by Conn, Claudy
Putting Oliver behind bars was a good selling point. Lena relented. “Fine, but the only way this is going to happen is if you two vacate the premises. My guests will need a place to sleep.”
Marissa stepped forward and slugged her husband in the arm. “Good going, hot shot. Now we’re homeless.”
“I hear Grady has an extra bedroom,” David shrugged.
“That is not an option.” Marissa dug into her purse and held up a set of keys. “Good thing I still have access to Daddy and Eleanor’s. I think we can rough it over there until we fly home.”
David’s soft caressing voice suggested warmly, “Or we could head for the airport and catch an earlier flight? I miss Jack and Sandy and I can’t wait to see what you got me for Christmas.”
Love filled Marissa’s eyes. “I could use a little kid time. We could be home by midnight.”
Lena interrupted their precious moment by shoving them out of the Tiki Room. “Glad we got that settled. Now get packing.”
The End
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PRECIOUS
Gem Stone
Jennifer Bryan Yarbrough
PRECIOUS GEM STONE
Written By: Jennifer Bryan Yarbrough
Copyright 2016 by Jennifer Bryan Yarbrough
Published by Jennifer Bryan Yarbrough
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce
this book by any form. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places or events are entirely a figment of the author’s imagination and are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to any actual person, living or dead is coincidental.
This book was printed in the United States of America
First Print 2016
ISBN-13: 978-1539678991
ISBN-10: 1539678997
Other works by Jennifer Bryan Yarbrough
Porter Kingston Series
Lost and Found Book 1
Found By Love Book 2
Found at Last Book 3
Eden’s Kiss Book 4
Gideon’s Choice Soon to be released
Found at Last ..Again!-Novella
Christmas for Faith
CHAPTER ONE
I swiped the credit card through the card reader and pulled the receipt out and smiled at Mr. Roberts as I handed it to him to sign. After signing it and handing it back to me, I handed him the bag that was holding the custom made bracelet that was specifically designed for his wife.
“Have a great day Mr. Roberts. You’ll have to let us know if Mrs. Roberts loves it as much as I know she will.” I gave him a big grin.
He handed me the receipt and winked. “I have no doubt my dear. You have an eye for this sort of thing and you know how much she loves rubies and diamonds. Thank you so much for designing this for me and I bet I get out of the dog house with this gift.” He chuckled while shaking the small bag in his hands.
“Now, I can't imagine why you would be in the dog house after forty years of marriage.” I cocked my head at him with curiosity.
“You’d be surprised, my dear, but I’m living proof that you can teach an old dog new tricks. Listening is the key to a long marriage, listening and communication and patience, lots and lots of patience. God knows she has to have a lot to put up with little old me.” He patted me on the hand and walked out of the jewelry store.
I shook my head in wonder because I couldn't imagine that sweet little old man doing anything to his sweet little wife that would put him in the dog house. But then again, maybe I could. I remember how ornery my own grandfather was and the argument that led to my grandmother getting onto him about how he never brought her flowers anymore.
I’ll never forget what happened that next day. My grandfather came into the house with dozens of flowers in his arms after volunteering at the hospital all day. He had picked a huge bouquet of every neighbor’s flowers for two blocks and Grandma beamed with excitement and exclaimed that they were the prettiest flowers she had ever seen. She looked into my eyes and told me, ‘Gemma, it’s not the price of the gift that matters, it’s the thought that counts.’
I have never forgotten that and especially a couple of nights later when we had some neighbors over for dinner and Mrs. Fitzgerald had gone after my grandfather with her cane for plucking her biggest rose off of her bush, the same rose that she was going to enter into the state fair. Grandma giggled along with everyone else and I didn't miss the twinkle in my grandfather’s eye when he looked at her, letting her know by the look in his eyes that he would take a hundred beatings if she would forgive him, which she did the moment he walked in the house with the stolen arrangement.
I let out a sigh and knew why I was thinking about love and old age. The Roberts’ couple reminded me of my own parents and grandparents who have all left us too soon. I miss all of them very much, and especially around the holidays and wished that they were still alive.
I swallowed the lump in my throat and suspected that they would be deeply ashamed of me today if they were alive. As the head of the household and having to finish raising my 3 siblings after our parents died a couple of years ago, I did something last night that I'm not proud of.
I had my first one-night-stand and it’s all that I’m thinking about this morning. Not because it turned out as bad as a lot of one-night-stands do, but because it was absolutely amazing. When I think about the one-night-stands that my BFF, Monica has had, I have cringed over the stories she has told me, but mine? Be still my heart, because I wasn’t expecting to have sex with a guy that I had just met in a bar and for it to be so absolutely amazing, was shocking and a bonus. Of course I blame Monica, for being a no show last night, but then again, if she wouldn’t have stood me up, I never would have met Flynn.
