Not Really the Outdoor Type (5 page)

She ran her hands up the front of his shirt to clutch his shoulders, moaning as the muscles flexed beneath her finger. When her lips parted, his tongue plunged into her mouth, seeking hers and tangling with it in a way that made her whole body tremble.

His free hand skimmed her hip to slip underneath her top. His fingers were tantalizingly warm on her skin, and Kendall caught her breath as her gently cupped one satin-covered breast.

Jason lifted his head with a groan. “I should go.”

She caught her lower lip between her teeth. “Or you could come inside instead.”

His lips brushed hers. “You don’t know how much I want to, but I’m trying to be a gentleman here.”

That was a refreshing change from the usual guys she’d dated. Was that why she was so attracted to him?

Jason made no move to go, though. Instead, he gazed down at her for a long moment before he bent his head and kissed her again. This time his mouth didn’t just explore hers, it claimed it for its own, and when he lifted his head and took a step back, she had to lean against the door for support.

“I’ll see you at the store on Monday,” he said, his voice husky.

Kendall nodded, not quite able to find her voice. She waited until he pulled out of the driveway and disappeared down the road before going into the cabin. Closing the door, she leaned back against it again.

She’d never reacted like that to a guy’s kiss before. It was as if her whole body had been on the verge of spontaneously combusting. If she and Jason ever did have sex, she might pass out from the pure pleasure of it.

Chapter Four

Monday couldn’t come fast enough for Kendall, especially since she’d spent a good portion of Sunday doing nothing but sitting on the back porch gazing at the lake and daydreaming about Jason. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d thought about a guy like that. Oh, yeah. It had been back in high school and she’d been daydreaming about Jason back then, too.

The store was already bustling with customers when she arrived, so she couldn’t do more that give Jason a smile and a quick, “hello,” before getting to work. It was pretty much like that all day, and when there was a lull in the afternoon, Jason only stopped by the counter long enough to tell her he had to run a few errands and would see her later.

That was two hours ago.

Sighing, Kendall finished ringing up a customer and asked to help the next person in line—a short, stocky bearded man.

“I’d like to buy some crickets,” he said.

Crickets? Okay, that was a new one. She glanced at Nicole. The girl must have anticipated her question because she answered before Kendall could ask.

“Live bait. It’s out back. Just put some in a container for him.”

Kendall frowned. Live bait? And what did Nicole mean, put some in a container? She wanted to ask, but didn’t want to look even more clueless.

Telling the man she’d be right back, Kendall reluctantly made her way through the store and out the back door. The town of Copper Canyon had been built on a huge lake, so most everywhere had some part of that lake in their backyard. Outdoor Outfitters was no exception. Having been out here with Jason that first day when he’d given her a tour, she remembered him saying something about live bait being kept in the hothouse behind the store. At the time, she hadn’t really been listening to what he’d been saying. She wished she’d paid more attention.

Opening the door, she cautiously stepped inside the building. Hot, humid air hit her immediately. Damn, she could already feel her hair starting to curl.

She looked around and saw a row of tables on either side of the enclosure lined with fish tanks. But instead of being filled with water, they were full of dirt and grass. Three of the tanks were labeled
crickets
. Beside one was a box of plastic baggies and a fish net.

She picked up the net and frowned at it. What the heck was she supposed to do with this? Obviously, she was supposed to use the net to scoop out the crickets so she could put them in a plastic bag.

Duh.

Kendall eyed the tank of creepy creatures warily. The idea of venturing in there with nothing but a flimsy net for protection was almost enough to send her running out of the hothouse. But getting live bait for the customers was part of her job. Besides, how hard could it be? All she had to do was put the net in the tank and wait for the crickets to jump in.

Simple, right?

Taking a deep breath, she slowly inched the lid off the tank and carefully set it down on the table, then hesitantly peered inside. The creatures froze, their eyes trained on her. They seemed just as afraid of her as she was of them.

Not a chance.

