by Amy Brent
I froze, and in that moment of hesitation she didn’t wait. Her knee shot up and straight into my groin. Pain, sharp and agonizing shot through me until I doubled over still desperately trying to catch my breath.
Somehow, despite having a foot and a half and at least eighty pounds on the intruder she flipped me easily to my back and pinned me down all in one seamless, well-practiced move.
“What the fuck?” The words shot from my mouth on instinct but I was in way too much pain to be embarrassed about being beaten by a girl.
“You really should know better than to try and take me down.”
Every atom in my body froze at the sound of that all too familiar, sultry as sin voice. It couldn’t be. It was impossible. It didn’t make any sense.
“What the fuck?” I finally forced out, my brain suck repeating one phrase over and over again like a computer malfunctioning.
“Jesus, Jonah. I didn’t hit you that hard.”
I peered up at her through the darkness and then it hit me. All her features flooded into focus. The big, dark, drown in me eyes. The perfect, pouty lips. The heart shaped face. A face I’d sure as hell never thought I’d see again, let alone like this.
“Sabrina?” Her name left my lips like a prayer. Or a curse. I wasn’t sure which.
“In the flesh.” I watched that quicksilver grin of hers flash across her face in the darkness and then disappear again just as fast.
“What are you–.”
“Mr. Moore? Jonah? Is that you? What are you doing in here in the dark?” Mrs. Markel’s voice interrupted my question just a second before the overhead light flashed on. I squinted against the sudden brightness, my eyes taking a moment to adjust but Sabrina still looked like a dream. A hallucination that I’d conjured into existence. She really was there. I could see her. And so could Mrs. Markel.
“Oh my goodness!” Mrs. Markel’s shocked gasp almost had me grinning. It seemed like the cherry on top of all the ridiculous I could handle at the moment. But instead I raised an eyebrow at Sabrina and a moment later she scrambled to her feet. For a second I could swear I saw a blush stain her cheeks but that really was ridiculous. Sabrina Cole was the toughest person I knew. And she sure as hell didn’t blush.
“It’s, um, it’s nothing, Mrs. Markel.” I stuttered after a moment, rising unsteadily to my feet. I wasn’t even sure if they would hold me to be honest but I still forced a reassuring smile to my lips. At least I hoped it was reassuring. Based on the elderly woman’s censorious look, I wasn’t succeeding.
“Jonah, Mr. Moore I mean, was showing me to my room and he tripped on my bag trying to get the lights on. It was a good thing you came when you did.”
“I’m sure it was.” Mrs. Markel gave both of us another look before turning, her pink flower print robe fluttering dramatically behind her, “Well, I’m going to bed to try and get some sleep. I hope you two can try and keep the noise down.”
I had to bite my tongue to stay silent as she made her way back to her own room but a second later I turned back to Sabrina with a scowl.
“What do you mean, I was showing you to your room? What are really doing here, Sab?”
“I told you, I need a room. This one will do fine.” She shrugged, as if it was totally normal for her to just fall through the upstairs window in the middle of the night. She was soaked through from the rain and for the first time I noticed the way the wet fabric clung to her body, accentuating every beautiful, familiar curve and crevice.
“No, what are you really doing here?” I demanded once more, even though I wasn’t really expecting the truth. Not from Sabrina. “I’m assuming it’s not just to see me? Or to explore the springs? If I remember right you weren’t much of a hiker, so I know it’s not the scenic sights or fresh air.”
“Fresh air.” She shuddered in exaggerated mock horror and for a moment it was as if the last year and a half had never happened. As if she’d never left and it was just Jonah and Sabrina, together. It felt so right it made my chest ache and I had to catch my breath for entirely different reason.
But then she sobered, her mood changing like mercury as she looked at me with those big, unreadable eyes.
“I can’t tell you why I’m here, Jonah. Honestly, I didn’t expect to see you at all.”
“You mean you hoped you wouldn’t see me.”
She shrugged, not denying the truth.
We stood there for a long moment, the tension thick like a blanket of cotton filling the air between us but finally I gave in with a sigh.
“Fine, you can stay here tonight. Just tonight! And just until the storm passes.” I shook my head as another memory rose. A frantic phone call and a desperate plea for help.
“Thanks, Jonah. I really appreciate it.”
“Don’t thank me. You helped me out, with Quinn and Leo. You tracked him down for me. You didn’t have to do that.” I gave her one last look, “Consider us even.”
“Yep, even.” She said, her voice barely more than a whisper and there was nothing else to say, and everything else to say, but no words would come. I turned and left, my mind and my heart torn.
Chapter 3
Sabrina
I opened my eyes and lay there for a long moment, staring at the unfamiliar pale blue green color of the bedroom wall. I was dreaming. That had to be the only explanation for all of this. The drive in the rain. The bed and breakfast. Jonah.
Especially…him. It still hurt to say his name. Hell, it still hurt to just think his name. The memories came flooding back in a painful rush. I had been dragged into Coral Springs following a case. It was a run of the mill Private Investigator case. One I’d worked a thousand times. A wife worried that her husband was cheating on her, which he had been.
