“Keep your voice down,” she whispered urgently. “Okay, so I may not know much about golf. That’s not really the point is it?”
Erik rolled his eyes. “You can’t honestly imagine that the one day you come out to the golf course Ian Drake is miraculously going to walk by?”
Jessica glared at him and tried to hit another ball.
“Okay. And then what, anyway?” he challenged.
When she still didn’t answer him he gave another huge sigh. Her next ball flew right by his ear.
“Fine. If I have to be stuck out here with you I’d rather not get myself killed.” He dropped his club and moved his bucket over to join hers.
Jessica watched him, wondering what he was doing as he kicked a ball back towards her bucket and then came right up to her.
“First off, your grip is all wrong.” Erik reached out and moved her fingers around on the club. “See, you overlap your fingers like this. That helps you maintain control.”
Jessica was so busy trying to ignore the tingling that had gone through her whole body when their fingers had touched that she didn’t even notice Erik moving around behind her. Suddenly she felt his arms around her body and his hands covering her own on the club.
“What you want to do is count to three: One is at the midpoint,” and Erik moved the club behind her slightly. “Two is extended back over your shoulder.” The club went higher. “And three,” Erik swung the club over and towards the ground, “is when you swing down and through. Got it?”
Jessica counted out loud with him as they both moved the club the way he had shown her. “One, two, three.” Jessica’s whole body twisted around on one and two and then flew back around on three.
“Less movement, Jess. Just go nice and easy.”
Erik moved in close to still her body movements and they swung again. “See, slow and easy.”
Letting go abruptly, Erik stepped away from her.
“Okay, now you try it,” he coughed out.
Jessica took a practice swing while reciting.
“One, two three.” Then again; “one two three.” She felt like she was getting the rhythm.
“Looks good. Why don’t you try it with a ball now?”
Erik came around her and placed a ball at her feet.
“Okay, remember, nice and slow… one, two, three.”
Jessica raised the club and swung down and through. She felt the club head strike the ball with a gratifying crack and the ball went sailing straight out over the range. Jessica dropped the club on the ground, amazed.
“I did it.” Her mouth was wide open in shock.
Erik smiled at her astonishment.
“I really did it.” She looked around for Erik. “Did you see that? Did you see how far that went? I can’t believe I hit it.” She let out a loud whoop and threw her hands up in the air. “Wow.”
When her hands came down they landed on Erik’s shoulders exuberantly. She started jumping up and down and hugging him all at the same time. Finally she pulled back.
“I can’t believe it. I actually hit a golf ball. Thank you so much.”
She’d never hit a golf ball before, at least not one that wasn’t aimed at a windmill. What an awesome feeling. She leaned in to give Erik a quick kiss on the cheek in thanks, only… somehow…. Her lips met his instead. She breathed in his scent and found herself moving in even closer to taste him.
The searing kiss drove every other thought out of their heads. Erik’s hands moved over her back and pulled at the fabric of her blouse. Jessica’s hands moved from his shoulders to his chest and then slid down his body to rest on his thighs.
Oh my God, Jessica thought. What a kiss. What an amazing kiss. This was even better than the feeling she had when she finally hit that stupid golf ball. Erik had slowly taken control and was deepening the kiss even as Jessica tried to fit her body more tightly against his.
Slowly, she became aware of what sounded like someone coughing. It nagged at her and she lost track of what she was feeling as she started to realize what they were doing and where. Oh no! What if Ian showed up and saw her like this? He’d never date her if he saw her kissing some other guy. And anyway, what was she doing? Oh My God! She was kissing Erik. Her hands flew up and pushed against his chest.
“No, no, wait. We can’t do this.”
Jessica struggled to gulp in air. She looked around frantically. Was Ian here? Had he seen the kiss?
Erik let out a frustrated breath and refused to let her completely go.
“Jess… it’s not like people don’t kiss all the time. They’ll survive a little PDA.”
Without even thinking, Jessica forcefully pushed him away.
“But what if Ian was here and saw it?” she murmured distractedly. “He’d never ask me out then. I’d never get the date.”
Erik’s mouth hung open in obvious disbelief.
“You’re crazy, Jessica. You know that? Certifiable!” He turned and grabbed his clubs.
His expression when he faced her again made Jessica take a step back.
“Just stay the hell away from me, ok? I’m going into the clubhouse for a beer.” Erik held a hand up in her face. “And don’t even think about coming near me for the next hour… or day… or even better, lifetime.”
Jessica watched him walk away wondering why he’d gotten so mad.
What a great butt, she mused. She shook her head to dismiss the thought. No, no. The bet. She had to remember the bet. And in any case, he was right. They were better off staying away from each other.
She picked up her fallen golf club and shakily moved another ball into position. This time though her hands lost their grip on the club which sailed out onto the grass. Jessica gave a huge sigh and wiped her sweaty, trembling palms down the front of her shorts before she went to pick up the telltale club.
Chapter Forty-nine
Erik stared morosely into his beer and attempted to figure out what he was doing here. His life seemed to have been under such perfect control; well at least up until that blasted bet.
