Collide

by Juliana Stone

  “No,” he said softly. “They didn’t come visit me when I was in jail.”

  “Hmm.” It was obvious she wasn’t surprised. But then why should she be? Bobbi more than anyone, knew of the tangled lines that ran through his family. There was no love lost between him and his father. None at all.

  “Do you remember that time when,” her finger ran along the top of the bar. “Do you remember that night when I snuck up to your room?

  “There was a lot more than one time, Bobbi.”

  She giggled and for a second his world tilted a little off its axis. How long had that sound echoed in his head like a whisper from the past?

  “I know, but I’m talking about the first time.”

  He glanced at her sharply. Inhaled that scent that was so wonderful and unique, and he watched as she continued to twirl her fingers along the wet rim of her glass. Seriously, the woman could drive a priest insane.

  “I was eighteen and we’d been fooling around for months doing everything but the deed.” She grinned and paused. “You kept telling me I was too young and there was no way in hell you were going to have sex with me, but I was always used to getting what I wanted and that night I snuck into your house and came up the back stairs, remember?”

  She glanced up at him and his chest tightened. They were in the middle of a crowded bar and yet it felt as if they were alone in the world. Just the two of them and a host of memories that might seem to be wonderful and amazing, but he knew them for what they were. Bittersweet and heartbreaking.

  “I remember.”

  Hell yes, did he remember. He’d been twenty-three, had just been kicked out of Michigan State and was back in New Waterford trying to get his shit together. He had come home to crash after a night out snowmobiling with his buddies, and was just getting into bed when she slipped into his bedroom.

  Before he’d had a chance to protest she was naked and when she climbed on top of him, with her electric blue eyes, breasts that begged to be touched…when she’d opened her legs and let him see exactly what he was missing out on…he’d folded.

  Like a stack of cards.

  They’d spent the next four hours having all kinds of hot, horny sex. And then…

  Bobbi giggled again. “Your step-monster came up the stairs and I managed to hide in the closet just before she knocked on your door. God, I can’t remember what she wanted but I remember you did everything in your power to make me laugh while she was on the other side of the closet door. I was terrified she’d find me in there naked and you were cracking jokes. You kept asking her questions about the latest Jackass movie and she thought you were talking about a cartoon donkey.”

  She glanced up and caught him off guard because he couldn’t look away. He couldn’t do anything but stare into her eyes and remember how it felt to just be with her.

  To hold her.

  To be inside her.

  But along with all those feelings came the darkness. Because as much as they’d had their share of good times, it was equaled out by all the crap. The fighting. The making up. The hurting.

  He thought of Dooley and his eyes dropped to her ring finger. The one that was glaringly bare.

  “So what happened with your fiancé?”

  They both glanced toward the door as a second wave of hockey players entered the bar. Boisterous and loud the noise level ramped up several notches in seconds.

  “You were right,” Bobbi said softly. “Getting stood up at the altar was bad enough but he thinks we slept together and that was just too much for him to handle.” She finished her glass. “It’s over.”

  Shane would have liked to say he was sorry for her, but the truth of it was, he wasn’t. He wasn’t sorry at all. Bobbi Jo did not belong with a guy like Dooley. Hell, if anything the guy should be thanking his lucky stars. She would have chewed him up and spit him out within the first year.

  “You can say, ‘I told you so’. I don’t really care,” Bobbi said dryly.

  “You don’t seem too broken up about it.”

  Bobbi sighed and stood up. Some fleeting emotion flickered in the depths of her eyes and for the first time Shane became aware of the sizzling electricity between them. Had it been there all along?

  “I’m not, which is pretty pathetic when you consider the fact that if I’d gone through with the wedding I would be his wife right now.”

  Her eyes widened and damn if she didn’t lick her bottom lip.

  “Hey Barker, you want to join us for a drink?”

  They both ignored Seth Longwood.

