by Jenna Jacob
The woman was so transparent. Brea didn’t know if she wanted to gag or laugh. The three pool-time playmates hadn’t shown up to swim. They’d showed up to fuck Sawyer…fuck him three times over, at least.
“You were a bad boy last night and blew us off.” The third centerfold beauty, with glossy, auburn curls, scolded, pushing out her lip in an overdramatic pout. “We came over so you could make it up to us.
“I was busy. I still am,” Sawyer bit out angrily.
“Aw, come on. We just want to have a little fun with you again,” the blonde begged. “Get wet with us. There’s plenty of room.”
“Again?” Colton choked on a chuckle. “Damn, man. You must have the stamina of a race horse.”
“Colton!” Jade spat as she slapped him on the shoulder.
Brea stood silently trying to work down the slew of ugly emotions lodged in her throat. What did she care if three bikini-clad playmates were brazenly soliciting the man who’d just kissed her? But dammit, she did care. Struggling to come to terms with the fact that her competition was staring her in the face, Brea was losing the war badly. She was an ugly duckling next to three beautiful, confident swans who were ruffling their feathers, preening, and coaxing the man Brea ached for with an invitation he wouldn’t refuse.
Foolish tears stung the backs of her eyes, but she quickly blinked them away. Yes, Sawyer was funny, handsome, and had a heart of gold when it came to innocent children. But when it came to women, he was still a typical man…being led through life by his dick.
It doesn’t matter! He’s nothing but a temporary neighbor.
God, she wanted to believe that…convince herself he meant absolutely zilch to her. But the tightening in her chest, squeezing the air from her lungs, told her that Sawyer meant a whole lot more, at least to her heart.
As the flawless females continued to coax and cajole Sawyer, Brea’s ears felt as if they were going to start bleeding. She wanted to shove his ass over the fence just to make the whiny bitches shut the fuck up.
Allowing anger to override her ridiculous jealous pride, Brea painted on a tight smile.
But Sawyer wasn’t smiling. A look of embarrassment and anger lined his face.
It surprised and confused her. Why was he stalling? Why wasn’t he hurdling the fence, stripping off his clothes, and racing toward the sex-starved trio? He wasn’t, and Brea couldn’t figure out what he was waiting for.
An unwelcome flutter of hope broke loose inside her, but Brea swiftly crushed it down with a hammer bigger than Thor’s. It was time to end this ridiculous attraction to Sawyer here and now. If he wasn’t going to make a move…Brea would.
“Glad you were able to join us for dinner. Have fun with your friends,” she announced dismissively.
Sawyer blinked and gaped at her, arching a brow in question. She forced her smile wider to still her quivering lips.
“You’re a terrible liar,” he whispered. “If you want me to go, just say so.”
It was Brea’s turn to blink and gape. “I-I… You don’t want to keep your ladies waiting, do you?”
“First of all, they’re not my ladies. Secondly, I didn’t invite them. As far as I’m concerned, they’re trespassing.”
Of all the things she expected him to say, that certainly wasn’t one of them.
“You’re going to turn them down?” Colton asked in disbelief.
“Why? You want to go over there and join them or something?” Jade snapped, visibly pissed.
“No!” Colton adamantly shook his head. “Hell, no.”
“Umm hmm.” Jade pressed her lips in a tight line. “I’m going inside.”
“I’ll join you,” Brea volunteered.
As she and Jade turned, Sawyer muttered a curse.
“I’ll be back in a minute,” he announced.
“Let’s hope it takes you longer than a minute,” Brea tossed over her shoulder.
“Yeah, or you’re in serious need of some little blue pills,” Colton snorted.
“Ha ha. My shit works just fine, thank you very much.”
“Evidently it does if you can satisfy three at once,” Brea bit out snidely.
Jade hissed out a laugh as the two women entered the house.
Irked that the green-eyed monster had sunk its ugly teeth into her flesh, Brea stormed into the living room and began to pace.
“If Colton even thinks of going over there to join those three hookers, I’m going to kill him!
Her bestie’s unwarranted fears stopped Brea in her tracks. “Oh, honey. He’s not getting near those sleazy bimbos.”
