Call Me, Irresistible

by Jess Bryant

  But here he was, trotting towards her, and all her thoughts about befriending the sexy guy across the road melted into a sudden desire to simply lick him.

  “Lemon, you okay?”

  She forced herself to stop staring at his chest and saw his smile turn to a smirk when she fumbled for words, “I, uh, morning Shane.”

  “You dropped your mail.”

  “Oh…” She winced when he dropped down into a squat to help her pick it up, “You don’t have to do that.”

  “I’m the reason you dropped it so…” He grinned up at her and she felt her own smile slide into place.

  “Because you scared me.”

  “Uh huh.” He snorted so she stuck her tongue out at him when he wasn’t looking.

  So he’d caught her staring. Oh well. Wasn’t like there was any hiding her reaction to him. Hell, he was a hot, single, deputy in a small town. The women around here probably fell all over themselves in front of him all the time. He should be used to it by now.

  “Here you go.” Shane pushed back to his feet and held the mail out to her.

  “Thank you.” She took it and their hands brushed.

  Her breath hitched at the flash of electricity. Just like yesterday her entire body reacted to his touch. Heat shot through her veins, making her nipples hard and her panties wet. She licked her lips and slowly pulled her hand away instead of jumping him right then and there.

  She cleared her throat, “So… just finishing your morning run?”

  “More like just getting started.” He chuckled when she raised her eyebrows, “I do laps around the neighborhood. I’m about half done.”

  “How far is it around the neighborhood?”

  “About a mile give or take.”

  “And how many laps do you do?”

  “Today? Seven.”

  “Jesus.” She snorted, “You run seven miles before you go to work?”

  “Some days. Other days I do more or less.” He laughed, “I’ve got four miles left. You want to join me?”

  “Me? Run? Is someone going to be chasing me?” She joked but he didn’t laugh and she felt her breath catch in her chest when those intense eyes of his drifted down her body.

  Slowly.

  Every place she felt his attention responded. Her lips tingled with anticipation. Her breasts swelled. And that soft, hidden, womanly part of her that hadn’t known a man in far too long wept with swift and consuming desire.

  She remembered, belatedly, that she wasn’t exactly wearing a lot of clothes. The little boxer shorts she slept in barely covered her ass. The rumpled tank top she’d thrown on to sleep in wouldn’t conceal her erect nipples at all. She’d tossed her robe on before going downstairs but she hadn’t tied it and since Shane had likely already seen her body’s reaction to him she didn’t bother reaching for it now.

  He met her eyes again and his voice was husky when he smiled, “That could be arranged.”

  “Not sure I’d try to run away from you.” She flirted back easily and got another laugh out of him.

  Even Shane’s laugh turned her on. She’d heard it a million times and for a thousand different reasons. He’d laughed with her and laughed at her but she’d never minded because she’d always loved his laugh. She’d loved knowing she could amuse the usually stoic Shane Lowry and that had definitely not changed.

  “Very funny Lemon.” He seemed to realize then that he’d been flirting with her and stepped back, putting more space between them as he swiped a hand through his dark hair, “Seriously though, go get changed and come run with me. I’m sure there were running shoes in that big bag of yours I saw yesterday. I’ll catch you on my next lap.”

  She liked that he still knew her that well. Remembered that she’d been a runner when she was a kid. She’d been on the track team in school and she and Seth had run different paths all through town when they were training. And she did want to go for a run, had packed her workout gear knowing she’d try to fit in some time for exercise while she was home.

  Getting to run with Shane at her side? The man that made her insides melt and lifted some of the weight she’d been carrying just by smiling? Yes, please.

  “Are you sure?” She raised an eyebrow at him, “I don’t want to distract you if you like a nice, quiet jog to think or something.”

  He laughed again, “Oh, you’ll definitely distract me but I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t mean it. You still run right?”

  She smiled at the admission that she distracted him, “Yeah.”

  “And you brought your gear?”

