Kissed (9 page)

He’d
been playing an hour when she walked out of the bedroom.
 
“Hey, pet.”

“You
left.”

“Wasn’t sleepy.
Feeling better?”

She
sat on the sofa, several inches between them.
 
“Some. My head hurts.”

“Left
aspirin—”

“I
know. I took some.”

“Oh.”
 
He reached the end of the level and
paused
the game.
 
“Okay.”

She
nodded, twisting a ring on her hand.
 
“Sorry for…”

“Being
a horny drunk?” he teased.

Her
hair fell to hide the side of her face.
 
“For snapping at you.
I’m not a friendly patient.”
 

“No
harm done.”

She
nodded again, still not facing him.
 
“Well, you can have your bed back.”

“Beth—”

“I’d
go back to your mom’s, but it’s the middle of the night.”

“Bethie—”

She
looked at him, then.
 
“Please, Jacob.”

He
sighed, nodded, and stood to leave.
 
“I’ll get you a pillow.”

“Thank
you.”

She
sat in the same place when he came back, looking small and lost.
 
He crouched down in front of her and brushed
her hair behind her ear.

“Hey,
look at me. Don’t be so hard on yourself, alright? You’re still my Bethie.”

She
glanced away.
 
“Whatever
that is.”
 
Wincing, she closed her
eyes.
 
“Sorry.”

Couldn’t
say later what possessed him to kiss her, but it seemed like the right thing to
do at the time.
 
He gently touched his
lips to hers, cupping her cheek in his hand.
 
She gasped in surprise, but tentatively kissed him back.
 
It was slow, sweet, and…innocent.

He
ended the embrace as gently as he started it, kissed her forehead, and said
goodnight.

Chapter Seven

When Jacob kissed me, I almost cried
.
 

What
the
hell
did he mean by doing
that
?
 
Make the stupid kid feel better for acting like a fool?
 
She couldn’t sleep after that, and couldn’t
move to chase him for an explanation.

Dammit
…

For
one brief moment, she thought he wanted her.
 
Her
.
 
Instead, he got her shirt off and changed his
mind.
 
Wonderful confidence booster, that
was.
 
Never drinking
alcohol, deliberately or by accident, again.

As
soon as light shone through the windows, she snuck out and left.
 
It took a while for a cab to come by, but she
finally flagged one down and told him Mrs. Lindsey’s address.
 
The day was starting out cloudy and even a
little hazy with fog in spots.
 
Summer
was weird in this place.

She
had a loaned key for the manor, so she quietly let herself in and went straight
to her room.
 
First thing she did was
brush the dead cat out of her teeth.
 
Thought about a shower, but she was too exhausted and fell into bed with
a sleep-shirt on, instead.

Her
dreams were full of kissing and losing him.
 

On repeat.

When
Beth came downstairs for breakfast at noon, Mrs. Lindsey hugged her.

“I’m
so glad you’re here, Elizabeth.
Jacob called saying you’d left his apartment and he didn’t know where you’d
gone or when.”

“Sorry
to worry you. I came back this morning and crashed.”

She
gave her the Mom Look.
 
“Well, you should
have left a note even though you are an adult.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She
smiled and kept her arm around Beth when they turned for the kitchen.
 
“I have an appointment in a bit, but it
shouldn’t take very long. We could go into town if you like.”

“That’d
be nice. My stomach’s a little rumble-y, but I might be up to that by the time
you get back.”

“Excellent.”
 
Mrs. Lindsey kissed her cheek and started
walking away.
 
“Oh, and call my son to
let him know you’re safe?”
 
She left, expecting
Beth to follow her suggestion.

Beth
was stirring a pot of oatmeal on the stove when she heard Jacob’s bike pull up
out front.
 
Just what I needed
.

“Mother?”

Waiting
for him to look in here, she hoped he wouldn’t.
 
If she could spend the rest of her vacation with Vivian and run home with
the remaining shreds of her dignity, she’d be happy.

“
You
.”
 

“Oh, good morning, Beth.
Did you sleep
well?” she replied, still stirring breakfast to completion.
 
The oats were cooked, only needed seasonings
and the sprinkle of fruit on top.

