The Anti-Honeymoon

by Bethany Michaels

  “I’m on board,” Zach said against her lips. He wrapped his arms around her waist and hauled her against him. “Totally.”

  Like that little kiss was going to tide him over. Zach kissed her thoroughly before letting her go. It was unseemly to walk around with a boner all day, but that was what Jenna did to him. Even though he’d spent more time than was decent fantasizing about her breasts, her body, and the little noises he’d hoped she’d make when he pressed into her, the reality had exceeded all expectations. She was everything he’d always wanted come to life. She’d been generous sexually, adventurous, and oh so responsive.

  “Addictive” would be a good word for her.

  And just like a drug habit, they wouldn’t be able to sustain the status quo. Either they’d go to rehab and quit each other forever or they’d OD. A bad ending, either way.

  But not now. For the next few days, Zach was going to ride the Jenna high and worry about the consequences later, something new for him. He rarely embarked on a venture he hadn’t researched thoroughly then analyzed and plotted the possible outcomes on multiple charts and graphs. No, he was flying blind here. All he really knew was that they couldn’t stay in Lovers Lagoon forever. Nothing had really changed between them except for the sex. He still didn’t do relationships, and Jenna still wasn’t ready to jump back into one, even if he was. So that left them with the right now.

  Zach planned to enjoy the hell out of it and clean up the carnage later.

  “Jenna?” An older woman dressed in shorts and a flowery pink top emerged from the back room. She slid her glasses from the top of her head onto her face.

  “Yeah,” Jenna said, and Zach thought he detected a note of excitement as well as a sliver of uncertainty in her voice.

  “Penny,” she said, shaking Jenna’s hand. “I’m ready for you back here, if you want to change.”

  “Sure.”

  “You can wait here,” Penny said to Zach. “If you want to watch the shoot, that’s fine, but a lot of brides like to surprise their husbands with the photos.”

  “Okay,” he said, looking to see what Jenna wanted.

  “How about I get changed first, then you can come in?”

  “Sure. Whatever you want,” he said.

  He hadn’t seen Jenna pack any other outfits, though what she was wearing was cute enough. Shorts and a silky sleeveless top. Her hair had been pulled back with a headband. Her lips were pink, but the rest of her face looked creamy and natural. She wasn’t one of those women who had to always wear heavy makeup, and he liked that. He liked to see what a woman really looked like, not the illusion of what she thought she should look like.

  While the ladies got Jenna ready for whatever they had planned, Zach walked around the main room looking at the photos. Smiling parents with kids dressed alike. A bride on her wedding day from behind, the long train of her gown trailing behind her. A photo of three little girls who looked like they were wearing Easter dresses.

  Zach’s family had never really done family photos. Not this kind, anyway. He remembered getting dressed up and heading to Kmart for family photos once, though. All four of the kids had been scrubbed clean, and even his dad, who had oil permanently embedded beneath his fingernails from his mechanic work, was shaved and had his hair combed. His mom looked tired all the time, and Zach was sure she was, since she worked with kids all day and took care of her own four kids plus in-laws the rest of the time.

  He should call them more. His dad had retired when Zach made his first million and bought them and his grandparents modest houses in Phoenix. His grandparents moved on and seemed happy and comfortable in their new assisted living facility, but they wouldn’t be around forever. He missed his grandmother’s stories about life in Chile and all the aunts, uncles, and cousins he’d never met. Would they enjoy a trip back to see everyone? Maybe Zach could arrange for the whole family to go. His mother had never been, either. None of them had, including Zach and his siblings.

  Zach was the oldest, and as soon as he’d been able to, he’d paid for his brothers’ and sister’s college tuition. They all had good jobs now, one in engineering, one in finance, one a pediatrician. His parents had worked hard. There was always food to eat and clothes to wear, but there had been few extras. Zach was glad he could do something for them now. And they would absolutely love Jenna.