“He’d better not!”
“Relax, Jade.” Brea drew the other woman in for a hug. “He loves you more than life. He’s not going to let some YouTube video waiting to happen screw that up. Don’t even go there. He’s been in love with you since Moses was in diapers. Knock it off.” Brea sent her friend a pained expression. “Who are those women anyway?”
“Their names are Sylvia, Gretchen, and Annette, but I lovingly refer to them as the linoleum sisters ’cause they’re so easy to lay.” Brea cracked a smile while Jade rolled her eyes. “They scope out fresh meat at the Hangover. They’ll pick up any guy…married, single, they don’t care. As long as he’s got a pulse and can get up his dick, they’re ready to fuck him.”
“Do they pick up Sawyer often?” Though Brea truly didn’t want to know the answer, the question rolled off her tongue before she could stop it.
“Hell if I know. I was as shocked as you were to find them in his hot tub. Maybe they really did come over to just relax.”
“And maybe I’m a virgin,” Brea said with a snort. “Bitch please.”
“If you and Sawyer ever get between the sheets, you make sure his shit’s wrapped up nice and tight with latex.”
Brea arched her brows. “You don’t have to worry about that. He’s not getting anywhere near my kitten.”
“Maybe not, but he sure wants to.” Jade grinned. “I’ve seen the way he’s been looking at you all night. That boy wants to get up inside your girl, all nice and deep.”
Her words sent a wicked thrill racing through Brea’s system. The thought of Sawyer being up inside her all nice and deep made her heart sputter and oxygen freeze in her lungs. A strangled moan seeped from her lips.
“Aw, girl. Like I said before, you don’t have to move in with a man…just fuck his brains out. Of course, you might need to give Sawyer a little time to recuperate after tonight, but it’ll do you a world of good.”
“God knows I need my brains fucked out, to the level of a lobotomy. It’s been forever.”
“You mean, you and Weed didn’t…?”
“When he lost his job, months ago, he lost interest in me.”
“Months? Ouch!” Jade wrinkled her nose.
“But that doesn’t mean it’s okay for me to fall in bed with Sawyer…even if he wanted me, which he doesn’t. I’m clearly not his type. Besides, one taste of that man, and I’ll want him all. And let’s face it, he is definitely not a happily-ever-after kind of man.”
“No. He’s not. That’s why he’s safe.” Jade winked.
The sound of male laughter came wafting in from the back door. “Where’s my woman?” Colton’s deep voice reverberated through Brea’s chest like a bass drum.
“I’m in here, you twisted pervert,” Jade hollered back.
A huge grin spread across his face as he strolled into the living room and wrapped her in his arms. Sawyer stood a few feet back, looking embarrassed and as guilty as Weed had the night he’d been arrested. For Brea, the flashback was chilling.
“You love that about me, sweetheart, and we both know it,” Colton proclaimed. Jade simply sent him a droll stare. “Let’s go home. You can put on that little pink bikini you keep in the bottom drawer and we can—”
“Oh, we’ll go home, all right,” Jade huffed. “And when we get there, I’ll toss you a bottle of lotion and hand towel, and you can knock yourself out.”
“Oh, I plan on grabbing the
lotion, for sure.” Colton sent her a wicked smile. “But I’m going to use it starting at your toes until I work my way up your body. Then I’m going to rub you in all the right places until you’re—”
“TMI,” Brea interrupted, holding up her hand. “Stifle the raunchy details, please.”
Jade sent her a look of sympathy, while Colton grinned.
“They don’t have to be the only ones having fun tonight.”
Brea jumped and yelped as Sawyer’s warm breath and deep voice caressed her ear. She opened her mouth to reply, but Colton quickly cut her off.
“I’m taking my jealous little hellcat home. Seems I need to prove she’s the only one who trips my trigger. Thanks for a wonderful dinner, ya’ll. Next time you two will have to come to our place for barbecue.”
“That sounds great.” Sawyer smiled and clapped Colton on the back.
“I’ll call you in the morning,” Jade whispered as she gave Brea a hug.
