Her Maine Attraction: A Small Town Romance (Pine Cove Book 1) Read online

  A few seconds later, though, I hear what sounds like laughter coming from him, but I can’t be sure.

  “Did you say something?”

  Jake backs out of the oven with a small smile. “Nope, all fixed.”

  “Really? That was fast.” The disappointment evident in my voice.

  “I just had to play with the wires. It should be good now.” Shit. He’s looking at me like he knows what I did. And the fact that my face feels hot isn’t helping.

  “Um, well, thanks for coming over to help me. Again.”

  “That’s my job now I guess.” He smirks.

  My brow furrows. “It is?”

  “I helped Dottie when she was here alone, and now you’re here alone, so…”

  I give him a small smile. “Alright, mountain man, I’ll let you help me. If I need it.”

  “Let me?”

  “Yes, let you. I can always call someone else.”

  “Who?” he asks, taking a step towards me.

  Standing, I go and get a bottle of water from the fridge for myself, my mouth suddenly dry. “Okay, so I don’t know anyone else here besides you and Courtney,” I admit. “And she doesn’t really strike me as the fix-it type.” Closing the fridge door, I turn around, and he’s right there in front of me, my eyes forced up to his.

  “You broke it yourself, didn’t you?” His voice is low and smooth, like a fine whisky.

  “What?” I whisper, all cognitive thought leaving my head. “No.”

  “You just wanted me to come over.” He says it as a statement, and my skin breaks out in goosebumps.

  “Yes.” My answer is automatic, and I don’t even realize I answered truthfully until he takes a step towards me, almost touching now.

  “Why?”

  “Because”–I swallow–“I wanted you to–”

  Jake doesn’t let me finish my sentence. He grabs the back of my neck and crushes his mouth down on mine.

  The bottle of water slips from my hand and I grip his arms to steady myself. I feel pure heat raging through me, and it’s something I’ve never experienced before.

  Letting out a soft moan, Jake uses that opportunity to slip his tongue past my lips, and I melt into him instantly.

  I slide my hands up his chest and around his neck, pulling myself up towards him as he pulls me flush against his solid frame. There’s a fire running through my veins as our tongues come together in a tangled dance.

  Dizzy, I realize how long it’s been since I’ve been kissed. And I’ve never been kissed like this.

  Jake slides his hands down to my ass and grips hard, lifting me up and onto the counter. I wrap my legs around his hips instantly and pull him as close to me as I can.

  He kisses his way across my jaw, his teeth grazing my neck – licking, sucking, biting. Moaning, I slide my fingers through his hair, gripping the ends hard. His throaty growl vibrates through me, and he sucks my earlobe into his hot mouth, coaxing a low moan from my lips.

  His hands continue to explore my body – moving up my back, down my sides, and snaking up under my shirt. The second he touches my bare skin, I feel it light with fire. My stomach muscles contract as his fingers move up my torso, taking my shirt with them. Throwing it somewhere behind him, his lips are on mine again instantly, and he yanks down the cups of my bra, filling his hands with my aching breasts.

  Pulling away from my lips, Jake leans down and closes his mouth around my left nipple, sucking it deep into his mouth.

  Throwing my head back, a ragged cry is torn from my body. I grip the back of his head as he moves to my right one, and I push myself into him, wanting to fuse his mouth to my body.

  Jake smooths his hands down to my hips, making a sweep down my legs that are around his waist, and back.

  When his hands move to the button on my jeans, though, I freeze, and push him away.

  I want him. Badly. But this is too much, too fast.

  Breathing hard, I adjust my bra so I’m covered again, and I stare at his throat, not able to look him in the eyes. “I’m sorry. It’s just…” I start, but pause.

  Placing two fingers under my chin, he lifts my head up so I’ll look at him, but I close my eyes. “Look at me, beautiful.” Taking a deep breath, I open my eyes again, and look into his that are swirling like a tropical storm. “I’m sorry. I got carried away.”

