Broken (6 page)

Not his own and definitely not anyone else’s.

Ms. Lucille had told him what was going on with her, about the ex husband and the best friend. Knowing females, he figured she was still picking up the pieces and carrying a serious hate for anything with a dick. He didn’t have the time or the patience for that shit. He liked the women he bedded to have a little more mileage and a lot less baggage. That usually meant they knew the score.

Still, if he could bring her around to his way of thinking he figured he could give sweet little Kerryanne the ride of her life. His dick went right along with his thoughts and he had to adjust his package, which had already been getting jumpy since he got his first gander at her incredible tits under the flimsy top she wore.

She seemed a bit gun-shy so he figured he was going to have to treat her with kid gloves for now. He didn’t intend to let that shit drag on forever though. Nothing he hated more than wasted time. The hard part was over; his interest had been engaged. So yeah, he was taking her measure, trying to plan his play out before he really made a move.

So far, she seemed to be able to hold her own, but that could be because he hadn’t really stepped into her space yet. Those little whisper soft touches of skin rubbing against skin while they were in the kitchen was nothing compared to what he would do to her if given half a chance.

So that’s basically what he was doing now, testing the waters to see just how hard he needed to come to break down her bullshit barriers. He wasn’t the type to let anything stand in the way of him getting something he wanted. And the little small town beauty was the first thing to get this kinda rise out of him in quite some time.

He tried telling himself for about the third time since she ran into him on that sidewalk, that maybe he should leave her alone. Maybe she wasn’t strong enough after her ordeal to deal with what it was that he wanted from her. She’d got his attention, awakened the beast, but could she really handle him? Or should he go looking elsewhere?

The place didn’t really have much to offer in way of female companionship, not of the love ‘em and leave ‘em variety anyway. That was another reason why he should’ve been gone from here weeks ago. His dick needed to be fed.

But his hardheaded grandpa refused to budge, and he refused to leave his childhood hero here alone with no family and no one to look after him. And until yesterday when she’d walked into him he hadn’t seen anything to really hold his interest.

He’d seen her coming down the sidewalk after he’d crossed the street to chat with Ms. Thompson. The old lady liked daily updates on her friend and he’d gotten into the habit of reporting to her every morning before going about his day. It was the funniest thing, because he wasn’t in the habit of answering to anyone. But the old woman didn’t exactly leave room for discussion.

He’d seen the shine of her hair in the early morning sun and had found it hard to drag his eyes away. With just a wave to Lucille, he’d headed up the sidewalk in her direction. He couldn’t wait to find out if the face did that amazing hair justice.

When she’d closed her eyes he didn’t know what to think and when she’d walked right into him, it felt like providence. It was her tits, not some bullshit love at first sight romantic drivel. Those soft cushions had pressed into him and made his dick hard as a fucking pike before he’d steadied her with his hands.

Soft, he could still remember the feel of her skin under his hands and that scent on her. Damn! He’d had a flashback to high school and cheerleaders and all the shit that had made his teen years the joy they had been.

Her reaction to his meat trying to bust out of his jeans didn’t help matters either. Kyle knew real hunger when he saw it and the lady was starving. No wonder she’d whetted his appetite after such a long dry spell. Of course that was before he’d heard her life story, or the bare bones of it from Ms. T.

Now he was in her kitchen after tossing, and turning all night worrying about her. He kept crowding her in the kitchen after he talked her into making breakfast with him after their first cup of coffee. His dick appreciated the fact that her nipples stayed hard and she had goose bumps up and down her arms.

He took every opportunity to touch her in some way with everything but his hands, keeping her on the edge. When his dick threatened to mutiny if he didn’t get some action soon, he figured it was best to get out of the confined space. But he wasn’t ready to leave her. “When we’re done here, I’m taking you for a ride, you need to get out some.”

She opened her mouth to give him some half-ass excuse but he was ready. “It’s either that or I stay here all day and I’m not sure I can promise to keep my hands off of you that long. So unless you’re ready for that, I suggest you throw on some jeans after we eat and let’s go. You can leave the top.”

“Are you nuts? I can’t go outside like this.” She looked down at herself where her tits were now a little more prominent than they were a few seconds ago, before wrapping her arms around them.

“Suit yourself.” He shrugged his shoulders and turned back to her omelet in the pan. “Get the toast would you?”

Just for kicks, he looked back at her. “Yeah maybe you shouldn’t wear it outside.” And his reasons for telling her that shit didn’t even bear looking too hard at. He didn’t like the idea of anyone else seeing her like that. Since the fuck when?

***

She wanted to grab something to wrap around her shoulders but felt foolish. It wasn’t like her breasts were hanging out or anything. But he was a relative stranger for Pete’s sake, and here she was in next to nothing having breakfast with him one day after they’d met. This was so not her norm.

He, on the other hand, seemed right at home and she wondered how often he did this. She wasn’t brave enough to broach the subject though, but now that she thought of it, she could well imagine that someone who looked like him had women flocking all over him. Even if she were interested, which she wasn’t, she assured herself, he wasn’t for her.

She buttered the toast, keeping a wary eye on him, but he was going about his omelet making as if this were something they’d done a million times before. His ass really was something special the way it fit those jeans though. She berated herself for her wandering mind and promised to keep her eyes and her thoughts above the belt from now on.

She felt like a cat ready to spring, and each time he got too close she held her breath waiting. And he did it a lot. If she didn’t know better, she’d think he was crowding her on purpose, and his touch. Since when, was an innocent brush of skin against skin so…so erotic? It was the book she was writing, had to be. She’d never had such strong reactions to anyone before and he hadn’t even really done anything. But it sure felt like he was. She took one last quick look and turned away.

