“Perfect. Will you join me?”
“Oh, I…” She looked at Ty first, then around the restaurant. The dinner crowd had yet to arrive. “Okay, but just for a few minutes.”
“Great, I’ll go grab a booth.” Bryce looked at Ty. “You want to join us?”
“No, thanks.” Ty winked at his mother. “This homework’s got to be done.”
Kerri Ann set the plate on the table and slid in the booth opposite Bryce. He took her hand and lifted her knuckles to his lips. “You’d better taste it first.”
“That’s not for the food.”
She blushed and looked over toward the bar. Ty sat hunched over his books, engrossed in angles and curves.
“He’s fine with it, Kerri Ann. I just talked to him.”
“You did? What’d he say?”
Bryce dove into the steaming lasagna before she could warn him about the temperature. “Damn, that’s hot.”
“If you hadn’t shoveled it in so fast, I could have told you.” She twisted the paper from Bryce’s napkin in her hands and waited for him to tell her about Ty. “So?”
“I told him we’d hang out like usual, that I wouldn’t be trying to take you away from him. It’ll basically be the same as it was, except for the sex.”
“What?” she practically screamed. She ducked her head and whispered, “Are you out of your mind?”
Bryce laughed. “I’m just kidding, Kerri Ann. I think that part’s implied.”
She watched him attempt another bite, decide it was okay, and take another. “How are we going to…ya know?”
He sipped his tea. “Have sex? The usual way, missionary style, you on top, against the wall…”
“Bryce, I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
She slapped his arm. “Think about it. I live with a teenager. It’s not like he goes to bed at eight o’clock every night. What are we going to do?”
He looked at her with his brows raised, seemed to think a minute. “I don’t know, Kerri Ann. It all depends on what you’re comfortable with.”
“You want to sleep over.” It wasn’t a question and the answer was written all over his face.
“Wasn’t that the whole reason we both had very uncomfortable conversations with him? Okay, maybe not the only reason, but a big part of the reason? I don’t think we’ll fool him if you walk me out to the car and you’re gone for an hour.”
Hell, there’d be no getting around it. “We could just do it at your place.”
“We could, but you don’t leave here until late at night. I know you, Kerri Ann. You won’t feel comfortable leaving Ty alone at home for hours at a time.”
“No, you’re right, I won’t. Damn it, why does it have to be so complicated?”
“Because it is.” He dropped his fork and picked up her hand. “I guess we’ll just have to do it when he’s at Jesse’s. It’s not ideal and not nearly enough,” he said with a grin, “but it’ll have to do.”
“I knew this wouldn’t be easy.”
“Nothing worth having ever is,” he said.
Chapter 22
The pizza carton sat on the coffee table, empty except for the paper napkins and plates Jesse and Angelita had used to devour it. Jesse had put the extra box in the refrigerator before he’d been tempted to start in on it after finishing off three-quarters of the first. They’d dived into the pizza as if it were their last meal.
“I’m stuffed,” Angelita announced as she leaned back into the futon and patted her flat stomach. “I shouldn’t have eaten that last piece.” She looked over at Jesse and shook her head. “I don’t know where all the food you put in your body goes. How many pieces did you eat? Five?”
“Six.” He mirrored her position on the couch and angled his head to study her. They’d been so intent on eating, the earlier threads of their conversation got lost in the jostling of plates and shoveling of pizza. When it came to food, he had a one-track mind. With most of the food gone, his mind reeled back to the whole reason they sat alone in a deserted cabin in the woods. His unquenchable need for her. “I’ll probably be hungry again in an hour.” Hungry for more than pizza. “You want some more wine?” He’d had to ply her with a second glass. She’d resisted as if drinking it would make her clothes fall off.
“No, I’ve had enough of that too.” She looked around the cabin. He itched to touch the ends of her dark corkscrews as they bounced around her shoulders. “There’s no TV in here?”
“Nope.” He stretched his arm along the back of the futon. “Jerry’s too stingy to spring for cable.”
“This is Jerry’s cabin?”
“Yeah. Would you believe he’s a professor of English literature at WCU?”
“You’re kidding.” She looked around again and the ends of her hair teased his fingers. “Where are all his books? You’d think an English professor would read in his spare time.”
“Don’t know.” He opened the drawer of the end table and rooted through coasters and old receipts. “He’s got a deck of cards. Want to play?”
She pursed her lips and considered. “Play what? I’m not much for cards.”
