locked again for a moment…a very heated moment. It was almost an involuntary gesture on Dylan’s part as he reached out and gently brushed some of the dirt from her cheek. He allowed his fingertips to linger, then cupped her face in his hands. At that moment he very much wanted to take her in his arms and kiss that delicious-looking mouth. He steeled himself against the temptation and quickly withdrew his hands. He had never before been in the position of wanting to kiss someone so much yet knowing that he didn’t dare try.
A shiver tickled across Jessica’s nape in response to his touch. It was as unsettling as Dylan himself. She backed away from him. He was as wrong for her as a man could be, yet his mere presence excited her in a way she had never before experienced. She tried to shake off the mesmerizing sensations that enveloped her. It was a bad situation, and it needed to be terminated as quickly as possible.
She took another step away from him as she rubbed her hand across her nape to still the tremor. “Well…” She shoved down the sudden nervousness that jittered through her body. She could still feel the heat generated by his touch. “There’s a mess that needs to be cleaned.” She returned to the living room, leaving Dylan standing on the porch.
He watched her retreating form. His gaze traced the line of her hip and the curve of her bottom beneath the well-worn denim. The tightness spread across his chest, and the heat settled low inside him. Even his fingertips tingled from the brief contact with her cheek. Jessica McGuire was as tantalizingly desirable as any woman he had ever met, yet so unlike any woman he had ever been with. He shook his head as he followed her inside. He needed to add structure and purpose to his life, not complicate it by making a pass at this woman…who also happened to be his best friend’s sister.
Jessica purposely kept her distance from Dylan while they cleaned up the mess as best they could. By the time they finished, it was nearly noon. The entire morning had been devoted to one disaster after another. A new layer of anxiety built up on the already established base. Her neat and tidy existence had been turned into a shambles by Dylan Russell, and she did not like it. And worse yet, she didn’t know what to do about it. She could still feel his fingertips on her cheek and the heat of his touch.
Dylan was aware of her every movement and gesture, her body language telling him she was out of patience with the series of minidisasters. He made the decision to retreat and give her a little bit of time to calm down. He adopted the facade of the world-weary traveler who had seen it all and done it all. He glanced around the room, satisfied that it was as orderly as possible under the circumstances.
“Things here seem to be under control. I think this would be a good time for me to grab a quick shower.” He disappeared into the bathroom.
Many years ago an awkward fifteen-year-old Jessica had followed him around for an entire weekend like a lovesick puppy, and he had not been able to get rid of her. He remembered how funny Justin thought it had been. Then a year later he saw how much the sixteen-year-old Jessica had blossomed. A four-year age difference wasn’t much, but the difference between a sixteen-year-old high school girl and a twenty-year-old college man was considerable. He had not had any interest in asking for trouble by making a pass at an underage girl and especially not his best friend’s sister.
His mind drifted back to early that morning as he lay in bed watching her pick up her clothes—the way her T-shirt clung to her curves, her long bare legs, the sexy abandon of her mussed hair. The fifteen-year-old Jessica had been a nuisance. Funny how drastically things had changed. He allowed a brief thought about how he might be able to get her to follow him around like that again.
He stared at his reflection in the mirror, ran his hand across his whisker stubble, then heaved a sigh of resignation. Absolutely nothing had gone in his favor since he had gotten out of bed that morning. Actually, nothing had gone in his favor for the past three months. He clicked on his electric razor, hoping the battery had enough charge left for him to shave.
Jessica heard the shower go on. Finally, a chance for some peace and quiet without the distraction of Dylan Russell to set her heart pounding and her pulse racing. She poured herself another cup of coffee, turned on the battery-operated radio, then curled up in the corner of the couch. She reflected on the morning’s activities. All she had wanted was a couple of days of quiet and solitude. That was not asking too much, was it? Instead everything seemed to be conspiring against her. She had found herself enmeshed in one calamity after another. First it was the rain as she drove to the cabin, then finding the power out when she had arrived and finally total bedlam masquerading in the person of Dylan Russell.
It was an impossible situation. He would have to leave as soon as he finished in the bathroom. It was bad enough to wake up in the same bed with him by accident, but to allow him to continue to stay in her cabin was out of the question. Determination took a strong hold. Her mind was made up. She would be tactful, but firm. Maybe Justin had promised him the use of the cabin, but even Dylan should be able to recognize what an impossible situation they had.
Then that same determined mind drifted back to the moment when she woke that morning to find his arm curled around her waist and his body snuggled against hers. She could still feel the sensual warmth that radiated from his bare skin in those moments of half sleep and half wakefulness. She vividly recalled each and every plane, angle and line of his well-defined torso when he had propped himself up on his elbow and flashed that deliciously wicked grin. Rogue, scoundrel, playboy, charmer—whatever word you wanted to use, it personified Dylan Russell to a T. No way was he the type of man she could ever be seriously interested in, the kind who would be happy to settle down with a home and family—no way at all.
She shook off the thoughts and the mental image, then took another swallow of her coffee as if trying to drown out her errant musings. She reaffirmed her resolve. Her mind was made up. He definitely had to go, and the sooner the better. Her decision was final. There was no way she would change her mind—no way at all.
A second later, in an act of total defiance against her conscious wishes, her mind drifted to what it would be like to kiss him. The idea had come uninvited and did nothing to calm the desires she had been trying to deny. She set down her empty coffee mug with a resounding thump and busied herself closing windows to keep out the cold air.
A few minutes later she heard the bathroom door open. She fought the urge to look in his direction. She could not allow him the opportunity to sucker her in again with those green eyes and that devastating smile. But as before, her heated desires overruled her intentions. Against her better judgment she glanced in his direction. That was all it took. Her resolve instantly melted away. He looked casual, comfortable and far too sexy.
Three
Jessica knew she needed to say what was on her mind before she totally succumbed to the suggestion of untold pleasures hidden in the depth of Dylan’s eyes and behind that smile.
She turned her gaze away from him, preferring to focus her attention on an inanimate object. She chose the table lamp. A nervous tremor made its way through her body. “I…uh…I’ve been giving this some thought. Before anything else happens, we need to settle the problem of who is going to use the cabin. I do understand that Justin promised the cabin to you based on the fact that I was supposed to be in New York, but it should be obvious to you that the circumstances have changed. I’m not in New York. And…well, what with the electricity being out and all…”
She drew in a steadying breath in an attempt to quell her rising anxiety. “Well, I just think you’d be more comfortable at the lodge. It’s only a few miles from here, down on the main road.”
“No. I wouldn’t be more comfortable at the lodge.”
“What?” She snapped her head in his direction as the shock spread through her body. His words
