Misty Reigenborn Romance Boxed Set

by Misty Reigenborn

  “No. I should have actually already been there. My sister is kind of nontraditional. She had the graduation party before the actual graduation. I was supposed to leave two days ago, but I had a deadline to meet. I got behind when I got an idea for this other novel that just wouldn’t leave me alone. The party was tonight. I missed that, but the graduation isn’t until the day after tomorrow so at least I won’t miss that.”

  “Does it not seem strange to you that you should have already been there but you’re not, and you happened to decide to pick up a hitchhiker when it’s against your nature?”

  “It’s not exactly against my nature. I’m not a bitch, or at least I don’t like to think so. I’m just cautious.”

  “Normal behavior for a single woman. I’ll shut up now. It’s obvious that you’re not interested. I’m sorry.”

  “No, it’s okay.” She pulled into the parking lot of the motel and parked next to the office. “I’ll be right back.”

  “I’ll be waiting.”

  A pretty woman in her twenties was behind the counter. She gave Winter a bright smile. “Good evening. How can I help you?”

  “Your sign says that you have vacancies. Please tell me that you do. I’m exhausted.”

  “We do. Smoking or non-smoking?”

  “Smoking please. With two beds.”

  The girl raised an eyebrow and glanced at John. “Tell me you’re related to him. There is no way I wouldn’t share a bed with a guy that looked like that if I wasn’t.”

  Winter fought an eye roll. “I’m not. Do you have a room with two beds?”

  The girl sighed. “You’re a lesbian aren’t you? Or he’s gay. All of the really good looking ones seem to be.”

  “No. I don’t mean to be abrupt, but do you have a room with two beds? I really am very tired.”

  “Sorry. My husband is in the military. Sometimes I think I like to look a little too much. Um, let me check.” The girl looked at a sheet of paper. She ran her finger down and then looked at Winter and shook her head. “The only smoking rooms we have only have one bed. Actually, the only rooms we have left period have one bed. There’s some convention in town.”

  Winter sighed. “Damn. I guess we’ll take a smoking room then. It’s $39.99 plus tax right?”

  “It’s $68.12 with tax. Will that be cash, or credit?”

  Winter stifled a groan. “That seems like an awful lot of tax.”

  “That’s the ‘and up’. I told the manager that he should change it since there are only three rooms in the whole place that are $40 a night, but he won’t do it. People usually end up paying it anyway. We’re a lot cleaner than the other places on this road.”

  “Fine. Credit.” Winter gave the girl her credit card and her license. “Do you need to see his ID too?”

  “I’d like to see a lot more of him than his ID, but no. You’re fine. Just one night?”

  “Yes.”

  The girl made a copy of her license and then processed the card and handed her the receipt. She pulled a key off a hook behind her and handed it Winter. “Second floor, all the way to the right. Are you sure you’re not a lesbian? If I had a guy like that even for the night, there’s no way in hell I wouldn’t have sex with him. If I wasn’t married and you told me you didn’t want him, I’d be all over him right now. You wouldn’t have to worry about sharing a bed with him because I’d have him in mine.”

  “How old are you?”

  “Twenty-three. Why?”

  “He’s too old for you.”

  “Not for one night he isn’t. Are you blind? I can see his shirt sticking to his chest through the window. I can only imagine how good he looks without it on.”

  “So he’s good looking. It doesn’t mean that we need to hop into bed with someone every time we find a member of the opposite sex attractive.”

  “Before I got married, it was really good when I did a few times.”

  Winter turned away and rolled her eyes. “Have a good night. I hope your husband comes home soon.”

  “Me too. I’m not gonna let him out of our bed for three days straight.”

  Winter laughed. “I’m sure you won’t.”

  Winter shook her head as she walked outside. John grinned at her. “That took long enough. Did they not have the room that you wanted?”

  Winter cleared her throat as she got back behind the wheel. “Uh, the only rooms they had available only had one bed.”

  “I can sleep on the floor. It’s not like I haven’t slept on worse.”

