“My uncle always used tents with light rain. He worked with the local high schools and college drama and arts clubs for so many years, there’s a team of volunteers that sign up for the summers and set up for the events. If we get bad storms, we’ll reschedule the children’s programs. But Harper and I decided that it would be difficult to do that with the adult events, since it’s a serial program. We’re still trying to figure out how to deal with that. There’s a company that specializes in making permanent tentlike structures, and some of them are gorgeous. I’m looking into those, but I’m not sure if I want to do something that permanent. Part of the ambience is being able to see the blue skies, or for the adults, the moon and stars. It’s also outrageously expensive.”
“I think you’re right about the intrigue of the outdoors. Tenting is a solid idea, even if a little cumbersome for on-and-off rain. But you mentioned the importance of visitors feeling like they’re coming to see old friends.”
“Ideally that’s what we’re going for.”
“You also said you didn’t love staying in the house because it’s too big. I don’t know how you feel about this, given how many memories you have here, but I saw a carriage house behind the amphitheater.”
“You mean the caretaker’s cottage?”
“I guess so. I only caught a glimpse of it in the storm. Have you considered staying there and holding the productions here in bad weather? It would take a bit of remodeling to open it up, but it might alleviate the headaches of putting up tents and such. When the weather’s good, you can hold the productions outdoors, but on those days when you’d need a tent, you could move it indoors instead.”
“Here? In the big house?” She stood up and looked around, mulling it over. She loved the caretaker’s cottage, which had once been a carriage house. It was cozy, like her place in Maryland, and it had three bedrooms, which would be perfect for her sewing and photography. But she still considered it Jock’s cottage. She had thought he might come back and settle in there to write, but she was realizing that losing Harvey might have been too painful for him to ever come back for good.
“It’s something to consider,” Jett said.
“It’s not a bad idea. I just hadn’t thought about it.” She leaned against the counter, thinking of how lonely she’d been in the house. She knew she wouldn’t lose her memories by moving to the cottage, but could she allow strangers into her uncle’s house?
Jett got up and went to her. “Harper is writing romcoms, right?”
“Yes. She’s really talented.”
“You said laughter was sort of your uncle’s thing,” he said as he moved between her legs, guiding her arms around his neck. “It might be nice to bring more laughter into the house.”
“I need to think about it. I love the caretaker’s cottage. It’s much more my style than this house, and it would solve a lot of logistical problems. But I’m not sure how I feel about strangers coming into my uncle’s house.”
“There’s no reason to make decisions tonight. I just wanted to put the idea on the table.”
“Thank you. I’ll think it over.” Thunder clapped outside, and she said, “I have a feeling your flight might be canceled tomorrow morning.”
“I texted my assistant, Tia, when you were on FaceTime and I put off leaving for a day.”
Her pulse quickened. “But you said you were on the cusp of closing a big deal.”
“I am. I’m handling it. But you were a little overwhelmed at the thought of a tree hitting the amphitheater. What kind of a friend would I be if the theater got hit overnight and I left you to deal with the damage all alone?” He brushed her hair from her shoulder and slid his hand to the nape of her neck, looking at her like he’d never wanted to kiss anyone as badly as he wanted to kiss her right that second.
He’d changed his schedule for her? “The kind of friend who doesn’t want more than what we’ve agreed to,” she said softly, trying to play it cool and keep her hopeful heart under wraps.
“I’m not asking you to be mine, Tegs. I’m offering to stick around for another night and help deal with the aftermath of the storm. This weather is supposed to pass by tomorrow afternoon. I’ll drive to New York then and take a flight from there to avoid any further delays.”
His words stung because their connection felt real and deep, but she knew where they stood. She had never been a swoony, nonsensical person before, and she wasn’t going to be one now. She tried to push those feelings away, and when they continued pressing in on her, she tucked them into the things-not-to-overthink space inside her.
He dipped his head and kissed her neck, whispering, “That is, if you want me to stay.”
“I do…”
He kissed her again, sending prickles of heat skating beneath her skin.
“How about you go grab some blankets.” He kissed the edge of her jaw and said, “And I’ll start a fire in the living room.” He kissed a path across her cheek and brushed his lips over hers, light as a feather, causing her breathing to hitch. He kissed her softly, trailing kisses to her other ear and turning her to liquid heat with every touch. “We’ll have an old-fashioned campout.” He gazed into her eyes and said, “Clothing optional.”
As his lips met hers, she selfishly hoped the storm might last a few more days.
IT WAS QUIET in the house except for the crackling of the fire and Tegan’s appreciative sounds as she peeled a layer off another roasted marshmallow. The sweatshirt she’d changed into while he’d made the fire hung off one shoulder, and her barely there silk sleep shorts left every inch of her gorgeous legs on display.
“I’m telling you, you don’t know what you’re missing out on. This is the best way to eat them,” she insisted. “Open up and taste it.”
“I have never seen anyone eat roasted marshmallows in layers.” He opened his mouth and she put the sugary treat on his tongue.
“See? Pure deliciousness.” She held her stick over the fire again, roasting the rest of the marshmallow.
