Crashing Into Love

by Melissa Foster

  “Do you want to know what I want?” He dropped the weed and rested his forearms on his knees.

  “You tell me. Do I?” Please say yes. Please, please tell me I do.

  She felt his finger on her chin as he brought her eyes into focus and searched them for an uncomfortably long time, making her even more nervous.

  “Fiona Steele,” he said just above a whisper. It sounded intimate and important. “Is that fear I see in your eyes?”

  “Maybe.” The word crept off her tongue.

  His brows knitted together. “Why, Fi?”

  She pressed her lips together to keep from crying. Because I love you. Because I don’t want to hear if this isn’t as real to you as it was last night.

  Why was she so worried? As she met his gaze, she realized that her love for him had deepened, and the fear of losing him now was sending her over the edge. She had to tell him. There were no two ways about it. Not telling him would just make her worry and feel even more insecure, and she really didn’t want to be that person.

  “Because, Jake. Because I love you, and I’ve loved you forever.” Why am I talking so loud? She couldn’t stop the truth from flowing like a river. “Because when I woke up in your arms, I let myself dream of doing it every day for the rest of my life.” She pushed to her feet and paced. “Because I don’t want to hear you tell me that you’ve changed your mind and that this whole thing was a mistake. That you need a different woman every night, or…or…”

  Jake stood, and she turned away, horrifically embarrassed. She closed her eyes and held her breath, wishing she could sprout wings and fly away like the hawk. She felt his hands on her waist.

  “Are you done?”

  “I think so, but I don’t trust myself.” She clenched her eyes tighter.

  “Hm.”

  Even with her eyes closed she felt him moving closer to her, felt his warm breath whisper across her cheek.

  “If you don’t open your eyes, my hands might start to wander.”

  She laughed and opened her eyes. Yup. His broad chest was right in front of her, covered with a thin black tank top that she wanted to tear off so she could feel his bare chest, touch it, kiss it, and revel in it. She touched her forehead to the center of his chest and breathed him in.

  “When has that ever stopped you before?” She tilted her face up and met his serious gaze.

  “It wouldn’t stop me now, but I knew it would make you laugh.” He hooked his fingers in her belt loops and tugged her hips against his. The rough contact sent a shiver through her. No man had ever made her body react like Jake did. She was so screwed if he turned her away. He’d already ruined her for any other man.

  “It’s not often that I see this side of you.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Please. I’m an open book to you.”

  “In some ways, maybe. But this feels new.” He pressed his arousal against her. “Well, that doesn’t feel new, but seeing you embarrassed and flustered does. I kind of like it.”

  She halfheartedly pressed her fists to his chest, hoping he’d say more.

  “You’re adorable when you’re flustered.” He kissed her forehead.

  “You’re not helping.” He was making her feel better, but he was also skirting the real issue, which made butterflies start flapping around in her stomach.

  “Okay. You’re right. Let me address the real issue. You love me.” He smiled.

  She waited for him to say more, but apparently the frustratingly handsome stuntman she loved was playing a different type of stunt, because he just grinned like he’d discovered gold and should be bowed to.

  “Okay, yes,” she relented. His reveling was driving her batty. “I love you.”

  “Good. Now that we’ve that cleared up…”

  He turned to walk away, and she yanked him back by the tail of his shirt.

  “What? Get back here. You can’t just leave me hanging like that, you big oaf.”

  He laughed and folded her into his arms, then sealed his lips over hers while still laughing.

  “What do you want me to clear up? How much I love to kiss you? Or haven’t you noticed already?” He kissed her again, eagerly and thoroughly sinfully. “Or maybe how much I love to bury myself inside you? I could show you that here, too.”

  “No!” She laughed. “Wait. Yes!”

  He kissed her again, muffling her laugh.

  “Or maybe you need to hear how you have totally captivated my heart, my mind, and, well, you know you own my body.”

  She felt a tear slip down her cheek as he lowered his forehead to hers.

