Blackwater 2 - Vance's rules (6 page)

She felt Vance’s hand against the top of her head, and her gaze shot to his. “You really don’t have to stay, Vance. I’ll be fine.”

“I’m sorry, honey, but you’re stuck with me.”

Somewhere in Shayla’s haze of pain, she saw the honest worry in Vance’s hazel eyes. “I—” Another pain caused her stomach to seize up, and Shayla bent her head over the ivory rim and heaved some more. Finally, there just wasn’t anything left to throw up, but the heck if her stomach was through torturing her.

Suddenly, she was thrown back in time to another stomach-clenching episode. Shayla had gotten a flu bug that had been going around at school, and it’d been her mom who had held her hair back. She’d been in the seventh grade, but she could still hear her mother’s calm voice, feel her mother’s soft touch as she stroked a cool washcloth over her forehead.

Vance’s hand smoothing her hair away from her face brought her back to the present. When she was sure her body was finished heaving, she lifted her head. Vance was there with a damp paper towel. She took it and swiped it over her mouth. Her stomach suddenly settled, and she knew she was on the downhill slide.

As she started to stand, Vance’s strong hands closed around her arms, lifting her to her feet. “Want to take a shower?” he asked. “Might help you feel better.”

“Oh man, a hot shower sounds great.” She looked up at him and cringed. “I bet this isn’t quite how you pictured the night going, huh?”

He winked. “We’ll have plenty of time for a do-over once you feel better.”

Her heart promptly turned to mush. She placed her hand on his chest and said, “Thank you,” then realized she probably had awful breath and quickly covered her mouth.

He pried her hand away from her mouth and held it tight. “Relax, Shay. I’m not going to bolt out the door just because you tossed your cookies.” He let go of her and stepped toward the door. “You have any green tea?”

She shifted from one foot to the other, embarrassed that he’d seen her like this. God, she could just imagine what she must look like. “There’s some tea in the cupboard next to the refrigerator.”

“I’ll make you a cup while you shower.”

“Oh, no, that’s really not necessary. In fact, if you’d rather head home—”

“Hush, woman. I’m not going anywhere until I see you settled.”

To hell with it. Shayla didn’t really want him to leave anyway. Maybe it was selfish of her, but it’d been so long since she’d had Vance all to herself, she wanted to soak in every minute. She smiled her consent, and he left the room, closing the door behind him.

Shayla went to the sink and looked into the mirror hanging above it. “Have mercy,” she grumbled when she saw her reflection. Her hair was sweaty and sticking to her head, and she was so pale she could’ve been mistaken for a corpse. Her stomach twisted a little, but not so much that she needed to hug the commode, thank God. A shower would help her look less like something the cat dragged in, at least.

Shayla stripped out of her clothes and turned toward the tub. After she had the water temperature right, she stepped in and let the massaging jets work their magic. As the water cascaded down her body, she heard what sounded like pans clinking together. Vance was in the other room, she realized. Making her a pot of tea and caring for her.

In all her wildest dreams, never once did she imagine a moment like this. She’d hoped and prayed she’d have a second chance with him, but never had she let herself believe it might actually happen. Her heart soared, and a burst of adrenaline flooded her system. She felt instantly better. “Figures Vance Jennings would be the cure,” she mused aloud, suddenly in a hurry to finish.

As Vance rifled around in Shayla’s cabinet to find the tea, he thought back over the evening they’d shared. He’d enjoyed himself. Shayla was different than she used to be in a lot of ways, and tonight had felt like a real first date to him. Not like they were picking up where they’d left off, but more like they were two people getting to know each for the first time. When he found a box of green tea, he searched through another cupboard for honey. He found it sitting next to the toaster, took a teakettle off the stove and ran water in it. By the time the water was boiling, Shayla was walking into the room, a towel wrapped around her head. Vance looked her over, checking for signs that she should still be hugging the porcelain god. He noticed her pale face and the slow, careful way she moved, but since her skin no longer had a nasty greenish tint, he figured things were looking up for her.

