by Lori Foster
But Gail was still fighting it. She was still afraid of it. And Jesse decided that he was the man to facilitate her release. He’d provide her a safe and comfortable place where she could let it all go.
“How about you?” he asked. “Am I keeping you from anything?”
She thought that was funny. “Nope.” She looked right in his eyes and pursed her lips. “So tell me more about your day-to-day life.”
Jesse had been telling her his story all afternoon. Most of it, anyway. Sometime after his second glass of wine, he’d made a decision. Bottom line—he wouldn’t lie to her. Should Gail or her daughter ask if he was J. D. Batista, the author, he’d say yes, he was. Gail would probably be angry with him and think she’d been misled somehow, but he’d deal with that when it happened. In the meantime, Jesse’s plan was to tell her enough of the truth that he could sleep at night, but not enough to alter the sweet and uncomplicated connection growing between them.
“Well, in addition to working on Fred’s boat and helping with the walking tours, I usually write every day.”
Gail’s eyes flew wide. “Seriously? You’re a writer?”
“I try to be,” he said, watching carefully for any flicker of recognition in her eyes. There was none.
“Wow! That’s so exciting! What do you write?”
“Mostly fiction,” he said. “I also do a little poetry, and lately I’ve been trying my hand at a screenplay, which is a lot tougher than I imagined.”
Gail’s brows knit together. “Do you think you’ll be published one day?”
Jesse froze. Answering this question honestly without giving himself away was going to be a challenge. He was an author with eight New York Times bestsellers under his belt, but, as every writer knew, that was no guarantee of future success.
“There’s always hope,” was Jesse’s answer.
Gail let go with a laugh. “I knew it all along, of course,” she said, a knowing look on her face. Jesse thought his charade was over until Gail finished her thought. “I knew you had to be a writer or an English teacher.”
Jesse smiled. “Yeah? What tipped you off?”
“Your vocabulary,” she said, folding her arms under her breasts. “You cursed your shutter hinge using words like artistry and substandard along with the usual shits and fucks.”
Jesse choked. Hearing those words come out of professor Gail’s mouth was as jarring as it was hilarious. “Sorry you were subjected to that,” he said. “I get a little uptight about my house sometimes. It means a lot to me.”
Gail raked her fingers through her hair and studied Jesse for a moment, her brown eyes focused on him. “I need to ask you a personal question, Jesse,” she said. “If you don’t want to answer me, just tell me to go to hell.”
He couldn’t imagine ever needing to do that, but he agreed.
“How can you afford your place?” She looked repentant the instant the words tumbled from her mouth. “What I mean is, that’s a really expensive house and you’re a man with a couple of part-time jobs—you know, the starving artist type. I don’t get it.”
“Ah,” Jesse said.
“Are you a drug smuggler? A member of organized crime?” She leaned closer and her expression became quite serious. “Have you embezzled millions from those who trusted you?”
He laughed hard. When he’d gained his composure, he answered her. “I assure you, I am none of those things. And I’m not starving.”
She shook her head. “Sorry, but I had to ask. We’re living right next door to you. You’ve kissed me. I’m having a romantic lunch with you and I’m wildly attracted to you. It’s something I needed to know because…” Gail stopped speaking and rubbed a hand over her mouth anxiously. “Here’s the deal, Jesse. I learned my lesson with Curtis. I have no interest in wasting my time with a man who’s not on the up-and-up. Honesty is more important to me than anything else. Period.”
Jesse didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at the irony. He was interested in a woman with trust issues rivaling his own, yet he couldn’t give her what she wanted—complete honesty—because of his own trust issues. Not yet, anyway.
“No apology necessary, Professor,” he said. “I inherited the house from my grandmother a few years ago along with part of her estate. I’m the last one of my family who still lives in Key West.”
“Oh.”
It got quiet between them for a long moment. Gail turned to look out on the water, and Jesse was struck by the elegant curve of her neck, the perfect angle of her jawline. He wanted to kiss her there. He wanted to kiss her everywhere.
