by Loyd, Sandy
She followed him below decks.
He came out of the V-berth, holding out an oversized T-shirt. “It’s mine, but it’ll be more comfortable than what you’re wearing. And Elise left these. You’re welcome to them.”
“Won’t she mind that I’m wearing her shorts?”
“No. They’ve been here forever.” As he handed her the clothes, he added, “Elise isn’t much of a sailor, and hasn’t been on the boat in a couple of years.”
After changing, she stepped onto the deck and stopped short, her gaze raking his body. A tad self-conscious, he glanced down at his shirt and back at her expectantly.
“You shouldn’t be allowed to wear shorts and a T-shirt,” she said.
“Why?”
“If you don’t know, I’m not going to tell you.”
He ignored the suggestive look in her eyes, along with the sexual overtones he picked up on, and moved to untie the lines. He also ignored the rush of sensation surging through his blood, one that ended directly in his groin.
Get your mind off sex, Roberts. Following his mental edict, he started the diesel engine, backed out of the slip, and focused on guiding the sailboat out of the marina.
With her flowery scent wafting over his nose every few breaths, the feat was easier to think than to implement, he realized as the boat glided up the Intracoastal Waterway under full power.
“Tell me about your marriage,” she said above the engine noise.
“Why would you want to know about that?” He eyed her with speculation. In a heartbeat, all thoughts of tackling her and kissing that smart mouth vanished.
“Curiosity. You know all about mine.”
“I’m not sure it’s worth talking about,” he said evasively, shifting his gaze back to the water.
“So, what went wrong?”
By this point, they headed out of the inlet toward the markers and deeper waters.
“Go up and work the jib,” he ordered, handing her the jib sheets and nodding to the bow, “and maybe I’ll fill you in once we hoist the sails.”
Jason lifted the mainsail while Claire unfurled the jib. He shut off the engine and tacked southeast to take advantage of the brisk winds coming out of the southwest.
Once the boat heeled over, she made her way to the stern. She staggered slightly and grasped a steadying hand along the railing.
“You look comfortable.” Claire plopped onto a seat cushion across from him and took in a deep breath.
“I am,” he replied, noting the smile she offered reached her eyes. “You look pretty comfortable yourself.”
“This is perfect. The warm sun feels good after being in air-conditioning all day.”
Nodding, he had to agree. It was a perfect evening to be out. The sky was still a crystal-clear blue, not yet darkened by sunset. A few white clouds floated past, pushed along by strong air currents.
Another spectacular performance of nature spilled from the west, a common sight most evenings about this time, complete with fading sunshine mixed with clouds and interspersed with bursts of light from heat flashes.
Jason engaged the autopilot before heading below, and returned a few minutes later with an opened bottle of wine.
“More lessons?” she asked, watching as he poured a glass and handed it to her.
“Uh-huh. You have to acquire a taste for the finer things in life,” he murmured, holding her gaze while taking a sip. “I’ve been saving this for a special occasion. Try it and tell me what you think.”
Her soft laughter sent ripples of awareness through his system. She put her nose in the bowl of the glass and swirled the mixture. Then she sipped a small amount, raised her chin, and smacked her lips together.
“Subtle fruity texture with a hint of raspberries. Bold oak scent.” She held the glass in the air, studied it, and nodded. “Excellent color.”
“Make fun if you want,” he said, chuckling. “Just remember, it has a way of sneaking up on you.”
“It is good,” she agreed, flashing him a quick grin.
He sighed with contentment, observing her while she sipped. It was a perfect night. Life didn’t get much better. To be out on the water with flat seas, a golden sunset, and a beautiful woman who happened to enjoy sailing as much as he did—it was his idea of heaven.
She leaned back and met his gaze. “You were telling me about your marriage. I gather I resemble your ex?”
“Same build; same height,” he said with a shrug. “She’s a redhead. Similar shade as yours.”
Although Elise was born a brunette, she preferred her auburn color and so did he. Jason chuckled again, and his gaze went to the glass he was bringing to his lips.
After taking a drink, he added while looking back at Claire, “Seems I’m partial to redheads.”
He watched the bit of pink steal up her face, and his groin tightened. Ignoring the sexual tug, he smiled inwardly. The slight blush only added to her beauty. The T-shirt did little to hide her lush figure, but at least she was wearing a bra.
The blue-green color of the shirt brought out her complexion, while at the same time highlighting those rich auburn tresses. Her unruly hair, blowing freely in the wind, had him clenching the wineglass, stilling an urge to plow his hands through it.
“You were married a long time. What went wrong?”
Her soft voice broke into his thoughts, and it took him a minute to comprehend the question before he could answer it, mulling it over for an adequate response.
“I don’t know. Everything happened like that.” He snapped his fingers. “One day we were in love, and the next we were total strangers engaged in battle. I’ve since learned it’s a process and happens over time. I own my part in our failure. I wrapped myself in work and pretended not to notice the distance.”
He stopped talking and his focus moved to a point past her on the horizon while the last twelve years ran through his mind.
