Give Me Fever (6 page)

Even though he knew he wasn’t her type—he knew they had nothing in common—the more he found out about her, the more he wanted her.

She was funny and bright. Adventurous and courageous. Friendly but quick to put anyone in their place.

Jade was an enigma.

Taking his bespectacled eyes off his rod and the line floating across the water, he leaned back a bit to look past Kaleb sitting beside him down the long stretch of bank for Jade, but he didn’t see her.

Bzzzz.

He used one hand to reach for his BlackBerry, looking down at the wide screen.

He answered. “Hey, Felecia.”

“Well, hello, stranger. How’s your trip?”

“It’s going great,” he lied, even forcing a smile as he dropped his reel to swat a mosquito that had just landed on the back of his hand and then used the back of his hand to wipe his running nose.

“Make sure you wear your insect repellent. Do you have your inhaler? Are you eating well? When are you getting back?”

Kaeden held the BlackBerry from his face and frowned as he looked down at it. “I’m good. I know it’s Friday, but did anything major come up at the office today?” he asked, clearly steering the conversation back to business and away from Felecia sounding way too much like his girlfriend or wife.

“I’m holding down things for you. We’re a team, remember?”

Kaeden frowned again. “That’s good to know,” he said vaguely, his focus on a large wasp flying around Kaleb’s silver-flecked head. “Enjoy the rest of your weekend. I’ll see you at the office Monday.”

Kaeden ended the call. “If that miniairplane bites me, you gone have to give me my epi shot,” he warned Kaleb.

“Man, stop worrying ’bout stuff like that and just enjoy the experience,” Kaleb told him as he rose from his camp chair and strained the muscles in his arms reeling in the line—and hopefully a fish.

Kaeden cast his brother a stare. “That’s easy for you to say.”

“I think I need the net, big brother,” Kaleb boasted as he leaned back and kept on reeling.

“You ain’t got nothing down there, son,” Kael called down the bank teasingly.

Kaeden grabbed the net and rose from his seat. “That’s a big one,” he admitted as Kaleb held the line with the squirming bass on the large hook.

“Tonight I want to catch the other fish floating around here,” Kaleb told him with a rowdy wink before he used pliers to take the hook from the fish.

“Kaleb, you really need to lay off Jade,” Kaeden told his brother in a serious tone.

Kaleb dropped the fish into the bucket. “What?”

“You just called the woman a damn fish,” Kaeden snapped. “Straight up you acting like an asshole, always pushing up on her when you know she’s not in the mood for you.”

Kaleb closed the lid on the bucket and looked up at his brother as he straightened up to his full height. “Yeah, I wouldn’t want to act like a caveman and scoop her up in my arms.”

“You know what, I can eat that and say I was wrong, but one incident of inappropriateness is nothing compared to your horny ass around here being disrespectful,” Kaeden shot back, feeling his anger rising.

“Incident of inappropriateness?” Kaleb barked a laugh. “Man, save that nerdy conversation, man.”

Kaeden stiffened his back as his jaw clenched. “Mind this nerd don’t whup your ass, little brother,” he told Kaleb coldly.

“Hey, what’s y’all problem down there?” their father yelled from down the bank.

Kaeden and Kaleb squared off with their noses damn near touching.

“Why you all swoll up and writing a check you can’t cash, big brother?”

“Because she’s sick of your shit and so am I,” Kaeden told him in a hard voice, not backing down one bit.

“You protecting the coochie like
you
got a chance of getting it!” Kaleb said, waving his hand dismissively at Kaeden before he turned to bait his hook.

Kaeden snorted in derision as he too turned away to pick up his reel and rod. “Look like
you
don’t have a chance either, pimpin’. That’s my whole point.”

“Now, I’m sick of both of y’all shit, so both of you sit down before I get up,” Kade said from his spot sitting on a stump. He was the oldest, and growing up he frequently took on the father figure role.

Kaleb cast his line into the water. “Man, whatever.”

Kaeden sat down on his camp chair. “Whatever.”

