by Reina Torres
“But I think when it’s all done and I’ve got my degree, I want to move back to St. Helena.”
That took him by surprise enough that he had to grab at the dishtowel to get it in hand before she handed him his next victim. “Back where you started, huh?” He kept his eyes on the dish as he continued on. “You don’t find this place a little…”
“Boring?” She offered the answer, her shoulders shaking with a gut laugh. “You haven’t been around long enough to understand that St. Helena runs on its own time. We’re busy, all right, there’s always something happening here. A festival, a competition, a wedding, a baby, and if you’re not careful, this ‘quaint’ little town that most people would classify as ‘sleepy’ will run you into the ground.” She handed him a plate and punctuated the gesture with a wink. “We’re not boring by any means. Besides, I’m sure my mom could keep even you on your toes.”
He swallowed and dutifully scrubbed the water from the plate before setting it in the rack. “Yes, well, I think your mother could run a small country and several Fortune 500 companies before she needed a break for coffee.”
Ava nodded and gave him an appreciative look. “You get it.”
The water shut off again and Ava took the dishcloth from his hand. “You’re done,” she told him, “released from the work line. Go and have some fun.”
He stood there as she rubbed the towel on the last plate, her smile reflected in the window over the sink. “I wasn’t really planning on anything-”
Ava groaned and her head sagged until her chin nearly met her chest. “Maybe that’s half the problem,” she told him, “third door on the left, if you didn’t already know. And my room is on the other side of the house. Good night.”
Jordan heard the knock on the door and let out a breath, trying to steady her nerves. “Come in.”
The door swung open with a soft squeak and she saw Vance standing in her doorway, his eyes dropped to her feet and worked their way up, taking time to roam over the robe she’d pulled out of her closet. She let go of the silk ties that she’d been holding and let her hands smooth over the fabric until she felt the pads of her fingers brush the bare flesh of her thighs.
Vance’s eyes dropped back down to follow their movement. “You look amazing.”
“You should have seen me a few minutes ago in the tub.” She felt heat flood her cheeks with color, but she swept her tongue over her bottom lip and continued. She didn’t need normal tonight. She wanted to be bold and hoped he felt the same way. “I was hoping you’d join me.” She looked at him and saw the way he’d rolled his sleeves back to his elbows, and even though he’d folded his arms over his chest, she caught sight of the dark patches on his shirt. “Looks like you almost had a bath of your own.”
His grin was softer than his normal look, a bit sheepish even. “I was helping with the dishes.”
“Wow,” she laughed, and felt the way it vibrated in her body, sending all kinds of delicious tremors through her, “if I knew you didn’t mind getting a little wet, I would have asked you to wash my back.”
“For you?” Stepping inside the room, he reached for the doorknob. “I’d wash a hell of a lot more than your back.”
They laughed together and she shook her head at him. “You’re too much.” She waved him off. “Close the door and get in here.”
He did as he was told and turned to find her close enough to kiss and that’s just what he did. Slanting his mouth over hers he wrapped his arms around her body and slid his hands down her backside until he felt the tips of his fingers nestled at the crease. “I love your body.” He had murmured the words at the corner of her mouth, enough that she could hear them and still feel his touch.
“Yours isn’t half bad either.”
He gave her backside a pinch. “Which half?”
She yanked at the bottom of his shirt, trying to pull it free of his pants. “I’ll let you know in a few days, I still need to do some comprehensive testing.”
She felt her hands hit warm flesh and sighed, pressing her body closer to his. Close enough to feel the hard ridge of him against her hip. His hands cupped her and brought her tightly against his length.
“Testing?” A groan rumbled through him, tickling her flesh where it almost touched his body. “I knew your mind was going to get me in trouble sooner or later. Are you always so thorough?”
“Why?” Her head tilted back when Vance brought his lips to her throat. “Is this some kind of a job interview?” She gasped when his teeth bit into the flesh at the base of her neck and her knees went weak.
He laved his tongue over the bite. “What if it was?”
