Wick Christa - Tempted Beyond Return

Copyright 2019 by Christa Wick

Major Logan Jones opened the front door of his three-bedroom ranch before I landed my first knock. Surprised, I glanced at my watch.

"I'm not late, am I?"

Despite knowing deep down that I was on time, a tremor of nerves ran through me. The Major was very particular about people being punctual. After five plus years of babysitting his son Stevie, I still had a clean record. Working a summer job at a downtown office, however, meant that I had been cutting it close for the last three months.

"No, I heard you pull up." Taking a step back, he opened the door wider and motioned me inside.

I passed him in the hall, my thick hips and the narrow space conspiring to force the excruciatingly brief rub of my body against his. A familiar heat flared along the surface of my skin. My nipples puckered, the sensation triggering an outbreak of goose bumps and wet need.

Continuing down the hall, I rubbed at my arms, hoping my body would behave before the Major noticed his effect on me. Not that he had ever noticed. At twenty-two, I had been babysitting Stevie for over five years. And I had spent practically every day of those five years nursing a mad crush on the Major. And, through all those years, he remained blissfully clueless even when my body's reaction to him kicked into high gear after Mrs. Jones ran off to parts unknown in search of her "true self."

UghMrs. Jones.

I was pretty certain her true self was some kind of dumb ass space alien because Stevie was the cutest little bug I had ever babysat, and the Major was the sexiest thing on two legs. Logan stood tall and lean, with muscles so big it would take both my hands to circle one of his biceps. Add to that intense fuck-me eyes, finely chiseled features accentuated by the military cut of his dark ash brown hair, and a mouth that looked like it could melt an iceberg, and it was no wonder my entire body snapped to full attention like a platoon of new recruits whenever I was around him. Hell, even when Major was wearing his ACUs, he was hot as sin.

I also loved how protective he was. Not just with Stevie, but with everyone he thought of as his extended familyincluding me. Since he wasn't overbearing, it was a complete turn on knowing he had my back.

Ready to leave, the Major interrupted my reverie before I had a chance to drift into a middle-of-the-day, full-on wet dream and embarrass myself.

"I'll be home by midnight." He reached into his pocket, pulled out his cell phone and started tapping at the screen. Half a second later my phone buzzed in my purse. "Just sent you another number to call if you have trouble reaching me. Building I'll be at is a bit of a black hole for signal reception."

"Okay." I watched him move through the living room to retrieve his gear. Another shiver ran across my skin when he bent over to grab his backpack.

"No visitors," he said, straightening to slide the bags strap over his shoulder.

Pulled back to reality once more, I nodded. It was the same discussion every visit. He meant "no boys." Even if it was possible for me to be interested in someone other than Logan, I would never recklessly expose Stevie to anyonemale or femalethat the Major hadnt vetted.

"Make sure Stevie is in bed by nine."

"Yes, Major."

I wondered what I was going to do with myself after nine. The hours between Stevie going to bed and the Major returning home often strained my self control. Sometimes I still had reading for school to doif I could stay focused. But it was summer, so I had spent a lot of time just pacing or doing little things to help the house shine. When all else failed, I tried to exorcise my dirty thoughts by typing them into my note app. It was like Fifty Shades of Major without the ball gag and spanking paddle.

The one thing I wanted to avoid was a text from my best friend Emy. Put us in a room together and we are angels. Put us in the cloud with our imaginations typing at full speed and humanity was doomed.

Reaching the front door with me following on his heels like a devoted puppy, he gave me one of those looks that would have been stern if his pale blue gaze didn't glitter like frosted diamonds.

"Call me Logan, not Major, not Mr. Jones. Just Logan, he ordered. "Or I'll go back to calling you Lilliput."

I crinkled my nose at him and faintly nodded but didn't say anything. I couldn't bring myself to call him Logan other than in my head. I was certain I would make a fool of myself if I did. His name would eventually issue from my lips all breathless and shaking. And his threat was no good because I only half minded him calling me Lilliput. It made me feel special, even if it meant he still thought of me as the seventeen-year-old girl he first hired and not an adult woman on the cusp of graduating from college.

After a few more seconds of my only nodding, he lifted a brow and offered an exasperated sigh. Reaching out, he wrapped a warm hand around my shoulder and lightly squeezed. It was the first intentional contact by him that I could remember in months. Heat and fierce need fanned through me from head-to-toe

"Just promise me you'll work on using my name and not my rank, Lily."

Leaning into his touch, I smiled.

"Of course, Major."

With the Major gone, I went into Stevie's room to see what he wanted for dinner. His gaze went adorably evil as the right side of his face crept upward in a grin.