“Things have changed, Jaimee,” he growled through his teeth. “Adjust.”
She watched in shock as he rose from the bed, his penetrating glare searing her before he turned and stalked away. The windows and possibly her teeth rattled at the slamming of her door as he left the room.
Lucas snatched the receiver from its cradle before the first ring had finished. His answer was sharper than it should have been but he was still pissed off at Jaimee and at the same time he was so hard, he ached to just touch her. “Turner residence.”
“Well hello. Lucas, right?” That sultry alto voice could belong to none other than Ms. Maxine.
“Yes.”
“Well, Lucas, this is Maxine, Jaimee’s best friend. May I speak to James please?” she asked a little too sweetly.
“No. She’s asleep. May I take a message?”
“Already? It’s only eight o’clock. Is she okay?”
“Yes. She was up late last night and worked all day today so she went to bed early.”
“Ooooh! So that’s why you sound pissed off. She went to sleep and didn’t give you any.” She went on before Lucas could interject a denial. “Give her time to recharge, babe. She’s just not used to your kinda fuckin’.”
“My kind of…”
“Yeah you know: hard, fast, mind-blowing, all night long sex.”
Lucas was grinning now. If it had been anyone else he would have seen red. “Tell me, lovely Maxine, what makes you think you know how I fuck?”
“Come on, Lucas, don’t tell me you didn’t know that girlfriends talk.”
Lucas laughed. “Oh I’m completely aware that fact. Unfortunately it wasn’t me that kept Jaimee up all night. I wish it had been. Someone tried to break in to her house late last night.”
“Oh God! Is she hurt? Why didn’t she call me?”
“Calm down. She wasn’t hurt and she hasn’t had time to call you yet. She’s planning on going shopping with you in the morning. I’m sure she’ll tell you all about it then.”
“Hmph. Damn straight she will. Now you listen, Lucas, Jaimee is not only my best friend, she’s more my sister than my own blood sisters and I love her. If you hurt her I’ll separate you from your favorite body parts. Got that?”
With a deep sigh Lucas closed his eyes tight and pinched the bridge of his nose. He wanted to tell her he would never hurt Jaimee. With everything inside him he wanted to but it was a lie. He was going to hurt Jaimee worse than she could imagine and the knowledge of that was killing him.
“Got it, Maxine.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Rob Thomas woke her up, his sultry voice serenading her from the clock radio on her nightstand…no, it was across the room on her dresser. How did it get over there? Lucas. It wasn’t too loud, she could ignore it and go back to sleep. Red numbers glowed “seven thirty” at her insistently and she remembered her appointment with Maxine and her stylist.
With a sigh Jaimee slowly pushed the covers aside, sat up and scooted to the edge of her bed. She was naked. Lucas. She groaned. His name whispered through her mind and brought back softer remnants of a hunger that had her in its grip the evening before. “Things have changed, Jaimee…” Groaning again at the memory, she rubbed her eyes and stumbled into the bathroom to turn the shower on. She adjusted the water temperature to as hot as she could stand it, stepped in, and let the heat flow over her body. The steam enveloped her as she tried to organize her emotions.
Maybe it would be best to ignore all the emotions involved. There was nothing solid or lasting about emotion anyway. Maybe it was a good thing Lucas didn’t touch her last night. They needed to take a step back and evaluate this relationship anyway. What was going on between them was too volatile. It was downright explosive. They needed to find out if there was anything solid to build upon.
Half an hour later Jaimee emerged physically refreshed and ready to take on the day and whatever Maxine intended to throw her way. Still, Lucas pervaded her mind. She couldn’t seem to will away the image of his face hovering so close above her own, flushed with anger, dark eyes narrowed, teeth bared, nostrils flared. A whisper of heat curled through her involuntarily. How sick was that? Lucas was livid with her, and it turned her on. She was losing her mind. There was no other explanation.
