Page 31 of Summer Affair
“No. I was actually the instigator. The third time as well.” She closed her eyes. “Go on. Judge me.”
She was met with complete and utter silence. Jillian shook her head to clear it, but it didn’t help any. Her friends were looking at her with serious expressions and zero judgment. If there were any time to judge, this would be it. Heck, Jillian was judging herself.
“Why would we judge you?” Darcy asked. “You’ve had a thing for Clay for years.”
“Athingis different than a kiss.”
“Three kisses,” Piper so helpfully reminded her.
“Fine. Three kisses. But it was a mistake, we both agreed.”
Darcy laughed. “Trust me, if Clay is anything like his brothers, he doesn’t make mistakes when it comes to kissing. Now, that final mile they seem to botch. But eventually they figure it out.”
“Well, there won’t be an eventually.” She was going to keep her lips as far away from him as possible. As soon as she lectured him on the error of thinking a woman needed to be saved.
Clay was still thinking about that kiss when he dove into the pool for his afternoon swim. Jillian had been gone nearly two hours and with all her cakes done and cooling, he’d decided to go home.
He considered waiting at her place but chose to remove himself from what could be a tempting situation. If he stayed, he’d want to pick right back up where they left off.
She’d been right when she said they’d made a mistake. A few kisses and he’d blown off his physical therapy appointment to be Betty Crocker for a woman who lived in an entirely different state. And if that wasn’t a big enough reason to steer clear, then her white-picket-fence, family-ready existence was.
Portland was chock full of family-friendly communities, but Forest Park was the kind of place people went to put down roots, and Jillian’s roots went three generations deep.
Man, if his brothers ever found out the mess he’d gotten himself in, they’d give him so much shit. Except Gage. Gage would beat his ass, then give him a lecture on single moms.
He didn’t need a lecture. When Sammy nearly walked in on them, he’d figured it out. Didn’t mean he’d stopped thinking about her.
Clay pushed off the wall, going harder than usual. It was either that or he’d need an ice bath to clear his head, because every time he tried to stop thinking about her, he’d remember the way she felt, what she sounded like when she moaned, and he started wondering if she made the same sound when she moaned for a whole other reason.
Five minutes was all it took for her to officially fry his brain. He’d expected chemistry, what he hadn’t expected was to feel something. He figured if they got out some of that sexual tension, it’d fade so he could move on. Only it backfired.
The only place he wanted to move was to her bedroom—and that was problematic.
Shit,he’d screwed up. Big time. And the only way to fix things would be to avoid her as much as possible. He didn’t think it’d be difficult since he was positive she’d be practicing every one of her evading tactics.
Clay finished his hundredth lap and stood to make his way out of the pool. Only when he cleared his eyes, he found himself staring at gorgeous. A very pissy, very sexy, unbelievably gorgeous woman.
“Out,” she said in her mom voice, then pointed to the square inch of concrete in front of her. “Now.”
“You going to kiss me again?” he asked, because suddenly his idea to steer clear wasn’t computing. She wasn’t just gorgeous, she was genuine, and in his world that was a rarity.
“I just got home from football sign-up, and we have a problem.”
“Did I screw up the cakes?” He stepped out of the pool and noticed her gaze drop. “Jillian?”
She blinked. “No. They’re fine. Perfect actually. Thank you for lending me your hands.”
“You can use my hands anytime you need.”
“I didn’t mean it that way.” And she was back to being frazzled.
He walked right up to her, drops of water speckling her feet. She grabbed a towel and smacked it to his chest. “Cover up.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Her face went pink—and not in a good way. “I’m too young to be called ma’am.”
She looked a little confused and a whole lot embarrassed, and he realized exactly what he’d said. He stepped closer and lowered his voice. “Trust me, I know. You’re beautiful and smart and I meant it when I said you drive me crazy.”
