Can't Hurry Love
Chapter 16

Beth had a second to wonder if she'd completely lost her marbles and fallen into one of her fantasies. But no.

Her imagination was good, but not this good. She couldn't have imagined how incredible Josh's arms would feel wrapped around her... She couldn't have imagined the taste of him as he thrust his tongue inside her mouth, igniting a fire that burned into her very soul...

What is going on? She thought, while she still had the ability to think.

But only seconds later, she decided that she didn't actually care what had brought this on. The only thing she knew for certain was that she didn't want it to stop.

Beth reached up and gripped Josh's hair, pulling herself closer. His groan sent a pulse of desire straight to her core, and she knew that the only way this thing between them was stopping was if Josh pushed her away again. Because she didn't have the strength to do it. She didn't want to.

With a muffled curse against her mouth, Josh lifted her again until she was straddling him, her body pressed against his.

He plunged a hand into her hair, angling her head so he could deepen the kiss, while the other ran slowly, torturously over her body.

He found the hemline of her shirt and slipped inside, and Beth gasped at the feel of his hand against the thin lace of her bra. Her ankle twinged a little as she pressed herself into his palm, but she didn't care. Someone could be sawing the limb clean off right now, and she'd barely notice.

The sudden sound of a phone ringing jarred her senses, and she pulled her mouth from Josh's, waiting for him to put up that wall again. Waiting for him to send her away. She watched closely as he tensed, obviously realizing that it was his ringtone he was hearing and not hers. And Beth tried to steel herself for the hurt coming her way, which was hard to do, with over six foot of solid muscle underneath her.

He stared at her, and she stared right back.

What she should do is scrape her dignity off the floor and hobble out of there before he could tell her to leave. But she was trapped. Not only by that look blazing in his eyes but by the things he was doing to her insides. She was like a puppet on a string, her body only moving in response to his. Beth had no idea how long they sat there, labored breathing in perfect sync, their eyes clashing blue on blue. Finally, the shrill ring of the phone stopped, the silence in its wake deafening. This is it, Beth thought. The moment he says he's sorry. The moment I'll have to pretend he's not tearing me into shreds.

She watched his face and waited.

But he just blinked... then smiled a slow, deliciously wicked smile, and her heart exploded along with other more intimate parts of her.

Without warning, he surged to his feet, one arm wound tightly around her waist to keep her from falling.

She wrapped her legs around his waist and answered his smile with one of her own as he started to move away from the living room and toward what she hoped was a bed.

"You really meant it when you said I should stay off this ankle, huh?" she whispered.

"Doctor's orders," he answered with a wink. "And I intend to keep you off it for a very long time."

The sound of a phone ringing again pierced the silence, causing Beth to stir. It wouldn't be a medical emergency since Dr. Beech was on call this weekend. Josh held his breath to see if the ringing would wake her, but with a deep sigh, she snuggled back into his side and stilled.

Shocked at how relieved he felt that she stayed sleeping, therefore prolonging the time he could just hold her, he went back to stroking the satiny smooth skin of her back.

He'd had a feeling that sex with Beth would be good.

But he never could have imagined how mind-blowing it would be. And he definitely couldn't have imagined feeling so content, as if everything in his life suddenly made sense because she was in his arms and in his bed. Damn, he sounded like a character from one of her rom coms.

He lay there watching the afternoon light fade to evening just trying to process all the emotions he was feeling. He knew that sex had complicated everything. That he probably should have sorted his head out before jumping into the sack. All the reasons he'd told himself he couldn't be with Beth still existed. His head was still messed up. He was still scarred from his experience with Elaine. She still hovered in the background of his life, a part of him that was never fully resolved. And he still wasn't sure he could do the whole lifelong commitment thing again.

Rocky Valley was never going to be forever for him. And Beth's whole life was here. She was suited to Rocky Valley. The bakery, her family, the town-they were all part of what made her who she was.

