“Agreed,” Cora said, nursing her coffee. “Jamie almost had to drag me. It was bad.”
Celia smirked at her and said, “I’d have a hard time getting out of bed when he was around too.”
As Cora laughed, Celia moved back to her respective desk. At least she wasn’t the only one that felt like shit today. God knows, misery loved company.
A few minutes later, Celia called out, “Two heavy breathing hangups. My man never disappoints me.”
Cora snorted and asked, “Any real messages?”
“Your 5:00 p.m. canceled on you and Bryce called,” Celia said. “He asked you to call him back. He said it was about the restraining order.”
Cora sighed deeply and asked, “Did he leave a number?”
“Yeah,” she said, from Cora’s office door.
Cora watched as she walked over to her desk and set it down.
“I wish I could have screened the call for you, sweetie. He really is a dirtbag.”
“Agreed. But I need to call him back about this. It could be important,” Cora said, sighing.
Celia grinned and said, “Your sister called, too.”
“Why didn’t she call my cell?” Cora asked aloud as she checked her phone.
“She called me,” Celia said, correcting her assumption, “to thank me.”
Cora’s eyes widened for a moment and then they both burst into laughter. At least, she thought, someone’s day was starting off well.
Her laughter dying down, Cora picked up the message and said, “I need to call him back.”
“I’ll just shut the door. Your first patient will be here in,” Celia checked her watch and then continued, “fourteen minutes.”
She nodded and said, “Thanks, Celia.”
When the door closed, she took a deep breath and reminded herself that he had done her a favor. She was still tempted to throw away the messages like the countless others that he’d left her. Eventually she’d asked Celia to stop taking them, and to no longer tell her if he called.
Cora picked up the phone and dialed the number he’d left her.
After two rings, he picked up the phone. “Wallace.”
Cora rolled her eyes at the greeting and said, “Bryce. It’s Cora.”
“Oh, hey. I, uh, wanted to let you know that we weren’t able to serve the protection order. I talked to my contacts on the street and no one has seen anything. Since he skipped on parole about the time he was at your office, I’m hoping that means he skipped town.”
Cora let out a disappointed sigh and said, “Well, thank you for trying. I really do appreciate it.”
“If he comes back, please call the police. I checked his record and he’s a piece of work. Assault, DUI, weapons charges, domestic violence charges. I have no idea how this guy managed to make parole.”
A shudder of fear ran through her, but all she said was, “I will.”
“Take care of yourself.”
“You too,” Cora said. “Bye.”
Cora hung up the phone and said, “Well shit.”
She quickly texted Jamie and then put her phone in her drawer. She suspected that he would be more disappointed than she was. She really hated to convey that news. Especially now, when he was needing to focus on Shinobi.
Cora quickly chugged the rest of her coffee and put her game face on. She tried to focus on the positives. Excellent boyfriend. Awesome family. Fantastic job. Beach vacation coming up.
She felt some of the tension leave her shoulders and nodded, satisfied. Today wasn’t going to suck. She wouldn’t let it. She took the last swig of her coffee just as Celia tapped on the door to let her first patient in. Time to start the day.
Chapter Sixteen
“Cora,” Jamie whined. “This blindfold is ridiculous. How long are you going to make me wear this? Just tell me where we’re going.”
He heard her laugh and sighed deeply. They’d been in the car for what felt like a couple of hours. They had hit stop and go traffic, so it was hard to tell how far they had actually traveled. His legs were cramped and the blindfold was annoying him.
“C’mon, baby,” Cora pleaded, giving his thigh a squeeze. “Just a few more minutes. I promise. And uh, you can use the blindfold on me later if you want.”
Jamie immediately felt his cock twitch at the prospect. He grinned and said, “Holding you to that, Cora.”
Her voice was soft when she responded, “I hope you do.”
