Retreat (32 page)

    
“We are alone,” she reminded him.

    
“And unarmed.”

    
“What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked.

    
“It means,” he said, as he began paddling
again, “that I don’t want you to have a weapon or a way to get back to the
shore until I’m ready for you to go there.”

    
“What are you up to?” she asked.

    
“You’ll see,” he said, smiling wickedly and
keeping his eyes locked on hers.

    
He continued paddling until he came to a
wooded island in the middle of the lake. If Clara had to guess she’d put it at
five acres across. Jon pushed the canoe with the oar until they were halfway
onto the land.

    
“Okay, get out,” he said.

    
“What about you?” she asked, suddenly
wondering if his big plan involved abandoning her on this tiny island.

    
He laughed. “I’m getting out, too, don’t
worry.”

    
She did as he asked. He secured the boat to
a tree along the shore and then took her hand again. “Come on. I want to show
you something.”

    
They hiked uphill until they found the head
of a narrow footpath that serpentined up into the trees. Clara stayed close
behind Jon as they followed the trail up to the top of the hill. “Where are we
going?” she asked, watching her footing on the rocky path.

    
“There,” he said, stopping and pointing.

    
At the top of the hill nestled among the
trees sat a small cabin, about half the size of Firelight Falls.
It had a tiny front porch and two window boxes filled with colorful peonies.

    
“What’s this?” she asked.

    
“This is Hidden Falls Cabin,” he said.

    
“What are we doing here?” she asked.

    
“Fishing, remember?” he said innocently.
“Come on.”

    
He led her inside the cabin, which had
stayed cool even as the sun grew hot because of the shade from the trees and
open push-out windows that allowed the breeze to filter through.

    
There wasn’t much to it, a small sitting
area and a coffee table in the living room and a kitchen with a two-man table,
a sink and a dorm-sized refrigerator. A door to the left of the kitchen looked
like it led to a small bedroom. Two fishing poles and a tackle box were propped
up by the door.

    
“Don’t tell me you rented this place, too,”
Clara said, looking up at him with disbelief.

    
“I rented this place first,” he said,
putting the two beers from his backpack into the small fridge next to a plastic
container that looked like it was full of bait. “But then when I saw how far
out it was I knew it would take a little doing to get you to come out here with
me.”

    
“So what was your big plan?” she asked, putting
her hands on her hips. “To bring me out here to seduce me?”

    
He slowly set the backpack down on the
table, then turned to look at her. The fire in his eyes made her breath
catch.
 

    
“Is that what you want?” he asked, walking
over to her.

    
Her heart began to beat faster. She’d
expected him to deny it.

He put a hand
around her waist and pulled her to him. “Because that can be arranged.”

    
She could feel the heat from his body and
the hard muscle of his arms around her, still tight from rowing. She ran her
fingers along them, which caused her to feel another part of him harden as
well.

    
She looked into his deep brown eyes and her
whole body electrified.

    
He was looking at her, hungry.

    
“I don’t know …” she started, but he bent
down and kissed her hard, pulling her closer to him.

    
Oh, she knew.

    
At that moment there was no doubt that she
wanted him, too.

    
She kissed him back, causing him to sweep
her up into those strong arms and walk back to the bedroom. She kicked off her
Birkenstocks on the way.
 

    
In a moment she was on the bed, and he was
hovering above her, holding himself up with his arms while he kissed her lips
and then worked his way down her neck.

    
Clara shuddered as the voltage of those
kisses passed through her.

    
Jon reached down and unbuttoned her shirt,
still kissing her neck, unhooking the front clasp on her bra and pushing it
aside.

    
She closed her eyes briefly as he trailed
his kisses down to her breasts, where he took each nipple and sucked and kissed
until it stood at attention.

    
She reached up and pulled off his shirt so
she could feel his warm skin against her.
 
He shimmied off her shorts then stood back for a moment, his heated eyes
scanning her naked body.

    
He unbuckled his pants and she watched as
they fell to the ground. Her body responded to the way he was looking at her
and she reached for him impatiently.

    
He teased her first, expertly using his
mouth and his hands to bring her to the brink, until she was so ready she had
to have him.

    
She looped her arms around his tanned neck
as he gently pushed all the way in, taking his time against the resistance of
her body. When he began to thrust, she instinctively arched to meet him, and
then, in an instant of pure sensation, let go completely.

    
When they finished he balanced his weight
on top of her, breathing hard as she rubbed his bare back. He shivered as she
touched him, and he leaned in to kiss her neck.

    
“God, I missed you,” he mumbled between
kisses. “This.”

    
She smiled against his warm skin.

    
She’d missed this, too. She closed her eyes
and savored the safe feeling of having him on top of her, the heady scent of
their bodies together.

    
She awoke sometime later, curled up against
him, his arms around her bare body. She pushed aside that nagging voice of
caution and snuggled up closer, enjoying the moment. He gently stroked her
hair, kissing her on the forehead.