  Winter pulled into an empty parking space. “You don’t have to do that. I’m sure the bed is big enough for two.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes.”

  She didn’t look at John as she retrieved her bag out of the back of the van. After he had retrieved his bag from the back seat she waited for him to get out of the van. After he had shut the door she pushed the button to lock the vehicle.

  “I can carry your bag,” he said.

  She shook her head. “It’s not heavy. We’re on the second floor.”

  He grinned at her. “Would you have let me carry it if it was heavy?”

  “Probably not. Yours looks heavy.”

  He threw his bag over his shoulder. “I’m used to it. The rain seems to be letting off. Are you sure you want to share your room with me?”

  Winter gave him a look as she headed to the stairs. “I’ve told you that I’m fine with it more than once. If you don’t want to, you don’t have to. But you’re more than welcome. With what I paid and the state of this place on the outside at least, it was more than enough for two people.”

  John followed her up the stairs. “You go to California the rooms are almost a $100 a night. And half of those are dumps.”

  “I don’t like California. Not my kind of place. I grew up in a small town. You can still buy a house there for a years’ wages, not two or three or ten.”

  John chuckled as she put the key in the door. “Yeah, it’s pretty sad. Sometimes all of the beauty in the world is hard to see around all the shit.”

  “Yeah.” Winter opened the door and turned on the light. The room was clean. It wasn’t quite the dump that she thought it would be. She immediately walked over to the window and pushed it open.

  John gave her a look as he shut the door. “Are you some kind of a fresh air buff?”

  “I can’t stand to smoke without a window open. Sounds kinda dumb even to me, but it’s true. I should quit smoking I know.”

  John shrugged as he deposited his bag on the floor. “Everyone has their little idiosyncrasies. I love the smell of the air when it’s raining. Fresh and clean.”

  Winter sat down on the bed and took the bag of food that he offered her. “Not always. I’ve been in cities where the rain just made it smell worse. It kicked up all the nasty smells on the ground, especially in certain parts of town.”

  “I’ve been in those kind of towns too.”

  “I bet you’ve been just about everywhere.”

  “A lot of places. When I find a place that feels like home, I’ll settle down.” He took the bag back from her after she’d removed her food. “Thanks. I can cover my part. I’m not quite that broke.”

  “Don’t worry about it. How will you know it feels like home?”

  “I guess I’ll just know.”

  Winter nodded, though she wasn’t quite sure that she understood. They were silent as they ate their food. They both finished quickly. She had been hungrier than she’d thought. John got up from the chair he was sitting in and stretched. His shirt rose enough so that she could see the edge of his boxers. She swallowed hard.

  “You don’t mind if I take the shower first do you?”

  Winter looked at her feet. She was already imagining him naked and it was driving her crazy. It wasn’t just because she had just met him and disapproved of her strong attraction to him. It was also because she really wanted to know what he looked like naked.

  “Go ahead.”

  �
�You okay?”

  “Yes. Go. I’ll turn the heat on a little bit.”

  “Okay. Thanks.” John rummaged in his bag for clean clothes. He was headed to the bathroom when he turned. “I don’t suppose I could talk you into joining me.”

  Winter couldn’t speak for a moment. Her hormones were a complete threat to her sensibility. She felt like a horny teenager. She cleared her throat. “No thank you.”

  John sighed. “You don’t need to be afraid of this Winter. I feel it too. I’ve never felt quite this way before. The physical attraction, sure. But there’s something more here. Don’t tell me that you don’t feel it. We were meant to be together tonight.”

  Winter forced a laugh. “You sound like some kind of a romantic prophet.”

  John shook his head. “I’m no prophet. I just listen to my heart. And right now it won’t shut up.”

  Winter snorted. “Are you sure what won’t shut up doesn’t reside a little bit lower in your anatomy than your heart?”

