Closer To You (Tales of the Sweet Magnolia Book 1) (14 page)

“No, ma’am, just a promise.”

“I get all weak in the knees when you call me ma’am.” She curled her arms around his neck as he drew her body to his.

“If only your constituents could see you now, Sheriff Sloan.” Lil traced her finger from his knee to his inner thigh and glanced up at him with a grin as the lukewarm water rippled around them. The tepid bath followed similar Sunday mornings over the past few weeks, since he’d climbed through her window. She’d gone to leaving her window ajar every Saturday night, knowing that the Magnolia being closed meant that they had the day to spend together. Paddy and the rest of the tenants had welcomed Jake without judgment, giving the two of them as much privacy on Sundays as they wanted.

“Won’t your father wonder where you are if he doesn’t see you in church?” Lil asked.

Jake lifted the damp curls at the base of her neck, kissing the dewy softness, drawing in the sweet jasmine scent, and realizing how deep she’d gotten under his skin. His infatuation with her seemed endless—from the stories she could spin, to the way she would listen to him ramble about his day and how she would prance around him in that skimpy little thing she called a thong that she claimed she’d brought from her home. Jake frankly didn’t care where the damn thing came from, but he was sure as hell glad that it came with her in it. “You let me worry about my father. What I do on Sundays is no business of his.”

“I just don’t want to make trouble for you, Jake.”

He gently massaged her shoulders, knowing how it seemed to relax her. He had other matters he wanted to discuss with her this morning, and he hoped that she was ready to hear them. “Speaking of my constituents, there is something I wanted to talk to you about, Lil.” The risk he was about to take could jeopardize his career, but on the other hand, if he didn’t take that step, there was the risk that his relationship with Lilly would grow stagnant and he wanted to move forward, cautiously yes, as much as he suspected, at least hoped by now, that Lilly did. However, getting her to admit to that, much less agree to his idea was not going to be an easy task.

“There’s a dinner being given in my honor by the mayor and his wife on Friday evening. I’d like to ask if you’d do me the honor of attending it…with me, of course.”

She turned to look at him, her green eyes wide with surprise. “You want to take me to one of your fundraising parties?” She blinked and a look of understanding crossed her face, sobering her expression. “Oh, as entertainment, no doubt. You found out that I dabble at the piano. Who told you? Paddy?” She chuckled and picked up the rag, squeezing it over her shoulder and leisurely moving it across the back of her neck.

Jake took the cloth from her, enjoying the task as he thought of her sitting at the piano, belting out strange songs that not a soul had ever heard. “I’ve heard that you give impromptu shows from time to time—I’m sorry I’ve missed them. Paddy did mention that they might have involved a half a bottle of whiskey, is that true?” he asked, placing a kiss on her wet shoulder.

“There was a time when I might have needed a nip or two.” She propped her foot on the edge of the tub and watched the water trickle down her leg. “But I’m doing much better now.”

Jake watched right along with her, nearly forgetting his train of thought. She lowered her leg and he shook his head, refocusing on his intent, which was to get her to come as his dinner guest. The fact that he’d been the one to insist they keep their affair a secret didn’t win him any favors when it came now to wading out into public together. Still if the people at the Sweet Magnolia could accept him without reservation, then why couldn’t the Deadwater make an effort to accept Lil and her girls? Once they got to know her, there would be no question they’d love her. “Darlin’, I’m tickled to hear that you worked out your issues, but the fact of the matter is that I’d like to be your escort and you my dinner guest.”

“
Shut
.
Up
.” Lil stated with an awestruck tone. She turned around on her knees to face him, water beaded on her soft black lashes.

He opened his mouth to speak then clamped it shut, puzzled at why she would ask him to be quiet.

“I mean, you’re joking, right?” She raised a dark brow.

“Can I speak, now?” Jake studied the woman’s face.
Peculiar creatures at times—women.
She shrugged and Jake continued, “No, as a matter of fact, I’m quite serious about this.”

She just studied him before turned her back on him, going back to her bathing. “Well, I am flattered, of course. But I am afraid I must decline your kind invitation.”

