Two Reckless Hearts (Barrett Ridge Book 1)

by Holly Cortelyou

  He needed to see Jami. A tickle at the base of his skull told him time was ticking down on the commission’s decision. If he was going to have a relationship with Jami, he’d better get moving. He had a sinking feeling that if he didn’t seek her out now, nothing could ever be right between them.

  They were equals. Neither had won or lost.

  Beck leaned on the doorjamb as the moon’s rays rippled in a dainty light show on the pool water. It was like fairies dancing a simple, joyous romp.

  Had he fallen for Jami? Beck smiled. She was irritating and adorable all at once. She provoked him and turned him on like no one ever had. Need and hunger flushed through his veins.

  Jami was like an itch he couldn’t quite reach or satisfy, but he kept on trying. He grunted, and the sound echoed in his tiny courtyard. Damn. That didn’t sound romantic. But it fit. He had a sinking suspicion one time with her wasn’t going to be enough.

  A bird twittered from somewhere deep in the vines. A second bird squawked, and the twittering ceased. Beck raised his eyebrows. Indeed. The moment for talk was over.

  He had a plan, and it was go time.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  JAMI CLOSED HER eyes and let the sound of the ocean roll through her senses. The surf crested up the beach and then sucked back out with the tide. A tranquil breeze cooled the humid air, and the ruffled edge of her skirt fluttered against her thigh.

  She lolled in the swaying hammock as distant sounds of laughter and steel drums drifted across the small bay. The lights of the resort danced on the water and stars twinkled in the inky, velvet sky.

  She hummed under her breath and reveled in the moment. It was a pure slice of paradise. The world and all it concerns had ebbed away. The only thing real was the splash of the sea, and the soft shurra-shurra emanating from the dark foliage as a mystery bug serenaded her. Her leg dangled over the edge of the hammock, and she gave a fresh push to keep the rocking motion going.

  She was in the only hammock on this side of the crescent-shaped bay, and she reveled in the luxury of peace and quiet. No more family for a few minutes, or maybe the rest of the evening. She needed a break from her father’s incessant worries about the company and the real estate deal. Even Kyle’s brotherly teasing had worn thin. She loved them all, but too much of a good thing had gone a long way.

  A pair of voices and a soft shuffle of sandals on gravel buzzed by her ears. She closed her eyes and hoped the couple would stroll by and leave her in peace. She held her breath until their chatter faded away. Since when was she so unsociable?

  An image of Beck shimmered in her mind, and a smile tickled her lips. That droopy curl that teased his forehead. Those broad shoulders flexing as he picked up her twin little sisters and tossed them across the pool. And yes, his gray eyes turning smoky and dark as he’d held her close in his arms as they’d run away from the attacking iguana. She chuckled, and her laugh echoed above the waves.

  “Jami?”

  Without even opening her eyes, she knew it was Beck. His voice was low, rich, and almost as sultry as the night air. Had her very thoughts summoned him? He stood a few feet from her, right at the water line, softly illuminated by the solar lights nestled in the shrubs around her nook.

  A jolt of electricity zipped through her body, and a silky desire teased her core, and she wriggled against the nubby canvas of the hammock. “Are you on the lamb from the family, too?”

  “I needed a break from another round of gruesome family story hour.”

  “My dad has been good so far, so I’m sure he’s spoiling to bring up politics or religion, or some other forbidden subject.” Jami nudged the soft, sandy earth with her toe, and the hammock swayed faster.

  “I caught my mother biting her tongue over a morsel of snark from your stepmother.” Beck’s voice was filled with amusement.

  “Caitlynne specializes in cat fights. I hope your mother shreds her.”

  “Enough. Let’s not talk about them.”

  “Exactly. We’re trying to escape.” Jami fluttered her fingers through the fringe on the edge of the hammock. A pulse of expectation flashed through her body like a streak of moonlight glimmering on a forest pool.

  “Have you put your toes in the water tonight?” Beck stepped closer, but his face was still cloaked with shadows. “It’s almost like bathwater.”

  “Mmm...it’s too much trouble to move.”

