I set my phone face down. “Quit looking at my phone.”
“Not my fault if I saw it. Who’s Jenna?”
I sat back in my chair, my legs stretched out in front of me. “You remember Sandy Farnsworth?”
“Sure.”
I took a swig off my beer and set the mug down. “You promise you won’t be mad?”
“Why would I be mad?”
With my next long sip of beer, I felt the alcohol ooze pleasantly into my system. “What I’m about to tell you … you can’t tell another soul.” I hadn’t planned on telling anyone about my secret life but what can I say? Butch was my best friend and the beer flowed that night.
He leaned forward. “So cloak and dagger. Just tell me who Jenna is.”
“Remember that day Sandy called, and I met her for lunch?”
“Yeah, and?”
I drummed my fingers on the table. “Well, she had a little business proposition.”
“What’re you talking about?”
“Why don’t you finish your beer first?” Butch swallowed it in one gulp and ordered another. We waited for the server to deliver our beer then I took a deep breath and told him the whole story. Butch listened patiently, not interrupting, as his eyes grew wider and wider.
When I was done, Butch said, “This is unfuckingbelievable.” He squinted his eyes. “You messing with me?”
I leaned back and spread my arms. “Say hello to the new Casanova.”
He raked a hand through his hair, looking around the bar wildly. “You serious about this buddy?” He didn’t say anything for a while. Then, he narrowed his eyes. “What’s going on with Holly?”
My throat felt thick, and I took a long pull off my beer. “I’m only doing this for a little while until I get back on my feet financially.”
“I thought you cared about her.”
I bowed my head, looking up at Butch. “I do. Like I said, this is just temporary.”
“Jesus Jax, if she finds out, she could make things really bad for you.”
“In what way?”
He chortled. “You, my man, are hands down the best surfer I know, but dude, you’re not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed.”
I lifted my chin. “I’m just doing this for a few … weeks. I save up some money, quit, end of story.”
Butch narrowed his eyes. “So, you just happen to be screwing other women while you’re telling Holly she’s the one?”
“I never told her she was the one.” I lifted up my left hand. “Do you see a ring on my finger?”
“But, you brought her by the shop and—”
“I do care about her, Butch. I really do.” I had an empty feeling in the pit of my stomach. My mouth felt dry and I took another sip of beer. I struggled with my feelings. I’d hoped that Holly could be the woman to break through my protective shield, but first I had to get through this phase in my life. That’s all it was, merely a temporary job to make some money.
He leaned forward until his face was inches from mine. “If you cared about her, you wouldn’t be doing this.”
My knee bounced involuntarily. “She won’t find out.”
Butch took a swig of beer, his eyes riveted on me. “And if she does?”
“She won’t.” I toyed with the label on my beer, working it with my thumbnail until it began to shred. I avoided eye contact with Butch. “It wasn’t like I meant to get involved with Sandy. You have to understand how persistent she was. She kept calling and then one day she caught me at just the right time. The money’s great and the women are easy to work with.”
Butch rubbed his jaw. “You’re playing with fire. Heck, if there was nobody watching, I’d be the first to take on those chicks.” He smirked. “Not that anyone’s offered to pay me.” He glanced around the bar. “What if someone sees you at the Ritz? Dude, this could ruin you.”
I swallowed over a lump the size of a golf ball. “I told you, this is only a stopgap.” I rubbed sweaty palms on my jeans. “I’ll quit in a few—”
Butch threw his hands in the air. “A few what?” Just then, the server interrupted us and Butch ordered another round. We sat in silence and when his beer arrived, he downed a few hefty gulps. He tipped his head back and stared at the ceiling, then looked at me and shook his head. “So, what are these ladies like?”
I smiled, thinking of my bevy of extremely beddable and sweet women. “They’re great.”
Butch grabbed my arm with more force than I think he meant. “I think you need to think this through. If Holly finds out, she could tell the whole surf community, maybe even go to the cops.”
I took another swig of beer and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. My smile was extra-wide when I said, “But your honor, I thought this was legal.”
He shook his head and drained his beer. “You promise to be careful?”
I crossed my legs. “Of course I will.”
