Newton Neighbors (New England Trilogy) (18 page)

“I think I will.” He looked at her with sad, tired eyes. “Goodnight,
cariño
,” he said and walked out of the room.
 

She watched him go. Why was he being so difficult? He’d said he understood. Why would he be so hurtful about her home? And he’d left the room without even kissing her. He always kissed her good-night. Maria wanted to run after him to say she was sorry, but sorry for what? She hadn’t done anything wrong. All she was guilty of was being tired and emotional after a day watching
his
children. He had what sounded like a terrific day at the office, followed by a session in the gym.
 

Rick had a charmed life, while hers was crap. No, she wouldn’t apologize. If anyone was going to do the apologizing, it should be him—but he would have to darn well mean it. There was no excuse for the way he was treating her.

Chapter Twelve

The Second Date

“There is no excuse for the way he is treating you, Jessie,” Ely said for the umpteenth time. “I don’t care what he says to explain his radio silence. If he calls you at this point, you have to tell him to shove it.”

Jessie wasn’t convinced. “Maybe I gave him the wrong impression. Perhaps he thought I wasn’t interested. I can’t remember what we agreed at the end of our last date.”

“That’s ’cause it was so damn long ago,” Ely said, but Jessie ignored her. “Two weeks? I’ve had full relationships that lasted less time.”

“What if I was meant to phone him?”

“That right there is horse manure and you know it,” she said. “You don’t even have his number, do you?”

Jessie didn’t respond.

“J?” Her roomie had taken to shortening Jessie’s name even more. Nobody had ever called her J before, but she liked it.

“J, are you listening to me? Do you have his number? I thought you told me you didn’t save it for this very reason.”

“I didn’t save it, but I might have it. I’m not sure.”

“Now what in the hell does that mean? Either you have it or you don’t.”

Jessie harrumphed and began to gather up her books. She couldn’t study in their room. Ely was too talkative. It would be Thanksgiving soon, and she still had a mountain of work to do.
 

“He phoned me, didn’t he? That means his number is in my mobile. I figure, if I really want to, I could just search back through the incoming calls. Lord knows I don’t get many callers on my US phone outside of a few school friends, except Maria when she wants me to babysit.”

Ely looked stern. “Jessica Armstrong, don’t you dare call him. You know that’s the worst thing you could do. No guy wants a woman to call him. He has to do the chasing, and if he’s not chasing you, there is no chase—game over. It’s that simple. I don’t need a degree in psychology to teach me that.”

Jessie wasn’t so sure. She’d never done the chasing before. It sounded so vain, but the truth was she had never been ditched by a guy. In fact, she wondered if that was one of the reasons she found Dan so attractive. He didn’t seem to be
into
her.
 

She got her folders together and shoved them into her bag. “I’m going to the library to do some work, and I suggest you consider doing likewise.”

Ely pushed the chair back and kicked her heels up onto her study desk. “Come on, it’s practically the holidays. Heck, why start now? You know they’ll throw me out sooner or later.”

Jessie stopped at the door of their room. She held the door open with her shoe. “After all that work I did for you last week. Darn it, Ely, if we don’t get an A for that, I’ll eat my thesis. I even wrote it in Ely-type talk. It was some of my best work. Now if you just focus on reading for the afternoon, maybe—just maybe—we can scrape you a pass on this term’s work. Wouldn’t that make a nice Thanksgiving present for your parents?”

“We don’t do gifts at Thanksgiving, but I am grateful for all the help you’ve given me. You’re a star, J.”

Now it was Jessie’s turn to look stern. “Maybe, but what about the warnings you got from Professor Donovan? You told me she didn’t like your attitude. And Professor Spitz—didn’t she suggest you attend a few more classes?”

Ely waved her hand in the air like she was swatting a fly. “Why should I have to go to the classes if I’m getting the homework done?”

Jessie shook her head in exasperation. “I won’t be able to help you in your finals. You’ve got to put some work in.”

“Do not call that boy.” Ely shook her finger at Jessie. “We’re going home in a few days, and you can experience a proper Southern Thanksgiving celebration. I’m gonna put you on a horse, and believe me, that’ll get Dan the Fireman out of your head.”
 

Jessie rolled her eyes, pulled her foot away from the door, and walked into the corridor. She was very grateful Ely had invited her home for the Thanksgiving holiday and was indebted to Ely’s father who had bought their plane tickets. But she was also very frustrated with her roommate’s attitude toward schoolwork. The only thing she focused on was her harebrained shampoo idea.
 

Jessie, on the other hand, needed to focus on work. Her bag was heavy and her mood even heavier. Was it really so dreadful if she phoned Dan? What was the worst that could happen? He would tell her he wasn’t interested. At least then she would know and move on with her life. Besides, she didn’t want a serious relationship.
 

Dan was only meant to be a bit of short-term fun anyway. Unfortunately, the fun hadn’t materialized, and now she couldn’t get the guy out of her mind. Jessie knew it was nuts. The date had been pleasant but not particularly fantastic. Sure, the picnic had been nice, but he hadn’t set her on fire with scintillating conversation. Nor had there been major chemistry between them. She knew she was just in a bad mood because it was a Saturday and she didn’t have plans for the weekend, again.
 

Ely and Josh would let her tag along, but she didn’t like to intrude on the lovebirds no matter what her friends said. Even babysitting would be something, but Maria didn’t seem to want her on the weekends, just weekday mornings.
 

“Oh well.” She sighed out loud. “I can always study.” But the idea of studying Dan had more appeal.

It was all so frustrating. If he had been like a normal guy and phoned her and asked for a shallow, casual relationship, she would have been happy with that. It would have been the perfect way to spend her spare time during the year, and then she could have gone back to England having really sampled
American
fare. But no, she had to fall for the one guy in New England—or perhaps the world—who didn’t have an interest in casual sex.
 

