Bed, Breakfast, and You (Brookfield) (5 page)

“I hate that they were both taken from me. It’s not fair. And all I want to do is let their dream of this place live on. And someone is getting in the way. I don’t understand.”

“You have a great piece of property here and could make someone very rich if they could get their hands on it. I’m sure your
parents have had offers throughout the years from big companies wanting to buy it from them.”

He felt her head nod.

“And that’s the only thing I can think of. Whoever it is sees the money they could get if they pull this off.”

She sat up and stared at him. “Well whoever it is has never met me or else they’d know I will fight for what I want with everything I’ve got.”

He stared into her eyes. When she licked her lips, he couldn’t hold back any longer. He reached out, yanked her to him, and kissed her.

He expected her to push him away and slap him. But she melted into him, giving herself. She opened to him, letting their tongues meet in the middle. He held her tightly around the waist and her hands returned the favor by clinging to his neck.

He tilted her head back so he could deepen the kiss. His other half below the belt returned to standing position, only this time he didn’t care. He wanted Claire to know exactly what she did to him.

Jace broke the kiss momentarily to trail
his lips down her neck to her collarbone, giving himself a peek at what she had inside her shirt.
Damn
, she had a full set and his tongue begged to taste. To dip down and lick between her breasts. Claire must have sensed how he felt. She pulled his face back to hers. And then she spoke and nearly gave him a heart attack.

“I think we should go back to my place and sleep together.”

Chapter Five

“You w
-want…you want t-to…” Jace stuttered.

“Yes. I want to,” Claire said. She’d wanted to since she
walked in and saw he had a hard-on. And when she spotted it again, she found herself wet. He wore a pair of jeans better than she imagined. And the black t-shirt—heaven. “We’re attracted to each other. Let’s just do it and then move on.”

“
This is a one-time thing?”

“I guess we could do it more. But I think we need to at least once. We’re both
single and at the moment horny. Why not?”

Jace stared at her and her nipples puckered. She reached down for the hem of her shirt, ready to take it off when he stopped her.

“God, I can’t believe I’m going to say this. But if this is a one-time thing, I don’t think we should.”

She placed her hands in her lap.

Jace continued speaking, “I want to. Please know that. And right about now, if my dick had a gun, it’d shoot me. But let’s be honest. No one can sleep together only one time. Someone is going to want more. And I should be honest. That person will probably be me.”

“You like me? I’ve been so mean to you.”

“You’ve turned me on every single day. Your sassiness does it for me.”

She laughed. “Is there something wrong with you?”

He shook his head. “Not that I know of. I enjoy being around you. When you’re in the room, no one else exists.”

“Typically
, it’s only you and I in a room.”

“And typically
, in my mind, I’m imaging pinning you to a wall.”

“Then do it.”

He groaned and she loved getting that type of reaction out of him. Knowing he was having as hard a time as her controlling himself, made her even more moist.

“We can’t.”

She leaned forward, placing her lips right by his earlobe. “If we can’t have sex, can we at least play?” She placed her hand on his shaft.

He sucked in air and before she had time to think, he shoved her down onto her back and stole her lips. She knew she wasn’t being fair to him—again. He’d given her valid reasons why they shou
ldn’t, but she didn’t care. She wanted it. Wanted him. And as his hips ground into her, she knew there was no turning back. Whether they went all the way right here on this couch or not, they were about to learn a bit more about one another.

* * *

Jace sat on the brown leather couch. Claire had disappeared back to the kitchen area. He couldn’t believe they’d fooled around and if he had wanted, he could’ve sunk into her warm opening and probably found a slice of heaven. Yet he’d turned her down all because he wanted more
than sex. He didn’t want to sleep with her only once. He wanted the whole damn shebang.

“God, you’re sexy sitting there in only a pair of jeans. I don’t think I’m satisfied fully,” Claire said as she came back in the room. “I hope cheese puffs are okay. It’s all I could find in there that ha
sn’t been opened.”

“I don’t need an
ything fresh.”

She giggled. “This is food left from my parents. Figured it was best to get something still sealed. My ‘fresh’ food is back in my cabin.”

“Why don’t you stay in here? It’s gorgeous.”

“I plan to. I’m hoping once I make a few changes and get opened up
, I can. To be honest, the time I’ve spent with you is the longest I’ve been in here since they passed. It’s hard to bear, not seeing them in here. I know I have to. I can’t exactly run the inn from my tiny cabin.”

Jace still had both his parents. He couldn’t imagine losing either of them, let alone at the same time.
“I’m glad to have assisted you helping you stay in here. I’d be happy to help again.”

She popped a cheese puff in her mouth. “I bet you would. But if
we take this back to my place, I could make us something to eat after.”

“You k
now food is the way to a man’s—” He stopped himself.

“Well, my food isn’t gourmet and homemade. More like a boxed meal.”

“About that. Tonya didn’t actually make me lasagna.”

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“She claimed the sub was from her.”

Claire’s eyes widened. “
The one I brought you.”

“Yeah, she—”

“Why would she do that?” Claire interrupted.

“I don’t—”

“Ah, I know. Silly me. She told me how much she wanted you and I bet it’s all in a ploy to seduce you.” Claire laughed. “Guess I beat her to it.”

“Wait. What? Is this some sort of bet or something?” Anger flooded him.

