Follow Your Heart--A Novel

by Brenda Jackson

  He usually didn’t have many dealings with women who carried around baggage. But for some reason, he would take on hers if it meant having her in his bed. Replacing the hurt that shadowed her eyes with pleasure was something he wanted to do. He knew he’d been bold by asking her to spend tomorrow with him. All she had to do was say yes or no. But, honestly, he hadn’t given her time to say either before he’d placed his business card in her hand and walked out.

  Would she toss the card in the trash or would she be tempted to call him? He had the rest of the evening to find out. He was certain Lyric knew just what a day spent with him would entail. There was no way she didn’t know what he wanted from her. Now the question was, did she want the same thing from him?

  * * *

  LYRIC WALKED INTO her condo and collapsed on her sofa after placing the bag of goodies from her godmother’s bakery on the coffee table. It wasn’t that she was physically tired as much as she was mentally drained. Why had Tanner Jamison decided to spend the day at the gym again? He had hung around all day Friday and now again today. And why had he propositioned her to do the very thing she’d contemplated doing with a man? Have a no-strings affair.

  She was convinced that such a thing is what she needed. It had been close to a year now and her battery-operated sex toy had been doing a good job. Until now. Until she’d seen all those muscles on Tanner Jamison’s body. Those hard thighs. The size of his crotch whenever he did certain exercises. The strength of his legs whenever he walked around. Those massive shoulders...and she could only imagine how they would feel beneath her fingertips.

  Drawing in a deep breath, she knew she needed a tall, cold glass of water. Maybe a cold shower would be better. She stood and pulled out the card she’d slid into the pocket of her top. Tanner’s business card, with his cell phone number scribbled on the back. Should she toss it in the garbage or put it to good use?

  Maybe it was time to prove to herself that men weren’t the only ones who could engage in a meaningless affair and walk away. Expect nothing out of it but pleasure. And Lord knows she definitely needed pleasure and truly believed he could deliver. She would admit Westley hadn’t done anything for her, and most of the time she’d been faking it. Just the thought of spending time with Tanner Jamison was firing up her blood. She tossed the card on the table. She needed to think about whether she wanted to take on a man like him. But if not him, who? He’d been the only man who could make temptation rock through her veins whenever she came within a few feet of him.

  After eating dinner and pacing her living room floor for over an hour, Lyric had made her decision. After picking up the business card and her cell phone off the table, she quickly placed a call to Tanner.

  “Hello.”

  She swallowed. Why did his voice have to sound so good, just like she figured the rest of him would be? “This is Lyric.”

  There was a pause, and then... “Yes, Lyric?”

  She swallowed again. “I’ve decided to spend Labor Day with you. Just tell me where to meet you.”

  “I’d rather pick you up.”

  If he thought she would provide him with her address, he was wrong. “I’d rather we meet somewhere.” Then she quickly said, “You can pick me up in the gym’s parking lot.”

  He didn’t say anything, and it was as if he was tossing around her suggestion in his mind. Then he said, “Okay. I will pick you up at ten. And dress comfortably.”

  “Where are we going?” she asked him.

  “It will be a surprise.”

  She frowned. “And what if I don’t like surprises?”

  “Trust me, Lyric. You’re going to like this one.”

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  SUNDAY AFTERNOON, ROMAN and Victoria walked into the Witherspoon Café for brunch. Several of Victoria’s friends were sitting at a huge table and beckoned them over to join them.

  Roman looked forward to getting to know Sawyer and Vashti, Ray and Ashley, and Isaac and Donna. He trusted Victoria’s judgment when it came to a person’s character and he’d determined her friends were good people to get to know. Especially Sawyer, who was the town’s sheriff.

  Isaac and Donna were expecting their baby by Thanksgiving and were happy about it. Ray and Ashley’s two-year-old twins were sitting in high chairs and looked adorable. Roman turned to Sawyer, who was sitting next to him. He recalled that, in addition to two daughters in college, he and Vashti had two kids under the age of four, so he asked, “And where are your littles ones?”

  Sawyer grinned. “Our daughters arrived in town from college yesterday for the Labor Day weekend. That means our little ones are at home being spoiled by their older sisters.”

  When a waitress came to take his and Victoria’s orders, another couple joined them—Nina Murray and Arnett Staples. Nina was best friend to Donna Elloren. Nina and Arnett, who had gotten married a couple of weeks ago and had just returned from their honeymoon in Paris, had grown up in Catalina Cove but now lived in California. They owned a home in the cove, which gave them a reason to return to town often.

  “The two of you are going to Kaegan and Bryce’s cookout tonight, right?” Ray asked Roman and Victoria.

  Victoria smiled brightly. “Yes, that’s our plan.”

  “Then you don’t want to eat a lot now. Kaegan and Bryce will have food aplenty. All the seafood you can eat,” Ashley added.

  An hour or so later Roman and Victoria had returned to her home. The moment they walked inside, he pulled her into his arms. “I thought that was a nice group at the café.”

  “Yes, they are nice. I usually join them for dinner at the café after church on Sundays.”

