Falling for the Guy Next Door (14 page)

Megan tipped
forward and plucked the deck from his hands. “Any good at
Snap?”

“That sounds
about as harmless as it gets.”

She gave him a
little frown, then smiled and cut the deck, handing half back to
him.

They might as
well have played strip poker, because they never made it past two
rounds. Her gaze kept slipping to his chest and her colour was
high. Not the mottled red she turned from blushing, but a soft pink
of heightened awareness. She nibbled her lower lip, thoughtless of
what that sexy mouth was doing to him.

His blood was
humming and his resolve had taken too many hits to come back
kicking. Their hands collided over a pair of kings.

“Snap,” she
called out.

“I can’t do
this,” he groaned simultaneously, winding his fingers around
hers.

He slid lower
down the bed and gave a hard yank that toppled her on top of him.
The covers stayed behind. Her T-Shirt had bundled at her waist and
only a thin strip of lace separated him from the soft skin of her
lower body. And he had his answer.

“Jack?” The
breathless murmur was a question, a plea, a sigh of bliss. Her
forearms rested on his chest. Her head lifted so she could look
into his eyes.

“I need you.”
His hands had landed flat on her back and he kept them there.
Firmly. Non-evasive. “I can’t do this. I can’t resist any more.”
God, the way she straddled him, her core flattened to his abdomen
and her thigh pressed to the full length of his erection. His voice
was gruff with the desire pounding him deeper and deeper to the
brink of oblivious pleasure. But he had to hold on. A moment
longer. “Megan, now’s the time to say no if you don’t want
this.”

“Jack, you
idiot.” She sounded even more hoarse than him. She wriggled further
up his body, dragging sensual waves of friction every inch of the
way, and lowered her mouth to his. “I’ve wanted this since the day
we met.”

He let go.

His hands
moved over the rise of her backside and his lips parted, first
nipping at that full, lower lip that had tantalized him for ages
before deepening the kiss. His tongue plunged inside her, seeking,
exploring, and the tug of desire when her tongue curled around his
almost sent him over the edge.

He gently
tipped her from him and scrambled from the bed in indecent haste to
find his jeans and the string of foil packets stashed in his
wallet. When he turned to her, she was lying on her back, her arms
tucked beneath her head.

Her eyes were
on him, heated with carnal admiration and glazed with passion. His
gaze trailed over her body, the crumpled T-Shirt still bundled at
her waist, the pale, creamy skin of her stomach and the secrets
nestled behind that flimsy strip of lace. Those legs, so long, so
slender, and about to be wrapped around him.

He removed his
boxers and sheathed the condom, then climbed onto the bed and moved
so that he was sitting on his knees, straddling her thighs. His
fingers danced over her skin with a light touch that evoked small
gasps from her as he traced her belly button, then pushed her
T-Shirt further up to leave her breasts exposed. He placed his
hands on the bed either side of her and came down to tease each
extended nipple with his mouth, sucking, nipping, tasting.

When she
squirmed beneath him, he clamped her thighs with his and lifted his
head to look into her eyes.

She was so
beautiful.

So wonderfully
responsive, her entire body enthralled with his touch.

Mine.
An inner warmth like he’d never known before spread through him and
slowly pushed through to a grin that softened both his jaw and a
large chunk of his heart.

He pushed back
onto his haunches again and she came up with him, pulling the
T-Shirt over her head and tossing it aside. Her palms flattened
over his chest, nails scraping through the short curls. His hands
went around her neck, fingers threading through her hair and
tilting her head back so he could take her mouth in his.

But his blood
was too hot, his desire too rampant, he couldn’t take it slow
another second. He withdrew from the kiss and pressed her flat to
the bed again. His thumb hitched the band of her panties and
tugged. She arched off the bed, then bent her knees to help.

“Come here,”
he said softly, easing onto his side next to her and pulling her
into his arms.

She came
willingly, warm and almost as fully aroused as he was. Her nipples
were hard pebbles against his chest as she flung one thigh over
his. His mouth crushed over hers, their tongues clashing with a
desperate fever while he rocked against her, rubbing his erection
along her moist core.

