Saltwater Kisses

by Krista Lakes

  I managed to make it to the hallway before I started running.

  ***

  I nearly slammed the door to my bedroom, but managed not to. Every nerve in my body was shaking from my encounter with the Saunders. I looked at my freshly made bed and hoped I was going to wake up soon. This had to be a dream.

  I placed the envelope on my dresser, trying to ignore them while I checked my phone. No new messages. It was still early though and Jack always tried not to wake me up. I fell back onto the big bed, feeling the soft bedding catch my fall. I tried to take a deep breath, hold it, and let it out. It didn’t work. I still felt flustered and discombobulated.

  The envelope stared at me like a judgmental eye. The dolphin necklace that Jack had bought me sat curled up neatly beside it. Two different decisions. Two different paths. I closed my eyes, but I could still feel them there, haunting me to choose. Dreams or Jack?

  I let out a frustrated noise and stood up. Lying in bed wasn’t going to help me choose. I needed something to do, something productive. I hated sitting around with nothing to do but wait for my dinner with Jack or for Rachel to come entertain me. I hung the dress coat in the closet, smoothed the expensive silk of my shirt, and opened the door to the hallway.

  I got two steps before I realized that the Saunders would probably still be eating breakfast in the dining room. They were the last people in the world I wanted to see, so I snuck carefully down the hall past the door to the kitchen. The lights were off and it was empty. A pale cold light through the window sparkled on the stainless steel appliances, but what caught my eye were the roses.

  Sitting on the light wooden table was a beautiful bouquet of long stemmed red roses. They smelled divine, their sweet scent filling the kitchen with images of summer. A small card sat next to them, inscribed simply with “For a beautiful lady.” It was Jack’s messy scrawl. I could barely read it, but it made my heart melt a little, knowing that this was Jack’s way of trying to apologize for last night.

  I held a flower up and took a deep breath. The scent relaxed me, my shoulders dropping down from my ears to rest where they were supposed to. I picked my phone out of my pocket.

  Thank you for the flowers. I love them!

  It only took a moment for the reply: You deserve them. I’m sorry about last night. Do over?

  An idea formed quickly. I could feel a grin spreading over my face as it began to take shape, the pieces falling together.

  Dinner is on me tonight. I’ll arrange everything.

  I took another deep inhale of the flowers. I would need Rachel’s help, but I could make this a wonderful evening. It was something that would keep me busy, and give me something to do other than think about the decision sitting on my dresser.

  Chapter 18

  I sat on the vinyl seat, a nervousness making my hands twitchy. I played with the silverware, the menus, the dinky plastic cup filled with soda. I probably shouldn’t have had two full glasses already, but I was nervous and kept refilling it.

  I glanced around the small diner. It was nothing fancy—a greasy spoon hamburger joint that reminded me of home. With Rachel’s help, I had rented the entire restaurant for the evening. The owner was more than happy to “sell” me the space for an evening, and I had a feeling Rachel was generous with the payment in return for a signed agreement not to tell anyone. No crazy photographers were going to ruin this date night.

  I glanced up as the door chimed. Jack walked in the door, wearing a $10,000 suit. I was wearing jeans and a t-shirt—granted it was an Rachel-chosen jeans and t-shirt costing more than a week’s salary. I watched as the two bodyguards closed the door behind him. The taxi he arrived in pulled away, immediately lost to a sea of matching yellow cars. The taxi for him, while Rachel drove around in the fancy chauffeured car to keep the paparazzi from following him had been my idea.

  “You did all this?” He asked, glancing around the small diner. He looked so out of place as he hung his fancy suit jacket on a coat rack covered with grease, and slid into the seat across from me.

  “I thought we could be normal tonight,” I said with a smile. He glanced around.

  “Where are the other diners?”

  “Okay, sort of normal. I bought the restaurant for the evening. The chef and the waitress too. I mean—I didn’t buy them—you can’t buy people—”

  Jack reached out and took my hand, cutting off my nervous chatter. His hand was warm and strong on mine, current flowing through it and sending my already racing heart into a new pattern.

