This Crazy Love: Swoon Series Page 7

  I nodded and took a sip of coffee. “Definitely not. I know it tore her up when things fell apart with Brian.” Ash got engaged right around the time I met Clint. There were lots of holes in what I knew about what happened for her and most of my friends while I was with Clint. Mostly because I hardly talked to anyone. In spite of that, Ash had been there for me one hundred percent when I called her for help.

  All I knew was her fiancé had been screwing around on her, and she found out when one of his side girlfriends sent her photographs of them via text. Yay for modern modes of communication.

  Dani continued, not seeming to notice or care I didn’t have much to offer. “I guess, the way I look at it, she was at a low point, and he swooped in. I hope she moves on sooner rather than later. Jackson’s been more than overwhelmed since Ash hasn’t been around to help as much. It’s a godsend that you’re here.”

  “I’m glad. I didn’t want to be a burden coming here. When Ash talked to me about this, the timing was perfect.”

  Dani sipped her coffee. Although I had briefly glossed over what happened with Clint, I didn’t want to keep it hidden. “As you probably know from the news, Clint beat me badly one night. I’m okay, but it was a mess to get out of it. Ash and Jackson are good friends, and it was just what I needed when they offered to let me come here. I’m relieved to actually be able to do something here.”

  My words came out in a rush. I had meant to say them matter-of-factly because I’d been practicing that. Instead, my throat clogged with emotion, and I wanted to cry.

  Dani’s warm eyes softened, and she reached over, catching my hand in hers and giving it a squeeze. “We’re all glad you’re here. You don’t have to explain anything about what happened or why you’re here.”

  “I know,” I said, swiping away the single tear that escaped. “I just don’t like pretending like nothing happened. That’s what I did for years. Everything just got crazy. After I started dating Clint, my parents died and that was really hard. By the time things got really ugly with Clint, I had nowhere to go.

  “My brother, who I’m really close to, Jackson’s friend”—I paused, pointing to the photograph on the wall—“didn’t know what was going on because I was so embarrassed. I lost everything, so I really needed a place to land. It’s amazing that y’all are so welcoming. I feel a little weird being at the house. I mean, I know Jackson and he’s Remy’s best friend, but I’m closer to Ash. Do you think maybe I should ask him about moving to one of the cabins?” I asked.

  Dani smiled softly and paused to sip her coffee, her gaze considering. “Well, that was suggested, but Ash made the call that she wanted you to be at the house. I don’t know how Jackson would feel about you moving out. Want me to ask him?”

  “No, no. I can ask him. I just don’t want to impose.”

  “Trust me, you’re not imposing. Doesn’t matter how you ended up here, you’re welcome and we legitimately need your help. Sometimes fate throws things in our path. I think this is exactly where you’re supposed to be.”

  My throat tightened with emotion again. On the heels of a deep breath, I managed a small smile. “I hope so. Back to lighter topics, do you really think I could just reorganize this office? I don’t want to rearrange furniture or anything, but the desk is a train wreck.”

  “Tackle the desk, and do whatever you’d like to organize the vet clinic scheduling and manage the ordering. I handle the scheduling for the lodge. When you’re up to speed, I’ll hand it over. I’ve got enough on my plate as it is. Ash and Jackson usually deal with all the rescue stuff, managing the nonprofit side, and dealing with ordering, accounts, and reports. They also keep the website up-to-date, posting things when we’re looking for homes for rescues, fundraising for the rescue, and so on. For the clinic, that’s mostly scheduling. I do all the ordering for the kitchen, but they handle the rest, and then there’s payroll.”

  I stared at Dani, my mouth slowly dropping open. “You mean to tell me Jackson and Ash handle all that, on top of everything else? That’s like a job and a half.”

  Dani nodded slowly. “Exactly. That’s why we need you. In fact, you better be prepared because you’re not gonna be able to leave.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Jackson

  The trip ended up being a long three days. My plan turned out to be a spectacular failure. Instead of succeeding at loosening Shay’s hold in my thoughts, the opposite occurred.

