Chapter Five

"I'm going to the deli to pick up a sandwich, Roxy," he said when he walked down to the hammock. "What can I bring you?"

"Nothing for me, Jake. There's stuff in the fridge. I usually have yogurt for lunch when I'm working."

"Ugh! That's all? No wonder you're so skinny."

"I was never skinny, Jake. And I'm not skinny now." She rolled out of the hammock and stood up. "See?"

He grabbed the opportunity and reached out to place his big hands on her narrow waist. His fingertips felt like fine sandpaper rubbing against the bare area between the hem of

her abbreviated T-shirt and hip-hugger shorts. His palms were warm, and his hands seemed strong and capable enough do anything that was needed. When Jake gazed down at her, his irises deepened, and she could interpret his thoughts.

"Don't touch me, Jake," she told him sharply, trying to jerk away. "I'd rather you didn't."

He didn't release his hold, it simply tightened.

"I won't hurt you, Roxy, believe me."

"You hurt me once, Jake, and I forgave you once. But there's nothing now between us except a plumbing job, so let's not start anything, okay?"

"I can't believe this. There was always something between us when we were kids, but we never got around finding out what it really was. I know I never forgot you, Roxy. I thought I did, but I knew different when I saw you again last night. I couldn't stop thinking about you when I left here yesterday."

"Was that why you peeked into my bedroom this morning?"

"You knew?"

"I thought so. The same way you used to stare at me in high school."

"I had a … real heavy crush on you, Roxy, but you never gave me a tumble."

"You had plenty of girls hanging on you, Jake. You didn't need me to bolster your male ego."

"Maybe so, but you were the one I wanted. Until you latched onto Robbie. Then I gave up coming onto you. I thought you two were a done deal."

"Robbie and I were friends, that was all. He was going to college, and I was still in high school. I guess it seemed like we were serious, but we weren't. Not ever."

"If I'd known that…"

"It wouldn't have done you any good, Jake." She twisted her face from side-to-side, her shoulder-length tresses swishing with a negative jerk of her head. "And I'm sorry, but it won't do you any good now either."

"Wanna bet?"

She laughed, and tried to pry his fingers away from her waist.

He read it as a challenge.

When she gazed up at him again, something changed; she was no longer so sure she could stay cool and collected with him around. Maybe not even stay away from him. The old attraction to him that seemed to run through her like a live wire was still alive, especially as he bent down to cover her lips with his. She struggled at first, but that didn't last long. The kiss started soft and slow, went on and on, until Jake latched onto her lips as if he were starving. She was suddenly very aware of the intensity of his desire. She felt the bulge in his jeans and knew what he wanted from her. Jake Plummer had almost always gotten what he wanted when he was younger. Probably, she thought, he fully believed he'd get it now. But he was going to get a big surprise.

Roxy inhaled, glad she had grown up. She wasn't an adolescent wanting to succumb to the raw whimsy of a male's libido. She could kick and scream, command him to let her go, or she could give in. It was her decision, and right this minute she was fighting silently, tooth and nail, so as not to give into what she desired. Would it be so bad if she yielded to her needs for a change? She never did find out how it felt to be fucked by Jake Plummer.

She had no idea when her arms crept up and tightened around Jake's neck. She raked his crisp, black hair through her fingers. She leaned up higher, on bare feet, and pressed her breasts against him, harder, teasing her nipples, fitting herself against his long, lean torso. His thick, rigid cock lay hot and heavy against her belly after only a few delicious moments of French kissing. He was still a randy stud, all right, put together with lots of wonderfully interesting masculine bulges and steely muscles. Maybe…

"I think it's time you stopped this, Jake," she said instead, and pulled her lips away from his active, exciting mouth.

"Dammit, Roxy, are you sure? I don't have to go anywhere." His encircling arms still held her close and tight.

She broke away from him at last and stepped back, widening the space between them. She yanked down the hem of her T-shirt where it had crept up to expose her upper ribs. "Yes, I'm sure," she said.

