Hyde and Seek (15 page)

Wrapping his arm around my stomach, he pulled me closer to him and pressed a kiss behind my ear. “Night, sweets.”

“Mmm, hot guy cocoon,” I murmured as I fell asleep.

Chapter Five

^{Creeper on a Creeper}

I woke up the next morning with clarity.

Unfortunately, that clarity was that I
really
freakin’ needed coffee.

Other than that, I was still confused.

It was a safe bet that Jake wasn’t just worried about there being drama. No one waited on someone’s porch in the middle of the night on the off chance of awkwardness.

That didn’t necessarily mean I wanted to pick back up where we’d left off. There was a big difference between things evolving naturally and making the conscious decision to explore whatever it was that we had.

It was a risk, and one I wasn’t sure I was willing to take.

I knew I wanted to at least talk, otherwise the ‘what ifs’ would drive me crazy.

After I did my bathroom stuff, I put on white shorts and a pink flowing tank top. I grabbed my pink wedge sandals before heading to find my phone.

I was startled when I turned the corner into the living room and saw Jake.

Sleeping shirtless, his arms were under his head, making the definition of his chest and abs more pronounced. His height and muscular build dwarfed what I’d considered to be my massive couch, his feet even hanging off the end. The button on his jeans was undone, and a trail of light hair disappeared into what I could only assume was heaven.

I should go get the cereal and milk, and eat breakfast out of the vee of his pelvic muscles.

The sun’s rays came in through the big window behind the couch, streaming directly to him as if Mother Nature herself wanted a touch. If a heavenly chorus suddenly rang out, I don’t think I’d be surprised.

His tanned skin glowed in the light, making him look like a god.

A tattooed sex god, but still.

I tiptoed quietly into the kitchen to start coffee, wondering about the presence of the half-naked sex god in my living room. I’d woken at some point in the very early morning alone in bed. I’d assumed Jake had taken off.

I hadn’t guessed that my couch was as far as he’d gone.

Zoned out in my thoughts, I jumped when Jake wrapped his arms around me from behind. “Jake, sheesh!”

“First, Jacoby. Second, I wasn’t even being quiet.”

“Uh huh. Want some coffee?” I stretched up to grab a mug.

“Yeah, but not that cup. The other, bigger one further back.”

I stood on my toes to reach into the cupboard. “This one?” I turned my head when there was no answer and saw his eyes on my ass. “Ha ha. Very funny.”

Jake raised his gaze to mine but his smile was gone as he pulled me closer. “I thought so, too. Now I’m not laughin’. How’re you?”

“Good.”

“Hangover?”

“Nope, never.”

“Must be nice. Do you have work to do right away?”

I shook my head. “I rearranged things when I knew I was going out with the girls last night. I just have to start stuff this afternoon to stay on schedule.”

“Do you want breakfast? I could run out for something or we could go out.”

“Breakfast here would be fine.”

“Anythin’ you don’t like?” he asked as we walked through the living room.

“No, not really.”

Jake opened the door and turned back to me. Bringing his hand up to cup my face, his thumb stroked my cheek. His eyes followed the movement, a thoughtful expression on his face.

“Jake,” I began before his mouth opened. “Jacoby, what’s wrong?”

“Nothin’.”

Before I could call him on his lie, he kissed my nose and then my mouth. He turned and headed down to his bike without giving me the chance to react.

I stood in the open doorway after he’d gone, thinking about everything and nothing at once. The kiss had been a surprise, but not an unpleasant one.

“It was barely a peck,” I whispered to myself. “Totally didn’t even affect me.”

It wasn’t until I turned to go back inside that I realized I was holding my fingertips to my smiling lips.

I sighed as I closed the door, unsure of what to think. I didn’t get how someone could go from not talking to me to… whatever this was. A kiss goodbye before he left to get us breakfast didn’t seem like a peace offering.

Seems like an offering of something
much
better.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts, an exercise in futility. I fixed my coffee and sat down to try and compose my thoughts without overthinking.

It wasn’t going well.

Jake seemed to be trying hard. Until I knew what he was working for, though, I couldn’t decide if the effort was going to pay off.

When I heard the rumble of Jake’s Harley, I went to let him in. Before I got there, he came in without knocking, lightly kicking the door closed behind him.

“Hey,” he said, quickly kissing me before heading into the kitchen.

I stood frozen, watching him move through my house.

The whole scene felt intimate in a casual and natural way, as if it was a daily occurrence. Like he had free rein of my house, coming and going as he pleased.

It was disconcerting, but only because it wasn’t.

I liked it.

I’d been on my own for a long time. Even before I had my house, I’d spent most of my time by myself. Truth be told, even when I wasn’t alone growing up, I often felt like I was.

I liked my own company. I laughed at my own jokes, I was a good listener, and I never had to compromise about what to have for dinner or what to watch on TV. I could have ice cream at eleven in the morning or coffee at nine at night without judgment.

I had awesome friends who were always there for me. Work and school kept me busy in a rewarding way.

I was honestly happy.

That, however, didn’t negate the fact that I was also lonely.

Not the heartbreaking loneliness of a little girl that just wanted time with her mom and dad.

Or the confused loneliness of someone trying to figure out who they were when everything about them went against their surroundings.

Or even the exhausting loneliness that came from pretending to be someone they weren’t, in order to fit in with a room full of people they didn’t even like.

I was the kind of lonely where I was just… alone.

I wasn’t going to be with someone just for the company. But as I watched Jake, I knew I wanted someone to walk casually through my house more often.

Even if it wasn’t him.