  “Come on, lazy girl.” Beck took her by the hand and pulled her to a sitting position as she moaned in protest. “Take a walk with me, or else I’ll crash that hammock with you.”

  “It is wide enough for two.” The words slipped from between her lips before she could censor them, but she found herself casting an inviting smile at Beck and patting the empty space next to her. She held her breath.

  “Cozying up with the enemy. I wonder if that’s safe?” Beck didn’t sound at all worried.

  “You’ll learn no secrets from me. My lips are sealed.”

  Beck eased down next to her in one fluid movement, and the hammock creaked, but it swayed rhythmically without missing a beat. Beck’s arm curved around her shoulders and before she realized it, she was nestled against his chest.

  “Maybe those aren’t the types of mysteries I’m after.” He whispered the words in her ear, and her heart skipped a beat.

  “I’m a tough nut to crack.” Jami rolled to her side a fraction and traced her fingers along his bare torso, finding every ripple and sinewy muscle of his chest. He sucked in his breath.

  “I like challenges.” Beck smoothed a wayward strand of hair back from her forehead.

  “Is that what I am?” Jami tilted her head and was lost in the promise of the fullness of his lips.

  “We can’t have that, now, can we?” Beck’s mouth hovered next to hers as he slowly ran his tongue along his bottom lip. She held still as a statue and the night air hovered close, sultry. She arched her back, and her breasts rubbed his bare chest. Beck murmured her name, and they kissed.

  It was divine. She barely breathed as his lips pressed into hers. Warm. Inviting. Playful.

  “I’ve needed the feel of your mouth on mine. It’s been an eternity since this afternoon.”

  “Was it worth the wait?” Her voice was teasing.

  Beck brushed his fingertips along her bare arm, and she tingled with the fire dancing along her skin. She shivered.

  “It was, and it is.” Beck chuckled. “I think I’ve got your attention now.”

  Jami touched a finger to his mouth and traced its outline. Beck’s lips curved into a smile, and a tug of need built in her core. He was too damn kissable, so she licked her lips and claimed his mouth.

  Silky heat exploded between them. Beck’s mouth tempted and teased as Jami’s sensations swirled in a spiral of longing desire. His demanding lips. His caressing touch. He was all she wanted, all she needed.

  Beck whispered her name and nuzzled the tender spot behind her ear. Jami sighed as she clutched his hard, flexed bicep.

  Beck fiddled with the top button of her dress, but as it was poised to slip free, he paused and grinned wickedly at her. “Do you mind?”

  Her breath caught in her throat, and her breasts strained at the silky fabric of her bra. Dear god. There were way too many layers of clothing between them. “Please.”

  One by one, Beck freed each button. He placed a long, sultry kiss where each had been. As night air kissed her skin, Beck’s touch blazed a fiery trail down to the gentle dent of her navel.

  He curved his hand around a breast, and her nipple peaked instantly. Beck’s arousal pushed against her, and she arched her back.

  “You’ll have to hold very still.” Beck’s voice was low, with a hint of laughter. “Or we’ll flip right into the sand.”

  “I think you’re enjoying torturing me.” Jami stroked his cheekbone and jawline and delighted in the rough stubble rasping under her fingertips.

  “With my kisses?” He suckled the tips of her breasts through her bra, and sensation roar
ed through her. Beck slid a hand down her back and squeezed a handful of her cheek.

  “And your hands.” Jami let out a muffled moan, and Beck kissed her lips into silence. She held her breath as his hands drifted along her heated flesh. Electricity crackled between them, but she held ever so still.

  With his hand caressing her thigh, and his lips working their way from her collarbone down to the valley between her breasts, Jami’s eyes fluttered closed, and a tremor of wanting arrowed down her spine. Beck’s tongue teased her nipple to a taut peak, and he cupped her mound as he rubbed small, light circles.

  With a mind of their own, Jami’s hands stroked Beck’s erection through the thin fabric of his shorts. He nipped at her pebbled tip and spanked her hand away.

  “Bad girl. This is my show. No wiggling or moving or talking.” Beck hummed with satisfaction. “We can’t let anyone hear us.”

