Christmas in Cancun

by KaLyn Cooper

  He ran his roughened thumb over her nipple, and it instantly pebbled for him. He rolled it between his finger and thumb, and pain ran through his scalp.

  What the hell? In another part of his brain, it registered that Jillian had woven her fingers through his hair and she had pulled on it. In pleasure? Or to stop him?

  He moved his hand to her other breast and caressed it. When his finger flicked her nipple, nails dug into his scalp.

  Jack smiled.

  He gently rolled her other nipple then tugged.

  “Ah.” Jillian leaned into his hand. He was sure she didn’t know she’d cried out.

  Bending to take her breast into his mouth, he heard the door from the garage to the house open.

  “Sorry I cramped your style, big brother.” Lilly’s intonation indicated just the opposite. “She was too young for you. She couldn’t have been much over twenty-one.”

  Jack looked up at Jillian’s huge, frightened eyes. He didn’t want to take his hand off her breast…or stop what they were doing.

  “Eighteen is legal.” Levi’s reply was flat.

  They were coming closer, and Jillian’s door was open.

  “Please tell me you don’t date girls that young. You’re thirty-five years old. You could have a daughter that age.”

  Jack scooped Jillian up in one arm, his hand never leaving her breast, and pinned her against the wall deepest in shadow. He had moved silently, but Jillian started to gasp. He quickly covered her mouth with his.

  “I could have a daughter older than that. I’ve been fucking since I was fifteen.” Levi sounded proud. Good to know because Jack had him beat by a year.

  “Too much information,” Lilly chided. “I’m surprised your penis hasn’t fallen off from the abuse…or disease.”

  “I’m always careful,” Levi said.

  They were passing right outside the door now.

  Jack had his mouth securely over Jillian’s, painting the inside of hers with his tongue. Damn, she tasted good. He wondered how soon he could taste the rest of her. She’d be sweet and wet for him. She was probably wet right now.

  “That’s right, we can’t have any little Levis running around. Children require time and effort. They might take your attention away from work, or from our mother.” Sarcasm laced Lilly’s every word.

  “That’s right. When Dad died, that left me responsible for this family. I’m too busy for anything more than fast sex.” He harrumphed. “So if I want to spend a few hours fucking a twenty-one-year-old consenting woman, I will. Next time I may throw your bony ass into a taxi instead of driving you home.”

  “I love you too, big brother. I was just looking out for you tonight.”

  Their voices faded when they turned the corner toward the other wing.

  Jack gentled the kiss and eventually withdrew a few inches. “That was close.”

  “Uh huh.” Jillian looked dazed…and well kissed.

  “I…uh…should go.” He wanted to stay and throw her onto the bed. He was sure if he slipped a finger into her tight channel that she’d be wet and ready for him.

  He looked around the room. No, he couldn’t take her here. This was Jimmy’s room and too much of him surrounded them. No. When he took her, it had to be someplace that would be theirs forever. Maybe the beach. Not there either. He’d had several girls over the years on the stretch of sand in front of the compound. He’d find the right place. And the right time. It wasn’t tonight, and it certainly wasn’t here.

  Jack traced the curve of Jillian’s ear with his index finger then ran his hand into her silky hair. “You have a long day tomorrow. Get some rest.” He brushed a light kiss over her swollen lips.

  “Okay.” She seemed to emerge from the depths of passion as he turned to walk out. “Jack, thank you…” She looked over to check Addi then back at him. “For…everything. I needed that.”

  “Me too.” He couldn’t stop himself. His lips touched hers once more and lingered. He relished the heat they transferred back and forth. Damn, he kept losing control around her. He stepped back and out the door while he still could.

  Ready to turn into his bedroom, Jack stared at the storage room door across from his. It drew him. The sixth sense that had kept him alive more than once during missions with his SEAL team kicked in. Jillian’s words repeated in his brain. Jimmy thought he’d found the golden goddesses statues. No, he’d found another clue.