Her arms came
around him, fingernails scraping over his back with a possessive
urge to leave their mark. She moved with him, rocking their bodies
into a rhythm that stroked need to his every sense. His kisses
ravaged her mouth and his hands went all over her body, massaging
her buttocks and pressing her deeper into his groin, smoothing up
the curve of her spine and tangling in her hair.

Between one
slide and the next, he plunged inside her. From mouth to chest to
hips to thighs to feet curled around each other, their bodies were
glued together both inside and out, rocking the swell of burning
desire and cresting the wave as one. Her climax peaked again and
again, pulsing around him, draining him until he was thoroughly
spent.

He felt her
collapse within the confines of his arms. Her limbs boneless, her
breathing heavy and uneven, her legs and arms still wrapped around
him, she melted against his body.

He stayed deep
inside and held her close, whispering everything and nothing in her
ear. “Amazing. That was so… God, I can’t even describe it. You’re
amazing, baby. Beautiful. Gorgeous. You drive me mad.” Breathing in
the scent of skin and, unbelievably, growing hard again.

When she
strained away slightly to look into his eyes, he smiled and pulled
out of her. Before he rolled aside to remove the used condom, he
brushed the back of his hand over her cheek and dropped a string of
butterfly kisses along her jaw, all the way up to that sensitive
spot behind her earlobe.

“Be right
back,” he promised. “And this time we’ll do it slowly.”

He delivered
on the promise. Twice more before they fell into an exhausted sleep
to the drone of the storm outside battering the hatches and
threatening to rip the roof off the ancient establishment.

Jack awoke to
the sensation of satin soft skin sliding over him. He stretched on
a yawn, craning his neck on the pillow, and was treated to the
sight of a beautiful woman tangled in the sheets beside him.

Megan!

His heart
thumped unevenly and it took a couple of shallow breaths to dull
the beat. Okay, so he’d done it. But maybe it wasn’t all bad.

The way things
had been stewing for a while now, they were going to end up here
sooner or later. He’d been fooling himself to think he’d resist
Megan forever. She knew him for what he was and she’d never
expected anything more from him. She’d never expected anything at
all. Ever.

A fresh wave
of desire heated his blood as his gaze tripped over the parts of
her exposed in the tangled sheet she’d taken with her when she’d
rolled away from him. A shapely leg, dipping in and out of view.
One breast, a perfect handful and tipped with a nipple that begged
to be sucked.

He cut it off
cold. One night, and their friendship might still survive. An
affair and that would really be the end, no exceptions.

Her eyes
fluttered open on a drowsy groan and met his. She blinked, and her
eyes opened wider, a little more alert. Her smile, however, held no
trace of hesitance. “Morning.”

“Hey.” he
said, returning the smile. “You okay about everything? About last
night?”

“Well, my
limbs are complaining. But other than that…”

She unfurled
her body within the folds of the sheet, twisting onto her side and
crunching the pillow to prop her head higher. Her gaze settled on
him, filled with warmth and tenderness. “I can’t regret anything.
There’s been so many almost-kisses and almost-moments. I would have
given in long ago if you hadn’t been so determined to brush it
off.” Her nose wrinkled. “So, Jack, what changed?”

Before he was
tempted to drop a kiss on that pert nose, he swung his legs off the
bed and grabbed his boxers from the table.

“You,” he
pointed out lightly. “Half naked in my bed.” He slipped into his
underwear and stood to face her. “It’s a matter of biology.”

“Don’t do
that.”

“What?” He
shrugged.

“Don’t make
this out to be irrelevant.” Her tone wasn’t accusatory or angry.
She was simply speaking from her heart, and damned if it wasn’t the
truth. “We’ve always had this thing between us…chemistry. Last
night wasn’t all about a girl and guy and a lack of sleeping
options. You weren’t just a convenient body, Jack, and I know
that’s not the way you see me either.”

He’d never
slept with any woman for mere convenience. He needed something
deeper to be attracted to, but he did keep his sexual encounters
casual. Megan didn’t need to. She didn’t have his hang-ups. Why
shouldn’t she expect a year of friendship that built up to a night
of steamy sex to lead to something more?