He shook his head. She was seriously going to kill him. The other night, when he had looked up from his laptop, she had been dressed like a school teacher. She had this snug white shirt, unbuttoned to show quite a bit of cleavage. Her hair had been pulled tightly into a bun. She had gotten these little plastic-framed glasses from somewhere.
When she’d crooked her finger at him and addressed him as Mr. Connolly it had sent a signal straight to his dick. He’d followed her into her home office, and sat down when she’d gestured to the seat she had put in front of the desk. After he’d settled, she had reprimanded him for staring in class and making her feel uncomfortable. She had lamented his bad behavior.
He grinned when he remembered how quickly he’d turned that around on her, citing the tight pencil skirt and tight, unbuttoned top. When she’d moved to his side of the desk and perched herself in front of him, the skirt slid up far enough to see that she wasn’t wearing any panties.
By the end of the scene she set, she was leaning over the desk as he spanked her with the ruler that had somehow magically ended up on her desk and finger fucking her. Later, with her skirt still hiked up around her waist, she had gotten down on her knees to give him a blow job to apologize for her tempting clothes. He had come so hard he almost blacked out from it.
After that he had laid her back on the desk and ate her out until his fucking jaw ached from it. He couldn’t help himself. She had been so wet that the moisture had started to coat her inner thighs.
He never would have considered role play. Honestly, he was a little bit surprised she had. He was still learning so much about Cora. She was a dirty girl. No, correction. She was his dirty girl. And god, did he love that.
He was startled out of his reverie when they turned and then abruptly stopped. He braced himself against the dash with his palm.
“Sorry,” she said. “Almost done. I just have to open the gate.”
“The gate?” he asked, trying to ignore the raging erection he had given himself with that little trip down memory lane.
Cora opened her door and said, “One second and all will be revealed.”
He grinned and then frowned when the door closed quickly behind her. He wanted to take off the damned blindfold so badly. She had clearly put a lot of thought into this though, so the last thing he wanted to do was disappoint her.
Seconds later, she opened the door and slid back in. He heard her move the shifter and then drive forward slowly. When she pulled to a stop, she finally said, “Okay. We’re here. You can take the blindfold off.
He tugged off the blindfold and blinked rapidly as his eyes adjusted to the fading light of the sun. They were parked in front of a large house. He looked at her curiously and asked, “Where are we?”
“Somewhere just north of Malibu,” she said, eagerly. “Don’t just sit in the car.”
He grinned and opened the door. As he stretched his legs, he took a deep breath. As the salt air filled his lungs, he felt his tense muscles start to relax. He turned to her and asked, “Is that the ocean, I hear?”
Cora nodded, a hopeful look in her eyes.
Jamie realized that she was waiting for some sort of reaction from him, so he circled the car, pulled her into his arms and said, “Thank you, baby. Best present ever.”
“Are you sure?”
“Absolutely,” he said, seconds before he brushed his lips against hers. “I didn’t even realize how tense I was until I got out of the car. Three days at the beach. Awesome!”
Her arms tightened around him as she said, “Good. Ther
e’s no internet connection here, by the way. I’ll confiscate your cell phone if I have to, Jamie. No work this weekend.”
“You won’t have to, baby. No work this weekend. I’ve gotta check my e-mail once a day to make sure nothing implodes. That’s all.”
Cora studied him and then, lips twitching, said, “Fine. I’ll allow it. Let’s grab the stuff out of the car and go inside.”
He considered the contents of his bag and realized that he’d packed perfectly. Cora had told him to pack as if he intended to spend some time outdoors. He’d thrown in swim trunks just in case. He was sincerely hoping the water would be warm enough to use them.
As they walked up the sidewalk to the front door, Cora asked, “Are you hungry?”
“Yeah, baby. Starved. Did you wanna drop this stuff off and go get something to eat? This may be a bad time to grocery shop.”
Cora laughed as she set her bag down and fished the keys out of her pocket. “No worries there,” she said. “I went shopping earlier and stocked everything. I’ve got the fixings for seafood linguine tonight and I picked up steaks for tomorrow night. Sound good?”
