by Abby Gaines
He pushed the straps of her soft cotton tank top aside, and only the fact that she was holding the binoculars stopped them slipping down her arms. With his thumbs he applied exquisite pressure to her shoulder blades. Holly leaned into his touch with a groan. “That feels so good.”
He paused, then intensified the pressure, starting a chain reaction of sensation through Holly’s body. She gasped, and immediately he eased off.
“Did I hurt you?”
“No. It’s just—I’m not sure this is helping me get to sleep.”
His touch changed to a featherlight caress and soon a languor stole over her. “You have amazing hands,” she said lazily, struggling to concentrate on the binoculars.
“Women always tell me that.” But his tone was teasing, and Holly laughed.
Somehow it was easier for her to say what she had to say when they were sitting like this, when his piercing blue eyes couldn’t laser through her. “Jared?”
“Mmm?” He sounded drowsy, like she felt.
“I just wanted to thank you for all you’ve done the past few weeks. Really, you’ve saved me. You hired me when no one else would, then you posted my bail. Now you’ve traipsed halfway around the world to help me. I can’t figure out why, but I do appreciate it.”
His hands stilled on her shoulders.
“And I want to apologize,” she continued, “for being so rude when we first met. I made a lot of judgments before I knew you, and you’ve proven me wrong.”
When he remained silent, she added, “I know now that you’re a man of integrity, and I—I admire that.” His hands left her shoulders, and she felt a sudden chill.
“You don’t know me at all,” he said roughly. “I don’t do anything that doesn’t suit me, so don’t romanticize what’s going on here. I’m no knight in shining armor.”
Holly put the binoculars down and twisted to face him, saw his harsh expression in the moonlight. “I’m not romanticizing it, I’m merely—”
“Next thing, you’ll be falling in love with me.” He sneered.
“I will not! Just because I said I admired you.” Holly couldn’t explain the stab of pain that left her floundering for words. “I’d…I’d…I’d rob my clients blind and lie to the FBI before I fell in love with you, Jared. So you and your monster ego can take a running jump.”
“Fine,” he said. “So long as we’re in agreement on that. Now it’s time you went back to bed.” He pointed to the binoculars. “While you’ve been berating me, Fletcher could have gotten halfway to China.”
Holly thrust the binoculars into his hands. As Jared focused on Fletcher’s house again, he heard her stomp back to bed. He grinned, but the satisfaction was hollow. Truth was, when she’d said she couldn’t figure out why he was helping her, he hadn’t been able to come up with a satisfactory answer himself.
Sure, he didn’t want her to lose out to Keith Transom or to go to jail for something she hadn’t done. But the easiest thing would have been to pay for the best damned lawyer in the country to defend her and have the case dismissed for insufficient evidence. He couldn’t justify the time he was taking off on the basis that he needed her accounting skills. She was the best, but second-best would have done.
The only excuse Jared could muster was the explosive physical attraction between them. He’d been thinking with the wrong part of his anatomy every step of the way. Yet he hadn’t even tried to get Holly into bed. Jared sighed in disgust. Lust dictated his actions right up until he and Holly got close. Then his damned brain kicked in every time.
Well, he was going to get what he’d come for. He wanted Holly, she wanted him. She’d just told him he was the last man she’d fall in love with, so there was no danger of anyone getting hurt.
Tomorrow night he would put the Colonel on watch duty for a few hours, and he and Holly would get down to it. Then she would know exactly why he was helping her like this. No mystery, no romance, just good old-fashioned sex.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
DAVE FLETCHER DIDN’T go out at all the next day, which meant Jared and Holly didn’t, either.
By dusk Jared was this close to going crazy.
Not that Holly was doing anything objectionable. But since he’d made his decision about their imminent greater intimacy he couldn’t get the thought out of his head. Desire had plagued his sleep and grown more urgent this morning when Holly disappeared into the bathroom with her clothes to get dressed, dropping her bra en route. Jared had automatically picked it up. The silver mesh fabric put him in mind of very sexy chain-mail. He rapped on the bathroom door and handed it to her without a word. But the image of her wearing it stuck with him.
