Smart Girls Think Twice (15 page)

Chapter Ten

“
See?
That’s what happens when you break the rules.” Emma’s voice was shaky. “You almost get struck by lightning.”

Jake couldn’t hear her because of the deafening noise of hailstones hitting the roof. Instead of looking concerned, he looked excited.

“Cool, huh?” he shouted over the din.

“Just peachy.”

“What did you say?”

“Did you know that PA leads the U.S. in lightning damage?” Emma recited useless trivia in times of extreme stress.

Jake showed no such stress. “Awesome.”

“How are we going to get out of here?” she yelled.

“Doesn’t look like we are. At least not until daylight.”

“No, that’s not acceptable.”

“Mother Nature says otherwise. No worries. I’ve got a sleeping bag in the back, and there’s enough room to lie down.”

“No worries?” The hail didn’t let up so Emma raised her voice even louder. “No worries?!”

“You’re not afraid of storms, are you?”

The hail stopped as suddenly as it started. “Not unless I’m out in one and almost hit by lightning.”

“Come on, that’s an exaggeration. It wasn’t that close.”

“That’s as close as I care to get.”

Jake reached out to trace one finger over her mouth. “Are you sure about that? Getting closer sounds like a good idea. You seemed to enjoy our . . . closeness when we were skinny-dipping.”

“That was an error in judgment.”

“Have a lot of those, do you?”

“Very rarely.”

“Yeah, I had that feeling.”

The hail was replaced by a heavy downpour that beat almost as loudly on the roof. Leaning forward, she peered through the windshield. A flash of lightning revealed the thrashing branches as the wind picked up, forcing the rain sideways.

“Hey.” Jake tapped her gently before slinging an arm around her shoulders. “Are you having fun yet?”

She remained silent.

“Maybe we need some music.” He hit a button and the song “Over My Head” by the Fray blasted through the Jeep’s interior. Emma had always liked the song and had it on her iPod, so she instinctively started swaying to the song and mouthing the words as she did when listening alone.

Next up was “Is It Any Wonder?” by Keane.

Before Emma knew it she was jiving with Jake as they sat in their seats and moved to the music, singing along and grinning at each other like a pair of idiots. Which she supposed they must be to be acting like this.

But oh what fun it was—despite the storm raging around them, despite everything. Emma’s damp hair slapped against her cheek as she rocked back and forth to Keane’s sharp guitar riff. In her own version of do-it-yourself karaoke, she sang into her clenched fist as if it were a microphone.

Jake leaned closer, singing into her fist along with her.

Suddenly she was aware of his lips moving over her hand as he sang. She felt goose bumps rise on the entire length of her arm. The music stopped just as she pulled her hand away from the temptation of his mouth and dislodged his arm from her shoulders.

Jake laughed. “You look so cute when you’re getting down with your bad self.”

“Are you making fun of me?”

“I’m complimenting you.”

Which made her uncomfortable because she found it hard to really believe him. Men usually complimented her on her brains not on her looks or on the fact that her breasts would win a wet T-shirt contest.

Feeling awkward, she tried to change the subject to something less personal. “So what do you think about the waterfall? I’m sure you’ve seen bigger and more impressive ones, right?”

“Are we just talking about the falls now? This isn’t some code for your breasts, is it? That I’ve seen bigger and more impressive ones?”

“No, it’s not code and forget I asked.” So much for finding a less personal topic of conversation.

“The falls have made quite an impression on me.”

“They have?”

Jake nodded. “The entire area has. You’ve gotta love a place with names like Goblers Knob.”

“And Gobsmacked Knob.”

“You made that up.”

She laughed. “No really, it’s just south of Rock Creek and about a thousand feet up. But then you’ve seen the most famous mountains in the world, right?”

“Right.”

“Which are your favorites?”

“Well, I’ve got a log cabin up in Stanley, Idaho, with a rip-pin’ view of the Sawtooth Mountains. Stanley—now there’s a small town. The year-round population is only about a hundred people.”

“That makes Rock Creek sound like a big place.”

“Last time I visited Stanley, there was no Thai restaurant.”