Steeling herself, she thrust the net into the tank, only to jump back with a loud scream when a cricket jumped on her arm. Black and shiny, it had to be the biggest cricket she’d ever seen. Terrified, she slapped at it wildly with her free hand. The cricket bounded high in the air. She whirled around, trying to track the thing in case it attacked her again, but it was no use. She had no idea where it went. She only hoped it wasn’t on her.

Shuddering at the thought, she turned back around. While trying to save herself from that psycho cricket, she’d dropped the net into the tank with the rest of them. Crap.

Heart thudding in her chest, she leaned forward to chance another look into the tank. She was trying to get up enough courage to reach in and fish out the net when a cricket jumped out of the tank and headed straight for her. She barely had time to scream and duck for cover when the rest of them launched themselves at her. One thumped against her head. Another smacked against her arm.

Kendall shrieked and ran for the exit, waving her arms frantically. Outside, she slammed the door shut and leaned against it, her breathing ragged. There was no way in hell she was ever going back into that hothouse every again. The damn fishermen could use those ghastly rubber things that were made to look like bugs as bait for all she cared.

After checking to make sure she wasn’t bringing any of the uglies with her, she took a deep, calming breath, then smoothed her hair and walked back to the store,

The man was waiting for her just inside the door. When he realized she’d come back empty handed, he gave her a questioning look.

She offered him a small smile. “I’m sorry, sir, but we’re out of crickets.”

His bushy brows furrowed. “Out of crickets? Well, that’s a first. How about nightcrawlers then?”

Kendall didn’t know what nightcrawlers were, but they didn’t sound like they’d be cute and cuddly. “We’re out of those, too. Actually, we’re pretty much out of everything in the way of live bait. There’s been a run on it.”

The man’s eyes widened in surprise. “Oh. Okay. Thank you anyway.” He turned and headed for the front of the store, muttering something that sounded like, “Damn tourists.”

Kendall let out a sigh as she made her way to the counter. If anyone else came in looking for live bait, Nicole was going to have to get it for them.

Thankfully, no one else wanted to buy live bait the rest of the day, so the subject didn’t come up. Which was a relief because she would have hated to send Nicole into the hothouse to deal with all those escaped crickets.

Jason still hadn’t come back by closing time, which made her even more curious about where he’d gone off to. Nicole and the Darren, the other high school kid who worked at the store, headed out shortly after the last of the customers, leaving her alone in the store. She considered waiting for Jason in his office, but decided to hang out by the lake instead.

As she sat on the bench, her gaze strayed from the crystal waters of the lake to the hothouse to make sure those nasty crickets hadn’t figured out a way to open it. They were probably all over the place by now. God, those things made her skin crawl.

The door to the store opened, making her jump. She almost laughed. What did she think, it was some big, bad cricket coming to get her?

Getting to her feet, she walked over to Jason. She’d worn shorts and a pair of low-heeled sandals to work, and her pulse skipped a beat when she saw his eyes go to her long legs.

“Hey.” She gave him a smile. “I was wondering where you were.”

He didn’t return her smile, or answer her question. Instead, he frowned and looked past her at the hothouse. “One of the locals said he came in looking to buy some crickets and you told him we were out of them. In fact, he said you told him we were out of all the live bait.”

“Um…” She knew she should own up to it and tell Jason what happened, but for some reason, her self-preservation kicked in “I don’t really remember. We were so busy today. Maybe he talked to someone else.”

Jason lifted a brow, the look in his eyes making Kendall think he didn’t quite believe her little fib.

She hurried on before he could press the issue. “I waited because I thought you might like to come over for…”

She words trailed off as Jason walked past her and headed down the dock toward the hothouse. She hurried after him.

“Wh-where are you going?”

He gave her a sidelong glance. “To see if we’re out of live bait.”

Kendall grabbed his arm. “You can’t!”

He halted in his tracks and turned to face her. “Why not?”

She tried to come up some lie he’d believe, but she couldn’t think of anything. “Because…”

His brows drew together. “What did you do, Kendall?”