She wore a pair of loose-fitting, hunter-green sweatpants and a baggy sweatshirt that sported a picture of a bull and boldly stated University of South Florida. “You went to USF?” he asked, curious about her life. He’d heard the bad stuff, but he wanted to hear that she’d had some happy times too.

“Yeah. I loved it there. Even though Dad wouldn’t let me live on campus, the classes still got me away from the house, away from him. It was the only time I could let my guard down.” She went to the cupboard and took out a couple of mugs, then placed them on the counter next to the stove. “What about you? Did you go to college?”

“Yep. Ohio State University. Partied a little, studied a little, no great scholar or anything like that.” He looked at the pair of mugs and smiled. “I don’t do tea, Shay.”

“Oh.” She blushed. “I could make coffee or something. I don’t have any alcohol, though, sorry.”

He placed his hand on her back and nudged her. “Go sit down. I’ve got this.”

She laughed, and Vance thought it sounded way better than hearing her retch. “You always were too bossy for your own good, but this time, I don’t really mind.”

He grinned as he poured hot water over a tea bag. “I’m not going to lie; I do tend to give orders a lot. It annoys the crap out of my brothers.”

He held the mug out to her. After she took it, she said, “Speaking of your brothers, how are the renovations going at the diner?”

He sat in the seat next to her, worried when the thin wooden legs wobbled a little. “Everything is on schedule so far, but there’s a crap ton of work to go.”

He watched her blow on her tea to cool it down. The action had the opposite effect on his cock. Her full lips sans the peach lip gloss she’d worn earlier in the evening were even sexier than he once remembered. Her cute, oval-shaped face and the delicate line of her neck made him want to brush his lips against her satiny skin just to taste the warmth of her. At one time, it’d been her sweet innocence that had tugged at Vance, but Shayla was older now, and every curvy inch of her was all woman. “What are you doing exactly? Wanda didn’t really elaborate.”

Vance cleared his throat and said, “We aim to turn the diner into a bar and grill. It’ll be bigger, and there will be live music, a few big-screen televisions on the walls, and happy hour. The works.”

She took a sip of the warm liquid and hummed her approval. “That’s a huge project, Vance. Expensive too, I’d imagine.”

He nodded. “We’re trying to keep costs down as much as possible. My company is doing the bulk of the labor, and Brodix has a few ideas on how to pull in more business once we reopen.”

“Did you have to get a loan?” she asked. “And when will the reopening be?”

He tapped his foot on the floor in a lame effort to keep himself in check. She wasn’t up for what he had in mind, at least not tonight. “The grand opening will be April first. That gives us a month and a half. Not a lot of time for such a big job, I know, but there are a lot of us working on it.”

She sat up straighter and offered, “I’d like to pitch in, if I can.”

The idea of Shayla covered in sawdust and driving nails had his lips kicking upward. “Can you swing a hammer?”

“I don’t have any real experience, but I’m a quick study.”

He was unaccountably charmed by the notion that she was offering to help out his family. “Do you have the time? I mean, with your publishing business and all.”

She took another sip of her tea. The towel covering her head started to come unwound, and Vance had the urge to yank it off her and toss it to the floor, along with her clothes. “I’m sure I can work it in,” she said as she placed the mug back on the table. “A few hours here and there are better than nothing, right?”

He gave that some thought and knew she had it right. Besides, if she was at the diner helping him, then he’d have her close. Not a bad deal, all things considered. “What are you doing tomorrow afternoon?” he asked. “We can head over there, and I can show you around, if you want.”

Her eyes brightened. “I’d love that. Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet. Wait until you’ve seen the mess you’re about to walk into.”

She reached up, grasped the towel and pulled. It fell away from her head, and a tangled mass of wet red hair fell down around her shoulders. Vance reached out and fingered a lock. “I’ve always loved your hair, Shay. So soft and baby fine.”

“Thank you.” She yawned. “Oops, sorry.”

“You’re exhausted. Come on,” Vance said as he stood and reached out a hand. She took it willingly and smiled up at him. “How’s your stomach?”

