Coming Home (10 page)

“I’d love to.”

Chapter 5

Jill peered out the back window as the limo traveled down a long driveway lined by white split-rail fences. Rolling meadows stretched as far as she could see. They drove past a small Tudor-style home, as well as buildings that might’ve been stables and then, at the top of the hill, a massive stone house.
 

She expected the car to stop outside the house, but it proceeded around the house to a dirt road that led to another building in the distance. Out the back window, she tried to get a better look at the house, but trees obscured her view.

What was this place?

The car came to a stop, and through the window, Jill saw Ashton leaning against a red pickup truck. Wearing faded jeans, a yellow Vanderbilt T-shirt and cowboy boots, he looked nothing at all like the successful lawyer he’d been in the office the other day. Here he looked like a country boy—an extremely appealing country boy.

Ashton opened the door and held out a hand to her.

Jill wiped her hand once more on her jeans before she accepted his help out of the car.
 

He closed the car door, and the limo drove away.

Jill watched it go, wondering where she was and what he had planned. “What is this place?”

“My childhood home. Been in my family forever and a day.”

“You don’t live here anymore?”

He shook his head. “I live in town, but we still board and breed horses here, so I come out to ride as often as I can.”

Jill took a second, more detailed look and noted there wasn’t another house in sight. “Is that a runway?”

“Sure is.”

“That’s right. I remember Kate saying your dad flies. He flew her home when our sister got hurt.”
Stop babbling
, she thought as she linked her fingers because she didn’t know what to do with her hands. For a horrifying moment, she wondered if she’d annoyed him by mentioning his dad and Kate in the same sentence.

“We both fly.”

“Oh. You do?”

“Uh-huh. My dad taught me to fly before he taught me to drive.”

Jill began to get nervous about where this was heading.

He leaned back against the truck, eyeing her and smiling at her in that sexy, devilish way he did so well. “You wanna go for a ride?”

“In the truck?”

Grinning, he shook his head. “In that.” He pointed to the open doors of the hangar, where an airplane nose peeked out. How had she missed that?

“Um, where would we go?”

“Buddy has a house in Malibu that he bought off one of his friends who was flirting with bankruptcy. No one’s using it right now, so he said it’s all mine for as long as I want it.”

Jill stared at him, trying not to be swayed by his stunningly gorgeous face. “You want me to get in a plane and fly to
Malibu
with you? I thought we were having dinner!”

“We are.” He pointed to some bags in the backseat of the pickup. “We’ll take it with us.”

Jill shook her head. “I can’t go to Malibu. I have things…to do.”

He raised an eyebrow that was more teasing than mocking. “I thought you were on vacation?”

“I am, but I have—”

“Things. Right, well here’s a big idea. How about you do your ‘things’ when we get back?”

“And when will that be?”

He shrugged. “Whenever we feel like it.”

“Don’t you have to work?”

“I took some time off.”

“This is crazy! I can’t just get on a plane with you and go to…to
California
because you… you…”

“Asked you to?”

“Yes! I don’t have anything with me. You didn’t say anything about going out of town!”

“If I had, would you be here?” Before Jill could form a response, he said, “I didn’t think so. Let me remind you we’d be going to a place that has stores where we can get anything you can’t live without for a few days. So what do you say to some sand and sun? Doesn’t that sound good?”

It did sound good. It sounded amazing, actually. But the practical lawyer in her had questions, and damn it, she was going to ask them. “Is getting me into bed the goal of this trip?”

“Hell,
yeah
,” he said in that sexy drawl that made her blood boil. “That’s definitely one of several goals.”

Unaccustomed to such bold-faced honesty from a man, Jill licked lips that had suddenly gone dry.

Ashton’s gaze zeroed in on her lips.

“What are the others?”

“Other what?” he asked, still fixated on her mouth.

“
Goals
.”

He tore his gaze off her lips and looked into her eyes. “I want to see you relaxed, for one. I want to get to know you better, for another—and not just in bed.” Pushing off the truck, he took a slow, lazy step toward her and reached out to release the second button on her shirt. When she attempted to slap his hand away, he grasped her fingers and held on tight. “I also want to see you let your hair down and have some fun.” As he said the words, he used his free hand to release the clip holding her hair.

Jill uttered a squeak of protest as her hair tumbled free.

“I knew it,” he said, running his fingers through the long strands. “Thick and soft and very,
very
fragrant.”
 

“Ashton, I don’t think—”

Jill hadn’t even figured out how she planned to end that sentence when he was kissing her. His arms were around her, one of his hands was buried in her hair, and the hard wall of his body was pressed against hers. In her right mind, she would’ve pushed him away, but her right mind seemed to have deserted her. As their tongues mated and dueled, he tightened his grip on her hair.

After several long, desperate, passionate minutes, he broke the kiss and pressed his lips to her cheek, jaw and ear. “Come away with me,” he whispered, sending a tingling sensation rippling through her body. “Take some time just for you. Let me take care of you for a few days.” His hands moved over her back, down to cup her bottom, bringing her in tight against the hard proof of his arousal.

With his muscles pressed against her softness, Jill couldn’t seem to think of anything other than what it felt like to be in his arms, to be surrounded by his appealing scent, to know he wanted her, that he’d gone out of his way to arrange this getaway for her.

“Jill?”

She closed her eyes and counted to ten. “Okay.”

His hands slid down her arms and curled around hers, gripping her tightly as he smiled at her. “I promise you’ll have fun.”

