Today, it feels tough. Every step is a struggle until I find my groove and make it to the shady part of the run. The path winds through the trees and I jump over roots and rocks as I run alongside the river.
My body starts to relax for the first time since the kiss. I take deep breaths and finally hit my stride. I smile, taking a deep breath of fresh air as I run through the woods. I fill my lungs with clean air and breathe out, feeling my muscles scream and then relax into the run. This is my favorite part of a run—when everything seems to fall into place and I feel like I’m flying through the air.
My mind clears and I let my feet take me wherever they will. Before I know it, I’ve rounded the last corner of the trail and am coming back into town.
I smile and take a deep breath. My legs feel like jelly and my heart is pumping hard, but I feel good. I needed that. All the tension is gone from my system and after a shower and some food I’ll be ready to go see Owen. I’ll try to look a bit more put together than the last couple times I’ve seen him.
I run up to the front porch, hop up the steps and open the door.
“Hey Gram!” I call out into the house. I’m still panting and the sweat is pouring off me. I need water.
“In here!” She says from the kitchen. I wipe the sweat off my forehead and head down the hallway toward her voice. Is she talking to me?
Then another voice speaks and my eyes widen. I push the kitchen door open and there he is.
Owen McAllister.
He’s sitting in the same seat he was in last night, drinking a cup of coffee and eating one of Gram’s fresh baked cookies. All of a sudden, the relaxation that I felt disappears and my body tenses. So much for looking put together. I’m a sweaty, red-faced mess and I’m sure my hair is sticking up in every direction. Great.
“Jess!” He says as his eyebrows shoot up. A cookie crumb falls off his lip onto his pants and he brushes it off.
“Owen! What are you doing here?”
“Jessica! What a thing to say,” Gram says as she shakes her head. “Mr. McAllister brought us these flowers as a thank you. Isn’t that nice?”
“It is. Good thing you had those cookies ready or else you’d need to make double as another thank you,” I say with a grin as I head to the sink for some water.
Owen laughs and Gram makes a tsk sound.
“These are delicious,” he says. “And I don’t suppose there’s any use in asking you to call me Owen?”
“Probably not,” I say with a laugh. His eyes flick over to me and he looks at me from head to toe before clearing his throat and turning to Gram. I turn to the sink again and take a deep breath. Every time he looks at me it sets my body on fire. I was already red-faced from the run and now I must look like I’m about to explode. I take a long drink of water and a deep breath before turning around.
“I’m going to jump in the shower,” I say without looking at Owen. I shuffle out of the room and let out a sigh as soon as I turn the corner. My heart is beating faster than it was during my run.
So much for being cool and collected.
13
Owen
“You’re too nice, Mrs. Lee, really.”
“Oh it’s nothing. I don’t need any of this anyways,” she replies. I look at the stack of spades, shovels, buckets, fertilizer and I shake my head. It would cost me a fortune to buy this stuff new.
“This will help so much. I only had the one shovel and it’s falling apart.”
“Take it. I’m too old to garden now,” she says as she brushes her hand over an overgrown shrub. She smiles sadly and sighs.
“Would you like me to trim those for you?”
“Oh, that would be lovely!” She says and her eyes light up. “Would you mind?”
“Not at all. Here,” I say as I pick up a pair of shears. Jess’s grandmother smiles and I see the same light in her eyes as Jess’s. She points to a few plants and shows me what needs to be trimmed. I nod and she smiles again and pats my arm.
“You’re a dear,” she says. I get to work as she heads inside.
I like gardening. It’s messy and it’s hard work in the hot sun, but it feels good to do something productive. I’m focused on the shrub when I hear a soft chuckle.
“She put you to work, did she?”
I look up and grin, wiping the sweat off my brow. Jess looks incredible in her sheer blue dress. It’s flowing around her legs like water and I blink a few times.
“I offered,” I respond with a laugh.
“She made you think you did, anyways,” Jess laughs, stepping closer to me and leaning against the porch pillar. “She’s an expert at making people feel useful.”
“I don’t mind,” I say, chopping another overgrown branch. “She’s helped me so much with the garden at the Lex, and she’s offered to give me all this stuff. It’s the least I can do.”
I glance at her again and remember how she looked in the kitchen, in those skin-tight shorts and sports bra, glistening with sweat. Her hair is down now, falling in soft brown curls around her face. She tilts her head to the side and watches me as I watch her.
“Thank you,” she says. Somehow it sounds like she means something more than just gardening. I look at her and she continues. “For helping her. She’s on her own out here, I can’t tell you how much it means to me. It’s nice to know that people are looking out for her.”
“It’s my pleasure,” I answer. I mean it, too. Even just standing here next to Jess is more comfortable and pleasant than I’ve felt in a long time. She smiles and turns to head back inside.
“I’ll help you carry all that stuff back to the hotel, if you want? Did you walk?”
“Sure,” I say, and my heart jumps. She smiles at me and turns to go back inside. I chop the shrub and grin to myself, stealing another glance at the door where Jess disappeared.
