by Lucy Gage
“Working with her on what?” Pat asked. Then he realized Jenna’s choice of words. “Oh.” He ran his hand through his very short hair. “I’ll take care of this,” he said.
“You don’t have to do that.”
“Yes, I do. I introduced you to him. I should’ve warned you. He’s my friend, but he’s a bastard sometimes. Both of his wives left him for cheating. He’s gone through numerous assistants over the years and last summer, I dealt with his fling with Sonja.”
“Sonja? The intern who worked on the Richmond project?”
Pat nodded. “I wasn’t sure if you and Chad had something going on then, so I asked him. He said no. I took him at his word. I should have known better.” He shook his head. “I’m sorry about all this.”
“Don’t be. I’m a grown woman. I knew it was probably a bad idea, for lots of reasons, and I did it anyway.”
“Well, nonetheless, let me take care of it. I’ll talk to him. Why don’t you take a couple days away from the office.”
“Okay. I will.”
“We’ll tell people you had a family illness.”
“Good. That works because I already made a similar excuse as to why I left early today.”
“Don’t worry about work, okay? I’ll call in a couple days.”
She nodded and said, “Please don’t mention it to my parents. They don’t know. I never told them who I was seeing. I don’t want them to be disappointed in me.”
He hugged her. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. I won’t.”
**********
After she’d been away from work for a few days, Jenna had time to think about what she wanted to do. When Pat called and asked her to meet him at his office on the MSU campus, she agreed.
She hugged Pat and sat down in the chair at his desk where she’d sat so many times she couldn’t even count. Tears sprang to her eyes because she hated the mess she’d gotten herself into and that things had come to this.
“I’m moving back to California. I’ll find a Silicon Valley job.”
Pat nodded. “Okay. If that’s what you really want, I’ll support it, but I hope you’ll reconsider, give it through the weekend.”
“I can do that. What should I do at work in the meantime?”
“Your job. I’ll take care of things with Chad, okay? Come to the house on Saturday. We’re having a barbeque. Robbie is here this week. You can finally meet him.”
Pat had been telling her she should meet his youngest son for a couple of years. He’d recently mentioned how he was relieved that Robbie had parted ways with his insipid college girlfriend.
Jenna knew Robbie was an actor, lived in California, and she assumed that he looked similar to Pat and his oldest son, Rick. Both of the Deacon men she knew already were handsome, but Rick, in particular, was not her type. She’d met him because his security company was the test client for her graduate thesis work. He was big and muscular, and though he was attractive, he wasn’t anything that interested her. He seemed like an intelligent guy, but he couldn’t hold a candle to Pat.
She shook her head. It was obviously a setup, but right about now, any distraction was welcome. Jenna sniffed and hugged Pat. He was like another father.
“You know how much I adore you?” she asked.
He kissed her hair. “Feeling is mutual, kiddo. See you tomorrow.” He squeezed her hand and she left.
The next day, she arrived at Pat’s house, where his wife, Anja, greeted her with enthusiasm. During grad school, when Pat was her thesis advisor, Jenna spent many hours with the Deacons.
Across the deck, Jenna saw about the last person she’d ever have guessed would be at this barbeque: Deac Roberts, A-list movie star. She should have realized. Now that she saw him, she could see the resemblance between Deac and Anja, not to mention that he looked so much like Pat’s daughter, Amy, anyone who saw this man with his sister should know instantly they were siblings.
She’d lived around actors her whole life – it was her father’s business to represent them – so they didn’t faze her. This guy was even more attractive in person than on screen – brown, wavy hair, cobalt blue eyes, thick lashes, a strong jaw and mouth-watering body – he was just the right side of beautiful. His mouth quirked when he saw her, and Jenna was shocked when her heart fluttered.
Anja walked her over to where Deac was talking to Pat. Her mentor put his arm around Jenna and said, “Here’s my favorite former student. Jenna, this is my son, Robbie. Robbie, this is Jenna Ackerman. She’s the girl I was telling you about.”
