by Joanna Blake
I glanced at her delicate hands. How the hell she was going to farm with those dainty little fingers was beyond me. But she was hell for leather about it.
I could think of a hundred better uses for her hands.
Like wrapping them around my cock, which was hard as a rock under the table. For once, I was grateful for the long meal. I sat there, staring at her delicate throat, ignoring everything around me.
I couldn't decide if I wanted to kiss that throat of hers, or wring it.
She turned to me.
"Please tell me you don't give those animals antibiotics for maintenance."
I jerked to attention.
"I trust our vet."
She frowned.
"A lot of doctors don't know about the dangers, or take them seriously. The FDA just had a hearing. It's mostly been suppressed."
I stared at her, considering.
"I'll talk to Dale about it."
"Dale?"
"Doc Wiland. He's our vet."
She looked surprised. Jake said something and the conversation moved on. But I noticed a softening around her lips for the rest of the night. When she glanced at me from time to time her eyes were different too. Less fired up.
Damn, if that's all it took to get the woman to like me was listen to her! All I'd done was promise to take her concerns into account. I liked her a whole lot better when she wasn't spiting fire and brimstone at me, that was for damn sure.
Not that she was crawling into my lap exactly either.
Not yet.
"Did you get anything looked at yet?"
She looked at me, her soft red lips parted slightly. I shifted in my seat, my hard on rubbing against my jeans uncomfortably. There was something about that pouty bottom lip that made me want to pull it onto my mouth.
And bite it.
"Your leaks?"
I prompted her, smiling at her the way a hungry man smiles at a steak. Damn but she looked good enough to eat.
"No. Every single one of them is booked, indefinitely."
I wasn't surprised. We were in the rural area just outside one of the richest towns in the country, let alone the South. In fact, there were hardly any working farms around here left.
Most of the good contractors and subcontractors were too busy working on multi-million dollar estates and McMansions in gated subdivisions to come all the way out here to poke around her old farm house.
I had a sudden flash of inspiration. One that would help me get into her pants. Soon, I hoped.
"I can come take a look if you want. I've very handy."
"That would be amazing! Ange is worrying herself sick with all of this stuff-"
"Casey, we can't impose on Mr. Delancey. He has no idea of the extent of what is going on over there."
"Call me Jackson."
She looked at me, once again her lips opening in surprise. I liked that. I wanted to keep her on her toes.
And her back.
Or her knees.
I grinned at the images flashing through my mind. Angelina was moaning with pleasure as I took her in various positions. Upside down too, with her bent over and grabbing her ankles. Why the hell not?
"That is very kind of you Mr. Delancey-"
"I said call me Jackson."
She nodded.
"Very well Mr.- Jackson. But we couldn't possibly impose-"
I could hear a refusal coming so I cut her off.
"I'm not a miracle worker, but I'm handy. Maybe I can tell you the extent of the issues and find a quick fix or two. It's no big deal."
She chewed her lip, just like I'd been thinking about doing less than thirty seconds ago. I felt my dick lurch in my pants. I shifted in my seat again, pressing down on it with the heel of my hand.
Damn, I hadn't had a spontaneous chubby like that in a long time!
Since high school maybe.
Get a hold of yourself Jackson!
"That would be lovely, thank you."
I nodded and forced myself to look away. The second the conversation moved on though, I had to look back.
This time I caught Angelina staring at me.
She blushed and looked away but that one look had sent a shot of lust straight to my gut. I made sure to keep the wine flowing, but I refrained from having anything to drink myself. I had ideas. The first one being that I was gonna be the one to drive her home.
I had a detour in mind.
Maybe a little old school hanky panky.
I'd be more than happy to screw her in the back of her car.
Hell, I'd do it on the damn steering wheel.
Angelina
Jackson was standing beside my car, looking at me expectantly. The man had been plaguing me all night, staring at me, challenging me, making the odd, provoking comment. And then he'd made it all worse by being nice of all things. That niceness, combined with the wine I'd drank over the course of the evening, was making me feel more than a little bit off balance.
What the hell did he want now?
Dinner had been fun, surprisingly so. Even with the tension between the eldest Delancey brother and myself, which practically crackled in the air. I'd liked everyone else, especially Francesca and Elle.
Casey had been in her glory, charming everyone as usual. She'd even offered to sketch some of the horses next week.
When Jackson heard that, he'd been intrigued about having portraits done for the animals. He'd even offered to pay her for her services. Casey had been thrilled. It had been so long since she could earn money. I could have kissed him in that moment for making my sister feel useful again. She loved all animals. It was one of the reasons we had moved out here.
New York City was a hard place to have a dog. Even if our landlord had allowed it, which she did not. But here, it made sense. I reminded myself to find an animal shelter as soon as we were settled. No purebreds for us. All we wanted was to give a needy dog a good home. Maybe a cat too.
I made a mental note to look up if cats ate spiders.
It would be good for Casey to have a companion or two when I couldn't be around twenty-four seven.
