Love Like You've Never Been Hurt (4 page)

“Oh, shit!” thought Jack “What do I do?”

He was half amused and half concerned. He was thrilled that she
was here, but he really didn’t want to frighten the life out of
her, or worse, scare her away by announcing his presence. As her
footsteps approached the bedroom door he quickly decided on the path
of least resistance. He lay back down, pulled the covers up over
himself and pretended to be asleep.

Emma had a terrible habit of drinking iced coffee on the drive up
here. The first unfortunate side effect being that the bathroom was
always the first place she saw at the lake. The second, she realized
as she emerged, was that although she was exhausted her mind was
skittery and the sleepiness that had plagued her the last few miles
wouldn’t translate into real sleep for a while yet. Oh well, at
least here in the cabin there was the wonderful skylight above the
bed. She could watch the stars until sleep claimed her.

She loved this cabin. As kids, and later as young adults, their
gruesome foursome had spent many good times here. She believed Pete’s
parents, whom she adored, had probably built the place with that in
mind. A place for their son and his friends to hang out, have some
fun away from adult interference yet still be right there, safe on
their own property. She would swear this cabin had a presence of its
own; it held happiness and fond memories, it was almost like one of
the gang. Tonight its presence felt almost tangible, as if she were
sharing space with another living being, as if she weren’t
really alone. She chuckled to herself as she began to undress. She
stepped out of her clothes and folded them neatly, placing them on
the chair by the window. Pausing as she walked toward the bed, she
looked up through the skylight at the stars. She sighed a happy sigh,
so good to be here.

Jack was trying his hardest not to even breathe. Two seconds after
she emerged from the bathroom he realized that pretending to be
asleep was probably the dumbest thing he could have done. He should
have spoken up when she came in. Damn! Then she started to undress
and he had no choice. This was going to be awkward. But, man, part of
him couldn’t peel his eyes away from her. One part of him was
wide awake and standing to attention. Why hadn’t she turned the
light on? He could have woken, or pretended to, and she would have
seen him. Perhaps they could have laughed together about the mix up.
But now, now he was watching her undress and there was nothing he
could do that wouldn’t make this worse. Nothing, that is,
except stick with his idiotic plan of pretending to be asleep.

He stayed as still as he possibly could, watching her bare
shoulders, the curve of her neck as she stepped out of her jeans. She
was so beautiful. Full breasts overflowed from a smooth silky bra.
Her waist was narrow above curvy hips and, oh my God, a silky thong.
His breath caught in his chest as she bent to remove the thong,
showing off that perfectly rounded ass he’d so enjoyed watching
her wiggle. His erection strained inside his boxers. Man, she was
perfect. He watched transfixed as she unfastened her bra, freeing
those luscious breasts. Jack squeezed his eyes closed. This was pure
torture and it was so, so wrong – was he now some kind of
creepy voyeur?

He couldn’t help it
though. He opened his eyes again only to find her standing before
him, completely naked, face upturned to the stars above, every
perfect inch of her calling out to him as she gave a contented little
sigh. That image burned itself into his brain and he knew he would
never, ever shake its memory. It filled him with so many emotions.
Lust of course; she was incredible. He wanted to smell her, taste
her, feel her, take her. But more than that, she looked so vulnerable
somehow that he wanted to protect her, and yet so strong he wanted to
challenge her. What the hell was wrong with him? She’d never
speak to him again if she knew he’d watched her. All the same,
he couldn’t wait for the moment this very beautiful, very naked
woman would slide into bed next to him.

And she did.

Emma climbed into bed and wriggled over to center herself under
the skylight. Just as she reached the middle she realized the other
side of the bed was warm. There was someone already there! For a
second she lay stunned, holding her breath and hoping not wake
whoever was there. Her mind racing, she thought she could probably
slide back out without making too much noise or movement. At that
moment the body on the other side of the bed rolled over to face her
and stretched an arm over her.

