He gave the steaks another poke and decided they were ready. Leaning over, he cut the gas from the grill off and then put the steaks back on the plate. Once again, he was starving.
After they enjoyed a leisurely dinner out on the patio, they sprawled out on the deck chairs and listened to the ocean for a while. When the sea breeze kicked up, he moved out of his lounge chair and stood next to hers. He held out a hand and asked, “Wanna go inside, baby? It’s starting to get a little cold out here.”
“No,” Cora responded, shaking her head. Still, she took his hand and rose. “It’s a perfect time for the hot tub. Let’s go change.”
This time Jamie shook his head no, as the idea he’d had last night sparked back to life. He cupped Cora’s cheek and said, “You don’t need a swimsuit.”
Her eyes were pure mischief when she reached down to the hem of her shirt. “I guess I don’t, do I?”
“Hold that thought, baby,” Jamie said. He moved inside quickly to grab two beach towels from the linen closet, and then shut off the patio light on his way out.
They slid out of their clothes and into the hot, bubbling water with twin sighs of contentment. Once Jamie settled back in one of the corner seats of the hot tub, he reached his hand out to Cora. He pulled her from where she bobbed next to him, onto his lap.
When she straddled his thighs, he took her mouth in a deep, slow kiss. She responded immediately, wrapping her arms around his neck and relaxing against his body. He rested his hands on her hips, pulling her snugly up against him.
They spent so much time rushing to the finish line. Maybe, he decided, it would be nice if they took it slow time. He pulled back from the kiss and wound his fingers into the wet ropes of Cora’s hair.
“I can’t thank you enough for this, Cora. This is the best thing you could have possibly gotten me.”
Her expression was earnest when she said, “I really hoped that you’d be able to relax for a little while. You’ve been working so hard.”
“You take such good care of me, baby. I’ don’t know how I got so lucky,” he said, absolutely humbled.
“One look at you with your shirt off, painting Evan’s flower shop and I was a goner, Jamie,” Cora said, laughing softly.
“I’m just glad Evan wasn’t interested in you. It might have been a battle to the death, sweetheart.”
“God no,” Cora said. “It was always you.”
Swamped with need and a million other feelings, Jamie lowered his mouth back to hers. He pressed gentle, nipping kisses against her lips and then nibbled his way down her jawline. He sucked a smooth patch of skin into his mouth and rubbed his tongue against it.
Cora let out a soft sigh and scooted closer to him. She shifted on his lap, wrapping her legs around his waist and tilting her head to the side. “More,” she said softly.
Jamie took advantage of the newly exposed flesh. He swirled his tongue along the side of her neck, nipping gently until she began to move against him in a silent plea. In answer, he moved his hands to her ass. He pressed her closer, and controlled the movement of her hips, slowing it down considerably.
Jamie took her mouth again. He gave her a soft, languorous kiss. He tried to show her, without words, how she affected him. It wasn’t simple lust. It had never been strictly sexual between them. He had known before their first kiss that she was going to be something special to him.
Cora broke her mouth away from his and said, “I need you inside me, Jamie.”
He bit back a groan and used one hand to adjust his throbbing erection at her opening. “Are you ready for me?” he asked.
“Yes,” Cora said, her voice edgy with need. “Please, Jamie.”
He moved his hands back up to her shoulders. He pressed her down over his cock, letting out a groan when her slick heat slid down over him. “The feel of you around me is fucking indescribable.”
Using her arms, Cora raised herself up and rolled her hips against him. He felt the tight clench of her pussy as she moved against him. He pushed down on her shoulders again, causing them both to let out shuddering breaths.
They continued to work against each other, the slow pull and slide, until they were both lost in sensation. Jamie took her mouth again, if only to stop himself from saying the words that were there on the tip of his tongue. In this moment, he knew with absolute certainty that she was the one. She had always been the one. He loved her desperately.