“Why, Miss Lillian, I can hardly believe my ears. Are you being a snob?” He slid his hands around her waist, her skin warm wet beneath his hands. He snuggled her in close to his chest and cupped her luscious, slick breasts in his palms.

“I can’t.”

Her breath caught as he brushed the pad of his thumb over one proud peak. Well on his way to a complete arousal, he shifted to let her know what she was doing to him. “Can’t or won’t?”

She sat between his legs, her arms draped lazily over his knees. “Jake, I have nothing to wear. Besides—” She surrendered to him, resting her head back on his shoulder. “You realize that you’re not playing fair.”

“And you know that this isn’t about what you’d wear. Couldn’t you borrow something from one of the girls?” He kissed a ringlet of hair against her temple, laying his cheek to her shoulder, watching her expression skate between reason and bliss.

“What if I said, please?” He slid his hand slowly down her belly, dipping into her navel, his fingers sliding over her springy dark curls. Jake kissed her shoulder, raking his teeth gently across her silky flesh.

“They all know who I am, I don’t want to embarrass you.”

“You couldn’t do that. Come on, Lil.” He kissed the slope of her neck, stroking her slow and easy, wanting to watch her go over the edge. “You’ll charm them just as you have me.”

Her lids fluttered shut, her lips parted. She touched her breasts and sighed, and Jake just about came undone. He swallowed hard, moving deeper into her honeyed warmth. “Maybe if I give you a little more sugar?” He covered her hand with his, caressing her breast.

“Oh Jake, this is really—I can barely think.” She dropped open her knees to

give him greater access. Her absolute trust, abandoning her body to him, aroused him to a painful state. God he wanted to be deep inside her; it was driving him to a state of madness. 

“I really shouldn’t….” Her struggle not to give in was starting to crumble.

“But I think secretly you want to.” He grinned, watching her lids flutter. Strange how he already knew her little mannerisms, like her eyelids dropping closed with her impending climax.

She turned her head to capture his mouth, her hips gently bucking against his hand. Her fingers clutched the side of the tub and she broke their kiss, looking up at him as she clung to her last thread of control. “I will, I will….” Her strangled plea accompanied her climax.

“You’re coming then?” The thought that she was hot and ready for him caused his shaft to throb with anticipation.

Lil flashed him a look, just before she turned toward him, sloshing water on the floor. She straddled his thighs and took him in fully.

“What are you up to, woman?” he asked eyeing her warily.

“Payback, cowboy.” She leaned forward and captured his mouth in a slow, sensual kiss and Jake’s brains turned to mush. She felt so damn good, so damn right whenever they were like this. It was part of what made him conclude that Lil was different. She could hold her own against the toughest desperado, and yet be woman enough to give and take, their private pleasures becoming something his soul needed to breathe. She draped her arms lazily over his shoulders, and rode his hips with a slow deliberate gait. Her eyes locked to his and she offered a wicked smile. “If I come, then so must you.” 

He grabbed the sides of the old tub as it began to shake, afraid that between them they might topple over in the fervor of their coupling. “Jesus, Lil.” Forgetting the racket they had to be causing, he grabbed her butt as they rode each other to breathless climax. “Gawdalmigggghty,” Jake ground through his teeth. His release came hard and fast. Once the stars left his eyes, he scooted upright and peered at the floor looking to see how much water had spilled. To his relief there was very little. He blew out a breath, swallowing hard as he tried to slow his heart down. Jake met Lil’s satisfied gaze. She appeared mighty content sitting on his lap. “You’re going to be the death of me with all your lovin’, woman.”

“
Love?
Is that what we’re calling this now?” Her voice was soft, but her meaning clear.

He cupped her face in his hands. “I know you’re the only woman that makes me feel this way, Lil.”

