Page 23 of Trailer Trash

“Yeah.” I gave him a shove. “Hurry or we’ll be stuck on here until we get to Texarkana.”

“Thank God,” he groaned, but he tempered it with a wink.

He slid out of his seat and grabbed my bag in one fell swoop, then reached a hand down to help me up.

I took his hand, trying to ignore the tingles that immediately shot through me.

The driver closed the door, and Jed kept hold of my hand, dragging me down the aisle. “We’re getting off.”

The driver gave us a scathing look, but he opened the door—probably because of Jed’s imposing stare. Jed hopped off, tugging me with him.

I landed on the pavement, and gravity pulled me forward. I ended up with my chest pressed to his. I took some satisfaction from knowing he was just as affected by the contact as I was—his dilated pupils and parted mouth were a telltale clue—but I had to set some ground rules or this trip would quickly become a disaster.

“Are you coming with me because you want to sleep with me?” I asked, bold as I pleased.

There was that grin again—it was like the man had saved up all his smiles from the past decade and was now using them indiscriminately—and his arm slipped around my back, holding me in place. I could feel the evidence that I might be on the right track, but fool that I was, I didn’t pull away.

“We can’t sleep together, Jed.”

“Your trip. Your rules.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Okay. Sothisis probably a bad idea.”

“What?”

“Me plastered against you.”

“You’re free to step away at any time.”

I stepped back, taking a breath and trying to get myself together. “We’re not sleeping together.”

“You already said that,” he said, his voice laced with humor.

“I just want to make sure it’s clear.” But the fact that he wasn’t protesting made me second-guess myself. “You don’t want to sleep with me?”

“Neely Kate, I’ve gotten where I am today because I’m a patient man. I know when to bide my time.”

Another wave of lust washed through me, and I told myself to calm down. Jed was a good-looking man—a dangerously good-looking man—and he was tossing bread crumbs of attention my way. It had been a while since a man had pursued me. That was all.

But I knew that was a lie.

Carter Hale had made no secret of his desire to hook up with me, but the sad truth was that I’d be another conquest for someone like Carter. For Jed too. They saw through the walls I’d stacked so carefully in my pathetic attempt to be worthy of someone’s love, but it was like slapping paint on a pig—it didn’t disguise that deep down I was nothing but a whore.

Until Ronnie, none of the guys in my life had seen me as anything more than a hookup or a possession. Ronnie had been looking for forever, and I’d grabbed ahold of the bright shiny and hadn’t let go. How ironic that I had thought I was the one settling for the commitment I desperately craved. For a man who would never leave me.

The joke was on me.

So why was I doing a fool thing like falling for Jed Carlisle? Because nothing but misery waited for me at the end ofthatroad. Worse yet, I knew it, and I was letting myself fall for him like a pyromaniac drawn to a three-alarm fire.

Jed frowned as though he noticed the change in my demeanor. “Let’s get out of the heat.”

He put his hand at the small of my back and led me to the parking lot. Using his keyless remote, he started the engine before opening the trunk. He moved to open my passenger door, and I tried to push his hand away. What was he trying to prove?

“We’re not on a date, Jed.”

He leaned close. “Let’s make this perfectly clear,” he said in a low voice. “If you are riding in my car, I’m opening the door. Got it?”

I stared up at him with an expression that suggested I thought he’d lost his damn mind, but I let him open the door all the same.

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