Wild Rekindled Love (10 page)

“Can I get you something to drink? The food is almost ready,” he asked when he reached her side.

Her face turned up to him and his gut clenched with need when she flashed him her delicious dimples. “No, thanks. I’m good.”

You certainly are.

With a quick shake of his head, he tried to clear the images of her beneath him from his mind. “Would you care to help me get the rest of the stuff set up so the girls can eat? The burgers are pretty much done, but I need to get the ketchup and stuff from the kitchen. Four hands are better than two.”

“Sure,” she said and stood beside him, the scent of coconut oil and Jamie invading his senses.

Once they were inside, she asked, “Whatever made you decide to allow Sam to have this party over here, anyway? I mean, you’ve got a great backyard with the pool and everything, but come on.”

“She’s no different than her mother, you know. She’s already figured out flashing those Wilder dimples at me will get her just about anything she wants.” He pulled open the refrigerator and grabbed several bottles of condiments.

The next thing he knew, the heat from Jamie’s body warmed his back as she slipped her arms around him.

“Just about anything?” she murmured in his ear.

“Jamie,” he whispered and closed his eyes.

Her lips grazed his shoulder as her warm breath brushed against his skin. His hand grasped the ketchup bottle so tight, he thought for sure it would crack under the pressure. The tips of her fingers skimmed the muscles of his abdomen and she chuckled behind him when he groaned softly.

Little witch.

“Dad?” Samantha called, poking her head inside the house.

Jamie stepped back and he turned around to find Sam at the sliding door, water dripping to the ground around her feet.

“Yeah?” He cleared his throat before he tried again when the first answer came out in a half squeak. “Yeah?”

“I think the burgers are done.”

His gaze caught Jamie’s and he knew the fire she ignited in him also burned brightly inside of her. Her brown eyes sparkled in the afternoon sun streaming through the window. “I’ll be right there.”

The glass opening slid shut with a soft whoosh.

Jamie flipped her hair off her shoulder as a teasing grin rippled across her lips. She cocked her perfectly arched eyebrow while her eyes skimmed down his chest and centered a moment on his cock, which was straining against the front of his jeans, before they returned to his face.

Damn it!

He cleared his throat. “Grab that plate with the lettuce and stuff on it and I’ll take the other things.” Once he stepped around her, he sighed heavily, trying to get the raging desire racing through his veins under control.

Once they reached the warm sunshine, the giggles and chatter of the girls around them dissipated the tension he felt. He pulled the hamburgers off the grill and set them on the table. A smile lifted his lips as the group dove for the hamburgers and other food before they moved off to find somewhere to sit.

He fixed himself a plate and took a seat at the table across from Jamie. “I bought a cake, too. I figured since her birthday was next week, we could celebrate it today. That is, if you don’t mind.”

Jamie’s shoulders lifted in a shrug of nonchalance, but frown lines appeared between her eyebrows. “I hadn’t really thought much about it yet. She and I usually go to the mall or something for her birthday. I’ve never really thrown her a birthday party.”

“We can count this as one, then.”

Her frown deepened and she avoided looking at him.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“Bullshit, Jamie. I know you well enough to know when something is bothering you.”

She met his stare across the table. “That’s just it, you don’t know me at all anymore.”

“That didn’t stop you from coming on to me in the kitchen.”

Jamie looked over her shoulder to make sure the girls were far enough away; they couldn’t hear her. She leaned toward him and said, “I’m horny, Wyatt. It’s been a while.” A teasing smile lifted the corners of her mouth and his heart slammed against his ribs. “At least a few weeks.”

He knew damned well what she meant as he remembered the tryst a couple of weeks previously. It was obvious she changed the subject to avoid telling him what bugged her. “Quit trying to sidetrack me. What’s bothering you?”

She shrugged again and looked at the food in her hand. “I haven’t had the money to be able to have a big party for her or buy her something really nice for her birthday.” Air rushed from between her lips in a heavy sigh. “I refused to take anything extra from my parents.”

“I’m not trying to outdo you. I have a lot of years to make up for when I wasn’t even around for her birthday.”

“I realize that, but you are making it look like I’ve been slack in taking care of her, even if you aren’t trying to. You have the money now to do what you want to for her and I don’t—not yet, anyway. Once I get my license, I’ll be able to get our own place and support her like I should.” She popped a potato chip into her mouth and then frowned.

“That reminds me. You never did tell me what you were studying.”

Her pink tongue appeared and swiped the ketchup from the edge of her mouth. He stifled the groan that rumbled in his chest.

“I’ll have my registered nurse’s license in a few months. I just graduated from the program. I’m studying for my test right now, but its slow going.”

He cocked an eyebrow and asked, “Nursing license?”

“Don’t look so surprised. I’ve always wanted to be a nurse.”

“I didn’t know that.”

“It just goes to show you how much you didn’t know about me.”

“When do you take your test?”

“In a few weeks.” She took a bite of her hamburger and he wasn’t sure if he had ever seen anything so erotic in his life, when images of those lips wrapped around his cock zipped across his mind.

“Do you need help studying?”

Why the fuck did I volunteer for that? The last thing I need is to be in close contact with her.

When she smiled, his heart flipped in his chest. “I can always use some extra help. You would probably be pretty good at it since you know the medical side of things already.”

“I can try, anyway. I’m not perfect, but I remember the hell I went through studying for my medical boards.”

“Okay—sure.”