“No. Don’t start getting an ego. I told her she could have you.”

Jace wasn’t feeling much like going back to Claire’s cabin at the moment.
And he was glad they hadn’t slept together. The feelings he had for her weren’t returned. “I should go.”

As he stood, she reached out and wrapped a hand around his wrist. “I didn
’t mean to upset you. It’s just when she approached me about it, I didn’t think you were interested in me.”

“Of course I was. I had the hots for you in high school. But you never noticed me and why would you
? You were too busy making sure everyone noticed
you.
” He regretted the last part the moment it left his lips.

Claire released his arm.
“It’s probably best you go. It seems like we keep going in circles with one another.”

He grabbed his shirt off the couch and put it on. He had to agree with her. One moment they were hot and heavy, the next…well
, he wasn’t quite sure what had happened.

“I’ll see you in the morning?”
he asked.

“You bet.”

He looked at her once more, at her blond hair a mess from fooling around. She was the sexiest woman he’d ever laid eyes on. And yet, she seemed to be just out of reach.

* * *

“So you think you have a lead, but you can’t share it?” Claire pushed her way through the glass door, tray of
coffee in one hand, cell phone in the other. “I wish you could give me something.”

“I know. And as soon as I have anything solid, I’ll tell you,” Seth said on the other line.

“Hopefully this will all be settled soon and it can be put behind me. I’m itching to get Honeycreek open. Winter is coming and I want to see this place filled up the way it used to be.”

“
Same here. Say, did you give Mark Thomas a call like I suggested?”

“No, not yet. I’ve been a little preoccupied. Where does he work again?”

“Country Furniture,” Seth said.

“I might need to stop by there. I want to put in a few new beds.”

“He’s your man.”

She glanced over her shoulder and saw Jace in his office.
That was her man—maybe. “I need to go. Work calls.”

Seth chuckled. “I still can’t believe you’re working with Jace.
Even more, I’m surprised the people at the tax office haven’t started to make a stink.”

“It isn’t illegal. Besides, Jace has kept the fi
les that have to do with Honeycreek away from my greedy hands. I couldn’t look at them if I wanted.”

“Smart man.”

“Yeah, I guess. Keep me up-to-date.”

“Will do. See ya.” Seth disconnected the phone call.

Claire set the phone and her purse on the desk. She debated bringing Jace his coffee, but decided to wait. Typically she always felt confident around a man, but there was something about Jace that threw her off her game.

She had to admit she was an attractive girl. She grew up doing pageants and in return had gotten full of herself. She’d yet to have a real solid relationship because she always knew she could get someone else whenever things went sour. But when she lost her parents,
her thinking changed. She realized how shallow a person she was. And that wasn’t who she wanted to be. Life wasn’t about being the beauty queen. That didn’t get anyone far—unless you were Miss. America.

And Jace brought on a whole new set of feelings she’d never experienced before. The way he looked at her made her feel
something she couldn’t describe. She couldn’t pinpoint how he made her feel, but being in the same room or even within a distance of him put her stomach in knots. Was this love? Was it possible for it to happen so fast?

She took a seat at her desk and decided to get started on the tasks she needed to do t
hat day. She’d made a few notes the day before on things Tonya could do, but since they’d closed down early, she’d go ahead and do the work.

“Hey,” Jace said.

“Coffee.” She pointed.

“Thanks. I’ve got to be at the courthouse today. Can you handle everything until Tonya comes in?”

“You’re leaving?”

“I am a lawyer and I’m due in court.” He set a key on her desk. “If you need to leave for whatever reason, this goes to the front door
only.”

“All right. I’ll see you later, I guess.”

He nodded and grabbed his coffee. At the front door he turned back toward her. “Want to get dinner tonight? I feel like I owe you.”

“You don’t owe me.”

“I’d still like to take you out,” he insisted.

“Sure.”

He grinned. “I’ll pick you up.” And he was out the door.

Claire took a
long drink of coffee as she watched him walk out the door. She sighed knowing the morning was going to be long and boring. She’d have her work done in no time and then perhaps a few interesting phone calls would come in to pass the time.

By the time one
o’clock rolled around, Claire was ready to get the heck out of that place. If she knew Tonya had a key, she would’ve taken off an hour before.

Finally, the perky girl came in, carrying a
n oversized lunch box. Today she wore a tight dress that hugged her body like a glove. Her light hair was curled tightly and she had a slight Marilyn Monroe look to her.

“Good
afternoon.” Tonya eyed Jace’s door.

“He’s out for the day. He’s in court
, I guess.”

Tonya stuck her bottom lip out. “Shucks. I brought him lunch. Today I made homemade chili.”

“You mean you actually made something? You didn’t just claim to.” Tonya glared at her and Claire did her best to keep a straight face. “You know, if you’re interested in Jace, honesty is key.”

“I didn’t think he’d find out,
” Tonya said very matter of factly.

“He might not have if he hadn’t spen
t the afternoon with me yesterday.” Claire knew adding that last part was the kicker, but she needed to put this girl in her place. She wasn’t happy that she’d pretended she’d brought the sub and lied about the lasagna.

“What do you mean Jace was with you? He closed early.”

“He did. And he came out to Honeycreek and we spent the afternoon together. He’s also taking me to dinner tonight.”

Tonya looked as though she might actually turn red.
“
You
told me you
weren’t
interested.”