Have Gown, Need Groom (16 page)

“—lust?”

“Infatuation. I
am
on the rebound from breaking up with Seth.”

“Life is full of surprises, Hannah. Some are good, some not so, but we learn from all of them. Love doesn’t come with guarantees, but I do believe that legend has some truth to it. And I saw the way he kissed you—mercy me, child.”

That kiss!

“But Grammy, hot kisses don’t make a marriage.”

“No, but trust and love do.”

“But Jake told me he didn’t want to settle down, didn’t want a family. You heard him at Thanksgiving. He doesn’t even want a pet.”

“I also saw the hunger in his eyes, not just for you but for the whole family. He enjoyed the Hartwell bunch. A man like that doesn’t really want to be alone, hon.”

“Then why would he say he did?”

“Some men aren’t good with words. Sometimes they say one thing while they really want something else because they’re afraid to get involved. Men get their hearts broken just like we do.”

Could Jake be afraid?

She remembered the few little things he’d said about his family, his mother. They’d all let him down. Just as her own mother had, a little voice whispered. Dr. McCoy’s words echoed in her head—he’d said she might be afraid because she’d been hurt before, because of her mother’s desertion. Maybe she and Jake were more alike than she’d ever imagined.

“Honey, you have to listen to what he says with his heart.”

What exactly did Jake feel? She had no clue. Except that he had said he wanted to love her. And he’d unselfishly given her that love in a physical way, the way men showed their feelings, without asking for anything in return.

Hannah thanked her grandmother, then chatted a few more minutes and hung up. She made a fire in her bedroom, and studied the pearl on her finger, the tiny diamonds glittering in the dim moonlight. Suddenly a knock sounded at the door, and she jumped. She grabbed a robe and hurried to the door, wondering if it might be Mimi again. But, peering through the peephole, she saw Jake standing on her doorstep. Maybe silly dreams did come true, she thought, a tingle of excitement rippling through her. Maybe she simply had to open herself up to the possibilities. A strange feeling washed over her…acceptance maybe.

Fate. Destiny. Whatever. She opened the door and invited him in.

Chapter Seventeen

Jake had no idea why he’d come to Hannah’s. He’d talked to his superior, and the search warrant would be issued tomorrow. Although the warehouse had been locked and he couldn’t see inside, his instincts told him they would find damning evidence. Afterwards, he’d returned to the drab duplex, seen the handcrafted star Hannah had given him along with that rose that refused to die, and he’d driven straight to her place.

Tomorrow she’d learn the truth about him, know that he’d lied, and she’d probably hate him. But he wanted to spend tonight with her, to pretend that none of the lies would matter. Foolish and irrational, he knew, but he’d been behaving uncharacteristically foolishly ever since he’d met her.

“Jake, don’t you want to come in?”

Hannah’s soft voice broke him from his stupor, and he nodded, his gaze locked with hers as he followed her to the den. Heat flared in the crystal-blue depths of her eyes, engulfing him in a spiraling staircase of desire. Soft light from a single lamp illuminated the room, highlighting her gold hair with streaks of pale yellow and shimmering on her pink pajamas as if they’d been dusted with gold. A faint hint of roses clung to the air, the sultry scent of Hannah’s bodywash. A fire crackled in the background, but he glanced around the room and noticed the den fireplace wasn’t lit. “I thought I heard wood burning.”

“I made a fire in the bedroom,” Hannah said softly. “Why are you here, Jake?”

“I…” Why? Because he’d be leaving soon and he wanted her just once before he left. Wanted to hold her and love her and drive away the emptiness he felt inside before she found out the truth and despised him. Wanted to know how it felt to be surrounded with her love. But he couldn’t tell her that or the truth or he might blow the case. Instead he told her part of the truth. “Because I want you. I couldn’t get you off my mind.”

“I’ve been thinking about you, too,” Hannah said softly.

A slow smile curved her luscious lips, sparking his arousal to life. But his hunger went far deeper than just holding her, possessing her body. He ached to feel her in his arms because she’d already climbed into his heart and embedded herself in the layers of his soul.

The admission, although silent, cost him and panic tore at him. He backed away.

“Don’t go, Jake.”

The softly spoken request halted him midstride. He stared at her, willing her to change her mind. “You understand what I’m saying?”

Desire riddled with acceptance lit her eyes. “Yes. I want you, too.”

“You don’t have to do this because of earlier, because—”

“I know.” She pulled him toward her, placed a hand over his heart. “And I’m not. I’m doing it because I want to give myself to you.”

