Feeling the slow thrum of desire coursing through his veins, Kyle closed the book. A slow smile curved his mouth. A journal filled with private fantasies at a yard sale was obviously a mistake on Jade’s part, but one he intended to use to his advantage. What he held in his hands was an invaluable insight to the woman who tried so hard to keep a tight rein on the fire and passion he’d known simmered beneath the surface.
Jade hadn’t fooled him for a minute, and now he had proof of that banked sensuality. And ammunition.
He’d just discovered what made Jade tick.
Shoving the journal into the box in front of him and burying it beneath the other books, he cast a sideways look at Jade. Their relationship had started out as a light flirtation due to their mail situation, had progressed into a mutual attraction she wouldn’t succumb to, and had evolved into an obsession he couldn’t shake. Now he hoped their relationship would become much more.
Finished dealing with her yard-sale customer, Jade stood talking to another woman who held a toddler in her arms. Warm rays of sunshine filtered through the leaves and branches on the tree overhead, weaving golden highlights through the rich brown strands of her hair. Wispy bangs framed her face and softened her features.
She wore a halter top that left her midriff bare, and shorts that displayed slim thighs and tanned, shapely legs. The bright, colorful straps on her leather sandals matched her expressive outfit, along with coordinating loop earrings and bangle bracelets.
The blonde next to her motioned in his direction and Jade looked his way, surprise lighting her vivid green eyes. Jade said something to the other woman, then lifted a brow at him that clearly asked what he was doing there.
His original intent had been to return another piece of mail, but she’d been busy with a customer wanting to negotiate the price on a headboard with a built-in bookcase. So he’d stopped at a box full of books to look through until she was done with her current transaction…and had found something more stimulating than self-help books, romance novels and cookbooks.
Hefting the entire box of books into his arms, he approached the trio. As he neared, he noticed a slight resemblance in features between Jade and the blonde. He noted the other woman’s eye color, a striking blue, and wondered if that was Jade’s true eye color as well. Jade’s eye color seemed to change every time he saw her, dramatic, bold hues too intense to be natural. He’d yet to decide which shade was the real Jade.
Another interesting facet he was determined to expose.
“Tell me you’re not moving,” he said, waving a hand toward the furnishings for sale. “Or you’ll break my heart for sure.”
“It’s in with the new and out with the old,” she said, eyeing the box he carried. “I just redecorated my place.”
“I’m relieved to hear that.” More relieved than she’d ever know, because he didn’t relish the thought of having to try and find her new address. That he’d go to such an extreme for a woman told him he was in way over his head, but he was already a goner where Jade was concerned.
He stopped a few feet away. “How much do you want for the books?”
Jade glanced into the open carton at the cookbooks and romance novels piled at the top. She frowned up at him, clearly baffled by his choice of reading material. “You want the whole box?”
He couldn’t very well flash the journal in front of her and expect her to sell it to him. “My great aunt likes to read romances and I like to cook,” he explained, leaving out the little fact that his great aunt lived in Detroit, not nearby in California, and was blind as a bat.
Jade stepped forward and rummaged through the books. Kyle resisted the urge to jerk the box out of her reach, hoping all the while that she wouldn’t discover the leather-bound journal buried somewhere in between. She barely skimmed the pile of hardbacks on top before she turned to the blonde and asked, “Aren’t some of these books yours, Mariah?”
“Most of them are the ones you told me to clear out of that bookcase headboard you just sold.” Mariah set the little girl in her arms on the blanket spread out in front of her. The baby crawled to a toy and began playing with it, gurgling and drooling contentedly. “And I threw in some of my old cookbooks I’d left behind after marrying Grey.”
Jade gave an exaggerated shudder. “I’ll pay you to take the cookbooks off my hands.”
He chuckled. “Not much of a cook, huh?”
“Not unless you like indigestion for dessert,” the blonde piped in, wrinkling her nose.
Jade glared at the other woman, but there was clearly a close bond between them.
He shifted the box under his arm, keeping his gaze on the other woman. “I take it you’ve had firsthand experience with Jade’s cooking.”
