Tempting Target

by Savannah Stuart

  Of course, she had no clue how he felt. No one did. He’d heard about love at first sight, but he’d never bought into that bullshit. Until he met her. At first, he convinced himself it was lust, and that it would pass. He wished every day that lust was all he felt. Lust he could get over. Lust would mean he only wanted her physically. Unfortunately, his feelings strengthened each time they were together. Over the years, it had become easier to hide them.

  For the first and only year of her marriage, he’d screwed every woman he could in an effort to get her out of his system. That hadn’t worked. After Aidan died, he’d stopped sleeping around all together. She might not exactly be on the market, but with Jade single, no other woman had a chance.

  The jostling of the car over the old bricks and cobblestones brought him back to reality. He’d been so lost in his thoughts he didn’t realize how close they were to her place. He glanced out the window to find the sky now dark, save for a few street lights and the pale moon. The cab driver turned down the familiar palm tree-lined street and jerked to a halt in front of her two-story Mediterranean-style house.

  David’s heart pounded erratically in his chest. It was nearly eight, so he knew she’d be home from work, even if she’d walked. Which she probably had.

  He handed the cab driver a fifty and told him to keep the change. After wiping his sweaty palms on his jeans, he grabbed his small carryon and then his larger bag from the trunk. Mentally, he tried to prepare himself for seeing her again. It was a fruitless effort. Adrenaline tore through his body like heat lighting flashing across the sky at the thought of her.

  He stepped through the stucco archway, knocked once on the russet-colored door, and forced himself to breathe. A few seconds later, the door swung open. Jade greeted him in bare feet, a worn-out pair of boxers two sizes too big for her, and one of his old football jerseys that looked absolutely ridiculous on her petite frame. He must have left it at her place. Something primal inside him smiled at seeing her in his clothes. His heart slammed against his rib cage when a bright smile spread across her face. A tropical scent teased his nose. She always wore the same intoxicating aroma. He could never quite figure out what the combination was. Coconut, jasmine and something else designed to drive him crazy.

  She threw her body against his in a staggering hug. Luckily, he was prepared for it. That was another thing he loved about her, she didn’t do anything half-assed. When she hugged someone, she put her whole body into it.

  “I take it you missed me.” He held onto her as long as was socially acceptable and fought the hard-on he got every time she touched him. He forced himself to ignore what the press of her soft breasts against his chest did to him.

  “Of course I did. But more importantly, where’s my present?” She grinned as she stepped out of his embrace.

  “Is that all you care about? Presents?” He lifted his eyebrows, feigning insult.

  “You know you’re the only man in my life. I have to take advantage.” She grabbed his hand and dragged him into the circular entryway, shutting the heavy door behind her with a loud bang.

  His next words died on his lips. It was a flippant comment. He knew that. In spite of what his head told him, to hear her say he was the only man in her life, sped his heart rate up. Considerably.

  “I can’t believe you didn’t call me first.”

  In an effort to keep up with her dizzying pace, he dropped both his bags. A dull echo sounded against the ceramic tile. He just shrugged and grinned. “I saw the time and knew you’d be walking home when I called. Besides, it’s not as if you have a cell phone.”

  “You sound like Maya. I swear, sometimes I think the two of you conspire together.” Jade rolled her eyes and led him into her kitchen.

  He followed, inhaling the fresh fragrance that trailed behind her. The walk from the foyer down the open hallway to the kitchen was a long established one. Whenever he visited, they took up residence in the kitchen for at least an hour until she eventually moved them into her living room. It was almost like a tradition. He didn’t have much stability in his life, and in a way, her little traditions kept him grounded. Made him feel like part of a family.

  While she busied herself at the refrigerator, he shrugged out of his brown leather jacket and took a seat at the granite island cooktop.

  “I’ve got water, sweet tea, beer, and milk.” She peered into the stainless-steel refrigerator then threw him a backward glance.

  Being a Southerner, it was in his blood to drink sweet tea, but after a long flight he always craved a beer. “A beer would be great.” She handed him a Heineken and pulled out a bottle of white wine.

