by Jaycee Clark
Striving for her best airline attendant voice, she said, “As your nice-assed tour guide, I feel I should tell you this is—drum roll please—Emerald Lake.” She looked out over the placid water, still and calm, mirror flawless. “The color is a deep green edged in blue, as you can see. It has always reminded me of the Irish Sea, a color forever lost between blue and green.” She waved a hand to the peaks surrounding them. “This time of year, the mountains still have snow banks on them.” Thin narrow ribbons fought the heat and battled not to melt. Stretches of white played with the sunlight through breaks in the trees.
“Thank you for that informative lesson. Serene place. Quiet beauty. Not bad, Jessie girl, not bad.”
Jessie girl? Why had he called her that? She wasn’t about to ask him, but a little thrill shot through her at the sound of it. Which was absolutely stupid.
“Come on, there’s something else you should see.” She held out her hand towards him, and Aiden let her lead him where she wanted.
They walked along the shore and over logs that stretched over wetlands. Their shoes were silent on the ground until a wet spot sucked at them. Jesslyn tried not to notice how her hand tingled where he touched it, or how her insides felt like a million butterflies flitting about. God, she sounded like one of her damn heroines. It took a lot not to jerk her hand back, but then that would be really telling, wouldn’t it? And she’d have to deal with that smirk of his. In short time, they’d hiked to the top of the knoll and stood in a clearing.
A giant fallen tree crossed the clearing, and was as tall as her waist. She climbed on top and balanced like a dancer, walked the length of the log, until it jutted out over the small cliff, hanging in the air, its old branches like deformed skeletal fingers. Then, she turned around and walked back towards Aiden.
As if he had all the time in the world, he slowly walked towards the log. For some reason it felt like a lion stalking the zebra. His eyes didn’t leave her as he gracefully climbed upon the log and sat, one arm draped over a knee.
Aiden Kinncaid was entirely too sexy for her peace of mind.
And that kiss. She licked her lips and could still taste that spicy flavor of aftershave. God, she was pathetic.
Aiden started to tell her the spot was beautiful, but he didn’t. A small smile played at the corner of her mouth. He didn’t think he’d ever seen that particular expression on her face before.
“What are you thinking about?” Would she share her thoughts? He hoped so.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?”
“Come on, Jessie girl.” Jessie girl? What had possessed him to start calling her that? Aiden had no idea, but when it popped out of his mouth earlier, he’d caught the faint look of pleasant surprise and irritation on her face. Jessie girl. It fit her.
Aiden patted the smooth wood beside him. For moment she didn’t move, then she took two steps and grasped the hand he held out to her, sitting beside him.
“I’m glad you talked me into showing you around.”
Straightening, he leaned close enough to smell that light airy perfume she wore. “Yes, my persuasive powers even impress me sometimes.”
She snorted.
He remembered the kiss that morning nearly a week ago, calm and innocent. The one earlier, pure complete hunger. Both made him want more.
She sighed and nibbled on her lower lip as he leaned even closer, only a touch from her. Aiden knew he made her nervous. He could see her pulse pounding near her collarbone. He wondered if that spot just there tasted as sweet as it looked. His gaze was drawn to her mouth, noticed she still held her lip between her teeth. Against her mouth, he whispered, “Let me do that.”
He closed the remaining distance and kissed her, teasing her lips first with his own, skimmed them with his tongue. Then, he gently pulled her bottom lip between his own teeth. He heard her sharp intake of breath.
Neither of them touched, except for their lips. The seductive kiss was killing him. He wanted more and thought Jessie might too when she leaned into him and deepened the kiss. Their tongues danced, mingled, melded. Her teeth nipped his tongue and he grinned, running his tongue along the roof of her mouth.
Slowly, she pulled back and frowned at him. Had he expected a frown? Aiden didn’t think so, but it wasn’t surprising to him either. Lord, the woman could kiss. She tasted sweet as honey and seductive as a dark sultry night. Didn’t she know what she did to him? That for whatever reason this wasn’t some simple flirtation for him? And why should she? Had he told her? Told her hell, he’d only been with her for not even a week. It hardly mattered that this damn woman had all but haunted him since he’d met her.
