It told Caroline nothing, least of all whether her ghost was for real or a fabrication of her young lover.
He was attentive as hell all afternoon—opening doors, doing all the driving, constantly aware of her every expression and mood. He was too damn good to be true. That was what worried her.
In fact, it wouldn’t stop worrying her. And maybe that was because she still got the feeling he was hiding something from her. Something big.
“You okay?” he asked, once again noting her pensive look as he drove them back to the house that night.
“Yeah. I’m okay. Just deep in thought.”
“Anything you want to share?”
She shrugged.
“No pressure. Just do one thing for me?”
“If I can.”
He reached across the space between them and trailed a fingertip down her cheek. She shivered right to her toes, and her eyes fell closed in spite of herself. God, she wanted him.
“All this stress and tension. Let it go if you can, just for tonight.”
“I’d like to do that. Just…it’s not going to be easy.”
“I can help,” he said. And his fingers curled around the nape of her neck, stroking her there until she almost groaned aloud. Her body heated, softened, and she thought maybe she could let go of everything tonight. Everything except him.
“I guarantee you’ll feel better after a solid meal,” he said.
“Oh?” she breathed. “Are we going out again?”
“Not this time. I’m cooking.”
“You sure are.” She opened her eyes and met his. She smiled, and he smiled back. And damn if she didn’t find herself falling a little harder than before. He was good.
They stopped at a grocery store on the way home to buy everything he needed; then he insisted she soak in a hot bath while he worked his magic in the kitchen. He even ran the water for her. By the time she got out of the tub, the entire house was filled with scents that made her stomach growl. She didn’t even bother getting dressed, just tugged on an oversize terry robe, cinched it closed, and headed down the stairs, barefoot, her hair still straggly and wet.
She stepped into the kitchen, eyes closed, inhaling the aromas. “God, what did you make?”
He didn’t answer. Instead, she felt his eyes on her and opened hers to find him staring at her as if she were wearing a sexy teddy instead of a baggy robe. His gaze heated, and he licked his lips.
“It smells really good.” Her words came out a little breathy. It was something, the way he could get to her with just a look.
He moved closer, bent his head toward her neck, and inhaled deeply. “Mmm. So do you.”
“I do?” Stupid reply, but she didn’t know what to say.
His breath fanned her neck, and she wanted to purr. Before she could tell herself not to respond, she was tipping her head back and closing her eyes. He answered that unspoken invitation by bending just a breath closer, until his lips touched her skin, and then he kissed a teasing path over her neck, from just at the shoulder all the way up to underneath her ear. Her knees went so weak she had to clutch his shoulders to keep from falling down.
He lifted his head, his eyes dancing from hers to her lips, where they lingered. “I don’t want to push…but if you don’t shove me away in the next second or two…”
She tightened her hands on his shoulders, pulled him just a little closer. He groaned, and then he was kissing her, and she found herself kissing him back. Her heart jumped to life and started hammering in her chest. Her breath came faster, just from a kiss. She opened wider to him, and he seemed to catch fire. His arms tightened around her, one hand burying itself in her hair while the other kneaded her backside and arched her tighter to him. She strained to get closer, twisting her arms around his neck to pull her body tighter to his, and even then she couldn’t get close enough.
He twisted slightly, never breaking his kiss as he scooped her up into his arms and strode toward the stairs. He didn’t stop kissing her, not all the way to the top, and then he did, just long enough to lower her onto the bed, tug loose the robe’s sash, and push it open. His gaze moved over her body, and she felt so exposed she wanted to yank the robe closed again, but then he said something that stopped her. He said, “You’re more incredible than I imagined, Caroline. And believe me, I imagined you a lot. My God, you’re beautiful.”
She just stared at him, taking in the words, and the sincerity behind them.
“What, you don’t believe me?”
“I…no one’s ever said that to me before. No man, I mean. Not…you know, like this.”
He looked into her eyes, and his own showed surprise. “Any man worth a damn would tell you that a hundred times a day, Caroline. And keep telling you until you stopped doubting it, and then keep telling you anyway.” As he spoke, he stretched out on the bed beside her, and his hand trailed heat from her chin, down the center of her chest, and over her belly, then slid lower, his touch light, teasing, maddening.
She closed her eyes, her legs parting involuntarily, and that simple movement seemed to give him a jump start. His touch deepened, penetrated her, and his mouth closed on one nipple without warning, sending a jolt of pleasure through her that almost made her cry out loud. He sucked and tugged and probed her. She moaned his name and moved against his hand, clutching his head.
And then she pulled back, just a little, staring into his eyes, panting, and whispered, “Make love to me. Now.”
He nodded, the movements jerky and rushed. She reached for his shirt, peeling it off over his head, and he struggled out of his jeans and shorts without getting all the way up, then rolled toward her again and picked up right where he’d left off. By the time he got on top of her, she was panting with need, and when he gripped her ankles and propped them up on his shoulders, she was damn near out of her mind. He slid inside her, and she saw stars.
