Jesus. So many firsts.
Jenny glanced at Austin and likely saw the same thing he did—his kid’s face light up like a Serengeti dawn. He swallowed, so humbled by it he hardly knew what to do with himself.
Before he could go all sentimental-fool on them, however, she’d snatched the key from his hand and slipped around him. “Works for me.”
Austin slid his ski out onto the dock and climbed out after it, turning to accept the bar end of the towrope when Jake leaned out to hand it to him.
Jenny started the engine and slowly pulled away from the dock. She glanced over her shoulder. “Tell me when the slack’s all but gone.”
He watched the line slowly unsnake beneath the water. “Okay, it’s getting there, getting there...” The rope between boat and dock came up out of the water, and Austin poised his ski over the water. “Now!”
She slammed the throttle forward, the boat shot off like a bullet train and Austin was immediately up to speed. Jake had done some skiing with Kari’s crowd back in high school. But he hadn’t grown up with the sport as Austin had, and he knew within moments that his son’s skills far outstripped his own. If he had tried that start, he’d probably be swallowing half the canal as he was dragged face-first behind the speeding boat.
But his son knew what he was doing and he jumped the wake with ease, then swung wide to the farthest reach of the rope, where he leaned until his elbow damn near touched the water. It turned him back toward center and he straightened as he whipped back within the wake, only to jump it on the other side.
Jake watched him with pride all the way to Oak Head, where Jenny sped the boat to within fifty feet of the shore before cutting a sharp turn. Austin crossed the wake for the final time and, when he reached the apex closest to the beach, let go of the towrope bar.
Jenny pulled back on the throttle, and Jake let the bar skip behind the boat, in favor of watching his son skim a few more feet toward shore before gently sinking into a couple of feet of water.
Jake yelled his approval and was still cheering when Jenny brought the boat around a moment later and he jumped onto the beach. He strode straight over to his son, who was standing next to his beached slalom ski, wrapped his arms around him and hauled him off his feet in a fierce bear hug.
He set him back down. “You rocked!”
Austin looked both thrilled and a little rattled, and Jake warned himself not to push too hard. He took a casual step back. “You want to ski some more, or are you ready for a hero?”
“A what?”
“You know, a hero sandwich. Oh. A hoagie or a sub, you call them here.”
“How soon we forget,” Jenny said, joining them.
He hitched a shoulder. “I’ve lived in Manhattan a long time now.”
“I could use a sandwich,” Austin said. “Where’d you get ’em?”
“I bought the fixings in Silverdale. You can make your own any way you like it. I figured that was the closest I could give you to DeFonte’s in Brooklyn. They make the best.”
“Sweet. What all ya got?”
Jenny had snapped out the blanket he’d brought and spread it near a downed tree with an immense tangled network of sun-bleached roots. Jake would bet big bucks it was a climbing magnet for every kid who hit this beach. He and Austin joined her, and he sank to his knees atop the throw and began pulling ingredients out of the grocery bag and cooler.
“We’ve got ham, we’ve got pepperoni, we’ve got Genoa salami, roast beef and pastrami. We’ve got sliced onions and tomatoes, chopped lettuce, vinegar and oil, mayo and mustard and, of course, some kick-ass rolls. For sides I brought potato salad and fruit salad and pepperoncini. Oh, and chips. To wash it down we have a nice selection of bottled water, canned Coke, both high-test and unleaded, or root beer, which any aficionado will tell you is strictly high-test.”
“Dude, this is so dope!”
“Yes,” Jenny agreed dryly. “That oughta stave off starvation for an hour or two. Even for a teenager with two hollow legs.”
They pigged out, then Jake and Austin tossed a ball back and forth on the beach and entertained themselves playing keep-away from Jenny, which was ridiculously easy to do since, 1) she was short, and 2) she had zero sport skills. At least of the ball-capturing variety.
She was pretty damn good at clambering around the root-ball, though. Her small stature stood her in good stead among the silvery twisted roots.