Jack Benson! Oh, my goodness! Emma froze. She had to admit she’d
entertained a few thoughts about being in bed with this gorgeous man,
but this hadn’t quite been the scenario she’d had in
mind. Could she get out without waking him? She started to edge away
from him, but damn if that arm didn’t tighten around her and
draw her towards him. All of a sudden she was pressed up against his
hard naked chest, enveloped in the scent of him, with that muscular
arm holding her close. For a moment she breathed him in, imagining
what it would be like to be held by this man for real. She felt her
nipples go taut and a tingling warmth between her legs. Oh my!

As if the change in her had startled him, Jack opened his eyes,
looking dazed and half asleep.

“Emma?” he murmured. “You’re a good
dream.” He smiled down at her with those eyes she wanted to
swim in, for a moment she stared back. Then she came to her senses
and pulled back.

“This isn’t a dream, Jack. I’m so sorry. I
didn’t know you were here.” She scurried to the other
side of the bed, covering herself with sheet as she went.

Jack sat up looking startled. “What the...?” he asked,
leaping out of bed and standing to face her.

Emma couldn’t help but notice his bulging shorts; that was
quite a bulge! Oh, how could she be thinking that right now? She
should be mortified that she had crawled naked into bed with him, not
admiring the size of his manhood!

“I’m sorry,” she stammered. “I didn’t
know you were here.”

“You already said that.”

“Pete told me I could stay here if I came in late, I
sometimes do.”

Jack seemed to be gathering his wits.

“Hey, it’s OK,” he smiled. “No harm, no
foul. It’s me that’s out of the ordinary. They told me
about the skylight and I asked if I could sleep down here. I’ve
always loved watching the stars, ever since I was a little kid. Pete
must’ve assumed you weren’t coming as it was gone
midnight when we turned in.”

Emma just nodded at him. Now that the shock had passed she was
filled with acute embarrassment. She should have leaped out of bed
screaming the moment she realized someone was there. Instead she’d
lain still, let him hold her, pull her against him. And the worst
thing was that she’d loved every second of it.”

“Are you OK?”

“Yes, I’m fine! I should go,” she snapped, her
embarrassment coming across as anger.

“Whoa,” Jack held up a hand. “Calm down and slow
down. Where are you going to go?”

“Anywhere.” Tears filled her eyes, she felt so stupid.
He came around the bed towards her.

“
Hey. It’s OK.”
He was standing in front of her. “It’s OK, you’re
tired and you had a shock.” He perched on the edge of the bed
and put an arm around her. Emma couldn’t help it; she relaxed
into him and rested her head against his shoulder.

“There, see relax,” he murmured. “It’s OK.
You don’t need to go anywhere. You can just lay down there and
go to sleep. In the morning we’ll laugh about this, you’ll
see.”

She turned to look up at him. “If I sleep here, what will
you do?”

“I’ll sleep right out there on the sofa,” he
pointed, “unless you have a problem with that?”

“No, no problem.” she replied in a small voice. She
felt so foolish. Why, oh why hadn’t she jumped out of bed? And
why on earth had she lain still as he held her? To her chagrin she
felt her nipples harden at the thought of it. She clutched the sheet
tighter around them, finding it hard to believe that she was sitting
here naked with his arm around her.

“OK,” he said as he stood.

“OK,” she repeated, looking up at him. She couldn’t
help but notice the dusting of dark hair above perfect washboard abs.
Oh, he could be so dangerous. Summoning her practical side to save
her from lust and confusion, she said, “They keep extra
blankets and pillows in the closet.”

“Thanks.” Running his fingers through his hair he
disappeared into the closet and emerged to make himself a bed on the
sofa. She sat with the sheet clutched to her chest, watching him,
admiring the muscles that rippled on his broad back as he spread
sheets and blankets. Once his new bed was made he turned and stepped
toward her again. Instinctively she pulled the sheet higher. He
stopped dead in his tracks.

“Don’t be afraid of me, Emma. You don’t ever
have to be afraid of me,” he said in a low voice.

She met his eyes and gave a small smile. “Not afraid.”

