Misty Reigenborn Romance Boxed Set

by Misty Reigenborn

  “Does Sierra feel the same way that you do?”

  “I don’t know. I haven’t had the courage to talk to her about it. She seems to be happy with Paul. I know she loves him, but I believe that deep down she still feels the same way that I do.”

  “Talk to her.”

  “Have you talked to Daylin?”

  “What’s the point? We already tried twice. I don’t even know why I’m still here in Welton. I should leave.”

  “You still have hope for things to turn out right between you and Daylin. Sometimes it doesn’t take you long to know that the person your with is the right one for you. It doesn’t mean that things aren’t going to get in the way though. But you can’t turn your back on it Jess, if you do you’ll always wonder. Like me.”

  “But how can you trust someone that’s been unfaithful to you?”

  “It sounds as if Daylin is afraid of what he’s feeling for you and is sabotaging your relationship on purpose. Lay it all on the line for him Jess. Tell him how you really feel. Tell him that you’re afraid too, but that what you two could have together is worth it.”

  “I don’t know Luke. Between his cheating and my being not only being afraid of a commitment since I’ve never really had one, but of not living up to Amanda, it almost seems like too much trouble.”

  “Good things don’t come easy Jess. I have a proposition for you. You can say no, but I do believe it would relieve some of your tension.”

  Jess reached for her glass and brought it to her mouth, swallowing it in one gulp. Her body was ready for Luke to say what she had a feeling he was going to say. Her nipples had hardened and she was even more aware of the fact that Luke looked really good without a shirt on. She wasn’t sure if she was drunk enough to sleep with a married man with kids though, even with as complicated as his marriage sounded to be.

  She stayed silent. Luke sighed. “I’m sorry Jess. I suppose I said the wrong thing again. You’ll have to forgive me.”

  Jess licked lips that had suddenly gone dry. “It’s okay.”

  Luke gave her a smile that left her weak in the knees. “I would like to make love to you. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since the moment I saw you. And I believe that we may have a way to get back at both my wife and your boyfriend.”

  “Um.” Jess didn’t want to be a revenge screw.

  “Bad way to put it I suppose. I guess I really am losing my touch with words. We make love, release some of the tension I’m sure you’ve had building up. Release some of my tension. I would love to please you Jess. I want to feel every inch of your body.” He touched her face. “You are so beautiful.”

  “Thank you.” She wanted to kiss him. She could almost feel his lips on hers.

  “If we make love and keep it a secret, we will be getting back both at my wife and your boyfriend. No one ever needs to know.”

  Luke kissed the side of her neck, bringing his hand down to gently massage her nipple through her shirt. A wetness bloomed between her legs. Jess knew she needed to stop him or she was going to let him do to her whatever he wanted to do to her.

  “Luke. We can’t do this.”

  “This is right Jess. Tonight is right. I feel it and I know you do too. Let me take care of you tonight. I promise that it will be worth it.”

  Jess bit her lip. She wasn’t sure that no matter how good Luke might make her feel that it would be worth it. But her hormones wouldn’t shut up. Her body was making it very clear how it felt about the idea.

  Luke gave her a gentle kiss, teasing her with his tongue, letting her know that there was plenty more to come if she only let go and let him give her what it was obvious that they both wanted. Jess closed her eyes. When she opened them she looked right into Luke’s hazel eyes and she was done. Luke had bedroom eyes. The promises they held were suddenly too much for her to take.

  She nodded, and then left the rest up to Luke. He quickly stripped himself of his pajama bottoms and then took his time undressing Jess. He treasured her body with his hands and his mouth. Jess wanted him so bad by the time they had sex that the thought of a condom only briefly crossed her mind.

  Luke made love to Jess all night long. He made her forget about Daylin. He made her forget about everything. The realization of what she’d done set in in the morning though, when she woke up with a hell of a headache and the first thing that she noticed was the wedding band on Luke’s finger.

  She crept out of bed and dressed quickly. She really needed to urinate but didn’t want to chance waking him up. So she held it until she got home. She took a shower and couldn’t believe what she’d done. She’d had drunk unprotected sex with a married man over and over. And she remembered a distant promise to keep it a secret. She sighed as she looked at herself in the mirror. She didn’t think there was much of a chance between her and Daylin, but at least she hadn’t been the married person that was in love with another woman she thought.

  A few days later she was going through the local newspaper and saw an obituary that made her pause. Daylin’s mother had died. She tried to call him, but all of her calls went straight to voicemail. Her decision to leave Welton was cemented until December 23rd when her phone rang. It was Lucy.

  “Hello.”

  “Jess. Have you heard from Daylin lately?”

  “No. Why? Is everything okay?”

  “No. His Mom died and he won’t leave the house. He won’t talk to anyone, even Cam. I was hoping you could get through to him.”

  “I’m sorry. He won’t return my phone calls, e-mails, anything.”

  Lucy sighed. “Everyone is so worried about him. Are you still coming to the wedding?”

  “I guess. I feel kind of weird about coming.”

  “Don’t. We want you here. Maybe he’ll talk to you if he sees you. Maybe you can snap him out of it.”

  “I don’t know. I hope so.”