After all, I was going to have a farm to look after as well. It was funny, but I'd always loved growing things. My small NYC apartment had been full of plants. Even with limited sunlight, I'd made it work.
Thankfully, they had all made the journey just fine. I'd packed most of them in the car with us, but the bigger plants had gone in the moving truck, wrapped in a blanket with an upside down wine bottle full of water in each. That was a trick I'd picked up a few years ago when traveling took me away from my precious plants.
And now I had a whole farm to plant and care for.
I would start small with a vegetable garden for our own use, and then hire people to work the land as I got a feel for what I was doing.
Jackson cleared his throat, bringing me back to the present. I titled my head back to look at him. The man was taller than a skyscraper! What a strange thing to think... I realized I must've been more drunk than I thought. He was looking at me quizzically, patiently holding his hand out.
"Your keys. I'm driving you home."
"But I thought Elle-"
"Elle is following us with Casey. I'm going to drive you home, and then she's going to drive me home."
"Oh."
"Well?"
He was grinning at me while I stared at him stupidly. Finally I realized he was still waiting for my keys. I blushed and reached into my pocket, fishing them out.
"Thanks."
I detected a hint of sarcasm in his tone. But when I looked carefully at his face, he looked blandly disinterested. He unlocked the door for me and watched me climb in. I noticed he was grinning as he walked around the front of the car. He climbed in and adjusted the seat, then he turned to look at me.
His smiled faded. Probably because I was glaring at him, trying to figure out what he was up to.
He was up to something, that much was clear.
He cleared his throat and turne
d the car on. Then he pulled out and turned right, driving into the darkness. I sat up straight, looking back over my shoulder.
My house was to the left.
"Where are you going?"
"Scenic route."
"I can't leave Casey-"
"Elle is with her. She said she wanted to see some of her sketches."
"That might only take five minutes."
He glanced at me, his eyes looking strangely intense.
"We will be back soon enough."
I had the sudden thought that Jackson Delancey was very high handed. Then the equally sudden thought that he was kidnapping me. I wasn't scared though. I didn't think he was going to hurt me.
But I did want to kick him.
I sat back in my seat, crossing my arms.
"Where are we going?"
He didn't answer for a minute. Then I saw something up ahead. The land out here was mostly flat with some rolling hills. The road started to rise towards some sort of small mountain. We climbed steadily for a few minutes until he turned off and pulled into a parking lot.
It was an scenic overlook. I stared, surprised by the beauty of the scenery. Below us was a serpentine river, looking almost black in the darkness. From here you could see the lights of Nashville in all its glory.
I was so enthralled by the view that I barely noticed it when Jackson unbuckled me. I did notice when he reached for me, pulling me against him. His hands were huge and hot against my skin.
"Wha-"
His mouth crashed down on mine. I was startled into silence by the strangely pleasant feel of his lips on mine. His huge hand slid behind my lower back and pressed me against him. He moaned and tried to stick his tongue in my mouth.
I slapped him.
"What the hell are you doing Jackson!"
He rubbed his hand over his cheek, scowling at me. Then he grinned and reached for me again.
"Kissing you, woman."
I jerked backwards, my back against the passenger door.
"Oh no you don't!"
His eyes were hungry as he ran his hands over my hips, tugging me towards him.
"Don't pretend you weren't thinking about it too."
"I- what?"
"Ever since I saw you I wanted to do this. You felt it too."
"Felt what?"
"Animal attraction."
I frowned at him.
"I'm not an animal."
He grinned at me and yanked me forward.
"I am."
This time when he kissed me I was prepared. I held perfectly still. I knew he wasn't going to take this any further. He wasn't a creep. He was just incredibly arrogant.
I was pretty sure he could not imagine a woman alive turning him down.
But I wasn't like the local girls. I wasn't fooled by his good looks, wealth or charm. I was going to show him what it felt like to be turned down. I would be cool as a cucumber. I would-
His hands were sliding all over me, warming and soothing me. That's when he deepened the kiss. I whimpered as he urged me to open my mouth. The moment I did, his tongue dipped inside, swirling against mine. I was kissing him back before I knew what had happened.
It was incredible. Hot. The most explosive kiss I'd ever had.
It was a disaster.
By the time he lifted his head, I was breathless.
"Why are you doing this Jackson?"
"You know why."
"No, I don't."
"I want you. Isn't that obvious?"
I stared at him, dumbfounded. The man thought I was going to just tumble into bed with him? Because of a so-called animal attraction?
"That's too damn bad."
"I'm not asking for much, Angelina. Just one night. Let's just do it once and get it out of our systems. Then we can go back to disliking each other."
My jaw dropped. The man had gall! He had nerve!
He had a point.
I wasn't going to concede it. But I had to admit to myself that I felt it too. I was drawn to him, and I didn't want to be.
It was a bit disconcerting to realize he felt the same way.
Opposites do attract after all. The expression was right. But if he had his way, only for one night.
