Negotiation Tactics

by Lori Ryan [romance/suspense]

  “Of course, Jennie. I promise.” Chad paused, then grinned at her. “I won’t tell anyone about your vibrating panties.”

  “Gah! You…you…” Jennie threw a flip flop at him and stomped off to the shower. But at least she was laughing. That’s all Chad could hope for now.

  Chapter Fifteen

  They were almost at the end of their two weeks. Just four more nights. Kelly had called the day before and, so far, her doctor wasn’t predicting delivery any time soon. Even though Jack had said he had a jet standing by for them, Jennie still worried about Kelly delivering the baby before they got home.

  She and Chad were closer than ever, which was nice in some ways, but it did make resisting the pull of their sexual attraction a lot harder. They’d only held hands or danced a bit in public to keep up the pretense of being a happily married couple. But, even that little bit of closeness had Jennie tense and uneasy. Her body cried out for Chad with everything in it and she felt more than physical attraction at this point, but her heart also hurt with every pull.

  And Jennie was honestly utterly exhausted from trying to fight it. She sat on the edge of the bed while Chad showered. And she did something she hadn’t done in a long time. She talked to Kyle. Not out loud. Only in her head. She needed him to know.

  Please, Kyle. Please forgive me for this. I just want one night to forget. One night to not feel like I’ve been torn in half. To not remember. Just one night.

  Jennie took a deep breath and looked at the door to the bathroom and stood. She pulled off her robe and let it drop to the floor.

  She pushed open the door and stepped into the steamy room. She knew Chad heard her. His back tensed right away and his hands stilled. He lowered his head and waited.

  Jennie slipped into the shower in front of him. She turned as she stepped in so she could see his face. He watched her so warily, holding his hands still. Not touching her or reaching for her.

  Jennie placed her palms flat on his chest and felt the sharp inhale of his breath. She looked up at him, thankful for the water that streamed over them. She didn’t want him to see her tears.

  “Make me forget, Chad. For one night. Please? Make me forget.”

  Chad looked down at her, eyes blazing with heat, but also sadness. She didn’t want him to be sad for her and she didn’t want to make him sad. But, she couldn’t walk away anymore.

  ***

  As Chad looked down at Jennie, he knew he should walk away. Say no and leave it alone. But he couldn’t do that. He’d lost all his strength where she was concerned and he didn’t want to walk away.

  He wanted her so badly, all he could think about was what she would taste like. What she would feel like, her soft body against his. The way she would feel when she wrapped her legs around him. The way he could make her feel, make her squirm and cry out for him. His mind had been scrambled since they got on the plane for Florida and he didn’t want to try to fight this anymore. If he only got this one night, then so be it. He’d take one night if that’s all she could give him.

  “Are you sure, Jennie? We can’t take this back if we do this.”

  Jennie nodded.

  Chad leaned down and trapped her, arms on either side of her against the wall of the shower as his heart pounded in his chest. He was so close to what he’d wanted for so long, but he had to be sure she truly wanted this.

  “Say it. Tell me you want this,” Chad said softly. Urgently.

  “I want this, Chad. For one night, I want this.” Her voice didn’t falter or waiver.

  Chad leaned in and kissed her sweet, succulent mouth as he pressed her against the wall of the shower and took what he had needed for so long. He knew he shouldn’t. It was the most selfish, heartless thing he’d ever done, but he was defenseless against Jennie’s power. He ignored the fact that she still loved her husband, that she hadn’t healed from the wounds his death had left and he took her. Chad swept his tongue inside her mouth in a forceful, needy move. She met him with as much heat and need and passion.

  Chad lifted Jennie, holding her on one of his thighs as he moved his mouth to her neck. He brushed his lips across her soft skin, taking in the sweet, silky feel of her. Breathing in that scent that was innately Jennie. One hand closed on her breast as his mouth moved to capture the other nipple. Jennie held the back of his head tight, pressing him to her as she arched her back and moaned.

