Magnolia Summer

by Jaci Burton

  “Yes.” More than ready.

  “But first I have to taste that sweet cream, see if you taste as good as you smell.” He dropped to his knees and spread her legs, drawing closer and closer to her quivering pussy. When his tongue snaked out and lapped up her cream, she arched her hips off the table, moaning loud and long.

  This is what it felt like to be pleasured by someone she cared about. No, not cared about—desired. She couldn’t bring emotion into play here. Too dangerous. But oh, how he made her feel! Like climbing onto a cloud and floating, while thousands of hands touched her, took her to a higher plane of pleasure.

  Fear melted away and desire took over, her mind focused on his touch, his hot mouth and the delicious things he did to her.

  He lapped at her then, short, quick strokes that drove her to the edge and back so many times she was near tears. He seemed to have an inherent ability to know which stroke would send her catapulting into oblivion, and stopping one lick short of that.

  “Sam, please,” she begged, not caring anymore, knowing only that she needed what he could give her.

  He moved away, his hot breath pulsing across her swollen sex. “You taste like the sweetest dessert in the south, Jordan. I could eat you all night.”

  But he wouldn’t have all night, because the next long swipe of his tongue against her clit and her hips rocketed off the table as her orgasm washed over her. She soaked his tongue with her juices as her climax pulsed on and on for what seemed like an eternity.

  Through it, Sam continued to lave at her flesh, drinking in her climax and covering her clit with his lips. He finally moved away, stood up and just watched her.

  She could barely lift her head, but what she saw shocked her. Never had she seen a man’s face so fierce with desire, his intentions so clear in the harsh frown, the clenched jaw, the little tic that pulsed at his temple.

  His cock strained against his jeans, long, hard, thick, and she desperately wanted to reach out and touch him.

  Hell, she wanted to devour him in one gulp, take him to the same place he’d taken her, and then start all over again.

  She never wanted to leave Maggie’s Bluff, finally realizing that she hadn’t missed anything in her youth but fumbling and excuses. What she was missing was what she had right now. With Sam.

  And she never wanted to let him go.

  With that need to possess him, to become one with him, fear began to creep into the haze of desire.

  This couldn’t happen. Her growing feelings for Sam made her vulnerable and weak. Like her mother. And like her mother, she could be susceptible to making the wrong choices. Sam Tanner was the wrong choice; she already knew that.

  And like her mother, she’d let her desires influence her into making a disastrous decision. One she’d have to rectify right now.

  “No!” she said forcefully as she leaned up and scurried away. “I can’t do this.”

  Sam stilled for a moment. He was breathing heavily, erratic gasps of air. He leaned his hands onto the table, his fingers just inches from her thighs. “What’s wrong, Jordan?”

  “I just can’t do this,” she said, trying to calm her own erratic pulse.

  “We already did.”

  “No, we didn’t. You did, I mean I did, but we…oh hell!” She wasn’t even making any sense. Slipping off the table, she reached for her panties and crushed them in her fist, not even bothering to slip them back on. She pulled her dress down over her thighs and turned away from Sam.

  “Did I do something wrong?” he asked quietly.

  She shook her head. “No, you did nothing wrong, Sam. I just can’t.”

  “Can’t what?”

  “Can’t do this,” she repeated, mortified she had let it get this far without stopping him. She may be a coward, but she was not a tease. “With you. I’m sorry, but it’s wrong. We’re wrong.”

  “I don’t understand. What we just shared was hot for both of us. I felt your response. Hell, Jordan, I’ve never seen someone come with such abandon before. So what’s really the issue here?”

  Heat flamed her face. Yeah, she’d been abandoned all right. Abandoned of all her common sense.

  How was she going to explain to him that she wanted him too much to have him? That she didn’t want to end up like her mother, chasing after a man who had his pick of women, and would most likely end up sampling all of them? How could she tell him she didn’t trust him, and she didn’t trust herself to be near him?

