Tangled Up in You

by Samantha Chase

  She was a living, breathing fantasy, dressed in nothing but simple white cotton panties.

  Bobby swore he’d never seen anything sexier. She must have taken his silence for displeasure, because she started to squirm.

  “Had I known where this night was going, I would have invested in something a little sexier.”

  The uncertainty in her voice only made her more attractive to him. He’d always thought her honesty was one of his biggest turn-ons, and this proved it. Placing a hand over her stomach, he took a moment to revel in the warmth of her skin. Then he looked up at her face, saw her biting her lip, and said, “There is nothing you could have worn that was sexier than this.”

  She rolled her eyes and let out a nervous laugh. “Bobby, come on…”

  “I’m serious. The way you look right now is better—sexier—than I even imagined.” He paused and gave her a lecherous grin. “And believe me, I’ve imagined plenty where you’re concerned.”

  As she swatted at him playfully, he leaned forward and captured her wrists, pinning them above her head. Her eyes went wide and she licked her lips.

  Did she have any idea how sexy she was? How turned on he was?

  “I think one of us is overdressed,” she said, feigning a struggle to get out of his grip. All it did was cause her breasts to sway seductively.

  He instantly released her and whipped off the rest of his clothes. When he was down to his briefs, he joined her back on the bed. “I believe this makes us even.”

  But rather than being pleased, she pouted.

  “What? What’s wrong?”

  “I was kind of hoping…well…” She went back to biting her lip, and a blush covered her cheeks.

  It wasn’t hard to figure out what she was trying to say.

  Without breaking eye contact, he slowly took off his briefs. Teagan’s gaze held his, although he did catch her glancing down once. When he was naked, he rolled toward her and pulled her in close, holding her skin to skin. They both sighed at the contact.

  “Bobby?”

  “Hmm?”

  “Make love to me.”

  Reaching up, he caressed her cheek. “Sweetest words I’ve ever heard.”

  * * *

  It was well after midnight and the house was completely dark. Teagan stared up at the ceiling and tried to will herself into calm. Her heart was racing, her stomach was roiling, and if she didn’t know any better, she’d swear she was having a panic attack.

  Then the tears started.

  Bobby was sound asleep beside her, and the last thing she wanted to do was have him wake up and hear her crying. She wiped furiously at her eyes, doing her best to stop the tears from falling, but she couldn’t. There were too many, falling too fast to stop anytime soon.

  Carefully, she rose from the bed, grabbed her robe from the hook on the bathroom door, and tiptoed out to the living room, closing the bedroom door behind her. She sank down on the couch, pulling her knees to her chest as she cried.

  She felt like the world’s biggest fraud. She was an emotional wreck, and why? She’d just spent hours making love with an amazing man who’d both let her set the pace and somehow knew exactly what she needed. It had nothing to do with him—he was perfect. It was her.

  Logan had been the only man she’d ever slept with, the only man she’d ever loved. Sleeping with Bobby tonight had been like finally taking that last step to move on. And for the life of her, she didn’t know if she was crying because she was happy or because she was sad.

  Having the courage to take that step tonight was something Teagan hadn’t believed she’d ever have. But there was something about Bobby that made her want to be brave. And everything about these last hours had been wonderful. For all that she’d loved Logan and how special their relationship had been, they had been so young. No more than kids, really. The man in her bed right now was…well. He was more than she expected. He’d made her feel things she’d never felt before, and made her want to do things she’d never done before.

  It was sexy and exciting and…terrifying. Yes, terrifying. As much as she didn’t want to think about how much experience Bobby had, or how much he’d dated, it was obvious that in the bedroom, he was way out of her league. She only hoped he wasn’t disappointed in her.

  Lifting her head, she wiped her tears away and took several steadying breaths.

  “If he wasn’t disappointed in you before, he certainly would be now,” she murmured.

  Someone’s hand descended on her shoulder and she screamed.

  Bobby walked around and sat down in front of her on the couch. It was dark, the moonlight was offering a mere sliver of illumination in the room, but she could see him and the concerned look on his face.

  She went to speak but he placed a finger over her lips.

  “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop. But when I woke up and you weren’t in bed, I came looking for you. I wasn’t expecting to find you out here crying.” She heard the pain in his voice and knew she had to put his mind at ease.

  “It’s not what you think—”

  “You don’t have to tell me,” he quickly interrupted. “I was just wondering where you went. And when I opened the door, I heard you crying.”

  “Bobby…”

  He stroked one finger down her cheek. “I don’t know why you would think that I’m disappointed, but I’m not. Everything about tonight has been amazing. You’re amazing,” he clarified. “If anything, I was worried I had hurt you.”

  She stared at him as if he were crazy. “Why would you think that?”

  “What am I supposed to think when I find you out here in the dark?” he asked softly. “Teagan, I’m not stupid. We’ve talked enough. I know it’s been a long time for you since, well, you know.”

  She nodded.

  “And I know I was a little…aggressive.”

  She smiled. “I kind of liked that. Actually, I liked it a lot,” she said shyly.

  “Really?”

