“I’m thinking about bringing him in to manage the Hyannis projects,” Jett explained. “Did you get the ratified contracts back from Mitchell and the other business owners yet?” The thought of handing Mitchell and the others off to Jonas added even more guilt to the already untenable amount weighing him down, but there was nothing he could do about it. He grabbed his briefcase and headed out of the conference room.
“Yes. The last one came in earlier today. But I thought you wanted to manage those projects yourself.”
“I did. I do. But the Carlisle deal is twenty times the magnitude of all those shops put together. That’s where my expertise is needed.”
“Now, that sounds like the boss I’m used to. Throw some money at the little people and move on to the big guns.”
Tia’s words grated on his nerves like sandpaper. “I’m not throwing money at them, and they’re not little people,” he snapped as he pushed through the office doors and stepped onto the sidewalk. “Jonas can handle those projects with his eyes closed.”
“I was joking. What’s up with you? You’ve been so cranky since you got there. I’m thinking you’re having Tegan withdrawals.”
No shit. “I have a lot on my plate right now.”
“No more than usual, except for that pretty little dessert waiting for you at the Cape.”
“Maybe you’re right about those withdrawals,” he admitted. “Sorry. I didn’t mean for you to take the brunt of my bad mood.”
“It’s okay. Now that you’re in a little better mood, it seems like a good time to ask if you’ve approved my vacation request.”
“I haven’t seen it. When are you going?”
“August fifth through the ninth.”
“Are you kidding? The week of Tegan’s soft opening? I’m in no mood for jokes tonight, T. You know I can’t be there for the opening of her children’s program. There’s no way I’m missing the opening of her adult program. I need you to handle things in my absence.”
“You don’t have to miss it. I promise. Tegan and I have been talking, and we’ve become friends. Becca and I want to go to support her. But don’t worry. I talked to Lauren, and she’s going to handle things while I’m gone.” Lauren Day was Tia’s right hand. She’d covered for Tia in the past and had done an excellent job.
“Tia, talking with Tegan is one thing, but if you do go out there and get to be great friends, I just worry—”
“Before you tell me that you don’t think it’s a good idea for me and Tegan to get to know each other like that, my loyalty is to you. I would never talk about you as her boyfriend, or anything like that. She and I have already talked about lines we cannot cross. We can be good friends without sharing all the sexy details of your relationship. But I like her, Jett. She’s got such a positive outlook, and she’s real. Do you know how hard it is to meet women who aren’t fake or only out for themselves?”
“You know I think she’s one of a kind.” He didn’t need Tia’s approval of Tegan, but he trusted Tia and he liked knowing she thought so highly of Tegan.
“Well, so do I, and there is no stipulation in my contract about not being friends with women you go out with.”
He pictured Tia’s chin tipped up in defiance. “Fine,” he relented. “Anything else?”
“Nope! All good. Try not to bite anyone’s head off before next Friday night. Ta-ta, boss.”
Jett ended the call and looked for his driver before realizing he’d forgotten to text him. Damn it. He breathed deeply, filling his lungs with fresh Louisiana air, and Tegan’s voice sailed through his mind. You need to get out and experience more than just office walls and hotel rooms. Breathe in fresh air, climb mountains, or explore a new town, learn the culture, soak in the history, and gorge on new foods.
He rang Tegan on FaceTime. Her beautiful face appeared on the screen, spreading her light like Novocaine to his angst, causing a rush of longing and shutting out the rest of the world.
“Hi, sunshine. How are you?”
“Hi. I’m good. I’ve gotten so much done already. The site is up and I’m starting the ads tomorrow instead of Friday. Rick has great ideas for remodeling the house and he’s working on plans, and Rob Wicked said he’d put it on his schedule for the fall. He’s coming out tomorrow before my book club meeting to get a feel for the house.”
“That’s great, Tegs. He does good work.”
