Only One (Ward Sisters Book 2)

by Lucy Gage

  Jenna was surfing in the Pacific at the Malibu house while Rob and Liam sat on the beach and watched her. They’d silently observed for maybe half an hour when Rob blurted, “What about Jenna?”

  “What about her?” Liam asked, unsure of Rob’s true question.

  “You said once that Reggie didn’t make you want to give up being single. What about Jenna? Does she?”

  Liam was taken aback. “Uh, maybe. I just met her.”

  “You said before that you could be falling for her.”

  “Yeah. I did. I am.”

  “So, does she make you want to give it all up? Turn in your single guy card?”

  “Right at this moment? Yes. I don’t know what will happen in a few months when we have to leave here.”

  “But you plan to keep this going while you’re here?”

  “Long as she wants that.” It seemed like a lot of questions, even for Rob. “Did you set us up, plan for me to meet her?”

  “What? No!”

  “You sure?”

  “Hey, you got lucky that day. I forgot she was coming over here, remember?”

  Liam nodded, but it sounded fishy. There was something Rob wasn’t saying, he just didn’t know what it was. Nonetheless, he let it go. After all, he got Jenna out of the deal.

  She sauntered out of the water, dripping wet, skin glistening, eyes bright, a smile so wide it should have split her face. Jenna wedged the surfboard into the sand and then she pounced on him, trying to be funny by getting him soaked. He loved the feel of her body against his, and his heart swelled. Such an odd sensation.

  Right then, he knew he loved her, without a doubt. Rob had been right. Though Reggie had never made him consider leaving the single life behind, Jenna had the moment he kissed her on their first date, when he realized that the initial sparks he felt with her were real and not imagined.

  She kissed him then, her tongue plunging into his mouth and dancing with his own. When they pulled apart, he smiled at her and she grinned back. Stripping her wetsuit, she grabbed his hand and said, “Come swim.”

  Liam looked to Rob for the okay. His best friend offered a smile that didn’t meet his eyes, inclined his head and said, “Go.”

  He raised his brows, but Rob nodded. Whatever bothered him at the moment, he wouldn’t say, but he’d tell Liam eventually.

  For now, Liam let it go, turned and tossed a giggling Jenna over his shoulder. He dove into the water with her, then surfaced, both of them laughing like kids, happier than he’d ever been in his life.

  Chapter 8

  Los Angeles, California, one month later…

  They’d lived in this bubble for two months. Jenna wondered constantly how long it would last, despite the fact that they slept in the same bed every night and spent all their free time together. Today, she was teaching Liam to surf.

  Liam’s hand captured her wrist as she walked past him.

  “Where are you going?” he asked.

  Jenna smiled. “To dress for the beach. You should, too.”

  “You’re really making me surf?”

  “If you’re too chicken…”

  “No,” Liam said emphatically. “I’m not chicken. I just don’t want to be shark food.”

  Jenna laughed. “You’ll be fine. There’s sure to be someone tastier than you on the beach.”

  Liam looked worried. “So there are really sharks? And, hey, you said someone tastier than me. You don’t think I’m tasty?” he asked. He pulled her onto his lap. Which was entirely too erotic, since they were both naked in her apartment living room.

  “Liam,” Jenna breathed. “You’re distracting me.”

  His lips found her neck. “Am I? Does that mean you think I’m tasty?”

  She sighed. “It means I think you’re trying to drag me to bed again so we’ll miss surfing.”

  “You figured out my evil plan.”

  Jenna turned in his lap and straddled his hips. She wiggled so that her wetness rubbed against him. “I’ll make you a deal,” she whispered in his ear as she nipped his ear lobe.

  “What’s that?” he asked. His mouth was teasing her nipples and it was hard to concentrate.

  “We have sex without condoms, I’ll let you skip surfing.”

  Liam groaned. “That’s not a fair trade and you know it.”

  She kissed him quickly and jumped off his lap.

  “Then move your sexy ass and get dressed.”

  When she walked toward the bedroom, she purposefully swayed her hips to taunt him. He followed not far behind. In the bedroom, he shut the door, then he whirled her around and pressed her against it, kissed her forcefully, deep, and revved her engine.

