by Candis Terry
When the woman finally left to tend to other customers, Jake stretched out his leg and leaned back in his chair. He lifted his bottle and tilted it toward hers. Their amber bottles clinked together, then he took a long drink as if he’d been dying of thirst.
Annie took a sip of ale and set the bottle down on the little cocktail napkin that read “Why limit happy to an hour?” “So how’s Hank working out?”
“Great. Well, except when he gives me the sad puppy face so he can have table scraps, then proceeds to have no discretion later on letting it all go. If you know what I mean.”
She laughed. “I imagine it’s about like Max. Who, unfortunately, is all boy and thinks body noises are hysterical.”
“You’d better be glad he’s all boy. You wouldn’t want him to end up like Bo Jennings.”
The thought of what went on behind the scenes in the Jennings household made her giggle. “Lucky for Max I’d never be that kind of mother.”
“You’re a great mom. I always thought that women became great mothers because they had great role models. But you’re just a natural. Max is a lucky little boy.”
“Awww. There you go being all sweet again.”
“Please don’t tell my brothers. They’d kick my ass if I started getting all wimpy.”
“Don’t worry.” She reached across the table and patted the top of his hand. “I’ll protect you.”
“I believe you.” With a gaze directly to her eyes, he turned his hand over and his fingers intertwined through her own. The heat of his palm traveled all the way to her heart.
“Life isn’t always fair, Jake.” She squeezed his big hand. “And I don’t always have the answers. But I want to be that soft landing place for you. I want to be that heart that understands. Because . . . we’re friends, right?”
He searched her face several times before he simply nodded.
“My phone is always on, and my ears and heart are always open. Just in case you ever need someone to talk to. Okay?”
A sigh expanded his chest. “Okay.”
From the small stage at the front of the enclosed garden, the band rolled into Dierks Bentley’s “Come a Little Closer.”
Jake stood and tugged her hand. “Dance with me.”
“Are you sure? I noticed you were limping a little after tossing me over your shoulder.”
“Crazy as it sounds . . .” His smile warmed her from the inside out. “When I’m with you, it doesn’t seem so bad.”
The huge lump in her throat made it difficult to speak.
“Now what’s a girl supposed to say to that?”
“How about, ‘yes, Jake, I’d love to dance with you.’ ”
“Funny. That’s exactly what I was about to say.” She stood and took his hand. He didn’t lead her to the dance floor. Instead, he took her in his arms right there, and they danced in the narrow space between their table and the lattice wall. Above them, the fairy lights twinkled, and the night air was scented with something sweet and promising.
The night had started out bad, but right now, Annie felt like she’d floated up and gone to heaven.
When Jake got lost in the moment and enjoyed himself, he felt good. Like he could breathe without the constriction of the guilt that hung around his neck like an ever-tightening noose.
He drew Annie in close just like the song said. Breathed in her sweet perfume. Stroked her soft skin beneath his fingers. Felt the quickened thump of her heart against his chest. As they moved slowly together, he wondered again how she’d evaded his radar all these years. Ridiculous. Especially when they’d practically been raised together.
He didn’t think of her as a kid or a sister now.
Now she was definitely all woman. So new and fascinating to him that he felt like he was waiting for Christmas morning. Waiting to unwrap that one highly anticipated gift that would make his eyes pop and his jaw drop.
He smoothed his hand across the silky fabric of her dress and pictured easing that zipper down her back and slipping it off her shoulders. He imagined tossing it aside, continuing to caress all that soft skin, and finding even more ways to make her moan and sigh. Laugh and smile.
She’d offered him friendship, a warm heart, and a soft place to land.
As he gazed down into her pretty blue eyes, he realized that she was more than just a soft place to land.
Right now, with her, was the only place he wanted to be.
Chapter 10
Some things in life were worth waiting for.
At almost twenty-nine years old, Annie realized Jake was the first guy to walk her to her front door after a date. True, he hadn’t actually started out as her date. But she’d always been a firm believer that how you began the dance didn’t matter half as much as how you ended it.
She still felt a little bad about abandoning Bo at the restaurant, and she hoped he wouldn’t hold it against her if she ever needed his skills in the emergency room. But she was really glad that it was Jake holding her hand up the walkway to her front door. That it was Jake taking her keys and opening that door. That it was Jake who walked inside the house, turned on a light, and checked to see that all was well inside before he said good night.
After the Blue Armadillo, he’d taken her back to the restaurant to pick up her car. Then he’d followed her home to make sure she got there safe.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to take you to pick up Max?” he asked on his way back to the door.
“It’s late. Abby said it was no problem letting him stay the night. I’m sure everyone over there is already asleep. Morning will be fine. Plus, they have Izzy this weekend and Max is crazy about his cousin. He won’t even miss me.”
“I’m sure you’re wrong about that.”
“I’d like to be, but he’s a pretty independent little boy already. He barely tolerates me smooching on him anymore.”
His hand—curled around the doorknob—paused. Flirtation pushed up the corners of his sexy mouth. “Need a substitute?”
