Rough Ride (6 page)

He blinked and looked at her. “What kind of pie?”

She shook her head. “I didn’t get that far. She wanted peach.”

He nodded. “Peach would be good.” This was a good, safe subject to be on. “Why don’t we have peach pie?”

She wrapped the last of the chalky looking noodles around her fork. “Because I don’t have any peaches.”

“I would have bought you a can in exchange for pie.”

He’d never seen a woman look quite so horrified in his presence before. Just shocked. Mouth dangling. Eyes wide. She put her empty plate aside. “No. Just no. Don’t ever say that again. It is not the same thing.”

He couldn’t help himself and kept it on. “I don’t know. If you rinsed them off.”

She gagged. “You are killing me. You can’t make a good peach pie from canned peaches. It’d be all syrupy and have preserves and spices and just no. Some pies I’ll make from a can in a heartbeat, but not peach. Not with the fresh peaches that come in season here. Those are too good to waste a pie with canned stuff.”

“I don’t know. I bet you could get a couple of those pre-made crusts. Dump a couple cans in there and cover it with another crust.”

Her mouth hung open. Eyes just stared. “You must be joking.”

He covered his mouth with his hand to hide his smile. “I think it sounds great.”

She took his plate away. “You’ve had too much of this processed stuff on a daily basis. It’s fried your brain.”

He fell back against the couch and laughed. “Maybe we should have a bake off.”

She shook her head. “Maybe so, but I still don’t have peaches. I’ll have to do something else. With all this talk of pie, now
I
want some.”

“What are the options?”

“Cherry? Lemon, lime, banana, coconut cream?” She looked down, her lips twisted and she bit at her lower one. “Um, sweet potato. Pumpkin, oh my God, I can’t wait for fall so I can make fresh pumpkin pie. It’s just creamy and sweet. Spiced like Christmas and smooth like cheesecake. Flavor just pops in your mouth.”

Lane’s tongue was thick in his mouth for reasons that had nothing to do with hunger for pie. Her eyes glazed as she went on about different kinds of pies and their “full bodied” tastes.

“Oh, yeah. And the cheesecakes.” Her lips were parted, cheeks pinked and eyes a little dreamy. “They have this stuff in the store. Premade cheesecake pie filling and it’s awesome. I’ll eat it off the spoon like a pudding cup.”

There was a good chance she just had an orgasm on his couch talking about pie. He cleared his throat, needing to get away from that topic. Far, far away. “Ever met a pie you didn’t like?”

She closed her eyes, nosed wrinkled and shoulders lowered. “Pecan,” she whispered.

“That’s got to be un-American.”

She dropped her head in her hands, seriously tormented by this. “I know. But they’re so crunchy. They should be bars, not pie.”

“If you say so.”

She pulled her hands from her face, but eyes remained downcast as she thought. “I’m not sure how to do it though. The pecans go on the bottom, the filling on the top. Then as you bake, they swap. If you did that for a bar, it would still basically be pie because of the crust—and you don’t care about the crust on a pecan. It would be sliced up pie and that’s not what I want. It needs to be done as the pecans on the bottom as a base, but I’m not sure it would be firm enough. And I don’t know how the pecans and filling would stick without the crust. I need to take time to play with it.” She rubbed her hands across her thighs and he had to chuckle a little.

He figured Gretchen to maybe be a little shy, but she was so much more animated than he would have thought. She sat on one little corner of the couch, but when she talked, she filled the room.

She sat up straight and took a deep breath. Glanced to him, then back toward her legs. “So.”

“So,” he repeated.

“Lane, I’ve been thinking.” She cleared her throat. “That, well….”

She glanced his way and she didn’t have to say it, he could read it on her face. Hear her thoughts in her deepened, slightly raspy voice. He closed his eyes, hearing her repeat his name as an echo through his head. She wasn’t supposed to be able to ask him this and he couldn’t let her ask. If she asked, he might not be able to say no. “It’s not a good idea.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m not staying.”

She studied him. “Flora says that makes you perfect.”

He pinched the bridge of his nose. Great, he’d been discussed. Was she aware her other friend, Tonya, had hit on him and even gave him a strip of condoms?

