Burning Up (Flirting With Fire Book 1)

by Jennifer Blackwood

  “Maybe we should chill out and watch some TV?” Anything to ease the tension in the room. Or avoid doing anything he’d regret.

  “Sounds good to me.”

  Good. At least they were in agreement about something. Maybe an hour or so of CSI and a cold shower would douse these feelings.

  Jake found the remote and sank down into the couch. Nothing like something mindless to lose himself in for a few minutes.

  With the click of a button, the jumbo flat-screen TV lit up with more tits, ass, and dicks than he could count. Loud moaning blasted from the speakers, and he quickly went to change the channel. He hit the “Up” button and the “Down,” and nothing worked.

  “Jesus. What the hell is this?” Erin balked at the screen, to where the woman wearing cat ears was now crawling around on the floor, meowing while one of the men barked. He even had a studded collar around his neck.

  “I—I don’t know.” Crap, why wasn’t the “Channel” button working? He pushed down on the volume, and nothing happened again. None of the buttons seemed to work besides the “Power” button. Another loud groan came from the woman, loud enough that Jake was worried whoever was staying in the next room would call the front desk and complain.

  “Can’t you change the channel?”

  “I’m trying.” Shit, he hadn’t felt this embarrassed since his mom had found his dirty magazines underneath his mattress as a kid.

  “Meow, baby. Your stroke is purrrfect,” said the woman on the screen.

  “That’s right, kitty cat. Now it’s time to get your milk.” The man spanked her.

  For fuck’s sake.

  Finally, he was able to get the “Up” button to work, and it turned to another adult program. And another. What was this? Porn hour?

  “Forget this shit.” He clicked the TV off.

  Erin looked over at him, and a smile twitched at her lips. Then she burst out into laughter, buckling over, her shoulders shaking. Jake couldn’t help himself, and he found himself cracking up at the situation as well.

  As their laughter died down, Erin wiped tears from her eyes. “Well, that was . . . enlightening. I didn’t know animal erotica was coming back into fashion.”

  “Was it ever in fashion?” If so, he didn’t want to know.

  “Touché.”

  He stretched out on the couch while Erin rustled in between the sheets on the bed. She still had a grin plastered to her face. He hadn’t been wrong earlier. Erin was sin and heartbreak. Two things he’d steer clear of this weekend.

  Chapter Seven

  Jake had managed to keep himself busy with wedding decorations the majority of the day. Now, he had to go back into the room to grab his suit for the wedding. Which was a blessing, because he’d woken up with a throbbing erection and the remnants of a dream about Erin’s legs wrapped around him. Hell, he couldn’t even escape her in sleep now. His sisters might say that this was his subconscious trying to tell him something. Luckily, he didn’t believe in that crap. He was no stranger to compartmentalizing, and he’d do that in regard to Erin. Sure, she was tempting, but he could push those thoughts away.

  He slipped the key card into the slot and opened the door.

  A faint tap-tap-tapping caught his attention, and he turned to find Erin on the bed, her laptop on her lap.

  “Don’t teachers get the summer off?”

  She looked up from her computer and gave him a bright smile that made all his earlier irritation melt away. “Not this one. Looking to see if there were any job openings since yesterday.” She frowned, her eyes scanning her screen.

  “Any luck?” He grabbed the suit from the bathroom and pulled his shirt over his head.

  She shook her head, her shoulders drooping. Just like that, it was like a cloud had passed in front of the sun, darkening the mood. He didn’t like to see her this way. Would do anything to erase that hurt in her eyes.

  “We’ll get extra drinks tonight at the wedding. Maybe we can go hiking tomorrow.” He knew that look. She needed to get out of her head. Usually Jake’s way of blowing off steam would be hitting the weights at the station, but he supposed any type of physical activity would do.

  “I did bring a pair of hiking shoes.”

  He jutted his chin to the overnight bag and the carry-on. “You probably packed your whole wardrobe in that monstrosity of a suitcase.”

