her body, starting at her feet, working his way up, then back down to her delectable ass.
She glanced at him over her shoulder and caught the direction of his stare. He met her gaze and widened his grin letting her know he knew he'd been caught in the act and didn't really care.
Her eyebrows raised in challenge. "Are you looking at my ass?"
He shrugged. "Yep. It's a really hot ass."
"Well, isn't it nice you think so. I suppose I should be flattered."
She didn't sound flattered. If anything, she sounded put out. He tsked. "You know I've always loved your ass. I remember you always liked it when I ran my hands over your ass, squeezed your cheeks when you were on top—"
She cut him off, slicing a hand through the air, just as he was getting to the good part. "Stop it, Jake. Just stop."
"Stop what?"
She shook her head. Then, she hitched her chin a little higher. A sure sign she'd steeled herself against him. Damn.
"Jake. Our hopping into bed and starting up an affair was a mistake. We don't even know one another anymore."
There was no way in hell he'd let her get away with that. He moved toward her with determination, heard her breath catch. The reaction gave him hope. She was just as caught up in the chemistry between them as he was.
"There's where you're wrong. It wasn't a mistake. Not one single second of it." He knew she believed him. The difference between them was, for some reason, it scared her.
She turned around to face him, her auburn hair swinging wildly with the motion, catching on the fence as it landed. Jake took a step forward, reached out to disentangle the curls from the wood. When she opened her mouth to speak, he put his index finger across it, cutting her off.
"You can deny it all you want, Lizzie, but we still know each other. Inside and out." His cell phone started to ring, but he had a point to make and he didn't want any interruptions. "Seven years and it feels like yesterday. I remember everything. Everything."
He brushed his fingertip along her chin to her jaw then let his fingers sift through the wave of hair that had fallen against her cheek. "I know that your skin feels satiny, so soft and smooth. I know that when you're out in the sun your hair is more red than brown, and when your body is writhing beneath mine, you're all that I see."
She responded with a wimpy, "That's just lust."
"Oh, Darlin', it's so much more than that and you know it." She swallowed
hard. He leaned in and whispered in her ear. "I also know that you want me as much as I want you. To the point, I bet you're wet right now."
She gasped, then side-stepped him. "You're overstepping your bounds here, Cowboy. Besides, your ass is ringing."
"I know. I was ignoring it. This is important."
"The phone call might be important, too."
Shit. She was right. That was Ryan's ring, which meant something was probably up with the mare. He pulled the cell phone out of his back pocket and hit the talk button.
"Kramer."
"Hey, bro," Ryan's voice boomed through the phone. He pulled it away from his ear.
"What's up?"
"Marigold is getting close to the home stretch."
"Damn. Her labor progressed fast. I figured she'd have another couple hours."
"Well, I'm thinking that she's going to deliver within the hour, so you might want to head on back."
"All right. I'll be there in a few."
"Later."
Jake turned off his cell and shoved it into his pocket. If he didn't know it was impossible, he'd put money on the fact that the two females were plotting against him. He let out a frustrated breath. Damn it.
"That was Ryan."
"So I heard."
"We're going to have to postpone the rest of this conversation because I've got to head back to the Rocking K."
"Mama will be disappointed you can't stay for dinner, but she'll understand."
"She won't be nearly as disappointed as my stomach."
"If you stop by the house, I'm sure she'll send something along with you."
His stomach growled at the thought, then he quickly squelched it. "Nah, then Ryan would eat it and he's not worthy."
She smiled and he grinned at the shared memory of the time Ryan ate the entire cherry cheese torte that her mother had made for him. Jake had, of course, wanted to beat Ryan's ass into the ground, but instead, Lizzie'd made him another.
When Petals Fall: A Cowboy, Second Chance Romantic Suspense (Chance Creek Book 1) Page 4
