SheLikesHimBad (5 page)

He laughed. She couldn’t help but take note of the way his
smile cranked up his sex appeal even more. If she kept this up, she’d be
jumping on him and begging him to take her home before the night was over.

“I promise it’s not lethal, Em.”

Maybe the gift wasn’t, but his charm? Now that was another
story. She stepped back to allow him to come in. “I’m not sure if I should
trust you.”

“I wouldn’t if I were you.” His expression sobered. “My
intentions aren’t at all honorable.”

His words had the opposite of what was undoubtedly their
desired effect. Heat shot straight through her traitorous body. “I’ll take that
as a warning.” She turned away from him and placed the package on the stairs.
“Why did you decide to come tonight, Jackson?”

He gave a careless shrug. “I like home-cooked dinners.”

Emma skewered him with a look that said she didn’t believe
him for a nanosecond. “That’s the only reason?”

“I didn’t want to leave things the way we did this morning,”
he murmured, keeping his voice low so her mother wouldn’t overhear from the
kitchen.

Now they were venturing into dangerous conversational
territory. She studied him, trying her best not to look at his mouth and
failing. “I didn’t mean to run off on you the way I did. I was rude. I’m
sorry.”

She was apologizing? How did the man scramble her brains
like this?

“I’m sorry too. I was out of line.” He raked a hand through
his hair. “You were right, I was a jerk.”

Emma was startled by his sincerity. “Should we call a
truce?”

He flashed her a warm smile that somehow heightened his
already blatant sexual appeal. “I’d like that.”

Her mother chose that moment to clip out of the kitchen in a
pair of kitten heels. “Jackson, aren’t you a breath of fresh air?” She turned
to Emma in an aside that was simultaneously embarrassing and obvious. “Emma, he
certainly is a handsome devil, isn’t he?”

She was kidding, wasn’t she? Emma slanted a piercing gaze in
her mother’s direction. No. Not kidding. “Mama,” she protested. “This isn’t
Gone
With the Wind
.”

“Well now, I didn’t ask you to wear the curtains, did I?”

Emma cast a critical eye toward the draperies in question.
“Good thing you didn’t. I have a feeling yellow microfiber wouldn’t exactly
flatter my figure.” Speaking of which, yellow microfiber? Really? She raised a
brow. “Mama, we need to give your living room an overhaul.”

Jean grinned. “All the more reason for you to get your
behind here to visit me more often. I’ve done all the visiting in the last
twelve years and it’s high time you take your turn.” She winked at Jackson.
“Isn’t that right?”

He met Emma’s gaze. “I sure wouldn’t complain.”

Her heart was like a vehicle with cut brake lines, careening
into dangerous territory with no hopes of being able to stop before it was too
late. She was already feeling too much for him. Something about being back in
Paradise and being in Jackson’s arms had melted the ice walls she’d sculpted
around herself. She had no more defenses, wasn’t sure if she even wanted to,
and it was a scary feeling indeed.

* * * * *

Jackson’s tail lights had long disappeared down the tiny,
winding road outside her mama’s house by the time Emma sat alone in her old
bedroom, mysterious package in hand. Dinner had been nice. Odd but nice. More
than ever, she was convinced she’d fallen into a time warp. Jackson had oozed
Southern charm all night. Jean had definitely allowed him to win her over with
his winks and slow grins.

Emma, however, was determined to remain immune. Not that she
was truly immune to him, as her interlude of wild sex with him had proven. With
a grimace, she unwrapped the package, confusion taking the place of
realization.

The nerve of the man.

But she couldn’t bring herself to stop the smile curving her
lips. He’d turned her mind so inside-out she hadn’t even realized she’d dashed
home without her bra. And he’d had the balls to show up at her mama’s door with
the dubious gift in his hands, then proceed to act the gentleman all evening.

That was her Jackson. Good boy with a bad streak.

Hold it right there
, her common sense warned. She had
no business thinking of him as hers. He hadn’t been hers in a long, long time.

Emma padded across the room and dug out the box she’d been
avoiding ever since her return. The contents were, if she recalled correctly,
even more dangerous than her current vein of thought. She sank to the hardwood
and sat cross-legged, lifting the lid from the old shoebox.

