by Drea Stein
She dropped her hands to the waist of his jeans, slid down, and felt him. He groaned, and she smiled. As she toyed with the waistband, she looked at him, from beneath lowered eyelids. His eyes were dark, flushed with lust, and he looked like he’d just won the jackpot.
“Are you sure?”
“Do you have protection? I’m on the pill, but you can never be too safe.”
He nodded, and a hand groped toward the glove compartment.
“Classic,” she said with a smile.
He stopped. “I didn’t give you a ride, intending for this to happen.”
She laughed. “Really, didn’t you? I don’t care, you know. I might be more offended if you hadn’t planned for this.”
His silence gave him away, and she laughed again. She didn’t care. Her body was humming like she was intoxicated, but she hadn’t had a drop to drink tonight. She wanted sex, wanted to have it with Jake, needed sex. It had been a long time.
“Take pity on me, Jake. I’m all worked up, and you can’t all of a sudden decide you want to leave me with a good night kiss on the cheek. Besides, I’m pretty sure you want it too.” She dropped her hand down to make a point, felt him. He breathed in sharply and the smile left his face, replaced by a hungry, intent look.
“I’m a guy, of course I want it,” he said. She kissed him, long and slow, and his resistance crumbled.
“What if I tell you I haven’t had sex in over a year and that if you don’t have it with me I might just explode?”
“Then I would say it would be my duty to rectify that situation.”
“I thought you might say something like that.”
He kissed her again and all she could feel was heat between the two of them. She felt his hands reaching, heard the glove box open and him rummaging around.
“You’re sure?”
“Shut up, Jake, and kiss me.”
He did, and his hands slipped her skirt up, around her waist, pulled her panties down, as she helped him slither out of his jeans. His fingers found her and slowly, maddeningly stroked her to pleasure. She felt her body tighten with anticipation and pleasure as his fingers pushed her higher and higher and her heart beat faster and faster, a wild drumbeat.
“Now Jake, I want you now.”
She let her head fall back as he entered her, and then she was over him, kissing him, his arms holding her tight as they moved together, pushing each other higher and higher until they reached the edge. She came first, and then he followed with a final thrust and a cry of pleasure and then there was just the sound of their breathing, their hearts beating almost in time to the drumming of the rain on the windshield.
She laid her head on his chest, his wonderful, hard, muscled chest, just admiring it. She was dimly aware that her phone was buzzing, probably her mom, wondering where she was, and that she needed to go, to check on Adele, do some work, pay some bills, all of the hundred things a grown-up, single mom had to do. But she stayed still, just for a moment, savoring the connection.
His arms were around her, playing in her hair. She couldn’t get used to this, couldn’t get swayed by this.
“Okay, thanks, I need to go,” she said, pushing herself up. She needed to find her shirt, her underwear, make herself look presentable. She laughed. It was raining, so she would be soaked anyway. She just needed to be sure her clothes were all buttoned.
“What?” he said, rousing himself.
“What? You think I’m going to invite you in, make you a snack?”
“I …” he stammered.
“Sorry, I’ve got a kid to check on, a mom to dodge; you know, the usual.”
“Okay,” Jake said, but he looked like he had been whipsawed, not sure what had just happened. She handed him his shirt.
“Thanks for the ride,” she said, pulling her hair back into a ponytail and grabbing her bag, laughing at the double meaning. She was giddy, felt good, relaxed, better than she had in a long time.
Jake still looked dazed as if he wasn’t sure what had hit him.
“See you around,” she said as she opened the door and stepped out into the night. The rain had lightened, and it was warming up. Tomorrow would probably be a fine day, and she couldn’t help humming, “Walking on Sunshine,” as she opened the rickety gate to the garden and ran up the path to the sagging steps.
She threw one last glance at the truck, still sitting there, wipers going, but the windows too fogged up to see clearly.
Smiling, she waved good night.