  She wagged a finger at him. “There’s nothing wrong with having options.”

  He just nodded. Give him one or two choices and he was set. It seemed that Erin’s life was one of those destination signs pointing in all different directions, with every city imaginable listed.

  “Can you help me with something?” Erin called from the bathroom. Jake already had his suit on and had helped with the last-minute preparations. Now he was free for the next hour until the ceremony.

  He walked into the bathroom and swallowed hard. Erin’s dress was open down to the small of her back, tan smooth skin on full display. No bra. The thought made his dick twitch.

  “Will you help zip me?”

  It was one of those dresses that had the big opening in the middle, the zipper starting at her shoulder blades. “Sure thing.” He grasped the delicate zipper between his fingers, and his thumb grazed her bare skin. A soft whimper escaped Erin’s lips, and he bit down hard on his tongue. Nope. Do not picture what sounds she’d make if your hands were other places. But hell, he was only human. His mind went there. It went a lot of places, including what type of sounds she’d make if he took a nip at her neck.

  She cleared her throat, snapping him back to the present. He’d been standing there for who knows how long, closer than he should have been standing. Just an inch closer and his chest would be flush with her back. It’d take less than two seconds to have her dress pooled on the floor—he’d put money on that.

  Back. Off.

  Reluctantly, he released her zipper and backed away. “I need to make sure my sister doesn’t need anything else before the ceremony. I’ll see you at the wedding?”

  He shoved his hands in his pockets and thumbed the coin that was practically searing a hole through his pants. He had no right to be thinking those things. Not when this was Erin. Hell, he owed it to her to show her respect. She was here as his friend, and he’d like to keep it that way. It didn’t matter that she’d admitted to liking him in high school. He planned on ignoring that for the remainder of the weekend.

  She looked at him through the reflection of the mirror, her expression unreadable. Ever since last night, everything had felt different. Tighter. Like whatever was between them was seconds away from snapping. “Yeah, I’ll sit by Bailey,” she said.

  “Great.” He hadn’t seen his daughter since last night. She’d sent him that text at midnight that she was back safe from her escapades with his sisters, but that was it. A pang of guilt hit him that this had been the last thing on his mind all day. “I’ll see you soon.”

  He took one last look at her, blonde hair swept over her shoulders, her black dress hugging every mouth-watering curve.

  He made it out of the room and loosed a breath, banging his head against the wall. This woman was his damn Achilles’ heel. Twenty-four hours and then he’d be in the clear. Until then, he just needed to repeat to himself that he had enough willpower to stay away from her. He hoped it was true.

  Erin chewed on her bottom lip as she sat on the bed, staring at the door.

  “You’re an idiot, Jenkins.” Of course she had to go and make things awkward by blurting out that she’d had a thing for Jake since prehistoric time. There was a lot of last night that was fuzzy, but she remembered that part. For a second there, she thought she’d hit the jackpot, especially when he’d joined her on the bed. And then his phone had gone off and, boom, reality check.

  Beer? No longer her BFF.

  She pushed off the bed, strode over to the mirror, and gave one more look-over, deeming herself made up enough not to be given major side-eye by any of the wedding party.

&nbs
p; Now all she needed to do was make it through this evening and never show her face around town again, and she’d be good. It was a solid plan. Mostly. Besides the fact that she was here in Oregon for another month.

  She stood in front of the mirror, putting her hair into a half pony. Then down. Then all the way up into a bun. Then half down.

  She let out a frustrated groan. “Come on.”

  Nothing looked right. Or maybe she was just freaking out and her hair was the only bit of control she had left.

  A knock came from the door, along with a muffled “Housekeeping.”

  She shuffled around the bed and opened the door to find someone from the hotel staff standing behind a cleaning cart.

  “Come on in. I’ll be out of your way in just a second.” She always felt awkward being present while someone came to clean the room because she always had the urge to help them pick up. “Just need to grab my bag, check my lipstick one more time, and should be good to go.” Why did she feel the need to give this poor woman the play-by-play commentary? Maybe she really was starting to lose it.

