Emerging Temptation: A BWWM Romance Limited Edition Collection

by Peyton Banks

  After breakfast, I take the liberty of cleaning the dishes and putting away any leftovers. Jasmine and Noah have since retreated to their room, leaving the rest of us to fend for ourselves. I smile when Noah chases her up the steps and she giggles.

  “No doubt they’re going to have sex,” Ian says, matter-of-factly.

  “Really?” I blurt out with my hands buried in dishwater.

  “You’re saying it like we aren’t about to go do the same thing,” Karen teases.

  “Oh, come on,” I say, feigning annoyance.

  Karen calls my name, and I turn to find her sticking her tongue out at me. I repeat the gesture and laugh to myself as I continue my task.

  “Well, before y’all disappear, too, Ian, I need to borrow some clothes,” Zander speaks up.

  “I got you, follow me.”

  The two of them head upstairs, cracking jokes along the way. I wrap up the dishes and place them on the old drying rack. When I turn, Karen’s behind me.

  “Why are you just standing there like a weirdo?” I say, leaning away from her with my nose scrunched up.

  “Shut up. I just love you, that’s all.” She shifts her weight to one leg. “I know we get on your nerves, and we’re sorry we tricked you to come up here. It may not have gone the way we hoped, but I appreciate you being a good sport about it.”

  How else should I be? They planned a blind date with a guy who needs to be drunk to show any interest in me. I could be in a sour mood about it, but I’m not particularly fond of the idea of showing hurt to total strangers. It’s one thing to be in my feelings in front of my girls, but in front of their boyfriends and Zander…no thanks.

  “Yeah, well, we’re here now. Not much we can do about that.”

  She pulls me into a hug and places a kiss on my cheek. I pretend to be disgusted and wipe it away, telling her not to give me her cooties. We laugh and stand there for a moment.

  “Babe,” Ian calls from the hall. “Come on and let me love you.”

  Karen’s eyes light up at the sound of his voice, and I watch as she transforms into a giddy school girl again. If the girl doesn’t love, love, I don’t know who does. We’ve spent a lot of years together, and to finally see her with so much joy, it fills my heart with warmth.

  Now alone with not much to do, I decide I’ll read but remember my phone is on the nightstand in my room. I climb the stairs and flop down on my bed once I enter. Kicking off my boots, I prop my feet up and load my reading app. It doesn’t take me long to get into the story and not notice he’s watching me.

  Zander clears his throat, breaking my focus and pulling my gaze toward the doorway. “Hey, can we talk?” he asks, holding his dirty laundry and leaning against the frame.

  His hair is wet and falls heavily around his face. I suck in a breath, willing myself not to get lost in how sexy he looks right now. He’s much bigger than Ian around the shoulders, so the long-sleeved shirt fits snug around his body.

  I blink away the thought and peer at him. “About?”

  “Last night.”

  “What about it? You didn’t mean for it to happen?” I say sharply.

  “No…yes…I mean…” He stumbles over his words, and though I can tell he’s searching for the right thing to say to spare my feelings, he’s doing a shitty job.

  “No worries. All forgotten.” I stand and drop my phone on the bed.

  He squares his shoulders, letting out a deep breath. “That’s not what I meant.”

  “Zander. It’s okay, we were drunk. Things happen, no hard feelings,” I add when I approach the door. He prepares to counter my comment, but I gently push him back into the hall before he can get out a word.

  Hours pass by, and we’re still locked up in this cabin. I force myself to be cordial during the remainder of the evening. It wasn’t too hard, considering we spent the majority of it as a whole group. The lights didn’t go out this time, probably because the wind has finally settled. But even with that new development, we’ll have to wait for the snow to melt some before the boys can even try to dig us out. Zander made us another meal, something he called campfire hash. It was a mixture of canned potatoes, corn, onions, and sausages. One thing’s for sure, the man’s a great cook. If I can’t appreciate him for anything else, I can at least give him credit for that.

  I close the fridge and twist the cap off my water bottle, turning just in time to see Jasmine walking away.

