Kissed (10 page)

“Because you’re my favorite girl next to Mum, of course.”
 
He placed both hands on the dresser behind
her, pinning her in.

“That’s,
um, nice, but—”

His
lips cut off her sentence.
 
Another different kiss, this one coaxing her to play his game of
seduction, slowly making her blood boil.
 
One of us moaned.
 
“Need you,
Bethie.”

Again with the lust.
 
“I’m not—”

“Need
you in my life. I’ve never wanted to share.”

She
ducked under his arm, needing air.
 
“You
don’t like sharing
anything
. Whine
and moan if I steal one fry.”

He
stalked her again.
 
“That’s not what I
meant. Remember how you complained about me not bringing you along with my
friends? I wasn’t excluding you. I wanted our time all to myself. You’re the
only girl I ever trusted in my room.”

Her
eyes widened at that news.
 
“You never
brought your dates back to the house?”

“Sure,
to the den or the kitchen. Not in my room.”

“Do…do
you share your room now?”

He
grinned.
 
“Nope.”

Whoa
.
 
“You haven’t…in…”

He
shook his head.
 
“Not at my place.”

“But…you’ve…?”
 
Had sex.

“Yeah.
If it matters.”

“Ah.”
 
Well, she’d expected that already,
so…well.
 
“I didn’t like being excluded.
Back then.”

“I
know. I remember.”

She
folded her arms over her chest.
 
“You
kept saying you were protecting my little-girl-self from the assumptions of you
old people.”

He
rubbed the back of his neck.
 
“Not
exactly how I worded it…”

“Point
is, you thought of me as a baby sister until I showed up yesterday.”
 
God, it was only
yesterday
.

“I
did not.”

“Did too.”
 

“Did
not
.

“Did
too
.”

“Spring
Break my senior year. You slept over when your parents were away. I woke up
holding you.”

“
Nuh
-unh.
I left when you were
asleep.”

“I
woke up
before
you did, love, and I
liked it. Liked having you there with your cute little snore sounds.”

“I
do
not
snore!”

He
grinned.
 
“Kinda do, yeah.”

Her
hands went to her hips and she glared at him.
 
“Take that back.”

“It’s
adorable, really. A soft breath followed by a tiny whistle.”

She
smacked his arm.
 
“You’re so lying!”

He
caught her hand and laughed.
 
“Cross my
heart and hope to die, Beth.”

“Damn.”

He
shook his head, still laughing at her.
 
“I tell you I liked holding you
two
years ago
and all you take from the story is that you snore? No wonder they
say women are crazy.”

Her
cheeks flushed.
 
“Shut up.”

“Do
you believe you’re special to me now?”

She
let him pull her into his arms.
 
“Warming up to it.”

“
Finally
.”

She
smacked his arm again.
 
“Shut up.”

“So
abusive,” he teased.

“You
drive me nuts. It’s not my fault.”

“Look
at that pout…”
 
He kissed her, gently
sucking her lower lip into his mouth.

Unh.
 
One of his hands slid under the back of her
tee to stroke her spine.
 
She leaned into
him and he fell back to sit on her bed.
 

We were that close to the bed?

She
crawled on his lap so their faces would be even height again.
 
Any
thing that maximized the kissing.

He
laid back, her body following, and she felt the hard-on he was sporting.
 
One of his hands was tangled in her hair, the
other still caressing her back.
 
They
were getting pretty hot.
 
He’d just
unfastened her bra when someone knocked on her door.

Beth
sat up so fast; she nearly fell backward off the bed.
 
His hands tightened on her waist to save her.

“Elizabeth?”
 
Oh
god…his mother!
 

“Yes?”
 
Praying her voice sounded normal.

“Do
you still want to go out this afternoon?”

“Um…”
 
Her eyes widened and she glanced down at
him.
 
He nodded.
 
“Sure!”

“Wonderful.
Bring a sweater in case it gets chilly this evening.”

“Yep.
Be down in a minute!”
 
They heard her walk away.
 
He
started to giggle.
 
She put her hand over
his mouth.
 
“Shhh!
She might hear you and come back!” she whispered.
 
He stopped and kissed her palm.
 