All day he alternated shifts with Holly, his mood fouler by the minute, and by the afternoon she’d lost any gratitude she’d felt last night and was snapping back at him.
It was hardly the ideal lead-in to a seduction.
At five-thirty Jared decided he had to get out of there, before he killed whatever attraction she might still feel for him.
“I’m going to the café,” he told her.
Holly looked around from the binoculars. “But Dave hasn’t left the house.”
“I’m betting he’ll eat there tonight. If I’m there ahead of him, he won’t realize I’m following him.”
“What if he goes somewhere else?”
“Call me when Fletcher leaves the house. I’ll watch the window and if he goes past I’ll catch him up.”
“What if he takes a cab?”
Jared thought about that. “Call the Colonel and have him follow Dave.” The Colonel had rented a cottage below Fletcher’s. The older man would be sleeping now, prior to his night shift, but he could be wakened in an emergency.
“Okay.” Holly put the binoculars down and sauntered toward him. With every step her knee-length wrap skirt, made of some clingy crimson fabric, parted to show an expanse of thigh.
Jared’s mouth was suddenly dry. He realized he had to leave on a positive note, if he was to have any chance of getting Holly into bed tonight. Didn’t they say there was no greater turn-on for a woman than a man saying he was sorry? It wasn’t a tactic Jared had used before, but for Holly he was willing to give it a go.
She reached past him into the closet he’d left open and pulled out a white sweater. Dammit, what was he doing even contemplating sleeping with a woman who hung up her sweaters? Her breasts rose with the movement of pulling it over her head. Blind, she knocked into Jared’s arm as she wriggled into the garment. He bit down on a wave of longing and croaked, “Sorry I was in a lousy mood today. You didn’t deserve that.”
She showed no sign of melting as she tugged the sweater down. Her eyes narrowed. “What do you want?”
Oh, hell. Jared gave up all pretense of contrition and took a hold of her upper arms. Her lips, colored a crimson that matched her skirt, parted in surprise.
“I want this,” he said, and brought his mouth down to hers.
One thing about Holly, he thought raggedly, she didn’t hold a grudge. After an initial squirm of indignation, her tongue welcomed his with an impressive fervor, and her body pressed into him so he could feel her firm breasts against his chest, her bare thighs against his jeans where her skirt parted.
It was all he could do not to make love to her right there and then. But the Colonel wasn’t on duty until ten o’clock. If they were to succeed in bringing Fletcher to justice, Jared had to leave now. Still, Holly’s soft sigh as he pulled away almost made him abandon his resolve. And when she licked her lips, he almost died.
“We’ll finish this later,” he said hoarsely, and ran out the door before he changed his mind.
Alone, Holly put a hand to her lips, traced the memory of his kiss with a finger. She knew exactly what he’d meant when he said they’d finish this later. No point denying to herself—or to him—that she wanted to make love with him.
No point denying she wanted more than that.
No point denying she’d fallen in love with Jared.
<
br /> Just as he’d warned her not to. No matter that he was no more her type than she was his. No matter that he was irresponsible, rude, untamable. She loved him.
She should have seen it coming, should have realized she couldn’t feel this kind of sexual attraction without it meaning something important. That Jared’s intellectual capacity and quick wit would prove even more devastating than his physical charms.
Holly pulled a meal out of the freezer and set it to cook in the microwave. Normal life could carry on, even under the weight of this revelation. She just had to keep her emotions under control.
By the time she finished her meal, she’d narrowed her options: she could either fall out of love with Jared quick-smart, or she could convince him to love her back. The bond between them was already more than physical, whether he knew it or not. If he could just get over his anger about his brother’s death he could free up some emotional space for something warmer, kinder.
