by Amy DeLuca
Make the most of it. She let him lead her.
When they were both strapped into their seats, Jack handed her a headset with a microphone. Bonnie put hers on and adjusted it the way he’d done his own. The chopper lifted, leaving her belly on the ground for a moment before it snapped back into her body, quivering with excitement.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“Cape Cod. Mayflower Beach is on the bay side—it’s beautiful. You’ll love it.”
“Cape Cod? Isn’t it a long way away?”
“It’s a long drive from here, but this way we’ll get there in about a half hour. Come on, just relax and enjoy the ride.”
The flight was incredible, providing ocean vistas part of the time and overhead views of the famous New England fall color the rest of the trip. From above, the trees displaying their autumn finery resembled a very large, very complex patchwork quilt.
Once again, Bonnie’s pulse danced, wowed as she was that she was actually there, living that rarified life, even temporarily.
When they landed in Dennis, Massachusetts, a car picked them up and conveyed them the short distance to the beach where Jack handed the driver a tip and received a large picnic basket and a duffle bag in return.
Jack nodded to it as the car drove away. “Sunscreen. Beach blanket. Towels.” He lifted the basket in his other hand. “And lunch.”
“You thought of everything.” And Bonnie didn’t know what to think. What she’d expected to be a brief morning swim was looking an awful lot like an entire day’s outing. Why was Jack doing this? Especially with a deadline looming?
“How’s your book coming along?” she asked as they took the short path from the parking lot through a gap in the grass-covered dunes. “Did you finish already?”
“I still need an ending, but I don’t really want to talk about that right now. I needed a change of scenery. I thought you might, too.”
Speaking of scenery, just past the sand dunes, the beach opened up, stretching out like a soft white blanket rippling under an endless expanse of blue sky.
It was nearly empty, perhaps because it was past peak season. All the families who vacationed here during the summer months were tucked back into their suburbs and cities. That left Bonnie and Jack to enjoy what amounted to a private beach.
“Wow. You’re right. It is beautiful.” Bonnie turned to Jack. “I do love it.”
He smiled. “I knew you would.” He dropped the basket and bag. “Come on. Let’s go in.”
Without waiting for her, he took off running, stopping only to kick off his shoes and strip his t-shirt before going in. Diving under the surface, he popped up and turned back to face her, letting out a joyful whoop.
“It’s not too cold. It feels good.”
Bonnie followed, not running in as he had but taking her time to remove her coverup and then wade in slowly. When the first wave rushed over her feet and ankles, she squealed. “You liar, it is cold. Either that or you’re a penguin.”
He grinned back at her, his blue eyes made even bluer by the backdrop of the water and sky. “I do run a little hot.”
Or a lot. Those paparazzi photos online hadn’t done him justice. Jack looked fantastic, shirtless in only his swim trunks. Muscles rippled and bulged across his chest, arms, legs, and tight abdomen as he moved. His body literally awed her, the sight stealing her breath.
Completely unaware he was being ogled, Jack playfully smacked the water with his hand, splashing it toward her.
“You’ll get used to it,” he promised.
Bonnie cringed and moved ahead, determined to be brave. After all, how often did she get a chance to take a helicopter trip to a private beach? Or swim with an Adonis? But by the time she was knee deep, she still hadn’t acclimated.
She was about to make her excuses and retreat to the shore in defeat when a sizable wave started rolling in. When it hit, she was going to get all the way wet in a hurry. She turned and started running awkwardly through the surf, screaming.
“Get me out, Jack, get me out.”
Suddenly she lost her footing. Bonnie realized she wasn’t falling but being lifted. Jack had swept her legs from beneath her and now had her securely locked against his body in a cradle hold.
“Gotcha.” He smiled down at her as the incoming wave hit his back and rushed harmlessly around his legs. How was he so warm? Everywhere their skin touched it felt like an inferno.
“My hero,” Bonnie joked.
But the smile left her face as she stared up into those mesmerizing blue eyes and recognized the hungry expression. In this position their faces were nearly even. She couldn’t keep her eyes from dropping to his mouth. Lips had never looked so delicious, so tempting, so—
Bonnie couldn’t see his lips anymore, but she could feel them. He’s kissing me. Jack Bestia is kissing me.
It was so startling, so… wonderful. His lips were soft and hot, and the way he used them. He was every bit as skillful as she’d imagined. But she never could have imagined the feelings coursing through her body. They were overwhelming, like a monster wave she couldn’t escape—and didn’t want to. Her arms went around his neck, clinging to him.
It was a good thing Bonnie was already off her feet because her whole body felt weak, and her heart thumped so hard she might have passed out if she were standing. Part of her couldn’t believe it was happening while the rest of her was oh-so-glad it was.
The sounds of laughter and conversation broke the spell and their mouth-to-mouth contact. Bonnie looked around, blinking against the bright sun and feeling like she was in a daze. A group of college-aged kids had set up a blanket not far from their things and were tossing a frisbee around. So much for the private beach.
Jack gently lowered her until her feet touched the ground. Somehow, they were no longer in the water but on dry sand.