She chewed on her lower lip, hesitating. When she didn’t answer, Jason turned on his heel and headed for the hothouse again. Kendall followed.

“I wouldn’t go in there if I were you,” she said, stopping him just as he reached the door. “At least not without a really big flyswatter or something.”

Jason turned to look at her in confusion.  “A flyswatter. What are you talking about?”

Kendall sighed. “I went in there to get that guy his stupid crickets, and the next thing I know, those creepy, disgusting things were jumping all over the place.”

He frowned. “Didn’t you use the net?”

“I tried. But before I could, they attacked me.”

Jason lifted a brow, a smile threatening to break the seriousness of his expression. “Crickets attacked you?”

“Yes,” she insisted. “You should have seen it. They were all over me. In my hair. On my clothes.” She shivered just thinking about it. “I can’t believe it’s even legal to keep those things. They’re dangerous.”

He chuckled. “The only thing dangerous in there is you, honey. Believe me, those crickets are more afraid of you than you are of them.”

“I seriously doubt that.”

“You know, it probably would have been easier if you’d just used your hands instead of the net.”

Her eyes went wide. “My hands? You’ve got to be kidding me. They could have bitten me.”

“Crickets don’t bite, Kendall.” He jerked his head toward the hothouse. “Come on. I’ll show you how to catch them.”

Kendall blinked. He didn’t seriously expect her to go back in there with those things, did he? “No way. If you haven’t noticed, I’m not really the outdoor type. That means anything dealing with nature is off-limits.”

Jason shook his head. “You’ve been living in LA for way too long.”

“Yeah, well at least I don’t have to worry about crickets attacking me there.”

He snorted. “No. There, you just have to worry about people attacking you.”

She made a face. “Go take care of your stupid crickets. I’m going home.”

Kendall turned on her heel to storm off, only to trip over a plastic bucket beside the hothouse. It fell to the wooden dock with a thud, the contents inside spilling out all over her feet. This day just kept getting better and better.

Cursing, she shook her feet, trying to get the dirt off. That was when she realized there were slimy, wiggly things crawling around in it.

Kendall jumped back with a scream, frantically kicking her feet. While the dirt fell off easily, the squirming things living in it only clung to her skin. She backpedaled wildly, cringing as they squished under her sandals.

“Get them off me,” she shrieked.

Jason ignored her. Instead, he crouched down to hurriedly scoop up handfuls of the nasty little creatures and put them back in the bucket.

“Dammit, Kendall, you’re stepping on them. Just pick them up. They won’t hurt you.”

Kendall stared at him in disbelief. He wanted her to touch those disgusting squirmy things?

“Pick them up yourself!” she shot back.

Heedless of the worms crawling around underfoot, she started for the door when Jason caught her arm and spun her around.

“You didn’t learn anything from that spanking I gave you the other day, did you?” he growled.

Kendall gasped. He wouldn’t dare spank her again. But as he strode over to one of the benches alongside the building, she realized he intended to do just that.

“Jason, wait…”

The rest of what she was going to say came out in a whoosh of breath as he sat down on the bench and flung her over his knee. Kendall immediately tried to push herself back up, but the strong arm wrapped firmly around her waist held her fast.

She started to struggle, but couldn’t make herself move. Her mind wanted her to fight him, but her body—traitor that it was—refused to obey. Not even when Jason’s hand came down hard on her upturned ass. The smack stung fiercely through the material of her shorts, and though she let out a yelp of protest, she still didn’t try to get free. Instead, she lay there submissively and took it.

What the hell was the matter with her? Why didn’t she fight him? 

Jason gave her another well-aimed slap on the seat of her khaki shorts.

“Owwwww!”
she yelped as a fresh rush of heat spread across her ass.

The hell with what her body wanted—she was in charge here, dammit. With a cry of frustration, she shoved against his muscular leg. He pushed her back down, smacking one cheek, then the other in rapid succession until both were stinging so much she wanted to scream. And all the while he lectured her. First, about lying to the customers. Then, about not being careful with his property. And, finally, about being such a brat about the whole thing.