Fool for Love (17 page)

"You smell so good," she
whispered against his belly, causing an outbreak of goose bumps on his overly
sensitive skin.

"What do I smell like?"

"The sea and fresh air and sexy
man."

"All that?"

"Mmm hmm." This she muttered
against the head of his penis, which had somehow found its way to her mouth.

"Janey, honey, wait…"

She looked up at him with innocent blue
eyes that were mocking him. "Why?"

"You're a vixen, aren't you?" he
asked, laughing softly. "You know exactly what you're doing to me."

The gentle strokes of her hand quickly had
him on the verge of explosion.

"Are you complaining?"

Joe released a ragged breath.
"No." He broke out in a sweat when she took him deep into her mouth
while using her tongue and hand to caress him. "Janey … honey …
God
."

She laughed, and the vibration almost
finished him off.

"Baby, come up here. Let's do this
together."

Joe got a second lease on life when she
released him to shimmy out of her skirt and panties. Watching her pull her top
over her head and remove her bra, however, had him right back at the brink. He
reached for her, certain he'd never been more turned on in his life.

With her hand on his chest, she eased him
back, letting him know she was still in charge. She straddled him and rubbed
her moist heat over him.

He grabbed her hips, desperate to be inside
her, but she wasn't done playing with him.

Apparently, she didn't care that she was
making him crazy, because she tossed her head back and laughed. Sliding his
hands from her hips to her ribs, he cupped her breasts and ran his thumbs over
her nipples. That finally seemed to get her attention. She stopped tormenting
him and took him in.

"Ahhh," she sighed, gazing down
at him through half-lidded eyes. "That feels
so
good."

Joe linked their fingers and held on
tight, expecting her to ride him hard. But once again she surprised him by
stilling the movement of her hips. He groaned.
"Janey!"

"Tell me something about you that I
don't know."

He stared up at her, incredulous.
"Now?"

She bit her lip and nodded. "You know
me so well. You know how I take my coffee and that I'm a vegetarian. You even
remember my injured pet squirrel and the Strawberry Shortcake overalls. I need
to catch up."

His fingers traveled over her back to cup
her bottom, bringing her in tighter against him. "And we have to play
get-to-know-you right this minute?"

Tilting her hips ever so provocatively,
she nodded again. "Just
one thing
, Joe. That's all I'm asking
for."

"I can't believe you expect me to
think right now."

She squeezed his shoulders. "You can
do it, and when you do, you'll be
richly
rewarded."

"Well, when you put it that
way…" He squirmed beneath her, needing more and needing it now. Somehow,
he managed to say, "I like to paint."

"Walls?"

"Canvas." He gasped when she
rolled her hips and bent to drag her breasts over his chest. "Landscapes."

"Oh! You mean paint
paint
."

"Right. Can we have sex now?"

"We
are
having sex."

"Can we do it my way?"

Her lip came out in a pretty pout.
"You don't like my way?"

"I love your way." He sat up and
curled her legs around his hips. "But I'm about to explode. You wanna come
with me?"

"Will you show me your paintings?
After we explode?"

He bit back a smile. Had she ever been
more adorable?
"Yes!"

She wrapped her arms around his neck,
pressing her breasts against him. "Then I wanna go with you. Take me with
you, Joe."

"Gladly, my love."

Whoa, Janey thought. When he said explode, he meant
explode. The aftershocks tingled through her body, reminding her of the amazing
moment of intense connection and utter harmony. Not once, in all the years
she'd spent with David, had they ever come even close to achieving such a
moment.

Lying on top of Joe, feeling him throb
between her legs as he caressed her back, Janey couldn't have moved if she had
to. In the back of her mind, however, were nagging questions that refused to be
quieted in the aftermath of amazing sex. What was happening between them? Why
did it feel so important? Did she really want to go from something long-term
and serious to something even more serious?

Joe was so free with the "L"
word. Did it hurt him that she didn't say it back? How had Joe become so vital
to her in just a few days? And, most important of all, she had been so terribly
wrong about David. How could she trust herself and her judgment in the wake of
that spectacular failure?

"There's an awful lot going on in
that pretty little head of yours," he muttered.

How did he know? How did he
always
know?

"Want to talk about it?"

"No."

"All righty, then, want to see my
etchings?"

Janey laughed. "Mmm hmmm."

"Then you'll have to get your big old
self off me."

But rather than move, she burrowed in
closer.

Joe's arms tightened around her. "Or
we could just stay right here all night."

"I do want to see your
paintings."

"They'll keep."

Janey rested on top of him, reveling in
his scent, in the tender way he held her, in the certainty that he loved her.
But always, under the surface of her contentment, were those blasted questions
with no answers.

"I wish you would tell me what has
you so worried."

"I should be worried about how well
you know me," she said with a nervous laugh.

"Is that a bad thing?"

"It's unnerving at times."

"Want to talk unnerving? How about
when you suddenly decide, in the middle of having sex, that you don't know me
as well as I know you?"

She winced. "Sorry."

"Don't be. It was cute." Joe
turned them so he could look down at her. "I'm a pretty simple guy, Janey.
What you see is more or less what you get."

"That is
so
not true! That's
what you want people to think."

