But how could she even think about such things, given part of her heart was still mourning Charlie? It was wrong and indecent and she should know better. She curled her fingers around the corners of her book’s cover, suppressing the urge to cross herself as if she was warding off the devil himself as Jett approached.
At least her sunglasses hid her blatant ogling from him to some degree, if not her blush. Not that Jett seemed to mind she was looking his way, given the megawatt smile he suddenly flashed at her when he reached her side then grabbed his towel.
She dropped her gaze back to her novel, frantically looking for the paragraph she was up to.
“Good book?”
Ginny reluctantly raised her gaze to him again. He was watching her, still smiling as he roughly toweled himself off. Charm and raw, masculine good looks all rolled into one.
Don’t you dare fall for his tricks again. Desperately trying to gather her old resentment and righteous indignation about her, Ginny licked suddenly dry lips. “Very,” she replied tightly. It was actually. Daphne du Maurier’s skillful writing had drawn her into the intriguing historical mystery ‘My Cousin Rachel’. Right until Jett had shown up.
He took a few steps closer and spread his towel right alongside hers, as if expecting a sure welcome. “You always were a bookworm if I recall.”
Ginny pressed her lips together and looked away from him as thorny annoyance prickled inside her. Bookish, square, Miss-Goody-Two-Shoes Ginny O’Hara. As if she needed reminding of how he and almost everyone else had seen her at school.
“Smart as the dickens too.” He threw himself down on his towel and smiled up at her. Droplets of sea water clung to his jaw and thick black lashes. Propping himself on one elbow, his muscular torso twisting toward her, he raked a hand through his dripping black hair.
Ginny felt like she was being blasted by a solar flare as intense and wholly unwelcome searing want raced through her veins to her nether regions at the sight. But beneath the physical attraction, resentment simmered. It was obvious Jett was flirting with her, not because he was genuinely attracted to her, but because he was playing with her. Taunting her.
Like he had at the high school prom. After everything she’d been through in the last few years, she didn’t need this.
She drew a shaky breath and marshaled her best nursing officer’s voice. “You can cut the crap right now, Jett Kelly. I may have been a pushover when I was seventeen but I’m not now. Good God, I’ve even told you my last name is now Williams. Apparently anyone’s fair game to you, even a married woman. Or a mourning widow. Well, I’m sure there are plenty of other hapless, unsuspecting females here at Point Pleasant that you can work over with your…pick-up lines and easy smile. But not me. Got it?”
Jett pushed himself to a sitting position. He raked a hand through his hair again, clearly taken aback by her blistering attack. “Now, just wait a minute, Ginny. That was never and isn’t my intention—“
Ginny snorted. “Yeah, right. This has been my first day off in eight days of working nursing shifts at Ridgewood County Hospital. I came here this weekend for some R&R. And I won’t have you ruin my day at the beach by pretending that you have even the remotest interest in me beyond being a bit of sport. Well, you’ve got the wrong girl. You can just take your towel and your aviator sunglasses and shove them—”
Jett kissed her. In one swift movement—before she could even process his intention—he leaned over, cupped her nape with one large hand then covered her mouth with his, smothering her words. Ginny gasped. Outrage and unwanted desire both surged, hot and potent as Jett’s firm lips slid with practiced ease over hers; as without invitation, his tongue slid between her parted lips and brazenly delved inside her mouth. Devouring her. Effortlessly arousing her and lulling her into submission.
Goddammit. How was he managing to seduce her so easily?
Don’t give in. Don’t give in. But it was useless. With a moan borne of frustration and insidious, reluctant need, she dropped her book and pushed her hands against his rock-hard pectorals in an embarrassingly half-hearted attempt to withdraw, but he simply slid his other hand around her shoulder and pulled her closer. A wave of sensations engulfed her. The taste of salt on Jett’s lips. The scent of him—faintly spicy cologne, fresh sea air and delicious male enveloped her. Beguiled her. Robbed her reason.
Ginny whimpered and gave into the urge to kiss him back, to taste him with her own tongue. Her hands slid to his shoulders, felt his muscles bunch and flex as he hauled her closer still. Her aching breasts were now crushed against the wall of his chest, the soft bare flesh of her belly in intimate contact with his own naked torso.
