by KaLyn Cooper
Jack slowly shook his head and ran both hands through his hair. “Goddamn it, Levi, I don’t know what it is, but being with her is so different from the other women I’ve dated.”
“Dated or fucked?”
“Both. It’s as if we’ve known each other a long time. We fit in a way I’ve never had with any other woman in my life.”
“Are you telling me you’re falling in love with her?” Incredulity laced Levi’s voice.
“Hell no.” But the idea of having Jillian in his life every day, and especially every night, wasn’t all that bad. And Addi. He was already in love with that little girl. He’d have her in his life forever no matter what. He was Unka Dak.
“So she’s a holiday booty call, and when she leaves to return to the States in a week, it’ll be over? You’ll move on to the next tourist and she can date a nerdy professor?”
The idea of Jillian with some pasty-white, skinny bookworm who taught philosophy and wore argyle sweater vests enraged Jack. She wouldn’t pick a man like the picture he’d painted. No. She wouldn’t go there.
Levi pushed on. “Or what about next year when she brings down the football coach?” Levi’s sadistic smile ripped into Jack’s heart. “Or, better yet, the star quarterback? She’s still young and pretty. She looks like she’s only twenty-two.”
Oh no. That didn’t work at all. Jack had been the quarterback, and that designation had gotten him laid on a regular basis. Beating the college’s rival had gotten him a threesome. Jillian naked with a younger man or two men—anyone except him—made his hackles rise.
“Shut the fuck up.”
“She’s gotten under your skin, little brother.” Levi poured them both another cup of coffee. “Not good.”
Jack hadn’t thought about later. How weird would it be to see Jillian on her next visit to Cancun? He had lived in the moment most of his life. In the SEALs every day you are alive is a good day, so they lived each moment to the fullest.
But he was no longer a SEAL. He owned a catamaran company in Cancun, living the dream. He saw beautiful women in bikinis every day, many willing to have a little vacation fling, and he’d been anxious to help them with that fantasy. No strings, sometimes no real names.
That’s not the way it was with Jillian. She was more than a holiday stress reliever. She was…special.
“Be careful, Jack. You could literally fuck things up in a hurry.” Levi’s lecture was pending, and he was winding up for a big one.
“Mother has already done that,” Jack noted, happy to change the subject. “Our side trip to the hospital last night screwed things royally for the way Jillian feels about our whole family.”
“Mom is devastated about letting Addison get sunburned.”
“She should be. She has to lay off the booze. Maybe that was a wake-up call for her.”
“She hadn’t been drinking yesterday afternoon. She was truly drained and fell asleep. What you smelled on her breath was the wine we’d had at supper.”
“Right.” Like Jack believed that.
Mateo arrived with Levi’s breakfast.
“Is everything prepared for tonight?” Levi asked the cook.
“Yes. There are plenty of hors d’oeuvres in the refrigerator, the bars are stocked, and your gifts are wrapped and in the library closet.”
“Excellent. And the food for Christmas day? Mom has been so tied up with business I wasn’t sure if she’d had a chance to talk with you.” Levi crumbled bacon onto his oatmeal and stirred in some honey.
“Splurging on calories today?” Jack pointed at the mush and decided on more fruit.
“I plan to go running on the beach later this morning.” Levi’s mention of exercising reminded Jack that he needed to work out today.
“Mrs. Girard and I discussed the menu last week. I have prepared everything to her specifications.”
“If you want to take off early today, check with Mom first, but I think we can handle everything.” Levi looked to Jack for confirmation.
Jack nodded. “Go play with those grandkids of yours. We’ll see you on the twenty-sixth.”
“Thank you, Jack.” Mateo smiled. “I have breakfast to finish for the rest of the family. Then I’ll see about leaving.” He nodded. “If I don’t see you, Levi, Jack, have a Merry Christmas.”
“Thanks, Mateo, you too.” Jack said.
“Yeah, Merry Christmas, Mateo.” Levi called out as the cook left. His gaze fell on Jillian’s closed doors. “Is she staying?”
