Read Playing for Keeps/A Tempting Stranger Online

Authors: Lori Copeland

Tags: #Fiction, #Romance, #General, #Contemporary, #Westerns, #test

Playing for Keeps/A Tempting Stranger (11 page)

BOOK: Playing for Keeps/A Tempting Stranger
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Page 81
Chapter Five
The first few weeks of their ''business arrangement" proved that the word
uncle
was not in either one's vocabulary.
The farmhouse had undergone an almost miraculous change. Bright throw pillows and paintings now enlivened the rooms with their vivid splashes of color. Lush green foliage adorned each room throughout the house. Even Jason's prized plant now showed signs of rapidly improving health.
Jessica had washed and ironed all the curtains that now hung freshly starched at the windows and had mopped and waxed the kitchen floor until you could see your face in the finish. She had shampooed the green, plush carpet-
 
Page 82
ing in the living room, bedrooms, and hall, bringing back the color to almost new.
The mouth-watering smells that reached Jason each night when he came home made him weak with hunger. He was overwhelmed the first time he came home to be greeted by a tall glass of iced tea waiting for him and his favorite apple pie bubbling hot in the oven.
His clothes now hung, cleaned and pressed, in his closet, buttons all replaced, and his socks were mended and lying neatly in his dresser drawers. That in itself was a source of amazement to him, the way she could mend those socks so neatly! He had asked Mrs. Perkins to mend several pairs for him one day, and for weeks he had felt like he was walking on rocks. Finally he had given up completely and in a fit of anger uncharacteristic of him thrown them all away and bought new ones. But when Jessica mended them, they were comfortablereally comfortable!
Jessica was living in her own corner of heaven these days. She had her dream house, with her flowers, and her Jason to cook for. Of course she didn't have her children, she thought wistfully, and this arrangement was only for such a short time; but she would always have these memories. No one could take that from her.
Although Jason totally ignored her as a womanshe could have had three eyes and four legs as far as he was concernedthey did get along nicely together in lots of other ways. No matter what mischievous thing she came up with, he would always play right along with her. Even so, they seemed to be engaged in a running battle of wills, neither one ever conceding a point on any issue.
Jessica was humming to herself this morning as she started a load of dirty clothes in the washing machine. She began to giggle, thinking of their first breakfast together, when she had gotten up early after hearing Jason in the shower, determined at least to make his home as pleasant as she could for the next six months even if she couldn't
 
Page 83
let herself join him in his bedroom. With Mrs. Perkins gone the house had turned into a shambles very quickly. Jessica recalled she had just set Jason's plate of bacon and eggs in front of him that morning when she noticed his plaid cotton work shirt clinging to his skin like Saran Wrap. She walked back to the oven, took out a pan of light, golden-brown biscuits, and placed them on the trivet sitting on the table. Walking to the large refrigerator, she removed the juice and butter. As she poured him a glass of juice her eyes returned to his shirt.
''What's the matter with your shirt?" she asked inquisitively.
He was spreading generous amounts of golden butter over his flaky, hot biscuit. He glanced down at his attire and shrugged his broad shoulders. "Damned if I know," he said unconcernedly, biting into the steaming biscuit.
"It looks like static electricity," she remarked, buttering her own biscuit and reaching for the honey sitting on the table. She smeared an ample amount on the biscuit, licking her fingers free of the sweet, sticky substance clinging to them. "Have you been doing your own laundry?" she ventured.
"Trying to," he grinned. "It's not one of my favorite things."
She stood up, reached for the coffeepot, and poured Jason's thick brown mug full of the hot liquid. "Do you use fabric softener when you wash?" she persisted.
He was busy eating his third biscuit when he said curtly, "I don't know what I use. It's sitting in there on the washing machine in a big box." He was getting a little tired of the conversation.
"Well, that's just the washing powder," she informed him. "Don't you use anything but that when you wash?"
He shot her a rather impatient look and said, "No, I just put a cup of that stuff from the blue box in the washing machine and turn it on. When it's through, I put it in the dryer, turn it on 'normal heat,' and press the start button,"
 
Page 84
he muttered in a monotone voice, ''just like Mrs. Perkins told me to."
Jessica shook her head and picked up her coffee cup. "Doesn't that bother you, clinging to your skin like that all day?" she continued.
"It's irritating," he agreed in a clipped tone.
"Well"she sighed"I'll do your laundry from now on." She picked up her juice glass and took a small sip from it.
Jason finished his meal, pushed away from the table, and stood up, reaching for his hat, which hung on the coatrack by the back door of the kitchen. "Well, I'd appreciate it if you could get it straightened out, Angel. My underwear has been taking a lot of indecent liberties with me lately," he said, giving her a broad wink as he walked out the door.
Exactly one month to the day after Jessica's arrival, her wonderful make-believe world came tumbling down around her. They had just finished supper, which Jason had eaten rapidly, leaving the room the minute he was done. She could hear the shower running as she cleared away the dinner dishes, wondering idly what his big hurry was tonight. Fifteen minutes later a red convertible pulled up in the drive and "beeped" loudly.
Jessica peeked out through the kitchen curtain, her heart sinking as she saw the pretty, brown-haired girl who smiled warmly at her. Jessica smiled back, then dropped the curtain. The clean, fresh smell of Jason filled the room as he walked through the kitchen toward the back door. Opening the screen, he told Jessica shortly, "I may be late. Just leave the back door unlocked."
Jessica watched as he walked out to the red car, leaned down and kissed the driver, then went around to the passenger's side and slid in. The car pulled swiftly out of the drive in the direction of town.
Jessica walked away from the window, sharp pangs of
 
