When the Stars Come Out--A Cottonbloom Novel by Laura Trentham

Author:Laura Trentham
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Chapter Twelve

Jackson woke long before the sun rose. Moonlight shaded the darkness. With her face smoothed in sleep, the toll worry and exhaustion had taken the past few weeks was evident. He hated to think he’d been the cause of any of it.

The revelations from the night before rolled around in his head. It was easy to picture a younger, less worldly version of Willa caught up in something beyond her control. He ached for her losses, both real, like Cynthia and her innocence, and self-imposed, like her father.

Whether or not she wanted to admit it, her tendency was to believe the best of people. Life’s experiences may have dented her natural optimism, but why else had she stuck around Cottonbloom for so long?

His arms tightened at the stab of worry. She would need to confront her past and make peace with it before any sort of future was possible. He wanted to help her. Protect her. He would move mountains for her if he could. But he had a feeling her past was a mountain she would have to summit alone.

With his thoughts and emotions in turmoil, his body was distracted by something more primal. Covered by a thin white cotton bra, her full breasts were pressed against his bare chest. Her pants rode below her belly button. The curves of her waist and hips should have danger signs posted.

The natural morning inclination of his body was stoked by the sight of her in his bed and the feel of her body close. Their brief exploration had only whetted his appetite for more. For everything.

But the night before had revealed fault lines in her defenses, and he didn’t want to take advantage. After all, he wasn’t after a one-night stand. Or one-morning stand as the case may be.

Sunlight crept across the room, lighting the corners and dissipating the mystery and intimacy of the night. Her eyes fluttered open and she blinked a few times.

“Good morning.” He kept his voice low so as not to spook her.

A blush suffused the exposed curves of her breasts and crept into her cheeks. She touched her hair and tucked a piece behind her ear.

“I should go,” she whispered.

“You don’t have to.”

“Do you want me to stay?”

He was used to bold, brash Willa in the garage. The woman in his bed radiated uncertainty. He ran a hand up her arm, and she shivered. His gaze dropped to see her nipples peak against the thin cotton. He wanted to answer in the basest way possible and take the point in his mouth.

He took a breath to control the urge. “I want you to stay. I might have to handle a thing or two in the garage, but you can hang out and stay warm. Watch TV or read. Relax.”

He trailed his fingers down the valley of her spine to the hollow of her lower back, pressing lightly. Like a choreographed dance, she arched her back and twisted her hips closer. Her slight intake of air signaled her awareness of his erection.

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