Unexpected Bride (17 page)

"My mom."

She bit her lip and nodded, still sick with regret over the way she'd worried Mrs. Mick. When the older woman had realized she couldn't talk Abby into staying with them, she'd pressed some money on her and a phone card. And she'd sworn that if Abby didn't call her every Sunday she'd send Clayton to bring her home.

"Colleen."

Colleen had probably wanted her to leave as much as Clayton had. Maybe she shouldn't have made the poor girl keep the secret.

"Not you," she reminded him. "You didn't want me to stay."

"I was..." He expelled a ragged sigh. "Going through a lot back then. I didn't think you'd really leave or that if you did, you'd come back."

Her gaze focused on his lips, she said, "I'm back now."

"But you were gone eight years, living on your own. How did you manage?"

"I didn't turn tricks, if that's what you're asking."

"Abby..."

"Or strip or any other salacious thing you imagined me doing. I worked hard—whatever jobs I could get. Waiting tables, doing dishes, being a short-order cook, babysitting, cleaning hotel rooms. That wasn't the most fun, but for part of my compensation I got a place to stay. I managed."

"You shouldn't have had to 'manage.'" He leaned closer, his mouth almost brushing hers as his fingers slid from her face, down the side of her throat to skim over her bare shoulder. "Alone."

Abby's heart pulsed with desire. She'd never wanted any other man the way she wanted him. "Clayton..."

"I almost went after you," he admitted, his fingers tracing the ridge of her collarbone. She was so small, so delicate, but for all her curves.

"You did?"

He nodded. "But there was so much going on here, I had to take over the business."

"Had to?"

He had to stop touching her, too, before he lost his mind completely. But her skin was so silky, so warm.

"I always wanted to work in the insurance agency," he said. "But
with
my dad." Not in place of him. Ever since he'd been a kid, he'd planned on working at his father's side.

"Oh, Clayton." She reached up, cupping his face in her palms. "I can't imagine..."

His heart shifted, kicking his ribs as emotions raced though him. He gazed down at her. Her eyes glistened with sympathy and she held on to her bottom lip with her teeth. He reached up. smoothing his thumb over the nibbled flesh. Then he lowered his head to soothe both her lips with his tongue. Something happened to him when he kissed her. All the pain he'd held inside for so long eased.

He
needed
her as he'd never needed anyone.

Clayton's hard body pressed her against the wall and he deepened the kiss. Dizzy with passion, Abby closed her eyes and lowered her arms, gripping his back and clutching his T-shirt in her hands so that she wouldn't fall.

His tongue slid in and out, teasing her with the promise of greater pleasures. Then his mouth moved away from hers, gliding across her cheek. Abby arched her neck and moaned as his lips trailed kisses down her throat.

Goose bumps rose along her skin as her nerves tingled, sensitive to the softest brush of his mouth, the lightest caress of his hands as he skimmed them down her rib cage and over her hips. One hand slid around her back, pressing her closer to where his erection formed a hard ridge beneath the fly of his jeans. Then his other hand traveled back to her shoulder. His fingers stroking her skin, he pushed down the sleeve of her gauzy blouse, shifting the strap of her bra along with the thin cotton. Her breast sprang free of the blouse and the bra, the nipple hard and tilted toward him almost as if begging for his touch.

Abby puffed out a breath through open lips as desire flowed through her body, weakening her muscles so that she melted. "Clayton..."

He didn't make her wait, touching her first with his fingertips, gliding them around the mound before stroking over her nipple.

She arched her back and Clayton's control snapped. How he wanted her. Just a taste.

He lowered his mouth to her breast, pressing kisses along the silky curve. Then he closed his lips around the hard point, sucking it between his teeth, teasing it with his tongue.

Her breath shuddered out while her fingers tunneled into his hair, holding him against her. She moaned.

His hand on her hip traveled lower, moving over her denim skirt until he touched the soft skin of her nicely toned thigh. He brushed the back of her knee, then slid his fingers around to the silky skin on the inside of her thigh. All the while he kept his mouth on her breast, gently tugging at her nipple.

Abby's legs trembled, but she couldn't squeeze them together. Clayton's hand was there, moving under her skirt to the silk of her panties. She opened her mouth to murmur a protest.

But his mouth covered hers, his tongue driving deep between her lips as his fingers stroked beneath the edge of her panties. His other hand cupped her bared breast, stroking over the nipple, which was wet from his tongue. Pleasure streaked through her, burning hotter than anything she'd ever felt before, as his fingers moved inside her.

Her body tightened, then shuddered as an orgasm rippled through her. She sagged against Clayton's hard, hot body, spent. And embarrassed.

"Abby," he murmured, his voice husky as he buried his face in her neck. "Let me take you upstairs. Let me take you..."

Abby shook her head.
What had just happened?
How had she lost control like that, with Clayton, who hadn't respected her before and certainly wouldn't now? "I.. .can't."

