by Bird, Peggy
Her hands had slid to his waist and below, and he had certainly missed something, because his shirt was already untucked and her small fingers were sliding up and down his torso. He was pretty sure she could have asked him for a secret code to detonate a nuke right now, and he would have given it to her. She kept exploring, found his waistband, and slid her hand down the front of his slacks. Her fingers found him and, holy heaven, she stroked them along his shaft. He groaned into her mouth and thought he felt the corners of her mouth tip up in a smile. It was hard to be sure with his attention divided between what her mouth was doing to him and what her hands were doing to him. Holy heaven, indeed. He managed to speak, his voice rough, “Inside.” He hoped it hadn’t sounded like begging.
• • •
Jade had him exactly where she wanted him. Well, not exactly. Laid out on a bed would be nice, or the floor, or the kitchen table. Or buried deep inside her, like five minutes ago. She heard him growl, “Inside,” and was trying to process how to make that happen with the half of a brain cell she had left functioning. What was functioning was her body. On all cylinders. And her imagination; that was on overdrive and already had him naked with his legs between hers and his fine backside in her hands so she could pull him in closer, deeper. She eased her hands around to the back of his body to test what that would be like to have her hands pull him closer, and it was stupendous. Except for the clothing. There was still waaay too much of that.
“Please … ” She didn’t finish the sentence, but there were about eighteen different ways she wanted to. Please get naked, please faster, please kiss me here, please take me, and just please, please, please. At this point, begging seemed like a very good plan, if it would get her what she wanted.
• • •
He heard them first, and for a moment just thought, fuck it. I don’t care what anyone thinks. Then he heard the kids’ laughter and scuffling footfall. He had kissed his way to her temple and was working his way toward her ear. His plan was to whisper in her ear, get her to open her door, and move inside faster. She would have to take her hands off his butt to do that but it was a small sacrifice. One he was willing to make if it meant getting her inside. Her dress was hiked up her thighs and Matt’s number one goal in that moment was to get her out of the dress entirely. Or at least that was the plan, until the crazed raccoon came on the scene.
The noise of the approaching family had probably frightened it out of the brush, and unfortunately, the damn thing ran directly toward Jade and him. It ran across their feet, and Matt could feel its claws scramble for purchase against the leather of his shoes. Jade’s feet weren’t nearly as well protected and the moment the panicked raccoon came between them, she shrieked and jumped away. He pulled his head back, but wasn’t quite quick enough to avoid getting clipped in the chin. In a matter of seconds, they had gone from a total wet-dream lip lock to a scene out of The Three Stooges. Jade was hopping from foot to foot, making little yelping noises. Matt rubbed at his chin and ran his tongue across his teeth, checking for any chipped edges. He had to take another step away from her to avoid getting bumped again. This never happened in Manhattan. He looked down at her feet to check for blood, but it was dark, and she was moving too much.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Aaaahhh!”
“Hold still for a sec.”
“Omigod … Omigod!”
“Jade. Hold still.”
“Was that a raccoon?”
“Yep. Hold still. Let me look at your feet.”
She stopped hopping but stepped away from Matt. “They’re fine.”
“Let me just see.”
“No, there’s nothing wrong with them,” she said.
“Then why can’t I see them?”
“I don’t want you looking at my feet.”
Matt stared at her. He felt like he had missed something here. They had been kissing and maybe moments away from doing way more, and now she didn’t want to show him her feet? “Really? Jade, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I just … ” She blew out a hard breath. “Look, this is going to sound stupid, but maybe this is a sign.”
“A sign?”
She nodded. “Yeah, like from the universe. Maybe we should hold off on this for now.” She waved her hand back and forth between them as she said this.
Matt wanted to roll his eyes at her but didn’t think that would win him any points. He thought about it from her point of view. They hadn’t known each other for very long, and she was definitely gun shy around romantic relationships. Physically she was ready but maybe not mentally. At least she had said for now. That was a good sign. Matt called on every reserve of self-restraint, gently kissed her forehead, and said goodnight before he stepped away and turned toward his cabin.
“Good night.” Her soft voice floated toward him as he walked away. He thought about their vicious wildlife encounter and chuckled to himself. It was either laugh or howl in frustration.
Chapter 10
“How could you lose the bet on the very first date?!” Meg asked. She bustled around the kitchen, peeking in the oven at some pastries and putting a kettle on the stove.
Jade responded with a shrug and a one-word answer, “Stacy,” as she sipped her morning coffee.
Meg just shook her head.
Jade threw her hands up in the air. “What? I was just supposed to let her walk all over me? I have my dignity! I have my self-respect!” She clunked her head down on the table in defeat. “I have no self-control.”
Meg laughed. “Well, on the plus side, you don’t have to date Matt anymore.” She was washing a platter at the sink and facing away from Jade, but Jade could hear the smirk in her voice.
“Yeah,” Jade said with a sigh.
“I hear a big but coming … ”
“I could make a joke here, but I’m too depressed for witty repartee.”
“Now you want to date him?”
“It was good.” Jade thunked her head on the counter a few more times for good measure. “Oh, who am I kidding? It was great, fabulous, stupendous. Ahhrgh.”