  Bag. Now. Go.

  Making her way across the room, she searched for her little wristlet that contained her ID, cash, and aspirin in case the headache from this morning decided to make a reappearance. Her clutch sat on the coffee table by the couch, along with Jake’s glass of water from last night.

  He’d been in her bed. For less than two seconds, but still. If that text message hadn’t come through, they might still be in there. Maybe.

  She glanced at the clock on her cell phone. Crap. Fifteen minutes until the ceremony. She quickly backpedaled out from the tiny space when her legs hit the couch and she went down, ass first. She landed on something hard, and then the moaning came. Not from her, but from the TV.

  “For the love.”

  She clicked the remote, and this time the “Power” button didn’t work.

  A woman dressed as a wizard stepped into the frame, wielding a wand. “You’ve been a very bad boy, Harry.”

  Oh dear God.

  “This isn’t what it looks like. This was the only thing that was on.” She winced. Nope. Not the right thing to say. That would imply she wanted to watch the freaky-deaky debauchery of her favorite childhood series. “Not that I’m into this kinda thing. I mean, if you are, more power to you.”

  “Is that a wand in your pants, or are you excited to see me?” came from the TV, full blast. Erin cut her gaze to the plug in the wall and debated tearing it out.

  “I mean, this is the only channel we were able to look at because the remote is broken.”

  Erin smacked the remote against her palm and tried the “Power” button again. Nothing.

  The housekeeper stared at her, arching a brow. Yeah, she wasn’t buying it. Wasn’t it in their job description to not pass judgment on hotel guests? Because Erin would put money on this woman witnessing weirder stuff than role-play porno.

  “I’ve been a bad little wizard and cheated on my exam. Punish my chamber of secrets, baby.”

  Come. On. Stupid. Button. Her zero chill factor made a brief drive-by, and now Erin was in full-on meltdown mode.

  She tried the remote one more time, and the button remained stuck inside. She raced to the wall and ripped the plug out, closing her eyes, and then turned slowly toward the housekeeper. “Can we just keep this between us?”

  The housekeeper held up her hands, a scrubber in one hand, a bottle of cleaner in the other. “I didn’t see anything.”

  Well, at least she wouldn’t have to worry about that anymore. One more night and she’d be out of here. It was bad enough she had to skirt around Jake in the room while they pretended not to be in each other’s space.

  Enjoy the wedding, be a good date, then it was back to the grind with job hunting.

  As soon as she walked out to the main area, her breath evaporated from her chest. Across the grassy expanse, chairs had been set up to face the deep-blue lake that glistened in the afternoon sun. A wooden pergola, intricately carved with vines and leaves, was set up in the center, twined with exotic flowers of various shades of purples and blues. Five rows of white chairs were laid out on either side of the makeshift aisle, and rose petals lay on the runner covering the lush green grass. A dream wedding, Erin decided. On a teacher’s salary, she’d either need to not buy food for the next five years to save for this or marry into a really, really rich family. So basically it wasn’t in the cards. Which was fine. Erin wasn’t one for glitz and glam—because, let’s face it, dry-clean-only clothing did not mix with Crayola products or science experiments.

  Josie and Tom’s wedding was set for six o’clock on the dot, leaving them in the last hours of the summer heat. Today was a minor miracle, the temperature touching only past the seventy-degree mark, which promised for a chilly night. She’d spent time in Bend during a Fourth of July celebration once, and it’d been ninety during the day, and then a light dusting of snow had come in the evening. High desert was nothing if not unpredictable. With the flimsy excuse of a shawl she’d packed, she prayed there’d be no snow in the forecast tonight.

  Ten minutes before the wedding, she checked her hair one last time in her compact mirror and walked down the main lawn.

