she told herself to knock it off. To grow up. She walked toward him.
He reached out and rested his hand on the stair rail in front of her, blocking her path.
She stumbled to a stop, her pulse going into overdrive. He was so close. Just one tiny step forward and they’d be touching.
“I ran into your brother tonight.”
Slowly she lifted her gaze, up his muscular chest, past his strong jaw, until her eyes found his. His head was bent down, his full attention directed at her. A spark of something she didn’t want to examine too closely heated his blue, blue eyes. “Paul?”
“Do you have more than one?”
Jared’s face was so close she could feel his warm breath on her cheek. “Where did you see Paul?”
“The Sawmill. You coulda clued me in.”
“On what?”
“The name. Had a helluva time finding the place.”
“Something tells me you’re the type of guy who could find a bar in a desert.”
Jared grinned. “Is that so, sweetheart? And just what type of guy would that be?”
The type of guy that tied her up in knots and made her remember what it used to feel like to be held by a man. Caressed by a man. Wanted by a man. “I’m not your sweetheart.”
“You sure ’bout that?” He put his other hand on the rail behind her. He pressed in closer, his arms on either side of her, boxing her in. The heat from his body penetrated her and the scent of him was even more intoxicating. She couldn’t shake the feeling that there had been a fundamental shift in their relationship.
No, she had to be wrong. She leaned back until the hard edge of the stair dug into her back. “How many times have you used that line?”
“More times than I can count.”
“And how many times has it worked?”
A wicked smile transformed his face into one of pure seduction. “More times than I can count.”
“It’s not going to work,” she said with a bravado she was far from feeling.
“You sure about that?”
“Yes.”
He was so close the opened edges of his leather jacket brushed against her chest, causing all kinds of warning bells to go off inside her head. But what she didn’t know was if all that clanging was warning her that what was about to happen was something very, very bad or something very, very good.
She swallowed hard, ran her tongue over her dry, parched lips. “Intimidation by harassment.”
He slanted his body, slid his hands down the post until they were even with her waist. “You need to be more specific. There are all kinds of harassment.”
His wide chest covered her, but the weight of him was anything but unpleasant. She ran the tip of her tongue over her lips again and his gaze followed the movement. “Just so we’re both clear here, what type are we talking about?” she said.
“I think you know.”
Just when she knew she couldn’t endure another moment of being this close to him, his hands dropped away from the railings, and he stepped back. Instantly she felt the loss of body heat.
Without his arms blocking her way, she had an open path to the stairs. Everything inside of her told her to run. But she forced herself to move at a normal pace. On the third step, she stopped and turned. “I meant what I said, Jared. It’s not going to work.”
“We’ll see about that, Cotton Tail. We’ll see.”
She couldn’t reach her bedroom fast enough.
Jared watched her go. It wasn’t until he heard her door close that he leaned against the stairs and let out the breath he’d been holding. Christ. He ran his hand across his face, through the side of his hair. This was going to be a hell of a lot harder than he thought.
The minute she closed her door, Jenny grabbed a UW hoodie off her bed and slipped it over her head. She tugged at the sleeves until they were past her wrists, then pulled at the hem, making sure it covered as much of her as possible. She didn’t care that it had been a hot day and continued to be a warm night. She didn’t care that she was overheated. We’ll see about that, Cotton Tail. We’ll see.
Her heart thudded against her chest, and her breath came out in short little gasps. She felt like she was suffocating. Drowning in a pair of midnight blue eyes.
She went to her window and swung it all the way open. Like she’d done a thousand times