Pat winked and wandered away.
Robbie stuck out his hand for her to shake and he smiled at her, a grin that screamed sex.
Focus. He’s an actor. He gives that to every woman he meets.
“It’s great to meet you. Call me Rob. You work at CyTech?”
She nodded. Work. She could talk about work. “Yeah, I developed the software we’re marketing to security services. Rick’s company is our test subject.”
“I’d love to hear about it. After all, it’ll directly impact me.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. You didn’t know that Rick started the company when he became my bodyguard?”
“Truthfully? I had no idea,” Jenna said. “Pat doesn’t discuss your job like that. Don’t get me wrong. He’s always seemed proud of you, but no one in your family makes a big deal about the fact that you’re an actor. Honestly, because you look more like Anja, I had no idea you were their other son.”
“You don’t follow the Hollywood scene?”
She laughed. “I got enough of that when I was growing up in Beverly Hills. Half of what’s out there is barely true or completely false. Celebrities. Now there’s a group who could benefit from the programming I’m currently developing.”
“Really? Tell me more.”
“It’s boring stuff if you’re not a computer junkie.”
Rob raised his hand. “Computer junkie at your service.”
“No way.” He was too hot to be a computer geek.
“Way. I have a degree in computer science from MSU. I should have been a programmer. Dad probably wishes I was. My career in film takes Mom away from home a lot these days. Since I ended things with Rachel, she and Amy have been taking turns at events.”
Was he just trying to appease her? That would be low. “Done any programming lately?”
“I’m in the process of programming my houses. I want access to them from anywhere in the world.”
“No joke?” He shook his head and smiled. This was a very pleasant surprise. The man was hotter than hell and smart. Oh my.
“Lunch is ready!” Pat shouted.
“We should talk more later,” Jenna said. “I’d love to hear about this smart house stuff you’re doing.”
“Absolutely.”
All during lunch, she caught Rob looking at her. She couldn’t help but steal glances at him, too. The longer she looked at him, the sexier he got. Listening to him talk, hearing him joke with his family, just made the gorgeous outer package more appealing. At one point, their eyes met and the smile he gave her would have melted the clothes off a nun. Willingly. Damn.
After lunch, Pat’s grandkids were playing in the water with their father and uncle, while his wife and daughter-in-law did dishes and his daughter put her son down for a nap. The women refused her help.
Pat said, “Robbie, why don’t you take Jenna for a ride on your boat?”
Subtle, Pat, Jenna thought.
Rob smirked, understanding what his father intended. “Want to go for a ride?” he asked.
Jenna thought, Not on the boat. But she said, “Sure.”
Rob gestured for her to head to the dock, where a 22-foot pleasure craft was tied on the side opposite Pat’s fishing boat. He took her hand, helped her into the boat, then stepped down inside. He was shirtless – all the men were – and as he lowered himself into the hull, she saw his muscles move. Her swim bottoms grew damp. She sat in the passenger’s seat and watched him
maneuver the boat away from the dock with great skill, his torso flexing as he backed the boat around and left the shore behind them.
They drove fast for a bit, a thrilling ride with a gorgeous man in control of so much power. He slowed the boat to cruising speed and drove her around the lake for a little while. They discussed her thesis, what she did at CyTech, including the programming Deacon Security was testing and the work Jenna was doing on search algorithms. It was great to have a real conversation outside work for once.
“So, where do you live?” she asked.
“I bought a house in Malibu a little while ago. It still needs a ton of renovations, but I’m having the wiring redone so it can be a smart house, too.”
“I’d love to see that.” Among other things.
“I can show you the renovations we’re doing at my house here. It’s pretty much the same thing. Well, except that the house here had some old knob and tube wiring left. But the new stuff is the same. Want to see it?” he asked.
“Sure, but won’t everyone think that’s weird?”
