The Road Home Read online

  And suddenly she didn’t want to go home alone.

  Jason hadn’t come today with an animal for her to fix up, and she knew that was her own doing. She thought she’d feel relief, but instead she’d been on edge all day, constantly checking the waiting room, wishing he’d show up.

  Either he’d finally run out of animals, or she’d chased him off for good.

  She’d chased him off for good. Damn it.

  She drove to the grocery store and picked the items carefully. She even bought a basket to put them all in, and because she was nervous, she spent a few moments arranging everything in it before she drove to Jason’s house.

  She’d gotten his address off all the forms he’d filled out over the past week and a half, and even her anxious wondering what he’d think of her showing up out of the blue didn’t stop her.

  His large property was lined by oak trees. She turned into the driveway and eyed the largest oak tree at the end of it, knowing that was the one that Jason had hit. She shivered thinking about it and all he’d been through.

  She passed half a mile of wild grass over unused fields before she saw the old, restored farmhouse, surrounded and shaded by more gnarly old oak trees swaying in the evening wind.

  Getting out of her car with the basket over her arm was easy. Walking up his steps with the intention of making the first move on a man for the first time in her life was not.

  Fortunately—or unfortunately, depending on how she looked at it—she didn’t have far to go. He sat on the wooden swing on his porch, with his laptop resting in his lap.

  “Hey,” she said softly.

  Clearly lost in concentration, he looked up distractedly, but then he blinked, as if waking from a dream.

  She felt silly standing there holding the basket, and stupid for interrupting him when he was obviously deep in work mode. “I’m sorry, I’ll just—”

  “No, don’t go.” He closed his computer and set it aside. “I was just thinking of you.”

  “With such a serious expression on your face?” Her pulse doubled when he stood up. Tripled when he came toward her.

  “Was I looking serious?” he asked. “I don’t usually do serious.”

  But he had, and she wondered why. Then all the wondering flew out of her brain when he put his hands on the small of her back, then glided them over her spine, up and down, down and up, in a hypnotizing motion that had her wanting to stretch and purr like a kitten.

  Now the only thing on her mind was his kiss, his easy ways, and she felt the urge to toss her arms around his neck and let him take her.

  And why not let him? It was why she’d come. “Jason…”

  He looked down at her mouth, his eyes heating. “Yeah?”

  “I came here to…” She bit her lip, laughed a little at herself. “To tell you how much I’ve enjoyed your company.”

  He let out a long breath, looking suddenly serious again. “Mel, wait. There’s something you should know—”

  “I can’t wait. I want you, Jason,” she blurted out. “There.” She offered him a shaky smile. “There.”

  He put his fingers over her mouth, his jaw bunching tight. “Don’t. God, Mel, don’t.”

  Confusion, also some humiliation, burned in her gut. “I thought you’d be glad.”

  He groaned, a low, raw sound, then with an oath that blistered her ears, he kissed her, long and wet and deep. Then he gently pushed her away. “You’ve got to go.”

  His voice was rough, his breathing ragged and confused. She stared at him. “I don’t understand.”

  “I know. Go. Please, just go. Don’t waste your time on me.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  JASON STOOD THERE on his porch with his back to Mel. He squeezed his eyes tight and barely resisted the urge to throw something. Hell, yes, he’d wanted her to want him, but having not told her about Rose made him feel like the biggest jerk on earth.

  He’d met her under false pretenses. He’d kept talking to her under false pretenses. Bringing those damn animals. Maybe if he’d only done that the first time with Bob, maybe if he’d opened up and told her the truth…but he hadn’t.

  Not once.

  How the hell had this happened to him, when all he’d wanted to do was help out Rose with her daughter, he hadn’t a clue. But he’d underestimated the amount of baggage and pain that had come with Mel’s past, and he shouldn’t have. She’d be pissed when she found out, and rightfully so.

  He felt a hand on his back, urging him around to face her. She was smiling at him with the sweetest, sexiest smile he’d ever been on the receiving end of, and suddenly he knew she’d started to fall for him every bit as much as he’d fallen for her. The victory was bittersweet. “Mel—”

  Leaning in, she gave him a soft, melting kiss. “I’m scaring you. I don’t mean to.”

  Now she was worried about him. He was so un-deserving of her—

  “I brought you a picnic. But I don’t want to eat yet. Actually, I had something else in mind—food was just sort of a bribe.”

  Oh God. “What—” He had to clear his throat. “What did you have in mind?”

  Her eyes heated. “Take me to your bedroom and I’ll show you.” Before he could say a word, she’d taken his hand and opened his front door.

  Then she shot him a smile over her shoulder, a smile that promised an evening he’d never forget, a smile that promised oblivion from his torturing thoughts, a smile that promised everything he’d ever wanted.

  But after he had followed her down the hall to his bedroom, the sheets tumbled all over because he hadn’t bothered making his bed that morning, he got a good, long look at her from the low-burning lamp on his nightstand.

  Beneath that sensual expression danced an anxiety that told him she wasn’t comfortable making the first move, that she was half-braced for his rejection.

  As if he’d ever reject her. And yet, how could he do this before he admitted—

  She kicked off her heels, and her hands went to the buttons on her white blouse.

  He swallowed hard as she slowly revealed a strip of creamy skin and the curve of her breasts. His entire body reacted, but he forced himself to stand there with his hands at his side because how in good faith could he make love to her with his little secret between them. “Melissa—”

  “This is really out of character for me,” she admitted with a shaky laugh. “But I wanted to be bold tonight. Shameless.”

  She was doing a damn fine job, and it was his job to stop her. Stop her from feeling free and open and—

  Ah, hell, he couldn’t. He couldn’t take this away from her.

  Or him.

  The material fell open and her fingers moved to the fastener of her black trousers.

  His mouth went dry. “You—we…”

  “I want you,” she whispered, suddenly the sure, calm one in the room. “I’m tired of ignoring all my emotions. I want you, and I am going to show you how much.”

  Her pants fell from her hips. She shrugged off her shirt, leaving her standing before him in a white lacy bra and matching panties and nothing else.

  Which made him Dead Man Walking.

  MEL WATCHED HIM as he moved close to her. She saw need, hunger, even fear, everything she felt as well, and her heart lightened. She wasn’t just acting on her lust, though there was plenty of that.

  This was more, so much, much more. And she wanted him to feel it, too.

  “Melissa…”

  She put her fingers against his mouth. “Please, Jason. Just for tonight.”

  For a long beat he simply looked at her. “Please,” she whispered.

  In response, he yanked his shirt off over his head. Beneath, he was solid, tanned, and rippled with a lean strength that made her mouth water.

  His mouth skimmed her jaw softly. She turned her face toward him so that their lips connected, and her entire body relaxed as the tension she hadn’t realized she’d been holding slowly started to drain.

  “Melissa…” His arms ba