A young Jackson and Emma smiled at her from a three-by-five
with a dog-eared corner. Jackson was tan, lanky, not yet grown into his solid
man’s frame. His hand gripped her waist in a possessive gesture that left her feeling
jealous of her old self.

There was more. A waterfall of snapshots fell through her
fingers. At the bottom, she found handwritten notes in his bold scrawl, one of
his old shirts and the necklace he’d given her to celebrate graduation. Two
months after that happy day, she’d dumped him, driving away from him for good.
Or so she’d believed.

Had she really thought she’d be able to keep him packed away
in a neat box? How could she have believed for an instant she’d be able to be
with him again and remain unscathed?

But somehow she was undeterred. Maybe coming back to
Paradise had been precisely what she’d needed. Maybe the one thing she’d been
running from for the past few years was the one thing she should’ve been
running to. Her relentless pursuit of a life outside her small town hadn’t led
to the happiness she’d imagined. Before she could allow herself to have second
thoughts, she got up and headed downstairs in search of the car keys.

Chapter Three

Tink let Jackson know he had company even before the doorbell
rang. His happy puppy ran to the door, barking as if he were a ferocious wolf
and not just a handful of fur. Jackson was shirtless and barefoot, winding down
with a beer in his living room. He sure as hell wasn’t expecting guests.

With a sigh, he rose from the couch and headed over to Tink.
“Hey, little buddy, settle down.” He scooped the wriggling pup into his arms,
flicked on the porch light and opened the front door.

Emma waited on the other side, a soft sheen of light
cascading over her wavy, blonde locks. She wore loose-fitting pajama bottoms
and a tank top that hugged her luscious breasts in a way that made it clear she
wasn’t wearing her errant bra. Her nipples were hard. His mouth went dry.

He yanked his gaze to her face. Time had come between them
but she was beautiful as ever. Pixie pretty, he’d always thought, but now she
had matured into a seductive woman capable of making him want her like no
other.

“Emma.” He lowered the frantic Tink to the floor, allowing
him to shower their guest with happy jumps and licks. When he stood, he wanted
to say something intelligent. Something to make her melt. “What are you doing
here?”

Shit.
He raked a hand through his hair.
Not
exactly setting the world on fire with your charm, are you, Jackson?
She
jangled his nerves, showing up at his house at this time of night, practically
naked in that damn shirt. He wanted to suck her breasts. He wanted to lick her
sweet, pink pussy until she came. His dick was harder than her nipples.

Emma took her sweet time forming a response. She bent to
greet Tink first, then rose with the traitorous canine in her arms, accepting
eager puppy licks on her chin. “I think he likes me.”

He raised a brow. “So you came out here in the dead of night
to visit my dog?”

“Um, not really.” A frustrated expression crossed her face.
“But he is the cutest dog ever.”

He wanted her to come inside so he could strip her naked and
fuck her like crazy. But he had no business saying as much. Not yet. He didn’t
know where they stood. One minute he’d been living a bachelor’s existence and
the next Emma Lee had blown back into his life. He’d never thought to see her
again, never thought she’d affect him the way she did.

His patience waned as he watched her, waiting for her to
continue. “Emma?”

She blew a tendril of hair from her eye and avoided his
gaze, looking instead at Tink. “I’ve been thinking.”

She was going to make him insane. “About?”

“Well.” She chewed her full bottom lip, apparently
struggling with her next words. “Remember how I said that what happened earlier
was just sex?”

He nodded, heat unfurling in his gut. He hoped like hell
this was going where he thought it was. But the devil in him still wouldn’t let
her off that easily. “And you also said you never wanted to see me again.”

She frowned. “I did not.”

“You most certainly did, sweetheart.”

Emma’s frown deepened but she still looked gorgeous. “You’re
not going to make this easy, are you?”

He gave her a slow grin. “Why should I?”

“Because I was wrong.” Her gaze sought his at last, earnest
and steady. “I’m sorry, Jackson.”

“For fucking the hell out of me and then running off like I
had the damn bird flu?”

She winced. “I deserve that. I’m sorry for everything,
actually. I’m sorry about the way I left things all those years ago. I’m sorry
I hurt you. And I’m sorry I treated you the way I did earlier.”

