“Brogan must’ve left without turning on the heater. Come here, I’ll show you how to do it.” He strode across the concrete and stood in front of the pool heater hidden behind a few low tree branches.
She didn’t move.
“Get out or swim over here.”
“I’m too cold,” she whined, floating toward the steps.
Jules knelt next to the pool and stuck his hand in the water. “Good Lord, child, come here. It probably is cold. The thermometer reads sixty-eight degrees. We normally keep it around eighty-five or ninety.”
“I’m not a kid,” she grumbled, rushing for the side ladder.
“I never said—” He paused. “Yeah, I guess I did. Sorry. It’s habit. You know, when Serena is around.”
“I thought I wasn’t family.”
“You’re not. And you don’t remind me of Serena.”
“Or a kid?”
He snickered. “Not a chance.”
Jules made his way behind the pool bar. The décor resembled a Caribbean hut with glasses hanging from the ceiling.
Given the reputation the Evans brothers earned, she assumed the area had a profound party purpose. When he walked out from behind the bar, Jules carried a large blue beach towel with a beer logo imprinted in the center.
Holding the towel open, he said, “I won’t look.”
Sassy and proud of what she had, she really didn’t care if he gawked. Even though she wore a white swimsuit, the lining and built-in cups would guarantee he didn’t see much.
She hurried out of the pool and straight for the large towel, prancing as the morning wind kicked up a notch. She shivered all over, thinking it wouldn’t be a bad move to play up the chill factor.
He wrapped his arms around her, patting her back as if he were attempting to dry her. Lowering his head to hers, Jules startled her when a masculine growl slipped from his lips. He was a whisper away and close enough to kiss her.
“Thank you,” she said, expressing her gratitude but trying to wiggle free of his muscular arms.
He refused to let her go. “You’re welcome,”
“This is thoughtful,” she added nervously.
“What? The towel or the hug?”
“Is that what this is?”
He chuckled and released her. “Get yourself some breakfast and make yourself at home.” He put some space between them. He should’ve sprinted away because it was obvious he had a little trouble walking.
Men were so predictable.
Jules could leave the pool without looking back, but sooner or later, he wouldn’t be able to resist her. Then again, she might want to consider what she was doing before she played games with a pro.
She was starting to believe she wasn’t woman enough to handle him, or his brother Brogan. From the moment she’d arrived there, she’d recognized the male ego, the kind of men who took what they wanted and damn sure didn’t waste time snatching her right up.
Jules and Brogan apparently stayed on the lookout for a pretty lady. Evidently, from what she’d been told more than a few times, she was a gal who turned a man’s head and then snapped a noose around his neck.
“Did I do something to scare you off?” she asked playfully.
He stopped at the pool gate and slowly turned around. “Don’t toy with me, Jenna. I may look like a man who has it together, but I can come apart at the wrong time with the right persuasion.”
She swallowed. Excited by his proclamation, she might test that now that he’d issued a challenge.
She could push a man’s buttons. And with Jules? She longed to watch them pop. She was anxious to see what happened when a man came unraveled, when she was the driving force and the only reason for the threads parting and the zipper ripping.
Rather than extend an invitation for danger right away, she stood there clutching the towel with a balled fist, propping her hand under her chin. “You like me, don’t you?”
“I don’t know you.”
“It doesn’t matter. You think I’m pretty, and it’s enough to frustrate you.” She walked toward him. “Admit it.” She took another step. Then another.
“I’ve had time to think a lot of things. I lost sleep considering ’em, too. I believe you knew when you came here, exactly what you’d find. Hell, Serena runs around with a camera in her hand half the time.
“See, Jenna, you were at an advantage because you most likely saw your targets—me and Brogan—before you hopped in the car with Heath and headed for Tennessee. If anyone has a hankering for anybody here, it’s you, hon. Ain’t a question in my mind.