She grabbed a hold of the front of his shirt and turned him around, enjoying the shock on his face as she backed him up to her bed. When his knees bumped into the heavy mattress, she pushed him back, letting him fall onto the bed with a satisfying groan.
“If it was,” she repeated as she crawled onto the bed, reaching for his belt, “you’re hired.”
“Hired?” He laughed and started to pull at his buttons. “What would my job description be?”
The leather pulled free and she let the ends fall from her hands as she reached for his zipper. She licked her lips and straddled his leg. “Maybe I need a massage therapist?”
“Giving me an excuse to get my hands all over you?” Two buttons down, he continued laughing at their odd conversation. “I could get used to that. What else?”
“You want to do more?” She grabbed a hold of his waistband and tugged, smiling when he lifted his hips so she could pull it off. “You’re a glutton for punishment, aren’t you?”
Vance looked up at her, a wry twist to the grin on his face. “Baby, I’m a writer, I’m not right in the head.”
“Oh, that’s good,” Jordan reached for the belt on her robe and opened it up, letting the dark navy ties fall away from her hands before she pushed the robe off of her shoulders and let it fall to the bed behind her. “I bet that means you’d be really creative, though.”
He put his hands on her thighs, sweeping his thumbs over her pale skin, he tried to pull her closer. “I’m used to a lot of typing,” he explained as he coaxed her even closer, “does that help?”
She gave a little shrug and trailed her fingertips over the sheer fabric of her ‘Barely There’ Pearl Perfection bralette and saw his eyes widen and then narrow as she smoothed them across the tip of the cup. “I don’t need someone to type for me.” She used her free hand to hold his other leg down as she straddled his hips. “But I could use a man with really talented,” she nibbled on her bottom lip as his fingers bit into her leg, “fingers.”
“Is that all?” His breath was coming out in short bursts of air, his pulse echoing through his skin and against hers. “I guess this is where work experience comes in handy, but I’ll do my best to be a little creative.”
“Oh good,” she smiled down at him and felt his hand sweep up the inside of her thigh. “I like that you’re taking the initiative and- oh!”
Talent didn’t seem to be a problem. With one hand, he moved the silken piece of cloth aside and slipped his fingers into her warmth.
“Yes,” she panted out on a breath, “those are skills worthy of noting on your,” a loud indrawn gasp ended in a shudder, “resume.”
“I’ve got some other-“
“Vance?” Jordan reached back, released the catch on her bra and then she fell forward, catching herself with a hand on either side of his head. She looked into his eyes and felt him slide another finger in with the other. She swallowed and watched him smile up at her.
“Yeah?”
“Stop fooling around.”
She reached over into her drawer and pulled out a condom. Placing the edge of the wrapper in her teeth she ripped it open and watched as he plucked it from the packet.
His hand dropped out of sight for a moment, but before she could even look to drop the empty wrapper down to the bed, a hand was on her hip. A heartbeat later she felt his fingers pull
free of her body.
She didn’t have a chance to complain. With a long, slow thrust, Vance was fully seated. His eyes slid shut, her breathing slowed as she relaxed into the full stretch of him inside of her body.
When she opened her eyes, it was to the sound of him whispering her name.
Jordan met his eyes and saw the knowing smile on his lips.
“What?”
He shook his head. “I just like looking in your eyes.”
“I’d like you to move.”
Vance’s laughter made her gasp as the movement rolled through her as well. “If the lady wishes,” wrapping an arm around her waist, he rolled her beneath him and she gasped in surprise, “then the lady gets what she wants.”
Jordan grabbed hold of a handful of her sheets as he nearly pulled free of her body and sank back in. The rush of sensation sent shivers through her body, but the next stroke stole her breath and when she found her release, she was wrapped in his arms feeling his heartbeat against her chest.
Chapter 9
When Ava knocked on Jordan’s door a few nights later, Jordan gave her daughter a hushed command. “Get in here.”
Ava rolled her eyes and stepped inside, a garment bag dangling from her fingers. “Wow, no ‘Good to see you, Ava,’ or a ‘Nice to see you, my favorite daughter.’?”
