Night with Sole Regret

TAKE ME XI

Oh well. She wasn’t going to let his lack of interest ruin her evening. Even if he didn’t want her in a s****l capacity, they could still have a few laughs together. She searched the fridge for a couple of beers, tossed several slices of pizza on a plate and grabbed the bowl of fruit before carrying it all to the family room off the kitchen. She set everything on the coffee table and knelt in front of his shelves of Blu-ray discs, scanning titles for something that would give her an excuse to bury her face in his chest. Just because he wasn’t attracted to her didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy being close to him. Right?

Desperate much, Amanda? She released a heavy sigh.

On her elbows and knees, she swayed back and forth with nervous energy as she read titles. She wouldn’t have known he’d entered the room if he hadn’t muttered, “son of a b***h,” under his breath. What was his problem now? She pulled a case off the shelf and tossed it on the coffee table.

“How about that one?”

“Fine,” he said, without looking at it. He crossed the room to the large ottoman at the foot of an oversized blue chair. He opened it and pulled out a blanket. “Have a seat.”

When she sat on the sofa in front of the television, he unfolded the blanket over her lap and then went so far as to tuck it in around her legs. “That’s better,” he said.

“What’s better?”

He paused. “I figured you were cold.”

“In a flannel shirt?”

“Your legs, I mean.”

“It’s June.”

“The A/C is on.”

“Okay, I get it. I’ll keep covered up,” she said testily. “Sit down and eat.”

Scratching the back of his neck, he eyed the chair on the opposite side of the room. If he sat all the way over there, she was going to punch him in the nose.

“Put the movie in,” she said and loosened the blanket so she could reach for a slice of pizza.

He obeyed. She glowered. They hadn’t even kissed, yet all of the easy friendliness between them had vanished as if he’d just discovered he’d been making out with his first cousin. She paused with her pizza dangling from her mouth. Oh God. Maybe he thought of her like a sister. She suddenly felt like throwing a Julie-sized tantrum.

Jacob got the movie going and then settled at the opposite end of the sofa from where Amanda was wrapped up like beans in a burrito.

“Uh, no,” she said, “if you’re making me watch a scary movie, then you’re sitting within grabbing distance.”

He inched closer but looked none too happy about it. She munched her pizza and sipped her beer while pretending she didn’t feel like an ugly duckling. The room darkened as the sun slipped beneath the horizon. The surround sound and the suspense soon had Amanda so engrossed in the movie that she couldn’t look away from the wide screen. She was the woman lost in the woods. She was the woman who kept glancing over her shoulder. The sound of crunching leaves grew louder behind her. Closer. Louder. Something grabbed Amanda’s shoulder. She screamed.

Jacob burst out laughing.

She smacked him on the arm. “You scared the s**t out of me.” Her heart was racing out of control.

“Hey, you were the one who wanted to sit within grabbing distance.”

“So I could hold on to you when I was afraid, not so you could scare me.”

The blue light of the television cast an eerie glow to his grinning face. “Sorry.”

“No, you aren’t.” She took another sip of her beer only to find it empty. Her pizza had also disappeared into her stomach while she’d been absorbed by the movie. She noticed Jacob had finished all the slices she’d brought from the kitchen and she did not want to move from her spot.

Amanda reached for the bowl of fruit, setting it between herself and Jacob on the sofa. They both reached into the bowl at the same time, and the back of his hand brushed hers. Her entire body tightened in response. He yanked his hand from the bowl and reached for his beer. Jeez, was it hot in here or was it just him? Most likely it was the f*****g blanket she was smothered under. She kicked it off and tucked her legs beneath her, which moved her closer to Jacob. He didn’t seem to notice, but his scent engulfed her, mixing with the mouthwatering scent of strawberries and oranges wafting up from the bowl.

