Waiting For Eden (Eden Series) by Jessica Leigh Page B

light.  His damned curiosity was getting the better of him again. 
    Alex pulled open the tailgate and crawled into the bed, cursing when her head connected with metal.  James had a moment to view an upturned ass in curve-hugging Levi’s.
    “To bad the moonlight’s so poor,” he muttered.
    “Yeah, I can’t see a thing,” her voice returned, slightly muffled as she rooted through whatever stuff she had piled in the back.  “I should have pulled this out earlier , but I wasn’t sure you would be here.  They told me you might at Headquarters, though.”  Her face appeared as she crawled back out on her hands and knees.
    “So you were looking for me?”
    “Yes,” she admitted.  “I wanted to return your stove.”
    “Here, let me help you.”  He offered his hand.
    “No, I’m fine.”  She scuttled off of the back, cracking her elbow on the edge of the tailgate.  “Shit, ouch!”
    “Jesus, Alex.”  Jamie couldn’t help a chuckle.  Then a little fist collided with his bicep smartly.  “It’s not funny.  I’m not used to this damned beast of a truck yet.”
    “Yeah, I guess it must be quite a change from the beamer.”
    “What makes you think I drove a BMW?” she asked in a quieter voice.  She was standing close to him.  In the darkness, her features were indiscernible; both softened and shaped by the shadows themselves.  He could make out the tip of her nose, the fullness of her lower lip that had fashioned itself into a pout again, and the glimmer of her eyes.  Alex tossed her head, and he heard the whisper of soft hair as it whisked across her cheeks and shoulders.  “Well?”
    “Just a feeling.  If not a beamer, then a Mercedes.  Where is this hubby of yours, anyway?”
    Instead of answering, Alex reached behind her and pulled out his stove.  “Here it is , still in working condition.  Thank you for lending it to me.”  Her voice was stiff and formal once again.
    He gritted his teeth.  S he had flicked his question off like a small, insignificant insect.  “No problem.”  He took the stove and sighed.  “Why must you be so damned defensive and prickly, Alexandra?” 
    Was there a glimmer of tears on her eyelashes?  Jamie bent closer through the flickering shadows, and then placed his hands on her shoulders when a little droplet slipped from the corner of one eye and down the curve of her cheek. She was crying.
    “Hey,” he murmured.  “What is it, Alex?   I really don’t understand what’s going on here.”  Against his better judgment, he pulled her a little closer, drawing her into the circle of his arms.  And it felt just a little too good.
    She actually rested her head on his chest for the space of ten seconds, and then he felt her trembling.
    He squeezed her a little tighter .  “What’s up here? Maybe I can help you, Alex.”  Even as the words came out of his mouth, he knew they were wrong.  His touching her was wrong.  It wasn’t just for comfort.
    She came alive then, pushing back against his ch est, breaking free of the circle of his arms, and setting him off balance.  He was pretty sure she was choking back sobs. 
    Wheeling, Alexandra then scrambled up into the truck cab, turned over the ignition and peeled out with the tailgate still down. At the entrance, she must have realized her mistake, and slammed it back into park again to shut it back in place.  Then she burned rubber again onto Route 6 like she was churning smoke at a truck pull.
    Jamie merely watched her fumbling, erratic departure in speechless amazement.  He wanted to be pissed off, but only found himself in a state of confusion.  A screech owl sounded its eerie call somewhere in the darkness, and a reflexive shiver passed through him.
    He’d recognized the wounded look in her eyes, and her jumpiness at being touched only confirmed his suspicions.  Someone had abused that girl at some point.  He knew when to leave well enough alone, he supposed, but it didn’t matter