  Jack strode across the hall and into the room where his BACats files were neatly stored. He’d left piles of the research on several flat surfaces, a couple boxes still open. He wasn’t sure why he’d done that. It just felt right.

  For the next few hours, Jack sorted everything.

  As he touched each piece of history, read his grandfather’s familiar handwriting mixed with Jimmy’s, it was as if their excitement in finding the idols seeped into his DNA and spread throughout his body. It seemed like they had handed him an unfinished mission and expected Jack to see it to its conclusion.

  It had been their goal to find the idols, not his. Jack had been with them to drive the boat, fast and free on the open water…and then to dive wherever they’d instructed. He’d always figured the idols had been stolen by the conquistadores and melted into Spanish coins for the realm. But Gramps had been convinced they had been hidden, and then Jimmy had taken up the quest.

  Jack’s eyes fell upon the phrase Jimmy had translated. His brother had made copies of many of the manuscripts and jotted his own notes on the sides, next to Gramps’. Some were English translations of the stories their grandmother had told them, but Jack had spent enough time on Isla Mujeres in the past two years to learn the unique combination of Mayan and Spanish that many natives spoke even now.

  “The…something…Goddess”—Jack read the phrase aloud, hoping it would make more sense—“will protect…something…the path? The way?” Jack dug deep into his memory for the right word, if there even was one. Translations were difficult that way. Not every word translated into another in a different language. Often in one language it was a single word while in another it took an entire sentence.

  “Show the…” He studied the ancient word then nearly jumped up with excitement. “Faithful.” Jimmy had gotten that word wrong.

  Automatically he grabbed a pen and corrected it. Seeing his handwriting next to his grandfather’s and his brother’s, he felt a possession of the boxes descend over him.

  He couldn’t give these to Dr. Tzuc. He couldn’t let them leave the family until he’d tried his best to find the idols. He owed that to Gramps…and Jimmy. If the statues were still whole and on this earth, he’d find them. Jack had always completed his missions.

  Resolute, Jack returned to the phrase, “Show the faithful the…” What the hell? Jack had no idea about that next word. This was worse than an eye exam. He’d been trying to read a photocopy of faded words written with a shaky hand in the sixteen hundreds. He reached for the antiquated books, determined to find the original written page.

  By midnight, he had a box filled with Gramps’ papers, one with the ancient manuscripts from the Chel family, and another with Jimmy’s notes. He’d start with the latter. He carried the box to his bedroom and dropped it beside his couch.

  After rubbing his tired eyes, he glanced at the alarm clock.

  Shit. It’s nearly two in the morning.

  He needed sleep. He also needed help with the translations. Thankfully, he knew a few people.

  He laid the paper he was translating back into the box and turned out the light.

  Chapter Twelve

  Jack drove the familiar route south toward Playa del Carmen, past the port entrance where he docked his fleet. He’d spoken with Too Tall that morning, and his business was running smoothly without him today.

  Jillian sat wordlessly in the passenger seat of the open Jeep Rubicon, the wind whipping tendrils of hair that had escaped her tight ponytail. She played with her phone.

  “Is there a problem?”

 
“No. I just wanted to check on Addi, but my phone is dead.” Her small grin was shy, but not repentant. “I guess I wasn’t exactly thinking straight when I went to bed last night, and I forgot to charge it.”

  Jack reached over and took her hand in his, giving it a little squeeze before he released it. “I won’t apologize for kissing you last night.”

  “I’d be insulted if you did.” Her smile matched the tropical sun and heated him all the way through.

  Damn he wanted her, and by the sounds of it, she wanted him. Reaching for his car cell charger, he asked, “Will this fit yours?”

  Her hand brushed his when she took the cord. Heat tore through his body and congregated in his lap.

  Jillian examined the end and the base of her phone. “No. It’s the wrong type.”

  He shifted in the seat to accommodate his growing erection under the guise of digging his cell phone from his pocket. With his thumb he scrolled to phone mode and found his sister’s number.