The continuous, steady motion of their bodies continued until he felt Cora’s cries against his mouth. Jamie wanted to see her face as she went over so he pulled back from the kiss and said, “That’s it. Come for me, Cora. Let me feel you come on my cock.”
Seconds later, her cunt gripped him so tightly that it was almost painful. He cursed and let out a groan of pleasure. “Cora,” he moaned, unable to articulate anything beyond her name as white-hot pleasure overtook him.
Her cries pierced the otherwise silent night and her eyes went glassy with pleasure. Jamie, lost in the feeling of her clenching and unclenching around him, pulled her down against him one last time and then exploded, emptying himself inside her.
Still buried inside her, he slid them both down further into the water when he felt Cora tremble against him. He asked, “Are you cold?”
“No,” she said as she pressed a kiss to his neck. “That was just...”
When her voice trailed off, he just said, “I know, baby.”
They were connected. Not just in a physical way, but in some soul deep kind of way. It was a little scary. He knew he had to tell her. He knew she needed to know how he felt. Even if he wasn’t entirely sure that she wanted to know.
Chapter Seventeen
On the drive back from the beach, Cora was lost in thought. Last night had been beautiful. And absolutely terrifying. After they made love in the hot tub last night, they went upstairs. They had showered and then ended up in bed. The way that he had touched her so reverently reminded her a lot of the way that they used to be together.
She had been helplessly, hopelessly in love with him. When they split up, she had been destroyed. She had lost not only her lover, but her best friend in the process. It had taken her a long time to recover from that.
She had known at the time that it was doomed. The distance, along with their crazy schedules, made it difficult to talk most of the time. Let alone visit each other. Even before they’d had the talk, she had known it was coming. Their conversations were becoming more infrequent. They’d begun fighting. Things had ended long before either of them had been willing to admit.
That’s why she was a firm believer in moving things along slowly this time. She knew he had feelings for her. She knew she had feelings for him. Maybe, like the breakup, the longer they ignored them the easier things would be.
Things were good between them. She was blissfully happy. Happier than she had been in a long, long time. Surely that was enough, right?
Jamie broke into her thoughts and said, “You’re doing some heavy thinking over there, baby. You okay?”
“I’m mostly zoning out,” Cora said. “This weekend was amazing. I’m kind of bummed we have to go back to reality now.”
“I know,” he said. “This was by far the best birthday present of all time. I’m sad it has to end. Makes me wanna drop about six million on a beachside cottage in Malibu.”
Cora snorted and said, “Yeah. Just write them a check.”
“I’ll include a note asking them not to cash it just yet,” he said, laughing. His tone was more serious when he added, “But seriously. Best gift ever. Don’t tell my mother I said that either.”
“So many secrets,” she said, shaking her head with a mock sigh.
“No,” he scoffed.
“You don’t know how badly I wanted to tell Taryn about the tattoo on your ass,” Cora said, as she pulled on to the freeway.
“I appreciate your restraint, Cora. I’d never hear the end of it, because she’d have to tell Evan.”
“She’d really hav
e no choice. It’s pretty funny.”
Cora thought back to the first time she’d gotten a clear look at it. They’d been in bed and he leaned over to get a condom. She’d burst out laughing. He had known exactly what she was laughing at, too.
He took one look at her face, rolled on the condom, and slid inside her. It was difficult to keep up the laughter when he filled her up so abruptly. He’d quickly turned her laughter into moans of pleasure.
Even as she focused on the road, she could hear Jamie’s rich laughter fill the car. “You’re thinking about the night you laughed at my tattoo, aren’t you, dirty girl?”
Cora flushed and said, “Maybe.”
The tension in the car broke, and for the rest of the drive the conversation flowed between them. By the time they pulled into his parking lot, the tension she had been feeling was long forgotten. As Jamie slid out of the car, she popped the trunk and then followed.
“You coming upstairs?” he asked.