The second she voiced the words, he dragged her into his arms. Their mouths met, mated, tongues tangled and danced together, mimicking the intimacy they both desired. He threaded his hands in her hair, a guttural groan escaping him at the way she threw her head back, her smooth skin begging for his kisses. He lowered his mouth and tasted heaven in the sensitive skin of her neck, tasted fire in her burning skin, tasted love in every caress she offered him. Her hands dug into his shoulders, tearing at his shirt, clinging to him as he walked her backwards to the bedroom.

This time there was no stopping. Firelight flickered orange and gold, casting shadows on the lace-draped bed, engulfing the room with the air of intimacy. Her scent sent passion tingling up his spine and he found the tiny buttons at the front of her silk pajamas and began to work them free. She dragged her hands through his hair, planting hot kisses on his forehead, his jaw, his mouth, the fire in her unleashing a demon of desire, out of control. Then he pushed her pajama top away, cupped the soft weight of her breasts in his hand, stroked her nipples to hardened buds with his fingertips. She moaned, clawing at his shirt until he released her enough to discard the garment. Her eyes darkened with hunger as she came toward him, but he held her at arm’s length, wanting to look at her.

“Jake…”

He heard the hesitancy in her voice and sweet hunger seared through him, making his muscles and body taut with desire. And restraint. “You’re so beautiful, Hannah. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything so perfect.”

She started to speak, but he silenced her with his mouth, plunging his tongue inside to taste her as he covered her breasts with his hands. She arched into him and he slid his hands to the waistband of her pajamas pushing the fabric down her hips to the floor. She stepped out of them, revealing a pair of pale pink bikini panties, a scrap so feminine and tiny his imagination soared, painting an erotic picture of her naked.

He licked her neck, nibbling down the curve of her shoulder, all the way to her breasts where he gently bit the tips of her ripe nipples before taking one in his mouth. She moaned again, her legs buckling, and he picked her up and carried her to her bed, pausing to look into her eyes.

“You’re sure?”

She looped her arms around his neck and kissed his neck, her voice a husky whisper in the darkness, “I’ve never wanted anyone the way I want you, Jake.”

His arousal surged against her hip as he pushed the comforter aside and gently laid her on the bed. With one quick motion, he unbuckled his pants and slid them down his hips, taking his boxers with them. Her eyes widened slightly as she took in his size. A hint of fear, of awe…he wasn’t sure which. But passion overrode her anxiety and she reached for him.

His arms and hands found her, his lips tasted every delicious inch of her body until she was writhing beneath him, begging him to fill her. He reached inside the pocket of his jeans, pulled out a foil packet, ripped it open with his teeth and sheathed himself.

She watched the movement, her eyes ablaze with hunger. Then he lifted himself above her, nudged her legs apart with his knee and pressed himself into her.

His heart raced, then stopped when he felt a small resistance. “Hannah?” God, she wasn’t a…

“Jake, please, I want you.”

Cupping her face with his hands, he held himself in check, studied her face, saw the yearning, the love shining in her eyes, and surrendered to her unbidden request. Lowering his head to whisper sweet nothings in her ear, he tasted the salt of her skin, the heady scent of arousal and his muscles clenched, fighting for control. Wanting to give her pleasure, he lowered his head one more time to suckle at her breasts before plunging into her.

She cried out softly and he stilled, hating that he’d hurt her, but moved by the fact that he was her first. Gently, he lifted his head and looked into her eyes, shaken by the emotions he saw glittering in the expressive depths.

“Please, don’t stop,” she whispered, frantic now with the onset of her release.

He smiled, male pride warring with tenderness as he began to rock inside her. He teased her unmercifully with his tongue, drove her to madness with his body, tortured her with the soft whisper of his breath in her ear.

Until she exploded. She clawed at his naked back, hugged his aching sex within her, trembling with the force of a sated woman. And her soft cries and moans of rapture sounded so deep and heartfelt that his own passion blazed through him.

H
ANNAH SNUGGLED
into Jake’s arms, more content than she’d ever been in her life. Loving Jake had seemed so natural, so oddly tender and potent at the same time, so full of emotions and sensations that she had actually seen fireworks exploding behind her eyes.

Had he felt the same way?

He cradled her against him, his breathing finally steadying, his legs entwined with hers. Sweat dampened the coarse hair on his chest, and the faint scent of sex lingered in the air. One of his hands stroked her back in a tender caress. She noticed a long puckered scar along his upper thigh and wondered how he’d gotten it.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

His husky voice sent another thrill through her. “Yes. That was wonderful, Jake. I…never imagined.”

