“What are you afraid of, Sofie?” His soft voice tickled her senses.
“Afraid? I’m not. I just don’t feel much up to getting in the water. And I don’t have my suit.” She was fully aware of how her voice trembled.
He laughed. “A suit? There’s only you and me, sweetheart.”
What was he suggesting? “Yes, and your point is?”
He shrugged a broad shoulder. “I won’t tell if you don’t.”
“There’s nothing to tell.” She sucked in a quick breath as her inner thighs pulsated, looking at him through the veil of her lashes, wishing her bottom lip would stop trembling.
“Then wear your bra and panties. Covers just as much as any bikini. He snapped the elastic waist of his boxers and jerked them downward. She turned so fast she almost lost her balance. “I’m decent, sweetheart.”
When she looked at him he was smiling ear to ear. She realized he got an internal rise from her modesty. .
Steam floated around his shoulders and he relaxed into the pool. She wasn’t sure what was more inviting…Jared or the perfectly heated temperature of the water that would certainly ease the tension in her body. Standing there, watching, she knew she should turn and walk away. She could endure a night of solitude in her cabin. “What if the staff comes back?” She didn’t realize she’d said the words aloud until he answered.
“They won’t be back for hours. We’re just soaking, sweetheart, unless you have other plans.”
Her cheeks flamed. “Of course not!”
“I need to ease these stressed muscles. Pounding most of the day has my body tense.”
Pounding. Tense. She caught only those two words in the sentence. “Okay, I’ll get in, but you have to close your eyes.”
His brows scrunched. “Seriously?”
“Just because you’ve seen other bodies doesn’t mean you have the right to see mine.” Thinking of undressing in front of Jared did funny things between her thighs. That’s why she needed to tread carefully. A lonely woman was a dangerous woman. She needed to get a grip. Jared wasn’t just some man she picked up in a bar. He was a co-worker and since neither of them planned to leave Nirvana, this could lead to a very sticky situation. However, she had been willing to take the chance with Chase. Yes, and look at where that got me. Jared was different though. He made her feel like she stood on top of a mountain with her arms spread wide, ready to jump off and fly. No man, not even Luther, made fireworks explode in her center. Jared was exasperating. Egotistical. And sexier than should be legal.
“Suit yourself.” He closed his eyes.
She tiptoed to the side of the tub and moved her hand in front of his face. Nothing. Now that she was certain he wasn’t looking, she quickly removed her clothes, except her strapless bra and panties, and climbed into the water. Choosing the seat farthest from him, she dipped into the water. It was heavenly just as she thought it would be.
“Have you forgotten about me?”
Oops! “Okay. You can open now.”
He looked at her. “Aren’t you glad you got in?”
“I can’t deny how nice this is.”
“See what you’re missing when you stay huddled up in that cabin of yours.”
“For someone who doesn’t like me much, you sure seem to know what I’m doing.”
He rubbed his palm down his face, wiping away droplets of water. “Let’s make this experience even better. Shall we?” He slid forward, so close she could have kissed him. But she wouldn’t. No way. What if he kissed her? No, she wouldn’t stand for a kiss, but the hunger building within her crashed through her logic, paralyzing her from speaking out or resisting. She closed her eyes, parted her lips, anticipating the moment when his lips would touch hers. The jets kicked in, the whirling sound penetrating the silence. She opened her eyes.
“Glad that I’m earning your trust.” An indulgent smiled laced his lips and it ripped through her like a searing blade.
She refused to allow him to have the upper hand. “Don’t flatter yourself. I wouldn’t go there.”
“I think your eyes say you would, darlin’.” His slow drawl puckered her nipples.
“Don’t call me darling. I’m not your darling.” How did she end up here, in a hot tub with Jared? How could he turn her inside out so easily?
“Are we back to verbally sparring again?”
“Only if you continue to egg it on,” she challenged.
His laughter rang out above the jets as he pushed himself back into the seat across from her.