“Um, you could say that. I guarantee, it’s not worth risking your life over.” The blonde held out her hand, put on a welcoming smile, and introduced herself. “I’m Mariah, Jade’s sister.”
Kyle set the box down by his side and clasped Mariah’s hand. “I’m Kyle Stephens with a ‘ph,’” he clarified with a grin. “I’m a neighbor of Jade’s. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” He glanced down at the baby who was staring up at him with her mother’s big blue eyes. “And this little princess must be yours, too.”
Mariah beamed with pride. “She’s my daughter, Kayla.”
Crouching to Kayla’s level, he gave in to the impulse to caress his hand over the blond curls framing her cherubic face. Downy soft hair sifted through his fingers, and he breathed in the scent of baby powder. Man, he’d forgotten how sweet babies smelled, and how their precious smiles could make him soften inside like a big marshmallow. It had been years…seventeen to be exact.
The subtle longing he experienced surprised him, grabbing at an instinct deep and buried, but certainly not forgotten. It made him wish, for a brief moment, that he’d made different choices in his past.
“Hello, doll,” he murmured in a gentle tone, not wanting to frighten her.
Kayla let out a squeal of delight and blew him a raspberry. He laughed at her antics and glanced back up at Mariah. “She’s beautiful, just like her mom.”
Mariah blushed at his compliment. “Thank you.”
“Personally I think she takes after her aunt.” Jade bent down and gave her niece a quick tickle in the ribs. “Don’tcha, sweetie?”
Kayla giggled, and grabbed at the bright, colorful bracelets jangling on her aunt’s wrist. “J-J!” she gurgled, a happy grin splitting her face.
“See, I told you,” Jade teased her sister, her smile smug.
“The only thing she inherited from her aunt is her ornery temperament,” Mariah gibed.
Kyle grinned at the easy friendship between siblings, a closeness he had never shared with his own brother and stepsister. Straightening, he let his gaze climb up the length of Jade’s sleek legs, the curve of her hips, the fullness of her breasts, until his eyes met and held hers. “I can’t imagine you having an ornery bone in your entire body.”
Her brows rose and her cheeks colored, but before she could formulate a response, Mariah cut in with, “Try living with her. Trust me, she’s got herself a temper.”
Jade just rolled her eyes. “How about ten dollars for the box of books?” she offered, steering the conversation back to business.
To him the journal was priceless, not that he was about to tell her she was undercutting herself. “It’s a deal.” Withdrawing his wallet from the back pocket of his jeans before she changed her mind, he riffled through his billfold for the appropriate amount of cash and handed her the money.
“Enjoy the books,” she said, taking the bills from him.
“Oh, I plan to.” Every last sultry, intimate fantasy, he thought.
“I almost forgot,” he said as he tucked his wallet away and withdrew an envelope from his other back pocket. “Looks like I got your electric bill by mistake today.”
“That one you could have kept,” she teased.
He turned the bill over in his hands, not ready to ha
nd it over yet. “You know, there’s only one way to permanently remedy this problem we seem to be having with our mail.”
Jade glanced at her sister to see if she was still watching the exchange, which she was with interest, then glanced back at him. The caution in her eyes told him she knew he was about to flirt. “Which would be…?”
He smiled, a slow reckless grin. “Move in together.”
Her mouth twitched to suppress a smile, and she put her hand out for her piece of mail. “I think that would be a bit extreme.”
“But very convenient.” He tapped the edge of the envelope against his palm before smiling at Jade’s sister and clarifying, “For the mail carrier, that is.”
Mariah’s eyes twinkled with delight. “Of course.”
Jade wiggled her fingers and cleared her throat. “My mail?”
He slid the envelope against her palm, but when her fingers curled around the edge and gently pulled, he didn’t let go. Her gaze shot to his, the green depths darkening in awareness.
Ah, sweetheart, you don’t stand a chance at resisting what’s between us.