Now, instead of being home in his nice apartment, working at his nice job and dating some perfectly nice person here he was in Tahoe, sitting in the clubhouse for God’s sake of a golf course, and getting drunk at 11:00 a.m. in the morning. Things had really gone downhill for him. That was for sure.
He tried not to look out the window at the reason for this treacherous slide. Still he couldn’t help watching as Jessica yet again reached into her basket for another ball. Her golf shorts rode up the back of her legs as she bent over, and Erik found himself blatantly staring, wondering how high they would climb.
He could see her through the window take a practice swing, mouthing the “one, two, three” count he had taught her and he smiled to himself. Jessica didn’t often appear to have much use for anything he had to say, so it was nice to watch her, unobserved, take his lesson to heart. Better yet, she appeared to be totally focused on the golf ball, rather than on looking around for Ian Drake. Her downward swing caught the mat and Erik saw her teeth practically chatter with the impact. It was easy to see which swear words she was using and Erik couldn’t help but laugh.
When had she gotten so cute, he wondered? She was just so damn sincere about everything and tried so hard. Mostly this trait had annoyed him. But sometimes he had to admire it, like now; her determination to hit the ball only made her appear adorably courageous, rather than pitifully desperate. A new desire to take care of her flooded through him. He wanted to stir up his earlier anger, but couldn’t manage anything more than frustration. While his body still ached from their kiss, all Jessica had been able to think about was her celebrity crush.
This stupid bet, he grouched to himself. Jessica and her stupid bet, he thought again. The whole thing was so like her, and yet in a way not; because in the past she hadn’t seemed to have the courage to take on something this outrageous. Instead it had always seemed like she was trying to put out the fires around her, rather than trying to start one o
f her own.
Erik turned away from the window and back to his beer. Well, she had certainly started a fire in him, and he didn’t know what to do about it. He would be just as happy if he could find a way to put it out, but everything he did only seemed to make it worse. Maybe once this bet was over it would all cool down again and they could go back to normal. But somehow, Erik didn’t think that was very likely.
He watched her finish hitting her bucket of balls and glance at her watch. He was surprised when he looked up himself and saw it was already 12:30; somehow he had completely lost track of time. They were supposed to have met the rest of the group by now. He saw Jessica frown at the clubhouse where he sat. Either she thought he had left her or she was working up the courage to come find him.
When she reached into her purse and pulled out some money Erik realized it must have been the former. He threw some dollars on the bar and rushed out. Damn! Hadn’t she seen him pay already? Jessica reached the golf desk and was handing over the buckets before Erik was even out the clubhouse door. He was within feet of her when he heard her talking to the kid inside.
“So, I’m writing an article about celebrity golfers. Anyone famous ever come around here?” Jessica asked.
Erik paused, wanting to overhear the rest of the conversation before Jessica realized he was there.
The kid looked around hesitantly, wondering no doubt if he would get in trouble for telling her anything.
“Ummm, not really,” he said.
Jessica plowed on, clearly undeterred. “….because I’d heard Ian Drake played here.”
“Ian Drake?” the kid asked back.
“Sure, you know he stays right here in Tahoe City whenever he’s on vacation? I guess I’ll have to try the other course. I must have been wrong.”
“Well, sometimes he comes here,” the kid finally stammered out.
“Really?”
Erik could only see the back of Jessica, but even from that view he could tell she was trying, and failing miserably, to act nonchalant.
“I’ve heard he’s pretty good, huh?”
“Oh man, yeah! He can hit a drive clear to the green. But his putting sucks. He’s no Tiger Woods, you know?”
“Oh sure. Yeah. So has he been out yet this season?”
Jessica’s fingers crossed behind her back making Erik want to laugh. The kid scratched his head.
“I’m not sure really. I only work on the weekends, so I guess I could’ve missed him.”
“I’d love to interview him,” Jessica said. She reached into her back pocket and pulled out the twenty Erik had seen her stuff there minutes earlier. “Maybe you could call me if he shows up sometime. I’d be happy to pass more of this your way.”
She handed the kid the bill and he looked a little surprised.
“Think of it like a tip,” she rushed on. “You know for all the awesome help getting my clubs and stuff.”
“Yeah, no problem”, the kid mumbled and quickly shoved the $20 in his pocket. “But, um, how do I get ahold of you?”
Jessica knocked herself on the head.
“Right. Of course. Here.” She scribbled something out and slid it over to him. “So, okay then, thanks. See you later.”
Erik had to step aside to avoid being whacked as Jessica whirled around and rushed out.
She glared at him suspiciously. “How long have you been standing there?”
“Oh, just a second,” Erik answered. “Ready to go?”
She arched her eyebrows as if to point out how childish his stamping off had been.
“Whenever you are,” she answered.
“I saw you hacking away out there,” Erik said as they walked toward the car. ”Looks like I should have stuck around and helped some more.”
“I was doing ok. And anyway,” she answered smugly, “the point was to get info about Ian Drake, remember.”
