Against The Wall (29 page)

But now, as Tanner eased back and stared down at her, she saw something else in his eyes. She saw the man who’d snuck into her heart three months ago. One hand eased through her hair and his gaze smoldered.

“Your hair is growing out,” he said softly. He’d barely glanced at her hair. He focused on her eyes, then her mouth.

A sharp thrill zinged beneath her skin, down her back. She loved when he looked at her like he might eat her up in one bite. It made her feel valued. Desired. Jess pushed aside the unfamiliar feelings. “So is yours.” She had to touch him and stroked her thumb across his jaw.

He slowly leaned down and Jess braced herself for contact. But nothing could ready her for the electric sensation when his lips touched hers. He didn’t kiss her hard, but he kissed her well. Jess ran her hand up his muscled chest as his tongue explored her mouth. She’d forgotten how good it was to kiss him. How safe she felt in his arms. How the intimacy always made her forget everything around her. His erection grew against her lower belly and Jess rubbed against him, loving the fact that she made him this way. That she had that kind of power over this man. His hands trailed down her sides then roamed lower and cupped her ass until he’d brought her more firmly against the hard ridge in his jeans.

Desire flared hot and hungry, and,” she whisperedpositionatay b Jess lost the will to take her time. She stood on her toes, yanked Tanner closer and took control of the kiss. A second later, he jumped on board, and what had been sweet and soulful turned rough and raunchy. Their kiss exploded into a ferocious taking of lips and mouths. Their hands searched out soft skin and hard muscle. Jess wanted him more than anything else in the world, every part of her focused on the way his fingers moved along her body and the way his tongue danced with hers, so when he pulled back, breathing hard, she didn’t understand his problem.

“The phone,” he panted. When she looked at him blankly, he said it again at the same time she heard her cell phone ring. “You’d better answer it. Don’t want anyone worrying about you if they think something’s wrong.”

Taking a deep breath, Jess reached for her phone on the table. The distraction was probably a good thing. What would be the point of hooking up with Tanner? She couldn’t risk starting something with him on the chance she ended up in prison. The man deserved a full life with a woman at his side and her odds at remaining free were fifty-fifty at best.

____________

Tanner ran a hand through his hair and reined in his libido. He’d been about two seconds from tossing Jess onto the new sofa and making her his. He wanted her so bad he could barely think straight. He was so damn proud of her he wanted to burst with it.

“This is Jess,” she said, answering her phone. She listened and looked up at him. “Yes, hi, Bobby. How are you?”

Bobby McBride. The man who could make her dreams come true. Tanner held his breath, waiting for Jess’s side of the conversation. McBride was just the kind of patsy that Juneau always targeted, a man with a ton of money and no experience in show business. It was Tanner’s idea that Jess write something herself. He figured it would take her mind off the trial and kick-start a career she wanted more than anything. Her family had agreed. Instead of trying to rewrite an old screenplay, Jess had started fresh with a new idea. The past two months, she’d spent as many hours at her computer as he’d worked on the new room.

“Actually, I was going to call you tomorrow,” Jess said. “I have a project you might be interested in.” She listened and her eyes went wide. “Tonight? Oh, I don’t know about to—” She listened again and looked a little panicked before finally nodding her head. “Yes, I can, it’s just that I—” She waited again, darting a glance at him. “Okay. Sure. I’ll email it to you as soon as we hang up.” Another brief pause and she went on, “Okay. Thank you, Bobby. You too. Goodnight.” She hung up the phone, sat down and scrubbed her hands through her hair. “He wants it now. Tonight.” Then, as if Tanner might not understand her words, she looked at him with wide eyes and repeated them very succinctly. “He wants the screenplay now! Tonight!”

Tanner grinned. “Yeah, so? You finished it. Your exact words were
for real
. Send it to him. What’s the problem?”

