Mia said, “I love bikers almost as much as I love PIs.”
Tegan wasn’t into either. She was perfectly happy with her suit-wearing, sweet-talking, sexily arrogant investor.
“Are you sure that you and Justin aren’t messing around?” Daphne asked Chloe. “He’s really into you.”
“He’d be into a loaf of bread if it had breasts and a vagina.” Chloe snagged a cookie and bit it in half, inciting a long discussion about men.
Eventually the conversation circled back to the hero in the book they’d read.
“The poor guy didn’t sleep for eight days after she sent him away.” Steph finished the corn bread she was eating and said, “I wanted to climb into the book and give him some of my calming sleep spray. One spray on his pillow and he’d sleep like a baby.”
Tegan finished her third cookie and said, “I need some of that.”
“Are you having trouble sleeping?” Steph asked.
Tegan’s phone vibrated with a text. “Lately I have been,” she said as she pulled out her phone and saw Jett’s name on the screen. It was only nine thirty. She wondered if he’d forgotten about her meeting.
“She and Jett are an item now,” Chloe explained. “And he’s traveling.”
Tegan read his text. Sorry to bother you. When you’re done, check your email.
“It must be hard to be apart,” Steph said as Tegan opened her email and found Jett’s message. “I’ll definitely hook you up with sleep spray.”
She read the message. Tegs, our very first West Coast adventure is waiting for you. She scanned the rest of the email, and said, “Thanks, Steph, but I may not need it just yet. Jett sent me a ticket to LA!”
There was an uproar of cheers, and everyone talked at once, but Tegan was in shock as she reread the email and ticket details. “I’m supposed to leave tomorrow afternoon for our very first West Coast adventure together and return Sunday!”
“That’s so romantic!” Amber said. “You’re lucky! You should go!”
“I was so wrong about that man,” Chloe said.
“I wasn’t,” Daphne said with a giggle and a blush.
As the girls gushed, Tegan’s heart sank, and she said, “I can’t go.”
“What? Why?” Mia snapped. “I don’t even know the guy and I’d go!”
“No, I mean, I want to, but I just scheduled meetings for the theater this weekend. Jock and I are meeting with the setup and lighting crews, and we’re having lunch with one of the children’s show producers Saturday and meeting another one on Sunday. I can’t just cancel everything.”
“Yes, you can,” Chloe said. “Or let Jock handle it. He won’t mind.”
“I can’t just hand it off to him. My uncle left the theater to me. Jock is only helping, not taking over.” Her heart was breaking. “Jett has changed his schedule for me several times already, and he’s leaving for a month soon. I want to show him that I’ll do the same. That he’s worth the risk. But I don’t want to get off on the wrong foot with the producers or anyone else that I need to work with for the theater to succeed. What should I do?”
“Go!” they all said at once.
“Don’t freak out.” Chloe took Tegan’s hand and said, “Ask Jock if it would be a problem to reschedule. He knows the people you’re supposed to meet with, and you know he’ll give it to you straight.”
“Call this Jock guy,” Mia said. “I need to know if you’re going.”
“Okay.” Tegan took a deep breath and called Jock. She told him her quandary and said, “What should I do? I want to go, but not at the risk of making a mistake with the theater.”
“Teg, you know what Harvey would say. Nothing was more important to him than your happiness. Life is short. Go see Jett.”
Happiness bubbled up inside her. “You’re sure?”
“Absolutely. I can rearrange these meetings. The guy went all out for you. That’s Harvey-and-Adele love, Tegan.”
When she ended the call, the girls said, “Well?”
“Looks like I’m going to LA!”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
TEGAN HAD BEEN a solo world traveler for years, and never had she been as nervous as she was while she made her way to the escalator at LAX to meet Jett by the baggage claim. She’d changed her clothes four times that morning, wanting to look sexy for Jett, but also craving comfort for the long flight since it didn’t touch down until eight thirty p.m. She’d finally settled on her softest cardigan and cami and paired them with her favorite skinny jeans and boots. She wasn’t sure if she looked casual and chic or boring, but when she’d tried to dress sexier, she’d felt overdone, and she was far too nervous for overdone.