“It is good, but I can think of a much better way to eat them.” He waggled his brows.
“You’re right. Hold this.” She handed him the stick, jumped to her feet, and ran out of the room.
He finished roasting the marshmallow, and he was eating it when she returned with her arms full.
She sat on the blanket and dropped a box of Teddy Grahams, a plate, and a bag of Hershey’s Kisses between them. “S’mores.”
“With Teddy Grahams and Hershey’s Kisses?”
“I had to improvise.” She pushed two marshmallows onto each of their sticks and said, “Can you roast those while I prepare?”
“Prepare?” He chuckled and held the sticks over the fire. “Who taught you to eat marshmallows in layers?”
“Nobody. I just like to savor things.” She lined up several Teddy Grahams on the plate and began unwrapping chocolates. When she had a plateful, she took her stick from him and twirled it over the flames. “I think they’re ready.”
They put their tiny s’mores together, and as he popped one into his mouth, Tegan frowned.
“Jett Masters, tell me you did not just put the chocolate on top of the marshmallow and eat it.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“Are you kidding? ‘You’re killin’ me, Smalls!’” She picked up a Teddy Graham. “‘First you take the graham. You stick the chocolate on the graham.’” She put the Hershey’s Kiss on the cracker and said, “‘Then you roast the ’mallow. When the ’mallow’s flaming, you stick it on the chocolate.’” She put the marshmallow on top of the chocolate. “Then you cover it with the other end.’” She put another Teddy Graham on top and popped the whole thing in her mouth.
“Did you just quote The Sandlot?”
“Mm-hm,” she said as she ate. “It’s my favorite movie from when I was a kid. Right up there with The Goonies.”
He couldn’t believe his ears, much less take his eyes off the snarky little sexpot with marshmallow on her lip.
&nb
sp; “What? Do I have something on my face?” She swiped at her cheeks.
“You’re about to.” He crawled to her on hands and knees and said, “I didn’t think you could get any sexier, but I was wrong.” He continued moving over her, taking her down on her back and earning that sweet laughter he wanted to bottle up and take with him when he left. “That was my favorite movie, too.”
He dragged his tongue along her lower lip and sucked it into his mouth. She closed her eyes, bowing up beneath him with an alluring whimper.
“Let me show you exactly how I want to eat my marshmallows.”
He stripped off their shirts, loving that she’d gone braless. She was the most beautiful creature, gazing up at him as he reached for the stick with the remaining roasted marshmallow on it. He peeled off the top layer, revealing the gooey center. “Open your mouth, baby.”
“I like where this is going,” she said playfully.
He fed her the warm layer of sugary goodness and covered her mouth with his, kissing her ravenously. The sugary treat melted against the force of their tongues, until there was nothing left but the taste of white-hot lust.
When he finally broke the kiss, she said, “Come back.”
“Oh, baby, I’ll be coming back for much more, but first…” He stripped off her shorts and dipped his finger into the gooey center of the warm marshmallow. “Don’t worry, sunshine. I won’t get anything inside you other than me.” He painted the creamy deliciousness all around her clit and the outside of her swollen sex. He slicked his tongue along her center and took her swollen lips into his mouth, sucking them clean as she writhed and moaned. He dragged his tongue along her sex and teased her most sensitive nerves with the tip.
“Oh my God.” She fisted her hands in the blankets beneath them as he sealed his mouth over those sweet nerves, and moments later her hips shot up and she cried out, “Jett! Oh God…need you…”
“Soon,” he promised. He scooped warm chocolate from the plate and painted it around her nipples. Her eyes flamed as he brought that sugary finger to her mouth, gliding it over her lips. As he lowered his lips to her breast, he pushed his finger into her mouth and said, “Suck, baby.”
And holy hell. She sucked his finger as if she were sucking his cock as he feasted on her breast. She swirled her tongue, and he pulsed his finger in and out of her mouth, grazing his teeth over her nipple, earning more sensual, needy sounds. He moved to her other breast, teasing and taunting. Their eyes locked and the little minx opened her mouth wider, letting him see her tongue working its magic.
“Fuck, baby. I need your mouth on me.” He stripped and came down on his knees.
She dipped her fingers into the chocolate and wiped it all over his hard length.
“You are my every fantasy come true. I want to watch you suck me, baby.”
He sat with his back against the couch, and she went up on her hands and knees, playing with his cock perfectly. As she licked, sucked, and stroked, he dipped his fingers into her sex. She moaned around his shaft, drawing a groan from deep within him. She rocked on her hands and knees, fucking his fingers as she sucked him. The sight of her taking him in at both ends, the feel of her hot, wet mouth and equally hot, wet center, was too much to take.
“Suck it clean, baby, so I can bury myself deep inside you.”
She made an appreciative sound, and then she released his cock and licked every inch of it. When she lowered her mouth over him again, she sucked so hard, he cursed. He tangled his hand in her hair, lifting her face, and crushed his mouth to hers, devouring her as she rode his fingers. Never in his life had he experienced anything so intense as getting dirty with the woman in his arms. He wanted to do everything to her, with her. He pulled her head back and growled, “Don’t move.”
