He confirms this when he suggests I take a walk with him to investigate the new lawnmower he’s just bought. His Kiwi ‘Man Cave’ is at the opposite end of the garden to Jess’s sleepout, and far enough from the house to suggest it’s an escape when he needs a bit of peace and quiet.
“I know nothing about garden equipment,” I tell him as we stand looking down at the shiny red mower.
“Yeah, well, it was kind of an excuse.” Caleb looks out of the shed door to make sure the girls are still sitting on the deck and then comes in and sits on a chair. He opens a small bar fridge, takes out two beers, and offers me one. I laugh, crack it open, and sit in the folding deckchair beside him.
He takes a long swig, and I do the same. I have a feeling I know what’s coming, and sure enough, when he sets his bottle down, he studies me with a fatherly eye.
I decide to pre-empt him. “Are you going to ask me about my prospects?”
He laughs and leans forward, elbows on his knees. “I don’t think I’m quite old enough to do that, but yeah, you got the gist of it.” He swigs his beer again. “I’m guessing because you’ve met Lara that you know what Jess has been through.”
“Yes. She’s been very open.”
“That’s a first in itself. I don’t think she’s ever told anyone else about what happened.”
I feel smug satisfaction that she didn’t confide in Alastair. “You don’t have anything to worry about me,” I tell her brother. “I’m going to take care of her.”
He studies me for a moment, then nods slowly. “She’s had a tough time, that’s all. I hate that I wasn’t there for her, and I want to make sure she’s okay now.”
“I understand that. I know Jess and I haven’t known each other long. That’s why I want her to come to my place for a bit, so we can spend some quality time together, make sure this is what we both want, you know?”
He nods again, his look turning curious. “Jess said you were the inventor of Dark Robot?”
“One of, yeah.”
His lips curve up a little. I know that look—he’s putting two and two together and making a million dollars. Doubt flickers inside me. Is he thinking I’m an easy way to get to some money?
But then he says, “It’s cool to know Jess will be in good hands,” and I realize he’s just pleased she’s with someone who’ll be able to treat her right. I look out of the door across the garden to the hills, feeling ashamed. Sometimes I hate having money.
“Shall we get back?” he says, and, like that, the man-to-man chat is done, with Caleb feeling as if he’s made his point clear. My lips curve as we walk back. I’m sure Jess would find that whole conversation hysterically funny. But I’m pleased her brother is looking out for her. She’s been on her own far too long, and I like the thought of her having plenty of people to care for her.
*
The following day, as we’re packing in the bedroom, Lara rings. I watch Jess’s face light up as if she’s one of the tealight holders she loves so much, and Lara has lit the candle inside her. She walks outside to talk to her daughter, and I smile and continue stuffing my few things into my bag.
It’s not long before she returns, but she has a glow about her that makes me walk around the bed and give her a hug.
“All right?” I ask her.
She nods. “She just wanted to say hi. I told her we’re going away for a few weeks but that I might pop back at some point, and she said to let her know when and we’ll go out for coffee.” Her cheeks have flushed a beautiful rosy pink. “It seemed so normal, like she’s my niece or something.”
“Maybe that’s a good way to think about her. She could even call you Aunt Jess. It might make things easier all ways round.”
“That’s not a bad idea. I quite like the idea of being an aunt. Aunts are fun—they’re the people you go to for advice when you know your mum’s going to tell you off.”
I smile. “I’m sure she’ll like the idea of that.”
She slides her arms around my waist and hugs me. “Thank you so much. I’ve loved having you here.”
I kiss the top of her head. “It’s been great spending time with you. I’ve had the best Christmas break.”
“Me too.”
