Kissed (14 page)

Get a grip, man.

Chapter Eleven

Beth
leaned against the closed door, feeling flushed all over.
 
Not even a week since she first kissed him
and the man had seen her in her underwear.
 
Logically, she didn’t have many options.
 
Cut herself out of the dress—ah, no.
 
Wake Vivian to help—rude when she wasn’t feeling well.
 
That left him, and for a second, Beth almost
succumbed to the tension between them and kissed him.

Could
she keep resisting the entire month he wanted her to stay?

She
dressed in jeans and a tee, put away her finery, and sat down to send Mom an
e-mail about the party.
 
Describing the
house and dinner and the music helped calm her down, and she felt cool and
normal by the time she carried the envelope of prints downstairs.

“Jacob?”

“In the kitchen, love.”
 
He stood at the window to the backyard with a glass of something
clear.
 
Probably water.

“Here
are the photos I was going to show you.”

He
took the envelope.
 
“Thanks. I should be
going. It’s late. I’ll come get you for the meeting tomorrow.”

He
was leaving?
 
“I thought we were going to
grab a bite.”
 
Great, Beth, you scared him off
.

He
sighed.
 
“Food isn’t really on my mind
right now.”

“What
do you mean?”

“You’re
a bloody siren, Beth. More alone time isn’t the best idea at the moment.”

“It’s
a
restaurant
, Jacob, not a cozy cabin
for two.”

He
turned from the window and set the glass on the island.
 
“And then?”

“And
then, what?”

“Where
do we go from there?
My flat?
Here?”

She
threw her hands up.
 
“Fine.
Leave. Run away.”
 
She stomped out of the
kitchen and opened the front door.

He
slowly followed, looking pained.
 
He
glanced at her face, set in a hard mask, shook his head, and walked out.
 
She slammed the door, locked it, and ran
upstairs to flop on her bed.

Dammit.
 
Why couldn’t we date without all this sexual tension?

She
hoped no one heard the door.
 
It was
stupid to slam it at this hour, but that was a Lawson trait.
 
Doors got slammed when they were pissed
off.
 
Her mom’s version was slamming the
cabinet doors in the kitchen while she cleaned.
 
Always knew Dad was in trouble if she heard that.

If
she went to bed now, she could wake up early enough to call Mom.
 
She washed her face, brushed her teeth,
pulled the pins out of her hair, and turned off the lights.

She
woke a little before seven.
 
Since she’d
washed her hair the afternoon before, she knotted it out of the way for a quick
shower.
 
No one else was up, yet, so she
found the laundry machines and washed the clothes she’d worn so far.

Vivian
came downstairs at eight-thirty.
 
“You’re
up early for a Saturday.”

“Got my eight hours.
Tea?
Kettle’s
gonna whistle any minute.”

“Certainly.
Thank you.”
 
Vivian opened a cupboard and took out a tin of loose-leaf and a small
teapot.
 
“Did you have fun last night?”

Except at the end of it.
 
“Yeah.
Not my normal
scene, but it was nice enough. I never went to a formal at school, so getting
dressed up was neat.”

The
kettle sang.
 
She poured hot water into
the little teapot.
 
“I’m sorry I had to
leave early, but I need to take medication right away if I feel that kind of
headache coming on.”

“Migraine?”

“Something
like
that, yes. The pill knocks me out within an hour.
Most inconvenient.”
 
While her tea brewed, she retrieved a mug.
 
“So, do you have plans for today?”

“Well,
I’m meeting a photographer friend of Jacob’s to pick her brain.
Other than that, nope.”
 
Beth poured the leftover water in the kettle into a bowl of oatmeal.

Vivian
dropped one lump of sugar in the mug,
then
poured the
tea.
 
After stirring it three times, she
sipped from the cup.
 
“I thought Jacob
had a concert tonight,” she said, green eyes looking over the rim.

“He
mentioned it.”

“You’re
not going?”

Beth
shrugged.
 
“He didn’t invite me.”

“Ah.”
 
There was a lot of weight in that “ah”.

“There’s
no
ah
…only two facts: I know about
the concert and I’m not going.”

“Alright.”

A
tricksy
woman, but Beth was
not
going to spill details.
 
She shook her head and picked up her oatmeal to sit at the table.

Failing
at getting any dirt, Vivian picked up her teacup and a saucer.
 
“Well, I think I’ll take my tea and get
dressed.”
 
She’d come down in her robe
and pajamas.
 
“Have fun today.”
 

“Yep.
I’m sure I’ll see you later.”

Once
she was gone, Beth checked the dryer to see if the first load was done.
 
She folded the clean clothes and tossed the
wet ones in the machine.
 
Picking up the
small stack, she carried it to her room and put it on the bed so no one would
stumble upon her socks and undies.
 
That made her think
of home and Daddy going “uh…” because he
found women’s stuff in the laundry room again.
 
Mom always offered to do his stuff with hers, but he insisted on doing
it his way.
 
Even used
a different soap just to avoid it “smelling girly”.

Beth
retrieved her breakfast and picked up the phone.

“Lawson residence.”
 
They picked up on the first ring.

“Hey, Mom.”

“Beth!
I just read your e-mail. Sweetie, do you know what time it is?”

Checking
her watch, she did the math.
 
“Crap, it’s
just after one, huh?”
 
She smacked her
forehead.
 
“I’m sorry. I wasn’t
thinking.”