“I’d go as far as saying you knew all about me and Brogan before you made your way to Bristol. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have bothered with the road trip.” Frowning, he added, “And I’d go as far as saying you had plenty of places to stay down in Alabama. Thing was, you had unsuspecting men you wanted to meet here in Tennessee.”
She should’ve brought her hands together and applauded him. An intelligent cowboy lived under that Stetson after all.
Yes, she’d seen the pictures of family reunions, viewed countless photographs most families cherished—minus her own—of relatives gathered around a dinner table or Christmas tree. Yes, Jules had been right on the money. Serena’s walls were covered with framed memories of the summers they’d shared.
The images of Jules and Brogan had captivated her and once drew her to negotiations. She remembered begging Serena for a particular picture she’d planned to pin to her wall like a centerfold. The guys were real young then, probably still living with their parents who later died when they were vacationing overseas. Their wide smiles and goofy poses projected the innocence of youth, suggesting the snapshots were taken long before their parents’ deaths.
Fiona was the only one who’d ever mentioned Serena’s grandparents or their demise. According to Fiona, they’d been in a taxi when a bombing occurred. Serena seldom discussed what had happened. She was too young to remember them.
Allowing her mind to wander, Jenna revisited the scars she saw on Brogan earlier. Had he gone nuts after he lost both of his parents? Had he left town and gone on a search for revenge, hoping to find the culprit who’d paid the bomber to blow himself up, taking Jules and Brogan’s parents at the same time? Had Brogan endured a violent confrontation with the man responsible?
Jenna remembered the picture that cost her a week of doing dishes and laundry, the only bargaining chip she’d had when she’d asked Serena for the sexy photograph of her uncles. They were showing off their muscles, standing in the middle of a barge, looking like they were three sheets to the wind. Brogan’s hair was longer then, and Jules wore his as long as a horse’s tail, secured back in a ponytail.
After meeting Jules and Brogan in person, Jenna decided there wasn’t one picture that served the Evans brothers well. Cameras didn’t do them justice.
While she’d expected to find more man than she could handle in Brogan, she never counted on an instant attraction to Jules. He didn’t resemble the guy in Serena’s photo albums. In person, Jules looked like a movie star who’d stepped right out of the big screen with one purpose.
Jules Evans could make a woman’s life hell or pull her into a special kind of heaven, a romantic place lovers found together, she presumed. Her daydreaming washed away with the vocal release of a heavy sigh.
Jules waited with his hand on the small gate. “You think I don’t see those distant stars in your eyes, little girl?”
“Once again, I’m not a little girl.”
He released a hearty laugh. Surely he didn’t think so either, but he seemed determined to devil her.
“It’s going to be a pretty day for sunbathing.” His comment was suggestive when his gaze held at her breasts.
Perhaps an unspoken understanding lingered between them after he’d seen her topless. He liked her. Eventually, he’d make his move. He could call her ‘baby’ or ‘granny’ for all she cared.
“Yes.” She walked over to the same chair he vacated. �
�And I like it hot. I’ll probably sit here and soak in some sunshine.”
“This is a good place for you.”
Jenna stretched out on the fancy lounger and reached behind her back. She untied the strings to her bikini. “Have fun working, Jules.”
She closed her eyes and waited. She knew what the opposite sex saw in her. More than one man in her lifetime had commented on her apple bottom and her big boobs. With her chest mashed against the chair and her ass only partially covered by the string bikini, she might as well count off the seconds, click off the time.
The sun was so hot the rays threatened to burn her flesh by the minute and the warmth covered her completely, in places the sun didn’t quite reach. Suddenly, shade blocked her full exposure. A tube of something hit her lower back, and she arched upward, leaving her top on the chair under her.
“Good damn, you’ve got everything going for you, don’t you?” Jules squatted next to her. He’d already seen her topless. Apparently, he liked her bottom a little, too. “I might as well help you out so you don’t fry important body parts. There’s enough sizzle found in them as it is.”
