V Card Sweetheart (Sweetheart Colorado) Page 5

  He turns off the TV and leans forward. “I’m sorry, Jane. I’m not even thinking. You have to work again tomorrow and I’m trying to keep you up all night. What time do you have to work?”

  “I have the morning shift tomorrow.”

  I wait for him to turn to me, to look at me or something, but instead he gets up and walks behind the couch. “Okay, I’ll be ready to take you.”

  Instantly, I shake my head. “No, that’s okay. I’m going to drive.”

  He stares at me as if he’s weighing my words. “Okay, and then you’ll come here?” It may be a question, but the way he’s staring at me, it seems more of a demand than anything else.

  I walk toward my room to put some distance between us. “I think I’ll go home. There’s no reason for me to keep staying here. I mean… Martin….”

  “I want you to stay. Just a few more days. Please.” He looks almost frantic as he says it, but I don’t understand. He obviously doesn’t want me as a girlfriend. I mean, he hasn’t touched me, even after I leaned into him for most of the movie. He’s made it pretty obvious he thinks of me as a friend. Maybe he’s got a protective instinct about him and looks for women to help. I don’t know.

  I nod my head and put my hand on the bedroom door, but he stops me before I go in. “So, you’ll be here tomorrow night?”

  I don’t even look back at him. “Yeah,” I whisper before I push open the door and walk in.

  9

  Jane

  Three days. It’s been three days since Dutton kissed me. I’ve been at his house every night. We’ve played cards, watched television, gone out to dinner. He’s hung out at the diner on my shift and gone back to his old ways of staring at me as I work. Everything points to the fact that he likes me. But maybe that’s all it is. Like. Because he hasn’t touched me since he held my hand in the car the other night.

  He’s got me so twisted up inside I don’t know if I’m coming or going.

  “Okay, that’s it. Talk to me. What’s wrong?”

  I try to smile, to act as if everything is okay and turn to face Alice. She’s standing next to me with her hands on her hips, looking at me expectantly.

  “Nothing is wrong.”

  “Bullshit. I’ve known you too long to try lying to me, so you might as well just tell me. Did that truck driver break your heart? If he did, I’ll take care of him. I warned him.”

  “Warned him? What do you mean you warned him?”

  She’s shaking her head, half mumbling to herself. “I told him not to break your heart and if he did he’d have to answer to me.”

  I put my hand on Alice’s arm. “He didn’t break my heart. We’re friends. That’s all, Alice.”

  She cackles at that loudly, and a couple of guys at a table turn to look at us. I grab her arm and pull her over to the counter. “We are just friends. He doesn’t touch me, hold my hand, nothing. He kissed me one time…” I can feel my face turn red just remembering it. “But it was because I asked him to. I thought he may have liked me but now, I think he decided that we’re just better off friends, because that’s how he treats me, like a friend.”

  “Jane, he likes you, I know he does.”

  I nod, agreeing with her. “I know he does. He helped me with Martin and that whole ordeal. He’s just a good guy, that’s all.”

  Alice opens her mouth to say something and then nods her head toward the door. “Speak of the devil.”

  I flip my head around so fast it’s possible I’ll get whiplash. I grab on to both of Alice’s arms. “Don’t you say a word. I mean it. I’ll take care of it.”

  “Don’t do anything stupid, girl.”

  I roll my eyes. “I won’t. Now go check on that table”—I point across the room—“and I’ll wait on Dutton.”

  I wait for Alice to walk away before I walk to the other end of the counter. “Hey, Dutton.”

  “Hey honey, how’s your day going so far?”

  “It’s good.” I wipe my sweaty palms down my apron. I guess it’s now or never. “So I’m glad you stopped in. I think we need to talk.”

  He sits up straighter and stares at me. Why does he have to be so good looking and such a good guy? It would be easier if he was an ugly ass.

  Whether he knows it or not, his arms flex as he leans across the counter. “What do you want to talk about?”