“I can’t,” Cora said regretfully. “If I don’t do laundry tonight I’m going to have to go to work naked tomorrow.”
She watched his eyes light up and said, “My patients are children, Jamie.”
“But lunch would be so much more entertaining, Cora. Just think about it,” he teased.
“Perv,” she said, laughter evident in her voice.
“You like it,” Jamie countered, as he pulled her into his arms.
“True,” she added, grinning up at him.
“Cora,” he said. “Thank you for an amazing weekend.
“I’m glad you enjoyed it,” she said.
“I loved it,” he said, framing her face with his hands. “I love you.”
She froze in his arms, almost paralyzed by fear.
It must have been written on her face because he said, “I’m not telling you with expectations that you have to return the feeling, Cora. I feel it and I just wanted you to know.”
Slowly, she nodded and said, “Okay.”
She could see the pain flash in his eyes, and that only made it worse. She needed to get the hell out of there. Now.
“I’m going to head home now,” she said, gesturing vaguely in the direction of her house. “I’ve got a lot to take care of before tomorrow.”
He reached into her open trunk and pulled out his bag. Then he nodded and said, “Let me know you got home safely.”
She nodded, closed the trunk of the car, and then opened the driver’s side door. She took a calming breath, buckled her seat belt and drove off. As she looked in the rearview mirror, he stood in the same spot, watching her drive away.
The drive home was quick. Her hands had almost stopped shaking by the time she pulled into her driveway. She unpacked her car, and moved inside.
She settled on her couch and immediately got out her cell phone. She texted Jamie and said, “I’m home. Look. I know that wasn’t a rational reaction to your statement. I’m sorry I freaked out. Can I just take a little time and get my head on straight?”
Setting down the cell phone, she moved her overnight bag into the laundry room. She dumped the entire thing directly into the washer. After she fished out the toiletry bag, she poured the soap into the washer and started it.
When she made back into the living room her phone was buzzing against the tabletop. She picked it up and read his response.
“Thanks for letting me know you made it home okay. Call me when you’re ready to talk.”
* * * *
It had been almost three days since Cora had spoken to Jamie. She pressed a hand against her burning stomach. She knew she needed to talk to him, but she still had no idea what to say. She let out a deep sigh.
When her phone buzzed next to her, her heart jumped into her throat for a moment until she saw it was Taryn. She picked up the phone and said, “Hello?”
“Hey, Cora. So, uh. I don’t mean to pry but Jamie was over here last night and he seemed really down. Are you guys okay?”
“Excellent job you’re doing with that whole not prying thing,” Cora said sarcastically.
“Stop deflecting. See what I did there? I used your psychology witchcraft against you.”
“Clever girl,” Cora said.
“Seriously, Cora. Are you guys fighting? What happened?”
She let out a deep sigh and said, “He told me he loved me and I freaked out.”
There was a lengthy silence on the line, followed by her sister saying, “Been there. Done that.”
Cora remembered the really nasty fight they had gotten into over that and said, “I seem to recall.”
“So I’m going to do you the same favor that you did me and tell you to get your shit together. Talk to him. Cora, he looked so sad. So lost,” Taryn said.
“I don’t know what to say at this point,” Cora said.
“Tell him you love him, you dummy.”
“I can’t.”
“So if you don’t love him, then tell him that. Stop screwing with his head. He obviously cares a great deal about you.”
“What the fuck, Taryn? You actually think I’m screwing with his head?” Cora exclaimed. “I love him but I’m fucking terrified to move forward.”
“You should be terrified. That’s how you know that someone really matters.”
“I just don’t know if I’m ready for this. After—”
Taryn interrupted her and said, “I swear to fucking god if you so much as utter Bryce’s name, I’m going to flip out. I get it. He was a shithead. That is undeniable. He was nowhere near breaking your heart, though. No one that you’ve dated over the years has gotten anywhere near your heart. No one since Jamie.”
Cora let out a watery sigh and started to speak.