“For?”
“Smooching.”
She laughed.
He didn’t.
Instead, he let go of the knob, slipped an arm around her waist, and pulled her in close. “I should say I’m sorry I ruined your date tonight. Even if it wasn’t exactly what you expected.” He slid his fingers into the hair at her temple, cupped the back of her head, and stared into her face. The hunger that burned hot in his eyes sizzled all the way down between her thighs. “But I’d be lying.”
Before she could protest—not that she would—he’d pinned her between his hard body and the wall. Her breasts crushed against his chest. His thigh thrust between her legs and rubbed against her. Her heart pounded. And then he kissed her with all the hunger that had been burning in his eyes. Kissed her with a desire that stole her breath. Kissed her like he needed her, like she was everything to him.
She’d been starved for this. Needed to hold on so she could maintain reason. But how could she when he was everything she’d ever wanted? She wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders, his hard biceps. She clutched and grasped at everything she could reach while he filled his hands with the curve of her butt, the swell of her breasts.
Beneath the clingy dress and the black silk of her barely existent panties, she grew damp and needy. When they both needed air, he lowered his mouth to that sensitive place beneath her ear. He licked, nibbled, and sucked his way down her throat, sending a wild shot of desire skittering across her skin, into her breasts, and down through her stomach. Between her legs, she ached for him, for the erection that pulsed beneath her palm as she pressed it against the zipper of his pants. He rocked into her, and then his mouth was back on hers as his strong fingers gathered up the bottom of her dress and inched it upward.
“I want you, Annie.” His words came broken between harsh breaths. “Want you so bad I’m about t
o explode.”
The thought that he wanted her that much nearly pushed her over the edge. He rubbed that muscled thigh between her legs again, cupped his hands over her breasts, and gently squeezed. She was so damned excited, she could barely breathe. He pushed the top of her dress down, exposed her nipples, and greedily sucked one into his warm mouth.
“Please tell me you have a condom.”
He smiled against her skin. “More than one.”
“Thank God.” Her head dropped back with a thunk to the wall as he drew the other nipple into his mouth and gently rolled it between his teeth.
“And . . .” His mouth moved back up her neck. “We’ve got all night.”
“I like the sound of that.” She panted because that was the only way she could breathe when he slid his thumb beneath the strings holding up her black lace panties.
“I’ll give you everything you want tonight, Annie.”
Hallelujah.
“But tomorrow . . . we have to go back to being just friends again. Okay?” His fingers teased close to the flesh between her legs, and her aching need almost drowned out his words.
“Just friends?” she murmured.
“Good friends.” He nodded against her shoulder just as his fingers slid into home base.
Ice water rushed over all those warm, moist places his mouth and fingers had traveled. Even as she wanted to strip him down and see how high the rest of these fireworks could fly, she placed her hand on the wall behind her and walked her fingers across the surface until she felt the cold steel of the doorknob. With a quick twist, she yanked it open, shoved him outside, and nearly cried at the utter surprise on his face just before she slammed the door shut and locked it tight.
“Annie, what the hell?” He pounded on the door. “Open up.”
Tears and disappointment clogged her throat as she leaned back against the barrier between her and her one desire.
“I’m not your booty call, Jake Wilder.” She rested her palms and forehead against the door. “Not yours. Not anybody’s.”
“I know that.” His sigh of frustration was audible. “Open the door.”
“I’ll always be your friend, Jake. I’ll always be here for you . . . as your friend.” She wiped the moisture from the corner of her eye. “But if you want my body, it comes as a package deal with my heart. It’s not on loan just because I’m your friend. Take it or leave it.”
“Annie . . .”
“Take it or leave it.”
“Will you please just open the door?”
A woman who’d been burned didn’t readily stick her heart in the fire a second time. “Open the door” was not the same as “I’ll take it.” Or “I’ll take you.” Or “I need you, Annie.” “Open the door” meant get out the heavy-duty bandages because you’re going to need them when I crush your heart like a dried rose.
“Please?” he implored.
She inhaled her self-respect, turned the dead bolt, and opened the door just wide enough to see his face through the crack.
“Annie?”
His hands went to his hips, and she caught the slight grimace on his face. Pain or regret? She didn’t know.
“Let me come in so we can talk,” he said. A muscle twitched in his jaw—a clear sign of his frustration.
Too bad.
“Talking leads to touching,” she said. “Not that I’m opposed to either, but I have a past of listening to pretty words that are empty just so a man can have what he wants. I deserve to be more than a one-night stand. More than just a cheerleader. More than just someone who pays the bills, cooks, and cleans. More than a doormat. I deserve to give myself to someone who’s willing to give himself back to me. One hundred percent. If you can’t do that, then these panties—no matter how small—are staying in place.”
For a long moment, they stood there, looking at each other. Annie’s heart chanted “please, please, please,” while Jake’s jaw twitched and clenched. Eventually, he dropped his head and slowly shook it from side to side. Her hopeful heart seized up so hard and fast it brought tears to her eyes.
