by Lori Wilde
“I wouldn’t begin to know how to have a successful marriage. Not a clue. I’ve only had bad examples. Everything starts out all champagne and roses, and the next thing you know there’s shouting and accusations being thrown and men walking out the door. It’s not just the curse. Being lousy at relationships is my heritage. I don’t know anything else.”
“Yes, but, CeeCee, you’re not your family. You’re an intelligent woman with a lot going for you. You don’t have to repeat toxic patterns.”
“But don’t you see? I don’t know what to replace those patterns with.”
He lay beside her, gently patting her arm, not knowing what else to say.
She took a deep breath. “And then I keep thinking about Jack. About how unfair it is that he’s in Mexico working hard, probably not eating right or getting enough sleep, and here I am this close to having sex with his twin brother.” CeeCee measured off an inch. “What kind of person does that make me?”
“Maybe Jack isn’t as miserable as you think,” he said, grasping at straws, searching for anything to make her feel better. “Maybe he wouldn’t even mind if the two of us got together.”
Propping herself up on her elbow, she looked him in the eyes. “I’m not going to lie. I’m very attracted to you, Zack. But I think it’d be best if you went back to your own room. The moment’s gone, and I don’t think we’re going to get it back.”
13
Jack was frantic.
Things weren’t working out the way he’d planned. As Zack, he couldn’t seem to close the deal with CeeCee. Couldn’t get her to have sex with him. Where was he making his mistakes? What could he do differently?
It was Saturday evening. When they’d arrived home from Galveston two hours earlier, CeeCee couldn’t seem to get away from him fast enough. He couldn’t figure her out. What did she want?
In desperation, he turned to Miss Abercrombie for advice later that evening.
And found himself swallowed up by a bean bag chair in her flashback-to-the-sixties living room. The walls were painted a neon orange. Beaded curtains separated the rooms instead of doors. The couch was a paisley print. A lava lamp, mood ring, and a statuette of the Beatles graced her knickknack shelf. She had Jefferson Airplane on her old record player and was urging him to drink ginseng tea and eat her homemade brownies. Frankly, he was afraid to touch the stuff.
Miss Abercrombie sat on the couch with Muffin perched in her lap. She adjusted her glasses and peered at him. “It’s simple, young man.”
“It’s not simple at all, Miss A. In fact it’s very complicated.”
She shook her head. “What you know about women, son, could fill a thimble.”
“But CeeCee’s not like most women.”
“Well, I admit her problem is a little unique, but her emotions aren’t.”
“Throw me a lifeline here. I’m not following you.”
“You’re going to have to drive her into Zack’s arms. She’s conflicted. Torn between two men. Before you can convince her to give herself to Zack, she’s got to know that Jack’s isn’t going to be heartbroken by her actions.”
He shook his head.
“You’ve got to make her think Jack is off having as much fun in Mexico as she could be having right here with Zack.”
He mulled over what Miss Abercrombie was saying. It did make sense. If he could set CeeCee’s mind at ease about him, then she could let down her guard with Zack.
“Okay, so how do I accomplish that?”
Miss Abercrombie leaned in close, a sassy smile on her elderly face. “Here’s what we do.”
“CeeCee, darling, I was wondering if you could do me the tiniest favor.” Miss Abercrombie and Muffin stood on her doorstep.
“Won’t you come in,” CeeCee invited, ushering her guests into her living room. “How can I help you?”
Miss Abercrombie stroked Muffin’s fluffy head. “I need to speak with young Dr. Jack, and he told me that you knew how to get in touch with him.”
“I do have the landline number of the place he’s staying, but I think he meant for me to use it only in case of an emergency.”
The thought of talking to Jack turned her stomach and she couldn’t really say why. She hadn’t spoken to him in over seven weeks, and she worried what he would say.
“Well, this isn’t exactly an emergency, but it is important. That obnoxious Missing Link person is claiming my Muffin bit him, and he’s suing me.”
“Oh, no!”