  Zach had to stop that train of thought. His family was not going to meet Jenna. Their relationship had an expiration date. He needed to remember that, because he was the one who had stamped it.

  “We’re ready,” Penny called from the next room, and Zach walked in, only to stop mid-stride as he stared at the scene before him.

  “Yeah, that’s the reaction we usually get,” Penny said, a smile in her voice. “You can sit over there.”

  He moved toward what he hoped was a chair, unable to take his eyes off Jenna.

  In the middle of the studio was a big four-poster bed, covered with a lush red velvet spread. And on top of that was Jenna, dressed in a lacy black cami and black G-string panties. She was on her belly, her feet up in the air, crossed at the ankles. Black fuck-me heels completed the outfit. Her hair was a sexy cloud around her face, not unlike the way she’d woken up in Zach’s bed that morning. Blood red lipstick made her mouth look like something from a fantasy.

  Zach’s mouth went dry as he groped blindly for the chair behind him and sat down.

  “This is a good anti, huh?” she asked, beaming.

  “Wow,” was all he could manage. As much as he loved the outfit, there was something new in the way she held herself that was just as appealing. Confidence. Yeah, that was it. She was sure of herself. It was clear she felt sexy and wasn’t afraid to take that attitude for a test-drive. That was sexier than any scrap of lace she could have put on.

  Penny went to the camera and started taking pictures, directing Jenna into different poses, each sexier than the last. Some were on her hands and knees. Some on her back with her legs in the air, crossed at the ankles. Some on her side, emphasizing the curves of her hips and thighs.

  “Which poses do you like best?” Penny asked, turning away from the camera to consult Zach.

  His dick wasn’t particular. “All of them,” he said, and the sexy smile Jenna gave him made him even harder. Penny snapped another pic.

  “There’s some bottled water in the fridge in the waiting area,” Penny said, and Zach thought water was an excellent idea since his body temperature had to be topping 104 right at that moment. “Ice cold.”

  Zach stumbled out of the room, Jenna’s tickled giggle following him.

  “He’s a keeper,” he heard Penny say as he dug into the fridge for that water. “So cute. And obviously completely smitten with you. I’ll bet the wedding was amazing.”

  Zach froze, the bottle half way to his lips. Of course Penny would assume they were newlyweds.

  He strained to hear how Jenna would respond. “The honeymoon’s been pretty good,” she said, and Penny chuckled.

  Zach sucked down the bottle of water then grabbed a second.

  “I think we’ve got some good shots,” Penny said. “I’ll upload them to the computer while you’re getting dressed, and you and your husband can choose which you want.”

  Husband. Damn, that sounded so good. He’d gone his whole life up until that point thinking he didn’t ever want to be anyone’s husband. But Jenna’s husband? Huh. That just felt…nice.

  Jenna was different than any other woman he’d ever met. She was sexy, obviously. Smart. Strong. Sweet. But there was something else between them whenever they were in the same space. He just needed to be near her. Look at her, touch her. Whatever she’d allow. They just fit. No other woman he’d ever met had felt that way.

  Being with Jenna was like going home.

  Warmth spread through his chest, and a feeling of lightness he hadn’t ever experienced before washe
d over him.

  Zach was in love with this woman. With Jenna.

  And he was pretty sure he had been from the moment she’d jumped into the backseat of his car and he’d seen her in the rearview for the very first time. Love at first sight? A few days ago, he would have said it didn’t exist. That it was psychologically impossible to fall in love with someone within seconds of seeing them for the first time. Before you even know if you were compatible, had the same likes and dislikes and goals. Hell, he would have said that love was a manufactured emotion, whether you knew the person one year, one minute, or one lifetime. People convinced themselves that they were in love with another person, their “soul mate,” so that they felt less lonely on a planet full of lonely people.

  But that was before Jenna.

  Zach’s world shifted. Tilted completely on its axis. He felt dizzy, a little high. Just like in all the sappy pop songs.

