by Tia Siren
“You’re so much like your father, honey, stubborn and proud.”
I glanced up at the clock above the kitchen door. “One of our many happy qualities I guess. I have to go, Mom. The barbecue starts in a few minutes.”
“Whatever you do—”
I hit the end button before she could finish her sentence: don’t sleep with him again. I wrapped the salad with a piece of cellophane. A part of me readily agreed with that. It wouldn’t be healthy to have it happen again. While I knew Derek would never physically hurt me, I could sense the emotional scars in him. He was warm one second and cold the next. He didn’t know what he wanted, and I didn’t blame him. There was also Owen to think about, who was already confused enough about what had happened. It was too damn complicated to even think about, but I couldn’t help it.
That morning played teasingly in the back of my mind more than I wanted. I craved Derek’s touch again, but he was right. I needed to do something to balance out my life besides watching Owen every night.
After slipping my feet into a pair of flip-flops, I slipped out of the house to head out through the hot evening to Martha’s house. Cars were parked in front of the sidewalk, and the sound of laughter reached my ears as I ventured up the driveway. I went to the fence gate that Martha had told me to come through earlier when she’d handed me the flyer.
Laughter and the sizzle of hamburgers reached my ears when I came around to the backyard. My eyes immediately landed on Owen as he played happily on a swing set with Julie and a few other kids from the neighborhood. I swept my gaze along the back patio, which had hundreds of flowerpots covering it, to where Derek stood talking with a group of men, a beer in one hand. He looked extremely uncomfortable.
My heart raced when his gaze caught mine briefly before he looked away.
“There you are!” Martha called out from the kitchen window. She motioned for me to come inside. “Bring that delicious-looking salad. We’ll put it in the fridge while the men finish up with the burgers and hot dogs.”
Martha’s kitchen was spacious but filled to the brim with various trinkets, jars, and plants. She took ahold of the salad with a smile before managing to make space in the fridge.
“I’m so glad you came,” she said. She turned to look at the group of women standing in her kitchen with wine glasses in hand. “Ladies, this is Jenna Collins. She lives right next to Derek Summers.”
Their eyes swept up me critically. I tensed under their stares, but Martha kept an assuring hand on my shoulder.
“You look so young,” one of them said. “I’m Clarissa. I live right next to Martha and her husband.”
“She’s not that young,” Martha said. “Although she is compared to us older ladies. This is Vanessa and Margaret. They live a little farther down the street.”
“I’m surprised that Derek is even here,” Vanessa said, sipping daintily at her wine. “How did you manage that, Martha?”
Martha picked up a wine glass from the kitchen island and, ignoring my protests, poured a hearty glass of sweet wine. “A little persuasion is all.” She winked at them mischievously. “There is a gentleman underneath all that hostility of his.”
“I haven’t seen it yet,” Margaret said.
“Neither have I,” Vanessa added, and she gave me a long look. “The only person he lets into that house is you, Jenna.”
I gathered from the tinge of jealousy in Vanessa’s eyes that she was one of the women in the neighborhood who craved Derek’s affections. Sipping at the sweet wine, I briefly contemplated what their reactions would be if I told them I had ended up in Derek’s bed, and he was good at it too. It wasn’t just our hopeful imaginations that he was good in bed. He actually was.
Too good at it. I took another sip of wine while trying to keep my expression as clear as possible.
“He’s a jerk to me too,” I said. “So, there really isn’t anything different about it.”
Vanessa’s eyes narrowed slightly. She really was a pretty woman in her mid-thirties, more around Derek’s age, and she had brunette curls and tanned skin.
“I wouldn’t say that,” she replied, suspicion lacing her voice. “I saw you playing a game with him and Owen a few weeks ago.”
Did you hear us in bed too? My fingers curled around the rim of my wine glass. I shrugged my shoulders, because I didn’t know what else to say to that. They wanted information, and I wasn’t going to give it to them no matter how hard they pried.
