Twenty Times Tempted: A Sexy Contemporary Romance Collection

by Petrova, Em

  He broke the kiss, leaning his forehead on hers, breathing raggedly. Their breaths mingled, and his hands tightened on her waist.

  “You’re too good for me, but I can’t care anymore. I want this with you so badly.” The earnestness of his statement caught her off guard, but a sense of excitement made her smile at him.

  She wondered what he could have done in his past, but it was fleeting. Whatever it was, it was in the past. They were the future. She kissed him again, unable to keep her lips to herself, and he was just so close.

  They smiled together and kissed some more, just like a fresh couple who couldn’t believe they were finally together. Eventually, he broke away from her, regretfully.

  “I need to get home. My boss is a slave driver.” His mischievous smile, with those dimples, almost made her tug him inside to her bed. “Tomorrow night okay for our date?”

  Vanessa couldn’t stop the grin on her face. “I can’t wait.”

  She watched him as he strode to his ancient red truck, a lightness to his step she hadn’t seen much. When he’d bumped down the driveway and out of sight, Vanessa did a jig up to her porch and inside the house.

  Her phone was ringing, but the number was blocked. She answered it without thinking much of it, her mind still on her date with Linc, but there was no one there. Just a slow, rhythmic breathing, then the whispered words, “Soon, Vanessa.”

  Then nothing but dead air.

  She tried not to let it dampen her spirits, but it couldn’t be helped. Euphoria at the kisses with Linc faded as she remembered the weird things that had happened since she’d moved to Mystic, Texas. Most of them could be explained away, but there were so many of them.

  Oh well. Not tonight. Tonight, she would revel in her new boyfriend. Not the weird phone call who was probably Ian, anyway. Fucking with her.

  Boyfriend.

  Yeah, it had a nice ring to it. She wondered what to wear and ran upstairs to the closet to see if she needed to wash anything. Vanessa only had about four dresses, but when she got to the closet, there was only one fluttering in a breeze that wasn’t there.

  Emily wanted her to wear the yellow one.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  The next morning, Vanessa was awake, showered, and dressed in a cute outfit by the time Linc got there. It wasn’t time for their date, yet, but she wanted to look good, even if she was going to spend the day painting and working on her laptop, like always.

  Or would she?

  She honestly had no idea what to expect, but she’d put on pretty panties just in case, and when he pulled up in the driveway, her heart started the familiar pitter-patter it did when Linc was around. Only now, the pitter-patter had a definite proprietary beat to it, since he was her boyfriend.

  Yup. She couldn’t stop the grin when he got out of his truck, his long legs stalking toward her, muscly thighs rippling under the faded jeans he wore. His worn boots kicked up the early fall dust in the driveway as he wiped his hands on his thighs. Was he wiping off sweat? Was he nervous?

  He flashed a shy smile at her when he looked up, his blue eyes doing a number on her tummy, making it flop around like a fish out of water.

  He was hers.

  She couldn’t believe it.

  When Linc got to the porch, he wrapped an arm around her waist, hauling her against him, and crashed his mouth on hers.

  She delighted in the flavor of toothpaste as his mouth mauled hers, all too briefly, before releasing her.

  “I missed you,” he smiled down at her.

  Vanessa stifled the urge to happy jig again, and managed a simple, “Me, too.” She did tack on, “I’m really excited about tonight,” then stood on her tiptoes for another kiss before going to get him a cup of coffee.

  It was better than she’d expected. They sat on the porch, drinking coffee, discussing their plans for the day, just like always. Today, though, had a different feel to it. There was something exciting in the air between them. And Linc’s hand brushed against hers, and stayed there, his fingers entwining around hers. That was definitely different.

  She liked it.

  She’d been nervous things would be awkward between them at first, not knowing how to explore the new relationship. But it was so natural, and she couldn’t imagine what they’d been like before.

  Later, Vanessa was at her kitchen table with her laptop, but she couldn’t write. She had an idea for the third book in the series but was stuck on how to begin it. Instead, she daydreamed about Emily, the ghost who she’d decided left the diary behind from the Civil War.