Jade was walking from the cleared area where the outhouse sat when she saw Kaeden sitting by the fire reading his book. She paused her steps as she looked down at him alone while his father and brothers were rowdily playing cards at the picnic table. She knew he was close to his family, but in that moment her heart went out to him because he looked alone.

But maybe she was wrong about that.

She’d been wrong about things concerning Kaeden Strong. Like his strength. That seemingly skinny man swept her thick self up in his arms like it was nothing. He wanted to prove he wasn’t weak and he did just that.

Crossing her arms over her chest, Jade made her way over to him. “Hi, Kaeden,” she said softly, clearing her throat.

He looked up at her over his shoulder. “Hey…Hi, Jade.”

She bit back a smile at the way the flames of the fire were reflected in his glasses, completely blocking his eyes from her. “Glad to see you out and not cooped up in that tent.”

Kaeden laughed as he closed the book, holding his spot with his index finger. “The fire and a ton of bug spray help,” he joked.

They fell silent.

“Have you ever seen anything more beautiful?” she asked as she looked out at the scenic view of the lake surrounded by the ebony shadows of lush greenery and towering trees. The sparkle of the moon against the water gave it a glimmer that was almost animated.

“It looks like a screensaver,” Kaeden said.

“Or those puzzles we used to do as kids.”

“As kids?” Kaeden balked.

“Don’t tell me you still do puzzles,” she said.

“Okay, I won’t.”

Oh Lord, he
is
a nerd
, she thought. “There is no way I could still work inside a factory without windows all day and miss being surrounded by all this.”

Kaeden remained silent although his eyes were still locked on the lake.

Jade licked her lips as she glanced over at him and then briefly at the dirt-packed ground. “Listen, I wanted to thank you…for talking to your brother,” she said low enough for just his ears.

Kaeden looked at her in surprise.

“I didn’t mean to eavesdrop but…but I did overhear your…um…discussion,” she said delicately.

Kaeden looked over at her and Jade looked away, very confused by her sudden nervousness around this man.

“Well, thanks…especially since it worked,” Jade said. “Sometimes men can be very annoying when they assume they can say whatever they want to me because of the way I look. It’s okay to be sexy and feel sexy, but there is more to me than T and A.”

Kaeden thought of his erotic dream and felt guilty.

Jade shrugged and fell quiet. She looked up at Kaeden just as he swung at a gnat flying before his eyes.

“Damn,” he swore as he accidentally knocked his glasses off and sent them flying toward the fire.

Jade reached out and caught them. “See, I thought I needed to keep a close eye on you,” she teased.

Kaeden laughed as he looked up at her. “Now, that’s what got you lifted up the last time.”

Jade’s eyes locked with his, and where the fire’s reflection in his glasses once blocked his eyes from hers, there wasn’t one single, solitary thing to keep her from being absorbed into the startling intensity of his chocolate eyes. Warm mocha eyes framed by lashes that curled so deeply that the fine tips seemed to lightly stroke his lids. Deeply dark eyes that made the silver flecks of his closely shaven head seem to glisten.

As her mouth fell open just a little and her heart raced a bit faster, Jade’s eyes flickered over Kaeden’s slender face. The bronzed caramel complexion made all the more enticing by his prematurely silver hair. The high cheekbones. His strong chin. The supple lips. Just like Kahron…but different. Better. The leanness of his feature only accentuated the strong features they shared. Definitely—although surprisingly—better.

Kaeden Strong.

“Jade? Jade.”

She shook herself and jumped to her feet. “I…um…just wanted to thank you…
soooo
…um…thanks, Kaeden.”

Jade whirled and headed for her tent. She just wanted—needed—to get away. She wished she had brought along some of her favorite sangria, because she definitely needed a buzz.

“Jade?”

She paused at the sound of Kaeden calling her name. Did he see the momentary lust she felt for him? Did she give out some imaginary clue that in that moment she wondered what his lips tasted like? Taking a deep breath, Jade turned to find him standing behind her.

Jade swallowed past a large lump in her throat as she took a quick step back.

“My glasses,” he told her in that deep voice as he looked down at her and smiled.

Jade flushed with embarassment. “Ooops. Sorry,” she said, handing them out to him. “You probably have to wipe them off. My…palms were a little sweaty.”

