by Tina Folsom
“Go where?” Tara asked.
“To the harbor of course. School’s out, so the kids are there most of the day anyways.”
Jay suppressed a sigh. It appeared that Charlie wasn’t going to let him off the hook this time. In his letters, Charlie had asked many times when Jay would come to see what he’d created in his home town, but Jay had always made excuses. He didn’t want public thanks. He wanted to remain in the shadows. He wasn’t the kind of benefactor who did charitable things so that society could thank him. He did them because he wanted others—less fortunate people—to benefit from them.
~ ~ ~
Tara looked at the gate they walked through after getting out of the car.
Charlie’s After-School Boating, the sign said. Beyond it, there was a dry dock and several docks on which various vessels were moored: sailboats, motorboats, and dinghies of all shapes and sizes.
“It should say Jay’s, but he’s too modest, that one,” Charlie claimed.
Kids of different ages were milling about; some were sitting in the boats, others tinkered with sails and engines, while several adults appeared to supervise them.
Tara turned to Charlie and Jay. “What is this?”
“It’s an after-school program,” Jay finally admitted. “Kids from poor families can come here and learn to sail and take care of boats. They learn that boating isn’t just for the elite.”
“You created this program?”
“I wanted these kids to have the same opportunities Charlie gave me.”
Charlie grinned proudly. “Jay put a lotta money up to make this happen. Neighbors thought he was crazy. But them kids, they love it. Have never seen ‘em happier than when they’re here. Makes ‘em forget their troubles at home.”
Tara turned to Jay and put her hand on his forearm. “Why didn’t you want me to know about this?”
He shrugged, seemingly embarrassed. “Charity is something personal to me. It’s not something I do because I want other people to know about it.”
“He’s never even come here once to let them kids thank ‘im,” Charlie added.
“I think it’s time to change that,” Tara said. “So this is you. The real Jay.” She put her arms around Jay.
“What are you doing?” he murmured.
“Thanking you.” She lifted herself onto her tiptoes and slanted her mouth over his, kissing him.
“Tara,” he whispered against her parted lips, his warm breath flooding her senses.
Then his arms were around her and he devoured her with his mouth, kissing her with a hunger she hadn’t experienced before.
Hollers, cheers, and giggles from kids and adults made her pull back and interrupt the kiss. She looked over her shoulder and noticed the kids staring at them.
“We should say hello,” Tara suggested and turned back, her eyes locking with Jay’s.
Slowly he nodded. “Okay.”
Jay released her and took her hand as they walked toward the kids. Tara caught Charlie’s smirk, then he waved to the kids and the adults and motioned them to come closer to meet their benefactor.
26
Jay closed the stateroom door behind him and pulled Tara into his arms.
It had been a long afternoon, one he’d enjoyed more than he would have thought. Meeting the kids and seeing how the after-school program helped them deal with their problems, had finally pushed the sad memories of his past into the background.
Tara’s acceptance of him had been wordless. But he’d felt it in every single one of her gestures. She saw him for who he really was: the kid from the poor part of town who’d made it out of the slums by way of hard work and sheer determination.
“I don’t want any more lies between us, Tara. I’m done with that. What you see is what you get. I’m sorry that I’m rich, but I’m sure you’ll get used to it with time.”
She brought her hand to his face and traced his lips with the soft pad of her finger. “As long as you promise that for me, you’ll always be the waiter I fell in love with.”
He smiled, warmth spreading inside his chest. Tara was an unusual woman. But she was his. “So you’re in love with me?”
“Could be,” she hedged, smiling coquettishly.
“What do I have to do to find out for sure? Play waiter and wait on you hand and foot?”
“Sounds like a good idea.”
“Well, then I’d better get to work and earn my keep.”
Jay brushed his lips to hers, feeling her softness and willingness. Tara molded to him like a kitten that knew where its next bowl of milk was coming from. And finally this kitten had withdrawn its sharp claws and was going all soft on him.
He lifted his lips from hers for an instant. “I’m sorry for everything I did.”
She raised her lids. “Everything?”
He chuckled. “Well, let me correct that. Not everything, just the deception. I’m not sorry for the rest: the lovemaking, the hours of talking. I wouldn’t want to undo that.”
“You were the first person who truly listened to me.” She slanted her lips over his. “I missed you.”
“I missed you, too.”
He captured her lips for a passionate kiss, while his hands were busy freeing her of her T-shirt and shorts. She seemed just as impatient now as she jerked his shirt over his head and opened the button of his shorts. By the time she stripped him of his last piece of clothing, his cock was as hard as a ship’s mast.
But he wasn’t going to rush this. Not today. Now that everything was resolved between them, he had all the time in the world to make love to Tara. To shower her with affection, to show her that he was the kind of man she needed.
Slowly he eased her back, lowering her onto the bed. With his hands on her thighs, he spread her wide open for him, laying her out like a sensual feast. He let his eyes wander over her naked body, drinking her in. How anybody could have ever thought of her as the Ice Maiden was incomprehensible. Tara was a hotbed of passion and lust. She was fire itself. The fire that burned in him every time he thought of her.
