Lying wasn’t Clem’s strong suit, something that had become increasingly obvious this week, but learning to hide her emotions was a fundamental survival skill growing up in her family. It was the only way to protect herself from the sensory overload that came from having every feeling echoed back with ten times the potency. She’d figured out by the time she was in kindergarten that crying over a skinned knee would lead to a hospital trip, and getting excited about a new cartoon on Saturday mornings meant she would find her entire room redecorated in that theme. She knew she ought to be grateful that her family was so supportive and caring, but sometimes it felt like their enthusiasm was so big, there was no room left for her own.

So she swallowed her real feelings. Every time. Just like she was doing right now. Her casual smile was anything but easy as she swatted at a mosquito trying to feast on her left earlobe. Playing it cool after the most incredible night of her life was hard enough, but it was almost impossible after accidentally overhearing the words Jake spoke to her sister. The words that she desperately wanted to be true. The words she knew couldn’t be.

Not after he warned her he wasn’t capable of feeling that way.

She needed to do a better job of protecting herself. One night with him and she was already willing to throw herself back into a situation guaranteed to break her heart.

At least this time she’d actually gotten some great sex before destroying her self-confidence.

Mind-blowing, earth-shattering, ruin-her-for-all-time sex.

She groaned as the memory sent a rush of heat between her thighs.

She picked up the pace along the overgrown path toward the waterfall in an effort to ward off the throbbing desire. Hopefully Jake wouldn’t mind, though she doubted he would tell her if he did.

For the last half hour, they’d walked in blissful silence, with only the sounds of the rustling estuary and occasional bird chirp filling the void. The fresh air and lush surroundings were exactly what she needed to restore the balance inside her chest that had been knocked off its axis ever since her privacy had been so horribly violated by the break-in. She’d been so consumed by work lately that she’d been neglecting her deep, spiritual need to feel actual dirt beneath her feet. To breathe in the fresh scent of the towering pine trees.

Jake seemed to sense her need for quiet as they walked, just like he instinctually noticed everything she desired since they’d gotten here. He was perfect, but that’s because he was faking it. She had no idea if he even liked hiking. For all she knew, his internal monologue right now was just the words “fucking mosquitoes” repeated over and over again.

She pressed back a long branch sticking out into her path, careful to not let it swing back like a whip and smack him in the face. Their eyes met, and though she couldn’t quite read his expression, she was pretty sure he wasn’t thinking about mosquitoes.

Curiosity took hold of her, shoving aside her better judgment. “What?”

“Nothing. Just enjoying the view.”

Her cheeks heated before she realized he was probably talking about the scenery. “Yeah, it’s really pretty here.”

“Clem.”

Her breath stilled. How did he manage to capture complete control of her body and mind just by saying her name? “Yes?”

“You know exactly what view I’m talking about.”

She brushed a bit of dirt off her back pocket. “I suppose I can understand your fascination with this old pair of khaki shorts. They were my mom’s from back in the day before I stole them. The random splotches of paint everywhere make them a dead ringer for a Jackson Pollock.”

“You’re getting confused between the frame and the actual work of art. It’s the not the clothes holding my attention.”

She nearly made a self-deprecating joke about the size of her ass, but it didn’t come. Not after he’d made her feel like a goddess last night. She cleared her throat and said, “The only thing I’m confused about is whether we need to turn left or right at the fork up ahead.”

She passed him the hand-drawn map of the unmarked trails Andrew had scrawled on a napkin for them. “I think we’re supposed to go left.”

“Why don’t you lead? I’ll hang back and enjoy the view this time.”

“You saying you’re planning to stare at my ass for the rest of the hike?”

“Fair’s fair.”

“Jesus, Clem. I’ve never met a woman like you before.”

“Less talk, more booty shaking.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“And get those knees up real high when you walk.”

He laughed and moved forward at a swift pace.

Twenty minutes later, they’d traversed a section of trail so rough, her ankles were covered in small, red scratches. But it was worth every drop of blood when they came to the clearing where the brook cascaded heavily into a small pool of water surrounded by moss-covered rocks, curling ferns and bright green vines.

“Wow,” she sputtered.

Jake slipped his backpack off his shoulder and passed her a bottle of water. She flipped the cap and sucked back a huge gulp, thirstier than she’d realized after the hike.

She handed it back to him and watched him press the opening to his lips. There was no sense to the spike of desire that erupted inside her from that image. Hell, there was no sense to any of her reactions to the man. Everything he did set her off like a firecracker. His mouth had been all over every part of her body, but something about the way he casually shared that blue Nalgene water bottle was more sensual and intimate than anything they did in bed last night.

She wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead and kicked off her sneakers. She dipped a toe into the pond and shivered. The water was cold against her feet, and even though the sun was swelteringly hot, the dense trees provided a shady canopy.

He came up behind her and shucked his shoes. “Cold?”

“As a penguin’s fart in winter.” She cringed as soon as she spoke the words.

“That’s a visual I didn’t need.”

“Sorry. Awkward humor is the only kind of humor I know.”

“Don’t apologize. It was funny.” He stepped into the knee-deep pond like it was a warm bath.

