Lake Magic

by Fisk, Kimberly

  “No buts.” She smiled and set the plate down on the table. “The Sawmill is famous for their nachos. It’s almost a law you have to try them before you leave.”

  Jared knew he wouldn’t eat them. As soon as he could, he was outta here. But still, he reached for his wallet a third time. And once more he was told to put it away.

  “They’re on the house. A welcome gift for Hidden Lake’s newest resident.”

  Resident was a bit of a stretch. “I’m not planning on sticking around that long.”

  “Our loss.” She crossed her hands in front of her stomach and cocked a hip out to the side. “Maybe after you and Paul get done talking, you’d like to dance.”

  They both knew the offer was for more than just a dance. Jared had had more than his fair share of women in his day. It wasn’t something he was extremely proud of, but, then again, it wasn’t something he was ashamed of, either. The saying was true: a set of dress whites and gold wings could get you a bed anywhere. Anytime. And for years he’d taken what women had offered. And he liked to think he’d given back more than his fair share. But several years ago he’d realized he was never going to find what he was looking for between the sheets with a beautiful stranger.

  Hell, he wasn’t even sure he knew what he was looking for.

  “That’s a real nice offer,” he said to the stunning red-head, “but I have to be heading back soon.”

  She tried for the pouty lip look. “Maybe next time.”

  He nodded. “Yeah. Maybe.”

  “That happen to you often?” Paul asked after the waitress had left.

  “What?”

  “Getting hit on every five minutes.” Paul grabbed a chip loaded with cheese. He popped it in his mouth and then wiped his hands off on his napkin. “Hell if I know what women see in you, but stay away from my sister. She might have told me to back off, but I’m not going far.”

  “Is that a threat, Counselor?”

  “Call it a warning.”

  “Jenny can hold her own.”

  “She’s not one of your usual groupies, Worth. I remember other things Steven told me about you, too, so don’t try to pull any of your stunts on her. She’s not accustomed to a player like you.”

  “If you’re trying to insult me, you’ll have to do better than that.”

  Paul stood. “Just remember what I said.”

  Jared watched Paul walk away. Pain in the ass notwithstanding, he wondered if Jenny realized how lucky she was to have a brother who cared. For that matter, a family who cared.

  She’s not accustomed to a player like you.

  All week Jenny had been doing everything in her power to avoid him. She stayed away from the hangar, cooked those horrid meals when he was out running or out working. And she’d disappear up into her bedroom long before bedtime just to avoid spending time with him at night. Oh, she’d asked him to join her for dinner tonight, but that was only because she had her nephew as a buffer.

  Everything he’d tried up to this point had failed. He thought again of his call with the realtor. Jared needed to turn up the heat where Jenny was concerned, and Paul had unknowingly given him the answer.

  She’s not accustomed to a player like you.

  Images flashed through Jared’s mind. The day in the office, when he’d pulled out the magazines. She’d been pissed, but she’d also been flustered. Sexually flustered. Just like she had been today in the kitchen. With a new clarity, he saw how she shied away from him every time their bodies had touched.

  Little Bunny Foo-Foo might act like she was immune to him, but her actions told him otherwise.

  Moving in with her had been a good first step. Moving in on her would be even better. The closer he got to her, the farther she’d run. Right to Mom and Dad.

  Jared grinned and drained the rest of his beer.

  But even as his new plan went through his mind, he couldn’t shake the image of a pair of sky blue eyes and a smile that made it hard to remember she was Steven’s girl.

  TWELVE

  Jenny heard the deep rumble of Jared’s bike just after midnight. The monstrous engine growled as it came down the driveway, rattling the windows and, even more rattling Jenny. What had she been thinking, waiting up to confront him?

  She’d been so angry when he roared off after promising to talk to Cody. Now, hours later, she realized how foolish she’d been. She was the bunny he kept calling her, and confronting him would be like taking on the Big Bad Wolf.

  Even she would lay odds on the wolf.

