“Because you worry about me?”
“It’s dangerous, Daisy. There are too many predators out there, just dying to take a bite out of you.”
“Not certain I’m really that tasty.”
He was.
“Got to admit, tonight’s dinner didn’t exactly go as I’d hoped it might.”
“That guy was a dick,” he stated.
“He sure did moan a lot about his ex-wives. And he talked with his mouth full. Food kept falling out and onto his lap.”
“At least he was just a douche and not a murderer.”
“People around here sure do have an obsession with murderers,” she muttered. “It’s making me rethink my plan to stay.”
Well, that no longer suited him. “You want to go out for dinner, I’ll take you,” he offered gruffly.
There was silence. Was she horrified by the idea?
“We’ve never gone out for dinner before.”
They hadn’t? No, he realized. They had been kids. Taking her out for a meal hadn’t entered his head. They’d been to the movies a few times, but he’d known it always made her feel awkward that he had to pay for everything so mostly he’d take her for a drive somewhere and they’d spend their time making out and talking.
How they’d never had sex he didn’t know. Wasn’t like his horny teenage self hadn’t wanted to. But he’d also wanted to do right by her. She’d been special. He’d adored her, loved her. . .
Until the day he’d discovered she’d taken off with the biggest asshole in the county.
He pulled up outside her house and turned off the truck before hopping out and coming around to her door. She grew tense as he grabbed her around the waist and lifted her down. He deliberately brushed her body against his and felt her tremble.
“I don’t. . .I still don’t exactly understand what’s happening here,” she whispered.
“What’s happening is that I had some time to think. During that time, I realized I acted hastily, said things I shouldn’t. When I heard you were out on a date with another man. Someone you didn’t know, I figured that the reason for my reaction is because you stirred feelings I thought had died ten years ago. I don’t want you dating anyone else. I want you with me.”
“You. . .you want me? So you no longer hate me?”
“Never hated you, babe. Not that.” He cupped her face between his large hands. “Was mad at you. Mad at you for a long time.”
“I wish you’d let me—”
“No, you don’t need to tell me because it doesn’t matter. From now on, we’re moving forward not back, understand me? No more talk of the past, yeah?”
He waited for her nod. “Good girl. What matters is here and now.” He leaned in and finally, he kissed her. He made his touch light for a start. Just a gentle brush of his mouth against hers. Then he pressed deeper, he reached around her and grabbed hold of her ass with one hand, squeezing. She opened her mouth on a gasp and he took total advantage, deepening the kiss.
His heart pounded; arousal rushed through his body.
Calm things down. Chill.
He forced himself to pull back. Last thing he wanted was to scare her off. He didn’t know how much experience she had. When her last relationship had been. And his needs were intense.
He took a half-step back, holding onto her waist as she swayed slightly.
5
She looked up at him in complete shock. She really had entered an alternate universe. Because there was no way that was real. Jed Carson had not just kissed her.
Nope. Nuh-uh. Didn’t happen.
Yeah? Then how come your lips are tingling? How come your clit is throbbing? Your nipples are hard? And why have you got the taste of him in your mouth?
And oh, why did it all feel so damn good?
Shit. She was so confused.
“I’m so confused.”
“I know. My fault.” He cupped her face between his hands. She peered up at him, even though she couldn’t make out his features in the dark. “I want you to listen to me. I was wrong to tell you to go. Repeat after me. I want you to stay.”
“You want me to stay.” Her lips still tingled.
“You’re going to stop going on blind dates.”
“No more blind dates,” she said obediently.
“Because you’re going to be too busy with me.”
Her heart raced. Busy with him.
“Come on, let’s get you inside and warm. It’s far too late for you to be out.” He gently directed her up the porch to her front door. “Give me your key.”
She dug her keys out of her handbag and handed them over without a word.
He unlocked the door and walked inside first. She followed him in and then she shut the door and locked it behind her. When she turned around, he gave her a nod of approval. “Good girl. Make sure that’s always locked.”
“I know,” she said. “I’ve lived in the city a long time. I always keep it locked.”
He frowned slightly for some reason. “What’s wrong?” she asked.
He shook his head. “Don’t mind me. Just don’t like the idea of you living in some city, unprotected.”
“Sylvie lived with me up until a year ago.” And the relief she’d felt when her sister moved out still made her feel guilty.
“And what about Bobby?” He waved his hand before she could answer, the look in his eyes dark and dangerous. “No, don’t mind. I don’t want to hear about him. Other than your assurance he’s out of your life.”
“He better never get near me again,” she whispered. She didn’t know what she would do if he did. But she’d do something.
Jed eyed her for a moment then he looked like he was going to say something before he shook his head. “Where is your brother?”
“Backpacking around South America.”
“Really?”
“I worry about him,” she whispered. “I get scared that he’ll get himself into trouble and I won’t be there to help him.”
He reached out and rubbed the frown line off her forehead. “He’s a man now, babe. He doesn’t need his big sister riding to his rescue, no matter that she’s done it all his life. He needs to stand on his own two feet.”
