My eyesdrop in an attempt to get myself together. Big mistake. They fall straight to herchest,where those perky breasts sit high and proud. Not too big. Not too small. Probably a little less than a handful. I force them farther down, only to find myself staring at those long damn legs of her.Those legs I’ve picturedwrapped around me more times than is probably normal.Those legs that go on for miles. And miles. And. Miles.
“Shit,” I mutter under my breath at the damn semi that is quickly becoming a steel pipe in my pants.
“Excuse me?” Cara looks at me nervously, clearly not understanding what the problem is.She looks upset, but I can’t tell if it’srip me a new oneupset, or if it’sI just made her very uncomfortableupset.I don’t want either.
“I – uh – she’s – I don’t know….” I stutter like a fool because I cannot form a complete thought when I’m still picturing those legs wrapped around me while I dri….
Get it together, you dumb fuck.
Her eyes narrow. Those eyes spark with a fierceness I recognizethat is not helping my situation because she’s sexy as hell.
“Jake, I am here to help you with Lyra. I can’t do that if you don’t let me.” I watch her mouthmove as she speaks. Her bottom lip is a little fuller than her top, I notice, not for the first time. Then my mind takes the worst path possible as I wonder what those lips would feel like wrapped around my -.
“No,” I quietly reprimand myself.
The way Cara flinches and her face falls tells me she heard that too. My stomach plummets like apiano shoved off the Empire State Building. I need to fix this fast, but I don’t know how.I can’t explain I wasn’t talking to her. Not without explaining why I’m talking to myself or risk sounding insane.
“What’s your problem, man?” Dane demands through narrowed eyes.
I close my eyes. If I’m not looking at her, maybe I can form a complete thought that isn’t straight from the gutter.“No problem,” I say as I work to come up with a rational explanationforwhy I said what I did. “I just don’t want to wake her up.” Yeah, that sounds logical, right?
Damn, I’m having to question myself a lot lately.
Cara looks at me doubtfully,and it guts me. She thinks I don’t trust her with Lyra. That couldn’t be farther from the truth. But she doesn’t let on. “Then why don’t you go lay her in the bed?” she offers.
But the word ‘bed’ coming from her mouth sends my brain straight back to the filthy, dirty slums of my mind.Images of her beneath me, my body pressing hers into the mattress, fill my head.
I stifle a groan with a hard swallow,then nod. I stand, praying no one notices the issues I’m having down under, and make my way to the bedroom. I try mybest not to jostle my tiny princessas I work my way into the narrow room.
I lay Lyra in the center of the bed, placing a kiss onher forehead. When I turn to leave the room, Ibump into Cara, makingher stumble back. I quickly wrap an arm around her waist to stop her fall, bringing her flush against my chest.
“I – I’m sorry,” she pants, catching her breath from the shock. “I thought you knew I was behind you.”
“I didn’t.” My voice is gruff and deepas I try to keep my composure. My earlier problem hasn’t fully deflated, and her soft body being pressed into mine is not helping, but, by God, I don’t want to let go. I do,though. Quickly. Before she noticesmy dilemma.
“I’m – uh – just going to go out there,” I stammer,averting my eyes to the space behind her so I can concentrate. “Get me if you need me.”
I sidestep her, doing everything I can to keep our bodies apart. A feat considering the amount of spaceto do so.
“Hey, Jake,” she calls me before I make it out the door.
Iturn to face her with a breath to keep myself under control.It is a wasted breath because when I turn to see her curled up next to Lyra, a whole other set of emotions and impossible possibilities fly through my mind, taking my breath away. Igrab the doorframe to stop myself from going to her andkissing the hell out of her. “Yeah,” I say with a strained voice.
“I’ll take good care of her,” she says softly, her nervous eyes darting between mine.
Another breathlost. “I know you will,” I rasp weakly.
That’s actually part of the problem.
Cara
Jake stares at me with some indecipherable look for a few more seconds before he finally leaves the tiny room. I’m not sure what just happened.When he grabbed me to keep me from falling, a weird feeling comesover me. I don’t know whatit means, but my mind went to places it has never been when it comes to him for a split second. It unnerved me a bit.
But I decide that I must just befeeding off the weirdness he’s been putting off.I’m not sure what to make of his reactionstoday. I know we don’t know each other very well. Well, not as well as I know Ryder and Maddoxanyway. Or even Stitch and Jasper, the guys who run Dane’s tattoo shop.
Buthe’s definitely been acting strange since we got on the plane. I’ve caught him more than once staring at me with afrustrated, uncomfortable look on his face. I’ve wondered if he thinks he made a mistake accepting my offer. Maybe he doesn’t trust me with Lyra. Which is why I wanted to assure him I would take care of her.
He must trust me on some level, though. He said he would only come on tour if I were the one to keep Lyra.Why else would he have agreed so quickly when he was initially so reluctant?
