by Maddie James
Mitchell took Jackie’s hand and pulled her up. She wanted to ask him how his phone call went and if he had managed to sell off the business employing several hundred people including herself and her best friends. What could she say to him, though? He still didn’t know who she was and she was pretty much at his mercy at least for the afternoon. Not that it was much of a hardship when she felt his hand enclose hers and had to resist running her other fingers along his jaw line and down his neck. Maybe it was a hardship. He was a hard man to resist even if she wanted to.
She took a deep breath and went out front with him. Sitting in the parking lot in front of the hanging moped sign was the ugliest car Jackie had ever seen. It was a rusty convertible that had to have been manufactured before she was even born. The vinyl seats probably were an exact match for the burgundy-ish paint when it was new. Now, they didn’t look like anything she’d even want to sit on. They were cracked and soaking up the Florida sun like a frying pan. Seriously. A millionaire driving this car?
Mitchell stood next to the driver’s door and swept his arm over the car in a large arc. He looked like a game show host presenting the grand prize. A ridiculous grin spread over his face, softening his square jaw and making him look damn near boyish. What was in the coffee he had this morning?
“This, my dear, is a Chrysler K car, circa 1982. It’s a slice of Americana and it’s all ours for the day.”
Jackie stood there and stared at the car. She would have been a whole lot less surprised if he had arranged for a Mercedes convertible or a private jet to chauffeur them around for the day.
Mitchell ducked his head and grinned at her. “Say something, Jackie, or I’ll think you don’t like it.”
“I was thinking,” she said slowly, “maybe I could give that moped one more try.”
“Hey,” Jimmy said as he came out the front door, “you got your favorite car. Can’t believe they still rent this one out.”
The two brothers walked around the car, looking at it reverently and smiling at some private joke. Jackie noticed how much they resembled each other, but Jimmy looked a few years younger than Mitchell. Maybe he just lived a younger life style. Although he got plenty of sun. From the company profile on the website, she surmised that Mitchell was close to thirty. Pretty young for a corporate executive.
Mitchell took the tail of his shirt and buffed away at a scratch on the front fender. Jimmy popped the hood and admired the tiny engine. Jackie leaned against a porch pillar wondering what kind of a crazy situation she’d gotten herself into this time and vowing to stay out of the sun as long as she could. Maybe it rattles your brain at this latitude.
“Mitchell’s got some crazy attachment to these ugly beasts,” Jimmy explained. “I think it goes back to his childhood. His dad had one a lot like this.”
“His dad?” Jackie asked, puzzled.
“Long story,” Mitchell said.
“Keep it under a hundred, Mitch,” said Jimmy. “It has zero style, but it’s got some serious giddyup,” he explained to Jackie.
“It has an FM radio and all four hubcaps,” Mitchell said in mock defensiveness, “and it even gets decent mileage.”
“It’s a green choice, bro, a green choice. You guys have fun,” Jimmy said and sauntered into his moped shop. “I’ll just be here trying to straighten out the front tire on that moped.”
Jackie had an alarming new thought. “Am I going to have to pay for the damage on that moped?”
Mitchell pulled open the squeaky passenger side door and held it open. He leaned very close as she stepped in. “It’s tempting to make you work it off, but don’t worry, we’re insured against women like you,” he said in a low voice right next to her ear. She wondered if what he said had a double meaning.
“Does that mean you’re not letting me drive?” she asked.
“Depends on what you’re driving.”
He backed the convertible out of its space and they took off along the waterfront. They passed old seaport buildings, charter boat docks, and palm trees sheltering colorful bungalows. It was all exotic, exhilarating. For a girl who grew up in Wisconsin and spent all her Decembers where it was cold and gray, this was heavenly and lush with temptation of all kinds.
“What would you like to see?” Mitchell asked over the hum and vibration of the loud little car. “Museums and lighthouses? Pirate treasures? Dolphins?”
She didn’t know. They could walk through edifying museums and learn local history. They could wade knee deep in swirling blue green waters and feel the rough sand between their toes. No matter what they did, they would feel the heat between them. And it wasn’t just the Key West sun.
“Surprise me,” she said. She was along for the ride in more ways than one.
“Gotcha. Secluded beaches where you can lose yourself in my charms coming right up,” he said.
He wore a boyish grin. In fact, Jackie noticed he had been wearing the silly grin since his phone call from the man named Hal. Something about the phone call had lightened his mood Perhaps unloading an underperforming asset made him feel giddy. The underperforming asset where she and all her friends worked.
Or maybe it was the hideous K car he thought was so marvelous. Either way, there was no connection between the man next to her and the supposed cold brooding businessman of office lore. Maybe he had a split personality. Maybe he changed with the latitude like a chameleon changes color.
He slowed down and pulled off the road and onto a lane which led through some twisted palm trees. The road was hardly visible and looked like it was barely used. Not a typical tourist venue. She glanced over at Mitchell as he drove down the lane. Aside from looking distractingly handsome, he hardly looked like the same man she met last night in the bar. But he also didn’t look like a murderer luring her to her death on a deserted beach.
