Teasing Trent (The Alexanders) (13 page)

Warmth spread through her at his words. “It’s no problem,” she whispered.
 

 
She wasn’t normally the damsel in distress type but it had been so nice to be held. Comforted. If that was how he hit on her, she could do with a little more.

“Now, what do you say we just hang out and watch a movie? Neither one of us is going to think about anything heavy for the rest of the night.” He grinned at her and she found herself smiling back.
 

“Okay, I can do that.”

They cleaned the kitchen in amiable silence. Then Jackson turned to her and said, “Ready to go?” and held out a hand to her. She was startled into grasping it. He squeezed gently and pulled her after him into the living room.
 

She sat on the couch as he flipped through a stack of movies until he found the one he wanted. A warm, contented feeling settled over her and Ridley was tempted to allow herself to get swept up in the magic. To snuggle deep into the cushions of the couch and pretend this was her normal life and Jackson was her boyfriend.
 

Stop it, Ridley.

Jackson seemed like a nice guy and he’d done nothing but offer her help. But she’d learned the hard way over the years that no one did anything without wanting something in return, eventually. It wouldn’t do for her to get too attached to him or too accustomed to having his help. This was a temporary stop just like every other move in her life and when she moved on, she’d do it the same as always.
 

Alone.

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“I CAN NOT believe he just said that!” Raina was curled up on the opposite end of the couch giggling.
No, not Raina
, he reminded himself. Ridley.

Apparently Raina Winters was more than just a stage name. It was also a persona she used to hide her real personality. No one would believe the perfectly coiffed, man-eating Raina Winters was really a shy, sweet girl who giggled at slapstick comedy. Jackson picked up another piece of popcorn from the big bowl on the table next to him and threw it at her.
 

“I can’t believe you’ve never seen a Will Ferrell movie before.” Jackson shook his head in mock dismay and turned back to the TV.
 

While outwardly he was paying attention to the onscreen antics, in truth he only knew what was happening because he’d seen this particular comedy several times before. He’d spent most of the last hour staring at Ridley. Entranced by her smile. Captivated by her laugh.

And hard as a rock by her smooth bare legs brushing up against his.

Ridley turned and caught him looking. She grinned and kicked him playfully, her foot landing square in the middle of his stomach.
 

“Oooof. What was that for?” Jackson captured her foot, partially to keep her from knocking the wind out of him, and partially to keep it from drifting any lower and giving her proof of just how much he
wasn’t
paying attention to the movie.

“I don’t know. I just wanted to say thanks. For suggesting this.” She motioned toward the television where Will Ferrell’s character read the news while wearing a ridiculously large fake mustache. “This has been, hands down, one of the crappiest weeks of my life. But somehow, I don’t know, it doesn’t seem as overwhelming anymore. A movie and some laughs with a friend are exactly what I needed.”

A wicked part of him couldn’t resist asking, “So, we’re friends, huh?”

Her eyes widened slightly before a shy smile spread across her face. “I thought so…” she trailed off.

“I’m just kidding. Of course we’re friends. As long as you aren’t a Dallas fan.”

“I never said I wasn’t,” she teased.

“La, La, La.” He covered his ears and pretended he couldn’t hear her.
 

Something inside him warmed as he watched her turn back to the movie and let out another giggle. Gone was the wary, distrustful girl he’d originally met. He doubted many people got to see the real Ridley, with her bulletproof, mental armor stripped off. Which was one more reason that his dick had to take a backseat.
 

She wasn’t the kind of woman you slept with for a night.
 

She was the kind you watched stupid comedies with and told jokes to make her smile. The kind you held in your arms until she fell asleep. The kind who deserved a man who could love her with his whole heart, not the tattered remnants that currently took up space in his chest.
 

Since he knew he wasn’t fit for any of the above, he was honored just to be her friend.

“You know what?”
 