  “Me, too. I have to go. Thank you Jess. I’ll see you.”

  “Bye Lucy.”

  It made sense now Jess thought. She was sure that Daylin wouldn’t take his Mother’s death well, but she’d thought that he’d at least let her help him through it. She still wasn’t sure about going to the wedding but maybe Lucy was right. Maybe if he saw her, he would open up to her. She hoped so. She’d missed him.

  She almost turned around three times and went back home on the short drive to the church on Cameron and Lucy’s wedding day. She felt even more uncomfortable walking into the church alone. She didn’t see Daylin anywhere but that wasn’t a surprise since he was the best man.

  She took a seat in the back and waited for it to be over. Why was she here Jess wondered? Daylin obviously wanted nothing to do with her. She hated to think that he was self-destructing with the death of his mother, but if he didn’t want her help to deal with it what was she supposed to do? She couldn’t force him to let her in. As much as it felt like sometimes that he’d forced her to let him in, he hadn’t. She missed him, but she was afraid to see him.

  Finally, Cameron and Daylin appeared. Cameron looked happy. Daylin looked like he’d lost weight. His cheeks looked hollow and his suit seemed to hang on his frame. Looking at him made her sad. He wouldn’t meet her eyes.

  She hoped that she’d be able to sneak out soon after the reception started. She hadn’t known what to get them, so she’d gotten them a gift certificate and hoped that they’d be able to find something.

  She turned as Lucy started down the aisle. She was led down by Cameron’s father since hers was conspicuously absent. She looked beautiful. The dress hid the fact that she was pregnant. Jess didn’t know who looked happier, Cameron or Lucy.

  She zoned out during the vows and came back to herself when the newly married couple shared their first kiss. It broke her heart. She missed the feeling that someone loved her.

  The reception was being held next door in the community center. She lost track of Daylin in the crowd of people leaving the church and walked out the doors by herself. She lit a cigarette, stall
ing for time.

  Lucy and Cameron passed by. She thought she was safe until Lucy caught her eye, said something to Cameron and came back to her. She started to put out her cigarette, but Lucy waved her off. “Don’t bother. I like the smell.” She looked Jess up and down. “You look good. Thank you for coming.”

  “You’re welcome. It was a nice ceremony. You look beautiful.”

  Lucy laughed. “I look pregnant. I feel fat.”

  “You’re not fat.”

  “Of course I am. Did you see Daylin?”

  “Not other than during the ceremony.”

  Lucy sighed. “Someone needs to get through to that boy. He won’t talk to anybody. Shuts himself up in his house all day. It’s a good thing his boss will let him work from home or he wouldn’t have a job anymore.”

  “That’s too bad.” At the same time, she had no idea what Lucy expected her to do. If Cameron who was like his brother, wasn’t able to get through to him how was she supposed to?

  “I had hoped that seeing you might be enough for him. He’s got to know that he’s going to lose you if he doesn’t cut his shit out.”

  “Uh, yeah.”

  “Well sweetie, if you get a chance talk to him.” Jess nodded. “Thank you. You gonna stick around for a while?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “I’ll see you at the reception. There’s plenty of food, open bar, some crappy band that Cameron found at the last minute since the good one cancelled. If I don’t see you again before we head out, I appreciate you coming and hope everything works out between you and Daylin.”

  “Thank you.” She finished her cigarette and watched Lucy walk away. It was good that someone was happy Jess thought.

  She went into the reception hall. It was crowded and noisy. She added her gift to the stack on the table and found a seat at a table in the back. She wasn’t hungry and as much as she felt like getting drunk right, she wasn’t going to do it.

  She was playing a game on her phone when a hand fell on her shoulder. She looked up into a bloodshot pair of hazel eyes. “I need to talk to you,” Daylin said. “C’mon.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet.

  She was silent as she followed him down the hall away from the party. He tried two doors before he found one that opened. They entered a tiny room with a desk in the middle. It looked like an office. She briefly wondered why the door wasn’t looked. Daylin looked around, seemed not to find what he wanted and sighed.

  “What?”

  “Nothing. Come here.” He pressed her against the wall and started kissing her with a strange mixture of passion and what almost felt like desperation.

  When he pulled back to take a breath she said “I thought you wanted to talk.”

  “I need you.” Before she knew it, he was unbuttoning his pants.

  “Daylin what the hell are you doing? There are people everywhere.”

  Not bothering to button his pants, he crossed to the door and locked it. “Good enough?”

  “No. We haven’t talked in weeks. You didn’t even tell me your mother died. I wanted to be there for you, but you wouldn’t let me. Now I see you and all you want to do is get down my pants?”

  “I can’t think straight right now okay? I need you Jess. I need you to make it all go away. Please.”

  She bit her lip. She didn’t think that sex would solve Daylin’s problems but if letting him screw her against the wall in a public building at his cousin’s wedding reception would get him to talk to her, maybe it was worth it.

  She stepped out of her shoes and started to take off her panty hose trying to remember if she’d taken her birth control pill that morning since she hadn’t been the best at doing it after she’d gotten her prescription. Before she could think further, Daylin said “Don’t bother with that.”