“I know,” she whispered. Didn’t mean she had to like it.
“You were more of a mom to those two than your own ever was.”
“Hard to be a mom when you’re stoned or drunk most of your life,” she said bitterly.
Whoops. She glanced up at him, to find only sympathy and understanding in his eyes. “I’m real proud of you for the way you looked out for them.”
He was?
Warmth filled her. Nobody had ever told her they were proud of her before. And to hear it coming from Jed meant a lot.
She yawned and his eyes grew even softer. Damn, she liked that. Also liked the way he called her babe. With a touch of affection in his voice. She didn’t know what had happened between the other night and now. And she wasn’t going to risk it by asking too many questions.
“You’re tired.” He reached for her coat, quickly undoing it and hanging it in the closet as though he’d done it a hundred times before.
“Are you hungry? You didn’t eat any dinner.” He glanced down at his watch. “After eleven now.”
“He had to finish watching a game,” she told him. “That’s why we couldn’t meet until later.”
A disgusted look crossed his face. “Seriously? That guy was a dickhead. What kind of man puts his own desires before a woman?”
Most men, she figured. But she didn’t say that either.
He took hold of her hand and led her into the kitchen. As though this wasn’t her house and she didn’t know where she was going. Maybe that should have annoyed her. But she kind of liked it. She liked the caring feeling to it. When he reached the small kitchen, he turned and picked her up, placing her on one of the kitchen stools.
“Right, babe. What do you feel like eating?”
Before she could stop him, he opened the
fridge door.
Silence. Frown lines developed on his forehead, making him even more gorgeous if that was possible. Boy, her body couldn’t handle it if he got too much sexier. She might just self-combust.
“I’m really not hungry,” she told him. “Maybe I should just. . .”
She went to slide off her stool when he turned to scowl at her. “Sit right there.”
Well, crap. He was using a new voice. An I-mean-business voice. She wasn’t sure she liked it.
Don’t kid yourself, you like it. You lap his dominant side up like a cat with a bowl of cream. With a big, fat smile on your face.
He walked over to the pantry, nearly pulled the doors off their hinges. She had to bite back a protest, figuring she shouldn’t waste her breath. Her tummy tightened into a knot.
“Daisy,” he spoke in a very low voice. Hmm, she didn’t think that was a good sign. She looked over at the door, judging whether she could reach it before he caught her.
“Yes?” She shifted her gaze back to find him staring straight at her. She froze, caught. His eyes were a deep hazel-green normally, but right now she didn’t even notice the color, she was intent on the emotion.
He did not look happy.
“Where is your food?”
“It’s in there. And there’s some in the fridge.”
“There’s milk in the fridge.”
“There’s also butter. And some bread in the freezer.”
His eyebrows rose. “Bread in the freezer?”
She shrugged. “I’m one person. I can’t eat a whole loaf before it gets all moldy so I keep it in the freezer.”
He stalked back to the freezer. “That’s all there is in here. And there is nothing in your pantry.”
“There is too!” she replied hotly.
He turned the death-glare on her again. She swallowed heavily.
“You could have gotten a job for the Death Squadron,” she muttered.
“What?”
She blushed. Whoops. She hadn’t meant for him to hear that. She cleared her throat. “Nothing.”
“Daisy, I don’t like the word ‘nothing’.”
“Well, that seems a bit word-ist.”
“What?”
“What did the word ‘nothing’ ever do to you?” Okay, stop now, Daisy. This conversation is ridiculous.
“When I ask a question, I want a proper answer, not an evasive one.”
Shit. Yeah, she loved that dominant voice.
She cleared her throat. “I was just commenting that you could get a job with the Death Squadron because your glare is like a laser beam incinerating everything in its path, that’s all. . .and now I feel like the biggest dork ever.”
“You’re not a dork.” His eyes had grown tender as he stared at her. His face filled with warmth.
Wow. Just wow.
Now she was completely falling under his spell. Because while she liked his dominant side, she totally loved it when he went all tender and sweet. She closed her eyes for a moment against old memories that threatened to rush her. Of him leaning over her as she lay on a blanket, staring up at the blue sky, his eyes filled with love and affection. Him promising to be there for her always. Holding her as she cried when he told her he had to leave.
“Baby. Hey, you all right? What’s wrong?”
He grasped hold of her shoulders, turning her and she opened her eyes to look up at him. Baby. That was even better than babe.
“The other night you looked at me like you didn’t even know me, like I was nothing. . .it hurt so bad. And now you’re looking at me like you used to and I don’t know what to do with that!”
“Oh, baby. It’s been a rough few days for you, hasn’t it?” He drew her against his chest and she cuddled in, letting the scent of him wrap around her, soothe her even as her insides danced in excitement.
“You really forgive me without even knowing everything?”
He was silent for a moment. “I don’t like what you did. Still don’t. But yeah, I can put it behind me.”
Was putting it behind him the same as forgiving her? She wasn’t sure. While part of her wanted to tell him the truth of what happened ten years ago, she figured all that would do is hurt him. And she’d hurt him enough.