****
He watched Sofie through the steam for a good five agonizing minutes. Her eyes were closed and her lips were slightly parted. Her cheeks were perfectly pink. Was she still imagining that he’d kiss her? Oh how he’d wanted to kiss her. In the mere seconds that he’d been close to her he’d debated ten times, back and forth, whether he should just throw his pride to the wind, haul her into his arms and kiss her breathless. For the life of him, he had a feeling that’s what she wanted—and needed.
Her asshole ex had screwed her over, but it was time she recovered. Best way to do that was to scrape the past out and replace the void with great memories. He could help her in that area. Maybe he just hoped for the chance. No denying he missed having a soft body snuggled up right and close, the feminine scent and whispered moans of satisfaction. Yet, not just any warm body would do, as proof from his last experience.
The stress of watching her made his muscles tense even with the warm water washing over him. Knowing she only wore her bra and panties nearly drove him over the edge…whatever edge that was.
He smoothed his hands over his damp hair. He’d never wanted a woman this bad, not since high school, back when a swift change in the breeze could cause a stirring behind his zipper. Maybe he wanted her so badly to prove the point that she wasn’t as protected against him as she thought. A man was always curious about the things he couldn’t have, yet a clever man never let the curiosity get him into trouble.
Shit! He couldn’t let his hard on fuel his ignorance. Sofie was off limits. Not only was she high maintenance, but he didn’t want to lose his job. Romance in the workplace never worked.
Hell, some things were worth the risk.
It was okay when all of this was a dream, a fantasy, and he watched her from afar, but now that she was an arm’s reach away, all of his feelings seemed to want to escape his control. So what if he’d wanted her for a long time. A poor man always dreamed of a fortune, never failed.
Enough silence. He couldn’t listen to his thoughts any longer. “You hungry?”
She opened her eyes, dark pools of mystery. Her tongue rolled out over her bottom lip and it triggered sensations deep in his gut, way down where he thought they were lost years ago. “What’s that?”
“Are you hungry?” he said louder.
A second’s hesitation passed until she finally nodded. “A little.”
“Let’s go raid the refrigerator.” He stood, but she stayed seated, closing her eyes. Modesty was something he didn’t see much of. “I’ll meet you inside.” He stepped out of the tub, grabbed the towel from the stack on the shelf, but didn’t bother drying off before he headed into the kitchen. Placing his clothes on the table, he wrapped the towel around his hips and hooked it. His stomach growled, reminding him why he’d come in. For some of the cook’s grub. He hoped they had some of the leftover rosemary chicken and roasted potatoes. He’d tucked some away earlier.
CHAPTER THREE
Sofie wrapped the large towel around her body and secured it high on her chest. It covered plenty. Grabbing her clothes, she went inside, finding Jared with his head inside of the refrigerator. An exhale of breath flew off her lips. He’d also tucked the towel around his waist and the wet material clung to his tight bottom. She took in a good eyeful of his long toned legs covered in dark, crisp hair. He had large feet. Eleven or twelves, with wide toes…
“Leftover chicken okay?”
She jumped, not realizing he was looking at h
er over the door to the fridge. “Sure.”
He dragged off the foil from the plate of chicken and popped it into the microwave. As the food warmed, the kitchen filled with savory, delicious smells of lemon, rosemary and garlic. The cook, Deke, was amazing. Her mouth watered when Jared took the plate from the oven. She hadn’t eaten since early that morning and the wine had landed in a heavy puddle in her stomach.
“There aren’t any of the potatoes left. The fellows must have grabbed the leftovers. Would you like a sandwich?”
She met him at the counter, inhaling the spices. “Yes, please.”
“Mustard or mayonnaise?” he asked.
“I’ll take mustard.”
He took out two small jars. “Spicy or honey?”
“Honey,” she answered.
“I can’t get enough spicy.” He wagged his brows.
She chuckled. “I should have guessed.”
He laid out four slices of bread, squirted mustard on two slices. She enjoyed watching him prepare their meal. For such a large man, he moved with grace. She imagined how deft his hands would move on her body. How he would explore and suckle.
“Here you are.”
