I laughed. “I’m sure, Mogul. Have a good one.”
Prick.
I ended the call.
When I joined Jonah back at the table, he’d flipped his notebook closed and finished his cup of coffee. He was half turned toward the pool, and his eyes were fixed on two young women in bikinis sitting at the pool bar sipping on breakfast smoothies.
“Who was that?” he asked, though clearly still distracted by the girls.
“Ryan.”
“Gross. What did he want?”
“Ah. You know. To remind me of my place and assert his dominance over me.”
“How’d that go for him?”
I shrugged. “About as well as it usually does.”
“You think you’ll get his job if you close this deal?”
I sighed. “Most likely. Or I’ll be his boss.”
Jonah grinned and finally tore his gaze from the two girls. “Wouldn’t that be a fine slice of karma? You could torture him every damn day.”
“Nah, I’d give him shit for a week. Then I’d fire his ass and be done with it.”
“That works, too,” Jonah said. “Enough work talk. Fancy a smoothie?”
Chapter 14
Senna
The house was not mine.
It was bigger. Much bigger.
Sprawling rooms opened into sprawling rooms, followed by yet more sprawling rooms, kitchen to dining room to living room to grand hall. The walls were all white and lit up with sunshine streaming through the dozens of open windows in every wall in every one of the massive rooms.
There was barely any furniture. It was all very minimalist, simple and clean. The floors where white tile, streaked with pale lines of gray. They were cool under my bare feet as I padded through the unfamiliar space.
I paused by an open window in the living room. Sheer white curtains billowed inward, caught up in the morning summer breeze. The wind was a gentle caress on my skin, and I closed my eyes as it drew my hair off my shoulders and licked at my flesh, which was hot and dry.
It smelled fresh here—wherever here was—like grapefruit and eucalyptus.
I opened my eyes to take in the sight of the wonderful gardens outside. The grass, a more vibrant green than I had ever seen, fanned out and up over rolling hills that kissed the horizon.
Was this a farm?
No. It didn’t smell like a farm. There were no smells that suggested this might be a place for agriculture.
It was more of a haven. The sort of place people would spend a lot of money to come to in order to escape whatever reality was weighing them down. It felt like a Hampton house, minus the sand and the ocean. Breezy and fresh, wondrous and private.
Isolated.
I licked my lips, and the wind picked up again, this time whipping my hair around my face and picking up the flowing skirts of my sheer white robe, made of a fabric that matched the drapes.
I looked down at myself. This was not the way a single mother dressed—ever.
The sheer white robe covered a set of white lace lingerie. Thigh-high stockings trimmed with lace about six inches down from my hip climbed up my legs and were held in place by garters attached to my panties. My bra pushed my tits right up to my chin, which was a damn miracle after carrying a child, and a layer of lace covered my rib cage, complete with boning and a pretty floral design.
A bow made of ribbon was tied between my breasts, and the two ends hung down the length of my stomach. I played with them, entwining my finger around one length and then letting it fall back into place.
Where was I?
To my right was a white chair. Over the back of it was a light-gray suit jacket, draped casually, almost thoughtlessly. A pair of men’s pants were folded upon the seat. Sitting on top of the pants was a rolled up brown belt, and under the chair was a matching pair of brown dress shoes.
And it all felt very familiar.
I took a deep breath of the morning air and exhaled slowly. Peace settled in my bones and moved outward through my muscles and nerves, like ripples in a pond after the drop of a stone.
Another deep breath and an exhale.
On the third, I heard footsteps approaching from behind. Whoever was coming, they were barefoot like me, and I was not worried about their approach. In fact, I wanted it.
It was as if I’d been standing there waiting for them all this time.
Seconds passed and I didn’t move. I was rooted to the spot with anticipation, and when the stranger’s touch finally came, my body sang his praises, inviting his touch as he ran two fingertips lightly over my shoulders, dragging my hair to one side so he could step up close and press his soft lips to the side of my neck.
He smelled like the forest. Deep, wild, and strong. I breathed in the smell of him as his hand fell from my shoulders to trace the line of my spine down to my lower back. I closed my eyes.
His hand moved to my hip, and he pulled me into him, holding my ass against his crotch. His cock was hard. Ready, like I was.
And he was naked.
The press of his cock against my ass turned me on. I let out a soft moan and rolled my hips from side to side. He encouraged my movements with his hand on my hip, and then he ran his thumb along the waistband of my panties until he was below my navel. Then he slid his hand under my panties and down.
Down farther until he touched me where I hadn’t been touched in years.
My breathing quickened. He kissed my neck again, trailing soft kisses all over my skin and up to my ear, which he pinched gently between his teeth. His breath was hot, and his breathing was as rapid as my own.
I shifted my weight from foot to foot as his fingers rolled over my clit. It was nearly impossible to stay standing as my thighs trembled from the pleasure. Nearly.
He worked his free hand under my bra and squeezed my breasts as he slid a finger inside me. I gasped. He growled in my ear. It was a primal and deep sound that woke a hunger inside me.
“More,” I whispered.
He slid another finger in my pussy. I cooed with delight as he moved them in and out, nice and slow, rolling the base of his fingers over my clit every time he pulled out and slid back in.