He
grabbed her shoulders and turned her around.
 
“Nice of you to say
goodbye
.”

She
rolled her eyes, not planning to rise to his bait.
 
“One, where else would I go, and two, it was
early and I didn’t want to wake you.”

“Didn’t
plan
on waking
me, you mean.”
 

“Potato,
po-tah-to
.
Can I eat my
breakfast, or do you need to impersonate my father some more?”

He
let go of her robe.
 
“You can be such a
brat.”

“Snappy comeback.”
 
She carried the bowl to the small breakfast table and sat down to eat.

He
sat across from her, glaring with his arms crossed over his chest.
 
His hair looked like he rode the bike without
his helmet.

After
five minutes of him staring at her, she put her spoon down.
 
“Were you really that worried? Hello, raised
by an Army man. I know how to get myself out of trouble, which I
wasn’t in
.”

“You
weren’t there, didn’t leave a note, and Mum hadn’t seen you.
Didn’t
know what to think.”

“I
took a cab here and went to bed. Sorry, I was
exhausted
.”

“Not
an excuse to be irresponsible.”

“There
you go again, talking down to me like I’m a kid. It’s a
two year age difference
.”
 
She picked up the bowl to take to her room.

“Adults
don’t walk out in the middle of a conversation.”

Scowling,
she turned to him.
 
“They do when it’s
stupid
.”

“Oh,
excuse me
, Miss Straight A’s. Was I
boring you?”

“I
didn’t call
you
stupid. I said
this
was stupid.”

He
took another step closer so he looked down his nose at her.
 
“By all means, go back to America where I’m not wasting your
time.”

“Maybe
I
will
,” she said, poking his chest
on the last syllable.

They
stared at each other, angry, fired up, and neither willing to be the first to
back down.

Jacob
grabbing her shoulders and kissing her wasn’t part of the plan.
 
It wasn’t a
nice
kiss at all.
 
Their teeth
clashed.
 
He scratched her lip.
 
The stubble on his face chafed her skin.
 
She dropped the bowl.
 
It shattered on the tile.
 
He picked her up and set her butt on the
table, his lips still on hers.
 
She had
one hand on the back of his neck, her nails leaving soft dents in his
skin.
 
He set her body on fire, the robe
she was wearing suddenly too hot.

“Don’t
go,” he said between kisses.

“Wasn’t gonna.”

“Good.”
 
He moved to kissing her throat, nipping her
skin with his teeth.

She
squeaked when he bit a particularly sensitive spot.
 
“Why?”

He
pulled back to look at me.
 
“Why what?”

“What
is this? You didn’t want me last night.”

He
ran a hand through his hair and let out an audible breath.
 
“Oh, I wanted you. The way you kiss,
Bethie…”
 
He shivered.

“Oh.”
 

That
was all—physical lust.
 
She slid her feet
to the floor, stepped around him, and started cleaning up the mess of oatmeal
and china.

“What ‘oh’?”

“I
hope the bowl wasn’t expensive. I’m so clumsy sometimes.”
 
Keep
him off-guard and he’ll stop arguing
.

He
crouched down in her way.
 
“Beth, stop
avoiding the question.”

“I
get it, that’s all.”
 
She shrugged and
picked up more bits of china.

“Maybe
you can enlighten me, then, ‘
cause
I’m lost.”

“You
like what I can do, so you’re attracted to me.”

“Well,
yeah…but—”

“Jacob,
it’s okay. Can you find some paper towels or something?”

“Uh,
yeah…”

He
rose and went to the broom closet and found the towels and a dustpan.
 
She dumped what was in her hand in the
dustpan and stood to wet a paper towel at the sink.
 
At least the bowl was almost empty when she
dropped it, so there hadn’t been much splatter.
 
Once the floor was spotless again, she washed her hands.

Turning
to where he’d been, she came face-to-face.
 
He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close.

“Now,
where were we?”
 
He closed in on her lips
again.
 
Like a dog with a bone!

She
moved her head back.
 
“Someone might see
us.”

He
grinned and said, “So we find a more private room. House is huge, in case you
didn’t notice.”