Without turning back around, Gail flashed her eyes at him, catching him in midgawk. She smiled.
Jesse smiled back.
“This is my first vacation in six years, Jesse. Did I tell you that?”
“No.”
Gail faced front in her chair again, her hands folded in her lap. “You offered up a toast today, a toast to a vacation I’d always remember.”
“I did.”
“Well, that’s what I want. Can you help me with that? Do you have time in your schedule?”
From the depths of his brain, he felt the monster stir. It had somehow managed to stay dormant all day, but the honeymoon was over.
What about his deadline?
Jesse had less than two weeks to get his manuscript in shape. Normally, this would mean twelve to fourteen hours a day at his laptop, breaking only for the necessities of caffeine, food, a punishing workout and sleep when he could calm his mind enough to allow it.
Yet, in Gail’s company, he’d forgotten all about his deadline. Not only that, he’d forgotten how getting involved with Cammy had nearly ruined his life, and that he was attempting to forge a comeback with this book.
Did he have time for Gail? That was a good question. But the real question was this: What the hell am I doing? Am I nuts?
Jesse swallowed hard. “How many days do you have left on this vacation?”
“Eight nights, nine days.”
“And what exactly do you want to do?”
Apparently, Gail had already given this a great deal of thought, because the list tumbled out fast and furious. “I want to learn to scuba dive. I want to go on one of those booze cruises under the stars. I want a naked therapeutic massage. I want to swim with the dolphins and learn to dance the salsa. I want to eat all kinds of exotic delicacies I can’t get back in Beaverdale. And I want to go skinny-dipping.”
Gail paused. She closed her eyes for an instant, and to Jesse it looked like she was summoning the courage to continue. Suddenly, her eyes flew open. “And I want you to make wild, unrestrained love to me, Jesse.”
He sat with that last request for a moment, narrowing his eyes, working the logistics out in his head. “Do we have to tackle everything in that particular order?”
“Not necessarily.”
“All right. Good to know.” Jesse’s heart pounded in his chest. Gail’s bluntness was amusing. It was damn hot, too. “So,” he said, trying to keep a straight face. “Would you mind if we combined a couple of those activities, you know, in the interest of time?”
A wicked smile had crept onto her pretty little mouth. “Like going skinny-dipping with dolphins?”
“That could work.” Jesse reached across the table for her hand, and she slid it into place without hesitation. “Or I could feed you exotic foods while demonstrating the salsa and massaging your naked body under a canopy of stars.”
“That sounds like an efficient use of everyone’s time,” she said.
It was at that moment that Jesse told his deadline monster to fuck off. He told the memory of Cammy to fuck off. The woman sitting across the table from him was one in a million. He’d never met anyone like her. He didn’t think women like her existed, except in the pages of his books. So what if he had to ask for another two-week extension? It wouldn’t be the end of the world.
“All right, then.” Jesse rose from his chair and helped Gail to a stand. As soon as he got hold of
her, he yanked her close and kissed her hard. He wanted to make a statement with the kiss. He wanted Gail to know she’d found the right man for the job, that she was in very capable hands. Jesse slid his palm down the curve of her back to the globes of her L.L. Bean-covered ass, where he gave her a firm squeeze.
She jumped. Jesse ended the kiss. “We’d better get going.” He grabbed the straw bag and hooked it over Gail’s shoulder before guiding her back toward land. “We’ve got a lot on our schedule.”
CHAPTER SIX
“HELLO? MOM?”
“Hi, honey. What are you up to?”
Holly rolled her eyes. What are we up to? She couldn’t believe this. What are you up to was the issue.
“We’re still hanging with the friends we met this morning. We’re down near Mallory Square and want to stay for the sunset celebration then go for pizza. Would that be okay?”
“Sure. That sounds fun. Just remember your midnight curfew.”
“Right.”