  She didn’t want to hurt him, but the best way out of this would be to make him angry with her. A coward’s way out, she knew, but then she didn’t feel very strong at the moment. If Sam tried any harder to convince her she had feelings for him, she’d be ripping his clothes off right here and now.

  She had acting experience. Might as well give it her best performance. Turning to him, she gave him her coolest expression. “Well, yes, it was mildly entertaining, but I’ve had better.”

  “You’ve—had—better.” He repeated her words slowly as if he hadn’t quite heard her correctly.

  “Yes. And while the orgasm was good, I’ve changed my mind about going any further. After I thought about it, I realized I have too many other things going on in my professional life to get involved with anyone on a personal level.” Stealing a glance in his direction, she watched his expression darken, that tic against his temple pulsing stronger now.

  Well, he was definitely getting angry. She’d better finish him off now, while she still had the courage.

  Turning to face him, she laid her hand condescendingly on his forearm. “The orgasm was fine, Sam, and I thank you for the diversion. And for dinner. Can we go home now? I really have a lot to do before tomorrow and it’s getting late.” With a quick turn on her heel, she hurried toward the car, got into the passenger seat and waited.

  He stood there for a minute, watching her from his spot on the bluff. Jordan wished she could see the expression on his face, but was glad she couldn’t. It hurt her to say those things to him after the intimacy they’d just shared, but she had no choice.

  Finally he stomped down the hill to the car. Taking a deep breath, she hoped her lies had worked and he was angry enough not to speak to her on the drive home. No such luck as he got in and slammed the door, turned in his seat and grabbed her chin, forcing her to look into his angry eyes.

  “You may think you’re a good actress, Miss New York Drama Director,” he said, his jaw clenched as he ground out the words. “But I know you better than you know yourself. You were hot tonight. For me. For sex. For what could happen between us that goes beyond that. You wanted it as much as I did, so don’t give me that ‘it didn’t mean anything’ line of bullshit.” He released her chin and turned away from her.

  He started the engine and peeled out of the gravel road onto the highway. He didn’t speak to her until he pulled up in front of her house. When she moved to open the door, he reached for her wrist, forcing her to look in his direction.

  “You’re lying, Jordan. To me, and to yourself.”

  Miserably, she admitted to herself that he was right.

  Chapter Eight

  Sam was still seething when he arrived at Jordan’s house the next morning. He sat in his truck in her driveway, still trying to figure out what the hell had gone wrong the night before.

  They’d had a great dinner, good conversation, and she seemed to really enjoy his company. Jordan was fascinating to him, and not just in a physical way. They both started in the same place, but somehow ended up moving in opposite directions. That intrigued him. Sam wanted to know more about her, what drove her to leave Magnolia, and why she was afraid to come back. Mostly he wanted to know what scared her.

  They had chemistry—damn combustible chemistry. Picturing the events of the night before, her legs spread on the picnic table, her pussy glistening with the juices of her arousal, had his cock twitching to life again. Once he’d gotten past her barriers, she was fire and passion and wanted him as much as he wanted her. And not ju
st in a physical way, which surprised even Sam.

  He’d wanted an emotional response from Jordan, wanted to know if what he felt was merely one-sided. And he’d gotten one. No one who kissed him with the kind of intensity Jordan did could be interested in him purely for sex.

  Listen to him. He sounded more like a woman than a man. Gee, would Jordan still respect him in the morning? He laughed, disgusted with himself for caring one way or the other what the hell she thought or felt.

  Clearly she didn’t care. She’d let him get her off, and then she was done. But he knew there was a lot more going on in her head. Jordan wasn’t a selfish bitch. God knows he knew that personality type all too well—he’d married one.

  No, something scared her last night. But what was it?

  He raked his fingers through his hair, wondering why the fuck he was even thinking about it. She wasn’t even his type. And he wasn’t interested in her for a permanent relationship. She was a woman who craved what a large city could give her and would never be satisfied with a man who was content with his life in Magnolia.