  “Of course.”

  “Then go get changed.” He nodded towards the house and stepped back again, “Go on. Catch you on the next lap. You better hurry.”

  She grinned at the playful tone as he started jogging backwards away from her. Good lord, she wanted to go after him right then and there. She wanted to tackle him just so she’d have a reason to put her hands all over his beautiful body. Instead she forced herself to step backwards too.

  “Okay.”

  “Oh and Lemon…” He grinned as his eyes dropped to her chest before returning to her face, “Put on a bra before you come outside to get the mail next time. If not for the fact this is a family neighborhood, at least do it for the sake of my sanity.”

  He winked before turning and sprinting away and Lemon stood there and watched him go with a grin so big it hurt her cheeks. He’d winked at her. Flirted with her! And she was going to get to spend the next three miles with him talking and laughing and maybe flirting some more.

  Her day had just gotten a hundred times better.

  Chapter Four

  Pink. Spandex. Shane shook his head as he rounded the corner onto his street far sooner than he should have. He’d tried not to think too hard about why he was pushing his personal record for the fastest mile on this particular lap. But when he got an eyeful of Lemon in pink fucking spandex he knew there was no use denying it.

  He’d been running towards her.

  It had been stupid asking her to run with him. Stupid and masochistic. Because he’d sworn to himself last night after a cold shower and a beer did nothing to flag his hard-on that he was going to stay away from her. He was going to go right on about his usual business and in a couple days she would be gone, the temptation would be gone, and his dick would go back to its usual state of disinterest in the female gender.

  But he hadn’t stayed away from her.

  He’d seen her on the street and he’d immediately called out to her. It was the neighborly thing to do but that wasn’t why he did it and he knew it. He’d wanted an excuse to stop and talk to her.

  And what had he done as soon as she showed even a passing interest in his workout routine? He’d invited her to join him like the idiot he clearly was because he’d known. He’d fucking known that she would work out in some tiny, tight little number that was expressly designed to drive men crazy, to drive him crazy. Because Lemon had always taken such pleasure in driving him insane.

  Her body definitely did that and he felt his cock stirring again as he took her in. The woman was gorgeous. How had he never noticed that before? Rationally he must have known that she was beautiful all these years but it had never hit him like a punch to the gut the way it did now.

  With the blonde hair and the big blue eyes and the lush lips that would’ve made a priest consider how soft they were, she was a knockout.

  She’d pulled her hair into a ponytail now and it bounced as she twisted and stretched. It wasn’t the only thing that bounced. His eyes went to her breasts again like they were magnetized.

  Jesus, the girl had all but flashed him in that thin tank top earlier and he’d thought it couldn’t get worse but he’d been wrong. She was wearing a skin-tight pink spandex sports bra and absolutely nothing over it. Her full, round breasts were high and tight and jutted out as she stretched and he wanted to rip that tiny material off and suck on her luscious tits until he knew the sounds she made when she came.

 
Dammit now he was fully hard and running the next three miles was going to be painful. He’d never considered himself a masochist but there it was. He’d invited Lemon to run with him knowing full well how his body reacted to her and now he could do nothing but deal with it.

  Because he wasn’t going to touch her. No matter how much he might want to. And he definitely wanted to. He wanted to touch her and stroke her and kiss her. He wanted to learn every inch of that beautiful body and he wanted to learn every spot that would make her moan his name. But he was a grown man and he didn’t let his dick do his thinking for him so he was going to keep it in his pants.

  He could do that. Probably. But when she glanced up and saw him jogging towards her and she grinned that sweet, mischievous looking grin at him, he wasn’t so sure his willpower was up to the challenge that was Lemon Kelly.

  “That was quick.” She jumped in beside him when he got close and matched her pace to his since he’d slowed down at the sight of her, “I barely had time to change and get back outside.”

  “Just imagine if you’d actually put clothes on.” He snorted and caught her big grin out of the corner of his eye.

