“They complemented each other well. Paul stood by her, gave her strength during her last bout of cancer.”
He launched into another story of a visit with Connie and Paul. When he’d finished, he looked at his empty plate, the two empty bottles on the coffee table, and then at her. “You’re easy to talk to. I find myself telling you things I never meant to say.”
“It’s not so difficult to be a good listener when I’m interested in the topic.” She smiled. “And the person speaking.”
His eyes darkened to a deep navy. “Where do we go from here, Chelsea? Tonight’s complicated the hell out of things, hasn’t it?”
“I don’t see us as a complication, Jared. To me, what we share feels right.”
Surprisingly, he nodded. He picked up an empty beer bottle and toyed with the paper label, peeling it away from the glass surface.
“I’ll be here for you when you need me, Jared. Always.”
Panic edged into his expression, and she wondered if she’d said too much. No. They’d just made love. If she couldn’t tell him how she felt then she sure shouldn’t have invited him into her bedroom.
“Let me help you clean up,” he said, gathering up the bottles and heading to the kitchen.
Chelsea stared at Jared and wondered how she’d gotten herself into this predicament. One minute they were having a great conversation on her sofa over beer and pizza, then cleaning up her kitchen, the next they’re walking on the beach hand in hand, and the next he was stripping off his shirt and asking her to go into the water with him.
No way did she want to go skinny-dipping with Jared.
Well, she did, but not when it meant he might see the long scars on her back.
Was there enough moonlight that he’d notice the scars? Had he already seen them and not cared? She couldn’t buy that. Surely he’d have asked about them? She recalled his hands gliding across her shoulders, her waist, but not once had his fingers moved over her marred skin. She’d been on her back, on him…no, he didn’t know.
“Don’t try to tell me you’re shy because I’m not going to buy it. Not after earlier.”
Moonlight reflected off the water, glistening against his skin. She couldn’t keep her eyes off his chest, his abs, how a fine line of hair disappeared into the waistband of his jeans. How she knew exactly where that arrow led and just how perfectly his body melded with hers.
She’d known he was gorgeous, that his body was solid and fit, but, oh, in the short time from when he’d made love to her, she’d forgotten. Or had not allowed her mind to believe that just seeing his finely muscled abdomen would make her mouth go dry and water all at the same time. She swallowed, but the motion felt more like trying to gulp sand.
His fingers lingered at his jeans snap, drawing her gaze back to the sexy arrow of hair, making her think that no anatomy lesson had ever prepared her for Jared’s body.
“I’m not much of a swimmer,” she mumbled above the sound of the waves.
“I’ve heard Will talk about the vacation you two went on last summer. He took you to the Caribbean.”
“That doesn’t mean I swim.”
“You went scuba diving. Tell me, how did you
do that if you don’t swim?”
He had her there.
“Go in without me. I’m not feeling up to a swim tonight.”
He sank down onto the sand beside her and stared at the moonlight, clearly trying to decipher her thoughts.
“Will’s been a good brother, hasn’t he?” she asked to change the subject before he pushed to find out what caused her aversion to taking a dip.
Jared’s jaw flexed. “Will is a good man, so I imagine he’s a good brother. Certainly, he’s always seemed to care a great deal for you.”
“He was my hero, growing up,” she admitted, refusing to let the conversation lag.
“Did Will rescue you from dragons?”
“Oh, definitely.”