    
She opened her eyes to find him grinning at
her, that devilish grin that had always made her melt.

    
She smiled back at him. “Hey,” she said.

    
“Hey.”

    
“What did we just do?”

    
He raised his eyebrows in surprise. “You
don’t remember?” he said, turning so she could feel him against her. “Let me
show you.”

    
“That’s not what I meant,” she said,
smiling.

    
It didn’t matter what she meant. He was
ready again and she didn’t have the wherewithal or desire to try to stop him.
When they were done they collapsed against each other, the breeze from the open
windows caressing their skin.

    
The cabin was darker than it had been when
they arrived, although Clara could still make out the sun shining down through
the trees outside the bedroom window.

    
“We should go,” she murmured, not really
wanting the afternoon to end.

    
“Not yet,” he said, pulling himself up so
he was leaning on one arm and looking at her next to him. “I want to look at
you some more, here in my bed.”

    
She pushed him over. “Will you stop with
the caveman routine already?” she asked.

    
“It’s not me, it’s you. Don’t you get that
by now? You make me crazy on so many levels,” he said.

    
“So now what do we do?” she asked softly.

    
“Make it work,” he said, swinging his legs
off the bed and grabbing his pants. “No matter how hard it is.”

    
“Are you sure you mean that?” she asked.

    
He stopped and looked into her blue eyes.
“I’ve never meant anything more in my life. Now come on, I need to go get
Marcy.”

    
“What time is it?”

    
“A little after five. There’s no way I’ll
be there on time as it is. The town’s forty-five minutes away.”

    
“It’s that late?” she asked. “Shit. They’ve
probably sent out a search party for us by now.”

    
“I don’t think so,” he said, a grin
touching his lips. “Your mom and dad both know you’re with me.”

    
“How does my dad know?” she asked, her eyes
growing wide as a wave of embarrassment swept over her as she thought about her
poor father out on the retreat with Karen while she was getting it on across
the lake. She felt her cheeks grow warm.

    
“I told him earlier today that I wanted to
spend the afternoon with you,” Jon said, sitting on the edge of the bed and
caressing her cheek. “He didn’t have a problem with it.”

    
“Funny, he never mentioned that to me this
morning,” she said, sitting up.

    
“He’s an interesting man, your dad. I
really like him,” Jon said. “All he cares about is seeing you happy.”

    
“I bet you do. I’m not sure I’ll be able to
handle it if you two are always in cahoots like this.”

    
“I wouldn’t go that far. He may not have
been so fine with it if he knew that the innocent fishing trip I’d planned
worked out like this.”

    
“You’re probably right,” she said. “But
there’s nothing innocent about you.”

    
He bent down and kissed her. “Or you. Thank
God.”

    
By the time they made it across the lake
the sun was beginning its descent in the late afternoon sky. Jon showed Clara a
shortcut back to Firelight
Falls, while he jogged
over to the campsite to get his car.

    
Clara took her time heading back to the
cabin, replaying the afternoon in her mind.

    
She was coming to terms with the fact that
if she was going to be able to live with herself she’d have to forgive Jon for
the way he behaved in Fort Worth, to chalk it up to a stupid mistake. Lord knew
she’d made a few of those herself in the past year. He’d apologized and seemed
sincere.

    
And he was here, on this stupid retreat
with her instead of down at Freedman’s where he should be. Clara couldn’t
imagine how much work must be piling up down there, weekend or not, while he
was trying his damnedest to woo her up here. It was the first time she’d ever
seen him put anything before his job.

    
And, of course, she’d slept with him now.
Twice. That had to count for something.
 
Apparently her body was three steps ahead of her mind.

CHAPTER
16

    
Clara stepped out of the shower, admiring
the healthy glow her skin had gained from lulling in the sun on the lake and spending
time in bed with Jon. She allowed her skin to soak in her favorite lotion, a
combination of lime and raspberries that was sure to draw every mosquito from
here to Brighton. On top of the lotion she
placed a few well-positioned sprays of fragrance-free bug spray, then pulled on
a pair of jogging pants and a matching v-neck t-shirt. She tied her warm-up
jacket around her waist and headed toward the kitchen.

    
The cabin had been deserted when she
arrived, and Clara assumed the rest of the girls were still out on the trail
with Karen. She figured she was pretty high on Karen’s shit list by now, but
she didn’t let it bother her. She’d determined early on that Karen’s main
purpose was more about making them feel good about themselves than
accomplishing any real business. As far as therapy went, the afternoon with Jon
had done much more to heal her spirit than fifty teambuilding exercises ever
could.

    
She poured a tall glass of water from the
gallon jug in the refrigerator and took a seat at the wooden table. She picked
up her tangerine agenda card, which had her name sprawled across the top in
fine-tipped red ink.