Crashing Into Love

by Melissa Foster

  “Babe, we’re adults now. We know what we want, and even if it took me a while to get here, I know I want you.”

  She wrapped her delicate hand around his neck and pulled his mouth to hers. Their tongues slid over each other’s with fresh desire and urgency that sent her hips off the mattress. He was throbbing with need, and before he could reach for a condom, she did. When she handed it to him, their eyes connected—and held—with a hundred different emotions.

  Jake tore the wrapper open with his teeth, and she helped him roll it on. He hadn’t allowed any other women to do that for him, and without any thought, he allowed Fiona to—and loved it. She lay back on the bed, and Jake could hardly believe he was lying with Fiona again. His Fiona. God, how had he ever let her go? As he lowered his body to hers and they joined together, he knew he’d fight till the death to keep her with him forever. He held her gaze as he filled her completely and wrapped his arms around her again, keeping her close. This was what he’d missed most, this closeness. This intimacy that he’d only ever found with Fiona.

  The desire to love and be loved.

  Their bodies fell into a natural rhythm. Jake laced his fingers with hers and held them beside her head, so he could look into her eyes as he loved her. She met his efforts with her own, lifting off the mattress, angling her hips to take him in deeper, her inner muscles tightening around him. Christ. He’d forgotten how good she was at this and how good they were together.

  He pressed his cheek to hers. “I’m not going to last, Fi. Not this first time with you. It’s been too long.”

  Her lips curved up in a knowing smile. “I’m not worried.” She shifted her eyes at the pile of condoms spread over the blanket beside them.

  He planted another hungry kiss on her receptive mouth, thrusting his tongue as he pumped his hips. She pressed on his lower back, urging him impossibly deeper, grinding her hips against his as their tongues danced to their own insistent rhythm. Her fingernails clutched at his skin as her head fell back again, her body racked with passionate spasms, pulsing around his potent rod. He heard his name sail off her lips as waves of ecstasy flooded him. Her cheeks were flushed, her breathing shallow. He wanted more of her. Always more. She was his weakness and his strength, at once. She had the power to ruin him and she was his driving force to be better, to be the man she deserved. She was worth the risk. She grabbed his ass, pressing their slick bodies together, taking in every inch of him. He gritted his teeth and buried his face in the crook of her neck, muffling his grunts, as thrust after powerful thrust drew out his powerful release.

  They lay there for a long while, breathing hard, their bodies braided together. He listened to her breathing ease back to normal, felt her body melt into the mattress. Only then did he withdraw from between her legs. He squeezed her hand, then rolled to the side and disposed of the condom so he could hold her close again.

  “Fi.” Her name sounded like liquid emotion.

  “Yeah?”

  “I’m glad you didn’t give up on me.”

  “I tried.”

  He blanketed her body with his, wrapping one arm around her waist, and tried to give her the most serious face he could muster after such an earth-shattering orgasm.

  “You tried?” he asked.

  She nodded. “No matter how I tried to escape you, you were always there. I saw your eyes in every man, heard your voice in my head. You haunted me from the moment I left for college until the very second you pressed your lips to mine in your house. And every second since.”

  He couldn’t stifle his smile. “You fueled my anger, Fi. Drove me half insane, and you were a million miles away. I thought I’d explode in rage if I spoke to you again, much less kissed you. What I realized after you roped me in was—”

  “Roped you in?” She raised her brows, her eyes alit with mischief as she ran her finger down his chest. “Yee-haw, cowboy.”

  He squeezed her ribs and she squealed. “Careful, or I’ll ride you like you’ve never been ridden before, girlie.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Promises, promises.”

  He sealed his lips over hers again and kissed her silent.

  “After you roped me in, I realized that what I was afraid of wasn’t exploding with rage. It was feeling again. Allowing myself to get sucked back into the love we had. You opened that door and slipped right in, Fi. You broke me again, in a different way. A better way.”

  “Broke you of your philandering ways?” Her voice was teasing, but he could tell by the serious look in her eyes that she felt it, too.

  “Yes. You wanted to slay the beast. Now you have me.” Just don’t throw me away again.

