Page 21 of One Wild Texas Night
She longed to touch him, to kiss him, to have his hands and mouth on her. She wished he would keep kissing her and never stop.
She closed her eyes for an instant, ignoring the warnings that were clamoring in her thoughts, just yielding to his loving, letting her hands roam over his hard body. Only for a moment, she promised herself, and then she would stop him. She had to if she was going to survive. He would break her heart into a million pieces if she fell in love with him. If she let him make love to her, she knew she would be in love with him.
He was too sexy, had too much finesse. She would be swept away, lose her heart to him, a big, handsome, sexy cowboy neighbor, a man who understood her life, who respected her, a man who dazzled her, a man she might fall in love with forever. And that would be pain, heartbreak and hurt that could last a lifetime.
They were enemies, she reminded herself as she clung to his strong body and kissed him, surrendering herself to the most erotic kiss she had ever experienced. And ever would.
His mouth on hers swept her away, dazzled her, set her ablaze with longing for so much more. She didn’t know how long they stood there in each other’s arms, kissing and caressing each other, tension and need building.
“Jake,” she whispered, catching his wrists in her hands and stepping back. “I have to stop. I’ll be so in love with you, I will never get over it,” she cried. “We not only have no future—your family will be furious.”
He was looking at her as if he could devour her, and that made her heart pound more. His desire was obvious and intense. She wanted to step back into his embrace, kiss and caress him and forget every sensible warning.
She fought the urge to toss aside caution and put her arms around him. Jake was fabulous, sexy, kind, intelligent, and his were the best kisses ever. But he was too appealing, a risk to her heart.
She thought about the hurt she would feel if she let herself fall in love with him. She wouldn’t be able to walk away without leaving her heart behind. She had never been kissed the way Jake had kissed her. Fantastic, bone-melting, seductive kisses that just made her want more and more.
“Claire, let me do the worrying about my family,” he whispered. “I know what I’m doing and what I want. You’ve been independent long enough to know what you want. And you’re making what you want damn evident.”
His words were seductive, too. They inflamed her, challenged her, and she felt caught and held by her own desires.
Desires that she knew could be her undoing.
It was the hardest thing she’d ever had to do, but she pulled back from his arms, immediately mourning the lack of his touch, and shook her head. “I can’t do this.”
He lowered his arms, and his eyes speared hers. The desire she saw in his expression made her feel that she was the most important woman on earth to him. He looked as if he wanted her with all his being and as if he was in love, but she knew better than that. He wasn’t in love with her and never would be. She turned quickly, grabbing up her clothes. “This is what has to be,” she said, holding her clothes against her. “You have to go, Jake.”
He stood there without moving for seconds, his gaze piercing hers, and then, without saying one word, he turned and left her suite.
The urge to call him back was a powerful force, and she mustered all her self-control to fight it.
As she closed the door behind him, she leaned against the cool wood, but she wasn’t aware of it. Drifting through memories of Jake, all she remembered were his hands, his mouth, his body, their kisses. Fantastic, sexiest-ever kisses that she would never forget. And her body felt as if it were on fire.
Her emotions held her captive as her thoughts battled each other. Did she really want him to stop? Or should she make love with Jake? He was the sexiest man she had ever known.
He had become incredibly desirable. She wanted him to make love to her. She wanted to make love to him, to discover his fascinating male body, to have his hands and mouth all over her.
She groaned and held her hands over her face. “No, no, no,” she said aloud. She knew she shouldn’t give in to those desires. Jake partied a lot on weekends. He had women in his life always, and he had never been serious about any of them.
He would not fall in love with her. Claire knew that absolutely. She thought their attraction was a fluke because she was staying with him and they had been caught up in the emotional struggle of the fires. And she thought he had been feeling sorry for her because of her loss and paid more attention to her than he ever would have otherwise.
Men like Jake did not fall in love with women like her. She was solitary, plain, led a life that a lot of men didn’t like, although having her own ranch wouldn’t bother Jake. But she wasn’t his type of woman at all. Claire had seen him out enough in her life to know he liked gorgeous, outgoing women who were fun and sexy and would guarantee him a good time.
Jake was not a marrying man, so at some point, she risked a very broken heart.
Even if they were compatible, could she have a happy relationship with Jake with the family feud hanging over them and influencing everything they did?
Common sense said no, she could not have a good relationship with Jake. Not now, not later, not ever. Definitely, he was not the man for her. She should not get involved with him.
But did she really want to toss aside the chance of making love with him, of having the sexiest night—or nights—of her life with him? Would she look back with big regrets? If only she knew she could make love and then say goodbye to him, not get hurt, just move on, but she suspected if she yielded her body, her heart would be part of the deal.
“I may already be falling for you,” she whispered, her eyes still closed while she thought about him. “You’re going to break my heart if I don’t stop you.”
She opened her eyes and mentally told herself she had to stop talking out loud to herself about him, because he had already overheard her once and she didn’t want him to overhear her again.
She would probably already have lost her heart to him except for that streak of Reed in him where he could turn right around and annoy her. Like he had over that metal box.
“Dang, Jake,” she whispered. She needed to get her mind on business, take care of the calls she had to make about her destroyed house and forget about him.
