Layers Crossed (23 page)

“It’s
delicious. One of the best I’ve tasted in my life.” And I wasn’t
saying that just to be polite. I meant it.

“Oh, Emma,
thank you. I hope you find the happiness you’re looking for, my
dear. I hope you find someone to fill that gaping hole in your
heart, and I have a feeling you already have.”

Had I? Could I
even consider Eric to fill in what I’d had with David? I didn’t
think I wanted anyone to fill in David’s spot, but maybe Eric could
be the one to seal that hole and heal me the way I hoped I could
heal him.

I bought fresh
bread and a few pastries, including two of the largest cupcakes I’d
ever seen. On my way to Town Hall, I saw Claire on her bike again,
leaning into another girl’s ear while keeping her devil eyes
focused on me. I knew I’d be running into her again. I just didn’t
know when, or where.

C
HAPTER
21

Eric

It was half an
hour after Emma left that I heard the crunching of a bicycle’s
wheels over the graveled part of my driveway. I wiped my hands on
my soiled jeans and took a step out of the barn. Claire was riding
her bike toward me, her hair blowing to the wind and breasts nearly
falling out of her blouse. At one time in my life, the sight of her
would give me a hard on, but not anymore. Now the minute her mouth
opened, my cock would have preferred to be castrated over and over
again.

After she’d
pursued me for years, I’d finally given in, and we dated. I learned
quickly that she only wanted me for two things – to gain stature in
town and inherit my ranch. Her persuasive mouth and willing body
overpowered my senses at the time. I’d thought I was in love at
first, and made the mistake of staying with her out of guilt. Why
the heck was she here now? It must had taken her at least an hour
to ride to my ranch on her bike. She had probably taken a short cut
through the forest.

I pulled my
shirt over my head, sweat sticking the fabric to my back and chest
as I stepped out of the barn.

“Hi, Eric,”
she chirped, hopping off her bike, swaying her curvy hips toward
me.

“Claire.” I
nodded a lukewarm greeting, wondering what excuse she’d have this
time to see me. It had been over two years since I’d called things
off after catching her with her legs spread wide open in a friend’s
barn – and needless to say, we hadn’t been friends since then. “Can
I help you with anything?”

“Oh, just
stopping by with some blueberry muffins. I picked the fruit this
morning.”

“Thank you,
but you didn’t have to.”

“Nonsense,
Eric. I doubt your city visitor can bake. She’d ruin her manicured
hands.”

“You leave
Emma alone, Claire.” I’d prayed my ex wouldn’t get a chance to run
into Emma in town, but doubted my luck. Claire sauntered toward me,
handing me the basket.

“She’s a bit
skinny for you, Eric. Maybe if you give her my muffins, she could
grow a curve or two.”

“Are they
poisonous?” I asked, only half kidding. Claire was one of those
women who’d stoop as low as she could to make a point. I just
wished I’d known that before we got involved.

“Oh, please.”
She waved her hand, forcing a laugh. “You’re so funny. If I wanted
her out of the picture, she’d already be gone, Eric. She’s
obviously not a country girl. I give it another week before she
flees for a cappuccino from her corner coffee shop. So I’ll just
let nature take its course. How did you two meet?” she asked.

“We have a
mutual friend in New York.”

“Hunter? I
haven’t seen him in such a long time. Is he still single?”

“No, Claire.
And you know he’s too smart to fall for your tricks.”

She placed her
hand over her heart and opened her mouth in astonishment as if I’d
just offended her.

“Eric, you
know I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you again. I’m sorry for what
happened. Really. If you could just listen…”

“Claire, we’re
over. We were never meant to be. What happened is history.”

She lowered
her hand to her buttoned up shirt, popping the top fastening
loose.

“It’s a hot
day today. Can I bother you for a glass of water?”

Aha! I’d
forgotten that Claire was the master of changing a topic, but if
that was all it would take for her to leave me, I was willing to
fetch her water all the way from hell.

I breathed out
a sigh. “Sure.”

We went to the
house where I poured her a glass. When I turned around, she was
standing almost in my face. I pushed the glass between us, needing
more space.

“Thank you.”
Claire’s voice lowered to a seductive whisper. She pursed her mouth
and took a sip of the water before the glass slipped from her hand
and soaked her top, revealing much more than anyone could take in.
Her nipples poked out, responding to the cold. Luckily I’d caught
the glass before it crashed to the floor.