Wiping fingertips across her damp lips, she turned swiftly and picked up the open manuscript she had been reading. "You'd better go get your sandwich, Jake, or you'll never finish fixing those pipes. And you don't have to tramp through the house when you return. The downstairs door to the basement is usually unlocked during the day. I don't know where I'll be when you get back. I think I may go for a sail."

Without looking at him again, Roxy hurried along the path toward the house, leaving Jake wondering how he could get his hands and his mouth on her again.

* * * *

Oh for pete's sake, why did I have to kiss him? Roxy thought.

Her hands were shaking by the time she reached the kitchen. She saw Jake turning the corner of the house, marching toward the driveway where he parked his truck. She threw the manuscript onto the table and grabbed the handle of the refrigerator to get out a container of yogurt. She snapped off the cover, pulled a spoon out of the cutlery drawer, and sat down at the table. Roughly, she plunged the spoon into the gooey stuff, stirred it, then forgot it. She covered her hot cheeks with both hands and closed her eyes, seeing vivid memories playing behind her eyelids.

It's starting again, and I don't want it to. Damn it all. He's another one of those dangerous gifts from heaven that a smart girl should know enough not to get mixed up with or taken in by. Why me? Why did Jake have to pick me? I was doing fine. I made up my mind to forget men until I gained my career goals—or at least until I reached thirty-five. Then I'd get married and have kids.

Standing by the hammock ten minutes ago, his arms around her, the same hot sizzle she experienced with Jake years ago whirled through her. When he kissed her, she melted. Her hormones had turned on her again, firing her senses like an iron poker, stirring up a new raging inferno inside her and igniting her nerve endings. She sure didn't need a dildo here and now. She wanted a sexy, alive male pushing her buttons, opening her senses wide and awake, and plunging inside her, and bringing her the wonder of shining starbursts exploding in the Milky Way and beyond. She'd felt the gush of dampness between her thighs even as she and Jake had kissed.

Always, with her college amours, she'd held something back, some part of her that wouldn't make her devastatingly vulnerable to her wildest emotions. That had been the case too with Grady, when they lived together. Even after they'd tied the knot, Roxy wanted … needed … absolute trust and love from her partner to release her from any carnal inhibitions. And look. Just now she'd been ready to give Jake her all.

God help her. How stupid!

Why did her damn hormones surge out of control now? Was it the recent heat wave that brought on the unmanageable lust boiling through her? Or was it simply seeing Jake again and having him come on to her?

Oh God, it was enough to drive someone to drink. Wasn't that how she got into trouble the first time? Drinking too much wine? She gave up serious drinking and rarely imbibed unless it was to nurse a single glass of wine at a business luncheon. But she could use a drink right now to cool down—something a lot stronger than lemonade or cola. Jake Plummer and his seductive kisses had her nerve endings writhing like the live earthworms her father used for bait.

The man must have some strange hold over me, like when I met him as a raw-boned teenager. I knew the powerful attraction he exerted on my psyche then, so I made a wide berth around him. Well, at least until that one starry night—the one I never forgot.

If it were possible, she'd give anything for some tender, educated, caressing, slow stroking to bring her to orgasm, and powerful probing to take her over the edge.

But that wasn't going to happen.

* * * *

Roxy had known right away when he showed up on the night of her birthday bash that Jake had come to her party alone. She'd spotted him wandering down the dirt path to the water out of the corner of one eye. A number of party guests were playing near the shore of Mirror Lake. Some of the more athletically inclined guests had formed two teams for a water polo game in the shallows. Roxy was one of the players. The game was girls against the fellas. The water was hip high, and she wore a two-piece bathing suit. Her generous boobs bounced like good-sized softballs under the flimsy bra as she jumped up and down like the rest of the adolescent girls on her team. Meanwhile, other scantily dressed gals paddled around in huge, inflated, rubber inner tubes. Every now and then, Roxy checked that everyone was having a great time.

She didn't know Jake wore his swimming trunks under his jeans until he stripped down, dropped the pants on the dock, dove in, and swam across the cove. When he started back, he halted a distance from the Diamond's dock, turned over on his back, and floated on the surface. When the game ended, Roxy headed his way.

He hadn't paid attention as she came up beside him. "I didn't know you were invited, Jake," she said, reaching him.