  “The kitchen looks great,” he said, taking in his surroundings with appreciation. The last time he’d been there, dust, plastic wrap and old wooden planks had been strewn everywhere.

  She didn’t turn around from opening her wine bottle but nodded in affirmation. “Tell me about it. It’s hard to believe those jerks finally finished. I don’t know what got into them, but they finally got their act together and actually started working. I swear, if I heard the words ‘we’ll be done next week’ one more time I was going to lose my mind.”

  David smothered a smile. He didn’t tell her, but he’d had a private meeting with the contractors she’d hired. The job should have taken a month at the most. Three months later, they were still making empty promises. She’d been too lax about it, so he’d taken matters into his own hands. Now the kitchen boasted tumbled marble floors, rope lighting above the cabinets, a new copper sink, and vintage pendant lamps that hung above the center island. He didn’t know shit about style but it fit her.

  David sat back and drank in the sight of her as she pulled a wineglass down from one of the open shelves. When she stretched up, her calf muscles flexed and his cock jerked to attention. He really was twisted. An eyeful of her calves and he was ready to take her against the kitchen counter.

  He frowned when she poured herself a small amount. “Not even a full glass? Is that a hint you don’t want me here?”

  She grinned and swatted his shoulder as she took a seat next to him. “No, I have a date in less than an hour, and I don’t want to get sloshed before it’s even started. Can you imagine? My first date in years, and I get carried home. You know what a lightweight I am.” She let out a silvery laugh that pierced his heart.

  Blood roared in his ears. After the word “date”, everything else funneled out. Liquid fire slowly and deliberately lapped across his chest. He took a swig of his beer and stared blindly at the ceiling. Dating? She was dating? He’d seen her two weeks ago and she hadn’t mentioned anything. She might as well have said she’d joined a terrorist organization in his absence.

  Then he noticed something different. He’d known something was off when she’d opened the door, but she’d been moving around so fast he hadn’t been able to place it. She wasn’t wearing her wedding ring anymore. Somehow he found his voice, but the words stuck in his throat. “When did you start dating again?”

  She wrinkled her nose as if to make fun, then pain flashed in her eyes, and her voice came out soft. “This is my first one since…this is the first one since you know. I would have talked to you about it, but I couldn’t get hold of you and I didn’t want to leave a message on your voicemail.”

  “So who is he?” Damn it, he inwardly cursed. He didn’t need details.

  A blush crept across her high, exotic cheekbones. “I haven’t actually met him yet. His name is William. Apparently my mom knows him from church.”

  William. What a dumb fucking name. Probably some pansy-ass preppy. He forced a tight smile then stared down into his beer. No matter how wide he stretched his mouth, the smile wouldn’t reach his eyes, and she would see it. With one final swig, he finished his drink and stood up. Despite the cool atmosphere, his body was a raging inferno. His lungs refused to expand, and something comparable to a knife twisted in his gut. Getting out of this room was suddenly the most important thing in the world. “I can clear out
of here if you need to get ready.”

  She gently touched his arm and pushed him back down. “Please stay. I’ll only be gone an hour or two at the most. It’s been too long since I’ve seen you. Besides, I’m sure you have laundry you need to do, and I know your dryer is still broken. If you want, you can take care of it while I’m gone, and stay until I get home?”

  The truth was that he’d purchased a new top of the line washer and dryer over six months ago. He just hadn’t gotten around to saying anything about it to her. Sometimes he wanted an excuse to come over.

  He wanted to tell her no, that he should get home, but morbid curiosity won over. “Sure, I’ll stick around.” It couldn’t hurt to know the competition.

  Jade’s face lit up and the knife inside him twisted deeper. “Great, now if you don’t mind, I do need to finish getting ready, because I don’t think this is suitable attire. As soon as I’m home, we’re getting caught up.” She placed her empty wineglass in the sink and left him sitting at the island.