  One of the things I loved about being in the outdoors was the way I could clear my mind. Most of the time, I appreciated the lack of distraction. In this case, it was a source of great frustration. The couples on this trip wanted to summit a peak—at sunrise, specifically. Rising in the moonlit early morning was no trouble, considering my sleep was restless every single night, with Shay sashaying through my thoughts, teasing me, and keeping me awake.

  With the silvery moon lighting our way, we made our way to the summit just in time for sunrise. The sky was cloudy, which created a gorgeous array of colors, although I knew rain was threatening. I could feel it in the air and see it in the clouds. The group got some amazing photographs, and we headed back down the mountain.

  On the way down, a steady drizzle began to fall, and the ground was slick in a few spots. One of the women slipped on a rock. When I reached out to catch her, I overextended my arm, leaving my shoulder sore and throbbing for the rest of the hike down the mountain.

  I figured a few days of rest was all I needed. Late that afternoon, Wade met us at the arranged upon pickup spot at the trailhead. “Hey, man,” he called, as he stepped out of the van we used to ferry guests from the lodge to various points for our trips.

  “Hey, how were things at the lodge this weekend?” I replied.

  “Quite all right.” His eyes narrowed as he caught me wincing when I lifted one of the heavy backpacks to load in the back of the van. “You okay?”

  “Oh yeah. Just overextended my shoulder a little bit. Nothing to worry about.”

  Wade nodded. “Well, no sense in making it worse. Let me deal with the rest of these bags.”

  “He caught me right when I was about to slip on the trail. It was a dicey spot,” the woman chimed in. “If I’d slipped further, I would’ve fallen over the edge of the trail. It wasn’t life-threatening, but I’m definitely glad he caught me.”

  She smiled brightly at me, and I shrugged. “That’s why I was there.”

  In short order, we were on the way back to the lodge. I was annoyed as hell with myself. All I could think about was how soon I would see Shay. Fuck me.

  It had rained most of the morning, and I was damp and ready for a shower. Cranky as I was, I didn’t intend to grab dinner with the rest of the crew at the lodge.

  Once we got back and the guests headed to their rooms, Wade looked my way. “I’m not asking about your shoulder now, but you okay?” he asked.

  I didn’t want to contemplate how obvious it was that I was out of sorts. “Yeah. Just a little tired and sore.”

  I wasn’t about to offer up that I was beyond frustrated with Shay setting up house in my brain. There were lots of reasons why I shouldn’t allow what happened with her last week to happen again. There were just as many reasons why I shouldn’t even consider a serious relationship.

  It wasn’t just Shay, though, it was the myriad of complications that came with her. She was my best friend’s little sister. Not to mention, she’d been through some heavy shit. We both had baggage. She deserved a man…well, a man not like me. I had my own demons to fight.

  Wade was distracted when someone called over from the staff area. His head whipped around. Because it was Dani. It was no secret to the rest of us he and Dani had a thing for each other. Yet, both of them were stubbornly ignoring it.

  I loved to tease him about it, though. “You go check with your girlfriend. I’m gonna skip dinner here tonight. I need a hot shower and to crash soon as possible.”

  “All right, man. Shay’s down here, by the way. In case you were wonderi
ng,” he said, promptly getting me back for my dig about Dani.

  “Touché,” I replied with a grin, recalling his observations about Shay and me the other day.

  “Need a ride up there?”

  “Nah, I can handle it.” I lifted my backpack with my good arm and waved as I turned toward the farmhouse, walking along the well-worn path through the trees.

  I didn’t even want to think about the fact that when Wade mentioned Shay was down at the lodge for dinner, I was so fucking tempted to stay. Just to see her.

  I told myself it was for the best she was there. I would shower, scrounge something up for dinner, and then be in my room by the time she got back.