“The problem? The problem?” She jumped to her feet and started pacing. “The problem is I just typed
the end
ten minutes ago and I’,” she whisperedce.t him m not sure it’s good enough. I mean, am I really done or do I need to change the ending? Maybe I should read through it again and see if it’s really good enough. I should—”

Tanner snagged her by the shoulders as she passed him. He kissed her hard, just once, and set her back. “It’s good enough. Send it.”

“How do you know? You didn’t even read the whole thing.”

“I read most of it. I would’ve read it all if you’d let me. Besides, you didn’t
just
finish. You finished it weeks ago and you’ve been obsessing over it since. I know it’s good.” It was better than good. It was their story. She’d called it his story, but it was about them. He was dying to know the ending, but she’d struggled over it and he didn’t want to press her. “It’s ready. Send it.” He watched her worried eyes. “Look. What’s the worst thing that can happen? He’ll say no to this project and ask you to find another one.”

“Or he’ll take his money somewhere else,” she said.

“Or that. But you risk that with any project you send him. You’re the one who told me it’s subjective. Not everyone is going to like the same things. You have to take the risk.” He rubbed her shoulders and tried to ease some of the tension out of her tired muscles. “Go on,” he told her. “Send it.” He gave her a little shove toward her computer and lifted the lid. Jess waited for it to boot up, then typed a quick email, attached the screenplay and, after a few seconds of hesitation, hit Send. The ensuing silence hovered like a fog filled with mind-numbing possibilities. Would McBride like it enough to offer the money Jess needed? If he did, would Jess retain her freedom and make her dreams come true?

Tanner closed the lid on her computer and put an end to the stilted quiet. He helped Jess to her feet and turned her toward him. “You have to risk to win,” he told her. “Life’s too short to put off living.”

Jess arched her brows. “Since when did you start quoting my parents?”

“Since I decided they know what they’re talking about.” He hadn’t planned on liking Jay and Terry so much, but some things couldn’t be helped. They were fair, decent people who looked out for their kids and their community. Since the day he’d gotten them out of Facinetti’s house, they’d looked out for him as well. He could’ve refused the offer to work on the construction crew, but Tanner hadn’t seen the logic in that. Taking the job accomplished a few things. It gave him the income he needed to survive, it kept him in Los Angeles before the trial and most importantly, it gave him close proximity to Jess. Even though he hadn’t been this close to her—and man, how he’d missed it—he’d been able to see her and talk to her practically every day. But having her in his arms…that was something he’d fantasized about for months. He’d been waiting for a sign, any kind of sign that might indicate she wanted him, but he hadn’t had one until now. Maybe she was afraid of what her family might think of them being together. Maybe she didn’t want a relationship with an ex-con. He’d been so close to calling it quits, packing up his belongings and taking off. But the thought of leaving Jess made him empty. Emptier than experience in show business Tanner behind when he sat in a cold prison cell. As crazy as it seemed, the St. Johns were all he had. They’d circled the wagons to protect both of them from the media and anyone that might do them any harm. He wasn’t sure where he fit in. He just knew he wanted to.

Now, sticking with her parents’ new motto, Tanner seized the moment. Staring into Jess’s whiskey eyes, he traced her bottom lip with his thumb. Her eyes glazed over and a wave of emotion struck Tanner head-on. He didn’t take the fact that she wanted him lightly. Most women wouldn’t want a man with a prison record. But the desire in her eyes shone bright and it matched exactly what he felt for her. With a hint of pressure, he pressed her lip down and bent his head, taking her mouth with a hunger he’d been suppressing for too long.

Jess gave into his kiss with a soft moan, her mouth open and welcoming as he tasted her. It was when she pulled back and shook her head that Tanner sensed trouble.

“We shouldn’t,” she said. But her eyes said she wanted to.

