Collision Control

by C. A. Szarek

  His dark gaze was hazy, sated, and it sent a shiver down her spine.

  She had made this gorgeous man have that particular expression on his face.

  Jared buried his face against Mel, rolling to his side and taking her with him. He pulled her into his chest as his softening penis slipped from her body.

  Her sex trembled with a small aftershock of pleasure and she shivered.

  “Sorry,” he whispered.

  Mel pulled back and met his beautiful dark eyes. “Why?”

  “You felt so good. It was too quick.”

  Too quick?

  What to say to that? He’d made her feel better…feel more…than she ever had before. Two orgasms was a first for her, too. But she’d never admit that out loud. “It was…fantastic.” Truth serum struck again, and her cheeks warmed. The lopsided grin he flashed made her heart stutter.

  “You’re fantastic, baby.”

  She fidgeted against Jared’s chest and he pressed his mouth to hers.

  “Be right back.” He left the bed and disappeared into the attached bathroom.

  Mel looked around the room. Even the dimness lent to the fact that the place was masculine. There was a framed picture of some sort of badge on the wall, but it was too dark to make it out. There was a rack with a few rifles and a shotgun on it. That gave her pause, but it was no different than the one on the wall in her dad’s den.

  Texas. Guns everywhere.

  Her head was clearer now. She glanced down at her naked body and flushed. She’d been naked…been with him. Somehow, she didn’t feel so imperfect anymore.

  Mel smoothed her hand over the curve of her too-round hip, touched her inner thigh. Her core ached pleasantly. She’d remember this night, always. But she should leave.

  “Are you all right?”

  Jared’s voice made her jump and her eyes flew to his bare form at the end of the giant bed. Her mouth went dry. Muscles galore.

  Just watching him move was enough to make her hot for him all over again. He was beautiful.

  “I’m fine. Really good, actually.” Her head swirled as he climbed back into the bed and caressed her cheek.

  Maybe the alcohol buzz wasn’t gone. Or maybe it was just him.

  “Me too.” He pulled her closer, pressing a kiss to her mouth. It was tender, gentle. Was that normal for a one-night stand lover?

  Mel told herself to pull away, but Jared’s warmth enveloped her, and she didn’t fight him when he wrapped his arms around her and lay them both down. She snuggled into his chest and sighed when he pulled the covers over them. “I should go,” she whispered.

  He didn’t answer, and when she lifted her head, his eyes were closed, his expression relaxed. Jared caressed her back and Mel settled down. She’d leave after he’d fallen asleep.

  “I want you to stay,” Jared murmured.

  How do I answer that?

  She glanced up at his handsome face and smiled. Couldn’t help it.

  He sighed, the sure strokes of her skin falling off as his breathing evened out.

  Jared was drifting off and Mel wanted to snuggle into his side.

  So she did, cushioning her cheek on his defined pec and closing her eyes.

  Chapter Three

  Something was pinning her down. Mel wiggled and opened one eye. She was too hot. Her arm was cramped against something large and warm. She straightened and stretched it. Coarse hair greeted her seeking fingertips and she lifted her cheek.

  Mel jolted all the way up, both eyes flew open. “It wasn’t a dream,” she gasped.

  He made a noise in his sleep and she glanced at his face.

  Please don’t wake up.

  What did I do?

  Visions of them entwined, his mouth on hers—not to mention other unmentionable places—his hands all over her body. Them moving together. It all slammed into her head at the same time.

  Denial wasn’t going to work.

  She hadn’t been that drunk.

  “Nice, Mel. Good job.”

  But the way he’d made her feel was a part of her memories, too. Warmth suffused her limbs, settling low in her belly.

  Forget about it. One time thing.

  Get the heck out of here.

  His arm was flung across her hips like he owned her, and their legs were tangled.

  Why doesn’t that bother me as much as it should?

  This man’s a stranger.

  Mel gently disengaged herself. She stilled, praying Jared remained asleep. A glance at the clock on his nightstand told her it was just after five.