The days were growing longer in the Pacific Northwest, and the sun hadn’t yet hit the mountaintops when Jenny declared it time to go. Jake wanted to object the way Austin did, but he knew she was right. It was a school night.
“Pack it up, kid,” he directed.
“But I don’t wanna go,” Austin protested. “This is fun.”
Jake warmed inside, but forced himself to say easily, “And we’ll do it again. But don’t you have homework to do?”
“Yeah, I s’pose.” Then Austin brightened. “I’m so gonna do the hero sandwiches at my birthday party this summer.”
On June thirtieth. Shit. He was going to have to tell Austin soon about moving with him to New York after school got out. But what was he going to do about the kid’s birthday party? Because clearly he hadn’t thought this through all that well. With no school in session, Austin didn’t have a prayer of making a new group of friends in the couple of weeks between school ending here and June thirtieth. He might have to extend his internal deadline.
But he didn’t have to deal with that now. Tonight he got to bask in his son’s approval.
When they arrived back at Jenny’s, he helped Austin wipe down the ski. While Austin put it away, he stowed the towrope and hung the wet suit up to dry.
He’d just turned back when his boy suddenly flung himself at him and gave him a fierce hug. It was quick and awkward, and Austin shoved his hands in his pants pockets the instant he pulled back, studying the shed floor as if it suddenly contained a world-class hologram of his favorite video game. But Jake felt the residual effects of the hug right down to his soul.
“Thanks, Dad,” the teen said. And face flushed, he hurried into the cottage.
When the door banged closed behind him, Jenny, who’d been standing in the doorway, took Austin’s place in front of Jake. Reaching up, she cradled his cheek in her hand.
“You did good tonight,” she said with a gentle smile. And rising onto her toes, she pressed a soft, chaste kiss to his lips. Settling back on her deck skimmers, she simply looked up at him for a moment, that slight smile playing around the edges of her lips. “Real good,” she reiterated.
Then turned and disappeared into the bungalow behind his son.
* * *
AT ELEVEN-THIRTY THAT NIGHT Jenny stood outside Jake’s door. Austin had been asleep for nearly an hour, and once he went out he slept like the dead. But she still didn’t know quite what she was doing here.
For all she knew, one time with her was all Jake had been looking for. It wasn’t as if they’d talked about it after that cataclysmic encounter. He certainly hadn’t treated her any differently at this evening’s picnic, but then she couldn’t actually envision him doing so in front of Austin.
For her, however, their lovemaking had been like nothing she’d ever experienced. And as she’d told Tasha, she wanted more while she still could. So, silently encouraging herself to be bold, she shook out her hands, took a deep breath and tapped on Jake’s door before she could chicken out.
He pulled it open and stood in the doorway on bare feet, in the same jeans and shirt he’d worn earlier. “Hey.” A smile of greeting deepened the creases bracketing his mouth. “What brings you here?”
“Booty call.” It came out with amazing confidence even as she cringed inside. Really? That’s what you come up with?
But apparently it worked for him, for his eyes lit up and h
e said, “Yeah?” and stepped back. “In that case, get your booty in here.”
She’d barely cleared the threshold before he slammed the door shut and crowded her against it. Hands and forearms slapping down on either side of her head, he bent his head and kissed her. And just like that, she was all in.
So was he, apparently, for the kiss turned fierce and one of his hands came off the door to settle on her breast. He raised his mouth a scant quarter inch from hers.
“You’ve got too many clothes on,” he said roughly and pulled her sweater over her head. Dropping it on the floor, he bent his knees to bring his face level with her bra and reached behind her to unfasten its back hooks. A second later, it joined her sweater.
Then he simply stared at her breasts, and she felt her nipples twist into aching points.
His tongue tip glided between his parted lips and he subtly oscillated the flat of it against the sharp edges of his top center teeth before retracting it. “You’ve got the sweetest tits.”