“That’s what Rick said. Did I tell you that Jock and I have several meetings scheduled with my uncle’s associates and the lighting and setup crews? I can’t believe the first children’s show is only a month away. How was your day?”
This had become her MO, talking about everything except how much she missed him. She was getting good at presenting a strong front, and he’d played along at first because he’d known she needed it and he hadn’t wanted to cause her any more tears. But he couldn’t take it anymore. He needed to tell her how he felt.
“My day was fine, but I don’t want to talk about work. I miss you, baby. I miss you so damn much.”
Her gaze softened, and she said, “I miss you, too, so much.” She pressed her lips together, and he knew she was holding back.
“Tell me, sunshine. I need to hear it.”
“I wake up in the morning and I forget you’re not here because I dream about you every night,” she said in a pained voice. “It takes a minute for me to get my bearings.” She tilted her head back and closed her eyes for a beat before looking at him again with that stiff upper lip in place. “I promised myself I wasn’t going to tell you that. I’m fine, Jett. I miss you, but we’re good.”
God, she was incredible. “I want to hear it, Tegs, because I see you in my dreams, too, and I hear your voice in my head. Let’s go on our first Baton Rouge adventure and take a walk, explore the park.”
Her face lit up. “I would love that! I have my walking shoes on. Do I need anything else? An umbrella? A coat?”
He didn’t think it was possible for her to shine any brighter than he’d already seen, but her effervescence gave him goose bumps. “No. It’s about sixty degrees with clear skies. All you need is my hand in yours. Can you feel our fingers lacing together? Our palms touching?”
“Yes,” she said softly.
“Let me know if I walk too fast. This is my first FaceTime date, and I don’t want to mess it up.”
“You can’t mess this up. It’s the start of our best adventure yet, only to be outdone by our next.”
She destroyed him in the very best way. He strolled down the block describing the surroundings, turning the phone to show her buildings and people on the sidewalk, then turning it back so he could see her. When he reached the pub on the corner, he said, “Are you hungry?”
“Starved. Always.”
He chuckled. “That’s my girl. How do you feel about a burger?”
“Sounds perfect. With fries!”
“You’ve got it.” He went into the pub and sat at a table. He turned to the phone so Tegan could meet their waiter, and then he ordered their meal and a beer. He walked around the pub to show her the bar and she said hello to customers, waving and excitedly explaining that she and Jett were on a FaceTime date. By the time they got their food, she’d met almost everyone in the place. They laughed through dinner, and when he got up to leave, she insisted he hold the phone up so she could say goodbye to everyone. Jett never imagined himself doing any of those things, but he held that phone up proudly and announced, “Tegan Fine would like your attention.”
“I had so much fun meeting you all!” Tegan shouted. “Enjoy your dinners, and remember to get out and enjoy the fresh air, too.” She waved and the people at the bar cheered and waved back.
As Jett walked outside, he said, “Hand, please.”
“Oops. Sorry. I had to cop a feel of your butt first,” she said sassily.
“You’d better hold my hand, or I might have far dirtier wandering hands when we get to the park.”
She giggled. “I love holding your hand, even virtu
ally.”
“I feel the same, which means your bewitching powers are still in full swing.” He walked around the park, showing her the courtyard and the grassy areas where couples walked hand in hand.
“It looks romantic. Have you been through there before?”
“I’ve never been anywhere except the hotel and offices. The riverfront is just a few blocks away, but I’ve never been there, either.”
“Let’s go! I want to see the water.”
Her excitement was contagious. He walked the few blocks to the waterfront, and she said, “Let’s sit on the grass. What’s it like there?”
Jett lowered himself to the grass without a care about his suit or anything else for that matter. He set down his briefcase and described the scents and sounds of the river and traffic. Tegan asked one question after the next, commenting on his every answer. He could see that she was soaking it all in, which made him want to do more adventuring with her.
“I wish I could touch you right now,” she said, touching the screen.