Jess and I walk in silence for the first few minutes. It’s a comfortable silence, the two of us side by side as we meander through the town. Finally, I turn my head to look at her. The sun is shining off her face and it makes her skin look like it’s glowing. She turns to look at me and her pink lips curl up into a smile.
“What?” She asks with a grin.
“Nothing,” I respond, turning my head back forward. “So why did you leave?”
Jess laughs and I glance at her again. “You mean why did I leave this Mecca of culture and activity?”
I grin. “I meant more like you sounded bitter when you talked about it. It sounded like there was a reason that you left.”
Her smile fades. “People are cruel,” she says. I expect her to go on, but she doesn’t. She just sighs. “What about you? Why did you leave New York?”
I shrug. I want to tell her about the trial, about the files buried deep in my bottom drawer, about the realization that my dad wasn’t the superhero I thought he was. I want to tell her that I left because it was either staying and getting wrapped up in something illegal or leaving and trying to make something of myself.
“I just wanted a change,” I finally say. “Everything was moving too fast. It was too loud. I heard about this place and it seemed like something different.”
“And now?” She asks, glancing at me. “You still glad you left?”
“You know, if you’d have asked me that a month ago, I would have said no. I would have said I missed the hustle and bustle of the city, that I missed the action. I would have told you I’d be going back the first chance I got. Now I’m not so sure.”
She nods but says nothing. We walk in silence for a few minutes until she speaks again.
“There were rumors about me,” she says suddenly. I frown. She glances at me. “Before I left. It was like I was invisible. No one would look at me or speak to me. They can turn on you quick,” she says. Her voice is flat and she stares straight ahead.
I clear my throat. “I’m sorry to hear that. What… what happened?”
She shrugs. “It’s not important. It’s okay. They got over it. I got over it. One day
everyone just started talking to me again, like nothing happened. It was like a switch flicked. That’s when I decided to leave, it was messing with my head too much. Life went on. I moved away and people forgot about it all.”
“I’m sorry,” I say again. I want to ask her more, to find out what they were saying about her, find out who was saying it. I don’t even know what happened but I can feel the first hints of anger and indignation start curling in my stomach.
“It’s not your fault,” she says as she glances at me. A grin spreads on her face. “I moved here when I was seven. My grandma took me in and raised me. I think I’ve always been an outsider and some people just used any excuse they needed to shut me out.”
“If you’re an outsider then I’m from another planet, I respond. “I don’t stand a chance then.”
“Probably not,” she laughs. Her laugh is light and musical and I can’t help but chuckle. She glances at me and tilts her head. “You’re tall and handsome and you’re playing by the rules, so I think you’ll be okay.”
“Well, thanks for the vote of confidence,” I say. She smiles.
“Somehow I feel like I can trust you.”
“You can,” I reply. Her smile widens. We turn the last corner and the Lex comes into view. We walk the rest of the way in silence and I try to ignore the thumping of my heart in my chest.
14
Jess
I drop the bag of gardening tools on the floor of the shed behind the Lex as Owen leans the shovel and spade against the wall. I brush my hands together and put them on my hips.
“Well that should keep you going for a while.”
“Thanks for your help,” he says. He turns toward me and his eyes bore into me. My heart jumps and the blood starts rushing in my ears. Every time he’s near me he makes me feel dizzy. I don’t want to leave, not yet. Owen runs his fingers through his hair.
“You want a drink? Some water? I can show you the renovations we’ve done on the hotel.” He shifts his weight from foot to foot and glances at me. He chews his lip and then his tongue darts out to lick them again.
I nod. “Sure.”
The smile spreads on his face and he nods back, gesturing at the shed door. I turn around and shiver as his hand touches the small of my back to guide me out. I lean into his touch and take a deep breath to steady myself.
We walk in silence and go in through the back door. The hotel is quiet, and our footsteps echo down the long hallway from the back of the hotel toward the lobby.
“Not very busy today,” I say. My voice almost trembles and I try to get control over my body again. His hand drops away from the small of my back and I feel more relaxed and more alone all at once.
“No, it’s Joe’s day off so I’ve closed the bar till this evening. Not many guests this time of year.”
“Are there many guests any time of year?” I laugh. Owen grins but says nothing.
We walk shoulder to shoulder and I breathe in deeply. I can just smell his cologne over the smell of fresh paint in the hotel. I wish I could get closer and bury my head in his chest and run my fingers up his sides. I close my eyes for a moment to try to get a hold over myself again.
Owen starts pointing out architectural features and decisions they made and how long things took to build, but I don’t hear a word of it. All I can see is his jaw, and the way the sinews in his neck move when he talks, and the way the muscles in his shoulders and arms ripple under his skin when he moves. He lifts his hand to run his fingers through his hair and I can’t help but stare at the little strip of skin between his pants and his shirt.
He hands me a bottle of water from behind the bar. “We’ve done a lot of work upstairs as well.”
“Lead the way,” I say with a smile. “The place looks amazing.”
“Thanks. It’s been a lot of work.”
He climbs the stairs two at a time and I try to keep up. He turns around at the top and holds out his hand. I slip my palm into his and an electric current passes from him to me. He smiles, and his eyes darken as his pupils expand. Another thrill passes through my body and I feel like my whole body is warming up. I walk up the last few steps and he keeps a hold on my hand, guiding me down the hallway and showing me the renovations that have been done on the rooms.