  “Really. And I wasn’t crying because of anything you did. It was me. I got too deep into my own head and…tonight was just—it was—” She huffed with annoyance because she couldn’t seem to find the right words.

  “I get it,” he said, saving her from having to scramble. “It’s the same for me.”

  “What?”

  Now it was his turn to nod. “What we have? What we started here tonight? It’s like a new chapter for the both of us.”

  Her shoulders sagged and she scrambled to climb into his lap to hug him. “That’s it exactly.” As he held her tight, she rested her head on his shoulder. “Can I ask you something?”

  “Anything.”

  “Can we work on this chapter a little more tonight?” She was thankful for the darkness hiding her blush, because she couldn’t believe how bold she was being.

  Carefully, he stood with her in his arms and walked back to the bedroom, kicking the door closed behind them as he passed. “We can work on this chapter over and over until we get it right,” he promised.

  And in that moment, she fell a little in love with him.

  Chapter 6

  “You know this wasn’t quite what I had in mind, right?”

  Teagan took a bite of her pancake and grinned. “Have I ever told you how much I hate going food shopping?”

  Laughing, Bobby reached for his coffee cup and took a sip. “So your idea of a date is sending me to the grocery store, is that what you’re saying?”

  She shrugged and took another bite. After a minute, she said, “Maybe. But then I made the food for you, so it kind of balanced out.” Then she smiled at him and he couldn’t help but smile back. Teagan Shaughnessy was not what he’d expected. If nothing else, he was enjoying the way she kept him on his toes.

  “I was all ready to take you out to the diner and let someone else do all the work,” he explained. “The
last thing I want is for you to feel like you have to cook for me.”

  Another shrug. “Believe it or not, there is a reason why I chose to go this route.”

  He looked at her expectantly.

  First she took a sip of her coffee, then she looked at him sweetly. “In this scenario, we don’t have to talk to anyone else, we don’t have to feel rushed, and I get to stay in my pajamas for a whole lot longer.”

  Reaching across the table, he gently ran a finger over her robe. “You’re not wearing any pajamas,” he said huskily.

  “Hmm… You do seem to have a point there,” she replied, giving him a sassy grin. “I guess that means we have less to deal with when we head back to bed.”

  Bobby knew his eyes were widening almost comically. He thought for sure she would be looking for excuses to send him on his way now, say that she needed to go and pick up Lucas. But…

  Standing, she reached for the tie on her robe and pulled it loose. Just the sight of her naked body under the basic flannel was enough to make him hard. Walking over to him, she opened the robe even more and surprised him further by straddling his lap.

  “I—uh… I thought you’d need to go pick up Lucas,” he said lamely, fighting to hold on to his self-control.

  “I don’t have to be over to Anna’s until around two.” Glancing over her shoulder at the wall clock, she turned back to him. “And it’s only nine.” Her arms draped over his shoulders. “So unless you have anywhere to be…”

  Even if he did, he would cancel it.

  He cursed his shorts and the fact that there were plates covered in syrup on the table, because the thought of laying her out right here as part of his breakfast was too good to bear. Swallowing hard, he let his gaze linger over her exposed breasts, up her throat to her lips, where it paused for a moment before coming to rest on her eyes. They were a little dazed, a little heated. Her breath came out in little pants, and he knew it would take very little to give her exactly what she wanted, bring her over the edge.

  “Tell me what you need, Teagan,” he said, his voice dark, low, a near-growl.

  “Touch me,” she whispered.

  His hands came to rest beneath her robe at her waist. “Like this?”

  She shook her head, but her head fell back slightly as his thumbs gently stroked her skin.

  Slowly, he moved his hands up until they cupped her breasts. “This?”

  Her hips moved against him in a way that left no doubt what she wanted. Clasping her hard around the waist, Bobby lifted her as he stood, and it only took two steps to set her on the kitchen island. She gasped with surprise, but he didn’t wait to hear if she’d say anything else before claiming her lips with his.

  If he could, he’d be touching her everywhere at once. As it was, his movements were frantic and not at all smooth. One hand yanked her robe off her shoulders while the other went to unfasten his shorts. He was about to take what he wanted—what they both wanted—when he paused and cursed.

  Teagan straightened and looked at him oddly. “What? What’s the matter?”

  Rather than answer, he ran into the bedroom, grabbed a condom, and quickly sheathed himself.

  And then it was purely, simply heaven.

  It was everything he’d ever dreamed of—she was everything he’d ever dreamed of.

  They moved together perfectly, wild and untamed, and it was over way too fast, but that didn’t matter.

  Carefully, he lifted her and carried her back to bed where they curled around one another breathlessly.

  “Wow,” she said, her head on his shoulder, her hand on his chest. “That was—wow.”

  Smiling, he kissed the top of her head. “Yeah. My words exactly.”

  Looking up at him, she asked, “Really?”

  After their brief conversation last night in the living room, he knew she was more than a little insecure. Tucking a finger under her chin, he said, “Really. You completely blew me away. I wanted to swipe all the dishes off the table and have you right there.”

  Her eyes went wide with wonder. “Wow.”