The fantasy he’d just read was fresh in his mind, prompting him to issue his boldest challenge to date. “Meet me for a moonlight swim tonight at the pool?”
A startled look passed over her features, then just as quickly she regained her composure. “I think a cold shower would do you more good.”
A deep chuckle rumbled in his chest. “Don’t doubt that for a minute, Jade.”
His blatant admission caught Jade off guard. Her face flushed, and this time when she tugged on her envelope, he released it. It wasn’t often he flustered Jade and guessed it was because her sister was witness to their conversation.
He pressed his advantage. “How about at midnight?”
“How about never?” she countered, her impudence restored.
His gaze dropped to that soft, smart mouth of hers. A slow heat licked through his veins and spiraled low. He dallied over those lips, wondering, not for the first time, what her mouth tasted like. He imagined rich honey, warm from the heat of her passion.
“You can’t blame a guy for asking,” he said, his voice a low, husky timbre. “You never know when a lady might say yes.”
“Maybe in another lifetime?” she suggested.
He smiled, undeterred, and picked up his box of books and the treasure that would, before long, have her softening to him and their attraction. “Well, if you change your mind in this lifetime, just let me know.”
Chapter Two
Jade watched Kyle walk away, trying to ignore the breathless sensation swirling within her. There’d been something different in his dark blue eyes today, and in the way he’d watched her—a perceptive awareness, as if he’d known her innermost thoughts and secrets and wanted to fulfill every one of them. Including a moonlight swim.
She shivered, despite the heat of the summer day. He was a big man, lean, fit, with more sex appeal than should have been deemed legal. A white cotton shirt with a popular beer slogan emblazoned on the back emphasized the width of his shoulders and tapered into the waistband of faded, snug jeans that hugged a great ass and outlined strong thighs. His hips were narrow, his slow, I’ve-got-all-the-time-in-the-world stride a little cocky and a whole lot self-assured. Much like those charming, heart-stopping smiles of his.
As he turned to enter the complex, she caught a glimpse of the U.S. Marine Corps tattoo on his left arm, just below the cuff of his T-shirt. A souvenir from time spent in the service, she guessed. That piqued her interest, because he didn’t seem the type to conform to any rules except his own.
Mariah nodded her head toward Kyle’s retreating form. “Kyle Stephens, huh?” she said, amusement in her voice. “For real?”
“Every inch,” Jade replied flippantly, though there was nothing light about the warm, shivery, needy way Kyle made her feel inside. He made her think about taking chances and forgetting lessons learned.
Mariah grinned and sighed. “Yeah, it is kind of hard not to notice a body like that one.”
Jade choked on incredulous laughter. “Hey, you’ve got your own great body at home to admire.”
Mariah’s brows rose. “So leave yours alone?”
“He’s not mine,” she said succinctly while putting the money Kyle had given her into her cash box.
“Sounds like he’s more than willing to be.” Mariah bent down to tend to Kayla, giving her one of her favorite squeak toys to play with. When Jade offered no response, she glanced up and asked the million dollar question. “What’s going on between you two, anyway? He seemed awfully friendly.”
“Other than a platonic rendezvous in the lobby to exchange mixed-up mail, nothing.”
“Umm-hmm,” was Mariah’s dubious reply.
Ignoring her sister, Jade turned toward a woman asking the price of a lamp. Using the distraction to her advantage, she involved herself in the task of wheeling and dealing, as much to sell all her unwanted furnishings and knickknacks as to escape her sister’s mild interrogation.
The rush of yard-sale shoppers dissipated, leaving Jade alone with Mariah until the next wave of buyers. Reluctantly she made her way back to their shady spot. Settling herself into the folding beach chair next to her sister’s, she rummaged through the small cooler they’d brought outside and withdrew a cold soda. Mariah picked up a fussy Kayla and reached for her bottle of apple juice, then gave it to her squirming daughter.
Once Kayla had quieted, Mariah cast a sideways glance at Jade. “So, are you going to meet him tonight for that moonlight swim?”