  How had this happened? He hadn’t wanted it to. Wasn’t looking for it. Didn’t even have a plan to achieve something like this. It wasn’t part of his five-year plan or on any checklist. But it had happened anyway.

  Jenna. Jenna had happened.

  “Are you okay?” Jenna asked, suddenly appearing before Zach like a vision.

  “F—” His voice was a weak croak. “Fine,” he got out on the second try.

  “You looked a little lost there.” She leaned in and kissed his cheek. “I knew you’d like this photo shoot.” She bit her lip, some of the confidence gone in the wake of his comatose reaction. “At least I hoped you would. I mean, I’m no supermodel or anything, but—”

  Zach stood and gathered her in his arms, holding her tight. “You’re perfect,” he said and kissed her softly on the top of the head. Each breath, each touch of her skin, was precious to him now.

  So, he was in love with Jenna. Now the only thing he had to figure out was what to do about it.

  Chapter Fourteen

  The photo shoot had broken Zach. When Jenna had come out of the changing room, he’d been sitting in the waiting area with a blank look on his face. He’d hardly looked at the photos Penny had uploaded to her computer. He just told her he was buying all of them, which suited Penny just fine. She gave them digital versions on a thumb drive and asked for an address to send the prints to. When Jenna was silent, suddenly remembering she no longer had a home address, Zach robotically recited his address, handed Penny his credit card, and stared off into space for a few more minutes until they left the studio.

  “Are you having an allergic reaction or something?” Jenna asked him when they emerged into the late afternoon sunlight. The beach and sun and ocean breeze weren’t making even the slightest impact on the daze that had overtaken him. “Do I need to call a doctor?”

  “I’m fine,” he said, giving her an awkward smile.

  Oh, crap. Maybe Penny referring to him as Jenna’s husband had spooked him. She hoped this wasn’t some weird morning-after thing because last night…well, that had been mind-blowing. Jenna hadn’t known sex could be that way. It had always been pleasant enough, but she hadn’t understood the frenzy other people talked about until Zach. Now she understood what drove people to wreck their lives for amazing sex. Logic never entered the equation once you were that amped up. Just thinking about it was making her wonder how fast they could get back to the resort and get naked.

  “I’ve always wanted to do that,” she said. “I just never thought…well, just never had the guts, I guess.”

  “Why not? You’re beautiful and sexy. And I was definitely not thinking about your guts.” He grinned at her. “You should always do what makes you happy. If someone else doesn’t like it, too bad. Be fearless.”

  “Fearless. Yeah. I like that.” She did feel pretty kick-ass at the moment. What would it be like to live that way every day? “How about some ice cream? There’s a place right over there. Double fudge is calling my name. We can sit on the beach and eat it.”

  Zach didn’t say anything, just took her hand in his and led her across the street to the ice cream shop. A tinkling bell played them into the old fashioned mom-and-pop place. Cafe tables were scattered around the black and white checkerboard floor, where couples—newlyweds, probably—totally engrossed in one another, sipped milkshakes or lapped at towering ice cream cones. Each couple seemed like they were in their own little bubble, totally oblivious to anyone or anything else.

  It was kind of cute. And kind of annoying. Had she been like that with Elliot? Would they have been that sickly sweet if they’d gone through with the wedding and ended up honeymooning here?

  Jenna looked at the male halves of the Planet Newlywed couples. They all had the same goofy, glazed looks on their faces. The well-sexed, can’t-wait-to-hit-that-again look, but also something else. The look of love practically shone from their faces. She’d never seen that look on Elliot’s face. Never. Even when he’d proposed. Certainly not when he’d seen her in her wedding dress for the first time.

  And even though she’d been over the moon when he’d proposed, she was sure she had never looked at him the way the brides were gazing at their new mates, either. Something shifted in her belly, a kind of sadness, really. Although she’d loved Elliot and had looked forward to them being a family, she didn’t think she was ever in love with him. Not like the people around her eating ice cream who were totally, obsessively in love with the person across the table from them.

