Rough and Ready (More Than A Cowboy #2) - Vanessa Vale Page 0,21

I brushed down my skirt, thinking about how I’d been so lewdly displayed in his lap—even though I’d originally been there to fuck.

“I’m going to go.” I glanced down at him, even as I ran my hands over my thighs to smooth the fabric. “Um, well, thank you.”

He only nodded his head slightly as he stood and followed me to the door, opening it for me. I stepped out into the hallway, turned to face him.

“See you around.” What did one say to a guy who’d turned you down for sex, got you off with his thumb and let you cry on him? When the corner of his mouth tipped up and made him seem less dangerous and wickedly handsome at the same time, I knew it was the right thing.

He waited until I had my door unlocked before he closed his. Reed, although he’d probably deny it, was a gentleman. A fighter, bad boy, gentleman.

After closing my door behind me, I flipped on the light, took in my unpacked apartment and felt a wave of loneliness. It was because I’d opened myself up and been vulnerable for Reed that I felt gutted. I wanted to crawl back on his lap and stay there. It would go away, this need for someone else. To be held, comforted. It had to. But how? The man who seemed to be seeing every one of my cracks lived ten feet away. He was getting too close and not just physically. I needed space, time to regroup, and I couldn’t do it if I might run into him.

There was only one way to do it. Leave. My therapist would say avoidance wasn’t the way to go, but she’d never met Reed, never come like I had with just his thumb over my panties. I grabbed my cell to pull up my plane reservation but almost dropped it when I saw the screen. I’d missed a call, and I recognized the number. My father’s office. It hadn’t changed in all the years he’d worked as partner in the law firm in Denver. My number, though, had changed. Several times in the past two years. There was only one way he’d gotten it.

Cam.

Fuck. They were all against me. Whatever tension I’d worked out of my body by Reed’s diligent thumb or my crying jag was gone. I didn’t want to talk to them. I didn’t want to think about Cam getting out of jail or the way my parents enabled him. Fortunately, I wouldn’t be in town—or the country even—on his release day. I just needed to get away from them, from whatever Reed had stirred up.

It wasn’t fair to lump him in with my family. There was no comparison whatsoever. While my parents and brother brought up old emotions and ripped off scabs on barely healed mental scars, Reed was coming at me from a different direction, which was just as overwhelming. Perhaps even more so because I didn’t understand it. I knew my parents. I knew Cam. I knew their strategy, and I had a plan in place to defend myself from their constant attacks. I had defenses, no matter how weak they were.

But Reed? I had a feeling he was going to be hard to fight.

There was an easy solution to get away from my family, at least a temporary one. To give me some space to think about Reed. I pulled up my reservation on the airline’s app and changed it.

8

REED

I didn’t see Harper leave for work as I’d hoped. I’d barely slept, thinking about her. I’d had to take my dick in hand not once but twice to ease the ache for her. Remembering how she looked when she came finished me off in record time.

When Gray and I came back from our morning three-mile run, I noticed her car was gone from the parking lot. Yeah, I was taking note of her car like I was pussy whipped. Six-thirty was early to go to the office, but this was the last week of the semester—she’d shared that over pizza the other night—and her schedule was crazy busy.

Watching her walk in those sky-high heels she seemed to wear would have made my half hour of jump roping much more enjoyable. Instead, I’d thought about the feel of her toned thighs beneath my palms, the silk of her panties, the softness of her folds and swollen clit through that wet fabric. The way her eyes went from spitting fire to blurry passion.