by Misty Simon
“Did you need something?” he asked as she came closer and closer—one careful step at a time, testing out if this was what she really wanted.
“You,” she answered, watching his eyes go big. She looped her arms around his neck and pulled his head down to hers. He hadn’t uncrossed his arms yet, but she hoped he would soon. She wanted to feel those strong muscles around her, press up against his warmth and draw him in the way he had drawn her in last night.
It took him a moment to kiss her back. A moment in which she almost pulled away and fled to her room. But then he uncoiled like a huge tiger and snared her in his embrace.
He raced kisses over her face, not missing a single spot. Her earlobe got attention when he gently bit down. “Are you sure? Be very sure, Chelsea, because I don’t know if I’ll be able to stop this time.”
“I’m absolutely positive, Jack,” she breathed, trying to put her heart into her words.
Fortunately her bedroom wasn’t far away. Ten steps. He backed her up with a hand in the back of her hair and one on her rear end until they were pressed up against the door.
“Do you want to take this upstairs?” he rasped.
He was probably thinking about how she had panicked last night when she’d seen Mazzy’s bedroom and all the responsibilities it entailed. But she had come to terms with that. Her mother was right. Paul had never loved Mazzy even a fraction of how much Jack had fallen for her in the last handful of days. He had been more of a father in six days than Paul had been in four years. She trusted Jack. And Jack cared more for her than Paul ever had. It wasn’t a contest to win but a cautionary tale. She’d thought long and hard about it all and knew what she wanted. And he was with her right now.
“I don’t want to go anywhere else. I dreamed of you all last night in that big bed all by myself. That’s where I want you.”
“And what the lady wants, the lady gets,” he said against her lips as he turned the doorknob behind her. He followed her into the room, never letting go of her even as he tumbled her down onto the bed. His hands were busy and so was his mouth. She didn’t want to be left behind, so she joined in the exploration.
His chest was smooth beneath his shirt except for the enticing trail of hair that dipped beneath the waistband of his pants. There was an awkward moment when they were trying to take off each other’s shirts at the same time, but they laughed at it.
“Ladies first,” he said, and whipped his own shirt off by tugging it over his head from the back of the neck. It was sexy and made her mouth water.
She wanted him all the way naked. Making quick work of his pants, she then just stared for a moment. “Tasmanian Devil boxers? Really?”
“If they offend you, you can always take them off.” His smile was devilish and challenging, so she took him up on his implied dare.
Soon after, she was naked, too. Then the room was filled with only sighs of pleasure and moans of delight. He found places she didn’t know she would find so ticklish or arousing. She found places that made him groan and sigh into her hair as he clutched her tight.
They made love to each other, and at the end Chelsea went over first as Jack had said ladies should. But she made sure she brought Jack yelling along with her. He called out her name at that final moment, making her cry out again.
Chapter Eleven
Sunlight speared through the sheer curtains covering the large window across from the bed in Chelsea’s room. Jack woke up with an armful of lusciously curved woman and had a moment of disorientation until he realized it really hadn’t been a figment of his imagination. He had made love to Chelsea Moore. Nothing before had ever compared or prepared him for the truth of actually making love to her. It was so vastly different from his time with anyone else.
He nuzzled Chelsea’s neck, banishing previous lovers from the room and sneaking his hand down to her breasts to make sure they really were as perfect as he remembered from last night. Her eyes snapped open and she smiled at him before stretching like a cat.
“Mmmmm,” she hummed. She traced a pattern over his heart, right where she had planted herself.
Someone banged on the door, breaking up the idyllic moment and the promise of perhaps a repeat in the daylight where he could take her all in with the sun glowing on her delicious body.
Chelsea’s gaze shot to the clock on the nightstand. “Oh, my God,” she whispered into his neck. “You have to hide. I should have been out of bed an hour ago.”
“Chelsea,” Belinda yelled through the door a second later. “Let’s go! You should have woken me up an hour ago. We’re running behind, and I have to get beautiful. Why did you let me sleep so late?”
“Please,” Chelsea said in the same whisper. “Please go into the bathroom. If I don’t open the door she might go looking for you to break the door down, or ask Adele for an extra key.”
“Since we’re engaged, don’t you think she figures we’re sleeping together?”
“It doesn’t matter. Please go!”
He eased himself out of the bed, naked as when he got into the shower, and took some serious satisfaction in the fact she couldn’t take her eyes off his body. He leaned in for a quick kiss, not quite what he had wanted, but it would have to be enough for now. On his way to the bathroom he scooped up his clothes from the floor.
“Chelsea!”
“I’m coming, Belinda. You’re going to wake the freaking dead. Hold on a second.”
He wasn’t ashamed to admit he watched her throw on some clothes from a crack in the bathroom door. He only pulled the door shut when she made shooing motions to him.
He heard Chelsea open the door and then close it behind her. Their voices were muffled, so he knew they were in the hallway. It was safe for him to come out. Just in case, he got dressed first. He supposed he could pretend he was fixing her plumbing, or something equally owner-like, if they came barging back in, but it didn’t happen. Waiting again until their conversation moved out of his hearing range, he came out of her room.