  The noise grew louder as the bike drew up alongside the house. Once, twice, the engine revved, and then silence fell.

  She scrambled off the couch, tossing the afghan on the rounded arm of the sofa. She hurried through the family room, shutting off the TV before hustling into the kitchen, where she shoved the ice cream toppings away and all but threw the dirty bowls into the dishwasher.

  At least that had been one thing she had done right tonight with her nephew. He’d enjoyed the ice cream. Then again, who didn’t like Rocky Road?

  After a quick glance around, assuring herself everything that needed to be done was done, she flipped off the lights and hurried down the hallway. As she rounded the stair landing, she reflected that even if Jared had stuck around, there wasn’t much he could have said or done to improve her nephew’s mood. She should know; she’d tried just about everything and failed.

  Archaic. That was the word Cody had hurled at her like a wrecking ball when she’d pulled out Monopoly; that and a few others she wondered if his mother knew about. She’d coaxed him into giving the game a try. Big mistake. She’d tried a different board game with the same result. When she got out the cards, he shot her a look that said don’t even, so she’d put them away without even taking the deck out of the box.

  After that, they’d been like two strangers in the same house. Cody had gone up to his room to sketch and listen to his iPod while Jenny had stayed downstairs watching TV. The only reason she knew what he was up to was because she’d made the mistake of checking on him. He’d made it more than clear that a thirteen-year-old didn’t need to be checked on.

  Halfway up the staircase, the teakettle began to whistle.

  Crap.

  She ran back down the stairs and turned off the stove. She was halfway down the hall when the front door opened and six foot two inches of leather-wearing, bike-riding, bad-boy testosterone walked through.

  She froze in her tracks. Maybe he wouldn’t see her. Maybe he’d head straight up the stairs to his room. Maybe—

  “Hello.”

  “H-hi.”

  “You’re up late.”

  He smelled of warm night air, weathered leather, and a handful of temptation. “I wasn’t. I mean, I was, but I forgot to do a few things so had to come back downstairs.” She was rambling, wishing he’d move so she could get past. “I was just heading back to bed.”

  A wicked smile lit his eyes as he took in her appearance. He ran his gaze slowly up from her bare feet, past her pink flannel pajama bottoms, to her white tank top, where he lingered. Under his intense scrutiny she felt like she was wearing nothing more than a see-through negligee.

  “Don’t let me stop you.”

  But he did. He was.

  She chewed on her lower lip. Less than a few feet separated them. Hardly any distance at all. All she needed to do was take a few steps forward.

  Bunny. Wolf. Bunny. Wolf.

  The refrain grew louder in her head.

  Squaring her shoulders, she told herself to knock it off. To grow up. She walked toward him.

  He reached out and rested his hand on the stair rail in front of her, blocking her path.

  She stumbled to a stop, her pulse going into overdrive. He was so close. Just one tiny step forward and they’d be touching.

  “I ran into your brother tonight.”

  Slowly she lifted her gaze, up his muscular chest, past his strong jaw, until her eyes found his. His head was bent down, his full attention d
irected at her. A spark of something she didn’t want to examine too closely heated his blue, blue eyes. “Paul?”

  “Do you have more than one?”

  Jared’s face was so close she could feel his warm breath on her cheek. “Where did you see Paul?”

  “The Sawmill. You coulda clued me in.”

  “On what?”

  “The name. Had a helluva time finding the place.”

  “Something tells me you’re the type of guy who could find a bar in a desert.”

  Jared grinned. “Is that so, sweetheart? And just what type of guy would that be?”

  The type of guy that tied her up in knots and made her remember what it used to feel like to be held by a man. Caressed by a man. Wanted by a man. “I’m not your sweetheart.”

  “You sure ’bout that?” He put his other hand on the rail behind her. He pressed in closer, his arms on either side of her, boxing her in. The heat from his body penetrated her and the scent of him was even more intoxicating. She couldn’t shake the feeling that there had been a fundamental shift in their relationship.