“God, yeah,” he said. He had passed hungry about two hours ago and was bordering on starving.
She gave him a little push once the door was open, then said, “Go have a look around. I’m going to start dinner. I’m starved and I skipped out on lunch to stock the fridge.”
He watched as she walked toward the back of the house. Following the sway of her hips, he found himself in a large kitchen that overlooked the beach. Butted up against the house was a Jacuzzi, grill, some outdoor seating, and a few deck chairs.
He glanced at the Jacuzzi and then back at Cora. An idea already forming in his mind, he asked, “So what are the odds that I could convince you to get into that after dinner?”
When Cora looked up at him, he gestured toward the hot tub.
“Really good,” she said, as she salted the large pot of water on the stove. “Really, really good.”
“Excellent,” he said, a grin on his face. “I’ll go put our stuff in the bedroom.”
“There’s a small one downstairs. The master is upstairs,” Cora said, as she started to pull ingredients from the refrigerator.
He watched her for a moment as she competently moved around the kitchen. God, she was amazing. She hadn’t even asked him what he’d wanted for his birthday. She’d just told him to free up this weekend and given him a general idea of what to pack.
She’d gotten really good at taking care of him lately. She could tell when he’d been working for too long and she’d move the laptop from his hands and crawl into his lap. However sexy the whole school teacher thing had been for both of them, he realized that it was just one of the many tactics that she’d used to get him to disconnect.
He left the kitchen and explored the lower part of the house. As she’d told him, the guest bedroom was small. He had no intention of inviting anyone else along. He would absolutely take this time to tune the world out and spend some time relaxing with Cora.
For the past few weeks he had been incredibly focused on work. She had been more than understanding. She’d taken care of him when he’d needed it. He wanted to return the favor, but she had a damned difficult time letting herself be vulnerable.
When Taryn had dropped her off at his place the night she’d gone out drinking, she seemed almost confused when he made her eat something and take some aspirin. She thanked him in the morning but had seemed almost embarrassed by it.
Cora had appointed herself as a caretaker for those who she valued. Jamie hoped one he’d be able to return the favor. God knows, she’d fight him.
He wandered upstairs and realized that Cora hadn’t been kidding when she said the master bedroom was upstairs. It was the entire upstairs of the house.
There was a small sitting area off to the side of the stairs that led into the sleeping area. The whole room was decorated in a wash of sea-colored hues. A pair of French doors led out to what looked like a balcony.
He set the bags down on the small couch and took in the whole space. There was a huge garden tub in the master bath and a shower stall that could easily fit five people. By his count there had to be at least three showerheads and a few wall-mounted sprayers.
The bed was gigantic, too. The headboard was wrought iron and curled itself into intricate shapes. Jamie sank down on to the bed and then stretched out, testing it. He let out a pleased sigh when it conformed to the arch in his back.
“Soft,” he said.
He forced himself back up off of the bed, and moved to the French doors. He fiddled with the locks until they gave way, then moved a couple of small statues to prop the doors open.
When the sea breeze whispered into the room, he took another deep breath. God, he had missed the ocean. New York had been on the Atlantic, but nothing could replace this. He watched as the waves crashed against the rocky shore.
“Wow,” Cora said. “I didn’t get a chance to come up here when I dropped everything off earlier. This is amazing.”
Jamie turned around to face her, and saw her poking her head into the bathroom. When she turned back around her eyes were wide.
“Jesus,” she said. “You could fit a football team in that shower!”
He peered at her suspiciously and then asked, “Is there more to this present that I’m unaware of, Cora?”
She waved him off, laughing, and said, “Hardly. You’re mine and I’m not sharing.”
He moved across the room and wrapped her in his arms. “You’re right. I am yours,” he said, seconds before he lowered his mouth to brush against hers. They slid into a long, slow kiss that seemed to go on forever.