“They won’t know unless we tell them. My house is down the lake from Mom and Dad’s. I bought this failed development and we built houses for everyone on the lake lots. Mine is the original owner’s homestead. Hence the knob and tube.” His grin said he was as hot for her as she was for him.
“Let’s see it,” she said with heat in her eyes and her voice.
They docked the boat at a stately old home in the midst of renovation, and he held her hand all the way to the house.
“You don’t lock your house?” she asked.
“Almost no one knows I live here, and the 200 acres around my house and the rest of the family’s houses are either mine or theirs. It’s unlikely anyone will come here, let alone get in the house. Besides, there’s nothing here. Eventually, I’ll be able to open the house with my iPhone. I’m still working out the bugs.”
They wandered in from the deck through a back door to the kitchen. She let go his hand and stepped around construction detritus. “Wow. This place is a disaster area!”
Rob laughed. “It’s a mess. You should see the master suite. They’re installing the safe this week. It requires crazy wiring for a backup power source. It’s almost worse.”
“Show me,” she said. Jenna looked at him, lust flooding her face when she thought about the idea of being in his bedroom. He must have had a similar thought, because his pupils had dilated.
He nodded and took her hand again, leading her up the stairs, which had been stripped to bare wood and didn’t have a railing at the moment. “Careful,” he said, moving her so that she was in front of him and closer to the wall. He put his hands on her waist and her heart raced.
When they arrived at the master bedroom, it was furnished, but a mess, barely liveable with many walls removed to the studs.
“You still sleep here?”
“Yeah, I’m not here much, so it’s no big deal. When I leave in a couple days, they’ll put drop cloths over my furniture again, and the next time I’m back here, they’ll be done. I wanted to be home for this phase.”
She looked at him then, and noticed that he was aroused. It gave her confidence to make a move.
“Wise choice,” she remarked. Then she stepped closer to him, and ran her hands up his sculpted chest and around his neck. “Are you good at making wise choices?” she asked.
“Depends,” he said, and at the same time, they both leaned in for a kiss. It was hot. Steamy, sexy, take-me-to-bed hot, with tongues dancing frantically and lips eager to have more, more, more. His hands cupped her face and held her to him, as if she’d even contemplate moving away right now.
She let her hands move down his chest and around to the ass she’d admired earlier. Oh, yes. It felt as good as it looked. As she pulled his hips toward her, his impressive erection pressed into her stomach.
Rob tugged the strings on her swim top as he walked her toward the bed. He lay her back on the mattress, lifting her body so that she was more fully on the bed, and then he pressed himself into her open thighs while his tongue flicked at her nipples.
God, did she need this. She needed to be desired again. Chad had leveled a blow at her normally healthy self-esteem.
As his mouth devoured hers, he removed her swimsuit and sarong. She returned the favor and eased his board shorts over his hips. She wanted him desperately, and if his actions were any indication, he wanted her just as badly.
“You have condoms, Rob?” she asked between kisses.
“Yeah. Is that what you want? You want to sleep with me?”
“I want to see what you can do with that thing between your legs,” she said, stroking the appendage in question. Yes. There was no doubt she wanted that between her thighs.
Rob groaned and laughed. “What makes you so sure I’m any good at it? Because I’ve got a big dick?”
She kept stroking and he grew harder. “No, because you can kiss like nobody’s business. Odds are good that’s not the only part of your body you can use well.”
“As long as you’re sure…” he said. His eyes were begging her to say yes.
“I need to get laid, big boy, and I think you do, too. Grab a condom, get your very fine ass back over here and show me what you can do.”
He laughed but did as he was told and let her put it on when she held out her hand for the condom. Thank God he was a nice guy, because a man that big could hurt a girl her size if he wasn’t gentle at first, even if that girl was horny as hell and felt like she was ready for anything. He suckled her breasts and touched her, ensuring she was hot, wet and writhing beneath his ministrations until she needed him inside her so much she was about to burst. Then he kissed her sensually as he eased into her folds and slowly spread her all the way down.