  Her nipples pebbled for him as he let his tongue swirl around them, grazing them with his teeth from time to time as she writhed in his arms. He’d never in his life experienced anything like the feel of Jennie in his arms. All of his fantasies about her – and they had been plentiful and detailed and dirty – were nowhere close to the reality of her and the way she responded to his touch.

  Chad slipped his hand between her legs and felt how wet she was already and he couldn’t stop himself. He lifted her higher and positioned himself between her legs. Jennie sank down so slowly on him, he thought he would burst. Or beg for mercy. The feeling of being inside Jennie was like nothing he could ever have imagined. She gripped him tightly and rocked her hips, tearing an almost animal-like sound from his lips.

  It took everything he had to stop them. Chad lifted Jennie off and put her on the floor, reaching over to turn off the water.

  “Condom,” he whispered as his mouth found hers again. “Bed.”

  Chad reached for a towel and dried her hurriedly, paying quick attention to her hair and very brief attention to his own body. He wanted back inside her. Now.

  But when he got her to the bed and dug in his wallet for a condom, he placed it on the nightstand. She needed more than this. She needed to forget and he damn well was going to give her that. Chad sank down to her peaches and cream thighs and let his hands travel over her heated flesh. Everything about her was softness to his hardness. He marveled at the feel of her; at how incredible she looked spread out for him. For a minute, he thought of all the things he would do to her someday, but he made himself push those thoughts from his mind. He knew better than to hope for more than this one night with her.

  In fact, Chad knew it wouldn’t even be one full night. As soon as she remembered Kyle, she’d be done. He had these moments. Nothing more.

  Driving everything else from his mind, Chad trailed his tongue slowly over Jennie’s flush skin and almost groaned out loud at the sweet taste. He closed his mouth over her clitoris and tugged gently as she pushed her hips up, seeking more. Chad slipped one, then two fingers inside of her, wanting to hear the sweet little moans she made as she quivered in his hands. Holding her still with one hand, he circled and licked, then sucked hard once again. He felt her respond instantly, just as he knew she would. Her orgasm ripped through her in waves, muscles pulsing and throbbing from her release.

  She came fast and hard and Chad knew she needed a lot more. His hands roamed her body, stopping to play with the soft rounds of her breasts. He kissed the soft plane of her stomach, luxuriating in the feel of her as he waited for her to come down from her orgasm. Then, just as quickly, he let his fingers and his mouth settle on her as he sent her spiraling up again.

  Her muscles clamped down on his fingers as she crested the wave of her second orgasm and Chad’s body cried out to be inside her. To know what it felt like to have her come around him as her moans and whimpers filled his ears.

  Chad slowly withdrew his fingers and kissed his way back up Jennie’s body, finding her lips once more. He didn’t let her rest. He didn’t want her thinking or remembering. He tore open the condom and rolled it on as she reached with greedy hands for his hard length. The touch of her hands was almost enough to do him in. He pinned her hands above her head with one hand and lowered himself over her.

  Chad entered Jennie, intending to move slowly, to draw out the pleasure, both for her and for himself. But his tiny vixen wrapped her legs around him and pulled. He laughed and let her pull him deep inside, drawing a groan when he’d buried himself deep and hard.

  Jennie buried her head in h
is neck and Chad plunged into her hot, wet depths, greedily taking. He gritted his teeth, resisting the almost overwhelming urge to let himself go. He leaned down and captured Jennie’s neck, licking and biting at the soft spot behind her ear until he heard her moan. He worked his way down her neck and across her shoulder as he plunged ever deeper into her in steady strokes that took them both closer to orgasm with each one.

  The feel of her around him was more than he could ever have imagined, though he’d tried time and time again. He’d fantasized about this moment almost every day. He’d give everything to have more than this one night with her. To make love to her slowly one night then bracingly hard and fast the next. To make love while they laughed and played and experimented. To have her over him, looking down with her sweet, sensuous eyes as she rode him to ecstasy. To take her from behind or up against a wall. He wanted Jennie again and again in every way imaginable.