A chuckle rumbled from his chest. She felt her face turning a thousand shades of red. “What’s so funny?”

“The virgin tigress. Who would have known?”

“That I was a virgin or a tigress?”

“Either one.”

She swatted his chest playfully, and he rolled her to her back and climbed on top of her again, cupping her face in his hands. “Why me, doc?”

The gruff tenderness in his voice sent a rush of emotions to the surface, the first of which she recognized as love. But a drifter man certainly didn’t want to hear claims of love, did he? Would he think her foolish and naive if she admitted how she felt?

“You’re irresistible,” she said instead, earning her a sexy grin.
And I’m finally allowing myself to take a chance on love.

“Well, that’s true.” His smile faded to seriousness. “But why not that shrink guy you were engaged to?”

Hannah stared at his chest, uncomfortable.

He tipped her chin up with his thumb. “I’m not trying to make you feel awkward. It’s just…I’m surprised, that’s all. And touched.”

She licked her lips and traced a line across his chest with her finger, aware that he watched the movement and that his sex swelled again against her thigh.

“Hannah?”

“Destiny,” she finally said, for lack of a better explanation. “You were meant to be my first.”
And if the folk legend comes true, my last.

S
UNLIGHT STREAMED
through the window, dappling the room in gold, waking Jake to the reality of the day. And to the reality of what had happened the night before.

He’d made love to Hannah Hartwell with an intensity that had shaken his inner core. A part of him didn’t want their union to end.

But today he planned to get the evidence to indict DeLito and to find out the truth about Hannah’s father.

A fierce sense of protectiveness surged inside him. She couldn’t be involved. He wouldn’t allow himself to believe it, not after the way she’d given herself to him the night before. Not after she’d offered him the gift of her innocence.

So why had she lied about the files? About helping Wiley? There had to be some logical reason.

The unanswered question nagged at him. He glanced at her sleeping body, fighting arousal at the sight of her beautiful naked form cuddled beside him, sleeping so trustingly. Would he have to arrest Wiley today? Have to betray the trust she’d put in him by bringing him to her bed?

Aching with confusion, he glanced across the room, found her desk and decided he could slip from bed, catch a peek at the files and have some of his questions answered without Hannah ever knowing he’d suspected her of abetting a crime.

Unable to resist, he leaned over and planted a tender kiss on her cheek, savoring the scent of her sweet body as he climbed from bed and tiptoed to her desk.

H
ANNAH ROLLED OVER
and stretched, feeling content and sated and unbelievably sore. The heady memory of the night before rushed back, sending a delicious rush of pleasure through her. She had made love with Jake Tippins. The man who, according to the legend of her grandmother’s heirloom pearl ring, was her destiny. She could think of worse fates, she thought with a smile, remembering all the ways he’d loved her during the night. The real thing had been far better than the dreams she’d had.

She’d promised to save herself for her wedding night, but maybe she’d simply wanted to save herself for the man she loved. And she did love Jake, with or without promises.

Opening one eye, she peeked beside her to see if her lover had awakened, hoping to slip into the bathroom and freshen up before he awoke. But the space beside her was empty.

Cold and empty.

Fighting panic that he’d climbed from her bed and already skipped town, she rolled to her knees and opened both eyes, searching the room. Sunlight lit the hope chest, falling in golden rays across the chaise lounge in the corner, rippled into lines on the wall beside her desk. Her desk—where Jake sat.

He was leaning back in her padded chair, with his back to her, his feet crossed at the ankles on top of her antique stool, his face drawn in concentration. What the heck was he doing? Thinking about what to say? How to handle the awkward morning after?

How to dump her without a scene?

Not wanting to startle him, she slowly slipped from the bed, wincing as her bare feet hit the cool hardwood floor. She was naked also, she realized as chills raced up her body. Why was the room suddenly so cold? Had her furnace gone out overnight?

Slipping into a silk robe, she tied it at the waist, tiptoed over to Jake and slid her arms around his neck, then kissed his cheek. “Good morning.”

He stiffened in her arms, his hands reaching up to clutch her hands. “Morning.”

His voice sounded clipped.

“What are you doing?” She leaned over him and noticed the files she’d brought home from Wiley spread in his lap. “Jake?”

He released her hands and stood, his broad shoulders drawing back as the mouth she’d kissed and loved so wantonly only hours before now pulled into a fierce frown. “I might ask you the same thing. And this time I want the truth, Hannah. Not more of your lies.”