  It really was fascinating and inspiring to a modern young woman like her. Emily couldn’t have been older than her own twenty-two years old, yet she ran a farm with her mother, helping to raise her brother and two sisters. Of course, the brother died, which broke Vanessa’s heart, and it freaked her out when she realized he’d probably died in this house, but it had been short-lived, with the maternal nature of the ghost present here.

  To know that only two women had the brains and stamina to keep a corn farm afloat staggered Vanessa. They battled harvests, weather, evil bankers, all while healing a bunch of Union soldiers who stopped in—starving and sick—on their way home, while the men were off fighting a war they had no hope of winning. It showed a strength and fortitude that Vanessa needed to fix up the house. And she didn’t have half as many obstacles to overcome.

  It rejuvenated her and gave her a sense of purpose, just knowing these women had lived. Not only lived, but lived here, in this house.

  The noise of a truck pulling into the driveway grabbed her attention. Going to the door, Vanessa’s stomach dropped when she recognized her dad’s truck pulling a U-Haul trailer driving up to her house.

  Wait. Her dad was here? This wasn’t something they’d planned. Did this mean he was accepting her decision? The last time they’d spoken, he’d called her a little idiot for going through with her plan to live here.

  Linc came outside with the question in his eyes, and she answered it. “It’s my dad.” He smiled at her encouragingly.

  “Surprise visit?”

  Blowing out a breath of air, she responded, “Yeah, it is.” But she was still nervous about her dad’s motivations behind driving the seven hours.

  She raced down the steps to greet the old man getting out of the truck and threw her arms around him.

  “Daddy!” Her tears were stupid, but she’d been so hurt at his denial of her need to grow up that his sudden acceptance was ridiculously welcome.

  “Hey there, Pumpkin,” he muttered into her shoulder. “I brought the rest of your stuff out of storage for you. Figured I needed to see your new place.”

  “Thank you,” she whispered, choking back the lump in her throat.

  “I wanted to meet this handyman and read your diary, too. It seems like you have a life here, and I didn’t want to let it pass me by.” He squeezed her hard before letting her go, sniffling a little. As hard as she looked, though, she didn’t see any tears. That would be too much to ask for.

  She had been talking to him on the phone, as much as she could stand, and told him all the good things that had happened: how skilled the handyman she’d hired was, how interesting the diary was, how friendly the people in town were. She hadn’t elaborated on the Book Bitches, because he didn’t need to know every little detail, but she’d been nothing but positive in her tales about her life in Mystic. He’d found enough negatives without her highlighting them.

  Anxiously, Vanessa watched her dad peruse the house’s exterior, trying to see what he saw. She really wanted him to approve of her choices, a normal reaction to crave acceptance from parents. But her own expectations were realized when she saw the look on his face.

  Disappointment. Downturned mouth. Squinty eyes. He hated it.

  “Wait until you see everything that’s been done inside. We’ve really done a lot,” she rushed to reassure him. “Did you drive through the night to get here this morning?”

  “No, we got a
motel room the next town over and spent last night there before popping in on you.”

  His use of the word “we” was not lost on her, but before she could say anything, a purring motor behind her had Vanessa turning, and irritation flared.

  “Daddy…”

  “Yeah, well, I needed help loading and everything.” He shuffled his feet under her scrutiny. “I figured we’d need help emptying it, too.”

  Vanessa’s eyes immediately went back to the porch, where Linc was standing, expecting an introduction to her father. After his declaration yesterday, that would be something he’d want. But as the dread filled her gut, she wanted to cry and go back to bed.

  Ian’s Audi pulled in next to her dad’s Ford, and her ex-boyfriend climbed out, clipping his Ray-Bans to his shirt collar.

  He held his arms out for a hug. “Hey, Babe.”

  She ignored him, turning instead to her dad, who stood there with a stupid grin on his face. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Linc had come down the steps to stand closer.

  “Daddy,” she gritted out through clenched teeth. “Why?”

