Caught Up in You Page 6

  When I went into the kitchen, I discovered Myles was at least an asshole who could cook. There was chicken and potatoes with asparagus on the table. I hoped it was for me because I was definitely going to eat it. Since I couldn’t disturb him during his video game binge to ask permission, he’d just have to get over it if he was saving it for himself.

  When I was done eating, I headed outside and walked down to the lake. There was a long dock with a pontoon boat tied to the side. I sat down on the end and lowered my feet into the cool water. The sun had already set and the stars were just starting to appear.

  The steady thumping of footsteps on the dock made me look back to see Myles headed my way.

  “What are you doing out here?”

  “Being quiet,” I said, looking over as he sat down next to me.

  He let his feet sink in to the water below us. “You can be in the house.”

  “I know—same rules as home.” I leaned back on my hands and looked up at the sky. “I forgot how many stars there are.”

  Myles tipped his head back. “It’s still twilight—in a few minutes there’ll be twice this many.”

  I took a deep breath and let my eyes close. “We used to spend summers in a place like this. My parents rented the same lake house every year.”

  “Where at?”

  I immediately opened my eyes, realizing what I’d said and sat up. “No place you’d know.”

  “Try me.” He turned his head and looked directly into my eyes.

  I looked away feeling uncomfortable and swatted at my arm as a mosquito buzzed around. “The bugs are awful out here.” I pulled my feet out of the water and started to stand up.

  “I didn’t think you knew my name.”

  “Huh?” I lowered myself down and crossed my legs. “What are you talking about?”

  “Last night,” he said, looking at me, “you were yelling my name right before the branch broke the window—I didn’t think you knew it.”

  “It’s a small town.” I wasn’t about to confess that I’d been bitching about him in so much detail that Tom knew who I was talking about. “How’d you know my name?”

  “Lou told me when he dropped off your—” He broke out into a smile and looked away. “Shit…”

  I leaned forward to catch his eye as my curiosity piqued. “Dropped off my what?”

  “Your front door key…”

  “Wait…” I shot to my feet and crossed my arms. “You said you had an extra one.”

  “And that was true,” he said, grinning as he stood up in front of me. “I had an extra one because Lou stopped by while you were at work and gave it to me for you after he realized he forgot to put it on the ring with the other keys you had.”

  “You fucker!” He was so tall that I had to tip my head way back to look at his face. “That entire scene in the hallway was bullshit so I wouldn’t mow the lawn early!”

  Myles nodded as he laughed. “It was fucking genius.”

  “Keep laughing…” I shoved him as hard as I could in the chest.

  “Hey!” He continued laughing as he waved his arms in the air, trying to keep from falling back.

  I couldn’t help smiling as I rammed my palms into his chest again. Damn the guy was solid. Myles grabbed at me as he tipped backwards. I tried to pull away, but it was too late. I tumbled into the lake with him.

  I popped up out of the water and wiped my hands across my face. As soon as I could breathe I was swearing at him. When he didn’t respond I felt a little bubble of panic in my gut.

  “Myles?” I looked around and didn’t see him. “Myles!” I had no idea if he could swim. Suddenly I wished I’d paid more attention to the CPR training I’d been forced to take in high school. “Mi—”

  “Stop yelling...”

  I turned toward the sound of his voice and found him sitting on the edge of the dock looking down at me. “Of course you’re already on the dock…”

  “C’mon,” he said, holding his hands down to me.

  I wrapped my fingers around his and held on as he pulled me from the water. He scooted back and I ended up sitting sideways between his knees.

  He leaned back on his hands and smiled. “Was your revenge sweet?”

  “Not particularly,” I said, pulling the rubber band out of my dripping hair. “I know how truly evil you are now though.”

  The corners of his lips curled. “You don’t even know the half of it…”

  I bit my bottom lip and diverted my eyes. He’d rendered me completely speechless with his unbelievably sexy smile.