  “I don’t like the person I’ve become and though Gerald wasn’t responsible for it, he certainly was a part of it. Does that make sense?”

  He watched her closely but remained silent. Something had just changed and he wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or not.

  Bobbi moistened her lips and exhaled, her huge eyes as blue was the Arctic Ocean.

  “Are you with anyone?” she asked abruptly.

  Okay, he wasn’t sure where this was heading but he was on alert. “I’m here, talking to you.”

  “I don’t mean here, I mean…are you seeing anyone?”

  “No,” Shane said carefully. They were trading dangerous waters here.

  “Why not?”

  Shane’s eyes narrowed. “What are you asking?”

  Bobbi grabbed her jacket. “You’re still interested in women aren’t you? No conversion in jail? No boyfriend I should know about?”

  His frown deepened. She was being ridiculous.

  “No, I’ve not tested those waters yet.”

  “Good to know.” She slipped her arms into her leather jacket and grabbed her purse. “Do you want to get out of here?”

  Okay. That wasn’t what he’d expected to hear come out of her mouth. But then, when had Bobbi Jo ever done anything in the conventional sense?

  “And go where?” he asked dryly.

  “Where else,” she said stepping around him. “Your place.”

  Annoyance stung him hard. “I’m not playing whatever game this is, Bobbi.”

  Bobbi smiled back at him, though it wasn’t happiness or amusement in her eyes. There was something desperate and hungry. Something so similar to the way he felt inside that for a moment it felt as if he was gazing into a mirror.

  “This isn’t a game, Shane. A game would mean one of us will lose, but trust me, tonight is all about win for both of us.”

  “You want to go back to my place.”

  She nodded.

  “And do what?”

  A smile curved that generous bottom lip. It was a sexy, wet smile and one meant to tease. But all it did was piss Shane off even more. He couldn’t believe it. She was serious. He should walk the hell away.

  “All sorts of things, Gallagher.”

  She took that moment to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear and he thought of the tattoo that was there, just out of view. His tattoo. His mark.

  And something primal rolled through him. Something hot and dangerous.

  “Everyone already thinks we’re sleeping together,” she continued. “Why not give them something other than speculation to talk about?”

  Give the crowd something to talk about? Hell, this would fuel the rumor mill for weeks to come.

  Bobbi hiked her purse up onto her shoulder. “Are you coming?”

  He might have been out of his fucking mind—halfway to Crazyville—and yet as she turned and headed for the door, waving goodbye to her sister and Logan, Shane was already two steps behind.

  He could tell himself it was because he was curious. He wanted to see just how far Bobbi would go, except that was bullshit and he knew it.

  Shane Gallagher followed Bobbi out of The Grill for one reason, and one reason only. He hadn’t been able to get the woman out of his mind since he’d come home and the shenanigans from her wedding night had only managed to burn that need deeper inside him.

  Maybe tonight…maybe after tasting her again he’d banish her memory. Maybe tonight, he c
ould take her. Enjoy the physical without the emotional crap.

  Yeah, and maybe he was bat-shit crazy.

  Chapter Ten

  What the hell am I doing?

  Bobbi watched the red taillights in front of her burn through the night and she pulled out onto the road behind Shane’s truck. She was following her ex-lover back to his place with the express purpose of having sex.

  Was she really going to do this?

  An image of his dark, smoldering eyes, danced across her mind and her heart took off like a rocket. It pounded so hard that for a moment she felt lightheaded.

  Damn right she was doing this and more. Bobbi didn’t give a crap about the consequence. She’d been living her life, walking that tightrope of responsibility and appearance for years now and she was done with it.

  Maybe it was time for the old Bobbi to make an appearance. The one who lived in the moment and behaved recklessly. The one who did everything your mama warned you not to do.

  The one who felt alive.

  Shane hung a right onto his street and a few minutes later she followed him up the driveway. He pulled his truck into the garage opposite the carriage house he rented from Logan Forest and she parked near his place to wait.