“For the first eight years, we lived the good life,” he said a moment later. “My career was taking off, thanks to a case that made headlines and brought a huge boost to business when my client was found not guilty. I had a beautiful wife, two beautiful children. Everything we ever dreamed of. But she wanted more. More prestige, more things. A bigger house, designer clothes. So I worked harder to provide those things.”
“And?”
He heard the prodding in her voice and smiled wistfully. “And I got too wrapped up in work and making money. I forgot that you work to live, not the other way around. Living to work is an empty life. Money doesn’t buy happily-ever-after.” He sighed and shook his head, remembering. “It all came tumbling down when I found out she cheated with my partner at the time. I was working my ass off while he was reaping the benefits, helping himself to my wife in the process.”
Jason broke off abruptly. Why he revealed all those details to Claire, he had no idea. He only knew that once he started talking, the words just flowed, and he couldn’t halt them.
He cleared his throat and took a sip of wine. “I must be tipsy. I’ve said more than I intended.”
“Weren’t you the one who told me talking helps?” she reminded him, meeting his gaze with amusement in hers. “Besides. Makes you more human. It’s nice to know you’re not as perfect as I thought you were.”
Her stare moved to the water, where it stayed for quite a while.
“What happened when you found out?”
Jason shrugged. “Worked to fix things. Tried to make up for my mistakes. What else could I do? Right or wrong, Elise was my wife and I meant my vows. Except by that point, the damage was done on both sides. We never dealt with the anger or the bitterness, so eventually our marriage turned into one angry, bitter battleground. She screwed around to get back at me, and I ignored her. Divorce will be final in two weeks.”
He broke off and his attention shifted to the knot meter. They were cutting through the water at a good clip, traveling at about six knots.
“It’s not your fault. You can’t control the actions
of others,” Claire murmured as she set the stem of her wineglass inside the cup holder and moved to sit next to him.
“What are you? My champion?” When she shrugged, he snorted. “Takes two to make a marriage, and it takes two to make a divorce. She had plenty of help.”
“Still, cheating doesn’t solve any problems.”
He felt her touch on his arm and heard the compassion in her voice.
Working to ignore the warmth spreading through him caused by both, he swirled his wine, watching the red liquid inside the bowl. He sighed and brought the glass to his lips.
“I hate dwelling on failure,” he said before taking a sip. Elise Roberts had been a failure. One big failure. “Let’s talk about something else.”
“We don’t need to talk at all.” She stretched her legs out in front of her. “I love watching the sun go down. I could sit for hours just watching. Makes me believe in something greater.”
Jason eyed her deliberately and had to agree. He loved nothing better than watching spectacular scenery, especially if she happened to be an auburn-haired beauty.
While the sun disappeared, they drank wine and sat in comfortable silence, neither needing inane chatter to mar the breathtaking experience.
“Time to come about,” he said, and his voice boomed into the quiet night.
Claire jumped, clearly startled out of deep thoughts, and nodded before moving to do her part. When the boom slid around, she released one jib sheet and winched the other as Jason maneuvered the boat toward shore, heading southwest.
Dusk had settled in, that moment in time when it’s not quite dark nor light enough to see much.
Pwaphft!
Jason heard the first puff of air, the distinctive sound a dolphin made when the mammal breached the surface to take a breath.
A few seconds later, pwaphft . . . pwaphft was followed by a third, then a fourth. In a matter of minutes, the noise of puffing air became constant, almost a symphony of sound. Dolphins of all shapes and sizes swam along with the boat.
Claire laughed and ran to the bow. Leaning over, she counted.
“There are at least thirty, all breaching within seconds of each other.” Her tone held awe.
He came up behind her. A dolphin sighting was nothing out of the ordinary. He’d seen too many to count over the years, but seeing the flood of mammals all at once within five miles of land was uncommon, and something he’d never experienced before.
Together they leaned over, trying to get closer to the magnificent creatures. Several came to within inches of their reaching hands, yet none came close enough to touch. If he or Claire stretched further, the mammal would swim that much farther away, remaining a certain distance from contact.
They sailed this way for too long, heading much nearer to land than he normally would, simply because he didn’t want the movement of coming about to disturb the performance. Somehow he sensed once the boat changed course, they’d lose their traveling companions.
He sighed while coming to his feet. “Will you get the jib? We need to come about.”
She complied. In seconds the boat responded, and as he’d predicted, the dolphins didn’t turn with them.
“We’ve lost them.” Her words were laced with disappointment as she came to sit next to him.
“Yeah. But what a sight while they were with us.”
“I’ll remember this for the rest of my life. Thank you, Jason, for bringing me tonight. It was incredible.”
“Incredible,” he agreed.
Jason turned to watch her and could barely make out her features. But in the dimness, he saw eyes alight with pleasure. The sight had him sucking in a deep breath. Lust slammed into him and his groin stirred, sending unwanted signals to his brain.
“This was a bad idea,” he whispered, willing himself not to do something stupid. Sex with her would happen in due time, but not tonight.
“What was a bad idea?” Her sparkling, animated gaze became questioning.
“Being out here, alone with you.”
The sound of Claire’s soft laughter didn’t ease his struggle.
“You mean your strategy wasn’t to bring me out to the desolate ocean under the darkness of night and ply me with wine to have your way with me?” She laughed again. “The dolphins added a nice touch. Very clever.”