  Penny hadn’t wanted him, either. At first she said she did, but then her true nature revealed itself and it was all about what his money could buy her, and where his success could take them.

  And just like Penny, Jordan was all about money and success. Selling Belle Coeur and using the money to buy her own New York theater was a prime example of the type of woman Sam wanted nothing to do with. So what was it about her that kept him coming back, kept him interested?

  Sex.

  He kept reminding himself that all he really craved from Jordan was sex. Nothing else. And that’s why he was so tied up in knots this morning. Yeah, she’d gotten off all right, and then left him hard and still hungering for a taste of her.

  At that moment the woman he craved came flying out the front door, arms laden with papers. She wore jeans and a blue T-shirt, and sandals with heels that looked like she’d break her neck if she turned too quickly.

  When she spotted him, she hesitated at the top step, chewing her bottom lip as if trying to decide whether to walk toward him or run like hell in the opposite direction and lock herself in the house.

  He gave her points for bravery as she slowly maneuvered the porch steps, coming to a stop in front of his truck window.

  “Morning,” she said in an almost-whisper, barely making eye contact with him as a slight blush stained her cheeks. Was she remembering last night too? She had been lying when she said she didn’t feel anything. It was written all over her face.

  He’d just have to prove to her that she did want him as much as he wanted her. He smiled as a plan began to formulate in his mind.

  “Morning to you, too,” he said cheerfully. He decided at that moment to let his anger about last night go. The only way she would open up would be if he got her to trust him. Making her angry wouldn’t accomplish that goal. He glanced at her armful of papers. “Where are you headed in such a hurry today?”

  “I…I have a meeting with the cast and I’m running late.” He wagered she expected him to be angry about last night. Granted, she was a pretty good actress, but she wasn’t that good. You couldn’t fake the kind of passion she’d exhibited. And afterward, she’d wanted more.

  She hesitated, as if she wanted to stay and talk. Maybe she felt bad about how things ended between them last night and wanted to make it up to him. Part of his new plan would be to make her wait. Make her pursue him for a change.

  “I’ve got a lot to do around here,” he said and began to open the truck door. She quickly stepped back. “Have fun today.” Ignoring her, he reached into the back of the truck to gather his tools.

  Looking out the corner of his eye, he suppressed a grin. She hadn’t left yet, in fact, hadn’t moved at all. She was probably waiting for him to make a remark, or flirt with her, or even yell at her. Not today. If Jordan Weston wanted him, she’d have to be the one to make the first move. Sam was going to try patience, at least for a while.

  “Okay,” she said hesitantly. “If you need anything, you know where I’ll be.”

  “No problem. Same goes for you. If you need anything, you know where to find me.”

  He refused to even look at her, but hoped like hell she needed something from him, and that eventually she’d ask for it.

  * * * * *

  Rehearsals went well and the play was coming together nicely. The cast were all off-book now and knew their lines without prompting. Jordan was pleased with their musical talents. If she didn’t know better, she could swear she was directing a professional group of actors. Admittedly, she was quite impressed.

  She sat at her makeshift desk in the front room of the theater, making notes and waving to the cast members as they gathered their things and left.

  Millie stopped at her desk. “So, sweetie, how did it go?”

  “Rehearsals went great.” Jordan looked up and smiled, remembering the duet Millie and Katie sang today. They had the most beautiful soprano voices she had ever heard, their melodies and harmonies blending in perfect sync. Of course Katie had always been a great singer. Jordan remembered listening to her in concerts in high school, and had even directed Katie in the senior play. Such a talent. Actually there were many talented people in Magnolia, more than she ever realized.

  Laughing, Millie said, “I wasn’t talking about rehearsals, I was talking about your date with Sam last night.”

  Katie chimed in as she walked up and stood next to her mother. “Oh yeah. Tell us all about it, Jordan. How was the date?”