  “Fuck that,” he said to the empty room. If she was moving on, he was going to make damn sure she moved on with him. He was through being patient. She didn’t know it yet, but she belonged to him.

  * * * * *

  Discreetly as she could, Jade glanced at the slim, silver watch on her arm that looked more like a bangle than a timepiece. Then she looked out the window of her date’s new BMW—the only reason she was aware it was new was because he’d told her. Twice.

  Palm trees and historic houses flew by at a normal speed, but she couldn’t stop herself from counting down the seconds until he pulled into her driveway. The moment the car jerked to a halt, her hand was already on the handle.

  “Well, thanks for a great evening,” she said, and hoped annoyance didn’t show on her face.

  “I could come in for a drink—”

  “No, I have to get up early for work, but maybe I’ll see you later.” Clutch purse in one hand, shawl in the other, she jumped out of the car and tried to walk as quickly as she could without looking like she was making a mad dash for her house. Safely inside, she locked the door, sagged against it and rubbed her temple.

  “That bad huh?” David’s voice startled her.

  She looked up to find him staring at her with barely concealed amusement. The overhead light in the foyer was dimly lit, but a pale moonbeam shone through the high-windowed archways, perfectly illuminating David’s form. It took a moment for her eyes to focus, and when they did, she realized he wasn’t wearing a shirt.

  Her breath caught in her throat. All coherent thought left her brain at the sight of his muscular, bare chest and long, lean form. Good Lord, the man looked as if he were cut from stone.

  Despite her desire not to look, her eyes trailed the length of his body, complete with a ripped eight-pack—who the hell had an eight-pack anyway? He didn’t have much hair, but there was a light line that trailed below his belt. She stopped directly at his belt when a sudden vision of what was beneath those pants filled her mind. Everything about him was big and she just knew he’d be well-endowed.

  Not that she cared. She didn’t. So why did a sudden rush of heat find its way between her legs? And why the hell had she even let her thoughts stray in this direction? This was David. He was her friend. This was her sister’s fault for even mentioning him as a possible dating candidate.

  A spicy, masculine scent tickled her nose. It must be his aftershave. Strange that she’d never noticed how good he smelled before. She swallowed hard. “What, uh…” She was blatantly staring but couldn’t seem to drag her eyes away from all that taut skin. She also couldn’t seem to formulate another word after “uh”.

  He glanced down and smacked his washboard stomach the way men who know they look good do. “Sorry, I didn’t think you’d be back so soon, and I threw the shirt I was wearing in with the rest of my laundry.”

  Cargo pants hung from his trim waist. Jade fought the heat rushing to her cheeks and forced herself to focus on his face. “No, that’s okay, I just didn’t expect you to be…” She thought of saying half-naked, but the thought of him naked brought even more heat to her already burning cheeks, so she finished with, “Partially clothed.”

  “My clothes should be done by now, I’ll be back in a second.” He turned and disappeared down the hallway.

  Before she could tell him not to worry about it, his broad shoulders and very sculpted backside had disappeared around the corner. It was probably a good thing he was putting clothes on because apparently she had a problem focusing around half-naked men. Maybe she wasn’t ready for a hot affair after all. The mere sight of naked flesh and she turned into a stammering idiot. A minute later, he was back, and she could almost swear he looked triumphant. About what though, she couldn’t imagine.

  “So, how was the date?” His question interrupted her scrutiny of his face.

  She let out an overdramatic sigh. “Horrible. Well, maybe not horrible, but it wasn’t good. I hate that I wasted such a great dress on that guy.” Despite the chill in the air, she’d opted to wear a sleek, emerald formfitting dress. It was one of her go-to dresses when she needed a boost of confidence because it matched her eyes and made her butt look great. She slipped her three-inch slingbacks off and followed him into her living room. She moved a stack of Vogue off the big couch and into the rattan magazine rack so David could sit.

  He always chose the bigger couch to stretch out on, although he somehow still seemed too large for it. Once he sat, she moved to the smaller loveseat across from him. An undersized bamboo coffee table separated them, and for some reason she was glad to have that little barrier.

