Later that same evening, Ann was still shaking her head at Jared's strange behaviour. He had left her gaping at his final statement and gone about as if nothing had happened. They hadn't talked at all, but all she had been able to do was rummaging around while carefully watching Jared's every step as he sat down to clean his shotguns and laying out his fishing rods.
The man was a complete enigma the way he seemed to be ignoring her all the rest of the evening. She had thought he would corner her and try to persuade her of his lust in a more substantial way – by touching and kissing her all over until she succumbed to the inevitable.
Instead she had felt ignored and she found herself watching his every move carefully as if she anticipated him turning on her at every moment. But, instead he had kept to the other side of the cabin, acting as if he was the most non-threatening creature in the universe. She felt annoyed just thinking about it. And especially since she hadn't been able to do the same and simply ignore him while enjoying her holiday. Instead she felt like a nervous wreck just waiting for his next move.
Finally he turned off the kitchen light and stood up from his chair. Collecting his equipment, he obviously prepared for another day out hunting or perhaps fishing and she watched him move casually around the cabin before venturing into the bathroom.
She listened to the familiar sounds of water running as he brushed his teeth. Minutes later the toilet flushed and soon afterwards he came outside again. Immediately he walked up to his own bed and started to undress himself. This time he kept his back to her, but still she was spellbound by the look of his broad shoulders and the strong legs that he revealed from beneath his clothes. As the night before, he kept his trunks on as he climbed into the bed and covered his large frame with the quilt.
"Goodnight, Ann," he suddenly murmured as he turned over and met her eyes. She almost jumped in surprise as he hadn't revealed his knowledge of her watching him before. But the knowing look in his eyes told her that he had understood more than she had wanted.
"Goodnight, Jared," she responded quickly before turning to get her nightgown and her toilet bag.
"My offer still stands you know," she heard him say behind her as she walked toward the bathroom. She stilled immediately.
"What offer?"
"The offer to share my bed," he said heatedly as he roamed his eyes over her body from top to toe.
She felt herself flush all over at the fact of what she had been thinking about for the last few hours. Was he a mind-reader, as well?
"No, thanks," she blurted out as she slammed the bathroom door behind her. Inside she washed her face in cold water as she tried to get a hold on herself. This wasn't like her. She was acting like a frightened virgin when she was nothing of the sort. Why did she let this man get the better of her all the time? She was an independent modern woman who took her pleasure where she wanted to and with the men she wanted.
Or so she wanted to think of herself. All right, so she hadn't had that many relationships yet – but she was picky when it came to men. But that didn't mean that she was inexperienced. Not at all. Thanks to the books and some adventurous boyfriends she had learned to appreciate her own body and enjoy her sexuality.
But never before had it felt like this. Never before had she felt as if she was the prey that was spell-bounded by every word coming from her captor. There was no use in denying that Jared had the upper hand due to his experience. So where did that leave her? Should she allow him to run all over her just because he knew more about invoking her lust than she did herself? She knew he wanted her and deep down she had to admit that he tempted her like no other man she had met before.
Still, he frightened her as well. Why, she couldn't be sure. But probably because she was worried that she would become more attached to him than he would be to her. And then he would leave her stranded. Was it really worth taking that risk? Or maybe that was the mistake she had made all her life: that she was too afraid of getting hurt so she evaded the men that could move her heart as well as her body?
Maybe it was time to take a chance and risk her heart in the process? She thought as she looked at her face in the mirror. Why didn't she turn the tables on him and give him some of his own medicine? He deserved it after toying with her for the entire day. But what if he got so turned on he couldn't keep his hands away from her?
As if he would, she laughed ironically at herself. He was probably just joking about lusting for her in order to get her to flee the cabin and leave him to enjoy his holiday in peace and quietude. Ha, it would be just typical of him to believe something like that would work on her. She had been the butt of enough jokes that Cade and Jared had concocted through the years to know that the masculine mind was sometimes incredible far-fetched.
But now she had seen through his tricks and it was time to repay him in kind. She quickly finished and grabbed the lotion as she went into the main room again.
"Oh, Jared?" she purred softly.
"What?" she heard him groan. He hadn't fallen asleep yet, she smiled.
"Would you mind giving me another rub in with the lotion before you go to sleep? I can't reach the sunburns on my backside."
"Yes, sure," he mumbled as he slowly moved from his bed.
She turned her back to him and quickly started undressing until only her bra and panties remained. Looking behind her she almost smiled as she caught Jared staring at her, his hot gaze following her every move as she loosened her hair grip and let her hair flow freely over her shoulders. At the same time she heard a gasp coming from behind her and she smiled at his response as she flipped away the quilt and lay facedown on her bed. Then she waited. And waited.
Looking up she noticed Jared was still staring at her.
"Aren't you going to help me, Jared?" she asked casually.
He seemed to shake himself awake and grabbed the lotion. "Yes, of course," he said hoarsely as he came toward her. She noticed that the bulge in his trunks had increased since the night before when she had seen him undress and she laid her head down as she tried to hide the grin that was developing on her mouth. So he wasn't only playacting his desires after all. Good.
She collected her hair with her fingers and presented her naked shoulders to him.