A cool breeze swept off the river, and he swore he felt her fingers on his face and the warm press of her palm against his skin as he said, “It won’t be long now…”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
THE NUMBER ONE rule of the book club stated that all in-person meetings must take place at a beach. Tegan and the other members had met at a beach in Harwich—and they’d frozen their asses off. It had been a cold, gray day, and they’d come prepared with hats, gloves, and blankets, but the wind had cut like ice. They’d stayed long enough to talk about Harper’s wedding, but their teeth were chattering too much to enjoy their conversation. Gabe Appleton, the voluptuous redhead whose turn it had been to choose the book and the location of the meeting, had suggested they go to Common Grounds, the coffeehouse she owned not far from the beach. They’d been there for an hour and Tegan was finally warming up.
The unassuming café was hidden down a secluded road, and the atmosphere was lovely. A handful of guys played pool on the far side of the room, and a couple was having coffee at a table in the corner. Gabe’s older brother, Rod, was playing guitar on a small stage, and her younger brother, Elliott, a gracious host and supposedly very talented baker, had disappeared into the kitchen with promises of fresh-baked treats.
“Did anyone else ugly cry when you read chapter twenty-one? When she sent him away?” Mia Stone, an outgoing brunette who worked as an assistant to world-renowned fashion designers Josh and Riley Braden, asked. “Because I cried like a baby.”
The book club had members all over the country, and though most of their discussions took place in the online forums, they also met once a month at different locations. Each month a member was chosen at random to select the book they would read and to choose the location of their meeting. Those who could not attend were invited to chime in via video chat, as Mia Stone and Amber Montgomery were doing tonight.
“Yes!” they all said at once.
“Charlotte definitely ratcheted up the emotions in this book,” Amber said. “She said it’s because she got married and—”
“You know Charlotte Sterling?” Gabe asked.
“I thought I mentioned that in the forums when Gabe chose the book,” Amber said sweetly. It was easy to imagine her running the bookstore she owned in Oak Falls, Virginia. She was kind and patient, and didn’t seem like anything could rattle her. “Maybe I meant to and got busy with a customer or something. Char and I are LWW sorority sisters, the Ladies Who Write.”
“Is that part of LWW Enterprises, the multimedia company? And does that mean you’re a writer, too?” Mia asked.
“I’m not a writer. But the sorority house is part of LWW,” Amber explained.
“That’s so cool that you know Char,” Steph said. “I wonder if she is as wild as the heroines in her books.”
“Forget that. I wonder if that sex club is real,” Mia chimed in. “I’m going to have to do some digging.”
Daphne’s eyes nearly popped out of her head. “You would go to a sex club?”
“Not to do anything,” Mia said. “I’m not even sure I could muster up the courage to go in, but I know my sister Jennifer would. Wouldn’t it be fun to be a fly on the wall?”
“I couldn’t,” Daphne said, blushing a red streak.
“No way,” Amber agreed. “I can read about it, but only because nobody knows I’m reading about it.”
“I’d go,” Steph said with a shrug. “I’m sure Gabe would go with me, right?”
Gabe gave her a thumbs-up and said, “Heck yeah, baby girl. You know it.”
“Me too,” Chloe agreed. “Like Mia said, you don’t have to do anything, but just being there would be thrilling.”
“I don’t think I could do that.” Tegan would be too embarrassed to watch other people having sex, much less be a part of it. “But I’d totally want you guys to take notes, maybe a few cell pics, and give me all the details afterward.”
They all laughed, and Daphne and Amber said they’d want notes and pictures, too.
“The other thing I loved about this book was that the heroine took control. She was feminine but badass,” Mia said.
“That she was,” Steph agreed.
Amber leaned closer to the screen and said, “Can you imagine doing all the things she did? Making your man get down on his knees, blindfolded, and telling him what to do to you?”
Tegan choked on her hot chocolate, spilling it all over the front of her sweater and the table. Chloe and Steph grabbed handfuls of napkins and started dabbing at her sweater and the table.
