Hang Tough(53)
“But don’t you want to—”
“Hush. Lord knows I love that my woman has a sexy little body and a sassy mouth, but sometimes you just gotta still both of ’em. So just lie here with me and listen.”
“To what?” she said petulantly.
“To everything but the sound of your own thoughts and voice, sweetheart. Practice conscious stillness. Can you give it a shot?”
“I’ll try.”
That’s when she noticed the quiet night . . . wasn’t really quiet. Bugs contributed a loud hum and buzz that ebbed and flowed. Wind blowing through the tall grass made a whistling rattle. Occasionally the soft flap flap of wings whispered above her. In the distance an animal chittered and another answered.
Jade had no sense of time but she was deeply rooted in a sense of place.
Wanting to cement the connection to this moment and to Tobin, she shifted slightly and heard his soft breathing . . . turn into a loud snore.
She waited and heard it again.
Apparently practicing conscious stillness meant something entirely different to him.
So much for her seduction plans.
Chapter Thirteen
After Tobin spent the day dealing with Renner’s crappy mood and the resort guests from hell, all he wanted was half an hour of solitude and an icy cold beer.
And Jade straddling his lap, doing that thing where she ran her fingers through his hair over and over. Fuck. He loved that. He hadn’t had nearly enough of that last night before he’d fallen asleep.
So when he pulled up and saw the rugs from the upstairs hallway strung up on the clothesline, and Jade whacking the crap out of them with a broom, he knew his evening was about to take a different turn.
Miz G sat on the porch, alternately watching her granddaughter and working on a crossword puzzle. “Tobin, what’s a four-letter word for big?”
“Huge?”
“That’ll work.” She refocused on her paper.
“What’s gotten into Jade?”
“Well obviously she’s annoyed about something.”
“Got any idea what’s bugging her?”
“She’s pretty high-strung. Could be anything.”
Tobin’s eyes narrowed on Miz G. “Did you ask her?”
“Nope. And I suggest you keep away unless you’ve got a hankering to become a piñata.”
Torn, he stood there. He didn’t want to raise Miz G’s suspicions that he and Jade had any kind of relationship, because he knew if he went to her and saw her distressed, he’d wrap her in his arms and try to calm her down.
Miz G’s phone buzzed on the table. She scooped it and her paper up. “Sorry, gotta go. My show’s on. Then I’m takin’ a bath. There’s food in the fridge.”
As soon as the screen door slammed, Tobin started toward Jade. By the time he reached her, she’d set the broom down.
“Is it safe to come over here?”
“Yes . . . unless you lie like a rug and need a good beating.”
He smiled. “I’m a shitty liar.”
“Then you’re in the clear.”
Tobin shot a look over his shoulder before he took Jade’s hand and pulled her on the other side of the clothesline behind the largest rug. He cupped her face in his hands, tilted her head back and kissed her.
When she tried to twine herself around him, he stopped. “Be still.”
“But I want to touch you.”
“I want that too. But not yet. Right now I want you to close your eyes, put your hands by your sides and let me kiss you. However I like, for as long as I want.”
“Okay.”
But when his lips slid over hers, she leaned into him to chase his mouth.
“Jade. I’m serious. The only thing I want you to think about is this.”
“Why?”
“Kissing you is a singular pleasure.”
“It’s the only pleasure because we’re not having sex.”
Didn’t that sound testy?
Instead of ignoring it like he wanted, he met her gaze. “Wrong. Kissing you is a singular pleasure because everything in the fucking world disappears for me when we’re mouth to mouth. Last night you told me about your struggle with anxiety. Let’s try dealing with it this way and see what happens.”
Her irises were nearly black as her gaze darted between his eyes. “This is not your issue, Tobin. It’s mine. I need to learn how to deal with it on my own.”
“No, darlin’, you don’t.” He sidled closer to her. “We are together and that makes you mine. I take care of what’s mine. From the smallest things to the biggest. Now close your eyes and pucker up, baby, ’cause I am gonna rock your world.”
That brought the first smile he’d seen from her.