“Strip poker” nearly slipped off his tongue, but he’d seen how irritated she got whenever he’d insinuated a sexual relationship between them. He didn’t want to run the risk of turning her off. But after six pieces of pizza and a couple beers, he couldn’t help himself. “How about strip poker?”
Fortunately, she took his comment in stride.
“Very funny. It’d only take two hands before I’d be naked.” A very appealing blush crept into her caramel skin, reminding him of the good girl wrapped in the sex kitten body.
“So that’s a no?”
She sat up and readjusted herself on the couch. “Let’s just say if you want to get me naked, it’s going to take more than just a winning poker hand.”
That was more than he’d expected. “What’ll it take, Angelita?”
“I didn’t mean it that way,” she said. But her voice had taken on a husky quality and the rapid rise and fall of her chest had him thinking no matter how she meant it, it’d served to reignite their banked desire.
Jesse lifted his arm and let his fingers twist the ends of her hair. “I know you were kidding.” But he moved closer and let his fingertips wind deeper into her hair until they touched her scalp. “Your hair’s still wet.”
“A little,” she murmured and closed her eyes.
“You look so beautiful in the firelight.”
Her eyes sprang open as if she’d heard a gunshot. She creased her brow and her lips settled in a downward slant that made them all the more appealing. “You have all the moves down.” She angled her head so his fingers fell to the cushion. “Why do I feel like the opening act for a summer full of romance for you?”
She’d sucker punched him just when he was inching toward more. “Angelita, we’ve been through this. Getting involved with a woman isn’t a part of my daily routine.”
“Just the seasonal routine?”
“Where is this coming from? Do you need me to tell you I care?” He ran a hand through his hair and tried to calm his frustrations. “Look, I don’t know where you got the idea that I feel this way about every woman I stumble across. I’ve got an impressionable son and a business to run. Those two things keep me pretty busy most of the time.”
“I’m sorry,” she said. He’d surprised himself with the heat of his words. Clearly, he’d surprised her too. “I don’t indulge in casual affairs.”
“I want you, Angelita. There’s nothing casual about it.” The choice, he understood, had to be hers. Her eyes softened and, if possible, became a deeper shade of brown. He’d say or do anything to keep them that way.
“I’m no good with this stuff,” she admitted shyly. “I can’t tell if you’re feeding me lines or if you’re sincere.”
He inched closer, tried not to push. “What does your heart tell you?”
“I can’t trust my heart.” Her voice was only a whispe
r and her hands rubbed furiously against her knees.
“Then you’ll have to trust mine. Angelita…” He brushed his lips to hers, once, twice. Her eyes flickered and then fell closed with a sigh. She gave in to him and to herself as quickly and completely as she had the other night on the path. Only this time, Cal and Ty weren’t around to bring them back to earth. Alone in the cabin in the woods, they floated toward a place Jesse knew they’d head the moment he’d laid eyes on her. “Let me love you, Angelita. Let me have you.”
She lifted her hands to his shoulders and dug in with her nails. He hadn’t moved toward her. She closed the distance between them and kept it closed with every breath she took. Deliberately, he ran his hands along her back, up and down, to tease and to guide her toward him. She knew he wanted her, all of her, but he wouldn’t take her if she didn’t give herself freely. He’d never forced a woman and wouldn’t do so now, even when being with her, sharing all of himself with her, felt like the most important thing in the world.
***
Too much, Lita thought. There was too much pleasure, too much pressure within her body straining for release. She wanted him like she’d never wanted another. Her body and the sensations he’d aroused had taken over her brain to where she couldn’t decide, couldn’t think, but could only react. Her desperate need to stay in control, she thought dimly, was why she rarely shared her body with another. And even when she had, she’d always kept herself in check and had led her lover where she wanted him to go.
There was no leading Jesse.
He became her breath, her voice, her hunger. She’d known they’d end up here and had fought it so hard that, when she gave in to the need, it swamped her and nearly swallowed her whole. It was like riding the river after the sky had opened, one dangerous curve after another, one crest after another until there was nothing left to give. She could only take, take what he offered and demand more. With a sigh, she settled onto his lap and rode the tide.
“Angelita,” Jesse said her name as she pulled the shirt from his back. “I’ll be careful with you.”
“Don’t.” His chest felt like gold beneath her fingers, glistening and dangerous. She nipped his shoulder with her teeth and wondered how she ever thought to deny them both this pleasure. “I want everything you can give me.”
