She shuffled behind him, berating herself the entire time. All she had to do was look at the two of them and see what he would see. He was Mr. Hunkypants—gorgeous, easygoing, charming. She was the exact opposite—an overweight, introverted mouse. There was nothing, other than fishing, that they shared. It wasn’t as if she could offer him anything at all that he couldn’t get somewhere else. She wasn’t anything to look at—she had too much padding around all the normal areas, didn’t have a lot of money, didn’t even have social standing or an interesting job. Every nasty thing Robert had ever said to her played through her mind, dragging her down into the mires of depression. No man would find her attractive, especially one who looked like Jared.
“Arin?” Jared pulled her from her thoughts and she grabbed on to the sound of his rough, deep voice like a lifeline. She looked into his concerned eyes and wondered what she’d missed. She mentally shook herself and focused on the man standing in front of her.
“Sorry, I was buried in my own head. Did you say something?”
“Which is your bag, hon?”
“The blue one with the big Mickey Mouse tag.” She watched her suitcase come around the carousel just as she described it. She stepped forward to grab it and stilled when a warm palm landed on her shoulder. Sizzling awareness flooded her system with that simple touch.
“I got it, babe. All part of the service, you know. We fulfill every need and desire you ever have while in our care.” He waggled his eyebrows. Sparks flowed from her shoulder to her pussy. His touch was warm and sensual. A silent gasp escaped her lips.
Damn, he was a dangerous man, with those innuendos and grins. He was even more dangerous when he touched her. Such an innocent touch and she was already hot and bothered. The rest of her skin was jealous of her shoulder. Her heart leaped in her chest each time their eyes met. The first tingles of something interesting were flowing through her body. Could it be that she was actually feeling arousal? Without physical contact? Really? She’d barely been able to get wet when she’d had sex with Robert—something he had ridiculed and tormented her about from their first sexual encounter. Never in her life had she reacted on a visceral level to a man as she was now.
He stepped away to grab her bag. She watched the muscles of his butt flex and move under the black denim of his jeans. Her fingers twitched with the need to stroke that meaty flesh, to squeeze it and feel exactly how well his muscles were defined. She jerked her eyes up at his chuckle.
“Stop ogling my ass, babe. We’ve got a long drive ahead of us and no matter how adorable you are when you’re flushed, I really would like to get on the road.” With a grin, he turned and strode off toward the exit.
“Wait, I wasn’t—” Arin stammered as she took off after him at a trot. His legs were so long that it took two of her strides to cover the same amount of pavement as one of his, forcing her almost to run to keep up. She fumed all the way across a parking lot to Jared’s extended-cab pickup. How dare he catch her checking out his fine, fine ass?
“Up you go.” The passenger door squeaked a little as he wrenched it open. With a flourish of the hand, like a dapper Englishman, he ushered her into the vehicle.
It smelled like horses, leather and man. Even before she could shut the door, the scent of the truck wrapped around her and she closed her eyes to savor it. Her father’s truck always smelled like this—it was like coming home. She breathed the scents as far into her body as she could. She willed them to replace the smell of city and airports. If only they could wipe her mind of the last few days—the harassment, the fear, the anger. She sighed as her bones relaxed into the seat.
She jumped a little when Jared shut the passenger door with a bang. He sauntered around the front of the truck and climbed into the driver’s seat. With a grin, he started the truck and they were off. The stress from her job and her issues with Robert were melting away, being replaced by anticipation and just a little bit of arousal. This vacation was going to be good for her, even if she had to fight off the overwhelming urge to purr at the sight of her fishing guide.
“So how were your flights?” Jared’s deep voice filled the cab. He had settled his big frame into the seat and was slowly running his hand up and down the back millimeters from Arin’s shoulder. She could feel the warmth of his skin through her shirt and fought the pull of that heat. It would take nothing for her to move a fraction of an inch on the seat. His hand would be touching her instead of the cushion. She glanced sideways to find him studying her.