I leaned back to feel his body against my back. He was firm as hell. And smooth. His chest was full and taut, and the muscles moved under the skin as his forearm flexed while he fucked me with his fingers. He was strong.
I rolled my hips. One of my garters snapped. It struck my skin and stung like hell, but all the pain earned from me was a short whimper that he silenced by grabbing my chin and turning my face to the side so he could crush his mouth to mine.
The kiss set me on fire.
His tongue slipped between my teeth and explored my mouth with eager curiosity. All the while, his hand worked under my panties, bringing me closer and closer to an orgasm.
He held my chin tighter. His grip was firm but not painful. Our kiss deepened. Need gathered between my legs—hot, tight, and greedy—and I quivered in his arms. He read the cues and swirled his fingers lightly but quickly over my clit until all at once, everything went white behind my eyelids and ecstasy slammed into me.
I cried out with delirious pleasure into his mouth. He kissed me harder, his tongue going in deeper, silencing my cry.
I whimpered as my knees threatened to give out.
The stranger pulled his hand out of my panties and planted it between my shoulder blades. He released my chin and pushed me forward so that I had to lean my elbows on the window sill in front of me. A breeze picked up once more, cooling my hot flesh and sending the sheer curtains dancing in the air around us.
He pushed my legs together and pulled my panties down. He tore the garter off that was still attached and left my stockings on as well as my bra. Then he ran a hand up the back of my leg, turning me into putty.
When he straightened up, he stepped in close and ran the length of his cock up and down my aching, pulsing slit. I was so damn wet.
I dropped my head and gripped the window sill wit
h both hands. He continued to tease me, rolling his way up and down, up and down, tracing his cock through my slippery wetness until he was good and coated.
And still, he did not give me what I wanted. What I needed.
I lifted my head to look back at him.
He caught a fistful of my hair and held me in place. I closed my eyes.
“Yes,” I breathed.
He tightened his grip, gathered my hair into a coil in his fist, and pulled my head back, forcing me to look up and out at the blue sky beyond the window. Then he leaned over me, pressing his chest to my back, and whispered, “How bad do you want it, baby girl?”
I almost came a second time.
I bit down on my bottom lip.
He gave my head a shake. Not too hard, but not too soft, either. It was just right. “Tell me, kitten. How bad?”
Pinching my knees together, I said, “So bad.”
He must have taken pity on me and my wavering voice because he pressed the tip of his cock inside me. I flinched as my body took him. I’d been out of the game too long, and I could feel it. He could too because as he pushed more of his length inside me, he let out a low groan. The sound rumbled through me, and I squeezed my eyes closed against the pressure of his fist tightening in my hair.
And then I had all of him inside me, and the tension at the nape of my neck was lost on me.
My grip on the window sill tightened. All of my muscles strained against the pressure until relief washed over me. I sighed.
And he knew I was ready.
He slid in and out of me. At first, he was slow. Steady. But then he fucked me harder and found a spectacular rhythm that had me gasping for breath as my second orgasm approached. He did not relent. His stamina was impressive, and he didn’t falter as my whole body seized in preparation for the release.
“Oh God,” I breathed, my voice hitching in my throat.
He released my hair and pushed me forward. Then he slapped my ass, and the world spun as he fucked me so hard I saw stars exploding in tiny bursts of yellow behind my eyelids.
“Yes!” I shouted, nearly screaming.
He squeezed my ass and pulled my cheeks apart. All the while, he was still burying his cock in me. I could hear his breathing quicken as he reached his own climax, and I looked back over my shoulder, not to see who he was but to watch as he came, and my eyes locked onto his and I found myself lost in a sea of green.
“Suit,” I hissed, sitting bolt upright in bed and gripping the sheets like I was lost at sea and they were my flotation device.
My chest heaved with labored breaths, and I shook my head as I tried to make sense of the dream. It had felt so very real.
And so damn good.
“But Suit?” I asked myself aloud, my stomach twisting into a knot that I couldn’t differentiate between anxiety or arousal.
Based on the little wet spot on my sheets and between my legs, I assumed it was the latter.
I swallowed and pressed both hands to my forehead. “No, girl. Absolutely not. You’re not into him like that. It was just a dream. And dreams mean nothing. Your subconscious can’t be into him. You know what he is.”
Well, I knew what I thought he was. I thought he was a shark. A crook. A panty-dropping con man.
I collapsed back into my throne of pillows and stared at my ceiling, waiting for the knot in my belly to untangle and fade away.
It didn’t.
Chapter 15
Zach
Jonah was sound asleep when I left the hotel room at eight o’clock on Thursday morning. He’d been out late the night before, returning to the suite well after I’d already gone to bed, and I assumed he’d met up with some people and had a night out on the town.
Or a night in another guest’s room. I wouldn’t put it past him.
After leaving our suite, I went down to the pool deck where I decided to try one of the fruit smoothies from the bar. They weren’t as bad as I thought they’d be. A little too sweet for my taste, sure, but good nonetheless, and a different way to start my morning than my usual two glasses of water and a cup of black coffee.