  A scalding hot, soothing shower later, I made my way into the kitchen at the farmhouse. I slapped together two sandwiches and ate them in the quiet of the kitchen, laughing when I heard Squeaky at the door. I let her in, greeting her with an apple slice and a few strokes on her back. That was all she needed before heading back outside.

  Glancing up at the clock above the sink, I saw it was going on nine p.m. My plan to basically escape from Shay by hiding in my room wasn’t working out. I told myself it was rude not to say hello. I didn’t know when she’d be back, but I found myself lingering.

  Just as I was giving myself a little lecture, I heard the front door open. The sound of it closing echoed down the hallway in the quiet farmhouse. I heard a soft shuffling and figured she was taking her boots off by the door.

  In a moment, she appeared in the archway into the kitchen. Fuck me. She was so damn beautiful. With her honey gold hair pulled up in a messy ponytail and her cheeks flushed from the cool evening air, she was simply breathtaking.

  “Hey,” she said softly.

  “Hey.”

  She stepped into the kitchen, and my eyes soaked up the sight of her. She wore a cotton skirt. The stretchy fabric clung to her hips and then flared around her ankles. There was nothing remarkable about it. Atop that, she wore a loose blouse with tiny buttons running up the center and a silky tie at the top. The scoop-neck tempted my eyes to linger on the soft curves of her breasts just above.

  She wore a pair of hot pink socks, which made me smile. I didn’t realize I was staring until my eyes made their way back into her face and noticed her cheeks were flushed.

  “How was the trip?” she asked.

  It was a perfectly reasonable and expected question, seeing as I had just returned from a trip. Yet, if I were to answer truthfully, I would’ve said that it sucked. Because I couldn’t stop thinking about her, and I’d been impatient to get back to her the entire time.

  I shouldn’t have been thinking any of those thoughts because she wasn’t someone I could let myself want.

  As if to emphasize a point, my cock swelled. Because she was so damn beautiful and the chemistry between us was so damn powerful, my body couldn’t not respond.

  “Jackson?”

  Shay’s question broke through my train of thought. I realized I hadn’t even answered her first question. “I’m fine. And the trip was fine. How was dinner?”

  “Delicious, but I’ve noticed when it comes to Dani’s cooking, it’s always delicious. Oh wait, I brought you leftovers. I left them on the table by the door.”

  She spun away. Of course, all I could notice was the nice view of her ass. The way the cotton skirt hugged her curves was not convenient for the state of my body.

  Within seconds, she was back, handing over one of the paper takeout boxes from the lodge. As I reached to get it, reflexively using my right arm, I flinched slightly.

  “Are you okay?” she asked.

  Next thing I knew, she was beside me, her hand gliding lightly over my shoulder. “Wade mentioned you hurt your shoulder. He said you were being a man about it.” She still had the takeout box in hand and turned to set it on the table beside us. “Let me take a look.”

  I heard my breath draw in sharply. Having Shay this close was dangerous. Three days of missing her, three days of replaying our last encounter in the barn, three days of reminding myself why I couldn’t have her, and my body was in out-and-out opposition.

  No matter how many times I told myself I shouldn’t, and couldn’t, want her, my body had a different opinion and was definitely winning the argument.

  Ever since I came back from the war, I’d been quite reasonable about relationships. I was crystal clear on the fact that wanting anything more than a basic arrangement where mutual needs were satisfied was a bad plan. So far, I had no trouble keeping those lines clear in my head. With Shay, everything blurred.

  If she noticed how I was reacting to her touch, she didn’t let on. Her hand curved over my shoulder, pausing right where it was sore and tight in the front. “Give me just a few minutes to get that tension out,” she murmured softly. “Sit down.”

  I found myself obeying. Sitting down in one of the chairs by the table, I closed my eyes, telling myself that this was impersonal and it would help my shoulder. I was shirtless, wearing nothing but jeans. Because, of course, I had my grand plan, the one where I got to my bedroom before she got home. So much for that.

  She probed gently at first. When I let out a soft sigh, she asked, “It’s sore right here, isn’t it?”