  His pants were already undone, his boxers hanging to his knees. He pressed her back against the wall, fumbling with her panties. She couldn’t believe she was doing this. This was worse than screwing him in his backyard, almost worse even than screwing Luke.

  It didn’t seem to bother him though. He groaned as he entered her. Jess wasn’t comfortable. Her major support was the grip of his hands on her hips. He didn’t look at her as he moved within her. She finally closed her eyes.

  Only minutes later, he was finished. Still not looking at her, he pulled away and had his shirt tucked back into his pants before she’d started to pull her panty hose up. She tore them and though it was cold outside and she knew her legs would freeze, she took them off and shoved them into her purse.

  Hand on the door he said “There’s a bathroom down the hall if you need to clean up.” Then he opened the door and was gone. Just like that.

  She was majorly pissed off at herself for letting him screw her and just walk away. She was tempted to leave and never look back. If he was going to treat her like a whore, then she didn’t need him she thought. She sighed. She at least had to give him a chance to talk to her. Maybe if she spent at least tonight with him she could get him to say something. It wasn’t good for him to lock everything up inside. She knew that from her own experiences.

  She slipped her shoes back on her feet and went down the hall in search of the bathroom. Once she had finished in the bathroom, she went back to the meeting room where the reception was being held. Lucy was in Cameron’s arms on the dance floor, but she didn’t see Daylin anywhere. She decided to go outside for a cigarette.

  Daylin was outside leaning against the side of the building, drink in one hand, cigarette in the other.

  “Since when do you smoke?” she said.

  He shrugged. “Since I started smoking.”

  “Oh. Are you okay Daylin?”

  “Never been better. You wanna get out of here? I need something stronger.”

  “You can’t leave now. The reception’s barely started.”

  He snorted. “Do you think anyone will notice? C’mon Jess. Let’s go to the liquor store and then go back to my place and get smashed.”

  “I don’t think that’s what you need right now Daylin.”

  “Everybody thinks they know what I need. They don’t know shit. I know what I need. I need to go home, get drunk and fuck you again.”

  “Thanks Daylin. It’s nice to know that I’m able to help you through this.”

  “I don’t need help right now. I need to get drunk and get laid.”

  He ran his hand up under her skirt. She slapped at his hand, shoving it away. “Don’t do that.”

  “I’m sorry I didn’t make sure you got off last time okay? I’ll make sure you do at my house. Come on. Let’s go.”

  He grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the parking lot. His car was parked about halfway down from hers, a big scratch running down the side.

  “What happened to your car?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t remember. Let’s go. You follow me okay?”

  “I don’t think you’re in any kind of a state to drive right now.”

  He dug his keys out of his pocket. “You drive then. We’ll come back and pick your car up later.” He handed her the keys, reaching out to smack her ass. “Now Jess. I get hard just looking at you.”

  She wanted to slap him again. Instead, she pushed the button to unlock the car. While he got into the passenger side, she adjusted the seat. When she was belted in, she started the car. “Where are we going?”

  “Two blocks up, on the left.”

  She followed his directions and pulled up in front of a liquor store a few minutes later. He handed her a stack of rumpled bills. “Get me a fifth of Rum, a two liter of soda and a bag of ice. Get whatever you want too. I plan to keep you up all night.”

  She said nothing. He was disgusting her, acting like a pervert. She wondered if this was how he’d acted with all the women that had come before her, after Amanda.

  Could a woman really find him attractive when he was acting like this she wondered? She sighed as she opened the door, glancing back at the car. He had the window rol
led down and was smoking a cigarette.

  She bought his rum, cola and ice, at the last minute deciding to add a bottle of one of the few types of liquor that she could stand to drink. Maybe if they both got drunk enough he’d talk to her instead of acting like a horny teenager she thought. When she walked out of the store, he was on his cell phone, but hung it up quickly. Why did she have the feeling that he’d been talking to another woman?

  She put it out of her head as she got behind the wheel of his car. He put his hand on her leg, tracing circles that kept getting higher and higher as she drove to his house. When his hand threatened to move between her legs, she slapped his hand away.

  “Stop Daylin. I understand that you want to have sex. Trying to molest me while I’m driving isn’t going to help either of us.”

  “You’re testy.”

  She rolled her eyes at him as she pulled into his driveway. “I’m trying to be patient with you because you just lost your mother and don’t seem to be dealing with it well, but I’m not going to let you do whatever you want to me.”

  She handed him his keys so he could unlock the house.

  “I’m dealing with it perfectly fine. It’s everybody else who can’t seem to deal with it. She’s dead. Get over it.”

  She followed him into the house, not believing her ears. How could he say such a thing about his own mother? She knew he was hurting, but when he broke down and let himself feel it, he was going to be crushed if he didn’t start to face the reality of the situation-and soon.

  She sat down on the couch as he disappeared into the kitchen. His house was a mess. A far cry from the neatness that he’d always strived for before. There were fast food wrappers on the table and on the floor, an empty pizza box on the chair, and several empty beer bottles on the floor underneath the table. The ashtray on the coffee table was overflowing, spilling over onto the porno magazine that it was sitting on top of.