Dammit, did the outline behind his zipper get bigger? Mercy! She all but whimpered in her throat. “Let’s eat.” She almost jumped out of her skin thinking he’d caught her at it again. She’d be mortified if she were caught staring at his junk again twice in as many days.

She swallowed and tried to get the sudden dryness from her mouth with not much luck. In one day, make it two; he’d turned her life upside down. Things she’d never even thought about before, were now, front and center in her mind. It would be so much easier if she could really blame it on her writing, but she knew better. Her eyes landed on his zipper again when he turned to leave the room with plates in hand and she became flushed.

What the hell has gotten into you Kerryanne? For crap sake get a grip. She hadn’t looked at anything male since high school, not even with innocent appreciation, always thinking it was somehow disrespectful to the boy she’d married.

She’d been so stupidly comfortable in the life she’d mapped out for herself, so secure in her own little universe, that there had never been a need to. Good girls didn’t look, and she was ever the good girl wasn’t she?

She certainly didn’t need to be looking now either. Unless she was one of those fool women who grew addicted to a certain kind of mistreatment. She’d read about stuff like that, women who had become programmed to abuse of one kind or another and was always searching it out, whether knowingly or not.

“You coming?” She followed him to the table and sat where he placed her trying her best to remain composed. It was too damn early in the morning for this. She was already flustered and it wasn’t even nine o’clock yet. He sat her and pushed in her chair before taking his own seat and pouring them both juice.

“How’s the writing coming?” He picked up his fork and dug into his eggs. Those arms, shit.

“Fine I guess.” She tensed up waiting for the blow, the condescending and derogatory remarks she’d grown accustomed to. Why was he such a confusing mix of hot sex object and arbiter of disaster?

“You plan on doing anything with it when it’s done or are you just playing around?” She shoveled a forkful of fluffy eggs into her mouth to avoid answering the question, but she should’ve known it wouldn’t be that easy.

He looked at her as he waited for her to swallow. She reached for her cup and took a healthy swig of coffee. “I’m not sure yet.” She lied to avoid any farther discussion on the matter. She could feel his eyes boring into her skull as if he were trying to decipher her every thought. Damn!

“I think you should. Lucille said it was your dream, people shouldn’t give up on their dreams.” He carried on eating as if he hadn’t just given her something she’d desperately needed. Her throat closed around the lump that had suddenly formed there and she fought back the silly tears that seemed to be ever present these days.

As he went on eating and sipping on his coffee, some perverse thing in her prompted her to say what she did next.

“My ex didn’t think it was such a good idea. He thought it was a waste of time.”

“Your ex is an ass.” He said it with such conviction, who could argue? And just like that she felt a little less of that weight on her shoulders. She kept sneaking looks at him as they continued to eat in silence and realized he made her nervous. Her palms were sweaty and her leg kept tapping against the table leg. He gave her one of his looks like he knew just what was going on with her and she dragged herself back under control.

It had been too long to count since she’d had to make conversation with someone of the opposite sex who wasn’t a workman or a friend. She’d always hid behind her marriage so it was easy for her to avoid sticky situations. Everyone in the little town knew she was part of a couple so they had never been any question of her being hit on. Though it hadn’t stopped some from looking, no one had ever approached her in that way.

Now here she was, alone in her too small apartment with the hottest man to ever walk these parts. That earlier question of jumping into bed with him popped into her head again, but she knew she could never do it. It was surprising that she’d even entertained the thought no matter how brief. She just wasn’t that kind of girl. Though for him maybe…Oh no, that would be an even bigger mistake than Paul.

He might be nice to her now because Ms. Lucille had told him her sob story, but she just couldn’t see someone like him being genuinely interested in an old washed up housewife. A man like him was probably accustomed to supermodel types.

“Whatever you’ve got going on in that head of yours, you need to put it away.”

“What do you mean?” She fidgeted around in her seat under his glare. There’s no way he could know what she was thinking. She wasn’t that transparent surely, and even if she were he didn’t know her that well.

She looked up and over when she sensed his gaze on her. The look in his eyes made her duck her head again. Why was he having such an affect on her? Good grief the man seemed able to see into the heart of her with just a look.

“Look, let’s get one thing straight here. I don’t know what went down between you and the asshole and I really don’t care. But if we’re gonna dance this dance with each other, you’re gonna have to stop comparing me to him. I doubt he’d even come close anyway so it’s a waste of time.”

Well aren’t we just full of ourselves this morning? Though she was pretty sure he was right. Paul for all that he was a doctor while Kyle was most likely a member of some biker gang somewhere, was no match for this one in the manly man stakes. And what did he mean by that crack? ‘If we’re gonna dance this dance with each other?’ Who asked you to?

She chose to ignore him and eat her eggs as she tried valiantly to pretend he wasn’t there. Was it only yesterday she’d finally decided to get herself together? Was it only twenty-four hours ago that she’d finally started on the road to recovery? That she’d told herself that it was time to move the hell on?

Why was life fucking with her? It’s not like she was even remotely ready or prepared to deal with someone like him. Couldn’t life have sent her a cute little puppy to play with? Instead, she was sitting here with her nipples harder than she could remember them ever being, and that place between her thighs that had been sorely neglected for too long on a slow throb.

He didn’t say much after that-thank heaven- but that didn’t stop her from sitting at the edge of her seat thinking, ‘what next?’ He wasn’t like anyone she was accustomed to. In a small town like this people tended to be on top of each other, everyone knew everyone and there were really no surprises. They’d all gone to school with each other or worked together in one capacity or another and so she knew pretty much everyone in her age group around here. Nope, not one of them came close.