Be Mine(26)

Her receding panic was quickly replaced by mortification. She had no idea what her face looked like twisted between these two awful emotions, but it was bad enough to stop a seasoned cop in his tracks. He even took a step back, though his shadow stretched out to touch the toes of her shoes. Strangely, that imagined contact made her feel uncomfortable, so she took a step back, as well.

“Sorry,” he said again. “I just wanted to be sure you were okay.”

“Me?”

“Yes. Your ex seemed a little aggressive tonight. I was worried.”

“Ellis?” she squeaked in shock.

“Yes,” he said flatly, “Ellis.”

“Oh, no, you don’t have to worry about Ellis. He’s just...Ellis.”

“Well, I’ve never arrested him, so I guess that’s a positive sign.”

“Oh, he doesn’t live here. He’s from Idaho. He’s just visiting. Or something.”

Nate cleared his throat and took a step toward her. “Visiting you?”

“No!” she answered so loudly that she made her own nerves jump in shock. “I saw him once a couple of months ago, and then he showed up tonight. It’s been over for ten years.”

“Ten years,” he repeated, taking one more step. Now his shadow slid over her feet and all the way up to her thighs. She watched it shift over the curve of her legs and bit back a shiver. She couldn’t feel it, but she wanted to so badly that it almost felt like a touch.

“You were just a baby,” he said.

“Are you trying to flatter me? You know my birth date. I was eighteen.”

“Exactly. Just a kid.”

“Amazing that they let teenagers walk around free like actual humans, much less get a marriage license, isn’t it?”

His teeth flashed in the darkness as if he was smiling. She wished he were the one facing the light. Then she’d be able to read him and he couldn’t see the mixed-up emotions flashing over her face.

“Are you—” he seemed to hesitate, his voice growing softer “—involved with anyone right now? Married or—”

“What?” she interrupted. “No, I’m not married! Or involved. Or anything.”

“Okay. Good. Me, neither.”

Me, neither. He could only mean one thing by that, and her suspicion was confirmed when he took one more step. Now his shadow slipped up her body all the way to her breasts. Better than that, she could reach out and touch him if she wanted to.

“I’m sorry about earlier,” she said.

“You kind of checked out on me.”

“I assumed you’d want me to.”

His head cocked. “Why?”

She laughed. “Baggage. It’s so sexy.”

“Hmm. So you’d been hoping I’d think of you as sexy?”

“Oh...” She couldn’t do more than sigh that small word because his hand came up to cup her jaw. His thumb trailed over her cheek, and Jenny almost whimpered. This wasn’t the imagined touch of a shadow. And it wasn’t the brushing of hands. This was something so much more delicate and sweet and purposeful. And she’d never have imagined that Deputy Hendricks would be the one to touch her this way. A whisper of his skin against hers. Her heart trembled between beats.

“Did you?” he murmured.

“What?”

“Hope I’d think that you’re sexy?”

“I...maybe. You’re very...”

He drew closer, his face only inches from hers now. “Very what? Scary?”

“No,” she breathed. Then, “Yes.”

“Yes?” Nate bent his head, and his breath whispered over her mouth. “Are you scared right now?”

“Yes.” A lie. Or not a lie, because when his lips touched hers, her pulse sped with wild alarm and her legs went weak enough that she reached for his arm.

She sighed against his lips, and he deepened the kiss until she could taste him. The heat of his mouth, the faint hint of moisture as she opened for him, and then his tongue brushing her bottom lip. Just one little taste. Then another. Just as she was leaning closer, he pulled away.

“Oh,” she whispered again, suddenly yanked from the slow heat she’d been sinking into.

“I’ve wanted to do that for a while,” he murmured.

“Have you?” She blinked up at him, still dazed.

“Yes. You...drive me a little crazy. But I knew I’d be stepping over the line.”

“Which line?”

“A couple of lines, actually. One, I was usually giving you a ticket at the time. That’s a clear line. Another being that you didn’t even know who I was tonight. That seemed like a definite ‘Do not proceed’ signal.”

“You look a little different in jeans. And a button-down shirt.” Worried he wasn’t going to kiss her again, Jenny dared to stroke a finger along the collar of his shirt, down to where the first button was fastened. “And I’m used to looking up from about waist level.”

Now she could definitely see his smile. In fact, he grinned so wide she was pretty sure she could count every one of his white teeth. “Whatever you’re about to say,” she ordered, “don’t!”

“It’s just that—”

“Don’t.”

“If you’re more comfortable—”

“Stop! This isn’t going to be as cute as you think. Believe me, I know. I work in a bar.”

He shrugged. “It was pretty cute.”

“No, it wasn’t,” she insisted, but she was laughing. Laughing and curling her fingers around the edge of his shirt, tugging him down. She didn’t have to tug very hard. He ducked his head and kissed her again, and this time his tongue swept deeper. His arms snuck around her and she settled against his chest.

Jenny’s nipples tightened against the warmth of his body. She shivered as his fingers spread over her back. Even past her jacket, she could feel his fingertips and imagined them against her naked skin. His forearms tightening as he—

She felt him growl against her lips and realized she’d moaned. Not only had she moaned—into his mouth—but she’d slid her hands up his back and tangled them in his short hair. He couldn’t have gotten away if he wanted to. But did he want to?

No, he gripped her hips now and pressed her closer. She was tempted to raise her knee. To wrap a leg around him. Just to get closer, to feel him between her thighs.

This was crazy. She hardly knew him. It was the first time they’d really touched. Which only made it more delicious, of course. The shocking press of their bodies together. The scandalous thrill as she realized he was hard. Hard for her. Turned on by the taste and heat of her mouth. Aroused by her fingers tightening in his hair. If she invited him to her bed, he’d oblige her. There was no doubt in her mind. She could tell by the way he pulled her closer. The way the thick length of him pressed into her belly.

Oh, God. The thick length.

She wanted that. Needed it. And if this was a mistake, if it was stupid...hadn’t she already been considering that it was time to go? Time to move on? She could leave Jackson. But first, she needed him inside her.

She turned her face away, meaning to ask, but before she could find her voice, he put his mouth to her neck and sucked gently at the sensitive skin.

“Oh, f*ck,” she moaned. Her weakness. If he bit her, she’d be— “Oh, God.” His teeth pressed into her nerves with exactly the pressure most likely to make her arch her back like a stray cat in heat. Which she did, rocking against his erection with a gasp of pleasure.

She felt his breath shiver over her wet skin.

“Will you...?” she tried, not quite sure what to say or how to make her voice work properly. She inhaled a deeper breath, trying to ignore the careful scrape of his teeth down her skin. “Would you...?”

“Yes.” That one simple word and it tore through her, destroying any self-control. She hadn’t even finished the sentence. Yes to anything. Yes to whatever she wanted.

He stood straight, his hand sliding to fold her fingers into his.

“Do you want to follow me—?” she started, meaning to ask if he wanted to follow her home or ride in her car. But her words were cut off by the loud rattle of an approaching engine. She waited for it to pass, but the racket just got louder, and suddenly the headlights were sweeping into the lot of the Crooked R.

Jenny didn’t recognize the beat-up white panel van that turned in, but she watched it come to a rocking halt, anyway. A panel van was never a welcome sight in the middle of the night. It called to mind all the cautionary made-for-TV movies she’d seen about kidnappings and serial killers. Still, she had her own personal deputy standing right next to her. There was really nothing to fear. Nothing except...

The van door screeched open and out stepped Ellis.