“Yes. I need Jack to give my lawyer a deposition saying that Muffin did not bite that man.”
“Muffin most certainly did not bite him. I was there, too. I’ll give the deposition for you.”
“That’s nice, dear, but I need Jack’s statement, too. So could you just call him for me, please?” Dramatically she laid a hand across her chest. “Today, if you please. The sooner I get this cleared up, the better it will be for my poor aging heart.”
“Okay. Sure. I’ll contact the place where he’s staying and leave a message for him to call you.”
“That’d be wonderful.”
“It might take a while for him to answer, though. He’s very busy.”
“That’s all right.” Miss Abercrombie got to her feet. “Ta-ta, dear. Let me know when you hear something.”
Twenty-five minutes later, Jack stood in Miss Abercrombie’s apartment, his cell phone in his hand. He’d just gotten a call from the coordinator at the place where he’d been staying in Mexico that he’d gotten a message from a Miss CeeCee Adams, asking him to call a Miss Abercrombie.
What a mess he was making of things.
“You can’t call her back this soon,” Miss Abercrombie said. “She thinks you’re calling her from a landline at the place where you were working.”
“Don’t worry. I have a feature that lets me set my number as an out-of-area call no matter where you’re calling from,” Jack told her.
“I’ll trust you on this,” Miss Abercrombie said. “I don’t know anything about these newfangled electronic gadgets.”
Jack paced Miss Abercrombie’s living room and repeatedly checked his watch. He couldn’t stand much more waiting. “You’ve got the music ready?”
“Selina’s greatest hits.” She put the vinyl in question on to play.
“Let’s hear your Spanish accent again.”
Miss Abercrombie purred some seductive Spanish phrases, adroitly rolling her Rs. “Lucky for you I had several Latin lovers when I was a younger woman.”
“Lucky me,” he muttered and checked his wristwatch again.
“You’re about to crawl out of your skin. Go ahead and call her before you burst wide open.”
Jack grabbed the telephone. With trembling fingers he called her.
“Hello.”
He almost dropped the receiver at the sound of her voice. He took a deep breath and tried his best to sound casual.
“Hey, CeeCee.”
“Jack? Is that you?”
“Uh-huh.”
“You sound different.”
“Probably because I’m so far away.”
“And I haven’t talked to you in seven weeks. I’d almost forgotten what your voice sounded like.”
“I’ve been busy.”
“It’s really great to hear from you.”
“You, too.”
“I...I’ve missed you.”
His heart skipped at the catch in her voice. He wanted to tell her how much he had missed her, too. He had missed being himself, missed being CeeCee’s best friend, missed their intimate conversations about anything and nothing.
Miss Abercrombie stood in front of him mouthing, “Now?”
He shook his head. The plan suddenly seemed very stupid. He didn’t care about tricking CeeCee. He just wanted to talk to her, to tell her the truth. That he loved her. Had loved her for many months now. Would love her for the rest of his life.
“Oooh, señor, you’re muy muy macho. Por favor, do that again,” Miss Abercrombie moaned in a
surprisingly young and sexy voice.
Jack glared at his neighbor and made slashing motions across his throat. Cut! Cut!
But Miss Abercrombie was giving the performance of a lifetime, and she wasn’t about to let up. She cooed Spanish words of love.
Jack frowned, violently shook his head, and mouthed, “Stop it.”
But Miss Abercrombie ignored him. Instead, she tuned up for more, moaning and groaning and putting her face close to the receiver to make sure CeeCee got an earful.
“Er...Jack...” CeeCee’s voice raised an octave. “You’re not alone, are you?”
Miss Abercrombie kept jabbering in fractured Spanish and wriggling around on the couch with a saucy grin. Jack was ready to throttle her.
“CeeCee, I... It’s not what you think.”
“Oh,” she said quickly. “You don’t owe me any kind of explanation. Everyone is entitled to a little R & R. You just have a good time.”
“I’m not having a good time,” he growled, completely frustrated by the way things were turning out.