  “That’s the spot. I just overextended it. It’s tight,” I murmured in reply.

  “Just tell me if I go too deep, okay?”

  Shay couldn’t know the double meaning her words carried. While I sensed her answering desire for me was powerful, I didn’t think she was wrestling against the same force I was.

  I murmured my assent and closed my eyes again. She stood behind me, starting out massaging both shoulders and around the base of my neck. Although her touch was electric, it felt heavenly. A few days of carrying a full backpack would cause tension under any circumstances. Throw in me overextending my shoulder this morning and the tension was bundled in knots. After a few moments, she shifted to stand at my side, sliding her hand carefully over my shoulder. She started on my good shoulder, telling me she was getting a sense of how it should feel.

  Dear God, it felt too good. My cock was rock hard. I shifted carefully, relieved I was seated so perhaps my arousal wouldn’t be visible.

  She shifted to my other side, standing almost in front of me. “Oh wow, it’s really tight here. What did you do?” she asked as her fingers probed gently into the tight, sore spot at the juncture where my arm joined my shoulder.

  I had to focus to answer, trying to ignore the scent of her winding itself around me. “Well, it started to rain on the hike down. One of the women slipped on a rock. I reached out to grab her because we were right near the edge of the trail. Nothing major, but I overextended it.”

  “Oh, I’ll say. You’ll need to take it easy for a few days,” Shay murmured.

  I figured this was some sort of torture. I had no clue what I did to deserve it. It felt so damn good to have her massaging away the tension. I knew it would still be sore, but I also had enough sense to know this would keep it from getting much worse. As good as it felt, my body was on fire, taut with need for her.

  The rain had stopped this evening. Yet, Shay still carried its scent on her, the earthy, rich scent of rain in the spring—new grass, sunshine, and her, mingled with the subtle scent of leather.

  Dammit all to hell. The scent of leather was usually soothing for me. Because it meant I was either about to go riding, or work with one of the horses, which was something I loved, something which brought me peace, no matter what else was going on in my life. Now, that scent was all tangled up in Shay, in the feel of her slick, wet pussy clenching around my fingers as she flew apart in the tack room.

  She made a soft sound, and my eyes flew open. She wasn’t doing anything to be purposefully seductive, but then Shay—all by herself, with no effort, no artifice—was a seduction.

  Her hand stopped its motion, resting on my shoulder. “Is that too much?” she asked.

  I shook my head wordlessly. My eyes snagged on her mouth — her gorgeous, f
ucking sexy as hell mouth. As we stared at each other, it felt as if the air itself was filled with sparks, each one feeding into another.

  My eyes, my greedy eyes, dipped down. I noticed the wild beat of her pulse along the soft skin of her neck, and followed the curve of her blouse to that little tie at the top, nothing more than two strips of silk and buttons underneath that I wanted to tear open.

  It didn’t skip my attention that her nipples were hard, pressing against the thin cotton. A wave of satisfaction rolled through me. If I was going to be this helpless in the face of my need for her, I could at least take comfort that perhaps—maybe, just maybe—she was fighting the same battle.

  My eyes made their way back up to her face to find her cheeks flushed and her mossy green eyes darkening. “It’s not too much,” I belatedly said. “Feels much better now.”

  I was sternly trying to tell myself I should stand up and walk out of the room. Right now.

  That voice was distant and weak. Hell, it might as well have been miles away. Shay started to step back, perhaps in an effort to save me from myself.

  My arm moved of its own accord, slipping around her waist and pulling her between my knees. Sweet fucking hell. I had Shay right where I wanted her. With me seated and her standing, her eyes were level with mine, her lips mere inches away.

  “What are you doing, Jackson?” she whispered.

  “This,” I replied. Keeping one hand where it landed, on the sweet curve of her ass, I lifted the other and caught the end of the silky tie on her blouse, tugging it loose. I watched as it fell open, just enough to tempt me beyond all reason.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Shay

  “This.”