“If I have anything to say about it, yes.” Jack stared at the closed drapes of her bedroom. “I want to keep her and Addi right there.”
“Jack.” Levi stretched out his name in warning.
Jack got up from the table. He’d had enough family drama to last him a lifetime. “Lay off, Levi. I know what I’m doing.” At least he hoped that statement was true.
Jack went into his bedroom, placed the baby monitor on his dresser, and crawled into bed. He could use more sleep too.
His brain registered sheets rustling so he reached out to calm the woman beside him. In his dream, he nuzzled into Jillian’s soft hair as it tickled his chest. “Go back to sleep, darling.” He scooted over closer to her and reached out for her.
No one was there. The bed was cold and empty.
A light whimper filled the air next to him with the sounds of cotton sheets rubbing against each other.
Addi.
Jack came fully awake and jumped from his bed. He checked to be sure he was wearing clothes before he started toward the quad. The boys were splashing in the pool, and he heard his sister and mother talking to each other.
He didn’t want to talk to either of them. Not yet. Addi was his first concern. With an about-face, he decided to enter Jillian’s room via the hallway to remain unseen.
Jack opened her door quietly and slid soundlessly to the side of the crib. He reached down to cover Addi, who had wiggled her way to the top of the crib, leaving the sheets humped in the middle.
Her body radiated heat. She looked at him with eager eyes. When she smiled, his heart filled with love. Jack reached for her, and she anxiously came to him. After a quick change, he grabbed the jar Mateo had brought and picked up Addi.
“She’s awake?” Jillian’s husky voice sent a rush through his whole body. When she sat up, he could see her nipples through the silky pajamas.
“I’ve got her. Go ahead and sleep.”
Jillian stretched her arms into the air above her head and twisted her upper torso. The material pulled tight over large breasts, and her white belly showed against the peach pjs.
Jack’s cock went as hard as the bedposts.
“I’m awake.” She sniffed, twisting in the other direction. “But I could really use a shower.”
“Go ahead. I’ve got her.” Jack bounced Addi. “I’m going to raid whatever is left from breakfast and try to get her to eat and drink some more.”
Jillian stood beside the bed and stretched again. “Sounds like a plan. I’ll be right out.” She was magnificent. Long legs and the cutest ass. He needed to spend more time with her body. Later, he promised himself. “Grab that bag over there. It’s filled with her toys. We need to keep her quiet today.”
She walked to them and gave Addi a kiss on the forehead, then raised her face to his. She pecked his cheek. “Thanks so much, Jack.”
He watched her disappear into the bathroom. He tried to wish his hard-on back down, but it wasn’t working, especially when he heard the water. She was naked in that bathroom. He could picture her shapely legs stepping into the tub, water droplets running down her extended neck, over her collarbone, and creating rivers around and between her breasts.
“Unka Dak. Juice peas.” A tiny hand padded his rough beard.
So much for his erection.
Chapter Seventeen
Jillian checked her watch. It was four thirty. She rose from the couch in the sitting area at the far end of her bedroom and stretched her aching back. She wasn’t read
y to tackle her last box, and Jack was nearly finished with his. The glass coffee table, sofa and chair armrests, even the floor was littered with piles. They had sorted every piece of paper, ancient books with English translations, dozens of nautical charts, and area maps for hours while Addi slept on and off throughout the day.
Her pediatrician had once told her that children heal better when they are asleep. She didn’t know if it was true or not, but each time Addi had awakened, she had more energy. She would eat and drink, her appetite growing after each nap.
Preston and Greyson had been perfect cousins. They had played with her, swimming in the bathtub, tolerating the much cooler water than available to them in the pool outside. After lunch they had brought their miniature cars into Jillian’s bedroom and set up the track so Addi didn’t have to move around much. Preston had even notified Jillian when he thought Addison was tiring. What sweet boys. Jillian wondered if her boys would be like them.