He went up on his knees behind her, and she looked over her shoulder, her hair covering one eye. “Don’t worry, sunshine. I won’t take your ass without asking first.” He pressed a kiss to the base of her spine, and then he aligned their bodies and thrust into her. Her head fell between her shoulders as he came down over her back. He kissed her shoulder and said, “Too hard?”
“No. The angle is so good.”
“Kiss me while I fuck y—”
His words were lost in her insatiable mouth. Using one hand to balance, he reached between her legs with the other, wanting, needing, to feel her come. Her mouth fell away with a loud, hungry sound as he pounded into her.
“Don’t stop,” she pleaded.
He thrust faster, pressing his fingers harder against her slick, swollen nub. Her breathing quickened to frantic little gasps.
“That’s it, baby. Let me feel you come around my cock.”
She made a series of high-pitched, desperate sounds, and then her sex clenched tight as a vise and she cried out. She slammed forward and back, her ass slapping against him, taking him right over the edge with her in a blindingly intense explosion of lights and sounds. Fucking fireworks.
When he finally collapsed over her back, feeling her heart beating wildly, he lowered them to the blanket, still half buried inside her, and kissed her shoulder.
She covered his arms with hers, sinking back against him, and whispered, “I like your way of eating marshmallows best.”
“Rest up, baby, because I can’t wait to get s’more of you.”
A LONG WHILE later, they lay talking by the fire, Tegan’s head on his chest, their legs intertwined. Jett had never felt as relaxed as he did right then, listening to Tegan weigh the pros and cons of using the house for the productions.
“If I did it, do you think it would upset my uncle? He and Adele were married here. All his memories, the fabric of their lives, are all here in this house.”
“I didn’t know him, but from what you’ve said, it seems like he might have enjoyed having laughter under the roof instead of loneliness. You haven’t said much about your aunt. What was she like?”
She tilted her face up to his, looking beautiful and sad at once. He pressed a kiss to her forehead, earning a small smile.
“Theirs was a tragic love story,” she said. “My uncle was a Broadway actor before coming here. His father had also been an actor, but from what I’m told, his father was a real jerk and so much of a menace that eventually he wasn’t able to find acting jobs. He’s the one who built the amphitheater. I guess he wanted a place to perform. There’s a lot of old money on that side of the family, and he took everything for granted, including Uncle Harvey, which was why he stayed in New York and had nothing to do with his father. After his father passed away, my uncle came here with the intention of selling the estate. But then he met Adele and he said he fell in love with her the second he saw her. She was a number of years younger than him, and he called her his goddess of sweetness. He said they were inseparable from that moment on, like they’d been a love story waiting to happen. But she lost both her legs in an accident on their seventh date.”
“Christ, Tegs. That’s horrible.”
“I know, and from what my uncle said, Adele was so depressed after the accident, she tried to break up with him. She was so miserable, she couldn’t stand being around herself and thought he deserved someone whole.”
“I can’t imagine what she must have gone through.”
“What they went through. My uncle adored her. He said he stuck by her no matter how much she pushed him away. It was during her recovery that he learned how important laughter was. He used humor to break down her walls and get her to see that they belonged together and that he’d love her forever. He told me that he never pitied her. He just loved her so deeply, he couldn’t imagine a life without her.”
“Jesus…”
“I know,” she said with a pained voice. “Can you imagine being loved that deeply?”
He couldn’t imagine being loved by a woman at all, much less like that. Other than his mother and grandmother, who were pretty much obligated to love him, he’d never let a woman get close enough to chance getting hurt by him.
Teg
an yawned, snuggling closer and moving her fingers through his chest hair. “I don’t know if love like that is even possible for most people. I wonder if my uncle and Adele were just lucky and only so many people are destined for that type of happiness.” She sighed and said, “Maybe that’s it, because he made it his goal to help her see the humor in life, and it worked. I don’t know if many men would have done that given her situation, but I’m glad he did. He deserved happiness, and she certainly made him happy. They were married two years after the accident. That’s them in the picture on the table by the sofa.”
He glanced at the picture of a tall, slim man wearing a dark suit, gazing into the eyes of a plump and kind-looking woman sitting in a wheelchair. Her white wedding gown covered her missing limbs. From the love in their eyes, Jett doubted she felt like she was missing a thing. “They look happy.”
“They were. But remember how I said theirs was a tragic love story? He lost her to cancer eight years later.”
Sadness welled his chest. “Oh, man. That’s awful.”
“I know. He spread her ashes in the garden, and he made it a point to laugh every day to keep her memory alive. They never had children of their own, but they had wanted them. Adele had told him that children saw life through untainted eyes, so after she passed, he surrounded himself with them and opened the theater to children’s groups. He said children laughed the most, and in their laughter, he imagined Adele laughing, too. He said that was why he hosted buffets after every production, so children could be with their friends and enjoy life. But I think he wanted as much time around them as possible because of the memories of Adele they brought.”
“He really does sound like he was one hell of a great man. Why don’t you honor them both with the name of the theater? The Harvey and Adele Fine Amphitheater.”
Bayside Fantasies (Bayside Summers Book 6) Page 14