I rest my cheek on the top of her head, looking out at the garden. I’m excited to be taking Jess home, but nervous also. I keep thinking about the way she was intimidated at Fox’s restaurant, and that wasn’t even an expensive place by my standards. I know she’s going to be shocked at the size of the house and its location. What remains to be seen is whether she can come to terms with the fact that I have money, and that I want to look after her. Not in a chain her to the kitchen sink, barefoot and pregnant kind of way—although, come to think of it, that doesn’t sound the worst idea in the world—but in the way that I want to make sure she’s comfortable and happy. I want to protect her, to be her knight in shining armor. I want to hunt down Alastair-Cheating-Bastard and ram his fucking teeth down his throat. I want her to be mine. But with her past and her fierce independence, I know I’m going to have a battle on my hands. I just hope that she doesn’t walk into my house, turn, and walk straight out again.
*
By four o’clock, we’re in my Cessna heading south over the Bay of Islands.
It has six passenger seats in the aft cabin, but Jess is sitting beside me in the cockpit, wearing headphones and with a mouthpiece so we can talk to each other. Her nose is pressed to the window, her face turned away from me.
I only found out once she was in her seat that this is the first time she’s been on a plane.
Flying seems as natural to me as swimming now. I started taking lessons in my twenties and bought the plane five years ago, and I love being in the air. Whenever we have business meetings elsewhere in the country, it’s usually me who flies us there.
“Are you feeling all right?” I ask her. I can’t see her expression. I hope she’s not feeling queasy.
She turns her head, and I smile as I see her eyes wide and a huge smile on her face. “This is amazing!” She gives a light, happy laugh and returns her gaze to the window. I grin and look back at the controls.
I point out landmarks along the way to give her something to look at, but she doesn’t need much entertaining because it’s a short flight, only thirty minutes, and by four thirty we’re on the ground at Dairy Flat Airfield. I leave the plane with Carl—I know most of the hands at the airfield—and we pack our bags into a waiting taxi and head north. My house is just off the Hibiscus Coast Highway, past Orewa and Hatfields Beach.
Jess’s eyes are still sparkling, and there’s a sense of wonder within them when she looks at me.
“So how was your first flight?” I take her hand, interlinking our fingers.
“Amazing. I’m very lucky—I know most people have to put up with cattle class!” She looks out of the window as the sea appears on our right. “Oh, wow.”
She’s silent as the car winds along the highway, disappearing between wooded hills before reappearing again even closer to the coast. The driver turns off the main road and follows the drive east, where it curves around to a large house sitting on a rise that overlooks a long, narrow beach and beyond that, the Pacific Ocean.
The taxi driver parks and I pay him, and Jess and I get out and retrieve our bags. She hasn’t said anything yet. We approach the house, and Jess stops and looks down at the view.
“Is that a private beach?”
There’s no point in lying now. “Yes.” I unlock the door, and lead the way inside.
Jess follows, and we walk into my pride and joy. I’d rung my housekeeper and asked her to call in and switch on the air con, and the house is cool, but filled with sunlight. The floors are polished rimu wood, and most of the front wall is glass.
We walked across the large square hallway and into the open plan living area. To our left is my kitchen, with all the mod cons—I like to cook, as long as it’s not too fancy—and ahead of us is the living area. I don’t like clutter,
so there’s only a comfortable black leather suite, some glass tables, and the eighty-inch TV. On the other side of the room is my workstation—a long table with several computers and laptops, and two big monitors.
I’m too nervous to ask her what she thinks, so I walk through the kitchen to the master bedroom, hoping she’ll follow. I can’t imagine that she won’t like it, but I know she must be overwhelmed. Please don’t let her just turn around and walk out…
I enter my bedroom and cross it to place our bags by the walk-in closet. Jess comes in and stops dead. She stares for ages, then walks slowly forward, around the huge bed, to the front wall, where she glances across at the magnificent hot spa that’s sunk into the deck. Then she looks out at the view of the golden beach and the Pacific.
“Holy shit.” She starts laughing. “You really are a fucking millionaire, aren’t you?”
“About a thousand times over,” I admit as modestly as I can.
“A billionaire?” Now she has the giggles, and she collapses onto the bed and covers her face with her hands. “Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God.”
I sit next to her, pleased that she’s laughing, but not sure whether it’s genuine or hysterical. “It’s just a house.”