And maybe she
didn’t expect it, but she did deserve it. She deserved the whole
hog. The commitment and the promises. She deserved a healthy
relationship that had a future.

All the
reasons why he’d resisted so hard for so long slammed him in the
gut. She could never know how right she was. How much he truly
cared for her. Far more than any other woman he’d slept with.

He spun away
from the bed to collect the clothes he’d hung over the wardrobe
door. His jeans were still slightly damp. His cable sweater was dry
and he wore that as a top since Megan had his T-Shirt.

Once he was
dressed, his resolve once more intact, he turned to her. She was
sitting upright, with her back to the headboard and the sheet
tucked around her throat.

“Megan,” he
said carefully, not wishing to hurt her but needing to be brutally
honest. “I can’t be the man you’re looking for.”

Her brow
arched at him. “I didn’t realise I had a list of requirements.”

“I leave.” He
grimaced. “That’s what I do.”

“Don’t sell
yourself short, Jack.” Her gaze was so damned tender, open and
filled with warmth. “You always come back.”

God, not that.
He froze, his brain numb and the full extent of his selfishness
spearing his gut. That was the last place he wanted her way of
thinking to meander. Megan putting her life on hold, waiting for
his brief visits, was the worst possible scenario. How had he
fucked this up so badly?

“You have the
wrong idea about me.” He backed away from the bed.

“No, I
don’t.”

He was looking
at her, but she was just a blurred outline in the haze of blood
pumping to his head. “Then you know better than to waste your time
and emotions on me.”

Anger flared
in her voice. “What does that mean?”

“I don’t
always come back.” Another step back, and another.

“Maybe
not—hang on, are you saying…? What about Frank? You have to— What
are you doing?” she shrilled as he reached the door. “You’re
leaving?”

“Don’t sound
so surprised.” His throat was dry, charred with ashes of the one
friendship that had cushioned his world. “We’ve already established
that this is what I do.”

If he stayed a
second more, he’d break down. His resolve might even crumble and if
he thought he’d fucked up now, that was nothing on the state he’d
leave Megan in when he was done. Thankfully she’d driven them here
last night, so he wasn’t leaving her stranded.

“You can’t
just go, Jack.” She came up off the bed, dragging the sheet with.
“We have to talk about where we go from here.”

“Talking won’t
change anything.” He turned from her and pushed the door open.

“Talking
changes everything. What now, Jack? What happens between us? You
have to come back sometime and what then?” Her voice pitched in
what sounded like panic. “Jack, please, surely you don’t have to
leave this very second?”

He couldn’t
stay.

“Jack, don’t
you dare walk out that—” He kicked the door and it closed on her
last, furious word “—door.”

None of the
other guests were awake yet and Liam was happy to give him a ride.
On the way, Jack called the local taxi service and arranged to be
collected in twenty minutes. He’d planned to stay another day in
Corkscrew Bay, but he’d take the train to London if they couldn’t
change his air ticket at Penzance. He wouldn’t think straight,
wouldn’t breathe properly, until he’d put enough distance between
himself and the careless act that was clamping his lungs.

He stared at
his phone, even went so far as to scroll through his contacts until
he’d pulled up Megan’s number. The urge to call her was an ache
pulsing through his veins. But what then? Would he be condemning
her to some hellish purgatory until he screwed up even worse the
next time?

When Liam
dropped him off at the top of Bluff Drive, Jack didn’t go inside
immediately. He strode to the edge of the cliff, staring into the
blue distance. His cell phone was still cradled in his hand, his
thumb hovering on Megan’s name. He couldn’t just walk out on her.
Last night, he hadn’t cared enough about her. If he had, he would
have left her well alone.

But he did
care enough. That’s why he had to leave her the hell alone now. One
phone call, and he wasn’t sure he could do it.

“Bloody hell!”
He didn’t need Megan. He’d lived his life perfectly well without
her. He flung the cell phone over the cliff and turned his back
before it hit the water. He was the last thing she needed,
ever.