I don’t know if it was the alcohol, but suddenly, Butch had a new enthusiasm. He slapped the table with the palm of his hand making the cutlery jump. “Are they sexy ladies?”
I sagged against my chair with an unexpected release of tension. My smile was slow. “Damn straight, they’re sexy.”
He leaned in, his face inches from mine. “What do they want you to do?”
“Different things. Mostly straight sex. Some public stuff like sex on the beach just past San O.” I didn’t want to tell him about Olivia. She needed protecting, and no way did I ever want her hurt.
“You mean somebody might catch you?”
“There’s no camera’s there. But yeah, she likes it in public.”
Butch signaled the server to bring us another round. “This is unreal. Shit, you always did get the girls. And now they’re paying you? When you gonna spread some of the wealth?”
“Slow down, dude. I wouldn’t have even started this if I didn’t need the money.”
Butch shook his head, took another swig of beer and said, “How much they pay you?” I leaned over and whispered in his ear. “Shut the fuck up! Send some my way.” He got onto his knees in front of me, his hands clasped in prayer. “Please, Mr. Priest, send me your sloppy seconds.”
I laughed and asked him, “You want us to get kicked out?”
“Well what do you expect me to say?” He hefted himself into his chair and leaned forward until his alcohol infused breath was right in my face. “This is hands down the greatest story I’ve heard all year.” He took another swig of his beer. “No, make that my whole life.”
Then, Butch clasped my arm so hard it hurt. “You promise to be careful?”
“Yes, master, I promise.” I slugged him in the arm. “Come on, you and me, we’re a team. Lighten up.”
“All I’m saying is you’d better be careful with—”
“Holly’s not going to find out. Nobody needs to know.” Butch and I did our fair share of trash talking, but I felt extra cocky from the alcohol. I leaned forward until my face was inches from Butch’s. “You should see the bodies on some of these chicks. It’s enough to make a hot-blooded man come in his pants. I get a hard-on just thinking about going down on their sweet pussies.”
Butch pushed me away. “Quit rubbing it in.” Butch’s eyes were unfocused, and he slurred when he said, “I just got one thing to say, dude.”
“What’s that?”
“You’re buying.” He signaled to the server. “Darling, bring us a pitcher of your finest. And two shots of tequila.” I felt like crawling under the table because I knew what was coming next. When the server delivered the pitcher of beer, Butch stood up and with great ceremony, removed his leg, and placed it in the center of the table. To the surprise of the patrons in the bar, he poured the entire pitcher into the leg. “Here’s to the King,” he said in a voice that would’ve been too loud if it wasn’t for the music—the Rolling Stones’s “Honky Tonk Woman.” “Long live the king!” He took a huge gulp then commanded me to do the same while the crowd got into the spirit and chanted, Drink, drink, drink!
I figured I could quit the business soon, but that old saying is true, the more you make, the more you spend. It had become all too easy to book a last minute flight to wherever the waves were good then check myself into luxurious accommodations. I didn’t need to stay in fleabag hotels or sleep on some surfer friend’s uncomfortable living room floor if I didn’t want to. Maybe I’d gotten spoiled, but I was beginning to like the feel of thousand-thread-count Egyptian cotton sheets.
As we drank and talked about the biggest waves we’d ever surfed, (alcohol had a way of making them larger), and Butch grilled me with questions about the girls, I scrolled through my iPhone. There were text messages from Sandy: Hey handsome, how does this Wednesday look? And from Christy: I’m thinking of you and melted chocolate. Is Friday good?
Later, as we stood waiting for an Uber in front of the bar, Butch swayed on his heels. “Promise me you’ll be careful.” I said I would. He hiccupped. “And promise me you’ll give them my phone number?” I said I would. “And promise me.” His strong arms nearly crushed me when he seized me in a bear hug. “That if one of them’s into having a peg-leg go down on her …”
We both laughed.
Our evening ended as the car pulled up, Butch and I arm in arm, and for all I know, singing “How Dry I Am.” The next day was going to bring one heck of a hangover.
