Shit.
He rose one brow…slowly, and her stomach quivered with the suggestive gesture.
With a sigh of resignation, she considered her options. Too bad she already slipped off her shoes. That would have covered two losses.
She braced herself. Hell no. No more losses.
Pushing to her feet, she unzipped her skinny pants, shooting Jamie a warning look. “Don’t get too comfortable.”
He pressed his lips together as she pushed the fabric down her thighs.
“Comfortable is not the word I’d use.” Clearing his throat, he shoved the cards across the table. “You’re up.”
Seeing him squirm was incredibly satisfying. And wasn’t that the point?
They went over the board of directors and committees, and she threw her hand on purpose. She’d get him completely distracted then take the game right out from under that sweet, hard ass of his.
Next to go was her checkered top. His eyes landed hungrily on her chest as she exposed her pink bra one button slide at a time. She let her shirt fall to the floor and hesitated, giving him a good view of what he’d walked away from ten years ago. Her pink bra topped a pair of hip hugger panties. Years of skating gave her a core to die for, and she was never more thankful than this very moment.
“Are you going to deal or what?” she quipped. Forcing her tone to remain neutral, every second reminded her of all the things she’d missed about him. How safe she’d felt; how easy it had been to follow him across an ocean. How much she’d loved him. Truly loved him.
His eyes were taking in every square inch of her with such intensity that she had to look down to make sure she wasn’t naked. Taking advantage of his preoccupation, she grabbed a card and slid it into the band of her undies at her low back.
Cheating may not be respectable, but all was fair in bylaw war.
She held back a grin and snapped her fingers. “Jamie.”
With a jerk, he swallowed hard. “Yeah?” He coughed. “Oh, yeah.”
He appeared confused and, for a brief moment, the innocent look on his face reminded her of the deep, burning love she’d never really gotten over. With a vicious surge of self-control, she strengthened her resolve against her one weakness.
James Alexander Wilmington Astor III.
Now was the time to slam down the hammer.
Arranging her cards, she prepared for her big win. The bylaws were hers. The control was hers. It was time to put Mr. Astor in his place.
She lengthened one long, toned leg, turning it to put her tattoo in clear view, and flexed her foot. Jamie followed the intended target, tracing her ink with his eyes, as predicted, and she slowly slid her hand behind her back to retrieve her card.
His attention snapped away from her long-limbed temptation and landed on her with suspicion. “What’re you doing?”
She froze. “What? Nothing. I had an itch.”
Gray eyes narrowed, and he tilted his head, trying to see behind her.
“Seriously, Jamie. Knock it off.” Her pulse raced as he raised to his jean-clad knees, his abs rippling with the movement.
“What’re you hiding behind your back?”
“Nothing.”
“Blayne.” He crawled slowly around the table, his muscles bulging with each advance.
She swallowed hard, the crackling fireplace and crashing waves a backdrop warning her of the dangerous position she was in.
Desperate to keep him at a distance, she threw her hands up. “Stop.” She really couldn’t trust herself if he got to close.
His biceps flexed with each move toward her, and her mouth went dry.
Crossing her arms, she tried to distract him by pushing her cleavage together. He didn’t bite.
Shit. The card began to stick to the skin of her lower back as she broke into a cold sweat. Jamie couldn’t find out she’d been cheating; he’d never let her live it down. Trying her best to keep her cool, she straightened her leg until the ball of her foot met the firm and warm skin of his naked chest.
“Show me what you’re hiding, woman.” His low growl sent a shiver of need through her body.
Panic raised the pitch in her voice to a squeak. “There’s nothing to show!”
In one fluid movement, he pushed her leg to the side and lunged. Hot, heavy man-body along with ten years of repressed orgasmic memories pressed her into the floor, and a swirling starburst of sensations shot out from her center.
“Let me see,” Jamie demanded with the rumble of a chuckle.
“No!” She shoved the card farther down her underwear, hoping he wouldn’t go foraging for it, then wrestled to get him off her. Not because she wanted him to move away but because she wanted him to stay.
God help her crazy-ass heart.
They struggled for control. He tried to roll her over, but she held him in a vice-like grip with her legs.
“Good God, Bean, you’re strong.” He gasped with effort.
“Damn straight.” She applied pressure in just a way that had him rolling with her on top until, finally, she straddled his waist in victory. She almost shot her fist up to celebrate her win.
But the undeniable evidence of his own arousal pressed hard against her.
She froze.
Then dropped her forehead to his. It would be so easy to give in, to get him out of her system once and for all.
His breathing was heavy and mixed with hers in a torrent of lush red wine and heady lust. His lips parted. Hers inched closer, hovering, promising…
“Ahh ha!” Warm fingers slid the card from the beneath the edge of her panties, then held it high in the air above their heads. “You cheated!” His look of shock would have been hilarious if it didn’t mean she just lost by default.
Her control, her plans were slipping away like the tides of the Atlantic.
And she almost just kissed the one man with the power to break her.
Again.
Chapter 6
After a long week of overtime and overcompensating, Blayne pushed off her left skate at the whistle, propelling forward with such force her hamstring threatened to boycott. If she didn’t find a way to relax and get some control back, she’d lose her focus.