Maxine was due any moment so she tried shifting her focus from Lucas to the things she had planned for the day. It was going to be a fun day if it killed her. She needed to have fun, to laugh and not worry about the break-in and that stupid day planner…oh yeah…she’d almost forgotten about that thing. And she was really beginning to worry about Alice. What if all of it was connected? No, she was letting her imagination get the best of her. And she wasn’t going to worry about what was or wasn’t happening with Lucas. Before she went out tonight she’d make sure and call Detective Butler and tell him about Ron, the day planner and Alice. Just go ahead and put her concerns to rest. But this afternoon she was going to enjoy herself.
She skipped down the stairs and as she grabbed her tennis shoes from where she’d left them in the hallway she noticed a long, naked foot propped up on the arm of her sofa and did a double take. Lucas was stretched out on her sofa, one arm behind his head for a pillow, asleep. The soft smile that curved her lips was spontaneous, a reaction to genuine happiness. He didn’t leave after all, which made her feel ridiculously relieved and pleased. Hell, who was she kidding? It made her giddy.
Not wanting to wake him, she moved around the sofa slowly and sat in the chair to watch him while she put on her tennis shoes. Even in sleep he didn’t look peaceful. So still and quiet, yet he looked like a warrior tensed for attack. Jaimee finished tying her shoelaces then slid to her knees and crawled as silently as she could to his side. His deep breathing let her know that he was still asleep. Tentatively, she traced his brow with her fingertips then smoothed the tense lines of his forehead. He didn’t move, not so much as a twitch as she let her hands explore the planes of his chiseled face, the bridge of his regal nose, his firm lips.
God, he was beautiful, like a dream. He was the best-looking man she’d ever known and the most arrogant, bullheaded and dogmatic as well. At the same time he’d been so kind, even gentle, but never soft, and he’d made her laugh. Lucas was good, in every sense of the word. And didn’t that make him all the more extraordinary? Every indication was that he wanted her, had staked his claim on her. That fact had shaken her very soul. The all-consuming passion was an incredible experience and she couldn’t ignore her need for that. But she had to admit to herself that it was that strength and dominance she’d craved so badly, for so long.
She laid a hand on the bicep of his left arm where he’d been cut. It wasn’t hot so infection wasn’t likely, thank God. Her heart had tripped over itself when she’d seen the blood, registered that he’d been hurt. Maybe it was her fault. Maybe she should have let him deal with the jerk, but she just couldn’t make herself run upstairs and lock herself in her room like a scared little idiot waif.
She tried to make him understand that she’d never depended on anyone to take care of her before and she never intended to. Now he was mad at her—no, furious was more like it, but he hadn’t left her. Even so, as much as she wanted Lucas, she wasn’t sure she could go through trying to be “softer” anymore. It wasn’t in her to be meek and passive.
It dawned on her that for all her efforts to be what she believed Brent needed, to allow him to take the lead, he never did. Brent wasn’t the soft place to fall. He was just soft. She couldn’t change Brent so she had to try and change herself and in doing so she’d become uncomfortable in her own skin. Finally learning to be herself again was incredibly liberating and there was no going back to a life of emotional and mental bondage. Not even for Lucas. She shook her head, no, a man like Lucas wouldn’t want a spineless woman. And that’s exactly what she’d become with Brent.
A soft place to fall wasn’t what she needed at all. What she needed was someone strong enough to catch her if she stumbled. So f
ar Lucas had been the strength she wanted and his apparent desire seemed to validate her. Maybe he wasn’t real at all, maybe he was an angel and this was all a dream from which she would soon abruptly awaken. Her hand trailed over his shoulder, moved down his chest to his stomach. The warm smooth skin covering steely muscles intrigued her. It would have been wonderful to take her time drinking in the feel of him, just touching him. With a shaky sigh of resignation she stood up and pressed her lips to his temple. This man had unlocked and released something inside her that had kept her shackled and cold. No matter what happened between them, she would always love him for that.
Holding still while she touched him nearly drove him crazy but he didn’t want to shatter whatever it was that was happening between them at the moment. It would have been worth anything to know what was going on in that analytical, methodically motivated head of hers. He could still feel the pressure of her warm lips against his skin, her soft hand caressing his body. It had been a test of endurance not to pull her against him and taste her. God, he loved the taste of her. Instead he’d held still, trying to brand the feel of her touch into his memory, his heart, never to forget how precious that gesture had been.