  When his mouth reached her breast, he bit down gently, tugging with his teeth as Jennie cried out. He felt her clenching muscles grip him and knew there was no fighting it. Chad gave in and buried himself with a deep guttural growl as he came inside Jennie for what he knew would be the first and last time.

  Chad slipped out of the bed and cleaned up in the bathroom. When he returned, Jennie was facing away from him and he had a feeling she couldn’t handle looking at him or talking to him right now. That was okay. They could talk in the morning.

  He slid into the bed with her and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her tight. Chad wouldn’t let her sleep alone tonight. For this one night, he’d hold her tight and wrap her up in his arms. And, maybe, just maybe she’d forget for a little while longer.

  Jennie turned toward him, snuggling into him. She opened her doe eyes and looked up at him, tearing his heart in two with the trust she held in those eyes for him.

  “One night,” he whispered, and dropped a kiss to her lips.

  He felt her nod. Then he heard her take a deep breath and she sank into his arms and into sleep.

  Chapter Sixteen

  When Jennie awoke, Chad was gone. She knew he’d probably gone for a run on the beach and she was glad to have the time to herself. She didn’t regret last night, but she did hope it didn’t destroy the friendship they had. She wanted Chad in her life.

  Jennie’s mind flashed back to the sight of Chad standing above her, heat burning in his eyes, need evident in every sculpted muscle of his body. She remembered the feel of Chad’s mouth and hands on her body. Then Chad brought her body to places she had never dreamed of going. And, she couldn’t fight him. She couldn’t fight the draw of him.

  She’d been in ecstasy last night when he took her from one orgasm to the next with ease. The feel of his hard, strong body over her, inside her, taking her over… It was primal and raw and even the memory was enough to make her ache with need again.

  But her body was now warring with her heart and her mind and the memories of her husband. Jennie was still in love with a man she could never hold again, never make love to again. There wasn’t room in her heart for Chad. She’d had her one night with Chad. She needed to put him out of her mind now.

  In a near daze, Jennie pulled on her clothes and went out the sliding glass doors to the small patio off the bedroom. She sat in one of the chairs and pulled her knees to her chest, resting her head on her knees.

  As she sat, she let the memories of another trip to the beach wash over her. She and Kyle had been young when they married, so a trip to a tropical getaway like this hadn’t been possible. But their families had rented them a little house in Hilton Head for the week. The road trip down had been one of the happiest times Jennie could remember.

  At the time, she’d thought they had so much ahead of them. A whole lifetime. A whole lifetime. That turned out to be not very long at all.

  They were so carefree then. Before the doctors and the hospitals and the fear. Before the knowledge that Kyle wasn’t going to make it. That there’d be no miracle for him – for them.

  She never told any of her friends how hard she and Kyle had tried to get pregnant after the diagnosis. She worried that people would think she was sick and twisted for wanting to have her dying husband’s baby. But, she didn’t care. She’d wanted to have his baby so badly. But they hadn’t been lucky enough. Most likely, the chemo had either made him sterile or lowered his sperm count so much that pregnancy would have been all but impossible.

  Jennie looked out onto the beach and remembered the sand castle she and Kyle had built on their honeymoon. They’d built bedrooms in their castle. One for them and three others, one for each of the children they’d hoped to have someday. They were so young and hopeful then. So completely naive and clueless about what lay in store for them.

  ***

  Chad stopped when he spotted Jennie on the patio. She hadn’t seen him yet so he watched her quietly. He knew instantly that he’d made a big mistake. A selfish, heartless mistake that Jennie was now paying for. She may have said she wanted that to happen last night, but he could see the anguish and sadness that surrounded her right now. She looked small and alone.

  Chad cursed and knew he had to make sure she knew he would never push for them to be together as lovers again. He wouldn’t put her through that even once more. He slowly walked toward her chair. As he approached the villa, the phone rang and he saw Jennie slip inside to answer it. He picked up his pace and jogged the last yards.

  Jennie looked up when she saw him come in.