“It’s
okay. I was still up reading a novel, but you’re lucky I picked it up before
your father heard it.”

Thank
God Dad slept like the dead.
 
“Yeah.
Again, sorry.”

“Are
you still having a good time, honey?”
 
Dang sensitive Mom ears.

“Just a little homesick.
I was doing a little laundry and
remembered how he gets all weird if he finds a whites load.”

She
laughed.
 
“You should have seen him when
we first got married. Sure, he had no problem stripping those things off in
bed, but—”

“Mom!
Eww, stop!
TMI!”

That only made her laugh
more.
 
“How else do you think you came to be, Beth?”

“Stork.”

“Ah,
you kids… Well, unless there’s something you need, can we talk later, honey? I
need to get to bed.”

“No,
sure,
later’s
good. Sorry about the hour, again.
Sweet dreams, Mom.”

“Thank
you, Beth. Have fun today. Be good. We love you.”

“Love
you, too.”
 
She heard her hang up the
phone.
 
Note to self: eight hours
earlier, NOT later
.

Still
three hours left before Jacob arrived.
 
She flopped back on the bed and sighed, hoping today would be
normal.
 
They
could
be, if this stupid attraction thing would stop getting in the
way.
 
Otherwise, a month of this was
going to drive her insane.

Maybe
a few more days were all she
should
stay.

****

Her
door was open.
 
Jacob found her on the
bed, reading a book.
 
He rapped twice on
the door.

“Hey.”

“Hi,”
he said.
 
“Ready to
go?”

She
put a bookmark in the book and set it on the nightstand.
 
“Yeah.”
 
She settled the strap of her bag across her
torso and followed him out.
 
“Where’s the
meeting?”

“Deli close to the gig.”

“She’s
shooting you tonight?”

“Yeah,
but we’re
payin
’ this time. We need a cover for the
demo sleeve.”

“Explains
the haircut,” she said behind him.

He
reached the first floor.
 
“Yeah.”
 
He ran a hand
over his locks.
 
“Saw a barber this
mornin’.”
 
It was shorter on the sides
with the top left long enough to slick back or spike.
 
No more bleached tips.

She
wore the same jeans from last night and a plain blue tee, her hair pulled back
into a French braid.
 
No make-up, no
earrings, no perfume—just Beth.

Didn’t make him want her less.
 

Pushing
that thought aside, he opened the front door and walked to the bike, passing her
the extra helmet.
 
She climbed on behind
him and wrapped her arms around his middle, gripping her arms instead of his
waist.

“You
can hold on to me, love. That’s how this works.”

“I’m
fine.”

He
sighed and started the bike.
 
At least
after a few times now, she no longer felt terrified behind him, though having
her wrapped tightly around him was nice.
 
They needed to talk later.
 
He
hated when it got awkward between them.

Kit
was already at the deli.
 
She was around
thirty, with tousled ice-blonde hair that grazed her cheekbones.
 
Standing to greet them when they walked in,
she was taller than Beth.

“Hey, Jake.
Nice to see you’re only—
”
 
She
checked her watch.
 
“Five minutes late.”

“Traffic.”
 
He nudged
Beth forward.
 
“This is Beth Lawson.”

“Hi.”
 
She offered a handshake.

“Kit
Vokac
. You’re interested in pro photography?”
 
She took her seat and gestured they should do
the same.

“Yeah.
I’m rarely without a camera these days, but I’ve been
hooked since I was a kid,” Beth said.

Kit
nodded.
 
“Well, I’ll say first you won’t
get rich by it, unless you’re very, very lucky, so if fame and glory’s what
you’re after, I’m not workin’ with ya.”

“It’s
not. My mother used to have local gallery showings, but she only made enough to
buy new equipment here and there. I’m in it for love and I want to learn.”

Kit
shrugged.
 
“Good
enough, then.
You can observe tonight and we’ll see how it goes.”

“Beth
won’t disappoint you,” he said.

“Well,
I gotta run, kids.”
 
Kit stood.
 
“See you later.”

Beth
kicked his shin when they were alone.

“Ow.
What was that for?”

“I
can speak for myself. You didn’t need to interject.”

“
Sorry
.”
 

She
sighed.
 
“What time are you meeting at
the club?”

“’Round six.”

“Fine.
I’ll see you later.”
 
She stood and started for the door.
 
He hopped up and caught her arm.

“Where
are you going?”

“Exploring.
I’m on vacation, remember?”
 
Jerking out of his grip, she folded her arms
under her breasts.

“You
don’t know where anything is, Beth.”

“I
have a map.”

Bloody stubborn woman.
 
“Are you really mad enough over one interruption
to run away from me?”

She
rolled her eyes and turned for the door.
 
“Get over yourself.”

He
followed her out to the sidewalk.
 
“Doesn’t take a genius to see you’re still mad about last night, love.”

“Fine,
yes, the whole week has been a lesson in frustration.
Happy?
I want things to go back to how they were.”

“What
things
?”

“This.”
 
She gestured around them.
 
“Us.
I’m tired of
fighting with you and being confused. It’s too much too fast, and I still have
to go home.”

“You
want me to forget, Beth? I can’t do that.”
 
She was already in his blood, his soul.

“Be
my friend, Jacob. Or I’m leaving tomorrow.”

“That’s
not fair.”

She
turned her gaze away to watch the cars passing by.
 
“It’s what I’ve decided.”

If that was how she wanted it
.
 
“Then I’ll miss you.”