The unlucky woman on the TV screen was being brutally murdered, but Amanda didn’t find it nearly as frightening as the build-up. Blood and guts didn’t bother biology teachers. The being stalked in the darkness part terrified her, however. So when the next unlucky woman found herself being pursued down dark alleys in the wrong part of town, Amanda leaned toward Jacob until her temple rested on his shoulder.

He tensed, but didn’t push her away.

“God, don’t these women carry a damned cellphone?” Amanda said. To the woman on the screen who was breaking into an abandoned warehouse, she yelled, “Don’t go in there, you idiot.”

Jacob pulled the bowl of fruit from between their hips and set it on the table. Then he did an entirely baffling thing. He wrapped an arm around her and cradled her against his side. Her heart was definitely pounding now. Blood rushed through her ears, stifling the screams of the woman in the movie. Movie? What movie? Amanda’s awareness focused entirely on the hard male body pressed against her. She didn’t mean to turn her head and kiss his neck, but once she’d crossed the line, there was no retreat.

Every nerve-ending in Shade’s body was already in tune with the woman beside him, so when her soft lips brushed his throat, the last shred of his self-control snapped like an overstretched rubber band. He’d thought covering her with a big, shapeless flannel shirt would keep his raging hormones in check, but seeing her looking so small and feminine in his shirt had unleashed a second battery of hormones. The blanket he’d used to hide her sexy bare legs hadn’t helped smother the lust in his groin. And now? Now there was no way in hell he’d be able to get through another moment without tasting her. Every inch of her. He didn’t care if she was off-limits—he was on fire.

She gasped when he deftly shifted her onto her back and covered her tempting little body with his. He buried his hands in her hair and tilted her head back. She stared up at him with her soft green eyes wide with shock.

“You shouldn’t have done that, Amanda,” he said. “I only have so much self-control.” He claimed her mouth in a deep, hungry kiss, not knowing if he wanted to punish her for being irresistibly unattainable or if he wanted to devour her whole. He groaned when her mouth opened to his. f**k, she was even sweeter than he imagined.

He tore his mouth from hers and kissed and suckled her throat.

“Jacob,” she whispered breathlessly.

Most women he bedded called him Shade because that’s what they thought his name was. Hearing his given name made him feel vulnerable and unbalanced. It didn’t do a damned thing to calm his excitement though. If anything, it fueled the inferno already blazing inside him. His fingers curled into the soft flannel at her shoulders. Kissing her hadn’t been enough, but necking, necking was plenty. He could stop here. Not take it any farther. He could stop before he destroyed their cherished friendship with mindless f*****g. He could stop.

His fingers fumbled with the buttons of her shirt. He just had to feel the give of her soft breasts against his palms. That was all. He’d hold her luscious breasts in his hands for just a moment and then he’d stop. Shade opened the shirt and shifted onto his elbows so he could cup her breasts. Her back arched, pressing the soft globes more firmly into his hands.

“Jacob,” she moaned.

Oh God. He couldn’t let her call his name like that again, or the hardened nubs of her n*****s that were burning holes through her bra and into his palms would have to be sucked and licked and nibbled. He wasn’t going to take it that far. He had to stop before … She shifted her back from the sofa and unfastened her bra.

“Amanda,” he murmured. He’d meant it as a reprimand, but it sounded like a lover’s caress. s**t.

Okay, he’d massage her bare breasts with his hands and then he wouldn’t go farther. He pushed her loosened bra up to free her breasts. Oh God, they were perfect. He covered them with his hands so the sight of them didn’t tempt him into sucking on them for hours. He occupied his mouth with hers, though his disobedient thumbs insisted on stroking the taut buds of her n*****s until she began to writhe beneath him, rubbing her mound against what had to be the hardest erection he’d ever experienced. Her legs parted, and he sank between her thighs. He could feel the molten heat of her s*x and couldn’t keep from grinding his c**k against her soft flesh. Damn it. You can’t take this any farther, Silverton. You have to stop. Stop now. Stop before you go too far.