 
She turned at the sound of his voice and raised her eyebrows. As she settled back on the pillows of the couch, her wild hair spilled over the edge, a riotous cascade of curls. She was so stunningly beautiful in that moment that he couldn’t speak. When he finally found his voice again, he couldn’t remember what he was going to say before, what excuse he was going to use to escape from the temptation of her laughter and her smile. So he just went with the truth.

“This is exactly what I needed, too.”
 

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RIDLEY SNUGGLED DEEPER into the cushions of the couch, watching as the flickering lights from the television played over Jackson’s face. His mood had shifted toward the end of the movie and she wasn’t sure what to make of it. They’d started off laughing like hyenas and throwing popcorn at each other before they’d gotten comfortable enough to put their legs up.
 

She should have kept her mouth closed. All her talk about how crappy her week had been had probably made him uncomfortable. But she’d wanted to express her gratitude for everything he’d done for her today. Not just letting her stay, but listening to her talk about David, and hanging out with her so she didn’t have to be alone.

She closed her eyes, helpless to resist the lure of rest after the hectic pace of traveling for the last few days. Returning to Virginia wasn't something she'd planned on doing yet. College was supposed to be her chance to escape her past, to branch out into a world where no one knew her. A chance to redefine herself as more than just “Raina's sister” or the girl with the bitter, chain-smoking mother who worked double shifts at the diner to keep them all fed. She’d had so many plans to make her mark on the world and be successful before she returned.
 

How telling that, for all her hope of being independent, the place she’d run to at the first sign of trouble was right back to her sister.

The final credits rolled and the screen went blank for a few seconds before the opening menu screen flashed. Ridley yawned so widely it felt like the sides of her face might crack. The clock on the wall to her left told her it was almost two in the morning. She thought of the soft, decadent bed upstairs in the guestroom she was using and almost whimpered. It was way past time for her to go upstairs and get some sleep.

Instead she turned her head and looked at Jackson again.

He was such a puzzle. Men who looked like Jackson weren't nice for no reason yet he hadn't asked her for anything. He'd just been there when she had no one else. Why, she couldn't even begin to guess.

His features were relaxed in sleep, the long, sharp blade of his nose more prominent now that it didn’t have to compete with his killer smile. His lashes rested against the top of his cheekbones and she had to resist the urge to run a hand over his curly hair. It wasn’t fair that he looked so beautiful and guileless in sleep when he carried such a lethal sexiness when fully awake.

“I would say ‘penny for your thoughts’ but I have a feeling
that
thought would cost more than I’m worth.”

Ridley ripped her gaze from the curve of his lips up to his now wide open eyes.
 

Oops.

“Hi. I was just…” she decided not to even address her blatant staring, “wondering if I could borrow something to sleep in?”

“Sure, sure. Of course.” He got up slowly, unfolding his long legs from the couch one at a time. “Follow me. Sorry I conked out at the end there. I guess I was more tired than I thought.” He waved for her to follow him up the stairs and she did, keeping her eyes on her own feet so she couldn’t ogle the way his jeans fit him as he walked.
 

She was in his room before she’d realized what she’d done. “Oh, I’ll just wait out in the hall,” she stammered.
 

“No. Stay.” Those two simple words halted her in her tracks. He smiled a slow, sexy grin before pulling open the second drawer in his bureau. He rummaged for a while, pulling out shirts and then pushing them back in. “I’m trying to find one of my shorter ones so it won’t swallow you up.”

“Oh, I like them longer. It’ll hang lower and cover my legs like a nightgown.”

He stopped digging and glanced at her. Then his eyes dipped lower to take in her bare legs exposed by the mid-thigh terry cloth shorts she wore. “Right.”

He held out a shirt and Ridley took it carefully, making sure their fingers didn’t touch.
 

“Well, thanks again. Goodnight.” She fled the room, racing down the darkened hallway, not stopping until she reached the door of the guest room. She turned the handle and opened the door but before she entered she looked back.
 