It was bad enough that I was late for work, but the fact that my little brother, Onyx, the main jewelry designer in our little jewelry shop, keeps berating me for being late, is irritating the hell out of me. I expect him and our younger siblings to be on time for work and to always act professional so I can’t blame him for rubbing my lateness in and let’s not forget that I’m still wearing the same clothes that he saw me wearing when I left our upstairs apartment last night.
I am the eldest of four. I’m 24, Onyx is 22 and our younger siblings are our sister, Ruby, 19, and brother, Sapphire, 17. Yes, our parents were a little eccentric when they named their children. With the last name of Stone and my father being a jeweler, David and Felicia Stone thought that it would be fun and unique to name all of their children after gemstones.
Of course they named me, Precious Gem Stone. I hate, and I mean, despise my name, which is why I go by Gemma.
Out of all of us, I feel that Onyx ended up with the coolest name because our parents didn’t think very long and hard for our younger sibling’s middle names. Where Ruby’s middle name is Red, and Sapphire’s middle name is Blue, Onyx’s middle name is Phoenix. All three of us are jealous of his name and he always holds it over our heads that he has the coolest name out of all of us by flashing his back to his on occasion that is fully covered by a Phoenix tattoo.
“Hey, Gemma. There's some soulless dude out in the lobby that is looking for, and I quote, ‘someone named Precious Gem Stone’. Now I know that you never tell anyone your real name and I tried to show him some,” he put his hands out in italics, ‘precious gemstones’, but he is adamant and says that he’s looking for a female by that name.” Onyx frowned at me and smirked as he looked me up and down. “The guy you hooked up with last night, were you so drunk that you told him your real name, or did you show him your driver’s license?”
“What makes you think I hooked up—“<
br />
He put a hand out to stop me and laughed and shook his head. “Please, don’t try that shit with me. I’m the king of one-night-stands and you’re still wearing the same clothes that you were wearing last night and you,” he sniffed me, “smell like tequila and sex.”
I looked away with embarrassment as he grabbed each of my shoulders and made me face him.
“I'm not judging, because after what Brett did to you, it’s about time that you went out and had some fun because it has been years since he left you at the altar and a couple of years since mom and dad died and left you and me to finish raising the other two squirts. So, are you here or have you stepped out?”
I replayed what Onyx had said to me and I paused at the word ‘soulless’ which I knew meant that the person looking for me was a red head, or Ginger as Onyx always calls them.
“Where is this guy at?” I ask as I try to peak out of the back room and into the main store.
I gasped when I saw him and turned back around and faced my brother.
Him, as in Flynn, who happens to be the hottest red headed guy I had ever wanted to drop my panties for. Not that there have been very many for me to drop my panties for, but still. Flynn is hot and funny and why is he here?
Looking for me?
I lied to Flynn and didn't even tell him my name was Gemma and as far as he knows, my name is Meg, which is Gem spelled backwards.
“What do you want to do?” Onyx asked with impatience.
“I... Uh... I don't know.” He nodded when he saw the panicked look on my face.
“You're out for the rest of the day it is. I'll try to feel him out and see what he wants.”
I nodded hesitantly and waited for my brother to go back into the main store and peaked around the corner and watched them converse.
I couldn't for the life of me understand why Flynn was here. I never told him who I really was, where I worked or anything about myself for that matter. I never asked him what he was doing here and when we went to his hotel room, he volunteered the information and told me that he was here for business and that was when he kissed me. And what a kiss, it was.
After getting stood up at the bar by Monica, I was alone in the corner of the bar sipping on my third margarita and I knew that I was going to have to call for an Über before the night was up. I can’t deny that maybe I was waiting for the hot guy to come to my table because I knew he was checking me out. When he finally approached, he was carrying two drinks.
“I asked the bartender what you were drinking and I hope that I’m not too presumptuous to assume that you will allow me to sit with you.” He grinned, showing his pearly whites and raised his brows in question and that was when I saw the color of his green eyes.
They were as green as emeralds and I couldn't help but to stare into them and it wasn't until he sat my drink down in front of me before I could find my voice.
“Um, sure. Have a seat.” I motioned to the seat directly in front of me, but he declined and sat in the adjoining seat and scooted it up as close to mine as he could get it without touching me.
I couldn’t help but blush as I stared at him and tried to focus more on my drink than his beautiful eyes, chiseled jaw, copper colored hair, dimpled cheeks and his freckled covered face that looked damn sexy on him. That deep voice of his was getting to me as well and I was amazed that there was a man on this earth who could render me speechless by just meeting him.
I heard a snap of fingers directly in front of my face and I jumped when I realized it was him, trying to get my attention and he now had his hand out and was waving it in front of my face, waiting for me to shake it.
“I said my name is Flynn, what’s yours? Are you having a bad night?” He had a look of concern on his face, but I forced a giggle out as I shook his hand.