“Talking about me again?” Matt poked his head in the doorway. His right hand held the coffee carafe from the dining room. He thrust it forward and wiggled it around. He smiled charmingly at Meg. “Needs a refill, when you get a chance.”
Jade hid her face in her arms, which were crossed on the countertop.
“Please?” Matt said.
“Sure, I can refill that,” Meg said. “For a price.” She waited a moment. “You have to take Jade out on a few more dates.”
Jade lifted her head long enough to mumble, “Oh, that’s just great. Now men have to be bribed with caffeinated beverages in order to go out with me.”
Matt rubbed his chin where Jade’s head had smacked into his. There was a purplish bruise there, and Jade felt her cheeks heat with embarrassment. She buried her face again. He was already too good-looking, too urbane for her. Last night’s incident was just more evidence that she was not in his league.
“I don’t know. Given the rodent attack … she is kind of dangerous.”
“It was not a rodent! It was a raccoon.”
He paused a moment longer. “Throw in a cheese danish and you’ve got a deal.”
“Sold!” Jade heard Meg grab a plate and walk over to Matt.
“Oh God, is this still warm? You’re the best!”
Great. Now she felt like cattle at the county fair in addition to feeling like a goofy klutz. Jade grunted into her forearms then mumbled, “Could this be any more humiliating?” Meg and Matt ignored her.
Matt groaned in pleasure. “Mmm.” Then he called out to Jade, “I’ll pick you up at seven!”
Jade thunked her head on the counter top one more time.
• • •
Jade spent the early part of her day catching up on paperwork, bills, supply orders, and payroll. She couldn’t be sure, but it felt like the paperwork had been shuffled around a little, like someone had been in th
e office poking around. She figured it was just Ben looking for a reservation confirmation or some other paperwork and shrugged it off. At lunch she socialized with guests then worked through her hospitality to do list, making sure everyone was well taken care of.
Next, she made a stop to check on Jeff. She had Jeff cutting back some of the brush down by the lakeside that was beginning to encroach on the lake view from the lawn and porch. The bushes and trees that ringed the lake separated Lakehaven from structures on the opposite side, creating a magical world cloistered from the rest of civilization. There were private residences and the country club with a lakeside restaurant over there, and it was important to maintain the intimacy of her resort (When had she started thinking of it as hers?) without blocking the view. It was a tricky balance, and though Jeff knew what he was doing, he did sometimes have his moments of unreliability. She was too humble to stand there and order Jeff around without also lending a hand, so she spent the next hour dragging branches onto a tarp and then dragging the tarp across the grounds to dump the branches onto a pile for clearing. At least she wouldn’t need a workout.
On her way back up to the lawn, she checked to make sure that the Jordan family in cabin four had their parcel of towels and finally went back to her own cabin for a shower. Then hopefully, she could finish some work on her jewelry website. At least, that was the plan. She completed only an hour of frustrating work before losing consciousness. She drifted up from sleep to the sound of someone knocking on her cabin door. The blankets were shoved down to the foot of the bed, and her laptop lay on the mattress next to her, its screen saver cycling through various images. The windows were dark. A quick glance at the alarm clock on the bedside table showed a glowing 7:00 P.M. Crap!
“Just a sec!” she called out.
She rushed to the door and threw it open without really thinking it through. She had thrown on an old pair of boxer shorts and a tank top after her shower. Without underwear. Or a bra. And her hair had dried while she slept on it. She reached up to feel the back of her head and … yup, it felt rough. She hoped it looked tousled, but she was guessing it was more … matted.
And there he was, over six feet of muscle in a worn pair of jeans, fitted black t-shirt, and leather jacket. His hair was mussed, but almost artfully so, and it curled just the slightest bit at the nape of his neck. She wanted to run her fingers through it and—Okay, now she was in a tank with no bra and hellooo, nipples.
“Okay, I admit, when I mentioned casual I had something else in mind.” Matt’s eyes zeroed in on her top. “Although, I could be talked into this. This is a very good look.”
Jade crossed her arms over her chest and mustered a weak smile. “Okay, yeah, I fell asleep and—Can you give me just a moment to get myself together?”
Matt’s grin widened, and he shrugged. “I kind of like you falling apart.” He hooked a finger under the strap of her tank top, which she promptly batted away. Jade stepped back quickly and ushered Matt into her living room.
“Make yourself at home. There’s beer in the fridge.” She gestured toward the kitchen then ducked into her bathroom.
Matt grabbed a beer and sat. He was accustomed to waiting for women to get ready. Though usually, he was wearing at least a suit and tie. Sometimes a tux. The women he dated always wanted to go out on the town and mostly made their preferences known. He’d take jeans and a t-shirt any day. The beer was also a nice change from the glass of Pinot he usually was offered. He leaned back into the cushions of the couch and took a pull from the bottle of beer. He was surprised when Jade came out of the bathroom five minutes later. He was expecting twenty. She wore a pair of jeans that she filled out nicely and a top that clung in all the right places. It was a t-shirt material but somehow didn’t fit the category of t-shirt. He found himself leaning forward in his seat and setting his beer down without taking his eyes off her. She looked fresh and glowing, all of that black hair swinging around her shoulders, and more alluring than any socialite in a little black dress. Just looking at her spiked his heart rate. She wasn’t tall, but in those jeans her legs looked long, lean, and toned. She wasn’t full-breasted either, but her breasts were high and lush and palm-able. His hands wanted to reach out and touch. He stood and put his hands in his pockets to keep them out of trouble.