Oh Lord, I’m so weak. Beneath the rush of her overwhelming lust, guilt tugged at her heart. She shouldn’t be feeling this way, doing this—letting Jett push off her hat, push her down onto the sand, plunder her mouth with reckless abandon until she had melted into a puddle of helpless need. How could she so easily forget about Charlie or the fact that Jett had played her for a fool all those years ago?
Fool indeed.
Ginny ripped her mouth away, panting. Angry at herself. Angry at him. “You’ve got a nerve, Jett Kelly.” Her voice was mortifyingly husky rather than terse. “How dare you!”
Jett raised himself a little, hovering over her, taking his weight on his forearms. His breathing was just as ragged, his cheekbones flagged with high color. He stared down at her, his blue eyes as turbulent as the waves crashing onto the shore only a few yards away. “Oh I do dare. And if I’m not mistaken, it seemed you weren’t exactly complaining a moment ago.” He paused for breath and raised a hand to take off her sunglasses, then gently brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes. His gaze locked with hers again. “I’ve been waiting to kiss you again for nine years, Ginny,” he murmured, his tone softer, deeper. “I’m not pretending now. And I wasn’t pretending back then. I want you. After all this time, I just thought you should know.”
He wasn’t lying about this last statement. Ginny could feel his impressive erection, thick and solid, pressing against her belly. She might be seething with resentment but perversely, her body was telling her just the opposite. It was taking all of her willpower to resist the urge to wrap her legs around Jett and cradle him with her hips. To invite him to take more.
She must be clinically insane.
“Well, you’ll forgive me if I don’t quite believe you,” she said with as much venom as she could, given that she was still pinned beneath Jett’s rock-hard body. Even to her own ears, she sounded just plain huffy. “Now will you please get off me?” She pushed at his chest and at last he rolled off her and allowed her to sit up.
But Jett wasn’t going to let her escape so easily. He grasped her hand. “Ginny…I know that you’re a widow. I know you already think badly of me. But I never would have kissed you if you were married. Truly.”
“As if that makes any difference, Jett.” She yanked her hand away, grabbed her book and stuffed it into her bag again.
“I meant what I said before. About wanting—”
“Please, give me a break.” She stood abruptly and grabbed her towel.
“I want to explain…about that night.”
“You were a complete jerk. An asshole in fact.” She flicked the towel, not caring if sand went into his lying blue eyes.
Jett surged to his feet as well and took a step toward her. “I know… You are absolutely one hundred percent correct,” he said. There was a strange undercurrent of urgency to his voice. “But if you would please just let me explain. One thing I’ve learned since serving in Korea—and I know that you were there too, Ginny—is that life is too short to let happiness pass you by. Surely you feel that way too. If you ever felt anything for me at all…”
He caught her hand between both of his. “Ginny Williams, would you do me the honor of giving me a second chance? Go on, spend the day with me. Let me make it up to you.” He sought her gaze then placed one of his hands over his heart, as if making an oat
h. “I promise to behave. You have my word as a United States Air Force officer and a gentleman.”
The man was incorrigible. Ginny tried very hard but didn’t quite succeed in suppressing a reluctant smile.
Jett’s mouth slowly curved into an answering lop-sided grin. The kind of smile that made a girl’s heart flip over or stop altogether. “Come on. You know you want to.”
Oh God. Despite everything, she so did. But could she trust him?
She supposed time would tell.
“All right,” she said, narrowing her eyes pointedly. Skeptical. “But no more attempts at hanky-panky.”
Jett grinned again and saluted. “Yes ma’am.”
Ginny rolled her eyes. “Or being a wise-ass.”
“You got it.” Jett suddenly bent down and retrieved his towel and both pairs of sunglasses. He handed her pair over and she took them, careful not to let their fingers brush. His gaze met hers again, his expression sincere. “Like I said, Ginny, I’ll be a perfect gentleman… Which behooves me to add that you really should check” —Jett gestured at her chest— “your…er…swimsuit.”
