Copping Attitude Read Free Page B

she wanted him for sex therapy, he was more than willing.  But damn if he was going to do anything without having all the facts.
    Jenna nodded and Noah released a breath of relief. 
    “Be good, Noah,” Kate said, a spark of amusement in her expression, her double entendre not lost on Noah.  Then, once more turning serious, she said to Jenna, “Call me if you need me.  Until then, I’ll stay with a friend.”  She shut the bedroom door behind her, an audible click resonating.  Faintly, he heard the sound of the front door closing.
    Noah crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the wall, shooting for a casual demeanor even though every muscle in his body was twitching with the alternating need to pepper her for answers and to kiss, lick and suck her from head to toe.  “Why don’t you tell me exactly what’s going on, Jenna.”
    And to his great surprise, she did.
    “Last year, a man assaulted me.”
    He’d suspected as much, and sympathy and rage washed through him.  Sympathy for what she’d gone through, rage that he hadn’t been there to protect her and kill the man who’d hurt her.  “Who was he?”
    “A—a burglar,” she whispered.  Once again, her skin had paled to an alarming degree.  She closed her eyes, obviously reliving the horror, which was the last thing she needed or wanted.  But he had to know. 
    “He broke into your house?”
    “Yes.  I’d move, but the house belonged to my parents.  I don’t want to be forced out of my home and he’s already taken so much.”
    “Did he—”  She hadn’t said the word, so he didn’t either.  But her nod made him feel sick inside.  She hadn’t just been assaulted, she’d been raped.  No wonder she thought she needed sexual therapy.
    “Did they catch him?”
    She nodded again.  “He’s in prison.”
    And likely getting raped himself, if there was any justice in the world.  “Good.” 
    He wanted to go to her.  To take her in his arms and tell her everything would be okay.  But he wasn’t sure it was true.  He couldn’t help picturing the rape victims he’d encountered over the years.  Young and old.  Sexually experienced and not.  Some rapists took care not to inflict serious damage to their victims, while others got off on every moment of pain.  He forced himself to ask, “How badly did he hurt you?”
    “Physically, I was fine.  He hit me a couple of times and held me down, but…”  She shrugged, the dismissive gesture making his heart ache.
    “Are you in therapy?  I mean, real therapy?”
    “I was.  Sometimes, I can go days not thinking about it anymore.  Except—”
    “Except when a guy grabs you in a bar,” he gritted out.
    She nodded.  “Or when I try to let someone get close to me.  Only I can’t.”
    That’s why she wanted to get close to Noah.  The fact that she’d even consider it after what she’d been through told him that she really did trust him.  In addition, an odd possessiveness filled him—recognition that if any man was going to help her enjoy her body again, it was going to be him.  Only, it didn’t have to be like this.  Didn’t have to be now , no matter what she was telling herself.  “That’s normal, Jenna.  You just need to wait until you’re ready, physically and emotionally.  You’ll learn to enjoy sex again.”
    She laughed harshly.  “Yeah well, considering I never enjoyed it, I’m not so sure about that.”
    He frowned.  “You mean—”
    “Yeah, I do.  Even before last year, I was kind of—kind of frigid.”
    He couldn’t help himself.  Now it was he who laughed.  She actually sounded like she believed what she was saying.  She stared at him with serious eyes, so he forced himself to take her words just as seriously.  “Who fed you that line of bullshit?  And why the hell did you believe him?”
    “It’s not bullshit.  I’ve always known it.  And not just one but several men have agreed with me.  I just don’t like