  I put my hands on my hips, acting as if I have all the confidence in the world when actually I just want to hide in a corner somewhere. “Well, I think it’s time I moved back home. This thing with Martin is over. I’m in your hair all the time, and you just moved in. You don’t need a roommate.” I stutter through it, but I finally get it out.

  He lifts his chin. “You want to leave me?”

  No! I scream in my mind. I’d stay with him forever if that was an option. But it’s not. I can’t just keep this up, wanting more when he doesn’t. But instead of answering him, I just shrug my shoulders as if I don’t feel like I’m dying inside. “I think it’s time I go home.”

  He’s watching me, and I force myself to keep eye contact with him. I’m trying to read him. All he’d have to do is say the word and I wouldn’t leave, and I swear I’m holding my breath, waiting for what comes next.

  “If you want to leave, I won’t stop you. But do you think when you get off work, you can come and we can talk first?” His voice is thick, filled with emotion, and there’s no way I could deny him anything.

  I nod my head. “What can I get you to eat?”

  “Nothing. I just wanted to see you. I’ll be at home when you get off. I’ll see you there?”

  I nod again because it feels like I have a big lump in my throat, and I’m afraid to say anything.

  He sits for just a second, watching me before he gets up and I watch him walk out the door.

  Alice comes up next to me. “It must not have been good if he didn’t even say hi to me. What’d you do, Jane?”

  Because I can’t hold it back anymore, I let my head fall between my shoulders. “I told him I was going back home.”

  “But why? Why would you do that? That man loves you.”

  I’m already shaking my head. God, I love Alice. She thinks everyone should love me. “He doesn’t though. He wants to be my friend, and I want more.”

  “Why do you two look like someone died?”

  I look up at Sam as he sits down at the counter. I wipe at the tear that just escaped. “Nothing, we’re fine.”

  Alice speaks up. “No, we’re not fine. Jane says she’s leaving Dutton’s house.”

  Sam whistles long and shrill, causing everyone to look at us. “Poor guy. Is he okay?”

  I stare back at him, stunned. I thought for sure Sam would be worried about me. “Poor guy? You mean poor Jane?”

  He laughs then. He has a real big laugh that usually makes me smile, but this time it makes me give him a dirty look.

  “No, I mean poor Dutton. That boy loves you!”

  I gasp. “He does not.”

  Sam looks confused and shakes his head. “Yes, he does. Why else would he move his business across the country? Buy a house in the small town of Sweetheart? Have me and Alice keep an eye on you all the time and then drive like a madman when he heard you were going on a date with another man?” He shakes his head almost impatiently at me. “If that’s not love, honey, I don’t know what is.”

  “What? He didn’t… I’m not the reason…” I’m shaking my head, looking between Alice and Sam, unable to believe what they’re saying. “No, I don’t believe you.”

  Alice walks up to me and puts her hand on my back. “Honey, I know you were never shown love from your family. And we all know I’m not good at letting people know, but I had hoped you would see it in Dutton’s eyes every time he looks at you. He loves you, honey. He’s got it in his head he needs to take it slow. He is older than you, more experienced. He doesn’t want to push you, that’s all.”

  My mouth is wide open in awe. Could he? Is there any way? “He likes me?”


  Sam shakes his head. “No, honey. He loves you.”

  “I have to go. I have to talk to him,” I tell them. My whole body is trembling, wanting to believe what they’re saying but not wanting to let myself.

  “Go. Go. I got this. I’ll put Sam to work if I have to.”

  “Go on, honey,” Sam says, and that’s all it takes because I reach into the backroom and take my purse off the hook then run outside with my apron still on.

  My hands are trembling just thinking about Dutton. I put the car into gear and start driving to his house, trying to form a plan of what I’m going to say.

  10

  Dutton

  I’ve lost her. I’ve lost her before I even had her.

  I walked out of the diner hoping that she’ll stay true to her word and come over so we can talk.

  The last few days have been the sweetest torture. I’ve had her with me, gotten to know her even more, and fell even deeper in love with her than I could have imagined.

