One long Embrace

by Tina Folsom

“Do you? Let’s see if you still say that when you’re out of money!”

  “I’m going to earn money!” Tara ground out. For the first time she actually believed it herself.

  “And how are you going to do that? You don’t have a job, Tara! You’ve never had a job! Who’s going to hire you? Nobody is going to go against your father’s wishes and—”

  Tara’s breath caught. “It’s true then. Dad made sure I never got any of the jobs I applied for.”

  “That’s not—”

  “Don’t deny it, Mom! You just admitted it. How could you?”

  There was a sigh on the end of the line. “Come on, Tara,” her mother said more softly now. Apparently she was changing tactics. “Just come home. We only want what’s best for you. You don’t need a job. You’ll find a nice man soon, and then you’ll be busy with the wedding preparations.”

  “I’ve already got a nice man,” Tara countered.

  “What?”

  “Yes, and he likes me, too. I’m moving in with him.”

  “Tara! What are you doing? Who is he? Where does he live? Since when are you seeing him? Why didn’t you say you met somebody? Do we know his family?” The questions were fairly shooting from her mother’s mouth.

  “You don’t know him.” Tara took a deep breath before landing the blow. “He’s a waiter. And he’s the nicest guy I’ve ever met.”

  “A waiter?” Her mother’s shrill voice nearly pierced her eardrum.

  Tara pressed the End button on her cell phone and disconnected the call, then turned the phone to silent. If she weren’t waiting for a call back from Paul, she’d turn her phone off altogether in order to avoid her parents’ calls, but at the moment she had no choice but to simply ignore them and let them go to voicemail.

  16

  “Looks good,” Jay commented to the general contractor and pointed to the sweeping staircase that led from the two-story entrance hall up to the second floor. “When are you ready to stain the wood?”

  “Maybe in a couple of days. My guys are busy with the living room right now.”

  “Great progress.”

  A knock at the open entrance door made him swivel.

  “May I come in?” Hunter asked, grinning.

  Jay motioned him to enter. “Just watch where you step. I don’t wanna pay out a huge settlement if you slip and break your leg.” Then he looked back at the man who supervised the multitude of workers on the property. “Thanks for the update.”

  His general contractor walked through the hall and disappeared into the kitchen.

  “Wanna see the upstairs?” Jay asked, nodding to his friend.

  “Sure.”

  They walked up the staircase.

  “Thanks for the car,” Jay started. “Appreciate it.”

  “Yeah, about that.”

  Jay slanted him a curious look. “Mmm?”

  “First, I thought you were planning some sort of prank with it, but then I saw the chick with you. Somehow I seem to be missing something. Why wouldn’t you want to take a hot babe like her for a ride in your Ferrari?”

  Jay walked ahead to the master bedroom and entered. “It’s complicated.”

  Hunter leaned against the door frame and crossed his arms over his chest, grinning. “I have time.”

  “I really don’t know where to start,” Jay answered evasively.

  “Start with her name. Who is she? I don’t think I know her.”

  “Tara Pierpont.”

  Hunter shrugged and stepped into the room, his eyes roaming. “Doesn’t ring a bell. Where did you meet her?”

  “At the Gilberts’ party.”

  Hunter shook his head. “Well, at least one person scored at that event. What a disaster that turned out to be. You can’t go anywhere in the Hamptons right now without hearing talk about that fight. Poor Paul. Do you think we should call him to see if there’s anything we can do?”

  “He’s back in New York. His sister told me.”

  “And Holly?”

  “I don’t know. Olivia didn’t mention anything about her, and I wasn’t about to ask.” Particularly since he’d been beating up Olivia’s husband at the time, though he wasn’t going to admit that to his friend.

  Hunter pulled his cell phone from his pocket and dialed. “Let’s check up on him and see if he’s all right.”

  He pressed the speaker button, and Jay could hear the phone ring, when his own ringtone suddenly sounded. He looked at his cell. “Speak of the devil.”