What boys? That would mean she’d have more children, and that meant she’d get married again. Although she’d always wanted more kids—growing up as a lonely only was not very much fun—the thought of dating had only recently entered her mind. Falling in love, getting married again, going through pregnancy, not on her radar right now. She had to finish her dissertation, defend it, and receive her doctorate first. Then she had to find a university that needed an anthropologist specializing in Mayan culture.
All of that was too far in the future to even consider.
Jillian checked on Addi, who was lightly snoring in her crib. Her tender skin had never blistered and was now a very light pink. The heat seemed to have evaporated from it with each application of the balm Mateo had given her.
“I’m going to grab a bottle of soda.” Jack stood beside her, smiling down at Addi. “I need some caffeine. Want one?”
“Sure.” She looked longingly at the brightly lit quad where the boys were driving their kid-sized Jeeps over every square inch, dodging the lounge chairs where their mother and grandmother stretched out, reading tablets.
“She’ll be fine for a few minutes.” Jack took her hand. “You need to get out of here and breathe some fresh air. Come with me.”
He seemed to know what she needed before she could put words to it. He was an amazing man. She’d watched him scan every piece in the boxes, quickly analyze it, and place it in the correct pile. He was fast but seemed to remember everything, reshuffling the stacks often.
They slid through the gauzy sheers billowing in the late afternoon ocean breeze.
“Hey, you two,” Lilly called to them. “How’s Addi doing?”
Jillian sat on the edge of the chaise next to her. “Much better. That balm Mateo brought is wonderful. Feel my hands, just from applying it to Addison.” She held them out.
“Oh my God. How soft.” Lilly exclaimed after brushing fingers over the back of Jillian’s hand. “I wonder if his wife would make some for me as hand cream. I won’t tell you how much I pay for a bottle that doesn’t make my hands anywhere near that soft. And it’s not greasy.”
“No. Not at all.” Jillian rubbed her hands together. She liked the way they felt.
“Mom, you need to feel her hands.”
Mrs. Girard came around Lilly’s chaise. “May I?”
“Sure.” Jillian held out her hands again. Her mother-in-law took both her hands and rubbed her thumbs over the backs.
“It’s like after a hot wax soak at the spa.” The Girard matriarch smiled at her, expecting agreement for finding new common ground.
“I…I wouldn’t know,” Jillian admitted. She’d never been to a spa. Her friend Jaynelle had taken her to the nail salon last year for her birthday, and they’d gotten manicures and pedicures together, a first for Jillian.
“You’ve never had a hot wax for your hands?” Lilly asked. “It’s divine. Mom, let’s get Jack and Levi to watch the kids later in the week and we’ll do a girls’ day out at the Mayan Riviera resort spa. I hear they have a great new masseuse.”
Mrs. Girard hadn’t taken her eyes off Jillian, nor had she released her hands. She seemed to be absorbing Jillian, reading all her inadequacies. She tried to pull her hands away, but the older Girard held them tight. “What a great idea, Lilly.”
Their gazes met. Her mother-in-law smiled at her with a warmth she’d never seen before from the woman. “Will you let me treat you to a day of pampering, Jillian? Just the three of us will go. We’ll do it all. Salt scrubs, body wraps, facials, manis and pedis, massages and scalp treatments.”
Lilly ran her fingers through Jillian’s hair. “You can’t come to Mexico and not get your hair braided, too.” She laughed. “They’ll have a heyday with all yours. It’s so thick and such a pretty color.”
The low voice she’d come to know so well agreed. “Go with Mother and Lilly. You deserve a day to be a girly-girl.” He slipped onto the chaise beside her, two drinks in hand.
Mrs. Girard released her hands. “Please. I’d like to do this.”
Jillian accepted the soda from Jack. She could tell that Mrs. Girard rarely, if ever, begged or groveled. The please was a concession in and of itself. She’d never been to a real spa, but the thought of leaving Addi—
“I can take care of Addison.” Jack trailed a hand up and down her back, soothing her the way only he could. He smiled at her then gave his mother and sister a sly glance. “I promise we’ll spend all day in the shade or inside. I’ve got this covered. I’ll rope Levi to help, and we’ll take the kids to the indoor play center.”