  Myles sat watching as I dragged my fingers through my soaking wet hair. His gaze was so intense I could feel it. I almost wished he’d look away—almost.

  There was so little space between us that the heat coming off his body sent chills cascading across my skin. It’d been a long time since I’d been that close to someone. I’d forgotten what a turn-on it was to have another warm body in my personal space.

  My pulse quickened as I circled my eyes to meet his. “Illinois.”

  He leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, moving his lips so close I could feel his breath fanning out across my neck. “Illinois?”

  I closed my eyes, tipping my head toward him slightly. “The lake house I used to go to with my family,” I whispered. “It’s in Illinois. My mom—”

  “Fuck…” Myles was on his feet almost instantly. “I shouldn’t have stayed out here so long—I was in the middle of something...”

  I watched as he hurried up the dock and across the yard to the house. Once he was inside, I laid back and looked up at the sky. He’d been right. There were even more stars out.

  When the lust induced daze Myles left me in wore off, I was relieved he’d bailed. My judgment had been clouded and I’d felt myself cracking, longing to say things I’d never uttered out loud before.

  The truth was, until I found someone I could share my secrets with, I’d never truly be able to get close to anyone. My past was the stuff of nightmares and I was always on the brink of falling apart. I didn’t know how I’d ever be able to dump a mess like that into someone’s lap.

  Eight

  Brantley

  Banging and clanging sounds inside the cabin startled me out of a sound sleep. I held my breath and listened for a moment while my thumping heart slowed to normal. When I didn’t hear anything else, I figured it was just a dream. I turned on my side and closed my eyes again.

  When more noised followed by Myles swearing roused me again, I threw the blankets back and sat up. I looked at the clock as I dragged myself out of bed. It was only five o’clock in the morning. I cracked the door open and looked across the living room into the kitchen.

  Myles was standing at the counter shirtless with his back to me, still cursing under his breath. I looked down at the worn out pink tank top and cotton shorts I was wearing, trying to decide if it was decent enough to walk around in. I shrugged and pulled the door open—it wasn’t like I cared what he thought anyway.

  “The sun is gonna be up soon,” I said, walking up behind him. “If you stay awake too much longer you’ll totally screw your creatures of the night schedule.”

  He glanced over his shoulder at me. “Go back to bed, day dweller.”

  “That’s a little tough when you’re out here making all kinds of noise.” I moved a little closer, trying to see what he was hiding. “Apparently the ‘be quiet’ rule doesn’t apply to you.”

  Myles turned a little further, keeping his back to me. “I’ll chill—go back to your room.”

  I stayed firmly planted where I was. “Not likely now that you’re acting all sneaky.”

  “Brantley, I’m serious. Back off.”

  “What the fuck’s wrong with—” Movement caught my eye and I glanced down just in time to catch a drop of blood splatter on the floor. A chill ran through me. “You’re bleeding…”

  “No shit,” he said, reaching for a piece of paper towel.

  I stood with my eyes fixed on the b
lood as Myles bent down and wiped it up. When he turned to toss the napkin in the trash, I saw the cut on his arm had opened up. Blood was pooling in the center and running down the edges. There was a container on the counter with first-aid supplies and he’d apparently been rooting through it looking for something to treat his wound.

  I let out a deep breath and stepped up next to him. “Didn’t you have that looked at yesterday?”

  “I poured some peroxide on it and covered it up,” he said, grabbing the container and dumping the contents. “How is there not one single fucking bandage here?”

  I forced myself to look at the four inch long cut. Sickness swelled deep in my gut. “You probably need stitches. Are you even sure all the glass is out of it?”

  “Fuck if I know…” He grabbed a napkin and pressed it to his gash. “I’m not a goddamn doctor.”

  “Quit being an asshole and go sit down,” I said pointing toward the table. When he didn’t budge, I grabbed his arm and pulled him. “Sit—now!”