“Maybe you’d best give Jessica Holt a call. Good night, Jake.”
In the dark of the night, the click of the closing door sounded more like the hard slam of a guillotine blade on all her hopes and dreams.
Jake limped back to his truck, slid onto the seat, and slammed the door shut.
“Fuck!” He pounded the steering wheel with both fists. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!”
How could one person fuck up so many times without even trying?
“Fuck!” The steering wheel suffered another forceful wallop.
Anger, frustration, and disappointment swirled through him so fast he didn’t know which way to turn. Inside, he felt like he might explode.
And it had nothing to do with sexual frustration.
Yes, more than anything, he’d wanted to take Annie in his arms and make love to her. All fucking night long. Until neither of them could breathe or think. But he wasn’t that immature. At least not in that way. His frustration came from wanting to give but being too damn fearful to cross that line.
Annie was dead-on. She deserved someone who would love her and treat her well. Even if sometimes she drove him bat-shit crazy in the head, he wanted that for her.
But could he ever be the one to give it to her?
For the first time in his life, he was scared.
More scared than when he’d first planted his boots in the enemy’s playground. More scared than when the bullet had sliced through his leg and he didn’t know if another one would follow to completely take him out.
For the first time in his life, he was confused. Genuinely a jumbled, tangled, fucked-up mess in the heart.
He was scared he might never figure things out.
And for the first time in his life, he wished someone would just step up and tell him what to do.
Minutes later, the tires of his truck kicked up dust as he roared down the gravel road toward Wilder Ranch. Neutral ground, for the time being.
The darkened house and silent property created the perfect scenario for a man who needed to put in some serious thinking time.
Parking the truck near the barn, he knew going into the house would be a mistake. He’d probably end up waking his mother, which would make her start to worry, which would have her end up going into the kitchen to bake something, which wouldn’t help the situation at all. Tonight, he didn’t need calories, he needed clarity. Best he kept his troubles to himself.
Looking for a way to expend his energy, he walked the perimeter of the house.
Much of the land between the multiple barns near the house were corrals and grass areas shaded by large oaks. Because the majority of the work to be done at Wilder Ranch was in front, his father had never made use of the portion of the land behind the house. A substantial part of the property had amazing views of the surrounding hills that were overgrown with aged oaks, shrubs, and tall grass. The creek that ran through the property split off in several locations. The main section ran by Jackson’s place. Another by Jesse’s. Another large segment ran about fifty yards behind the main house. Because the cattle were fenced off, the water in the creek was cool and pristine.
When he and his brothers had been very young, they mostly played in the creek behind the house. When they’d gotten older, they’d moved out to the larger vein close to where Jackson and Abby had built their home. At the time their mother had questioned why they’d want to stray so far from the house. It had been hard to tell her that, as boys, they’d been trying to spread their wings. See what trouble their hell-raising ways could get them into. Often, those ways had required a trip to the emergency room. Other times, it had landed them on restriction. But it had always been fun.
Jake walked along the sandy bank, watched the water tumble over the rocks beneath the bright moonlight.
He’d always loved to work with the gifts Mother Nature offered that so many overlooked. He remembered the joy he’d felt when he’d been in college, learning the types of plants and how to care for them. Learning the necessities of design, then expanding on an original idea. Immersing himself in what the earth offered had always given him a sense of peace, of fulfillment. And that’s exactly what he needed now.
Carefully, he knelt by the edge where the water lapped up onto the sandy soil. He fished a small quartz out of the water and bounced the weight of the rock in his hand. Then he looked up at his surroundings.
In his mind, he pictured a completely different scenario. Jesse had created a backyard oasis using the natural landscape, native plants, and adding a pool and spa behind his house that offered an enormous outdoor living area worthy of a magazine cover. Why couldn’t he do the same? His savings could handle it, and the idea of putting some sweat equity into his new/old home sounded very appealing.
He turned and looked back at the ranch-style house that spread out like giant wings. The front and sides of the house had a wraparound veranda, but the house had no back patio. All the living and partying had been done in the front beneath the shade of the giant oaks. Jackson and Abby had even been married out there. There were plenty more trees in back with a wide-open space to create an entertainment area to rival his brother’s. He could picture his family enjoying themselves while his nieces and Annie’s little boy played. The project would give him something to do while he figured out what to do with the rest of his life besides feed and drive cattle.
Inspired, he thought of going into the house to grab a pad of paper and pencil and do some sketching, but his mom was a light sleeper. He’d have to find another way to burn off the restlessness scratching at the back of his neck. Returning to Annie’s wasn’t the answer. Even if it was exactly what he wanted to do.
Plenty of moonlight existed. He could always saddle up Rocky and go for a ride. The horse was sure-footed and could practically cross the grounds blindfolded. So a venture out to unleash a little tension shouldn’t be an issue. Forgetting about what had happened at Annie’s wouldn’t be easy, but if he intended to get any sleep, he had to do something.