  That first night I slept with her in my arms made me realize how perfectly we fit together. And the night she asked me for a kiss I discovered exactly how explosive we are together. I’ve made myself take it slow when all I wanted to do was take her to my bed and make the sweetest love to her. But now it’s over. She’s leaving me.

  I drive home, calling the shop to let them know I won’t be in the rest of the day. I go home and immediately pour myself a double shot of whiskey.

  Opening my phone, I scan through my pictures and get lost in them, knowing my world is about to fall apart.

  I don’t know how much time goes by, but I’m sitting in the same spot at the dining room table when Jane shows up. I can hear her walking through the rooms, quiet as a mouse, until she walks into the kitchen and sees me.

  “Hey,” she says, smiling at me. And fuck, I love her smile, but it makes me sad that I’m not going to see it every day like I want to. And the thought of not seeing her each and every fucking day almost cripples me. I can’t. I can’t go a few hours as it is, there’s no way I can let her go. Not without a fight.

  “Hey, honey. Come talk to me.” I push out the chair next to me, and she sits down easily.

  She looks between the glass and then me. “You don’t usually drink in the middle of the day.”

  I push the glass away. “You’re right. I don’t. And I probably shouldn’t now, but I need a clear head for this.”

  “For what?” she asks, and it’s then I notice her hands are trembling.

  I cover her hand with mine. “Are you okay?”

  Instead of answering, she asks her own question. “Dutton, why’d you bring me here?”

  “At first? Because I was worried about Martin.”

  She tilts her head to the side like she’s examining my answer. “Why did you keep me here?”

  I push my hand through my hair. “I should have told you. I went and talked to Martin. I know he’s not going to mess with you anymore. There’s no way he’d even look at you if you walked right next to him. But I didn’t tell you because I wanted you to stay.”

  “Why?” she asks immediately. “Why did you want me to stay?”

  “Because I want you with me.” There’s so much I need to say to her. I know I do, but there’s still the fear of scaring her off. I feel like I’m damned if I do and damned if I don’t.

  “I don’t understand, Dutton. You held me that first night. You kissed me the next night and then nothing. It’s like you go out of your way to not touch me. From where I’m standing, you seem like you’d be happier if I just left.”

  She starts to stand, and I reach out to her, pushing my chair back and gently grab her arm. When she looks at me, I drop my hand to my lap. “I will be devastated if you leave me. I want you to move in here. Decorate my house. Be my wife. Have my babies. I want it all, Jane, and I want it with you.”

  She shakes her head like she doesn’t believe what I’m saying. “Then why? Why have you been pushing me away? Even just now, it’s like you can’t stand the thought of touching me.”

  I stand up and pull her against me. The fire is burning inside me, and I know there’s only one thing that will put out the flame. “Because I can’t control myself around you. Because just smelling you, fucking looking at you makes me want to lose all control. I scared you to death when you woke up in my arms, and I promised myself I’d slow down and the only way to do that is to not touch you. Hell, Jane, I’ve jacked off to your picture every day before I see you just to take the edge off.”

  “Picture? What picture?”

  I pick up my phone on the table, open the photo gallery and hand her the phone.

  She scrolls through the pictures. Hundreds of them, and they’re all of her. I started taking her picture the day I met her, and I haven’t stopped. She keeps scrolling, and it’s then I realize I may have fucked up. She probably thinks I’m a stalker. “Jane?”

  She sets the phone down and looks up at me. “I love you, Dutton Cole. I have for a while. I think I fell in love with you the first time I saw you give Sam money outside of The Stop. You’re a good man, and even though I’m not really good at all this, I want you just as much as you want me. I sleep in that bed at night, thinking about what you would do to me. Your hands sliding across my body. Your mouth on me. I imagine it all. But I want the real thing. I want you.”

  “I don’t want to push you or scare you. We can wait…”

  “I don’t want to wait,” she says with a stomp of her foot.

  I reach for her, but she stops me, pointing at the apron she still has on from work. “But let me shower first.”

