“I’m more of a cotton and comfort kind of girl, but whatever floats your balloon. No judgment from me.” Sage pats my arm.
“Me too.” I poke the boning of a lace bodysuit-corset combination. “This looks uncomfortable.”
“I totally agree. Lee loves me in one of his shirts.” She twirls a pink strand of hair around her finger. “And nothing else.”
“Sounds comfortable.”
“So what brings you in here? Or who?”
I’m not sure why I’m reluctant to tell her it’s Jesse.
“Please tell me it isn’t Landon.” She whispers his name like it’s a swear word.
My gag is involuntary. “God no.”
Her exhale comes out in a relieved whoosh of air. “Good. I wouldn’t wish him on anyone but my worst enemy. Not that I have enemies.”
“You know him?”
Solemnly, she nods her head. “In the biblical sense.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“You?”
“Thankfully, no. We only went out once.”
“He’s like a cold virus.”
“Why’d you think I was dating him?”
She ducks her head and focuses on the bra she’s folding. “It’s a small town.”
“I’m fodder for gossip?”
“The guys are the worst. Lee and the rugby crew gossip like a bunch of high school girls. And they have a book with rules on who’s off limits to date.”
“Seriously?”
She nods. “It’s supposed to cut down on cross-pollination or something, but I think it’s about marking territory.”
“What’ve you heard about me?”
“Mae said Jesse Hayes kissed you in the middle of La Belle Femme.”
Of course Mae saw us. At least she didn’t bring it up during Taco Tuesday in front of the rest of the girls.
“So, it’s true?”
I meet her eyes. “It’s a long story, but yes, he kissed me during my so-called date with Landon.” I’m still not sure if the kiss was for my benefit or to piss of Landon.
She pauses her folding and her eyes light up. “Tell me all the details.”
I fill her in on most of the details, including the way Jesse and I met.
“It’s a great love story!”
“I don’t know about love.”
“Trust me. I’ve known Jesse for a few years. He’s not a player like most of the other guys. Definitely more serious and keeps to himself. When are you seeing him again?”
“Tonight.”
Grinning, she snaps her fingers. “I knew it! Okay, let’s find you something amazing.”
In a few minutes, I’m shoved into a dressing room with an armload of pretty, feminine lingerie.
“Don’t worry about the prices. You get the friends and family discount!”
I try on more lace and silk than I’ve ever worn in my life up until this point. Sage pokes her head through the curtain and gives me her opinion. When she wraps up my purchase, I know I’ve made the perfect choice.
Chapter 20
Mara
SHOWERED, DRESSED, AND as ready as I’ll ever be, I drive to Jesse’s house as the sun sets. I’m not nervous. You’re nervous. I follow the twist in the road and cross a narrow bridge over Woody Creek gurgling below. I’ve been down to the infamous tavern of the same name before, but never to Jesse’s place. My foot eases off the gas and hovers over the brake as I pass the first trailers.
Oh my …
No.
Mr. High Altitude fantasy man cannot live in a …
I spot his number.
He lives in a trailer park.
“Just my luck.” I slam my hand against my steering wheel and end up honking my horn.
Of course he’s not perfect. No one is. I’m not perfect. Just ask my mother.
But a trailer? In a trailer park?
I suppose a trailer in the back woods with old cars rusting away in the yard might be worse.
Or a cabin in the woods without running water or electricity. Worse.
Living in his parents’ basement. Worse.
Frat house. Worse.
Married.
We have a winner.
Living with a wife would be worse than a trailer in the Roaring Fork Valley. Aspen’s only a twenty minute drive away. Snowmass even less.
It’s not like he’s in the backwoods.
These mobile homes probably cost a small fortune.
I listen for the sound of banjos when I make the turn into the spot behind his SUV.
My headlights illuminate the small deck by the front of the trailer.
Only …
I lean forward to get a better eyeful of what I’m walking into tonight.
It’s not a trailer. Exactly.
The width is a little broader than a single wide, but instead of a flat roof, there’s a second story. Warm wood siding covers the entire two story unit.
Home.
There’s nothing mobile about it.
A knocking on my window makes me jump.
“Are you going to sit out here all night staring with your mouth open, or do you want to come inside? I can probably slide a sandwich through the window if you’d prefer.”
Jesse stands next to my CRV with a grin plastered on his stupidly handsome face. He’s wearing jeans and a dark blue thermal that clings to his pecs and arms. Fern jumps up and rests her paws on the door handle, startling me out of my Jesse ogling.
I manage to close my mouth and swallow before opening my door.
Once I’m out of the car, Fern jumps with all four feet off the ground and spins mid-air.
“Someone’s excited to see you,” Jesse says, happiness brightening his voice. I hope the someone he means is him.
“I brought her a treat.” I hold up the plush duck squeaky toy. “I remember you said she’s a duck trolling retriever.”
Standing on her hind legs, Fern tries to take her new toy.
Jesse smiles at her and I can see the love he has for his dog. “Fern, don’t forget your manners.”
She sits down and holds out a paw for a shake. I hold her paw and then give her the duck, which she quickly takes and begins happily squeaking.
