“Sure. That will work.” He didn’t blame her for wanting to stay put for the night. She’d been behind the wheel for hours.
The motel was a typical roadway-style place, located in a rural area. The restaurant next to it was a rustic building with a yellow rose painted in the window, and across the street was a gas station with a little convenience store.
She parked the truck and trailer. “The equestrian center is just up the road. It’ll be easy to head over there in the morning.”
“I’m sorry I wasn’t able to help with the driving. You must be beat.”
“I’m a little tired, but it’s nothing a hot meal can’t cure.” She glanced over at him. “Besides, you’ll be able to drive once your identity is restored and you have access to your driver’s license. I wonder how long it will be before the police uncover anything.”
“I don’t know, but Deputy Tobbs is probably right about me having been carjacked and robbed. That scenario seems to make the most sense.”
“Do you remember how to drive?”
“I have a sense of it. I’m sure that when I get behind the wheel it will feel natural.”
They exited the truck and went into the rental office. The middle-aged woman behind the counter greeted them, and J.D. realized that they probably looked like a couple, as if they would be staying together. That was quickly dispelled. Jenna asked for two rooms.
Afterward, she handed him his key card. “Your room is next to mine.”
For lack of a better response, he made a joke. “What happened to putting me in a room far, far away from yours?”
She smiled. “What can I say? It would have been weird. The clerk would have thought you were a leper.”
“I’m just an amnesiac. That’s not nearly as bad.” He smiled, too. “You can’t catch my forgotten memory.”
Her expression turned somber. “Sometimes I wish I could.”
He assumed that she was referring to the Savannah Jeffries scandal. “I’m sorry you’re at odds with what’s going on with your family.”
“It helped talking to you about it.”
“I’m glad you trusted me with your feelings.”
“You’re turning into a really good friend, J.D.”
“So are you, Jenna.”
A beat of intimacy passed between them, but she filled it quickly. “Are you ready to eat? We can bring our luggage into our rooms after dinner.”
He nodded. His luggage was a duffel bag he’d borrowed from Manny, and hers was an airline-style carry-on with a push-button handle and wheels.
They entered the diner. It had the same rustic appeal inside as it did on the outside, with battered wood booths and antler light fixtures.
A hostess took them to a small corner booth, and they scooted in beside each other. J.D. studied the menu, but Jenna only glanced at hers.
“I already know what I want,” she said. “I’ve got a hankering for a burger and fries. A chocolate milk shake, too.”
“That sounds good. I’ll get the same thing.” He set his menu down. “But with a root-beer float.”
The waitress arrived, and they placed their orders.
While they waited for the meals, he asked, “Where in Houston did you grow up?”
“It’s about sixty miles from here. Mom stayed in our old house after the divorce, and Dad got himself a new place, but it was in the same neighborhood.”
“A suburban area?”
She nodded. “Near shopping malls and schools and everything else a family might want, I guess. I prefer the country. Always have, always will.”
He glanced out the window. “I like this area. It has a great view.”
“That’s the Sam Houston National Forest in the distance.”
“It’s impressive.”
“Yes, it is.” She frowned. “My dad was named after Sam Houston. Sam Houston Byrd. My uncle’s full name is William Travis Byrd. But less people know who William Travis is than Sam Houston. Dad got the biggie.”
She always scowled when she mentioned her father, but he understood why, considering the Savannah situation. Still, he wished it wasn’t troubling her so badly. “You should discuss the details with your dad.”
“The details?”
“About what happened all those years ago.”
“I don’t want to hear about his dirty little fling with his brother’s girlfriend.”
“I’m talking about the impact it had on his life and the family rift it caused, not the physical stuff between him and Savannah.”
She set her jaw. “I know what you meant.”
Dang, she was stubborn. “I’m just saying that maybe you should try to make things right with your dad.”
“I’m not going to right his wrong.”
“There are two sides to every story.”
“His side isn’t a story I care to hear.”
He decided to drop it for now, with the intention of broaching the subject another time. The way this was gnawing at her wasn’t healthy.
During the lapse in conversation, their food and drinks arrived. She dived in, as eager as a bear coming out of hibernation.
“I’m sorry for getting testy,” she said.
“You’ll feel better now that you’re getting some chow in you.”
“It’s yummy. The milk shake, especially.” She sipped from a red-and-white-striped straw.
“My root-beer float is good, too.”
She smiled. “Sugar highs.”
He could get high on her smile, if he let himself. Let himself? Hell, he already was.
As a distraction, J.D. looked out the window again, where the view erupted into hills, valleys and scores of trees.
She followed his line of sight. “I hope you didn’t get the impression that I’m at odds with the real Sam Houston. It’s not his fault that my dad ended up with his name.”
“I didn’t think you disliked Colonneh.”
“What? Who?”
He blinked, as confused as she was. He didn’t know why he’d said Colonneh. Not until his thoughts jumbled into a feeling, a memory, and struck him like a warrior’s arrow. “Oh, God, Jenna, I’m related to him.”