  She knew it had been too good to be true. Having spent the past couple hours in rehearsal without a single word about her date with Sam, she hoped that maybe they’d let it slide.

  Wrong.

  “It was fine.”

  “Fine. Fine? That’s it, that’s all you’re going to say about it? Fine?” Millie obviously wanted more details. After all, how much gossip could she generate on a simple “fine”?

  “We had a nice time. Great dinner, nice conversation, then he took me home.” By way of Maggie’s Bluff, but she wasn’t about to mention that. She barely wanted to think about it herself. Could hardly think about it without blushing, remembering their heated kisses; the way Sam touched her, the way he…

  No, she was not going there right now. Recalling the feel of his mouth and hands on her sent her mind wandering in directions she refused to follow.

  Katie and Millie exchanged glances. They weren’t buying it. Damn, she never could lie well.

  “I saw the way Sam looked at you last night, and the way you looked back at him. There’s something between the two of you.”

  “Maybe she doesn’t want to talk about it, Mom.”

  Leave it to Katie to know when something was bothering her. Despite not keeping in touch as much over the years, they’d fallen into the old “best friends” routine so easily now that she was back. Jordan hadn’t realized how much she missed having a good friend to confide in.

  “I don’t know. I really don’t know what to do.”

  Katie gave her mother a look and a nod of her head.

  “Well, sweetie,” Millie said as she gathered her things. “I know you need someone your own age to talk to. Why don’t you have a nice talk with Katie? But if you need me, I’ll always be here for you.” Millie kissed her on the cheek and left.

  Jordan turned to Katie, but didn’t know where to begin. She normally didn’t entrust her feelings to anyone, never shared what was going on inside her. The less people knew about her the better. They already knew enough.

  Thankfully, Katie took the lead. “Look. I know we haven’t seen each other in awhile, but we’re still friends. I’ve never stopped caring about you. You can talk to me, you know. I swear I won’t repeat anything you say. Not even to my mom.”

  At Jordan’s raised eyebrows, Katie laughed. “I know Mom’s a busybody. Can’t even keep her out of my business, let alone anyone else’s.”

  Jordan grinned. “Your mom’s grea
t. She just likes to talk a lot.”

  “Right. About herself, about me, about everybody else in town. No use making excuses for her. I know she’s a gossip. But I love her anyway.”

  How wonderful it must feel to have that kind of a bond with your mother. It was something Jordan didn’t understand, but always felt envious of her friends who were close with their families.

  “Seriously. You look like you could use a friend, and I’m here for you. Tell me what’s bothering you.”

  Katie was right. She needed someone to talk to, someone to help her sort through her feelings for Sam. It was apparent she was making a mess of things for both of them.

  “I don’t know where to start.” She put her papers to the side of the table and leaned back in the chair.

  “Start with Sam. It’s obvious he has feelings for you, and you have some for him too, don’t you?”

  She paused before answering, surprised when the first words out of her mouth were “Yes, I do. But I don’t want to.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because, it’ll never work between us.”

  “Again, why not?”

  “It’s complicated.”

  Katie smiled patiently. “I’ve got time. Explain it to me.”

  Jordan had never trusted anyone enough to talk to them about her mother. But it was high time she did. Time to get it out in the open, instead of always holding it inside. Besides, Katie knew as much about her mother as anyone, at least as far as how Jordan felt about her.

  “It’s about my mother.”

  Katie nodded. “Go on.”

  “You know what she was like, how many men she dated, how often she’d skip town for days at a time with no word to anyone.”

  “I know it was hard on you.”

  “Understatement. I always hated those guys. She had a knack for choosing the wrong men. The charmers, the really good-looking men who only wanted one thing, and once they got it, dropped her like hot lava.”

  “Some women aren’t cut out to be mothers, Jordan. Doesn’t mean you’ll follow the same path as she did.”