  Myles dropped into a chair and laid his arm on the table. I went back to the counter and started sorting through what was there. He was right, there wasn’t a single bandage. The best I could find was gauze and a roll of first-aid tape. I grabbed them along with the alcohol and a pair of scissors and then went over to the table.

  Myles looked at the items and then shook his head at me. “There’s no way in hell I’m letting you play doctor—”

  “Shut-up, Myles.” I inhaled a deep breath and leaned down, letting my eyes settle on the cut. I immediately felt sick. It was like staring into my own worst fear.

  “You’re getting pale,” he said, pulling his arm out of my view. “Back off before you pass out or some shit.”

  “I’m fine.” I went to the sink and turned the water on. While I waited for it to get hot, I closed my eyes and tried to relax. It was just cleaning and bandaging a cut—I could totally do it.

  I scrubbed my hands and then went back over to the table. Myles was sitting there dabbing at the slice.

  “The bleeding has almost stopped,” he said, looking up at me. “Go back to bed—I can do this.”

  “So can I.”

  “Can you?” he asked. “When you saw my arm bleeding in the basement you lost it.”

  “I did not.” I totally had, but I wasn’t about to acknowledge it. I pulled out a couple sheets of paper towel and placed them under his arm. “There’s no peroxide.” I unscrewed the cap on the alcohol and held to over his cut.

  “Just do it already…”

  “You got it...” I gave him a little smile and poured some of the fluid into the gash.

  “Son of a bitch!”

  Myles’ uninjured arm came out of nowhere and wrapped around my waist. Before I could react he had me down his lap with his forehead pressed against the back of my neck.

  “Myles—shit!” I tried to get up but his arm tightened around my waist.

  “Just finish,” he said, keeping his hold on me. “This way if you pass out I won’t have to haul your ass off the floor.”

  “Whatever.” I shifted slightly so his injured arm was stretched out in front of me. It wasn’t as if sitting on the lap of one of the hottest guys I’d ever met was all that horrible anyway. Besides, it would stop him from seeing the horrified look on my face once I started tending to the gash.

  I leaned over and went to work drying the skin around the cut. The feel of his chest against my back and arm tightly around my waist had me all out of sorts. It definitely took away some of the anxiety I had over being face first in a deep flesh wound.

  Myles had been quiet, only flinching every now and then when I pushed too hard. He turned his head and let his scruffy cheek lay against the middle of my back. “Almost done?”

  I nodded. “I cut some of the first-aid tape into butterfly stitches,” I said, trying to keep my voice calm. “I’ll wrap it up when I’m finished.”

  His arm loosened from around my waist and he dragged his hand down to the top of my thigh, letting it rest just above my knee. I gently squeezed the cut together to adhere a strip of tape.

  “Fuck…” His fingertips dug into my thigh as I applied more pressure. “Do you have to be so fucking rough?”

  I practically growled at him. “You’re seriously the most ungrateful person I’ve ever met.”

  “That’s ironic,” he said. “Aren’t you the same chick who woke me up with a verbal fucking assault just for fixing a tire?”

  I pressed on his cut a little harder than I probably needed to as he spoke. “I didn’t ask for your help that day.”

  “I didn’t ask for your help tonight,” he said through clenched teeth.

  I leaned closer to his arm and placed the last tape strip over his cut. “That doesn’t mean you don’t need it.”

  “You’re right.” He wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me back until his lips were nearly touching my ear. “That’s why I’m letting you do this.”

  Waves of heat washed over me from head to toe and settled low in my belly. Having so much of Myles touching me was excruciating in the best way possible. If my brain was wired anything like Livvy’s, I’d have been turned around doing everything but bandaging his wound.

  Yeah, my mind was planted firmly in the gutter as I started wrapping the gauze around his arm. I was working faster than before, anxious to get off his lap and purge the X-rated thoughts about him running rampant through my mind.

  I taped down the end of the gauze and then turned sideways and got to my feet. He had me so hot I almost felt faint. “You’re gonna need to get some antibiotic ointment to put on that.”