He made his way over to a relatively dry and moss-free section of rock and sat down, leaving space for her to sit next to him. The trickling water filled the silence while they rested.

Jake stretched his long legs out into the shallow water and leaned back on his forearms. “I didn’t know I could like something like this so much.”

“What do you mean?”

He tilted his head toward her. “If you’d asked me a month ago what my dream vacation would be, I probably would have said something like a full pass to the Craft Brewers Association Annual Conference. I can’t remember how long it’s been since I’ve taken a real break from work. It’s nice to slow down and relax a bit.”

She frowned. “Are you actually having a good time? Or are you saying that to make me feel better?”

The corners of his mouth turned up, tugging at her emotions like marionette strings. “You’re really asking me that the morning after the best sex of my life? Hell yes, I’m having a great time. And not just because of last night. I’m having fun getting to know you better. It’s hard to believe we’ve known each other for years and barely had a conversation until now.”

Her heartbeat thrummed so loud in her chest, she could barely breathe. “Did you mean it? What you said this morning to Chastity?”

He inhaled sharply. “You heard?”

“By accident.”

“I did.”

Her stomach clenched. She didn’t know what to say. Didn’t have the words to respond.

He sat up and cupped her cheek with his hand, rubbing his thumb gently against her skin in a way that made her want to curl into him like a cat. “I meant every word. But I also meant what I said last night. You’re amazing, but I’m not in a good place for anything more serious. I don’t think I’ll ever be. I’m not the kind of guy who can treat a woman like you the way you deserve.”

“You keep saying things like that, but everything you do is the total opposite. You’ve been nothing but kind and considerate with me. And the way you’ve dealt with my family has been downright heroic.”

His dropped his hand from her cheek and picked up a small pebble. “It’s easy to be a good guy when things are going well. It’s in the rough times when your relationship is vulnerable and raw that you find out what kind of person you really are. I was with Kelly for twelve years, most of it bad. That’s a long time spent being a selfish jerk.”

“It takes two people to make a relationship work. Two people to make it suffer. You said she cheated on you. I’d say that makes her just as responsible.”

He tossed the pebble into the water, waiting for the small ripples to dissipate before speaking again. “It’d be easy to blame everything on her, but it’s not the big things that destroy a relationship. It’s the small things.”

He paused again, and even though she had a million questions buzzing in her brain, she held them back, not willing to push him to say anything more if he didn’t want to. But he surprised her. “In all that time, we never moved in together. There was always some kind of excuse. Neither of us were any good at compromise. It drove me crazy that all she seemed to care about was moving into the biggest house in a gated community. Buying the glitziest chandeliers and stuff. Didn’t care if we could afford it. She was happy to live off her daddy’s money. I started to push back. Arguing about every little purchase. Saying no when I didn’t give a shit either way. At one point, she wanted to put these stupid wooden napkin rings that cost a hundred bucks apiece on our registry. Honesty, who the fuck even uses napkin rings? For some reason, that was the thing that made me dig my feet into the ground. I refused. Fought her on it until I made her cry. Over napkin rings. What kind of man does that?”

He spoke calmly but she could see the tension pulling at the tendons in his neck. She placed her hand on top of his, hoping it could give him some kind of comfort. A smile flashed across his handsome face, and disappeared almost as quickly. “Why did you stay together if you were both miserable?”

“We grew up together. Our dads were business partners and they practically groomed us to get married from the time we were kids. Like we were their royal progeny or something.”

“I can relate to having a family that gets overly involved in your love life.”

“The difference is your family loves you. They meddle because they care, not because they think there’s a business deal riding on who you marry. My parents haven’t spoken to me once since I ended the engagement.”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

He turned toward her and cupped her cheeks again with both hands. “Shit. I wasn’t trying to make you feel bad. Everyone has their own issues to deal with, and mine don’t make yours any less valid. I just want you to understand why this thing between us can’t be anything more. I’ve done the relationship thing. I didn’t like the man I was back then, and I’m not willing to become that person again.”

She bit the insides of her cheeks to keep herself collected as she let his answer sink in. It was ridiculous to be disappointed. Unlike most men she’d been with, Jake was being completely honest with her. She ought to be grateful that he wasn’t leading her on. Besides, two people could be attracted to each other and have incredible sex without wanting more.

Really, really incredible sex.

His eyes seemed to bore into her soul, reading her thoughts and darkening with awareness. She sucked in a breath, clenching her stomach before uttering her next words. “That wasn’t the only scene in the book.”

He tilted his head closer, lips just inches from her own. “What are you saying, Clem?”

“Last night gave me a lot of inspiration. But we’re here for the rest of the week and that wasn’t the only scene I need help with.”

“What kind of scene are you talking about?”

She swallowed the heaviness in her throat. “There’s one chapter where the characters are stranded on the side of a highway in a rainstorm after a big fight. Instead of trying to find cover, they become consumed by passion and end up soaked to the bone.”

Tension crackled between them like the sparks from last night’s campfire. “Are you saying you want me to get you wet?”

She licked her lips and steeled her courage. “I’m saying you already have.”