“Are you okay?” Steph asked.
Tegan’s eyes were watering from coughing, and to make matters worse, now all she could see was Jett on his knees, naked and aroused, with her FUCKABLE FLIRT mask on his handsome face. “I’m okay.” She cleared her throat and said, “Sorry. I must have taken in too much.”
“That’s what she said,” Mia teased, making them all laugh.
“Man alert. Hush your sexy talk,” Elliott said as he came out of the kitchen carrying a tray. He set it on their table, and steam rose from mini loaves of corn bread and chocolate chip cookies, filling the air with their enticing aroma. There was a cute ceramic honeypot in the middle of the tray, and a plate with pats of flower-shaped butter.
“Wow, this looks delicious,” Daphne said.
“Thank you,” Elliott said, handing each of them a plate.
Elliott had Down syndrome, and although he looked nothing like his tall redheaded sister and dark-haired brother, with his longish sandy-blond hair and short, stout stature, he shared Gabe’s vibrant personality. He pushed his wire-framed glasses to the bridge of his nose and said, “Rod says ‘Give a woman chocolate and she’ll be yours forever.’ I say give her corn bread and chocolate and double your chances.”
Everyone laughed.
“You are a godsend, El. I needed this tonight.” Steph reached for a cookie and said, “I should marry you.”
Elliott said, “Get in line, Steph,” earning more chuckles.
The café door opened, and Justin walked in, followed by a mountain of a man, both wearing black leather jackets. The big guy had tattoos on his neck, pitch-black hair, and haunted eyes.
“Dark Knights!” Elliott cheered as he headed over to greet them.
Justin lifted his chin and said, “El, my man. You hanging with the ladies tonight?”
“Are you freaking kidding me?” Chloe huffed out a breath.
“Who is the scary guy with Justin?” Tegan asked.
“That’s his cousin Tank,” Steph explained. “Dwayne’s brother. He’s a volunteer firefighter and he owns a tattoo parlor. He looks scary, and he is to those who warrant it, but he’s a great guy.”
“Are they Hells Angels?” Amber asked nervously.
“No,” Steph said. “They’re Dark Knights. They’re not with a gang. They’re in a motorcycle club, and they do good things for the community.”
Justin high-fived Elliott and made a beeline to
ward the girls. Tank hung back, talking with Elliott.
“They’re talking dirty about books,” Elliott called after Justin.
Justin’s eyes were trained on Chloe. His lips tipped up in a sexy smirk as he said, “Dirty talkers. Just the way I like them.” He pulled out a chair from a nearby table and set it down backward next to Chloe. He straddled it, crossed his arms over the back of the chair, and said, “Talk dirty to me, baby.”
“Oh, I like him,” Mia said, earning a wink from Justin.
With a completely straight face, her eyes locked on Justin, Chloe said, “I’d better call Dwayne and tell him one of his mad dogs got loose.”
“I’m here for the book club.” Justin pulled a copy of the book they were reading out of his pocket and tossed it on the table. “I looked up the rules on the forum, and there’s nothing that says a guy can’t join.”
“You must have overlooked the part that said the club founders have to approve all requests to join.” Chloe crossed her arms and called out, “Tank,” without turning away from Justin.
Tank approached, eyes black as night, expression cold as steel. A thick silver chain peeked out from beneath his beard, and his ears and nose were pierced. Tegan didn’t care what Steph had said; the man made her nervous.
Tank grabbed the back of Justin’s leather jacket with one massive, tattooed hand and lifted him to his feet. “Let’s go, nimrod. You said you wanted to play pool, not track down a chick.”
“That’s not a chick,” Justin said as Tank dragged him toward the door. “It’s Chloe.”
Tank scoffed and hauled him out of the café.
“Whoa,” Amber said. “Where I live, we have cowboys. I’m not used to bikers. They scare me.”
Bayside Fantasies (Bayside Summers Book 6) Page 35