“I’m going to be your server tonight,” he murmured, reminding her of what he’d said to her the night they’d met at the Gilberts’ party. “And this time I won’t take no for an answer.”
He lowered himself onto the bed, sliding into the space between her legs. When he dipped his head to her bare sex, he heard her breath hitch. He acknowledged the sound with male satisfaction.
Without wasting a further second, he licked along her moist cleft, spreading her open wider for his pleasure. Her dew spread on his tongue, and the taste sent a bolt of lust through his veins, making him shudder.
Tara arched off the bed, moaning softly. He loved her reaction, the openness with which she greeted his caresses. It made him want her even more. He explored her thoroughly, licked and sucked her folds, caressed her clit with his tongue, swiped over it again and again until she panted uncontrollably. But even then, he didn’t stop. He doubled his efforts, stroked her faster and with more pressure. He brought his fingers to aid, slipped one into her moist channel and felt her muscles clamp around his digit.
“Oh God, Jay!”
He groaned, realizing how close she was. His cock was throbbing now, urging him to take her. He pulled her clit into his mouth and pressed his lips together.
Tara’s body stiffened and she let out a breathless moan, when her orgasm suddenly crested. He felt her spasms under his mouth and around his finger, heard the relieved sighs of pleasure as she rode out her climax.
Jay breathed hard when he finally lifted his mouth off her sex and reached for the nightstand to get a condom.
“You won’t need that.”
Tara’s voice made him snap his head in her direction. “Why not?”
“I’m on contraceptives.”
“Since when? I never saw you taking anything.”
“It’s an injection, once every three months.” She reached for him, pulling him to her. “I want to feel you. Without a barrier.”
His cock
leapt at the revelation. At the same time, he groaned. “I won’t last long like that.”
She gave him a wicked smile. “Then we’ll just have to do it again later until you’ve built up some stamina.”
Jay grabbed her wrists and pinned them to either side of her head. “You’re doubting my stamina? I guess I’ll have to show you otherwise.”
She laughed out loud. “You’d better.”
He silenced her with his mouth on hers, crushing her lips with a scorching kiss, while farther down, he adjusted his angle and drove into her.
The sensation of skin on skin nearly robbed him of his control. It felt right, so utterly right to be with Tara like this. Without a barrier, without anything separating them. He felt even closer to her now, even more connected. Not just physically, but emotionally.
He’d laid himself bare today. For her. And it had brought them closer. Tara understood him now; she saw the real Jay. And he trusted her with that knowledge.
He began to move, withdrawing from her tight sheath, then sliding back into her. Slowly at first. Reverently, almost. Savoring this moment.
Releasing her lips, he looked down at her, studied her face. She met his gaze, her eyes full of affection, her lips parted and swollen from his kisses. Her legs were wrapped around his backside, holding him to her, while her hands explored him and caressed his heated skin.
He saw the love in her eyes, and though they’d known each other for only a short time, he knew it was real. He felt it in the way she surrendered to him with every fiber of her being.
“Darlin’,” he murmured and allowed his body to take over.
His mind went blank. All that was important now was making love to Tara, finding release in her welcoming body and drowning in the pleasure they gave each other.
Her sheath was so tight, so smooth and warm that he knew he couldn’t make good on his threat to show her how much stamina he had. Next time. Because there would be plenty of next times. Hundreds, thousands.
But right now, he needed to come.
There was no stopping it, even if he had wanted to. He felt his orgasm build, felt his balls tighten and pull up, felt semen shoot through his cock without warning. As he exploded, he rocked his pelvis against Tara’s pussy, once, twice, three times, until she shuddered beneath him.
“Thank God!” he ground out, when he felt Tara climax with him. Because he wasn’t going to start their new relationship by being a selfish lover.
“Wow.” She blew a breath against his neck.
He stilled, bracing himself on his knees and elbows, still lodged deep inside her. “Yeah, wow.” Then he grinned. “I hope you liked the service.”
She laughed and the ripples of it bounced against his cock. “Are you angling for a good tip?”
He pulled back his pelvis, then sliced back into her, seating himself deeper again. “I’m angling for a lot of things right now, but a tip isn’t one of them.”
He pressed a kiss to her lips, then drew back. “There’s something else.”
Instantly looking alarmed, Tara frowned. “What else?”
“I think we should head north tomorrow morning after we’ve stocked the boat with supplies. Your parents are probably worried about you. We should go back.”
Tara sighed. “Do we have to?”
He brushed his hand through her hair. “We do. But I won’t leave your side. I promise. We’ll clear things up with your parents, and then we can take a long trip with the boat, if you want to.”
“You promise?”
“I promise, darlin’.”
27
Tara closed the hanging cabinet in the galley and pivoted. “We’re out of coffee.”
“I’ll get us some from the coffee shop in the marina,” Jay offered and pulled a twenty from his wallet before tossing it back into a drawer. “A latte for you?”
She bent over the counter. “Thank you. You’re the best.”
Jay met her halfway and kissed her. “If I bring you a pastry, will I get a bigger thank you?”
“What did you have in mind?”
He winked. “I think you know.”