  “You have a problem with my outfit?”

  “I have a problem with you calling it an outfit. It’s underwear, Lem. You do know clothes are supposed to go over that stuff, right?”

  She laughed, “You told me to put on a bra. I put on a bra.”

  “And nothing else.”

  “Untrue. I’m wearing shorts too.”

  He snorted, “Is that what you’re calling those tiny little things that barely cover your ass?”

  “You were looking at my ass?” She teased playfully and he rolled his eyes.

  “No.”

  “Liar.” She giggled, speeding up so she edged in front of him, “Here, I’ll give you a better view. Try to keep up old man.”

  She took off and he laughed as he watched her race out ahead of him. Her blonde ponytail bounced and her ass was… well, her ass was perfect. Just like the rest of her. He kicked his speed back up to catch her even as he chastised himself for flirting with her.

  He never should have opened that door. Closing it would be next to impossible. He only consoled himself that since this was Lemon, she’d get bored and move on soon enough. She’d either get tired of teasing him and find someone else to torture for the rest of her visit or she’d leave and go back to Tennessee. He just had to hold out for a few more days.

  “You don’t get to lead. You don’t even know where we’re going.” He nudged in next to her.

  “You’d have yelled at me when it was time to turn. You wouldn’t have been able to help yourself. Face it, you still like telling me what to do.”

  He ignored the way she wiggled her eyebrows, pretending he hadn’t seen it. Without that, the words were completely innocent. With the wiggle they were laced with innuendo and flirtation and made him wonder if she liked being told what to do in the bedroom. He couldn’t imagine Lemon as a sweet little submissive. If he tried ordering her around naked she’d fight with him just like she always did and then he’d have to punish her. The idea of spanking her cute little ass was far too appealing considering he’d never been into those kinds of games and he quickly shook the thought away. He shouldn’t be imagining Lemon naked anyway. It was hell on his willpower.

  “I don’t order you around.”

  “Get up on the porch, Lemon, before you catch cold. Go in the house and change, Lemon. You better hurry, Lemon.” She mocked his voice and then pranced out of the way when he attempted to shove her playfully.

  “I do not sound like that.”

  She giggled, “Sure you do. You have total Dad voice.”

  “I do not.”

  “Do too.”

  “Do not.”

  “Do too.”

  He groaned when the argument literally began to sound like the fights his children got into, “Fine, but if I have Dad voice it’s only because I’m a Dad now. Remember?”

  “Psh.” She scoffed, “You had Dad voice when you were like twelve years old.”

  “I did not.”

  “Did too.”

  “Did…” He bit his tongue and she laughed again, “Brat.”

  “Bore.”

  “If you didn’t act like a twelve year old I wouldn’t feel the need to boss you around.” Probably, he silently amended.

  “Mmhmm.” She rolled her eyes.

  “I heard that.”

  “You were supposed to, Dad.”

  “Turning at the next street.” He supplied as they approached the intersection, “And do not call me that. It’s… creepy.”

  She giggled again, “Yeah you’re right. I’ll give you that one.”

  They fell silent for a moment as they made their turn and headed up the next street. Fate was beginning to wake up and several cars rolled past them. He recognized them all and silently cursed himself for ever thinking this was a good idea. He was running the streets with a half-naked superstar. The gossip this would create would be insane.

  “How are the kids though? For real. I know I give you a hard time but I also know you’re a good dad. Everything good with the girls?”

  Shane shot her a look out of the corner of his eye, surprised by the serious turn. The few times they’d been thrown together over the years at family events or dinners, he’d rarely spoken to Lemon for more than their usual teasing comments. He knew she cared about his kids. She sent them presents on their birthdays and at Christmas and at all of those family events he inevitably found her in the middle of whatever shenanigans his girls were getting into. But he still hadn’t expected her to ask about them for some reason.

  Maybe because for the first time in a really long time, his kids weren’t the first thing on his mind when he was with Lemon.