As usual, his blunt speech made that sheath deep between her thighs clench tight. The sensation only intensified as he kissed each nipple and gave the right one a leisurely suck. Then he gripped her butt and hauled her up.
A startled squeak escaped her. “Okay, that’s kind of embarrassing,” she said, feeling the burn heating her cheeks. “I sound like a six-year-old.” But she wrapped her legs around his hips and bumped squarely against the solid erection behind his fly. “Oh.” Eyes fluttering shut, she slowly ground against it. “Not feeling six now.”
Jake’s breath exploded out of him. “What is it about you?” he demanded, doing a slow grind of his own. “I’m like the king of foreplay with other women, but I always end up rushing you like a fourteen-year-old.”
“That so works for me.”
A gritty huff of laughter escaped him. “Yeah, me, too. God, Jenny. You’re so responsive it just blows my control all to hell.”
She cracked open a hopeful eye. “Does this mean you have a condom handy?”
A full-fledged laugh exploded from him. “In my wallet in my hip pocket. Or if you’d like to take this where I can display more finesse than up against the door, I’ve got an entire box in the bedroom.”
“I like it right here.” She reached around him, fumbling for his wallet. “I’ve never done it up against a door.”
“No? Then I’m happy to be of service.” He set her on her feet. “Strip,” he ordered, tugging his own shirt off before reaching for his fly.
In seconds they were both naked and Jake had rolled a condom on. He sank to his knees in front of her. Leaning in, he pressed a kiss on her abdomen just above the patch of curls over her mons. “We can spare a couple seconds for a little foreplay,” he said hoarsely and, sliding his thumbs into the wet slit between her legs, separated the lips there. “Sweet,” he whispered and gently lapped the pink flesh he’d exposed with the flat of his tongue.
Choking out his name, she clenched her fingers in his hair. “You’d better stop, youbetterstop youbetterstop,” she panted. But not only didn’t he, he slid two fingers into her. And she came in hot, fast pulsations.
He stayed with her until the last contraction faded, then extracted his fingers, surged to his feet and lifted her back against the door. The instant her arms went around his neck and her legs locked around his waist, he reached to thumb his erection down, bending his knees until he was aligned with her opening. “God,” he said. And thrust into her.
It was fast and rough and Jenny maintained a stranglehold on Jake’s neck as he thrust and retreated, thrust and retreated. “Oh God, oh God, oh God,” she panted mindlessly as all that sensation she’d thought satisfied sparked back to life. “Oh, God, Jake. It feels so—” He pulled almost, nearly, not quite out, then slammed back in. “Feels so—” Pulled out, slammed in. “Oh, God, I’m going to—”
“Come,” he gritted and this time when he plunged into her, he stayed to grind against her clitoris. “Come for me, Jenny.”
And she did, clenching and releasing around him over and over and over again.
“Jesus!” He bared his teeth, a long, gritty groan of satisfaction purling out of his throat as he, too, exploded.
Then his head thunked down on the door next to hers. “Damn. You’re killing me.”
“Tell me about it.” She was inertia personified, lethargic from head to toe, held in place only by his body leaning heavy against hers. She retained just enough motor skills to quirk up the corners of her lips and press a clumsy kiss to the tip of his ear. She smiled again when he shivered.
“On the other hand,” she breathed. “What a way to go, huh?”
CHAPTER TWENTY
“JENNY, YOUR TEN-THIRTY interview is here.”
Glancing at her watch, Jenny smiled to see that the job applicant was five minutes early. It was always a bonus not to be kept waiting. “Thanks, Abby. I’ll be right out.”
A moment later she walked into the lobby. The only person currently there, aside from Abby behind the front desk, was a twentysomething biracial woman dressed with quirky, artistic flair in a brightly patterned jersey skirt that swirled around her boots and a long sleek tunic with a belt slung between her waist and hips.
She crossed to her. “Ms. Summerville?” She extended a hand. “I’m Jennifer Salazar, the general manager. We talked on the phone last week.”