Page 85
jealously painfully coursing through her. Well, what had she expected? She had known there had to be other women in Jason's life. The last thing in the world he would be was a monk! But it still hurt, she thought, wiping at the unexpected tears that rose in her eyes. How different things could have been, she thought resentfully, if only she had had the gumption to stand up to Uncle Fred and Aunt Rainey concerning her marriage.
Wiping ineffectually at the streaming tears, she washed the last skillet, rinsed it, and laid it in the drainer. Turning out the light in the kitchen, she wandered back through the silent house, clicking on a small lamp in the living room, her eyes falling on one of Jason's shirts that he had carelessly draped there. She walked over, picked it up, and hugged it to her momentarily. The unique, special smell of Jason assaulted her nostrils, the faint aroma of his aftershave clinging to the soft fabric. Once again Jessica felt the wetness on her cheeks as tears slid rapidly down her face. Giving in to an overwhelming feeling of loneliness, she buried her face in the shirt, and her slender body shook with the force of her deep sobbing. She loved him more than life itself, but he would never be hers again. Only once in a lifetime could anyone feel the kind of love she felt for Jason. Jessica didn't know how she would ever bear the pain of losing him again.
It was very late when she finally heard the car pull into the drive. Jessica had been trying to concentrate on the book she had taken to bed, meeting with little success. With a deep sigh she reached up and switched off her bedside lamp. Snuggling down into her bed, she heard Jason let himself in the back door, not any too quietly. Banging his way down the hall, he paused before her door and peeked in, his tall form appearing very comforting to her.
''Hope I didn't wake you, Angel," he said insincerely.
"No, I was awake." Now that he was back, Jessica suddenly felt very hostile toward him.
 
Page 86
He walked on into the room and sat down on the edge of the bed. The light from the hall formed a hazy glow in the dark room. Jessica sat up, modestly pulling the sheet up around her bodice. Jason's eyes followed her movements as though he enjoyed her discomfort.
''What did you do this evening?" he asked conversationally.
"Nothing as interesting as you, I'm sure," she replied in a petulant voice.
"Really? How do you know what I did?" Jason asked in surprise.
"I guessed." Jessica lay back down, pulling the sheet up around her neck. "Who was your date?"
"Monica Sawyers," he told her teasingly, obviously enjoying her barely concealed jealousy.
"She was very pretty," Jessica said grudgingly. "Have you been dating her long?" Drat! Why did she ask that? She didn't want to know anything about the woman.
"About a year." He confirmed her worst fear.
"Oh," Jessica mumbled weakly, "then it must be serious."
"It could be," Jason said evasively.
"If you don't mind, Jason, I'm very tired," Jessica said wearily. "Could we finish this conversation in the morning?" If she had to hear about all of Monica's attributes, she'd scream.
"You really ought to get to know Monica, Jessie. She's a nice person," Jason said earnestly, making no move to leave the room.
"I will, Jason," Jessica said with mock enthusiasm. "I'll bake her a cake one of these days and take it over to her."
"You wouldn't by any chance be jealous of her, would you?" Jason leaned down closer to her, his fresh, clean smell washing over her.
"Not at all. Good night, Jason," she tried once again.
"You're sure?"
Jessica bolted up in bed, her patience clearly at an end.
 
Page 87
''Look, Jason, I don't want to hear about your overactive sex life, nor do I want to discuss your little playmates. Is that clear? Just please get out of here and leave me alone!"
"Overactive sex life?" Jason heckled. "What do you think I am, some sort of pervert?"
Jessica glared at him. "You said it, I didn't!"
"Oh, ex-Mrs. Rawlings, I believe you
are
jealous." Jason was definitelY pushing his luck.
Shoving him away irritatedly, Jessica lay down again, trying to totally ignore him now. Jason followed her head to the pillow, his warm mouth teasing lightly down the side of her neck. "Let me try out the new 'perverting' techniques I've recently developed on you, Angel," he taunted unmercifully, his arms trapping her against the pillow.
"Jason Rawlings, let me gol" she threatened grimly.
"I can't do that," he said in mock sadness. "We perverts don't have any scruples at all." His hands reached up under her thin gown, firmly grasping both of her soft breasts in his hands. His bold touch caused Jessica to catch her breath sharply as she squirmed harder to escape his hold.
"Let me go, you scurrilous toad!" Jessica was barely able to conceal her mounting laughter.
"Toad? Now she calls me a perverted toad!" Jason's hands left her breasts to tickle her rib cage, sending her into a fit of uncontrolled giggles.
"Jason!" she pleaded, gasping. "
Stop!
I can't stand it!" Tears of laughter rolled down her cheeks and her sides were killing her. Jason was tumbling her around on the bed like a rag doll, both of them caught up in his playful antics. Suddenly his teasing hands came back in contact with the velvet smoothness of her breasts, this time lingering for an instant, the soft satiny mounds fitting perfectly in his large hands.
"Mmmmmm," he groaned, all signs of laughter fading from his deep voice. "I think the scurrilous toad has found
BOOK: Playing for Keeps/A Tempting Stranger
12.88Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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