The Christmas He Loved Her (Bad Boys of Crystal Lake 2)

“That was real nice of him.”

She looked at him warily. “Wasn’t it.”

“So no one is going anywhere.”

Again she nodded, her eyes huge, her perfect mouth so soft and pink, it made his insides ache. He was stranded here. With Raine.

“Could be for a good long while,” he said carefully.

“Could be,” she retorted and gestured toward the table. “Do you want some wine? Though the only glass I have is an old coffee mug. It’s tin, not even ceramic.”

Jake grabbed the wine and filled the mug to the brim before taking a long sip. He let the smooth cabernet sauvignon rest on his tongue before he swallowed as he watched Raine move back to the living area. She darted a look back at him, a quick sort of glance that seemed somehow…off.

“Are you sure you don’t want to sit down?” She patted the sofa before settling on the edge. “It’s really comfy.” She licked her lips nervously and Jake’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully. Something was definitely up. He’d expected her to be pissed at him—and she should have been, after he’d nearly bitten her head off this morning—but instead she was accommodating.

Too accommodating.

“I know it’s pink and everything, but…”

Her eyes nearly popped out of her head when he reached for the last egg roll, and at first he thought it was because he was being a pig. He held it up. “You want it?”

She shook her head and bit her bottom lip. She chewed at it so carefully that his freaking “Raine radar” erupted and he glanced around the room. She was hiding something from him. She always did that damn biting thing when she was nervous about something.

He spied a thick book on the counter, and she groaned so loudly that he knew he’d just scored, but what?

He glanced back at Raine, a grin creeping across his face as he grabbed it and flipped it over so that he could read the back copy.

“Jake, really, that’s a woman’s book. Not something you’d want to read.”

“How do you know what I like to”—his eyes skimmed the copy—Hello—“read.”

What the hell? He flipped the book back over. Shit, the cover had a set of handcuffs on it.

He glanced at her in surprise.

“That’s not…” Her chest heaved, and the color in her cheeks was so damn cute he couldn’t take his eyes off her. “That’s not a book that would interest you,” she said haltingly.

Jake ignored her and flipped it open, his eyes skimming the words and widening as he read a few paragraphs. Jesus. He’d heard of this book. Heck, half the guys on base had read it the year before or had benefited from their wives or girlfriends reading it.

“Damn, woman,” he said, a grin splitting his face wide open. “I had no idea, Raine.”

She was across the room in an instant. “Give it to me.”

Jake easily held it above her head. “Holy hell, sweet cheeks, this is the filthiest thing I’ve ever read.”

“Jake! Give it back,” she yelped, jumping for his arms.

“And it was only two freaking paragraphs.”

“Jake! I’m going to…”

He held the book inches above her head. “Gonna what?” He laughed, his eyes resting on her mouth for several long moments. The laughter dried up in his throat and he was suddenly aware of many things. The length of her lashes. The smell of peaches. The way her pink tongue rested on the edge of her teeth, and the sound of her breath catching in the back of her throat.

His body tightened, his heart rocketed out of his chest, and the blood pounding in his veins was so strong, it hurt.

“What are you going to do, Raine?” His voice was husky.

She stared up at him, those big eyes of hers like glass, and when she swallowed, his eyes fell to the delicate area at the base of her neck, the one that dipped into the hollow of her collarbone. She’d shed the old, worn sweatshirt and wore a tight, baby-blue T-shirt with a deep V, one that showed the tops of her small breasts. Her bra strap peeked from beneath—her black bra strap—and the sight was so incredibly erotic to him that his groin tightened even more.