  “I’m going to call it a night,” she says when I give her the where are you going snarl.

  I check my watch and see that it’s only half past nine. And they call me the old prune. A few minutes later, Noah shakes both Ian’s and Zander’s hands then joins his woman.

  I look to Karen, who’s resting on Ian’s shoulder. “Are y’all going to leave us, too?” I tease from the kitchen.

  Ian lifts his wrist for the time. “Karen is, at least. She’s dozing off. Let me get her in bed, I’ll be back down. Maybe we can play some cards.” Ian scoots off the sofa, sweeping Karen in his arms and slowly carrying her upstairs.

  “He ain’t coming back,” Zander finally adds.

  I reach back into the icebox and remove a beer for each of us. “Nope, I doubt it.” The door slams shut as I strut into the living room.

  After handing him a bottle, I flop down at the other end of the couch with both legs tucked underneath me. Zander opens his drink, passing it to me, and takes mine from my grasp. At first, I’m confused until I realize he was being kind and opened it for me.

  I’m halfway finished with my beverage and notice he’s barely taking a sip from his. It dawns on me that after our little make out session last night, he’s probably nervous. I huff and stretch a foot out until it brushes against his thigh. When he looks over at me, I slide it back in place.

  “You can drink. It’s only beer.”

  He hesitates for a moment but finally takes a big gulp. “You don’t strike me as the type to enjoy a trip like this. How’d they rope you into it?” he asks after a pregnant pause.

  I swallow my drink. “What gave it away?” I smirk and stretch my feet out, being careful not to touch him this time.

  “All the snarky remarks about death on a mountaintop and such.” He chuckles and takes another pull.

  I look at my watch then up at the top of the stairs. “Guess we were right. Ian hasn’t come back yet.” I swing my feet off the sofa and into my slippers.

  Zander watches as I step across his long legs and over to flip the light switch. The room goes dark, and immediately, everything stills. There’s something about being in a room with nothing but the sound of a crackling fire and the soft glow that relaxes your mind and body. I return to my seat but soon let out a disappointed grunt.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I’m out of beer.” I pout.

  “Oh, I’ll get you another.” Zander jumps up before I can protest. The room lights up when he opens the fridge and leans down to look inside. “Looks like those were the last ones. We have plenty of vodka, though.”

  “Juice?”

  “Uh.” He feels around inside. “Yeah, lots. What do you want? Cranberry, mango, pineapple?”

  “Mix it. Mango, pineapple, and vodka,” I say, feeling confident that with the chasers, there won’t be a reenactment of last night.

  A few minutes later, he returns and hands me one a drink. Once he’s seated, I hold mine out to him for a toast. It takes a second for him to register what I’m doing, but he finally gets it.

  “What was that for?”

  I shrug. “To strangers.” I chuckle and take a mouthful from my cup.

  Zander nods in response and sips from his own.

  “To answer your question.” I pull my leg to my chest and rest my elbow against my knee. “They lied to me. Told me it was a girl’s trip and that they missed hanging out with me. But when we got here, I learned it’s really a couples’ thing and I’m the fifth wheel,” I offer, purposely leaving out the piece about trying to set me up with him only
for that to be an epic failure.

  “Ooo. Those are the worse. I hate being the fifth wheel. The guys called me up wanting to get the gang back together. It’s been so long since we’ve hung out, I’ll have to admit I was skeptical. Besides, I was already on duty for this weekend, so to make up for turning them down, I pulled some strings and snagged the cabin for them. Me getting stuck here has been one funny coincidence. I only came by to make sure everything was good before checking in on the remaining residents on my route.”

  I notice he mentions nothing about them wanting him to meet me, which only confirms my suspicions. They never told him, which is complete bullshit, and if they were sitting down here with us, I’d curse all their asses out.

  “You said they missed hanging out with you. Have you been estranged?” He breaks our silence.

  “No. We talk all the time. Karen and I are basically sisters, and Jasmine is my best friend from elementary school. But I work a lot, so there hasn’t really been much room for shooting the breeze.”