I had followed the mark for a few days, and wound up in Coral Springs, recorded the evidence needed for my client and all that was left was to turn around and leave this town in my dust. But things hadn’t worked out that way. Not that time. That time had been different. Because of him.
After I met Jonah I found excuse after excuse not to leave and before I even realized what was happening months had passed and I’d basically moved in with him. It had all been small, nearly unnoticeable steps. The motel I’d been staying at got flooded and I needed a place to stay. He offered and it made sense. We were spending practically every night together anyway.
Then, one morning woke up, and I realized something that had terrified me. I was falling for him. In a big way. In a scary way. I didn’t do relationships. I never had before. Being a private investigator didn’t exactly lend itself to a steady lifestyle. I constantly moved. I didn’t settle down. But in that moment, I realized that I could. I could make a life with Jonah. I would give up everything that made me me for Jonah. And it had scared the hell out of me.
That same morning I packed all of my things, left Jonah a scribbled note lying and telling him I had another case, and I left.
It was for the best, I told myself, it was better for both of us.
Was it?
I remembered the phone calls. Jonah had tried for weeks after I’d left to get me to come back. To get me to explain. But how could I explain it to him? I’d fallen in love with him, and I was afraid he was falling in love with me. With a woman who would never settle down. With someone who didn’t have roots. With someone who didn’t know how to be loved. With someone who would only end up breaking his heart.
“Jesus, enough already,” I huffed to myself as I tossed off the covers, irritated at my own morose thoughts. I walked to the bathroom and grabbed the clothes I’d thrown over the shower rod the night before in the hopes that they would dry. The dark grey cotton t-shirt was still slightly damp but at least the jeans were dry. I pulled on the skin tight black skinny jeans and then fished a pair of clean socks out of my backpack and finished with my ankle high leather boots.
It still felt like I was in a dream. When I thought of everything that had happened. Tracking my bounty to this bed and breakfast, the brea
k in, and Jonah. Especially Jonah.
But it’s not a dream, I reminded myself sternly as I zipped up my back pack and threw it over my shoulder, and I have a job to do. I’m not going to let anything, or anyone, get in my way.
With that thought ringing in my ear, I left the room and walked downstairs. I hadn’t exactly had a chance to get the grand tour the night before but I glanced around curiously now. It was a quaint, eclectic mix of old and new.
I could see the bones of the old farmhouse it had been, in the worn wood floors and the plaster molding around the ceilings but it was juxtaposed with bright, inviting colors that made it feel comfortable and cozy. Like slipping on a favorite pair of slippers and sitting next to a fire.
I had just wandered past the front desk when a voice halted me from behind.
“If you’re looking for breakfast, it’s this way.”
“I’m sorry?” I asked, turning and taking in the woman clad in all black. She had black dyed hair and black lipstick to match.
“Breakfast?” She asked, tilting her head as if I were the crazy one, “You know, as in bed and breakfast. It’s kind of implied in the name.”
“Oh, right,” I stuttered, trying to think of some excuse but it might be the best opportunity I would get to scope out the other guests and find my guy. And the sooner I did that, the sooner I could get away from Coral Springs. And from Jonah.
I ignored that last thought, shooting a smile at the goth girl and gesturing her to lead the way.
“I’m Charlotte, by the way.” She said, returning my smile with a surprisingly friendly one of her own. “I work here during the day. I’m usually at the front desk, so if you need anything you can just ask. Or call down from the phone in your room.”
“Great. Thanks.”
“No problem.” She said as we walked into the small but lovely dining room. There were only three small tables scattered around the room, and two were full. “Here you go. You’ll be sitting with Mr. Carter, his wife, Ginger, and this over here is Mrs. Markel.”
I smiled at them in greeting with each introduction, but it faltered a little at the last. It was the same woman who had walked in on Jonah and I the night before and she was sending me a knowing glance behind her thick rimmed glasses.
“Here’s some fruit to get you started. The rest of breakfast will be out soon. Would you like coffee or juice?”
“Coffee, please.” I said as I took my seat, sliding my back pack to the floor between my feet. I shot a dubious look at the bowl of fruit as Charlotte walked away. Coffee normally was my breakfast of choice but I picked at it as I glanced around the room at the other guests.
There was another older couple sitting at the table next to me, both reading newspapers, and at the last table was a group of twenty somethings already dressed in their hiking boots and outdoor gear. Obviously ready to go hiking and explore the springs.
Outdoors. I shuddered to myself at the thought. No thank you. I would be spending my time here comfortably indoors, searching for my bounty, who appeared to be missing from this morning’s breakfast spread.
Where are you? I wondered to myself, itching to pull out the small notebook from my back pack. It’s where I kept all of my ongoing notes about my cases. The bounty. Where they were headed and how I was going to track them down.
He had to be here somewhere. Maybe I can convince Jonah to let me look at the books, see what room he’s in. But I knew the odds of him using his real name to check in was slim. He was dumb enough to use one of his credit cards.
I nodded. I might just get lucky. But I hated to rely on luck. No, what I needed was a plan.
“…Oh, I know. Isn’t he just to die for?”