As he drove, he rested one elbow on the door and draped the other one on the steering wheel. The sun glanced off his skin and lit up the hairs along his forearms. His t-shirt and shorts showed off his lean muscular build. Knowing what was under those casual clothes took away some of the mystery, but didn’t at all affect the desire that came with the knowledge.
As the lane became lonelier and they got closer to the bright blue of the ocean peeking through the palm trees, Jackie knew what was coming. They would be alone. On a beach.
As if he knew what she was thinking, he looked over at her with a sideways glance. A small smile tipped up the corner of his mouth and he shifted his hands so his left hand was on the wheel and his right hand was coming her way. He reached over and played with a lock of her hair tossed around by the ocean breeze. Then he reached down and ran his hand over her leg until he got to her knee. He hooked his hand under the edge of her sundress and began to work it up her naked thigh.
When Mitchell parked the car, Jackie didn’t move for a second. She was letting him make the moves today. She could take more than her share of the responsibility for what happened last night, but she wondered where it would go when he was the one with his foot on the accelerator.
He got out and came around the car to open her door. “Welcome to Blue Bottle Beach,” he said.
“Blue Bottle?” she asked as she took Mitchell’s hand and got out of the car.
“That’s what me and Jimmy call it. When we were kids, we found a blue bottle on this beach. It was corked closed, and there was a paper in it. We always wondered what it said.”
“Didn’t you read it?”
“We tried, but the cork must not have been sealed tight enough. The paper was wet and we could only make out one word.”
Mitchell stopped talking and reached over to take the keys out of the ignition. He walked around to the back of the car and put a key in the lock on the trunk.
“What was the word?” Jackie asked.
“What word?” he asked with a wicked grin on his face.
She punched him playfully on the upper arm. “You can’t start a story like that and not finish it.”
He
stopped fiddling with the lock on the trunk and turned to Jackie. He towered over her by more than half a foot, but his eyes and lips were still so close, too close. She couldn’t think, she could only feel. She put both her hands on his shoulders and he slipped his hands around her slim waist. He looked at her thoughtfully, searchingly.
“Does every story have a satisfying ending?” he asked.
“I want them all to,” she said.
He leaned in and kissed her. His lips were soft, covering hers at first and claiming her completely, but then he began to search her mouth with his. He toyed with her upper lip, her lower lip and then tangled his tongue with hers. It was teasing, almost playful. His hands moved up and down her back and his fingers slipped under the straps of her sundress.
She responded willingly, completely to him. She had never been with anyone who made her feel so desirable. With his looks and his money and power, he could have any woman in the world. But he was here with her. Right now.
Mitchell broke the kiss and pulled back.
“Got a blanket here in the trunk. I hope,” he said.
“Do you always come prepared?” Jackie asked. What if he had a new woman every weekend and brought them all to this beach?
Mitchell read her thoughts. “If you’re wondering if I bring lots of women here, I’ll tell you the answer,” he said.
Jackie counted to ten in her head. Did she want to know?
“But you’ll have to pay me with a kiss.”
Jackie stood up on tiptoe and put a chaste kiss on his cheek. “Well?” she asked.
“Not exactly what I had in mind,” he said.
“I drive a hard bargain.”
“Hmmm. Maybe I should hire you.”
Okay, this was almost not funny. He had officially told her almost nothing about what he did for a living. Maybe she should just pretend she didn’t know. Honestly, she knew very little. She worked for one small part of his empire and she was only one person in one office. There was a whole lot to his story that was a complete mystery to her. She struggled to remember it was her plan for the day to keep it that way. Relax, have fun, say goodbye. Go back to work with her friends, and forget she knew far more about the man who owned the corporation than the picture and sketchy bio buried on his website. Play along, keep it light, fly home tomorrow and leave it behind. Forget.
“I think it’s a great idea to hire me,” she said lightly. “I can demonstrate safe driving practices at your moped rental shop.”
Mitchell grimaced and turned his attention to the rusty lock on the trunk lid. It took some jimmying, but he got it open.
“Picnic lunch, too,” he said. “I ordered it with the car when I called this morning.”
“You do plan ahead,” Jackie said, still wondering if this was a common occurrence for him on a Saturday.
Mitchell handed her a large red blanket and took the picnic basket himself. He closed the trunk lid with his left hand and leaned on it for a moment.
“The word in the bottle,” he said, “was hermanos. We always took it as a sign that our first loyalty would be to each other. I’ve almost never forgotten that.”
She noticed the qualifying ‘almost’ part of his explanation. His face looked suddenly serious and she didn’t ask the questions in her mind.
He put the picnic basket on his shoulder and took her hand. He led her toward a place on the beach with two palm trees growing at crooked angles. The trees were all alone in the middle of the beach, their cool shade inviting in the glare of white sand that stretched far away. One of the trees grew almost horizontally and was supported by the other. The two of them made a natural seat.
“Were these trees always like this?” Jackie asked, even though she could guess the answer.
“Yep. That’s where we found the blue bottle.”
He put the picnic basket in the crook where the two trees made a flat little platform. He took the blanket from Jackie and the two of them spread it on the sand in the shade of the two trees. She could picture a younger Mitchell and Jimmy finding the bottle and making their pact under these trees.