  “Basically?” he quizzes.

  I nod. “My parents began fostering her when we were in high school. She’s been a part of my family ever since. We would have adopted her, but there was a lot of work behind it. Eventually, she and my parents felt we didn’t need a piece of paper to make her family.”

  “Wow. That’s really great of your parents. You two seem close, and now that I know this, I realize that you’ve bickered like sisters the whole time. I honestly thought you were related to Jasmine.”

  “Not by blood, but she’s like a sister also. What about you? Why’d they have to try and drag you out here?”

  He huffs. “Like you, I work a lot. These mountains are my life, and things are so different then when we were in college. We partied all the time, drank entirely too much, and honestly, I wasn’t sure where either of us would end up. It’s kind of funny that we all wound up in the rescue field. We just knew we were going to be big shots making millions and driving the fastest cars. But I guess that’s why we work. We all had dreams, and while we are different in our personalities, we each have a knack for helping people.” He takes another drink.

  I do the same, taking several sips before speaking. “So…you didn’t always want to be a wildlife ranger?” I joke and pray that he gets my humor.

  He does and tosses his head back. “No, actually. I kinda stumbled into it after…” He stops mid-sentence and lifts his hand to his mouth. His shoulders stiffen, and even with the low light, I see him blink several times.

  I don’t know what shifted, but I know that look and decide to change the subject. “Do you live close by?”

  Zander’s mouth forms a soft smile as he drops his hand to his lap. “I do. I purchased one of the cabins about five years ago. Number twenty-six, it’s a few miles up the mountain.”

  “So how come you didn’t invite us to stay there?”

  “Like I said, I was skeptical about seeing them after all this time. Plus, it’s a small cottage, just enough space for me and my dog.”

  “Nice! What breed, and is he all right with this storm?”

  “She’s a German Shepard named Trixie. I got her three years ago. Yes, she’s fine. I have potty pads down, and her food dispenser is one of those touch ones. All she has to do is press her nose against it, and it’ll pour a serving.”

  “Wow, she sounds fancy.” I smile.

  “She is. Kind of a diva, been that way since I got her. But she loves hard and is a great companion.”

  I sense the love in his words, and for some reason it makes me smile. Dogs have been a big part of my childhood, and if it wasn’t for the lack of attention I'd be able to give, I’d adopt one myself. They really are the best for companionship.

  “What’s in your cup?” I ask, breaking the silence that’s fallen over us.

  “Cranberry and vodka.”

  “Oh. I thought maybe you would have made you one of these.”

  “Nah. Too many juices.”

  “Oh, come on. It’s actually really good. Here, try it.” I hold my drink out, and he takes it.

  Zander swirls it around and sniffs before finally taking a sip. I lean in, waiting for him to agree that it’s delicious. He smacks his lips together to savor the taste and eventually looks at me.

  “So?” I drag out my question.

  “It’s good.” He takes another swig.

  “Told you.” I take his cup and stand. “Go ahead and finish it, I’ll make another.” I walk around the left side of the sofa not giving him the chance to object, finishing off his drink along the way.

  I open the fridge, tapping my feet to the song playing in my head. I pull out both juices and add them to my cup then place them back where I got them. My body sways as I fill it the rest of the way with vodka. Stopping for a brief moment, I take a swig and return to my seat. With my fingers, I signal for his cup and pour some into it.

  “Thanks.”

  “No problem.” When I recline back into the arm of the sofa, I stretch my leg out. “You know how sometimes you’ll get a song stuck in your head out of nowhere?”

  “Yeah, I do.” Zander scoots deeper into the cushion, his pelvic bone lifting as he adjusts himself.

  I blink and shake my head. “That’s what’s happening to me right now. I don’t know why, but it just came to me while I walked to get this drink.”

  “Really? What song?” The corner of his mouth lifts into a crooked smile.

  “She just had a baby and gained a little weight. Bye bye size six, seven, and eight.”