  John chuckled. “That doesn’t want to shut up either, but I can deal with that. Men learn to ignore their little heads. If you want to pretend that this didn’t happen for a reason, go ahead. But you’ll always wonder. What could have been. What should have been. If you change your mind, feel free to join me.” He winked at her.

  Winter held her groan until she heard the shower start. Her heart was beating fast and her palms were sweaty. She lit a cigarette, but only took one drag before she put it out in the ashtray beside the bed. She was on edge, but nicotine wasn’t going to help her. Nicotine wasn’t what she was craving. She was craving the touch of a man. One man in particular who happened to be naked about 15 feet away from where she sat.

  Winter closed her eyes. But she couldn’t shut out the picture of John’s naked body that her head kept trying to create. She took a deep breath and then let it out. Fuck it she thought. She was going to join him in the shower.

  She undressed quickly and stepped into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. She pulled the shower curtain aside and drank in the sight of John’s body. He looked even better naked than she’d thought that he would. He gave her a wide grin.

  “I was beginning to think that you’d changed your mind.”

  She raised an eyebrow as she stepped into the shower. “Changed my mind? I think someone has a big ego.”

  He reached over and pulled the shower curtain closed. “I can tell when a woman wants me. You wanted me the moment you saw me.”

  Winter laughed. “That sounds suspiciously like your ego talking.”

  John reached out his hand and brushed it over her arm. “It’s okay Winter. The feeling is very, very mutual. We can fight this inexplicable feeling that we both know is right and we’ll always wonder. Or we can let go and let ourselves feel and have a night that neither of us will ever forget.”

  Winter sighed as he moved his hand to her face. “I’ve never had a one night stand before.”

  “If it’s meant to be darlin’ we will meet again.”

  “How can you be so sure?”

  “Some things a man just knows.”

  “Uh huh.”

  “Shh baby. That’s your head talking. Let your body take over. I’ll give your body anything that it wants tonight.”

  Winter smiled. “Within reason of course.”

  “Within reason.” John smiled. He ran his hand down her arm again. It sent shivers down her spine. He kissed her, slowly and softly. “Tell me what you want baby.”

  She whispered into his ear. His smile grew wider. “Mmm. That I can most definitely handle.”

  When they finally made it out of the shower, they couldn’t seem to get to the bed fast enough. Winter had never had such an erotic shower in her life. Neither bothered to take the time to dry off.

  John paused. “One thing darlin’.”

  Winter looked up at him and wanted to groan. “Yes?”

  “I don’t have protection.”

  Winter sighed. “Damn.”

  “There was a convenience store back by the drive through wasn’t there?”

  Winter bit her lip. She’d never had unprotected sex besides with her ex-husband, but she really wasn’t in the mood to wait. She felt like she was on fire with passion and she didn’t want her sensibility to take over. And if she wanted to be completely honest with herself, she wanted to feel every part of John in every way possible. “Um, I’m okay with it if you are. I’m clean.”

  John chuckled. “I would think you would be more worried about things that like than I would be, but I am as well. Are you sure Winter? If you say yes, I’m going to make love to you to all night long.”

  Winter felt color rise to her cheeks. She gave him a half smile. “Promises, promises.”

  “I keep my promises darlin’. Now shall we start with that sexy suggestion that you whispered into my ear?”

  “Oh yes.”

  John smiled. Winter had never had a night so filled with passion in her life. John was an incredible lover. Her ex-husband hadn’t been bad in bed by any means, but he wasn’t the best at foreplay. John was fantastic at foreplay. He pleasured her fully with his hands and his mouth. She couldn’t get enough of the feeling of his body underneath her hands. He had an incredible body. She’d never realized that a man could feel so good or smell so good. He hadn’t put cologne on after their shower he just smelled so much like the essence of a man to her that it drove her crazy.

  When they finally made it to the love making, Winter never wanted it to end. She felt like a horny teenager that had lost her virginity to an incredible lover and knew that it could always feel that good. She had thought that she was tired before, but by the time they had taken their third shower of the night together, she was truly exhausted.