  His hand snaked under her thigh, dragged it across his hip. Then he thrust inside her and she gasped.

  “You cheated,” Jenna groaned when she felt the condom.

  “Just making sure you remember who’s in charge,” he teased.

  Jenna inwardly rolled her eyes. That’s what you think. Her hand gripped his very fine ass and forced him to thrust deeper, controlling the situation. Liam moaned into her neck, then sucked her nipple into his mouth again. She reached down and began to rub herself.

  “God, I love it when you do that,” Liam panted.

  “Good. Take me to the bed. I’ll give you a show.” He listened. She knew he would. He always listened.

  Liam pulled out and took her hand, led her to the bed. Jenna lay on the sheet, splayed before him, rubbing herself. She was close, but she tempered her stroke so the orgasm would be big and powerful. Not as good as with her vibrator, nowhere near as good as a Liam-induced orgasm, but she was making a point.

  Finally, she let go and it washed over her, the head-to-toe ripple, the pulses between her thighs. Even though she wanted to close her eyes, she maintained a lock on Liam’s brown beauties. In them, she saw the pleasure he always got from watching her.

  He started toward her and she put up her hand to his chest. Confusion passed his face. Jenna moved off the bed and Liam seemed pleased. I bet he thinks I’m bending over for him. Though she’d love that, she was teaching him a lesson.

  Jenna spun and looked at him. “Get your ass dressed for the beach. You’re learning how to surf. Stop worrying about sharks. And don’t look at me that way. You cheated. You can wait to get off until later.”

  “You’re mean,” he grumbled as he grabbed a tissue and removed the condom from his still-hard member.

  “You can handle it,” she said with a smile. She pulled her red suit from the over-full swimsuit drawer. Knowing how much Liam liked it, she thought he’d appreciate her wearing it today.

  She was wrong.

  “Don’t wear that!” he cried.

  “Why? I thought you liked it?”

  “I love it, but I don’t want anyone else to see you in it.”

  Jenna laughed. “Liam, this is a $300 swimsuit I’ve worn maybe a half-dozen times. Are you telling me you want me to stop wearing it in public?”

  “Yes. I’ll buy you a new $300 swimsuit. Or two. Preferably that cover more. I don’t want you to wear that one to the beach anymore. Please?”

  She touched his cheek. “You’re sweet, and because you said please, I’ll do it. So you know, the wetsuits cover our swimwear. It’s not like many people will see me wearing it.”

  He rubbed her shoulders, the cruelty of her trick forgotten.

  “Today, maybe. Don’t wear it for anyone but me anymore. Please? Every time you wear it, I think about the first time I saw it on you. I don’t want some other guy to have that, too.”

  The sincerity in his voice melted her. Her lips brushed gently over his.

  “Okay. I’ll only wear it for you. But you owe me a new suit.”

  “I’ll buy you a dozen. Whatever you want.”

  “Do I get to make a demand on you?” she asked. Like that you never go back to seeing other women?

  “You know I’d do anything for you,” Liam said as he rubbed noses with her.

  Exc
ept make a commitment, Jenna thought.

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” she said. She grabbed her slightly more conservative aqua suit that looked spectacular with her tan. “This one acceptable, sir?”

  “Don’t be like that,” Liam said.

  “Like what?”

  “Mad.”

  “I’m not mad.”

  “You are. Why are you mad?”

  Jenna sighed. Frustrated, more like. “I’m not. Let’s get going. Does this suit pass muster?”

  “I don’t know. Try it on.”

  Jenna rolled her eyes and put on the suit. “Well?”

  “You’re so damned beautiful. How did I get so lucky?” When he brushed her hair from her face and hooked it around her ear, she bit the inside of her lip. God, why did that always get to her?

  I could be yours forever if you just asked, she wanted to say.

  Instead she said, “I guess you know the right people. That’s what it’s about in this town. Put on your board shorts. Let’s get out of here.”

  **********

  Standing on the beach, Liam’s heart beat like a drum in his chest. Christ, he was afraid of swimming. Not swimming, surfing. People on surfboards look like seals and sharks eat seals. And in California, Great White Sharks were definitely around.

