Summer Obsession (The Townsends Book 1)

by Angie Campbell

  “I’m not worried about me. I’m worried about you.”

  “I’m going to be fine too,” he leaned over and placed a kiss on her forehead, hugging her tighter.

  *******

  “Are you sure you don’t want to use my bed? The couch really isn’t wide enough for you. You won’t be able to sleep well.”

  “Are you calling me fat?” Luke asked with a grin.

  Mindi gave him a dirty look for an answer. She just looked at his beautiful face, then down at his bare, flat stomach. She dropped the sheets and blankets on top of the pillow she had already laid there. “I just don’t want you to have a rough night sleeping. You still have to work tomorrow.”

  “I’ll sleep as well here as I would in your bed where the covers smell like you.” He wrapped his arms around her, and pulled her close. “If I’m smelling you all night, I’m going to have to fight the fantasies just to get to sleep. Then when I get to sleep, I’m going to have them anyway.”

  Mindi pulled out of his arms and held her hands up. “Too much. Not ready for that.” Wow! This is really going to happen. He really does feel the same way I do.

  “Okay. Give me a kiss and leave me to my rough night. I’ll get as much sleep as I can.”

  She stretched up and met his lips with hers. “Good night.”

  “I’ll see you in the morning,” he said, turning her and gently shoving her toward the door.

  Chapter 12 – Friday, July 6

  Luke walked into the kitchen, after showering and dressing for the day, to find Jamie alone in the kitchen, trying to prepare breakfast. “Jamie, are you okay? You look exhausted.” She looks like she slept about as well as I did. I’m sure for a totally different reason though.

  “I haven’t slept. I spent most of the night praying.” She turned and looked at him, “I’ll be okay. Did you sleep okay?”

  “About as well as you did. Can I help?”

  “You can start by waking Mindi up. She’s still in bed. My guess is she didn’t sleep well either.”

  “Sure. I can do that.” He left the kitchen and ran up the stairs. When he reached her bedroom door he didn’t stop and knock. He just walked on in.

  He looked down at the bed, and laughed. She had one foot sticking out the bottom of the covers, but otherwise he couldn’t see her at all. “Hey, Mindi, wake up,” he said, shaking the bed gently.

  When she didn’t respond, he grabbed her covers and yanked them off her, throwing them off the end of the bed. He just stood there in stunned silence for a few minutes, unable to think. When his brain did finally start working again, all he could think was, he was grateful she had been laying on her stomach.

  I really should have thought that through. I’m going to be thinking about her like this all day.

  He had always known she was really curvy. He just hadn’t realized just how much her jeans were truly hiding. She had a perfectly rounded rear end, and he had always known she had great legs. But laying there exposed the way she was, he could see just how sexy they really were. That just made him wonder just how much her t-shirts had been hiding. I cannot let myself think about that.

  She must have started to get cold, because she was finally starting to stir. When she made to turn over, he gasped out, “Don’t move.”

  “Luke, what are you doing in here?” She sounded nervous.

  She should sound nervous. If she had any idea what is going through my head right now, all that beautiful exposed ivory skin would probably be bright red from embarrassment.

  “Your mom sent me to wake you up. She didn’t say anything about you sleeping completely naked.” His voice cracked over the last word.

  He knew he needed to stop staring, but he couldn’t seem to make himself do it. Oh, boy. I’m going to be hurting all day. There’s not enough cold water in all of Missouri.

  “Luke, would you please throw my covers back over me, or leave one? Maybe both would be good.”

  He didn’t even answer. He just stood there immobile, with his hands reached out. It was all he could do not to touch her.

  “Luke, I can’t see what you’re doing right now, but I have an idea that it would be very bad for me to roll over to get up. Please, leave.” If I roll over, we may really end up having a shot gun wedding. Then again, I may not need to roll over.

  “I can’t move. I’m afraid if I do, I’m going to do the wrong thing.” His voice broke. “It’s taking all I have in me not to grab you right now,” he said with blunt honesty.

  “Fine. I’m getting up.” She rolled to her back. She never looked up at him, but she heard him suck in a really sharp breath. She stood up and turned her back to him, looking for her robe. When she finally had it on, and tied she turned to look at him. He looked like he was in physical pain.

  “Now, why are you in here?” She was trying to sound calm, but she barely had anything on, and he still looked like he wanted to grab her as he had said. God, he looks like he’s on fire.

  “Your mom wanted me to wake you up. I think she needed help.” He sounded like he was strangling. He finally managed to move, and he turned to the door and walked out without another word.

  ********

  Five minutes later when she finally made it down stairs, it was to find Luke had already left for work.

  Her mom just gave her a sheepish look. “I’m sorry Sweetie. I wasn’t thinking.”

  “I’m fine. Is that why he’s already gone?”

  She really was fine. She wasn’t as embarrassed as she would have expected. That was probably because it was Luke who had saw her, and not somebody else.

  “Yeah. He was a little shook up. It might be a good idea to try and talk to him later. Just don’t let him corner you. He was definitely wound up when he left here.”

  “Yeah. Probably so. What do you need me to do?”

