Loving Bailey (17 page)

“Your choice,” she said, snatching them up.
“I’ll get Jen to help me bring your truck back tomorrow.” Not
bothering to wait for a response she left, closing the door behind
her.

She made it to the driver’s side door before
Trace caught up with her. In the growing dusk she could see he’d
thrown on a T-shirt and shoved his feet into worn out loafers and
he was cursing under his breath. She caught snippets of “most
stubborn damn woman on the planet” and other endearments, but it
wasn’t enough to slow her down. She reached for the door handle and
he moved her, none too gently out of the way.

“God damn it, Bailey,” he said, yanking on
the handle. The old door opened with a pop and a low creak. “Give
me the keys. I’m not letting you drive up the mountain in the
dark.”

She held out the keys, not looking forward to
the long ride up the mountain with him beside her, but she couldn’t
exactly steal his truck if he was willing to take her home. As he
took his keys from her hand, her purse started to vibrate and ring
from the passenger side floor board. They froze, knocked for a
second from their own drama. Then he snagged the bag by the handle
and gave it to her.

Bailey dug through the receipts and lip balm,
grateful she’d set the phone to ring for a long time before it went
to voice mail. Her fingers touched the glowing screen and she saw
Jude’s name and a picture she’d taken of her brother at his
engagement party, looking so in love. She swiped the green bar, her
heart in her throat.

“Is he okay?” she asked, praying the news
about Travis was good.

Jude chuckled on the other end of the line,
but he didn’t chastise her for the greeting which more than
anything let her know how worried he’d been.

“It sounds good, baby. Momma and Daddy are
with him now. He’s awake and talking. It may take a while, but they
expect him to make a full recovery.”

“Oh thank God,” she said, sagging against the
side of the truck. “When can we get him home?”

“It’s going to be at least a couple of weeks.
Blake’s getting Momma and Daddy settled in so they can stay with
him until he’s ready to be moved stateside. It’s basically what the
officers already told us, but it seemed more real coming from
Blake. Anyway, I thought you’d want to know.” He sounded a little
sheepish and she couldn’t stop grinning. Travis was going to be
alright. Jude was right; it was different hearing the truth from
family.

“You were right. Thank you so much for
calling me.” Her brother was going to be alright. He was coming
home. The words repeated in her head and she almost missed what
Jude said.

“I should have thought before I called during
dinner. Were you busy tonight? It’s awfully quiet there.”

God her family was nosy, but she loved them
all too much to get mad at Jude.

“I’m not at the restaurant,” she said and dug
the toe of her sandal into the gravel, waiting for the reaction she
knew was coming.

“Why? Something wrong?” He sounded so
concerned and she loved her bossy big brother even more. He
couldn’t seem to help wanting to take care of everyone. It had been
born into him.

“Everything’s fine. Jen’s handling the dinner
shift tonight.”

“Oh,” he said, sounding slightly appeased.
She heard someone talking to him on the other end of the line and
then he was back with more questions. “Are you on a date?”

“None of your business, freak.”

“It’s Trace, right?”

There was no way she was talking to her
overprotective big brother about anything that happened tonight,
including the broad shouldered farmer who was slowly invading her
personal space while she talked on the phone. She shifted, turning
her back to Trace, but she could still feel his body radiating heat
behind her.

“I’m hanging up now,” she said.

“Tell him thanks again for bringing you.”

She rolled her eyes like a teenager.

“Oh, and Autumn wants to know if you can meet
her to do wedding stuff on Monday.”

“I wouldn’t miss it,” she said and hung up
before he could ask her anything else.

“Travis is okay?”

Bailey felt him behind her, the warmth of him
along her body, close but not quite touching. She nodded, unable to
speak past the lump in her throat. The emotional roller coaster
that was her night had finally caught up with her and if she didn’t
get out of there fast, she was going to do something stupid like
turn around so she could rest her head against his chest and let
her tears fall.

“Good,” he said, the relief palpable in his
voice. “Bailey, please.”

