“Eighteen,” she said, flipping the seven over.
“Twenty-one,” he announced and flipped over the ten of hearts.
Her mouth fell open. “You hit on eighteen?” she gasped. “Why would you do that?”
“I like to live dangerously,” he laughed. “What’s your favorite color?”
Grumbling, she pushed her cards back to him. “Green.”
“Nice to know.” Then his nice looking fingers tossed her two more cards. “Dangerous lady,” he said, looking at the queen of hearts that was face up. He looked down at his cards. There was a ten on top. She peered under her queen and gasped when she saw the ten of diamonds. “I’ll hold.”
One corner of his mouth lifted. “I’ll hold too. What do you have?”
She flipped over her ten. “Twenty.”
“You win. I have nineteen.” He swooped up all of the cards. “What’s your question?”
“Have you ever been married before?”
“Not even close.”
More cards flipped to her. She won. “What’s the longest relationship you’ve ever had?”
“I dated a woman for about six months at one point.”
Wrong question to ask, she thought, but kept a smile on her features, pretending that his answer didn’t hurt or scare her.
They played the cards and asked questions to the point where they didn’t bother with who won, they just kept asking each other questions. When she started to yawn, Jessa felt absurdly disappointed when he collected the cards and stood up. “You’re exhausted. I’ll walk you back to your house so you can get a good night’s sleep.”
Reluctantly, she stood up, and noticed it was almost midnight. “Good grief! I didn’t realize how late it was!”
He put a hand on her arm, pulling her back when she started to rush out of the house. Right back so that there was barely an inch of space between the two of them. “I had a wonderful time tonight, Jessa,” he purred in her ear, making her shiver.
Goodness, he smelled good! Had he smelled this good last night? She couldn’t remember. But she sure remembered that kiss! Would he kiss her again? She really wanted him to, but because of that friendship thing, she didn’t want to ask.
“I’m going to walk you home,” he announced. “And then I’m going to kiss you goodnight. Are you okay with being kissed?”
She laughed nervously. “Shouldn’t you ask if I’m okay with the walking me home thing too?”
“Nope. I’m walking you home, honey. It’s late and I don’t like you walking in the dark alone.”
“But…I live right next door.”
“Security is my business, Jessa. I’m walking you home.”
“You really don’t need to.”
“For my peace of mind, I need to walk you home.”
Something occurred to her at that moment. “You watch me walk into my house every night for the same reason.”
“Yes. And it’s also why I installed that security system. Are you okay with me kissing you good night?”
She thought about it for a long time. She should tell him no. She should tell him that they should remain just friends, minus the benefits. But instead of a denial, she heard herself say, “I’d like that very much.”
“Good. Let’s go. You need a good night’s sleep. You’ve missed a lot of writing over the past two days.”
“You sound awfully confident about this,” she said, trying to sound teasing. But in reality, her heart was pounding hard and her knees felt more than a little wobbly.
“I have confidence that you’re going to realize that me fathering your child is the best thing for your baby. You’re an intelligent woman. You make wise decisions.”
She didn’t argue with him. Nor did she admit that the idea of him fathering her child had been the furthest thing on her mind. All she’d been thinking about was him kissing her. And touching her. And making love to her.
And darn it, she lived too close! In practically no time at all, they were standing beside her back door. She reached out and pushed open the door, then turned to face him.
“You didn’t lock your door?” he demanded, horrified. “Nor did you turn on the security system. Why not, Jessa?”
Again, not where her mind was going so it took her several moments for her mind to interpret his words. “Uh…” looking behind her, she looked at the door, then back up at him. “I don’t ever lock my door when I’m just outside.”
“It’s one thing when you’re outside with me. But from now on, would you mind locking your door when you’re not in sight of it? Just to make me feel better?”
If he’d ordered her to lock her door, or berated her for not locking it, she would have stomped inside and become irritated with him. But his sweetly worded request…well, what could she say? “Of course,” was her only response.