Sitting up as he heard the car door close and Maxine’s little Jeep back out of the drive, he rubbed his hands over his face. The hell they were about to face would rip them both to shreds. Somehow he had to find a way to hold on to her and he was willing to do whatever that took. Life without Jaimee would be dull and miserable. When she smiled everything in his life seemed to slide into place. She gave him something to look forward to, something to work for. She was his world, his heart, his love. He couldn’t lose her now.
*
“I know you told her to do it, Max, don’t even play.” Jaimee scowled out the car window, her arms crossed over her chest.
Maxine was struggling to keep the car on the road and laugh hysterically at the same time. “I swear…I didn’t! Are you sure she didn’t leave you a landing strip?”
Jaimee turned to glare at Maxine, still smarting in her nether regions thanks to Maxine’s stylist and her overzealous waxing methods. “I…have…nothing! I’m completely naked down there! Completely! And you know what else she wanted to do? Do you?!”
Maxine wiped tears from her eyes. “I’m not sure, should I pull over first?”
“Anal bleaching!”
Maxine howled with laughter and nearly ran off the road. Thankfully she pulled into the mall and into the nearest parking space she could find. “Oh my God. Stop, I’m gonna pee myself.”
“Good! Have you ever heard of that? Why would anyone need a bleached anus, huh? Do you have a bleached anus?” Jaimee’s voice was sharp and shrill but she didn’t care. She’d been traumatized not to mention robbed of not only her pubic hair but of every ounce of pride she might have once had.
Maxine was laughing so hard she couldn’t answer.
“I’m glad you think this is so funny. My tootie still stings.” Not so much sting as tingle. But she didn’t want to tell Maxine that.
“Come on, James, it’s not that bad.”
“Well maybe you have a tough twat but mine is sensitive and ripping all my hair out by the roots was damn painful.” Not to mention embarrassing to have this woman she didn’t know touching her most private area.
“You’re crazy too. My kitty is as soft and smooth as a baby’s butt.” Maxine scowled with feigned offense. “Rub some oil on it tonight when you get home. Or better still have Lucas rub some oil on it for ya.” An intriguing suggestion that made Jaimee quiver and at the same time it filled her with a sense of dread. She’d told Maxine all about the break-in. Well, that wasn’t quite accurate. Maxine told her about her conversation with Lucas and demanded to know every detail of what had occurred.
“I have a feeling Lucas might have had all of me he wants.”
“Maybe, you did piss him off. But, I seriously doubt it. As a matter of fact when I talked to him last night he sounded frustrated as hell. Sounded to me like he was in a bad way for some more of what you’ve been giving him.”
Jaimee waited until they’d stepped into the mall before she answered. “He was irritated because I wouldn’t let him treat me like an idiot, like I couldn’t take care of myself. I can’t be like that, Maxine, not anymore. You know that better than anyone.”
Maxine just nodded.
“So we sort of had an argument and I basically told him I didn’t need him to coddle me and to go away then he went all Neanderthal on me and carried me up stairs and I bit him.”
“Hot damn, sounds good to me.”
Jaimee nibbled the inside of her cheek and took a deep breath. “Yeah, but he stormed out of the room seriously pissed off.” The whole ordeal had been very exciting and provocative but her pride would not allow her to call him back, nor go to him. Somehow in spite of it she fell asleep even though she was hot, wet and throbbing all over. Besides the pride thing there was the very real chance of rejection. She wasn’t sure she could have handled a cold dismissal from him. The fact that she’d just dealt him that very thing didn’t escape her consideration. Had she made him feel unwanted? Rejected?
Maxine interrupted her troubled musings with a snort and a sardonic sideways glance. “You don’t know much about men do you, hon?”
By lunchtime Jaimee and Maxine had visited most of the stores Opry Mills Mall had to offer. And that was no small feat. The Rainforest Café for lunch was infinitely more appealing than grabbing something in the food court. It had been a long wait to be seated but it didn’t matter when their very young, very hunky waiter with thick, curly blond hair strolled up to the table, knelt right beside Jaimee, flashed the most vivid green eyes she’d ever seen and announced with a sexy southern drawl, “Name’s Isaac. I’m all yours, ladies. What’s your pleasure?”