Holly looked at her watch, already missing him, already wanting him back with her. Falling out of love seemed impossible. Which left the love-me-back option.
FLETCHER SAUNTERED into the café fifteen minutes after Jared and sat at the bar a couple of stools away. When his beer arrived, he raised it to Jared in the friendly fashion of well-disposed strangers. “Cheers,” he said.
Jared saw a sudden flash of recognition in the other man’s eyes. Jared kept his own expression carefully vacant as he replied to the toast. “Your health.”
“A fellow American, if I’m not mistaken?” The question was light, but Jared heard the underlying hesitation that told him Fletcher was still deciding how to play this one.
“Yep. From Seattle. I’m here on vacation—I got to the island a few days ago.”
“Pretty spot,” Fletcher said absently, his mind clearly preoccupied.
Jared nodded. “Kinda quiet, though. I like more action.”
“You’ve come to the wrong place.” Fletcher hesitated a moment longer, then stuck out his hand. “Dave Jenkins, from Tulsa, Oklahoma.”
Jared’s smile came naturally, born of relief. Fletcher had obviously decided Jared’s presence here had nothing to do with him. “Jared Harding.”
“I thought you looked familiar,” Dave said. “Harding Corp, right?”
“Right.” Jared shook the guy’s hand and, because he’d finished his beer, gestured to his half-empty bottle. “Buy you another?”
Three beers later, they agreed to have a meal together. Over dinner Jared mentioned he’d been traveling with his girlfriend, who’d gone home to the States to work, while Jared stayed on to do some business in this part of the world. Having sowed the seed, he quickly moved on to ask Fletcher which teams he was picking to make it to the playoffs. Fletcher would have to ask Jared about his business before Jared would say any more.
It was ten o’clock when they left the café, and Jared was desperate to get back to Holly and the night of hot sex he’d promised himself. It had been hard concentrating on Fletcher’s inane conversation, but his efforts at camaraderie had paid off—Dave seemed to think of him as a newfound buddy.
They walked along the road together until Jared had to turn off to the resort.
“Might see you again,” Fletcher ventured as they shook hands.
“Sure to. I have a few more days here and that place is the only restaurant within walking distance.” Jared grinned, then ambled up the hill, barely refraining from breaking into a run. Holly Stephens, here I come.
Jared entered the room at full speed, as if he’d been running to get there, startling Holly. His arrival instantly raised the temperature by several degrees. He came to a sudden halt when he saw her in the ice-blue silk nightdress that shimmied over her curves.
“Wow,” he said.
“How was dinner?” Holly kept her voice casual, but a tremor betrayed her.
“I forget.” Jared took two steps toward her, and the next second she was in his arms, and the familiar passion ignited between them. She would never get enough of his mouth on hers, Holly knew. Flames of desire licked through her veins, lending urgency to her response. Their tongues clashed in a frenzy of longing. Jared walked her backward to the bed and eased her down. He pulled off his T-shirt and Holly sighed in delight at his naked torso.
He straddled her on the bed, his hands cupping her breasts through the silky fabric, making her shudder. The tiny movement drew a groan from him. “I want you more than I’ve ever wanted any woman in my life,” he said hoarsely. His fingers shook as he began to undo the tiny pearl buttons at the front of her nightdress.
Holly gasped and fought for the breath to say the words she needed to. “Before we go any further, there are two things I have to tell you.”
He chuckled. “That’s my Holly, something to say about everything. What is it, sweetheart?”
She gulped. “This is my— This is the first time I’ve ever done this.” His hands stilled and he stiffened, so she went on in a rush. “And also, I—I’m quite fond of you. In fact, er, it seems I love you. I know you said not to, but—”
“What the—?” Jared clambered off the bed faster than she would have thought possible. He stood glaring down at her, and, feeling at a distinct disadvantage, Holly scrambled to a sitting position.
“Is this some kind of joke?” he demanded.
She shook her head.