When she walked out of her dorm, she heard him before she saw him. The guttural throb of the motorcycle’s engine was hard to forget. A wave of excited panic washed through her system. Jessie kept her head down, focusing on the ground with her bag of books thrown over her shoulder. She was headed in the direction of the library, but it seemed Dan had spotted her before she could get away unnoticed.
 

He drove the motorbike up beside her and cruised along the road next to where she was walking. She knew he was waiting for her to turn around and notice him, but Jessie had other ideas. She wasn’t going to make it that easy for him. She pretended not to notice the
ten million CCs
of power purring right next to her. He gunned the engine even louder. Her hair almost whooshed back from the noise level, but she still didn’t look up.
 

In the end he sped ahead about fifty yards to a pedestrian walkway where he parked his bike on the sidewalk, blocking her way. Then he cut the engine, dismounted, and propped the machine up on its stand.
 

Dan took his helmet off and shook his hair to get the long fringe out of his eyes. Then he beamed at her. “Jessie, hi,” he said as soon as she got close. She had to acknowledge him then. He still had that gorgeous, roguish grin—damn.

“Oh, hullo.” She couldn’t decide whether to play it frosty or ignore the two-week silence. Before she made her mind up, he did it for her. Dan walked over, wrapped his arms around her waist, and pulled her close.

“God, I missed you,” he whispered and kissed her with a ferocity and hunger that shocked her. If she’d wanted to resist him—which she didn’t—it would’ve been futile. His passion was contagious. She dropped her bag, wrapping her arms round his neck, and responded with just as much enthusiasm. Some things were beyond psychology.

They kissed like they had done it a million times before. Already she felt at home in his embrace, familiar with his touch. He wrapped his arms around her, pushing his hands inside the waistband of her jeans. Two could play that game, she decided. She pulled his shirt out of his jeans and ran her hands up the smooth skin of his exquisitely toned back. How in heaven could she have thought there was no chemistry between them? They were on fire from the moment they touched. Dan pulled her hair back and looked into her face.

“I really want to be with you. Where can we go?” he asked, his voice husky.
 

A nanosecond of sense flittered through Jessie’s head. “Dan, this is all a bit sudden.” She tried to pull back, but he tightened his arms around her waist and smiled with that bold boy grin again.

“Oh no you don’t. I haven’t seen you for two weeks, and you’ve been all I was able to think about. I’m not letting you get away from me now.”
 

He kissed her again, and she felt her libido soar. Jessie pulled back and almost heard a vacuum pop between their mouths when she did.
 

“I don’t understand. We’ve had one date—which, if I remember right, you were a perfect gent at—and since then I haven’t heard a word from you. Now you’re all”—she looked him up and down—“this.”

“Yes, and
this
”—he thrust his pelvis into hers—“really wants to get to know
that
a whole lot better.” If he had been vague and a little distant at Morses Pond over how he felt about her, there was no doubt now. This type of situation—amorous men—Jessie understood. She was back in her comfort zone. She pushed a little and broke out of his embrace.
 

“Well, it’s nice to see you, too, Dan, but I have to ask where the heck have you been for the last couple of weeks?”

“Where have I been? I could ask you the same thing. Why didn’t you reply to any of my texts or calls?”

“Pardon?”

He smirked at her. “You’re cute when you say
pardon
instead of
what
—very British.” Then he looked more serious. “Jessie, I texted you so many times. In the end I gave up. But I couldn’t stop thinking about you, so my buddy said I should just come out here to see you and ask you what went wrong.”

“Dan, I never got any texts or phone messages from you.” She took another step back.

Dan looked confused for a moment, and then realization washed over his face. “I must have had the wrong number.”

“But you called me before, no problem,” she said.

Dan scowled and raised his hands in the air. “Yeah, but I do this all the time. I’m not very techno. I’m always calling the wrong people by mistake.”

She picked her bag up again. “Well, what number did you call me on?”

He made no effort to pull out his cell phone but reached for her instead. He put his hands on her hips and drew her closer. “The wrong one, I guess, and now we have to make up for a lot of lost time. Jessie, I’m sorry,” he said and pulled her even closer still. “I’ve been a fool. Let me make it up to you. Please? God, you’re so gorgeous.”
 

That was all she needed to hear. She dropped her bag again and melted back into his arms and let him kiss her some more. All the doubts she had about his affection were washed away in the tsunami of wanton lust that coursed through her.

“I need to be somewhere a little more private with you,” he whispered into her hair.
 

She knew he was right. Their overt affection was morphing into lewd behavior. If the Wiswall campus police drove by, they’d be arrested—or at the very least have a bucket of cold water thrown over them.

“I could take you to my room,” she heard herself saying. “You know—to talk.”

“For sure.” He kept kissing her. “Yeah, we need to
talk
,” he said and nibbled her earlobe.

“My books,” she said.

“My bike.”

It took all her willpower to pull herself away from him again and gather up her stuff. He got his bike, and they walked back to her building. Jessie hadn’t thought this through. She was going to have to come clean about her girl-only accommodation and the fact she had a roommate.

“You know we’re not meant to have male guests up in our rooms without signing them in,” she said when they got to her front door.

He winked at her and pulled out his wallet, flashing his firefighter ID. “If I get stopped, I’ll say I was here on official business as a follow-up to the incident on Crystal Lake.”

She laughed. “Have you done this before?”
 

They went into the building together and quickly made their way up to her room without getting caught. Ely was at her desk working on something, and she swung around when she heard the door open.
 

“Oh, Ely . . . eh . . . this is Dan.” In her romantic confusion, Jessie had forgotten her friend was in their room.