“You basically acted like I was a mistake,” he pointed out,
driven by his pride.

“I was wrong,” she admitted in a soft voice. “I was a
selfish girl who thought she couldn’t make something of herself and stay in a
small town. I’m ashamed to say it took me all this time to find out what I
should’ve known all along.”

He leaned against the doorjamb, the scent of early summer
honeysuckle heady and sweet on the air. He was fairly certain he had the upper
hand here, and he wasn’t about to let her off easy. “What’s that, sugar?”

She narrowed her eyes. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

“Enjoying Emma Lee Bridges standing half-naked on my
doorstep, apologizing to me? Hell yes, I am. I thought the day would never
come.”

“I’m not half-naked,” she protested.

He crossed his arms over his chest and grinned. “I’m pretty
damn sure I can see your nipples right through that shirt. Lord knows I’ve been
thinking about sucking them ever since I opened the door.”

“Jackson!” Her tone was pure chastisement. “You’re quite
rude, you know.”

His grin deepened. “You like it.”

“I like
you
,” she hedged, cradling Tink against the
lovely nipples in question as if he were a shield.

Behind her, fireflies danced in the open fields. Crickets
sang. He couldn’t recall feeling so at peace. “You know, for the first time in
my life, I’m jealous of a dog right now.”

A shadow passed over her face. “Jackson, could you please be
serious?”

“Come in,” he told her, stepping back to allow her entrance.

She did, putting Tink down after the door clicked closed
behind her. She smoothed her hair, looking like a woman who had just agreed to
go on a fearsome rollercoaster only to realize she was scared to death to ride
it.

He took pity on her then, sliding an arm around her waist to
draw her curves against him. “You said you like me,” he reminded her, winking.

“I do like you.” A frown marred her brow. “Do you forgive
me?”

“Do I forgive you?” He dropped a kiss on her perfect nose.
“Emma, as far as I’m concerned, whatever happened in the past is done and
there’s no need for forgiveness. We were kids. Kids make mistakes. Who we were
makes us who we are, and I’m damn partial to the woman you are now.”

He took her hand in his and placed it on his cock. Her
fingers curled over him in a delicious caress. She began a slow series of
strokes that had him straining against his jeans.

Emma tilted her face up to his. “I can’t regret going off on
my own and starting my own business. That’s been a big part of my life.”

“I wouldn’t change a thing, sweetheart,” he reassured her,
meaning the words. “If we’d stayed together back then and you’d sacrificed your
dreams to be with me, you would’ve only resented me.”

“I’m glad for the life experiences I’ve had.”

“And me,” he said with complete truth. He’d dated, had some
serious relationships. Each relationship had helped to shape him. “The man I am
today is far more ready to be your man than the boy I was twelve years ago,
Emma. Time is a beautiful thing. It makes you stronger, makes you learn.”

“My man?” Her hand stilled over his hard-on.

“Look, I can’t promise forever. It’s only been a day.” He
lowered his mouth to hers for a plundering kiss. “But I can promise that I’m
not the kind of man who wants just sex. This isn’t a one-off for me, Em. This
is real. I want to give us another try, and since you’re standing in my house
at this time of night, I’m willing to bet you want the same thing.”

“I do.” And she raised her mouth to his for another kiss.

Emma gave herself over to the divine sensation of Jackson’s
mouth devouring hers. She opened her lips, tongue running against his. Tink
started whimpering and pawing at their ankles, interrupting the moment. They
broke the kiss, stepping back to stare at one another. Her hand was still on
him. She wanted to unzip the fly of his jeans, take him out, stroke the velvety
length, slide him inside her.

But she knew there remained some things that needed to be
said between them. Boundaries needed establishing. She watched as he picked up
Tink and comforted him.

“He thinks I’m taking advantage of his daddy,” she teased.

Jackson’s gaze met hers. “Are you?”

She shook her head. “No. But you do know that I still have a
life back in L.A., a business and an apartment. I’m not ready to commit to
coming back to Paradise just yet.”

“You know, Emma, this is the most pre-sex rule establishing
I’ve ever had in my life.” His tone was teasing.