For some reason that thought was like a splash of cold water. I turned away from him, putting my seat belt back on. I wasn't angry anymore. I almost felt... hurt.
"Take me home please."
He ran his hands through his hair and nodded.
"Sure. But this isn't over."
I had a terrible feeling that he was right about that.
Chapter Eight
Jackson
The damn woman had turned me down. After I'd kissed her silly. And she'd kissed me back!
She was the most oppositional woman I'd ever met.
She was a pain in ass. A real ball buster. A stuck up prude!
She was also the first woman to get more than half-hearted interested from me since- well- ever.
I'd dated my share of girls over the years. Plenty of them. Loads. But the past decade had been almost exclusively meaningless flings. They took care of a temporary need, but nothing more.
No entanglements. No relationship. No repeats.
That's what I was after with my new, pain in the ass, gorgeous as hell next-door neighbor. One night of pure unadulterated, break the headboard sex. Then we would go our separate ways. It was just what I needed.
Right?
I glanced at her. She was staring straight ahead, ignoring me. She looked annoyed with me. Not that that was anything new.
But it didn't matter. She'd kissed me back. The second time anyway. I touched my cheek where she'd slapped it and grinned. I turned into her long driveway and stole a glance at her again.
This time I let my eyes wander over her tits and down to her long, lean legs.
Hmmfff... the girl was put together right!
"Jackson!"
I looked up, stopping just in time. I'd almost hit Elle's car. Whoops.
It wasn't my fault Angelina's legs were so damn distracting.
She was glaring at me again as she undid her seatbelt.
"You are a terrible driver!"
I leaned towards her. Enough was enough with this woman. I wasn't having her sass for another damn minute!
"No. I'm not."
"Yes. You are."
"I'm a fine driver. I was just distracted."
"By what? We are in the middle of nowhere!"
"By you."
Her pretty little mouth opened in that way she had and I grabbed her. My tongue plunged into her sweet, warm mouth again and again. I wasted no time putting my hands where I wanted them. On her hips.
She had damn good hips. Soft and just right for a man's hands. They'd be perfect leverage when I-
"Ouch!"
I stared at her in shock. One minute she was kissing me back and the next she was-
"Ouch!"
She'd slapped me. Twice in the last fifteen minutes.
That had to be some sort of a record.
"You have quite a temper Miss Angelina."
"It's Ms. Randall!"
I smirked as she got out of the car, slamming the door behind her. I watched her ass as it shimmied a bit with each step. She was stomping her cute little feet, angry as all get out.
She slammed the front door behind her too. I got out and stretched, then meandered over to the door. I wondered how long it would take her to remember that it was her car, and that I still had her keys.
I leaned against the door jam, whistling as I looked up at the stars.
A minute later the door slammed open. I hadn't known it was possible to angrily open a door, but she did it. The woman had style, that was for sure.
I smirked at her as she huffed at me. But she didn't realize that I was the big bad wolf in this scenario. Not her.
She was the little piggy.
"Forget something?"
She glared at me, holding out her hand.
"Keys."<
br />
I lifted them up slowly and dropped them into her palm.
"Now go!"
"Sure thing. Just send Elle out. She's my ride and it's getting chilly out here. Unless you'd rather keep me warm..."
She started to say something and then stopped. I could practically see the steam coming out of her ears. I stifled a laugh as she shut the door in my face again. I spoke real loud just to be sure she could hear me.
"See you tomorrow sunshine."
Angelina
The man was impossible! He was incorrigible! He was a jerk!
I was upstairs, cleaning ferociously. The bathroom was already clean. Or cleanish. My room was getting there. I sprayed some vinegar onto a crumpled up newspaper and rubbed it briskly over the window facing my bed.
I loved the view from up here. Unfortunately when I woke up this morning, I'd realized that it was filthy. I'd already cleaned it once. I suspected it might take a few tries to actually get the years of accumulated dust and grime off of it.
Downstairs I heard Casey and Elle walking to the front door.
"Bye Elle!"
"Good night Casey. Night Angelina!"
"Goodnight!"
I had come upstairs to avoid talking to them. They were engrossed in their conversation, and I was not fit company for anyone, feeling the way I did. I was still angry after what had happened.
Enough so that I'd neglected to mention that Jackson was outside cooling his heels. I snorted. I was glad he had to wait outside. Maybe it would cool down his other... body parts as well.
He certainly wasn't welcome in here.
Not after what he'd done. He hasn't just kissed me, he'd manhandled me! The man flat out admitted he didn't like me and then he'd kissed me again! Three times!
I was beginning to think he had kissed me just to get a rise out of me.
The worst part was, it had worked.
I was annoyed, even as I felt myself responding to him.
He knew it too.
I forced myself to calm down and went downstairs to run Casey's bath. I laid out her evening meds and made her a cup of licorice tea to help her sleep. All of it was routine, which gave me plenty of time to think.
Out of everything I'd learned tonight about my new neighbors and this town, one thing kept circling in my mind.