Page 11 of Silverstorm

Something spasmed in her heart. It was so sweet letting Aria live here, even if it was only for a short time. And it showed a certain amount of trust. It was suddenly important that she let him know his trust wasn’t misplaced. She would pay him back the rent when she was able. The money might not matter to him, but it did to her. Jude Wilder was a bit of a conundrum. A pragmatic and tough deputy on one hand, with a soft spot for people in trouble on the other. Or was the soft spot just for her? The idea was both intriguing and scary.

“As long as I’m not intruding,” Aria said softly, but she was only half concentrating on her answer, the rest of her focus was on his mouth. And how firm and strong his lips were. Bottom lip slightly fuller than the top, there always seemed to be a smile lurking in the corners of his mouth. As if he was ready to find almost anything amusing. A three-day stubble covered his chin, framing his lips and running up to join his sideburns melting into his curly brown hair. She almost reached out her fingertips to touch the tiny cleft in his chin. The stubble looked soft. Beau sometimes sported a sort of chin-strap beard, a thin band of hair running along the bottom of his chin, which he thought made him look hip and a bit boho, but she thought it made him look silly. Jude’s three-day growth was much more rugged and fascinating. It wasn’t long enough to be called a beard, but she’d love to scruff her fingers through it anyway. Were deputy sheriffs even allowed to grow a beard? She had no idea.

She looked up, just as he caught her staring. Crap. A red flush began to creep up her neck. Their eyes locked, and for a second she couldn’t look away. In this light, they were more golden hazel, that dark ring around the edge was still there, but now his pupils dilated to make his eyes appear almost black. Double crap. She was the first to look away.

“No, you’re not intruding. It’ll be nice having someone else around. I miss her,” he admitted. Then, as if realizing what he’d just said, he turned and took off out the door and up the pathway. “Don’t be afraid to come and knock on the back door if you need anything. I’m a light sleeper,” he called over his shoulder.

Unlike her, she thought grimly. Jude practically had to break the window to wake her up tonight. She was just so tired. The interview today at Stargazer had been stressful, even though the outcome had been positive. As had her trip around her sister’s property. The whole past month had been stressful. Losing her job. Being kicked out of the house she and Beau shared. Finding out about her little problem. Sleeping in the car ever since. And finally deciding to come back to her hometown. She didn’t feel like she’d had a proper sleep in weeks. So with the prospect of starting her new job in the morning, she’d finally fallen into a deep sleep in what felt like the first time forever. And then Jude had come and woken her up.

She really didn’t know what to think about Jude Wilder. He’d always been kind and generous back when they were kids, if perhaps a little aloof. It was one of the things she’d noticed about him, one of the many reasons she’d had a crush on him. And it seemed he was still kind and generous now.

“Thank you,” she called out belatedly. “This is so…” So what? Helpful. Nice. Good. Exactly what she needed.

Aria was standing next to the bed, wrapped in a towel, trying to decide what to wear to her first day at work, when there was a knock at the door. Crap. That could only be one person. She dithered for a second, but decided she had no choice other than to open the door dressed only in a towel.

“I thought you might need some breakfast.” It was Jude holding a tray of food, dressed and neat as a pin in his deputy uniform. “There’s no food in here, so I bought you coffee and some toast, and…” He stopped speaking mid-sentence when he saw what she was wearing. “Oh, ah, sorry. I didn’t realize…” He gestured toward her attire, or lack thereof.

She couldn’t very well leave him standing out in the cold, misty morning, especially seeing as he had her breakfast on a plate. “I was just trying to decide what to wear to my first day at work. Come in.”

He moved awkwardly past her and through to the kitchenette, placing the plate on the countertop. She followed him over. Then he looked up and their eyes caught and held, and suddenly, she regretted letting him in. She was achingly aware of how close he was, of how he seemed to consume all the air in the room. Achingly aware that she was only wearing a towel, completely naked underneath. Achingly aware of how the air buzzed with tension between them. His eyes went dark, the same way they had last night, as he let his gaze roam over her bare shoulders and then down to where the towel barely skimmed the top of her thighs. The heat in his eyes set off a tremor of echoing heat low in her belly. The spark between them was undeniable. Her gaze was drawn to that provocative mouth, and she licked her own lips in response. Kiss him, a crazy voice said in her head. Go on, you know you want to. The compulsion was almost overwhelming, and she found herself leaning toward him. Crap. This was the last thing she’d expected when she came back to town. And the very last thing she needed. She had so many problems to solve; she needed a fling with a man she’d once had a teenage crush on like a hole in the head.