  He pressed answer, then the speaker button, while Hunter disconnected the call on his phone.

  “Hey Paul, we were just talking about you.”

  “Who’s we?”

  “It’s me, Hunter,” his friend replied, bending closer to the phone in Jay’s hand.

  “Hey guys. What are you doing?”

  “Jay’s giving me a tour of his new house,” Hunter replied.

  “Cool place, huh?” Paul asked.

  Jay didn’t give Hunter a chance to answer. “So what’s up with you? I heard you’re back in New York. Are you all right?”

  “Never better.”

  Jay exchanged a look with Hunter.

  “You sure?”

  “Why wouldn’t I be?”

  “Well. Just thought, you know, the party, Holly. Hey buddy, we just wanted to see if there’s anything we can do.”

  Paul chuckled. “Actually, there is. You guys can start planning my bachelor party, if you’re not too busy.”

  Jay nearly choked on his own saliva. “You’re getting married?”

  “Holly accepted my proposal last night.”

  He met Hunter’s surprised stare. Clearly, his friend hadn’t expected this turn of events either. “Wow, I guess, that’s congratulations then?”

  “Don’t sound so hesitant!” Paul chastised, laughing. “I couldn’t be happier.”

  “I’m happy for you, Paul.”

  “Congratulations!” Hunter added. “So when’s the wedding? This fall, or are you gonna wait till the spring?”

  “Don’t have that kind of time. We’re getting married in two weeks.”

  “In two weeks?” Jay asked.

  “I wanna make sure my baby gets my name.”

  Hunter’s mouth dropped open. “Holly is pregnant?”

  “You’re a fast worker! First Daniel, then you! What’s in the water you guys are drinking?” Jay shook his head, laughing. “Looks like we have to call in an extraordinary meeting of the club soon to expel you.”

  “Trust me,” came Paul’s voice through the line. “Being expelled has never sounded better.”

  “We’d better get our skates on to throw you that bachelor party then,” Hunter agreed.

  “Give our love to Holly, will you?” Jay added, ready to disconnect the call.

  “Wait, there’s something else.”

  “What is it?” Jay asked.

  “The reason I’m calling. I got your email. You’re looking for a new designer. I have a candidate for you.”

  “You do? Great! Send his resume and portfolio over to my assistant Karina. You have her details, right?”

  “Yeah, sure do. It’s not a guy, though. It’s a woman. Jane York. She doesn’t have an awful lot of experience, but her portfolio looks awesome. Just give her a chance, will you?”

  “As long as you vouch for her, I’ll let Karina know to set up an interview.”

  “Thanks, buddy! Bye guys! I’ll email you details for the wedding. It’s just gonna be a civil ceremony. Hope you’ll come.”

  “Wouldn’t miss it for the world!” Hunter promised.

  “Ditto!” Jay agreed and disconnected the call.

  He looked at his friend. Hunter spoke first. “Can you believe this?”

  “Holly’s a great girl. You’ve seen how they look at each other.” There was no doubt in Jay’s mind that the two were smitten with each other.

  “Yeah, but it’s all happening rather fast, don’t you think?”

  Jay shrugged. “I
guess sometimes you just know when it’s the right person.” And right now he envied Paul just a tiny bit that he’d found that person.

  Hunter chuckled. “And so the membership of the Eternal Bachelors Club is rapidly dwindling. It’s like a wildfire that’s spreading.” He tilted his head. “Getting back to our earlier conversation: what’s this business with you and Tara Pierpont? Does she have an aversion to Ferraris?”

  “You could say that.”

  “I don’t think I get it.”

  “She doesn’t know that I have money, and I want to keep it that way.”

  “Why would she not know that you have money? You said you two met at the Gilberts’ party. And as we both know, Paul’s mother only invites people with a certain net worth.”

  “True, unfortunately she also dressed all the catering staff in tuxedos, making it practically impossible to distinguish between a waiter and a guest.”

  A grin tugged at Hunter’s lips. “You serious? And you didn’t see fit to clear up this misunderstanding? Why on earth not?”