Cursing her sister’s persistence, and Kyle’s tempting offer, Jade took a long drink of her soda. “He wasn’t serious, Riah. Kyle is a big flirt, nothing more.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” she said, her tone reflective. “He sounded pretty serious to me. You’re the one being difficult.” Mariah sighed. “The problem is, you don’t even date.”
Jade watched a butterfly flutter over a nearby patch of flowers. “Don’t worry about me, Riah, I’m just waiting for the right guy to come along.” The hard part was, she’d thought she’d found Mr. Right…until she’d realized just how very wrong she’d been. How blind she’d been.
“I am worried about you. How can you expect to find Mr. Right when you keep comparing every guy to Adam?”
Jade’s stomach knotted at the mention of the man who’d destroyed her self-esteem and her trust in men’s motives. “I’m over Adam. Have been since I told him to go to hell three years ago.”
“Oh, I don’t doubt that,” she said with a quirky little smile. “But he’s left you with, well, a lot of emotional scars.”
Jade opened her mouth to issue a defensive answer, but Mariah held up a hand, cutting off the same old excuses Jade always fabricated.
“You don’t date, and any man who seems the least bit interested you turn down—like this guy,” she said in a gentle but firm tone. “You both could have a lot in common.”
Her sister was ever the optimist, especially about the male gender. About the only thing she and Kyle Stephens had in common was a similar last name and a tattoo, though hers was less visible and more feminine. She wondered if he’d gotten his as an act of rebellion, too, and smiled despite herself.
“How many women do you think Kyle comes on to like that in a day’s time?” Jade mused aloud.
“He seemed sincere, if not a little sure of himself, but you won’t even give him a chance.” Mariah shook her head in exasperation and glanced heavenward, as if requesting divine intervention with her stubborn sister. “You haven’t dated anyone since Adam.”
“I like my life the way it is. Uncomplicated.” Jade studied the bright pink polish on her nails. “I come and go as I please, I buy whatever I please, I dress as I please, and the best part is that I don’t have to answer to anyone.” Never again would she let a man stifle her identity.
A tiny frown creased Mariah’s brows. “Don’t you ever feel…lonely?”
“No.” A big
fat lie—one she kept hoping she’d one day believe. The craving for companionship usually struck her in the evening, when she was sitting in her living room watching TV by herself, or when she slipped into bed at night and the cool satin sheets teased her senses. As she lay awake, unable to sleep, the longing would steal over her, making her yearn to feel warm hands worship her body and ease the ache deep inside. She’d close her eyes and think of him…and lose herself in a delicious, satisfying fantasy, where nothing was forbidden and her imagination set the limit.
“Why should I feel lonely?” she said, dismissing her private train of thought. “I’ve spent the past three years helping to build a good reputation for our interior design firm. Casual Elegance keeps me so busy I hardly have time to think about men and relationships. And when I feel the need to mingle with people and friends, I spend a few hours at Roxy’s. That usually kills any desire I might have for male companionship.”
“I can see why,” Mariah said dryly, having had her own experience with the overzealous men at Roxy’s. “Ever think that maybe you’re hanging out in the wrong places?”
For all the right reasons, Jade thought, finishing her soda. The men at Roxy’s made it easy for her to keep them at a distance, and to remain chaste. Most of them were insensitive, arrogant jerks looking for a one-night stand. She had a few male friends she enjoyed talking to when she frequented the popular nightclub, but she always left alone—not for lack of offers.
Mariah reached for a light blanket and laid it over Kayla, who’d fallen asleep in her arms. When she glanced back at Jade her gaze was shrewd. “You’ll never meet a nice, decent guy at Roxy’s.”
“And you think Kyle Stephens is nice and decent?” Her voice rose incredulously. “He came on to me in front of you, Riah.”
“So he’s a flirt,” Mariah said, defending Kyle’s behavior. “Grey’s a flirt. All men flirt when they’re interested. It’s a compliment, not the offense you make it out to be. I don’t know what going out with him could hurt.”
Her Sexiest Fantasy (The Sexiest Series Book 2) Page 2