  The sun had dipped below the tree line. Laughter bubbled through the outdoor area as kids chased each other through the grass. Twinkle lights hung like falling stars from tree branches. Erin’s hand flew to her chest. Everything about this was so . . . perfect. Like she’d been transported into a fairy tale, and any minute a prince and princess would be holding hands at the altar.

  “There you are.”

  Jake walked up behind her and placed his hand on the small of her back. Warm calloused fingers swept across her bare skin in a delicious caress.

  Oh, hello there, lady bits.

  She glanced up at him, his hair artfully tousled, his blue eyes standing out against the navy button-up and blazer.

  “Ready to take a seat?” he asked.

  “Sure thing.” He led her down the aisle, this part of the grass covered in a pristine white runner. Four rows from the front, they took a left and grabbed the two available seats next to Bailey.

  Bailey sat low in her seat, her phone wedged between her crossed arms. Erin’s heart lurched a bit as she regarded her. The same age as all her students. The same I’m-too-cool-for-this/why-does-everything-have-to-be-so-boring facade. And at the same time, that awkward quirkiness that only a preteen could manage. God, she missed her students. Erin smiled and gave her a tiny wave before taking her seat.

  As soon as her back hit the white folding chair, the threat of waterworks pressed against her sinuses, just from one glance at the altar. Erin didn’t know what it was about wedding ceremonies, but no matter whether she knew the bride or not, tears would be flowing before the bride made her way down the aisle. Call her a sap or whatever, but she loved the idea of love. The thought of two people coming before their closest friends and family to pledge their love for one another remained one of the top romantic gestures in her book. That and flash-mob proposals.

  From the swans in the lake to the ornate flower arrangements at the ends of each aisle, this place screamed love, and, by golly, the tears might start even before the bride made an appearance.

  “Everything looks perfect,” she said.

  Jake’s gaze dipped to her dress, and her skin burned from her ears down to her toes. “Yes, it does.”

  Erin fanned herself with the program that was propped on the seat next to her.

  Music from the nearby DJ station started up, playing a soft melody, and Julie began her descent down the aisle with one of the groomsmen from the party the previous night. Next came Hazel, arm in arm with another groomsman.

  Erin was doing good. Not a tear in sight. She even managed to keep her laugh contained when the flower girl chucked her basket of flowers at someone’s head in the audience. And then Josie appeared from behind the barn and linked arms with her father. Her sweetheart-cut dress swishe
d across the grass in dramatic arcs. The gauzy fabric floated in the breeze, and with the sun setting behind her in the distance, she looked like she’d floated straight down from the heavens. Her father’s bottom lip quivered as they reached the top of the white runner on the ground, pulling his daughter closer.

  And, yep, her throat constricted, and the tissues came out. From what she saw, it was a beautiful, albeit blurry, ceremony.

  Thirty minutes later, Jake took a seat next to Erin at one of the tables in the barn. Bailey was at another table with Hazel and Julie, taking selfies on her phone, completely in their own little world. Which suited him just fine at the moment. He wasn’t one for weddings. The idea of finding someone to spend the rest of your life with just seemed like a load of crap to him. But Josie looked so damn happy standing up there with Tom that he had to believe they’d be part of the small percentage who were actually able to keep their marriage afloat.

  “Looks like Tom is stuck now,” he said.

  Both their gazes moved to the groom, who was beaming ear to ear. “I think he’s happy with his decision,” she said.

  “A little liquid courage also helped.” Tom had taken a few swigs of scotch before the photos this morning. The poor guy didn’t know what he was getting himself into. It also didn’t help that the photographer was up in his face the entire day. He felt for the guy.

  “You are terrible.” A smile twitched at her lips.

  “Just callin’ it like I see it,” he said. He was a realist. Why spend so much on one day that they probably wouldn’t even remember twenty years from now? He’d rather use that money to pay for an exotic trip.

  “Such the romantic,” she mused.

  “Hey, I can be romantic.”

  Erin arched a brow.

  “Did I tell you that you look beautiful tonight?”

  A flush crept up her neck and filled her cheeks. “Thank you.”