Holy cow, Jake thought. He sat there in his truck, watching the wipers go back and forth, their rhythmic swishing a counterpoint to his racing heart. What in the name of all hell had just happened? Had he just had some of the most mind-blowing and amazing sex in his life with Colleen McShane? And she had just sauntered out of his truck, smiling, like she hadn’t a care in this world.
The windows were still fogged, so he rolled one down, so he could get a good look at the house. There were lights on in the first floor of the house, but as he watched, they went off one by one, and he could imagine her making her way through the rooms and up the stairs. He saw one wink on upstairs for a moment, then wink off and then a dim light switch on in one of the upper windows. He waited for a moment, wondering if she would come to the window, look down, and see him. What was she was thinking? A dog started to bark, furiously, and there was a large, rolling boom of thunder, soft and muffled. Spring thunder, he thought, with the promise of a clear day tomorrow.
She wasn’t coming back, he told himself, and there was no reason to expect that she should. He’d only be a fool if she caught him staring up at her window like some lovesick teenage boy. He pulled on his clothes, as best he could, put the truck in drive and pulled away, rolling slowly down the street, his heart still racing and his mind still whirling with the memories of her scent, her hair, the way she had looked as she told him she wanted him.
Chapter 32
“So what does one wear on a boat trip?” Ellie asked. She meant the question casually, but she needed some advice. She and Quent had finally set a date for their date and the question had been on the top of her mind.
Colleen considered it as she polished a glass. Lydia was at Quent’s Pub too, sipping bourbon, after having left her little brother with her father and a temporary babysitter.
“White pants, a striped t-shirt, and a long scarf,” Colleen said definitively, after a moment’s thought.
“This isn’t To Catch a Thief,” Ellie reminded her, tartly so that Colleen had to laugh.
Ellie was glad to get a laugh out of her, since Colleen looked troubled.
“True, Quentin Tate is no Cary Grant,” Colleen said. Quent was more like a Vin Diesel, Colleen thought, with his shaved head and amazing biceps.
“Trust me, I’m no Grace Kelly either.”
“Carole Lombard, maybe?” Lydia suggested.
Eleanor smiled. “Sophia Loren. And let me guess, you always fancied yourself an Audrey Hepburn?” she said and looked at Colleen.
Colleen sighed as she polished another bar glass to a perfect shine, then said, “Sort of. My hair was never that dark, but I loved Sabrina. That was the movie that got me dreaming about living in Paris.”
Lydia shook her head. “Give me a boat, sunshine, and a cooler of beer,” she said. “Where I’m from, going for a boat ride means you put on your best jean shorts and a bikini top.”
“To Southern girls,” Ellie said and raised her glass, and Lydia lifted hers in response.
“So what should I wear?” Ellie asked intently. She did want to know. Dating was something she hadn’t done in more years than she cared to think. She was pretty sure a lot had changed. She had looked into dating sites after Bobby passed, just a little bit, but had been horrified. Not that she was opposed to a good healthy hook up, at least she didn’t think so, but there was absolutely no charm, no romance when she swiped through those apps or clicked through the websites. She didn’t know if that meant she was old or just old-fashioned.
/> “Well, it’s still a bit chilly out. So you’ll want a sweater or something. White pants, striped shirt. No high heels,” Colleen recommended.
Ellie put a hand to her chest. “I don’t know what language you’re speaking.”
“Try cute white sneakers. It will keep you from slipping.”
“Or poking a hole in the bottom of the boat with those spikes you call shoes,” Lydia said, glancing down at Ellie’s shoes. Lydia was wearing plain black Converse, a little bit of paint splattered on them.
Colleen leaned over the bar, took a good look at Eleanor’s shoes and mouthed, “Jimmy Choo?”
Eleanor nodded and sighed. “I suppose you have a point. Having to get fished out of the water is not a good way to start off a relationship.”
“A relationship?” Colleen said. “I thought you said it was just a date.”
“If a man asks you out on a date, he should be interested in starting a relationship,” Ellie said, realizing that was why she had hated those dating apps. She wanted at least the chance to be appreciated.