She accepted the sandwich, grabbed a paper towel from the roll and went to sit at the table. Biting into her sandwich, she chewed thoughtfully, mentally shuffling through the reasons why she shouldn’t have intimate thoughts of Jared. That list grew shorter and shorter. Why limit herself? She was no longer married. Her ex had left her in tears and she had every right to move on. Luther wasn’t the cause for the chains that kept her from taking a step toward her future. She just needed to be sure before she gave her heart away again. Jared wasn’t marriage material, not even relationship material, but it wasn’t as if she wanted long-term, at least not yet. Sometimes a woman just needed to sample a few lovers before she hitched herself to one man.
Jared bit into his sandwich. Holy heck! He looked handsome, even while eating.
She was on some looney roller-coaster ride and needed to get a grip. When a man eating turned her on, she was in trouble, and it wasn’t very pretty.
Tonight was a whirlwind. First, she confessed her feelings for Chase. Rejected!
Now she wanted to rip the towel from Jared’s hips and lick every inch of his rippled body.
She had a one-way ticket to becoming a slut. She laughed. Could a woman be a slut if she’d only slept with one man in all of her thirty-four years? She’d certainly done a few slutty acts with Luther.
Jared eyed her funnily. “Are you okay?’
“Sorry. I just had a thought,” she said, picking at the crust of the bread.
This wasn’t play the lottery and win a cowboy. Or, a slot machine. Drop a coin in, pull the handle and see which cowboy the wheel lands on. This wasn’t a game. She slumped into the chair and took another bite of her sandwich, not tasting anything. Why had she earlier today believed Chase was the man for her? Looking back, she realized it had been more of a fantasy than reality. He was kind, compassionate, sweet…and so not into her. It was laughable really.
“You have something right here.” Jared touched his finger to the corner of his mouth.
“Oh.” She dabbed the paper towel over her lips.
“Allow me.” He leaned in and brushed his finger over her skin. “Mustard.”
Oh holy mother of all that is real. This was a gift. Whatever else could it be? Cowboy Adonis sat across from her and just wiped mustard from her mouth. If Jared was a box of crème-filled doughnuts, she’d dive in and eat every last crumb not caring about the calories. But he wasn’t a box of treats. He was a masculine, sexy, dangerous man. And that made him irresistible.
He polished off his sandwich and she couldn’t take another bite of hers. “My ex-husband was the last man I had sex with.” The words just seemed to dribble freely.
“I got that idea.”
“And I did kiss someone earlier today.”
He leaned in on his elbows. “That’s none of my business.”
“Not saying it is, but I wanted to share it with you.”
One corner of his mouth lifted. “It’s no secret Dade has a crush on you. His ears turn red every time you’re in the vicinity.”
She blinked. “You think I kissed Dade?”
Jared shrugged. “Dade’s a good guy, but he’s a little wet behind the ears for a woman like you, if you know what I mean.” He pulled on his goatee, his gaze holding hers.
“Not sure that I do.” His eyes were amazingly bright, and that smile, the one that made her body throb, lured her in.
He took her hand into his, palms meeting and a flash of electric shot up her arm, settling in her chest. “Sweetheart, I’ve known a lot of women over the years. That’s no secret. A man can look at a woman and know, just by the way she moves or the look in her eye, what she likes in bed. And you, Sofie, need a confident man. One who isn’t afraid to take control, to put out the fire raging in your sweet, little body. You can barely contain the ravenous lioness within you aching to be set free.”
All she could do was stare as his words played her core like a harp.
“We’re more alike than most people would believe, darlin’. The only difference, when you look at me you see what you get, and you, sweetheart, are a wolf hiding under a lamb’s coat.”
She pulled back, but he clasped her hand tighter. “There’s where you’re wrong, Jared. I’m not a wolf.”
“It’s okay to be who you are.” He laughed. The rich sound traveled along her nerve endings and each one tingled in desire. “That’s what men want. A sweet angel, but a freak in the bed.”
His theory struck way too close to home. Luther had told her the same thing, just different words. She’d been the perfect wife, in and out of bed. He’d liked her dirty, naughty, and she’d gladly tempered his every need.