“I’m not now.” I flirted back, giving him a heated look, hoping that he didn’t miss what is on my mind. I’m not usually so bold but the liquid courage is helping me.
He grinned and leaned in closer to me and I could feel his breath on my face. I thought he was going to kiss me, but he backed away and took a drink of whatever it is he’s drinking.
“I have an idea and I can’t believe that I'm going to be so forward and ask you this and if you throw your drink in my face and walk out, I’ll totally get it and we can part ways.”
“What’s your idea?” I took a drink myself and finished mine and started in on the drink he had brought me.
He reached forward and grabbed my hand, the one that wasn’t wrapped around my drink and started running his index finger around the inside of my palm. Between his touch and the drink, I could feel my body burning up from the inside out as I squeezed my thighs together.
“I have a hotel room a couple of blocks up the road from here and we could finish this conversation there, if you want.”
I’ve never understood one night stands, until this very moment. The way that he is working his magic on just the palm of my hand and as horny as I am, I doubt that it would take me very long to let him take care of me. If Monica had shown up, I doubt he would have joined our table so, thank you Monica, for standing me up.
“Sure.” I said quietly with a nod.
I must have shocked him because he stopped doing what he was doing and pulled his hand away.
“You don’t even know me. I could be a serial killer for all you know. Have you ever heard of Ted Bundy? He was a good looking guy and no one suspected him at all because he didn’t fit the profile.”
I grinned and took another drink.
“I’ve never heard of him. Are you a serial killer?”
He leaned forward, giving me an incredulous look.
“Well, if I were, I definitely wouldn’t tell you. That's usually the first thing that a serial killer would deny so that they didn’t get caught.”
I pulled my phone out and pulled my camera app up and said, “Say cheese.”
“Cheese.” He was grinning so big that I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Can I see your driver’s license, please?” I asked sweetly.
He frowned at me and pulled his wallet out and handed me his driver’s license as I wrote down his information in a text and sent it, and the picture that I took of him to Monica. I handed it back to him and he couldn’t help but to frown at me as he put it back into his wallet.
“What was that for?” he asked.
“Safety precautions, in case you are a serial killer. I just sent your info to my best friend, Monica and told her that if she doesn't hear from me in 24 hours, to put out an all points bulletin for you because you would be the one responsible for my sad demise.” I admitted.
“What if after you leave my room, something happens to you before you make it home safe and sound?”
I shrugged my shoulders. “I guess that’s a chance you’ll have to take.”
He leaned forward and started running circles inside my palm again and I leaned closer to him, wanting him to kiss me before we leave.
“What if we have such a great time that you won’t want to leave, what then?”
He leaned in and I closed my eyes and parted my lips, but was surprised when he went further in and gently nibbled my earlobe as he inhaled.
“You smell amazing.”
I wanted to say the same to him, but I couldn’t find my voice as he grazed his teeth up and down my neck and then kissed me behind the ear. It was the most erotic thing that anyone has ever done to me, which is sad as inexperienced as I am, but I didn’t care and wanted him to do so much more.
“As much as I would love to spend the whole night with you, I have to be at work at 8 o’clock in the morning so you better get me out of here before I change my mind.” I blurted out before I lost my courage.
He pulled away and stared intently into my eyes and grabbed my hand.
“We better go then because I’m not letting you leave here without me.”
I grabbed my purse and my phone and downed my drink to give myself some more liquid
courage and let him lead me out of the bar.
The two block walk to his hotel was agonizing because I wanted to pull him into every little alcove we passed and kiss him and when we reached the elevator and no one else was riding with us, I knew he was going to kiss me then, but all he did was continue to hold my hand, teasing me relentlessly with his finger while drawing little circles into my palm.
I could feel the magnetic attraction between us and I know he had to as well and I didn’t know how long I was going to be able to keep my clothes on when we reached his room, but I can see that I’m dealing with a very patient man here.
As soon as we reached inside his room, I was expecting him to slam me against the door and attack my mouth with his like they do in the movies, but no, he walked into the bathroom, without saying a word.
“What the hell?” I muttered, as I looked around the suite.
This wasn’t your average hotel room and I was thankful for that as I found the bedroom and waited for him in there. I sat down on the edge of the bed, trying to come up with a sexy pose, but decided to stand up for him and wait, instead of looking uncomfortable and awkward at the bed.
When he finally came into the room, barefoot and only wearing jeans, I let out a gasp when I saw his broad massive chest and rock hard abdomen and tiny waist. I thanked the man upstairs when I noticed the many muscles on his beautiful body and that he has a V. That wonderful, gorgeous V that causes women to lose their minds and swoon over because it leads to that most glorious part of a man’s body that I hope has me leaving here absolutely bone dry of bodily fluids.
I kicked my heels across the room and giggled when one of them landed on top of the dresser, but he didn’t seem to notice as he continued to walk closer to me with lust in his eyes.
