Make Me Lose Control (16 page)

He hated himself, too, for not realizing by holding back that he’d failed to slake his need for her. By not using this opportunity to possess her body, he now only wanted to have her all the more.

And they could have nothing past this night.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

S
HAY
AWOKE
ALONE
and was grateful for it. Smelling coffee, she wrapped herself into a robe and made her way to the kitchen. Sun streaming through the wall of windows warmed the concrete floor beneath her bare feet. On the counter sat an empty mug beside the full carafe of coffee staying warm on the maker’s element. Next to the mug was a note: “Out for a run.”

More relief. If she hurried, she should be able to leave the house before Jace returned.

The place felt too empty without the buffer that was a teenage girl. And too full of memories from the night before.

She’d retrieve London right away, Shay decided, and use the short drive to shut the door on the compartment where she was keeping every recollection of her nights with Jace in bed.

One cup of coffee and a quick shower later, she headed out the long driveway and turned onto the lane. Humming a purposefully cheerful tune, she rolled down the window and let the warm morning air flutter the ends of her hair. It was going to be all right, she told herself, as the car passed through sunlight filtered by the pines and oaks that lined the narrow road. Last night had not been a monumental mistake.

Not if she put all thoughts of it—and Jace, who had a starring role—from her mind.

Then she spied a half-naked man running toward her.

Her stomach jolted and her foot touched down on the brake. Though she’d been next to his bare skin between sheets twice now, seeing Jace during the day, in a pair of nylon shorts and nothing else but running shoes, was a different experience altogether.

His brown hair was darkened and spiked with sweat. More of it rolled down his neck and glistened on the broad expanse of his chest. She didn’t know the names of all the muscles that her eyes were drawn to, but they rippled on his torso and flexed in his powerful arms.

He jogged to her open window, and his fingers curled around the opening. When he bent at the waist she found herself staring at his pectorals and the dark dusting of hair between them that thinned into a line, which disappeared beneath his shorts. She remembered what it was like to be pressed against that wall of hot man, to have what lay beneath that nylon, the sleek steely heat of it, brushing her belly and penetrating between her thighs.

Her face burned. Jerking her gaze up to his, she managed to paste on a smile. “Uh...hi.”

He studied her face. “You all right?”

“Oh, sure.” She waved a hand. “I’m off to Poppy’s. I’ll bring London back.”

He frowned. “I was planning to do that. I thought she wanted to stay until after lunch.”

“It’s probably best I get her sooner,” Shay said, looking away before she got caught like a fly in the honey that was his golden eyes. Before she begged to drive him home so they could take a sexy, soapy shower together.

“Smart move.”

She glanced up, saw the glint of resigned humor in his eyes. He might not be thinking of shared showers, exactly, but he understood why she was taking this line of defense. Despite the pleasure-soaked hours they’d spent together, that compelling attraction between them continued to pulse.

She hesitated. “And I’m going to tell Poppy no more sleepovers.”

He was silent a moment. “Yeah.”

“So, okay, then,” she said, her voice bright. “I’ll just—”

“Shay.” He cut her off, his hand moving to her hair to give it a light stroke. “Should I apologize?”

“Certainly not,” she scoffed.

“You don’t feel I coerced—”

“Certainly
not
,” she repeated, embarrassed to be having this discussion. “The situation arose...” Oh, now her cheeks had to be scarlet.

His mouth twitched. “That’s for damn sure.”

“We’re two adults,” she said, struggling on gamely. “We acted on impulse, which we’re allowed to do. Now it’s over and we go about our business.”

“No regrets?”

She gazed out the windshield, eager to be on her way. “Not a one.”

And she meant it, she reminded herself, as she left Jace behind in her rearview mirror. Last night had happened, now it was done and Jace would no longer have a place in her head.

Poppy was already at the open door of Ryan’s immense house, which was styled as an Italianate villa. At first Shay had been dismayed by the sight of it. Walkers didn’t have money and weren’t much impressed by what it could buy, but she’d feared her sister and nephew might feel out of place there once the three had decided on a future together. But now the walls were filled with smiles and a small boy, love and a big lunk of a dog, and it felt like a home.

In a floaty cotton skirt, tank top and flip-flops, her sister waved as Shay climbed out of the car. “Hey, there.”