She
broke his hold.
 
“I’m not like those
groupies.”
 
The girls he was used to
might like private corners or dark hallways, but that wasn’t her.

His
eyebrows rose.
 
“What
groupies
?”

“The
girls ready to have your babies at the concert. Don’t tell me you’re oblivious
to the attention!”

“We
have fans, but what does that have to do with—”

“
Ugh
.
Men
.”
 
She stormed out of the kitchen.
 
With any luck, she’d reach the stairs before
he recovered.

“
Will you stop running away from me, woman?
”
 
He grabbed her hand and pulled her to a stop.
 
“What the hell is your problem?”

“You
and your Y chromosome are my problem! Let me go.”

“No.
You’ll just run off.”

“My prerogative.
Asshole.”

He
brushed her hair off her face with his left hand.
 
The touch of his fingers on her scalp gave
her tingles.
 
“Afraid
to be alone with me?”

Yes
.
 
She stuck her chin out, fronting.
 
“Why should I be?”

His
thumb caressed her cheekbone, his fingers resting on her neck.
 
“You tell me.”
 
His gaze flicked from her eyes to her lips
and back again.
 

“You
have a reputation.”

“Do
I?” he said, amused at the notion.

“Well,
your mother has suspicions.”

He
chuckled at that.
 
“My mother has an
over-active imagination about what I don’t share.”

“Can
you blame her? Your career goal is Rock Star.”

He
frowned.
 
“What’s wrong with that?”

“Potentially nothing.
And potentially
everything.
Say you get famous—what will you do with all the attention?
Where will we fit? Who will you know to trust when everyone wants a piece of
you? How will you find privacy?”

“Been
reading tabloids?”

She
sighed, not wanting another argument.
 
“No. There are people who want you to succeed and worry about it at the
same time. I know you’re having fun right now…”

They
stood apart.

“You
think this is a ‘bit of fun’?”

“Well,
yeah
. Isn’t it?”

“Beth,
you’re not a fling.”

“Yeah, not yet.
And I never would’ve kissed you last night
if I was sober. I can’t just fool around with you and go home. I won’t.”

“So,
what, we pretend it didn’t happen?”
 
He
stepped to her and cupped her cheeks in his hands.
 
“I can’t do that.”

“Why
not
?”

He
opened his mouth to reply, and paused, searching for the right answer.

She
pulled away.
 
“Yeah…
exactly
.
You come up with a good
answer,
then
we can talk.”
 

Before
he could see her cry, she fled to her room.
 

The
bike started up outside after a few minutes.
 
She went to the window and watched him ride away.

You just
had
to come to England
.
 
Had
to see Jacob
.
 
How’s that goin’ for ya?
 

Bite me.

Pretty hard to accomplish that, considering
I’m your
mind
.

Figure of speech.
 
Go
away.

You’re really going to throw away that much
gorgeous just because he’s not in love with you?

I have
standards
.

Oh, come on!
 
Do you really want your first time to be with some college nerd instead
of your hot best friend?
 
Take advantage
of an opportunity here!

Since when is my subconscious such a slut?

Since she got a taste of what you’ve been
dreaming about for four years.
 
Ain’t
my fault you couldn’t crush on more than one guy at a
time.

Oh, shut
up.

Debating
with her Id wasn’t going to do any good.
 
Since she didn’t know when Mrs. Lindsey would be back, she set the alarm
for a half-hour nap.

Someone
knocked on her door while she was dressing after her shower.

“Come
in.”
 

The
door opened.
 
“Nice legs.”
 
Male voice.

She
froze,
sunscreen half-rubbed into her skin.
 
“Thought you were your
mother.”

He
shut the door.
 
“Sorry to disappoint.”

“She’ll
be back any minute.”
 
Beth closed the cap
on the bottle, legs now sufficiently protected.
 
Her skin got sunburns from beach scenes on TV.

He
came closer.
 
“Got plans?”

“Yes.”

“To do what?”

“I
don’t know.
Stuff.
Why are you here?”
 
She backed into the dresser.
 
Dammit.
 
Felt like the antelope about to be
pounced on by the lion.