“Oh my God…”
 
That was mortifying.
 
She dropped
her hands to her sides.

“Bethie,
we’re adults and she likes you. It’s okay.”

She
got off his lap.
 
“She’s like a second
mom to me, Jacob. It’s a big deal. You need to sneak out to another part of the
house. I’m sure she saw your bike.”
 

Was
it obvious she’d been making out?
 
She
went into the bathroom.
 
Her lips were
bright pink, cheeks flushed, and her hair needed brushing.
 
Oh, yeah, and her
bra
was undone.

God, that was close.

“See
you tonight?” he asked, watching her cool her face.

“I
don’t know.”

“Why not?”

“’Cause I’ll be with your
mother
.”

He
shrugged.
 
“So I’ll hang out here for the
day.

“
Here?
”

“In the
house
.”

“Oh.”
 
That was a relief.

He
turned her face to him and kissed her again.
 
It was short.
 
“See you later,
love.”

“Uh-huh.”
 
He kept turning her into Dreamy-Beth.
 
Oh, I’m
in so much trouble
…

He
left.
 
She heard a door open and shut
down the hall.
 
When she finally felt
presentable, she walked downstairs and found him chatting with Mrs. Lindsey.

“Did
Mother wake you, Beth?”
 
Stinker.
 

“Uh, no.
I was just in the middle of something.
Sorry to keep you waiting, Mrs. Lindsey.”

“It’s
alright, dear. There was no rush. Shall we?”

“Yep.”

Vivian
placed her hand on his arm, a gesture of affection.
 
“Goodbye, dear.
Do
you have plans today?”

“Nope.
Maybe some writing.”

“Then
perhaps we can reunite for dinner. Come along, Elizabeth. I’ll show you my favorite spots as
a girl.”
 

Mrs.
Lindsey took her purse from a servant on the way to the door.
 
Beth followed, glancing back at him just
before she walked outside.
 
He winked at
her.

Chapter Eight

Jacob
was in the conservatory testing a melody on the piano when he heard their
voices.
 
The front door shut as he walked
into the foyer.
 
“There are my two
favorite ladies.”
 
They turned and smiled
at him, both carrying shopping bags.
 
“Have
fun?”

Beth
nodded.
 
“Vivian took me to this really
old bookstore that only carries vintage texts!”

“Ahhh.
There goes any hope of seeing you surface the rest of
your vacation,” he teased.

“That
is an exaggeration, sir.”

“We
also went to the art museum,” his mother said.

“Is
that
what they’re calling clothing
stores these days?”

“Hush.”
 
Mother thrust her bags into his hands.
 
“Be a good boy and carry these to my room.”

“
Yes
, Mum.”

They
giggled as he walked away.
 
His girl and
his mother bonding—no good could come from this.

He
put his mother’s loot by her closet and left her room.
 
Coming down the hall, he saw Beth enter her
bedroom and slipped in behind her.

“Jacob!”

“What?”
 
He took the bag out of her hand and wrapped
his arm around her waist.
 
“I missed
you.”

“It
was only a few hours.”
 
Her breathing
quickened when he nibbled on her neck.
 
“Stop that.”

“But
you like it,” he said, grinning against her throat.

“I
don’t want a mark.”

“I
can find a place that doesn’t show.”

She
pushed him away.
 
“We need to get
downstairs.”

He
sighed.
 
“As you wish.”
 
He’d only get her alone later.

Mum
was speaking to her cook about the night’s menu.
 
“There you are. Does Chinese work for both
you?”

“Sure.”

“She
just means takeout, love.”
 

Beth’s
lips formed a soundless “o”.

His
mother shook her head.
 
“Au contraire, darling.
I’ve been collecting recipes since
my last visit and Rose has kindly agreed to indulge them. Another fifteen
minutes, yes?”

The
cook nodded and went back to the kitchen.
 
He preferred the one they employed when he was a child.
 
This lady, while good at her job, rarely said
a word or laughed.
 
Staff should be like
family if they were living in your house twenty-four-seven.

“Jacob,
you should show Elizabeth
your old room while we wait,” his mother said.

“Aw,
Mum, it’s not very interesting—”

Beth
interrupted him.
 
