Heart of Fire: a Moonbound World series (Witches of Whitewood Book 1) (6 page)

He opened his eyes for a moment and saw a tree nearby, pushing her away from the fire, back from camp, and near the trees.

His erection pressed tight against his pants, begging to be released inside a hot, wet Jamie. His hands crept up her taut stomach and pulled her shirt open, buttons popping. A low moan shivered through her as she clawed at him, trying to climb his body. One of her hands sought out the front of his jeans and pulled at the button.

The pressure of her fingers on his dick was exquisite and painful all at once. He couldn’t wait to be inside her. His hips jerked a little under her touch when she pulled down the zipper and his boxers and all his resolve.

His erection sprang out into the cold air, so hard he was sure he’d embarrass himself with one thrust and be done.
God, this was gonna feel like heaven.

She pulled back, eyes hazy, and stared at his dick. Her mouth fell open and he could have come just from the look on her face. But instead of putting her lips on him, she kept backing up.

Warning bells went off inside.

“Jamie,” he ground out, reaching for her. “What’s wrong?”

“I… What… What are we doing?”

Kyle’s breath came hard and he blew out a gust of air, to calm his panting. It didn’t help. He was primed. His dick was practically leaking, it was so ready. He wasn’t sure how to answer the question, so he took a step toward her, hoping his touch would center her.

But she kept backing up, almost to the campfire. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—” Her voice caught and her hand went to her throat. She looked down at her shirt, yanking the sides closed over her bra. “I don’t know what’s come over…”

He could hear the tears in her voice and he reached for her again, but she slapped his hand away and ran off into the dark.

* * *

J
amie’s heart
thudded as ran through the eerie white trees.
What the hell am I doing?
Hot tears slipped down her cheeks. She had kissed him, like she wanted him.

Don’t you want him?
The thought wasn’t entirely her own, and the shivers that skated up and down her spine had spikes in their heels.

Her body certainly appeared to agree. She was still hot, everywhere. Her nipples were still hard. She was practically panting. When she’d seen his erection—seen how much he wanted her—it became too real.

She wanted him back.

The tears choked her and she collapsed against one of the trees, clutching at her shirt. The night air was cool against her skin, but she was hot
everywhere
. She couldn’t control her body’s response to Kyle. So much… desire.

No.

Jamie Banfield didn’t
desire
men. She didn’t
desire
anything. Or anyone. Desire was trouble on a stick.

“
K
yle
.” His ex emerged from the dark, her characteristic predatory silence cut to the quick when she said his name. His whole body went on defense, and for once, he was glad of it.

“Damn it, Lana,” he whispered. Grabbing her arm, he dragged her away from the main clump of tents to where trees blocked the river floodlight. “Don’t surprise me like that.”

“Well, if I could pry you away from that stupid girl for ten minutes, I wouldn’t have to.”

Kyle’s body tensed, and he licked his lips, trying to keep the frustration inside. “Don’t talk about her like that. She’s a good person. She doesn’t deserve your inner bitch.”

She crossed her arms and her giant, manmade boobs settled over them, nipples perking. “Unlike you, who’s
lying
to everyone.” Lana raised her eyebrows and cocked her head. “Married, Kyle? Really?”

“That was an accident.” Kyle scanned the area around them and dropped his voice even further. “Brady interviewed me for this job before the divorce went through, so I was married at the time.”

“Then why didn’t you just tell them it was a mistake?”

Kyle leaned toward her. “I didn’t know you’d be here, Lana. This isn’t exactly your scene.”

She waved a long-fingered, perfectly-manicured hand at him. “I thought it was going to be different than this. It just said singles’ week-long getaway, and I figured we’d be holed up in a lodge somewhere.”

“So why don’t you go home?”

“Oh, no.” She narrowed her dark eyes and took a step forward. “This is way too much fun to leave now. Between you and Paul, it’s a thrill a minute.”

Kyle froze. Her mention of Paul with him in the same sentence was unnerving. How hard should he push her about this? If he could even make it through the end of the week before Brady found out…he could at least pay his rent back home. There was a chance Jamie would keep his secret, if he could just talk to her. Explain.

“You should really stay away from Paul.”

“Like you should really stay away from his sister? And she even thinks you’re married, Kyle. That doesn’t bother you at all?”

A knot formed in his throat.
Jamie knows
, he wanted to say.
I’m not you.
Instead, he waved her off. “Mind your business, Lana.”

“Then you mind yours. We’re not married anymore. If I want to hook up with the hottest guy here, then I will.” She tried to brush past him, but Kyle grabbed her arm and got close enough to smell the acrid perfume she wore because some magazine told her men liked it.

“You have to stay away from Paul. There are rules about staff. You’ll make it hard on everyone here.”

“You’ve got no room to judge me. Leave me alone, and I’ll keep your secret.” She wrenched away and stumbled toward camp.

