Me and Mr. Jones

by Christie Ridgway

  “Jilted? Rejected? I got that, Mom.” It’s not like she could deny the truth of what her mom said. It wasn’t good timing. And Kane wasn’t a long-term bet, anyway. She cleared her throat, spoke up a little louder. “I told you, Kane’s just a friend.”

  As if he’d heard it, the man in question’s head snapped around and he looked straight at their table. Feeling herself flush, she lifted her hand in a little wave.

  “The way he looks at you…” her mom murmured again.

  “Don’t get the wrong idea,” Audra cautioned. But she felt that green gaze on her, a color that should be cool but heated her up anyway.

  “Dad and I couldn’t bear for you to leap into another relationship that might ultimately hurt you again.”

  Oh, hell. “Mom—”

  “He’s coming over here,” Polly said. “Wearing a lovely smile. Are you sure he knows that you’re unavailable?”

  Feeling fifteen again, Audra wished the floor would open up beneath her the same as that time her mother had warned the cute college freshman working at the deli that her daughter was much too young for him. While she was standing right there.

  She stared at the tabletop and hoped to God her mother wouldn’t replay that scene.

  “Good morning, Polly, Lee.” Kane’s voice, smooth and low. “Morning, Audra.”

  His body moved closer and then he was beside her chair, leaning down to brush a kiss on her cheek. “Okay, baby?” he said, for her ears only.

  Glancing up, she nodded, but whatever he saw on her face made a little line dig between his brows. “May I join you for a moment?” he asked her mom.

  “Of course,” Polly said, and went on to compliment the resort and their room in polite terms as he took the empty chair beside hers.

  “I’m glad to hear you’re enjoying yourselves at The Hathaway.” He put a casual hand on the back of Audra’s chair.

  Her mother’s gaze darted to it.

  Gah!

  “It appears that Audra’s been enjoying her stay here, too,” her mom said.

  Kane looked at her and she thought of the day they’d met, when she was still wearing her wedding dress and hiding away in a dark room obsessively watching murder after murder. It astonished her now that he’d returned.

  Remembering that, she smiled at him, and he smiled too, a private exchange nearly as intimate as a kiss. Kane turned back to her parents. “Audra has found some pleasure here, I think.”

  What? She froze, then creeped her hand beneath the table and under the cover of the cloth to grab his thigh and squeeze in reprimand.

  His mouth moved like he was holding back a laugh.

  Rat. Big, sexy, needs-to-be-punished rat.

  Her dad rumbled into the conversation. “Well, I want to thank you and your staff for taking such good care of our daughter.”

  Oh, great. Now Kane’s mouth moved into a definite curve and he shot her a look full of mischief.

  “Yes, such great care,” she murmured sweetly, and squeezed again, hard.

  She saw him wince, but her parents didn’t catch on, thank God.

  “We do our best to meet the needs of all our guests, of course, but Audra is a special case,” Kane said, his expression completely serious. “We owe her a good time.”

  The double-entendres were flying.

  “Oh?” her mom asked, one eyebrow arched.

  Kane turned his head to look at Audra. “Don’t you agree, Audra?”

  “About the good time? Oh, sure.” This time she dug her fingernails into his leg.

  This time, he had to clear his throat to hide the wince. “Because she did me a huge favor earlier in her stay. We had a floral emergency coupled by a flu going through the staff and she managed to save the day. Made all the flower arrangements for a special event hosted here at the resort.”

  Her dad beamed. “She has a little hobby of sorts,” he said. “She’s always had a knack for making things beautiful.”

  “I have photos,” Kane said. “This looks more to me than a little hobby.”

  Audra’s hand dropped from his leg as she leaned forward to peer at the images captured on his phone. When had he taken them? Or perhaps they’d been forwarded by a professional photographer because they were perfection, the setting captured in all its loveliness. He swiped through them slowly so they all could see.

  “Well done, Audie,” her mom said. “Next time I host the women’s club, you’re assigned flowers.”