"I wasn't." Abruptly, he dropped his feet under the surface so that they faced one another, scissoring their legs and doggie paddling to stay afloat. "I crashed your shindig, same as a couple of other guys. I felt like taking a swim, so here I am."

"Hah!" she said, skepticism lifting the eyebrows on her forehead. She flicked away a strand of her wet, blond hair where it stuck to her cheek. "But it's okay, Jake. Open House means anyone can pop in whenever they feel like it."

"Glad to hear that, because I sure won't stay where I'm not wanted."

Roxy examined his expression along with his words. She noticed the arrogant male pride flashing in his eyes and knew he meant what he said.

This was her party, however, probably the last one she'd attend in Miradale before she left for college. She'd miss the lake and her friends. Maybe it was time she softened her attitude and at least made friends with Jake Plummer. After all, he never did anything bad to her; he just made her uneasy and unsettled.

"I'm glad you came, Jake," she compromised. "You're welcome here. There's lots to eat and plenty to drink, so come on back in when you're ready, and join the rest of the crowd. I'm going to check if everything is ready on the patio."

She turned and stroked back toward the shore with him swimming abreast of her. She went ahead, leaving him on the dock to dry off.

The sun was dipping behind the hills surrounding the lake when Roxanne spoke with her mother. "Everything is ready, Roxy," Cecelia said, taking her aside. "The hamburgers and franks were just put on the grill. Better call everyone up to start eating. Your father and I will get out of your way. We're due at cocktails and dinner at the Conway's in town. I'm sorry, honey, that we have to leave you by yourself. But the caterers know what to do, and my meeting with those bigwigs about putting their house on the market is important to us all. It means a sweet commission when it sells." Cecelia kissed Roxy's cheek and went toward the house to hustle her husband to their appointment.

After most of the food had been eaten and the caterers had cleaned up the leftovers, the dancing began. Almost all the girls except Roxy had changed into jeans or shorts and a top. The fellows had simply pulled T's or sweatshirts atop their swimsuits. The night was comfortable, not hot nor too chilly. The loudspeaker had been set up and music blared from the house's basement onto the patio where an open space had been cleared for dancing.

At first, the choice of music was fast and fun, young bodies gyrating with the rhythm. A bit later, someone changed the station and less hectic, dreamier music slowed young, amorous bodies to sway and hug close in each other's arms. Someone had brought in a jug of wine from his vehicle. Even Roxy grabbed a full glass and downed it when she grew thirsty.

Seeing Roxy unoccupied, Jake swung an arm around her waist and brought her close against him. They started to dance. She felt herself stiffen when he embraced her. Every nerve ending in her body was on alert as he touched her.

"Relax, Roxy," he whispered close to an ear. "You're supposed to enjoy yourself, right? I'll make sure you have a good time if you let me. Okay?"

The lights on the patio were very dim, and she couldn't read his eyes, but she saw he was smiling. He pulled her even closer; their bodies melded from shoulders to knees. She felt the hot lump of his male sex resting low against her stomach. Her heartbeat accelerated. Jake's hips, pressing against her mound, had her realizing she was growing horny, too. Slowly, gradually, she reached up and hung her forearms over his shoulders, tickling his nape with her fingertips where his inky hair curled in ringlets against it. Next, she laid her cheek flat against his hard, muscular shoulder, and closed her eyes with what sounded to Jake like a contented sigh. "Mmm. This is nice, Jake," she said.

"Yeah. I like it, too. You feel real good next to me." He gazed down at the top of her head and asked, "Can you feel what you're doing to me, sugar?"

She tilted her head, raising her lips to graze them against the warmth of his neck. She remembered feeling him twitch when she stuck out the tip of her tongue and licked his skin. His masculine growl was erotic and low as he nuzzled her forehead with his mouth. When she looked up at him again, he kissed her. And he kept kissing her, with open-mouthed kisses, until she was forced to pull away. She was breathless; heat singed her cheeks while her libido flamed higher. She had hid her face against his shoulder so no one would see what she was feeling. Meanwhile, they swayed slowly to the music, rubbing their bodies together, not moving from the same spot on the patio.

