Free Final Mend by Angela Smith Page B

Jake woke the next morning, Winona was half sprawled across him with one leg laced between his two, her head on his shoulder, and one arm resting on his chest. Her hair spread along her arm and his chest, with one stray tickling his cheek. The smell of her, like citrus spritzed atop clusters of flowers combined with the earthy dew of morning, tantalized him.
    He smiled, thinking he could wake up to this every morning. As she stirred and stretched, he immediately hardened. She opened her eyes and met his, then squealed when he pulled her atop him.
    Losing himself in her body eased the anxiety bubbling through him at what this day would bring and was just what his body and mind needed at the moment. He couldn’t wait to see Amy, but he feared seeing her would release a mixture of emotions he’d managed to bottle since Brandon’s death.
    Did she know? Had she witnessed her father’s death? Had the cops questioned her on what she’d seen, heard? And how in the world could he question her without scarring her for life?
    Amy had been found when she’d walked into a café. She’d claimed she and the man she was with had been playing hide-and-seek, and she was supposed to be looking for her daddy. The police had searched all the nearby homes and businesses, and an ongoing investigation was in full force.
    Amy had given them a description that a sketch artist had released to the public to help search for him, but it was vague. Even Amy’s description of everything that had happened to her had been vague. She showed no sign of sexual trauma or injuries, and she claimed to have nothing but a good time.
    Jake couldn’t understand it, but the feeling Lillian was involved would not go away.
    “Hey.” Winona slipped from his body and scratched his head, her fingertip tracing along his jaw.
    “Hey.” His voice sounded rough, but Winona smiled.
    “Are you always this grumpy in the morning?”
    “You call this grumpy?”
    Winona nodded.
    “And I suppose you’re one of those jump-out-of-bed-first-thing-in-the-morning-and-annoy-everyone-with-your-
joie-de-vivre
people?”
    Winona palmed his chest, striding her nails along his skin and down to his pelvis. She grasped his hardness and lightly squeezed. “Am I annoying you?”
    He shifted to his side and faced her, trailing his fingers up her inner thighs. “I don’t know. Am I annoying you?”
    She blinked. Slowly. Seductively. “Not at all.”
    He grasped her wrists and straddled her. “You are wild and wanton, aren’t you?”
    She giggled as he tickled her.
    “Am I annoying you now?”
    “Yes! Stop it. Stop it,” she squealed as she thrashed across the bed. “I have to pee.”
    He laughed as he rolled off her. “Okay. I’ll meet you back here in five.”
    • • •
    Winona thought it would be the perfect day to lie in bed and spoon with Jake, but the phone rang.
    “Ugh,” she moaned as grabbed her phone, recognizing Chayton’s ring.
    “Big brother is calling,” Jake said.
    “Actually, he’s my little brother. And if I don’t answer, he’ll send out a search party. Yeah?” she quipped into the phone.
    “Well, good morning to you, too.”
    “Yes. Keyword: morning. Did you really feel the need to call me this early?”
    “It’s eight o’clock. You’re usually up by now.”
    “Doesn’t mean I want to talk to you this early.”
    “I’m actually looking for Jake,” her brother said, all innocent-like.
    “Why are you looking for Jake?” She swept her gaze to the man under discussion, who lay on his side with his head propped in his hand, his free hand skimming her lower leg. He lazily watched her as he flicked away the covers and inched his fingers up her inner thighs, all while her back remained against his chest.
    “Wanted to see if he was interested in going out on the mountains four-wheeling with me today. I’m looking for someone to go with, and I thought he might like that kind of stuff.”
    “Oh. Well, let me ask him. We’ll call you back