It was fast, and it was furious. Not gentle, not slow. She didn’t want it gentle and slow, and neither did he. It wouldn’t last long, she thought, but God, she was already so close it didn’t matter. He drove into her, deep and hard, and she arched to receive him over and over, and then she was falling into screaming ecstasy, her entire body trembling with release. He eased back, let her come down slowly, stroked her, and made it even hotter. And then, just when she was coming back to earth and expecting him to collapse beside her, he was rolling onto his back, pulling her with him, so she wound up on top of him. He clutched her ass in his grip and thrust up into her, pulling her down to take every inch, slowly at first, but then building the fire, increasing the pace, sending her on that incredible journey to the peak all over again. Within minutes, she was so into it she’d lost every inhibition she ever had and was bouncing up and down on him, hands braced on his shoulders, head tipped back, eyes closed. God, she was almost there, almost…
And then she was, and she exploded even harder than before. This time, he drove into her all the way through it, over and over, making it go on and on, and he was there with her, spilling into her.
As the sensations ebbed, Caroline lowered herself onto his chest, still holding him inside her, sweaty skin against sweaty skin. He wrapped her in his arms and held her there, one hand lazily stroking a path up and down her spine, kissing her head every once in a while. He whispered, “Do you have any idea how long I’ve been waiting to make love to you? These past few days have been—God, they’ve been a fantasy come true for me.”
“I hope it’s been worth the wait,” she whispered.
“It has for me. You’re amazing.”
She smiled, because it was yet another first. No man had ever told her she was good in bed. But then again, she didn’t remember ever being this good, this enthusiastic, this uninhibited, this turned on.
She slid off him, curling up beside him. And while they lay there snuggling like a couple madly in love with each other, her stomach made a rude growling sound, and Jimmy laughed beneath her head on his chest. “I’m sorry. I intended to feed
you first, seduce you later.”
She lifted her head and kissed his face. “No reason you can’t still do that.”
His smile was slow and full of promises she had every reason to believe he would keep. He kissed her to seal the deal, and they got out of bed. She paused with her robe in her hand. “Hell, I’ve got all these sexy little numbers from Vicki’s Secret in my room. Why am wearing this old thing?”
“You were sexy in that old thing. But if you want to model one of those sexy little numbers for me after dinner, I’m not gonna object.”
She smiled slowly and felt deliciously sexy, desirable, wanted. Totally wanted. By a guy so hot it was damn near sinful. This night was just full of firsts.
“What’s all this?” she asked later, when she joined him in the kitchen. She’d washed up and put on one of the naughty nighties her sister-in-law had bought her. It was a black corset with matching thong panties and a black satin robe that came to mid-thigh. She wore the robe over the nightie, just to make him wonder what was underneath through the entire meal. And she’d put on high heels, black strappy ones, to complete the torture.
He looked her up and down, closed his eyes as if in some kind of exquisite pain, cleared his throat. “Chicken roasted with rosemary, baby potatoes, glazed carrots, and the best gravy you ever tasted.”
“I haven’t tasted it.”
He came closer, until he was standing right in front of her with a spoon. She tasted, and she groaned. “Okay, I admit it. Best I’ve ever tasted.”
“Good. I hope you plan to eat fast, because, uh—” He let his gaze move down to her toes and said, “Because damn.”
“Nothing to worry about there,” she told him. “I’m starved.” She sat at the little tiled kitchen table, which he’d already set, and he took her plate, filled it way too full, and brought it back to her. Then he did the same with his own and sat down across from her. Caroline dug in without another word.
She didn’t stop until she was too full to eat another bite. “That was pure heaven. I didn’t know you could cook.”
“There’s a lot you don’t know about me.” He reached across the table to lay a hand over hers.
She looked at him, and her stomach tightened, not from hunger this time. Whatever she believed or didn’t believe about him, he got to her. He got to her on a purely primal level where no one else had ever been able to touch her. She didn’t think it was wise or practical or even entirely sane. But there it was.
And she wasn’t ready for it.
She took her hand away as she rose from the table, picking up her plate on the way. “You cooked, so I’ll clean up. It’s your turn to relax for a while.”
“If you insist,” he said. “I’ll take a quick shower. Maybe try some of that cologne I just bought that’s supposed to drive women wild.”
“You do that just fine all by yourself, mister.”
He smiled, stroked her cheek with a fingertip, brushed her lips with his, and left her alone in the kitchen.
It didn’t take long to clean up. Apparently, he’d been doing it as he went along while cooking, so there wasn’t much. She put away the leftovers, loaded the dishwasher, wiped off the table, and that was all that was needed. She decided to busy herself reviewing what they’d learned today. The two of them had printed up, photocopied, and pored over countless documents, Jimmy taking half and Caroline the other half, filling each other in on what they found.
Since she’d read her half carefully, she reached for the folder that held his and sat down at the table with a cup of freshly brewed coffee.
A few minutes later, she stopped dead, a chill rushing down her spine, when she got to an article that he hadn’t mentioned. The headline read, “Twelve-year-old questioned in the disappearance of his babysitter.”
She quickly looked up the stairs. The shower was still running.