  She tucked her feet under her legs and tried to get the vision of his half-naked, perfectly sculpted body out of her mind. Racking her brain, she tried to remember a time when she’d ever seen him without his shirt on but couldn’t recall a single one. No, she definitely would have remembered the distinctive scar that ran half the length of his chest. He looked so calm and relaxed sitting across from her that she was embarrassed that she kept thinking about all that exposed skin.

  “All right, tell me about it.” A small grin played across his face.

  “The first words out of his mouth when we sat down at the restaurant were, ‘I hate to admit this, but I forgot my wallet’.”

  David’s dark eyes narrowed into slits. “Are you kidding me? Tell me you didn’t pay.”

  She shook her head and smothered a grin. “I wish I was, and no, I did not. I told him we better leave then because I didn’t have any cash with me.” She gestured to the impossibly tiny, satin clutch purse next to her.

  “Are you telling me that you left the house without any money? What if you’d been stranded somewhere?” he practically growled.

  “Of course I didn’t, I always carry my check card with me. I just didn’t tell him that. After all, he’s the one who called me up and invited me out.”

  He leaned back against the couch, but she could still see the tension humming through his body. “What did he do?”

  “I watched him squirm for a minute until he miraculously remembered that he had a credit card for emergencies in his car.” She rolled her eyes. “This guy really was a piece of work.”

  “Did things improve?”

  “Not really. The only positive thing to come out of the night is that we went to La Pentola. Still, I couldn’t decide if I wanted to stuff breadsticks in my ears or in his mouth just to shut him up. He didn’t open any of my doors and he talked about what a psycho his ex-girlfriend was the entire time. No, I take that back, there was a brief reprieve near the end of the date. Somehow the topic of eminent domain got brought up, and when I offered my opinion I got a ten-point lecture about why I was wrong. I swear, if he’d brought his laptop, I think he’d have probably given me a Power Point presentation.” She shuddered. “I didn’t think I’d been out of the game that long. Honestly, am I expecting too much?”

  He shook his head slightly. “No, you’re not. That jackass is luck
y you even agreed to go out with him.”

  She smiled at his darkened expression. It was nice not to feel like her expectations were crazy.

  “What are you doing going out on a blind date in the first place? I wouldn’t think you would have any trouble meeting eligible men.” David looked at her with such incredulousness she felt a little embarrassed.

  She shrugged and tried to ignore the heat that rushed to her cheeks. “I don’t really know where I’d go to meet men anymore. Most of my friends are married, and I’m not into the bar scene. Even if I was, I don’t have anyone to go with me anymore. It’s not as if I meet any eligible men at work. The men who come into my store are either shopping for their girlfriends or wives—or they’re gay. That leaves being set up. I just can’t believe my mother, who I’m never trusting again, thought I would be interested in that guy.”

  Wanting to change the subject, she turned the focus back on him. “So what about you? How many crazy girlfriends are you entertaining this week?” She resisted the urge to smile. The last woman he’d quasi-dated had named both of her breasts, and apparently had no problem informing him on their first date—and anyone within a ten-mile radius—of their size, likes and dislikes.

  “None.” He raked a hand through his unruly hair, and his jaw and neck visibly tensed.

  “Seriously? Or you just don’t want to talk about it?” Normally, she left it alone if he didn’t want to talk about his dates, but he hadn’t brought anyone up in a long time and lately she’d been wondering why.

  He cleared his throat, but he finally answered. “I haven’t dated anyone in a while, Jade.”

  “Oh, I’d just assumed.” Before Aidan died, David had brought bimbo after bimbo to all of their cookouts or double dates, and it was never the same woman twice. And each one was dumber than the next. Back then she hadn’t known him that well but his dating choices had always surprised her.

  “I… It’s hard to date with my schedule.” He sighed and rubbed a hand across his unshaven face. She was under the impression that he wanted to say more, but something in his dark eyes told her not to push.