Chapter Two
In spite of her dragging feet, Reena smiled when she spotted Mrs. Abbott. As she neared her neighbor’s gate, she called out, “Nice afternoon for tea on the porch.”
“It is. Join me.” The older woman waved her arm wildly, urging Reena closer. “Come, come. The pot is still hot and I made scones today. I know they’re your favorite.”
Reena grinned. Mrs. Abbott had emigrated from England at nineteen. A new bride with an uncertain future ahead of her, she’d held on to her British roots as best she could. Afternoon tea with some home-baked goodness was one of the practices her elderly neighbor had never given up. Apparently, Mrs. Abbott’s mother had an unspoken rule about such things and like clockwork, every afternoon at four, there was tea. On nice days, it was enjoyed out on the front porch.
It would be a cold day in hell when Reena passed up the opportunity to eat Mrs. Abbott’s homemade scones. Or anything else she made. The woman had spent her entire life as a wife and mother, never working outside the home, but Reena was pretty sure you could drop her into the kitchen of any five-star restaurant and she would run rings around the head chef.
In fact, Reena would go so far as to say Mrs. Abbott would give Riley Young a run for her money—and every member of the Collins family plus those who’d had the good fortune to eat at Sunday’s were in agreement that Riley was an unrivaled master in the kitchen.
After the disappointment of her failed attempt to contact Rush, the thought of spending some time with Mrs. Abbott lifted Reena’s spirits and widened her smile. Walking up the path toward her neighbor’s porch, she said, “Well, if the pot is still hot…”
“Good girl. Sit, sit.” Mrs. Abbott poured Reena tea in a delicate china cup decorated with hand-painted roses. Grandmother Abbott’s china bestowed on the new Mrs. Abbott on her wedding day. “Now. Tell me about that lovely young man who was here looking for you a bit ago.”
“What?” In the process of taking a seat, Reena’s ass hung in the air, all movement stopping with Mrs. Abbott’s words. “A man?”
“A very handsome one too. I haven’t seen him around here before though.”
Oblivious to Reena’s confusion, Mrs. Abbott continued to serve tea and scones and chat while Reena remained open-mouthed and motionless.
“Quite rugged looking, a smidge of bad boy in him I think, but a gentleman too.”
Dropping into her seat, Reena tried to form words, tried to get the questions swirling in her head out. “Mrs. Abbott—”
“Stop that. How often have I told you to call me Mary?” Shaking her head, Mrs. Abbott pushed the bowls of homemade jam and fresh whipped cream closer to Reena. “He’ll be back in a minute, and I want to know all about him before he steals you away.”
“Steals me away?”
“Oh my yes. No woman could resist a man who smiles like that when he says her name. He’ll have you swept off your feet in no time.”
Reena shook her head in an attempt to clear it. With each word, the conversation got more confusing. She had no idea who the guy could be. She didn’t have any male friends who would visit her at home and Mrs. Abbott knew all the Collins men, so it couldn’t be one of them… But who else could it be? Was her elderly neighbor showing signs of dementia?
“Mrs. Abbott—” At the arched brow, Reena stopped. “Sorry. Mary. Please. Start at the beginning. I don’t understand—”
“Oh bother. Time’s up. Here he comes.”
Reena’s head snapped around to look in the direction Mary indicated.
“Oh god.” It couldn’t be. All that wishful thinking must be making her hallucinate. Her knees shook as she pushed to her feet. “Rush.” His name whisper through her lips, through her veins, and left behind a sensation that did feel suspiciously like being swept off her feet.
A tug on her arm stopped her when she hadn’t realized she’d moved. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Mrs. Abbott watching her closely, gaze imploring. Unable to decipher what the older woman tried to communicate with her eyes, Reena shook her head and frowned.
“Let him come to you,” her neighbor whispered out of the side of her mouth. “There’s nothing wrong with making him work a little for your time.”
Nodding, Reena turned back to watch Rush coming closer and closer. Her heartbeat picked up speed and her breathing stuttered with every step he took. His gaze devoured her, the deep blue sweeping over her like the feathery fingers of a lover’s caress, and she couldn’t stop the shiver that electrified her from neck to knee.
God. This was what he did to her. With one look, he had her fluttering and clenching, dampening in places that had no firsthand knowledge of what they eagerly prepared for only, that he could deliver it.
“Reena.” Smile sparking in his eyes, along with a healthy dose of lust, Rush bounded up the two stairs of Mrs. Abbott’s porch and pulled her into his arms. Burying his face in the crook of her neck, he breathed deep and murmured, “God, I missed this. Missed you,” against her skin.
Eyelids drifting shut, Reena lowered her head to rest her brow on his shoulder. “Rush.” His name sighed from her mouth, her body melting into his embrace with a familiarity that spoke of more than the short time they’d known each other.
The gentle clearing of a throat had them breaking apart.
Stepping back, Reena turned to her neighbor to find the woman regarding her with a knowing smile. “Mrs.—” Reena stopped at the waggle of a finger and shake of a head. “Sorry. Mary. This is my friend Rush. Rush Whelan, this is Mary Abbott, my neighbor.”
“We met earlier without an official introduction but it’s lovely to meet you again, Rush.” Mary indicated the seat next to the one Reena had been in moments ago. “Won’t you join us? We’re having tea and scones.”
