At Last by Jill Shalvis

room for himself, pressing into her so that he was cradled between herthighs. It was dark so he couldn’t see much, but he sure could feel. And what he felt just about stopped his heart. She appeared to be wearing an oversized shirt, panties, and nothing else, as he discovered when his hands slid beneath the shirt to cup her bare breasts.
    Amy gasped his name, and he went still, realizing he had her pinned beneath him, a perfect breast in each hand. And he wanted to keep kissing her, keep touching her until she was too hot to stop him. Even the thought revved him up. But Jesus, he’d forgotten the reason he was even here—Riley was in the next room. With a Herculean effort, he managed to let go of Amy and rise to his feet.
    The distance didn’t help. Nor did the sight of Amy still sprawled on the couch trying to catch her breath. Her shirt had risen up, her cute little panties looking very white in the dark of the room. He wanted in those little panties. Wanted that more than his next breath.
    Not happening. Snatching up the pillow and blanket, he strode to the door. “I’m going to sleep in my truck.”
    A lie. He wasn’t going to sleep at all.
    “I thought the truck was uncomfortable,” she said.
    Yes, and so was a hard-on. He’d just have to live with it.

Chapter 8
     

     
    The best things in life are chocolate.
    A my got up early. She had until four this afternoon to try to get up to Sierra Meadows and back.
Try
being the key word. She wasn’t at all sure she had any confidence in her ability to do so, but she had to try.
    She had some hope to get to.
    She was deciding whether or not to leave Riley a note or wake her up when the teen staggered out of the spare bedroom. She was wearing the same ratty jeans as yesterday but a different shirt, this one strategically torn in some sort of misguided teenager sense of fashion.
    “Sleep okay?” Amy asked her.
    “Yeah.” Riley looked out the kitchen window. “The cop’s gone.”
    Yes, Matt was gone. She’d heard him leave before the crack of dawn. She’d been lying in her bed awake, hot, aching, remembering what his hands had felt like on her when she’d heard his truck start up and drive away. “And he’s not a cop. He’s a forest ranger.”
    “Same thing.”
    Pretty much, Amy agreed. And she recognized some of the authority issues in Riley’s voice well enough since she’d always had her own to contend with. “Listen, I’m going up to Sierra Meadows. Feel free to stay and catch up on some sleep. There’s food, hot water… TV.”
    Riley looked around, her wariness showing. “I don’t know.”
    “No one will bother you here. Is that what you’re worried about? Because if someone’s bothering you, maybe I can help—”
    “No,” Riley said quickly. Too quickly. “I don’t need help. I’m fine.”
    Amy’s heart squeezed because she’d been there, right there where Riley was, terrified and alone with no one to turn to. Well, actually that wasn’t quite correct. She’d had people to turn to, but she’d screwed that up, so when she’d needed help, no one had believed her.
    “You’re safe here,” Amy said.
    Riley nodded, and Amy felt relieved. Maybe she’d stay and be safe for the day, at least. “Is there someone I can call for you, to let them know where you are?”
    “No.”
    Well, that had been a long shot.
    “I left out some spare clothes if you’re interested,” Amy said. “There’s some food in the fridge, but not much. If you walk down to the diner later, I’ll make you something to eat, whatever you want.”
    “Why?”
    Riley wasn’t asking about the food, and Amy knew it. What she didn’t know was how to answer, so she went with to-the-bone honesty. “Because I know how it sucksto not know where your next meal’s going to come from. You don’t need to feel that, not today anyway.”
    It took Amy two hours to get up to Sierra Meadows, made easier by the fact that now she knew where to go. Lungs screaming, huffing