  Liam looked at Jenna in her tiny blue swimsuit. Despite his worry about surfing, he couldn’t help but smile when he stared at her. So much brilliance and sass in such a gorgeous package. He’d been annoyed when she turned him on and made him wait, but it had been cheating to use a condom and take her anyway.

  It wasn’t that he didn’t want to have sex with her minus the stupid condoms. He did, and he’d never considered it with anyone else. Mary Sarah’s teen pregnancy had colored his world, and he’d never trusted that being on the pill was enough. One time could change your whole life, even if you thought you were protected.

  With Jenna, he wanted it, and it scared him, because if Liam wanted to have sex without condoms, then he was willing to take the chance that she’d get pregnant. What did that say? Even after two months of being together every day and night, of sleeping in the same bed with the same woman, Liam was still terrified of letting anyone into his heart and soul that much. If he could get past the fear, then maybe he’d be able to commit to her.

  A part of him knew he’d been in love with her from the beginning, but she’d said she wanted casual. Or was it that she would be okay with casual? He constantly asked himself if she meant that she’d put up with casual but if he wanted more, she was good with that, too.

  Liam hesitated to ask because he was afraid of the answer.

  So, he let things continue as they had been. Asking Rob was always an option, but Jesus, that felt like such a girly thing to do. Not to mention it was childish. Can’t even ask your own girlfriend if she wants a commitment from you. What kind of man are you?

  He also didn’t dare make a commitment to her because he was unsure if he was cut out for that. Yes, he’d been with only Jenna for the past two months. Reggie had called once and suggested they get together, but Liam had declined. Which was good, it was the mature thing to do when you had a girlfriend. Except, he didn’t tell Reggie he already had all the woman he’d ever wanted in his bed every night.

  What does that say about me? Liam wondered. Was he scared that Jenna didn’t love him as much as he did her? Or was he just the kind of guy who couldn’t commit to anyone?

  When he looked at her in that sexy suit, so beautiful, brilliant, strong and confident, Liam felt like the luckiest guy in the world. He’d watched her take off her shorts and tank, then pull out the wetsuits for both of them. He was staring, but he couldn’t help it. Especially when she bent to shove her feet into the wetsuit.

  “What?” she asked, her foot poised over the wetsuit leg hole.

  Liam drew her to his body in a swift motion, her breasts pressed to his chest, her hips to his groin. He threaded his fingers through her hair and brought her mouth to his. She melted into the kiss and wound her arms around his neck, stroking his tongue with her own. It was tempting to lift her onto the trunk of the car and take her right here.

  His throbbing dick wanted that, badly.

  Instead, before they got carried away, he broke the kiss and put his forehead to hers, both of them out of breath.

  “What was that about?” Jenna asked.

  “Just wanted to kiss you one more time. You know, in case I get eaten by a shark.”

  Jenna smiled. “Wanted to make sure I’d miss you if you were fish food?”

  “Something like that,” Liam said. Do you know that I love you? he wondered. But he couldn’t say it. Faced with the real fear of being eaten by a shark – because, let’s face it, there was a chance – he couldn’t tell her how he really felt. Knowing him, he probably never would. He was an ass like that. Liam didn’t think he deserved someone as fantastic as Jenna.

  And that was half his problem.

  He kissed her gently and then let her return to dressing for the water. Even though she could have zipped her own wetsuit – he was sure of it – she let him do it for her and she did the same for him. He had to laugh, because she looked sexy in neoprene. Not as good as she did naked and moaning for him, but good enough that he wanted to get her naked and moaning for him.

  “You’re staring again. I can’t look that great in this thing. It’s functional, but it’s not sexy.”

  “I beg to differ. You’re insanely sexy, no matter what you wear. Or don’t.” He adjusted himself. “And this thing is not meant to be worn with a stiff cock. Christ, this is restrictive.”

  Jenna laughed. “Sorry about that. It’s not freezing out there, but it’s cooler than in the summer, and when you surf, you’re out there a while. Let’s grab the boards and I’ll teach you.”