Maxine didn’t miss a beat. “Isaac, honey, it would be illegal to serve that here.”
Isaac’s grin was quick, utterly sexy and perfectly polished to garner the biggest tips possible from the ladies. “Now that’s a shame.” He paused for effect. “How about I get you a drink instead?”
“I believe I’m gonna need something cold.” Maxine winked seductively. Jaimee bit her lip trying to keep from laughing. “I’ll have a raspberry tea…with extra ice.”
Nodding, he quickly jotted Max’s order down before turning his full attention and thousand-watt smile on Jaimee. “And for you, love?”
Jaimee cut Maxine a glance. She was pretending to take in the atmosphere. “I’ll have the same, thank you.”
He gave her a wink and a sharp nod before walking away. Both Jaimee and Maxine enjoyed watching him walk away. When they looked back at each other across the table they burst into laughter.
“Isaac was interested in more than your order, James,” Maxine teased.
Jaimee snorted. “Oh yeah, I know, he was interested in a big tip.”
“Now see.” Maxine slouched back in her seat and sighed with exasperation. “Why do you do that? Why you gotta be like that?” Her big dark eyes widened and she crossed her arms, waiting for an answer.
“Like what?”
“Pessimistic. You are so fucking pessimistic. Emphasis on ‘so’.”
“I am not.” Jaimee straightened in her chair, frowning a little. “I’m a realist.”
Ugh, there was the famous Maxine “oh please” eye roll. Leaning forward, she braced her crossed arms on the table. “Jaimee, guys look at you all the time.”
“Pshaw, no they don’t.”
“Yes, they do.” She held up one finely manicured finger, effectively cutting off Jaimee’s continuing protest. “And what makes you think they don’t like what they see? Huh? For the last several months you’ve been coming out of that weird…I don’t know…numbness you’ve been in for the past five years and you’re finally starting to carry yourself like the goddess you are. Why wouldn’t any man want some of that? Lucas certainly does. And with the way you look today: hair slammin’, perfect makeup… Girl
, Isaac ain’t immune.”
Jaimee couldn’t help but snicker. Though what Maxine said did boost her self-esteem a few thousand notches. And she really did love the way her hair turned out. It was all shiny and soft. Sasha, Maxine’s stylist, had left her length. She’d layered and highlighted, low-lighted, washed, conditioned, spritzed and blow-dried her hair into a mane of fat, golden brown curls that hung just past her shoulders. She felt pretty and confident…maybe even a little goddess-like. A slow smile curved her lips and she wiggled in her seat. “You think he’s lookin’ for some attention from a woman at least six or seven years older huh?”
“I’m just sayin’.” Maxine pursed her glossy lips and lifted a brow.
Jaimee matched Maxine’s expression and nodded with determination. “Okay, fine. Let’s test this theory. Here he comes with the drinks.”
Isaac strode to the table and immediately made eye contact with Jaimee. She held his gaze and smiled as he set the drinks in front of them. “Are you ladies ready to order?”
Isaac finished jotting down their orders, flashed a smile and started to go when Jaimee, deciding to try her hand at bold, lightly touched his arm. “Hey, Isaac, do you mind if I ask you how old you are?”
He turned his whole body toward her and met her gaze. “I’m twenty-three.”
Yep, got that one right. He was either in college or an aspiring country music hopeful. His baritone voice was smooth and pleasant. “You sing, don’t you?”
“Yes, I do.” His eyes lit up at that. “That obvious?”
“Well, it was a lucky guess. You’re a young, sexy guy, with a nice voice, waiting tables in Nashville, Tennessee. I figure I had a fifty-fifty chance of guessing right.”
He cleared his throat. “Sexy huh?”
She gave him a look that said “come on, don’t play coy”. “So, do you play or just sing?”
“Guitar and keyboards.”
“That will give you better odds. Still, tough business.”
Rude Awakening Page 21