The Player. Part 6

But nothing in her experience could have ever prepared her for the overwhelming do-or-die toecurling attraction she felt for Jamie. He'd merely smiled at her and something about that lazy grin had tripped some sort of internal previously-undetected s.e.xual trigger. Parts of her body which hadn't so much as tingled in years were suddenly vibrating with a tw.a.n.g of l.u.s.t-ridden enthusiasm she could feel in her fillings...and other more erogenous places.

As for what almost happened on her porch, Audrey couldn't explain that either. One minute she'd been standing there, thinking about the rugged yet curiously vulnerable line of his cheek and the next, she'd found herself staring at his mouth.

Then gravitating toward that mouth.

But who could blame her? Honestly, the man had the most gorgeous lips she'd ever seen. They were surprisingly full for a guy, but masculine nonetheless. And when he smiled...Mercy, they were utterly devastating.

Those hungry eyes of his-an intriguing mixture of brown, gold and green-had boldly slid over her body, then sizzled a path over her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, up her neck and onto her lips. At that point, thinking for herself had become a thing of the past and she'd merely gotten caught up in the moment. The rest of the world had simply fallen away and nothing had existed but the two of them and the inevitable meeting of their mouths.

If Moses, G.o.d love his big drooling heart, hadn't barked when he had, who knows what might have happened? They might have kissed, then kissed some more, and then she might have dragged him into the house, thrown him down onto the floor and ridden him until his eyes rolled back in his head. She might have had the most powerful o.r.g.a.s.m of her life.

Forget the bed, forget a romantic fire, forget all the so-called set-the-mood trappings. She didn't-wouldn't-need them with him. She needed a hungry mouth, greedy talented hands and that impressive bulge she'd noticed when Moses had inspected his crotch. The mere memory made her laugh.

She pressed her forehead against his muzzle and lovingly scratched her dog behind the ears. "How was it?" she teased, stupidly envious of him.

All right, Audrey thought. Enough already.

Drawing in a cleansing breath, she reluctantly pushed herself to her feet, ambled over to her stereo and plugged in Anna Nalick, her newest artist obsession. She could listen to that melodious voice for hours on end and frequently did. Anna was young, but had a surprising maturity to her lyrics that rang truer than anything Audrey had heard in a long time.

"Breathe" came alive through the speakers and set the mood for her bath. By the time the final chord of the song sounded, Audrey was neck deep in apple-scented bubbles and she could feel the tension melting out of her body. At least most of it, at any rate. There was still a depressingly insistent throb in her s.e.x, but it was nothing she couldn't take care of herself if it became downright unbearable.

Which was a distinct possibility, she thought, as her thighs tensed with the ache of unfulfilled expectation.

With a helpless half-laugh, half-sob, Audrey bit her bottom lip, then held her breath and sank beneath the water. She stayed there until her lungs burned and her focus had s.h.i.+fted to the ache in her chest, opposing the one in her loins. Ah, she thought, pus.h.i.+ng the hair away from her face when she finally emerged from the water. Much better. Her lips formed a weak smile. Nothing like a little dunk to help one get their perspective in order. Drastic times called for drastic, not altogether sane, methods.

Did she still want Jamie? Of course. And she grimly suspected that the more time she spent with him, the more she could expect that malady to worsen. But at least her head was clear enough for the moment to try and put a defense in order, to get her head fully in the game, so to speak.

Because regardless of how badly she might want him, she'd never slept with a guest before and she d.a.m.ned sure wasn't going to start now.

Not this guy. Not this time.

Not Jamie Flanagan.

Yes, it was unfortunate that he'd mysteriously managed to awaken her inner p.o.r.n star-when she hadn't known she'd even had one-but Audrey knew she'd simply have to wrestle her IPS back into submission with truckloads of guilt and a stringent professional att.i.tude. Jamie was here because he needed help. Help, dammit, not s.e.x.

Above all else, she needed to keep that in mind.

Furthermore, she needed to talk with her grandfather and find out exactly what had happened to Jamie's friend. Merely losing him couldn't account for that wretched sadness she'd glimpsed in those gorgeous eyes earlier this evening. Granted no doubt losing a close friend would have put it there, but not to the extent she'd seen-or felt. There was something more, something else that haunted him and dogged his every step. In fact, though the Colonel had sent him here, Audrey didn't think her grandfather was even aware of the full extent of Jamie's pain. There was something more, something else that haunted him and dogged his every step. In fact, though the Colonel had sent him here, Audrey didn't think her grandfather was even aware of the full extent of Jamie's pain.