She lowers her hands. There are tears on her cheeks, but a huge smile on her face. She sits up, shaking her head. “It’s really not just a house, Rich.”
“Eh. Maybe not.”
She looks up at the high ceiling with its large skylight, then sends a longing glance at the spa. “It’s a dream house.”
“That’s true. It was my dream.”
Her gaze comes back to me. “You had it built after Will died?”
“Yeah.”
“Ah. That makes a lot of sense. It’s a place to escape, isn’t it? To be free?”
I nod, touched that she understands.
“Are you sure you want me here?” she whispers. “I don’t wear pearls or diamonds.”
“Not yet,” I tell her.
She blinks slowly. “I hate high heels and I’ll be going around barefoot all the time.”
“Means you can’t leave—it’s a gravel drive.”
Her lips twitch. “I’ll be putting colorful throws over the sofa and meditating on the deck. The house will smell of vanilla and cinnamon candles. I’ll be using up all the ingredients in your cupboards and there will be flour in my hair and in the corners of the work surfaces.”
“It sounds fantastic,” I say happily, realizing that she’s saying she likes it, and she wants to stay. I grab her around the waist and pull her back onto the bed.
“And once I get in the spa, I’m never getting out,” she informs me.
I tip my head from side to side. “Yeah I get that. Although it’s so warm at the moment that you might prefer the pool.”
Her eyes nearly fall out of her head. “You have a pool?”
“Um, yeah.”
“Oh Jesus. I want to see it now!”
Laughing, I grab her hand, unlatch the doors, and lead her out onto the deck. There are steps to our left, and I lead her down and across the stepping stones on the grassy bank to the pool. It’s a large one, kidney-shaped, with dark and light-blue tiles around the edge and a variety of palms and flowering plants in pots. There are also multi-colored solar lights threaded through the fence, but they’re not on at the moment.
I open the gate and let her precede me, and she stands on the edge of the pool and stares down into it. I asked Freda—my housekeeper—to make sure that the pool guy came this morning, and it’s clean, the water crystal clear.
“Can I go in?” Jess whispers.
“Of course,” I say, amused.
She glances around, and then, to my shock, she takes the hem of her sundress in her hands and lifts it up and over her head. She’s naked underneath, and as she stands on the edge of the pool, her creamy-brown skin gleams in the sunlight. Her breasts are high, her dark-pink nipples tightening in the breeze.
She’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.
Casting a glance over her shoulder at me, she laughs at my open mouth, and then she takes a neat dive into the water. She emerges further up the pool like a mermaid and smooths her hair off her face. “Aren’t you coming in?” she teases. “The water’s gorgeous.” She tips onto her back to float, her breasts emerging all pale and shiny, and that’s it, I’m stripping off my clothes, and lifting my arms ready to dive in.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Jess
I’ll never forget this moment, watching Rich standing on the edge of the pool. He has the sun behind him, and for a moment he takes my breath away with his muscular shoulders, neat, trim waist, and his long legs.
As he dives in, I think I must be dreaming. Life can’t possibly be this good. It never has been before, and I can’t think what amazing deed I’ve done to deserve it now.
Rich swims up and emerges right in front of me, slides his arms around me, and captures my lips with his.
I let him kiss me, feeling the passion surging through him. I don’t understand why I make him so happy, but I can see that I do, from the ever-present smile on his face, to the affection in his eyes when he looks at me, to the pride in his voice when he told Caleb and Emma at the dinner table about my painting. For some reason, this guy loves me. Although I don’t feel deserving of his love, I’m trying to trust in the universe and believe that his affection for me isn’t a mistake, and someone Up There isn’t going to check the books, panic at the fact that they’ve given him to the wrong girl, and whisk him away.
He tips his head, slanting his lips across mine, and I feel his tongue slide into my mouth, hot and slick, a stark contrast to the cool water slicing across my skin. I murmur my approval and lift my legs to wrap them around him, and Rich groans against my mouth and pushes me through the water until my back is against the wall. He presses himself up against me, and he’s hot and hard, his erection firm against my belly.