“That’s fine.” Kaeden used the hem of his white T-shirt to clean them.

Jade turned and took a few steps, but then she turned suddenly and walked back up to him. “You
really
should consider wearing contacts,” she told him before turning and walking the short distance to her tent where she hurried to kneel and crawl in.

Kaeden tried to shift to comfort on his sleeping bag. To him only someone who was half-baked would think sleeping on the ground on something as thick as a slice of bread was more fun than rolling around on a king-sized mattress—like the one he had waiting for him in his bedroom.

Just like all the other comforts he was ready to get back to: taking a steamy hot shower in his open shower with the chrome vertical spa complete with oversized showerhead and four body sprays, watching his huge high-def television, kicked back on his plush leather recliner eating takeout from his favorite Chinese restaurant, and finally crawling into his bed in his climate-controlled bedroom for a good night of sleep. Or making love.

Sweet and tender lovemaking.

Fierce and fiery lovemaking.

With Jade.

His hardness sandwiching the soft curves of her frame as his bed supported their bodies during one furious stroke after the other. He felt his body stir in reaction to just the thought of her. Watching her in church with her makeup and dresses had been enough to stir his desire for her, but seeing her with her hair combed flat, no makeup, and in less casual attire fit for camping—his desire had not lessened one bit. If anything, he wanted her more. He was intrigued by her.

She was beautiful and sexy. That he knew.

But she was also clever, funny, and nice. That he’d learned.

You really should consider wearing contacts.

Kaeden frowned a bit. He didn’t exactly get the reason for the advice, but it was nice of her to even care if he wore glasses or not.

Turning on his side, he reached for his Jordan Banks book. But after a minute ticked by and he still couldn’t focus on the main character, Slim Willie, solving another mystery, Kaeden just closed the book and turned off his LED lantern.

Cloaked by semidarkness, Kaeden tossed and turned. His BlackBerry vibrated and the screen lit up but he ignored it because he knew it was Felecia and they had absolutely nothing to talk about at midnight.

Except for the sounds of nature—the hooting of owls, the crickets doing their things, and the loud rustling of leaves as the wood’s critters skittered about—the campsite was quiet. Kaeden couldn’t sleep. He was hungry but he had been so busy packing emergency medical supplies that he’d neglected to bring along any of his favorite nonperishable snacks.

Their supper of fried bass was long gone. And frankly, he was tired of fish. “I would kill for a Twinkie right now,” he muttered in the darkness as his stomach growled.

“Maybe there’s something out there I can snack on,” he said aloud as he grabbed his glasses from their hard case to slip on before he flung back the cover and unzipped his tent.

The cool night breeze blew in and Kaeden shivered from the feel of it even though he was still fully dressed in his jeans and long-sleeved T-shirt.

“I don’t have Twinkies, but I’ll share my s’mores.”

Kaeden whirled around in surprise to find Jade sitting outside her pink tent by the fire with a book in her lap. She smiled and looked up at him as she held a gooey s’more in her outstretched hand.

“I heard you talking to yourself in there but I didn’t want to interrupt,” Jade joked.

Kaeden smiled, flashing his white, even teeth. “As long as I don’t answer myself, I’m not headed to the mental hospital,” he told her as he stepped up and took the sweet treat from her.

Their hands brushed lightly against one another and Kaeden felt an instant spark. As she turned her attention back to her book, he wondered how an attraction he felt so strongly could be so one-sided. “Thanks.”

She looked up from her book again. “I was saving those for the last night, but a little sample a little early won’t hurt.”

Kaeden took a bite of the melted marshmallow and chocolate between two cinnamon-and sugar-coated graham crackers. “Mhan oof ah yawn yoo?” he asked, his mouth filled with the treat.

Jade frowned in confusion. “Huh?”

He swallowed and laughed. “Sorry. I said, mind if I join you?”

Kaeden was reluctant to go back to his tent. The campfire felt good and Jade was awake. Sleeping on the cold, dirt-packed floor. Being attacked by insects. Given up the luxuries he favored. All of that was for him to get close to Jade. There was no way he was going back into that lonely little tent now.