  “I emailed them to our usual florist and she was very impressed,” Kane said.

  Audra stared. “You did that?”

  He shifted in his chair, smiled at her. “Marie said she’d give you a job on the spot if you wanted one.”

  “I have a job,” she pointed out, even as the praise warmed her.

  “Yeah, but you can never have too many sincere compliments.”

  Which made her think of their talk the night after her orgasm, walking in the dark back to her bungalow and him fishing for compliments about his performance. She’d been kind of annoyed at his smug confidence when she’d still felt like a tangled skein of nerves. Had she ever let him know how good it had been for her?

  Tears pricked the corners of her eyes. “Thank you.”

  “You said it already.”

  “Really. Thank you,” she repeated.

  He stilled, his gaze narrowing and that familiar connection snapped into place between them. They stared at each other and Audra felt her chest tighten. She wished her hand was still on him because she could use a solid anchor and she also wished she could duck the truth, but there was no missing it.

  No matter how much obstacle-erecting, reminder-sharing, friend-zoning they engaged in, there was something between them beyond mere attraction, something that grew each time they were together and became more dangerous by the minute.

  Because it was going to be hell to walk away from. But they both knew that they were going to have to let it go.

  Chapter 10

  Kane didn’t like the little twitch of anticipation his cock gave as he stood outside the front door of Audra’s bungalow that evening. They were friends and nothing else, despite that one O and enough electricity between them to light up the southern half of Santa Barbara County. “Down boy,” he muttered, then knocked. He wasn’t going to give into temptation and attempt to seduce her into bed.

  The door swung open and Audra stood there, in white jeans and a sleeveless shirt the pale blue color of her amazing eyes, her feet bare. “Thanks for coming,” she said, peering around his shoulder as if searching for someone in the darkness behind him.

  “Expecting another visitor?”

  “Just making sure my mom isn’t lurking about. She said she’s still experiencing jet lag and wanted an early night, but knowing her, she could jump up from bed and be ready to go dancing after twenty minutes.”

  Speaking of jumpy… Kane tilted his head as he followed Audra into her bungalow, studying the way she moved. She seemed agitated, her steps too quick and her hand movements choppy.

  “You said you wanted me to look at something?”

  She whirled to face him but didn’t meet his gaze. “It’s possible the faucet in the second bathroom is dripping.”

  His brows rose. “Okay, I’ll take a look.”

  It only took a few minutes to ascertain that the plumbing was in perfect working order. He strolled back into the living area to find Audra staring out the window, tension clear in the tight lines of her body. Coming up behind her, he put his palms on her shoulders.

  She jerked, but then relaxed as he began to knead the knotted muscles there. “Oh. More of that.”

  He chuckled. “What did you do today after breakfast? Pilates again?”

  “Beach walk with Mom and Dad. Lunch on the pier. Shopping on State Street. We found a little taco shop and ate again.”

  “Did you get a hold of Connor?” Audra’s brother, who was currently registered at the resort, seemed to be absent more often than not. Kane made a men
tal note to check in with the resort grapevine via his sisters.

  She shook her head. “Who knows what he’s doing? It was just the three of us.”

  “Relaxing day, then,” he said, sure it was not.

  “Did you find anything wrong with the faucet?”

  “Nope. Not a drip.”

  Stepping away, Audra put distance between them and shot him a quick glance, guilt written all over her face. Her combination of features was always undeniably and objectively beautiful, but to Kane, she was even more so when she allowed her emotions to show through.

  “You know,” he said gently, “if you didn’t want to be alone, all you had to do was say so.”

  “Mm.” Whirling from him, she went to the laptop on the nearby desk. Beside it sat a flower arrangement and he could detect Audra’s work there, the design un-fussy and elegant. “I was doing some research.”

  “Yeah?”

  She shrugged. “Trying to kill some time, you know?”

  Trying to distract herself from what was really wrong, Kane guessed.

  “I looked up cures for curses on the Internet.”

  He blinked. “What?”