“Hurry back.”
Jay turned and walked outside, while she watched him disappear. She sighed. Things were perfect. She’d never imagined that being with a man could be like this. She didn’t have any other words for it. Only perfect could describe it—well, perfectly.
She’d already showered and dressed. Now she headed back down to the stateroom she and Jay had shared the previous night and made the bed. Jay had told her that they would leave in a couple of hours, once they’d filled up their water and gas tanks to have sufficient fuel for the engine and enough water to take showers. In the evenings they would overnight in various small harbors along the way and enjoy the local food. They would take a more leisurely trip back and rest during the nights. Well, rest was maybe the wrong word.
She smiled to herself when she heard footsteps from above. Closing the stateroom door behind her she headed up the stairs that led right into the main cabin.
“Jay, you’re back al—” She nearly choked on her last word. Shock coursed through her entire body.
“Well, look at you,” her father growled.
“Dad.”
He stood in the middle of the main cabin, legs broad, shoulders squared, her mother next to him. Both were glaring at her.
“Did you think we wouldn’t find you?”
“How could you do this to us?” her mother complained.
“I’ve done nothing!” Tara defended herself. “How did you even find me?”
“Damn it, Tara! Don’t you even know what you did? You became an accessory to a crime!” her father thundered.
“What?” she managed to press out. What the hell was he talking about?
Her father made a sweeping motion with his arm. “Your so-called boyfriend stole this boat!”
“No! That’s not true! It’s his!” How could her father spout such baseless accusations?
“His?” her mother hissed. “He’s a waiter, Tara! Wake up! If he’s telling you anything else, he’s lying to you.”
“He’s not a waiter!”
Her father interrupted, “This boat belongs to a Jay Bohannon. You said yourself that the man you met is a waiter. Your sister confirmed it.” He lifted his finger in an accusatory manner. “So don’t you lie to me now, young lady! I wasn’t born yesterday. I know exactly what’s going on here!”
“You don’t know anything!” she spat. “The man I’m with is Jay Bohannon of Hannon Boats. He didn’t have to steal this boat, because he owns it! Damn it, he built it!”
“He’s an imposter!” her father barked. “And the police are arresting him as we speak.”
Instinctively, Tara took a step back. “No! No, you can’t do that. Jay is innocent. You can’t have him arrested!”
Her father made a move toward her, grabbing her wrist in a vice grip. “You’re lucky that we’re not filing charges for kidnapping against him. Trust me, the only reason we’re not is to keep you out of the news and avoid a scandal.”
At the last word, her mother huffed. “It’s bad enough that people are talking about you because you pulled that drunk out of the Gilberts’ pool!”
Tara clenched her teeth. “Would you rather I let him drown, Mom? Would you be happy then?”
“There were plenty of other people to get him out. You didn’t have to involve yourself!”
“Well, and whose fault was that?” Tara ground out. “You were the one who fabricated that invitation to Paul’s house. I had no intention of going there, but no, you thought you could play matchmaker again. Guess what? You’ll have to live with the consequences now. If you hadn’t forced me to stay with the Gilberts, I would have never met Jay.”
“How dare you speak to your mother like that?” her father shouted. “You’re coming with us now. We’re taking you back to New York. No more escapades for you. From now on, you’ll do what your mother and I tell you to do.”
“I won’t! I’m staying with Jay!”
“Whoever this man is, he’s going to prison for impersonating another man and stealing his boat.”
“You’re making a big mistake,” she warned him, as he yanked her along by her wrist. “Jay will clear this up, and then you’ll be sorry for having had him wrongly arrested.”
Because Jay was no imposter. She’d seen him in his office in the city. He was who he claimed to be.
28
A paper tray with two cups of coffee in one hand, and a bag of pastries in the other, Jay left the coffee shop and headed back to the dock. The barrista had been inexperienced and slow, and there had been a long line of customers waiting to receive their correct beverages.
Jay looked out toward the end of the dock where his yacht was tied off. Several smaller yachts and sailboats sat on either side of the long wooden pier. On the boat next to his, a man sat on the deck, reading the paper and drinking coffee. On the one opposite, a couple was getting ready to untie the ropes and take the fenders off, to take the sailboat out on the water.
He loved mornings like this. Peaceful. Quiet. Relaxing.
“Excuse me, sir.” He heard a voice from behind him.
Jay turned and watched two policemen approach him. He stopped, waiting until they’d caught up. “Yes, can I help you?”
Both were young, maybe in their late twenties. One motioned to Jay’s yacht. “Did you come in on this boat?”
Jay nodded. “Yes, yesterday. Is there a problem?”
Suddenly the friendly demeanor of the two men changed. “Put down the coffee and turn around, hands on the back of your head.”
“What is this?”
One of the policemen pulled his gun from his holster. “You’re arrested for impersonating the owner of this yacht, for theft of said yacht, and for transporting stolen goods over state lines.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Jay replied. “This is my yacht. I own it.”
The second policeman approached. “Don’t make us add resisting arrest to the charges.”
“You’re making a mistake. I’m Jay Bohannon. I own this yacht.”