Collide (The Barker Triplets 2)

It was in the way he knew she needed to be held and cuddled after sex, with his body still inside her, his arms wrapped around her, his heart beating in tandem with hers.

“Give me five minutes.”

She whirled around and ran upstairs, pushing the voice of reason out of her head as she tumbled into her bedroom and ripped off her sweats. She caught sight of herself in the mirror over her dresser and paused.

Holy hell. Was that really her?

Bobbi crossed the room and bent over for a closer look, her gaze running over the flushed cheeks, excited eyes and messy hair. Her stomach rolled with nervous tension and every cell in her body felt as if it was on fire.

She touched her mouth and for one brief moment, such sadness washed over her that tears pricked the edges of her eyes. It had been so long since she’d felt this way. This alive.

This out of control.

At twenty-five, there was something bittersweet about that.

“Oh Bobbi, don’t be so dramatic,” she murmured and then set about freshening up.

It was closer to ten minutes later that she made her way back down the stairs. Shane was where she’d left him, leaning against the door, his dark eyes settled on her. There was no light grin on his face—there was nothing light or easy about him. There was only an intensity that she felt like a physical touch.

“Ready?” His voice was low, hitting that timbre that always screwed with her body. It rolled over her skin, hot and teasing, and she knew as she gazed up at him, that their ‘deal’ was in full effect. There was no way she was not getting some of what he had tonight.

For a moment her fingers halted as she laced up her boots. She just had to be a grownup about it and not let the white noise get in the way. The noise that begged for more. The noise that had never seemed to go away. She would take what Shane offered and nothing more.

A slight smile touched her lips as she finished tying up her snow boots.

“I am,” she said airily. “Are you?”

She pushed past Shane, yelled goodbye to her father and Gramps and prayed that the cool air would do something to ease the heat inside of her.

Because if not…if she didn’t find a way to control the need she felt for Shane—if she didn’t abide by the sex with no strings idea—this night just might prove to be the beginning of her fall. And considering how fast and hard she’d fallen years ago, Bobbi Jo knew it was a long, long way down.

Chapter Seventeen

The moon hung low in the sky and its soft glow on the surrounding snow made it look like a bed of twinkling diamonds. The temperature hovered near the freezing mark, and with the wind long dead and the smell of hickory wood burning, it was a gorgeous night to sit around a blazi

ng bon fire.

Shane and Bobbi had joined the others a few hours earlier, hitting the trails that they’d all traversed many times in the past—Michigan boys and snow went hand in hand. And while he hadn’t been on his Ski-doo in years he had been pleasantly surprised to find it in mint condition out at White Hall. But then, his Grandfather had been the kind of man to make sure these kinds of things were looked after.

Shane pushed aside thoughts of his complicated past and a relationship that hadn’t been finished. He thought of the unread letter from Niall and as much as he wanted to read his grandfather’s last words to him, he couldn’t bear to actually go through with it.

Not yet.

So he’d whisked Bobbi back to the carriage house where he’d brought his sled and the two of them had headed out into the woods surrounding New Waterford. There in the shadow of the Porcupine Mountains, they’d cut through the late winter snow. It had been exhilarating and with Bobbi pressed tight to his back, Logan, Pete, and Rick along for the ride, it felt like he’d stepped back in time.

Something he needed to be wary of. Visiting White Hall had ripped open a lot of pain and Shane knew the ghosts of his past weren’t always kind, and most of the time they loved nothing more than to kick him in the ass.

His eyes lingered on Logan and Billie as they melted into each other across the way. Near the edge of the circle, the two of them were deep in conversation as if they were the only two people there and when Logan cupped Billie’s face and pulled her in close for a kiss, something twisted inside Shane. Something dark, and hard, and bittersweet.

He’d been that much of a fool in love before and it had hurt like hell when he’d crashed and burned. He thought about the hurt and anger and the stupid things he and Bobbi had done to each other. It was a testament to the breadth and depth of their feelings that they’d fucked up so royally and though he knew he wanted that second chance with her, he had to ask the question…

Were they strong enough to survive another go at it? Did she even want it? They’d danced around each other for months after he’d come back to New Waterford. Not always polite or nice or civil. But he’d known there was something there, some loose thread from their past that dangled free, looking for an anchor.

He just wasn’t sure she wanted to be tied down again. At least not to him.

The woman beside him shifted and he glanced at Bobbi. She’d long tossed her fluffy white hat and her hair haloed her head in a mess of dark silk that fell against her white jacket like shiny ink. She was chatting with Pete Tortolini’s new girlfriend, Brenda, a redhead with a gigantic laugh and a beautiful smile. New to town, Brenda had an easy way about her and Pete was a lucky guy.

“So, Shane,” Brenda grinned up at him, “I hear you paint.”