They stared at each other.
“I don’t know what this is, but it feels okay,” she whispered with a confused look on her face, her forehead crinkled on a frown.
“Okay? Is that all? Well, hell, I’ll have to do that again.” He closed the distance again. This time his hands came up to frame her face. The soft silkiness of her hair tickled his fingers. He tasted again.
He traced her mouth with his tongue until she opened for him and he dove in, holding her still for his kiss. Her arm came up and wound around his neck, her other on his thigh as she leaned into him. The kiss went on and on. Her breath mixed with his and his with hers. He caught her moan in his mouth. Her hand squeezed his thigh and his breath stopped. Slowly her hand rose and rested on his chest. No more than kissing, she might as well have said.
He touched his lips to her chin, trailed a kiss down the side of her neck, and traced her ear with his finger.
Finally, she pulled back, resting her forehead against his. “Damn.”
Aiden smiled. “Damn works for me.”
“It would for you.” She made to get off the log, but he grabbed her arm.
“Jessie.”
She turned to him.
He took a deep breath. “I haven’t been out on a date since I called off the wedding.”
“Which was when?”
“Almost a year ago.”
This time she pulled completely back and looked really shocked. “Oh.”
He loved the way the sunshine teased the highlights of her hair, how her brows rose or furrowed above the rims of her shades.
Shaking her head, Jessie hopped off the log and started down the hill. “Come on, there’s one more spot I’d like to show you and we may have to hike a ways.”
Didn’t want to get into a serious discussion, did she? Figured.
Jessie led the way down the steep trail. She wasn’t paying attention and slipped, almost tumbled headfirst down the rest of the way, but flaying her arms, managed to catch her balance.
“Be careful!” Aiden snapped. Was she trying to break her damn neck?
Turning, she grinned at him. “Calm down. Lord, you’re nervous. I understand. I bet it’s from being with a model for so long, huh? Don’t worry, none of my appendages are singularly or collectively insured. Unfortunately, my medical insurance and life insurance didn’t see any need in insuring my arms, the short legs they gave me an estimate on, but . . .” She shrugged.
He glared at her and pointed his finger. “When we get down you’re going to pay for that.” Raising her brow she pertly asked, “Promise?”
Then the nit-wit quickly scampered and slid down the rest of the way and took off hopping through the dense vegetation. Aiden stood watching on the hillside.
When he reached the four-wheeler, she had it revved and ready to go.
Smiling wickedly, she told him to hang on. Spitting dirt and gravel into the air, the tires spun and in a time shorter than he would’ve liked, they were back on the otherwise nonexistent road. This time, they continued on past the lake.
Aiden enjoyed the breathtaking scenery, and not just the mountains.
• • •
They finished washing the dishes in silence. They’d come back here to the house, after their sightseeing venture, and cooked pasta with tossed veggies.
“I hate washing dishes,” Jesslyn mumbled.
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br /> “Yes, but since we’ve already done it, we won’t have to worry about this later.”
She shrugged. “I wouldn’t have worried about it anyway.”
He chuckled.
Jesslyn looked out into the night, thinking of earlier when reality crashed in. Chief Garrison had arrived, rather upset that she’d been out all afternoon. The guilt slid back into place.
But the break from everything had been nice while it had lasted, even if she felt like a shitty friend for enjoying herself, and not thinking more of Maddy. But if she did, if she allowed one moment of grief, it would swallow her. She knew that. Garrison had said nothing new about the case, but Chief had always been the closed-mouthed type.
Tonight, The Dime was still closed. She and Tim didn’t even talk about it, just knew it was the thing to do. Then again, until they found another chef, it was the only thing to do.
Another headache throbbed behind her eyes. Jesslyn hung the towel over the back of the kitchen chair and walked into the living room, flopping down on the couch.