Clearly Jamie had gotten good at covering it up, but that's what most hurting guys did, right? If they couldn't beat the pain into submission, pound it into the ground or simply ignore it away, they hid it. G.o.d forbid they ask for help, she thought. Help indicated weakness. Jamie, in particular, she knew, wouldn't be able to stand that, perceived or otherwise. What the fool didn't realize was that it took strength to ask for help. Men, she thought with an eye roll. They had the emotional intelligence of a goat.

Audrey toed the drain open and levered herself out of the tub. She dried off, then wrapped herself in a towel and, rather than do the sensible thing like dress for bed, she strolled to her kitchen window, inexplicably drawn. After only a moment's hesitation, she nudged the curtain aside and stared down the hill toward Jamie's cottage.

To her surprise he was sitting on the topmost step of his porch. The light illuminated his impressive profile in stark relief, leaving the rest of him in dark shadow. A bottle of whiskey-the Jameson she'd had to special order for him-sat at his side, and he held a tumbler of the flickering amber liquid loosely in one hand, allowing it to dangle in the deep V between his thighs.

To a casual observer he appeared unguarded and relaxed, but for reasons which escaped her at the moment, she knew better. It was all part and parcel of the image he liked to portray. Or maybe had had to portray to keep up the status quo? She sighed softly and rested her head against the gla.s.s. That seemed more likely. to portray to keep up the status quo? She sighed softly and rested her head against the gla.s.s. That seemed more likely.

If he held it together and pretended like nothing was wrong, then it wouldn't be. He'd be normal and the rest of the world could simply accept that he was fine, or they could go to h.e.l.l. Audrey didn't have any idea where these impressions and feelings were coming from-she seemed to be more in tune with him than with anyone she'd ever met before-but she knew her instincts were right on. Felt the familiar weight of grief and emotion-his grief and emotion-seep into her very bones.

She was siphoning already, she realized with a flash of dread, and she'd barely spent any time with him. That certainly didn't bode well for the rest of the week.

G.o.d, why did this always happen to her? Audrey thought with a silent whimper of despair. Why was she attracted to guys who used her up? Why couldn't she feel this overwhelming attraction for Derrick? Why didn't he he make her heart squeeze with emotion and her thighs quiver with want? make her heart squeeze with emotion and her thighs quiver with want?

Was she simply wired this way? she wondered. Could she only be attracted to men who needed her? How screwed up was that? How screwed up was she? she? It took very little insight to recognize that she was going to be taking a huge risk by working with Jamie. Between the off-the-Richter-scale attraction and this equally driving need to heal his hurts-even if that meant making them hers-she'd be a fool to think she wasn't teetering on a slippery slope. It took very little insight to recognize that she was going to be taking a huge risk by working with Jamie. Between the off-the-Richter-scale attraction and this equally driving need to heal his hurts-even if that meant making them hers-she'd be a fool to think she wasn't teetering on a slippery slope.

And she was going to be d.a.m.ned lucky if she didn't fall.

Even worse...for him.

SINCE J JAMIE HAD long ago learned to fall asleep in almost any position, in any condition, it was no surprise that he enjoyed a restful night. The mattress on his bed was just the perfect combination of soft and firm, the pillows were excellent and the sheets were quality-Egyptian cotton-and had been cool and soft with a hint of some kind of summer rain scented fabric softener. long ago learned to fall asleep in almost any position, in any condition, it was no surprise that he enjoyed a restful night. The mattress on his bed was just the perfect combination of soft and firm, the pillows were excellent and the sheets were quality-Egyptian cotton-and had been cool and soft with a hint of some kind of summer rain scented fabric softener.

And the quarter bottle of whiskey he'd had before stumbling into bed hadn't hurt either.

He would have smiled, but knew from past experience that his face would hurt, so he quelled the urge. Instead, he braced both hands against the shower wall, bent his head and allowed the almost-scalding water to beat down on the back of his head and neck. Between the steam and two fingers of the hair of the dog, he was beginning to feel marginally better.

Jamie liked a drink as much as the next guy, but he ordinarily knew his limit. h.e.l.l, he'd been drinking Jameson since his grandmother had made him his first hot toddy. He knew when to stop. So why hadn't he, then? Jamie wondered, knowing the question was rhetorical.

He would have liked to blame it on the clear, cool night, the nocturnal sounds and lapping lake against the sh.o.r.e. Even better if he could have blamed it on boredom-he'd had nothing better to do than sit in the dark and get hammered.