“Maybe I should’ve bought the silent squeaker kind.” I grimace at the ear-piercing sounds coming from the toy.
“She’ll silence it within hours. Thanks for thinking of her.” He gives me a soft smile and does a game show hostess gesture in front of his place. “Welcome.”
“This isn’t exactly a trailer.” I point at the classic version a few yards away on the next lot. “That’s a trailer.”
“You sound disappointed.” He takes the two steps up to the front door in one smooth leap, Fern bounding after him.
“I don’t know what to think.” Still frozen by my car, I try to absorb his house. It’s not exactly a tiny house or something you could pull behind a truck. Nor is it a regular, normal house.
“Shaking up your preconceptions, Doc?” He opens a glass door framed in similar wood to the siding. “Wait until you see the view from my bedroom.”
Now I know he’s messing with me. “Presumptuous much?”
“It’s part of the basic tour.” He leans close to my ear as I pass him to enter the house. “Your virtue is safe with me.”
“Sounds like something the wolf would say to Red Riding Hood right before he lures her into the woods.”
His deep laugh echoes close behind me. “Woof.”
My laughter dies in my chest when I see the glint of lust in his eyes.
“My what full lips you have,” I say, softly.
He stalks closer to me. “The better to kiss you with.”
I back up until I hit something solid behind me and yelp. When he leans in close like he’s going to kiss me, I hold my breath in anticipation.
“Want something to drink?” His dimple flashes.
I blink back at him.
“Cat got your tongue then?” He shakes his head and chuckles. “Don�
�t be so nervous, Doc.”
“I’m …” I softly clear my throat, “not nervous.”
“Why would you be?” He places a quick kiss on my lips before retreating. “Follow me.”
Instead, I face the hard object I bumped into and realize it’s a narrow console table. It has a slab of wood with bark along the irregular edge. The craftsmanship is beautiful. My fingers brush against the smooth surface of the top.
“You like?” His voice carries through the space beyond the little entry.
“It’s gorgeous.” I follow the curves of the wood grain with my index finger.
“Thanks. I made it.” Pride rings clear in his voice.
“With your bare hands?” I’m stroking his wood. Or wood he’s stroked. Either way, I’ve gone to the pervy side within minutes of entering his house. I touch the table one more time before taking in the rest of the first floor.
My mouth drops open again. “Wow.”
“Not what you were expecting?” He smirks at me from the other side of a large open room with a living room on one end and a kitchen on the far side. Something delicious simmers on the stove. Unfamiliar guitar music softly plays from a Bluetooth speaker.
The only thing I can do is shake my head.
“This might make me sound like a giant nerd, but is this a TARDIS?”
There’s no way we’re inside a trailer. Dark wood, aged and nicked like it’s been hand finished, covers the floor. Two walls are a soft gray. Less outdated basement and more design magazine, pale and distressed paneling decorates the space behind the flat screen. In a corner sits a wood stove next to a worn leather chair that screams curl up here and read a book. Maybe because two overstuffed bookshelves fill the wall nearby.
“Do you want a beer? Fat Tire? Wine? Or I have Woody Creek vodka, if you want something with more of a kick.”
I’m too dumbstruck by the room to answer him.
“Sorry, I shouldn’t assume you want a drink. Water? Root beer?”
“Sure.” I run my hand over the soft wool blanket on the back of the old chesterfield sofa. Faded Navajo rugs and Pendleton blankets add color to the manly space.
He chuckles. “Were you expecting a stained couch held together with duct tape and a beanbag chair?”
Busted. “Maybe. I wasn’t expecting this. Did you build this place?”
“I did. With these.” He lifts his hands and wiggles his fingers.
“I’m so confused,” I whisper, mostly to myself.
“About your drink choices? No pressure.”
“Huh? Oh, I’ll have a beer.” I’m still petting the blanket, wondering if I can sneak it out in my purse and take it home.
He hands me a bottle of Fat Tire. “Do you think you can handle seeing the rest of the house? You can bring the blanket with you if you want.”
Embarrassment heats my cheeks. “It’s a really nice blanket.”
“Come on.” Tugging my sleeve, he guides me around the kitchen island with its wood cabinets and island topped with a slab of warm-colored granite. “You?”
“All me.” At the back of the house is a staircase leading us up to the top floor.
Windows near the ceiling run the length of the short hall.
“Office, bathroom, guest room,” he rattles off words as he backs down the hall.
I peek into darkened rooms through open doors, resisting the temptation to flip on lights and explore.
“You built this place?”
“I can show you the photos if you don’t believe me.” He pulls me along with him.
“Why here?”
“You mean in a trailer park?” His lips tug upward with a small smile.
I nod.
“My uncle left me his spot and an old single-wide when he died. I was living down valley with two other guys in a one bedroom and jumped on the chance to have my own space. I read up on the bi-laws and figured I could build a custom house on the slab. So I did.”
“This place is gorgeous.”
“Someday when I buy my own land, I can move the house. Or build another one with the profit I make off of this.”
Knowing the cost of real estate around here, he’ll make bank.
He steps into the room at the end of the hall. Instead of flipping on the light, he guides me over to a huge window facing south. Blue twilight highlights snowcapped mountains. “Wow.”
