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Travis moved restlessly closer. He lifted his hand to her breast and kneaded her through her shirt. But on contact, his fingers triggered a memory. She felt another hand on her.
Brow knitting because no one besides Travis had ever touched her there—no one else had even kissed her before—she focused on the fuzzy recollection, wondering where the heck it had come from. It was so detailed, it couldn’t be a dream, and yet she knew for certain it hadn’t been Travis. But who—
Another flash of lucidity hit her.
Last night.
Cooper.
At her back door.
She remembered the utter longing on his face, the rasp in his voice when he whispered her name. In return, she’d clung to him, panting, begging for more…
Gasping, she jerked back and gawked at her boyfriend.
She’d kissed Cooper Gerhardt last night.
“What’s wrong?” Travis asked, squinting in confusion.
She shook her head. “N-nothing. I just…I thought I saw a bug on you.”
“A bug!” Yelping, he beat at his chest with frantic, jerky whacks. “Where-is-it? Where-is-it? Where-is-it?” Before waiting for an answer, he threw open the driver’s side door and hurled his body from the car to dance a frenzied jig in the tall grass, slapping at his body in an attempt to kill the nonexistent bug.
Jo Ellen could only stare but she didn’t focus on the ridiculous display. She’d been transported into the past.
Last night.
She’d only gone to that stupid party with Emma Leigh because she’d been piqued at Travis and his family. It’d been an immature kind of defiance, going somewhere without him. But she’d gone anyway and even drank, hoping to feel better about herself through a cup of frothy, bitter beer.
She vaguely remembered Cooper helping her to his truck, telling her he’d take her home. From that point on, the night turned into a fuzzy, splotchy blur…with way too many blank spaces to fill in what all had happened.
She remembered kissing him; she remembered him resisting…for a while. Then he’d finally kissed her back, and it had been marvelous. She knew she’d never felt so wonderful before, had never wanted to be kissed by anyone as much as she’d wanted him to keep kissing her.
But…how had it ended? What happened after that kiss?
Wait. There was more. Another detail dashed through her brain.
Oh, dear God. She’d slid her hand down his pants and remembered thinking he was a heck of a lot more endowed than Travis; but after that…nothing.
Jo Ellen swallowed. What had she done with Cooper Gerhardt, with her boyfriend’s nemesis? She had an awful feeling she suddenly knew why he’d been loitering around her house, staring at her with a crushed expression this afternoon.
Sick to her stomach, she focused on Travis, still hopping around, smacking his arms and chest.
“Travis,” she called, throwing open the passenger side door and hurrying around his car to him. “Nothing’s there, baby. I’m sorry. Nothing’s there. There’s no bug.”
He paused to send her a baffled blink. “No bug?”
She laughed. His confusion was just too adorable for her not to, besides it relieved some of the hysteria, tension, and guilt consuming her. “There was never a bug. I’m sorry, I…it was just a shadow moving across you. And I jerked back, thinking…but it wasn’t a bug.”
He glowered. “So, there was never a bug on me?”
Lips twitching with the need to laugh again, Jo Ellen shook her head. “I’m sorry, no.”
“Oh, thanks a lot,” he muttered, spinning away from her and tromping back to his car. “Make me look like a total idiot.”
She wanted to tell him she hadn’t forced him to freak out. But she still felt queasy, realizing she’d just cheated on him.
Slowing to a stop, she covered her mouth with both hands. Heavens to Betsy, she really had cheated on him, hadn’t she? Even if she’d only kissed Coo
