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“I don’t know if you would call it living - and nice try, changing the subject,” I answer in a smooth, low tone. “I sleep alone here.”
I take her beautiful face in my hands. I look down on her, eager to devour her. She has such sweetness, such trust in her eyes.
“Come with me and change that,” I whisper.
We walk just a few feet up the incline to my front door. I punch in codes so that we can enter without setting off grating alarms. Brynne turns around before stepping inside and looks out over the hillside, down to the ocean.
“Beautiful,” she says.
Chapter 14
Brynne
It is the height of summer, but I am aching for Jack to switch on his remote fireplace. The ceiling of his living room must climb as high as that of the Calypso’s parlor, which is easily two stories. I stand by the flagstone fireplace.
“Can we?” I ask. “Turn this on?”
“Anything you want, baby,” he says to me, high on lust and love.
He says things like that so cavalierly, which raises my hopes ever so slightly. But I know it’s not actually ‘anything I want’- not really. I accept that. I can’t save the inn.
And now that I have come to terms with the inevitable, I only have to focus on the here and now. My life will be much easier that way. I don’t have to get hung up on the past and worry about my next step. I can enjoy it right now.
I pinch myself. I am here in a home that is so luxurious it does not seem real. To add to the sense of the surreal, Jack is in a tux, looking like he stepped off the big screen. This is like being in the movies. With the one big exception being the inn, I do believehe would give me anything I wanted. I can’t imagine being that wealthy.
I catch a mottled reflection of myself in my powder blue slip dress. It’s me I am seeing, but it isn’t the “me” I know so well. It’s almost like I am looking at someone else all gussied up in a beautiful dress. I wish I were more comfortable and less judgmental with that kind of lifestyle. Maybe with Jack by my side, I could get used to it.
“Shall we play winter resort?” he asks me. “I can make us hot chocolate.”
“What?” I ask, slowly catching on. “Well, you do keep it pretty cool in here.”
“I think it looks like a ski lodge instead of a house,” he complains.
“A man with everything he wants isn’t as happy as a man with everything he needs,” I say, quoting something I read online.
“Ooh, I like that,” he says. “The invitation for hot chocolate stands.”
I turn to him. I know he’s waiting for my signal as to what happens next. He’s trying to be smooth and patient, looking to me for clues about where my head is.
“Do you have neighbors?” I ask, abandoning the cozy fire-toasted space of his living room. Sensual, steamy stills of what we’ve shared, embellished with my vivid imagination, play on a mental loop in my mind. This is what happens to me when we are so near one another.
I have the urge to strip my clothes off and lay beneath him. I spy a massive slider with a deck beyond it. It seems to be safe from prying eyes, but I must check it out to be sure. I explore without giving him a heads-up. He scampers after me like a puppy.
“Is this private?” I whisper, turning to him and stepping backward. I suggestively slide off one of my spaghetti straps as I sit on a bed-sized chaise.
“Private enough,” he smirks. “It’s dark. We can be quiet. I can’t promise how intrusive my neighbors’ technology is, but I’m up for risking it if you wanna.”
I lower the second strap of my dress. It has no zippers, hooks, or buttons. I literally drop it off of my body. The soft, warm Southern California night air caressing my skin makes me feel wanton. I long to be naked outside. I let the dress drop and lay back for Jack’s viewing pleasure.
“Goodness,” he murmurs. “I feel like a naughty boy at this moment.”
“Show me,” I purr.
I writhe against the ultrasoft pseudo suede of the chaise cushion. The moonlight shimmers on my skin. Jack stands back, looking like a spy in his dinner clothes. He sheds his tuxedo shirt, revealing his chiseled torso.
Jack personifies masculinity. Powerfully built, heart-stopping sexy, with near-perfect physical proportions. And don’t forget the chest hair. He makes my breath hitch.
He is pinning me with those steely, knowing eyes as he steps out of the last of his clothes. We are both naked in the night air. As he moves towards me, I shiver with anticipation - he is close enough for me to reach.