  Moments later he rolled the overhead door down and crossed the driveway. Bobbi was out of her car before he made it that far, her eyes taking in his long, measured stride. His wide, leather clad shoulders and that hair, god he had great hair.

  Without a word she followed him inside the carriage house and then up the stairs that led to the loft above his workshop. Shane flipped a switch, but immediately dimmed the light so that the effect was soft and intimate.

  His little rug rat of a dog came out of nowhere, barking madly and sniffing around Bobbi’s boots until she shooed it away. It didn’t take much, the dog was obviously in love with her owner because Pia gave one more bark and jumped up onto a chair, and then onto the counter where she proceeded to whine and bump her head into him.

  Shane leaned against the countertop, his dark eyes settled onto Bobbi with an intensity that took her breath away. She didn’t know what exactly lit them up, desire? Need? Hatred? Did it matter?

  Heat ripped through her and she was afraid her cheeks were as red as the box of Valentine candy left on his kitchen table. She doffed her jacket and placed it across the nearest chair and then turned back to Shane. The silence between them was heavy and she needed to crack it.

  “You have any wine?” she asked in an uncontrolled Monroe kind of voice that came from where?

  “You don’t want wine,” he said, his voice low and hitting that timber that rolled over her skin like little fingers of pleasure. It was a statement, not a question.

  “No, I don’t want wine.”

  Her gaze dropped to his mouth.

  “What exactly is it that you want?” he asked dangerously. He spread his legs slightly as he continued to lean against the countertop.

  She could play the game. Keep the banter going. The back and forth. The verbal foreplay.

  But she didn’t want to. It had been too long since she’d felt this aroused. Sex with Shane had always been hot and wonderful and amazing and adventurous. So, why couldn’t she have some of that again? Even if only for a brief moment?

  “You,” she said simply, loving how his eyes widened slightly as if he was surprised at her answer.

  “You want sex,” he said matter of fact.

  Something about his tone caught her attention and maybe she should have listened to the warning bells that clanged loudly in the back of her head, and yet…she didn’t.

  “I want sex,” she said slowly taking two steps until she was between his legs, her body humming with desire. Already she pulsed with anticipation. She was wet and ready.

  “Why?”

  God he smelled good. It took everything in Bobbi to keep still when all she wanted to do was rub her body all over him like a cat.

  She tilted her head and gazed up at him, her eyes taking in the stubble that shadowed his jaw, the cleft in his chin and the adorable dimple that softened an otherwise very masculine face.

  Why? There were a hundred and one reasons why this wasn’t a good idea, and yet…

  “Because I can’t remember the last time I had an orgasm.”

  Surprise lit his eyes and for a moment he said nothing. Any other man would have been all over that information. Belittling her ex-fiancé Gerald and his inability to either please his woman, or the fact that he hadn’t been getting any.

  But not Shane.

  Silence stretched for several more moments and when he spoke it was anti-climactic. She might have jumped. Who knows, maybe she did.

  “This is going to get complicated,” he said slowly.

  “It doesn’t have to be,” she answered. Her heart was beating so madly that she was sure he heard it. “Complicated, I mean. Not if we don’t let it.” Pia whined and retreated into the shadows but neither of the adults paid her any mind.

  His eyes darkened to liquid chocolate and Bobbi shivered. She was hot and cold, her skin clammy.

  He shoved off from the countertop and she took a step back, startled. “This is just about sex,” he said.

  She nodded.

  She whispered, “Yes.”

  “No emotional attachment because you and I…”

  Again she nodded, mesmerized by the look in his eyes. They were hungry and they looked like they could devour her without even trying.

  “We’re not exactly good for each other,” he continued.

  She moistened her lips. Was that a groan she heard? Had it come from inside her?

  “I know,” she managed. “But there was something we were damn good at.”

