6. Jenny
Jenny
H uffing, I wrap my arms around his waist and sigh into his broad chest. He’s wearing a horrible tropical print button-down shirt and it’s unbuttoned enough that I can feel his warm, smooth skin under my cheek. His heart races and a tingle burns along my skin.
My fingers itch to trace his warm muscles and the arrow of lightly curling hair that is scattered on his bronze skin. He smells like pine, leather and man and it’s intoxicating as hell.
I can’t breathe. It feels like my head is swimming with all these dirty, crazy thoughts and I can’t seem to breathe anymore.
I just want.
I pull away from him gently and clear my throat. “We should be getting back. It’s late.”
With a nod he starts moving but he doesn’t let go of my hand and my stupid, stupid heart wonders if he’s touching me because he wants me as much as I want him.
It takes us less time than I expect to get back and when we stand in front of my door, I stare down at my hands. “Thank you for walking me home, Lance.”
“I had to. Knowing you you’d probably trip over another man in the dark. I have to protect all the innocent men out there.”
My head comes up and I shake it. “You are so annoying.”
He moves in closer and I draw in a deep breath, surrounded by the scent of him, wallowing in it and feeling my whole body light up like fireworks in the dark.
My back hits the door and I gasp as his arms come up, his hands on either side of my head on the wood.
His head comes down and I swear to god he runs his nose along my throat, humming like a motor revving.
“Wh-what are you doing, Lance?”
“Do you know that you smell like the ocean? Salty and sweet. Like cotton candy and the beach. It’s fucking intoxicating.”
“Y-you, you can’t say things like that.”
His head comes up and his dark eyes bore into mine, lust and desire kindling gold sparks in the deep depths. “I wish I could,” he whispers. Then his lips touch mine gently, softly.
Moaning, I sink my fingernails into his chest, flexing in his warm skin and tangling in the scattered short hairs. I can feel his heartbeat pounding under my hand and I open my lips, my brain scattering when his tongue slides inside my mouth and sweeps along my teeth and tongue, tangling wildly.
My whole body quakes and I reach back for the doorknob, struggling to grab it, needing to escape.
Needing control. My other hand pushes slightly at his chest. Not enough to push him away but it’s enough for him to lift his head.
He sucks in a ragged breath and I fight to get control of my own wildly-pounding heart.
“Y-you can’t do that, Lance. I-I…”. My hand scrabbles for the door and I manage to turn the knob and fall inside, catching myself before I hit the floor. He moves fast, his hand catching me as I struggle to stay vertical.
My brow wrinkles. I glance down at the doorknob and frown.
“What’s going on, baby girl?”
“I locked my door. I know I did. So how did it open without my keycard.”
He stiffens and growls under his breath. He slams the door closed and pushes me into a corner. “You stay right here. Do not move.”
Then he stalks off and I hear him slamming doors and moving through every room of the little building.
My eyes drift over and narrow. I stalk over to the desk in the corner and groan when I see that my computer is open, my book right there. I know I closed the program I run so there’s no way it should have been open and on.
Lance stalks back in the room and glares at me. “Do you not understand simple English, woman? I told you to wait over there.”
Ignoring him, I check to see what actions my computer has taken. Somebody accessed the printer and printed the completed pages. Who the hell would do that?
Fingers snap in front of my face and I shake my head, glaring at Lance. “What’s going on, baby?”
“Was there anybody in here?”
“No.”
“Did you see anything moved around?”
“Well, it’s not my room but I don’t see anything really out of place. But you look like you saw something.”
“I think so.”
“What?”
I point a shaking finger at my computer. “I closed out my computer program before I left. But it was open. And my history shows that I printed my pages.”
“And you didn’t.”
“No. I wasn’t even home when it was done.”
He runs his thick fingers along his jaw, stroking it thoughtfully. “So somebody was poking around at your work. And that’s all?”
Glaring at him, I snort. “Isn’t that enough? If somebody were to take my notes they could finish their book quicker than mine and then I won’t be able to publish my work. It would be like plagiarism.”
“Except it’s your work.”
“Fat chance explaining that.”
“Okay. Well, go check and see if you see anything else.”
I nod my head and wander out of the room, my head swimming with all these crazy thoughts.
What am I gonna do if someone else manages to publish my work? All that work going to waste. Ugh!
I pace back and forth in my bedroom, tugging at my hair and groaning.
“I don’t know what’s going on here, baby girl, but you’re not staying here by yourself.”
I whip around and snap, “I’m not going anywhere. I’ve got to get this book finished before this idiot tries to claim my work!” Stalking past him in the doorway, I head back to the little living space.
Or try to. He grabs my arm as I stalk past him and jerks me back. “Hey! Settle down, Jenny. I’m gonna find out who’s doing this and you won’t have to worry about your book. It will be alright.”
“You can’t know that. It’s taken me forever to get my mind back into my writing and now someone snuck in here to mess it all up!” I throw my hands up in the air and pace back out to the computer.
Lance follows me and he glances at the screen over my shoulder. “What the hell are you writing?”
Gasping, I whip around and try to cover the screen. But he smirks and pulls my hands away. “Huh. This guy sounds kind of familiar.”
My cheeks flush and I growl under my breath. “No he doesn’t.”
“Oh, he absolutely does. Don’t you need my permission to use my likeness in your story?”
Crossing my arms over my chest, I glare at him, tapping my foot. “He’s not you. He-He’s a good guy. He’s sweet and gentle.”
“He’s grumpy and growly and he has golden-brown eyes and dark hair that curls around his collar. That sounds a lot like me.”
“Oh god! Why is this my life right now?” I wail and pace back and forth, tugging at my hair and muttering under my breath.
“Hey.” He catches my shoulders and holds me still when I try to get away from him.
He ducks his head until he can look right in my eyes.
“I’m flattered, baby girl. I’m not mad. But you need some sleep.
You can’t stay up all night to try and fix this.
Trust me, I will find out who did this and I will get those pages back.
Nobody is going to tell my story better than you,” he chuckles.
Rolling my eyes, I grumble.
Oddly enough, he just laughs at me. “Come on. Grab your computer and some clothes. You can stay with me. I don’t want you here by yourself. I don’t know how this person got in but he did. That’s not acceptable, Jenny.”
“But….” His thick finger covers my lips and I can smell him again, feel his warmth.
“Nope. Pack up or I’m gonna haul your little ass out of here and then I’ll hurt my knee and you don’t want to do that, do you?”
Snarling under my breath, I start throwing things back in a bag and grab my computer and the case for it.
It will take less time to do that then argue with the man. His firm lips and implacable jaw tell me that I’m not gonna get anywhere with that anyway.
He grabs my things, his eyes darting left and right, always moving. He follows me out and shuts the door behind me.
“Let’s go, baby. I’m tired and I can tell you need some rest too.”
I follow along behind him, shuffling angrily. I don’t like that I’m being pushed around by this man but I can’t say that I’m not nervous. My head is pounding, my heart thumping. I doubt I get a lick of sleep tonight no matter where I sleep.
I follow along behind Lance, mildly amused by the way he’s keeping me so close and watching everyone around us carefully.
He’s acting nuts. I just wish it didn’t make my heart pound like crazy. What woman doesn’t love a crazy man trying to protect her? The story practically writes itself!
I just need to remember that this isn’t real. He’s not my man. He’s just trying to be nice.
In a grumpy, growly kind of way.