  “Have you done this before?”

  “I’ve been surfing since I was a kid.”

  “No, I mean taught someone?”

  “Once or twice.” They lifted the surfboards out of the back of the S2000 and carried them down to the beach.

  “Oh? Did you teach your last boyfriend?”

  She grinned. “No. Never taught a boyfriend before. My last boyfriend lived in Minnesota. He knew Pat.”

  “And how did he know Pat?”

  She looked at him sideways. “He was my boss at CyTech.”

  Liam was surprised. “Your boss? Is that why you left?”

  “It wasn’t the only reason, but it was part of it. Things didn’t end badly, but I didn’t want to keep working for him, either. And it was time to move on. Romantically and otherwise.”

  “Why’d it end?” Liam asked.

  Jenna sighed, then made a noise of disgust. “Lots of reasons, the biggest being that I mistakenly believed we were exclusive and I was wrong.”

  “He was seeing other people?” Liam wondered if she felt this way about him, too. He’d told her about the other girls he saw. Not that he’d been with any of them since he met Jenna, but still.

  “Seeing is a polite description. He was fucking his secretary. And his ex. And some co-ed who’d interned at the company. I figured it out when I walked into his office one day to talk about a project and found Heidi – that would be his secretary – sprawled on his desk, naked, with her ankles around his neck while he fucked her senseless.”

  “Holy shit. What did you do?”

  “Dropped the project file on the desk, said, ‘Goodbye, Chad,’ and walked out the door.”

  They embedded their surfboards in the sand.

  “Did you slam the door?”

  “No. That would have been déclassé. The rest of the office would have known what he’d done to me. I had more pride than that. I confessed to Pat and he introduced me to Rob, then he arranged for Chad to launch the Portland, Oregon satellite office ahead of the schedule. By the time Chad returned, I was ready to leave. That’s when I started working for Rob.”

  “And you didn’t date anyone else after that?” Jenna sh
ook her head. “Why did you say things didn’t end badly? That sounds bad to me.”

  And also sounds like I’m a saint by comparison.

  Liam had never felt proud of dating multiple women. He’d also never bragged about it and was always completely honest about what he wanted and the fact that he wasn’t exclusive.

  “I don’t know. I wasn’t heartbroken. Pissed and embarrassed, yes. But in hindsight, I’d realized that he was no longer worth my time before I’d caught him with someone else.”

  “Did he try to blame you? Say that it was your fault? You know, because you assumed it was something it wasn’t.”

  Her eyebrows shot up. “Uh, no. He just begged me not to file a harassment suit. Apparently, Heidi threatened that, among other things. She’s now his wife. Or ex-wife.” Jenna laughed. “He got what he deserved, I guess.”

  **********

  “You don’t think I’m like that, do you?” Liam asked.

  Inwardly, Jenna smiled. No, she knew as soon as she met him that Liam wasn’t like fake, suave, shallow Chad. Flowers, jewelry, expensive dates and weekend getaways, the romantic crap with Chad was a way to seduce a woman and distract her.

  She thought about the situation with Chad while she observed Liam, standing there nervously. Whether it was for her answer or still about surfing, Jenna couldn’t be sure.

  One thing was certain, she didn’t believe Liam was like Chad.

  Or even close.

  “No, baby. I don’t think of you that way. Chad was a liar and a manipulator. I knew you had other girls in your life before we went out the first time.”

  Liam seemed relieved. He grabbed her hand. “Good. I’d hate it if you thought I was like him. You deserve better than that.”

  Jenna pulled Liam toward her. She touched his cheek. “I wish you knew what a good man you are.” Her thumb brushed his lip, then her mouth joined with his for the briefest, softest kiss.

  “What am I gonna do with you?” he whispered.

  “Surf,” she said with a grin.

  His eyes grew wide and he looked terrified again, but he did it, and he clearly loved every second.

  **********

  Malibu, California, one month later…

  Thunder shook the house and lightning repeatedly streaked across the sky in a violent display. Jenna was reminded of the horror movies Catie had coerced her to watch in college. She shivered as she recalled one movie that had a scene similar to the one playing in front of her.