Stepping back a few inches, he smiled down into her eyes. His chest rose and fell in a rapid rhythm. “I’d love to pretend I could stand there and hold you all day, but Harrison isn’t the only one who’s a little out of shape.”
Bonnie let her eyes roam over his fit chest and powerfully defined arms and shoulders. “I wouldn’t say that.”
Jack grinned. “No, I work out every day. I was talking about the rest of it. It’s… been a long time since I’ve kissed someone. Honestly, my knees feel a little wobbly.” He sobered. “I haven’t been with anyone since Claudia.”
“Me either.” I made his knees wobble? Bonnie blinked and shook her head. “I mean, it’s been a long time for me, too.” A pause. “I don’t think you’ve lost a step—meaning—you are very good—that was very good… kissing.”
His grin widened, and he laughed. “Did you know you babble when you’re nervous?”
She rolled her eyes, chagrined. “I’m aware.”
Jack pulled a red beach blanket from the bag and spread it on the sand, inviting Bonnie to have a seat. Then he stretched out on it himself, dragging the picnic basket closer.
“I’m starved. You?”
Still rattled from the unexpected kiss and now taking in the sight of his magnificent body drying in the sun, Bonnie giggled involuntarily. She was in serious danger of babbling again. So she just nodded and peeked into the basket at the selection of sandwiches and plastic carryout containers.
“Where did all this come from?”
“A deli in Dennis.” Jack pulled out a tub of cubed fresh fruit and pried off the lid. “My parents used to bring me and Hunter here when we were kids. This was our favorite beach, and we’d make a day of it with takeout from the deli and a bonfire at night.”
“Will we make a bonfire?” Bonnie asked.
The prospect of spending the rest of the day and part of the evening here with him was incredibly appealing. And a little frightening. Their relationship had made a significant shift in the past ten minutes. So far, Jack hadn’t acknowledged it.
He shook his head, looking a bit sad. “We’ll have to go back before too long. I did need
a break, and believe me, I’d love to stay all day and forget I have a book to write… but I do have a book to write. I’m getting close enough now that I think I might actually make it—if I keep working hard and don’t get too distracted.”
He ran his gaze up and down her bathing-suit clad body. “And you are very distracting. I like that suit on you.”
All Bonnie’s exposed skin warmed under his interested gaze, and her heart bounced around her chest, absurdly pleased by his unconcealed attraction to her.
“Want me to go back to New York and stop distracting you?” she teased. “We can throw out that silly contract, and I’ll get out of your hair.”
“No. Absolutely not.”
By the way Jack’s eyebrows lowered, Bonnie could tell he’d missed the joke. His voice had a hard edge to it, signifying anger. Or maybe panic?
“You signed an agreement,” he insisted. “It still stands.”
She reached out and touched his arm. “Jack, I was kidding. I made it this far—I’m not going to bail now.”
Jack’s body visibly relaxed, though his brow held onto its tension. He popped a grape into his mouth and chewed silently.
Taking a sandwich from the basket, Bonnie unwrapped it, studying his stern expression and clenched jaw. Fascinating. What did it mean, this unexpected strong reaction to the idea of her leaving him?
“How could I leave after you’ve brought me to this gorgeous beach?” she said lightly. “And bought me the world’s most delicious looking sandwich. What is this?”
The clouds on his face parted, and Jack’s dazzling smile returned. “It’s their avocado caprese special. It’s got tomato, fresh basil, homemade mozzarella. It’s basically heaven on a focaccia roll.”
Bonnie took a bite, moaning over the incredible blend of flavors. “Oh wow, you’re not kidding.”
He laughed loudly, the rich peals warming her soul the way the afternoon sun warmed her skin.
“What?” she asked.
The turquoise eyes twinkled as he shook his head. “Nothing. I just like watching you eat—especially in the kitchen at home. You seem to enjoy everything so much. Not just that, either. The way you appreciate the ocean, the roses in the garden, the sunset.”
“How could I not appreciate all those things? They’re beautiful.”
Jack looked down at his own sandwich but didn’t take a bite. Bringing his eyes back to hers, he reached out to grasp her free hand.
“You’re beautiful.”
She nearly choked on the bite of food in her mouth. Swallowing it down in one gulp, she said, “Jack…” Her voice drifted into nothingness.
Bonnie’s mind ricocheted back to the book signing two years ago, when, overwhelmed by a surfeit of emotion, she’d blurted the same two words to him. At that time, she would never have predicted in a million years what was happening today. What was happening, anyway?
Jack squeezed her fingers, slipping his thumb into the recess of her palm and stroking it tenderly. The feel of his strong, warm hand was like one of those defibrillation devices, shocking her heart into turbulent vitality, making her feel its pounding all over her body at once—not just in her chest but in her hands and feet, her ears, her stomach, the side of her neck.
“It’s been killing me not to say it sooner,” he confessed. “I’ve been thinking it every day so loudly I was half-convinced you’d hear my brain shouting the words. I thought so when I first saw you, when you first turned around clutching that stupid award with your eyes big as saucers and your cheeks as red as this blanket. I didn’t want to like you. I was so mad my editor forced me to talk to you. I was even angrier when I saw how pretty you were. I wanted nothing more than to get rid of you as quickly as possible.”