But he knew better-he'd kept drinking because it had taken the edge off. The way Jamie had seen it, he'd had two choices. He could have either hiked back up the hill and finished what Moses had interrupted-and then some-or he could drink until he could master the urge.

While he hadn't mastered it by any stretch of the imagination, he'd at least managed to keep his feet planted firmly on the front porch of his "relaxation" retreat. He smothered a snort. h.e.l.l, he'd been more relaxed behind enemy lines with rocket-powered grenades-RPG's in soldier speak-going off in his shadow.

Jamie turned the shower off, slicked his hair back from his face and snagged a towel from the rack. Now, in approximately sixteen minutes, if his internal clock could be trusted, he was supposed to continue this relaxing relaxing retreat painting watercolors-with Audrey, no less, so that she could personally witness his complete inept.i.tude-down by the lake. retreat painting watercolors-with Audrey, no less, so that she could personally witness his complete inept.i.tude-down by the lake.

Satan had a familiar and his name was Garrett, Jamie thought, with a bark of dry laughter which made his head threaten to split in two.

He'd fully expected a call from the devil last night, but he suspected a divine hand had intervened. Because if Garrett had dialed him up yesterday evening, considering the alcohol pumping through his system, he would have most likely unloaded on him. Jamie had needed an outlet for all of this pent-up anxiety and since his preferred method of dealing with angst-s.e.x, of course-was off-limits, that only left picking a fight. His cheeks puffed as he exhaled loudly. And since there was no one here he could reasonably pick a fight with-too bad Derrick had left, Jamie thought, wincing with regret-he'd had no choice but to drink.

The way he figured it, he was going to need a lot of alcohol to combat the attraction. If he factored in the time-to-attraction-to-alcohol ratio, then that meant he'd need an additional say...million bottles of whiskey to go with what he had left? If that didn't work, he could always see about being chemically castrated for the week. His lips quirked with miserable humor. A man had to have a plan, after all.

Feeling decidedly uninterested in watercolors, but ridiculously pleased to know that he'd see Audrey, Jamie dressed quickly and made his way outside.

"Ah," the object of his recent l.u.s.t said. "There you are." Looking fresh and well rested and entirely too s.e.xy for a woman dressed in an ugly flannel s.h.i.+rt, Audrey gestured to a wide a.s.sortment of gear at her hiking-boot clad feet. "Would you mind helping me with this stuff?"

"Sure," Jamie told her. He easily gathered a couple folding chairs and wooden easels into his arms, leaving her to tote a small bag he a.s.sumed held the rest of their painting necessities.

She shot him a curiously hesitant look. "Have you been up long?"

"A grand total of twenty-two minutes. Twenty of which were spent in the shower."

She smiled and inclined her head. "Ah," she sighed. "Slept well or barely slept?"

"Oh, I slept well."

"Good. Did you have time for breakfast?"

"Er...does thinking about it count?"

"No."

"Then no, I didn't have time for breakfast."

She shook her head. "Bad soldier," she chided. "My grandfather wouldn't approve. How does a m.u.f.fin and some fruit sound?"

Not as good as a half a pound of bacon and a Spanish omelet, but better than nothing, he supposed, grateful nonetheless. "Good, thanks." What? Was she packing breakfast in that bag? he wondered.

Giving him a look he grimly suspected meant she'd somehow read his mind, Audrey grinned and grabbed the radio attached to her waist. "Do you want anything to drink?"

"A beer would be nice."

"Not for breakfast. How does tomato juice sound?"

"Nasty. Can I have coffee?"

Eyes twinkling, she bit her lip. "Sure." She placed his order and asked that it be brought down to the lake. "There we go," she said. "Henry should be down in a few minutes."

"Thank you," he said, and meant it. It had been a long time since anyone had cared whether or not he'd eaten his Wheaties.

"No problem. Besides, it'll help metabolize that alcohol and get you over your hangover."

Startled, Jamie almost stumbled over his own feet. "I'm sorry."

She darted him a sly look over her shoulder. "No need to apologize."

"I wasn't apologizing. I just-" He chewed the inside of his cheek and, equally impressed and disturbed, considered her. "How did you know?"

She stopped at a level spot behind a rather thick copse of trees and dropped her bag, then took the chairs away from him. "Well, number one, you slept late and you're a military man-granted, one that's not currently in service-" she said before he could interrupt because he'd instantly readied his mouth for argument. "I know that's not the norm."

Good observation, he had to admit. Still, it wasn't enough to deduce a hangover.