  Maybe she never would be in love with someone like that. Someone that made reality outside their little bubble the dream, because reality was basking in that one special person’s light.

  “What’s wrong?” Zach asked. Jenna glanced up at him and found the blank stare was gone, replaced with a look of concern. “Are you feeling okay?”

  “Yeah,” she said. “Just…being around all the newlyweds makes me think, you know?”

  Of course he didn’t know. And she wasn’t sure how to explain it to a man who was driven purely by what he could see, hear, and graph.

  “You’re not—that is, you’re not sorry. About last night?” He looked down at Jenna, banked heat in his gaze. But something else—maybe a hint of insecurity?

  “Of course not,” she said, nudging him. “That was some pro-level lovemaking.”

  “So, we’re good?”

  “Totally,” she said, meaning it. “Let’s taste some ice cream.”

  After she’d tasted about four different crazy varieties of homemade ice cream, she settled on a scoop of chocolate chip double fudge and a scoop of cookie dough. Zach went with vanilla. Of course.

  They settled into a table in the corner, and Jenna watched him meticulously lick circles around his cone, keeping all the sides drip free and even.

  “What?” he asked when he saw her watching him.

  “Just wondering how a guy eating a vanilla cone like it’s a science project can be so…unvanilla in bed.”

  “I don’t like drips,” he said. “At least not on my shirt.” He leaned in, the gleam in his eyes back. “But in bed, I’m all about the drips.”

  His low words sent warm ripples loose in her belly. Hell, yeah, he did. And Jenna couldn’t seem to get enough. She’d had no serious boyfriends in high school or college. But a few brief relationships—very brief—had progressed to fumblings in the backseats of cars and in messy dorm rooms. Then there was Elliot, who had been an adequate lover, much better than the partners of her youth, but even that couldn’t come close to sex with Zach. The way he touched her, the way his body fit perfectly with hers…they just matched.

  Maybe it was because there was no pressure. Sex with the others had fit into a bigger picture of a relationship. And any time it had progressed that far, in the back of Jenna’s mind was always about how this was going to change the relationship. Would the guy think she was too easy? Would the sex be good enough for the guy to want to have her as his sole partner forever? Was he thinking about so
meone else while they were in bed? Did her thighs jiggle too much?

  With Zach, none of that applied. They had mutually acknowledged that this was a physical thing. A friends-with-benefits situation that would end on check-out day. Those were the constraints and also possibly what made this feel so free of all the other concerns when they were naked and he was licking his way across her—

  “Jenna,” he said, employing the Smolder. “Stop looking at me that way or I’m going to have to stick this cone down my pants before I’m decent enough to stand up.”

  Her messy ice cream dripped down her hand, her treat totally forgotten as she considered that he wanted her again already, even though last night had been quite…active.

  Zach brought her hand to his mouth and licked a ring around her cone.

  “Hey,” she said. “You chose boring and now you’re stuck with it.”

  “I was fixing it,” he said and went back to his own cone. “And I prefer the term ‘classic.’”

  “What do you want to do next?” Jenna asked once he’d released her now perfectly drip-free cone. He had chocolate on his chin, and she decided not to tell him just yet. It was cute.

  “I was thinking we could go back to the love shack and maybe take a nap,” he said.

  “A nap.”

  “Well, there may not be much sleeping, but there would be a bed involved.” He gave her a half smolder as he licked his cone then took a big bite off the top.

  “Mmmm. I can do a nap. I don’t have another anti planned until tomorrow—my last one.”

  “We didn’t check dinner off the list, either,” he said. “We went to bed hungry.”

  “I didn’t hear any complaints,” she said.

  “I haven’t filled out the comment card yet,” he said with a grin. “What’s the next anti?”

  “Couples’ massage.”

  He nodded. “Glad to see you’re finally on board with finishing the anti-honeymoon plan. Although a massage does sound pretty good. I’d be down for that, if you want to keep that appointment.”