Learning to Breathe Again (25 page)

“
I’m fine, either way, but
yes, if there’s enough room, I wouldn’t mind staying here,”
Bayleigh answered.

“
There’s plenty of room.
Aunt Helen and Uncle Steve built this house hoping Jack and Mitch
would never leave,” Nicole smiled at her. “They’ve remodeled a bit
over the years, but the upstairs now has what amounts to two master
bedroom suites, and three spare bedrooms. Plus there’s the guest
suite downstairs. Granted, a couple of those bedrooms are small,
but they work when we all want to crash here,” Nicole
explained.

“
Then we’ll stay here,” Jack
squeezed her waist. “I’m just going to run out and get the bags out
of the truck,” he told her. “Nicole, which rooms should we
take?”

“
Take your old room for
yourself and give Bayleigh Mitch’s old room. At least Carly has
made it into more of a guest room and it’s not a shrine to his
glory days,” Nicole told him, following him to the front door. “I
gave Brian the downstairs guest room and Jason and I will have my
old room,” she gave him a knowing grin.

“
And managed to pretty much
put me and Bayleigh on the complete opposite side of the house from
everyone else.”

“
She happened to mention
that both of you have been having trouble sleeping. This way, you
can keep each other company and not worry about the rest of us,”
she winked at him. “The beds in both rooms should be made. If not,
you know where everything is. I’ll see you in the morning,” she
gave him a hug and then headed to the stairs, where her husband was
waiting for her. Jack shook his head at her antics and then grabbed
his coat out of the closet, pulling it on even as he went out the
door to get their bags out of the truck.

Walking back inside the house, he found
Bayleigh waiting for him at the foot of the stairs. “You okay?” he
asked, after he hung up his coat and walked over to her.

“
I’m fine. Brian and I were
just talking for a minute after you all left the kitchen, and when
I walked out here, I realized I have no idea where I’m sleeping
tonight,” Bayleigh told him as she tried to smother a
yawn.

“
Come on, sleepyhead. I’ll
show you to our rooms,” Jack chuckled and took her hand in his,
leading her up the stairs. “Jason and Nicole are in her old room
down that hallway, last bedroom on the right. The set of double
doors are to Mitch’s and Carly’s suite. Nicole is probably going to
lose her old room to the nursery, once Carly agrees that the baby
doesn’t need to be in their room.”

“
And down this hallway are
where mine and Mitch’s bedrooms were. Ma and Pop’s room is right
across the hall. I think Ma knew she needed to keep a closer eye on
us than she did on Nicole,” he winked at her as he opened one of
the doors. “This was my old room,” he explained, pulling her
inside.

“
I heard Nicole say to put
me in Mitch’s old room…” she started to say.

“
That’s the beauty of
Nicole’s plan,” Jack interrupted, walking over to a door. “Our
bedrooms connected through the bathroom,” he explained, opening the
door. “Your room is through there. Or you can stay in here with me.
Your choice,” Jack watched her face, looking for any signs of
hesitancy or fear.

“
Wow, I think my entire
apartment in England could fit inside of these rooms,” Bayleigh
whispered, stepping into the room and looking around. Her eyes met
Jack’s and she smiled. “Who gets the bathroom first?”

“
You go right ahead,” he set
her bag down on the end of the bed. “I’m going to go downstairs and
grab a drink.”

“
Liquid courage?” she asked
with a raised eyebrow.

“
Water. I’m getting water to
drink, smartass. Do you want anything?”

“
I’m fine, but thanks,” she
laughed, grabbing her bag off the bed. “If you’re disappearing to
give me some room, I’ll be out of the bathroom in twenty
minutes.”

“
Take your time,” he called
over his shoulder as he walked out of the room, making sure the
door closed behind him. He could only hope everyone else had gone
to bed; imagining her in the shower had not done him any favors.
Maybe he could think of something he needed out of his truck? The
weather would kill his libido in a second. He debated it as he
headed for the kitchen.

JACK STAYED DOWNSTAIRS FOR AS LONG as he
dared, giving Bayleigh the time she’d requested. He headed back
upstairs and walked into his old room to find her propped up
against the headboard, already under the covers. The tight tank top
she was wearing to sleep in cupped her breasts, leaving nothing to
the imagination. She had a book on her lap but he forced himself to
keep his gaze on her face. If he glanced down again, he would lose
it.

“
Are you warm enough?” he
asked, grabbing his own bag off the floor where he’d set it
earlier.

“
I’m fine. Just looking
through your old yearbooks,” she held the book up and he
groaned.

“
Keep in mind my freshman
year was my awkward year,” he told her, heading for the
bathroom.

“
I’m more interested in all
these things people said to you,” she waggled her eyebrows at him.
“Sounds like you were quite the ladies’ man in high
school.”

Jack stopped and looked over his shoulder.
“High school was a long time ago,” he muttered, stepping in the
bathroom and shutting the door. The room was still a little steamy
from her shower, so she must’ve taken longer than she’d said she
was. The aroma of her soap still lingered in the air, toying with
his senses as he took his own shower and toweled off. The floral
scent made him think of fields of wildflowers and picnics. And
making love in the Texas sun. Muttering a curse, he turned the hot
water off and stood under the freezing cold spray. God, he hated
cold showers.

After getting his raging hormones under
control yet again, he toweled off and reentered the bedroom,
dressed only in his shorts. He was going to take advantage of
having central heat and Bayleigh in his bed. Even if they didn’t do
anything but sleep tonight, he wanted to feel her against his
chest. Bayleigh looked up from his yearbook and grinned at him.