  “Cures for curses.”

  “Do you actually believe in curses, Audie?”

  “I think you do. Like you believe that black cats are bad luck.”

  Shifting uncomfortably, he ran his hand through his hair. “I don’t think…it’s not at the forefront of my thoughts. It’s just…Val Soros always said…” Christ. He thought of his sister calling him out as friggatriskaidekaphobic and scowled, remembering her laughter. “I don’t go around avoiding cracks in the sidewalk.”

  “Lots of people do, you know. Just like they don’t walk underneath open ladders—”

  “That’s just common sense.”

  “—and dozens of other things.”

  “Yeah, well.” He rubbed his hand over the top of his head. “Is this why I’m here? To discuss flaws in my character?”

  “It’s not a flaw. It just didn’t make sense to me at first, you being a teeny tiny bit superstitious.” She held her thumb and forefinger a paper’s width apart and smiled at him.

  “Brat,” he said. “So now I make sense to you? How so?”

  “It’s a control thing. You don’t walk under a ladder, you’ll be safe. You knock on wood and you won’t jinx the thing you just declared to be true.”

  Fine, he did that knocking on wood thing. Didn’t everybody?

  “Those little rituals, those rules people follow give them a feeling of more certainty…like sports fans wearing their lucky shirts or a particular pair of socks to a big game.” She leaned back against the desk. “My dad always eats bananas on oatmeal before he plays a round of golf with his nemesis.”

  “I don’t know what I think about you being so familiar with my psyche and my control issues,” he said, with a mock-stern glare. “It feels too personal. Like sex on the first date and I’m not that kind of guy.”

  Color washed her face at the mention of sex—interesting. Then a gleam entered her eye. “Right. You’ve never had sex on the first date.”

  “So that’s what I’m here for…so we could talk about my sex life.”

  “No.” Her color deepened. “You’re here because…you know, we could try one or two of the curse cures if you’re interested.”

  “You actually found cures?”

  She nodded. “But mostly they’re in the category of stand on the street corner and pat your head and rub your belly while singing a show tune. Silly stuff.”

  “Which show tune?” he asked, straight-faced.

  “Hah hah.” She sidled closer, her eyes alight, a small smile curving her lips. One hand touched his chest, burning five finger-points into his skin through the cotton. He smelled her now, that sweet and fresh fragrance that was hers and hers alone and his cock went hard, full and thick.

  He couldn’t look away from her, he couldn’t make himself move. A long, charged moment passed. Then Kane forced himself to glance at his watch, as if there was somewhere he had to be. Though part of him would like nothing more than to stand here and soak up Audra until dawn, another part of him knew it was a bad idea. Their “friendship” would be strained if he didn’t get out of here. Not to mention his zipper, now confining that aching length between his thighs.

  “Babe.” He cleared his throat and tried banishing the image of her small hand wrapped around him, sliding up and down, root-to-tip. “I’m still not clear on the purpose of your call.” The dripping faucet had been bullshit and all the rest only more excuses.

  “I don’t like the idea of you being at the mercy of some stupid curse.” Indignation brought additional color to her face and her eyes sparkled like jewels. “You shouldn’t spend the rest of your life alone, or even think that you must.”

  “Baby…”

  “It’s like a self-fulfilling prophecy. Like stupid Goody Two-Shoes.” Her voice rose. “Even if you try to forget about it or shrug it off or make a new plan for yourself, it will still be there, impossible to shake…”

  Ah, so he got it now. “What happened?” He cupped her face in his hands.

  She squeezed shut her eyes. “They’re wonderful, I know that. They only want the best for me…their idea of the best, anyway. But I feel like I’m going to go back to LA and be boxed up like I was before. I feel like I’m smothering now.”

  “You should have called me right away. Before you worked yourself up into this state. We could have gone out for a drink or something.”

  “I wanted to work up some courage,” she said, her eyes flying open so she stared straight at him.

  He froze. “Courage for what?”