Just then, Hannah got all up in Holly’s face and started asking questions. “Is she with him? What are they doing?” Holly shushed her friend and shooed her away.
“So, what have you been doing today, Mom?” Holly hoped she sounded casual enough.
“Oh, a little of everything,” was her answer. “I took the Hemingway tour then wandered around the island to get my bearings. I talked to some of the locals then had lunch. I’m getting ready to jump in the pool.”
And? And?
It looked like there wasn’t going to be any and. Holly realized her mom wasn’t going to say a word about the hottie captain, which pissed her off because her mom always got so parentnoid on her about the importance of honesty, but here she was—not one word about how she’d shamed herself zooming around town with her skirt yanked up to her granny panties!
Just then, her mom began to confess.
“I suppose I should mention that I spent most of the day with our neighbor, Jesse. Turns out he’s a very nice man.”
Holly nodded her head dramatically and gave Hannah a thumbs up, their prearranged signal that her mom was coming clean.
“Wow, that’s cool, Mom. Sounds like you had fun.”
Her mom was silent for a moment. “Yep,” was all she said. “Well, I better go. Call me when you’re on your way back to the house so I know when to expect you.”
“Sure.”
Holly felt somewhat calmer. So what if her mom was having a little fun with the dreamy old dude from next door? It was her vacation, too. It was all perfectly innocent.
“See you then, honey,” her mom said. “Thanks for checking in.”
“No prob. Hey, wait.” Holly stopped herself from hanging up. “Mom?”
“Yes?”
“Be careful out there.”
WHAT KIND OF HIDEOUS, despicable mother was she? When Holly called to check in, Gail had just finished stuffing herself into her daughter’s bikini, the one Gail had only yesterday deemed pornographic and unfit for public display.
Yet she was about to head downstairs to put herself on display for Jesse, the guy from next door.
Ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod…
Gail examined herself one last time in the floor-to-ceiling mirror. She had to admit that her body looked pretty good for her age, but the suit was slut city. What kind of skanky shops had found berth in the Beaverdale Mall, for goodness’ sake? Gail only thanked God she’d shaved her bikini area that day, because there was no room for error in this thing.
But seriously. She couldn’t really go through with this. Could she?
She heard the clank of the back gate and ran to the upstairs window. Jesse had just let himself in. He wore only a towel, which was angled low to one side and knotted at the hip. He carried a bottle of wine and two glasses in his hands, which he placed on a table. Gail watched him move in the glow of the setting sun, his brown skin gleaming, the light casting shadows on his ripped stomach and cut arms.
Suddenly, he turned. He must have felt the heat of her stare. This time, Gail wasn’t ashamed to be caught ogling, so she smiled and gave him a little wave.
Jesse tilted his head and brought one muscled arm across his body, rubbing the skin low on his abdomen. It was impossible not to notice that he was already getting aroused—the thin terry cloth was no match for the bulge taking shape beneath it. Gail watched in fascination as the ends of the towel began to open like a curtain.
Holy shit. He was naked under there. The most gorgeous hunk of man she’d ever seen in her life was naked underneath his towel! And he was waiting for her, ready to give her the kind of vacation memories a girl just couldn’t get at, say, Disney World.
Deep down, Gail knew it was now or never.
Before she could change her mind, she raced down the steps and through the downstairs, sliding open the patio doors. She stepped onto the pool deck, shaking her hair and posing for him the best she could, thinking that she felt like a woman possessed. The pre-spring-break Gail would never have had the guts to do something like this.
Jesse said nothing. He appeared to be frozen where he stood.
“This isn’t my usual kind of swimsuit,” Gail said, stating the obvious. “I don’t usually wear a two-piece.”
Jesse’s eyes went wide. “Two pieces of what?” he asked, chuckling. “Sweetheart, that’s barely enough thread to floss my teeth.”
Gail laughed—the man made her laugh! She figured if his fiction was as funny and colorful as he was in person, he might really be able to make it as a writer someday. “Should I take it off?” she asked.
