Risky Pleasures - Brenda Jackson [67]
Jocelyn.
She smiled when she thought of the older sister she was finally getting closer to. Jocelyn was twenty-seven to her twenty-three. But even with the mere four-year difference in their ages, they had never been close. Jocelyn had always been “Daddy’s” girl, while Leah had been “Mommy’s” girl. Their mother had died when Leah had turned thirteen. That had been the worst period of her life. She had felt so alone. No one seemed to know how badly she was hurting and a part of her had been convinced that no one had cared.
The only thing she had looked forward to was finishing school and leaving Newton Grove…at least that had been the only thing until Reese and his family had moved to town in her junior year of high school. He had been employed by her father’s construction company. It was during that time that Reese became the focus of her life, her entire universe and the only one she held dear. And Neil had brutally destroyed all of that in one horrible night.
“Leah?”
She glanced up, met the intensity in Reese’s dark eyes. She actually felt it. And she felt something else. Desire. She could feel his passion like a gentle caress to certain parts of her body and although she wanted to respond, a part of her mind would not let her. For some reason, she had a mental block that refused to let Reese tap into what was behind her fears. If only she was strong enough to let go, but she wasn’t. Even after resuming counseling sessions with a therapist, she hadn’t been able to move forward with that part of her life.
“I’m fine, Reese, really,” she said at last. “But it hurts to know how your family feels about me now, when before we were so close. And it hurts even more to know their present feelings are justified.”
“But they don’t know everything, Leah. They don’t know what happened to make you run away that night,” he said softly, gently squeezing her hand.
“I know and I can’t get upset with them for how they feel about me. I’m sure they’re wondering why you’re even seeing me again, spending so much time with me.”
“What I do is my business, Leah, and my family knows that.”
“Yes, but I still can’t help but feel bad for them. They don’t know the entire story. They’re worried that I will hurt you again.”
“But you won’t. You promised you would stay in Newton Grove and not return to California, and that we would work things out, and we will.”
She felt the tears coming and blinked a few times to keep them at bay. “Will we, Reese? It’s been six months and although I’m comfortable with us kissing, I can’t seem to get beyond that and that’s not fair to you. I know you, Reese, just as you know me. You want me. You want to sleep with me and make love to me the way any man would want to with the woman he loves. But I just can’t get beyond certain things.”
“But you will. I truly believe that. We will continue to take things one day at a time, Leah, and no matter what anyone thinks or how long it takes, you and I are in this for the long haul. We’re going to work through this. I truly believe that.”
His words gave her some of the strength she needed. Because he believed, she wanted to believe. He was good at feeding her hope and she clung to him. His expectations for them, his belief in their future was what had kept her in Newton Grove when Jocelyn had moved to Charlotte a few months ago after getting married. There was no one here for Leah other than Reese. He was the reason she had remained here instead of returning to California where she had tried to start a new life.
And he was the reason she had opened a café in town, right next door to his warehouse. It was there that he built his furniture. Reese had a gift when it came to carpentry—connecting his hands to wood. Her father had left him money in his will. The small sum was enough for Reese to start up his own business.
Leah had made a hefty sum from the sale of her share of the construction company her family had owned. Together, she and Reese had purchased this piece of real estate that had been perfect for both