“How about if you come back over here later tonight? You can take Samantha home and bring your book back. I’m not working tomorrow so I don’t have to worry about getting up early in the morning. I’ll even get some refreshments and we can have an all-nighter if you want.” The dimples appeared and he realized what he said.

Shit! Wrong phrase.

“What I meant…”

“Mmm…it’s been awhile for one of those, too.”

He bit the inside of his mouth to keep from commenting. He really didn’t want to know how long it had been for her when he knew exactly how long it had been for him. Way too long. His pants tightened around his cock again and he shifted on the bench.

Deciding to change the subject, he asked, “So, anymore episodes of passing out?”

The frown appeared again. “Not really.”

“Jamie?”

“All right, yes. It happened again the other day while I cleaned out one of the horse’s stalls in the barn.”

“You have got to see a doctor. This could be really serious, baby. I’m worried about you.”

She cocked an eyebrow and he realized the sweet nothing that had slipped from his mouth without thought. It had always been his endearment for her, but he hadn’t called her that in quite a while—not since the night she had passed out and he had carried her into the house.

“You don’t need to worry.”

“Why not? If nothing else, you are the mother of my child. I have a right to worry.”

“No, you don’t.” She stood and headed for the house with her plate in hand.

With a heavy sigh, he picked up his own and followed. Once they reached the kitchen and placed their plates in the sink, he took her by the arm and swung her around to face him. “Tell me why I don’t have a right to worry about you. It’s not like we can just pretend our relationship nine years ago never happened.”

Yanking her arm out of his grasp, she spat, “Maybe I wish it never had.”

“Is that really true?”

Turning her back to him and placing her hands on the counter, she sighed and bent her head. “I don’t know, Wyatt. I sometimes wonder what my life would have been like if we had never met that day at the pizza parlor.” She lifted her head and turned toward him. When their eyes met, he could see the pain in her gaze. “Don’t you ever wonder?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because I wouldn’t have had the best nine months of my life. I wouldn’t have a beautiful daughter who I adore and I wouldn’t have been with the most gorgeous woman in Laramie.” He skimmed his fingers across her jaw. “I wouldn’t trade those things for anything in the world.”

Her lips parted in silent invitation as he focused on her mouth. Stepping closer, her breasts brushed against his bare chest and her nipples puckered under her t-shirt, almost making him groan out loud. He bent his head, hell-bent on feeling her lips under his. When their mouths were close enough, he could feel her warm breath against his lips, he heard the sliding glass door open with a soft whoosh.

He groaned softly and stepped back.

“Dad?”

“Yeah, Sam.”

“Can we go back in the pool?”

“Sure. We’ll be back out there in a second. Wait until we’re out there to watch you and your friends, though.”

“Okay. Hurry up, then.”

He chuckled and shook his head. “Impatient, isn’t she?”

Jamie smiled and said, “Yep. Just like her mother.”

His thumb skimmed over her lower lip and her tongue darted out to touch his skin. “You weren’t impatient before. Seems to me, if I remember correctly, you were pretty patient with me.” Desire zinged from the finger she drew into her mouth straight to his shaft.

Releasing his thumb, she murmured, “Mmm…if you mean me waiting for you to call me after I slipped you my number, then yes, I guess I was pretty patient. You took an awfully long time to call.”

“I couldn’t get over the shock of it.”

Surprise registered across her face and her eyes widened. “Shock?”

“The prettiest girl in the whole place had just given me her number. How else can I explain it?”

She stepped away and pulled open the refrigerator. “Oh pllleeaase! The prettiest girl, my butt.”

“That’s pretty nice, too.”

Glancing over her shoulder, she rolled her eyes and shut the fridge. “Whatever. I’m sure you had your share of women in California. With those blue eyes and nice body…”

He smiled. “Nice body?”

“You had your share of girls chasing you back then, Wyatt, so don’t act like you don’t know. I’m sure there are at least a few still chasing.”

His shoulders lifted in a shrug when he leaned against the counter behind him. “I haven’t been celibate, if that’s what you mean.”

Her mouth turned down in a frown. “I didn’t think you would have been. I know I haven’t been either.” She brought the can of soda to her lips as she shot him a glance over the rim.

The thought of her with someone else sent an ache through his chest, he didn’t like.

 
“Are you coming? We want to go back into the pool,” Samantha called.

“All right, Sam.” He tilted his head toward the door and asked Jamie, “Shall we?”

“After you.”

They settled in two lounge chairs once they reached the concrete that surrounded the pool. He kept the conversation light as they watched the girls laughing and playing for the next couple of hours.

When the sun began to set, he went inside the house and brought out the cake he had bought for Samantha’s birthday, complete with ten candles. The glow lit up the small space around the pool and sparkled on the lashes of his little girl when she flashed him the biggest smile he had ever seen. She rushed around the table and threw her arms around his waist and hugged him tight. “Thanks, Dad.”

“You’re welcome, pumpkin,” he said, a little choked up himself with tears as he hugged her back.

After his conversation with Jamie earlier, he had decided to hold off on Samantha’s gift until he could get her alone. He didn’t want Jamie to feel bad and he knew once she saw the diamond necklace he had purchased, she would be pissed. They had a small truce at the moment and he didn’t want to ruin that—not right now.

Once the cake and ice cream had been devoured, the other girls went home and he walked Jamie and Samantha to her truck.

Samantha hugged him again and he kissed her on the cheek. “I hope you enjoyed your party.”

“It was awesome.”

“Good. Now, get in the truck so your mother can get you home.” After Samantha ran around to the passenger side and got in, he opened the door for Jamie and she slid inside the cab and he shut it behind her.