He watched her swallow. “Better. Much better.”

“Good, but you need a good night’s sleep.”

“You’re leaving?”

She sounded disappointed. Hell, Vance knew that feeling well. He cupped her face in his palms and whispered, “Only because you aren’t one hundred percent right now. Tomorrow, when you’re feeling better, I plan to make up for it.”

Her gaze turned drowsy as her small hand came up to cover his. “I’m looking forward to it.”

Vance groaned and lowered his head. When their lips touched, the fire inside him built to an inferno of need. Her lips were the sweetest temptation. For a moment, he allowed himself free rein. He forgot that he was supposed to leave. Everything went up in smoke as the flavor of her fresh mint toothpaste and warm tea hit his tongue. Vance licked her bottom lip and sucked it into his mouth, nibbling and enjoying the eager sounds she made. She arched against him and whimpered, as if ready to plead for him to fuck her. He wanted to. God, how he wanted to. He would take her hard and fast. Slow and easy. He wanted her in so damn many ways it made his head spin.

When Vance reached out and massaged her left breast through the heavy sweatshirt with the palm of his hand, Shayla shuddered. He skated his lips over her cheek to her neck. He licked a spot just above the neckline of the sweatshirt, and Shayla let out a greedy sound. As he cupped the back of her head, her wet hair against his hand brought Vance back to reality. She wasn’t up for this, he reminded himself. Not an hour ago, she’d been hugging the porcelain. Christ, he was a royal ass.

With the last remnants of his willpower, Vance pulled away from her. “Sleep, honey,” he whispered. “You need it.”

“Uh, I’d rather do other things right now,” she said as she reached out for him. He took her hands in his and kissed the backs of her knuckles before dropping them away.

“Think of this as the end of chapter one,” he said. “Tomorrow we’ll get to chapter two, I promise.”

Shayla wrinkled her nose and plopped into the chair. “In that case, chapter two better be fantastic, because I’m not happy how this one ended.”

He chuckled and crouched in front of her. “Chapter two is going to be explosive. Just you wait and see.” He kissed her one last time, needing another taste of her, then said, “Two o’clock sound good to you?”

She thought for a moment. “That should work. And I can fix us lunch.”

He nodded and touched her lower lip with his thumb. The soft, plump lip brought a carnal image to his mind. Her mouth wrapped tight around his cock, suckling and licking. “I’ll see you then,” he said in a rough voice. “Sleep tight, Shay.”

Without another word, he strode to the front door. If he didn’t get out fast, he was never going to leave. A man had only so much control, damn it.

Chapter Seven

It was a little before two in the afternoon, and Vance would be showing up any minute. In fact, if Shayla remembered correctly, the man would be early. Being late had always been a pet peeve of his. She grabbed the pepper grinder and sprinkled some over the salad before turning to the stove. She’d decided on grilled chicken, oven-roasted russet potatoes and a garden salad. Unless he’d changed drastically in the years they’d been apart, Vance was a meat-and-potatoes man. Shayla had wanted him good and satisfied. Part of her also wanted to show him that he wasn’t the only one who could cook.

As she placed the plate of chicken and potatoes on the table, the phone rang. Shayla froze. Was he cancelling? God, she hoped not. When it rang again, Shayla dragged herself to the other side of the room and picked up the cordless phone attached to the wall next to the fridge. “Hello?”

“Hi, sweetie, are you busy?”

Oh, thank you, God. “Hi, Mom, not at all.” She looked at the lunch she’d prepared and smiled. “How are things at home?”

“Everything’s fine. I just called to see how it was going with the new apartment and everything.”

Her mom was her best friend. They’d been through thick and thin together, which was why Shayla knew that the “everything” her mom referred to was Vance. “Um, great. The cold weather is taking some getting used to, but other than that, I’m good.”

There was a beat of silence, and Shayla thought maybe they’d gotten disconnected. “Have you talked to him yet?” her mom asked in a quieter tone.