  “This is fantastic, Emma. Thank you.” His smile made my poor heart do back flips.

  An excited waitress bounced over to our booth, her grin nearly pulling her face apart.

  “So, what can I get you folks?” She tried to say it normally, but the grin on her face at serving the famous Jack Saunders, gave her excitement away.

  Jack didn’t even bother opening the menu before ordering.

  “I’ll take your largest burger with pepper jack cheese. Can you put a fried egg on it? Perfect. The works on the burger, fries, and a chocolate shake please.”

  The young girl smiled as she scribbled his order on her pad before turning to me. Her smile seemed to grow even wider as she took my order.

  “I’ll have the number 2 cheeseburger with everything, an order of half fries half onion rings, and a banana shake. Thank you,” I said. The girl beamed at the two of us, obviously star struck. It felt odd to have someone think I qualified as a celebrity. I knew she was trying her best to pretend like we were a normal couple, Rachel was certainly paying her enough, but her smile was infectious. She grinned and hurried off to the kitchen to start our orders.

  “How did you do all this?” Jack asked, settling into the red vinyl seat.

  “Rachel helped... a lot. I came up with the idea, and she made it happen.” I shrugged and smiled. “I wanted us to have a normal date night. You seem exhausted by the billionaire stuff.”

  A tiredness crossed his face. It was the look I saw disappear when I brought him dinner each night. It passed quickly as he shrugged it off.

  “Work is insane. So much has to be done, and the deadlines keep creeping up. I don’t want to talk about it. This is a normal date night. Let’s talk about something normal.”

  I laughed a little. Here was a man sitting a suit worth half my year’s salary, in a greasy hamburger joint, wanting to talk about normal.

  “Well, the Iowa Cubs are looking good this season. “

  Jack cocked his head, obviously confused.

  “Baseball. Spring training. They’re a feeder team for the Chicago Cubs. They are the closest thing we have to a major league sports team in Iowa. Other than the college stuff.”

  “I played baseball as a kid. I was never very good,” Jack said. He laughed and I loved the sound. For a moment, we were normal. This was how a date was supposed go—sports, weather, laughing and sharing stories. He was the laughing happy man that I met on vacation; the cold business man was gone.

  The waitress reappeared with our food, still smiling from ear to ear. Jack chowed down on his burger like it was the only food he had seen all day. Knowing his work schedule, it probably was. I dug into my burger, feeling ketchup drip out onto my plate. Jack swiped an onion ring from my plate, and I snatched one of his fries. This of course led to a fry battle, with the two of us creating elaborate defenses with our food to keep the other from stealing it.

  My ribs ached from laughing. Jack’s foot kept playing with mine under the table as we played elaborate fry games above. It was a piece of heaven and we hadn’t even had pie yet. I was glad we were the only patrons in the restaurant, because we would have been kicked out for acting like rowdy kids otherwise.

  I snagged one of his fries as he snuck an onion ring off my plate, making me laugh. The table vibrated, and my fry defense quickly fell. Jack glared at the phone on the edge of the table. It had remained mercifully silent, but now was vibrating as though full of bees. He shot me an apologetic look before
reaching for it and standing up.

  “I told you no interruptions,” he growled into the phone. He was instantly the cold domineering man. I wondered how he could switch on the businessman so quickly. I sighed quietly and leaned back against the booth, as he stalked over to the window, his voice angry.

  For ten minutes I played with the straw in my milkshake. The fries were now soggy and the onion rings had lost their magic. I wondered if this would be what my life would be like. Small stolen moments with the laughing young man on the beach, surrounded by an ocean of business calls and interruptions. Would it be worth it?

  “I’m sorry Emma,” Jack said quietly, taking his seat once again. I sat up once again in my chair.

  “Don’t be. This is your job, Jack.” I smiled, trying to take the sting out of my words.