  “Yeah, wow,” he said with a small laugh. “Teagan Shaughnessy, you are the sexiest woman I’ve ever met.”

  Wonder turned to disbelief. “You don’t have to say that, Bobby. I know who and what I am.”

  He held her face so she couldn’t look away. “Clearly, you don’t if you think I’m lying. You know what I thought last night when I stripped you down?”

  “That I wore plain underwear and had stretch marks?”

  While her tone was light, her eyes told him she was serious. He shook his head. “No. I thought you were a living, breathing fantasy.”

  When she tried to move away, he held her firm, and she looked up at him skeptically. “How is that possible? I have mirrors, Bobby. I know I’m in decent shape, but…I’ve had a baby. There are stretch marks on my belly and even a few on my breasts. I live for plain cotton underwear. You can’t tell me any of that is sexy. I’m sure the women you’ve slept with wore thongs and all kinds of lacy crap.”

  Many of them had, but for some reason, he couldn’t picture a single one of them right now.

  “Teagan, it doesn’t matter what you’re wearing. It’s not the underwear making you sexy, it’s just you. Everything about you is a complete turn-on to me.”

  “Come on…”

  “Look, I don’t expect you to take my word for it right here, right now. But someday, you’re going to realize I’m telling the truth.”

  He released her chin and relaxed against the pillows before instantly tensing up when Teagan kissed his shoulder—more specifically, the raised red scar from the gunshot wound.

  “What are you doing?”

  She looked up at him in confusion as she shifted to lie on her stomach beside him. “The lights have kind of been dimmed since you took your shirt off last night, and when we were in the kitchen you had most of your clothes on. This is the first time I’ve seen your shoulder with the light on.”

  Self-consciousness flooded him. Although, now that he thought about it, he was thankful his left arm and hand had cooperated all night and not given him any issues. How embarrassing would that have been?

  Her fingers gently traced the ugly scar. The only people to ever look at it that closely had been medical professionals. This was a new, exposed feeling and oddly unsettling. He stilled her hand.

  “Don’t, okay? Just—it’s pretty gruesome to look at still.”

  “Not to me,” she said quietly.

  “Teagan…”

  “The way you feel about this scar?” she said, her voice firm but gentle. “That’s the way I feel about my stretch marks. I know they’re not the same, but… You look at me and say you see a sexy woman, even though I know I’ve got things wrong with me. Why is it so hard to believe I can look at you and see your scar and not be bothered by it?”

  Okay, she had a point, but some faint stretch marks were nothing compared to that one hideous patch of scarred and puckered skin.

  Not that he was going to argue with her about it right now.

  “Can I say something without you freaking out?” she asked.

  He nodded.

  “Last night—and even all day yesterday at the party—your arm didn’t seem to be causing you any issues. Have you talked to your doctor about maybe going back to work?”

  It was funny—for weeks he’d been seriously anxious to get his medical clearance. And now all he could think about was how going back to work would mean he’d be two hours away from her. From Lucas.

  What the…?

  He gently cleared his throat. “Um. I have physical therapy tomorrow and a follow-up appointment with my doctor on Thursday, so…”

  She smiled and he knew she was genuinely pleased for him. Didn’t she realize what it would mean if he got approved to go back on duty? Didn’t she
care?

  “You know if I go back to work I won’t be around much, right?” he said, a little too defensively.

  “O-kay…”

  “I’m serious, Teagan. I work twelve-hour shifts, and my shifts aren’t always the same. Before I got shot, I only came home to visit something like once a month. Doesn’t that bother you? I mean, here we are in bed together, talking about starting this new chapter in life and…and…what? Now we’re just okay with me not ever coming around?”

  Twisting, she sat up and pulled the sheet to cover herself before looking at him.

  Patiently.

  Like he was an overacting idiot.

  Which—he kind of was.

  “Bobby, I don’t expect you not to go back to work because we slept together.”

  And man, was that the wrong thing to say.

  Jumping up from the bed, he reached for his boxers and put them on. “Seriously? That’s what you’re focusing on? Us sleeping together?”

  Her sigh was definitely laced with annoyance, as was her expression. “Let me rephrase that. I don’t expect you not to go back to work because we’re dating. Happy, now?”

  Honestly? No.

  “If you hadn’t gotten shot and we happened to meet at Uncle Ian’s barbecue anyway, would we be here right now? I don’t know,” she said thoughtfully. “I’d like to think we would have.”

  “We would,” he confirmed adamantly.

  “We were attracted to each other, Bobby. And if the feelings we’ve been talking about are real, then we should be able to handle your work schedule no matter what it is. And let’s not forget that in about a month I’m going back to work, Lucas is starting school, and my schedule’s going to get complicated.”

  “You’ll have weekends off. I might not.”

  “Okay, and we’ll deal with that when the time comes,” she said calmly. Soothingly. “Why look for trouble?”

  Why, indeed?

  Maybe because shit just got real. This was the first time he’d had to think about someone else where his life, his job, and his schedule were concerned. He didn’t want to be away from her—or Lucas—for weeks on end. How were they ever going to really get to know each other and have time to settle into a relationship if he was never around?