  I can only nod in response. If I speak, I know I’ll start crying. My emotions are all out of balance right now, but I focus on Jake’s reassuring eyes, and breathe in and out slowly.

  Stepping back, he picks my shirt up off the floor and hands it back to me. Holding it tight against my chest, I watch his every move as he fills the kettle with water and places it on the stove. He’s making tea?

  When I know I can stand steadily, I hop down from the counter and go into the bathroom. Looking in the mirror, I take in my flushed cheeks and swollen lips.

  Touching my lips gently, I close my eyes – still feeling his hands and mouth all over me. My breathing becomes shallow, and I have to sit on the edge of the tub.

  I want him.

  I want him with every fiber of my being.

  But all I can think about is how every man I’ve ever let close to me has fucked me over – always breaking me just a little more than the last. I can’t do it again. I’m already made up of so many broken pieces that there’s not much left of me to break. One more is sure to be the unraveling of the thin thread I use to keep myself together.

  A light knock on the door startles me, and I have no idea how long I’ve been sitting here.

  Opening it, I find Jake standing there, his frame taking up the entire doorway. Even if I thought about running, I couldn’t.

  When I have the courage to look up at him, his eyes slice right through me, and I know he can see the dark battle I’m fighting inside.

  “You okay?” he asks softly.

  Not trusting my voice, I give him a small nod. Holding my gaze for a second longer, he moves aside, letting me walk back into the kitchen. I take a seat at the table, finding a steaming cup of tea waiting for me.

  He made me tea.

  Taking a sip, I let the warm, sweet liquid slide down my throat, and my muscles relax instantly. From the corner of my eye, I can see Jake watching me from across the kitchen, leaning against the counter he was just kissing me on.

  “I’m sorry,” I tell him, staring at the wood grains of the table in front of me.

  “Why are you apologizing?”

  I sip my tea and shrug my shoulders. I know I shouldn’t be sorry, but it just feels like I should still apologize.

  “I don’t want your apology. You stopped me when you didn’t want to go any further.”

  “I know. It’s just that…” Closing my eyes, I try and focus my thoughts.

  “Did someone hurt you?”

  “Yes. And no.” I take another sip of tea and I see that Jake’s gone still. “It’s not in the way I’m assuming you’re thinking, though,” I tell him, trying to assure him.

  “I doubt you know what I’m thinking.”

  “Okay. What are you thinking?” I chance a look over at him, and his face has gone hard as stone. “Jake?”

  Growling, he rakes his hands through his hair and turns his back to me, gripping the edge of the counter – his back muscles flexing.

  Standing, I go to him, placing my hand on the center of his back – his muscles seizing at my touch. I gently rub my hand in a circle, sliding it up to his left shoulder and down his arm, stopping at his wrist.

  “Jake, look at me,” I whisper, and his eyes flash to mine. I hold his gaze, letting him see me.

  When he finally loosens his grip on the counter, I slide my hand into his and lace our fingers together while I bring my other hand up to rest on his cheek.

  Jake closes his eyes at my touch, and when he opens them again, I see the storm starting to pass. He covers my hand with his own, and rubs his thumb back and forth across my knuckles – reassuring and comforting me.

&
nbsp; Leaning up on my toes, I press my lips to his in a gentle and soft embrace, squeezing his hand in mine.

  Breaking apart, Jake leans his forehead against mine, and I settle back down on my feet, squeezing his hand again.

  “Come on,” I say, pulling him towards the back door.

  The sun is starting to set, and the sky is transforming into hues of orange, yellow, and red. I’d love to paint this. My heart wrenches at that thought, and I’m overwhelmed with the need to put onto canvas what I’m seeing and feeling right now.

  I haven’t thought that in so long.

  My emotions are on high alert, and whenever I used to feel like this, I’d paint. But this time, the emotions swirling through me feel different, which makes this need to paint feel different. I just can’t pinpoint why.

  “Have you painted yet?” Jake asks. I’m sure he can read every emotion that crosses my face, but I keep my eyes on the retreating sun.

