Chapter Eleven

Jovy woke the next morning, body wonderfully sore, extremely satisfied—and deliciously tingling where a certain sexy, naked Texan pressed against her skin.

Mmm…Stone. The cowboy. The Ranger. The reason she was wonderfully sore and extremely satisfied.

A thrill shot through her. He was still here. She opened her eyes and focused on her alarm clock. It was barely midmorning. He hadn’t left after they used the last condom just before dawn. Some unknown emotion warmed her insides. She hadn’t asked him to stay or leave, kind of left that up to him. After all, they hadn’t really discussed what they were doing.

Not true, exactly. Stone seemed to take inordinate pleasure in whispering what he was going to do to her right before he carried it out with great care and precision. Desire stirred, then flamed low in her belly. How could she possibly still want more? The man satisfied all of her hunger. He had stamina, was beautifully packaged, and knew exactly what to do with that…package.

Without trying, Stone Mitchum set the bar quite high for other men.

But she wasn’t going to worry about other men or her life in Philadelphia. She was in Joyful right now with Stone and intended to enjoy whatever the man wanted to give. There would be no morning walk of shame. She had been very aware of what she was doing last night and was prepared to own up to her transgressions.

Starting now.

With a big stretch, she let out a long sigh and smiled when Stone’s hands immediately slid over her body, those wonderful calluses doing crazy things to her nerve endings.

“’Morning.” He nuzzled her ear. “Sleep well?”

She closed her eyes and enjoyed the feel of him. Everywhere. “Mmmm…yes, indeed. How about you?”

“Very well. Thanks to you.” He nipped her shoulder, sending shivers over skin. “I haven’t slept that solid in months. Hell…years.”

Her heart immediately squeezed. “Because of your friend, or the war?”

He stiffened and blew out a breath that ruffled her hair, but remained quiet. Jovy knew she should back off. After all, they were just friends who barely knew each other and weren’t likely to. She was leaving in a little less than four weeks. Keep it light and fun, her mind insisted. Yet she couldn’t let it go. That hollow look that came into his eyes whenever he stared at Leo haunted her. So did her conversation with Cord telling her Stone had put his personal life on hold to help out a friend.

“Have you really not dated in a long time?” she asked softly, running her fingers lightly up and down the muscled forearm he pressed against her belly. She could feel the tension coiled in him.

He swore under his breath. “Brick talks too much.”

“It wasn’t him,” she replied. “Your buddies are worried about you.”

She felt his nod against her head. “I know. They don’t need to be.”

“Sometimes talking about it helps,” she quietly urged.

The hand brushing from her hip to her belly stilled. “Sounds like you’re speaking from experience.”

Crap. She’d rather talk about him. But if it’d get the stubborn Ranger to open up, then she’d bite the bullet. “Yeah. When I got my Dear Jane letter last year, I kept it to myself for a bit, trying to process what had happened. The confusion. Devastation. The anger. What I could’ve done differently. Wondering why I wasn’t enough.”

Stone’s hold tightened and he pulled her against him, his possessive, protective nature giving her the warm-and-fuzzies. “The man was obviously an idiot. Trust me, it wasn’t anything you did, Jovy.”

Dammit, now her eyes and throat burned at the conviction in his tone. The man was too damn nice for her own good. She squeezed his arm and sighed. “You’re sweet, but we both know that’s not true. It takes two to make a relationship, and apparently he found what he wanted in a female MP. She must be the assertive risk-taker he wanted.”

“Idiot,” he grunted, pressing a kiss to her shoulder. “You were quite assertive last night.”

She laughed. “You bring that out in me, but we’re not changing the subject. Adam and I weren’t right for each other, and I wouldn’t have come to that conclusion if my friend hadn’t badgered me into talking about it. Once I did, I saw things so differently. Clearly, and I was able to come to peace with it and move on.” She patted his hand. “I want that for you, Stone. You need to talk about it. The weight you’re carrying around, whatever it is, isn’t healthy. It’s suffocating.”