Her palms on his chest, she pushed him back. Then, her hands shaking, she pulled up her bra and blouse. But still she felt naked, exposed. She couldn't meet his gaze, she could only feel the heat of it on her.

"I'm sorry," she murmured, hoping he didn't think her a tease, that she'd purposely led him on. But then she remembered Clayton would always think the worst of her. Summoning her pride, she lifted her chin.

Clayton trailed his fingers over her jaw. His voice still thick, he said,
"I'm
sorry."

She met his gaze then, his eyes muddied with all the confusion churning in her stomach. What happened when they were alone together? They
shouldn't
be alone together. She slid along the wall, rattling picture frames as she pulled away from Clayton's loose embrace.

"They went to town?" she asked over her shoulder as she walked, on shaky legs, down the hall toward the kitchen.

Clayton cleared his throat before answering her. "They're walking, and they left just a little while ago."

"I can catch them, then," she said. She wanted to run to town, to run away from the temptation of Clayton's strong arms, of his hot kisses. She couldn't stay alone in an empty house with him. or she'd wind up losing all her self-respect.

"I'll walk with you," he offered.

"Clayton." She suppressed a groan of frustration. Her body still weak from what had just occurred, she needed distance. From him. "I don't need your protection."

He chuckled, the sound of it forced and rusty. "Hey, I walked here. I have to walk back."

Judging by the muscles in his long legs, she doubted she was the only runner in Cloverville. He probably hadn't walked here, nor had he intended to walk back.

"It'll he dark soon," he said, gesturing toward die kitchen window where the sun shone through the trees surrounding the McCHntock house. "So I can use
your
protection."

She fought the smile that twitched her lips. "Cute."

"I'm glad you finally noticed," he said as he stepped closer to her.

She noticed. Even eight years ago, when he'd been so hard on her, she'd noticed. And now—now she couldn't keep her eyes off him. Averting her gaze, she pushed past him and headed toward the door before she changed her mind and took him upstairs with her. They could not remain alone together in an otherwise empty house, or they'd wind up doing something they'd both regret. "Should I lock up?"

"It's Cloverville," he said as an answer.

"So there are no crimes in Cloverville?"

"Not since you left," he quipped.

She swung the door shut, right in his face.

"Hey," he said as he opened it and followed her to the sidewalk. "I was kidding. Lighten up."

She couldn't fight the twitch this time. She smiled and laughed, relieved that he seemed willing to forget what had just happened between them. She could pretend, but she'd never forget. "That's rich coming from you."

"Know what else is rich?" he mused. "You."

Her smile widened with pride and satisfaction. "Not rich. Not yet. But like I've told you, I can take care of myself."

"I checked out your Web site."

"The company Web site," she corrected him.

"Your business seems to be doing well. You have some great testimonials from satisfied clients and employees."

"Your business has been doing well, too," she said, familiar with his accomplishments, since his mother and just about everyone at the reception had sung his praises at length.

His broad shoulders lifted in a shrug. "I just took over the business my father built."

Obviously she could hurt him. too. and her comment about inheriting a business had stung his pride. "You doubled your dad's agency."

"It wasn't hard. Cloverville doubled," he said, dismissing all his hard work. "And it's great to insure a town that has very little crime, therefore little risk."

"Does that describe your life, too, Clayton? Little risk?"

His gut knotted as if she'd just sucker punched him. Rory's description of his dates and, so, his assessment of Clayton, floated through his mind. Old and boring. At thirty, Abby saw him the same way his fourteen-year-old brother did. Is that why she had refused to come upstairs with him? Despite what had happened in the hall, she doubted he'd really be able to satisfy her?

His body ached, filled with tension and frustration. He could prove her wrong; he could bring her intense pleasure.

But she'd been right to turn him down. They had no business being together.

To remind himself, he said, "I have too much responsibility to take stupid risks."

Except for kissing her. He'd taken a risk there, the risk of falling for a woman with whom a relationship could only be messy. For a short while, when he'd lost his head, he'd wanted to take the risk. But there was no place in his plan, in his life, for Abby. And Lara.

"I'm responsible," she said, her voice sharp with a note of defensiveness. "I worked really hard to make my business what it is today. Before I had Lara, I worked around the clock to succeed."

"I believe you worked hard, but you took a big risk." he argued. "Starting your business, when most start-ups fail, was a huge gamble. And you gamble every time you open another office."

"I'm ready to take another risk," she said.

His heart slammed against his ribs. On him? She wanted to take a risk with him? She'd turned him down in the hall, but she'd been smart to do that. They had no future.

"I want to open an office in Cloverville," she said. "Lease me the space in your building, Clayton."

Abby working beside him day in and day out. And if she worked nights, she'd be working beneath him. Panic pressed down on his chest, stealing his breath. Seeing so much of Abby Hamilton was a risk he couldn't take.