An image came to mind—her laying sprawled across Luther’s desk, him pounding inside of her, and then seeing Janelle. Sofie’s world had come crumbling down. The woman moving into her house. The divorce. Luther and Janelle having a child. He’d never wanted children with Sofie. She’d been good enough to screw and clean his house, but she’d not met the bar to have his child. “I’m about to do something very crazy.”
He chuckled and rubbed his chin. “We all deserve to get a little crazy at times.”
With a frustrated groan, she stood. “I’m glad you see things my way.”
The smile fizzled from his expression. “What’s wrong, Sofie?”
“Do you believe in kismet?”
“I believe we make our own fate.”
“And that’s exactly what I plan to do.”
Sofie wanted to tame the flames licking at her insides, to rinse the betrayal and memories from her blood. She wanted to feel—just to feel without worry. The torturous desire wrangled through her veins, roping her desire and firing up a steamy heat in her loins. There was no denying the unavoidable. Grabbing the towel covering her, she loosened the knot. The material dropped to her feet and a blast of cool air swept over her body, but didn’t touch the searing passion inside of her.
Jared’s eyes turned a deeper color and he worked his jaw. “Sweetheart, I’m not sure…”
“One more question. The most important one. Do you want me?” She was taking a risk that he would reject her, that tomorrow would bring other issues, but it was a risk she was willing to take. Her body quivered and her inner thighs moistened.
“More than my next breath,” the words were on the end of a husky sigh.
“No one needs to know,” she whispered.
He met her gaze, urgent and curious. “Can you live with that?”
“At this point, I couldn’t live knowing that I walked away.” She took the three steps dividing them and crawled over his lap, spreading her thighs over the bulge in the towel. Jared was the only man she’d been this close with, besides her ex. Jared’s hands on her thighs should have felt awkward, but instead his callused palms were nice—right. Her nipples were already p
eaking and tingles were shooting through her. The growing bulge rubbed her core. Her most precious part opened, like a blooming flower, seeking his touch, his warmth, the release she knew he could give her. Heat rose like blue fire, licking at her nerve endings, rushing through her like a forest fire. Maybe he was right—she was a wolf. If that were the case, the lamb’s coat was shedding.
Placing her palms against his chest, it lifted and fell with each breath as his eyes turned brighter. “Sweetheart, there’s no turning back after this.”
“I find your concern chivalrous, but right now I need strong arms and a desire matching my own. Is that a problem?”
He exhaled as if chains were breaking inside of him. “Question is, can you handle what I have to give?” He lifted a tendril of her hair to his nose and inhaled.
She reached around and unclipped her bra. The damp, wispy lace fell away and she cupped her hands over her breasts, her palms rubbed the pert nipples that ached for his attention. Tremors moved through her, down to the center of her body. She was ultra-sensitive, needy and ready to have him inside of her.
“Move your hands so I can see you,” he whispered. Doing as he requested, she dropped her hands. “You have beautiful breasts. I could play with them for hours, suckling and teasing your nipples.”
“Please, Jared. Erase the memories I have burning inside of me. I need you. I need this!” she pleaded.
He bent his head, taking one tingly bud into his mouth and suckling the sensitive bead. He worshipped her breasts, giving each attention, milking the mounds with large, capable hands. She allowed herself to drift effortlessly into the moment. All thoughts of Luther, and Chase, pushed to the back of her mind. She gripped his wide, bare shoulders, his skin scorching her fingers as she dug her nails into him, clinging to him as pulse after pulse of desire whipped through her. Soon, she craved more of his touch. Needed more. She grabbed his thick hair and gently tugged his head up, gazes meeting, breathing entwining as she covered his mouth with hers, sinking her tongue deep between his lips, dueling with his thick tongue.
His fingers touched the seam at her core and she jerked as wicked sensations climbed her veins. “Oh God, Jared. That’s good. You have nice hands.”
Smoke. Fire. Cowboy (Cowboys of Nirvana Book 3) Page 6