  His eyes grow wide, and I stop.

  “What?”

  He presses his lips into a tight line, but his eyes give it all away. “Nothing.”

  “Lies,” I say, louder than I need to, and we both laugh.

  “Okay. That was really…bad. Like horrible.”

  I gasp but can’t stop the grin from forming.

  “Seriously, who wrote that, and why is it stuck in your head?”

  I sip my drink, only to laugh and spit it back into the cup. “Trinidad James. He’s a rapper who was out a few years back. And I don’t know why, it just is.”

  “Um… Okay, well, sweetie, I think you should let him sing is own song from now on.”

  I can’t stop the laugh from coming, even though I try. He’s not wrong, I probably should leave the singing to the professionals and stick to freelance work. My foot brushes against his thigh again, but this time I don’t rush to pull it away, and he doesn’t seem to mind. He settles into his seat with his eyes fixed on me and that crooked grin still plastered to his face. I don’t know if it’s the vodka or the laughs we’ve shared, but I realize I like his smile.

  “Listen.” His voice lowers, and he sits up, turning slightly to face me. “About earlier. I wasn’t trying to say I wanted to forget what happened between us last night. I know you said not to worry about it, but I don’t want you to think I was being a jerk. We were all pretty damn drunk, and I didn’t want you to feel like I took advantage of that.” He pauses, but when I don’t respond, he continues. “I’m not that kind of guy.”

  The words fall off his lips, and with them goes his mood. His shoulders stiffen, and his short, hitched breaths are visible through the too-small shirt he has on. I want to silently curse Ian for giving it to him but at the same time thank him, because muscles bulging will always be a great sight.

  I take another sip to give myself time to process. “Honestly, I just figured you aren’t interested.”

  His hand drops to his lap, and he takes a deep breath. “Oh God, no. You’re an incredibly beautiful woman. I’d be a fool not to be interested. And I’d be lying if I said I’m not dying to taste your lips again. But only if you’d want me to.”

  I turn away, lifting my cup to hide my smile. It’s not that I don’t know I’m pretty, but hearing him say it heats my cheeks.

  Once I’m able to keep a straight face, I push my shoulders back and tilt my head to the side. “And what if I did?”

&n
bsp; I surprise even myself with my question, but I truly want to know the answer. Zander doesn’t respond. He only stares at me for a long time with that same expression. After a beat, I take a deep breath and tell myself to forget it. I slip my leg away and prepare to return to my room. It’s getting late, and I’ve officially embarrassed myself…again. But I don’t have the chance to get up and run away. He grips my ankle and drags me close until I’m pressed against him with one foot on the floor and the other leg folded next to his thigh. And suddenly I notice how good he smells and how strong his hands are.

  Zander peers at me with bated breaths, and my gaze dances around his face, seeing the hunger inside him. I don’t know what transpired, from him showing up here uninterested to now. His hand slides across my shin, over the curve of my thigh before he grabs me by the waist and pulls me into his lap. I lean forward, erasing what little distance remains between us. His palms move up the outside of my legs and around to the small of my back. A mixture of cool air and warmth from the fire pricks my skin when he lifts my shirt. He traces my spine with his finger, leaving a trail of heat in its wake. Every scrape of his nails and stroke of his rough palms sends a flood of pleasure through every nerve in my body.

  Zander grips the back of my neck, massaging me gently while watching the tremble of my lips. God, if he doesn’t kiss me already. The girls would probably jump for joy if they knew what was happening right now. Their plan, though unwanted and rocky in the beginning, seems to be panning out. I lean forward and he lifts up to meet me halfway, pulling my lip between his teeth and suckling it. His kisses are conversational, saying more to me then he has all weekend. It’s primal and filled with want. But it’s also contradicting in a sense. The way he pulls back like he’s afraid he’s giving too much just to take my breath away with the next stroke of his tongue along mine.

  He reclines, and I glare at him, confused at why he’d stopped. Running a hand down my braids, he looks at me, his features softening against the embers of the fire.