Ginny glanced down then squealed with horror—the top of her bikini had slipped dangerously low to the point that her nipples had almost slipped out. Blushing furiously, she wrenched up the cups, then wrapped her towel about her shoulders, stiff with indignation. “You might have said something sooner,” she said reprovingly.
Jett raised an eyebrow as his mouthed kicked into a small yet wicked smile. “I said I’d be a gentleman, not a saint.”
***
To Jett’s surprise and delight, Ginny tipped her head back and laughed, a beautiful throaty, musical sound. “Well, one thing’s for sure,” she said, humor suddenly dancing in her lovely, hazel-brown eyes. “There’ll be no chance of me getting bored.”
She adjusted her bag on her shoulder and her towel slipped just a little, giving Jett a tantalizing view of her ample cleavage again. Conscious of the fact that he was skating on thin ice, he kept his gaze glued to Ginny’s beautiful face. “I aim to please.”
Ginny’s mouth tipped into a wry smile. “So, Fly-boy. What do you suggest we do for the rest of the day?”
Jett grinned back. Although Ginny was still drop-dead gorgeous, one thing had changed about her. Gone was the reserved girl of high school who’d been too timid to ever speak to him. He decided he liked this new, feisty, confident woman who wasn’t shy about wearing a two-piece swimsuit and was giving him a run for his money to-boot. Her take-no-nonsense attitude only heightened the thrill of the chase.
But he would stick to his promise and behave. For now. “Well, it’s getting onto noon. And that swim has made me all kinds of famished, so how about we grab a bite to eat?” he suggested, hoping the idea would appeal on the basis it was both low-key and innocent sounding enough. “Why don’t I meet you at the orange-aide stand in Jenkinson’s Pavilion in say, half an hour?”
Ginny brushed a strand of hair away from her sweet-as-ripe-peach lips, clearly still bruised from his kisses, and he nearly groaned aloud. “Agreed,” she said with a genuine smile.
She started to make her way toward the boardwalk and Jett soon fell into step beside her, but not before he’d taken in a quick but delightful eye-full of her long shapely legs and delicious derriere as she moved away. He’d never seen so much of her and he definitely liked what he saw. More than liked. If he looked too long, he knew his cock would be standing to attention again. Which was not a good look in the middle of the day, in public. Play it cool, Kelly, you are not a horny adolescent anymore.
For whatever reason, he was undeniably attracted to this woman. And always had been.
Back in school he’d always suspected that she had a body to die for beneath the conservatively long skirts, high-necked blouses and cardigans she’d habitually dressed in. Even on Prom night she’d worn some ridiculous pink confection with way too much lace and chiffon covering up all her luscious lines and curves. If he could just harness his inexplicably out-of-control libido for the day, maybe she’d also agree to go on a date with him tonight so he could explore the attraction further. Perhaps the hotel room he’d impulsively booked on his arrival would come in handy after all.
But he was getting ahead of himself. Ginny had to forgive him first.
They reached the wooden boardwalk and Jett jumped up first, then offered Ginny his hand to help pull her up. She hesitated for just a moment, glancing up at his face. Uncertain. But she must have been satisfied with his well-practiced expression of affable charm as she put her hand in his.
“Thanks,” she said with a shy smile, then she gracefully vaulted up beside him. For an insane moment, Jett contemplated hauling her into his arms again but stopped himself in the nick of time. He was even reluctant to let go of her hand but he did, not wanting to push his luck any further and have her tear strips off him for breaking his word so soon.
Instead he continued with his relaxed façade. And that wasn’t easy given that his gut was suddenly churning with unexpected nerves and excitement. “Do you have a locker at the Pavilion’s swimming pool?” he managed to ask casually. He hadn’t forgotten that she had a whole weekend of R&R planned as well. However he wasn’t fool enough to ask her outright where she was staying.
She shook her head. “No.” She glanced toward the northern end of the boardwalk. “I’m staying at a boarding house up that way. It’s not far.” She slipped on her sunglasses then took a step away. “So I guess I’ll see you in a bit.”
