Just One Look (18 page)

"We'll be back as quickly as possible," Matt said.

"Take your time," Ed said, untying the boat and tossing the rope to Matt. He turned and walked back to Johansen's.

* * *

"What are you up to, Ed?" Johansen asked, handing Ed a cup of coffee.

"Oh, giving a couple of kids a chance to perfect their foreplay." He pulled his cell phone from his shirt pocket and called Ronnie. "Okay, I did it. Why don't you make a big pot of stew for dinner? Jenny and Matt are gonna be hungry when they get back."

He grinned and listened for a minute. "Yep. They'll be out of gas by the time they ease into the cove at Murphy's place. The rest is up to them. I'll give them a couple of hours and then go tow them in."

* * *

Jennifer pushed the throttle to the limit. The boat leaped forward, slamming Matt back against the bench seat.

"Better hang on," she shouted, smirking. The water spray seemed like ice against her skin. At the speed she was going, Matt would find it useless to lash out with his barbed insults.

Matt gripped the side of the boat and heaved himself to his feet. With a lurch, he grabbed the back of the bucket seat next to hers.

Startled, Jennifer looked up into his blazing eyes as he swung himself into the seat next to her. She pressed her lips together and looked back at the water. The wind cut through her shirt. She should have put her coat on before she'd left Johansen's.

"Are you trying to kill us?" Matt shouted.

"Don't be ridiculous. I know what I'm doing."

"I don't think you have a clue. Now slow down!" He roared.

Jennifer reached over to the throttle and pushed it forward another inch. "Mind your own business," she shouted, through her chattering teeth.

Up ahead she could see the cove next to the Murphys' cabin. Just as she reached to throttle back, the motor coughed. Matt grabbed the throttle. His arm pressed against her breasts, igniting her temper.

"Get off me, you jerk."

He throttled back. "Don't flatter yourself, baby, I'm just trying to save your skin."

"Don't call me baby." Jennifer reached for the throttle, but his hand kept control of it. His arm didn't move but remained, rubbing against her breasts with each movement of the boat.

His touch inflamed her. Finally, he withdrew his hand from the throttle. Carefully, Jennifer turned the wheel, maneuvering into the rock-bordered cove. The engine died. Startled, she looked at Matt.

"What's wrong?" He asked, his breathing ragged.

"The motor." She pressed the starter. It ground and ground, but the engine wouldn't start.

Matt looked around. "Where's this Johansen?"

For the first time, Jennifer noticed that they were the only boat in the sun-dappled cove. "I don't know." She tried the engine again.

"You may as well stop. You'll just grind the starter down." Matt walked back to the compartment beneath the bench seat.

"What are you doing?"

"Throwing the anchor out. We don't want to drift onto those rocks."

Jennifer nodded. "Good idea." She looked around the cove, wondering if Johansen had already left or hadn't arrived yet.

"Helloooo," Matt shouted. "Anyone here?"

"It's no use," Jennifer stood carefully in the gently rocking boat. "The Murphys live in town down the street from Mom and Dad. They only come to the lake when the weather is warm."

"Maybe they made an exception this weekend." Matt shaded his eyes and tried to see over the bank to the house beyond.

"Nope. They went to Florida to visit their daughter last week. They aren't supposed to be back for a month."

He looked around. "Then what you're telling me is that we're stranded out here on the lake."

"That's about the size of it." They were alone. Truly alone. Her heartbeat accelerated.

"So it's just you and me and the lake." Matt said, moving slowly, carefully, toward her. The boat rocked gently. He dropped into the seat next to her. "No one to interrupt us. No place to run to. All the time in the world."

"I'm sure Dad will come after us if we're not back in a while." Jennifer tried to inject a note of reason into the insanity that tempted her. "I left my cell at home. Do you have yours?"

He patted his pockets. "Nope."

The sun seemed unnaturally warm, she thought, fanning her cheeks.

Hot?" His voice was soft, suggestive.

Her heart started to race. Jennifer dropped her hand. "No, not at all."

"I've wanted to explain, but we kept getting sidetracked or interrupted. Emotion kept clouding the issue," he said, still in that soft voice.