  “Oh, Jake.”

  “From the moment I met you, I never stood a chance of not falling in love with you. I never stopped loving you, so there was no need to fall back in love with you. I just had to let myself feel again. And only you could make that happen. I love you, Fiona.” His tone softened. “I wanted to find a romantic way to tell you, but I can’t sit by and watch you worry.” He took her hand in his and gazed lovingly into her eyes. “I don’t want a different woman every night, and I don’t think this has been any kind of mistake. This has been an awakening, Fi. The best damn awakening I could ever hope for.”

  He leaned in close, brushing her lips lightly as he whispered, “I’m so thankful that you didn’t give up on me. You knew what I needed, and what I needed was you. I love you, Fiona, with every ounce of my being.”

  Their lips met in a long, loving kiss that magnified every word he’d said.

  Chapter Twenty

  SUNDAY MORNING JAKE was awake before the sun, as he was most mornings, in preparation for their morning run. Today, with Fiona’s sweet softness draped over his body, running was the last thing on his mind. Ever since they’d reconnected, he’d felt himself changing. And since he’d told Fiona how he really felt, he’d felt himself opening up to her even more and becoming even more like the man he used to be. The knots in his stomach eased, and the feeling of needing to be doing something every minute of the day had lessened. Before Fiona walked back into his life, he hadn’t fully realized why he was on such a fast path to oblivion.

  Fiona’s thigh was resting on his, her arm stretched across his chest. Her breath moved his chest hair just enough to tickle. He ran his hand down the curve of her hip, and she sighed in her sleep. He had a clear view of her slightly parted lips, which brought back memories of the night before. They’d grilled out on the deck. Then, after dinner, they’d gone for a walk and shared a bottle of wine. They’d shared a lounge chair on the deck and stargazed long into the night. Stargazed. How had he changed so much so quickly? He hadn’t stargazed since they were teenagers.

  He turned his head and looked out the window. Dawn was just beginning to break, and as Fiona turned over, giving him a lovely view of her derriere, the sun crept higher. As did the sheets above his erection. He slid his thigh over the back of hers and his arm across her shoulder, then rested his head on the back of her arm, nearly completely blanketing her slim figure. Beneath the fragrance of soap from the bath they’d shared the evening before was Fiona’s unique, womanly scent, which he adored. She breathed deeply, and he pressed a kiss to her warm skin. He had missed this type of intimacy. Now that she was with him, he never wanted to wake up without her again. He finally understood how his siblings had fallen in love so fast. He’d been so adamant about never going down the monogamous road again—and with Fiona, once he kissed her again, it was all he ever wanted. It surprised—and pleased—the hell out of him.

  How had everyone close to him known what he needed, and how had he missed it? He tightened his arms around Fiona, wondering why some other guy hadn’t swept her off her feet before now. He kissed her shoulder and somehow innately knew that even if another man had tried, she wouldn’t have been interested. Her love for him was palpable in everything she did and said, and it was bigger than both of them, as, he was realizing, was his love for her.

  She turned over and smiled up at him, blinking away the haze of sleep.

  �
��Ready for our run?” she asked groggily.

  He kissed her cheek, and in that moment Jake realized he hadn’t really changed that much at all. Fiona had cracked the armor that had weighed him down and peeled back his layers to who he really was, revealing the skin he was happiest wearing. He felt freer than he’d ever felt in his life.

  “How about we skip our run?” He ran his thumb along her jaw, then trailed kisses along the same path.

  “But…” She closed her eyes as he kissed his way down to her breast and dragged his tongue over her nipple. “Oh, God.”

  “Is that a yes to skipping our run?” He spread her thighs with his knees as he positioned his hips over hers.

  Her hands pressed firmly on his lower back. “I think this is a much better way to get our exercise.”

