Country Heat 1: Wolf in the Shadows
F On their first night out together, Aubrey and Jensen are arguing in a wooded parking lot over her unwillingness to treat him as what he is - her boyfriend. E
...Jensen glowered at Aubrey for a bit. "I wouldn't have made love to you if I didn't want you as my girlfriend."
Well, there it was, out loud.
The moral, younger person's standard of relationships.
Sex could happen quickly, but it meant automatic monogamous bonding as boyfriend and girlfriend.
Aubrey wished she hadn't had the damned drink.
She felt all loose instead of in control.
"Aubrey, I need more of you. I relish your passion and your body, god knows I do, but I have to ‘have' you, too. I can't take this...casual indifference...from you. I can't. I'm not in this for the sex. It's a wonderful treat, but I want more of you.
I'll be clear - I want your heart."
Aubrey clamped her mouth shut and turned away from him. Her chest clenched. She didn't want him to go away.
Hell no.
But if she refused him, he would. This situation challenged his morals and he would have no more of it.
"We can't fall into an instant relationship," she staked out her territory, too.
His anger renewed. "What have we been having?"
Aubrey winced. "What do you want, to hang all over me in public?"
He jerked slightly, his brows clenching slightly more. "When we go out, and we will go out, you'll expect me to buy your drinks. And greet you at the door, if you're not on my arm when we arrive."
"There's no reason I can't buy myself a drink."
"No, there isn't. When you're out alone. But you weren't alone. You came to be with me. Because I asked you. Therefore, you expect me to treat you."
She envisioned arriving somewhere on his arm. It had a sort of high school appeal to it. She remembered those days even if they were long behind her. "All right."
"When we return to the Alley, you'll sit beside me."
"Instant girlfriend, Jensen?"
"You're stubborn," he nearly shouted.
She got mad. But from his perspective, he was right. And if she wanted him as a lover, she had to give his perspective some equal time along with her own, or he'd find a woman who would.
"All right."
"I'm glad you're being compliant, Aubrey. Too bad the tender side you show me in bed doesn't translate at all when we're in public."
She scowled at him, but refrained from letting her anger speak for her. "Who was that guy in the club, anyway?"
"My ex-wife's cousin," he said shortly. "I'm not finished, Miss Woodhaus."
"Why am I not surprised?"
An intolerant glower crossed his handsome face.
She gave a submissive sort of half shrug. "You dropped a bomb on that guy, Pete, about her cheating. He seemed surprised."
"Until now, only family knew why Tracy and I divorced. He knew. But Tracy and her family, and him, have been using my unwillingness to broadcast details of the divorce against me, telling stories that aren't true because she knew, they knew, I wouldn't contradict them. But I've endured the questions and suspicions long enough. His comments about you broke my patience. I wanted the general public to know, mostly, for you. I want you to start out with me under no suspicion or judgment. By tomorrow, gossip about my revelation will be all over town. But don't think to distract me, Aubrey."
"Fine. Make your next demand, sir."
"You'll meet my parents. Soon."
"What? Oh, come on, Jensen. It's only been a month."
"Five weeks and three days. And it's about time you met them."
"About time? We've been seeing each other a whole five weeks. What's the push?"
Steel flashed in his eyes.
Aubrey didn't apologize for being sarcastic, but she did feel nasty. In his eyes, anyway.
"It's about my intentions, Aubrey. My parents expect certain behavior so they can be informed about my life without having to pry. If I have a special girl, I bring her home for dinner."
Oh, god damn. Face his parents? Her?
The old lady robbing the cradle?
"How many girls have you brought home so far?"
"You'll be my second."
Aubrey growled. She paced around the back of his truck.
She'd dabbled with sex and got caught by a moral, high-end country boy looking for love. But she'd known, deep in her heart that's what he was about.
That's why having him so soon seemed quite acceptable.
It was special, a treat after a long fast for both of them. If he'd been a player, the fantasy wouldn't have worked. She liked him specifically because he had a generous measure of purity about him.
And for all her mature, cool attitude, she wanted his heart in the deal. She liked it there.
"All right," she said on an exhale....
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