  “Alright…” Myles looked at his bandaged arm and then stood up. “Thanks.”

  “Sure.” I gathered up the first-aid stuff and carried it back over to the counter. “Now go to bed before the sun rises and you go up in flames.”

  He started for his bedroom but stopped and turned back to me. “Hey...”

  “What now?” I turned around and leaned against the counter. The second I set my eyes on his bare chest I wished I hadn’t turned around. He was walking toward me and all I could think about was being pinned between him and the counter. I’d completely lost my mind.

  “When we get home,” he said, “you’re gonna pick that fucking money up off the floor.”

  I smirked at him. “Why would I do that?”

  “I’m tired of stepping around it,” he said, stopping only inches in front of me.

  I tipped my head back and looked up at him. “If you don’t like it there then pick it up yourself…”

  “Your tire, my arm—that makes us even.” Myles reached out and tucked a piece of loose hair behind my ear. “Got it?”

  I only nodded. The light touch of his finger as it brushed my cheek pushed me over the edge. I didn’t wanna talk to him anymore. I couldn’t take one more second of being so close without touching him. I pushed up on my toes and caught his lips with mine.

  Myles’ hands were on my shoulders immediately. He pushed me against the counter and moved back to put some space between us. “What the fuck are you doing?”

  I was stunned. I held my hands out at my sides, completely mortified by what I’d done. “Apparently humiliating myself.”

  “Fuck, Brantley…” Myles raked his hands through his hair. “I’m sorry—”

  “Don’t be—really,” I said, scooting around him and backing toward my room. I let out what was supposed to be a laugh. It came out sounding more like a choking bird. “It was an awesome reminder of why I don’t do that sort of thing.”

  Myles

  Once Brantley closed the bedroom door, I sat down at the kitchen table and held my pounding head in my hands. She was upset and it was my fault. I’d screwed with her head—I drove her to try to kiss me because I couldn’t keep my fucking hands to myself.

  When she was around I didn’t have a clue what the hell I was doing. Since she wrapped herself around me when I carried her to the basement during the storm, al
l I’d wanted was have her in my arms again. It’d been two years since I’d been close to a girl. Two years since I’d even wanted to be. I could walk away from anyone else without a second thought—but not Brantley.

  Self-preservation kicked in the second her soft lips caught mine—I panicked. I didn’t know enough about her to be sure I wanted anything other than her body. God knows I wanted every fucking inch of that. Every time she was around half my brain was dedicated just to talking my dick down.

  I couldn’t make decisions based on the amount of pressure behind my zipper anymore. I had to be careful—especially with her. Other than work, she hardly ever went out. I’d never seen her bring any guys around the house and she slept at home every night. She was a good girl—way too good for me. There was no way I could live with myself if I did anything that would change that.

  Nine

  Brantley

  My damage control plan after my disastrous attempt to put the moves on Myles consisted of one thing—avoidance. I was going to stay away from him at all costs until we were able to go home. When I was back at my apartment and working again it’d be easy. I just needed to make it through the next couple of days.

  I spent the first part of the day in the cabin, sneaking out of my room only when I had to. Late in the afternoon when I knew it was getting close to when Myles would be up¸ I decided to take a walk to the little downtown area we’d passed on our way to the cabin.

  Livvy had tried calling me a couple of times but I didn’t want to talk while I was still in the cabin. The walls were thin and I didn’t want to wake up Myles. Once I was outside, I’d finally called her back.

  The conversation was pretty one sided at first. I listened as Livvy retold her terrifying experience of being stuck in her car during the storm. It actually did sound pretty scary. Livvy’s car was messed up, but she’d made it out ok.

  “So where are you?” Livvy asked. “I’m staying with Tom at the Dempsey house. They have a generator so it’s not too bad.”

  “I’m sure it’s just terrible being there with six guys.” I stepped off the porch and started down the stone pathway toward the road. “Did you talk to Puck?”