Then she read the article. The missing girl had been the Lipton’s next-door neighbor and favorite babysitter. This had been six months before Caroline’s own family had come to town and she’d taken over poor Natalie’s former job.
She blinked, stunned to her core. He’d lied to her. He’d said the girl’s disappearance had happened before his family even lived in this house.
He’d lied.
And she couldn’t think of too many reasons he would. But the ones she could think of scared the hell out of her.
He would be back down soon, Caroline thought. And she needed time, space, and more information. She couldn’t think straight when he was near her. She got up and ran to the living room, took her keys off the hook near the door.
“Hey. Where you going, babe?”
She stopped by the door and turned to look at him. He stood on the stairs, a towel anchored around his hips, looking so damn good he made her mouth water.
Too good to be true?
She’d hoped to erase her suspicion from her face and found that her body’s need for his touch did that for her. Heat. God, she wanted him. She was sick.
“I don’t remember if I locked the car. Just making sure.” That said, she pointed the key ring’s remote toward the driveway and thumbed the lock button. The car honked an affirmation, and she replaced the key ring on its hook. “There.”
“There.” He came the rest of the way down the stairs, and she turned and walked toward him, leaving the door, and logic, behind. She couldn’t act any differently right now. Not now. She would have time to do more digging. She didn’t need to jump to any conclusions. She needed to be practical and sensible, take her time, get all the facts.
Who was she kidding? She was terrified. He’d apparently been suspected of murdering his babysitter. And now he was having sex with her replacement, a woman he claimed to have been obsessed with for years. This was not healthy, and it was not safe.
He stopped, standing close to her but not touching. “You ready to show me what you’re wearing underneath that robe?”
She smiled, but it was shaky. She was nervous. What was he hiding from her? Why had he lied? Could a twelve-year-old murder his babysitter and hide it for thirteen years?
He stopped her thought processes by reaching out and tugging on the satin sash that held the robe together, until the knot slid free, and the robe fell open.
“Lord have mercy,” he whispered. His hands slipped beneath the robe at her neck and pushed it gently, until it slid down her arms and pooled around her feet. He just stood there, looking at her, drinking her in, not saying a damn thing.
“You’re awfully quiet,” she whispered.
His gaze rose to meet hers. “I’m not sure I can form a coherent sentence.”
“I guess I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“You’re a goddess, Caroline. I should be on my knees.”
“I’m not. And you’re pouring it on a little thick, Jimmy. I know you’ve seen better-looking women than me. Younger, firmer—”
“Shut up, Caroline.” He snapped his arms around her and kissed her into obedience, and she couldn’t help but respond. God, he was only a kid all those years ago. Maybe he just made a mistake about the year his family had moved here. Maybe he really hadn’t heard about his murdered babysitter.
Right. None of that was very likely, was it? Even then, he had to have seen the printout. And yet he hadn’t told her.
His tongue swept into her mouth and drove every rational thought from her mind, and then he was kissing his way over her chin, her throat, to her chest, where he sucked and tugged on her breasts right through the fabric of the corset. And then to her belly, dropping down to his knees along the way. And then lower. Her pressed his mouth to her panties, kissing her there, blowing hot breath through the satin as his lips made it wet. She had to clutch his shoulders from the power of that sensation.
Then he was pushing the panties down, lifting her feet so she stepped out of them, and returning his mouth to her center, to kiss her there again as she shivered from her head to her toes. But that was nothing compared to when he pressed hi
s thumbs to either side of her, pulled her secret lips apart, and kissed her again, his mouth touching the most sensitive hidden parts of her.
She could barely breathe, barely stand.
He used his tongue, snaking it over her, slowly at first, tasting her, taking his time. It was sheer, excruciating torture. But then he licked faster, hitting all the right places, over and over, as she began to pant and moan. Her knees went weak, but he knew it, felt it. He wrapped one arm around her hips to support her and continued plundering her with his mouth, parting her with his fingers, lapping deep and slow, then fast and ruthless. She felt devoured, possessed by him, worshipped, and on fire. Engulfed in sensation that was too much to bear.
And then she was there, right on the brink, at the edge of oblivion. Her hands closed on his head, and she strained, reached, felt with every cell in her body. It was as if he sensed everything she felt, because he caught her clitoris in his lips and sucked it hard, teeth scraping the throbbing nub as he worked it. She screamed when she came. Screamed and clutched his head and shoulders, convulsed deep inside. Then she was pushing his head away, because she couldn’t take any more. But he kept licking, kept taking, even then, until she fell to the floor and away from him, quivering and shaking, close to tears as she curled onto one side.
He joined her there, moving her body into the position he wanted. She didn’t resist, just lay there like a doll, too awash in sensations to do anything at all. He pressed her onto her back, parted her thighs, and lay on top of her.
God, he couldn’t. Not now, not yet, not until the spasms eased.
“Baby, I can’t—”
“Yeah, you can. Trust me.” And then he drove himself into her, to the hilt, all the way.
He filled her, and the orgasm that gripped her seemed to reset and start over. He thrust deep, as deep as he could, no slow build this time. Harder and faster than he had before, he took her, and in the space of a few heartbeats, she was coming again, and he was, too.
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