His eyes, the hazel that seesawed between blue and green, were dark in the firelight, but she could see the intensity in them as he looked at her. She saw the moment her words registered, the moment his control shattered. She should have been scared, would have been if he hadn’t pulled her shirt off and lunged for her breasts and all thoughts drained from her brain in an instant. It should have hurt, the scrape of his beard, the tug of his teeth, but it only served to urge her on.
She arched and twisted toward him. He’d stripped her shorts off in one fluid motion while she strained to rid him of his clothes. The tremble in her hands made it nearly impossible. The more frantic she became, the more she pulsed for his touch, the slower he moved, as if to demonstrate his control. He seemed to savor her with a patience she no longer possessed.
She’d known; deep down, she’d known he would take her places she’d never dare go on her own. And the fear of it, the panic she’d anticipated, melded with a need so strong it created something dark and thrilling and dangerous. His mouth cruised along her body, tasting, testing, while his hands held her wrists above her head as if he knew she’d never lie still for his sweet torture otherwise. How did he seem to know her so intimately, so soon? And why did his knowing make her desire all the more thrilling?
“Angelita.” She felt her name in the ragged breath as he nipped her ear. “Look at me.”
She opened her eyes. His lips brushed hers, his breath touched her face, and the look on his face went straight to her soul. “I want you to look at me when I take you.”
And take her he did. She struggled to keep her eyes on his, when her body bucked and shook with pleasure. This was more than wanting, more than need, more than desire. This was everything, if only she could let herself believe. Confused, delighted, soaring, she let herself go.
***
Jesse lay in a forest surrounded by trees, damp with rain and dew, encircled by the scent of wildflowers. The air lifted their smell, sweet and spicy like the woods they called home. He savored it and thought of his mother. He felt so happy, so free, he knew she had to be there, at the edge the forest planting flowers or pruning shrubs. He rushed to find her and woke with a start.
He lay in a forest, all right. A forest of hair, dark and rich and curling over the very tempting shoulder of the woman he’d spent half the night loving. How had he dreamt of his mother after all the things he’d done to Angelita, all the ways she’d touched him? It wasn’t something he wanted to explore, but the naked body nestled beside him certainly was.
He studied her as the first hint of dawn crept sidelong through the bedroom window. She looked so peaceful, almost angelic, with her skin the color of a latte, her big brown eyes shielded from view by her lids and a lock of hair over her face. He’d never seen anyone more beautiful or more filled with contradictions. She’d nervously tackled the river, shyly discussed their mutual attraction, and voraciously gave herself to him throughout the night. The tiger now slept like a kitten.
What in the hell was he going to do with her?
He wanted to ease her out of sleep and ease himself back inside of her. His physical need didn’t worry him, but the need he felt to hold her while she slept, to hold her when she woke, to hold her and never let her go…scared him to death. He could tell by her breathing she’d be asleep for awhile. He needed time to get his thoughts in order. He found his shorts in the den and moved into the kitchen to make coffee and try to get a grip on his emotions.
***
Lita woke to the smell of coffee and the feel of soft cotton sheets against her bare skin. She stretched her arms out and felt the cold sheet beside her. She opened her eyes and sat up. Where was she? Reality came crashing back like a movie clip. She and Jesse had made love, repeatedly, throughout the night. At some point, he’d carried her to bed and had loved her again. But where had he gone and why did his not being beside her fill her with panic?
She buried her face in the pillow that still held the indentation from his head and breathed in his scent. Her insides twisted with longing and she could have slapped herself. How could she have these feelings after only one night? It’d been one hell of a night, and one they both knew they’d been heading for, but how did it lead to this…desperation for him? And what the hell was she going to do about it?
She sat up and looked around the room. Her clothes were in the den where he’d peeled them off the night before and there wasn’t a swatch of anything to drape herself in. With a huff, she stood up and tried to pull the sheet from the bed like people in movies do. Somehow, it wasn’t as graceful or as easy as they made it look. After tugging the sheet off, she wrapped it around herself and walked carefully to the door.
Jesse stood at the sink, shirtless with a mug of coffee in his hand, peering out the window. When the door clicked closed behind her, he turned. If she’d longed for him when she’d woken up, nothing could prepare her for the stab of need that shot through her with just one look. His hair was rumpled, the button to his shorts undone, and his expression unreadable.
“Sleep well?” he asked as his eyes lazily roamed over her body.
“Very.” She reached up to swat the hair out of her face and the sheet slipped. His lips twitched as she struggled to keep herself covered. “It’s been a long time since I’ve slept in bed with a man.”
Shoe Strings Page 22
