Only One (Ward Sisters Book 2) (10 page)

She shoved him off her. “You've been letting me bathe you for three days and you weren't even taking Xanax?”

He chuckled. “Busted.”

“Why would you do that?” He grinned and tilted his head as if to say,
Why do you think?
“You wanted me to feel you up.”

“To be fair, under the circumstances, you were as innocent as could be. Which is why I decided to come clean. I don't want you to be innocent anymore.”

Heat rushed between her thighs and up her face. She was a little pissed. And a lot turned on. “That's mean. You were getting off while I bathed you and you didn't even let me know.”

“I'm letting you know now. And I was getting blue balls.”

“Good. You deserve it for doing that sort of thing. I've wracked my brain as to how I could help you get past this more easily and you stood there playing me.”

He touched her cheek. “I didn't mean for you to feel played. I just wanted to wait until the meds really wore off before I told you that I want to sleep with you again.” He kissed her, hard. “I want you, Jen. I want to take you right here, right now.”

“We don't have a condom, Rob.”

“I know. Do we need one? Aren't you on the pill?”

“I am. Did you do this with Lola? Because I don't trust her.”

“No. Never. Not with anyone else.”

“Not even Rachel?”

“Not even her. Have you before?”

“No. Are you sure it's a wise idea?”

“I'll take my chances if it means being with you like that.” She squeezed her knees together. He smiled slyly. “You want it.”

“Yes,” she whispered. “I've wanted to be with you again for a while.”

“Then let me make love to you,” he pleaded as he looked at her mouth. Gazing into her eyes, he touched her once more.

Her breath hitched. She did want him. Badly. It had been a challenge to wash his beautiful body and be chaste about it.

Jenna reached for him and stroked him, root to tip.
Yes
, her eyes said. She wanted him inside her again. As if reading her mind, Rob lifted her off the floor and breached her folds. She gasped, having forgotten how big he was. It hurt and felt good all at once. It had been a while. A long, long while – since the last time she'd been with him.

“Am I hurting you?” he asked, sounding concerned.

“No. Why didn't we keep doing this? It feels amazing,” she said, panting. “Lola was an idiot to walk away from you.”

“I think I'm the idiot. I could have been doing this for the last two years. God, you feel like heaven.” He lowered her hips and gravity seated her more deeply onto him.

Jenna moaned loudly. “If you keep doing that, I'll come.”

“Good. I
really
like making you come. Tell me when you're ready. I want to come with you.”

“Oh, Rob. Now. I'm ready now.”

She kissed him as she came and moaned her pleasure into his mouth as he did the same. Rob held her tightly to him as he pressed harder, groaning his orgasm. He balanced her against the wall as they recovered from the bliss, panting. Then he set her on the floor and held her in his embrace under the warm water. He rubbed her back and her hair as she lay her head against his sculpted pecs. After a minute, she kissed his chest, ran her hands up around his neck, and looked at him. He smiled.

“You're incredible,” he whispered. “I should have been doing that instead of screwing around with Lola.”

“We talked about it before. We agreed it would only be sex.”

“It would still be sex with someone I care for deeply. That's better than casual sex with a woman who was only out to use me. You'd never use me.”

She touched his cheek. “No, I wouldn't. I love you. I'm not
in love
with you, but I do love you.”

“I love you, too. One of these days, we'll both fall in love, for real. Can't we just make each other happy until then?” He shut off the water and brushed droplets from her cheeks as he caressed her jaw with both hands.

Jenna bit her lip. “I don't know...”

“Please? Even if it's just for a little while? We don't have to make it public, if that's what you're worried about.”

He grabbed a towel and for the first time in a week,
he
was the one drying
her
.

“Kind of cliché, don't you think? The assistant sleeping with her boss?” She smiled, despite the unexpected ache in her chest.

Rob turned serious. “No more cliché than the assistant saving her boss' life when he goes off the deep end and stupidly takes his pills with booze. I owe you my life.”

She held his face in her hands. “You owe me nothing. I'd do anything for you.”

“Then let me make love to you and get lost in your beautiful body. Help me push that woman out of my mind. I want to explore every inch of you. Take the time to enjoy you in ways I didn't before.”

“Things will never be the same after this. You know that. It'll always be there between us. Even after we each meet the love of our life, it will be there. Can you live with going from everything back to only friends?” Jenna wasn't so sure
she
could.

“I wouldn't suggest it if I thought it would mean heartbreak for either of us. If we're not in love with each other by now, it's not going to happen. We've had plenty of chances the last two years. Unless you're telling me that your feelings for me aren't what you said they were before...”

She thought she caught a glimpse of hope in his eyes and didn't know how to react to that. Back in the bedroom, he led her to the bed to sit beside him. Despite what his look might mean, she had to be honest, and she needed to guard her heart.

“No, Rob. I think you're beautiful, sexy and smart. You're kind, sweet, generous and one of the nicest people I've ever known. You've been blessed with excellent equipment and the sense to learn how to use it right. You're stronger than you think and you're worth the effort it takes to be with you in this crazy life. And despite wishing, with all my heart, that I could fall in love with you, I feel the same way I did when we met. You should be perfect for me, but something is missing. I can only assume that I'll someday find it with someone else.”

He kissed her, sweetly, and sighed. “I know. I feel the same way. I've loved having sex with you since the first time, and I wish we were the kind of people who could build a life on great sex and mutual admiration, but we're not. I'd like to keep sleeping with you, if only so that I can go into my next relationship with open eyes. I won't be blinded by lust or naïve enough to think that worshiping someone is the same as loving them. Next time, until I meet a woman like you who also makes me feel giddy and in love, I won't bother. I know you won't let me fall into the same traps I did with Lola and Rachel.”