Jesse shook his head very slowly. “Nope. That’s my job. Where are the girls?”
“Not coming home until later tonight. I just spoke to Holly.”
“Good. C’mere.”
“Wait. How about some music?” Gail turned and scurried over to the outdoor bar, where she’d seen the girls fiddle with the sound system. She hit the “on” button, and the ground began to pound.
Give it to me, baby, nice and slow.
Climb on top like you ride in the rodeo…
“Or not,” she said, flipping it off.
She heard Jesse laugh. “What’s wrong with a little mood music?” He’d begun to walk his way over to her, tented towel and all. The smile on his face was almost as wide as the gap in the terry cloth.
Gail let out a squeak of anxiety. Her breathing accelerated. Her mouth became parched.
Was she really going through with this? Was this really happening?
Jesse walked right past her, brushing against her hip on his way to the sound system. The music was on again, but at a much lower volume.
He stood right in front of her. “Gail.”
“Yes?”
Jesse slid his fingers up into her hair and pulled her head back ever so gently, stopping when she had no choice but to look up into his dark blue eyes. He placed a string of hot kisses along the side of her face, her jawline, her exposed throat. Her knees began to wobble.
“If you want to stop, just say so,” he whispered, still kissing. “I’m only the tour guide here. This is your vacation.”
Gail giggled and nodded at the same time. She was giddy. Drunk. Her skin was on fire everywhere his lips landed. She had the feeling of being lost, gone, out of her mind with lust for him. The volume might have been reduced, but she could still hear the overtly sexual lyrics of that song, words rhyming in subliminal seduction—behind, grind, thong, gone, zipper, quicker…
Jesse nibbled on her earlobe and his hands began to slide down her back to her butt, hips, thighs. Suddenly he grabbed her and pulled her tight against the front of his body. She felt his large erection poke into her belly. “You’re really something, Professor, do you know that?”
She shook her head. If he didn’t kiss her soon she was certain something inside her would snap out of place, never to function properly again.
“You’re the perfect combination of brains and beauty, such achingly sweet beauty.” As Jesse whispered these words,
his tongue flicked her earlobe, then behind her ear, then at the tender skin of her throat. She couldn’t stand this. She could hardly breathe.
Jesse had the manual dexterity of a pickpocket. In lightning speed, he’d moved one hand up to her bikini top and deftly pushed one of the triangles of fabric aside so that her whole breast was exposed. She gasped.
He tweaked her nipple—harder than she might have expected from a man she’d only just met—and brought his mouth to hers. Finally.
She opened up to him. Jesse’s tongue was sweet and hot and skilled as it explored her. She heard a desperate moan and realized it had come out of her. She was losing her mind!
Suddenly, she felt the fingers of his other hand brush against the tiny crotch of the bikini. His touch was light. He didn’t poke or prod.
Jesse pulled his mouth from hers. He looked her directly in the eye. “You’re soaking wet.”
She moaned again. She was coming apart in his hands, with his words.
“Fuck me.”
Oh, yes she did. She said it.
“I thought you’d never ask.” Jesse grabbed her under the thighs and picked her up. Within seconds they were inside the house, up the stairs and in her bedroom, where he laid her on the bed.
“Don’t move,” he said. “I’ll be right back.”
As if she’d be capable of movement! Yet, surprisingly, as Gail watched Jesse walk from the room, her hands immediately began to wander of their own volition, approaching the vee of her bikini bottoms. She just wanted to see if Jesse had been exaggerating about the state of her arousal. That’s all. So she dipped her fingers inside, and discovered that, if anything, he’d been downright genteel in his description.
She had no control over herself. Gail closed her eyes and continued touching, stroking, sliding her fingers in her own wetness. She’d never been so turned on in her life. When she heard Jesse at the bedroom door she sat up, eyes wide, ashamed that she’d been caught.