  “I needed help loading everything, and I thought he could help us unload, that’s all,” her father repeated himself, a sure sign he knew he’d screwed up. His chagrined expression told Vanessa everything she needed to know about her father’s intentions.

  He was making a last-ditch effort to make her see what she was missing out on by breaking up with Ian. Ian stood behind her dad, looking smug.

  “We broke up, Dad. I refused his proposal. I moved seven hours away from him to stop this, and you insisted on bringing him anyway?” She threw her hands up in frustration. They would never listen to her, and she didn’t even know why she was attempting to make her dad see anything except his own truths.

  “Okay, fair enough, Pumpkin.” Her dad held his hands out in a gesture of innocence. “One night. We’ll unload everything and go back in the morning.”

  “No. You can stay one night, Dad, but he’s not stepping foot inside my house. He’s turning around right now and driving back to Victoria.” Hand on her hip, she pointed toward the road leading away from her sanctuary. The sanctuary Ian’s very presence was ruining.

  She couldn’t even look at the fake put-upon face Ian was undoubtedly wearing. Instead, she turned to Linc, who had moved to stand behind her, and the mask of fury he was wearing made her take a step back. He was looking at Ian like he could grind his face up into hamburger with his bare hands, and he’d enjoy the privilege. She might let him.

  Turning back to her dad, she introduced the pair, ignoring Ian. “Daddy, this is Linc, he’s been helping me fix everything up, and he’s also my new boyfriend.” She said the last word a little bit louder but still ignored Ian’s reaction. “Linc, this is my dad, Ray Power.”

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Sir,” Linc put away his mean face and brought out a wary smile for her father. She wished they could meet without her ex-boyfriend lurking, but you can’t always get what you want. Her mother’s words were welcome inside her head, and Vanessa begged for more advice on how to handle this situation, but after the initial pithy phrase, Mom was silent.

  “Likewise,” her father grumbled.

  “I’ll go ahead and start unloading,” Linc offered before going to the back of the trailer and raising the accordion door.

  “Van, can I have a word, please?” Ian asked, and she gave in to the pleading eyes, beseeching her to listen. She’d already been rude enough. He had driven seven hours, after all, and had another long drive ahead of him to go home. The least she could do was listen to him.

  With a heavy sigh, she followed him over to his car and crossed her arms. She’d listen, but she didn’t want to.

  Vanessa looked at the man she’d spent too much of her life with, and couldn’t stop the comparisons. Next to Linc, he was nothing. His skin was a little too pasty, his eyes a little too brown, his hair a little too short, his clothes a little too flashy, his body a little too small.

  Yeah, there was no comparison.

  Ian didn’t make her feel like her opinions mattered, her feelings, her. Nothing mattered. She couldn’t for the life of her figure out why he wanted her so badly.

  She sighed while she waited for him to talk. When she raised her eyebrow, he finally started speaking.

  “Look, I know I’ve made you angry, and I’m sorry, Vanessa.”

  That was it?

  “Do you even know what you did to make me angry, Ian?” Blanket apologies for unknown offenses weren’t going to work.

  “No, I honestly don’t. I know you got all pissed off when that stuff with your mother and Victor happened, but I’m sure you’re over that by now, right?”

  “That stuff? My mother’s death? Are you serious right now? Yeah, this is soo not happening.” Vanessa clenched her fists, even as her arms were crossed. She was trying everything in her self-restraint arsenal to keep from punching him in his smug little face.

  “I’m sure once you dump all your money into this place and have nothing to show for it, you’ll come back. You can’t be seriously thinking you’ll fix this up to be worth anything.” His barely-concealed sneer curled Vanessa’s toes, and not in the good way.

  “Is that what this is about? The money and what this place is worth? Because I can tell you, it’s already everything I’ve ever wanted, because it’s MINE, but you wouldn’t understand that because you don’t really care about me. If you did, you’d understand that that stuff with my mother tore me apart, tore my family apart, and the fact that I haven’t seen Victor since then is killing me.”