Rush’s eyes met Reena’s, his gaze questioning, and with a small tip of her head, he returned his gaze to Mary and smiled. “Thank you, Mary. I’d love to join you.”
With a hand on Reena’s elbow, Rush urged her back into her seat before taking the one Mary offered. Too stunned by his presence to speak, she watched as another cup of tea was poured and a plate of scones passed over.
Rush undoubtedly complimented Mary on the scones, although Reena couldn’t be sure. The only thing registering in her ears was the pounding of her heart and the rasp of her breath as it flowed in and out of her nose in short little bursts.
She didn’t remember drinking her tea or eating the scone she’d been given before Rush’s arrival, but when she finally dragged her eyes off the man beside her and glanced down, Reena found both plate and cup empty.
“Well, it was lovely to have company for tea today, but I must be getting inside now. Things to do you know.”
Mary winked at Reena as she gathered empty dishes and stacked them on a silver tray.
Rush stood and tried to take the tray from Mary’s hands. “Let me carry that for you.”
“Nonsense. Get on with both of you now.”
Without another word, and with a skill even Reena’s years of waitressing couldn’t beat, Mary maneuvered herself and the loaded tray into her house and closed the door behind her, leaving them alone on the porch.
“I…” Reena licked her lips and swallowed as she turned to face Rush.
He was watching her with that deep blue gaze, the one that sent shivers down her spine and curled her toes. She was helpless to prevent her body from reacting to him. Her skin flushed, her muscles tightened and a throbbing beat echoed along every nerve ending.
She wanted to wrap herself around him. Wished she hadn’t stopped him from taking her virginity. God, she wanted to beg him to take it now. Instead the words that blurted out of her mouth were, “What are you doing here?”
***
Rush couldn’t take his eyes off the woman in front of him. He didn’t know how he’d managed to be polite to her neighbor. Reena seemed more gorgeous than he remembered and had his mind clouded with lust. The only thing clear in his hormone-addled brain was his need to touch her.
“Rush?”
Right. She’d asked him a question. “Vacation.”
“Vacation?” Her eyebrows shot up, disappearing beneath her bangs. “Here?”
He grinned. “Yep. You told me so much about Baltimore I had to come see it for myself.”
“Really?” she asked, disbelief clear in her voice.
Unable to resist the need to touch her any longer, he reached for her hand. He took it as a good sign she didn’t pull away, instead weaving her fingers through his and holding on. “I thought maybe you’d be interested in showing me around.”
“Oh. Of course. Where are you staying?”
“I haven’t booked anywhere yet. I only got to town an hour ago, so I haven’t had a chance. Was hoping you’d recommend a place.”
“You could stay with me.” Her cheeks flushed pink and her eyes darted away from his. “I mean. I have a couple of spare rooms.”
Smiling, he tugged on her hand until she moved closer, until her breasts were an inch from his chest. All he needed to do was take an extra deep breath and they’d touch. The thought had his blood racing, his body tightening with need. In spite of the desire urging him to move closer, he held still, waited for her gaze to connect with his again before saying, “I’d like that. I’d like that very much.”
Her lips parted on a gush of air before turning up into a shy smile. “Okay. Good.”
Fuck. He needed to kiss her. It had been days since he’d tasted her.
“Reena.” With his gaze glued to her sweet mouth, he didn’t miss the nervous flick of her tongue on the gentle curve of her plump bottom lip. He groaned as need zapped through him.
She leaned in. “Yes?”
“I’m going to kiss you hello now.”
Rush didn’t give her time to protest or think about what he’d said before he pressed his mouth to hers. If she was against the idea, she’d push him away, but he had every confidence she wanted this as much as he did.
Increasing the pressure, he moved his lips over hers, nipping and brushing. The sexy little sigh that left her throat and coated his mouth with warmth had Rush’s control slipping, his cock tightening and lengthening in his jeans.
That tiny bit of constriction, the discomfort of his hardening flesh being caught inside unforgiving denim, was enough to keep him from diving deep. Stopped him from thrusting his tongue between her teeth and fucking her mouth the way his body urged him to.
With regret, he pulled back and waited for her eyes to flutter open. A shudder racked him when she sank her teeth into her glistening bottom lip and worried the flesh back and forth. Using his free hand, Rush stroked his thumb down that abused lip and pulled it free.
“If you keep doing that, I won’t be able to control myself. I’d hate for Mary to get the wrong idea.” Or more importantly, he’d hate for Reena’s elderly neighbor to know exactly what he planned to do to the innocent woman in front of him. “Take me home, Reena.”
“Home? Oh. Yes. Right. This way.” She spun around, kept her hand in his, and led him to the street.
He’d had time to think on the drive to Baltimore—over seven hours of time—and one thing that kept popping up in his mind was something that should have been obvious from the beginning.
Reena was a virgin.
And if by some miracle he’d gotten that conclusion completely wrong, Rush figured he was so close to the mark she could count the number of times she’d had sex on one hand.
Unlike him. He’d run out of digits—fingers and toes—before he’d turned sixteen.
He shouldn’t be here. Should leave her alone and find someone who understood the rules of no-strings sex. Except that argument hadn’t stopped him from packing a bag and driving five hundred miles to Baltimore. No matter how much of a bastard being with her made him, he couldn’t walk away.