“Hello.” The woman—whose first name was Harper, Jenny knew from her application—firmly shook her hand. “Thank you so much for seeing me.”
She blinked. Harper might be even taller than Tasha—something she couldn’t help but envy. And between the other woman’s imposing stature, that latte-with-an-extra-splash-of-cream complexion, those glossily dark, loose spiral curls and large olive-green eyes, Jenny’s first impression was of exotic, regal stylishness.
But rather aloof, which wouldn’t do at all for the position Jenny was looking to fill.
And then Harper smiled and her face animated into something downright joyful. Her eyes narrowed to merry crescents, and those full solemn lips turned into a wide heartlike shape that exposed not only her flawless white teeth but some of the healthy gums in which they were anchored. It was a smile of singular charm that transformed her from distantly removed to not just accessible but magnetic. Jenny felt as if she were the center of the other woman’s attention.
She smiled back. “I’ve been looking forward to meeting you. Your résumé is very impressive.”
“May I quote you on that to my mother?” Harper laughed heartily even as her fingers brushed warmly against Jenny’s arm with unstudied tactility. “She wants nothing more than for me to quit jumping from job to job and pick one to settle into.” She grimaced. “Well, that or get married. Preferably to a doctor.”
“That’s mothers for you.” Most people’s anyway—her own hadn’t demonstrated much interest in her after Lawrence Salazar’s fall from grace, except to be mortified that she’d chosen to work as a maid at The Brothers.
As if, at sixteen, she’d been overburdened with choices.
Which was neither here nor there. “If it helps, you can tell her from me it was your variety of skills that struck the biggest spark with me. I’m looking for a social director, for lack of a better term, for the summer season and the number one qualification for the job is an ability to coordinate a number of activities. As it is—even with all the skills you bring to the table—this is only a three-quarter-time job. I need someone for around thirty to thirty-two hours a week.”
“That was actually one of the pluses when I read your ad on Craigslist. I have some money set aside, so I can get by on less hours. It’ll give me a little time to explore the peninsula.” Both her delicately arched brows and the corners of her lips quirked upward. “Well, depending on what you’re offering, that is. The ad didn’t really specify.”
&nbs
p; Jenny named the hourly rate. “Plus room and board, of course. The accommodation isn’t particularly plush—it’s a little one-room-with-loft cottage up in the woods.”
“Please tell me an outhouse isn’t part of the package. Because that’s a deal breaker.”
Jenny laughed. “No. While there’s nothing fancy about the cottage, it’s not that primitive. You don’t have to share with a roommate and it boasts a little bathroom. Shower only, though, I’m afraid.”
“Oh.” For an instant the other woman looked wistful. “I do like my baths.” Then she flashed that smile again. “But I’m sure I can make do for the short summer season.”
It struck Jenny that Harper’s ability to make a person feel as if she smiled for you alone was a very handy skill for someone in a people-oriented field.
She grinned back. “And on the bright side, the food in our restaurant is outstanding. If you’re in the mood to whip up something for yourself, however, there’s a hot plate, micro and college dorm-size fridge in the cabin.”
“So...are you offering me the job, then?”
“I’m definitely leaning in that direction, but let me show you around the inn and the grounds and the cottage that comes with the position. I’ll tell you what I envision for this position, and you can fill me in, in a little more detail than I got from your application, on your own vision. And don’t be afraid to speak up, because often instructors, with their superior experience in a given activity, come up with ideas that never in a gazillion years would have occurred to me. I do love it when someone has ideas for making things better.”
“Sounds good to me.”
“Excellent. I have to tell you—I’ve never met a Harper before. I love the name.”
“Thanks. Mama adored To Kill a Mockingbird.” Harper grinned. “She considers Harper Lee a genius to this day.”
“It’s both unique and pretty—it suits you.” Then she got down to business, indicating the area around them with a sweep of her arm. “This, as you can see, is The Brothers’ lobby....”
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