She stepped back, clasping her towel with one hand, almost tripping over the small coffee table. Jude hadn’t moved from his spot by the countertop, but she needed to put as much distance between them as possible.

But instead of staying where he was, he followed her around the coffee table, his eyes never leaving her face. She opened her mouth to tell him to step away, and instead moved in closer, his solid male body crowding up against hers as she pushed forward. She liked the feel of his lean hardness, evident even through the bulk of his uniform. Reaching up, he tucked a damp strand of hair behind her ear, letting his fingers brush lightly over the bare skin of her neck.

“You’re more beautiful than I remember,” he said softly. “So much more…real.”

She wanted to say ditto, that he was so much more, as well, but her mouth had suddenly gone dry. Aria’s heart was pounding so hard, blood thundering in her ears, she wondered if he could hear it.

Before the next beat of her heart, he lowered his mouth to hers, searching her eyes for permission. She gave it, by standing on tiptoe and closing the distance.

His mouth was gentle, as if he didn’t want to scare her, the kiss slow and sweet. She let go of the towel, no longer caring if it slipped, and slid her hands around his waist, letting herself melt into him. His mouth became more urgent, suddenly unapologetically passionate, and she liked the dichotomy of the soft and the hard, their tongues tangling as he dragged all the air out of her lungs with his intensity.

Without lifting his mouth from hers, he walked them backward until she felt the cool, solid wall at her back. Dipping his head, he kissed a slow trail of desire down her neck, and she tipped her head back to rest it against the wall, letting the thrum of arousal set her alight. Her whole body trembled with the need to touch him, and she found the edge of his jacket, stopping momentarily when she encountered his gun belt, her fingers shying away from the weapon, and moving farther around his waistband to untucked his shirt from his trousers so she could smooth her palms over his lower back. She slipped her thigh between his legs, feeling his arousal, and loving how he groaned in the back of his throat as she slowly ground against it.

“Aria.” His voice was warm and husky, full of desire. Her name sounded good on his tongue, and she wanted to hear him say it again. “You drive me crazy…”

Then he lifted his head and eased away from her slightly. Uh oh, here came the but.

“And I’ve been wanting to kiss you ever since I saw you smile after you got the job at Stargazer. You have a beautiful smile,” he added, taking her shoulders and stepping back. “And so, I’d hate to think I made you late for your first day on the job.”

He was right. Of course, he was right. But now her cheeks heated at how brazenly she’d acted. Hell, she’d been about to slip the knot on her towel and let it fall to the ground. She was ashamed to admit she’d wanted this to go further. How far would it have gone if he hadn’t done the gentlemanly thing and stopped it?

“Yes, yes, you’re right.” She needed to get ready for work. But more than that, she needed to mentally disengage herself from what’d just happened.

“And you need to get to work, as well,” she added.

“That too,” he agreed, but it seemed he was just as reluctant as she was to break their embrace, which made her feel a little better.

“Aria, I want—”

She cut him off, because it didn’t really matter what he wanted. He’d change his tune soon enough, anyway. “Don’t worry about it. I’m not sure what just happened, but it won’t happen again.” She had to nip this thing in the bud. After all, no man would want to be in a relationship with her when they found out about her little problem. Even Jude, with his generous heart, wouldn’t want to get involved with a woman who was carrying a baby that didn’t belong to him.

That was the reason she’d come back to Stevensville, and she needed to keep that upmost in her mind. Hoping that family might be her saviour—even though her little plan hadn’t panned out properly yet. But at least she had a job now. Nothing else mattered. Including this crazy attraction to the local deputy.

She ducked under his arm and escaped to stand in the bedroom doorway.

“I need to get dressed,” she reminded him, not quite meeting his gaze.

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