“You bet.” Jett slid his own sunglasses back on and cad that he was, he checked out her ass and legs again as she walked away. His cock twitched again.
Kelly, you’ve got it bad. With a resigned sigh, he turned away and headed in the opposite direction toward his own hotel, The Beacon, his mind abuzz. He had half an hour to formulate his fool-proof campaign. Operation Ginny.
He just hoped to God he didn’t blow it.
“Jett? I knew I’d find you here eventually.”
Shit.
Jett knew who it was before he even turned around. What the hell was Dana Whitney doing here?
Four
“Dana.” Tamping down the urge to groan with frustration, Jett turned to face Dana Whitney, one of New York’s up and coming high society darlings. Pretty, wealthy and well-connected she might be, but after a handful of dates and a pouty rebuttal this morning, he was rapidly realizing they were not suited. At all. Especially after his encounter with Ginny.
He was going to have to set Miss Whitney straight—that they were no longer ‘an item’, if they ever were at all.
“I didn’t think I’d see you here,” he continued, keeping his tone cool and even. Disinterested. “Not after you unceremoniously turned me down this morning.” In fact, she’d told him that she’d rather stick her head in an oven than go to the beach with him.
Dana tossed her perfectly styled raven locks and teetered closer to him on ridiculously high, patent leather pumps. He noticed she had to walk with her weight forward on the balls of her feet so her spiky heels didn’t catch in the spaces between the wooden boards of the boardwalk. In her bright yellow sundress, with a fully made-up face complete with garish red lipstick, she looked as out of place as a buttercup at the beach. Given the way she was presently dressed, he strongly suspected that vanity played a part in her rejection earlier today.
He was starting to wonder what he’d ever seen in her.
On reaching his side, Dana curled one of her manicured hands proprietorially around his forearm, also making him suspect she’d seen him talking to Ginny. “Now, now, Jett honey,” she practically purred, her voice dripping with cloying sweetness. “I may not like the beach itself, but you looked so hang-dog when you left this morning, I had a change of heart and thought I’d come find you. Mommy and Daddy have a beach house just a little further down the boardwalk and as they’re away in Europe…” She pressed her breast against his arm as she leaned close to murmur suggestively in his ear. “I’m sure
there’s lots of other things we could do aside from getting all wet and sandy…”
If Dana had slapped him in the face with a wet fish, Jett would’ve been only slightly less surprised. Dana Whitney, the twenty-year-old virginal miss was literally throwing herself at him. Cognizant of her reputation and her family’s high-flying position, he’d done little more than kiss her on the few dates they’d shared. Now warning bells clanged, loud and clear. Dana was not the kind of girl you loved and left. No, sir-ee. For some completely unfathomable reason, it seemed Miss Whitney must have marriage on her mind.
But he certainly didn’t. Not now.
“Dana,” he said gently and removed her hand from his arm. “The thing is—”
“You’ve found someone else already, haven’t you?” she accused, green eyes flashing with anger. “Don’t deny it. I saw you flirting with that other…floozy a few minutes ago.”
“Now, Dana. She’s an old friend from school.” He couldn’t very well deny that he hadn’t been flirting, but Ginny certainly didn’t deserve to be a called a floozy.
“I don’t care who she is.” Dana crossed her arms, her perfectly-plucked eyebrows arrowing into a deep scowl. “You need to choose, Jett. Is it going to be me or her? I won’t be two-timed.” Steam fairly poured out of her ears.
Jett sighed and ran a hand down his face. He would have preferred breaking up with Dana in a less public place, but she wasn’t giving him any quarter. His choice was easy though. “You’re right, Dana. You’re a lovely girl but I’m afraid things just aren’t going to work out between you and me—”
“You’re choosing her?” Dana shrieked, and more than a few heads turned in their direction. “I didn’t want to believe Mommy and Daddy,” she continued shrilly, poking him in the chest with one, long red fingernail. “They warned me about men like you. But they were right. Pilots are worse than sailors. You’re probably stringing a dozen girls along in the state of New Jersey alone. Well, you’re welcome to your polka-dotted bimbo, Jett. Good riddance. You deserve each other.”
Long Gone Girl Page 2