  Shane gazed directly into her eyes so that there was no mistaking the raw desire she saw there. “You have one minute to get your stuff and get the hell out of here or…”

  Her legs turned to jelly and she clutched the chair behind her. “Or what?”

  He took a step forward but didn’t touch her. He leaned down, his breath hot against her neck and when he pushed aside her hair—when his tongue darted out and traced the skin behind her ear—she would have fell if not for the chair.

  “If you don’t leave here I will fuck you.”

  His words were crude and maybe they would have shocked the new Bobbi, except the new Bobbi was gone. At least for tonight. And, oh god, she was falling. A whimper escaped her throat as his mouth moved to the corner of hers, and then his hand was in her hair, yanking her head back slightly so she had to look up into his eyes.

  “I’ll fuck you hard and fast, and then long and slow.”

  Without thought her free hand reached down between her legs, seeking the sweet ache that burned hotter. Was it possible to come from just his words?

  “And then we’ll really get busy.” His voice was low.

  He grabbed her hand. He stopped her from touching herself and the groan that fell from her lips sounded almost animalistic.

  “Trust me, I will give you a fuck-load of orgasms,” he paused, his warm breath feathering across her skin. “If you stay…”

  He was giving her the chance to leave. The chance to avoid whatever mess she would land in if she stayed.

  Except, she couldn’t move even if she wanted to. So she remained silent, pulsing with desire and totally, achingly, unfinished.

  “Just sex,” he said slowly, his gaze lowered onto her mouth. “Just tonight.”

  She nodded. There was no way in hell she was going anywhere.

  Shane stepped back and she saw the hard evidence of his arousal between his legs. The bulge in his jeans was impressive and he was just as worked up as she was. That was good. Her mouth watered in anticipation.

  “Take your clothes off,” he said slowly.

  For a moment she was confused. “What?” she said breathlessly. “Here?”

  “Yeah,” he replied. “Everything. Off. Right now.”

  What game was this? Bobbi glanced down and tried t
o gather her chaotic thoughts. She’d come this far and wasn’t about to turn back now—she didn’t want to. Her entire body thrummed with needs. Needs that hadn’t been met in a very, very, long time.

  After Shane she’d never truly felt alive and now…now she had a chance to experience it all again. But she would do it on her terms. Sex with no strings. Sex with no strings and Shane.

  She could do it.

  They could do this.

  Her breath caught in her throat as her head shot back up and she nailed Shane with a look that said a million things.

  She would to it. And she was more than willing to play his game.

  “You want me to take my clothes off in the middle of your kitchen.”

  Again he nodded, his eyes never leaving hers.

  “Right here in the kitchen,” she said slowly glancing around.

  “Right here,” he answered. “Everything off.”

  “I got that, but you have to promise not to touch me until I say you can.”

  He arched an eyebrow but nodded, a ghost of a smile toying with the corners of his mouth.

  Bobbi moved forward slowly and when Shane would have said something she shook her head and held her forefinger to her lips. She paused, just in front of him, and bent over to unlace her boots. Once they were loose she kicked them off and began to slowly unbutton her blouse as she crossed the entire open space and stood in front of a large mirror on the opposite wall.

  Bobbi gazed in mirror and watched Shane closely as she undid the last button. For a heartbeat, she paused, and then slowly slid the silk off her skin, where it fell to the floor at her feet.

  Her eyes never left Shane.

  There was an entire room between them and yet she felt the heat of his desire as if he was standing right next to her.

  She knew from the angle that he couldn’t see anything but the back of her body and her eyes.

  Carefully her fingers undid her bra clasp and she watched him shift, like he was uncomfortable, and the small black wisp of a garment joined her blouse. Shane started forward but her hoarse voice shut him down. “Not yet.”

  Her eyes still on him through the mirror, she let her fingers walk across her aching breasts, touching lightly at her hard nipples. Once. Twice. And then a third time. She knew Shane couldn’t see what she was doing, but he sure as hell knew what she was touching.