She stepped onto the escalator and peered around the man in front of her. Her heart skipped when Jett came into view standing by three men in suits holding signs with passenger names on them. Jett looked devilishly handsome in a dark sweater and jeans. Their eyes connected with the heat of summer lightning. His lips curved into the cocky grin she adored as he lifted a sign that read STICKY-NOTE GIRL.
She couldn’t stop grinning.
He flipped the sign over, and it said I’VE MISSED YOU in big red letters.
She was shaking, dying to be in his arms, but as she neared the bottom of the escalator, she reminded herself not to make a scene. Jett was a professional with a reputation to uphold. She didn’t want to come across as an overeager, lovesick fool.
But when her feet hit the floor, she and Jett both rushed forward and he swept her into his arms, twirling her around as they kissed. How could she have debated missing this for a work meeting? She would never, ever make that mistake again.
When their lips finally parted, her feet still dangling off the floor, Jett gazed into her eyes as if he had all day just to look at her. Eventually he said, “God, I’ve missed you,” and lowered his lips to hers again, kissing her breathless.
When her feet finally touched the floor, her hopeful, happy heart was fuller than it had ever been.
“Do you want to take a walk? Are you hungry? What do you feel like doing?” he asked, but the emotions in his eyes told her that he was hoping for the exact response she was ready to give.
“You…”
JETT HAD WARNED Tegan about the long drive from the airport to his hotel, but while the driver navigated traffic, they were too caught up in each other in the back seat for her to notice the time it took. She was still in a state of hazy lustfulness as they made their way through the luxurious hotel lobby. She was vaguely aware of people greeting Jett as Mr. Masters as they passed the registration desk. They stepped onto the elevator with a handful of other people. Jett held her from behind, his hard heat pressing temptingly against her, his tantalizing mouth trailing kisses along the back of her neck.
The second they were alone in the elevator, he spun her around, boxing her in against the wall with a fierce look in eyes, and said, “It can’t have been only days. I swear we’ve been apart for months.” His mouth crashed over hers, taking and giving in equal measure. Their hands moved hungrily, their hips ground lustfully, and when he tangled his fingers in her hair, pinpricks of pleasure darted over her flesh.
They stumbled into the penthouse, tearing their mouths apart long enough only to strip off their shoes, socks, and clothes on their way to the bedroom, where they tumbled to the mattress in a flurry of ravenous kisses and greedy gropes. Their bodies came together urgently, drawing a cry of pleasure from Tegan and a curse of raw passion from Jett. Tegan felt out of control and wild. She felt primal, clawing at his back, meeting every thrust of his hips with a tilt of her own as he pounded into her. Her breaths came in fast, stilted spurts. Their bodies slickened with sweat.
Jett’s entire body corded tight, and he gripped her hair with both hands, gritting out, “Come with me.”
The thrilling mix of command and need in his voice shredded her last bit of control. She shattered into a million tingling pieces, clinging to him and crying out as Jett gave in to his own powerful release. Her
name flew from his lips with the ferocity of a curse and the intensity of a prayer as they rode the waves of their passion.
They lay clinging to each other as aftershocks spasmed through their bodies. Jett pressed his lips to her cheeks and mouth, murmuring sweetness against her skin. As their breathing calmed, Tegan’s vision started to clear. Moonlight spilled in through the windows, illuminating their entangled bodies.
“Thank you,” Jett whispered into her ear.
She giggled and said, “For sex?”
He drew back just far enough for her to see pools of emotion brimming in his eyes so strongly, she could have felt them even if she were blind. Her heart turned over in her chest. He was the most passionate man she’d ever known. It drove him to succeed in business, and it was inescapable between them.