Jessica watched his reaction, clearly expecting him to blow up at her again.
“Yeah,” he answered back with a sarcastic smile. “I saw you bribing that poor kid back there. He looked terrified of you by the way.”
“He did not,” she stormed. “And anyway, I knew you were listening, you sneak.”
“Sticks and stones…” Erik chanted forcing Jessica to interrupt him.
“Juvenile Erik! Sing if you want, but I found out that Ian does golf here. And that kid’s going to call me the next time he comes in.”
Erik was waiting for her to say so there and stick out her tongue, but she was obviously too mature for that. Instead she turned around and started walking away.
“We’d better hurry; the others will be waiting for us,” she said. Her haughty tone was ruined by trying to open the locked car door.
Erik clicked his key remote wishing Jessica’s thoughts were that easy to unlock.
Chapter Fifty
“I still can’t believe you found a spy at the golf course. That’s soooo cool,” Becky told Jessica for the about the tenth time.
Erik was sick of hearing it. He had a terrible headache and just wanted to be back at the condo, but Blaise had been all freaked out when they had arrived and grabbed the car keys out of his hand before he’d even gotten out of the car. The self-important idiot had left his cell phone at the condo and was worried he may have missed some important work call or something.
“You know Becky, you really should explain the concept of V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N to your boyfriend,” Erik said, re-directing his anger.
“Wow,” Becky said to Jessica. “What’s with him? He must have golfed pretty badly, huh.”
Jessica squirmed guiltily.
He rubbed his temple wishing he was anywhere but here. Where was Blaise, anyway? He said he’d be right back.
“I’m going for a walk,” he finally said. “Let me know when Blaise gets back so we can leave, okay?” And he stomped off towards the water.
“Hey,” Jess panted a moment later trying to catch up. “Erik, wait.”
He had his sneakers off and was walking through the frigid water hoping it would force him to focus on anything besides Jessica and the bet. Instead, here she was chasing him down the beach. He shook his head in disbelief. Usually Jess couldn’t get away from him fast enough.
“Are you okay? Didn’t you hear me? I’ve been calling from way back there.” She pointed in a general direction over her shoulder.
“Look Jess,” Erik finally said. “I have a nasty headache. I’d rather be anywhere but here right now. And I’m tired of arguing with you. So why don’t you go back and talk with Becky some more about all of your plans for meeting Ian Drake.”
Jessica clearly was at a loss but undeterred. She remained silent but continued to walk next to him down the beach.
“I could go back,” she finally answered, “but I thought if I said sorry for fighting with you at golf that maybe you’d get out of this nasty mood you’re in.” She held up her hand to stymie his reply. “How about if we walk quietly for a little bit? Then we won’t argue.”
Erik looked at her and laughed. “Yeah right. Like that’s possible.”
He watched her breath quicken and waited for a verbal smack but she surprised him.
“I bet we could do it if we wanted to. See, no more talking.” And she zipped her mouth shut.
Erik stared at her for a moment waiting for her to say something else.
“Okay, fine. But if you say anything-” he glared at her, “-and I mean even one word, I’m tossing you in the water.”
Jessica’s eyes blazed, but she clasped her hands behind her back and stared straight ahead. The sand squished between their toes and from the water came the sound of the lapping waves and children’s laughter. Erik caught Jessica tilting her face up toward the sun; visibly relaxing and taking it all in. Somehow it made him feel better too. They both stopped to seek out the source of the children’s laughter and watched as a bunch of kids tumbled off a raft and into the cold water.
Erik’s fingers tingled with the urge to take Jess’s
hand in his, so instead he linked his hands behind his back like she had done earlier and started walking again. Just as they reached the end of the beach Jessica looked up at him.
“Race ya back,” she said with an impish grin and took off down the beach toward Becky.
He gave her a head start, but she hadn’t made it very far when he caught up with her and swung her up over his shoulder.
“Wha, what, “she cried. “What are you doing?”
“I told you, one word and I’d toss you in,” he said smiling. “And that was three, so you’re getting dunked.”
Jessica grabbed onto any part of him she could hold and started kicking at the same time.
“Are you kidding? It’s freezing.”
Her yelling didn’t even slow him as he strode with her towards the water.
“Watch me,” he laughed.
“Cheater,” she accused him. “I was quiet for the whole time.”
“Yeah, and that was so great that my headache is gone. The only thing I think would make me feel even better would be to see you in the water.”
He waded in and started trying to pry the wriggling Jessica off himself.
“Don’t you dare,” she yelled clinging to his neck in a death grip. “Come on, Erik. Please, I’ll do anything.”
Erik stopped short. “Anything,” he asked grinning.
They both immediately thought back to kiss on the golf course and Erik watched Jessica’s face and chest turn bright red.
“Well, almost anything, I promise.”
“Not good enough,” Erik said as he finally pried her fingers from his shirt. The freezing water was now up past his knees.
“The good news is this should cool you off,” he laughed putting all his strength behind the throw. “Bon Voyage.”
Jessica sailed out into the icy waves.
Betting Jessica Page 18