He held her arms and the heat of his hands
burned through the thin cotton of her blouse. The simple touch
undid her and without thinking she leaned back the fraction of an
inch it took for their bodies to touch.

Trace groaned and wrapped his arms around
her, tucking her head under his chin while she blinked back tears.
He didn’t push her, didn’t demand that she explain things. He just
held her, his breathing a slow steady rhythm which let the calm
seep into her. When her breath matched his and she felt warm and
safe in his arms, he kissed the top of her head.

“Let’s go in the house. I’m hungry and I know
you must be.”

Her stomach growled in response and she
sighed. No use denying the obvious, and Jude’s phone call had
stolen some of the heat from her hurt feelings. Taking her hand, he
led her back through the door she’d just stormed out of and into
his kitchen.

He settled her onto a stool at the counter,
kissing her knuckles before he let go of her hand. She sucked in a
breath and willed her body not to react to his touch, but even the
soft brush of his lips had all the nerves in her body thrumming to
life.

She watched him dig around in the
refrigerator for eggs from his hens, asparagus and a hard block of
cheese. As he grabbed a bowl and started cracking the pretty brown
and green eggs, she tried to make peace with the irony of another
man making dinner for her while she watched. But Trace didn’t need
her to tell him what to do. He was as at home in his own kitchen as
she was in hers.

He drizzled olive oil into the bottom of the
skillet and dropped in the fat asparagus. While they popped and
sizzled in the hot oil, he retrieved an opened bottle of pinot
grigio from the door of the fridge and poured them each a tumbler
full.

“Thanks,” she said when he pushed the glass
across the counter to her. She took a swallow of the cold, crisp
wine and then set the glass down just as fast, not trusting herself
not to drink it too fast given her current mood.

She watched him slide the asparagus onto a
plate and drop a pat of butter into the still hot pan. After he
poured the eggs into the pan he glanced up for a second, but he
didn’t make eye contact. Almost as if she were a skittish animal he
was afraid to spook.

Very sexy. Jesus.

This was stupid. Maybe things hadn’t gone at
all the way she’d hoped, but they’d been friends for years. She
wasn’t going to lose him over this. She was pretty much done being
angry and embarrassed. Relief about her brother had put things into
perspective for her. There had to be some way for them to get
through the awkwardness with each other and, if not get back to the
way things were, at least find a way to save their friendship.

She picked a strawberry out of the bowl on
the counter, pulled off the green stem and popped it into her
mouth. The sweet, tart taste of a berry which had ripened in the
sun and never seen the inside of a refrigerator flooded her mouth
and she let out a sound of pleasure. Trace looked up from the eggs,
his expression pained.

She’d never wanted to think of him as a
brother, but if that was all she could have with him it was better
than this weirdness between them or losing him. As she reached for
another berry, he took a breath and looked like he wanted to say
something.

“I’m…”

She let the berry fly, hitting him in the
center of his chest with a soft splat.

“…sorry,” he said, looking down at the red
stain on the front of his shirt.

“Apologize again, Campbell, and I’ll cover
you with these,” she said, pulling the bowl out of his reach, some
of her anger starting to seep back in.

“But I am.” He held his hands in front of
chest in surrender. “I didn’t know. I would have handled things
better.”

“I guess I’m the one who should be sorry
then.” She felt the hurt and embarrassment weasel its way back into
her chest. “I should have told you. I didn’t realize it would be
such a turnoff.”

“Fuck no. God, are you kidding?” He flipped
off the burner and came around the counter, closing the distance
between them. “I know it shouldn’t matter – it wouldn’t matter if
it wasn’t the case, and I feel like a Neanderthal for even thinking
it, but God, Bailey, the idea of being your first has me so turned
on I don’t think there’s any blood left in my brain. Please don’t
be angry with me.” He cupped her face with his hands, lifting her
chin so she had no choice but to look in his eyes. Eyes filled with
pleading for her understanding and not pity.

He bent his head and with infinite patience
leaned in to kiss her, groaning when she didn’t pull away. “Give me
another chance to do this right,” he said, his lips a breath away
from hers.