  Crap.

  Tuesday. Last day of school before Thanksgiving, and the short break. She had work—school—in less than three hours.

  Thank God for early release. The school day would be over at noon.

  Her head spun.

  That was the last time she’d let her friends take her out to feel better.

  Yeah, you feel better now? Sex—fantastic or not—wasn’t going to help her forget.

  She sucked in a breath and slipped out of Jared’s bed. Forced her gaze away from his naked body so she wouldn’t be tempted to stare. The man was beautiful.

  Mel frantically searched for her clothing, trying to silently gather her things. It was still dark out, plus the curtains on the two windows in his room were black to match his bedding. Light couldn’t have leaked in if it’d wanted to.

  She bent to grab her skirt off the carpet as Jared groaned and rolled over.

  Great, ’cause I need him to catch me doing the naked dance.

  Gritting her teeth, Mel snatched her underwear, blouse and skirt, but couldn’t find the other one of Val’s purple stilettos.

  Move, move, move.

  She sprinted into his living room, cringing when she noticed the broken lamp. Their conversation flitted into her brain, because of course, she needed to feel even more stupid.

  Mel gasped when she remembered poking his chest before they’d left McAuley’s. She’d told him how hard it was. She smacked her forehead and crushed her eyes shut.

  God, how had he been able to stand sleeping with her? Unless he was normally attracted to idiots.

  After yanking her skirt on, she donned her bra and shoved her panties into her small purse. Looking at them made her scowl, but she dug her cell out of her purse.

  Please don’t be dead. Please don’t be dead.

  When she pressed the center button and the screen lit up, Mel crept to Jared’s front door.

  Thank God.

  After sneaking out like a pro, she closed it as quietly as she could.

  She tucked the shoe under her arm and released a breath. Then Mel hurried down the stairs and out the front of the brick apartment building, ignoring the sting when a small pebble bit into her bare heel.

  Mel slipped around the side of the building, searching the parking lot.

  Crap!

  She’d ridden with Jared. Her car wasn’t there. Her stomach twisted.

  Son of a gun!

  She needed a rescue. McAuley’s was on the other side of town. She groaned and looked at her phone then scrolled through her contacts.

  Val was going to be ticked about the shoes. They were Louboutins.

  The phone only rang once, but her best friend was an early riser. “Hello?”

  “Can you come pick me up?”

  “Mel? Where are you?”

  “I’ll find the address.” She looked around in the dark to try to spot something on the building. “Um…I’m at those apartments…The Enclave.”

  Dead silence on the other end for a good twenty seconds.

  Mel cringed. “Just come get me. Please.”

  “Where’s your car?”

  “McAuley’s.” She closed her eyes.

  More silence. Then a muffled giggle. “You didn’t.”

  “Val, I swear to God I will never speak to you again if you don’t come get me. Right. Now.”

  “Awful demandin’, doncha think, Needy-Frieda.”

  “Forget it
! I’ll walk back to the bar.”

  Her best friend and fellow teacher laughed long and hard. “I’ll come get you, but you have to tell me about every second.”

  “Yeah yeah.” Mel wanted to knock her head into the building. How could she have had sex with a stranger?

  At least he’d been gentle. Jared had made her feel good.

  More than good. Fantastic.

  Then why did you sneak out?

  He sure as heck had made her forget about David.

  She snorted. Making love with David, who’d been her high school sweetheart, college boyfriend and later, loser fiancé, couldn’t hold a candle to sex with Jared. A guy she didn’t even know.

  Well, she knew him in the biblical sense. She shivered and a tremor shot down her spine as a visual of the night flashed into her mind.

  Mel closed her eyes against the memories, because she didn’t want to admit that she didn’t regret being with Jared. Would do it again.

  Maybe she should have stayed. Had breakfast with him?

  “Yeah right. For what?”

  Like she’d told him last night, guys that looked like him never noticed girls that looked like her. He’d been horny, she’d been there. The nearby condom supply said it all. No reason Jared would even want a repeat.