“I don’t know who you’re talking about.”
He turned to look at her. “Sam Houston.”
He gaped at him. “The Sam Houston?”
“Well, not him, exactly. But to the band of Cherokee that adopted him.”
Another gape. “You’re Cherokee?”
“Part. A quarter,” he added, amazed by how quickly this information was tumbling into his mind. “That’s how I’m registered with the tribe.”
“And you’re certain that you’re affiliated with the band that adopted Sam?”
“Yes. This stuff just hit me, memories that zoomed into my head.” And it made him damned proud, too. “Pretty cool, huh?”
“I’ll say.” She studied him with awe. “Was Colonneh Sam’s Cherokee name?”
He nodded. “It means The Raven.”
“Oh, that’s right. His other name was Raven. All Texans should know that. But to actually know someone whose ancestry is connected to his...” She paused. “Do you recall anything else about yourself? Like who told you about your heritage?”
“No. But I’m from Texas. I’m not sure what part I hail from, but it’s my homeland.” He smiled, feeling a bond with the Lone Star State, with Sam, with the Cherokee blood running through his veins.
“I’m happy for you, J.D.”
As she leaned toward him, his heart knocked against his chest. She was almost close enough to kiss. All he had to do was make his move to close the deal. He studied her mouth, then lifted his gaze. She was staring at him, too.
“We aren’t supposed to be doing this,”
she said.
“We aren’t doing anything but looking at each other.”
“But we want to do more.”
“We’ve wanted that since the beginning.”
“We can’t.”
“We could,” he corrected. “But we agreed that we wouldn’t.”
Regardless, they were damn close to breaking their agreement. She even wet her lips. Unable to help himself, so did he. But then Jenna moved away from him and grabbed her milk shake, sucking viciously on the straw. Unfortunately, her diversion didn’t help. It only managed to give him a wildly sexual feeling, worsening his urges.
After their meal ended, they got their luggage from the truck and proceeded to their rooms. But they didn’t unlock their doors. They just stood there, trapped in their attraction.
“We better go,” she said.
He motioned with his chin. “You first.”
She fumbled for her key card, digging around in her purse. She found it and gripped the plastic a little too tightly. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Okay.” He didn’t trust himself to say anything else. He was still thinking about her mouth on the straw or, more accurately, about kissing her senseless.
She went inside, and he waited until she closed the door before he blew out his breath.
And wished that he was spending the night with her.
* * *
Jenna stood in the middle of her room, wondering how long it would take J.D. to enter his. This is crazy, she thought, absolute insanity. She wanted to forgo their friendship pact and become lovers.
Then why not do it? Honestly, what did she have to lose?
Her heart, for one thing. If she fell in love with him, she would be setting herself up for a world of pain. It wasn’t as if J.D. was going to stick around and
marry her.
But he wasn’t even husband material, so what was the likelihood of falling in love with him, anyway? There was nothing wrong with uncommitted sex. True, it wasn’t Jenna’s style, but maybe she needed to rethink her immediate priorities. Later, she could find a man who had the qualities on her list. Later, she could walk down the aisle with Mr. Right. But at the moment,
Mr. Right Now was right next door.
Still, she stalled.
Needing more time to contemplate the issue, she stripped off her clothes and drew a hot bath. Determined to relax, she pinned up her hair and soaked in the tub. She even closed her eyes. Then she lost all sense of reason and conjured an image of J.D. pulling her into his arms. So much for contemplating the issue. She knew darned well that she was going to cave into temptation.
Should she invite him to her room or go to his? Jenna didn’t have any experience at this sort of thing.
She sat upright and scrubbed clean, careful not to get amorous with the soap. Touching herself wouldn’t help her cause.
After drying off, she moisturized her skin. She brushed her teeth, refreshed her face and let down her hair, too.
Maybe it would be better to invite him over. That way she didn’t have to get dressed. She could wrap herself in her robe and stay naked underneath.
What if he rebuffed her advances?
Oh, sure. As if that was going to happen. She knew that J.D. wanted this as badly as she did.
She slipped on her robe, a silky garment that caressed her flesh. Better though, would be the sensation of J.D.’s hands.
Without further hesitation, she dialed his room.
He answered on the second ring. “Hello?”
“It’s me,” she said, instead of reciting her name. Who else would be calling him at the motel? “I was wondering if you wanted to come over and hang out.”
A slight pause. “For how long?”
Here goes, she thought. “All night. I want to be with you, J.D.”
His voice turned graveled. “Are you sure?”
Her nerves jangled. “Yes.”
“I just got out of the shower.” His voice remained rough, anxious, sexy. “I need to get dressed.”
Was he fully naked? Or did he have a towel tucked around his waist? She didn’t have the courage to ask. Instead, she said, “I just got out of the bath. And I’m in my robe.” Fair warning, she decided. No surprises.