And she refused to let that happen when Larkin was counting on her.
With Ireland on the horizon, she’d reached out to her older sister, Ruby, trying to get a feel for her da’s reaction when she returned home, but her sister refused to talk to her. It had cut deep, but what could she expect? It hadn’t just been her father she’d left. Emma had been her lifeline to all the goings-on at home. She owed her everything.
Not to mention the constant struggle with Jamie’s return. She didn’t know what was worse, the fact they worked damn well together, the fact that he’d caught her cheating, or the fact that when he had, she’d wanted nothing more than to kiss him senseless. Her lips still tingled with the memory of anticipation.
What a bleedin’ mess.
She shoved against an opposing player sending the woman on her ass.
Senseless.
That was the key word right there.
She was goddamn, fucking senseless when it came to James Astor. The reason she’d hurt her da so badly when she’d dropped out of college and moved to the States, the reason she’d begged Jamie to stay when he’d left, and the only reason she could possibly have for wanting to kiss the bloody bloke now.
She threw her hip into another skater, clearing a hole in the pack, sliding through, then breaking free.
Her plan had been doomed to fail from the start, and when faced with his beautiful, sexy lips so close to hers…
She’d lost focus.
And lost control.
Flying past the finish line, she kept skating, pumping her arms and her legs until they burned with the strain. Lap after lap melded into a blur. Her lungs burned, her muscles screamed, but what a relief compared to the burn of wanting.
A whistle blew in quick succession, yanking her from her self-flagellation, and she sc
reeched to a stop. Every cell in her body wanted to collapse to the floor, but she rested against her knees instead, trying to catch her breath.
One of the jammers of the Van Buren Roller Beauties, Lilly Sims, slapped Blayne on the arm. “You alright there? You’re shovin’ around like you’re a Blocker.”
She shook her head and squirted water in her mouth. “I’m fine. Just practicing.”
Penelope Kent, a fellow Pivot, angrily replaced her skate. “Seems to me like someone is burning off a little steam.”
“Sorry, Pen.” Blayne sucked in a breath, trying to calm her lungs.
“I heard a wicked sexy ass…tor was back in town. Couldn’t have anything to do with that, could it?”
All the tension that had drained with her energy returned ten-fold, clamping down on her like a lobster claw.
“You know we all have an idea of what happened even though you refuse to talk about it,” Lilly said, snapping the gum that always seemed to be in her mouth.
“There’s nothing to say. Besides, that was ten years ago.”
“So…you’re over him?” Jackie Miller, a blocker known for her hip swing and uppercut, asked. “Cause he is too fine to be spending his nights alone.”
It took all her hard-won self-control to keep her hands on her knees and not wrap them around Jackie’s neck. “Let’s drop the subject and skate, shall we?”
The Van Buren Roller Beauties were like an extended family. Not quite as loved as her own family and not quite as close as Larkin, but close enough they stuck their noses in each other’s business at every opportunity.
“I don’t think so, MacCaffrey. We don’t get as many sexy, rich dudes in Van Buren as we should, being a port city and all. If you’re done with him, it’s my turn.” Jackie winked at the rest of the team.
She’s teasing. Pushing buttons. Breathe in, breathe out. The whole conversation was nothing more than trying to throw her off her game for the next jam.
“Well, sloppy seconds always were your preference, huh, Jackie?” she tossed back, hoping to change the subject.
Unfortunately, Jackie didn’t appreciate being reminded of her last boyfriend, Benny, or the fact he’d only come running after Jackie once he found out Blayne wasn’t interested in the day after a one-night stand.
Jackie shoved off her skate and rolled up to stand nose to nose. “Are you trying to start something?”
Blayne refused to back down, though the onions her friend had eaten at lunch encouraged her to do so. “I could say the same to you.” Rolling the slightest bit closer, she stiffened her spine. “If you really want to do this, Jackie, then let’s go.”
She was itching for a fight. Her intentions were to leave it all on the track, but if Jackie wanted to have it out now, she’d be happy to oblige. Which was ridiculous. She’d never been in a fight in her life.
Anything to get Jamie out of her head.
“Knock it off, you two. We have a jam to get to. What the hell is this? Junior high?” Penelope shoved them apart.
Blayne stiffened against the contact, and Jackie bowed up.
“Speakin’ of wicked sexy…” Lilly bit her lower lip and outright leered toward the double doors as if the whole altercation never happened.
Blayne had always admired her calm. Lilly had an amazing ability to shrug off life, but Blayne wasn’t sure if it was incredible coping skills or that her friend just didn’t give a shit.
All the women went silent and stared at the very well-cut form silhouetted against the afternoon sun shining in from the slow closing double doors. She’d know those shoulders anywhere.
What the hell was Jamie doing here? Her pulse accelerated, leaving her breathless just as she’d finally gotten her lungs to calm down.
He gave a confident wave, but few of the ladies noticed. Thirteen pairs of hungry eyes perused the poor bloke up and down like they might the options at an open wine bar. Mouthwatering and lip-smacking good.
For Christ’s sake. She rolled her eyes. Breaking away from her team, she rolled toward him. “What in the bleedin’ hell are you doing here?” she grated out in a low voice.