“I’d love to see it, if
you come with us, Vivian.”

“
’Vivian’?
”
 

Two
pairs of eyes settled on him.
 

“Yes, dear.
Calling me by a title is entirely too
formal.”
 
She smiled at Beth.
 
“Elizabeth
is like family.”

“We’ve
become good friends the past two years,” Beth added.
 
“If I’m not being too
bold.”

“Of course not.”

He
waved in their field of vision.
 
“Ladies?
Still here?”

They
glanced at each other with amused grins.
 
Oh, definitely not a good sign
.

Vivian
coming along to give Beth a tour of the house put her at ease.
 
He had one thing on his mind right now, and
until she had a chance to tell him to slow down, she didn’t want to be left
alone with him.
 

A
large estate, the house had formal and informal rooms.
 
The family rooms had obviously been used more
often, the chairs and sofas broken in and personal items left here and
there.
 

Upstairs,
Vivian led her to his boyhood room located next to the master suite.
 
The room reflected a boy that hadn’t yet
reached puberty, with stuffed toys and action figures still on the
shelves.
 
A child-size acoustic guitar
sat in the corner.
 
The twin bed was
decorated with navy blue bedding.
 
A moment frozen in time.

“Do
you still sleep in here?” Beth asked him.

“Not
if I can help it. Bed’s too short.”

She
walked over to the bookshelves.
 
“Definitely different than your room at home.”
 
The walls and furniture were white, with
accents in primary colors.
 
“Especially the black phase.”

“You’re
never going to let me forget that, are you?”

“The Black Hole?
Not likely. Has he always done crazy things
when he’s bored?”

“Creative
ones, yes,” Vivian said.
 
“I once found
him—”

He
muffled her statement with his hand.
 
“That’s enough stories for one day, Mum.”

She
pushed his hand away.
 
“Darling, it’s
only Elizabeth.
I’m not blabbing your secrets to the press.”

Beth
admired that woman so much for keeping up with him, and especially when she
won.
 
If they hadn’t started out as tutor
and student, he would’ve steamrolled right over her freshman confidence.
 
Bossing him into buckling down with his
homework was the only way she could keep on even ground.
 
Now, she could verbally spar with him, but he
still intimidated her.
 
Watching him interact
with his mother made her homesick.
 
She
resolved to call hers after dinner.

A
chime sounded over the intercom, signaling dinner was ready.
 

Vivian
had the head of the table, with Beth and Jacob at each hand so they sat across
from each other.
 
Mother and son talked
more about what they’d missed in each other’s lives.
 

Beth
listened.

After
dinner, she got time alone.
 
Mom gave her
a phone card for the long-distance minutes, so she used it when she called from
her room.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Mom.”
 
She
flopped on the bed.

“Beth!
Are you having fun, honey? What time is it there?”

“Around seven-thirty.
We just finished dinner. I saw Jacob
play last night, and went out with Mrs. Lindsey today.”
 
No way
was I telling her about the kissing
.

“Oh,
what did you see?”

She
twirled the phone cord around her fingers.
 
“Part of a museum, this really cool vintage bookstore,
and some clothes shopping.
Mrs. Lindsey has some fundraiser thing to
attend, so we picked out a nice dress.”

“I
assume you didn’t leave the bookstore empty-handed.”
 
She could hear the smile in her mother’s
voice.

“You
know me well, Mom. Is Dad still grumbling?”

“He’ll
be glad you called, I’ll say that. He means well.”

She
sighed.
 
“I know. And I’m fine. The house
is nicer than any hotel I’ve ever been in and we’re getting along great.”
 
By “we”, she meant Mrs. Lindsey.

“Good
to hear. Call whenever you want, okay? We miss you.”

“Love
you, too, Mom. Bye.”
 
Feeling better about
being across the world from her family, she hung up.

Two
knocks on her door, then it opened.
 
“Hey.”
 
Jacob.

“Hey.
What’s up?”

He
closed the door.
 
“You were quiet at
dinner.”
 
He sat on the other side of the
bed.

“Just listening.”

“Ah.
I was wondering if I should head home, yet.”

She
looked up.
 