“Oh, Caroline, you’re the worst. You’re not wrong though. Not wrong at all.”
I glanced up to see Ginger and Mrs. Markel staring at something intently over my left shoulder.
“Now, ladies. Enough ogling. Ginger, you’re practically drooling.”
“Sorry, dear.” Mrs. Carter patted her husband’s hand but I noticed her eyes never left their mark.
I was just about to ask who they were talking about but before I could get the question out a shadow fell over our table and all the breath was stolen from my lungs. It was Jonah, carrying a tray full of plates.
I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe or speak or think with him that close to me. All I could do was sit there in silence as he placed the plates piled high with breakfast food in front of each of us. He didn’t look at me the whole time. And I couldn’t look away.
I noticed with a jolt of humor that the two older ladies at my table couldn’t look away either but it fizzled when Jonah finally stepped back. He smiled at the elderly couple and Mrs. Markel, saying something though I couldn’t hear what it was. My pulse was pounding so hard in my ears that it drowned out everything else.
He was about to walk away and that was when our eyes met. The bright clover green of his gaze was surprisingly hard as he shot me a sharp look. I felt that look like a physical blow and then he turned and the moment was gone.
Temper flared, hot and harsh inside me and I grabbed my back pack and followed after him. How dare he treat me that way? Look at me that way? As if I wasn’t even worth saying good morning to. As if I wasn’t worth saying anything to.
It had hurt more than I wanted to admit, that look, and that more than anything else spurred me forward, following him as he made his way passed the front desk and through the door into the office behind it.
“What was that about?” The words shot out of my mouth before I could stop them but my temper was flaring hot now and there was nothing I could do to stem the tide.
“Sabrina? You’re not supposed to be here.”
“You’re right. I’m not. I’m not supposed to be here. But I am. And you’re going to have to find a better way to deal with it than sending me dirty looks.”
“No, I mean you’re not supposed to be in the back office, not here. I mean Coral Springs. I mean, damn it, I don’t know what I mean!”
“Well, you better figure it out, Jonah!”
“Why?! Why should I have to figure anything out!” He stopped and turned around, stalking towards me as he shot out words like bullets, and I was the target. “You were the one that broke in here in the middle of the night. You were the one that just showed up out of nowhere and expect me to pretend that it’s normal. You were the one that left, Sabrina! You left. Not me. There is nothing I need to figure out.”
Jonah didn’t stop until we were standing toe to toe and we were both breathing hard as his tirade hit me. I winced on impact but there was nothing I could say. Nothing I could do to make it right.
We stood there, and I stared up into his green eyes and hated seeing the hurt that I’d caused him. But there something else there, too. Something behind the hurt. Something wild and hot, burning out of control. The same electric chemistry that exploded whenever we were within twenty feet of each other.
And there was nothing I could do to resist it. I opened my mouth to say something, anything but no sound came out. Jonah’s head dropped to meet mine, his lips bruising as we kissed and then all the words were gone.
***
Jonah
I felt Sabrina shudder in my arms as I angled my mouth over hers to deepen the kiss and for the first time in over a year and a half, everything felt right. For the first time, I felt like I was finally back where I belonged. It felt like coming home.
The anger was gone, melting into a razor-sharp desire that had me pulling her close, crushing her to me but it still wasn’t close enough. It would never be close enough. The thought had me kissing her harder, faster. Biting her lower lip between my teeth in that way I knew drove her insane.
I couldn’t resist her. I could never resist. Not from the first moment we met in that dive bar just outside of town. Not any moment since then. I knew it was a lost cause to try, and damn it, I didn’t want to.
It felt so good to hold her in my arms, to feel
the familiar fire that had always burned like wildfire between us sear away all the lonely night and empty beer bottles that I’d tried and failed to drown her in.
Need, sweet and sharp pounded through me and I didn’t think. I couldn’t think. All I could do was give in. All the defenses I’d spent building over the past year crumbled to dust, swept away by her kiss, her touch. Her taste. Honey and spice all mixed up together to make something as unique as she was.
My hand were moving, my fingers tracing down her rib cage until they reached the hem of her t-shirt and then sliding up and under. I pushed the fabric out of the way as I went and nearly groaned out loud as I felt nothing but bare skin.
“Fuck, Sabrina. You’re not wearing a bra?”
I felt her shrug, and then her words spoken softly against my lips, “It was still wet from last night.”
The sound of the word wet spoken in her sultry, sinful voice made my knees go weak and for a moment I wondered If I would hit the floor.
“Jesus. You’re going to kill me.” But the words were lost in our kiss, swallowed down right along with the panting breaths and moans of need. I cupped each breast in one hand, feeling the plump fullness before narrowing my touch to the already hard peaks of her nipples.
I teased them with my fingers, just as my tongue teased hers. A dance that felt as familiar to me as my own skin. Sabrina gasped into my mouth and gladly drank in the sound. Every murmur and sound of pleasure and desire just spurred on my own.
With one frantic motion I lifted the t-shirt, pulling it over her head and latched onto one nipple, my fingers still teasing the other. Sabrina’s hands fisted in my hair, pulling me even closer and I gratefully obliged.