The Heat Is On

Jacob had been right. He was recovering nicely, and had proven it. Three times.

She slipped into her clothes, grabbed her sandals, and tiptoed to the bedroom door. “Hey.”

With a grimace, she plastered on a smile and only when she was sure it was light and casual-God, how she’d grown to hate that word-did she turn. “Hey.”

Sprawled out, lit only by the moonlight slanting in his window, Jacob sent her a lazy smile, a wicked smile, the kind that suggested maybe a late-night snack to regain some strength, and then another heart-stopping round of naked fun. “Where’re you going?”

She hesitated. “I thought I’d stay at Willow’s mom’s tonight.”

“Bella, it’s late. I don’t want you driving back into town now.”

Then ask me to stay…

“Stay,” he said.

Oh, God. Her heart actually skipped a beat as hope and affection and something far trickier all tangled for space in her heart, which had just lodged itself in her throat. She held her breath and moved closer to the bed. “Why?” she whispered.

“I just said why, it’s late.”

Disappointment nearly choked her. No worries. She’d go home and drown it out with chocolate. “I have to get up early anyway, and you don’t. You need your rest.”

He sat up, the muscles in his abs crunching.

God, he was beautiful. It wasn’t fair just how beautiful, and with a sigh, she leaned in to kiss him.

She couldn’t help herself.

He cupped the back of her head and deepened the kiss, fisting his hand in her hair, pressing her in toward him until she began to melt.

She knew what would come next.

Her clothes would fall away again and then he’d put that mouth on her, that talented, greedy, knowing mouth, and she’d never leave.

She’d never want to.

Which was why she was going, dammit. Sleeping with him was doing something to her, making her want things she had no business wanting, not from him. Knowing it, she forced herself to pull away, forced her hands into her pockets and her eyes off his. “If you keep that up,” she quipped, “I’ll never go.”

“Maybe you’ve discovered my evil plan,” he murmured, his naked body calling to hers.

Maybe, he’d said.

Did that mean he wasn’t certain? She wasn’t sure, but it sounded to her like he wasn’t ready to admit that he wanted her to stay. Not because he needed help, not because she was in danger, but because he wanted her.

That settled her mind as nothing else could have.

Dammit.

It was her hang-up, not his, but she couldn’t ignore it. Not when her flight reflex was suddenly screaming. At the door, she turned back to look at him, and found his dark eyes on hers, silent and assessing. Her throat tightened, her eyes burned. “I’ll see you later,” she said, and left before he could touch her again with his magic body and change her mind.

15

THEY DID A WASH AND repeat for three days, with Bella coming over to Jacob’s after work, and then leaving late at night.

There’d been no more shootings and though Edible Bliss hadn’t reopened to the public, they were still operating the kitchen for their direct-to-restaurant customers. Willow was back in her apartment, being watched over by the cops, but she’d asked Bella to be around whenever possible.

Which is how Jacob once again found himself lying on his bed, watching Bella gather her things to leave. Two minutes ago he’d come so hard he’d been rendered blind, deaf and dumb.

Hell, he still couldn’t feel his legs. Somebody had taken out all his bones.

Not Bella. She’d put herself back together with alarming ease.

Jacob didn’t move or change his breathing because if he did, he’d sit up and ask-beg-to know why she had to go.

Why she seemed to want his body plenty, but didn’t want to sleep with him.

At first, he’d shrugged it off. They’d said casual, and she’d certainly kept it that. Besides, how could he complain? He was getting fantastic, mind-blowing sex without the worry or awkwardness of the morning after.

And given their typical humiliating morning after-what he referred to as the Raspberry Incident came to mind- he should be fine with that.

Which in no way explained why it was bugging the hell out of him. Maybe because it meant he was far more vested in this than she, and he hated that. She was happy enough to see him, hang out with him, he knew this. In fact, she seemed more than happy.

She glowed.

But just how content could she really be if she couldn’t wait to leave him at the end of the evening in spite of the looming, omnipresent danger?

There had to be a reason. He just didn’t know what. He was missing something, something big. But for two nights in a row, he’d let her go without a word because it was embarrassing that he wanted more than she did, and also because he didn’t want the inevitable confrontation that might facilitate their end.

The end of the happiest he’d been in too damn long. But he couldn’t do it any longer, couldn’t keep quiet. “Why do you always go?”

She went still for a beat, then turned back from the door. “What?”

“You heard me.”

“It’s late, Jacob.”

“But that’s the very reason you should stay.”

She was quiet a moment, just looking at him, and he knew right then-he’d most definitely missed something, but hell if he could figure out what. “I’ll come with you.”

“Not necessary,” she said. “I have to get up really early.”

It was his turn to be quiet a minute. “Are you afraid to let me go to your place because we haven’t caught the shooter?”

“Partly.”

“Then stay here.”

“Another reason I leave is because I don’t live here,” she said. “Actually, I don’t really live anywhere.”

“What does that mean?”

She turned back to the door, which frustrated the hell out of him because now he couldn’t see her face. “It means maybe I’ve been thinking it’s time to move on again.”

“You’ve been thinking about moving on?” Listen to that, listen to him sounding all cool and calm, when he suddenly felt anything but. “Since when?”

“I always think about it.”

He pushed off the bed and moved toward her, taking her purse out of her hands, backing her to the wall. “Where will you go this time?”

“Don’t know yet.”

“Why now?”

“Why not? There’s really no reason to stay…”

He cupped her face with one hand and made her look at him. “No reason?”

“It’s not like I have my own shop, or a real relationship. I mean, we’re just messing around…”

Jesus. He stared at her, his thoughtless words to Austin coming back to haunt him. Hello, missing piece to the puzzle. “You know what I meant by that, right?”