  Chapter Thirteen

  JAKE CAREENED OVER the top of a Jeep Friday afternoon and landed on the ground with a loud thud. He feigned a struggle to his feet and carried out his last fight scene for the day. Every punch he threw packed twice its normal power, every kick carried the weight of missing Fiona, whom he hadn’t seen for any significant amount of time since they’d come together Wednesday night. She’d had plans with Trish and Shea Thursday night. He hadn’t even been able to pick her up in the mornings because he’d had to meet with the executive producers of an upcoming film early yesterday morning and again this morning. They’d had a few quick chats between Trish’s scenes, but he hadn’t been able to hold her in his arms—and he craved the closeness. At least he’d made time before his scene to call his doctor and arrange for a quick blood test to be taken in his trailer under the strictest of confidences. That was one thing off his plate. While the blood had drained from his arm, he’d seen it as a chance for a new beginning. He was sure he’d been too careful for the test to be positive, but he didn’t want to take a chance with Fiona’s health.

  He’d barely been able to think of anything but her since he’d seen her back home, and now that they’d come together, she was always there, lingering in his mind. It had taken him a few hours to figure out that the reason he’d been so jumpy and edgy over the last day and a half was because he was allowing himself to enjoy thoughts of Fiona after pushing her away for so long. Once he figured that out, it had taken another few hours for him to accept the unfamiliar feelings. Since then, he welcomed the gut-wrenching nervous feeling.

  He was feeling again. That had to be a good thing.

  One last uppercut, and the other stuntman crumpled to the ground in a perfectly orchestrated death.

  “Cut!” the director yelled. “Nice ass-kicking.”

  Jake waved and took his battered body off the set to where Trace was waiting with a giant thermos full of ice water.

  “You’re the best, Trace. Thanks.” Jake eyed her black miniskirt and T-shirt. Trace rarely wore skirts, and based on her smile, he had a feeling her partner was back in town.

  “Thanks. Would you mind if I left to meet Carla?” Trace and Carla, a model, had been dating on and off for three years.

  “She’s back in town?” Jake was happy for her, although he had no idea how she put up with Carla’s air of pretentiousness. Jake had known Carla before she began dating Trace. She ran in some of the same circles he did, and he’d always felt she was anything but down to earth, while Trace was as real as they came.

  “For the weekend, and I figured since you weren’t shooting, I’d take advantage.” She raised her brows.

  “Yeah, sure.” He guzzled the water.

  “Awesome. Oh, and she’s coming to the cast dinner with me next Friday. You said that was fine, right?” She reached for his empty thermos.

  “Of course. Whoever you want to bring is cool with me.”

  “I arranged for your driver, so you’re all set.”

  “Thanks, Trace. Listen, I know Carla will probably take care of a car for the two of you, but feel free to arrange for it on my account, okay?”

  Trace arched her pierced brow, which sported a silver barbell rather than her typical silver hoop.

  “Jake, you’ve gone soft on me.” Her blue eyes had gone soft, too.

  “Pfft
. I offer that stuff to you all the time. You just never take me up on it.”

  “Yeah, but you don’t usually do it until the very last second. Usually when your driver picks you up, I get a text that says, Hey, you need a ride?” She laughed and walked away.

  “Trace,” Jake yelled.

  Trace turned. “I almost forgot. Fiona’s off at six. She said she’d meet you at your trailer.”

  “How’d you know I was going to ask about Fi?”

  “You had that sickeningly mushy look in your eyes. Soft, Jake. Soft, soft, soft.”

  “That’s not what she says.” He winked, and Trace waved, shaking her head as she walked away.

  Back at his trailer, Jake showered and texted Fiona. I’m at the trailer. Have a surprise for you.

  His phone vibrated a few minutes later. A yee-haw cowboy surprise? Should I bring my spurs?

  He’d forgotten how quick-witted Fiona could be. What he had in mind hadn’t been sexual, but as his mind traveled back to making love with Fiona, he felt a rise in his pants. It had been forever since just thinking about a woman had brought that reaction. He liked this whole feeling thing. How the hell had he gone so long without it?