Jordan rolled her eyes right back. “It’s always good to see you, and you’re my only daughter, or child for that matter, but if you don’t give me that dress, I’m going to leave this house in my underwear and then you’ll really have something to be embarrassed about!”
“Wow, blackmail.” Ava held out the garment bag before her like a shield. “Fine, here… take it!”
“You really should consider the drama program at Stanford. I think you’ve missed your calling.”
Jordan took the garment bag and laid it on the bed. Reaching for the ties on her robe she pulled them loose and dropped the garment on the floor at her feet.
“I might actually take a look at the creative writing program and give your boyfriend a run for his money.”
Jordan turned to her daughter with a smile on her face. “If it’s something you want, you should. I’m sure Vance wouldn’t mind the competition.”
Ava pushed her hair back from her face with a nervous sweep of her hand. “Actually, I was thinking about doing that before my break is over.”
Leaning in, Jordan gave her daughter’s exposed cheek a kiss. “He’s not so bad after all, huh?”
“I never said he was bad,” she grumbled, “I just worry about you. It’s not like I’ve ever seen you with another guy after dad, not even kissing someone.” She shrugged and tried to make it look easy, but there was a pinch of tension in her expression. “I guess I knew it was going to happen, I just didn’t figure that I’d see it on Facebook.”
Jordan agreed. “It was a private moment. I wasn’t trying to put on a show. And believe me,” she huffed out a breath, “when I see Nora tonight at the Daughters of Prohibition Gala, I’m going to have a few choice words for her.
“Well,” Ava nodded, putting a smile on her lips, “I think you should just ignore her. Spend your time tonight with Vance. Get your dance on and maybe snog a little in a dark corner before you come home.”
“Snog?” Jordan laughed. “You’ve been watching too many BBC shows.”
“It saves me from having to say the K-I-S-S.” After a quick queasy shudder, Ava gestured to the garment bag. “Well, come on, let’s see the dress. Mira wouldn’t let me peek at it when I picked it up.”
Jordan nodded. “Yes, lets.” A quick tug and the zipper opened up to reveal her dress, a black gown of silk charmeuse with beaded trim. “Goodness.” Reaching into the bag she drew it out on the hanger and held it up to her body in front of the full-length mirror.
“Oh, mom,” Ava wrapped an arm around her mother’s waist and leaned her cheek on Jordan’s shoulder, “you’re going to make him swallow his tongue.”
Jordan blushed clear to the roots of her hair. “You think so?”
Ava took hold of the sides of the gown and pulled them back so it was tight against Jordan’s hips. “I know so.” With a laugh, she stepped away and closed the door. “Let’s get you dressed up so you can go out on the town.”
The Daughters of Prohibition Gala was just getting underway when Jordan and Vance arrived. Passing through the entry way of the Napa Grand’s ballroom, Jordan felt Vance’s fingers bite slightly into the curve of her hip. He leaned closer and whispered into her ear. “Have I said how gorgeous you are tonight?”
She turned her head and brushed her lips against his ear. “Just a half dozen times, but feel free to keep saying it. And you know I can’t wait to get you out of that suit tonight, hmm?”
Vance smoothed his free hand over the lapel of his charcoal gray pin-striped suit. “Oh, you’ll have your way with me, I’m sure… just keep in mind that this suit is rented.”
Jordan gave him an artful little pout, her pearly teeth biting into the full curve of her lower lip. “Too bad. That suit looks amazing on you.”
“I’ll buy it if it will make you happy.”
Jordan started to say something but it was lost in Frankie’s enthusiastic greeting. It gave Jordan a minute to get over the odd feeling of unease that had settled on her at his words. Frankie’s hug almost choked the air out of her lungs.
“Frankie,” Nate’s voice was a little more than tinged with his laughter, “ease up before you smother, Jordan.”