“I guess catching a ride home from a guy in a truck doesn’t qualify as going on a date?” Lydia asked from behind her glass of bourbon.
Colleen stilled. Ellie shot Lydia a look. Quent had said something to her about how Jake had driven Colleen home, and then she had mentioned it to Lydia. She just hadn’t expected the other woman to ask Colleen outright about it. Still, it was a subject she was interested in hearing about, so she waited while Colleen decided if she was going to answer the question.
“Guess it depends what happens in the truck,” Colleen said finally as she turned to grab a chit off the bar and ring it up.
Ellie looked at Lydia and whispered, “It’s none of our business.”
Lydia shrugged and rolled her eyes. “Why not? We’re all friends here, right? I mean you two are kind of the only adults I know in this town, besides my stepmother, who doesn’t really qualify, and my dad, who definitely doesn’t qualify.”
“As adults or friends?” Ellie shot back.
Lydia sighed. “Neither, unfortunately. But enough about me. So?” she said and turned back to Colleen.
“If the girl doesn’t want to tell us, then she doesn’t have to tell us,” Ellie said. She wanted to allow Colleen at least the façade of privacy. Didn’t mean she wasn’t going to get the story out of her eventually.
“Oh, it doesn’t work like that. You have to tell us. Girl code,” Lydia said.
“He gave me a ride home,” Colleen said.
“That’s it? Just a ride? Not even a goodnight kiss.”
“There might have been,” Colleen finally admitted.
“Aha, now we’re getting to the good part,” Lydia said, smiling.
Colleen paused, then admitted, “It was a good kiss.”
“So was it a case of don’t come a-knockin’ if the truck bed is a rockin’?” Lydia said.
“What? How, who?” Colleen said and blushed a deep red.
“I just shot an arrow in the dark. Looks like it found its mark,” Lydia said and smiled at Ellie.
“In a truck?” Ellie said.
“I’m a single mom who lives with her mother. It’s not like I can invite him up for a glass of sweet tea or however you’re supposed to do it,” Colleen said, her voice rising just a little and then she brought it down before the other patrons of the bar could catch on to the discussion.
“That’s it? Oh no you don’t. There’s no way you’re not telling us all of it,” Lydia said.
“I never kiss and tell,” Colleen said primly.
“So it wasn’t earth-shattering, mind-blowing? A few morsels, please?” Lydia begged.
“It was …” Colleen started to say, then paused, as if searching for the right words and a slightly dreamy expression came over her face. “It was amazing. Sexy, exciting. Just what I needed,” Colleen finally said.
“So are you going to do it again?” Again Lydia went for the direct query, but Ellie was interested in the answer too.
A troubled look crossed over Colleen’s face and she set a clean glass down on the rack. “We have a history together. I have a daughter. It’s complicated,” Colleen said. “And I don’t need complicated.”
Ellie shook her head, thinking about her own life and said, “Honey, if it’s not complicated, it just may not be worth it.”
“Easy ain’t worth much. It’s what we have to work for that matters,” Lydia agreed.
Colleen said nothing and moved away to pour a drink, while Lydia shot Ellie a meaningful look.
Ellie just shook her head. Jake and Colleen. If the two of them couldn’t recognize the chemistry between them, then they were too pig-headed to deserve each other. So what if Colleen had a daughter. Jake would just have to man up about it. Which, if Ellie knew him, wouldn’t be the problem. No, it would be whether or not Colleen could accept what Jake was ready to offer her.
She caught Quent’s eye as he went about serving some customers at the other end of the bar. They’d set a time and a place for their date. She was nervous, more nervous than she cared to admit. It was just a date, Ellie thought, but then she saw the look Quent gave her. She knew that look. Knew that he wasn’t looking for casual. Ellie took a sip of her drink to hide her confusion. For once in her life, she didn’t know what she was looking for.