  What if one of her friends had put him up to picking her up? Mel’s heart stuttered. Something that felt suspiciously like hurt made her frown. She swallowed back a gulp.

  A quick double tap on a horn made her jump.

  Val pushed the passenger door open from the driver’s side, flashing a grin. “Slut puppy taxi at your beck and call. No charge for the first ride. Congrats on the end of a loooooooooong drought! Step on up.”

  Mel glared and stalked to the car, ignoring her bare feet.

  “Oh. My. God. You look like you’re having a walk of shame. Wasn’t it good? That guy is smokin’.”

  “Shut. Up.” Mel climbed into Val’s Jeep. She slammed the door and snapped her seat belt on.

  “Hey, now. Don’t take your bad sex life out on my baby. Least you got some.”

  She reclined in the bucket seat and closed her eyes. Can’t believe I’m gonna say this. “It wasn’t bad. It was…awesome.”

  “Then what’s with the ’tude? And where the hell is my other shoe?”

  “I couldn’t find it.” Mel flashed her friend a sheepish smile.

  Val frowned and tapped on the overhead light. “Dude, those are my Louies!”

  “Val, seriously. I don’t think I can take you without caffeine.”

  “Mel, seriously. They were expensive.”

  “I’ll buy you another pair.”

  “What is wrong with you?” Val frowned. “You should be relaxed if your new friend is good in bed.”

  “I’m fine, but thanks.”

  “I have a better idea than buying me new shoes.”

  “What’s that?” Mel arched an eyebrow.

  “Go back upstairs, get his number and tell him you want to see him again. After all, if you got laid on the first date, the second one’s gotta be awesome. Oh, and you can get my damn shoe.”

  “No.”

  Val’s blue eyes narrowed. “I will totally kick your ass if you’re going to let that piece of shit David ruin a perfectly good romp with the hottest guy that’s ever given either of us the time of day.”

  Mel bit her bottom lip.

  Right.

  Like beautiful Val, naturally blonde, big blue eyes, five foot seven, real double Ds and one-hundred-twenty-five pounds soakin’ wet couldn’t get a guy like Jared to give her a second glance.

  Mel didn’t know what to say, so she looked out the window.

  “That’s it, isn’t it?” Val demanded, finally pulling out of the parking lot of Jared’s apartment complex.

  Her best friend’s tirade against her ex continued down Main Street.

  “No. It’s not David,” Mel said. It was only half David, but she wouldn’t admit it aloud.

  Val snapped her mouth shut and stopped at a red light. “Then what is it? I know seeing him at school was more than a shocker, but I’m sure Jared helped. There’s something wrong in your head if he didn’t.”

  “First of all, finding out that the guy I thought was the love of my life not only left me at the altar but also had been cheating on me the last six years of our relationship, and had a child with someone else and didn’t bother to tell me is more than a shocker, Val. David Junior better not end up in my class. I might kill a kid.”

  Val giggled.

  “You’re laughing?”

  “I like you riled up. I didn’t say you couldn’t be upset. That’s why I took you out last night. Emily and Kara both agreed you needed out. And lo and behold, Mel got herself a new man!”

  “I did not.”

  “Why not? Damn, he’s hot.”

  “Yeah. I have eyes.”

  “Hmmm. Lucky ones. And lucky hands…and lucky everythings. You got to do a hell of a lot more than look at him.”

  Mel sighed and shook her head. She loved Val to death, but her friend would never get it. Val looked like someone Jared should be with. Mel didn’t. “I was going to ask you how much you paid him.”

  Val’s head shot around, and their eyes locked. “What’re you talking about?”

  “He walked up to me.”

  “Right.”

  “When I was at a table with you, Em the hot redhead, and Kara the bad boy magnet.”

  “Correction, I am the bad boy magnet.”

  Mel glared and Val smirked. “You know what I mean.”

  “No, actually I don’t.”

  “You guys are hot…and I’m…me.”