  He cleared his throat, “Things are good. Rosie started first grade this year and loves being able to ride the same bus home with her sisters now. Sophie is as shy as ever unless you give her an instrument to hide behind. Thank you so much for the karaoke machine last Christmas by the way.” He saw her stifle a laugh and smiled himself, “And Georgie is dating. My little girl has a boyfriend. So yeah, I spend a lot of time cleaning my gun.”

  Lemon laughed, “Aww, Georgie’s dating? Who’s her boyfriend? Anyone I might know?”

  “Nah, probably not. His name’s Robbie West.”

  “A West? Riley was about your age right? Did he have a kid the same time you had Georgie?” Her brows furrowed and he shook his head.

  “Nah, it’s his step-son. He married Jenny Wright a few years ago and adopted her two sons because Rocky turned out to be a piece of shit father.”

  “I don’t remember him but I remember Riley West.” She let out a little sigh and he grumbled which made her laugh, “Oh, don’t be jealous. He was hot back in high school but I only had eyes for one older boy and he treated me like an annoying little sister.”

  Shane missed a step and had to catch his balance awkwardly, “Wait… what?”

  “Oh come on.” Lemon laughed again and slowed until he’d caught back up to her, “You must have known I had the biggest freaking crush on you when I was a kid.”

  “Uh….”

  “Seriously?” She gaped at him. “You might be the only person in this entire town that didn’t know that Shane.”

  “But…” He wiped at a bead of sweat on his forehead, “But, no, you were… really?”

  She huffed, “I followed you around everywhere remember?”

  “I thought that was just a thing little kids did to big brothers. Seth followed me around too.”

  “You’re an idiot.” She laughed and shook her head, “I used to write Mrs. Lemon Lowry on my notebooks in middle school. You saw it! You grabbed it one day when I was doing homework with Seth and teased me about it mercilessly.”

  “I thought you meant Seth.” He shrugged uneasily as he remembered how horrified she’d been, refusing to tease him back and instead busting into tears. “You two
were inseparable. He was your boyfriend. You first boyfriend! Your first everything as far as I knew.”

  Lemon made a rude noise, “Um no! Seth was not my first anything more risqué than hand-holding and grade school I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.”

  “Jesus, Lemon. I don’t need to know…”

  “Seth and I never dated.” She looked at him like he was crazy, “He’s like a brother to me. Why would you think we dated? Did he tell you that we did? Because I can still kick his ass if I need to.”

  Shane managed an awkward laugh, “I don’t know, I guess I just assumed because you two were always together that you were dating. You were teenagers and hell, it’s not like I was getting much sleep those days. By the time you two hit high school I’d found out I was going to be a father and was getting married and dealing with an infant. Maybe I was confused.”

  “Clearly you were confused. Me and Seth? Gross.”

  He did laugh at that, “I caught you sneaking into his room, more than once.”

  “Not to get laid, Deputy Do-Right, because he was my friend and it was past curfew and his big brother was kind of a bossy asshole about stuff like that.”

  “Nice.”

  “You were.”

  “I didn’t want my little brother making the same mistakes I did and turning eighteen with a baby on the way. If that made me an asshole, fine. I was an asshole.”

  Lemon only snorted, “We finally agree on something.”

  He flipped her off and she giggled merrily. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d laughed this much. Lemon was nothing if not entertaining.

  “So…” She said half a block later, “You think Georgie was a mistake?”

  “What?” He balked, whipping his head to face her. “No! Of course not! That’s not what I said.”

  “You said you made a mistake and ended up married with an infant so…”

  He stopped running and put his hands on his hips, “I love Georgie. She’s amazing and beautiful and smart. I would never, ever, call her a mistake. I loved Holly and she loved me and we would have gotten married and had Georgie at some point anyway. Do I wish we’d been smart enough to use protection so that we were a little older and wiser when we had our first child? Yes. But that doesn’t mean I think she was a mistake.”