"Why don't we go some place private?" Jake had suggested, his voice dark and intense.

When she looked around, she noticed the party was breaking up.

"No. Not now," she remembered sighing. "I have to say goodnight to everyone first."

"Okay. But I'm not leaving. Not yet," he told her.

She walked the last stragglers out to their cars and waved them goodnight. She saw the Plummers' work truck parked farther down the road, almost hidden from view.

When she returned to the patio, Jake met her and drew her into his arms. They kissed and clung together, their bodies reacquainted to the magnetism that had drawn them inevitably since their first meeting five years before. Fiercely, they wrapped arms around one another as if it were possible to crawl into the other's skin and become indivisible.

"Where can we go, Rox?" He rasped his upper teeth against the skin of her neck. Raw animal heat and a powerful need curled the bare toes in his leather sandals while he captured her in his embrace.

She knew she had been the one who whispered the invitation so they could be alone.

"Let's go to the boathouse, Jake."

Suddenly opening her eyes and returning to the present, Roxy rubbed her flushed cheeks and looked down at the container of yogurt sitting in front of her on the kitchen table. She came alive then, stirring the red raspberry fruit and scooping out a rounded spoonful. She sucked the creamy yogurt between her lips, savored it, and swallowed slowly.

She stared through the single window in the tiny laundry area, deep in thought. She flinched again when she remembered she'd made the first move so Jake would make love to her.

She had stepped into the rowboat she used to paddle out to her sailboat. It was tied next to a narrow dock inside the boathouse. Pulling the pile of floating pillows from where they were stashed under the bow, she placed them on the boat's bottom, then braced her back against the bow. "Come in here with me," she told Jake. He jumped down, rocking the boat, but ended up on his knees on the cushions, straddling her hips when he landed above her. He quickly leaned forward and started kissing her again. When he sat up and filled his hands with her breasts, rubbing rough caresses over her nipples until they grew hard, she sucked in an audible breath. She didn't stop him because it felt so good. "Oh, Jake," she murmured. "Keeping doing that."

The petting grew heavier as the French-kissing became hotter, wetter, and wilder. He plunged his tongue into her mouth, driving her deeper into lust with his tongue and his hands. She recalled her backside squirming restlessly against the cushions beneath her, her thighs opening. She must have begged him aloud and with her body to finish the job, because he understood.

She remembered him reaching behind her and undoing her swimsuit bra, yanking it over her head and baring her breasts to the cool night air. A light breeze wafted across her chest, blowing over the waves in the cove. The sensitive skin of her breasts tingled, her nipples puckered, even though she couldn't see them in the dark. There was only a small amount of moonlight filtering through the boathouse's open arches. When Jake rubbed his warm palms over her breasts and nipples, more vivid sensations shot between her legs to her sexual center. She knew she was wet there, and she knew why, having learned that information from health class.

"Your skin is so smooth, so soft and warm, Roxy." He had bent down and sucked a nipple, and she almost went crazy from the pull of his lips.

"God, Jake, it feels so good." She choked out the terse demand, "Please, don't stop."

Nevertheless, he had stopped. He rose and stood and took off his trunks. In a minute he was kneeling between her legs, naked, lifting her thighs and hips and pulling off her swimsuit bottom until they were both completely bare.

The next memory brought her up sharp. She dropped the spoon and closed her eyes tight.

If only I had let him finish. I was so stupid and naïve. Yes, it hurt, but not for long, and somebody else would have done the same damn thing when I got to college.

Jake had pushed her legs wide and poked his very impressive cock inside her in one swift, unexpected thrust.

She remembered yelling his name, telling him that he hurt her and to stop. But he must've been too far gone to stop. He had pushed and pulled out of her several times before he spurted his semen on her stomach. She remembered the potent smell of sex, the sticky mixture of semen and blood that dribbled down her legs later.

Pushing Jake away, she got up and somehow jumped out of the boat, and ran up the path to the house stark naked. Thank God, her parents had waited to return until a little later. In the bathroom she washed away Jake's semen and a small amount of her blood, then jumped into her bed and turned off the light.

She never knew if Jake had encountered her parents while he was on his way out.