“Doesn’t your mom want you to
hang around?”

He
plucked at the duvet.
 
“Didn’t
want to get in the way of girl time.”
 

Beth
realized he wasn’t completely secure about this—them—either.
 
“Oh. I just got off the phone with Mom.”

“Everything alright?”

She
nodded.
 
“Yeah.
Only checking in.
My dad is still pouting that I’m here and
not at home.”

“Rough.”

“Would be, if he knew about last night.”
 
She shuddered.

He
chuckled.
 
“
Yeah
…that stays between us.”

“Yep.”

He
reached for her hand.
 
“This scares me,
too, you know. We go down in flames, I lose you for good.”

She
watched his thumb stroke the back of her hand.
 
“Is it worth the risk?”

One
side of his mouth flicked up in a smile.
 
“Hope so. Don’t know, yet.”

“Ditto.”
 
They lapsed
into a few minutes of silence.
 
Was the
potential for love worth risking a friendship?
 
How did anyone know?
 
How could
they tell?
 
If they waited another ten
years, they might not have it figured out.
 
“So, the options are stay friends…or try dating?”

He
nodded.
 
“Long-distance
dating.”

“No
pressure…”

He
sighed.
 
“Yeah…”

She
turned her body to face him and folded her legs up to sit Indian-style.
 
“Would you call or write more often than you
do now?”

He
mirrored her position.
 
“I’d try. You
know I’m not good at keepin’ track of time, so I hope there’d be allowance for
that.”

“Some.
Depends on the reason.
Studying for
midterms—excusable.
Partying with your friends—not so
much.”

“In
case—not sayin’ it will happen—but in case either of us meets someone at
home…then what?”

“You
want a contingency plan for a
hook-up?
”
 

“No!
I’m
saying
…there’s always the
possibility one or both of us would fall for someone we see every day. The
long-distance thing falls apart ‘
cause
people can’t
stay close. I’ve seen it at school.”

She
frowned.
 
“Then how does
anyone
make it work?”

He
ran his hand through his hair.
 
“I don’t
know.
Might have to ask for advice.”
   

“Maybe…maybe
we shouldn’t start, then. Wait until graduation on the proviso we’re both
single at that time.”

“Yours or mine?”

Good question
.
 
“Would you move back to L.A. when you’re done here?”

He
shrugged.
 
“If I don’t have a contract,
then I’ll prob’ly
have
to, anyway.
L.A.
or New York.”
 
Music centers.

“Right.”

He
took her hands in his.
 
“There is a lot
to think about, but we don’t have to decide right now, Beth. It’s too important
to make a snap decision, yeah?”

“Really?”

He
looked at her like it was the most stupid question in the world.
 
“Well,
yeah
.
Do you see me with another best friend?”

“I-I
don’t know… I don’t know what you have here.”

He
locked eyes with her.
 
“I only have one
Bethie.”

Color
spread across her cheeks.
 
“Oh.”
 
When he
put it like that
…

Honestly,
she was a bit overwhelmed by the last twenty-four hours.
 
When she first decided to come to London this summer, it
was to
see
him again.
 
Never dreamed they’d kiss, let alone talk
about a future
together
.
 
So, yeah, she was spun.

Rocked to the bloody core
.

Whether
from jet lag or the emotional weight, she yawned.
 
“Sorry.”

He
smiled.
 
“S okay.
Long day.”

She
snorted out a laugh.
 
“Yeah.”

“Do
you want me to let you sleep?”

“At…”
 
She glanced at the clock.
 
“Eight? No. What kind of self-respecting
eighteen-year-old would I be if I did that in perfect health?”

He
laughed.
 
“Then what would you like to
do, love?”

“Um…got
any movies?”

He
tugged her hand for her to follow him off the bed.
 
“That I do.”

They
went downstairs and outside.

“You
store your DVDs in the garden?”

“In a manner of speaking.”

They
walked through a maze of hedgerows and came out to open grass on the other
side.
 
In the back corner of the property
was an old gardener’s cottage.
 
“No one
had used this for years, so when I moved back two years ago, I claimed it as a
place no one would find me.”
 
He took an
old key out of his pocket.