She held up her hand as if shielding her eyes. “The sun on that ring’s gonna make me go blind.”

Poppy grinned as she glanced down at the rock on her left finger. “Best part of this engagement deal.”

“I heard that.” Ryan stepped up, looking down at his fiancée.

She turned her sunny smile on him and when their gazes met, Shay felt a decided snap, like two of Mason’s Lego blocks fitting together. The elegant, movie-idol features of Ryan Hamilton softened and he leaned down and kissed her ear, and maybe whispered in it, too, because Poppy’s cheeks went pink.

Shay told herself that watching them didn’t cause a little ache, just below her breastbone. She was delighted for her sister, of course. Having a man like Ryan Hamilton was everything her sister deserved.

“Come in, come in,” Poppy urged. “Mac’s here, too.”

Shay passed into the house and waved at Mason and London on her way to the kitchen. The two kids, engrossed in a video game, barely looked up. Mackenzie, however, welcomed her by pouring a mug of coffee. “We were just talking about you. Are your ears warm?”

Ryan had stopped off in his office, so it was only the three sisters in the kitchen. They each took a seat on one of the bar stools drawn up to the granite-topped island. Lifting her brows, Shay looked between Poppy and Mac. “Do I want to know why I was a topic of conversation?”

Mac, never one to pull any punches, didn’t this time, either. “Jace Jennings.”

Shay tried to pretend she misunderstood. “London’s father was the topic of conversation, then.”

Mac gave her a pointed glance. “Okay, you and Jace Jennings.”

“Shh.” Shay glanced around the room, in case one of the kids had snuck in. “Let’s not have this conversation.”

“Why not?” Poppy asked. “If I recall, you and Mac had just such a one with me a few months ago. So sure you were that I’d make a mistake and fall for Ryan.”

“Look how well that turned out,” Shay muttered.

“It turned out very well,” Poppy answered, her smile smug. “So I’m not here to give you a lecture full of warnings like you two gave to me. I’m just being nosy.”

“I’ll give the warnings,” Mac said.

A loud groan sounded in the room. Startled, they looked at each other and then over to the doors leading to the terrace, where Poppy’s big shepherd-Labrador mix, Grimm, had just flopped over on his side to bask in a patch of sunshine. Shay laughed. “The dog speaks for me.”

Mac frowned. “I only have your best interests in mind. We know the potential consequences of short-term flings—”

“I think so, Mac, since I
am
one of those consequences.”

She had the grace to look ashamed. “Sorry. I know you’re usually so careful—”

“Too careful,” Poppy said. “You’ve got to put yourself on the line sometimes.”

Shay rolled her eyes, borrowing one of London’s favorite ways of expressing herself. “There’s nothing going on between me and Jace.”

“Well, I like him,” Poppy said. “He’s been working at the cabins.”

“Yeah.” Mac’s eyes narrowed. “What’s up with that?”

“He wanted to get London doing something besides schoolwork,” Shay explained.

“Okay,” Mac said. “But why the cabins?”

Shay glanced at Poppy, then back at her oldest sister. “I happened to mention the land to him. And I happened to mention that I’m with Poppy. I think we should make a go of the cabins.”

Mac’s jaw dropped.

Shay kept talking, glad they were off the subject of romance. “I know we don’t have much seed money—”

Her sister snorted. “You mean, no seed money,” Mac said.

“I have a sort of plan about that.” Shay thought of the offer she’d been considering and wondered again about floating the idea with them now.

“We’re not taking on any investors,” Mac warned. “Particularly flatlanders. You better not be talking to Jace Jennings about—”

“No investors. Nothing to do with flatlanders.”

Mac studied Shay, her expression suspicious. “Why haven’t you spoken up about this before? You’ve been as anti-cabins as me and Brett.”

“No,” Shay corrected. “I’ve mostly said nothing.”

“Well, how come?” Mac demanded.

“Remember?” Poppy said, her voice quiet. “She’s implied her opinion doesn’t matter because she’s not really a Walker.”

“For God’s sake,” Mac answered, glaring at Shay. “You really piss me off when you talk like that.”

Her big sister’s irritation didn’t stop the facts being the facts. “Yes, but—”

“Anyway, all of this is just a distraction,” Mac declared.

Oops
, Shay thought. She’d noticed.