She made quick work of setting up the chairs. "Secondly, you skipped breakfast and you appear entirely too health conscious to make that a regular habit."

On the money again, Jamie thought, feeling more and more transparent.

"Would you mind setting those up?"

He blinked. "Huh?"

She gestured toward the easels, forgotten in his hand. "Set those up, would you?"

Right, Jamie thought, jolting into action. His cheeks heated with embarra.s.sment. Here she was doing all the work, while he stood rooted to the ground, marvelling over her ability to read him like a friggin' book. Good grief. He had to get his head out of his a.s.s and into the game.

"And thirdly," she said, shooting him a mischievous smile. "You look like s.h.i.+t."

Since he was more accustomed to accepting compliments than criticism, the blunt insult took him completely by surprise, jarring a disbelieving chuckle loose from his throat. "Don't hold back," he told her dryly. "Tell me how you really really feel." feel."

She shrugged. "You asked me how I knew," she said. "Don't ask if you don't want to know."

Utterly intrigued by her, he pushed a hand through his hair and nodded. "Duly noted. Anything else I should know?"

"Nothing." She paused, then seemed to remember something important. "Oh, wait. Erm...I might have seen you on your front porch last night with that bottle of Jameson."

A slow smile spread across his lips. Ah, he thought. The heart of the matter. Now that made more sense. "You're a piece of work, you know that?"

She handed him a watercolor pad. "I might have heard that once or twice."

"Or more."

She nodded. "Or more."

Feeling like he'd moved back onto solid ground, Jamie flipped the pad open and arranged it onto the easel. He thought about pretending to know what to do next, but ultimately decided against it. What was the point? She knew perfectly well he didn't have any d.a.m.ned idea how to paint. "Okay. What now?"

Audrey bent down by the water's edge and filled two plastic cups. Now here was a perk, Jamie thought. She might be wearing the ugliest s.h.i.+rt in the Northern Hemisphere-one that was better suited to a lumberjack and not a woman who looked like a cover model-but that s.h.i.+rt was tucked into a pair of jeans which fitted her quite nicely. Her delectable a.s.s presently tested the seams of the worn denim and he found himself silently wis.h.i.+ng he had either X-ray vision or the ability to make her pants instantly vanish.

What the h.e.l.l. Why not wish for both?

She'd tied her hair back into a long ponytail at the nape of her neck and the cool morning breeze flirted with the ends of her espresso curls. She looked s.e.xy and competent and...wholesome, Jamie realized with a start.

Now there was a word he didn't usually a.s.sociate with a woman he was attracted to. Stacked, s.e.xy, dim-those were the qualities most of the women he hooked up with possessed. No muss, no fuss. Attraction, action, reaction, end of relations.h.i.+p.

Audrey, he knew, wasn't that kind of girl. And yet he wanted her more than he'd ever wanted another female in his life. Was it because he couldn't have her? The so-called thrill of the forbidden? Had Garrett's orders somehow made her even more attractive to him simply because he knew he wasn't supposed to touch her? His gaze slid over the delicate slope of her cheek, the curve of her brow, the dainty sh.e.l.l of her ear and his heart did a funny little squeeze he would have labeled indigestion had he eaten this morning.

That would have been the simple explanation-the one he wished like h.e.l.l he could cling to-but he knew better. In an act of what he could only deduce as divine punishment for his mistreatment of women, the Almighty had placed him with the one woman in the world whom he instinctively knew could touch his soul...and had made her offlimits.

If that wasn't divine retribution he didn't know what was.

She straightened. "Now we paint," she said brightly.

Ah, yes. For a moment there he'd forgotten.

Audrey chuckled, the sound soft and curiously soothing to his ears. "Don't look so glum. Remember, this one is for my grandfather."

Jamie accepted his paints, brush and cup with a vengeful smile. "That's right," he told her. "He's got a fondness for orchids, right?"

"He does," she confirmed hesitantly. "But I thought you might want to paint the lake."

Jamie wet his brush and dipped it into the red, toyed around with the combination of pigment to water until he reached the right shade of pink. p.u.s.s.y-pink, Jamie thought, stifling a chuckle. "Nope. I'll paint an orchid."

Clearly suspecting that he was up to something, Audrey slid him a guarded glance. "Suit yourself. I'm painting the lake."

"Good. It can be a gift for me."

A smile flirted with her lips while she played around with her paintbrush. "Why would I give it to you?"

He purposely let his gaze slide over her. "So I'll have a memento of you when I go home."

She cleared her throat. "And home's in Atlanta, right?"