Holly
Jax and I had been dating for about four months. I was sitting in my backyard, gazing out to the sea, waiting for Jax to come over for our stand up paddle board date. A few surfers were in the lineup and one of them wiped out, head over heels. While I waited, I called Stan.
“Hey bud. What’s up?” Stan said when he picked up.
I sighed. “Just waiting for Prince Charming.”
“When are you going to come down to earth?” he said.
“Never. I think I owe you an apology.”
“Really? Why?”
I twirled a strand of hair. “I never knew love could be like this.”
“Love? Has Jax told you he loves you?”
I cleared my throat. “No, but things are great.” I’d laughed at Stan when he’d gone on and on about romance and passion and happily-ever-after. Admittedly, Stan had gone about it the wrong way—everyone knew that—but now I understood what Stan had been after.
He chuckled, and I could picture Stan, ever the idealist, sitting on his deck thinking about the next woman he’d fall in love with. “Told you it could be this way.” Stan believed in love, intimacy, a person to share long, lazy evenings with, lingering over red wine, deep conversations, music, and making love while gazing into each other’s eyes. Just thinking about that made me realize that I felt that way too. It amused me. “But I thought you were Ms. Independent. Thought you liked painting your own living room walls and paying your own bills.”
I stood and stretched. “It’s such a relief to have Jax in my life. He takes care of me. Promise you won’t laugh?”
“Hit me with your best shot,” he said.
“I feel loved. He makes me feel safe and warm.” Jax often showed up at my house after I’d had a hard day’s work, made dinner (he was actually a decent cook), drew a warm bath, massaged me with coconut oil, and then helped me relax even more in bed with exceptional orgasms.
“Loved? Sounds more like the sex is pretty good.”
“It’s more than sex.” I whispered into the phone, “Can I tell you what he does?”
“You mean the blow by blow?”
“He bought a collection of sex toys to use on me.”
“Stop. You’re making me horny. And jealous. Sex toys? Really?”
“A couple needs to have fun in the bedroom,” I said. A couple. That’s what we were, and I was ecstatic.
“How are things going with … you know, the Tatyana thing.”
“Fine,” I snapped. “We never talk about it, and that’s the way we’re keeping it.”
Stan said, “He’s been traveling a lot. Do you guys even get to see each other?”
“Yes, Stan, we do get to see each other.” I crossed the lawn and inhaled a lungful of ocean air. The fact that Jax traveled so much, surfing big waves all over the world, was a constant concern to me. I could barely breathe when I thought of the very real dangers of big wave surfing. This concern, a heaviness in my chest, wasn’t my style, but I’d gotten so used to having Jax around. I thought I could be falling hard.
I heard Jax’s truck pull up, and my heart thudded in my chest. “Stan, I have to go.” The puppies were in a barking frenzy.
“Okay, my friend, I can hear you’ve got a better deal. Talk to you later.”
When I answered the door, Jax pulled me into a tight embrace, his insistent mouth on mine. The kiss was long, slow, and deep. His heartbeat sped up, a jackhammer vibrating through my body. We pulled away and he said, “If I don’t stop kissing you now, we’ll never get our paddle in.” His eyes lit up. “I say we paddle naked.”
I put up my hands in mock surrender. “Won’t we get arrested?”
He grinned. “Maybe. But we’d make good cellmates.” He took my hand. “Let’s paddle out.”
We attached our surfboard leashes and launched our boards into the ocean behind my house in Laguna Beach. It was an especially warm California day, and we paddled north, passing the historic Hotel Laguna, which looked like part of a movie set, a panorama of verdant hills in the background.
We paddled out past sea lion rock where a group of sea lions liked to hang out, past Heisler Park, with its profusion of colorful flowers, palm trees, and sheer cliffs. We kept going until we were so far out that it felt like the two of us were the only people in the world.
“Let’s rest for a while,” Jax said as we glided to a stop. We sat on our paddle boards, legs dangling over the side, cool ocean water caressing our skin. Jax took both of my hands in his and gazed at me with those mesmerizing blue eyes. “I know I’ve been kind of unavailable lately.”
“No you haven’t.”