  It was her best friend’s turn to glare. “Melody Renee Nash. I am going to stop this car and kick your ass. You are so stupid sometimes I wonder if you have mirrors in your house. You’re flippin’ gorgeous.”

  Mel rolled her eyes. “I do have mirrors in my house. Which is my point.”

  Val pulled the Jeep into McAuley’s parking lot and shut it off. She grabbed both Mel’s hands and squeezed, her blue eyes serious. “I love you. We’ve been through a lot of shit together, but I hate what that son of a bitch did to you. And you put up with it for way too long. I thanked God the day he didn’t show to your wedding. I’m glad you didn’t marry him.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Because of David, you have this horrible image of yourself, and you’re one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever met. Inside and out.”

  Scoffing, she tried to pull out of Val’s hands, but her friend’s grip tightened. “This guy, Jared. He saw what I see, or he wouldn’t have taken you home.”

  “Right. So neither of us was drunk and horny.”

  Val flashed a smartass smile. “Well, the horny I believe, it’s been a while for you…”

  Mel yanked away and shoved her friend’s shoulder. “I have just enough time to shower and get dressed for work. I have twenty-two five and six year olds to entertain for the day.”

  Val laughed. “I believe the word is teach.”

  She smiled and nodded. School would help her feel normal. Mel loved her job. Thrived when teaching the little ones. “I’ll see you at school.”

  Just as Mel opened the driver side door of her blue Sportage, her best friend called her name.

  “You’d be stupid to leave things at a one-night stand. Especially if he was awesome in bed.” Val waggled her eyebrows.

  Mel laughed and shook her head, not answering as she climbed into her SUV.

  Then I guess you get to call me stupid.

  She had no intention of looking Jared up again.

  Chapter Four

  “Son of a bitch!”

  Why hadn’t his alarm gone off? Jared shot out of bed, his eyes zoning in on his digital alarm clock.

  6:53 taunted him in bright blue. Briefing was in seven minutes.

  Fuck.

  Chief hated tardiness. It wasn’t often he ordered the detectives to morning
shift briefing, so it had to be something big.

  “Double fuck.”

  Like he needed his boss pissed at him all day. He snatched his cell out of his discarded jeans from the night before. Shit, he hadn’t charged it, either. It’d be dead by nine a.m., if that.

  Gonna be late.

  Jared texted his partner, not waiting for a response. The phone dinged from where he’d thrown it on the bed, but he ignored it. He grabbed a fresh pair of jeans from the closet and shoved his legs into them.

  He took a moment to snatch his blue shirt off the floor, draping it on the back of the overstuffed chair in the corner. He caught a whiff of Renee’s sweet scent and paused.

  She’s gone.

  Not like he could’ve forgotten their night of passion, but his urgent need to get to the police department was leading.

  Too bad, too, because he wanted to think about her.

  He glanced over his shoulder at his rumpled bed. She’d been…fantastic. Sweet and hot, with a touch of innocence. He’d never had such a responsive lover.

  Jared yanked on a short-sleeved, black button-down, his mind consumed by Renee as he hastily tucked it in.

  Why’d she leave?

  No time to look for a note.

  He slid his holster onto his belt and rushed out of his room. Jumped over the broken lamp fragments.

  No time to clean that up, either.

  Jared groaned when he spotted his coffee maker on the kitchen counter. He’d not taken the time to set it up the night before, so no java for him.

  Yeah…you were a little busy.

  He smirked and rushed out of his apartment. He’d take an armful of beautiful woman to hot coffee in the morning anytime.

  Renee’s perfume was in his truck, too.

  He shook his head, trying to convince his cock now wasn’t the time when it twitched. She’d been…perfect. Jared needed to see her again.

  “Shit. Don’t even know her last name.”

  Why’d she left without a word? She should’ve woken him up. He would’ve taken her again, if she’d been willing.

  Renee had been gorgeous in passion, her long wavy hair spread across his pillow, her head tilted back. Rosy full cheeks, gorgeous lips parted. Full breasts rising and falling. Every gasp and whimper had made him burn for her more.