  No, she had to be wrong. She leaned back until the hard edge of the stair dug into her back. “How many times have you used that line?”

  “More times than I can count.”

  “And how many times has it worked?”

  A wicked smile transformed his face into one of pure seduction. “More times than I can count.”

  “It’s not going to work,” she said with a bravado she was far from feeling.

  “You sure about that?”

  “Yes.”

  He was so close the opened edges of his leather jacket brushed against her chest, causing all kinds of warning bells to go off inside her head. But what she didn’t know was if all that clanging was warning her that what was about to happen was something very, very bad or something very, very good.

  She swallowed hard, ran her tongue over her dry, parched lips. “Intimidation by harassment.”

  He slanted his body, slid his hands down the post until they were even with her waist. “You need to be more specific. There are all kinds of harassment.”

  His wide chest covered her, but the weight of him was anything but unpleasant. She ran the tip of her tongue over her lips again and his gaze followed the movement. “Just so we’re both clear here, what type are we talking about?” she said.

  “I think you know.”

  Just when she knew she couldn’t endure another moment of being this close to him, his hands dropped away from the railings, and he stepped back. Instantly she felt the loss of body heat.

  Without his arms blocking her way, she had an open path to the stairs. Everything inside of her told her to run. But she forced herself to move at a normal pace. On the third step, she stopped and turned. “I meant what I said, Jared. It’s not going to work.”

  “We’ll see about that, Cotton Tail. We’ll see.”

  She couldn’t reach her bedroom fast enough.

  Jared watched her go. It wasn’t until he heard her door close that he leaned against the stairs and let out the breath he’d been holding. Christ. He ran his hand across his face, through the side of his hair. This was going to be a hell of a lot harder than he thought.

  The minute she closed her door, Jenny grabbed a UW hoodie off her bed and slipped it over her head. She tugged at the sleeves until they were past her wrists, then pulled at the hem, making sure it covered as much of her as possible. She didn’t care that it had been a hot day and continued to be a warm night. She didn’t care that she was overheated. We’ll see about that, Cotton Tail. We’ll see.

  Her heart thudded against her chest, and her breath came out in short little gasps. She felt like she was suffocating. Drowning in a pair of midnight blue eyes.

  She went to her window and swung it all the way open. Like she’d done a thousand times before, she sat on the narrow ledge, one leg in, one out. Leaning back, she gulped in deep breaths of fresh lake air as she tried to control her erratic breathing. A week. That was all it was supposed to take. One week, and he should have been gone.

  Once more she saw the way his eyes had taken in every inch of her. She wrapped her arms around herself, felt the bulky cotton sweatshirt beneath her hands. The extra layer of clothing should have made her feel safer.

  She turned her face toward the dark lake, let the night air caress her skin, blow through her hair.

  He wasn’t budging. Not without his money. It was the same realization she’d come to earlier today in her office. But somehow, in the shadowy darkness of her room, that reality became much clearer.

  Her breasts began to tingle, almost as if he were still pressed against her. She hugged herself tighter, tried to force the sensation from her body.

  The sound of the lake came to her. She closed her eyes, listened to the gentle lapping of the waves against the shore. Time became a blur. She grew numb from sitting on the hard wooden windowsill, but still she didn’t move.

  For as long as she could remember, it had just been her and Steven. The two of them against the world. They’d met before they could talk. Became playmates before they could walk. Their love had been gradual, building slow and steady over time. Like the fortification of a strong foundation that would never give way.

  Promise me, she’d say to him each time before he left. Promise me you’ll come home.

  Baby, I’ll be back. We’ll have a lifetime together, you’ll see.

  And he’d been right, he had come home. But he’d also been wrong.

  He’d quit flying jets. Quit flying too fast, too high, too dangerously. And foolishly, she’d thought that after he’d stopped, she could stop worrying.