Tanner moved toward her and she stepped back. “Why?” Why put on the brakes when they clearly wanted each other so badly. “Are you worried about someone coming in or—”

“No, no.” She shook her head. “That isn’t it.” She ran her hands through her hair the way she always did when she was torn, but now that it was longer, it settled against her scalp in messy, sexy layers. “I’m just thinking about the future. About the trial. I shouldn’t do this when I don’t know what my future is going be.” She paced away from him. “You especially, you should be going out and meeting people. You aren’t chained to my family just because my dad got you a job. You should be doing all the things you didn’t get to do when you were in prison.” Facing him, she looked as innocent as she always did, concern in her eyes and in her voice.

Was this her way of trying to get rid of him? Considering she was the one who’d lost control before the phone rang, he doubted it. “Be straight, Jess. If you want me gone, then say so, but don’t deny what’s between us because you’re worried about the future. That’s only another reason why we should live for now.” He moved toward her. “I want you more than I want to breathe. I want to feel what it’s like to be inside you again. I want your taste in my mouth. What happens at the trial isn’t something we can control, but we have control over right now.”

“Fine. Let’s say we do it your way. What happens three months from now if I go to prison? Are you going to move on with your life? If I get fifteen years, will you find a woman, fall in love and have a family?”

“I don’t know what the hell I’m going to do in two days, much less three months from now. I think your parents have the right idea, Jess. You have to live in the now, because you don’t know what’s going to happen in the future.” Tanner stalked her until Jess had the wall at her back. It was very similar to their first encounter in the kitchen and his blood revved hotter just thinking about taking her here. “Your call, Jess. Are you really going to give up the time you know you have left?”

“It’s not about me, it’s about you.” she insisted. “I want you to be ha,” she whisperedce.t him ppy. What’s the point of being with me when you can be out meeting someone who might not be spending the next ten-to-twenty years behind bars?”

“You’re wasting your breath, sweetheart,” Tanner whispered as he cupped her neck and brought his mouth closer to hers. “There’s nowhere else I’d rather be than right here with you.” He sealed his words with a kiss, molding his mouth against hers in a connection so hot it would’ve set the drapes on fire had there been any.

He felt her cave. Knew he had her when she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back just as hungrily as he kissed her.

“This is just for now,” she breathed. “No ties, nothing serious.”

Tanner grunted his answer as he took her mouth in another soul shattering kiss. She could call it anything she wanted, but he’d already learned she was the kind of woman he wanted for the long haul and the last three months had only solidified that fact. He didn’t expect the feeling to go away any time soon, but damn if he planned on telling her and scaring her off even more.

When her cool palms reached under his shirt and slid under the waistband of his jeans, all thoughts of saying anything fled completely. The only thing on his mind was making her come.

Tanner hefted her against the thick archway that opened into the room. All the other walls were made of glass and he didn’t trust their strength. He would’ve checked for wainscoting on the wall, but he’d helped build the thing and knew it was smooth.

“Ohgodohgod,” she breathed, rubbing against him with a long slide.

Tanner growled a response before taking her mouth in a deep, wet kiss.

“Upstairs,” she huffed the next time they came up for air.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Tanner pulled up in front of the St. Johns’ house and killed the wipers, headlights and engine. Three months had flown by like three days. November rain hit the windshield in a deluge, and palm trees swayed in strong wind gusts. Instead of taking an immediate soaking, he psyched himself up for another “family” dinner. It wasn’t that he didn’t like the St. Johns—all of them—because he did. It was dealing with them now that they were in the middle of the trial that made things more difficult. They had banded together, surrounding Jess with their love and support, which just made Tanner more aware of what he’d given up with his own family. That’s what stuck in his chest and twisted.

But he had nowhere to go and ultimately nowhere else he’d rather be. After the construction job ended, he worked for her father in a series of odd jobs around the house, then Jess had hired him to help her with the movie’s business plan. They’d worked together so well the past couple months, budgeting the picture and pricing the crew. Every day he learned more and more about producing, and Jess was ready if McBride gave her a green light.

The rain tapered off and Tanner got out of the car. He waved to the bodyguard parked out front. Jay had hired a guy to watch the house to ensure Jess’s safety, but he usually only came when Jess was alone. They all worried about Facinetti striking from prison.