“I’m ready. I hope jeans are okay.” She opened her arms out to her sides, palms up, framing her figure.
Okay? That didn’t begin to cover it. He just smiled and nodded. Very much okay. Eye-crossingly okay, okay? “So, where are we going tonight?”
Matt finally found his voice. “Fitch’s.”
She smiled broadly and practically bounced over to a low table by the front door where her purse sat. “Great! That’ll be fun.”
Hmm, fun. Yeah, at the very least they would have fun.
Chapter 11
Jade and Matt pulled up to Fitch’s. Much like their entrance at Tamblin’s, they drew stares. Most of the stares were from women. If it made Matt uncomfortable, he certainly didn’t show it. He was either used to the attention or unaware of it. She guessed as a writer, he was very aware. He reached over to her, slipping his arm around her waist. She paused for a moment and then decided it would be easier, and nicer, to slide close to him. She was right. On both counts.
Jade didn’t draw too many second glances, but it wasn’t because she was plain. She was, however, a familiar face, and when people reacted to her here, it was with warmth. She truly belonged here and felt it down to her core. Like most people, Jade hoped to travel someday and see the world. When she did, Lakehaven would be the place she’d come home to.
She smiled with the confidence of that thought. Matt looked down at her that very moment, and he almost stopped walking. Jade turned to see what had stopped him. He was smiling down at her, and she would’ve stood staring at him all evening if Fitch himself hadn’t waved them over to the bar with a jovial greeting.
“Jade, m’love! Where’ve you been? This place is just pining for your pretty face to liven it up!”
Fitch was a big bear of a man in late fifties, with a shaved head. He was vital, and despite his age, still in his prime. He was handsome, had the charm of the Irish, and even though he wasn’t for Jade, she’d always thought of him as a sexy guy who could make some woman very happy. Jade was still trying to work out which woman.
She glanced around the bar, packed with familiar faces. Many of them pretty women. Jade just shook her head. “I don’t know. It looks pretty lively to me, Fitch.”
“Ah, true enough, but none of them are you.” Fitch leaned over the bar and slid a glass across to her before dropping his voice in a conspiratorial tone. “And none quite so pretty.”
Jade rolled her eyes at Fitch and then took her glass. “Fitch, you charmer.” Fitch bussed her cheek from across the bar and then pulled back to eye Matt.
“It’s true that I’m charming, but perhaps not so much as the gentleman who got you out here tonight.”
Jade shifted to her left to make room for Matt beside her at the bar. “Fitch, meet Mr. Connor.”
“Oh, Mr. Connor is it?” Fitch took Matt in with an assessing gaze.
Matt stepped up beside Jade and offered his hand. “Just call me Matt.”
“Well then, Matt, what can I get you?”
A slight smile played at the corners of Matt’s mouth, as if what he was about to say wasn’t necessarily what he was thinking. “I’ll have what the lady’s having.” He gestured toward Jade’s glass.
“Good choice, lad.” Fitch winked before he turned away to grab a glass for Matt, filled it, and then slid it over to him. Matt thanked Fitch and tipped his glass in salute before he and Jade moved toward the back of the bar. There were other shouted greetings as they crossed the room from people who knew Jade or her parents or her aunt and uncle.
It was pretty crowded already and the tables were all taken, so they ended up standing at the back of the room near the hallway that led to the restrooms. There was a narrow shelf t
hat ran the entire perimeter of the bar to rest your drinks on. Here and there, were stools to pull up to the ledge, but it was Saturday and those were taken, too.
They stood close and leaned in to one another to talk and be heard above the general din of the bar. Matt spoke first.
“I want you to know … ”
“What?” Jade asked, leaning in.
Matt bent down and put his mouth next to her ear. She could feel his breath warm on her face. “You don’t have to help me search for the treasure.”
Jade lifted her face to bring her mouth closer to his ear. She resisted the urge to run her tongue along the curve of his jaw. For now. “You think I’m going to renege on my end of the bargain? No way!”
“Okay, I just want you to know I won’t hold you to it. It was really just a ploy to get you to date me.” Matt’s breath on her ear sent shivers down Jade’s spine. The thought of having to be coerced into dating this man was laughable. The bet seemed like eons ago, and the issue of not wanting to date him seemed like it had occurred in another lifetime. Sort of like saying, I’ll give you a million dollars if you eat this piece of cheesecake. It was a no-brainer.
The gentle scent of him, his soap or cologne or maybe it was just his skin, enveloped her. Her body practically wanted to meld with his.
She laughed softly. “Mission accomplished.”
Matt leaned in closer, his lips touching her ear, the soft fabric of his shirt and the hard chest underneath brushing her cheek. “Yep.” Jade could feel his words vibrate through his chest and tickle her earlobe.