He raised a questioning eyebrow. "Why
do you say that?"

"You have all kinds of talents
besides steering a hundred-foot ferry through pea-soup fog."

"Such as?"

"Look at this awesome house you built
with your own hands or how you whip up your own salmon marinade. And now I find
out you're also an artist!"

He laughed. "I wouldn't say
that
."

"I'll be the judge." She flashed
a coy smile. "Of course, there's also that thing you do with your tongue.
Mmm. That's
quite
a talent."

His face lifted into the smile she was growing
to love in ways she never could've imagined a few days ago. He bent to kiss
her. "You know me, Janey. You know all the important stuff."

She reached up to push the hair off his
forehead. "I'm only just beginning to figure out the important
stuff."

"I hope you see yourself at the top
of the what's-important-to-Joe list."

Even though she knew it was cowardly,
Janey looked away from the intensity and the longing she saw on his face.

"You don't like being at the top of
my list?"

"It scares me."

With his finger on her chin, he forced her
to look at him. "Why?"

"I'm so afraid I'm going to hurt you,
Joe. I don't want to, but I'm afraid I will anyway."

"You're not responsible for me,
honey. I'd never want you to feel that way. I knew what I was getting into. I
knew the timing sucked, and I let it happen anyway."

"If this doesn't work out, if
we
don't work out, will you be okay?"

"I won't lie to you. I really want it
to work out."

"But if it doesn't? I need to know
you'd be okay. I
need
that."

"I have a great life. I get to do
what I love every day. I have awesome friends and a home I like returning to
every night. Is it perfect? No, but it works for me. If you were waiting for me
when I got home every night? Now
that
would be perfect."

Janey rolled her lip between her teeth.
"You really think so?"

He nudged at her until she yielded her
abused lip to him. "I know so. But the only way I want you with me is if
it's where
you
want to be. No questions, no doubts, no
reservations."

"You didn't answer my question."

"Yes, Janey," he said.
"I'll be okay."

"Promise?"

"Yeah." The single word was full
of sadness, but then she watched him try to rally. "So you like that
tongue trick, huh?"

"Oh,
yeah
."

He kissed his way down the front of her.
"They say practice makes perfect."

"Is that what they say?"

"Uh-huh."

Steeped in the incredible pleasure, Janey
decided the worries would have to wait. They had this night together, and she
didn't want to spoil it. Tomorrow would have to take care of itself.

By the time they got around to looking at his paintings, it was nearly three in
the morning. Kneeling on the floor of his studio, Janey wore a T-shirt of his
that showed off her shapely legs. He'd pulled on boxers when she insisted on
dragging him into the studio. Watching her flip through canvases that few
people had ever seen made Joe feel vulnerable and exposed—an uncomfortable
feeling he was becoming accustomed to lately.

"These are
amazing
! Why
haven't you ever done anything with them?"

Embarrassed by her effusiveness, he ran
his fingers through his hair. "It's just something I do for fun."

She turned those potent blue eyes on him.
"You're incredibly talented, Joe."

God, she just
tore him up
when she
looked at him that way. "Thanks."

Standing, she reached for the canvas that
depicted the island's Northeast Light. "Look at this! It's exquisite. The
colors and the passion! How do you get the water to look like it's
moving?"

"I don't know," he said,
laughing. "I just paint what I see."

"I'm astounded that you've kept such
a huge talent hidden for so long."

"It's a
hobby
, Janey."

"It's amazing."

"You can have that one if you like it
so much."

"I couldn't! You could get good money
for it!"

"I don't want good money. If you love
it, you can have it."

"I can't possibly take it. You need
to show them and sell them and make tons of money!"

He smiled at her foolishness. "That's
not me, hon. I'm a ferryboat captain, not an artist."

"Why couldn't you be both? Aren't you
the one trying to convince me I need to go to vet school?"

Damn, the girl could argue! He'd always
admired the way she more than held her own with four older brothers.
"That's different."

The hand on her hip and the saucy tilt to
her chin made him want her all over again, as if he hadn't just spent hours
trying to sate a need he was beginning to understand would never be fully
sated.

"How's it different?" she asked.

Cornered, Joe took the canvas from her and
grabbed her hand to lead her from the room. "Put this with your stuff.
It's yours now."

"You're not going to tell me how you
pursuing your artistic talent is different from me going to vet school?"

In the kitchen, Joe got a glass and filled
it with ice and water. After he took a drink, he passed the glass to her and
watched the way her lips and throat worked on the glass. It was official:
everything she did turned him on.

"I have a job I love, one that
fulfills me in every possible way. I get to be on the water all day. I
regularly see whales and dolphins and have to use my brain and my instincts and
years of hard-won know-how every day. It's enough for me."

She handed the glass back to him.
"But it doesn't have to be everything. Why couldn't you have that and your
art, too?"

"I already have both. The painting is
something I do to relax, to blow off steam. It's no big deal."

"I took an oil class in
college." Her eyes were locked on the painting he'd given her, which she
had propped against the wall. "I know what it takes to make the water
appear to be moving, and I didn't have it. In fact, no one in my class did. I
don't even think the teacher could do it. You're incredibly talented, and you
don't even know it."