Answer the man instead of drooling over him. She cleared her throat. “Good. I don’t really like to fly in the smaller planes, but the flights were fine. The weather is warmer than I was expecting.”
“Don’t let it fool you. Right now, with the sun shining, it’s warm, but as soon as the sun goes down it’ll be chilly.” The faint sounds of Guns N Roses’ Welcome to the Jungle rang out. She watched him roll his eyes. “Oh gotta take that. It’s Brent, probably making sure I haven’t crashed the truck or something.”
“Cool. I need to call my friend Abby anyway.” She pulled out her phone and speed-dialed her friend. She watched with rapt fascination as he dug out a small cell phone from a pocket that shouldn’t have been able to hold anything at all. His jeans were molded so well to his body that she was surprised he could get the phone out of the pocket at all. She blushed when she realized she was staring at his crotch and that said area was happy to have the attention. Shocked eyes flashed to his smiling face and her color deepened. Shit, caught checking out his package shortly after staring at his fine ass. She turned away just as her friend answered.
“Hi, hon. Are you finally there?”
“Hey, chick. I’m on my way to the ranch now and thought I’d call before I forgot.”
“How does Mr. Hunkypants look? Is he dreamy?”
Arin snorted and tried to cover the noise with a light cough. “You could say that. Look we’re almost there. I’ll call you again when I’m all settled.”
“Oh you definitely have to fill me in. I wanna know all about both of them and whether they plan on making an Arin sandwich.”
“You and the stupid sandwich,” Arin muttered. “I gotta go. Love you, girly.”
“Yeah, me too. It’s so good to hear the smile in your voice again. Talk to you later.”
They hung up and Arin grinned. She was so happy she’d decided to do this. She watched the scenery fly by as they drove, absorbed the landscape and enjoyed the feeling of freedom. For the first time in years she had a completely empty slate for a future. No one was going to dictate where she could go or what she could do for the next five days. No one would be sitting at home waiting for her to show up so they could run her life. It seemed that every mile they drove toward the lodge and this adventure, the freer she felt. Even the last couple of days hadn’t given her this sense of rightness. Now, with nothing but new experiences in front of her, she could finally relax and just enjoy not knowing what was coming.
As she listened to Jared’s side of a conversation her mind wandered. She wondered for a moment what it would be like to be wanted by two men. It seemed her thoughts strayed to them often over the last few days. What would it be like to be pressed between two male bodies, moving together, exploring the pleasures of the flesh? Especially men who looked as hot and tempting as Jared. Her thoughts ran rampant through the streets of Smutsville, conjuring images of sweaty bodies on satin sheets, and she had to swallow a moan. The thought of Jared naked, glistening with a fine coating of sweat, hair mussed, stroking himself slowly as she watched, made her breath catch in her throat. She could almost taste the salty goodness of his skin on her tongue. What the hell had gotten into her? She needed to stop reading erotic romance novels. The urge to fan herself was so strong she almost gave in.
Jared turned to her after hanging up with a smirk still playing across his lips. “So tell me about what experience you have.”
“What?” She whipped her head around and stared, open-mouthed. Maybe she had actua
lly moaned out loud.
“Well, you said you used to fish with your dad, so when was the last time you went?”
She let out the breath that she had been holding. She almost thumped herself on the forehead. Get your head out of the gutter. Geez Louise, girly. With a grin, she started discussing one of her favorite things—her family. “Oh. Yeah, I used to go a lot with my dad and brother. Dad taught me to fly-fish before I could ride my bike. My first rod was something he cobbled together so the reel was small enough for my hands to handle. I think I spent more time in our backyard practice casting than I did anything else.”
“So where have you fished? Any place other than the streams around home?”
“Um, we did a trip to Florida for redfish. That was fun. We took a trip to Arizona and fished in the streams around Sedona. That was a few years ago though. I haven’t even had my rods out in years. We used to make it an annual thing to go someplace for a few days, but I haven’t been able to go for a while.” Sadness colored her voice as she pushed the last sentence out around the lump in her throat.