  “What do you want, little brother?” Lilly’s smart mouth always made him smile. Good thing she was a corporate lawyer and not a trial attorney.

  “Your friend Brittany can attest to the fact that I’m not small, anywhere.” He knew that would light her up.

  “When did you sleep with Brit?” He wasn’t about to tell his older sister that he’d found her best friend in his bed the night before Lilly’s wedding. Or that she’d been there the next four nights and often during the day as well.

  Changing the subject, he asked, “Lilly, everything going okay there?”

  “Of course. Why?”

  “Good. Jillian’s phone is dead so call me on mine if you need to get ahold of her.”

  “Let me talk to her,” Lilly insisted.

  Jack handed the phone to Jillian, who instantly began talking, “I know I’m being an overprotective mother, but—” Pause. Giggle. “Yes, and I can’t thank you enough for—” Pause. “I’d like that. See you—”

  After a short pause she looked at him, questions in her eyes. “Do we have plans for supper? Your sister seems to think we won’t be home until late tonight.”

  “No. I didn’t plan anything, but it sounds like a good idea to me.” Yeah. He could work with that. A quiet little supper at his favorite restaurant in Playa del Carmen. A walk on the dock. Maybe he’d show her his boats, what you could see of them by the dock lights. Hell yes.

  Into the phone Jillian said, “I hate to be away from Addi all day. She spends so much time at day care it’s a real treat to have her all to myself—”

  Damn it. No. I just made plans for the evening alone with you, away from my prying family. Come on, Lilly. Insist.

  Jillian paused as his sister had interrupted her once again. “Well, let’s just see how the day goes.”

  Yes! Jack wanted to pump his fist into the air but held his hands on the wheel.

  “How about I check back with you as we’re about to leave Tulum?” Jillian smiled and nodded her head, as if Lilly was right there. “Thank you. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this. I promise to watch the boys while you—” Pause. “Well, thank you. I will make it up to you. Here’s Jack.”

  “Thanks, sis. I appreciate this more than you know.” She’d make him pay. All his life he had been her go-to guy. Whether it was thwarting unwanted male attention or picking her drunk ass up from a party. These days he was often a last-minute babysitter. He’d been there for her, and always would be.

  “Not a problem, little brother. You owe me. Have fun with our sister-in-law.” She drew out the word sister.

  Shit. Jillian was his sister-in-law, and he should be treating her like a sister, not the object of his fantasies. He was there today to protect her, not try to get into her pants.

  “See you later.” Jack disconnected the call and slipped the phone into a side pocket for easier access.

  “Your sister was so sweet to offer to watch Addi today. Your mother said at breakfast that she’d be able to help some too. They were going to play in the pool and go to the beach for a while.” Worry washed over her face. “I covered Addi in one-hundred SPF sunblock, but if she goes swimming, she’ll need more. I forgot to mention that. Maybe I should call Lilly back and—”

  “My mother raised four children, and we spent every holiday here. She knows about the Caribbean sun. She was born in Playa del Carmen, a few miles down the road from our house.”

  “Yes, but her skin is dark. Addi is so fair.”

  “Lilly’s boys are fair skinned like their father. She knows to put sunblock on little kids.” Jack glanced over at her. “It’ll be fine. You need to concentrate on your work today.”

  She rolled the useless phone nervously in her hands.

  “You’re right.” She sounded resigned.

  “So after Tulum today, then what other research do you need to do?” Jack wanted to keep her mind off Addi.

  “I’d like to go back and explore Isla Mujeres some more, and I have to finish writing my thesis. This isn’t really a vacation for me. I wanted Addi to get to know her extended family, to become acquainted with her cousins and grandmother.” She looked at her hands, then stuffed the useless cell phone into her backpack. “I never had that, and I want it so badly for my daughter.”

  “You’re an only child?” Jack really wanted to know more about her.

  “Yes.”

  “What about cousins?”

  “My mother was an only child too. Her parents died when I was young, so I don’t remember them.”