She started to lie down on her stomach again, but he stopped her. Using his index finger, he tilted her chin toward his. “Jenna, I think you need to put your top on now.” He waved his hand briskly in front of her pointed nipples and grinned. “Damn.”
He almost touched her. She saw how much he wanted to pinch her nipples, and his restraint made her crazy with lust as she considered how closely he came to caressing her breasts.
“The bikini top is too confining,” she complained, pressing her chest against the cushion and turning her face toward him.
Teasing a man wasn’t like taunting a boy. A few years earlier, she’d discovered she could flirt and go, if the guys were her own age, but Jules and Brogan weren’t boys. They were men and by God, they probably knew what to do with tits and ass.
Jules unscrewed the cap on the sunblock. “Have it your way, sweet cheeks.” He squirted the creamy substance in the palms of his hands and stood. Once he was on his feet, he pressed one knee on the seat cushion and used his free leg to spread hers. Then she received one hell of a surprise—a sensual full-body massage.
* * * *
If Jules didn’t quickly learn how to turn away from a good thing, they would all be in for one hell of a June. He had almost made it to the barn when he screwed up and glanced back. That’s when he’d caught a glimpse of Jenna and took a detour.
Good Lord, he had been kidding himself. He’d thought he could strut on over, say hello, and then start back to work.
He possessed zilch self-control. He couldn’t even force himself to walk away from the patio. Oh no, he had better things to do. What was more important, feeding the cows or caressing Jenna?
Good damn, he was a mess of nerves. He’d bedded a slew of women in his lifetime, and not one of them had ever made him so horny, none of them had looked like Jenna either, but that was beside the point. Where was his unmatched restraint when he needed it? Where was the Dom that once resided inside him?
He lifted Jenna’s ankle and worked his fingers and hands around her cut calf. Spreading the lotion over her lower legs, he hesitated before he rubbed his hands over the backs of her knees and caressed her upper legs and thighs. Imagining he could smell a perfect blend of coconut mixed with her arousal, he quickly skimmed the area right under her round bottom and resisted the urge to touch those perfectly shaped feminine globes. Oh, if he felt that ass, he’d do something worth regretting.
Reaching for the tube again, he squeezed the lotion bottle and watched the squiggly design of cream form in his palm before he massaged her lower back and carefully caressed her midsection moving toward her thin shoulders. Noticing the splotch-work of chill bumps form on her arms, he smiled. “You like this attention, huh?”
She reached behind her neck and grabbed her hair, holding the strands out of his way. God, she possessed the sexiest nape he’d ever seen. Dainty and feminine shoulders led to a long, delicate neck perfect for his lips. What the hell? She offered the sultry temptation. Why resist?
He dipped his head and bent low enough to kiss the base, touching his tongue to her skin until she hummed. He heard the light moan, the simple indulgence of vocal appreciation slipping from her lungs. Then, she caught her breath and shifted her weight.
With her arms outstretched, she quietly thanked him. “I appreciate your hospitality and the thorough body rub, Jules.”
He’d like to give her a good stroking all right. All she needed to do was flip over and let him see those pretty tits close up. His mouth watered. His mind churned with endless possibilities.
“I’d hate for you to get a sunburn your first day,” he whispered. It was then when he realized, he’d crossed the line. His lips were at her ear, and his hard length pressed against her hip, reminding him of the fact that he was a man coming on to a woman who should’ve remained off-limits.
Unfortunately, his good senses kicked in at about the same time he heard the slamming of a truck door. “Uncle Jules!” Serena’s squeal filled the area. “What are you doing to my best friend over there?” She ran toward them.
“Question is, what’s your friend doing to me?”
Brogan and Serena approached them. Brogan stalked them with a quickened pace, apparently aware of the fact he’d already missed a really nice show.
The little vixen grinned and said, “Yeah, Jules, what are you doing?”
“Nothing yet,” he growled. “But when I do, you’ll ask me for repeat performances. That, darlin’ is a solemn promise.”