  “Have sex with me, Kane,” she said, the hand on his chest moving to his bicep. She circled it, squeezed. “Do something that takes me right out of the box. That takes me out of my comfort zone and lets me feel alive.”

  Oh, man. Oh, fuck.

  His brain short-circuited and all he could think of was her beautiful face, her mouth. Do something that takes me right out of the box.

  “Please,” she whispered. “You know me. I think you know what I need.”

  And just like that, he was a goner.

  “Face the desk,” he ordered in a gruff voice, turning her by the shoulders.

  She glanced back at him over one. “Kane—”

  “Face the desk.” When she was in place, he ran his hands down her arms and positioned her fingers to curl around the edge of the wooden surface. “Can you stay just like this?”

  Her breathing already sounded choppy. “I-I don’t know.”

  “You’ll do it for me,” he said, then left her there, hurrying around the bungalow to turn off lights, until only the lamp on the desktop remained lit.

  “Kane…”

  That sweet plaintive note turned him inside out. “Almost there, baby. Hang on.”

  He returned to stand behind her. Reaching around, he tilted up her chin. “Look, Audie. There you are.” The darkness outside and the nearby lamp turned the window into a mirror.

  Sweeping her hair to one side, he pressed his mouth to her neck, lightly sucking to distract her as he reached for the waistband of her jeans.

  She shifted. “What, um…”

  “You stay still,” he said, moving his mouth to her ear. “If you do as I say, I’ll make you feel good.”

  Her body twitched and she reached back to touch him. “No,” he said, and firmly replaced her hand in its original position. “You just take what I give you, standing just like this, watching how it looks on you. Creating memories like those photographs you want. Watching how pretty you are when you let go.”

  “Oh, God,” she breathed.

  He had her pants unfastened and unzipped. “Spread your legs,” he whispered against her ear, and pressed his right foot to the inside of her ankle, encouraging her to do as ordered.

  She moaned, then hung her head.

  “Nuh-uh,” he said, swatting her denim-covered ass. “You�
��re supposed to be watching.”

  Her head lifted and she sucked her bottom lip inside her mouth. “You’re going to make me crazy.”

  “That’s the idea,” he said, and began working her pants down her thighs, until her spread legs made more progress impossible. A kind of bondage.

  He ran both palms over her panty-covered cheeks, appreciating the way the cut of the nude-colored lace undergarment revealed the lower curve of each delectable globe. “I told you I’m an ass man,” he said, and felt her shiver.

  “Give me that mouth for a minute,” he said, unable to stop himself. His fingertips dug into her soft flesh as she turned her head and their lips met, the kiss hot and wet, his tongue exploring, demanding. She moaned and he swallowed the sound, it going straight to his aching cock.

  “Sweet,” he said, releasing her mouth. “Now keep watching.”

  Her head turned forward once again and he saw her eyes in the mirrored glass, deep pools that he wanted to fall into headfirst. Steeling himself, he refocused on her delectable ass and rubbed her there again before rolling down the lace underwear, inch by inch, over the curves.

  When the stretchy garment met denim, she shifted again, and again he gave her a careful swat, this one with more sting. She moaned, her butt wiggling. “You’re not to move,” he said, his voice low.

  “Kane…”

  “Yeah, baby. I’m right here.” He drew closer, his chest to her back, and kissed the side of her throat again. “About to make you fly.”

  His right hand curved around her hip, sliding down her belly to the seam of her lips. With gentle fingers, he opened her carefully, and a wash of wetness doused the tips. “Yeah, so aroused, baby.” He found her stiff little clit.

  She shivered, pressing her ass into his groin. He insinuated his other hand between their bodies, running it down the grooved peach and beyond, finding her entrance and spearing up into her silky channel with two fingers. Her body jolted and she moaned, her muscles clenching on his sudden intrusion. He soothed her with baby kisses along her jawline as he lightly brushed her clit.

  “Look how pretty, Audie. No, don’t close your eyes. See how pretty you look when you’re breaking free.”