Chapter 33
Jake hadn’t seen Colleen since that night in the truck, and he couldn’t stop thinking about her. He had texted her, and she had texted back, but the messages had been meaningless, with no commitments or promises. Had he just served to scratch an itch on her part? he wondered. The sex between them had been explosive, better than he could have imagined, the feel, the scent, the overwhelming need he’d felt for her coming back to haunt him as he went about his day. He wasn’t satisfied, not by a long shot. He needed her, wanted her. Couldn’t imagine being without her. She’d given him nothing in response except a smiley face and the vague “had a great time.”
Did she want to see him again? Would she see him again? He wanted her, all of her, and this time he wanted to take his time with her, to get to know every inch of her. He was waiting for her, an ambush, sort of, but he had tried to find her at the shop and at the park, but she hadn’t been either place. He didn’t want to see her at Quent’s, not in public where the eyes of the whole town would be staring at them. He would respect Colleen’s right to privacy, to discretion. So, he sat outside Quent’s in his truck after last call, waiting. Tonight there was no hint of rain, no reason why Colleen couldn’t walk safely home alone, but he wasn’t going to let her. He would offer her a ride, and hopefully they would have a chance to talk. That was all he was going to ask for tonight.
He watched as she emerged from the alley between Quent’s and the building next door. He could see her look around, and as he turned the truck on and the lights caught, he saw the troubled expression on her face. He rolled down the window and smiled. It was hard to read the look in her eyes, but it seemed to be a cross between wariness and thankfulness.
“Would you like to get in?” he asked.
“You don’t have to keep driving me home,” she said, and pulled her coat around her. Spring might have arrived, but the nights were still in the last grip of winter, and he could see her breath hang in the air, despite this being May.
“I don’t mind. The cold is hanging on,” he answered. She got into the car and leaned over and kissed him, but he pulled back. “You don’t have to, you know.” He wanted it to be clear.
“What?”
“I’m not driving you home because I want to get lucky.”
She reached down, rubbed her hands down his leg. He shifted, but she had caught the lie in his words. Just seeing her made him want her, and his body wasn’t very good at lying.
“You’re not?” she said, her voice teasing as her fingers applied enough pressure to make him rethink his vow of just talking to her.
“I am not,” he said firmly. She looked at him, surprise regist
ering on her face.
“Well, you’re not coming into my house,” she said, her eyes drifting so they stared out the windshield. He couldn’t quite read her voice, but she sounded both disappointed and relieved.
“I know that,” he said, horrified that she would even think that he would suggest that. There was Adele and Mrs. McShane. There was no way he’d risk sneaking into or out of that house.
He wondered if she regretted what had happened. He wasn’t exactly proud that their first time had taken place in his truck, like a couple of horny teenagers. He’d imagined it differently, but he couldn’t deny that he wanted her again.
“I know you’re tired, but maybe on your next night off you could come to my place, and I’ll cook you dinner. You could stay, you know for a while. Not overnight of course, I mean unless you wanted to, but …”
“Are you asking me over to cook me dinner so you can get into my pants?”
“Yes. I would like to have more than twenty minutes with you,” he said, though he doubted their encounter had lasted even that long. The rush, the pleasure had come all too quickly and now he wanted a chance to savor his time with her.
There was a moment of silence, and he kept his eyes ahead, determined not to push the point. He had said that he would let her set the rules.
“Okay,” she said. “Not tomorrow, but the night after. I’ll come over around six. My mom’s working the night shift, but I’ll get a babysitter.” She was saying it to herself, almost as much as to him, but he didn’t care. She’d just be like any other normal mom.
“Okay,” he agreed and let out a breath, suddenly happy because this was a step forward with Colleen. The ride was short and, before he knew it, they were at her house. He could see the light in the window that must belong to Adele because it had a soft glow, like it was lit by a night light.
“I hope she’s not waiting up for me,” Colleen said, shaking her head.
“You’re worth waiting for,” Jake said before he could stop himself.