  He lowered his lips to hers as their bodies came together. Her luscious curves, her wet, warm center, her delicious mouth, everything felt familiar. Their bodies moved together in perfect harmony, and as he gazed into her eyes, he sensed that she felt as if she’d come home, too. He reached down, and before he could angle her hips, she made the adjustment, taking him deeper. Her eyes fluttered closed, and she lifted her hips higher.

  He nuzzled against her neck. “You feel amazing.”

  “So do…you.” She bit her lower lip, and he couldn’t help but drag his tongue along it in a way that he knew would arouse her even more. “Harder,” she whispered.

  Her hips rose off the bed to meet his efforts. He reached down and grabbed her ass. He needed to intensify her pleasure as he took her harder. Her eyes closed and her head fell back.

  “Jake.” She panted.

  “Come on, baby.” He slid his hand beneath her knee and brought her leg up by his ribs. “Come on, Fi. Show me how much you want me.”

  Her eyelashes fluttered and her lips moved, but no words came. He knew she was on the cusp of coming apart, felt her body stiffen, her nails dig into him. With two hard thrusts, her body quaked and quivered around him.

  “Again,” he urged, as he lifted her other leg, widening them, allowing him better penetration. Jake was throbbing, ready to burst, but watching Fiona come apart was one of his greatest pleasures. Her eyes opened wide, then slammed shut as she cried out an indiscernible cry that sent a tingling down his spine and sent him over the edge. He pumped and thrust through the very last pulse of his release, taking her in another mouthwatering kiss before rolling onto his back, slick and sated, beside her.

  He reached for her hand and had no idea how long they lay there, but by the time they showered and dressed, the sun was up, and he wished they could start the weekend all over again.

  Fiona cooked egg-white omelets and toast for breakfast, and they ate out on the deck. She crumbled a piece of toast on the deck railing.

  “For the birds.” She smiled as she sat beside him at the table. “Hear them chirping? That’s so nice. I never hear that where I live.”

  “I can’t tell you when the last time was that I listened for the birds, or even slowed down enough to hear them.” He hadn’t remembered her penchant for feeding wildlife until right then. “When we were kids, it seemed like I heard them all the time. But that might have had something to do with you always leaving out birdseed on my mom’s deck and at your mom’s house.”

  Fiona finished eating and smiled. “Do you remember that first summer we were together, when you tried to convince me that if I left food out for the birds you’d have to fight off a bear?”

  “I had to do something so you’d believe I was the toughest guy out there.” He patted his chest and flexed his muscles.

  “There is no woman on earth who could look at you and think you were anything but a big, strong guy.” She climbed into his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Even when you’re sensitive and loving, you’re powerful. Your eyes burn right through me. Your touch sends me running for the bedroom.” She pressed her lips to his and ground her bottom into his groin. “And that mammoth between your legs? We won’t even go there. No wild animal has anything on you.”

  He gathered her hair in his hand and gave it a light tug, earning him a seductive gaze that nearly made him carry her back into the bedroom again. But he had other plans for today.

  “See why I love you? You’re very good for my ego.”

  “Why don’t you carry me upstairs and prove to me just how manly you are.”

  So much for his plans…

  BY THE TIME they left the cabin it was nearly noon. They’d spent only two nights there, but it felt like a lifetime. Driving around in Jake’s truck had felt like old times, and Fiona had noticed how much happier Jake seemed at the cabin than he was in the city. After he’d told her that he loved her—she was still reveling in that particular admission—he seemed to fall back into some kind of comfort zone. He smiled more often, touched her every time he walked by, and when he loved her...Oh, the way he loved her! In his arms, she felt as though she were transported into another world and like she could finally be herself again. She hadn’t slept with many men, but the few she had been with hadn’t been the kind of guys to evoke the emotions and insatiable heat that she felt with Jake.

  As they drove back toward what Jake had begun to call the real world, Fiona’s mind drifted to her job and the life waiting for her back in Fresno. She hadn’t allowed herself to think about the promotion or that her real world was so far away from Jake’s. She’d decided before reconnecting with Jake that if they got together, she’d leave the promotion behind, and she knew she had to deal with that sooner rather than later. But not this very second.