“For rearranging your schedule and flying all this way. For seeing something in me that I didn’t even know existed.”
“I think you must have known it existed,” she teased, “because you sure knew how to use it. Or did you forget the wow factor? You scored an FWB by having great sex that first night. If not for that, well…Heaven knows who would have ended up in my bed next.”
“You know what I’m talking about, you seductive little vixen.”
He grabbed her butt, and she laughed.
“I didn’t have to look very hard to see who you really were,” she said more seriously. “All I did was show up for the adventure. You opened the door.”
“But you took my hand and showed me the way,” he said, shifting them toward the pillows.
Tegan caught sight of a framed picture of them on the nightstand, and another wave of happiness swept through her. They were dancing at the wedding, her cheek resting on Jett’s chest, and Jett was kissing the top of her head. Their eyes were closed, and they were both smiling. Tegan got goose bumps all over at the emotion resonating from the picture. Her sister took hundreds of pictures of couples striving for one perfect shot just like that.
“Where did you get that picture?”
He pulled her closer, his leg hairs tickling her thighs, and said, “Dean texted it to me after I left Sunday. I missed you, so I printed it out and bought a frame in the shop downstairs.”
“I think we share a brain. I did the same thing with a picture Daphne took, only in mine, we were gazing into each other’s eyes like lovesick teenagers.”
“How about lovesick adults?” he said.
Her stomach growled, and Jett chuckled.
“You’ve worked up my appetite, Mr. Masters. Does this fancy hotel have room service?”
“I’ve got your room service right here.”
He moved over her, grinning like a man who couldn’t get enough…and neither could she.
Chapter Thirty
“IF I WEREN’T here right now, what would you be doing?” Tegan asked as they walked down the busy sidewalk hand in hand Saturday afternoon. They’d spent the morning in bed, talking and just being together, and it had been wonderful. Now they were on another adventure, exploring LA together. Tegan had never been there.
“Thinking of you,” Jett answered.
She turned around, still holding his hand as she walked backward, and said, “Nice try, Charming Charlie, but you just spent half the day doing dirty things to every inch of my body. You owe me the truth.”
“Do I? You mean all those orgasms and the pastries from the bakery weren’t enough?” He pulled her against him, stealing the millionth kiss since they’d begun exploring a little after lunchtime. “I would be thinking of you, as I said, but I’d also be working out in the hotel gym, reviewing contracts, researching, or taking care of whatever else needed my attention. That said, whatever I was trying to accomplish would be twice as difficult with thoughts of you running around my head.”
“Does that mean I’m not good for you, professionally speaking?” she asked with a furrowed brow and stepped beside him once again.
He put his arm around her, needing her closer. “You are without a doubt the best thing that has ever happened to me.”
She gazed up at him like he’d taken her breath away, and man, he hoped he had, because it was the truth.
They continued their walking tour, and Tegan was adorable, noticing and commenting on everything from the crisp blue sky to the colorful store awnings and brick pavers beneath their feet. She talked about the theater and how excited she was to be meeting the key people she’d be hosting. She told him about how helpful Jock had been, and Jett turned his thoughts inward, wondering if he’d feel any sense of jealousy. But the only thing he felt was happy for her to have such a good friend. It had been forever since Jett had been a good friend to anyone, and the worst part about that was that he hadn’t even realized it. Tegan had changed that, and he didn’t think she’d even tried. Just her presence, her acceptance of who he was, and her confidence to point out in the gentlest ways the things he’d done to perpetuate his own bad feelings toward his father.
“I can’t believe you only go from your office to your hotel room when all of this is just down the block,” she said, drawing him back to the moment.
“Nothing’s ever been more interesting than work until you came along.” He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it.
“How did you keep that big heart of yours under wraps for so long?”
Before he could respond, she yelled, “Look!” and dragged him across the street toward a sports memorabilia shop. “Have you been in here before?” she asked as they entered the store.