“The last time I visited Rock Creek, there was no Thai restaurant here either. But I’m glad it’s here now. I think I’m getting addicted to their spring rolls.”

“Another addiction to go along with your Dr Pepper and Cheetos, huh?”

“I don’t eat junk food all the time. I’ll have you know that I eat a healthy breakfast of yogurt, almonds, and fresh fruit most days.”

“So the Cheetos are your walk on the wild side?” he mocked her.

“I’ve also been known to eat M&Ms accompanied by a nice Merlot,” she confessed.

“I’m seeing an entirely new side of you tonight.”

“I’m sure you are.” She tried to tug the T-shirt further down around her thighs. “You were watching me when you shouldn’t have. A gentleman would have looked away.”

“I never claimed to be gentleman so you shouldn’t have been surprised.”

Emma saw the conversation heading onto dangerous ground and knew it was time to change the subject. She was stuck in the storm with him, which made it the perfect time . . .

to have sex with him.

Whoa! That was hardly a change of subject. Had she lost control of her own thoughts? Had her rational self left the building entirely? Had the champagne turned her into mush?

No, she refused to believe that. She could be rational. And her rational self said this was the perfect time for Jake to tell her more about himself. Maybe that would prevent him from seducing her.

“What do extreme sports guys actually do?” she said.

“Besides make out with hot babes in Jeeps?”

“Yes, besides that.”

“I tend the bar at Nick’s Tavern.”

“I mean before you came to Rock Creek.”

“You were there. You heard what Lulu said in the comic-book store. That I’m an extreme sports guy who’s lost my nerve.”

“I find that hard to believe. But if you don’t want to talk about your work, that’s fine.”

“It’s not work. It’s more like . . . I don’t know. What I was born to do. Like a calling. Or an addiction.”

“Sounds like it could be a dangerous addiction.”

“If you don’t know what you’re doing, maybe. But I do know what I’m doing, and I’ve been doing it most of my life. I started out on a snowboard when I was four and my parents were still alive.

Snowboarding is where I first made a name for myself when I was older. Then I did some mountain biking and became a crossover athlete in all kinds of mountain adventures—

everything from climbing to hang gliding to heli-skiing.”

“Is that where you helicopter into a pristine area and then ski?”

“That’s right. What can I say? I’m a sucker for pristine areas.” He trailed his finger around the neckline of her, formerly
his
, T-shirt.

She tugged his hand away before she became too tempted to let him continue his seductive teasing.

“Why is it so hard for you to be serious?” she said in exasperation.

“If you don’t think I’m serious, I must be doing something wrong,” he drawled in that darkly hot way of his.

“You’re not doing anything wrong—” Emma snapped her mouth shut.

“That’s always good to hear.” She couldn’t see his smile in the dark, but she could hear it.

“Right. Like you don’t already know what a hottie you are.” Damn, there was another mistake she was going to blame on the champagne.

“A hottie, huh?”

“Puh-lease. Don’t act surprised. You already know you’re sexy.”

“So you think I’m sexy?”

“
Everyone
thinks you’re sexy.”

“I’m only interested in you.”

“At this second maybe. But how long would that last?”

“Would what last?”

“You being interested in me.”

“Why do you find that so hard to believe?”

“Because you’re you and I’m me.”

“And?”

“And you like traveling at warp speed and I prefer a slower pace.”

“Warp speed? You make me sound like some kind of
Star Wars
geek.”

“Hey, a lot of the guys I know are
Star Wars
geeks.”

“Then it’s definitely time to move outside your comfort zone and try something different.”

“I’m not into different.”

“How about trying something better?” He started nibbling on her neck, working his way to her parted lips. They were only parted because she was about to tell him off.

Instead she kissed him back, which showed a lack of self-discipline on her part that she was sure to find appalling by morning. But for now she allowed herself to enjoy the feel of his mouth covering hers, of his hands covering her breasts . . . hold on a second. How had he gotten his hands under her T-shirt so fast?

She pushed him away. “You are
not
seducing me tonight.”

“Okay. How about tomorrow night?”

