“Don’t joke like that. I’m being serious.” She looked so brittle, like she was barely keeping herself in one piece.
Why would Laura care so much about whether he had a kid? It made him want to goad her even more. What would it take for her to break through to the other side? For her to tell him what was really going on in that pretty head of hers? “I’m always serious, darlin’.”
“Why can’t you own up to your obligations? Are you saying you’re not someone’s father? Just cop to it already.” Her cheeks were flushed. Would she be taking this so seriously if she didn’t have some sort of feelings for him?
There was chemistry between them, no doubt about it. There always had been. What would it take for her to accept it? Accept him? It was time to clear the air. “Laura, slow down and listen for a minute.”
“I am—”
“I don’t have a kid,” he said, cutting her off before she could reel back and hurl more his way. “I take care of kids.”
She stilled, frowning. “What do you mean? Like…you babysit?”
He barked out a laugh. “No.” His laugh faded as he considered it. “God, no. Though sometimes it feels like it. I take at-risk kids camping. That’s all. I promise.”
“Camping?” She was staring at him like he’d begun to speak Greek. “That’s why you’re always going to Reno? To pick up at-risk kids?”
He nodded. “I work with the community center there, downtown.”
“Oh,” she said quietly. She stared at him, dumbfounded.
“See?” He smiled nervously. What was that look on her face? What was she seeing when she looked at him? “I’m not such a monster.”
She sighed, lifting her face to the sky. “No, I am.”
The statement shocked another laugh from him. “Hardly.”
She shook her head, clearly needing a moment to wrap her mind around it. “To jump to conclusions like that when all the while you’re taking poor kids camping? I’m horrible.”
“Okay, maybe a little horrible.” He grinned. “In the prettiest of ways.”
She shoved him. “Why didn’t you say something?” Then, studying his truck, she said, “Is that why you got such a ridiculously big vehicle? So you can drive kids around?”
“Nah, they wouldn’t even fit in this old girl. I borrow a van from the center instead.” He patted the shiny red paint job. “You’re coming around to her, aren’t you?”
“Nope. Not one little bit.” She glanced at the gear in the back. “So who pays for all this?”
He shrugged. “I do.”
“You do?”
“It’s no big deal. I don’t have any bills to pay, not really. There aren’t a lot of good local programs for these kids, so I figure, how hard is it for me to buy stuff like food? They barely eat anything. And then the gear I use over and over again. Other people kick in a little extra here and there. Doctor Mark is always good for some supplies.”
“Other people know about this?”
“Not many, no. I don’t advertise or anything. There’s just too much explaining to do.” He added with a smile, “Kind of like I’m having to do now.” Seeing her crestfallen expression, he chucked her chin. “Kidding.”
“Jeez, what must you think of me?”
“I think you’re a businesswoman looking out for your own.”
“You must’ve thought I was insane.” She sagged against the side of the truck. “I’ve been such a shrew. I’ve just felt so…alone in all this. It’s overwhelming. I feel like it’s up to me to carry the family.”
He wanted nothing more than to give the poor woman a hug, but he knew to keep his hands to himself. “Seems like you and Sorrow are getting along now.”
“I can’t bug her with everything—she’s got her own thing going on, plus with Sully gone, she’s the one managing all the cooking. And then there’s Dad. Since his stroke, our medical bills have been nuts. You wouldn’t believe the paperwork I have to sift through just when he gets a simple checkup. I did the books recently, and it’s getting harder and harder to balance the damned things. When I ran the numbers, the loss I projected with your, your…Slumbertimes Spa”—their eyes met as they shared an amused look—“I just don’t see how we can pull through.”
Her folks always had seen her as the professional, business-savvy kid in the family, so it was no surprise she’d felt she had to be the one to shoulder all the financial concerns. Still, he couldn’t believe she’d been holding all this in.
He was just glad he’d made that phone call to Fox. It’d been some lucky damned timing on his part, that was for sure. “Will it help that we’re scaling back the project?”
“I guess.” Her eyes went to his, and for once there was warmth there. “I mean, yes. Yes, of course. Every little bit helps.”
“I’d do more if I could, but Fairview is big.”
“I still want to stop them,” she said, her voice suddenly fierce.