  “Hey, Jack,” she said into the phone. “Chad just came in. Let me put you on speaker.”

  “Morning Jack,” Chad said as he grabbed a bottle of water and sat on the couch opposite Jennie.

  “Hey, guys. Kelly says hi and she’s not showing any signs of going into labor yet, so enjoy your last few days,” Jack said.

  Jennie looked up and smiled at him and his heart skipped a beat. He needed to find a way to forget the most amazing night of his life, but he hoped her smile meant that they would still be able to be friends after last night. That things wouldn’t be weird between them.

  Hell, who was he kidding? Things would be weird. He just hoped they hadn’t completely killed their friendship.

  “So, what have you got? Anything interesting there?” Jack asked.

  Jennie’s eyes snapped to Chad’s and he knew she was thinking the same thing he was. She was thinking about how interesting things had gotten between them last night. Chad shook his head, clearing his thoughts and focusing on the call with Jack. Last night with Jennie had been one night. Just like she’d asked for. He had to move on now.

  Chad set down his water bottle. “Not really. The resort is certainly busy and the service and rooms are first class. The restaurants have been good. It seems like business is strong. I can definitely say the nephews don’t seem to do much to earn their keep. It appears that the managers are running the show. I’ve seen the nephews partying and schmoozing, but that’s all they seem to do. They’re kind of what you’d expect on a Girls Gone Wild video, but a little more subdued, given the high class nature of the resort.”

  “I had a feeling. I wonder what their uncle plans to do with them after he sells the resort? It’ll give Peter an immediate savings in expenses, though. That’s certainly worth factoring in. What about the marina? That whole thing seems so odd to me. Were you able to spot any reason for setting things up the way they have?” Jack asked.

  “No,” Chad said. “They definitely only have that setup for the marina, though. The other tours are all set up traditionally, with the reps working the lobby and running their own billing. More along the lines of what I’ve seen at other places.”

  “We’ve looked into ownership and it’s owned by a company called Florisfish, Inc. It’s a privately held company but, here’s the thing. It’s owned primarily by the Masters brothers and a guy named Rick Bandon. Bandon is a building inspector in Florida,” Jack explained. “There are a few other small shareholders as well, but those three are the main players.�
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  “I wonder if Jonathan Masters knows his nephews are owners in a company that seems to be taking advantage of his resort. The contract Florifish has with the resort hardly seems equitable. The resort is doing all the work for very little return,” Chad said.

  “There are also tax implications for all that money the resort is running through there. It doesn’t make any sense from a business standpoint to take on the workload and tax burden for such a small cut. It’s a lot of work. They’re booking five fishing boats a day, seven scuba tours on the smaller boats. That’s a lot of work when they could turn the work over to the marina company and charge a flat fee,” Jack said and Chad knew he was mostly talking to himself now, mulling over the scenarios in his head.

  “Three fishing boats,” Jennie said.

  “What?” Chad and Jack asked as one.

  Jennie leaned toward the phone. “Three fishing boats, five of the smaller boats they use for the scuba and sightseeing tours, twenty-seven kayaks.”

  Jack was quiet for a minute but they could hear papers shuffling.

  “No. They have bills showing five fishing boats, seven rigid inflatables going out on dive tours three times a day, and forty-five kayaks,” Jack said.

  Jennie was shaking her head even though Jack couldn’t see her through the phone. “That’s not what they have. Unless maybe they have boats at another spot? Maybe some of the tours leave from somewhere else?”

  “We never thought to ask that,” Chad said.

  Jennie stood. “I’ll go ask one of my friends at the desk.”

  “I want to get Andrew in on this. Chad, stay by the phone. I’ll call you back. Jennie, see what you can find out. If they’re billing for stuff that doesn’t exist, I want to know about it.” Jack cut the connection as Jennie looked under the couch and around the floor for her sandals.

  Chad crossed to the front door and picked them up. He handed them to her with a wry smile. They were always right where he put them, but Jennie still hadn’t figured out to look for them there.