  He was still thinking up a response when someone knocked at the trailer door. Jake pulled it open, anticipating Fiona. His smile fell flat at the sight of Megan Flexx.

  She climbed the steps and leaned in for a kiss.

  Jake leaned back. “Megan. What are you doing here?”

  “I’m filming across the lot.” She narrowed her eyes and twirled her long dark hair around her finger. She blew a bubble with her gum, popped it loudly, then sucked the pink stickiness into her mouth in one fast inhalation. “Heard you were still here and thought we could…replay a few scenes from last month.”

  Jake’s eyes darted around the lot, looking for Fiona—or the press. The last thing he needed was a shot of Megan wearing a black dress short enough to qualify as lingerie entering his trailer.

  “I’ve got plans, Me—”

  She pushed past him and walked into the trailer. Jake followed her toward the bedroom.

  “Megan. I don’t have time for this.” He put his hands on his hips, and Megan turned in to him and pressed her body to his.

  “We’ll be quick.” She hooked her finger in his belt hoop, and he gripped her wrist.

  “No.” It was a first for him, turning down a quickie from Megan, and it felt like a first—strange and uncomfortable. Then again, he was turning down the hottest actress in the business.

  She furrowed her brow and stuck her lower lip out in a crazy, sexy pout that would bring most men to their knees. It pissed Jake off. Not so much that it was coming from Megan, but that he’d created a take-me-as-you-want-me situation with not just Megan, but plenty of women, and now he had to clean up his own damn mess.

  He abhorred messes.

  She wrapped her free hand around his neck. “Oh, you want to play rough tonight? I’m all in.”

  “Jake?”

  Jake felt the blood drain from his face. He turned as Fiona stepped into the trailer. Her beautiful smile fell like lead as her eyes swept over them and filled with pain. She turned and hurried out of the trailer.

  “Fi.” Fuck. Jake dragged Megan to the door. “Out. Now.”

  “What the…?” She stumbled down the stairs.

  “Sorry, Megan.” He pulled the trailer door shut and scanned the lot. Fiona was nowhere in sight. Damn it.

  “She’s gone, Jake.” Megan set her jaw in an angry frown. “What the hell was that all about?”

  “I’m trying to be a good boyfriend, and I’m sorry that I don’t have time to explain. It’s not you. It’s me, and all that appropriate shit. I’m no longer available.” He pulled out his cell as he ran in the direction of the parking lot.

  “I thought that was a PR stunt,” she yelled after him.

  “Not if I can help it,” he mumbled as he spotted Fiona hurrying across the blacktop.

  FIONA FOUGHT HARD against the tears that burned her eyes. Her chest ached. I’m an idiot. Was that his little surprise? A threesome with Megan Flexx? Her phone rang as she stormed across the lot with one thing in mind—getting the hell out of there as fast as she possibly could.

  “Fiona!” Jake’s frustrated voice chased her.

  She fisted her hands and gritted her teeth. I was stupid to come here and think this would work.

  A heavy hand landed on her shoulder. She stumbled, and Jake caught her in his damned strong arms.

  “Fiona.” Every muscle in his face was pinched tight.

  She twisted, trying to free herself from his grip, but he was holding her too tight. “Jake, let go.”

  “Fiona, it’s not what it looks like.”

  She froze at that stupid cliché. “Is that directly from a movie, because I’ve only heard it about a million times before. And it sounds just as lame coming from you as it does on the big screen.” A tear slipped down her cheek and she looked away.

  “Fi.” His tone softened. “I promise you on all that is good in this world that I was not doing what you think I was doing. I might be a lot of things, but I’m not a cheat.”

  She wanted to argue that point, to push at his chest, yell at him, and let the crazy that was brewing inside her out, but Jake was right. In the years they’d dated, he’d never once cheated on her, and he’d had ample opportunity. She knew what he was like now. He didn’t try to hide that from her. But in her heart, she trusted him. She still believed that Jake Braden’s word was good as gold, even if she’d lost sight of everything he’d done to make her feel comfortable and jumped to conclusions. If he said it wasn’t what it looked like, she knew he was telling her the truth.