“I have a brother,” Jackie said suddenly. She didn’t know where it came from. She hadn’t intended to share anything personal with Mitchell and make this weekend fling any more than it was. Maybe it was because he had shared something so personal with her, she felt compelled.
“Really?” Mitchell looked interested. “You haven’t told me anything about yourself.”
Although true, Jackie didn’t want to get into too many details about herself. “He’s younger than I am, still in college in Wisconsin.”
“That’s where you’re from?”
“Yes.”
“Last night, you said you grew up by the water. I thought you meant the ocean, but now I’m guessing…Lake Superior?”
“Uh-huh.” She knew she was being evasive, but what was the point of sharing anything too personal? He probably didn’t want to see her again after this weekend. She was good entertainment and company for his little weekend vacation. For that matter, she was having a fun weekend and some serious sizzle with him, but she knew she never planned to see him again after today. If he realized she had been lying to him all along anyway and actually was his employee, he would never want to see her again.
Mitchell took her hand and led her into the sunshine playing along the edge of the water. They both slipped off their shoes and put their feet in the warm salty water.
“Swim first or lunch first?” he asked.
“I think there are rules about these things. Can’t swim until a half hour after eating.”
He laughed. “I believe that’s an international law that even applies in Key West.”
Chapter Twelve
Mitchell didn’t know how long he slept, but the sun and shadows hadn’t moved very much. Maybe a half an hour. She was asleep next to him. Her long brown hair splayed out across the red blanket and his shoulder. The breeze stirred her hair and tickled him with it. Her blue eyes, usually so expressive, were closed. She looked relaxed, natural. Her body fit perfectly into the curves and hollows of his and he knew he could lay like this forever. He silently willed her not to wake up for a little while so he could enjoy it a little longer.
No woman has ever done this to me. Not that there had been all that many. His wife had been desirable to him in a more conventional way. Their time in the bedroom was satisfying, but nothing like this. At least, he’d thought it was satisfying. His ex, Lisa, was going elsewhere for satisfaction. And he’d had no idea. She made a complete fool out of him for a long time. If it weren’t for Jimmy, it would have been longer.
He didn’t want to think about that now. About how he refused to believe Jimmy and the first serious fight the two brothers ever had. Jimmy was right about Lisa all along, but no one wants to believe bad news. Maybe a little part of him knew already. Long before his little brother had to knock some sense into him. He never brought Lisa here, to his favorite place on the planet, to make love under these trees. Why had it seemed like the only place to go with Jackie? As he held her, watching her sleep, he realized he wanted to know a lot more about her.
Jackie’s cell phone in her bag near their heads on the blanket chirped, and she opened her eyes with a look of alertness. Mitchell wanted to smash the phone. He had bought off her friends for the day because he wanted her all to herself.
No interruptions. He watched as Jackie rolled away from him and dug through her bag. He stroked her back as she read whatever message was on her phone.
“My friends,” she explained, rolling back toward him. “A text to say they’re having fun and thanks for the tickets.”
“Are you planning to respond?” Mitchell asked.
Jackie grinned. “I’ll text them so they’ll know you haven’t kidnapped me and headed for the equator.”
Mitchell didn’t know whether to laugh or run back to one of his offices and hide. For one thing, he was afraid Jackie would notice the thanks her friends sent was addre
ssed to her. She was a smart woman. She would know he lied about who sent those tickets if she thought about it very much.
The other thing clenching his gut was realizing how far he let down his guard. Any woman could be dangerous.
Especially if you opened your heart.
He never wanted to go through a legal meat grinder again like with his divorce. Everyone warned him, especially his chief financial officer, Hal, and even his free-spirited brother, Jimmy. Seems like everyone except him could see what Lisa saw in him. How the hell did you trust a woman after that?
Now, watching Jackie turn her phone off and slip it back into her bag, he saw nothing to gave him even the faintest alarm. No way could she be after a fortune she didn’t even know he had. As far as she knew, he owned a profitless Moped business and was happy with a car older than she was.
****
They ate sandwiches and drank the bottled iced tea someone had packed. Mitchell must have some connections when it comes to rental cars and convenient lunches, Jackie thought. When they finished, they sat on the blanket with Mitchell’s back against the tree and Jackie leaning against him between his legs. It was comfortable, with her back supported against his solid chest and her legs brushing the blanket. She closed her eyes. This was too good to be true.
It wasn’t the weekend she planned with her girlfriends, but it was incredible. She pictured her friends out on the ocean on a sightseeing tour. Probably spotting dolphins and going shelling on private islands. Maybe even snorkeling. She smiled, thinking of Leah and Teri doing all those wonderful things, so far away from the gray walls of their life in Chicago.
“You’re smiling again,” Mitchell said. His lips brushed her ear.
“Can’t help myself,” she said.
“I was hoping you’d like it here.”
“Doesn’t everyone?” she asked, turning her head so their cheeks touched and she could see his expression.
“I don’t know,” he said. “I’ve never brought anyone here before. Jimmy and I consider this our secret.”