“Never. If she isn't up to snuff, I'll tell it to you straight. You do the same for me, okay? If I'm with a guy who isn't worthy of me, you tell me. Promise?”

“I'll never let you be with anyone who isn't worthy of you. He better be okay with us still being friends. I need you in my life.”

“Same goes for you. Maybe we should keep this between us. Are you getting new guards soon?”

“Rick didn't say. But I agree. Probably best to keep things the same as before, with everyone thinking that we're just friends.”

“Even though we were never really just friends.”

“No, we never were. Did you tell Amy? Or just Rick?”

Jenna blushed. “Both. Don't be mad.”

“I'm not mad, but they think that they take care of me and I'm ignorant of things. I let them believe it.”

“I know. I didn't tell them that, but I know. They mean well. They love you and just don't want to see you get hurt.”

“Which is why I let them do it. It doesn't hurt anything. But I won't let them tell me that I can't have a quiet affair with you. I'm only here for a few more weeks. Will that be enough? Can we do this until then and see where we're at when I return next winter?”

It might not be enough, but she'd take what she could get. Jenna had hoped for another chance to be with him since their first time. She climbed onto his lap and pressed herself into him.

“Can we do it all the time without condoms?”

Rob smiled. “Hell, yes. Starting now...”

**********

Like that first morning after the Lola debacle, Jenna woke to Rob's hand on her breast and her body pressed into his. Hips nestled together, his erection fit comfortably between her butt cheeks. She wasn't sure if he was awake, but she wiggled to get his attention. As she'd hoped, his fingers brushed the hair away from her neck and his lips found the sweet spot. With the wet kiss he placed below her earlobe, lust shot straight through to her center. The hand on her breast gently kneaded and tweaked her nipple. The groan came involuntarily.

He'd woken her this way every morning for the past three weeks, and in a similar fashion many times in the middle of the night.
God, I could wake up like this every day for the rest of my life
, she thought. And then,
Don't go there. Not today
.

Rob was a god in bed – instinctively, he'd known from the beginning that she loved foreplay. When he rolled her to her back, she spread her legs for him, but he didn't immediately plunge inside. He worshiped every inch of her body until she couldn't stand it anymore.

She hated that he had to leave today. God, she'd miss him.

Parted her folds, he eased the ache and she sighed. Rob's mouth devoured hers – as though this was the end, he'd never taste her again, and they were making the most of their last time. He lasted for a while and through several positions before they finally took their release and he murmured in her ear, “I'll miss you.”

Jenna tried not to cry, blinked back the tears and kept them at bay. Rob couldn't know. This was supposed to be temporary and he couldn't learn that she hoped he'd change his mind about that. She wanted more of this, more of
him.
Three weeks hadn't been enough, not really.

He held her as they both recovered, tracing light circles on her back and nuzzling her hair, inhaling deep breaths as though he was ingesting her scent. Finally, she looked up at him.

“Good morning,” she said.

“Mmm, yes. And no.”

“No? Why is that?” she asked, leaning her chin on his chest as her fingers teased the light hair around his nipples.

“Because I'm leaving later and I won't see you for a while.”

“Mmm. You did say you'd miss me.”

“I will. You going to miss me?”

“Absolutely. I've been spoiled waking this way every day.”

“That all?” he asked with a smile.

“No. I'll miss hanging out with you, but we talk every day, and there's always Skype.”

“Oh? Do you plan to do naughty things for me on Skype?”

She chuckled. “You'll have to wait and see.”

“Well, then maybe I won't be too sad to be apart. Or...”

“Or what?”

“Or you could come with me.”

“What?”

“It's not like your boss won't let you do it.”

“Rob...”

“What? Why not? Do you not want to be with me still?”

“It's not that. It's just...this was supposed to be low-key. If I travel with you...”

“It's not. Right. Except, you're my assistant. Only the guards need to know if we're sleeping together.”

“Your last girlfriend made accusations that you were less than faithful to her. Unfounded though they may be, this isn't the way to dispel the rumors. That's why we haven't left the house. We've been doing damage control for weeks, and you know the studios are worried your costars have misgivings about working with you. Lola implied that you'd hooked up with her on-set, while you were still engaged to Rachel. Do you think the paparazzi aren't doing everything in their power to catch you with another woman right now, so they can prove that you were stepping out on Lola and show that she was right? All it will take is one uploaded photo going viral before I can scrub it. If you'd just let me create that app to alert me...”

“Stop. You don't need to do that,” he said. He sat and swiped his hand over his face. “You're right. I hate that stupid woman. What the hell did I see in her? Don't say it. I know your opinion.”

Jenna smirked. Yes, she'd made that quite clear. She put her hand to his cheek. “It would be heavenly to sit on the beach with you in Cozumel, find a private spot where we could get naked, and reenact the scene in
From Here to Eternity
. It can't happen right now. You know that.”

Rob attempted a smile and sighed. “I hate it, but I know.”

“Make love to me again before I have to sneak out of here. It'll be six months before I see you. I need to store up.”

He pulled her onto his lap, so that she straddled his hips. “You're not planning to run off and meet some hot new guy?”

She kissed along his stubbly jaw. “It would go a long way toward disproving that rumor I scrubbed the other day if I'm dating while you're gone. Nothing serious, but if I'm casually going on dates, then that idea might get dropped.”