Frankie turned to look at her husband. “Shhh, there’s no way I could smother Jordan. I’m not tall enough to hold anything over her mouth to suffocate her. I’m just giving her a big hug.” She looked up at Jordan. “And may I say you look ah-maz-ing.”
“You may,” Jordan laughed. “And I should introduce you both to Vance Donovan.” That got Frankie to let her go.
“No shit?” Frankie looked up at Vance with a wide-eyed grin. “You are him, aren’t you?”
Vance shrugged and nodded. Holding out a hand, he smiled at her. “You must be Francesca, Jordan’s best friend.”
Frankie wrapped her arms around him in a hug. “It’s Frankie,” she corrected him, “normally the people that call me Francesca get fed to my alpaca for dinner, but you get a pass.”
Vance looked at Nate. “And you must be Nate.”
“Yes, Nate, the one who had your book stolen out from underneath my nose.”
Frankie pried herself loose from Vance, smoothing the wrinkle from his suit. “You were asleep,” she reminded her husband, “it was fair game.” Turning back to Vance she gave him an apologetic smile. “Sorry, I’m not usually one for touchy-feely crap, but your books have gotten me through a lot of morning sickness hell.”
Vance’s expression registered his surprise. “Well, I should tell that to my marketing people.”
“Well, I was wondering about this new book you have coming up,” Frankie’s eyes were alight with mischief and Jordan gave her a pointed look. Which she ignored. “I need to know. You’re not killing Calloway off, right?”
Nate took her by the shoulders. “Hey, this isn’t the time to bug him about this.”
“He can just give me a yes or no answer, right?” She turned back to Vance. “Right?”
Jordan stepped in between them and gave Frankie a kiss on her cheek. “I’ll invite the two of you over and you can bug him when he’s not dressed to the nines and has promised me a dance.”
Frankie gave her friend a kiss back. “You’re so lucky I love you.”
“I love you right back, Frankie.”
The band started a new song and Vance took her hand in his. “Speaking of that dance,” he nodded toward the dance floor, “care to take a spin around the floor with me.”
Jordan sighed and gave his hand a squeeze. “Several. As many as you can stand.”
He lifted her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss on her knuckles. “I can stand a lot if it’s you in my arms.” With a nod to Nate and a promise
to take them both out to dinner, Vance drew Jordan onto the dance floor.
He held her in his arms, swaying to the sexy strains of Eric Clapton’s Wonderful Tonight, feeling the silken fabric of her dress against his palm. “You feel amazing.”
“Feel?” Jordan sighed against his ear as he turned them in a slow circle. “I like the sound of that.”
“I like the sound of your voice in my ear,” he slowed his steps, “and the way you look in that dress.”
“Glad you like it,” she relaxed into his arms, “I’ll let Mira know you give it a thumbs up.”
“I was wondering how you would describe that dress?”
“The style?” She leaned back in his embrace. “Are you doing research for your book?”
He shrugged. “A little, but I’m considering talking to your friend Mira and ordering you a few more like it, in different colors.” He looked her over from head to toe in a slow sweep. “Don’t get me wrong. I love the black, it’s really jaw-dropping sexy. But I think I’d like to see you in silver, or a dark emerald green.” Another sweep of his eyes and his grin bared some of his teeth like a hungry wolf. “Copper would probably be too much for me. I’d probably rip it right off of you.”
Jordan gasped in a breath. “It might be worth it just for that.” She swallowed and his eyes traveled to her throat. “You would tell her that it’s the halter-top dress, bias cut, floor length gown with the knee-high slit.”
He took his hand off her hip and spun her out of his embrace, exposing the slit and the creamy skin of her leg. When he pulled her back into the circle of his arms his lips found the soft skin of her earlobe and he took a little bite. “I’d make the slit higher than that, just so I can reach down and touch your leg during dinner.”
They were close enough for him to feel her breath catch in her chest. “What if we skip dinner?”
“Oh, don’t get me wrong, gorgeous,” he drew in a breath and held her closer, “I’m looking forward to getting you home. But before that I want to show you off. You, and that dress, are too good to keep all to myself.”