Was being a country MD what he wanted for the rest of his life? Had Harvard Medical School been leading to a small private practice in Colorado? He lay there imagining his life just like this. Small town, quiet life, Beth by his side just-being there, watching movies and going on hikes.

And a quiet voice, one getting louder every minute he spent with her, telling him that yeah, maybe everything in his life had been leading to this. Maybe everything he'd gone through had just been to help him appreciate what he had with Beth. Or could have, if he let himself.

Maybe Elaine hadn't broken him beyond repair.

Maybe Beth was the fix he hadn't even known he needed.

Beth woke to complete silence and she reached out a tentative hand meeting cool sheets and alone.

She opened one eye then the other. The room was definitely empty. A small table lamp cast a soothing light over everything-the dark, masculine furniture, the crisp white sheets. And her clothes thrown haphazardly around the room. Her stomach fluttered as she remembered in vivid detail Josh stripping every piece from her body, leaving no part of her untouched, un-kissed.

Saints alive, that man knew his way around a female. She chose not to think of all the practice he must have had. She'd rather think it was because of their out-of-this-world connection.

It had been unexpected though. And while she was happy, thrilled, actually, that they'd finally taken the next step toward... well, whatever this was, she was worried too. He'd never made a secret of the fact that he didn't want anything serious. But his actions and his cryptic remarks had always given her just enough hope to ruin her for other men.

She sat up and looked around for something to wear. She could get dressed into the shorts and tee she'd been wearing, but she couldn't see her underwear, and she was not going out there looking like she was prepping for a wet t-shirt

contest.

There was a niggling voice in the back of her head getting louder by the second. What if Josh was a thank you, ma'am sort? What if he'd just taken the opportunity that had presented itself?

She tried to imagine how she'd react if she walked out there, and he casually told her that he still wasn't interested in a relationship.

She imagined what someone like Brooke would do. Probably raise a brow and tell him it wasn't that great anyway before gliding out like a queen.

Paige? Well, nobody would ever be that cruel to Paige. Jenna might actually shoot a man who pissed her off.

But Beth didn't have any of those qualities. And Josh wasn't just a man. He was the man, and she knew she'd probably live to regret this-the man she was completely, utterly in love with.

That once in a lifetime movie love she'd always wanted? This was it. And it was better, and scarier, than anything she could have imagined.

If it was one-sided, she was one hundred percent sure she'd embarrass herself. She'd cry for sure. And she was not a pretty crier. When she cried, her face got all red and splotchy, and she sounded like a pig in heat.

Spying a robe on the back of the attached bath door, she dove from the bed, wincing at the pain that shot through her ankle, and grabbed it before he came in and saw her naked. Which was ridiculous because he hadn't just seen her naked, he'd also gotten to know her nakedness very well not that long ago.

But if she was about to face rejection, she at least wanted to be covered up while she did it.

It was tempting to just climb back under the covers and play dead like a possum. But Beth knew she had to pull on her big-girl pants, if she could find them, and get out there to face the music. She didn't even know what time it was! For all she knew, Paige had sent out a search party for her.

"Come on, Beth," she whispered to herself facing the door as if she was walking to her doom. "Just get out there. If he brushes you off, it's not the end of the world."

Her stomach clenched painfully, and she felt a moment of despair and disappointment with herself.

Thinking back to all those pep talks Beth had given to Zoe about her horrible ex, Michael, and even about Beck before he'd gotten his act together, she had to wonder what had happened to her. She'd never imagined she'd be the girl waiting around for scraps of attention from a man. Yet here she was, half-naked in his bedroom, not knowing if she was about to be thrown out on her ear. If he did brush her off, that was it, she told herself fiercely. She would never speak to him again. Not ever.

The robe was huge on her, but that didn't matter. Once this part was out of the way she could find her clothing, all of her clothing, and be on her way.

Cinching the belt of the robe around her waist, she took a deep breath and hobbled to the door, hating how vulnerable she felt but hoping that she at least covered it well enough.