“Not a bad thing to wake up to, is it?” He grins down at me and I swear my heart rate quickens.
“No, not at all.” I’m sure there’s the usual furniture in the space, but all I can focus on is Jesse, the view behind him, and the enormous bed taking up most of the room. I never want to leave.
“Are you hungry?” he asks.
“Starved.”
“I made my grandmother’s green chile stew.”
I’m staring at his mouth forming words. It’s mesmerizing.
“Come on.” He tugs my hand.
I assume he wants to kiss me, so I launch myself at him.
He’s still smiling as he kisses me, sweeping his tongue into my mouth. His hands find their favorite place on my butt.
Running my hand through his waves, I tug his head closer. Tangling my tongue with his, I press my chest against his, soft against hard. Speaking of hard, I feel his length against my stomach. How could I ever think he could have a micro penis? With a content sigh, I kiss the soft skin behind his ear.
The light outside his door highlights the fat, heavy snowflakes tumbling to the ground.
“Was it supposed to snow tonight?” I peer out the window at the thick coating of snow already covering the cars and walkway.
“Why?” he asks from the kitchen where he’s washing dishes. I offered and he refused to let me help.
“Because it is and looks like it’s coming down hard.”
Lord help me for thinking the words coming and hard together in the same room as him.
I feel his warmth behind me at the window. “You’re right. You should probably stay the night.”
“Wait, what?” I point outside. “It’s only a few inches. Nothing I can’t handle.”
Again, I take something innocent and around him, my mind makes it perverted.
“You’ve had a couple of drinks. It’s not safe.” He walks over to me.
“I’m fine.”
“Safety first.” A stern tone in his voice warns me not to argue with him.
“I think you mean always in control. As in you always want to be in control.”
“I can’t in good conscience let you drive home. What if you slide off the road and freeze to death? Or get out of the car and go wandering in a blizzard?”
“Why would I get out of the car?”
“Because you’re stubborn enough to walk home in a snowstorm.”
He has a point, but I won’t concede.
Because I am stubborn.
“I grew up driving in the snow and ice. I have my cell phone. I’m a responsible adult.”
“You’re not leaving.” He frowns at me. Something in his eyes shifts and darkens. “I can make you not want to leave.”
I step away and he stalks closer. “How?”
The word quivers in the air between us.
A wolfish grin spreads across his full, soft lips. “First, I’m going to ply you with dessert.”
“Oh really?” I narrow my eyes. “You think I’ll stay for a sugar fix?”
“I have the triple chocolate gelato you like.”
I involuntarily moan. “How do you know what kind of ice cream I like?”
He traps me against the counter. “I have my ways.”
“Lucky guess? Girls like chocolate.”
“Or I peeked in your basket when we ran into each other at the market.”
“Sneaky.”
“Do you want it now or later?”
“What comes later?”
“Up to you. I think I have a checkerboard around here somewhere. Maybe a backgammon set.” His breath warms my neck as he dips his
head to kiss my exposed skin.
“Games? You want to play games?”
“Unless you have other suggestions.”
If I tilt my hips forward, I’d be able to make contact. Somehow, I resist. I need him to make the first move.
As he trails his nose along my jaw, a soft sigh escapes my mouth. “Sure. Backgammon sounds good.”
“Really?” I feel his smile against my skin.
“Sure.”
He pulls away enough to stare into my eyes. “I’m not sure I even have checkers.”
“Then why did you offer?”
“I was teasing.” He nips the corner of my jaw. The gesture feels like a promise of something far more entertaining than board games.
“What, what else did you have in mind?” My voice shakes as I try to keep playing cool.
His fingers tangle in the hair at the nape of my neck and he gently pulls my head back, exposing more of my neck. He trails warm, open mouth kisses along my skin. I try to resist grabbing his shoulders and anchoring him to me.
I last for about ten seconds before I grip his biceps. I’ve been wanting to touch them forever. They do not disappoint.
Whatever distance and propriety I’ve been keeping between us vanishes as I press myself against the rest of his body from chest to thigh. Our height difference makes this challenging. Frustrated, I groan and squirm.
He must sense my annoyance, because he lifts me up to his level. My legs dangle for a moment before I wrap them around his hips. He carries me over to the couch and sits so I’m straddling him.
“Better?” he asks against my lips.
“Much.” I rest my forearms on his shoulders and weave my fingers into his hair.
For a moment I stare down at him, noticing his long lashes and the little bit of copper in his beard and hair.
His soft hair slips through my fingers as I scratch his scalp.
“Don’t stop,” he growls and grips my hips, angling me over him.
I never want to stop and that scares me. To distract myself, I release his hair and tilt up his chin to kiss him.
He stretches his neck to meet my mouth before pulling me closer. He growls softly, “You stopped.”
After placing my hands back on his hair, he kisses me. Gently sucking my bottom lip into his mouth, he drags his teeth against my skin before slowly releasing it. Soft and sharp blend together into a new sensation. All evening I’ve been on a slow simmer. His growl and slow, soft kisses combine with my anticipation into a brewing storm beneath my skin.
Crazy Over You (Love with Altitude #2) Page 14