“You two kids play nice now.” Colton grinned before closing the door behind him.
An awkward silence fell between them. Brea nervously wrung her hands as Sawyer struggled to explain the unexpected hot tub episode. Up until the three women arrived, it had been an almost perfect evening. He wanted to taste Brea’s soft lips and delve into her silky, hot mouth again, but damage control came first.
“Would you like another beer?” Brea asked, already heading toward the kitchen.
“That’d be great. Thanks.”
Following her, he was unsure what to say in order to recapture the light he’d seen in her eyes during dinner. It would be a sad day indeed if he never again caught a glimpse of that pretty caramel-colored sparkle.
“When would you like to see the ranch? I can take you with me in the morning if you’d like.” After I roll you over and make love to you for the seventh or eighth time.
She sat down across the table from him. As if stalling, she took a sip of her soda. “I don’t know if it’s such a good idea. I mean, you’ll be working and…and I don’t have a car or anything. Besides, Ozzie shouldn’t be left here alone all day.”
“If it will make you feel better, I can put you to work, and we’ll take Ozzie with us. He loves the ranch and the kids love him.”
Brea sent him a puzzled look. “Ozzie’s been to the ranch before?”
“Yep. Since he was a pup. Barbara brings him out three times a week when she comes to volunteer.”
“What does she do there?”
The tension seemed to slowly bleed from between them. Being separated by the expanse of the table was driving him batshit crazy. Rising from his chair, Sawyer extended his hand. He’d tried to reassure her with a laid-back style but held his breath until Brea took it. Her guarded expression returned, but he couldn’t ignore the current racing up his arm. He sent her a tender smile as the energy flowed through their limbs.
“I’ll show you.”
Sawyer threaded his fingers through hers. Leading her past the kitchen and into the mudroom, he reluctantly released her and flipped on the light. He pulled the door open on one of the tall cabinets opposite the washer and dryer. Sawyer withdrew a stack of tiny plastic pots and a bag of potting soil.
“You probably didn’t notice, but Barbara has several rows of seedlings growing on the east side of her vegetable beds. They’re pumpkins, well…starter pumpkins, anyway. She grows them from seeds, then puts them in these.” He held up the miniature square seedling pots. “The kids paint and decorate the outsides, then she gives them each a starter plant and teaches them how to care for them once they get back home.”
“That’s wonderful.” Brea smiled brightly. “They get to take back a piece of the ranch with them and watch it grow.”
He sent her a timid nod. “Sometimes.”
“Why only sometimes?”
“A lot of the kids have to go back to the hospital after they leave us and can’t take their plants with them.”
“What happens to their pumpkins?”
“Well, let’s just say the fall pumpkin harvest is huge.” Sawyer smiled sadly. “We plant the ones left behind and attach a ribbon with the child’s name to a stake and tend them. During the fall festival, the folks in town buy up every one of them. My mom takes photos of the folks who purchase the special pumpkins and sends them to either the child or their family if they’ve lost their battle and passed away.”
Tears glittered in her eyes and Brea quickly swiped a fat drop as it rolled down her cheek. Sawyer’s heart clutched. She wanted the world and everyone around her to see her as such a strong-willed, capable woman. But inside she was just as broken and vulnerable as he was.
“Hey.” After brushing away a second tear, he cupped her chin. “I didn’t mean to make you cry again.”
Brea sniffed and sent him a watery smile. “It’s just so sad. Those poor, innocent kids. They’re fighting and I…and I…”
“You what?”
“I’ve super-glued my ass on the pity pot, whining about all the stupid mistakes I’ve made, while those kids take every day as a blessing instead of a curse, like me. God, I’m nothing but a waste of space.”
“You’re not a waste of space.” It irked him that she thought so little of herself.
Brea brightened his life with every new thing he discovered about her, but Sawyer wanted to learn more. Starting with why she’d been in jail. The only crime he thought she could have ever committed was being too fucking beautiful.
“Sometimes all we can do is learn from our mistakes and move on,” he continued.
“I’ve definitely learned. That’s why I’m changing my ways…or trying to.”
“And coming to Haven will help you do that?”