“I’m still not convinced this isn’t a massive conflict of interest.”

“You’re not here because of Kate. I’m not here because of Buddy. It’s not a conflict.” He released her hands. “Stay here while I get the plane ready.”

As he walked away, Jill zeroed in on the way his faded jeans hugged his exceptional ass. The thought that she might be able to touch him there or anywhere else she wanted—soon—made her feel a little lightheaded. Was that what she wanted? Did she want to touch him and kiss him and have sex with him? Yes! God, yes, she wanted all of that. She wanted
him
. She’d wanted him for a long time, if she were being honest.
 

Her phone chirped with a text from Kate.
Reid came over to where I’m staying and we talked and it looks like it might be back on… You won’t believe what happened today. Call me when you can.

Jill’s stomach fell as she watched Ashton roll out the plane. Would her sister’s rekindled romance derail whatever was happening between her and Ashton? He surely wouldn’t be happy to hear his dad was back with Kate. He’d probably be equally unhappy that Jill had known about it and hadn’t mentioned it.

Was it selfish of her to want to find out what might be possible with Ashton before she told him his dad might be getting back together with her sister? Probably. Was it even her place to tell him? Before she could further contemplate the dilemma, he smiled and waved her over to the plane.

Jill decided that for once she was going to be selfish. The problems would still be here when they got back. She’d deal with them then.

Following a restless night, Kate was up long before the sun rose over the crystal blue water. She contemplated a shower but decided to wait to see what Reid had planned for the day. If they were going to the beach, there wasn’t much point in showering.

In the tiny kitchen, she brewed a pot of coffee and was thrilled to find a container of half-and-half in the fridge. You had to hand it to the five-star resorts, she thought. They sure knew how to take good care of their guests.
 

Coffee in hand, she went out to the patio to watch the sun crest the horizon, wondering what this day would bring. She felt giddy and excited and…happy. For the first time in years, she was truly happy to know that today she’d see him, spend time with him, hold him, kiss him—and maybe more.
 

That he now knew how she’d felt all along was a huge relief and a load off her mind. She’d wanted him to know for such a long time that she’d hated the way things ended between them and had regretted it every day since. No matter what happened now, he knew the truth, and that had somehow freed her from the past.
 

She was beginning to wonder how long she had to wait to see him when a knock on the door had her scurrying inside. She tugged open the door and found him leaning against the doorframe looking relaxed and well rested and freshly shaven. He looked
so
good. So very good. After thinking about him for such a long time, to have him close enough to touch was seriously overwhelming.

They stared at each other for a moment charged with energy and desire.

“Come in,” she said, breaking the long silence.

“I’m glad you didn’t change yet.”

She turned to find him taking a slow, leisurely look at her in the matching nightgown and robe. “I was about to shower,” she said, undone by his intense attention.
 

“Not yet.”

As he came toward her with intent in his gaze, Kate’s heart hammered. She wanted to cry from the sweet relief of being with him again, but this wasn’t the time for tears. This was the time for happiness and joy.
 

He put his arms around her and lifted her into his kiss.

Kate held on tight as he walked them into the bedroom.

They landed on the bed in a frenzy of arms and legs and lips and tongue.

“Did you think about what you want?” he asked between kisses.

Kate nodded and ran her fingertips over his smooth jaw. “I want you. I’ve always wanted you. Did you think about what you want?”

“I want what I’ve always wanted, since the day you sang ‘Crazy’ in my dining room and made me fall in love with you.”

Amused, Kate raised a brow. “I
made
you?”

Nodding, he came in for another kiss. “I had no choice. I was as powerless to resist you then as I am now.”

“Make love to me, Reid.”

“Are you sure, honey? I’m an old man. You could have anyone you want—”

“I’m with the one I want, and I’m tired of yearning for what used to be. That gets exhausting after a while.”

“Yes, it does.” Hovering above her, he combed the hair back from her face and kissed her so softly she almost didn’t feel it. “I can’t believe we get to be together like this again. I want to do it right this time.”

“I want that, too.” Kate smoothed her hands over his back, looking for the hem of his shirt. As her fingers skimmed his lower back under his shirt, he gasped in response to her touch. “There were some things we always did right,” she added with a coy smile that made him laugh.

“Indeed there were. As I recall,” he said, dipping his head to drag his tongue over her neck, “we did this pretty well.” He punctuated the statement by rolling her earlobe between his teeth.

Kate shivered. “Very well. I’ve never had better.”

“I hate to think of you doing this with anyone else.”

She pushed his shirt up over his chest. “I didn’t particularly like it, if that makes you feel any better.”

Ducking his head to help her remove his shirt, he said, “Only a little better.”

Her gaze fixated on his splendid chest as she relearned every inch of him with eager hands. Other than a touch of gray mixed into his dark chest hair, he looked exactly as she remembered. “At least you didn’t have to
see
any of my others.”

When his lips set in a grimace, Kate regretted reminding him of the breakup with Mari.
 

“I hate that I caused her pain.”

“I hate it, too. I certainly know what it feels like to want something I can’t have.”

“I can’t help how I feel about you.”

“She knows you didn’t hurt her intentionally. I was the one who showed up unannounced, so I’m sure all her anger is directed at me.”

“Which isn’t fair.”

Kate shrugged. “I’m a big girl. I can take it.” She raised her hands from his chest to his face, using her fingers to smooth away his frown.