He leaned against a tree and watched her walk through the tents and slip inside one, halfway down the right side, on the trail. Very public placement. Nowhere to hide. Must have been Brady’s decision to place her there.

The first trail ride was the next day and, with Lana focused on finding and getting the next dumbass in a long line of dumbasses, Kyle could finally focus on the cooking. That should have given him a lot more peace than it did.

He needed to talk to Jamie. Find out what had happened. Why she’d run off. And with Lana still in unpredictable mode, he needed to tell her that his ex-wife was actually on the trail with them. Get all the eggs on the table.

Trouble at ever turn, but there didn’t seem to be a way out of it. It just depended on which kind of fire he wanted to put out in the end.

Or if he had a choice at all.

* * *

J
amie could still taste
Kyle’s kisses, and no amount of rolling over and over in her sleeping bag could quench the fire in her belly. To make matters worse, her phone kept buzzing and she didn’t want to check the messages.

Charity’s plan had been for Jamie to get caught by Brady. But after tonight, she didn’t need to seduce him. He was seduced. Now all she needed was to tell her brother that Kyle wasn’t married.

That would get him off the trail, off the staff.

That’s what I want…right? Charity back means Kyle gone.

Her phone buzzed again, low and insistent, buried somewhere under her clothes. In the darkness, she fumbled for her pants and checked the pockets. The cell vibrated again above her head, and she reached for her jacket. She’d missed three messages. All from Charity.
Shocker.

Jeff?
That had better not be Jeff Curtis
…the bad news boy of Springhill, and one of the ranch hands. He’d screwed more women than their old bull had cows. If he’d given Charity supplies, he would want something in return. The asshole.

At least her friend was safe and warm for the night. Hopefully, she knew how to make a fire and didn’t burn the place down.

Jamie sighed and slid the messenger app open and typed in,

She clicked her phone off and set it on her stomach. God, this night was so different than she’d anticipated. For months, she’d imagined herself and Charity sitting up all night, getting their matchmaking notes together and preparing for the trail rides and hikes, putting together little scavenger hunts for each couple to go on. Instead, she’d tried to screw one of her coworkers and lied to everyone who mattered to her.
What a day.

Charity’s answer came back fast.

Whew. At least she was alone.
No way Paul would get back with Charity if Jeff had been anywhere near any part of her body that didn’t have toes. Jamie typed,

Whatever that means
.

Outside her tent, footsteps clomped through the woods, and her heart raced. She was half naked on top of her sleeping bag, stripped down to her tank top and panties. Braless.

What if Kyle wanted to talk to her? Her nipples hardened into hard points. She ran curious fingers over them and groaned at the need that slicked through her.

The footsteps continued past her tent toward the river.

Just the thought of him being so close when she was almost naked made her hot. The cool air on her thighs ignited an itchy need inside. She wanted to open her legs and have Kyle climb between them.

Her phone buzzed.

What’s wrong? What’s wrong is…
She wrenched out a breath and slipped her phone into her sleeping bag.

What’s wrong is Kyle. He doesn’t seem to be a bad guy.
Why couldn’t she just say that to Charity?

Maybe there was a way to get Charity a job that didn’t require firing Kyle. Then, letting Paul and Charity be together wouldn’t be as big a deal, because they wouldn’t be on the ranch together. Brady couldn’t argue with that.

Jamie grabbed her phone and texted back.

Jamie couldn’t help laughing aloud at that. She remembered his erection pressing into her, and her stomach fluttered. Her legs slid apart of their own volition, and she lay there for a moment, reliving those kisses.

Jamie palmed her phone. She couldn’t tell Charity what Kyle had said. That would send her straight to Brady. There had to be another way.

She could call Caleb Gallagher at the
Blue Moon
and see if he’d take Charity on as kitchen help. He wanted to open the restaurant seven days a week, and his current chef could only work four. Maybe needed someone for the other three.

All told, Charity wasn’t a bad cook. That hadn’t been Brady’s problem. Well, not really. But surely, she could keep a job in someone else’s kitchen just fine until the summer was over.

The insistent buzz sent her back to her phone.

Jamie swallowed hard. The shadows of the trees painted the river side of her tent. Only benign night noises invaded her personal space, and she longed for some distraction so she could tell Charity she’d left her tent or maybe gone to sleep. But then her friend would be texting in the morning, asking the same thing.

She sat up and hugged her knees to her chest. She didn’t want Kyle to be gone. And while having Charity around again would make her professionally happy, and might even make the trail ride better for the clients, she wasn’t ready to throw Kyle under the wagon wheel.

He had saved her a broken leg. Or neck. Or whatever. She owed him.

She would tell Charity no. She’d call her uncle and get her friend a job in town. Whatever it took.

But not Kyle.

That was her hard line.

She climbed into her sleeping bag and wrapped up in its warmth, tossing her phone into her pile of clothing.

Jamie would deal with Charity tomorrow.