  Roman nodded. “I have an idea. Since we’re going to the cookout later, how about you pack an overnight bag to spend the night with me on the boat? That way we can get up in the morning, go to breakfast and then enjoy all the Labor Day activities planned for tomorrow.”

  She wrapped her arms around his neck. “I think that’s a wonderful idea.”

  Roman was glad she thought so. He had less than two weeks left in Catalina Cove and wanted to spend as much time with her as he could.

  “I need to go pack,” Victoria said, about to take a step back.

  Roman tightened his arms around her waist, and said, “Later.”

  He then lowered his mouth to hers.

  * * *

  THE NEXT MORNING as the sun shone through the porthole of the yacht, Roman thought it was a total turn-on watching Victoria sleep. He loved the peaceful look on her face, the way her hand rested beneath her ear and the way her lips slackened. He especially liked the slow rise and fall of her chest, as if there was nothing weighing it down.

  He glanced over at the clock. It was close to nine. More than once he’d been tempted to wake her and make love to her all over again, as if the many times they’d done so last night after returning from the cookout hadn’t been enough. In a way it hadn’t been, at least not for him. He’d never considered himself a greedy ass where sex was concerned, but Victoria could spark a hot reaction from him without much effort. He’d discovered that with her he’d acquired an appetite that astounded him, a stamina he didn’t know he had and a need that only she could feed.

  He drew in a deep breath, knowing that at some point today, tomorrow, or one day this week, they needed to talk. He would be leaving soon to return to Washington, and he wasn’t ready for things to end between them. In fact, he never wanted them to end.

  Roman felt it was time to let her know just how much the time they had spent together had meant to him. Not only that, but he also wanted her to know that he wanted more. He wanted to continue to see her, to build a solid foundation with her. He wanted her to get used to his life as a politician. Not just get used to it, but be willing to share it with him.

  He didn’t want to rush her into anything. He would give her the time she needed to consider an exclusive rela
tionship with him. She needed to fully understand what that meant if and when Tanner Jamison showed up after deciding he was ready to settle down.

  Roman needed to make sure she wouldn’t break his heart by choosing Jamison over him just because her great-grandmother had declared he was the man for her. The thought of that happening bothered him the most.

  “Why did you let me oversleep?”

  Victoria’s question had him staring into a beautiful pair of sleepy eyes. Leaning over, he placed a kiss on her lips. Then decided that wasn’t enough and deepened the kiss. When he heard her moan, he pulled back.

  “It’s Labor Day, and you can never oversleep on a holiday. Besides, had I awakened you, you wouldn’t have gotten the rest you needed. We had a rather active night.”

  A knowing grin touched her lips. “Yes, we did, didn’t we?”

  Snuggling her closer into his arms, his chin rested on the crown of her head. “Yes, we did.”

  “Did you enjoy Kaegan and Bryce’s party?”

  “Yes. I still can’t believe all that food—shrimp, crabs, oysters, lobsters, fish and ribs. And they were the perfect hosts.”

  “Yes, they were.”

  “And I learned a lot about living on the bayou. I’m glad I got to go with you.”

  “I’m glad, too.” Victoria stretched and then asked, “So what’s for breakfast?”

  “How about we get dressed and go over to Witherspoon Café. I got a taste for their blueberry muffins,” he suggested.

  Victoria pulled away from him, laughing. “See! I warned you that you’d get hooked. How will you manage when you leave Catalina Cove?”

  Her question gave him pause. He wasn’t all that concerned about leaving behind the blueberry muffins—he was concerned about leaving her behind. “Don’t worry, I’ll manage. I think breakfast at the café is a great idea. Besides, I need to talk to you about something, anyway.”

  She lifted an eyebrow. “Oh? What?” she asked, shifting to her back to look up at him.

  “We’ll talk later. For now...”

  He leaned in close to her mouth. “I want you, Victoria,” he said, easing into a straddled position over her. He then rubbed the length of his huge erection against the folds of her womanhood. Damn, that felt good. What felt even better was that he wasn’t wearing a condom. A decision they’d made last night. Although she hadn’t been sexually active for a while, she was still on the pill. He wondered if she realized just what an important decision that had been for them to make.

  “I want you, too,” she whispered close to his lips. “Soar me to the next universe, will you, Roman?”

  Her words made him thrust hard, burying his shaft deep within her and loving the feel of her inner muscles clenching him tight. “Gladly.”

  Closing his eyes, he began thrusting hard inside of her, and she was taking his every stroke. He loved this. He loved her and he was convinced nothing in life was better than making love to her this way, or any way.

  Their orgasms came fast and furious, ripping into them and making them cry out in ecstasy together. They were soaring to the next universe and beyond, and he groaned out her name over and over again. Then he leaned in and captured her mouth with his again.

  She didn’t know it yet, but she was his and would always be his. And he intended to make damn sure of that.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  TANNER WAS WAITING on Lyric when she arrived at exactly ten the next morning. When he saw her outfit, he felt his heart rate increase. Her curvaceous body was wearing a pair of yellow shorty shorts and a black top tied at the shoulders. She had sunglasses on and a cross-body purse across her shoulder. The open-toe, heel-style sandals on her feet did something to her legs. Made them look even more shapely and gorgeous. Overall, Lyric Evans was presenting a very scrumptious picture.