Hunger flashed in his eyes. He closed the distance between them and kissed her like she was his last meal. Hard and deliberate, but at the same time savoring her. His tongue slid against hers, curling her toes and spiking her desire.

She was in his lap before she could process what was happening, running her hands beneath his T-shirt. She loved the hard muscles beneath his smooth skin. How had they managed to go almost twelve hours without doing this?

She tugged at the hem of his shirt, too full of need to take things slow.

He grabbed her hands, pressed them against his chest, and dropped his forehead to hers, breathing heavy. “Just for this week. We get it out of our system and after that we stop before one of us gets hurt, right?”

There was no doubt which one of them he was talking about. It stung to realize she was never going to affect him the way he did her, but she knew how to detach her emotions from her physical needs. And god, she needed him right now. “Right. Just one week. Now take off your clothes.”

There was a hunger in Clem’s eyes he hadn’t seen before. If he hadn’t reached back to yank his T-shirt over his head, he was pretty sure she would have ripped it off his body. She straddled his lap like a fucking goddess and licked his throat.

After everything he’d just confessed, he expected her to run like he was contagious. But she surprised him—not for the first time, either. A week ago, he’d thought he knew all there was to know about this quiet woman who loved books and lager, but he’d been dead wrong. Cracking open her shell revealed a fascinating, sexy woman with more hidden facets than a diamond.

Her unexpected aggression was sexy as hell. He grabbed her ass and rocked her sweet spot against his cock. She dropped her head back with an erotic, husky moan, giving him the chance to burrow his hands under her shirt and cup her breasts. They were full and heavy in his hands. The kind he would fantasize about for the rest of his life.

“Yours next,” he managed to say.

She raised her arms compliantly. He pulled the hem up to her elbows, trapping her inside the cotton fabric.

“Hey,” she said with a small, sweet laugh as he tugged the black triangles of her halter down just enough for her raspberry-colored nipples to peak out over the material.

He brushed each one with his thumbs, watching a shiver roll down her spine as she struggled with the shirt. She was so fucking sensitive, he wanted to tie her up and see if he could make her come just by playing with her breasts.

“Your tits are the second most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen, Clem.”

She managed to wrench the shirt off her head and gave him a curious look. “What’s the first?”

“You. All of you.”

Her mouth parted into a small “O.” Before this week was over, he was going to make damn sure she believed it just as fiercely as he did. He freed her breasts from the halter and sucked one into his mouth. She cried out and latched on to his shoulder with one hand, then surprised him by grinding her hips against his, throwing him off his rhythm. He thrust against her heat, teasing her with what she really needed.

“I’ve got a condom in the bag,” he said.

She snaked her hand down to his cock, circling him over his shorts. “Have I mentioned how unbelievably sexy your foresight is?”

“Keep doing that, and we won’t need a condom at all.”

She grinned and pumped him once more, nearly making his eyes roll back in his head. He gritted his teeth while she worked him, trying to keep himself together while he retrieved the condom. Thank fucking god he’d stuffed the little foil packet in an easily accessible pocket because he needed to be inside her now.

He dragged her to her feet, ripped the wrapper open with his teeth, and pressed it into her palm. Her eyes widened like he’d just handed her an unlimited gift card to her favorite bookstore. Her tongue darted out to lick her lips as she tugged open his shorts and freed his cock. The relief was bittersweet until she gripped him once more and carefully rolled the condom down his length. Her hands felt so fucking good on his dick, but it was her rapt expression and delicate movements that made his balls tighten like they were about to explode. He’d never been so turned on by a woman. Never wanted to give up control so badly just so he could guarantee her ultimate pleasure.

“How do you need it?”

She sucked in her breath then slowly turned around and rested her hands against a rock, pressing her ass against him. “Like this,” she whispered shyly.

Holy fuck, he was going to die before the end of the week. Death by erotic overdose. He reached for her fly and yanked her shorts and bathing suit bottoms to her knees, baring her gorgeous ass to him. He ran his fingers through her heat, feeling the slick readiness waiting for him. Her legs trembled as he teased her clit, but she pushed her ass back against his hips, wordlessly demanding he give her what she wanted most.

He steadied her hips and slid into her. The angle was so tight he could have come right in that moment, but this was about her pleasure. Her needs. And the way she rose up on her toes to meet his thrusts was a direct command to take her harder. He pulled back until just the tip of his cock was inside her and slammed back down.

“More,” she begged.

He rocked against her with a few more slow, deep thrusts before picking up the pace, mesmerized by the staccato sounds of her breath as he brought her closer to the edge. He held her hip with one hand and used the other to thrum her clit. Her back arched sharply as the cry of her orgasm overtook her, and her sex tightened like a vice around his cock. Relief shattered through him at the same moment, leaving them both sweat-slicked and panting.

He sucked in a breath and ran his hand along her spine while she rested against the rock, captivated by the elegant curve of her back.

“Thank you,” she mumbled, voice even raspier than usual. “That was exactly the kind of inspiration I was looking for.”

It was a good thing she hadn’t turned around yet to see the stupid grin on his face. “Glad to help. How many more scenes like that are there?”

“Enough to make this a very good week.”