  Jack couldn’t imagine a life without a big family. He’d always had Lilly and Levi to boss him around when he was young, and he’d taken care of Jimmy as the baby of the family, although there wasn’t quite eighteen months between them. Then there had been his cousins that seemed to be everywhere. The Chel side of the family, from his grandmother, had a reunion every year on Isla Mujeres with hundreds of people attending. More of the Chels lived a few miles from the Girard house in Rio Secreto, and all the boys had hung out together whenever his family came to Mexico—got into trouble as teens—but he’d always been surrounded by family.

  His mother had a sister and a brother, each with four kids. They didn’t come over much because they had their own palatial home a few miles down the beach, but everyone visited back and forth, especially in the summer after they’d all learned to ride bikes.

  When in Chicago, the Girard side was always at his parents’ home. He had two uncles and two aunts, each with two or three children, who were now scattered all over the world. They had to delay his father’s funeral for a day while waiting for the whole family to arrive. At times, it had been more like a family reunion than a funeral for a beloved father, brother, or uncle.

  “Wow, I can’t imagine,” Jack admitted to her. “I hope there were plenty of kids in your neighborhood.”

  “There were, but I wasn’t allowed to play with many of them. My mom worked two jobs and didn’t want me out of the house until she came home.” She hesitated. “It…it wasn’t the best neighborhood.” She gazed straight ahead.

  “You must have been lonely.” The thought of a young Jillian, all by herself, afraid to go outside and play, about broke his heart. He wanted to stop the Jeep, pull her into his arms and hold her, tell her he’d be there for her. But he wouldn’t be with her for long. She was there for only two weeks.

  “I had too much to do to give it much thought.” She turned toward him. “As soon as I could learn to cook, I made the meals. Mom would come home so tired. Plus, I had lots of homework since I was in accelerated classes. And I read a lot.”

  After a moment she added, “I think I turned out okay being raised by a single mother. That’s why I’m sure Addi will be just fine.”

  “You plan on raising her alone?”

  “Of course I do.” Incredulity wove through her tone. “I don’t have a husband… anymore.”

  “You’re a young and beautiful and vivacious woman, Jillian. You have a lot of life ahead of you yet to live.” He r
eached over and took her hand. The sensation of touching her flooded his body, but he had to ignore that and explain to her why she needed to get back out there and find love once again. “I know you loved Jimmy. So did I, but don’t discard the idea of being happy again. Jimmy wouldn’t want that. We talked about this last night, and you said you were ready to move on. What’s changed?”

  “Moving on with our lives is a world away from getting remarried.” He felt her tense under his hand. She sighed and visibly gathered her resolve.

  “Jack, until our kiss last night, I hadn’t even thought about another man. Dating has been the last thing on my to-do list, and it’s still way down there. Getting remarried is so far out of my realm of reality right now I can’t afford the time to even consider it. First things first. I have to finish my thesis in the next two weeks. I need to close on the sale of my mother’s house.” She sighed heavily. “And then I probably have to find a new job, a new place to live, and move.”

  “What the hell?” Jack interjected. “What happened to your teaching position at the university?”

  “I’m not sure anything has, yet. They’ve had some serious budget cuts, and I haven’t gotten my new contract for next semester. I was expecting it in my mailbox before I left, but it hadn’t arrived as of two days ago.”

  “You have someone checking it for you, right?”

  “Yes. My friend, Jaynelle, is picking up my mail for me. She’ll call if it arrives.”

  “So you’re not sure if you have a job to go back to?”

  “No.” Her quiet word screamed with despair. Once again, he wanted to stop the Jeep and hold her, reassure her that he’d do whatever he could to help her. That wasn’t possible because they were on a timetable and traffic had been a bitch.

  “Jillian, do you have job offers from other universities?”

  “No, but I have feelers out there. The job market changes once I have my doctorate.” She forced a smile and squeezed his hand before she slid it from his grasp. “We’ll be fine. The sale of my mother’s house is scheduled to close right after the first of the year, and I have a little savings. That’ll be enough to get us through until the start of the new school year.”