“It’s too bad though,” Vanessa said. “I heard him telling Mr. Cooper that he’s going to find a new babysitter.” Those words washed over me coldly. “He said something about you having a commitment to going back to school.”
“Excuse me,” I said sharply. “I have to—I have to get some air. This wine is hitting me a bit strong.”
I set the glass down on the kitchen island. Before any of them could say anything, I slipped out of the kitchen door to the back patio. My head felt warm and fuzzy from the few sips of wine. I wobbled over to where Derek stood next to the barbecue with a few other husbands. He looked at me with an indifferent expression when I came to a stop in front of him.
“It’s nice to hear that I’m fired from the neighbors,” I said, not bothering to hide the anger radiating from inside me. “Couldn’t face me?’
Derek’s lips thinned into a displeased and uncomfortable line. He glanced over at the kitchen window, where Martha, Vanessa, Clarissa, and Margaret were looking out at us in avid curiosity.
“Don’t do this here,” he said tightly.
“I agree with Derek,” one of the husbands said, turning to look at the women in the window. They all immediately backed off when he waved the barbecue tongs at them. “My wife, Martha, can be so nosey sometimes. Go talk out of earshot and eyesight. I have enough gossip to deal with without you two causing more.”
“I’m sorry, Bob,” Derek said, setting his beer down on the table. “We’ll go somewhere to talk.”
He grabbed ahold of my elbow with tight fingers. I stumbled slightly down the porch steps as Derek guided me out of Martha’s backyard in the direction of my house. The second we were on the front porch step, Derek turned on me with a glare.
“What is wrong with you?” he hissed. “We agreed to—”
“I agreed to keep quiet,” I said hotly. “That was what we agreed to. You changed your damn mind about it.”
“Because I’m trying to keep you from getting hurt.” He grabbed for my keys, but I danced away from him. The wine was giving me a shot of bravery. “I was going to tell you Monday about finding a new babysitter. Who told you about that?”
“Vanessa,” I said flatly, “the woman who is stalking you from across the street.”
Derek rolled his eyes in exasperation. “That doesn’t surprise me that she told you. I told you those women can’t mind their own damn business.”
“It doesn’t matter.” I waved a dismissive hand. “I just want to know why you’re pulling back from me after what we agreed to.”
“Shit, Jenna,” he said, sighing in aggravation. “I was just trying to do the right thing. None of this is easy for me.”
“So you don’t want me to go then?”
“Of course not. I don’t want you to, but I’m trying to do the right thing here.”
That answer satisfied me to a degree. The wine in my veins felt good, and Derek looked equally good in the pair of loose gym shorts he wore along with a simple white shirt. His hair was styled messily as usual. My fingers itched to run through the soft strands.
A devious thought washed over me. There was no doubt in my mind that Martha and her gabble of women were watching intently from the living room windows. I knew Martha had set this up for a reason, and I planned on taking advantage of it.
I brushed by Derek to unlock the front door. Pushing the door open, I turned to look at him. He was watching me with a heated look.
“Come prove that to me,” I said as sultrily as possible. “Let’s give those women across
the street something to really talk about.”
I stepped inside and held the door open while I waited patiently for Derek to weigh his options. He stepped inside a few moments later. The second I let the front door close on its own, our lips were against each other’s, hot and needy.
Nothing could ever replace the feel of Derek’s strong and hot body pressing up against mine, or the way his hands cupped and gripped me in all the right places. We stumbled up the stairs without breaking contact. Shivers shot up my spine in anticipation as Derek’s hands ripped my tank top up, followed by my bra a second later. He pinned me up against the upstairs hallway wall before dipping down to kiss and suck at my breasts until I could barely see straight.
Hardness pressed against me through the fabric of my jeans. I reached between us to rub at the hotness there. That earned a throaty groan of approval from Derek against my right breast. His fingers smoothed down my back before slipping around to work at the button of my shorts. I reached around blindly for his shirt while Derek’s mouth came up to attack me again in a brutal and dominant kiss.