She softly scoffed as if in doubt. “I don’t know. I didn’t have anywhere else to go,”
Sawyer lifted her chin and forced her gaze again. “Why don’t we move to the couch and talk?”
“No.” She stiffened as if he’d asked her to strip and pole dance for him. Not that Sawyer was opposed to the idea, but yeah…the timing was way wrong. “I want to help at the ranch, the way Barbara does. But I’ll need to do some research.”
Sawyer bit back a curse. Digging into Brea’s past was like climbing up a mud-soaked mountain—one step forward to find he’d slid five steps back. Clearly she didn’t trust him. But more concerning was the fact she didn’t trust herself.
Turning, Brea raced from the mudroom. With a heavy sigh, Sawyer paused, then followed her to the living room. He watched as she scoured the bookshelves.
“She’s got to have a book on gardening somewhere in here, I just know it.”
“What is it you’re trying to learn? Growing pumpkins is easy.”
Brea lifted her head and shot him an incredulous stare. “For you maybe, but not for me. My thumb is so black…I kill fake plants.”
Sawyer chuckled and strode toward her. “How can anyone kill a fake plant?”
“I don’t know, it just happens. I buy some pretty silk flowers, arrange them in a vase, and poof…two days later they start sagging like an old woman’s butt.”
He laughed. “That’s…a visual. Tell you what, I’ll teach the kids how to feed and water their pumpkins. You help them decorate their pots and plant the seedlings. Deal?”
“How do I do that…the planting part, I mean?”
“You are a city girl, aren’t you?”
“Just because I’m not a poster child for Better Homes and Gardens doesn’t make me a bad person.”
He wanted to kiss the sass out of her and move on to a whole lot more. Sawyer wondered how far he could take her before she slapped that asinine man ban in his face.
No time like the present.
Sawyer slid his hands up the sides of her neck and cupped her cheeks. Brea’s little inhalation told him she knew his intent. But she didn’t stop him. In fact, she leaned in ever so slightly until their breath mingled, moist and hot. Even though the high-voltage current arcing between them was urging him on, Sawyer
kept his touch soft and reverent.
“There’s a different kind of bad I want to experience with you.”
When he dipped his chin and brushed his lips to hers, the zaps of electricity surged. Brea gripped his biceps and held on as the energy around them crackled and hissed. This strange kinetic draw he felt with her both fascinated and frightened him. It was the reason he’d sent the women in his hot tub packing. Sure, they’d had some good times, but since tasting Brea, Sawyer’s desire for any other woman had flown out the window. His attraction to her was spellbinding light-years different from anything he’d ever felt before. She was special in ways he couldn’t put into words. All he knew was that something about her made him want to toss all caution to the wind and chance another heartbreak, because he could easily fall in love with Brea.
Deepening the kiss, Sawyer barely held on to his sanity when she opened for him and wrapped her slick tongue around his. It felt as if the heat of a million suns were singeing him alive. Eating at her like a man possessed, he cupped her nape. Brea clutched his shirt, both of them gripping and holding on to one another like an anchor…like salvation.
He trailed kisses down her neck and along the edge of her jaw, then claimed her lips once more. Brea’s soft whimpers and mewls made his pulse leap. Losing himself in the warm texture of her mouth, his skin grew tight. Nerve endings pulsed in animalistic awakening.
Doing nothing but letting him kiss her, Brea single-handedly shredded his control.
Warning bells, buzzers, and foghorns warned he was moving too fast…falling in too deep. But Sawyer blocked them out and sank further into the soul-stealing nirvana of her mouth, racing headlong with wild, reckless abandon.
She skimmed her fingers up his arms, leaving a trail of liquid fire. His muscles tensed, rippled, and quivered. Then she scraped her fingernails into his hair, and Sawyer’s testosterone yelled like a heavy metal band.
Then without warning, Brea tensed. A string of curses erupted in his head as he physically felt a consciousness shift inside her. Easing from her mouth, he dropped his forehead while the sexual energy enveloping them dissipated like a vapor of smoke. Sawyer wanted to punch his hand through a wall but figured he’d need it later, alone, in his own bed.