Taryn cut her off and said, “Nope. Not quite done. So now you have a second chance with the only person that you’ve ever loved. He’s here and establishing a life. He wants to love you.”
“When we split up last time, I was a fucking mess, Taryn. I don’t know that I could deal with that again,” Cora said.
“The timing was wrong last time. You didn’t honestly think that a long-distance relationship would be sustainable, did you?”
“I guess not,” Cora said. “I had hoped, but deep down I knew telling him to go was the beginning of the end.”
“And now you’ve got a second chance, honey. You’re both grown now and you’ve got something to bring to the table. When you guys are together, you practically light up the goddamned room. You’re telling me that because some shitty guy you didn’t even love was an asshole, you’re too scared to take what you want?”
“I’m scared. I may not have loved him, but I trusted him.”
“So did I. I thought he was a decent guy. He turned out to be a pathological liar. That’s the thing about those types. Since they believe their own lies, it’s kind of hard to tell,” Taryn said. “All that shit aside, do you really picture Jamie deciding to randomly fuck other people? Do you really think he’d be capable of that?”
“No. No! Of course I don’t,” Cora said.
“So, you love him...and you trust him. I rest my case.”
Cora shook her head as it all came together in her mind. Once again, she had been complicating something that was incredibly simple. “I gotta go, Taryn. I need to talk to Jamie,” she said.
“Atta girl,” Taryn said. “Call me tomorrow and let me know how it went.”
“Thank you,” Cora said quietly.
“You’re welcome. Love you.”
“Love you, too. Bye.”
Cora hung up her cellphone and hurried down the hallway to Jamie’s office door. She knocked, got no response, and then moved back into her office. If he wasn’t here, he was likely at home or at the gym. She needed to go see him. Taryn had been completely right.
Jamie had become her rock. Her north star. He had woven himself into the fabric of her life. They went to bed together, woke up together. He had shown her in a million different ways what a beautiful person he was. He knew her hopes, her fea
rs, and every single one of her neuroses. Still, he loved her. How on earth could she have ever considered walking away from that?
She thought back and realized that he had been involved in every single thing that had ever mattered. He had held her when she was sick. He had quizzed her when she had been freaking out over the GRE. He had given her everything. His name was written across her heart with indelible ink.
Hands shaking, she picked up her desk phone and dialed the security desk. It rang six times and then dropped into voicemail. “Thomas. It’s Cora. I’ve got a little bit of an emergency and I need to leave. I...if you’re not down there, I’m just going to chance it and walk out by myself.”
She hung up the phone and said, “Dammit.” She gathered her purse and briefcase, and then locked up her office and headed for the elevator. She hoped that Thomas would be out front.
Unfortunately, when she got downstairs, he was nowhere to be found. She waited another minute or two in the lobby, then decided to leave. She dug her keys out of her purse and walked out the front door. She made her way into the parking lot, her finger on the panic button just in case.
She was tense as she walked out to her car. She jumped at every little sound. She froze when she heard a rustle in the bushes. When a squirrel skittered out in front of her, she let out a deep breath and said, “Jesus Christ. Get it together, Cora.”
When she rounded the side of the building she heard a loud crack, then felt a white-hot pain throughout her entire body. She tried to scream but nothing came out.
Cora looked down and saw the bloom of red on her silk blouse. Realizing she was in danger, she turned around and tried to make her way back to the building. She came face to face with Warren Aimes.
He raised the gun and fired two more times. Her body was wracked with even more pain as she fell to the ground. She fumbled for the panic button on her key chain. Right after she heard it go off, everything went blissfully dark.
Chapter Eighteen
When Jamie took his cell phone out of his gym bag and started to get dressed after his shower he was utterly exhausted. He lit the screen and was startled to see that he had fifteen missed calls. All of them were from Evan. His heart leaped into his throat. He hoped that Taryn and the baby were okay.
When You Were Mine [Second Chances 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 16