We barely made it into my room before we were both dripping with sweat from the lust searing between us. Derek’s fingers brushed between my legs to set a rough rhythm there. A cry of pleasure escaped my mouth from the friction. I moved against his hand shamelessly for a release, but he pulled away to push me back onto the bed.
A shiver went up my spine at the feeling of Derek slipping between my legs as though he belonged there permanently. I didn’t think of anything else when he thrust into me with a relieved sigh. All I could do was cling to his strong shoulders, feeling the muscles there work as he set a hard and deep pace that had us both dangling sweetly near a much-needed release. Tears pricked my eyes when my release came barreling down violently. I dimly heard Derek let out a deep groan before collapsing against me.
His heart slammed into his ribcage against my own frantically beating heart. I stared up at the sunlight dancing across the ceiling of my room while I tried to calm my breathing. Nothing could replace the feeling of Derek cradling me in his strong arms. I felt protected. His nose nuzzled against the crook of my neck. I felt even a bit loved in a way, something I hadn’t felt in a very long time.
It wasn’t smart to get involved, but I was beyond caring. This felt entirely too good to let it go.
Chapter Sixteen
Derek
The next two weeks passed by in a hot blur, with Jenna wrapped around me in the early morning hours. Whatever conflict I had fought against was long gone. I couldn’t resist Jenna even if I wanted to now. Both our defenses had come crumbling down in a lustful crash that had left us breathless and wanting more.
“I think we’ve given the neighbors plenty to talk about,” Jenna said.
She smiled mischievously at me while running a towel through the wet strands of her hair. I returned the smile as I rubbed my face dry with my own towel.
“What makes you think that?” I asked, my voice muffled from the towel.
“Because they see me over here with you and Owen more than at my own house. I don’t even leave here after Owen goes to school.”
“I’m sure Martha is foaming at the mouth trying to get information from everyone.”
Jenna laughed. “She is, actually. She tried to catch me yesterday on my way out to the grocery store.”
That didn’t surprise me. I avoided her as much as possible by dropping Owen off at school quickly and pretending I was on an important phone call whenever she did get close. Why Martha had to get involved was beyond me. None of it was her business, but, as usual, she made it her business.
“Vanessa has been giving me the death glare too,” Jenna said, breezing by me to gather her clothes, which were sprawled out in my bedroom. “I think she’s under the assumption that I stole her prospective man from her.”
I grimaced at the thought. Vanessa could’ve been Sidney’s twin with their matching personalities and taste for expensive things. She walked by every day dressed in designer dresses that showed off her legs, sometimes pausing to pick at the rose bushes in my front yard.
“That’s why she picks my roses then,” I said. “She’s trying to lure me out of the house to come talk to her more.”
I entered the room right as Jenna slipped into a pair of leggings. The first taste of fall had greeted us last night. A notable chill had clung to the air when I’d gone to work. The tips of trees were a dull yellow, a sign of a change in weather.
“I’m sure she is,” Jenna said, slipping into a oversized T-shirt next. “I better let you go so you can get some sleep. I have to meet with my mother in Lone Tree.”
“Important business?” I asked, sitting down on the edge of my bed.
I stifled a yawn with my hand when Jenna paused in front of me. She smoothed a hand over my damp hair with a smile.
“Very,” she said. “Martha apparently is in touch with my mother, so I’m sure this lunch has everything to do with you. Oh, and I told her that we slept together too.”
I arched an eyebrow.
“I’m sure she loved that,” I said wryly. “You told your mother?”
“I was upset at the time,” Jenna said, shrugging her shoulders. “Get some sleep. I’ll be over later tonight.”
She pecked a kiss to my lips before exiting my room. I settled back against my unmade bed that now smelled like Jenna all the time. My parents would be doing the same thing too if they heard about Jenna. They had been adamant about Sidney not being a good woman to marry.