And with that, she noticed a great deal of tension leave his shoulders. And even better, he put his hands on her hips and pulled her closer. “Thank you,” he murmured a moment before he kissed her good night. And boy what a kiss! His lips were firm and coaxing, pulling a moan from her as he slowly deepened the kiss.
All too soon, he pulled back and looked down at her. “I want to do a whole lot more, but I want you comfortable, Jessa. So, dinner again tomorrow night?”
She grinned up at him, nodding eagerly. “Dinner tomorrow. My turn to cook. And more blackjack?” she offered.
“It’s a date.” And then he was gone, his long, muscular legs taking him back to his house. But before he went inside, he turned to face her. “Lock the door, Jessa,” he called, waiting for her to go inside and lock the door.
She smiled, grateful that he couldn’t see her expression in the night. But she still stepped into her house and locked the door, hoping that he heard the snick of the lock so that he’d know that she’d done as he asked.
Slipping into bed that night, she smiled at the darkened ceiling, thinking about Jayce and some of his answers. He was afraid of sharks, she thought. But she knew that he went diving because he’d told her about having done so in the Mediterranean Sea several months ago. He just got more and more interesting.
Jessa fell asleep wondering if she would ever have the courage to take their relationship to the next level. And if she did, would they be able to go back to just being friends after she became pregnant?
She was asleep before she came up with an answer.
Chapter 6
The following morning, Jessa woke up with a start, glanced at the clock, then, with a gasp, threw the covers back and raced to the window. It was show time, she thought eagerly.
Sure enough, Jayce was walking down the steps of his red and white house, dressed in a crisp white shirt and dress slacks, his loose tie hanging around the open neck of his shirt, a matching suit jacket slung over his shoulder. He looked…hot! Gorgeous! “Wealthy Man Goes to Work”, she thought, thinking that it sounded like the title to a porn movie.
Every morning, she watched him leave for work. It was one of the pathetic pleasures of her day. She should be ashamed, but Jessa wasn’t. She didn’t care that this was the highlight of her day as well as the inspiration for several of her heated sex scenes.
She loved watching him get into his SUV, the material of his dress slacks skimming across his tight butt. Her mouth watered at the sight of those broad shoulders pulling at the white material of his dress shirt. He was just…
Staring at her! Instead of getting into his SUV and driving away as he normally did, he tossed his jacket into the backseat and turned to look up at her. He had sunglasses on, but she could tell that he knew that she was at her window!
Good grief!
Another deviation from his normal routine…he slammed the car door closed and walked across their lawns. A moment later, her doorbell chimed and she jumped. Racing down the stairs, she quickly pressed the buttons on her security system, disarming it before pulling the heavy door open.
He looked even more incredible up close. Goodness, he’d just
showered and smelled like soap, sunshine, and man!
“Good morning, Jessa,” he greeted her, that deep, sexy voice vibrating its way down to her very toes. “Instead of just watching, how about if you give me a proper greeting?” He pulled her into his arms and kissed her thoroughly.
Jessa squeaked in surprise before lifting her face up for his kiss. Immediately, her arms wrapped around his neck and she felt as if she were floating. When he finally lifted his head, she realized that she wasn’t floating. He was holding her.
“Good morning,” she whispered.
He lowered her sock-covered feet to the ground, kissed her one more time, then stepped back. “Is this what you sleep in?” he asked, taking in her figure clad in a satin nightshirt and wool socks.
Quickly, her hands flew up to her chest, one foot trying to hide behind her calf. As if he hadn’t noticed her unsexy night attire already.
“Yes. If…if this thing between us happens, I’ll find something better to wear.”
He groaned and pulled her closer. “Don’t you dare! This is pretty hot. I even like the socks and the hair sticking up in the back.”
He grinned walked back across their lawns, unaware of her gasp as Jessa hurriedly tried to smooth down her hair. “Good grief!” she hissed and stepped back into the house, closing the door behind her. “Okay, no more ogling!” she vowed. Then padded into her kitchen, knowing that the promise would only last until tomorrow morning.