She nodded. “And Tonya does too.”

“Tonya?” He wouldn’t. He wasn’t going to get between friends like that. Hell. No. Momma didn’t raise no dumbass.

She inched closer to him, her hand landed on his arm and slid to his shoulder. “And I’m in agreement.”

“Three-to-one. When do I get to vote?”

She frowned. “Sounds like you already have.”

He sighed. “I’m just worried what’s going to happen when it’s time for me to leave.”

“I swear I won’t stand in the drive clutching a tissue to my chest as you drive away. I get what this is. What it could be.”

He laughed. If only it was just her he was worried about. Like he said, momma didn’t raise no dumbass. Lane was more worried about him wanting to stay and he simply couldn’t. The guilt would kill him. And if he told his brothers the truth, they likely would never speak to him again, especially Grant. He’d known since the beginning Gretchen was the kind of woman he should keep his distance from.

That distance was lessening as she leaned close. His hand curved around her hip. Never should have stopped and brought her to his house. Never should have grabbed her days ago for that first taste.

He pulled her against him and kissed her lips. Teased and nipped that lower lip she’d been messing with all night. He should have maintained the distance he’d been forcing between them all this time. The pull of her was just too strong. How he ached and craved her taste was too much to resist. Damn his thoughts and distance. He needed to slake this curiosity. Discover her curves more intimately. Memorize what kind of breathy sounds she made while on the brink of shuddering beneath him. He wrapped his arms around her. One hand covered her back, the other wrapped across her ass and held her against him. She was soft, but hard body underneath.

She was so dainty, fragile looking, but there was nothing delicate about her in his arms. She shouldn’t fit against him so well with his body so much larger, but she did. Her fingers cupping his cheeks were slender. Soft. Cool on his face, but gripping and needy.

Her lips parted and the kiss deepened. She inched closer, nearly across his lap, but not all the way. When he’d tugged her to him, he hadn’t gotten her thighs across him. God, he didn’t think he could handle her all the way across his lap. With her straddling him. The center of her against his hard cock and rubbing. This needed to stop. Never should have started. Such a bad idea.

What the fuck had he been thinking? Or not thinking, clearly.

He slid his hand up her bare arms. His fingertips were roughened, cracked and calloused from work, it’s a wonder she didn’t wince from him. Honest, he was planning to stop, but when he cupped her cheeks, she leaned into his hand and a purr slid from the back of her throat. He kissed her more.

He’d never kissed a woman like this. Kissing just because he couldn’t get enough of her taste. Teasing her lips just to feel her smile against his mouth. Her tongue against his. Kissing had always just been part of getting to the end goal. That had clearly been a mistake, one he wouldn’t be making twice.

Unless it was just kissing
Gretchen
that was like this. Which wouldn’t surprise him. Everything about Gretchen seemed different than any other woman he’d ever met. It should have been surprising feeling her against him, noticing the little things like her tiny pants of needy air fanning over his cheeks. Or the pounding pulse in her throat against his fingers. He was half-terrified to know what else might be different. Things that were different in a good, fascinating way, like this.

This
had to end.

He pulled his head back, a last sweet kiss landed on the corner of his mouth. “Gretchen.”

She sat up on her knees. For once she was higher and he had to look up. Her eyes were wide. Cheeks flushed. Lips swollen, wet from his mouth and parted as she breathed. He kept picturing this petite woman and at the moment he wasn’t sure why. She searched his face and then pushed off him to standing. “Thanks again for dinner. I need to go.”

“I….” He blinked as she was already at the door and slipping on her shoes. What the hell. “Let me walk you home.”

She opened the door. “It’s not that far and this is my trailer park. Officially, I am home.”

“But—”

She stepped out. “I’ll see you later, Lane.” And the door closed behind her.

What the hell just happened? He scrubbed over his face. He was, no.
They
were here together. And then she was gone. He peeked out the window behind the couch for a double check. She had already walked to the center of the drive of the trailer parker. Her ass swung side-to-side in her short shorts. Hair was tossed in the wind.

He sat back straight and scrubbed his hands over his face. This was a big mess about to happen. Or was already happening.