  Be still my heart... He frowned, quickly thinking that his heart had nothing to do with this. Just the area below his waist did. What other reason would he be missing out on his family’s annual Labor Day cookout in Houston today? He had planned to fly home last night but instead he was here. As he leaned against his car and stared at the woman walking toward him, he had to admit that she was worth not eating any of his father’s prized barbecue ribs today.

  “Good morning, Tanner,” she greeted when she came to a stop in front of him. Not only did she look good, but she also smelled good. And he wasn’t imagining things. She was smiling, so did that mean she was in a good mood? If so, that would be the first time around him.

  “Good morning, Lyric. Happy Labor Day. And you look beautiful.” That was no lie.

  “Happy Labor Day to you, too. And thanks.” She removed her sunglasses, gave him a once-over and said, “You don’t look so bad yourself.”

  He chuckled and glanced down at his jeans and shirt before gazing back into her eyes. He had needed to break the eye contact with her. For a minute it seemed as if he’d been drowning in the depths of her dark eyes. “Glad you think so. Ready?”

  “Not quite,” she said, sliding the sunglasses back on her eyes. “There are a couple of things I need to know before I go anywhere with you.”

  “And what are those things?”

  “First off, I need to make sure you aren’t seriously involved with someone else. I have a problem with two-timing men. A woman deserves better.”

  He wondered, had some man two-timed her? “I date women, not commit to them, Lyric.”

  She lifted an eyebrow. “You have a problem with commitment?”

  “No, I don’t have a problem with it, commitment just isn’t me.” Deciding to be totally up-front with her so there wouldn’t be any room for misunderstanding later, he said, “I’m a man who enjoys women. Practically live for casual hookups. Totally into pleasure sex. Now what is your next question?”

  He was keeping things honest. If she was looking for more today than pleasure sex and wanted to be more than a casual hookup, then she could just get back in her car and drive off because that’s all he was offering. No need to dwell on how many women had tried changing his way of thinking and failed.

  “My next question is where are you taking me? I won’t leave here without knowing my destination.”

  “You won’t let me surprise you?”

  “No. I don’t know you that well.”

  He nodded, seeing her point. “I’m taking you on a picnic to my place on the Bolivar Peninsula, near Galveston. Crystal Beach. Ever been there?”

  “No, but I heard it’s a beautiful place.”

  “It is.”

  “You’re talking about Texas. And just how are we supposed to get there?”

  He smiled again. “In my plane. I’m also a pilot. And I promise to have you safely back home before midnight.”

  She didn’t say anything. Instead she stared at him and for a moment he wondered if she could read his mind and suspected the list of activities he had planned for them today. “So, Lyric Evans, are you going to spend your day with me?”

  Lyric didn’t say anything for a minute, then looked up at him and said, “I know the only thing you want from me, Tanner. Just so you know that’s the only thing I want from you, as well.”

  She removed her sunglasses, as if she wanted him to see her eyes to know just how serious she was when she said her next words. “Today for us will be one and done. No repeats. Understood?”

  He nodded and grudgingly pushed back the thought that those were the words he would normally say. This was the first time any woman had ever said them to him. “Yes, understood.”

  * * *

  “NICE PLANE, TANNER,” Lyric said, snapping on her seat belt. She glanced around the cockpit. This was her first time in one.

  “Thanks.”

  “How long have you had your pilot’s license?”

  “I got it six years ago. This Cessna is jointly owned by me and my business partne
rs, Blade Madaris and Wyatt Bannister,” he said, looking at the controls.

  Lyric glanced over at him and thought he looked good in his jeans and shirt, and the aviator glasses he was wearing made him look rather sexy, not that he hadn’t before. She saw him studying the controls and, in a way, was glad that gave her time to study him. He definitely smelled good.

  He looked at her. “You ever flown in a small plane before?”

  “No. This is my first time. For me the bigger the plane, the better. But I have ridden in a helicopter before. Does that count?”

  “It will be a totally different experience. I think you’ll like it.”

  She hoped so. Flying never bothered her, but like she’d told him, she’d never ridden in a plane this size before. “At least the weather is nice.”

  “Yes, it’s a nice day for flying,” he said, glancing over at her before turning his attention back to some documents on a clipboard. “We’ll be there at Crystal Beach in no time. In a little less than an hour.”

  Lyric watched him and thought this wasn’t the first time her attention had been drawn to his hands. She’d noticed them yesterday at the gym. They were big and powerful-looking. At least she’d thought the latter while noticing how he’d gripped and lifted those barbells. He’d made a usually hard task look easy. Last night while sleeping, she’d anticipated today and dreamed of those same hands gripping her in certain places.

  “Ready?”

  She switched her gaze from his hands to his face and saw him smile. Had he noticed how she’d been staring at his hands? “Ready?”

  “Yes. For takeoff?”

  “Yes, I’m ready.”

  Lyric watched how smoothly he moved the plane down the runway and then how expertly he geared it toward blue skies. She didn’t say anything, figuring he needed total concentration. Pretty soon, the plane leveled off.