“These past few nights, all I could think of was you. The memory of your eyes, filled with hurt because of me. The scent of you, the idea of how it would feel to have your legs around my hips while I took you deep. These thoughts kept me up at night. Then when I got home to hear you’d done something damn stupid like go on a date with some stranger.” He blew out a breath. “It cemented what I already had playing on my mind. That I needed to see you. That I needed to feel those legs wrapped around me, have your scent filling my lungs.”
“You want me.”
“I want you.”
Was it just about sex? She didn’t know how she felt about that. On the one hand, she wanted to take it and run with it. She’d take whatever she could get. . .but she wanted it all.
Don’t ask. Don’t ruin this. Because you want him too. It’s always been him for you.
“Can feel you’ve gone all tense. What is it, babe?” His hand was at her ass, squeezing and damn, that felt nice.
“Is. . .is it just about sex?”
She felt him stiffen. Shit. She shouldn’t have asked. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have—”
“It could never be about sex with you Daisy-girl.”
That had been his nickname for her years ago and tears entered her eyes at the sound of it.
“Oh. Good.” She leaned her forehead against his chest. Dork.
“Yeah. Good.” He sounded amused. Then he wrapped his hand in her hair and pulled her head back. He kissed her. And Jesus, it was nothing like she’d experienced before. Her body melted into his, her lips parting for his tongue.
He wasn’t making promises or declarations of love. She wasn’t expecting that. They were both different people now who had to get to know each other. But he was here and he wasn’t staring at her like she was nothing to him. So, she wanted to give him what he needed.
Although she wasn’t ready for sex. Not yet. There were still things to tell him about her. Things he needed to know before that. And then there were the bruises on her thigh. She needed to get rid of those first.
She leaned back, stepping away. “Um, Jed, I. . .”
“Relax, Daisy. Nothing’s happening tonight. We get to know each other a bit first, yeah?”
She relaxed. “Yeah.”
Not that she’d ever let him know everything. No way did a man want a woman who slept with a snuggly, sucked her thumb and enjoyed playing with building blocks. There was no way he or any man would feel comfortable with that part of her.
But she’d lock that down tight. She knew she had to.
“Do you still want to get to know me? After I was a jerk?”
She’d take him any way she could. It was then that she realized she’d never gotten over Jed Carson. There was some reason she’d never dated, and part of that had been her life. Most of it had been because of this man.
“Of course, I do.” She nodded so hard that her neck started to hurt.
“Easy, baby.” He slid his hand around to the back of her neck. “I’m glad you still want that. But I feel I should warn you, I’m a very dominant guy. I like to make the rules. I don’t want to sound like a jerk, I’m not going to tell you what to wear or that you can’t talk or go out with your friends. But if you want to go out, I want to know where you’re going and when you’ll be back. Who you’ll be with. Just so I can know you’re good.”
“Well, I don’t have any friends here anyway.” Or anywhere. But she didn’t want to admit that and sound like a complete loser.
His eyes narrowed. “You have Ellie.”
She nibbled her lip. “She’s nice to me because I’m renting her house but. . .”
“Ellie likes you. She’s your friend. She wouldn’t be this friendly just because you’re her tenant.”
&n
bsp; “Oh.”
“And I have no doubt you’ll make other friends.”
She wasn’t so sure. You actually had to leave the house in order to make friends. That’s what she’d been trying to do tonight and look what had happened.
Disaster.
But she didn’t need to tell Jed any of that. So, she nodded.
“If you have any trouble, I want to be the first person you call. I know there will be times when I won’t be around because of work.” He frowned slightly. “I’ll figure something else out then.”
“I wouldn’t worry, I never get in trouble.”
He raised his eyebrows. “You were in trouble tonight.”
She frowned. “The only trouble I was in was being bored to tears by Moany Mike.”
“You didn’t notice the stares you were getting, did you?”
Stares? She looked at him questioningly. What was he talking about? He shook his head and tucked her hair behind her ears. “My little innocent. Baby girl, there were at least half a dozen men watching you in that bar, and believe me, their hunger had nothing to do with that grisly piece of steak on your plate.”
What? Was he serious? She shook her head. “I’m sure that’s not true.”
His face turned dark. Cold. “Believe me, they were.”
Yikes. Okay, she wanted the sweet, soft look back. Because frankly, this hard Jed kind of scared her. Not that she was worried he would hurt her, but he looked like he wanted to go back to that bar and go all gonzo on those guys who were looking at her.
Not that she believed they were actually checking her out. Maybe they were staring at Mike. Watching him eat was pretty gross, though, she couldn’t imagine anyone wanting to look at him while did that. Ick.
“You think you can deal with the rules I gotta give you so I can sleep easy at night?”
Well, when he put it like that. . .she nodded. “Yes.”
“Good girl.” There was that warm look again. Jesus, she’d agree to just about anything to put that look on his face. He ran a thumb over her cheek. “I’m probably gonna lean towards being overly protective of you.”
He had to stop saying things like that. She was about to burst into tears.
Daddy’s Lost Love Page 6