“You know there’s no stopping them completely.”
“I’ll figure out a way.”
“Jack and I need the business. It’d be a blot on our record if we biffed this now.”
“I get that. I get it, I do.” Her gaze drifted back to the camping equipment in his truck bed. “Though I guess it’s not just that. If you lost the job, I’d be taking food and gear away from at-risk inner-city youth? Nice…”
He drew the back of his finger down her cheek. “You had no way of knowing.”
His touch brought her eyes back to him. There was something else there now, something that was seeing him for the first time. Something that smoldered.
“Did you come out here for anything else?” he asked, hoping.
She wet her lips. “I just…I want this to stop.”
It was the flick of her tongue that did it. He didn’t need more than that. She’d licked her lower lip. Darted her eyes to his mouth then quickly back up again. He could read signals.
He knew women, but it was Laura he wanted.
He stepped closer.
“Stop the construction, or stop this?” He cupped her cheek. Stepped closer, till he felt the heat of her body along his. He moved slowly, giving her every opportunity to stop him.
She didn’t stop him. She only stared up at him, looking as disbelieving as he felt.
“I want you, Laura.” His desire for her was intense, blinding him to everything but that luscious mouth. How many times had he stolen glimpses of it, fantasizing about the dirtiest of things. She’d been his teenage fantasy. His high school crush. And now here she was before him, lips parted slightly, his for the taking. “You know I want you.”
“I know,” she said, and he had to smile at that, such a Laura thing to say. But he knew she was just nervous. He saw now how vulnerable the Laura Bailey could be.
He leaned down to her, and for a moment, he hovered just a breath away. He didn’t believe this was actually happening. He’d wanted her for so long. As long as he could remember.
And then she shocked him.
“Dammit, Eddie.” She snagged his T-shirt in her fists and pulled him the final inch to her. Her mouth slammed into his, devouring him instantly.
His whole body stiffened, hardened, lust swamping him until his head rang with it.
He kissed her back. Kissed her like he’d wanted to kiss her since they were kids. Only they weren’t kids now, and his hunger was a man’s hunger, ravenous, wanting to take her, have her.
He wrapped his hands around her hips and braced her against the side of his truck. And—oh, God—he’d fantasized that, too. Taking her against the side of the truck. In the truck. In the woods. On the tavern bar. Beneath their high school bleachers. So many times, so many ways, and God help him, he wanted them all.
He kissed her deeply, and she kissed him back, just as deeply, just as hungrily.
But then she pushed him away, keeping his shirt clenched in her fingers. Breathlessly, she said, “This doesn’t change anything.”
“Not a thing.” He leaned down, nipping at her ear. He’d consider it later. For now, he just wanted to get back to kissing.
“You’re not listening, Eddie. I’m going to make Fairview regret the day they found us on the map.” She was so damned sexy. So hot and so passionate.
His eyes found hers. “Bring it, gorgeous.”
She shifted. Damn, was she pulling away? But, oh…oh, she was only adjusting, repositioning herself to drag him down to her. She nuzzled into him. He felt her mouth on his jaw, tasting his neck, tugging his shirt lower to lick and suck at his throat.
He growled with pleasure and pressed his body into hers, his groin so hard he was sure she couldn’t help but feel it. Would it scare her off? But then she writhed into him, adjusting her body, nestling him against her.
He couldn’t catch his breath. He couldn’t believe it. Laura Bailey.
He wanted to feel her. He had to feel her, but he was afraid. If he’d fantasized about kissing her, how much had he dreamed of running his hands along that taut body? Of cupping those hot little breasts?
He couldn’t stop himself. He had to. Slowly he inched his hand up. The fabric of her shirt tugged beneath his palm. He rested his hand on her rib cage. Her chest rose and fell as though she were panting to catch her breath. Her heart hammered through her bones, through her skin. He felt it beating against his hand, pounding through his body.
“Yes,” she whispered, and brought her mouth back to his, kissing him harder, more frantically.
He didn’t need more urging than that and slid his hand the last few inches to her breast. So firm, her nipple was a hard peak under his thumb.
She moaned, and he did, too. He pulled from her, so starved for her, he had to speak through his clenched jaw. “I’ve wanted you so bad.”