  “Get the biscuits out of the oven and start the gravy now that the sausage is cooked. I’m going to go up and start getting your brothers and sisters out of bed.”

  *******

  Later that day, Mindi walked into the garage to find James there by himself. “Where’s Luke?”

  “He took the day off. Went swimming I think,” he said, giving her a concerned look.

  “Do you know where?” Oh wow. He really was wound up. He never takes a day off, unless he really has a good reason.

  “I have a guess. Whatever happened this time, I don’t want to know. I know you guys were getting along really well, and it was a real surprise when he got here this morning.” He stood up and looked at her. “He was like a grizzly bear this morning. I’ve never seen him like that.”

  “We weren’t fighting.” I don’t know how much of this I really want to tell him.

  She really didn’t feel like giving him any more information, but it looked like he had changed his mind about wanting to know, because now he looked curious, and it didn’t look like he was going to give her anymore information until she did. Great. The stubborn face.

  “He saw me naked,” she said, giving the big guy a dirty look for making her say it.

  “Naked?” James looked surprised. Oh, boy. Houston, we have a problem.

  “Yes. Completely. Not a stitch on.” Front and back. Every inch of me.

  James just stood there, still wearing a curious look, like he really wanted to know more.

  “I’m not telling you any more than that,” she said, turning stubborn. I can give you the stubborn face too. See?

  “Okay, West Fork.” He thought for a moment, “But if that’s what’s wrong, sexual tension, you need to step lively.”

  “I get that, James.”

  Just then Luke’s tow truck pulled up, and he got out. When he saw her, his face flushed, and he looked like he needed to take another swim. He didn’t head for the garage. Instead he headed for the stairs that lead to his apartment on the second floor.

  When she started out of the garage, James stopped her. “Do you think it’s wise of you to tempt him that way right now? There is a b
ed up there, you know, and right now, I don’t think he’d necessarily bother with one.”

  “Thanks for your concern. And your bluntness,” she said, giving him a cheeky grin. “But I have to do this my way.”

  “Okay. Just don’t let him trap you in a corner,” James said, shaking his head at her.

  “That is the second time today I’ve heard that,” she said with a frown.

  “Maybe you should take it as a sign you need to wait and talk to him later.”

  “I can handle myself. And him.” She missed the look on his face when she finally left the garage, or she might have rethought that statement.

  When she got to the door of the apartment, she didn’t bother to knock, she just walked right on in. Just as she figured, he was waiting for her. He wasn’t but a few feet from the door. And his eyes were burning holes in her even with them half closed. She felt like he was trying to hide something from her.

  She wasn’t prepared for what he did once she was inside, and the door was shut. He pushed her up against the door, almost getting rough. She watched through the corner of her eye as he reached down and locked the door. When he finally made full eye contact with her, she felt a thrill of excitement shoot all the way to her toes. She had seen him on fire before, but not like this.

  “You shouldn’t have come yet. You haven’t given me enough time.” When he spoke, it came out so low and rough, it made her nerves raw in an instant. “I know on one side what I’m doing, but on the other side, I can’t stop myself.”

  He placed his hands on either side of her head, and leaned down and whispered in her ear. “I’ve been seeing you in my head all day long. That’s normal,” he said in an almost conversational tone. “But now the images of you are just like you looked this morning. When you rolled over, and were laying there in all your naked glory.”

  His words were enough to make her heart race, and her head spin. If he ever got around to kissing her, she was a goner. She wasn’t sure how she was going to be able to retreat though. He had locked the door, and he was now leaning all his weight on it with his hands. She was going to have to try and talk him down.

  “Luke,” she said, her voice coming out weak and trembling. “Please, step back and let me out of the door. I’ll talk to you later. I’ll give you more time to cool off.”

  “I can’t.” She could hear the sexual tension in his voice. “I’m going to kiss you now.”

  “Luke, that’s not...”

  He stopped her mid-sentence. If she thought his mouth had been hot before, it had not prepared her for this. He felt like a raging inferno. He gripped her thighs and brought her legs up around his waist. When she whimpered he pressed himself in on her more firmly than before, bringing their upper bodies flush together. He wasn’t giving an inch.

  She could tell he had no intentions of even trying to stop. It was too late before his mouth even touched hers. When his mouth started moving along her jaw, she tried once again to penetrate his trance like state.

  “Luke, you need to put me down.” She hadn’t noticed until now, that they had come away from the door, and that he had turned and was walking toward the hall.

  “I can’t. You’re going to have to try harder.” He growled and buried his face in the curve of her neck once again. He spoke against her throat. “I’m going to have to believe you really want me to stop. That’s the only way. My self-control is completely gone.”

  She never got a chance to try. He started nibbling her neck again. All she could do was run her fingers through his hair and hang on. She was so weak with need herself, she couldn’t fight him any longer.

  He was just bringing his hands up her thighs to her bottom when they heard a banging on the door. It sounded like whoever it was, was trying to knock the door down.

  “Come on, Luke. I know you two are in there,” James said, shouting so loud, she was convinced the whole town probably heard him.