Looking into his storm cloud gray eyes, she
nodded and moved toward him, closing the distance between them.

Chapter 20

He’d been Bailey’s first. It never occurred
to him that she hadn’t been with another man. Not until he thrust
inside her and felt the barrier give way. He’d been terrified to
move, terrified he’d hurt her. He couldn’t stand the idea of being
the one who caused her pain and in the end he’d done it anyway.

He still couldn’t get over that she didn’t
know how much he wanted her. God, he was practically shaking with
the effort of trying to hold himself back and she thought he’d
rejected her. If she was willing to give him another chance, he’d
show her how much he wanted her, how much he needed her. And this
time he’d take his time and make sure that when she let him inside
her, he wouldn’t just be her first, he’d be the only one. The idea
had him working long division in his head so he could hold it
together long enough to get her back in his bed.

He kissed her, just a quick touch of his lips
to hers. If he gave into the taste of her, he’d never be able to
stay in control long enough to make love to her the way she
deserved. He was still kicking himself for his clumsy first
attempt. Bailey deserved so much more than to be taken fast and
dirty. Although the thought had definite appeal for later.

Reluctantly, he let go of her and went back
around the counter to finish their dinner. He put the asparagus on
the egg and grated cheese over it all before folding it and
dividing it into two pieces. When he slid her portion onto a plate
and passed it to her she looked at him like he’d lost his mind and
maybe he had. Bailey agreed to have sex with him and he was
screwing around with food. But she was hungry and they had time. He
was determined to spend the night making sure she got everything
she needed from him.

“Eat, baby,” he said, handing her a fork and
refilling her wine glass. “You’re hungry and we have all night. I
plan to spend every minute of it taking care of you.”

He polished off his own omelet, a little cold
but still edible, and watched as she took smaller bites of hers.
When he was satisfied she’d had enough to eat, he stuck their
plates in the sink and caught her by the hand, leading her to the
sofa. He didn’t want to risk spooking her by taking her back to his
bedroom. He could still picture the angry set of her shoulders when
she’d snatched his keys from the dresser and fled less than an hour
earlier. No reason to remind her of that.

Instead, he sat, pulling her down on his lap
to straddle his hips. He hooked his hands behind her knees and
pulled her tight against him, fitting his hard cock against her
sex. She sucked in air and he watched her breasts rise with every
breath, mesmerized by the row of tiny buttons. One by one, he
unfastened each small pearl disc, exposing inch after inch of
Bailey’s perfect pale skin. When her shirt hung open, he pushed the
lace and cotton off of her shoulders, leaving her in nothing except
her jeans and a white lace bra.

He undid the front clasp on her bra, pushing
the cups aside to expose the creamy mounds of her breasts topped
with rosy nipples pebbled tight in the cool air. This time he did
take his time, kissing and nibbling his way around the gentle swell
of her breast. He paid extra attention to the underside, nipping
and licking in smaller and smaller circles until he reached the
tight peak.

When he pulled her nipple into his mouth,
suckling her sweet flesh, her back bowed, arching in pleasure and
his cock sprang to life, throbbing with the rhythm of his
heartbeat. The waiting might kill him, but God, what a way to
go.

He worshipped her gorgeous breasts, moving
from one the other, kissing, licking and teasing until her nipples,
wet from his mouth, strained toward him. The simple act of touching
her, of tasting her was the most erotic thing he’d ever
experienced. She clutched at his shoulders and rocked into him,
small needy cries escaping from her lips. It would have been easy
to lose himself in the way she rode the hard ridge of his cock,
with nothing except a couple of layers of fabric separating his
body from hers. But now that he’d given himself over to seeing to
her pleasure, his own arousal took a backseat, every bit of his
desire concentrated on taking her higher.

“Please,” she pleaded, reaching between them
to snap open the button on his jeans.

“Not yet, baby.” He caught her hand and
brought it to his lips, placing kisses on her fingertips. “Not
until you come apart for me.”