  “It isn’t fair to you though. I still have a few minutes before they are coming to get me for an emergency meeting. What kind of pie do you think they have?”

  I smiled and handed him a menu. He flashed me a grin that made my insides go mushy. Those eyes could make a girl go crazy. How was I going to decide?

  Chapter 19

  My laptop screen glowed an eerie blue, casting strange shadows on the walls and window shades. It was well after midnight, but I couldn’t sleep, so I was up playing on my computer. I swung my legs as I sat at the big oak desk in the corner of the room. My older sister Kaylee, was online and we were emailing back and forth as I roamed the web in search of anything to take my mind off the envelopes and necklace still watching me from my dresser. I hadn’t touched them since I came back from my meeting with the Saunders.

  Hey,

  Your boss is curious if you are ever coming back to work. They miss you. Dr. Georges says you’re his favorite vet tech. His practice has been going through the roof with all your stardom. By the way, there are at least four reporters parked outside your apartment building right now. Mrs. Jenkins calls the cops on them at least twice a day, but they keep coming back. I think she might actually get tired of calling the cops... nah, not her. They actually had to up security at my hospital because photographers kept trying to sneak in and take pictures of me. My boss was pissed.

  Mom and Dad are thrilled hat you are seeing someone. They were kind of worried for a while there that they were never going to get any grand kids out of either of us. What is going to happen next? Are you ever going to come home?

  -Kaylee

  I stared at the screen asking myself the same question. Was I going to go home? Right now I was in limbo, not really belonging in Iowa or New York. I couldn’t go back to Iowa with paparazzi staking out my home; though the idea of Mrs. Jenkins calling the cops on them made me smile. At least someone was having a good time because of photographers. I didn’t belong here in New York though either. There was nothing for me to do here, nothing productive at least. Rachel made sure I had a daily allowance and access to the company car, but there was no way I was driving in New York City and it didn’t feel right taking the money. I hadn’t earned it, and I had no real right to any of it.

  I hit reply.

  Hey yourself,

  I’m not sure when I’ll be coming back. If there are reporters staking out my house, there is no way I can go home for a while. You know how I forget to close the drapes. That does not need to be on a magazine. I actually have a decision to make soon though.

  I got accepted to vet school. My top choice and everything, but going would mean leaving Jack. His parents made it pretty clear that I can’t be a vet and stay with him. (Yeah, met his parents. Imagine rich people. That's them to the letter.) I want to stay, but at the same time, this isn’t my world. I feel so out of place here. You know me—I’d be happy up to my elbows in a cow and the only thing here is pampered froufrou dogs.

  I really have feelings for Jack though. He makes everything better. I am falling for him hard and it feels so good. I think I was waiting to fall in love until I met him.

  I have no idea what to do. If you have any ideas, I am all ears, but for right now I am going with the flow. I don’t know what is going to happen next, but I’ll let you know.

  -Emma

  I hit Send and switched to another page. A recipe on double double chocolate fudge brownies. I would have to ask Rachel to take me to the grocery store later. Maybe I could even find the makings of a dinner and treat Jack to a homemade Iowa dinner.

  My inbox beeped and I flipped back. Kaylee had written me back almost immediately.

  Heya,

  Congrats on the vet school! I know that you have always wanted that.

  I don’t know what to tell you about the other stuff. I’ll write down some ideas and mail them to you in the morning. It’s a sticky situation for sure.

  Remember your trophy wife ambitions? Who could have seen that coming? Congratulations on following all of your childhood dreams!

  -K

  I snorted and giggled as I read her message. When I was five I told my dad I wanted to be a trophy wife when I grew up. I thought it meant someone who the trophies were modeled after. I wanted to be the figure kicking the soccer ball on all the soccer trophies. I thought that would be the coolest job ever. My dad laughed so hard he was in tears, but I didn’t care. I wanted to be a trophy, and I wanted to be married someday, so that would make me a trophy wife.

  I flipped back to my brownie screen. I wondered if Jack liked brownies, and I resisted the urge to look it up. Just because it was probably on a fan site somewhere didn’t mean that I couldn’t ask him myself.