It’d been more than a couple of years since she’d gone with her dad, and it irritated her that she’d let Robert change her life so much. The last trip had been the one to Sedona when she graduated from high school. Even then, Robert had tried to get her to stay home. He’d been so angry that she’d left him to go with her family. That anger had kept her from going the next year, and the next, and the rest of the trips. Her father hadn’t even invited her to the trip this year and she didn’t blame him. How many times could she turn them down with stupid excuses before they stopped asking?
“Oh hon. Why so sad? Fishing is God’s gift to humanity—you know that, right? There should be no sadness when talking about trips, unless it was because you were skunked.” The honest concern in his voice closed her throat on tears. She turned away from his worry and stared out across the fields. How to explain about the sadness that lived so deeply in her heart?
Arin flinched when a warm hand covered hers. She looked up and found herself drowning in beautiful blue eyes that held more concern and compassion than she deserved. The warmth from his touch and his worry bled into her system and soothed away the pain. She answered without thinking. “I’m just starting to realize that I’ve neglected a very important part of my life for years because of the manipulating asshole I thought I was in love with.”
“Well, good thing you understand now that he wasn’t any good for you. Now tell me about the equipment you brought with you.”
Arin took the out Jared had given her and started recounting the stuff she’d brought with her, going into far more detail than needed to keep their conversation on safer ground. She might feel a connection and some major arousal with this man, but she wasn’t ready to spill her emotional guts to him.
* * * * *
Jared watched the light flow back into Arin’s eyes as she discussed her fishing gear and the history of each item. Her shoulders relaxed and the tension around her mouth loosened. When she talked about something of importance, he noticed how animated she became. Her hands flew around in her personal space, punctuating her words. Her face beamed with emotion, eyes glittering green in the hazel depths. She was beautiful and so full of sorrow. Twice now he had caught a glimpse of the wounded woman inside the hardened outer persona. He wondered if getting entangled with her was such a good idea if she was rebounding from a bad relationship. Well hell, he’d known she was rebounding. She was supposed to be sitting here with her long-term boyfriend or fiancée instead of alone.
A niggle of doubt invaded. If she was getting over a boyfriend, would she see them only as sex? Adventure without attachment? They’d dealt with that on more than one occasion with women. Could she really give them the time of day if she’d just dumped the loser? Would they want to take her on if she was emotionally wrecked from the asshat? Brent’s words echoed in his mind. Maybe he was putting the cart before the horse again. He just wanted to find someone who would love them. His heart squeezed and his eyes prickled. Was it too much to ask that they’d find someone to accept them for who they really were?
He tried to stop the path his thoughts were taking. He’d wandered through the same indecision and self-imposed anger more and more. He’d watch Brent’s interaction with Arin. If it looked as if his friend could find happiness without him, Jared would leave. He didn’t want Brent to suffer for his mistakes. He had already taken enough from Brent. If he hadn’t been best friends with Jared, he’d still be normal. Not the introverted, hollow man Jared had to see every day. Time wasn’t healing them. It was making the pain worse. Brent needed someone to love and to love him. If Jared had to leave for that to happen, he would. It was the least he could do for his best friend.
Shaking himself from the black pit in his head, he looked over at Arin. She was still talking about fishing stuff and it made him smile. She could definitely hold her own in a conversation about fly-fishing. He made a decision while watching her. They could still play with Arin. Enjoying her would be fun and might help get them both out of the emotional doldrums.
As she continued, his thoughts changed to ones of a more carnal nature. Studying her while she ranted about a line manufacturer was almost too enticing. Pert breasts jiggled as she swung her arms around to emphasize something important. Tight little nipples poked against thin fabric. A tiny patch of cleavage and creamy skin peeked from the V in her polo shirt. His fingers itched to trace the edge of the shirt into the shadow between her breasts and see whether her skin was as soft as it looked.