“Maybe you should tell that to your lady friend. Sounds like she’s having a ball.”
“It’s not what you think, Cee.”
“Every bachelor is entitled to his er...diversions.”
“No. No, I’m not entitled. Listen to me, CeeCee. I’ve got something to tell you.”
Muffin barked, enlivened by her mistress’ antics.
“That dog sounds exactly like Miss Abercrombie’s Muffin,” CeeCee commented.
“Really? Probably the Chihuahua from next door. These walls are pretty thin.”
“I’ve really got to hang up now, Jack,” she said with false cheerfulness, but he could hear the pain in her voice. “Could you please call Miss Abercrombie? She needs to talk to you.”
“But, CeeCee...”
“Gotta go,” she said and hung up on him.
He sat staring at the phone. He’d certainly upset her and he felt horrible about it. But wasn’t that what he wanted? To upset her enough to send her flying into Zack’s arms?
“So?” Miss Abercrombie asked, grinning brightly. “Did she fall for it?”
“She fell all right.”
“Then why do you look so sad?”
“Because I just hurt my very best friend in the whole entire world.”
Why are you crying? You’ve got nothing to cry about. So Jack has a woman down in Mexico. So what? You should be happy for him, you selfish woman.
She should be happy but instead she was more miserable than the time when she was ten and had eaten fifteen green apples on a dare from one of her stepbrothers. Come to think of it, her mother had thrown out stepfather number two over that bellyache incident.
The truth is, she was shattered.
Last night in Galveston, Zack had come very close to convincing her that Jack was different from most men. She’d found out the hard way that he was not. He had feet of clay just like the rest of them.
Why was she so disappointed? She’d told Jack they could never be more than friends. It was pure selfishness on her part to think he shouldn’t get on with his life.
“I do want him to get on with his life,” she argued out loud, staring glumly at her bedroom wall. “I wanted him to find someone to love. Just not so soon.”
Liar, you want him to love you.
The thought sprang unbidden from the ether.
She clasped her pillow to her chest and curled into a fetal position, tears still dampening her cheeks.
“No,” she whispered. “It’s not true. I don’t want him to love me. I would only hurt him.”
Besides, there was her confounded attraction to Zack. What did that mean?
The doorbell pealed.
“Go away,” CeeCee mumbled.
It rang again.
She didn’t want company, but she wasn’t the type to let the doorbell go unanswered.
Sighing, she sat up and ran a hand through her tangled curls. “Coming, coming,” she called out. “Rein in them horses, cowboy.”
She padded to the door in her pajamas, threw it open, and found Zack leaning nonchalantly against the jamb.
He looked delicious and more than a little lawless in black jeans, a black Harley muscle shirt, and black boots. His hair was pulled back in a tiny ponytail. She suddenly wondered why she hadn’t made love to him at the bed-and-breakfast last night. Some misguided sense of responsibility to Jack.
What had she been thinking? Jack had gotten on with his life; she should be getting on with hers.
“I’m through playing around, CeeCee,” Zack said gruffly.
“Wh...what?”
“I’ve given it time. I’ve been understanding, but the truth is, I can’t wait anymore. I want you. Here. Now. This minute. Say yes, CeeCee,” he pleaded. “Say yes.”
Her knees turned to peanut butter.
“If you’re not interested, or if you can’t get over Jack, then tell me and I’ll walk away. I’ll leave town. I’ll leave you alone. I’ll...”
Before he could finish his sentence, she grabbed him by the front of his shirt, pulled him into her apartment, and slammed the door closed behind them. She wrapped her arms around his neck, tugged his mouth down to hers, and told herself, this is all I can have. Jack is not only off-limits; he’s found someone else. Zack is here and he wants you. You want him. That’s all there is to it and it is enough.
Zack responded with a passion to equal her own. He scrunched her curls in his hand. His gaze burned into hers. He molded his mouth on hers, kissing her like a brand. He tasted incredible. Tart yet sweet, exotic and fresh and startlingly real. She feasted on him, a most sumptuous buffet.