“Oh, wow,” she breathed. It had only hurt for a split second.
“Mmm. Yeah. You are tight. You okay?”
“Very okay. Show me what you can do, big guy.”
He laughed again. “You sure you’re ready for it?”
“So, so ready.” She laughed, too. “I don’t think I’ve ever wanted anything so damn bad in my life.”
“Then I hope I don’t disappoint,” he said.
Oh, God. Rob moved in and out, and was he good at it. He kissed her the whole time, slid out slowly and back inside a few times while he stretched her. And then he rotated his hips, pressed as deep as he could get. It aroused her in a way a smaller man couldn’t manage or at least never had before. In a few minutes, she was ready to burst.
“Rob, I’m there. Are you?” she asked, teetering on the verge of exploding.
“Yes. Jesus, Jenna!” He swelled even bigger and that was it. They climaxed at the same moment and she saw stars.
So incredible.
Damn, that had to be the best sex she’d ever had. He held himself off her body with his forearms for a bit, still solid inside her as they both came down from the high. Her mind reeled.
What was that? It wasn’t just great sex. Not in her experience.
But, he was a famous actor. Even if he wanted more than one roll in the sheets – an insanely hot tumble at that – then what?
He pulled out slowly and she was so sensitive, she moaned. No matter what, this would go down as unforgettable.
They lay side by side, out of breath for a minute or two. This had been amazing. But could it ever be more? She wasn’t sure if there was that intangible thing she’d always thought should be present when you were head over heels or could get to that point easily. Granted, there was sexual chemistry in spades, but it wasn’t as if she thought she might die if she never had him again. She’d be disappointed, yes. But heartbroken? At the moment? No.
Afraid of being last on board the train, Jenna spoke first. She guessed he was probably thinking the same thing as her, but he was too polite to say it.
“I’m thinking we should probably stick with being friends.”
Rob laughed, sounding a little disappointed. “That bad?”
“No! Not at all. I’d like to do it again. It’s not that you’re not great in bed. You are phenomenal, actually. But it feels like this would never be more than sex. And I need more than that.”
“Yeah, me too. I don’t do booty calls. That’s not my thing.”
She agreed but, oddly, was a little bummed that he’d shared her thought process.
“Me either. Friends?” Jenna suggested.
He kissed her sweetly. “Absolutely. You’re pretty amazing yourself. It’s been a while since I had sex that great.”
“Oh? Rachel not much to write home about in bed?”
“That’s not a comment on her lack of bedroom skills, though she was more into it at the beginning. It was a comment on how enjoyable you are.”
She grinned at him. He’d liked it as much as she had. That made his assessment of a possible future sting less.
“Thanks. It’s really too bad you’re just not my type.” Yeah, that’s it. Right?
Rob laughed harder. “Not your type? And you slept with me anyway?”
“I didn’t say you’re not hot. You’re so hot you’re on fire. I wanted you almost as soon as I saw you. But you’re just not my usual type of sexy. I like subtle sexiness. You’re more in-your-face delicious. Seriously, I don’t know that I’ll ever be able to forget this. It’s not every day you get to have a movie star bang you until you’re senseless.”
“Planning to talk to the tabloids, are you?” he asked flatly.
“Oh, stop. I’m teasing. I didn’t sleep with you because you’re an actor. I could do that any time. My dad represents enough of them and I’ve met my share. I slept with you because you’re hot and almost as smart as I am. It’s an intoxicating combination.”
And if you asked, I’d probably try to give this a go even without the sparks because I like you that much.
“You don’t have a self-esteem problem, do you?” he joked.
She thought, Not anymore. Thanks for erasing awful Chad from my brain. Then said, “Nope. Not usually. When I meet the man who makes me nervous and unsure of myself, then I’ll know I’ve met the love of my life.”
“I hear you. When you meet the person who makes you want to be more than you are, then you’re on the right track.”