Aiden sat beside her. She was getting used to him being around and it had only been a week, not even really. What the hell did that say about her? Desperate? Dumb?
“You okay?” His arm slid along the back of the couch and his fingers flexed on her tightened neck muscles.
She tried to shrug him off. “Yeah. I guess so. I’m used to . . .” She trailed off as he settled his fingers on the back of her neck, massaging. A low hum slipped from between her lips. She sighed. “Your fingers are hypnotic.”
He chuckled, thinking of all the things he could say on that one. Aiden resettled himself, leaning back against the mound of pillows with his legs stretched out, propped on the low fat coffee table.
“Here. I’ll rub the tension out of your neck, maybe it’ll help.”
Jesslyn looked at him, her gaze running over him. “Yeah, and what am I supposed to rub in return?”
He only smiled.
She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. Her eyes dropping to his mouth then back up to meet his gaze. “Your eyes are so blue. This close I can see dark midnight lines dance with blue as pale as glacier ice. Fascinating,” she whispered, closing the rest of the distance.
“You like my eyes?”
She grinned. “I’m a writer. I just notice things.”
Aiden pulled back and kissed the tip of her straight nose. Surprise, pain and passion melded in her eyes. He pulled her down so that her head rested on his chest, and started to massage her neck.
“Not to sound trite, but darling, not tonight. I have a headache.”
He caught the smile in her voice.
“Too bad,” he answered in a light, off-handed manner. “Don’t know what you’re missing.” He found a particularly tight spot and deeply kneaded it.
“So you say. Ahh. That feels sooooo good,” she drawled in her sexy little Texas twang.
A low chuckle escaped him. “That’s what women always say to me.”
She lifted her head, gave him a raised brow. “Before or after?”
Smiling wickedly, he pushed her head back around and asked, “Care to find out?”
Jesslyn, apparently, chose not to answer him. Aiden reached up and took the band off the bottom of her braid, running his fingers through her hair. It was as soft as he imagined it would be.
“You have a lot of hair.” Her autumn mass was lush and thick, and danced along her shoulder blades.
“Yeah, and it’s a pain in the ass. If I cut it, I wouldn’t have nearly as many headaches.”
He was busy thinking what a shame it’d be to cut all that glorious hair.
Pushing her back down, he answered, “You need to relax. You’re tense.”
“There’s a news flash.”
“Remarks like that will not get your shoulders rubbed.”
Jesslyn asked in feigned fascination, “You do shoulders too?”
Aiden narrowed his eyes at her reflected ones, “Care to see what else?”
“Nope.”
“Are you always so testy?”
She merely shrugged. “And here I was beginning to think you were such a sharp individual. Have I been any other way?”
Soft flutes from a Celtic CD floated on the air. The silence between them stretched as he worked the tight muscles in her shoulders and neck.
“You know, I might like you after all.”
Frowning he said, “I thought you already liked me.”
“Haven’t decided yet.”
He tried to rub away her tension and worry. His hands moved to a spot in between her shoulder blades, where she obviously put all her worries.
“Do you ever relax?” he wondered, and found the tension, hard as rocks by her backbone.
“Upon occasion,” she said.
“And those occasions would be?” Her hair tickled the backs of his hands.
“Wouldn’t you like to know.”
Yeah, actually he would. Instead, he kept quiet. After a bit, he asked. “You have any other family?”
“A dad. He’s in Idaho overseeing a housing job on a military base. And a brother. He’s a lawyer back in Texas.”
“Mom?” He wanted to know more about her.
Her back shifted on a deep breath. “Mom passed away right before Christmas.”
“Damn, I’m sorry.”
“What about you?” she asked.
“Four brothers.”
“Four? Good Lord, your poor mom.”
His hands rubbed down her backbone and she shivered. “Yeah, well, Mom’s a retired pediatrician.”
“I bet you’re the oldest.”
He smiled. “Why?”
“It’s the only thing a CEO like you would be.”