Unfortunately, he hadn’t listened for extra footsteps and came face to face with Adele.
“Looks good on you, Boss,” she said as she walked by and made her way down the stairs laughing.
What looked good on him? Making love? Could she tell? But then he realized his shirt was on inside out and backwards. He sighed.
****
“Are you ready?” It was the last question Chelsea had and her last duty as official wedding planner.
Belinda looked resplendent in her white gown. The waterfall skirt fell to the floor in gentle folds decorated with clusters of stars in crystal. Twitching the hem, Chelsea tried to ignore the emerald flashing at her. She had decisions to make that needed all her concentration. Moments before her sister’s wedding was not the time.
“I’m so excited.” Belinda stared at herself in the mirror, her eyes misting.
“There will be no crying until after the ceremony,” Chelsea said with a smile. “We don’t want to ruin your makeup.”
“No, I don’t think I’m going to cry at all. Can you believe this has been nine years in the making? And it’s all come together so beautifully, Chelsea. Thank you for putting up with my crap this week.”
“Oh, it wasn’t so bad.”
Belinda nudged her with a bare shoulder. “I’m sure that’s not what you were saying yesterday morning when I went for that hike. I was just so nervous, but now that it’s here, I’m ready.”
“You look beautiful, and this will be the best day so far. The rest will be gravy as a married woman.”
“And then it’s going to be your turn.” Belinda hugged her with enthusiasm.
Chelsea was thankful she was turned away from the mirror so no one could see the tears standing in her own eyes. Most would probably mistake them for tears of joy for her sister, but she knew in her heart that they weren’t. Or at least not completely.
After waking up with Jack this morning, she had been thankful for the rush of the morning. It hadn’t allowed her
time to think too much about what she had done and how she had let her heart open for him last night along with her body.
Now that everything was almost done, though, she wasn’t going to be able to put off the heartache forever. If nothing else, at least she had the memories of last night to hold her over. Perhaps she and Jack would be better about keeping in contact after she left. She’d dreamed of living here, growing here, her daughter thriving here, but then she’d looked at her calendar this morning and realized two days from now she had her promotion meeting. The futility of those dreams came crashing down around her.
She had a life back in Bettleton, one that fulfilled her even if it wasn’t the same as being home. One she had been happy with until she’d come back here. She would be happy, again. She might just have to work a little harder at it. But she’d never shied away from hard work. It was what had gotten her where she was. As much as she had loved being with Jack last night she still didn’t know for absolute sure if uprooting herself and her child was in anyone’s best interest. Maybe she was being selfish. Waiting around for Paul was really no longer the answer, but she’d been doing it for so long she didn’t know if one night in Jack’s arms should change everything she’d built for herself up until this point.
A knock on the door saved her from deeper thoughts.
“Music’s started,” Jack said through the wood. His voice sent a shiver up her spine. He’d whispered sweet everythings in her ear last night while he’d been inside her, making her soar in a way she never had before.
She wished, for just a brief moment, that she could reconcile her feelings. That she could move past this fear of failure. But he hadn’t spoken of love, they hadn’t made any promises, and even if they had, she wasn’t ready to give up everything she had worked for on the hope that things would work out this time for her.
“Coming!” she called back and gave Belinda a final hug. Today was not about Chelsea and her issues. It was about Belinda and Marcus and their love for each other. Today would be beautiful. When it was all done, she might have to hand the ring back to Jack and never think about the fact that some other lucky woman might wear it one day.
****
Jack pulled at the collar of his tux as things wound down. The wedding had gone off without a single hiccup. Belinda and Marcus had promised their forevers, the food was great, the dancing funny and sometimes poignant. Hugh Moore had twirled Belinda out on the floor with a tear in his eye. He’d swiped at that tear when Marcus cut in on their dance.
Jack hadn’t been able to help himself when he sought out Mazzy a moment later wondering if he would be able to give her away someday.
The engagement might have been fake, but what he felt for Chelsea was real. He’d come to the decision that he couldn’t let her leave without at least trying to convince her to stay. They didn’t have to remain engaged if she didn’t want to, but he wanted a chance to see if that was where they would have ended up if she lived here.
Once all the guests were gone and Belinda and Marcus were shut up in the honeymoon suite, he was going to entice Chelsea into a moonlit walk and propose for real. If not with a ring then he would propose that they give this thing a try. They were good together, in and out of bed. Maybe that would be enough to make her think about moving up here permanently. They could take their time getting to know each other if that made her feel better, but he already knew where his heart belonged.
“Thanks, Mom. I’ll see you in an hour,” Chelsea said, hugging her mother. The older woman had Mazzy on her hip as she kissed Chelsea on the cheek.
What was going on? He’d thought they would have the evening together.
Chelsea leaned back against the closed door with her eyes closed and a frown marring her brow. What was going on in that busy mind of hers?
No time like the present to find out.
“Everything went really well,” he said, then watched as her body stiffened. He hoped that didn’t mean what he was thinking.
“Yes, it did.” She slid her eyes to the side, not looking at him but to a point over his shoulder.