  She lit a cigarette with a hand that had a slight tremble to it. John grinned at her. “So it was good for you too huh?”

  She hit him with the pillow that her head wasn’t on. “Ha ha. I thought you figured that out somewhere around my fifth orgasm.”

  He chuckled. “It took that long for you to figure out that it was good?”

  Winter rolled her eyes at him. “I knew the second you touched me that it was going to be good. I just didn’t think that you needed another ego boost. I bet women tell you that all the time.”

  John brushed his hand over her hair. “Darlin’ it doesn’t matter how many times I’ve heard it. You took me to another level tonight. What we had together was hands down the best sex I’ve ever had in my life. You’re so passionate. I bet you’re not always like that though. What made you decide to let go?”

  Winter turned away from him and put her cigarette out in the ashtray on the nightstand. “I figured that every woman deserves at least one night of unbridled passion in her lifetime. It should give me some good material.”

  John chuckled, but then he touched her shoulder. When she turned her head, he took her chin in his hand and forced her to look at him. “Hey beautiful, no need for that. Like I said, if it’s meant to be, we will meet again.”

  Winter stroked her hand over his chest. “Do you really think so? I’ve never felt this way before. I feel like I’m going crazy.”

  “You’re not crazy. We should get some sleep. Do you want me to shut the window?”

  Winter shook her head. “No. It’s fine.” She kissed him. “Goodnight John. Thank you.”

  He smiled. “Anytime. Thank you too.”

  She twined her fingers through his. He reached over to the turn the lamp off. She settled back against his chest and was soon asleep.

  Winter woke a few hours later. John was still breathing evenly beside her. She resisted an urge to reach out and touch him. What she wanted to do was to spend the hours until checkout time making love to him, what her sensible side knew she needed to do was leave before he woke up. She eased out of bed and dressed quickly.

  When John still hadn’t roused, she wasn’t sure whether she was relieved or disappointed. She shook her head at herself and slipped he
r feet into her shoes. She grabbed her cell phone and double checked to make sure everything was in her bag. She hid a sigh as she took a moment to watch him sleep. She worried about him living the life that he was living. There was a part of her that was tempted to wake him up and ask him if he wanted to go with her.

  That thought really made her shake her head at herself. Not only would her sister never stop giving her crap if she showed up with a strange man at her daughter’s graduation, but what was she supposed to do with him afterwards? What if they didn’t get along after they spent more time together? She didn’t want to spoil what they had had.

  She bit her lip. Finally she made the decision that she had known was already coming. She decided to let him sleep. Before she left, she took all of the cash out of her wallet and laid it on the night stand. It was several hundred dollars. She hoped that John didn’t take it the wrong way. She wasn’t trying to make him feel that their night together had been cheap, she was just pretty sure that he could use the cash more than she could.

  She took one last look at him and then exited the room. She closed the door quietly behind her, pausing for a moment outside the room. There was no movement so she continued toward the stairs. She made it to her van and stowed her bag in the back. She took one last look at the motel and then started the van. She felt tears prick her eyes and felt like even more of an idiot. It wasn’t because she’d had a one night stand. She figured that a lot of people had probably had at least one in their lives. It was because even though she knew that it was the right choice to make, it didn’t make it any easier to walk away from him.

  She stopped at a diner on the edge of town and got breakfast. Her sister called her. She was tempted to tell her about John, but her older sister was rather conservative. Veronica had been married to her high school sweetheart for 20 years. Winter wasn’t sure how she would take the news that her little sister, though a grown woman, had had a night of passion with a total stranger, let alone a man that she had picked up hitchhiking.

  The rest of the drive was uneventful. Watching her niece graduate gave Winter a strange feeling. Most of the time, she wasn’t sure that she wanted kids. But when she saw Treylisa accept her diploma, she felt a mix of emotions sweep over her. She found herself fantasizing about what it would be like to have John’s child. By the time she left Veronica’s house, she had already pictured running into John on the way back home a dozen different ways.