  A soft knock on the door drew my attention. “It’s open,” I called out. I felt my heart speed up. Security wouldn’t let anyone but Jack in here, and the thought of him always made my pulse race.

  Jack’s sandy head peeked in the door. “I saw the light under the door. Why aren’t you sleeping?”

  “I have nothing I have to do tomorrow. Why aren’t you sleeping?” I grinned at him.

  “I came here to watch you sleep. You look so peaceful when you sleep—calm and sure in your world.” He closed the door softly behind him as if we would wake the invisible people in the house.

  “You watch me sleep? I’m not sure if I should be flattered or creeped-out.”

  “I prefer flattered,” he said softly as he came around to the desk chair. He sat down behind me and put his big hands on my shoulders. The heat in his hands melted away tension I didn’t even know was there as he began massaging gently. I closed my laptop and leaned back into him, closing my eyes and losing myself to his touch.

  I could practically hear the ocean again. Jack had an amazing ability to be able to find every tense or sore spot on my body and make it melt away. I remembered when we had spent a wonderful afternoon on the beach, his hands finding every ache, and then making new ones. His touch ignited a fire, a heat starting to grow between my legs. I had missed him in more ways than one.

  Jack leaned forward and kissed my hair. I could hear him breathe in the smell of my hair. A tingle ran through my body, a shiver that wasn’t from the cold. I wanted him... badly.

  I turned and leaned up to kiss him. It was as if we were instantly transported back in time, back to our little house on the beach. Our time apart melted away as though it had never been. His hands went to the sides of my face, embracing me as he kissed me. It was the tender kiss of two people in love. Soon, however, the kiss turned from tender to passionate, as our tongues began to move against each other. I stood and wrapped my arms around the back of his neck, and his hands went to my sides.

  He broke from the kiss. “Would you mind if I stay the night? I think there might be a spider in my room.”

  I laughed. “That’s the oldest trick in the book.”

  He kept up his poker face. “No, I’m serious. I saw seven, maybe eight legs dart under my bed. It’ll keep me up all night.”

  I smiled, leaning in for another kiss. “Careful,” I said, our lips still touching. “I might keep you up all night instead.”

  “I’d like that,” h
e said. His hands went for my t-shirt, pulling it up. I lifted my arms up and let him take it off me. He had been so busy lately, I had craved his touch. I wasn't about to pass up this opportunity. While he threw it on the floor, I reached behind me and unclasped my bra. As it fell to the floor, my breasts were freed and Jack looked at them hungrily. I smiled. I always smiled at his attention.

  He leaned down and took my boobs in his hands, then buried his face in my cleavage. His tongue felt fantastic against my skin, and I grabbed the back of his head and ran my fingers through his hair. I could hear him giving little moans of delight, as if he were eating a delicious snack.

  He backed away from me and took off his shirt. He fished around in his pocket for a moment, pulling out a square package. “I hope this isn’t being too presumptuous,” he said, a wry grin on his face. He tossed me the condom.

  I smiled. “You know, most married couples don’t even use these, but I appreciate it.” I watched as he took his shorts and boxers off, standing fully naked in front of me. I licked my lips, enjoying his taut body. I got on my knees in front of him, opening the condom wrapper as I looked up at him. He was already fully erect, but I decided to make sure. I took him in my mouth, sucking gently for a few seconds. He hissed as if in pain, but bliss radiated from his face. I knew that was what he did when he felt intense pleasure.

  In a few moments, I stopped sucking on him and unrolled the condom onto him. I stood up and pulled my shorts off, getting completely naked myself. As I moved closer to him to kiss him, I reached down and grabbed the base of his hot, silky length and slowly began jerking him off. He moved his hands softly across my back, then reached down to one of my legs and pulled it upward, setting it back down on the bed. I guided his throbbing member to my opening. I could feel myself open to him, feel his gentle advances preparing me for his entrance. I wanted him. I needed him.