“I know.” Warm breath washed over her as he exhaled and nuzzled her neck. Just when she thought he was going to leave it at that, he continued in a low voice. “Leo called me for help last year…and I blew him off.”

Jovy immediately shook her head. No way. No way would this loyal man do that. Never. He obviously had things distorted. “I find that hard to believe, Stone.” She tried to turn around to look at him, but he held her in place.

“It’s true,” he said so low if it weren’t for the words rumbling in his chest pressed against her back, she wouldn’t have known he’d spoken and they might not have sunk in.

It didn’t make sense. Neither did the anger she could feel rolling off the rigid man.

“What happened?” she asked softly.

Stone grunted.

“If you don’t want to tell me, it’s okay. I know we barely know each other,” Jovy said, and was met with complete silence. “Just…please talk to someone.” She didn’t care, as long as he got it out.

“I was with a woman when Leo called. Too busy worrying about myself to answer.” His words painted a clear picture.

“Stone, I highly doubt anyone would’ve answered if they were having sex.” She trailed her hand down his arm to entwine their fingers. “When did you return his call?”

“About a half hour later,” he replied in a dull tone. “But by then, Leo was in an ambulance. He’d taken a ton of pain meds on top of drinking.”

Jovy squeezed her eyes shut, overwhelmed by the grief and anger he directed at himself she could feel emanating off him. It was misdirected, but she understood the guilt and needed him to know. “Two years ago, my college roommate’s fiancé committed suicide three months after returning from deployment. It felt like it was out of the blue, but my friend blames herself, claiming to have missed the signs.”

Stone’s hold tightened. “No. The people who are hurting the most usually hide it best.”

God, was he speaking from experience? She ached for this man. Which was bad. What she felt for him was a hell of a lot more than she should for a casual relationship. Jovy cleared her throat and opened her eyes. “The same applies to Leo.”

“Yeah,” he acknowledged after a few beats, his voice low and rough. “There are twenty-two veteran suicides a day. That’s ten times more than the veterans lost to combat operations.”

Her chest squeezed so tight she could barely breathe. “Is that why you opened the ranch and started your construction company?”

“Sort of. Brick and I were going to start the company anyway, but when Leo…had his accident, we took a good look at the statistics and decided we need to do something to help our fellow veterans.”

“I think that’s great.”

He moved her hair aside and—sweet mercy—kissed the back of her neck, sending another round of shivers down her spine. “I think you’re great,” he murmured against her skin, the scruff of his jaw brushing her nape with a sensuous scrape.

She knew what he was doing, changing the subject, pushing the pain away to focus on pleasure. Fine by her. She was so on board. It had gotten a bit too intense. The conversation made her feel way too much for the sexy former Ranger.

“You taste great, too,” he said, nipping her shoulder while his hand slowly glided up her ribs to cup a breast.

“Mmm…” This time, when she went to shift onto her back to get a look at him, he let her. Hot damn, his five-o’clock shadow had thickened, and her whole body tingled with the need to feel his jaw scrape against her skin again. She lifted a hand to brush her thumb over the delicious stubble.

“I know. I need to shave,” he said, kissing her palm.

She shook her head. “Not on my account.”

Heaven help her, a wicked gleam entered his eyes while a grin rubbed her hand. “Enjoyed the body scratching, did you?”

“Only a lot.”

“I seemed to recall you especially enjoyed it near your lower back, upper thighs, and right here, just above your ribs.” He dipped down to prove his point.

Pure bliss. She closed her eyes and moaned, her whole body suddenly sparking to life. “You have ten minutes to stop that.”

“Only ten?” He lifted his head to glance at her clock. “Neither of us have to be at work for two hours yet.”

She trailed her hand down his hot, smooth, hard body, loving how his abs quivered under her touch. “True. Too bad we don’t have another condom.”

That wicked grin reappeared. “We don’t need one. Trust me.” He winked, and then proved it.