Chapter Ten
Jaxson
“No,” she whispered, her gaze meeting mine, our eyes locked. I tried reading her expression, watching her face and body language to determine if she was lying to me. I’d been around enough interrogations in the military on both sides of them I could see right through a liar.
What was she hiding? Did it have more to do with her past and ex-husband than anything else? I didn’t want to hound her with questions or run a background check on her solely out of my curiosity. It was wrong, and I didn’t want to be that person, questioning her every move, not trusting her.
Though I had to remember, we barely knew one another. I wanted to get to know her. There weren’t many women who were single in Breckenridge, and the ones who were, I knew all of them. Some had approached me, asked me out, or pursued me countless times. I had turned them down, and it had grown easier once Izzie was in the picture.
“You’re just starting over?” I offered in the way of an explanation.
“That’s right,” she said as relief flooded her features. Her shoulders relaxed, and her eyes were no longer doe-like.
She was hiding something. I should have afforded Ariella her privacy and secrets, but I couldn’t protect her if I didn’t know what was going on. Was I overreacting because of my line of work and she didn’t need protection? I’d seen it all before, women in abusive marriages fleeing their husbands. That had been my first fleeting thought when she’d told me she’d been married and had come out here to live. I suspected there was more to it than that.
“Well, I’m glad you picked this cabin,” I said, stretching my arms before turning my gaze toward the ceiling and then back to her. “It’s nice to have a neighbor who isn’t Mason.”
“No kidding,” she laughed under her breath. “How do you work with him?”
“He’s a good guy,” Jaxson said. “Albeit a pain in the ass but he’s got his heart in the right place, and he always has my back.”
The longer I stared at her, the more I wanted to kiss her. It had been three years of focusing on Izzie and not allowing myself the opportunity to indulge in my desires. I didn’t want to ruin a perfectly good friendship that we’d already established, but was it worth it? My heart constricted, but my body leaned forward, my lips closing in but pausing, waiting for her to make the next move to lean into me.
Her breath hovered over my lips. The warmth of her mouth teasing me, making my body ache for her touch.
My heart pounded against my ribcage as my lips parted slightly. I shifted closer, if that was possible, without pulling her into my lap.
Her eyes lowered to my lips. The cabin warmed as I slid my hand to the back of her neck. My fingers played with her hair, letting the moment drag on, our lips not quite touching yet.
Ariella’s lips parted, and a jolt of electricity coursed through my body as she leaned in, brushing her lips against mine.
Starving for her touch, I pulled her closer, one hand at the back of her neck, the other on her lower back. I wanted our bodies to melt together, to become one.
She moaned, and I took the opportunity as an encouragement to continue. I pulled her into my lap, her hips against mine, our lips fused with a heated passion. I wanted nothing more than to strip her naked and drive myself into her, but I couldn’t do that. I wouldn’t do that, not with Izzie in the room. This would have to satisfy the urgent need building within my body.
“Jaxson,” she gasped and pulled back. Her breath ragged. Her forehead rested against mine, panting hard.
My eyes shut, enjoying the moment and the intimacy between us. I hadn’t realized how much I missed being this close to someone.
“We need to take things slow,” Ariella said.
I knew she was right, we’d just met, and I had my daughter to think of foremost. “Yes, slow is good.” I didn’t want to lie but kissing her had unleashed a flurry of emotions pent up for the past three years. I wanted to carry her to my bed and ravish her, but she was right.
“Slow is overrated,” she whispered and pressed her lips firmly against mine.
I moaned, my body responded to her touch, her kisses, the way she whispered. Everything inside me was on fire. Her hips shifted and thrust against me.
Groaning, she was killing me. I wouldn’t be able to keep any measure of self-control if she continued the ministrations against my crotch. “Ariella,” I rasped, trying to regain my strength to stop what we’d both started before it was too late. “Slow,” I said, trying to remind her of her earlier words. It was hard to say more than one word at a time. My brain wasn’t working, my body fueled with a desire for her.
“Sorry,” she whispered and climbed off my body. Had she realized what she’d done to me? Could she feel the evidence of my desire for her? She sat on the sofa, turned to face me. Her fingers rested on her thighs. “I think we should go slow. You have a daughter who needs your undivided attention, and I—”
“You, what?” I asked, wanting her to be honest and open with me. I pushed an errant strand of hair behind her ear and waited for her to answer my question.
“I’m not ready to trust again, to be in a relationship. I have a feeling you’re not looking for a one-night stand, and that’s all I can offer you.”
My stomach knotted, and I scooted back. Her words burned my heart. Is that what she wanted? I wasn’t interested in sleeping with random women or even a friends-with-benefits scenario. I had a daughter, and anyone I brought around I wanted it for the long run, not for one night.
While I didn’t know how long she’d been divorced, we had just met. I needed to give her time. She was right. We needed to slow down, take a break from whatever was happening between us.
“You’re right, I’m not interested in an empty fuck,” I said and stood. Staying the afternoon, letting Izzie have a nap, it was all a mistake. I laced my boots and grabbed my coat. I didn’t want to wake Isabella, but I could quietly put her jacket on her and put her into the car seat. If I was lucky, the short drive back to the cabin would lull her to sleep, and she could finish her nap at home.