“I have. I’ve been running off all over the world. And when I am in town, I’m too busy at the shop and with … you know … life.” He held my hands tighter. “I’ve got to get my game back, win some contests, win some money, and maybe get another big sponsorship. I want to be able to take care of you.”
The ocean swayed beneath me. Everything I had ever wanted was right there, right then in that moment. “Oh baby, you do take care of me,” I said, squeezing his hands. “How could you ever think you’re not?”
He turned his head and looked out at the horizon. “A man’s got to be able to earn a living … be able to take care of his woman.”
His woman! Is that what I was? Happiness burst in every cell of my body. “Babe, you just keep doing what you’re doing. You are making me a very happy woman. Can I show you my appreciation?” I tugged at the drawstring on his boardshorts.
“Come here, baby.” He grabbed me around the waist, and we both splashed into the water. His mouth was on mine, and he untied my bikini top and kissed my neck, my breasts, and nipples. I wrapped my legs around him, feeling his warmth, and inhaling his masculinity. We laughed and splashed, like two kids enjoying summer vacation together. “Hey, I’ve got an idea,” he said, his eyes suddenly filled with that sexual mischief that filled me with anticipation. “How about if you lay real still on your paddle board. I’ll take off your bikini bottoms and spread your legs.” His eyes glazed over in that Jax Priest way that meant he was entering his red-hot sexual zone.
Luckily, the ocean was somewhat calm that day but the board was a bit wobbly. Jax removed my bikini bottoms and placed them on his board. “Scoot down and drape your legs over the side. I’ll hold you still.” He pushed my knees apart and sucked in his breath. “Oh yeah baby, your pussy’s right in my face.” The whole thing was so brazen—sex on a surfboard. I was completely naked out in the middle of the ocean with this outrageously sexy man. He stared at my sweet spot, his eyes filled with desire. “Jesus, Holly, I want to taste you so badly. I
want to feel it when you come.” When Jax’s warm mouth touched my sweetness, I closed my eyes and allowed myself to float in a cocoon of pure pleasure. His tongue was perfect, slowly flicking across the bud of my pleasure, and not stopping. My legs trembled as I glanced at this heartbreakingly beautiful man. His tongue dipped in and out of me, his body drifting in the ocean as he held my legs open, one hand trailing up my bare stomach. His eyes closed in bliss, his perfect tongue making me lose myself. My fingers moved to his wet hair, stroking, my body tensing. I closed my eyes and moaned. Delicious heat pooled in every area of my body. His fingers slid inside, deeper and deeper. My muscles tightened in anticipation as I throbbed and contracted. Pleasure rolled me toward a waterfall edge. I was close. Sensors went off around every inch of his tongue and his fingers. I tilted my head back. I couldn’t hold back as I dove off the edge, into my orgasm. The hunger overtook me as I involuntarily clutched Jax’s hair.
When I came, the spasms and waves that moved through me were especially intense. My orgasm stretched further and further, all the way to the horizon as the sun made its slow descent toward the skyline. Jax sunk his fingers inside me. “Yeah, that’s hot. I feel you coming. Damn, you’re sexy.”
“Oh, Jax.” I can’t remember exactly what I said as I lost control, my fingers digging into his scalp as I rode out my orgasm, my pussy clenching around Jax’s delicious fingers. I think I told him I loved him.
When we got back to my house, I saw a text message displayed on Jax’s phone. I wasn’t trying to spy on him, but he was in the bathroom, and his phone was just laying there on the kitchen counter. The text read: Buoy reading at 17 feet, and the swell direction is 270 degrees. Mavs is on! Adrenaline shot up my spine. No. I didn’t want to think of Jax out in that dangerous surf.
Jax sauntered through the living room, whistling. He playfully smacked me on the butt before picking up his phone. “Holy, fuck!” he said, excitement lighting up his face. “I’ve got to call Butch.”
What followed was a high-pitched conversation between the two surfing buddies. I listened to Jax’s side as he discussed how fast they could make the drive to Half Moon Bay, which boards he was taking, which other surfers would be there, and whose truck they would take. Jax pranced through the living room, the pups trailing him excitedly. At one point he caught me staring at him, and he winked, a smile lighting up his whole face.
Pleasure Point: The Complete Series Page 39