"Heavens, we certainly can't have feelings muddying the issue, can we? Well, there's certainly no one to interrupt us now, is there? So talk."

"You're not getting emotional on me, are you?" he asked.

"I wouldn't dream of it," she smarted off.

"All right. Remember when I said that I knew you'd wanted me since you were fourteen?"

Jennifer bristled. "Yes, I remember. You keep coming back to that."

"You never let me finish. What you wouldn't listen to was this. I've wanted you too since that same night. I wanted you before that date. And I spent a lot of time in college thinking about you. Now I want to see if the reality is as good as the wanting."

"Sex is the only thing on your mind," Jennifer said, breathlessly. She wondered if there would be anything between them after he'd got what he wanted. "It amazes me how men are ruled by the smallest part of their anatomy."

Matt smirked. "Since you haven't yet seen that part of my anatomy, perhaps you shouldn't make premature judgements about its size."

"Let me guess," she mocked. "Yours is a major part of your anatomy, right?"

"It certainly is at the moment, but I'll let you be the judge of that."

Jennifer sucked in her breath. Involuntarily her eyes dropped to his crotch.

"Just your eyes on me makes me hard," he said.

Jennifer yielded to his mesmerizing voice and allowed him to pull her to him. As soon as she stood within the circle of his arms, his restraint seemed to break.

His hands dived into her hair, and his mouth plundered hers. Over and over his tongue thrust into her mouth. She couldn't have stopped herself from responding if she'd wanted to, which she didn't.

She gave herself up to the kiss, reveling in its power. Without thought, her hands reached to his shirt and began slipping the buttons free.

"I want you, Jenny. I want you now. I can't wait a moment longer." His hands shook as he slid her buttons free. He pulled her shirt free of her jeans. In an instant, he had it hanging from her shoulders and her front-clasped bra parted, revealing her perfect breasts.

"You have the most beautiful breasts I've ever seen. Reverently, he kissed the swells of her breasts. "I've waited a lifetime, it seems, for this moment. They're finally mine."

Jennifer felt a chill at his words. That's what Matt's friend had said Matt had bragged about. He'd accepted a bet to find out if her boobs were real. The memory was like a knife in her heart. But she was caught in the sway of desire. Even bad memories couldn't stop her from wanting him.

Before she could speak, before she could think of pushing him away, his hands slid down to cup her breasts. His thumbs brushed over the taut pink nipples. Jennifer cried out. The sound echoed in the quiet cove.

A cord seemed to stretch from her breasts to her wet, throbbing sex. Sanity fled as his mouth closed on a nipple. He sucked hard. The pleasure was intense. Jennifer pressed his head against her. She could only moan and offer her other breast for his attention.

Her legs shook until she could hardly stand. Then she felt his hands unfastening her belt, the snap on her jeans. The rasp of her zipper, then his. Dazed, she asked, "How? Where?"

"I'll take care of it." Matt looked around the boat. He'd almost forgotten where they were. He gathered the cushions and arranged them. He knelt at her feet and untied her boots then removed them. He made short work of her jeans and panties and shed his clothes at warp speed.

The boat rocked. Matt pulled her into his arms and held her, stroking her body as if he couldn't get enough of touching her. "Are you cold?" He tugged her shirt back onto her shoulders.

Jennifer shook her head. "Quite the opposite." She looked at him and smiled. "You weren't lying when you bragged about the size of that particular part of your anatomy." She laughed softly. She knew they must look completely crazy, standing naked in a rocking boat, but she didn't care.

"I'll make sure to keep you warm," he said. For long moments they gazed into each other's eyes. Then Matt stroked both hands over her breasts. Around and around he rotated his palms on her nipples. Her head fell back as ragged breaths shuddered through her body.

His hands trailed downward, over her flat stomach, and his fingers threaded through the soft curls at the apex of her thighs. He stroked the soft folds and she knew she was thoroughly wet. Waiting for him. He sat down on the cushions he'd arranged and leaned back. "I'd prefer a bed, and hours and hours to pleasure you, but I think this will have to do. For now." He pulled her down, onto his lap. He was rock-hard and everything she wanted.

"In my pants pocket." His voice was strained.