Bonnie’s pulse was wild, tapping the insides of her veins like a manic woodpecker. “I remember. And now that’s changed?”
He nodded. “I did a complete one-eighty when you quoted that line from Tides of Time and then basically told me where I could stick it. I knew then and there I couldn’t let you just walk out of my life.”
“But… you caught me in your office. You hated me.”
“I figured out pretty quickly you weren’t actually trying to steal anything. You were snooping, yes, which was irritating, but I’ve realized since then you didn’t have any malicious intent. And the more time I spend with you, the more I get to know you on the inside, the stronger I feel this was all somehow meant to be, that it was no accident you were assigned to interview me and then ended up getting yourself sentenced to solitary confinement with me.”
He gave her a wry grin that sent a shot of heat straight to her belly. “I guess what I’m getting at is… when all this is over, when the book’s turned in… I’d like to keep seeing you. I want to take you out somewhere, on a real date. At home in Newport or in New York. Paris. London. Your choice.”
Bonnie’s head was spinning from the extravagant array of potential date locations he’d named—not to mention the extraordinary things he’d said before that.
“What are you saying, Jack? You want to date me?”
“Yes,” he said with a chuckle. “Now that we’ve lived together, I think it’s time we started dating.”
For a moment, she just shook her head in wonder as her racing heart struggled to catch up to the abrupt change in their relationship. She loved the idea, but she wasn’t sure what the reality would look like.
“How would it even work?” she asked. “I live in New York, my father lives with me. You live in Rhode Island.”
“Like I said, it’s your choice. I have a place in Manhattan, remember? Or, if you decided you liked it better in Rhode Island, maybe you could work out a more permanent work-from-home deal with your boss or get a job at a different publication based in this area. You said your father loves Newport. My house is plenty big enough for everyone—he could have his own wing. I’ll add a whole bookcase to the library for Braille editions.”
He sounded like he was joking, but one look at his expression told her he meant every word of it.
“Jack. This is pretty big. We’re not talking about a few dinners or lunch dates. This is people changing their lives.”
His next words were quiet but distinct. “You’ve already changed my life.”
They stayed at the beach a while longer, finishing lunch, swimming again, and spending a ridiculous amount of time kissing before packing up and heading back to the airfield where the helicopter waited. The whole time, Bonnie’s heart flip-flopped from elation to doubt.
She wanted all the things Jack had talked about. She wanted more of those intoxicating kisses. Could they really have all of it? They were from different worlds. They’d only known each other a few weeks and had gotten off to a very rocky start. But the fact was, in that short time he’d changed her life, too.
He’d restored something Bonnie had thought she’d lost forever—a sense of optimism that things could work out, that there was someone for her in this world—someone wonderful who appreciated her for herself, for who she was inside.
When they got back to the mansion, Jack suggested using the rear entrance and the elevator to avoid getting the foyer sandy.
But before the elevator doors opened, Harrison appeared in the hallway wearing a very worried expression. “Sir. There’s a visitor waiting.”
“A visitor? I wasn’t expecting anyone. Who is it?”
Harrison darted his eyes at Bonnie and then back to Jack. “It’s Claudia, sir.”
Jack’s face contracted into a scowl. “You let her in?”
“I did not.”
“Well, then how did she get in my house?”
“I believe you gave her a key, sir.”
“Crap. That’s right. I did. I can’t believe I didn’t think to ask for it back.”
He started striding toward the foyer, and as their hands were still joined, pulled Bonnie with him. She was wearing only a swimsuit and a cover-up. She had no makeup on, and her hair was no doubt a windblown mess fro
m a day at the ocean followed by a helicopter ride. She did not want to make the acquaintance of Jack’s gorgeous ex-girlfriend looking like that.
“Jack—wait, stop.”
He halted and turned to her. “What?”
“Look at me,” she said. “I don’t want anyone to see me.”
“Why not? You’re gorgeous.”
“Jack…” Bonnie widened her eyes in a don’t you get it stare. “I don’t want her to see me.”
His hand tightened around hers, and he leaned in for a quick kiss. “Well, I do. Please? You’ll be doing me a favor.”
She let out a loud sigh and continued walking with him. As they entered the foyer, Claudia stood up from the bench where she’d been sitting.
She looked like a Barbie doll, all long, thin arms and legs and blonde perfection. Her outfit was impeccable, as was her hair and makeup. Next to her Bonnie felt like a tumbleweed that had rolled into the mansion when someone left the door open too long.
Claudia’s round blue eyes were trained on Jack but dropped to take in their joined hands then glanced off of Bonnie for the briefest second before returning to him.
“Jack. It’s good to see you,” she said. Her tone was friendly and light.
Jack’s was not. “What do you want, Claudia?”
She pursed her lips and folded her perfectly manicured fingers together primly in front of the sleek pencil skirt she wore. “I’d like to speak with you.”
Then she threw another eye dart in Bonnie’s direction, this one so hard it might have left marks.
“Alone.”
Eighteen
Queen Viper
What the heck was she doing here? Just when things were starting to go right in his life, Hurricane Claudia had to blow back in.