She
had
to.

Jackson stood in the same position next to his dresser. The heat of his gaze burned over her entire body and she shivered as her nipples peaked against her shirt. She didn’t know him well enough to interpret the look on his face but she could interpret her body’s response.

God, she wanted him.
 

He’d been nothing but a gentleman all day, seeing to her every need, listening to her vent and keeping her company. He hadn’t made any moves on her, hadn’t done anything suggestive or said anything provocative. Was he just being a good host and making sure she made it to her room?
 

Or was he imagining what she would look like when she stripped off her clothes and went to bed wearing nothing but his shirt?

Chapter Six

JACKSON WASN’T SURE who moved first, but a second later he was down the hall and Ridley was in his arms. Her hair flowed over them as he held her against the wall. He buried his face in her neck and inhaled, his libido instantly going haywire at the warm, seductive scent of her skin. There were no words spoken between them, just the unspoken desires in their eyes.

I want you.

I know.

I want you, too.

When he finally anchored a hand in her hair and tilted her face up for his kiss, it was both a pain and a relief. Her lips opened under his with a breathy little moan. He would kick himself later for his angry assault on her mouth. There was no gentleness, no finesse. He held her captive against him as he took her mouth, capturing her tongue and sliding it against his own.
 

She was warm and soft in his arms, her breasts pressing against his chest as he held her against him. He was holding her too tightly but she didn’t push away. She clung to him, her long legs snaking around his waist to hold him in the cradle of her thighs.

“Jackson,” she pleaded.
 

“Hold on, baby. Just wait.”
 

He groaned as she arched in his arms, rubbing her core against him. She was perfect, so soft and responsive. He worked her, angling so he could rub right against her sweet spot. Damn if she didn’t catch his rhythm right away, rocking her hips up as he ground against her.
 

“Jackson. Please, please, please—” She broke off with a strangled cry when he slid her down so she was riding his thigh.
 

She went rigid in his arms before her head fell back against the wall. Her eyelids drifted down as she shuddered beneath him.

“Oh yeah, that’s it,” he whispered.
 

That look. Damn if she wasn’t the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen, with her head thrown back, ecstasy all over her face as her most intimate muscles clenched against his thigh.
 

He’d be seeing that look in his dreams.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” he gasped, then took her mouth in another crushing kiss, kissing her deeply until he again had to pull away just to breathe.
 

He ripped his mouth from hers, the sight of her swollen lips almost making him dizzy.
 

“I told myself I wasn’t going to do this. You need someone to lend a helping hand not take advantage.” He pressed his forehead against hers and closed his eyes.
 

It should have been better with his eyes closed, when he couldn’t see the way she looked up at him, so soft and trusting. But even with his eyes closed, he could still see her face. The way she looked at him made him feel powerless. He could literally feel his self-control oozing out, drop by drop.

“Oh, that’s right. You’re supposed to stay away from me. I’m a vulture, remember?” She licked his bottom lip and he groaned.
 

When she kissed a trail from his jaw down to his neck, he flinched and set her down. “That was my brother talking. I know better. But that doesn’t make this a good idea.”
 

“You really are a nice guy, aren’t you?”

“Unfortunately, yes,” he grumbled.

“Well, the fact that you don’t seem any happier about it than I do,” she stood on tiptoe and wrapped her arms around his neck, brushing her body against his, inch by inch, “makes me feel a little better. My ego anyway.”

He stopped thinking the instant she plastered herself against him. It took a moment for him to direct enough blood to his brain to translate what she was saying.
 

“I’m definitely not happy about it, beautiful. I’m just trying not to be what you think I am.”

She pulled back and looked him in the eye. “Jackson—”

He cut her off before she could continue. “I have a family picnic tomorrow so there’s going to be a lot of people around. But we always have tons of food and good music. You’re welcome to join us. I want you to make yourself at home while you’re here.”