that. Apparently, he was stirred to help there too. Some of the grants I got weren’t just because I scored well on my SATs. He created them so I would get them. They didn’t pay for everything, but they helped. He said he was proud of me when I graduated. Like he had any right to be proud. He should have felt ashamed.”
“Men like that don’t feel shame.”
“Obviously.” She threw another rock into the creek. “He had a wife and two sons and went chasing after my mama. And he had the gall, the absolute nerve to say he fell head over heels in love with her and it was the best time of his life. She was sixteen.” Tears leaked down her cheeks and she didn’t try to stop them.
Before she knew it, J.T.’s arms encircled her and she was sobbing into his chest. She cried for her mother who’d lost her family. She cried for herself and all the abuse she’d taken over the years. She cried at the unfairness of not being able to strike back at her father and hurt him as much as he’d hurt her.
Eventually, even the greatest storms blow themselves out, and her tears tapered off to sniffles and slowly stopped. The shoulder of J.T.’s white T-shirt was soaked through and had streaks of her makeup staining it. “I ruined your shirt,” she said, her voice still thick with tears.
“It’ll wash. Come on, let’s get you cleaned up and I’ll take you back to your car. Mary Ellen has probably worked herself into a frenzy by now.”
“Oh God, I told her I’d call her after the meeting.” She searched for her cell phone but realized she must have left it in her purse in J.T.’s truck.
“Don’t worry, I called her and said the meeting didn’t go well. She’s making brownies and brought home a bottle of wine.”
“Bless her.” Nadya accepted J.T.’s hand and he pulled her to her feet. They gathered their shoes and were just about to put them on when the skies opened up.
Thunder crashed in the distance, coming closer by the second. Sheets of rain poured down on them, soaking them instantly. Wind whipped the trees and leaves flew around them.
“Run!” J.T. shouted and they bolted for the path.
Sticks and prickers stabbed her bare feet as they ran. J.T. was ahead of her, leading the way. She had no idea how he could see anything through the rain streaming over them. Lightning flashed and the thunder nearly deafened her. He shouted something, but she couldn’t make it out over the ringing in her ears.
Soon, they broke through the bushes that hid the path, and J.T. scooped her up to carry her over the gravel driveway. He deposited her on the front porch where they were finally out of the fury of the storm. The rain beat down on the metal roof like gunfire.
Nadya took one look at J.T., soaked to the skin, leaves sticking to his neck and water running off him like spring snow-melt and burst into laughter. She didn’t just chuckle, she howled. Apparently, she didn’t look any better, because he let loose with a deep belly laugh and pointed to her hair.
She turned to look at her reflection in the window and saw her twist had come completely undone, and she had twigs and leaves caught in the curls sticking to her face and neck. Mud splattered her pants practically to her shins. This caused her to whoop even harder until she was doubled over.
“It’s…really…not…funny,” she gasped out. “These…were…Dolce and Gabbana.”
“Now they’re rags.” J.T.’s laughter trailed off to chuckles. “Wait here, I’ll get us some towels.” He stripped off his now thoroughly soaked T-shirt and dropped it with a plop onto the porch.
Nadya had bent over to squeeze some of the water out of her hair. As she straightened, she caught a full on view of J.T.’s bare chest.
His naked, muscular, tanned chest.
All laughter died instantly as her mouth watered. He’d been well built as a teenager, but as a grown man he was god-like. Light hair spiraled down from a mere dusting over his pecs to a thin line that disappeared into his jeans. Muscles rippled everywhere she looked. His abs were clearly defined, as was the scar that ran between his belly button and his hip bone. The cold had his nipples puckered, and she wanted nothing more than to lick the tiny, brown nubs.
Her brain stuttered to a halt as she drank him in.