He took another step toward her and leaned down placing his hands
on either side of her hips. She breathed in the scent of him, the
scent of man and sandalwood. Being this close she again felt her body
respond, the heat tingling between her legs. She buzzed with
anticipation, wondering what he was about to do, knowing that
whatever it was, she wanted it. He lowered his head; she could feel
his breath warm on her skin, her heart thundering. He placed a light
kiss on her forehead.

“Get some sleep, Miss Douglas,” he breathed. Then he
was gone, arranging his long body on the short sofa.

Snuggling down into the covers Emma couldn’t believe she was
so disappointed. Disappointed that the kiss had only landed on her
forehead. So much for avoiding the man, here she was spending the
night with him in the same cabin and wishing he was in the same bed.
“Get some sleep, Miss Douglas,” she repeated to herself.
Though she already knew sleep would be a long time coming and not
because of the caffeine in her system.

Jack lay on the sofa feeling
terrible. What kind of jackass was he? He’d lain there and
watched her undress when he should have told her he was there. When
she’d slid across to the middle of the bed he hadn’t been
able to resist turning toward her, throwing an arm across her, all
the while pretending to be asleep. It wasn’t by choice, but by
overwhelming desire for her that he’d drawn her to him. Feeling
her softness in his arms had almost driven him crazy, feeling the
warmth of her against him, breathing her in. And she’d felt it
too, he knew it. The second he’d felt her nipples pebble
against his chest he’d had to break the spell. He’d
wanted to take her that second. And she’d apologized to him!
He’d let
her
feel bad. What was
wrong with him? But what else could he do at that point? Man, he felt
bad. Lying there, with her only feet away from him, he determined
that he would make it up to her. Even though she’d never know.
He also determined that before too long he would hold her naked in
bed again, and this time not only would she know he was there, she
would come to him willingly and she’d ask him to make love to
her. The bulge in his boxers grew larger at the thought and he too
knew that sleep would be a long time coming.

Emma opened her eyes as she heard a soft tapping on the door. It
took her a moment to remember where she was. Jack’s voice
brought it all back.

“You awake in there?”

She sat up in bed noticing a cup of coffee steaming on the night
stand.

“Morning,” she called back, “thanks for the
coffee.”

“I didn’t know how you take it, so there’s cream
and sugar too.”

Emma smiled. How thoughtful. “Thank you.”

“Your bag is in there too, thought you’d need it. Pete
will be down in half an hour to pick me up.”

Emma started. That should
prove interesting. What would Pete have to say about them both
spending the night out here? Hang on, it was his fault. He’d
told her she could stay here and he
hadn’t
told her he was bringing Jack. Still, she didn’t doubt he’d
have something to say, especially when Jack told him what had
happened.

“I’ll jump in the shower and be right out.”

She was surprised that he had thought to make her coffee and leave
her bag ready for her. Was he kind and thoughtful or trying to avoid
her as long as possible? She showered quickly and dressed in cutoff
jeans and her favorite pink T-shirt. “Oh well,” she
thought, “here goes nothing.” She opened the door to join
him outside on the porch.

He looked up from his seat on the swing and smiled. The way his
eyes crinkled at the corners set the butterflies swirling in her
stomach.

“Good Morning, Beautiful.” She looked at him,
surprised. “I’m sorry, but you are.” He patted the
swing beside him. “Join me?”

“Just let me refill my coffee. Want some fresh?”

“Yes, please.” He handed her his mug. “Black, no
sugar.”

She returned with their coffees and sat down beside him.

“It’s so beautiful out here. Especially in the early
morning like this.”

“It is. You should see it from Gramps’ house. We get
to watch the sunrise over the lake from that side.”

“I’d like that,” he smiled. “Last night we
watched it set over the water. It’s so neat that you get to do
both here.”

“Listen. I want to apologize for last night.”

“Shh. Please, can we just forget it? You apologized last
night, I apologized last night, but it was only a mix up. Shall we
let it go at that?”

She smiled up at him. “I’ll drink to that.” She
held out her mug in a toast. He chinked his against it.

“Cheers! Although if you want to sneak into my bed again
tonight I won’t say no.”