“Thank you, Jack.” She leaned into him before she thought better of it. He kissed the top of her head. When she looked up, both women were staring at them. She straightened. “That would be wonderful, but I insist on paying for my treatments.”
Mrs. Girard smiled and shook her head. “Oh, no. I invited you, and it’s my treat. I’m making it a Christmas present…to both my girls.” Her broad smile was filled with the familial warmth she hadn’t seen since her own mother passed away.
Jillian’s heart suddenly overflowed, and her eyes tried to follow. Too choked to say anything more, she croaked out, “Thank you, Mrs. Girard.”
A frown crossed the older woman’s face, deepening the few wrinkles in her bronze face. “That just won’t do, Jillian. Every time I’m called Mrs. Girard I look around for an employee with another problem. No, I won’t have you calling me that. Please call me Mona.”
Jillian watched as both Lilly’s and Jack’s eyebrows flew upward and their mouths dropped. Her mother-in-law saw their reaction as well. “Or Mother Girard would be fine, too, I guess.”
Jillian gave the woman a sincere smile. “Mother Girard it is then. By the way, I hear the boys call you Yaya, the local term for grandmother. May I teach Addison to call you that as well?”
“Certainly.” A pleased look washed over her face. “So what have you two been up to all afternoon?” Suddenly, red rose up her throat and into her dark brown cheeks. “Not that it’s any of my business what you’re doing in your bedroom…I mean…Oh, hell.”
Jack laughed. “It’s all right, Mother. We’re sorting through the boxes of research that Jillian brought down with her. Some of it was conducted by Gramps, but a lot goes way back. There are some translations of the Mayan folk lore into Spanish dating back to the early sixteen hundreds.”
“That came down from your grandmother’s family. She used to tell me that Henry only married her for those old journals.” She patted Jack’s hand. “It wasn’t true. They loved each other so much. He adored your Grams. He could never bring himself to date, say nothing about remarry, after she passed.”
Mother Girard turned her attention to Jillian. “He built this place for her then added on as the grandchildren were born. He loved it here. So did your father.” She sighed heavily then pasted on a smile, changing the subject. “Good thing you are going through that old stuff now. Doctor Tzuc will be here tonight to pick them up.”
Jack’s back straightened, and his broad s
houlders squared. “No, Mother, I’m not giving them to him tonight. There’s so much more I want to review. It may take me months.”
“But, Jackie…” At his mother’s nickname for him, Jillian felt him wince. “I promised him he could have all those old papers when Jillian brought them down. He’s been bugging me about them for years, ever since Jim—” She looked toward the boys at the far end of the quad headed toward the beach access.
“Oh, shit.” Lilly leaped from her chaise and jogged toward the swiftly moving toy vehicles. “Where do you think you boys are headed?”
“Four-wheeling on the beach, Mom.” Greyson’s excited smile made Jillian chuckle. “These are Jeeps, you know.”
Jillian couldn’t hold in the laugh. “Those two.”
“They are so like their great-grandfather.” Mother Girard’s glance swept the compound. “This place instills adventure into your soul.”
Jillian heard the familiar rustling of her baby. She hadn’t noticed that Jack had clipped the monitor to his shorts. “She’s awake.” Jillian made a beeline to her bedroom, Jack right behind her.
She stood next to the crib, waiting to see if Addi would roll over and go back to sleep or if she was ready to get up again. She felt the heat of his body at her back before he touched her shoulders.
“I think she’ll sleep some more.” Jack pulled her back against his massive chest and wrapped his arms around her stomach. She felt his erection press into the small of her back. The darkened area of the room was far too intimate. “I’ve kept my hands off you all day when what I really wanted was to slide back into bed, then into you.” His breath was warm and moist on her ear, sending powerful waves of lust through her whole body and congregating between her legs in a surge of wetness.