Jennifer reached for his jeans and fished the small foil pack out of the pocket and handed it to him. So he'd been prepared. He'd known this would happen. Watching him sheathe himself made her throb. She raised up on her knees and took him into her body. Slowly. Slowly. He filled her. Her gaze never wavered from his as she lowered herself on his hard staff. The intensity of the feelings was shattering. Nothing else mattered. Nothing except expressing the love she felt for him.

Matt groaned. Finally, his eyes drifted closed. His teeth sank into his bottom lip as he fought for control. When she moaned and rocked against him, he opened his eyes. "Jenny? Okay?"

"Better than okay," she whispered.

His hands reached for her breasts. A shudder rippled through her. She moaned and lowered her mouth to his. His tongue met hers. His hands left her breasts and went to her hips. He lifted her and let her slide slowly onto him. His breath rasped as he filled her again and again.

"More," she whispered. "Harder."

She bit back the other words she wanted to say and savored the pleasure he was giving her. This rough magic would have to be enough. Would he even believe her if she told him she loved him? Or would he think she was playing games? Their bodies were slick with perspiration. She'd never felt anything so right. So wonderful. Her climax took her by surprise, and she cried out.

Matt thrust faster, harder. The pulsating tremors of her body gripped him.

When he found his own release, Jennifer gloried in it. She'd done this to him. Then she fell against his neck, spent, and suddenly cold. He stroked her back and made soothing sounds. He kissed her neck and gently palmed her breasts, helping her come down, easing her way.

"At last. Now I don't have to wonder any more," he murmured, kissing the top of her head.

His words were like a bucket of lake water on Jennifer. She climbed off him. Turning her back, she began to pull her shirt on, her movements jerky and awkward.

"What are you doing? Give me a few minutes and we'll make some more echoes on the lake," he joked.

"I don't think so. We both got what we wanted so there's no point in doing it again." Please say I'm wrong, Jennifer pleaded silently.

Her words pissed him off royally. How could she sound so brusque and uninvolved after what they'd just shared?

"If this is part of that sexually inhibited act, you can skip it. I know the truth about that," he snapped, irritated by her hot and cold running passion.

"You wouldn't know the truth if it jumped out of the water and landed in your lap," Jennifer replied.

Stung, he retorted, "I've known what you were up to from the beginning. Do you think I bought that lame story about your being sexually repressed? For some unknown reason, you set me up to be humiliated."

"Unknown reason? As if you don't recall what you did to me when I was fourteen?"

"I didn't do anything to you except credit you with more maturity than you obviously had. So don't try to act like I wronged you."

"You did wrong me. You took that asinine bet from your buddies that you could get in my bra! Then you told them that not only had you done that but you'd got in my panties as well."

"I did not!" He roared. A water crane took flight at the noise. "Give me a break," he said, disgust heavy in his voice. He couldn't believe she'd think that of him.

"I'd like to give you a break, right over your hard head. Your good buddy Phil told me all about it. He tried to take up where he thought you left off. And furthermore, you didn't know what I was up to. You were completely turned on. You had your tongue hanging so far out of your mouth that you could have mopped the floor with it."

"Listen, baby."

"Don't call me baby." Jennifer curled her hands into fists. "As far as I'm concerned, this is a stalemate. I set you up. You set me up. We're even now."

Matt clammed up. He was hurt and furious and, damn, still wanting her.

Jennifer reached for her panties and used them to clean herself as much as possible. She slipped into her jeans and tucked the panties in her pocket.

Matt finally spoke, "I don't understand you, Jenny. Not at all."

She turned and saw him zipping his pants. Just in time too since a boat was entering the cove.

"Ahoy there," her father called. "Johansen got back before you did so I thought I'd come looking for you," Ed said. "Got a problem?"

Tears filled Jennifer's eyes, but she furiously blinked them back.

"The motor died," Matt said.

"Well, I was afraid of that. I guess they didn't get that motor fixed after all," Ed said, grinning. "Here, catch." He threw a tow line to them.

Neither Jennifer nor Matt spoke on the trip back to the marina. They waited inside while Johansen looked at the motor. Within minutes, he had it fixed. Jennifer didn't bother to ask what the problem was. She wanted only to get back to the lake house so she could cry. Her emotions felt too raw, her skin too sensitive.