“I thought so.” He eyed her thoughtfully while his smile faded.
Suddenly, all the teasing went out of her expression. She licked her lips, seeming ill at ease. Then a siren’s smile replaced the nervousness of the earlier gesture. She leaned into him and wrapped her arms around him.
“Claire—”
“Don’t lie, Jason. I can see it in your eyes. Even if you didn’t plan it, you still want this to happen as much as I do.” Her lips brushed his for the slightest kiss, but she kept herself from actually kissing him.
He closed his eyes and willed himself not to move, staying perfectly still, except for that part of him that came alive all of a sudden as her tongue softly tasted. It was the most erotic thing he’d ever experienced, and he was dying to respond.
He groaned inwardly as her mouth moved across his face, barely touching him until she got to his ear. This time, her tongue plunged.
She whispered, “Admit it! You have seduction on your mind.”
Wait! Stop. This isn’t a good idea. Think, Roberts, think. Get the words out and stop this madness, his mind shouted.
With a labored breath, he said, “Maybe on some subconscious level, that’s what I had in mind. I don’t know. I get around you, and all I can think about is being inside you.”
Fool. Don’t tell her that. Stop!
But his body ignored the command. Instead, his hands wrapped around her waist and pulled her closer. Lips met lips before need and want slammed into him, causing his mouth to plunder, begging for more.
The softness of the earlier action was long over as she yielded, offering all he was pleading for. And more.
His tongue and mouth thoroughly explored hers, invading, taking pleasure as well as giving it. Hands joined in the exploration, touching only smooth, soft skin as they roamed up and down her body. Claire personified the perfect woman, and he was dying to be inside her.
Stop before it’s too late! He heard the command his brain yelled, and somehow he responded.
How he found the will to pull away, he wasn’t sure. But it took supreme effort on his part to keep her at arm’s length once he did. He was breathing heavily as he watched her push back her unruly red hair and sigh before looking out into the darkened waters of the Atlantic.
He chuckled softly, marveling at his restraint, torn between finding humor in her forlorn expression that mirrored his own feelings, and giving in to the driving need to take her fast and furious as he’d been about to do. It wasn’t lost on him that this seemed to happen more and more frequently.
Jason placed a hand under Claire’s chin to bring her attention to him. “This isn’t over. Not even close. I meant what I said. It’s not happening tonight,” he whispered.
He kissed her temple before nodding toward the jib. “Prepare to come about. It’s time to head home.”
Chapter 25
After coming about, Claire carefully made her way back to the stern and sat, watching Jason at the helm.
Her body still tingled. Need engulfed her. How could she be so affected when he seemed so unaffected? And why did she feel so disappointed?
It shouldn’t matter. Her life was a total mess right now. She should be relieved because Jason was being so strong. Yet somehow that bothered her more.
“How can you stand there so calmly as if nothing’s happened?” she finally asked, not caring that she sounded ill-tempered and pouty.
His attention flew to her face, and he studied her. She could barely make out his features in the darkness, but she could see his gaze as it bored into hers.
“You’re not ready for what I have in mind.”
“I disagree.” She sent him a fuming look. �
��It’s not your call to make. I thought we’d established that.”
“Oh?” The air crackled as if with electric current, and the fine hairs on her body responded. “My mistake,” he murmured, not letting go of her gaze.
A rush of pleasure washed over her. The intensity of those eyes as well as the sincerity in his voice had her inhaling a deep breath. Okay. He’s not so unaffected.
“It’s a moot point. When we make love the first time, I want no interruptions. I’ll need all night and I’d rather be on dry land, not heading for the Bahamas.”
How was she supposed to respond to that? Anticipation spread throughout her. He made sense, and so she did her best to follow his lead and act as if nothing had happened. But it was harder to do than she thought.
The sail back to the marina took forever. Her senses moved into overdrive, becoming more acute. The balmy air smelled sweeter, contrasting with the saltier taste, while the sound of water lapping against the sides of the Seawind swirled in her ears. The shapes she made out in the darkness appeared more vivid, and the pinpricks of sensation running over her every time Jason moved gave her a firm impression of his presence.
Her nostrils took in the spicy smell of him at the same time. He had a definite scent, combining deodorant and a slight smell of aftershave. All male and totally arousing.
Somehow she got through those stressful moments of closing the boat, working side by side with him as she ignored the signals her body insisted on responding to. The drive to her house seemed to take forever because in the close quarters of his car, her sense of awareness only grew in intensity.
Claire didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when, after opening her door and giving her another earth-shattering kiss, Jason murmured his good-byes and pushed her inside.
Once he left, she paced the living room, still feeling edgy. Finally, she made her way into the kitchen and pulled out the brownies. She bit into one, thankful she had plenty of chocolate to drown out her misery.
When she felt calm enough, she headed for bed.
After tossing and turning for two hours, Claire got up and went back to the kitchen. In the dark, she grabbed the plastic bag containing the remainder of the brownies and took them to the patio. She plopped into a chair and put her feet up, nibbling on brownies as she planned Jason Roberts’s seduction.