His gaze traveled from the tip of her skates to her eyes, taking a scenic route along her legs and breasts.
If he lingered any longer she’d pass out from heat stroke.
“You haven’t returned my calls, and I haven’t seen you at the center. If I’d shown up at your place, you’d have called the police.” He chuckled, but it was strained with an effort to pull his eyes up to hers.
“Smart man.”
She glanced toward the door. “Go ahead and start the next jam. I’ll be right there.”
Jackie rolled forward. “And miss out on meeting our new guest? Not in this lifetime, MacCaffrey.” She glided around Jamie, visually measuring him like cattle at the Somerset livestock auction. Trailing her fingers along his neck to his chest, she tapped twice, then stuck out her hand in a limp, fingers down fashion. “I’m Jackie, but you can call me…anytime.”
“Ohmygod. Really?!” Blayne grabbed Jamie by a bicep that was more solid than the track she skated on and tried to push him through the door.
But he slid past with a smile to her teammates. “Any friends of Blayne are friends of mine.”
The ladies threw out invitations to return whenever he wanted, all of which he answered with a generous smile.
An irrational surge of jealousy had her slapping his hand down before she could stop herself. Mortified by her reaction, she gave a fierce whisper, “Are you kidding? These are not the women you want to be encouraging. I thought you had more sense than that, at least.”
“If you’re not careful, I might think you’re jealous.”
On a huff, she retorted. “I’m not.”
She totally was.
He outright laughed. “Sure you’re not.” With a shake of his head, he followed her outside. “Besides, you’re a skater,” he said, as if that statement alone contradicted her point.
She rolled down the cement sidewalk in an attempt to put some distance between him and her team of salivating sirens. For fuck’s sake.
Spinning, she faced him. “Why’re you here? You won.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Gloating will only piss me off.”
Jamie shook his head. “Bullshit. There’s no winning with you.” He walked to his car then climbed halfway in, leaving his rear view high and tight.
He was doing it on purpose.
Clenching her teeth against the surge of lust wreaking havoc on her body, she cast a quick glance at her team confirming her suspicions that the Roller Beauties were taking in the scene like a goddamn drive-in. If she had popcorn, she’d throw it at them.
“Jamie, I don’t have time for this. We have a tournament coming up soon.”
He stood and shook the pages at her. “Here. I’ll email them to you, but this way you can’t ignore me.”
“I wasn’t—”
“Again. Bullshit.”
She huffed and grabbed the papers. “What’s this?”
She flipped through the pages of the bylaws, one at a time. At first scan, she couldn’t quite believe what she saw, so she rolled toward his Audi and leaned against the trunk to take a closer look.
Everything was there. Her bylaw plan was unchanged save a word or two. He simply added in his sections on the donor program with one additional section that tore a hole in the walls around her heart more than anything else ever could.
“Archer’s Angels…” She studied the giant of a man in front of her, startled by the uncharacteristic look of vulnerability on his face. “I’m not sure I understand.”
He stepped closer, leaning his hip against the car. “Yes, you do.”
“You even established a president and vice president position.”
With a nod, he turned more fully toward her. “The whole idea of the center is to give the community a place to learn, to grow, to unite. And a huge part of that will be the programs for children so they can find joy on the Cape lik
e Archer did. Right?”
Her eyes blurred with tears, but she refused to let them fall. Damn trickster was messing with her emotions.
“Well, what better way to protect Archer and Larkin’s ultimate vision than to have an additional committee made up of children to help us focus on their interests and needs? We can set up some general guidelines and requirements, but ultimately this will ensure that we meet the needs of the children in Cape Van Buren. Not just what we think…but what they want.”
She sniffed and blinked rapidly. Larkin was going to lose her shit over this. The loss of her little boy was felt every second of every day, but she was a strong woman and found joy in his memory. The conservation center was a huge part of her ability to move forward, and for Jamie to come up with such a beautiful way to celebrate Archer’s memory was almost more than even Blayne could handle.
She remained silent. What she wanted to do was to tell him something snarky to piss him off and protect her heart, but she couldn’t. Not with something so special.
“This is more than…” It was true. It was so much more. How was she supposed to process this? She was at a loss. No one in Cape Van Buren would believe it.
Nodding, she forced herself to look him in the eye. “This is perfect. I’m blown away by the idea, and Larkin will be touched beyond words.
Jamie studied her. “You’re okay with the changes?”
She laughed. “You and I both know you didn’t make any, you only added the donor section and now this.”
He grinned. “I’m glad you like it. And for the record, I didn’t change anything, because it didn’t need to be changed. You did really good work.”
She dipped her chin. “It means a lot to me. This project.”
“I can see that. Larkin’s your best friend.”
Pushing away from the car, she cleared her throat. “She is, but it’s more than that. I believe in it. The message, the service to the town, is real.”
Her fingers trailed a path along his jaw, and his eyes darkened. Surprised by her own gesture, she moved away, but he caught her, pressing a kiss to her palm.
They stared at one another, unable to look away. What was happening to her? A fluttering sensation spread through her chest.
Honor on the Cape Page 7