The view had his cock’s full attention. He allowed his dick to take over his thought process and just enjoy the lush little body next to his. He’d been at half-mast since catching the first glimpse of her at the airport. His mind had already given him an image of what she’d look like. He had stood for a few minutes drinking in her round, luscious, beautifully curved body. Before approaching her, he had taken the time to rearrange Mr. Happy in case she decided to look him over. No reason to tip his hand so soon in the game, although she seemed stunned and flustered by the flirting they’d done so far. If he could keep her mind on their word-play, perhaps that twinge of sadness wouldn’t make itself known again for a while.
Chapter Three
“When we get to the lodge, let me grab your bags and I’ll show you to your room. I know we’re heading out tomorrow for a camping excursion, but we like to give guests a room to dump their stuff in,” Jared said. He nodded and pointed out the windshield at a beautiful building off the road. “Home, sweet home.”
The lodge was much larger than Arin had expected. It was a log cabin only by a very loose definition of “cabin”. Massive logs made the building look imposing, like a fortress. Large windows filled much of the first floor and a wraparound porch encircled the entire building. White Adirondack chairs and rougher, unpainted rocking chairs dotted the porch. The peaks of the roof perfectly mimicked the mountains beyond the lodge, blending the architecture into the wilderness around it. Pine trees and low shrubs dotted the yard, pulling the environment right to the front door.
“Oh my God, that is absolutely beautiful.” She remembered what the brochure had said about this being built recently. “You guys built this?”
“Well, Brent and his dad did most of the work. We wanted something better than the normal crappy camp.” A light blush rose up his cheeks. “It’s not as nice as some but definitely better than others.”
“Are you kidding me? This is beautiful. It flows so well with the landscape, as if the mountains were designed around the house.”
She watched a grin spread across Jared’s face and marveled at how absolutely gorgeous he was. The smile brought out the two adorable dimples in his cheeks again. They took years off his young face. He could have passed for a teenager at that moment. She couldn’t help but grin back in return.
When they pulled into the circular gravel driveway, a sense of excitement flowed over Arin. This was her new beginning. She couldn’t th
ink of a better place to find the strength to stand on her own two feet again. Robert was an asshole and wasn’t going to be allowed to hold her back any longer.
“Come on—I’ll show you around and we’ll find Brent. I’m sure he’s buried in some computer program or another in the office.” Jared leaped out of the truck and grabbed her luggage from the back. With a quick nod, he moved to the foot of the stairs and waited.
They walked up onto the porch and he opened a large oak door. She peeked around him and gaped at the cavernous main room. The walls were covered in framed artwork, mounted fish and old tackle. Arin was spellbound by the view through the windows. Vaulted ceilings and enormous windows pulled the outdoors right into the room. Towering mountains filled the horizon. She wandered through the room until she was almost pressing her nose against the glass. What a magnificent vista.
She was still staring when two large hands ran down her arms. A squeak escaped her before she could swallow the sound, and she shivered. She turned just in time to find Jared’s face lit with a wolfish grin. He tried to hide it behind a cough but she had seen the sensual look shimmering in his eyes.
A trickle of apprehension wormed through her thoughts. What was she getting herself into? She shouldn’t have started the flirting thing with this man. He oozed sex and even his innocent looks weren’t so innocent. Maybe he flirts with all women. Of course he does. Now what if he thought she was going to hop into bed with him this week? Was she really willing to do that? On one hand she seriously wanted to. On the other was the reserved, scared Arin who hadn’t been with anyone other than Robert.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.” He didn’t mean a single word and she knew it. With a chuckle, he turned her toward the window again and stood close behind her. She could feel his body heat radiating against her back. It would only take a slight lean, an itsy-bitsy move, for her to be flush against his chest. She felt his breath stir the hairs at the back of her neck as he whispered, “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”
AnglingforLove Page 3