Her sassy smile dissolved, replaced by a look that caused Jake’s heart to flop in his chest. She averted his gaze and his comment and before looking up, he heard her take a deep breath.
Were those tears glistening in her eyes?
There was no denying that more
than just their bodies had been joined in these past few weeks. Jake had sensed it, and at tried to deny it, but finally accepted the truth. He knew so much more about her now, the kinds of things that made her laugh and what made her angry. He knew, that she didn’t like her biscuits smothered in butter or her cobbler drenched in pure cream. She could match him card for card in poker and could hold her liquor, just not quite as well as he did. Their relationship was no longer something Jake felt he had to hide, instead he felt like showing her off.

He wanted others to see what a warm, loving, and intelligent woman she was.

“You can make a girl plum crazy, Jake.” She captured his face, holding to hers in a fierce kiss that had his mind spinning.

Plum crazy. Indeed.

In a brief illuminating flash, it occurred to Jake that he might not have a good grasp on where Lil came from, but he sure as heck knew where she belonged.

***

Jake told Lilly he’d be by around seven. Even though she offered to take a wagon into town herself, he insisted, saying he wanted to be her escort into town like a real lady. Who could possibly argue with that? Even though his change of heart that they no longer hide their affair was all well and good when they were together in private, this dinner was reality. These were the people that would be supportive, or not, of Jake’s future. A future Lil had no certainty she would be a part of, depending on whether the fates allowed her to stay. She’d still not been able to understand just what had gotten her to this place. Was it the necklace?

Jake needing her? Was it her deepest fantasy and how long would all of this last?

She shifted the bodice of her dress to conceal as much of her cleavage as possible. The corset, a new Parisian model one of the girls had lent to her, pushed her breasts into plump view. Lil questioned whether the revealing bodice was a wise choice for the affair, but it was the collective favorite of all the Magnolia girls, telling her that the deep green velvet would be the envy of every woman at the dinner.

“I shouldn’t be doing this,” Lilly muttered quietly as she brushed a speck of lint from her skirt. Though she wanted to be with Jake, deep inside she had serious misgivings. She wasn’t oblivious to the reputation that the Magnolia had among certain people in town. And her knowledge of the past through extensive research of bordellos and parlor houses of the Old West gave her an insight that Jake didn’t possess. Though the presence of such places was generally accepted, it was like a scab on the town’s reputation that many kept picking at. Lil eyed herself in the mirror. Angel stood behind, watching her. “They’re not going to be accepting, you know,” she said aloud.

“Maybe you’ll have to change their minds,” Angel remarked as she walked over and pulled back the curtain to look outside.

“I’m concerned that the sheriff doesn’t realize what he is getting himself into,” Lil responded.
Or that my presence will mar his chances for support.
In the last five minutes, Lil had thought of a million reasons why she should turn Jake down.

“It seems, Miss Lilly that the gentleman knows exactly what he is doing.” Angel waved her over, and Lil joined her at the window where a sleek black surrey sent dust clouds in its wake as it came up the lane. Two dapple-gray horses careened to a stop in front of the Magnolia, and Jake climbed across the seat with a grin as big as the Nevada sky plastered on his handsome face.

Angel grabbed Lil’s hand. “The girls and I will go down and greet him so you can make a proper entrance. I want to see the good sheriff’s face when he sees you in that dress.” She hurried ahead and Lil stared at the open door, trying to think of another excuse not to go. A moment passed, and Angel appeared once more, her face flushed from running up the stairs.

“Are you coming down? Sheriff Jake looks mighty handsome.” She grinned.

“You two are going to make a fine looking couple.”

Lil placed her hand over her stomach attempting to quell her nerves and thought of her favorite Gandhi quote. “Be the change you wish to be in the world,” she muttered quietly.

She moved to the top of the stairs, just beyond where he would notice her, and looked down at where Jake seemed to be holding court. “Evenin’ ladies,” he stated politely, but Lil heard the tinge of nervousness in his voice.

She stepped forward and met Angel’s eyes. A smile emerged on the young woman’s face, followed by the other girls, and when Jake turned his face to look up at her Lil’s heart stopped. She curled her hand over the railing, aware of his assessing gaze. He walked up the stairs, removing his hat as he met her halfway. Lil swallowed the lump in her throat. No man had ever looked at her like he did. At that moment, she believed that his determination could change even the narrowest mind.