“Yes,” Poppy agreed with another of her happy smiles. “Let’s talk about Jace some more and why he looks at you like he’s in dire need of utensils.”

Shay grimaced. “You two are like Grimm with a bone, do you know that?”

“Just saying.” Poppy’s smile went wider. “I saw romance in the air yesterday evening.”

Mac frowned at her. “You aren’t helping, Miss Rose-colored Glasses.”

“Your scowls aren’t working on me,” Poppy said, still bubbling with glee. “I even have high hopes for you and You Know Who.”

Mac froze and the cold look in her eyes scared Shay a little. You Know Who was code for the town’s wild boy and Mac had once been wild about him. As far as Shay knew, nobody had heard about him or from him in years.

“He’s probably lying in a ditch somewhere,” Mac muttered.

“If so, it’s a waste of beautiful male flesh.”

“Did I hear ‘beautiful male flesh’?” Ryan strolled into the kitchen and headed for the refrigerator. “Are you women talking about me again?”

Now they all rolled their eyes, then laughed. Shay took this as her cue to extract herself from the conversation and from the house. “Well,” she said, rising, “I should collect my charge and take her home.”

“Not before you do me a big favor and agree to go to dinner with me tomorrow night,” Mac said.

Shay hesitated. Not that dinner alone with her big sister would be so unpleasant, but... “Only if Jace is not one of the topics of conversation.”

“Oh, she can practically guarantee that,” Poppy said as Ryan came behind her. In a natural move that made Shay want to sigh, her sister leaned back against her fiancé. He dropped his hands to her shoulders and rubbed lightly.

“Ask her who else is going to be at your dinner table,” Poppy continued.

Shay turned to her oldest sister.

Mac’s expression was lousy with innocence. “It will be a double date. You get Chris.”

“Chris Seeger?”

At Mac’s nod, she groaned, louder than Grimm. “He’s a great guy—”

“And you’re not hung up on anyone with the initials
J
and
J
, so you have no reason to refuse,” her oldest sister said.

Shay groaned again, then thought of Jace—even though she didn’t want to think of Jace—and remembered the concern on his face when he’d asked her if she had regrets about their second night together. Did he doubt she was telling the truth when she asserted she was without remorse? Humiliating thought.

If she proved to him she was moving on, then he’d be absolved of any residual guilt. She’d be able to finish her assignment with London, her head held high. Then there was the additional bonus of getting her big sis off her back.

“All right,” she said with ill grace. “I’ll do it.”

Maybe a date would give her something else to focus on besides the golden-eyed man on the way out of her life.

* * *

I
T
NIGGLED
AT
J
ACE
, how comfortable Shay seemed with the reality of their situation. Though they’d been intimate—on two separate nights—now that his daughter was back in the house, the woman treated him like a piece of furniture. It had been two days since they’d had that evening alone and he’d been waiting for her to come after him with a dust cloth.

He scowled as he watched her wield a can of polish now, her summery skirt riding up the back of her tanned legs as she bent over the coffee table to rub it clean. “I thought I told Leonard to engage a service to do that,” he said.

Straightening, she glanced at him over her shoulder. “I canceled it. It wasn’t my sister’s business that was hired, but some big company from down the hill. Waste of gas to get them up here.”

“She speaks,” he murmured. They’d barely exchanged three words before now.

She turned her head again. “What?”

“Nothing.” If he complained about being ignored, he’d sound like some sulking high school swain.

Now she moved toward the kitchen, and he followed. “Call Mac, then. Give her the business.”

“I know how to clean. As a matter of fact, I work for my sister when she can use me.”

That had him scowling again. He didn’t like the idea of her cleaning up a stranger’s messes.

As if she sensed his disapproval, she spun around. “All work is good and honorable, Jace.”

“I know, I know,” he grumbled. But thinking of her vacuuming some other man’s house made him think of her as some other man’s wife.

Which shouldn’t bother him at all.

In the kitchen, she put the polish and cloth away in the broom closet and crossed to the sink to wash her hands before pulling sandwich makings from the refrigerator. London was applying herself to schoolwork at a stool pulled up to the stainless-steel counter. Maybe the place was growing on him, because the kitchen seemed almost homey now, with the bright spots of Shay and London in colorful summer clothes.