  “Go away, James.”

  “No. I’m not going to let you do something you’ll regret later.”

  “I’m not going to regret it.” He was looking Mindi in the eyes, and she could tell he was starting to come back down to earth.

  “Come on, Luke. You know better. You know Mindi deserves better than this.”

  Mindi was starting to glow. They were talking about it like it was any normal conversation. James had managed to get through to Luke though. He brought her legs back around and slowly lowered her to the floor. He wasn’t ready to let go of her yet though. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her close to his body.

  “Come on, Luke. Open this door. I want to know what’s going on in there.”

  “Just a minute,” he growled. He let her go and walked over to the door and unlocked it. He didn’t have to bother opening it. The second the lock clicked, James flung it open.

  “Mindi, you need to go back down to the garage with me.” He gave Luke a dirty look. “When you get yourself back under control, you can come down there and talk to her. I’m acting as your chaperon for the rest of the day,” he said, shaking his head. “I don’t want to have to explain to anyone else why you need one.”

  *******

  When Mindi made it back down to the garage, with James on her heels, she almost made a run for the truck. She knew James was going to have something to say about what almost happened. He acted like a brother as much as Zane and Phillip did, and sure enough, he didn’t disappoint her.

  “I thought you said you could handle yourself. And him,” James said, giving her, the disapproving big brother look.

  “I was handling it just fine, thank you very much.” She knew it did no good to try and deny the obvious, but she didn’t feel like talking about it with James. This is really embarrassing.

  “Okay. I know. It makes you uncomfortable talking about this with me.”

  “No more than it would with one of my other brothers. It’s just that you and Luke talk about everything,” she said, finally looking him in the eyes.

  “You view me as a brother?” James asked, truly sounding surprised.

  “Of course, I do. You’re one of the family. You and Lisa will get married one day. If you ever grow a brain, and realize that’s what she wants.”

  “Mindi don’t say things like that. Please.” He sounded like he was in pain. I wish I could be sure she wanted to marry me. Nothing would stop me then.

  “James,” she said, reaching up and putting his handsome face between her hands, and looking him straight in the eyes. “Why don’t you try kissing her. Just once.”

  “You’re wrong.” Man, I wish I could. Mindi noticed he looked like he was seriously going to start crying, and had to hug him.

  Just as she stepped back, Luke walked up, and put his arm around her and kissed her on the forehead.

  “Yeah. I swore up and down everybody was wrong too. Now look,” she said, hoping she could get him to see she was right.

  “It’s more complicated than that.” It could ruin our friendship.

  Mindi just shook her head at him. “No, it’s not.”

  “What are you two talking about?” Luke asked, giving him a curious look. Lisa?

  “Nothing,” James said, almost sounding bitter.

  Mindi thought about it for a second and decided she needed to talk to Luke when James wasn’t around. She gave him a meaningful look he seemed to actually understand.

  “Okay. Maybe later then,” Luke said, looking at Mindi.

  “Did Zane say anything about whether they had found anything last night or not?” Mindi asked, changing the subject.

  Luke hesitated for a second not sure he wanted to talk about Tracy, but knowing it was for the best for Mindi to know what was going on. “They didn’t find anything. Not really. Just trampled vegetation, but they already knew someone had been back there.”

  Luke looked down at her with a big grin. “Do you always sleep naked?” God, I hope she sleeps naked after we’re married.

  James groaned. “I don’t need to
hear that. Can you two go stand over there by the office? I’m trying to work here.” Why does he know she sleeps naked? Sounds like I need to have a talk with him.

  Mindi just laughed. “Yes. I don’t even own traditional sleep wear.”

  Now Luke was groaning. His groan was a lot different though. “I shouldn’t of have asked. It was better not knowing.” I must be into self-torture.

  *******

  Tracy stood across the street behind the same tree she had hidden behind many times before.

  Things are really getting out of hand. I’m going to have to do something. And now. Luke is falling farther and farther under the little tramp’s spell. I can’t let this go on any longer. It’s time to act.

  She couldn’t help the grin that spread across her face. She was looking forward to making the little whore suffer.

  Chapter 13 - Saturday July 7

  That morning, when Mindi got out of bed, she never would have expected she was going to have the day turn on her. It was a bright and sunny day, and she and Luke hadn’t had a serious argument in over a month. After everything with his grandfather’s death, then the funeral, they had called a tentative silent truce. And after she finally told him the truth about Jeff, the rest of the tension between them had drained away. They weren’t officially together, but they had spent a lot of time together in the last few days. Life was good, and she was happy to be home.

  That was before she had agreed to go to the store for her mom. Her mom and dad’s bed and breakfast was running low on everything you could imagine, and her mom had sent her, with a list as long as her leg, to Harris Grocery.

  One of the bag boys had already loaded the bed of the truck with stuff. Mindi was half convinced it took more stuff to run the bed and breakfast, than it did to run a household with a bunch of kids.

  She had just sat a bag on the hood of the four-wheel drive after coming out of the store. With one bag still in one hand, she was digging in her purse for the keys when Tracy came around the corner of the building.