When Cora finally broke the kiss, they were both breathless. A look of infinite regret on her face, she said, “As much as I hate to stop you, dinner is ready.”
Jamie stroked a finger down her cheek and said, “We’ve got time.”
A little over an hour later, Jamie leaned back against the one of the jets and let it work at a knot in his lower back. Cora curled against his side and said, “This is awesome.”
“Yeah, it is,” he agreed as he wrapped his arm around her waist and moved her so she sat on his lap.
He leaned her forward, so she perched at the edge of his knees and then dug his thumbs into her shoulders. When she let out a soft groan, he continued to knead her neck and shoulders. He let himself momentarily enjoy the feeling of her lax shoulder muscles before he worked his way down between her shoulder blades.
Eventually, when he reached a point where he couldn’t massage any further where they were, he pulled her back against him.
She settled back against him comfortably. Her voice was almost slurred when she said, “That was amazing, Jamie. Thank you.”
“Thank you,” he responded. “For this. I didn’t realize how much I needed to get away. I can’t remember the last time I felt this relaxed.”
“I feel like cooked spaghetti right now,” Cora said.
“Mm,” Jamie said, tightening his arms around her. “You do look good enough to eat.”
He pressed his lips to her neck and then laughed when she only gave a slight wiggle. It seemed that hot tub debauchery would have to wait for another time. Judging by the way that Cora slumped against him, she had to be exhausted.
He shifted and said, “Sweetheart, I’m wiped out. Let’s go rinse off and go to bed.”
“‘Kay,” Cora agreed, sleepily.
As they dried off, shivering in the cool sea breeze, Jamie wrapped his arms around her. Pressing his chest to her back, he propelled them quickly toward the sliding glass door. They ran, shivering, up the stairs and into their bedroom.
They stripped out of their suits and clambered toward the huge bathroom. Jamie opted to heat up the shower rather than fill the tub. Cora was a little more alert now, but she still swayed on her feet.
As he twisted the knobs until the water was warm but not scalding, he asked, “When did you get up?”
Cora gave a yawn and said, “Five this morning. I had to grocery shop and take everything into the office, then ran out here on lunch to deliver it and get the keys from the realtor. I squeezed in a half-hour phone session with a patient having a panic attack. I’m glad you ran a little later than you thought you’d be. Today was busy.”
“Aw. Come here, baby,” he said, directing her under the warm spray. He dug quickly though his toiletry bag and got out his shampoo and soap. When he looked back at her, her chin was resting on her chest. He decided she’d be okay with smelling a little manly for an evening.
He stepped into the huge shower and squirted some shampoo into his palm. Carefully, he tilted her head back and washed her hair. She reached up and made a token protest, but gave up when he said, “I’ve got it. Just relax.”
Fifteen minutes later, no longer itchy from the chlorine in the hot tub, they both slid under the covers. Next to him, Cora let out a small sigh of contentment and said, “Night, baby,” as she curled up next to him.
“Night,” he said, and then pressed his lips against her temple.
* * * *
Jamie poked the center of the steaks on the grill. They were getting close, but weren’t quite done yet. He glanced into the kitchen, where Cora was baking potatoes and making a salad. He couldn’t help but grin when she spotted him watching her and then blew him a kiss.
Today had been incredible. He’d gotten up early and made breakfast for them both, and then they went walking on the beach. They must have walked at least three or four miles. He could feel tightness in his calf muscles already.
They had stopped at a little Tiki hut on the beach and had lunch. He’d also managed to get in the swim he had wanted. It had been fucking cold. His boys were only just starting to creep back out of his body and it had been a little over an hour. Swimming had been a bad idea.
Cora had stood on the shoreline laughing. She told him there was no way in hell she was getting more than knee-deep in the water. Despite his attempts to coax her into the water with him, she’d stayed firm. Smart girl.
When You Were Mine [Second Chances 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 15