Summer mornings in Austin were beautiful. And warm. And always sunny. Similar to Orlando but not quite as humid, which was nice. I found I preferred the dryer heat.
I sipped my smoothie while watching families come down to the pool deck to claim their spots for the day. Mothers set towels over chairs and smothered their children in sunscreen, while fathers blew up inflatable pool toys and made a stink about having to put sunscreen on themselves.
I wondered if Lily liked to swim.
Most kids did, right? Unless they had some traumatic experience that led to a fear of water. But I doubted Lily was that sort of kid, mostly because I doubted Senna would have put her in that position in the first place.
Surely, she would love the water.
She’d probably love this pool, too. With the smoothies and the blow-up toys and the other kids running wild, bare feet slapping on the wet patio as their parents scolded them and told them to slow down while they received the evil eye from the lifeguard who lingered near the pool bar.
I called Bob and arranged for him to pick me up at the hotel in fifteen minutes. In that time, I finished my smoothie, left a tip for the bartender, and swung by the concierge to ask a couple of questions. By the time I left through the front doors of the lobby, Bob was there, parked along the curb in a line of yellow taxis.
I jogged over, got in the back seat, and closed the door behind me.
“Good morning, Mr. Hammel. How is the day treating you so far?”
“Pretty good. And yourself?”
“Pretty darn good on this side of the track, too. The sun is shining, and I have a hot cup of coffee. Can’t ask for much else. Where to this morning? Apricot Lane?”
“You got it.”
Bob shoulder checked for traffic, and when the coast was clear, he pulled out into the roundabout drive in front of the hotel. Then we headed off to the street, took the corner, and passed the pool patio. Jonah was likely to appear down there in the next couple of hours or so. Or he’d sit in the lounge with his notebook and a cup of coffee, writing fervently.
Bob pulled onto Apricot Lane just after nine-thirty. A landscaper was watering all the flower planters along the road and pruning the hedges. Even though the whole lane was cast in the shadow of the mall, it still possessed a vibrant quality.
Bob dropped me off and told me to call when I needed a ride back to the hotel. I assured him I would, and he drove off as I turned to face the two remaining shops. I adjusted the cuffs of my white button up and crossed the street to open the front door of Something New.
The jewelry shop smelled like a holistic healing place—sage, allspice, and ginger. It wasn’t an overwhelming smell, but it was definitely present, and it complemented the decor of the place. The walls were a deep, rich brown, framed with crisp white baseboards and crown molding.
The sales counter was against the back wall and spanned the entire width of the store. Like the other counters along the other walls, it was a glass display case. Items inside the cases caught the light of an almost gothic-looking chandelier hanging from the ceiling, glittering just as brightly as the jewels in the cases.
Underfoot was a plush Turkish rug. The place had a very welcoming atmosphere, and as I turned in a slow circle, I realized that Edith, the shop owner, had been watching me since I came in.
She was standing at one of the counters near the front window. I had walked right by her when I entered the shop. Her elbow was on the display case, and her chin rested on her hand. She gave me a knowing smile. “Morning, Zach.”
“Edith,” I said pleasantly. “Good morning. How are you?”
“Oh, you know? Business is booming.”
I could see this place being very successful somewhere else—somewhere with foot traffic and more parking that was more accessible to the public. She needed to be flanked by other destination stores so that people knew she was here. Apr
icot Lane was clearly not cutting it anymore.
“This isn’t what I expected from the outside,” I told her.
Edith straightened up. She was wearing a loose, flowing navy dress that went down to the middle of her shins. Gold sandals revealed purple-painted toes, and several bracelets jingled on each wrist. Her fingers were covered in a minimum of three rings per hand, and big hoops dangled from her ears. I supposed it made sense for the owner of a jewelry shop to wear her own merchandise.
“I get that a lot actually,” Edith said. “I think people expect it to be a little more traditional?”
“Makes sense. But this is a pleasant surprise. It’s kind of moody. I like it.”
“Me too.” Edith smiled. I could see pride in the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes. “It’s me in a nutshell. If I could, I’d have incense burning and two dozen candles, but there is no doubt somebody would complain, and I suppose everyone is sensitive to some scent or another.”
“What are you, a witch?”
Edith giggled. “In my past life, maybe.”
I moved along the outer edge of the display cases, peering down at the jewelry as I went. Edith followed from the other side, running two fingers along the aluminum frame at the edge of the case. “Are you looking for something? Or are you just here to collect information?”
I glanced up at her. “I wanted to see what you’d built with this place. What you had to offer.”
“And?”
“I’m impressed,” I said simply.
Edith’s eyes narrowed, and she followed me as I resumed my lap of the shop. “Why?”
I shrugged and paused to look down at a display of what appeared to be handmade watches, bound with crisscrossed leather straps of all shades of brown. The watch faces shone with an almost pearlescent wash. “Well, first of all your merchandise is top notch. And unique. Two things a lot of businesses drop the ball on to cut expenses and in fear of real commitment. It won’t hurt as bad to fail at something that isn’t truly your passion. But this,” I pointed down at the watches, “is very clearly your passion. Did you design these yourself?”
Good Luck Charm: A Single Mother Romance Page 9