Chapter 7
Jessa’s fingers flew over the keyboard, the scenes for her next book coming so fast, she could barely keep up. She loved it! Days like this were….heavenly! She’d chosen to work in the small park over by Church Street instead of in her house today, and it had been a good decision. The sun was warm, but not too hot and the humidity was comfortably low. Besides, the low hum of traffic and other people walking by on the sidewalks helped her focus for some reason.
Or maybe, it was because she didn’t have an internet connection out here and couldn’t surf news sites or find a great pair of shoes that she wouldn’t have any place to wear.
Why didn’t she do this more often? Maybe because she didn’t usually start the morning with a passionate kiss from her neighbor, she told herself with a secret smile.
A pretty brunette walked across the grass and Jessa thought that she looked familiar. But the brown haired, green eyed beauty was too…she was too confident. Too amazing! If she’d met the woman before, Jessa would have remembered her. She was just that stunning! Tall and slender with impossibly high heels that she walked in as comfortably as if she were in sneakers. Her dark hair was pulled up into a sleek twist and she was…coming this way? Huh?!
“You’re Jessa McCleod!” the woman asked. Well, announced actually. She wasn’t asking. The stunning woman was telling.
Jessa blinked behind her sunglasses, startled but not threatened. “Um...yes. I am.”
The woman smiled, the look transforming her features from cold and unapproachable, ice queenish…to almost gamin. A street urchin goes to Paris.
“I thought so! I knew that you lived in the town, but I’ve never seen you out and about before. Of course, we’ve only moved here in the past year, but still, I’ve met most of the town. So by the process of elimination, I guessed that you were her. And I was right!”
Jessa couldn’t help but feel a bit intimidated. The woman was just too beautiful and striking and elegant and confident. All the things that Jessa wanted to be but wasn’t. But there was just something about the woman. Maybe it was her personality, the kind of woman that decided she was going to be friends with someone and that was it, the person didn’t really have a choice about it.
“I’m Carly Cole. I know, stupid initials. But by the time I realized how silly it sounded, I was stuck with them. Besides, my parents probably did it to me out of spite. They weren’t very nice people,” she admitted as if that kind of sharing was just part of the getting-to-know-you phase.
“It’s a pleasure to…!” She stopped, thinking about Jayce. “Um…are you by any chance related to Jayce Cole?” she asked, holding her breath.
“Yep! He’s the middle child, but he keeps pretending to be the oldest. It takes Oz, our oldest brother, to knock him down a bit before he’ll accept his place in the world. But over the past several years, Oz hasn’t been able to do that. Jayce just kept getting bigger and bigger. Not that Oz is small. No way! He’s huge! Just about as huge as Jayce. Although, Ryker is bigger than both of them. But Ryker…” she paused for a brief moment and Jessa suspected that there was a blush involved during that moment, but the lovely woman rallied quickly.
“Is Ryker another brother?”
The woman laughed. “Goodness no! Thank goodness! He’s not part of the family.” Carly tilted her head. “Well, he is, actually. But not officially. Ryker is…was…a friend of Oz in the Delta Force unit of the Army. Jayce was a Navy SEAL. When they decided to start The Solutions Group and combined their talents….well, that’s when Jayce and Oz adopted Ryker as their de-facto brother.”
“Huh!” Jessa replied, fascinated by both the information as well as the woman.
“Anyway, you don’t want to know all of that. I just saw you across the parking lot and wanted to find out if you were who I thought you were. And you are! So I’m introducing myself!”
Jessa laughed, delighted with Carly Cole. “Jayce is my neighbor,” she told Carly.
“You’re kidding!” she gasped. “That jerk never said a word! And he knows that I devour your books! Although, I usually have to sleep with the lights on after reading one of your novels. I love them, but they scare the bejeesus out of me!”