“Oh, look at
clumsy me.”

“It’s all
right, Claire.”

“I should wait
until this dries.” She tugged at the hem of her shirt and brought
it over her head, leaving her in her see-through bra. She sauntered
over to the back yard and wrung out the top, flinging it over the
railing.

Fuck!

I stood there
speechless for a moment, shocked. This wasn’t good. Whatever Claire
was up to, it had to end now.

“You really
shouldn’t do that.” I pointed to her chest.

“It’s nothing
you haven’t seen before.”

“You should
really leave, Claire.”

“Well, I can’t
until this dries, silly. How am I going to ride my bike?”

I removed the
shirt off my back and handed it to her. “Here, use this. You can
give it back to me another time. But you need to leave now.” My
voice echoed through the room. This girl was too much! I pulled my
shirt over her head, forcing it onto her, grasped her wrist, and
led to the front door.

“I understand
you’re busy, Eric. When would be a better time for me to…”

“Never,
Claire. What you’re trying to do is not going to work. I’m with
Emma now.”

“How long is
Emma staying?” she asked, as I flipped the kickstand up from
underneath her bike.

“It depends.”
I really wanted to tell her it was none of her business, but that
would only add ammunition to her visit.

“Already
bored?” She ran her finger down my arm, slightly scraping my skin
with her nail. “I’m still here for you, Eric. For anything you
need. Anything at all.”

Yeah, the
‘anything’ she’d given to everyone else behind my back. At least
that was the word around town. I removed her hand from my agitated
flesh, saying, “With all due respect, you have nothing that I’ll
ever want. I think you should leave now.” I handed the bike to
her.

She sighed,
shaking her head as if I had just lied. “She’s not good for you.
She’ll leave for her big city, overstuffed purses, and Louboutins.
But I’ll be here.” Claire stepped closer, lightly pressing her body
against my side arm and kissing my bare bicep. I wanted to pull
away, but the way she was standing, locking me between her and the
bike, would have caused her to lose balance and knock the buckets
of water behind her over. As much as I’d have loved a good laugh, I
didn’t feel like filling those up again.

“Here.” She
lifted the bag full of muffins from the bike’s basket and hooked
them onto my fingers. “At least take these.”

She turned
around before I got a chance to refuse, hopped on her bike, and
left, yelling over her shoulder, “I hope to see you on Saturday at
the dance, Eric. You owe me one.”

What the
hell?

After stomping
all over my heart, was she seriously expecting a dance from me?

“A promise is
a promise!” she yelled from the front of the driveway, reminding me
that it was Claire who had run into Annabelle on the road after my
sister escaped, making me indebted to the one person I dreaded.
Well, if it was only a dance, it couldn’t hurt and the sooner I
fulfilled her request, the better. Now I wished I hadn’t avoided
her at the previous fests.

Emma had been
gone for better part of the day. I checked on the stew simmering in
the crock pot and went to shower, trying to forget about the visit
from the wicked witch with my memories of Emma against the glass
door. I closed my eyes and nearly felt her body pressed against
mine, sliding and writhing in my arms, giving herself to me like
she would always be mine. Yes, this was exactly what I needed.
Emma. I loved the way she succumbed to my needs, yet drove me crazy
by using my body without hesitating to satisfy her own. In fact, I
loved everything about her. Her wit and charm, uplifting spirit,
and that silky skin that drove me to the brink of my sanity. As my
hand drew down to wash the lower part of my body, my cock stood at
mast. A simple thought of my Emma, and I was done. I grasped
myself, sliding my hand from the root up to the tip and back down
again, remembering how tightly Emma’s slick pussy wrapped around
me. Her velvety warmth coaxed me as she rocked her hips on me. My
rhythm sped up and my cock strained. I could feel energy collecting
in my balls, contracting each time a clear vision of naked Emma
flashed behind my eyelids. Tugging in shorter spurts, I felt my
mouth open and I leaned my left hand against the wall, somewhat
supporting my body. My head lolled forward under the shower as the
pressure in my groin gave in, exploding outward.

Fuck!

I stroked my
cock twice more, letting the last of my release seep out and
finally breathed out, my heart going a hundred miles per hour.