A yawn escaped my lips. Fully sated from spending the past hour in the shower with Jenna, I fell asleep quickly. I didn’t wake once until my phone alarm trilled off a few hours later. My room felt pleasantly warm from the sunlight peeking in through the curtains.
I dressed for the day before heading outside to check the mailbox. I was rifling through bills when the sound of bushes scratching against a window caught my attention. Turning around, I flicked a gaze over Jenna’s motionless house. Her car was still gone despite it being nearly three o’clock.
The bushes vibrated before a tall man stepped out of them. Blood roared in my ears when he turned to look at me, having realized I was standing on the other side of the fence, clutching the mail tightly.
“Hey, man. Is this Jenna Collins’s house?” he asked.
Shoving the mail into my back pocket, I crossed over the fence to look at him fully. He wasn’t that tall in person. He was smug, cocky, and I was tempted to punch him straight in the face just for being here. I resisted though. I had Jenna to think about along with Owen. I wouldn’t do either one of them any good if I was in jail.
“That depends on who’s asking,” I said coldly. “Who are you?”
“Leon,” he said, and he looked me up and down in distaste. “I’m her boyfriend. I’ve been trying to find her all day.”
He still thinks she’s his. A possessive surge shot through me at that observation. I kept my face blank when Leon gave me a strange look.
“She’s not here,” I said.
Leon gazed at me with visible distrust. If only he knew… I kept my curled fists at my sides. If he knew, he’d hurt Jenna. There was no doubt in my mind. Things like that had a tendency to set guys like Leon off.
“When will she back?”
“I’m not her keeper,” I said flatly. “She’s a woman who can handle her own business around here. She doesn’t need you.”
“Right,” Leon said in a tone that suggested he didn’t believe me. “Just tell her that I’m staying at a hotel across the city.” He flicked his sunglasses down. “She knows my number, so she can call me when she gets back.”
He didn’t wait for my response. Crossing by me, he exited through the gate and walked down the street to a black Honda. I watched him speed away before letting out a harsh breath. Fumbling through my pocket, I pulled out my phone to call Marcus.
“I have a situation,” I said. Hot anger filled every inch of me. “I won’t be into work tonight
besides to have someone come talk to you and a judge if needed.”
“A judge?” Marcus repeated, alarm evident in his voice. “What the hell did you do, Summers? I won’t bail you out if you did something—”
“It’s for my neighbor,” I said, tapping a finger anxiously against the fence post. “She escaped an abusive ex by moving into the house next to mine. I don’t know how he found her, but I found him snooping around her house.”
“Is there a restraining order?”
“There has to be,” I said. “It may have run out, though, depending on what the judge said in California. There’s only one incident on file from what I looked at.”
“That might explain why he’s there if you’re telling me the truth,” Marcus said grimly. “Bring her into the station. These situations can end tragically.”
“I’ll bring her in when she comes home. Thanks, boss.”
I paced the fence line until I caught sight of Martha exiting her house ten minutes later. She saw me motion for her to come over.
“You’ve been avoiding me for two weeks,” she said warily, “and now you want me to come over?” Her face paled at the expression on my face. “What is it? Is something wrong with Jenna or Owen?”
“Jenna’s ex is here in the city,” I said. “I don’t want to leave this house until I can get Jenna to come with me to the police station to file a restraining order.”
Martha’s mouth formed an “O” before looking down the street in the direction Leon had driven off.
“That was him? I had no idea. I would’ve called the cops if I’d known.”
“He came in the middle of the day for a reason,” I said darkly. “He was hoping to catch Jenna off guard. I don’t have to tell you that.”
“No,” Martha said, “you don’t. I’ll pick up Owen from school. Don’t you worry about that. I’ll have Bob keep an eye out too.”
I nodded.
“Thanks, Martha.”
I waited to call Jenna until after Martha drove off to pick up our children from school. I had no idea where she was, but I needed to find her fast. She answered on the second ring.