“
Which year are you looking
at?” he asked, going around to the far side of the bed and climbing
in under the covers beside her.

“
Your senior year. I love
all of the candid shots of you and your friends,” she tapped one of
them and he shook his head.

“
That was the year Nicole
was one of the editors and she had it out for me because of who I
was dating,” Jack tried to take the book out of her
hands.

“
And who were you
dating?”

“
The Varsity Cheerleading
squad. Maybe a few from the JV squad. I can’t remember anymore.
They aren’t important,” he tugged on the book again, this time
succeeding in pulling it out of her grasp.

“
Why would Nicole be upset
that you dated a few cheerleaders?”

“
It probably had something
to do with the fact I was dating all of them at the same time and a
couple of them were her friends,” Jack told her, setting the
yearbook down on the nightstand.

“
No way!” her eyes went wide
and she stared at him.

“
I was sixteen, I think, and
as we discussed before, the hometown football hero. I was a
god!”

“
You were a horn dog!” she
shot back, laughing. “All of them, as in all of the
cheerleaders?”

“
Yeah, the whole squad. I’m
not sure who was more upset, the cheerleaders or
Nicole.”

“
You’re lucky they let you
live!”

“
You know, I was just trying
to be the good guy. All of those girls liked me and wanted me and I
didn’t want to disappoint any of them.”

“
Uh-huh. How many dates did
you have after that?”

“
I decided after that I
needed to keep my mind on my studies for a while. And then when I
rejoined the dating world, the girls made sure they posted it on
the school’s website whenever someone had a date with me. The
counselor and the principal weren’t too thrilled with my behavior,
either, now that I think back,” Jack told her with a smile, as he
stretched out on his back, hands folded behind his head. “So who
did you date in high school?”

“
I didn’t date in high
school,” Bayleigh muttered.

“
Oh, come on. A hot chick
like yourself?”

She reached over and slapped his chest, and
he caught her hand, holding it, his thumb stroking over the pulse
point in her wrist, feeling it speed up at his touch. “I didn’t,”
she insisted, turning her head to look at him. “I mean, I dated
some but just guys that I considered friends. I never dated as in
‘boyfriend-girlfriend’ dating.”

“
Okay, so what kinds of guys
did you hang out with?” he asked, tugging on her hand until she
slid over in the bed and laid her head on his shoulder.

“
Nerdy, bookish boys. I
wasn’t cool enough to date a jock, such as yourself.”

“
Not even in
college?”

“
I met Will. He was the
first hot guy that ever looked twice at me,” her fingers were
tracing patterns on his skin.

“
I think you’re selling
yourself short,” Jack turned slightly so that she was on her back
and he could lean over her. “I’m betting you were like some of the
girls in our high school—the hot guys looked but the girls always
had their nose buried in a book and didn’t notice,” he leaned in to
kiss her, his tongue tracing the edge of her bottom lip, teasing
her. She moaned and brought her hand up to the back of his head,
holding him to her so she could deepen the kiss.

Jack drew back and studied her. “What are we
doing here, Bayleigh?”

“
You’re kissing me. I’m
touching you,” she stroked his chest, eliciting a deep groan from
him. “I think this may be called foreplay,” she waggled her
eyebrows.

“
Two can play at that game,
sweetheart,” he warned, lowering his head to kiss her as his own
hand swept down over her chest. A teasing touch, that’s what it was
meant to be. He could feel her nipples through the thin tank top,
pressing into the hand he settled over her breast. Using his
fingertips, he teased the nipples into hard points, switching back
and forth between both breasts, teasing, stroking, and pinching.
Her hands were mimicking his motions on his chest, driving both of
them wild.

She broke the kiss, her breathing ragged.
Keeping her eyes locked on him, she reached for the hem of her tank
top, ripping it off over her head. “I think I like this game,” she
whispered as she watched his eyes glaze over with desire as he
brought his hand back up to cup her breast.

“
We’re playing with fire,
you know,” he whispered, his thumb stoking across her nipple,
causing her to moan and arch her back, thrusting her breasts
towards him. “Hold onto me, sweetheart,” he muttered, lowering his
head to take her nipple into his mouth. He felt her hands on his
head, the scrape of her nails on his scalp, the feeling more erotic
than he’d ever remembered feeling before. He lapped at her nipple,
drawing back to blow on it, watching the goosebumps break out on
her skin, before he sucked it back into his mouth, rolling it
between his teeth, giving it a gentle bite, before switching to the
other one.

Bayleigh moaned again, as her hands slid up
to his shoulders, her fingernails digging in, trying to pull him
closer. Her legs parted, her left leg wrapping around him, pressing
the lower half of her body up against his. Jack could feel the heat
of her arousal through her pajama bottoms and his shorts. He
stroked a hand down her side, his fingers skimming along the edge
of her cotton pants, finding the tie in front and tugging on it,
sliding his hands inside to cup her ass and pull her against him,
letting her feel his erection through their clothes.

With a sharp inhale, Bayleigh’s fingers
clutched his hips and even through his shorts, he was pretty sure
her nails had pierced his skin. Her whole body had become tense. He
released her nipple with a ‘pop’ and leaned back to look at
her.

“
Bayleigh? You with me?” he
whispered, his hand coming up to stroke over her hair, pushing it
back away from her face.

Swallowing hard, she opened her eyes and
looked at him. “I can’t,” she whispered and then started
sobbing.