“Emma,” I
whispered through the falling water, wondering how long I’d been in
the shower. When the sound of my truck roared in my ears, I quickly
toweled myself dry and slipped into a pair of fresh jeans.

“Emma?” I
called walking out of the bedroom. No one answered. Was she still
in the truck? As I passed the back door, I noticed Claire’s shirt
drying out in the back. I quickly grabbed it and stuffed it into
one of the kitchen cupboards. I opened the front door, expecting
Emma to come in at any moment, but she wasn’t there or inside my
car.

“Emma? Are we
playing hide and seek?” I yelled out, my echo coming back after a
few seconds. “Where are you?”

A trail of hay
led from the door of my truck to the barn, and my mouth curved up
in a wicked grin. Rushing over, I slid the barn door open and
finally found her sitting on a bale of hay, one leg crossed over
the other. She slowly uncoiled her legs and spread them apart,
giving me a pretty fucking arousing view of her wet pussy, partly
covered by a jean seam that cut into her flesh.

“Well, well.
Looks like you lost your way into the house.” I took in her Daisy
Duke shorts, which I was sure would show the under curves of her
ass if she stood, cowboy boots, and the see-through brassiere. Her
braid fell loosely to the top curve of her cleavage, most likely
tickling her there. With her knees still spread apart, she leaned
back on her elbows. I could see the crotch of her shorts dig into
her pussy lips and felt a swell of energy drive right into my cock.
Already I wished I was between her legs. If this outfit didn’t get
a guy going, nothing would.

“I’m going to
ask this once, Cowboy,” she said in a stern voice. For a moment I
wasn’t sure whether she was playing or not, and I decided to treat
her tone seriously.

“All
right.”

“Have you ever
had a girl in your barn? In this barn?” she asked.

I wondered for
a moment where the question was coming from, and it didn’t take me
long to figure out the culprit.

“No, Emma. I
haven’t,” I said.

She looked at
me for a moment as if her eyes held the power of a lie-detector
test, and said, “I want to be the first one in here, Eric. I want
to be the only one you have here.”

I stepped
toward her, kneeling down in front of her, right between her legs.
“Emma, I want that too, but I don’t want to hurt you.”

I thought
about the secrets I was keeping from her. The fact that, as blessed
as I’d been for Hunter to call me and tell me about Emma, I wished
I had just run into her on my own. I didn’t want her thinking that
her brothers’ meddling was the reason we met each other.

“What do you
mean?” She squeezed my torso with her thighs, causing the jean
fabric to writhe against her flesh and my cock to spasm in
response.

“There’s no
one else in the world I want more here than you. This” – I looked
around the barn – “to me is a long term commitment. Once I fuck you
here, you’re mine forever, Emma. I. Claim. You. Do you understand
what I’m saying?”

She nodded, a
more confident smile finding its way to her mouth. Was it possible
that she felt the same way about me? I could see the honesty in her
eyes. I could see her giving me her soul and crossing over from
whatever had troubled her before we’d met. A past had been laid to
rest, layers of pain she’d lived with had been crossed off one by
one.

“I. Want.
You,” she said. “And everything that you come with. Your past, your
present, and your future. I want to make you happy.”

“What about
your family?”

“They will
remain my family.”

“And your
job?”

“I have a
feeling I could find one here.” She lowered her hands to around my
neck, pulling me in closer.

“Emma… there’s
something you need to know.”

“Tell me
later, Eric.” Her mouth pressed to mine, and my thoughts
disappeared. I drew my hands up along her inner thighs until my
fingers reached her soft flesh, pulling along her outer lips that
spilled from the thin crotch, feeling her wetness slick her for
me.

She moaned
into my mouth and I pulled away, reaching for the blanket hanging
on a side post. I spread it over a hay cube, picked Emma up, and
lay her over the stack on her front, right on the fabric, her knees
down on the floor and ass poking up, all ready for me. With one
swift move I removed her shorts, baring her for me. Emma had
nothing on underneath, and I fought the urge to dive into her right
then. I fumbled with the brassiere, unclasping the little hooks
that ran down her spine, and finally gave up and simply reached in
front of her and lowered it off her breasts so that I could get a
taste of her softness as she leaned her upper body back up toward
me. Her nipple pebbled in my mouth and I licked around its rim,
tasting every perfect imperfection.