“No.”

“How about
you
seduce
me
tonight?”

His suggestion took her breath away.

“Hah.” He pointed at her. “You’re interested in that, I can tell. Go ahead.” He shoved his seat back so it was horizontal. “Seduce me.”

“Forget it.” There was no forgetting that the pile of his clothing was precariously perched on his privates.

“Come on. You know you want to.”

“You are still naked.”

“Which makes it easier for you to seduce me, right?”

“No, it’s harder—”

“Yeah, it is,” he interrupted her. “Can’t get much harder without doing some damage.”

“I wasn’t talking about that.”

“I’m not big on talking either. Actions speak louder than words.” He grabbed her hand and placed it on his bare chest. “Go right ahead, take action and check things out.”

“I am not checking your things out!”

His laughter dislodged her hand before she snatched it back.

“And don’t even think about checking out anything of mine either,” Emma warned him.

“You already know I don’t obey orders well.”

“How about polite requests?”

“I’m not real great about those either. But if you insist . . .”

“I do.”

“I don’t take women against their will,” he said quietly.

“That’s reassuring.”

“Are you going to freak out because of your mugging?”

“What? No.” She wasn’t sure whether to be insulted or consoled by his concern.

“Close your eyes.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m going to crawl into the backseat and get some clothes on.”

“Oh. Okay.” She squeezed her eyes shut but couldn’t resist one teeny peek. “This is silly. I saw you when you stripped to go skinny-dipping.”

“I’ve got a sleeping bag back here. You might as well get some sleep while we’re waiting.”

“Waiting for what? Maybe we should call for help.” She dug into her purse for her cell phone. No signal. “What about yours?”

“What about my what?”

“Your phone? Do you have a signal?”

He reached for the console between the front seats and checked his iPhone. “No. Nada.”

She heard the sound of him tugging on his jeans.
Zzzzippp.
“Okay, then.” She’d never heard a zipper sound so loud. “So what’s the plan? You must have a plan.”

“We wait until daylight and then see if we can somehow get around the tree. The Jeep has four-wheel drive. Until then I’ll stay in the front seat and you can have the back all to yourself.”

“You don’t have to treat me like I’ve got cooties just because I didn’t want to have sex with you.”

“Oh, you
wanted
to. You were just afraid to do what you wanted.”

The fact that he was right was very aggravating. “You’re impossible, do you know that?”

“Yeah, I’ve been told that before.”

“Forgive me if I don’t want to be just another babe in the back of your Jeep,” she said tartly.

“You’re not just another babe.”

“You probably tell them all that.”

“Now who’s being impossible?”

“You. Always you. Fine. I’ll take the back, you take the front.” She abandoned her dress and crawled between her upright seat and his horizontal one, bumping into Jake as he was about to move to the front. Their bodies were sandwiched together so tightly a piece of paper wouldn’t have fit between them.

Jake groaned. “Don’t move.”

Emma stopped wiggling and froze. “Are you hurt?”

“Hell, yes.”

“Is it from your climbing accident?”

“No, it’s from you.”

“Me? What did I do . . . oh.” She felt his arousal through the placket of his pants. “Oh.”

“Yeah, oh.”

“What can I do to help?”

His laugh was a little tortured. “Do you really want me to answer that question?”

“We seem to be stuck going in opposite directions.”

“Tell me something I don’t know.”

“Maybe if I backed up . . .”

Instead of answering, he grabbed hold of her hips and pulled her into the back with him.

They tumbled together, Emma ending up on top of him, their legs sprawled together. At least they were now facing in the same direction, her breasts pressed against his bare chest.

“Sorry.” She propped herself up, but that just arched her back so that her pelvis was pressed against his.

He tugged her back down and kissed her. His mouth consumed hers until she was lost in the intimacies of his tongue dallying with hers. He slid his hand to the back of her head to hold her in place, intensifying the joining of his lips with hers and making her moan with pleasure. He molded her against his body, shifting his free hand from her back down to the hem of her T-shirt.

Jake rolled until she was beneath him.

Suddenly it was all too much for Emma. “Wait!”