“I had no idea it was here.” He hadn’t been in a shop like that since he threw out his cards. Even if he had known about it, he never would have considered going in.
His gaze swept over the store, and adrenaline pushed through him like a gust of wind as he took in glass displays of sports cards and framed autographed pictures of sports figures lining the walls. Shelves held helmets and bats signed by entire teams. Gloves and game-worn jerseys called out to him from the far end of the store, along with dozens of other types of sports paraphernalia, sparking a rush of memories. Jett remembered pointing at pictures of Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth when he was just a kid, exclaiming, One day I’ll get that one! And that one! and then gazing into the display cases, his heartrate kicking up when he spotted a card he owned, and he’d proudly beam up at his father and say, Look, Dad! I have that one! The image of his father, as tall and solid as a towering oak to his little-boy self, his large hand engulfing Jett’s smaller one, slammed into him as his father’s deep voice broke out in his head. With your arm, son, one day you’ll own the field. Memories of the deep-seated hurt that had come when his father had left pummeled him, the torturous feeling of being abandoned returned, and the nightmares that had followed him like ghosts crowded in.
Tegan touched his stomach, jarring him from the past to the present he so desperately wanted. She peered at him with wide, worried eyes, and he fought back against those ghosts with everything he had. There was no way he was going to let them ruin this adventure for his beautiful, big-hearted girl.
“You okay?” Tegan asked. “We don’t have to look around if you don’t want to.”
He draped an arm over her shoulder, feeling her light block out the darkness, and said, “Not only do I want to look around, but has anyone ever taught you about baseball stats?”
“No, but I’m quite adept at checking out tight buns in baseball pants,” she said with a waggle of her brows.
He feigned a growl and said, “Baby, why do you poke the bear?”
“In hopes he might rear up and poke me back…”
JETT ENJOYED THE hell out of exploring the sports store, but what he loved most was sharing with Tegan the hobby that had once brought him so much joy. Teaching her about sports cards and how to understand the statistics inspired dozens of insightful questions. Her enthusiasm renewed his love of collecting. Before they left, she insisted on buying him a bobblehead figurine of his favorite player—seven-time Cy Young Award winner, pitcher Roger Clemens. When they
finally left the store, they rode the trolley to the farmers’ market, where they bought berries for breakfast tomorrow, and spent the rest of the day exploring on foot, eventually having dinner at an Italian restaurant. They shared their dinners and kissed more than they ate.
“LA isn’t that different from New York,” Tegan said as the sun descended from the sky and they made their way back to the hotel. “It’s prettier here, though—greener, cleaner, and the buildings are shorter. Actually, it smells better, too. I take it back. LA is very different from the Big Apple. Thank you for bringing me here.” She rested her head against him. “I love adventuring with you. I’m never going to forget a second of this weekend.”
For the hundredth time that day, Jett had visions of future weekends like this, walking hand in hand, exploring cool places, and learning more about Tegan and about himself. He wanted to hear all the stories about her youth, college years, and the years in between college and when they’d met, until he knew all there was to know about her. Although he was sure that just when he thought he’d learned all there was to know about her, she’d surprise him with more stories she’d forgotten to share. He could spin deals until he was too old to think straight, but he knew none of them would measure up to her.
“You ain’t seen nothing yet, sunshine. I have a little surprise for you.”
She smiled up at him as they walked into the hotel. “There’s more?”
“There’s always more.” He led her through the lobby, saying hello to the employees who greeted him as they walked past the reception desk toward the freight elevator.
“Everyone knows you,” she said. “How many times have you stayed here?”
“Every time I’ve been in LA since I bought the hotel chain seven years ago.” He took out his key chain, dangling the elevator key, and said, “Otherwise, how would I get this?”
“You own the hotel chain? Like, all of them?”
He unlocked the freight elevator and guided her inside.
Bayside Fantasies (Bayside Summers Book 6) Page 36