  There was a hint of laughter in Beck’s voice, but mostly, his passion and longing seeped into her consciousness. As Jami opened her mouth to protest, Beck moved the damp fabric of her panties and slid his fingers along her folds.

  She was all sensation and craving. She held ultrastill as if the merest sway would violate Beck’s terms of engagement. A breeze riffled past and cooled the exposed skin on her stomach and contrasted with the heat coiling at the apex of her thighs.

  Beck was slow and deliberate, and then heated and hard, and then back to achingly tender. He explored her curves and planes as if he had all the time in the world to discover every secret center of pleasure. His hands roamed her body like a wonderland of sensual delights.

  Beck brought her close to the edge but backed down. For Jami, the world dissolved and all that remained was the moment. His heat. His touch. Her battle to remain still despite his plundering of her body.

  “I want you, beautiful Jami.” Beck’s words were like luscious velvet caressing her soul. She whimpered with a faint mew as Beck rubbed his thumb across the bow of her lower lip. She pulled his thumb into her mouth and sucked.

  The surf rushed up on the sands, and through her half-slitted eyelids, the lights on the water danced and flickered. Crimson need blazed, and her sheath clenched. He licked a pointed nipple and stroked her satin folds and taut arousal. Jami cried out as intense waves pulsed through her core. Beck crushed his mouth into hers. His breathing was uneven, ragged.

  The hammock swayed, and the rope groaned on each arc until only the shurra-shurra chorus lingered in the night. Jami clung to Beck. His arms enveloped and held her tight to his chest. His heart pounded in rhythm with hers.

  The sound of voices approached. Jami froze, and Beck curled a hand protectively behind her head, cradling her close. The nighttime walkers laughed and walked past, oblivious to the lovers.

  Beck loosened his hold and brushed a curling tendril of hair from Jami’s cheek. She studied the outline of his cheekbones, but shadows concealed his expression. She sensed he smiled.

  A delirious lassitude sank into her bones. She could barely move. Wrapped in Beck’s embrace, she was protected and cherished.

  Jami wound an arm around the back of his neck and pulled his head to hers. She grazed her mouth along his and nestled into him. His erection strained against her. With a tender smile, Beck raised his head and eased his arm free.

  Jami started to speak, but Beck silenced her with a slow, deliberate kiss.

  “You’re so lovely.” He bent and nuzzled and sucked each of her breasts, and then carefully rebuttoned her shirt.

  Jami’s voice caught in her throat as her passion flared to life.

  In one fluid motion, he pivoted and stepped away from the hammock with one hand steadying her. A gust of wind rustled through the trees, and she was chill, bereft without Beck’s warm presence. He gave her a small salute and then he disappeared back into the night.

  Jami raised up and almost toppled down into the sand. She searched for Beck’s dark form strolling down the beach, but he was gone. She flopped back onto the canvas, and the hammock rocked wildly.

  What had just happened? She laid her hand flat on her belly as desire coursed through her veins. One moment, she’d been deliciously complete, and with one kiss from Beck, she’d been flushed with passion in a mere heartbeat. Jami stretched like a sinuous cat and heat burned her flesh wherever Beck had touched her.

  Beck had ravished her. Like a pirate claiming his treasure. Only he’d demanded her pleasure as his prize. It hadn’t been a race to orgasm like with so many of her other experiences. Beck had been totally absorbed with her sensations.

  Jami ran her hands along her hips and arched with contentment. She almost checked her head for a tiara, she felt like such a pampered princess.

  But why hadn’t Beck stayed? Had he just played her? He’d worked her into a frenzy and controlled her passions. Was this somehow part of his game to win the business deal?

  Her mind spun. Was he hoping she’d be so weak in the knees at the sight of him that she’d gladly withdraw the offer on the property?

  She rolled her eyes. That was about the stupidest thing she could imagine. Jami touched her mouth and knew that her lips were full and tender from the thorough kissing they’d received.

  Damn Beck Kavanagh. She’d let him get under her skin. Hell, under her skirt, too. She wriggled at the thought.