“Actually, I wondered how far along you were in
Death by Midnight
?”

Kaeden looked down at her in surprise before he grabbed an empty camp chair and sat down by the fire. She held up the book in her lap so that he could see the cover. “You’re reading it too?”

She nodded. “The night I brought you my grandfather’s homemade itch cream, I saw it in your tent. I
loves
me some Jordan Banks.”

Kaeden held his large hands out to the fire. “I have all his books.”

“Me too,” Jade said excitedly. “I think this one is the best one yet. Slim Willie’s investigative skills are getting better, but he is also growing as a person, and I love great character development in a book.”

Kaeden looked over at her. “And his character’s dialogue is always very realistic.”

Jade reached over and grabbed his wrist. “Yes!” she said enthusiastically.

Goose bumps raced up his arms and his eyes dropped down to look at her touch, but she had already pulled her hand away. He felt the loss.

They fell silent but there was an ease between them. Nothing awkward. Nothing stilted. Just peace.

“What are you two doing up?”

Kaeden looked over his shoulder as his father emerged from his small tent. “Eating s’mores.”

“And talking books,” Jade added.

“A s’more sounds good but I just got up for some water,” Kael said. “I left my canteen out here.”

“I can make you one, Mr. Strong.” Jade rose from her camp chair and walked over to the picnic table to open her small cooler.

“I’m not interrupting?” Kael asked as he peered down to look inside the cooler beside her.

Yes!
Kaeden screamed in his mind.

Jade laughed. “Oh goodness no,” she said, as if the very thought was silly.

Kaeden gritted his jaw.

“Did I miss my invite to the party?” Kahron asked as he came out of his tent sans his ever-present aviator shades.

Kaeden actually rolled his eyes heavenward in frustration.

Jade squatted by the fire as she loaded marshmallows onto wooden skewers. “I was saving this little treat for y’all last night of camping, but I guess tonight is good as any other night,” she said in a cheerful mood.

“Hey, Kade. Hey, Kaleb. Get up, fellas. Jade’s making s’mores.”

Awakened by Kahron, Kaeden’s other silver-haired brothers soon exited their own tents. Kaeden finished eating his now-cooled treat thinking,
My family is a bunch of blockers.

Jade was glad for the distraction because her new-found awareness of Kaeden was disconcerting to her. When she innocently touched his arm, she had felt a small jolt of electricity.

When I get home I’m going to put on my sexiest lingerie, slip into a pair of “come and get it” pumps, and call Darren on over.

As she roasted the marshmallows, Jade gazed across the flames at Kaeden halfheartedly eating his s’more.
He
is
handsome
, she thought.
It’s not like I’m crazy to find him attractive
…
but those glasses, the allergies, the inhaler! I have
got
to be incredibly horny.

Kaeden looked over at her suddenly. “Your marshmallows are burning.”

Jade jumped up as two white globs fell off the skewer and into the fire. “I did this way better earlier when I didn’t have an audience,” she joked as she slid more marshmallows on the skewer.

“Mine was delicious,” Kaeden assured his family.

Jade smiled over at him just as he took off those glasses to wipe them clean. She looked away quickly.

Maybe I should call Darren and get into some really raunchy phone sex. Or text sex?

Jade shook her head as she slid the melted marshmallows between the layers of chocolate and graham crackers. While the men all talked and laughed as if it wasn’t the middle of the night, Jade focused on making her group members two gooey treats each.

She side-eyed Kaeden as he reached over to pick up her book from her camp chair. Her eyes took in the fine silver hairs. His bronzed complexion. Broad shoulders. Long limbs. Big feet.
Very
big feet.

Her eyes darted to his crotch between his bent legs. Her cheeks flushed at the noticeable bulge. She jumped to her feet. “Here we go, fellas. S’mores.”

Everyone was sitting around the crackling campfire and Jade circled around them offering them a paper plate holding the treats. She offered the plate to Kaleb. He looked up at her and winked. “Thank you, Miss Prince,” he said, mockingly polite, before shooting Kaeden a “see there” look.

And she came to Kaeden, whose head was buried in her book. “Kaeden, would you like…”