He slows down the kiss, taking the time to press his lips across mine, while his hands wander over me, gliding across my cool skin. His lips curve beneath mine as he cups my breasts, feeling how they lift in the water.
“Fuck, that’s sexy,” he murmurs, and I have to agree. As he squeezes my nipples, I gasp and arch my back, rubbing against him. We can’t have sex in the pool. Can we?
Rich certainly seems to think it’s a possibility. He plays with my breasts for a while, and they seem hyper-sensitive in the water, my skin tingling every time he moves and sends a wave washing across them. This is heavenly, and my senses are on overdrive—hot sun and cool water, soft skin and hard muscle, birdsong in the palms and Rich’s husky murmurs in my ear. The gentle sound of the water conjures up beautiful purple lights in the air around us, and I’m sure I can smell melted chocolate. I suppose it’s the richness of the sensations, the warm pleasure flowing through me.
Rich slides his hand down between my legs, and I feel his fingers glide through my folds and inside me. Then he’s touching my clit, gentle circles over the sensitive button, and I tip my head back onto the tiles and let my body float up toward him to give him better access. He lets me float right to the surface, and then suddenly his mouth is kissing up my thigh and he’s burying his tongue inside me. He smooths his hands up my body and over my breasts, and, buoyed by the water, I surrender to him, letting him arouse me until my breaths are ragged and I’m teetering on the edge of bliss.
He lifts up and murmurs, “Wait here.” I groan as he drops me, but watch him reach over to where he’d dropped his clothes on the pool edge. He yanks his jeans toward him, takes his wallet out of the pocket, and extracts a condom. With ease, he lifts himself up so he’s sitting on the edge of the pool, and he rolls on the condom, holds it in place, then slips back into the water. Within seconds, he’s lifting my legs around his waist again, and then I feel him pressing at my opening.
I lay back and relax, and he slides in, right up to the top in one easy movement.
“Aaahhh…” I lift up, feel
ing the cool water washing over my nipples, teasing the sensitive skin.
“You’re so beautiful,” he whispers, holding my hips, and then he starts moving inside me with short, shallow thrusts. I float for a while, enjoying the way my upper body breaks the water tension, but it’s not long before I want more. I want him deep inside me, I want to kiss him and watch him as he comes.
So I tip upright, my weight forcing me down onto him, and he grunts and pushes me up against the wall again. With his hands beneath my bottom, he begins to thrust properly, and soon the water’s sloshing around us, and heat’s building inside me, forcing all my muscles to tighten.
I cram my lips to his, hungry now, biting, sucking, plunging my tongue into his mouth, and Rich holds me tightly with one arm around my waist and slips the other into my hair. He kisses me deeply, and the motion of our tongues mirrors the slide of him inside me, hard, thrusting. I moan, feeling pressure building, and Rich lifts his head to watch me.
I force my eyes open, and find him looking at me with such love and passion that it takes my breath away. And when I come, and my eyes close automatically, I can still feel his hot gaze, drinking in my bliss, exultant that he’s given me pleasure, before he, too, stiffens and jerks as his climax hits.
God, yeah, it’s good, it’s amazing, in the cool water and the hot sun, with the man I’m crazy about deep inside me, taking me hard. I’m his and he’s mine, and although I’m having to fight every bone in my body not to yell that I’m not worthy of this, I clutch him and hold him and promise myself that, for as long as he wants me, I’m never, ever going to let him go.
*
I thought I was going to find it hard to settle in, and that I’d feel as if I was intruding in someone else’s house, but the truth is that I don’t, not at all. Because Rich is so minimalist, it’s like his house is a blank slate. I appreciate that he likes the freshness and cleanness of white and chrome, and I certainly don’t want him to feel as if I’m cluttering the place up, but I slowly start placing my throws around the place, and I’m pleased as the flashes of color begin to bring the house alive.
My New Year Fling: A Sexy Christmas Billionaire Romance (Love Comes Later Book 2) Page 20