  Linc appeared at her side, and in a steely voice she’d never heard, he said, “Vanessa has made her wishes clear. Get the hell off her property before I call the sheriff and have you removed.” He cracked his knuckles with his fists and continued, his voice deadly, “Or I can help get you gone.” The possessive drawl emanating from Linc’s mouth was damn sexy, and Vanessa curled her arm through his. Not to hold him back, because if he was going to kick Ian’s ass, she was cheering him on. It was to have some sort of connection with her new boyfriend, who was suddenly stacking up to be mighty impressive.

  Ian’s face paled as he looked up, way up, into Linc’s arctic expression. “Okay, I’ll call you later, Van.”

  “Lose my number, Ian.”

  He threw himself into his car, and if Vanessa hadn’t been so livid, it would have been funny, all his huffing and puffing. As he drove off, Linc’s hand at the base of her spine comforted her.

  “Pleasant little asshole,” he mused softly. She turned to see the corners of his mouth quirked up in the sardonic smirk she loved so well.

  “Not really. Come on, let’s get this done.”

  ***

  That night, after everything her dad brought was unloaded and he had treated them to Hungry Man dinners—which mortified Vanessa, but Linc had taken it in stride—she stood on the porch with Linc.

  “So, I guess we’ll postpone the date until tomorrow night.” He was holding her hand in his, and it was an incredible gesture, warming Vanessa’s insides. He’d been careful not to touch her too much around her dad, especially with Dad’s obvious affinity for Ian. Vanessa was still pissed about that but was trying to be nice. Her dad had capitulated a little by driving up here to see her. That was something, right?

  “Yeah. I wish we didn’t have to, though.” He tugged her closer, and she willingly went into his embrace, wrapping her arms around his waist and tucking her hands into his back pockets. It seemed innocent, but the taut muscles of his back had been tempting her for over a month, and she really wanted to feel them.

  “Well, your dad drove all this way. It would be rude if you weren’t here,” he murmured into her hair as he held her in his arms—warmth and security she didn’t ever want to leave. His hands roamed her back, stopping just above her ass before trekking back up to her shoulders.

  Vanessa’s dad was snoring on her bed, and she was about to make a pallet on the floor
. Not excited at the prospect, she mused, “I wish I could spend the night with you.”

  As he processed her words, she felt the erection raise up in between them, and she couldn’t help but whimper a little as she pressed herself against it.

  “God, Van…” he whispered as she kissed his neck, the flavor of dried, salty sweat making her insides clench. Linc tasted so good, and she was mentally exhausted after being on her best behavior for her father and still getting the looks of disapproval at every turn from him. Vanessa wanted more tonight. She was supposed to get a date, with fireworks at the end, hopefully. Instead, she’d entertained her dad. Squeezing Linc’s butt through his jeans before releasing him, Vanessa moved her hands to the front. “What are you doing?” Linc muttered, confused by her actions.

  “Keeping you on your toes,” she replied with a sly wink as she slid to her feet in front of him, releasing him from the confines of his jeans in one swift move.

  Linc’s hands immediately went to her hair, brushing it away from her face while she admired the stunning piece of flesh in front of her before flicking her eyes back at him.

  He had a funny look on his face, trepidation mixed with awe. So he wasn’t sure he wanted this with her? Was that what the look was about? She’d never known a man to turn down a blowjob. Ever.

  Not thinking about it too hard, Vanessa wrapped her hand around his base and kissed the tip of his erection, feeling it twitch in her hand. Linc let a low noise out of the back of his throat, and when she ran her tongue up his length, his knees jiggled, and he leaned his weight against the house in defeat.

  She had him now.

  Opening her mouth, Vanessa put as much of Linc in as she could fit, eliciting a low hiss of approval. She moved her hands in tandem with her mouth, adjusting the suction and grip until Linc trembled, gripping her hair. Looking back up at him, she found his eyes on her, intense and hard, just like the set of his jaw. She increased the suction, hollowing out her cheeks as she let go of him with a loud pop, still gripping him and increasing her hand movements.