  “Not yet. But I want to. I want to paint this moment.”

  “Then do it.”

  “It’s been a long time.”

  “That’s exactly why you should do it.”

  He’s right. Standing, I go inside and grab the supplies I’ll need and the smallest canvas I bought. When I settle back into my chair, I set everything up, and try to block out Jake next to me. I focus on my breathing and mixing my colors, preparing myself for that first brushstroke. It’s in that single motion where so many possibilities lie.

  The restraints around my heart squeeze and then loosen as I breathe out with my first stroke, and it feels like reuniting with an old friend.

  Time seems to move in slow motion while I lose myself in the moment. The sun continues to descend, but I feel like I have all the time in the world to capture it.

  I put everything I’m feeling into this, and with every brushstroke, it feels like I’m coming home.

  When the last of the light has left the sky, I put my brush down, and look at the first painting I’ve created in what feels like a lifetime.

  The red sun bleeds out orange and yellow, meeting the darkening blue of the sky while the ocean welcomes it down under the horizon. At the water’s edge, the silhouette of a man and woman holding hands makes my chest tighten. He’s looking at her while she looks out at the sea. I didn’t even second guess doing it. I gave myself over to my emotions and this is what came of it. This is what I’m feeling.

  Tears start rolling down my cheeks, and the next thing I know, Jake is right there, kneeling in front of me and wiping them away.

  “You did amazing, Ally.” I close my eyes and let his soft, sweet voice pour over me like warm honey. “Open your eyes, darlin’, look at me.” My eyes flutter open, and a few more tears escape, but Jake is there to catch them as they fall. “So blue, so beautiful,” he says, searching my eyes.

  “I don’t let people see me like this,” I whisper, looking down at my paint splattered hands.

  Jake slides two fingers under my chin, tilting my face back up to look at him. “Tell me what you’re feeling.”

  I don’t know how to describe it. “Seen. You make me feel seen.”

  Leaning in, Jake brushes his lips against mine, and I can’t help the feelings bubbling up inside of me. I wrap my arms around his neck, threading my fingers through his hair and pulling him closer. Sliding my tongue across the seam of his lips, Jake opens for me, and I dive in – sweeping, tasting, and exploring.

  Slowing the kiss, I pull away, my eyes closed and my lips still just a breath away from his. “Jake,” I whisper, afraid to hear his response to my next words, but needing to hear the answer. “Tell me what you’re feeling.”

  “I feel like I can see in the dark for the first time. I opened my eyes to see an angel lighting my way.”

  Rubbing his stubbled cheek with the palm of my hand, I softly trace his lips with the tips of my fingers. “Why are you in the dark?” I whisper.

  “I just am. And you deserve the light, not darkness.”

  “I’m already in the dark,” I tell him, tracing his jaw lightly.

  He doesn’t say anything more. He just rolls back onto his heels, breaking contact with me, and I watch him with wide eyes as he walks back into the house. Standing quickly, I follow him, catching up to him just before he reaches the front door.

  “Why are you leaving?”

  “I have to go. I have work to finish,” he says, not even looking at me.

  “Seriously?”

  “Yeah, I have to go.”

  What? Stunned, I pull the front door open for him and step to the side. “Thanks for coming over to help me. I’ll just see you whenever.” Bitterness drips from every word I say, and when Jake walks past me without a single look, I slam the door closed behind him.

  Letting out a frustrated growl, I throw myself down on the couch and reach for my phone in my back pocket.

  I text the group chat I have with Ash, Mel, and Ellie to see if everyone is free to talk, and then I conference them all in.

  “Ally-cat! How are you?!” Ellie yells first. “You were supposed to call us days ago!”

  “Yeah what the fuck, Al?!” Ash chimes in.

  “Guys, oh my god, let her talk!”

  “Thanks, Mel. I miss you guys, and I just really wanted to talk to you.”

  Mel is quick to pick up on my tone. “What’s wrong? Do you hate it there?”