  Jay stared at his friend, raising his eyebrows. Hunter of all people should know why he’d resorted to such deception. After all, Jay had told him about the reasons for the breakup with Deborah.

  Finally, the penny dropped, as did Hunter’s chin. “Are you sure about this? What if she finds out? What have you gained then?”

  “By the time she finds out we’ll know each other better and…” And they would both know if they had feelings for each other that were worth pursuing.

  “And what?”

  Jay lifted his shoulders into a slow shrug.

  “Are you telling me you think she could be the one? I mean, I know you’re sleeping with her. That was pretty obvious when I saw you with her, but you can’t possibly think that she’d be interested in anything more than a roll in the hay with a waiter. If you really want more, then you’ll have to tell her who you are.”

  “No. I can’t do that. She doesn’t want some entitled rich guy.”

  “Entitled? You?” Hunter’s eyebrows went up. “Of all the people I know, you’re the least entitled. Why don’t you tell her how you started? What you went through?”

  Jay lifted his hand. To reveal what Hunter was alluding to wasn’t an option. Besides, Hunter didn’t even know the half of it. “I’m not going to dredge up my past to gain sympathy from a woman. That’s not what I want.”

  “If you want to differentiate yourself from all the other rich guys, you might have to.”

  He hoped it would never become necessary. He didn’t like to talk about his past. Not because he was ashamed of it, but because it was nobody’s business but his own.

  17

  “That was tasty! So you’re not only a waiter, but a chef,” Tara praised Jay as she helped him clear the dishes from their casual dinner on the boat.

  “I wouldn’t go that far.” He grinned, making dimples appear in his cheeks. “But a guy needs to be self-sufficient.” He motioned to the glass doors leading out to the deck. “Want to watch the sunset?”

  She nodded and followed him outside. Jay sat down in the corner of the broad pillow-covered bench and opened his arms. Without hesitation, she snuggled into his arms. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

  “What did you do all day?” he asked.

  “I applied for a job.” She felt excited just saying it. Finally something good was happening.

  “That’s great! What kind of job?”

  “Some interior design kind of job. I don’t know too much about it yet, but I took your advice and gave a wrong name.”

  He laughed. “It looks like I’m a really bad influence on you.”

  Tara met his eyes. “Yes, you are.”

  Jay rolled his eyes. “I’ve created a monster. What have I done? Your parents are going to kill me if they ever find out about me!”

  She made a dismissive hand movement. “Don’t worry, they already hate you anyway.”

  She felt a light jolt go through Jay’s body. “You spoke to them? I thought you weren’t doing this to—”

  She stopped him and took his hand. “It’s not what you think. I didn’t call them to rub their noses in it. My mother called me, and I picked up thinking it was a call back about the job I applied for. Anyway, I didn’t look, and suddenly I had my mother on the phone.”

  “I see.”

  “I had no intention of telling her about you. But she was badgering me about coming home, and that I need them and their money.”

  “So you snapped.”

  “I guess you could call it that. I told her I’d find a job, and she all but confirmed that my dad would make sure I didn’t get a job offer. It made me so angry.”

  Jay squeezed her hand, and the gesture warmed her heart. Somebody was supporting her.

  “So Mom changed tactics, trying to give me the whole spiel about how they only want my best, and for me to find a nice man. I told her I already had a nice man.” Tara cast him a guarded look. “I’m sorry. I know we didn’t talk about this. I know we’re not really dating or, you know, boyfriend and girlfriend, but I just told her we were, so she’d get off my case.” She shrugged, feeling a little insecure. She’d known Jay for only two days, and nobody got into a relationship that quickly.

  “Boyfriend and girlfriend, huh?”

  “Uh, well, I just thought. Honestly, I’m not putting any pressure on you. I know this is just casual. But I figured my parents don’t have to know that.”

  “Did you also tell your mother that you moved in with your boyfriend?”

  Tara grimaced. “I kinda did. But I don’t want you to think that I’m expecting anything or that I’m using you.”