  She glanced at Jake’s serious gaze and noticed how tightly he was gripping the steering wheel.

  “You okay?” she asked.

  “Yeah.” His answer was curt, and even though he reached over and held her hand, he didn’t make eye contact.

  “You sure?” She wondered if he was thinking about work or worried about having missed something important. Their cell phones hadn’t worked at the cabin, and he’d had to return a number of texts after they’d driven down the mountain. They’d become so close that she no longer worried about who the texts were from.

  He glanced at her, then drew his eyes back to the road. “It’s…nothing.”

  Uh-oh. “Jake, your nothing sounds like a whole lot of something.”

  “It is, but it’s not a good something. It makes me an ass for thinking about it, much less wanting to ask you about it.” His hand clenched the wheel again.

  “Now you’re worrying me.” What could make you an ass?

  Jake remained silent.

  “Jake, if you want to be with me, then we need to be able to communicate. It seems to me that we’ve handled some pretty touchy situations, so I can’t imagine what’s got your briefs in a bunch. Just spit it out.”

  He looked at her again out of the corner of his eyes, holding her hand tighter than he normally did. “Okay, but you have to promise not to hate me for it.”

  “Wait. I’m not sure I want to hear this. I feel like you just stabbed me in the stomach.” She looked out the window, weighing the possibilities. He must have done something really awful to preface his admission with that.

  “It’s me who feels stabbed.” His voice was husky and rough.

  Fiona turned back toward him. “Just tell me, because now I feel like I’m going to be sick.”

  “It’s just…Fi, I adore you. I mean, when I think of you, it’s not just the sex that I think about, although you’re like my fantasies come true. It’s everything. But of course sex is a part of that, and when I think of you coming on to other guys in your past like you do to me…I can’t take it.” His fingers curled tighter over the steering wheel, and his knuckles turned white.

  A laugh burst from Fiona’s lips before she could stop it. She smacked her hand over her lips.

  “Wait.” She tried to swallow her laughter, which was driven by relief and nerves, not because his jealousy was humorous. “Let me get this straight. My boyfriend, wh
o has admitted to taking part in several threesomes and sleeping with just about any woman with legs, is jealous of me and my meager sexual history?”

  “I told you it made me an asshole,” he grumbled.

  She laughed again, this time because his disgruntled voice was humorous.

  “Jake, really? I told you I could count my sexual partners on one hand.”

  “It’s not the number; it’s the idea of you seducing them. Of you doing what you do to me, to someone else.”

  Now she couldn’t help but tease him. “Aw, so you don’t want to think about me doing this to someone else?” She unhooked her seat belt, leaned over the console, and rubbed him through his jeans, moaning in the most sensual way she could muster. His body instantly responded.

  “Fi,” he growled.

  “Or this?” She unzipped his pants, setting his erection free, and lowered her mouth to him.

  “Jesus, Fiona. I’m going to crash.”

  That only made her feel more empowered. She swallowed him from tip to base and loved feeling his entire body tense. She’d never been brave enough or had the desire to blow a guy in a car before, but with Jake she had a feeling there wasn’t much she wouldn’t want to do.

  “Fi…o…na.”

  She felt his thighs flex and swirled her tongue over the tip while stroking him harder, knowing exactly how to take him over the edge.

  “Fi, you’re gonna…make me come.”

  “Then perhaps you should pull over.” He did just that and threw the car into park. With one quick flick of a button, he reclined his seat.

  “Jesus.” He gripped her head as his hips bucked, and he filled her throat with his seed.

  He breathed heavily as she tucked him back into his jeans and climbed over the console and up his body, taking him in the hottest kiss they’d ever shared. He devoured her mouth, despite the taste of himself on her tongue, and when they finally broke apart, his eyes bored right through her.

  “You’re the only man I’ve done that with,” she admitted. “You’re the only man I’ve ever felt comfortable showing initiative with the way I do with you.”