Her Forbidden Love (Indigo Island Book 2) by Kaira Rouda Page A

waistband of his sweatpants to keep them from falling down.
    “You had to hide out from the storm. Take one of the beds. I’ll sleep on the couch. It’s late. Promise it will be OK.” Jack stood beside Dorsey in front of the fire and grinned. He smelled like rain and soap, and she wanted him to touch her, to carry her to his bedroom, but that would ruin everything. Jack needed this job even more than she did. And how could she ever be sure she wasn’t just another notch on his belt.
    “Oh, Jack,” Dorsey said, wrapping her arms around his neck, feeling the connection zinging between them as their bodies drew close and pulsed with desire. She took a deep breath and took in the scent that was uniquely his. “You know I appreciate your gentlemanliness, I guess. It’s just, well, it’s what we have to do, right?”
    “Ugh,” Jack said, pushing her away. “This following the rules is killing me. We’ve got to figure out a way to be together.”
    “I’d like that, too,” she said quietly, turning to face the fire. After a moment, she turned back to face him, ignoring the need in his eyes, a need she felt just as strongly. “It’s still crazy outside, so I’m sure it’s OK for me to stay, just this time. And just to be safe, you better sleep on the couch,” Dorsey said. She didn’t trust either of them with a whole night together anymore. As Jack closed the door to the bedroom, Dorsey climbed under the blankets of one of Jack’s queen-sized beds. Once she’d stopped thinking about Jack and focused on improvements she still had planned for the Kids Cottage, sleep was deep and peaceful, without nightmares.

Chapter 10
    Jack
    R eluctantly, Jack closed the bedroom door, and leaned against it. He couldn’t believe he could feel this way about someone, could let a woman into his heart this quickly. All of those years of trying to fill the hole left by his brother’s death and his mom’s emotional distance with one-night stands and overachieving at school and work had never come close to making him feel alive again. Nothing had. Not until Dorsey. Now he stood on the other side of the bedroom door from her, alone and with a huge hard-on.
    He let out a deep sigh and eyed the couch, his bed for the evening. All day long, before the storm had blown in, he’d sat up in the lifeguard chair and daydreamed about Dorsey. About her laugh, her soft skin, her incredibly wild hair. He couldn’t wait to make love to her, but knew if he would ever get the chance, he would need to take it slow. He had all the time in the world this summer, before he began his real job. He would wait as long as she needed him to, no matter how hard it was. Literally. He knew he could manage Steve, he just hadn’t exactly figured out how. The bigger issue was to earn Dorsey’s trust – a trust so ruined by her first and only serious boyfriend that he had caused her to believe she was unlovable. Jack had news for her – she was the most lovable woman he’d ever known.
    Climbing under the blanket and trying to get comfortable on the couch, Jack thought about how he’d feel if his family were threatened, if his dog were poisoned and killed. That had to be horrible for Dorsey’s father. Dads were supposed to be the protectors, they were supposed to be around, to be the strong ones. Not that Jack would know. He’d been the man in the Means’ household since he was eight and his dad left them. He was afraid he had too much of his dad inside him to ever be a father. He hoped he would never abandon his own child, but who knows what kind of genetic monster could awaken. So Jack had decided to play it safe. Play the field, focus on his career, take care of his mom. But now, now there was Dorsey.
    There was a knock on the door. Jack hurried to open it before Dorsey woke up. Steve.
    “Just checking to make sure everybody’s accounted for after the storm,” he said, standing on the porch, clothes still wet from the lashing rain. Shining his