Jared cursed as he paced to the other end of the room, as far away from her as it was possible to get. “Why didn’t you tell me before? What the hell am I supposed to do now?”
“I was supposed to tell you I’m a virgin, was I?” Holly was angry now. “And the bit about loving you— I only figured that out tonight. I had to be honest with you before we…”
Jared growled and ran a hand through his hair. “You had to be honest,” he parroted. “Hell, Holly, couldn’t you have lied just this once? No, you didn’t even have to do that. All you had to do was pretend you wanted a great night of no-strings sex—but no, you had to be honest.”
“And what would have happened when you realized I was a virgin?” she demanded.
He paused for a moment, then shrugged. “I might not have noticed. I wanted you so much I’d have been in quite a hurry the first time.”
The first time. Holly forced her mind away from the thought of repeated intimacies with Jared. He’d said he “wanted” her. Past tense. “Don’t you want me now?”
He turned aside so she couldn’t see his face. “Don’t you realize,” he said, “that a virgin who’s in love with me is the last woman I would ever want?”
The words scalded her heart like acid, corroding the preciousness of her feelings for him. Somehow she kept her voice steady, even cold. “Well, that’s what I am. So I guess we both know where we stand.”
“How the hell are you still a virgin, anyway?” He sounded more confused than angry now.
“I—I’ve never been in love before.” She wished she wasn’t now. “And I guess I never found a guy I thought was…good enough.”
“And you thought I was?” he asked, incredulous.
“We all make mistakes,” she said tightly.
Jared went to the closet and pulled out his overnight bag. Unlike Holly, he’d never unpacked, he just fished stuff out of it when needed. He hoisted the bag over his shoulder.
“Where are you—?” She stopped, refusing to be that needy.
“I’ll spend the night at the Colonel’s place. He’s on watch so you don’t need to worry about Dave. Get some sleep.”
And with that he was gone.
A VIRGIN. In love with him.
Jared tossed in the spare bed in the Colonel’s small cottage, seething with anger at Holly’s deception. She certainly didn’t kiss like a virgin. And that underwear of hers shrieked “siren.”
To his chagrin, the desire for her that had completely evaporated an hour ago began to return. He opened his eyes to rid his mind of the picture of Holly in her flimsy nightdress. “It seems I love you,” she’d said. If he
hadn’t been so horrified he’d have found her hesitation, in stark contrast with her normal forthrightness, endearing. Sexy, even.
“I love you” is not sexy. Okay, now he had that straight, he could admit he still wanted Holly. Even though she was a virgin who was in love with him.
The virgin thing should be easy enough to deal with. Maybe she could hook up with someone else before she and Jared… Black jealousy stabbed him at the thought of Holly with another man, taking Jared by surprise. He could handle the virgin thing himself.
The love business was more difficult. But he wouldn’t mind betting that Holly was confusing love with lust, given her inexperience. Once they’d been to bed the thrill would wear off and she’d be out of love.
Strangely, that thought didn’t do a lot for Jared. He scowled into the darkness. Thank goodness Holly was due to leave Waiheke Island tomorrow, as their plan moved into the next phase. They needed some time apart, for him to get his head around what he really wanted from this…
It wasn’t a relationship. He just needed to get his head around what he really wanted from Holly. And she needed time to adjust to the idea that whatever that was, it wasn’t going to be a big love affair.
HOLLY PACKED HER BAGS in a fury.
Where did Jared get off, saying she should have pretended to be something she wasn’t? If he didn’t know her any better than that by now… As she stuffed her lingerie into the suitcase Beth had lent her, Holly recognized with dismal satisfaction that she’d been right about him all along. Jared was a jerk and a sleazeball.
It was clear what she had to do next. If she could fall in love, she could fall out again. It was only logical.
When Jared opened the door just after nine o’clock with something less than his usual confidence, Holly eyed him glacially. “What do you want?” She’d asked him that last night, and in response he’d hauled her into his arms and kissed her. Just let him try that now.