She was right. “Yeah, and then there’s Ian, he’s incognito. Gavin and Brayden are twins. Gavin’s the ob-gyn we tease went into that business to find a wife. Brayden is the brooding antiquities dealer and last is Quinlan, who helps me out with the hotels the most.”
“Doing what?” she asked, her voice more relaxed.
“Well, it’s a family business. My granddad got into real estate, Dad talked him into hotels. Later it was resorts. And Quin and I came up with the Luxurious line hotels. We cater to the high-end client. Buy old castles, plantations, estates and turn them into basically high-dollar B&Bs with every comfort money can buy.”
“Did you write the brochure too?”
Aiden laughed. “Not impressed.”
“I’m more impressed with your mom.”
He was too.
“So what about your dad?”
“Dad, Jock, is retired from the hotel business. Especially after his heart attack.” She shifted slightly, tried to sit up, but Aiden pushed her back down. “Be still.”
“Your dad, he’s okay?” she asked, her words cautious.
Aiden frowned. “Dad? Yeah, he’s fine now. Gave us all a scare. Why?”
“Mom. Heart attack.” His hands paused at her surprising remark, then resumed working her tensed muscles. “Your dad was lucky,” she added.
Aiden had been scared to death when he’d heard of his father’s attack. On the long flight, he’d been fighting anger at the fresh knowledge of the useless loss of his unknown child, then arrived to find a sick father. His mother thought he took it all too hard. His dad had been fine, even if his child hadn’t. Looking back, it had been one of the more difficult times of his life. And here was a woman who had lost both family and friend.
“I’m sorry about your mom. Damn, Jessie, where do you put it all?” He hadn’t meant to ask that.
Silence descended but was broken when she sassed back, “My shoulders.”
He sensed, more than knew, she didn’t want to talk about it anymore.
Aiden continued to rub her shoulders and neck. Little by little, she eased. His hands gentled when he realized her breathing had evened out, and he thought she was asleep. Should he get up? She was half sprawled on top of him. Her hair was soft as silk in his finge
rs.
He should probably get up and let her sleep, but what if it woke her? She needed her rest. Besides, he didn’t want to let her go just yet. He liked her right where she was.
He should get up and go.
On the back of the couch was a quilt. Reaching back, he grabbed the patchwork blanket. As easily as he could, he unfolded it and covered them both. He toed off his shoes, worried that the slight thud as they hit the floor would wake the woman asleep on top of him.
Aiden settled her more comfortably with him and then stared at the wood vaulted ceiling. He didn’t know what pulled him and Jesslyn together, but he didn’t care either. The aching notes of a pennywhistle played some Celtic song on the CD as he thought of what he would do tomorrow. Her scent surrounded him, that floral-citrus aroma Aiden assumed was her shampoo, the clean scent of soap, and something else. Inhaling deeply, he smiled. Sleep crept up on him even as he was planning to rearrange his schedule to include her.
• • •
Jesslyn vaguely remembered the feel of something being thrown over her, of being shifted, but the engulfing warmth, exhaustion and two over-the-counter migraine pills pulled her towards the blessed oblivion of sleep.
And in sleep she drifted . . .
“Mommy. Mommy,” an impatient little voice said.
She knew it was Hannah’s, she’d recognize her daughter’s voice anywhere. Jesslyn tried to find the little girl, but it was useless. There was fog, so thick she cut it with her hand.
The silence deafened. Almost. She heard the faint lap of water, the small trickling as it fell over stones. But she could make out nothing. The cold gray hand enveloped her. It smothered. She trailed her fingers out in front of her as if through water, leaving slashes in the fog that elusively joined back.
“Hannah? Where are you? Mommy can’t see you.” Try as she might, she couldn’t make out a single thing. Jesslyn futilely tried again to push the swirling, smoked wall away, but she couldn’t. It was like being in the middle of a cloud. A dark threatening storm cloud.
A giggle. Then just a whisper behind her.
In some part of her mind, Jesslyn knew this dream was different than the others. Something was wrong. The light was supposed to be sunny and crisp—spring air. The world around her was heavy, dark, impenetrable.