  I pull the apron over her head. “Honey, clean or dirty, I’ll like you any way.”

  She slides her hands up my chest. “Please?”

  I let my head drop until my forehead is pressed to hers. “Five minutes, Jane. Then I’m coming for you.”

  She does a little squeal and turns really fast. I follow behind her, because fuck how could I not?

  She’s digging in her suitcase for clothes. “No clothes. You don’t need clothes. Four minutes.”

  She looks like she may argue, but she doesn’t. She walks into the bathroom and closes the door. I press my hands against the door frame and count down the minutes until she’s mine.

  Jane

  With my hair in a bun on top of my head and a towel wrapped around my body, I open the bathroom door and then jump back when I see Dutton leaning against the frame. He’s staring up and down my body like I’m a gift he can’t wait to open.

  “Ready now?”

  “Uh, lotion. Just lotion.” I walk around him and over to the dresser to grab my lotion. I’ve never been naked in front of a man, and I can’t imagine putting it on in front of him. “You want to meet in your room?”

  He stalks over to me and holds his hand out. “Give me that.”

  His voice is deeper than usual. It’s commanding, and it sends a chill down my spine.

  Without thinking about it, I hand over the small bottle.

  He squirts some into his hand and sets the bottle on the dresser top. He rubs his hands together and then touches my shoulders, smoothing it into my skin. He reaches for the towel. “I want to take this off.”

  I hold my hands even tighter on the edge of the towel. “You first,” I tell him, trying to buy myself some time.

  He pulls his shirt over his head and drops it to the floor. I watch as his fingers undo the button and zipper of his jeans. And even if a bomb went off in the other room, there’s no way I could look anywhere except at Dutton. He pulls his pants down and steps out of them. His penis is big, thick, and standing erect as if it’s pointing right at me. He wraps his hand around his girth and strokes himself from root to tip.

  He moans, and I know my eyes are as big as saucers. “Does it hurt?”

  “No honey. Knowing he’s going to be inside you soon, he’ll be all right.”

  He smiles and then reaches for the towel. I still have a death grip on the edges, but when
he asks me if I trust him, I know I do, and I let the towel drop to the floor.

  His gaze drops to my body, and I suck in my breath, wishing I’d lost at least ten pounds before he saw me. He reaches for the lotion, squirts some on his hand, and moves in closer to me. His hands go straight to my breast, kneading and massaging me. My hard peaks pucker with each caress. “You’re perfect,” he whispers into my ear.

  He keeps working his magic, massaging the lotion into my belly, my thighs, up and down my legs. He’s touching me everywhere, except for where I’m yearning for him to touch. His manhood is pressed into my belly as he moves in close and massages my back.

  I run my hands up his stomach, across his flat abs and up his chest, twirling my finger around his erect nipples. He groans, and I smile, knowing I did that to him. I made him feel good.

  When he’s touched every other part of my body, he finally nestles his hand between my thighs. “Are you wet for me, Jane?”

  My hands go to his shoulders so that I can hold myself steady. “Yes. I’m always wet for you. Even at the diner when all you do is stare at me, I’m wet for you.”

  He rewards me with a few strokes to my clit, and I come up on my tiptoes. “Yes,” I moan. I rest my head onto his chest, and he’s relentless as he fingers me, caressing my clit. It isn’t long before a burning starts inside me. “I’m going to come,” I tell him, and he adds more pressure. I’m kissing his chest, running my tongue around his nipple but then I climax and my whole body pulsates.

  The orgasm wracks through my body, and my legs would give out and I’d fall to the floor if Dutton didn’t pick me up like I weigh nothing at all. He strides from the room, and I wrap my legs around his waist. “Where are we going?”

  “Our bed. From now on, you’re in our bed. With me, every night.”

  I curl my head into his shoulder and kiss his neck, wrapping my arms around him and pressing my breast against his chest.

  When we get to his room, he lays me down on the bed, and I move over so he can lie with me. “Tell me.”