  “No,” I sigh. “I love it actually. I just…I’m having a man issue.” A round of screams from them has me holding the phone away from my ear for a second. “And he’s, well, I don’t know. Complicated and confusing.”

  “What man isn’t? Did you do the nasty yet?”

  “Okay, Trash-ley, just dive right in there,” Ellie says, using our favorite nickname for Ashley.

  “No, we haven’t. But I want him more than I’ve ever wanted anyone. We barely know each other, but I’m a jumbled mess whenever he’s near me.”

  “AHH you went and found yourself a hot piece of ass right away like I told you to!”

  “You’re going to have to tell us everything if you want our advice,” Melanie says.

  Starting from the beginning, I tell them all about Jake. And when I finish, all I hear is silence. “Hello? You guys there?”

  “Yeah we’re here,” Mel says.

  “Just processing,” Ellie adds.

  “And thinking about moving up there with you so I can find a man like Thor.”

  “Well, he does have three brothers who Courtney says are just as hot.”

  “Who’s Courtney? Have you replaced us already?”

  “No, bitch, I got a job. Courtney is the owner of the café/bakery in town where I work now. And yes, we’re friends. She actually came up with the plan to break the oven so Jake would come over and fix it.”

  “Well, it worked, so I guess she gets some points for that. But we’ll have to vet her when we come up there to make sure she’s good enough to be in our group.”

  “In our group?”

  “Yes. Any friends you make will have to be brought into the fold so we’re all on the same page with Thor and how you’re going to get him to be yours.”

  “I love you guys. I miss you.”

  “Miss you too, Ally-cat. Now, I think we can all agree that you need to just go about your life for a few days and wait for him to come to you. You called him over today, and then he left like an ass. Let him make the next move.”

  “Alright. I think I can do that. It all just got intense so fast. I wasn’t expecting that.”

  “That happens when you meet someone who you have a genuine connection with, Ally. There’s no holding back because you can’t. You feel this pull towards them, and it’s near impossible to ignore or resist. You want to be near them, with them, know them.”

  “How do you know that, Mel?” Ellie asks.

  “Don’t worry about it.”

  “It’s from your books, isn’t it?”

  “It still applies!” she yells back, always so sensitive when she’s teas
ed for reading so many romance novels.

  “Look, Ally-cat,” Elizabeth’s soft voice cuts in. “Just let it happen. Let yourself feel something for once. I know you don’t trust men easily, if at all, but don’t let your past keep you from experiencing what could be something great.”

  My eyes burn with unshed tears. “I’ll try.”

  “Good.”

  “Okay, I have to go. I’m hungry.”

  “Alright, we’ll talk soon though, okay? Keep us updated.”

  “I will. Love you.” Hanging up, I throw my head back against the couch and sigh. This is all going so fast for me and my head is pounding. I go from seven long years of isolation to an over intake of every emotion known to man.

  Picking my phone back up, I dial another number.

  “Hi, sweetie,” my mom says as soon as she answers.

  “Hi, mom. How are you?”

  “It’s a little lonely here without you, but I’m trying to keep busy.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be sorry, sweetie. It was inevitable that you’d move out. I’m adjusting is all. The last of my chickees have flown the coop.”

  “I miss you.”

  “I miss you, too. What’s wrong?”

  “Why do you think something’s wrong?”

  “I can hear it in your voice. I’m your mother.”

  “It’s nothing. I sort of met a man, and he’s, I don’t know. I think he’s too much for me.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “What I’m feeling scares me.”

  “Don’t let that stop you from diving in without knowing how deep the water goes. Without risk, you can’t have reward. I know your father and I weren’t an example to follow, but love exists, sweetie. Good, genuine men, exist.”

  “Mom,” I choke out.

  “Please, try for me.”

  “Okay,” I whisper.

  “Thank you, sweetie. I love you.”

  “Love you too.”

  “Now go eat something, I know you’re probably hungry and it’ll make you feel better.”

  “Yes, mom.” I don’t know how she already knew. “Talk to you soon, okay?”