“Damn. I’ll hurry. But first I have to run across the street to the convenience store.”
Obviously he intended to buy condoms. The motel didn’t provide them, not like Donna had done for the guest accommodations at the ranch.
“I can’t believe this is going to happen,” he said. “Are you sure you’re not going to change your mind?”
“I’m positive.” She didn’t have the strength to back out. She needed him, more than anything. “I’ll see you soon.”
They ended the call with eager goodbyes, and she returned to the bathroom to check her appearance. She even opened her robe and looked at her naked self in the mirror.
Her nerves went nuts. What if he found her lacking? What if he thought her hips were too bony or her breasts were too small? Dang it, why hadn’t she been blessed with a figure like her sister’s?
Jenna closed her robe and tied the belt. She couldn’t do anything about her body. She was what she was.
She headed for the bed and sat on the edge of it. He’d said that he would hurry, but it felt like forever.
Finally, a knock sounded on the door.
She leaped up and answered it. There stood J.D. with a small paper bag in one hand and a plastic yellow rose in the other. Their gazes locked, and he extended the rose.
He said, “It’s not the prettiest flower, but it’s all they had.”
She accepted his gift, assuming that the convenience store was selling them as souvenirs. “I think it’s wonderful that you thought of me.” And she would cherish the rose, simply because he gave it to her. “Come in, J.D.”
He crossed the threshold and closed the door. Silence sizzled between them. He glanced down at her robe, particularly at the area where it gapped in front, revealing the hint of flesh between her breasts.
She didn’t make an effort to close the material. Nor did she feel self-conscious about her lack of cleavage. He obviously liked what he saw.
He said, “Promise me that you won’t have regrets later.”
“I promise.”
“What about the comment you made before?”
She considered his question. “You mean on the night we danced?”
He nodded, repeating her words and making them clear. “You said that if you slept with me, you would get attached and it would only make my leaving more difficult for you.”
She replied as honestly as she could. “That crossed my mind tonight. I even considered how terrible it would be if I fell in love with you. But it’s become more difficult wanting you than not having you, so I’m not going to worry about the future. All that matters is the here and now.”
He reached out to touch her cheek. “Someday you’ll find the man you’re meant to marry.”
“I’m counting on it.”
But that didn’t mean that she didn’t appreciate him, exactly as he was, at this very moment. His hair was damp from the shower and although he’d combed it back, stray pieces fell on to his forehead. His hasty attire consisted of jeans, an untucked shirt, no belt and his usual battered boots.
He removed the condoms from the bag and opened the box. “I’m going to put these beside the bed for when we need them.”
She handed him the flower. “Will you put the rose there, too?”
He set everything on the nightstand and returned to her. Then he took her into his arms and kissed her. The kiss she’d been waiting for. The kiss he’d been hungry to give her. Their lips met softly at first, but he deepened the contact quickly, using his tongue to intensify the feeling.
She flung her arms around his neck, and he held her body close to his. She could smell a citrus aroma—the customary soap from the motel—on his skin. She’d bathed with the same type of soap, and somehow that made their union seem even more sensual.
J.D. released the tie on her robe and the garment drifted open. He stepped back to look at her, and her heart thudded in her ears.
“Take it all the way off,” he said.
Suddenly she went shy, her self-consciousness kicking in. But she did his bidding and removed the robe so he could fully see her.
“I should have put the lights on low,” she said.
“No. It’s perfect like this. You’re perfect. Turn around.”
She made what she hoped was a ladylike pirouette. When she faced him once again, he was smiling. She smiled, too. His crooked grin was infectious.
He anxiously led her to bed.
She watched while he discarded his clothes. They reclined on the mattress and started kissing again. Only now, caressing was involved. He roamed his hands along the lines of her body, making her skin tingle. She stroked him, too, gliding over flesh and bone and strong male muscle.
“I can’t remember being with anyone else,” he said. “But I’m glad I can’t. I want this to be my first intimate memory.”
His words affected her as deeply as his touch. “You certainly haven’t forgotten how to entice a woman.”
“You make me want to entice you.”
He climbed on top, pinning her hands above her head and making her his willing prisoner. She studied his features. Now that she knew about his Cherokee roots, his heritage seemed magnificently obvious.
“Being with you is everything I imagined,” she said.
“For me, too.” He released her, but only because he was moving down her body and making a moist path with his tongue.
She arched and closed her eyes. He did things a man had no right to do, things that ignited a fire, things that made her melt all over him. By the time she opened her eyes, she could barely see straight.
He reached for the protection, ripped into a packet and sheathed himself. He was impatient, but so was she. She didn’t want to wait another second.
He entered her, and their lovemaking took flight, with Jenna matching his glorious rhythm. As she moved her hips in time with his, prisms of colors spun in her mind, binding them together, almost as if they were one.
The Texan's Future Bride Page 9