  He wiped her tears with his thumb and wrapped an arm around her waist.

  “I’m sorry, Fi. I know how it must have looked. Megan came to the door, and I thought it was you. She walked inside before I had time to think. I turned her down, and I’d do it a million more times. I don’t want her.” He crouched a little so he was looking up at her downcast eyes with emotion so fervent it weakened her resolve. When he whispered her name—“Fi”— and brushed his thumb over her lower lip, her anger wilted even further.

  “You’re holding me really tight,” was all she could manage.

  “I’m not letting go.” He smiled, and it made her cheeks flush with embarrassment for overreacting.

  She brought both fists to his chest and banged them lightly against his muscles.

  “This is hard.”

  “Well, I work out every day,” he teased.

  She touched her forehead to his chest. “You kept telling me you were going to screw up, and when I saw you with her, I thought…”

  “I don’t blame you.”

  She met his gaze. “Yeah, but there’s a part of me that thinks I’m being stupid for believing you, because you keep telling me that you’re not the same guy you were before. How do I know what to believe? Maybe you made a mistake and you’re trying to cover it up, or—”

  “Or maybe I didn’t and I don’t want to be blamed for something I didn’t do.” He searched her eyes and his gaze hardened. “I’m not the one who left you, Fiona. I’m not the one who chased you down and made me fall for you again, either.”

  “I know, but—”

  “But nothing.” He released her, and she wished he’d scoop her back into the safety of his arms. “I get that this sucks and that it looks like I fell right back into who I’ve been for all these years.” He ran his hand through his hair and turned away.

  A lump lodged in Fiona’s throat, and when he turned back, the anger in his eyes had twisted to pain, and it slayed her, rooting her to the ground. He closed the distance between them and reached for her hand.

  “Fiona, I don’t know how you thought all this would go, but none of this is going to be easy. People have expectations, and granted they’re expectations that I’ve created, but that doesn’t go away in a day, or a week, or…”

  She held he
r hand up and shook her head. “Stop. I get it, okay? I feel stupid for storming out, and I feel stupid for feeling stupid!” She banged her head on his chest three times, trying to figure out what to do. She trusted Jake through and through, but she’d let jealousy consume her. She took one deep breath, then another, trying to bring her rational mind to the forefront.

  “Fi.” He lifted her chin and smiled. “If I had walked in on you and some guy, I’d have gone ballistic. You didn’t do anything wrong, so you shouldn’t be upset for storming out. And I can promise you that I’d never humiliate you by cheating on you. I don’t think I knew if I could really say that to you before now, but now I’m sure. That’s not where I’ll mess up. I don’t even know how I might mess up, but it’s been a long time since I’ve had a girlfriend. Just know that I’ll never hurt you in that way.”

  “Okay.” The honesty in his eyes did her in. He may have changed in a lot of ways, but in her heart she didn’t really believe he would cheat.

  “I’m the one who alerted the media to our relationship, remember? Would I have done that—or gotten tested for every sexually transmitted disease known to man—if my plan was to hurt you?”

  “You got tested?” He’d said he would, but she didn’t expect him to run out and have it done so quickly. This floored her—and spoke volumes about Jake’s integrity and his feelings for her. Now she felt even more stupid for assuming the worst.

  “Yes, I got tested. Fiona, I do what I say I’m going to do. That hasn’t changed, and neither has my ability to be faithful, which, believe me, surprises me as much as it probably surprises you.” He laughed. “I don’t mean that how it sounds.”

  “Yeah, you do.” She felt the tension rolling away. “I shouldn’t have assumed the worst.”

  “No, you probably should have, but now we both know that you don’t have to. When I said I’d screw up, I didn’t mean by fooling around with someone else behind your back. I’m not sure what I meant, but now I’m sure it wasn’t that.”

  “So, you want a monogamous relationship?” She hadn’t thought to question it before this. In her mind they were already there, but she hadn’t realized until just now that clarifying that it was what Jake wanted was probably a good idea, despite the fact that he’d gotten tested.