  They were supposed to grow old together. Have babies and raise them here on the shores of Hidden Lake. Now he was gone, and every dream she’d ever had was buried along with him. She knew their type of love didn’t just disappear. That even though Steven wasn’t still with her, her heart would always be with him. Or so she’d thought. But after tonight . . . after the way she’d felt held between Jared’s arms . . .

  Steven, tell me what to do?

  But the only sound she heard was a night bird calling to its mate. This time, he wasn’t going to be her soft place to fall. This time, there was only her. And her heart that wasn’t as impenetrable as she’d thought.

  THIRTEEN

  Jenny woke to the smell of frying bacon.

  She groaned. Not because of the tantalizing aroma wafting up from downstairs but because one look out her window told her she’d once again been woken up before the sun had even risen.

  What was it with that man and his obsession with predawn hours?

  She fluffed her pillows, burrowed under her comforter, and closed her eyes, determined to go back to sleep. But after ten minutes, she wiggled to a sit. Blast him. She knew Jared did it on purpose, made plenty of noise to wake her up. Any other time, he prowled around the house as silent as a panther. She thought back to the first time he ate her cooking and how worried she’d been that he’d choke on her eggs. Then, she’d charitably promised herself she’d save him. Now, letting him choke to death seemed like a much better solution.

  Yawning, she stretched, wincing at the sting in her back. The hours of sitting on the windowsill had exacted a toll, but not nearly as big a one as the worries that had plagued her all night. She hadn’t been completely unaware of her reactions to Jared this past week. But up until last night, they’d been minor: a tiny flutter in her tummy, a little blip in her heartbeat. But last night, all that had changed. Her little blips and tiny flutters had gone to full-fledged longings.

  It wasn’t him, she tried to tell herself. She would have reacted the same way to anyone she’d let get close. But even as the thought went through her mind, she knew it was a lie.

  She flung her covers aside, got out of bed, and peered down the hallway. With the coast clear, she hurried to Cody’s bedroom. Last night hadn’t exactly gone as planned. She definitely wasn’t going to be up for an aunt of
the year award. Reaching his bedroom, she quietly opened the door. Just because Jared was intent on jolting her out of bed so early didn’t mean Cody shouldn’t have the luxury of sleeping in.

  The room was dark, but enough light filtered in from the hallway for Jenny to see his empty and unmade bed. Where was he? She rushed out of the room and was partway down the stairs when two distinct male voices could be heard from below. Pausing, she listened.

  The voices were coming from the kitchen: one low and deep (Jared’s) and the other one high-pitched with the occasional squeak (Cody’s).

  She let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. She knew she’d overreacted, but seeing his empty bed had brought her own childhood back. She couldn’t remember how many times she’d fled to Nana’s house after arguing with her parents. And while she and Cody hadn’t actually argued, they sure hadn’t gotten along, either. She stood at the railing for several more minutes, trying to make out what the two of them were saying. But while their voices were too muffled, she could tell that Cody was doing the vast majority of the talking. Again. She smiled.

  Knowing her nephew was fine, she headed back upstairs to the bathroom. With Jared banging around in the kitchen doing heaven only knew what, and Cody keeping him company, Jenny planned on splurging on a long, hot shower.

  The minute she opened the bathroom door, she knew something was wrong. At first glance, everything looked exactly as it should. Her favorite dark purple towels were still draped across the towel bar; her industrial-sized bottle of raspberry bubble bath still sat on the aged marble floor, right next to the claw-foot tub, along with the basket that held her loofah brush and coconut milk extract shampoo and conditioner. And then she saw the telltale items that proved someone else had put their mark on her space.

  Alongside her elegant bottle of shampoo was a cheap ol’ bottle of Suave. A plain white toothbrush next to her purple and green one, and a tube of Colgate by her minty fresh Crest. Spurred on by a growing sense of doom, she opened the mirrored cabinet above the sink. Someone had shoved all of her products (even her box of tampons) to the bottom two shelves, leaving the top shelf open. It didn’t take a genius to figure out who had done it.