We walk all the way to the end of the hall and I glance out the big window. Main Street is buzzing with activity below us. I look up at Owen as he stares out the window and I take a step toward him. My hands rest on his chest and I can feel his heart beating. He turns his head to look at me and wraps his arms around my waist.
My fingers slide up his chest and hook around his neck. Now I can breathe in deeply and let his smell fill my nostrils. I study every detail of his face and run my fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck. His hands drift down from my waist to my back and over my ass. He pulls me into him and I press my body against his.
We say nothing, because nothing needs to be said. His head dips down and finally, finally, I get to taste his kiss again.
15
Owen
The moment my lips touch hers my whole body gets a few degrees hotter. I wrap my arms around her and pull her closer. I love the way she fits so perfectly against me. Every curve of hers finds just the right place and our bodies connect as if they were made for each other.
Her lips are soft and moist and they taste exquisite. We stand there in the hallway, arms wrapped around each other for seconds or minutes or days—I don’t know. Time loses all meaning. My fingers trail down her back and I sink my fingers into her body. She purrs and my cock pulses between us.
Ever since she appeared in her grandmother’s kitchen after her run, my whole body has been on edge. All I’ve wanted to do is grab her and pull her into me, run my fingers all over her body and explore every inch of her.
When she appeared on the porch wearing that blue dress, I could hardly stand straight. When we walked back together it was the sweetest torture to be that close to her. When she slipped her fingers into mine it was like the volume in the world got turned up a couple notches.
And now, now, she’s wrapped around me. Her lips are crushed against mine and her hand is fisted into my hair. She pulls at my hair and the tiny needles of pain penetrate my skull and make my cock leap in my pants.
She makes that purring sound again and presses herself closer to me, so that my cock is pinned between us. I groan.
“You’re incredibly sexy,” I growl as I touch my forehead to hers.
Her eyes are closed and a grin floats over her lips. She pulls her head away and strokes my cheek with her finger.
“I could say the same about you,” she finally replies.
We stare at each other for a few moments. I never knew that two people could say so much without ever speaking a word. Her eyes are deep pools of brown, telling me a thousand things while she says nothing. I feel my lips pull into a smile and I nod my head at my door.
“Let’s go in here,” I say. She smiles and lets me lead the way to the room. I pull out my keys and step through to my room. The bed isn’t made and yesterday’s clothes are in a pile on the floor. I cringe as I close the door behind her.
“Well that was a convenient place to end the tour,” she says with a grin as she swings her eyes over to me. “We just happened to be right beside your room.”
I chuckle. “The tour wasn’t over. If I remember correctly it was you who kissed me out there.”
Her smile widens and her eyebrow lifts. “Is that so?”
She takes a step toward me and my heart starts hammering against my chest. This time, I don’t know who kisses who. Our arms wrap themselves around the other’s body and our lips find each other in an instant.
I squeeze my arms around her and let my hands drop over her ass. I pull her into me and she moans again, tangling her fingers into my hair.
Her dress bunches in my hands and I pull the fabric up until my hands are touching her bare skin. The instant my hands touch her skin my whole body feels e
lectrified. My cock throbs in between us and she moves her hips back and forth.
She’s not close enough. I want more. I reach down and pick her up by the thighs. She yelps and giggles and then wraps her legs around my waist, letting her arms rest on my shoulders. She kisses my lips gently, slowly, and I let my hands slide over her soft skin. I back up until my legs hit the bed and then I sit down.
Her legs are straddling me and she grinds her hips against me slowly at first, and then more and more insistently. I groan, and she pulls away and smiles.
“This isn’t what I was expecting to happen when I offered to help you bring those tools back.”
“Isn’t it?” I ask with a raised eyebrow.
She laughs. “I was just being neighborly!”
“Neighborly,” I repeat with a laugh. “What kind of neighborhood do you live in?” She laughs and I kiss her neck, tracing it all the way down to her collarbone. “I think this was your plan all along. The garden tools were just a distraction. You’re a temptress and you’ve caught me in your web.”
“Maybe,” she says with a laugh, running her fingers through my hair as my lips follow her collarbone down to her breast. She groans. “Your lips feel so nice.”
“I could kiss you forever,” I reply, placing a kiss in the center of her chest. I move the soft blue fabric down slightly and see the lacy edge of her bra. I place a kiss just on the edge of it, loving the way her breast is soft under my lips.
She moans and grinds her hips against me as I pull her dress down further. I slip the bra straps off her shoulders and expose more of her skin. I move slowly, caressing her shoulder with my fingertips, and then her chest, and finally trace my fingers along her bra. She reaches back and unclasps her bra, sliding it off and tossing it on the ground.
I groan, moving both my hands to her chest as she wraps her hands around me again. I kiss her again and again and again. I can’t get enough of her. Jess’s skin tastes incredible. Her nipples are two hard little buds and I pinch them gently between my fingers before taking one in my mouth.
Unexpected (Complete Accidental Pregnancy Box Set) Page 36