In order to have that, I needed to drop the walls I’d built around myself. It wouldn’t be easy to juggle school, work, and any semblance of a personal life, but it was possible.

As long as I quit making excuses, at least.

“I wasn’t sure what you wanted.” Jake lifted the overstuffed bag and pulled me from my thoughts.

“Well, I’m sure it’s in that bag.”

Or holding it.

God, how could he look so good all the time? If I slept on the couch, my hair would be one giant snarl and I’d have fabric indents all over my face.

Jake set the bag on the counter and began pulling out pastries, spreads, and juice.

I fixed a bagel with cream cheese and grabbed a juice before going to sit on the couch. I almost sighed in relief when Jake sat down and launched right in.

“I gotta tell you where my head was at. Yeah?”

“Okay.”

“When you came into Hyde that first day, you looked so fuckin’ good. When you finally looked me in the eyes, you were all innocent and wide-eyed like you didn’t know how fuckin’ sexy you were when your tongue licked across your lips. Then you started talkin’ and you were sweet. But when you started talkin’ about tattoos and music, I was sure you were an act.”

I frowned, experiencing a weird mix of turned on and pissed. “I’ve always been me.”

“I didn’t know that. I thought you were just out to get with one of us. You had the men eatin’ out of your hand. No way could any chick, let alone one that looked like you, be so perfect. Not without fakin’ it to try to get somethin’.”

Pissed off began to take the lead. “That’s not what I was doing.”

“Exactly. You just kept bein’ you. You weren’t tryin’ to get with me ‘cause of who I was. Hell, you didn’t even know me or that I owned Hyde. You’re so far from connivin’ and schemin’, it’d be funny if it weren’t so fuckin’ appealin’. You make a man face the internal battle of whether he’d rather protect you so you never lose that sweetness or corrupt you so he could enjoy your wild side unleashed.”

I looked down at my shorts, picking at an imaginary thread. “Which do you want?”

Jake curved his hand around the side of my neck. Using his thumb on my jaw, he tilted my head up so I was looking at him. “I wanna bring you down low to my level. I get off picturin’ makin’ you so dirty, so wild, so fuckin’ bad that it has to be good,” he rumbled.

Holy.

Fuck.

I want that.

Badly.

“I see your lips part, and I know you like what I’m sayin’.” Lowering his hand, he sat back. “Which just makes me want to go further. To show you every fucked up thought I have, the ones that make my dick go hard picturin’ doin’ it all with you. To keep pushin’ and pushin’ and pushin’ until you want nothin’ to do with me.”

“Why?” I breathed. It was safe to say I was a bit freaked out. I was also more than a little turned on.

As in
a lot
more.

“Fuck, Piper, I’m thirty-four and you’re twenty. Every time I think about you, I feel like a dirty old man. I’ve never made excuses for the life I’ve lived—”

“I’ve never asked you to. There isn’t anything wrong with it.”

“Fuck yeah there is. I’m dirty, baby. If you knew what was in my head you wouldn’t look at me the way you do. You wouldn’t believe how much longer I’m spendin’ on the creeper under a car, feelin’ like a fuckin’ creeper, ‘cause I have a hard dick from thinkin’ about you. Or how many cold showers I’m takin’. Or when the cold showers aren’t workin’…” His voice trailed off with a shoulder lift.

It’s a good thing I’m not a dude or I’d need a car to hide under right now.

“Let’s just say you wouldn’t want me on your couch, in your house, hell, in your life. That’s why I thought you should be with a guy your own age who’s good. But when I think about you respondin’ to someone else the way you did with me, of them tastin’ that sweetness and gettin’ your wild it feels like I’m losin’ my goddamned mind. When Kase came into my office yesterday and I bit his fuckin’ head off about some stupid shit, he started yellin’ back.”

“What’d he say?”

“He knew what was in my head. He told me someone else would get you soon and I’d regret it. After I fucked up, Gage and Jet would’ve been all over you but they’re on tour. Rhys goes for what he wants and he isn’t gonna back down. I knew I had to do some—”

“Is that the only reason you’re here?”

“What?”

“You’re just trying to stake your claim before someone beats you to it?”

“Fuck no. I just had to pull my head outta my ass.”

“And you were successful in your head-ass-ectomy?”

“About this at least. That’s why I came out last night. I missed you, and wanted to see you. When I saw you dancin’ with Rhys, I tried to remind myself you could do what you wanted. I know if you would’ve pulled up here with him or anyone else, though, it wouldn’t have mattered what I was tellin’ myself. I’d have thrown the fuck down. Someone touchin’ you? No. Rhys? I love him like a fuckin’ brother but
fuck
no.”

I was surprised by how vehemently opposed to the idea he was. “Just, you know, out of curiosity, why not Rhys?”

“I’m dirty but compared to him I’m clean as you, Piper. All I could think about was what it would be like seein’ you together. I’d either lose a brother, or I’d have to see you and know how shit was between you.”

“So,” I started slowly, my voice deceptively calm. “In the planning of my life, have you thought about what I want? Or who I’d want and how I’d like it? Just because I’m inexperienced doesn’t mean I don’t know things.” I gestured to my laptop. “One look at my internet history would clear that up.” I knew I was blushing but I didn’t care.

I’m a woman, damn it! I need to get rid of my innocence, in more ways than one.

“I grew up sheltered and didn’t go through the typical rebellion when I was young and stupid. Now I’m old enough to know better than to jump into bed with someone just to say I’ve done it. I know what I want. I wanted you and that was my choice to make not yours, Mister… Bossy Pants!”

Okay, so my smack talk needs work. Moving on.