  Could it be as simple as lust? That must be what it was. She let out the breath she hadn’t even known she was holding. Well, passion she could control. She was a grown woman with needs, so there was no problem with that.

  Jami leaned over and snatched her sandals from the sand and slipped them on before she slithered to her feet, the hammock bouncing against the back of her knees.

  Lust was simple. But Beck had worshiped her like a goddess.

  A girl could get used to that.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  WITH A LITTLE shake, Jami spread out her towel on the lounge chair and settled down with a view of the Plumeria pool. She adjusted her sunglasses, grabbed a glossy magazine from her bag, and plunked it in her lap.

  The under sixteen set were playing games in the pool while Sam snoozed in the shade of a coconut palm, and Rob was typing away on his laptop. The kids called to her to join them, but she shook her head, pulled up her knees and turned the first page of the magazine.

  Jami had to admit it. Anna had outdone herself. The day had been a blast with conch races on the beach, and then a guess-the-scary-food contest that the teenagers had won. Unlikely as it seemed, the two families were coming together and having a blast.

  A blur of movement near the stairwell caught her eye. She turned and half-expected to see Beck, but it was only a dark-haired server bringing a fruit tray to Rob.

  Jami rubbed the back of her neck. She was obsessed.

  All day long, throughout all the games, she caught herself stealing glances at Beck. He’d smiled at her and even winked once, but he’d maintained his distance. They hadn’t been picked for any of the same teams, so she hadn’t been able to find a good reason to stand next to him, and somehow there was always tons of family chatting with him.

  She studied how he interacted with his nephews and their easy laughter. He seemed determined to avoid solo conversations with his mother, but he laughed comfortably with his own siblings. But, what really surprised her was the ease of his relationships with her brothers.

  Austin, Dillon, Kyle, and Beck had a constant stream of ready jokes and mild jibes to throw around. If she didn’t know better, she’d swear they’d been friends for years. Her brothers had fun with Rob, but they seemed to take Beck into their fold as one of their own.

  Jami didn’t know what to make of it. Had she been totally absorbed in winning over her father’s approval, and perhaps not really as engaged in actually winning the Anderton deal? Kyle was the only other one of the family working for her father, and he had such a laid-back attitude, that nothing seemed to faze him.

  Yet, here she was on an island paradise and stressing about a business deal. Austin had
been the smart one to run. He’d changed lines of work and moved to another state to avoid their father. Maybe she needed a change, too.

  Jami shook her head. No. She loved her real estate career, and she adored living in Barrett Ridge. The problem was her father. Or her need for his approval. What did she think was going to happen if she beat out Beck for the property? That her father was suddenly going to do a one-eighty and accept her for who she truly was.

  Jami choked on her drink. Where had that come from? Had she seriously been pining for acceptance?

  A fresh shout of laughter erupted from the swimming pool as Mae and Daphne took turns jumping from the pool’s edge into the middle of Emma and Clara doing underwater handstands in competition with Ryan and Carl.

  Mandy and Elaine strolled up the stairs from the lower pool level up to the Plumeria Pool with their ever-present half-full piña coladas. The pair exchanged greetings with Caitlynne and Fiona as they sauntered down the stairs. The two matriarchs looked thick as thieves. There must be some new devilment in the making. Jami looked down at her magazine. One minute those two looked ready for a death match and the next they were intimate chums. It was best to ignore them, if possible.

  The two Edwards sisters made a beeline for Jami and her empty table next to her.

  “What’s on the agenda for the rest of the day?” Mandy asked.

  “Anna’s given us the rest of the day off.” Jami tucked the magazine back in her bag.

  “She told me she’s got a massage and a mani-pedi this afternoon.” Elaine took off her straw hat and hung it on the corner of the chair back.

  “A little quiet time sounds ideal.” Jami wasn’t so sure she meant it. She’d much rather romp with Beck.

  “We’ve been on the go since arriving,” added Mandy.

  “I think Anna’s plan has worked.” Elaine played with the straw in her empty glass. “We all know each other a whole lot better than we did.”