Chapter Three
Hours later, Jules was waiting on a woman. He readjusted the situation in his pants while he hung out in his truck. He scanned the dimly lit area of the expansive mall parking lot once more. He’d been there about thirty minutes and he still hadn’t heard from them.
Most of the cars remaining belonged to moviegoers and employees. He spotted a yellow convertible Mustang, a shiny red Corvette, and a mix of makes and models. For some silly reason, he thought of the easy comparison between cars and women.
Gals came in all makes and models, just like cars. Jenna was the Ferrari of all women. He reminded himself that a man didn’t drive a Ferrari like he might any other automobile. Oh no, when a guy slid behind the wheel of an expensive vehicle, he took extra precautions before he pulled onto the road, careful that he didn’t drive right into an unexpected accident. He avoided mistakes at all costs.
Cars, like women, were treasured possessions, but sometimes a man knew when he had hold of a rare find. Men, even relatively dumb ones, realized it was important to exercise a little extra care when dealing with extraordinary machines, especially when the mechanisms behind the lean equipment belonged to a sexy woman.
“I’ve lost it now,” he muttered, leaning against the headrest. Jenna, once again, had wormed her way into his thoughts. He might as well get used to it. Damnation, the girl crawled under his skin and existed there as a constant itch, an irritating reminder that his life was about to change and there wasn’t anything he could do about it.
Something told him his feelings would only get stronger and his condition wasn’t temporary. He couldn’t shut her out no matter how hard he tried. He still smelled her skin, the way she’d tasted when he’d kissed the nape of her neck. He was losing himself to a woman he hadn’t held, fucked, or God help him, bound to his bed and teased like they’d never have another day together, another moment as special as the first.
Hearing a noise in the distance, he opened his eyes and glared straight ahead. To his disappointment, a crowd of teenagers headed to the opposite end of the lot. No sign of Serena, or Jenna.
A few more minutes passed and Jules dialed Serena’s cell phone. It rang again and again. No answer. Damn it. Why did he let them out of his sight?
Searching the cars coming and going, he silently thanked God he didn’t see them getting out of a stranger’s car. Then, the sudden th
ought drove his panic.
He dialed Brogan’s number. “You dropped them off at the Bristol Mall, right?”
“Yep, Serena just sent me a text. They’re in a movie and should be out anytime.”
“All right,” Jules said, relieved.
“Everything okay, little brother?” Brogan teased.
“Fine. Why?”
“You sounded a little worried. Are you feeling okay? Feeling like yourself, I guess.”
“Smart-ass. I don’t know about you but I don’t like being responsible for teeny boppers.”
“You didn’t have a problem earlier when your lips were traveling across Jenna’s neck.”
“You saw?”
“I did. I hope you didn’t kiss anywhere below the collarbone.”
“Why hell no,” Jules said, a grumpy edge in his voice.
“Good thing Serena and I came home when we did then, right?”
“Sure, I was tickled to death to see you.”
“Yeah, we saw the welcome wagon along with the balloons and streamers. I don’t know who looked more disappointed, you or her.”
Jules shifted in the seat and stared at the mall entrance. “Really?”
“She looked content. Let’s just leave it at that.”
“Ah, but just you wait,” Jules taunted him. “She’s gonna look like a new woman once I get my dick inside her—”
The passenger door flew open, and Jenna hopped in the cab of the truck. “I won!” she exclaimed, exasperated.
“Uh, Brogan, I gotta go,” he said, eyeing Jenna. “One of the little kiddies just showed up.”
He heard a chuckle before he snapped his phone closed.
Jenna arched a brow. “I thought after your hands roamed all over me by the pool the least I’d earn was an upgrade to kitten.”
“Kitten?” he asked, scratching his chin and studying her long, tempting legs. “Kittens don’t wear shorts so short they show off a woman’s pussy.”
Her mouth dropped.
Blaine, Destiny - Domination Plantation [Southern Plantation 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage and More) Page 4