His phone trilled from the bedroom and he went after it to find a text from his oldest brother.

Hey shithead, you’re supposed to walk them home.

Lane shook his head.
Mind your own damn business, nosey bastard.

He put the phone down, only for it to buzz again within a minute.

Someone’s bitchy. Wanna talk about your feelings too?

He sighed.
Wanna feel my foot up your ass?

Before another could come through, he turned the phone off and returned to the window, but she was gone.

Chapter
Six

Gretchen walked up to her door. Laughter from her best friends inside added some lightness to her heavy chest. He was stopping things. He was going to tell her no. She’d left before he could. It was all she knew to do. It would have been way too depressing had she been there while he’d said more. Leaving seemed the best option. And well, as he’d sat there, clearly shocked, it turned out to be a good choice.

She smiled and stepped in her home. Flora and Tonya were sprawled across the floor in front of the TV with multiple plastic food containers from the last few days spread around them.

Flora’s brow arched. “What happened to pie?”

Tonya nudged her with her elbow. “I bet she got something better than pie.”

The two snickered. Gretchen dropped to the floor with them and told them what happened.

Flora stared with her mouth opened. “You just left?”

“And he let you.” Tonya paused with a fork of green beans nearly to her mouth.

She nodded. “He didn’t look happy as I left, so there’s that.”

“Not happy how?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. He just stared at me like I’d lost my mind.”

“
Ooh, that you dared to leave the lap of Lane Iverson
?” Flora’s hands were on her hips.

Gretchen laughed. “Not like that. But well, we were pretty hot and then when I saw his face, I knew I needed to get out of there before he started talking.”

Tonya hmm’d. “I think this is perfect.”

“The other day you said he was perfect because he was going to be easy.” Gretchen reminded her. “He’s a man, he won’t say no.”

Tonya flicked her wrists at her. “So he’s a nice guy. Doesn’t mean he doesn’t really want to strip you naked and tie you to his bed. So you see, under the circumstances you leaving is perfect. It’s like they say in those magazines. You left him wanting more.”

Gretchen frowned and picked at a slice of leftover cornbread. “But he didn’t want more. He was about to tell me no.”

Flora grinned. “Tonya you’re a genius.”

Gretchen shook her head. “Except he doesn’t want me? I think it’s best if I leave it alone. It was a bad idea.” Lane was more than she was expecting. Maybe she wasn’t ready for all of this. It’d been so long since she’d had a man wrap her in his arms. Those few moments against Lane were amazing. All those feelings of safety, security came flooding back. What started as fun could tilt into dangerous. She could say this was pretend all she wanted, but keeping it that way in her head would be different all together. Maybe if he hadn’t lived nearby for so long, she could maintain the easy-going thing.

Tonya shook her head. “Here’s the thing. Boys are stupid. And what you’ve done works. You’ve teased him and given him the unexpected. Hold on.” She jumped from her spot and ran out the door before Gretchen could get a word in.

Flora only shrugged. “I think she’s on to something.”

“I think I should cut my losses before I embarrass myself.” Or before she started feeling things she shouldn’t. If he was staying, it would be worth the risk. There would be a chance, but she wasn’t so sure she was built for this kind of thing.

Tonya returned a moment later, breathing hard from running, a girl magazine in her hands as she flipped. She turned the magazine around and held it out to her. “There. See? You did step three today.”

Gretchen took the magazine and nearly gagged at the perfume from somewhere inside. “
Step one: Get in his circles. Find where he goes and go to those places too.
” She looked up. “He goes to work. And he goes home. That’s all I know.”

“Exactly,” Tonya clarified. “He comes home. To the trailer park you live in and own.”

Gretchen returned to the magazine. “
Step two: Get him to notice you. This part can be tricky. Go too far and he’ll label you as crazy. Don’t do enough and you won’t bump his radar. Just don’t try too hard.
”

“And you’ve been cooking him meals.” Flora added. “Normally I’d say that’s too far, but y’all have this kinky thing going on with it.”

“Yes.” Tonya nodded. “And step three is to tease him and let him know you won’t be easily claimed.”