Jessa smiled, feeling a warm glow of happiness. “That’s pretty much my goal,” she laughed. “Entice and terrify.”
Carly laughed as well. “Listen, Danielle, one of my good friends, married one of my brothers’ friends and moved away with him. And that irritated me. So, I’m on a mission and, since you’re here and you seem really nice, would you like to join a poker training group?”
Jessa was amused and intrigued. She’d been thinking about learning how to play poker after Jayce dissed her admittedly non-existent skills. “You play poker?” she asked hopefully, sitting up straighter.
Carly cringed before replying. “Unfortunately, no. But my brothers play poker with some very scary dudes. The wives of that group, plus me and Charlotte, Oz’s wife, are teaching ourselves to play poker. If you’d like to join us, we’re learning in secret.”
“I’d love it!” she gushed, thinking of surprising Jayce with her knowledge of poker. He’d dismissed the game so easily the other night, it would be amazing to play with him and crush him with some newly acquired, mad poker skills.
“Excellent! Then you’re in! We meet with the other ladies only every few months, but Charlotte and I plan to get together to teach ourselves once a week.” She turned and grabbed her cell phone, handing it to Jessa. “Put your contact information in and I’ll contact you about the next poker night. It’s going to be awesome!” she laughed.
Jessa put her phone number into Carly’s cell phone, then handed it back to her.
“Great!” Carly announced and stood up. “This is exciting! Having three people playing poker is so much better than just two. It will be easier to learn to bluff. I have a meeting in a few minutes, but it was really great to meet you! I’ll text you with details, okay?”
“Okay,” Jessa replied, hoping she didn’t look as stunned as she felt. Carly Cole was a whirlwind. A beautiful, amazing whirlwind!
Chapter 8
Jessa’s fingers trembled as she opened the oven, checking on the casserole. “Don’t burn!” she ordered it firmly. Thankfully, it didn’t answer but continued to look yummy. The beans were sitting on the countertop, ready to pop into the oven. She knew that real chefs boiled water, dunked the green beans into the boiling water for a certain amount of time, then dunked them into ice water. It was called blanching for some reason that she couldn’t fatho
m. Personally, sticking them in the microwave for three to five minutes worked perfectly. Why make something complicated?!
Jayce had texted that he was on his way. She’d texted him back, letting him know that dinner was ready whenever he arrived. But was she ready? Probably not. Her mind was still racing, trying to catch up. She’d worked hard today, but wasn’t able to catch up completely. But that was fine. She’d catch up over the weekend. That was one of the problems of being a writer – one could never really turn off the brain. Thoughts and ideas constantly flowed. There was always a story in her mind, always a scene. The ideas didn’t always work out, but they were there. Weekends and holidays weren’t truly acknowledged for a writer. Holidays were just a time when she couldn’t check the stock market when she needed a mental break from writing. Why she checked the stock market, Jessa had no idea. She had a financial advisor who recommended which stocks and mutual funds to buy. She transferred the money into her investment account each month and her advisor did all of the buying and selling. Somehow, checking the markets each day made her feel more informed, even though it was a complete lie.
When the doorbell rang, she jumped, even though she’d been expecting it. Still, Jayce was here! After this morning, she was more than slightly jumpy and smoothed her hair back. She’d curled it today, wanting to look nicer than normal after this morning’s pajama debacle. She’d put on a bit more makeup than normal too. Oh, she always put on makeup, not wanting him to ever see her without makeup on. So of course, this morning’s fresh face had to be banished from his mind!
Before she opened the door, she smoothed a hand over her jeans and shirt, taking a breath. As she opened the door, she smiled brightly. But seeing him in a pair of jeans and a tee-shirt that stretched across his shoulders, she lost track of the funny comment she’d prepared. It had been so witty and sophisticated too. Gone though. Those wonderful, witty, pithy comments weren’t so great when one couldn’t remember them.
His Baby Deal (The Diamond Club Book 6) Page 6
