Page 2 of Touch Me (Complete Collection)

“No!” she cried out louder than she had intended to. When he gaped at her in puzzlement, she pasted a smile on her face. “No, thank you. I’ll get one myself. You don’t have to.”

He stared at her, his blue eyes shimmering, and crossed his arms over his chest. It didn’t hide anything, only made his biceps bulge some more. Her throat was as dry as sandpaper. “Are you alright?” he asked sweetly, and she stood up, walking toward the kitchen while maintaining a safe distance from his magnificently naked body.

“Yes. I just…feel overwhelmed,” she improvised, and when he clutched her upper arms, her eyes refused to lift from the thick matting of hair at the center of his chest. “I’ll…” She swallowed to quench the desert in her neck. “I won’t be here long. I have to visit another friend tomorrow so I’ll crash with her.”

“What? Did you find a job during the ten hours since you and I talked over the phone?”

“No.”

“Then you’re going nowhere. Stay here and find a job. I’ll help you.”

“No, really- ”

“Jenny?” he said forcefully and she glanced up into his eyes. He had gotten tall. His hair was short, sexy, and she pictured her fingers sliding through it. “Do you want…” He stopped, letting the words hang in the air.

She swallowed. Want to touch your body? Yes!

“Do you want me to grab a shirt?” he asked incredulously and Jenny blushed bright, shrugging his hands away.

“That would be…great.”

He stilled at her reply, and when he laughed, the sound ricocheted off the celling. She was glad he was finding it funny, because she sure as hell wasn’t. He punched her upper arm and she winced, thankful that he would be dressed appropriately soon. To her utter mortification, he walked over to the kitchen, obviously not planning to cover up his hunky manliness.

“You know what?” he called. “I think this is going to be fun.”

“What is?” She strode behind him, urging her eyes to look anywhere but above his waist. His body emanated heat that was pulling her like a moth to flame. It was shocking because she wasn’t that type of girl. She wasn’t affected easily. No. Not Cooper. Definitely not Cooper. She had to get a grip. She wondered if it was the exhaustion, the stress, the utter confusion and helplessness. He had offered to let her stay, maybe that made her feel more…trusting and titillated. No! This doesn’t make any sense!

Handing her a mug of coffee, he shrugged, laughter twinkling in his eyes. “It’s going to be fun having you around.”

She inhaled sharply. “I have to be somewhere else tomorrow.”

He sobered instantly, glaring at her almost angrily. “When you called me, you said there was nowhere for you to go. What the hell happened?”

“I...” Yeah. I did say that. I had also bawled like a baby at the first sound of your voice.

Growing up with her grandmother, Jenny had never had anyone but the Farrell’s. Their family was exactly what her family wasn’t – their family was complete – and they had included her in everything until she felt like one of them.

“Jen?” She glanced up and the blue eyes had turned softer, warmer. “You and I…we’re family. Alright?”

She was so embarrassed. What had I expected? The same thirteen-year-old boy I had played house with? He had grown up, just like she had. “I don’t want to impose.”

“Hey!” he urged. “Look at me.” She did and he placed his mug on the kitchen counter, clutching her shoulders persuasively. “I’m only going to say this once so you’d better listen close. You are going nowhere! Until things work out, you’re staying here. I have three spare bedrooms, and I’m always at work so you’ll have the place to yourself. Find a job, and then we might think about you going anywhere else.”

That sounded like the Cooper she remembered. She looked at him like she had always looked at him and felt better – albeit only slightly. She nodded and he grabbed her again, holding her face pressed onto his chest.

She tensed and clenched her eyes shut, not breathing in case she inhaled his scent. Just when I had relaxed, you had to spoil it by your nakedness again. His body shook as he began laughing. He was doing it on purpose. “Relax. It’s still me, Jenny.”

She smiled in the curve of his shoulder and he held her tighter. Tentatively, she placed her hands on his back and the naked skin didn’t feel so wrong. It shouldn’t have felt wrong from the very beginning. It was Cooper. She had to relax. He was right.

“Do you think you could find a shirt somewhere though?” she joked, feeling the stiffness leave her body.

He chuckled and pulled back, pushing her hair off her face affectionately. “Not really. I don’t have any shirts. And these trousers have to be laundered today so I’m afraid I won’t have these either.”

A horrified laugh escaped her chest. “Shut up!” she stuttered, and he snickered adorably. She felt better – profoundly better. As he led her to the guest bedroom, she dragged her feet. She was exhausted. It seemed like so much had happened since she had woken up that morning.

Jason, her boyfriend of five years, had been asleep when she awoke. Hurriedly, she arrived at her office and was ushered straight to her boss’s office. She had been laid off.

Worried and anxious, she had headed straight to an ATM to check her account statement. She had found $72 in her account. Seventy-two measly dollars left from five years of prudent savings. She had bolted home to find Jason still asleep, on his stomach, and she had woken him up so savagely that he had scared her with his lurch.

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