“So what time are you leaving tomorrow morning?” And how could he convince her not to go at all? He thrust his hands into his pockets. He was getting some distinct hands-off signals from her. What had changed between this morning and now?
“Actually, I think we’re going to leave tonight instead. Things wrapped up sooner than I had hoped, and Mazzy and I could do with a few extra hours at home. Plus, it will be nice to sleep in my own bed. Not that I haven’t loved sleeping here…” She trailed off with a blush.
He fidgeted with the change in his pocket.
“Anyway, I’m going to pick up Mazzy once I have all my things packed here, and then we’ll head out. It’s been great here and I appreciate the hospitality, Jack. It’s been a great week, but it’s time to get home.”
She made to walk past him and he grabbed for her left hand, feeling the emerald ring dig into the palm of his hand. “And that’s it? You’re just going to go? Even after last night?”
“Yes, and I should get started packing if I want to get to my mother’s on time.” She broke his grip and walked away, taking his heart with her.
Stunned, he let her leave. Once he got his wits back he took two steps to follow her. But he blew out a breath with his foot on the first step to the second floor. He wasn’t going to chase after her. He knew when to let go, and this was one of those times. She’d made up her mind and there was nothing he could do to change it. This was supposed to be temporary, anyway, and it was his own fault for making it more than he should have.
He went to the kitchen to see if there was any booze left. He couldn’t watch her walk out the door with his heart dragging along behind her.
“Frank, I need a drink. Tell me there’s something left,” he said, entering the chef’s domain. He’d take cooking sherry at this point. He did not want to go down into the speakeasy where he and Chelsea had made memories that would haunt him.
Two heads popped up at his words. Belinda and Frank looked guilty as hell. The bottom dropped out of Jack’s stomach. What on earth could Belinda need when she should have been in the honeymoon suite getting wrapped up in her new husband?
“Um, hello,” he said.
“Jack.” Belinda rose from the table in a soft pair of yoga pants and a t-shirt that said The New Mrs. Rushland. Her previously shellacked hair was piled in a messy bun on top of her head and her face clear of makeup. She looked so much like her sister it made his chest hurt.
“Guilty as charged. What can I do for you?” Please don’t let it be one of those things that needed to be passed by Chelsea. The wedding was over.
“It’s what I can do for you.”
“And what’s that?” He shouldn’t have asked, he realized when he saw the gleam in her eye.
“You and Chelsea for real.”
He swallowed his tongue for a moment, then stuttered a lie. “We are real. Why do I need your help with that?” He ignored the way Frank shook his head at him from behind Belinda’s shoulder. But it should have warned him.
“Don’t bullshit me. I’ve known since the second day that it wasn’t true. Mom knows it, too. But we kept hoping that this week with the two of you together would make Chelsea see things she’s never taken notice of before. Now she’s leaving early, and I’m thinking you didn’t convince her enough.”
Dropping into a chair at the kitchen table, he massaged his forehead. So the ruse was up and had been for days. Chelsea was not going to be happy. Maybe he could convince Belinda and her mother never to mention it to Chelsea. But Belinda beat him to it.
“Look, we’re not going to tell Chelsea that we knew, but I want this to be real. The two of you are good together. She’s been happier this last week than she has been in years. Selfishly, we want her back in the area, but we also want Mazzy here, and we want them both happy. You’re good for them. Good with both of them. They need you and I bet you need them. Now, Frank and I have bee
n talking, and we have a plan.”
“A plan is not going to help. She wants to go home. What are you going to do? Pop one of her tires so she can’t leave?”
Frank’s guilty face actually made Jack laugh. “Come on. She’s a grown woman. She can make her own decisions. I’m not going to force her to stay. And if we do something underhanded like that, she’s going to miss out on her promotion. It means everything to her.”
Belinda got up to pace. “It doesn’t mean everything to her. It means financial security, yes, but it also means more hours, more time away from Mazzy, less time to be a mother to her and less time to come up here and visit. Paul ruined a lot of things when he left, and Chelsea’s confidence and trust are two of the casualties. She loves you, Jack, I know it. You have to tell her you love her and make her stay.”
“What if she doesn’t love me?”
“That’s just stupid, Boss Man. ’Course she loves you. Don’t think Adele didn’t tell me about you sneaking out of Chelsea’s room this morning. After a week I know that lady, and she has strong feelings for you. And you have them for her and that little girl. Go fight for her.”
“But what if she doesn’t want to be fought for? What if you’re wrong?”
Belinda smacked him in the back of the head. “I’m never wrong, even if you wouldn’t let me have red and green lettuce at my wedding. She wants to be fought for. She wants someone who wants her, too, not just a free ticket to college and then no responsibility. Go get her, or so help me God I will make your life miserable.”
Jack laughed to release the tension in his chest and gut. “You don’t think this last week hasn’t already been hell from you?”
“But it brought Chelsea back. Why do you think I had my wedding here in the first place and made her stay here instead of camping out in Mom’s guest bedroom?”
“You’ve been planning this all along?”
“And you fell right in, big boy. Now go get her before she gets into her car and I have to shoot an arrow in one of her tires.”