He pulled away a moment, breathing heavily. “I don’t want you to have regrets.”
“I won’t.”
“No turning back this time,” Zack said hoarsely. “Take me as I am, CeeCee, for what I can give you right now.”
“Just hush and kiss me again.”
This was exactly what she wanted. Heat and passion, no promises of undying love, no whispers of forever. Just Zack, hard and hot and filled with masculine energy.
Then he took her into his arms and carried her into the bedroom. CeeCee did not protest. She let herself go, falling into the steamy vortex that had been drawing at her from the moment she’d met Zack. The sexual chemistry between them was undeniable and anything beyond that did not matter.
He laid her down carefully on the mattress, then stood back to admire her. CeeCee raised a hand to her chest, embarrassed by her comfy but faded pajamas and fluffy pink house slippers.
“Sorry I’m not dressed for the occasion,” she apologized, kicking off the slippers.
“You couldn’t be sexier in black lace and garters, babe.”
“I had no idea shabby pj’s were a turn-on,” she whispered.
“Oh, yeah. Holey underwear, baggy sweatsuits, anything or nothing. You could make a hospital gown look like designer duds.”
She felt herself blush at his compliment. He made her feel beautiful and special, even if she knew deep down it was only a line. Guys like Zack instinctively knew how to charm. But that was okay with CeeCee. She would take what she could have.
He settled himself beside her, slipped one arm underneath her, then gently kissed her forehead.
He reached for the top button on her shirt, and she realized in surprise that the womanizing Wild Man’s hands were trembling. When he undid the last button to reveal her breasts, his breath caught in his lungs with an audible gasp.
“Fair’s fair,” she said gruffly, touched by the admiration in his eyes. “Off with your shirt as well.”
She reached over, pulled his shirt from his waistband, and rolled the soft cottony material up to his chest. Swiftly, he jerked the shirt over his head and tossed it to the floor.
For a moment she simply stared in wonder at that firm, muscled chest, those chiseled biceps. This was all about sexual pleasure, and she drank in the sight of him.
He crooked a
devilish grin that sent an icy hot shaft of longing through her heart, and he slid her top off her shoulders.
And things just got better and better from there.
14
CeeCee was absolutely incredible. Far more compelling than his most fantastic dreams.
She gave a soft little moan as Jack cupped her breasts and teased her nipples with his thumbs. They grew rock-hard under his caress, delighting him. It delighted him even more when she raised her head and met his mouth.
She inhaled in erotic little gasps, a combination of surprise and arousal. She flowed like the athlete she was, all grace and coordination and strength. Her tongue dueled with his. Her teeth nipped his bottom lip. He could barely hang on to his control. It took his entire concentration not to take her that very second.
Not yet. This was important. Their lovemaking had to be perfect. And he knew it would be. For he loved her more deeply than he’d ever known it was possible to love another human being.
The hungry way she kissed him only solidified his resolve to take things slowly. They had all night. He would torture her the way she was tormenting him with that wicked tongue of hers, the lusty vixen—relentlessly.
He helped her wriggle out of her pajama bottoms and revised his previous thoughts. At this rate he wouldn’t last two minutes.
And that wouldn’t do. After all, he had Zack’s reputation to uphold.
From his point of view, she was the quintessential woman. Perfect breasts, firm and high, the size of late-summer peaches. Her stomach was flat with the tiniest curve at the apex above her thighs. Her waist was slender, her hips shapely. And those legs! She put all pinup queens ever to decorate a GI’s locker to shame.
Jack was a doctor, yes, but he’d never seen an anatomy like this one and to think she was his at long last.
Lovingly, he trailed a hand down her body, lingering at every trigger point that caused her to writhe with pleasure.
“Enough,” she whispered huskily, her eyes burning as brightly as if she had a fever. “My turn.”
She reached for his waistband. Jack gulped at her boldness, but then again, that was his CeeCee. She never held back from a challenge. She met life head-on.