  “Using me?” He ran a long look over her, his eyes turning molten. “What man wouldn’t like to be used by you?”

  Tara gave him a friendly slap on the shoulder. “Do you have to make a joke of it?”

  “Oh, I’m dead serious.” Jay turned her in his arms so that she suddenly straddled him. “I really enjoyed the way you used me last night.” He rocked his pelvis against her, reminding her of how she’d ridden him once they’d gotten into bed.

  She felt her cheeks heat at the memory, while liquid pooled at the juncture of her thighs, arousal awakening her body. She’d never been so aware of her own sexuality as during the last two days. “But I’m not using you.”

  “So what am I to you, Tara?” he asked, the southern lilt in his speech suddenly more pronounced. The sound drew her to him like a moth to the flame.

  She dropped her lids, avoiding his intense gaze. “I enjoy your company.”

  “Is that all?”

  Slowly she shook her head from side to side. “We’ve only just met. I don’t want to read too much into it.”

  His breath blew against her skin as he moved his head closer. “But you enjoy being in my arms,” he coaxed.

  “I love it when you touch me.”

  “And kiss you?”

  “Yes.”

  His lips were almost touching hers. “Everywhere?”

  “Yes.” She sighed. “But that’s not all of it.” It wasn’t the only reason why she was still here—though it was a damn good one.

  “You mean there’s more than just wild, passionate sex you want from me?”

  She nodded. “I feel I can talk to you.”

  “Isn’t that what relationships are supposed to be like?” he asked.

  “Yes, after you’ve known each other for a long time. Those things don’t happen right away.”

  Jay combed his hand through her short hair. “Sometimes people just connect right from the start. I’m not saying that it has to mean anything, or that it’s a guarantee that things may lead to something, but it’s promising.”

  A hesitant smile formed on her lips. Jay didn’t have to say things like that in order to get her into bed. He didn’t have to give her any hope that the fling they had could turn into something else. But she liked that he was open to the possibility.

  Encoura
ged by his words, she asked, “So you think it was okay for me to tell my mother I had a boyfriend?”

  “I wouldn’t want to brand you a liar.” He chuckled. “But you know, of course, that boyfriends want certain things from their girlfriends.” He put his hands on her hips and drew her against his groin where the hard outline of his erection made an unmistakable statement. “In fact, some boyfriends can be quite demanding.” He ground his cock against her center. “And they don’t like to share.”

  She drew in a breath. “Share?”

  “Yes, a boyfriend likes to know that he’s the only one who gets to make love to his girlfriend.”

  Jay was asking for exclusivity?

  “Is that a two-way street?”

  A smile burst from his lips. “Trust me, even if I wanted to touch somebody else—which I don’t—I doubt I’d have any energy left after satisfying your ravenous appetite.”

  As if to underscore his words, he slipped his hands underneath her short summer dress, stroking along her outer thighs to the G-string she wore. He slipped both thumbs underneath the triangle of fabric and caressed her bare mound. Automatically, she lifted herself up by an inch to give him better access.

  “We should probably go inside,” she murmured.

  “I’ve always wanted to make love under the setting sun,” he replied.

  She motioned toward the shore and the houses that lined it. “People will see us.”

  “We’re facing west here. The sun is behind us. All they’ll see is a silhouette. Nobody will know who we are.”

  Jay’s thumb stroked along her drenched folds, making it hard for her to think clearly.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes, I’m sure. Besides, you’ll keep your dress on. And your panties, too. There isn’t much to them anyway.” To prove to her that he was right, he pushed the fabric to one side, holding it there with one hand, while he caressed her with the other. “See? You won’t even have to get naked. Now all I need you to do is get that condom out of my pocket and take my cock out.”

  His voice sounded hoarse all of a sudden, evidence of his arousal. She couldn’t resist the temptation, slipped her hand into the pocket of his shorts and pulled the condom from it.

  “Do you always walk around with condoms in your pocket?”