Sweet but Sexy Boxed Set (10 page)

“
Really?” Mitchell looked interested. “You haven’t told me anything about yourself.”

Although true, Jackie didn
’t want to get into too many details about herself. “He’s younger than I am, still in college in Wisconsin.”

“
That’s where you’re from?”

“
Yes.”

“
Last night, you said you grew up by the water. I thought you meant the ocean, but now I’m guessing…Lake Superior?”

“
Uh-huh.” She knew she was being evasive, but what was the point of sharing anything too personal? He probably didn’t want to see her again after this weekend. She was good entertainment and company for his little weekend vacation. For that matter, she was having a fun weekend and some serious sizzle with him, but she knew she never planned to see him again after today. If he realized she had been lying to him all along anyway and actually was his employee, he would never want to see her again.

Mitchell took her hand and led her into the sunshine playing along the edge of the water. They both slipped off their shoes and put their feet in the warm salty water.

“Swim first or lunch first?” he asked.

“
I think there are rules about these things. Can’t swim until a half hour after eating.”

He laughed.
“I believe that’s an international law that even applies in Key West.”

Chapter Twelve

Mitchell didn’t know how long he slept, but the sun and shadows hadn’t moved very much. Maybe a half an hour. She was asleep next to him. Her long brown hair splayed out across the red blanket and his shoulder. The breeze stirred her hair and tickled him with it. Her blue eyes, usually so expressive, were closed. She looked relaxed, natural. Her body fit perfectly into the curves and hollows of his and he knew he could lay like this forever. He silently willed her not to wake up for a little while so he could enjoy it a little longer.

No woman has ever done this to me.
Not that there had been all that many. His wife had been desirable to him in a more conventional way. Their time in the bedroom was satisfying, but nothing like this. At least, he’d thought it was satisfying. His ex, Lisa, was going elsewhere for satisfaction. And he’d had no idea. She made a complete fool out of him for a long time. If it weren’t for Jimmy, it would have been longer.

He didn
’t want to think about that now. About how he refused to believe Jimmy and the first serious fight the two brothers ever had. Jimmy was right about Lisa all along, but no one wants to believe bad news. Maybe a little part of him knew already. Long before his little brother had to knock some sense into him. He never brought Lisa here, to his favorite place on the planet, to make love under these trees. Why had it seemed like the only place to go with Jackie? As he held her, watching her sleep, he realized he wanted to know a lot more about her.

Jackie
’s cell phone in her bag near their heads on the blanket chirped, and she opened her eyes with a look of alertness. Mitchell wanted to smash the phone. He had bought off her friends for the day because he wanted her all to herself.

No interruptions. He watched as Jackie rolled away from him and dug through her bag. He stroked her back as she read whatever message was on her phone.

“My friends,” she explained, rolling back toward him. “A text to say they’re having fun and thanks for the tickets.”

“
Are you planning to respond?” Mitchell asked.

Jackie grinned.
“I’ll text them so they’ll know you haven’t kidnapped me and headed for the equator.”

Mitchell didn
’t know whether to laugh or run back to one of his offices and hide. For one thing, he was afraid Jackie would notice the thanks her friends sent was addressed to her. She was a smart woman. She would know he lied about who sent those tickets if she thought about it very much.

The other thing clenching his gut was realizing how far he let down his guard. Any woman could be dangerous.

Especially if you opened your heart.

He never wanted to go through a legal meat grinder again like with his divorce. Everyone warned him, especially his chief financial officer, Hal, and even his free-spirited brother, Jimmy. Seems like everyone except him could see what Lisa saw in him. How the hell did you trust a woman after that?

Now, watching Jackie turn her phone off and slip it back into her bag, he saw nothing to gave him even the faintest alarm. No way could she be after a fortune she didn’t even know he had. As far as she knew, he owned a profitless Moped business and was happy with a car older than she was.

****

They ate sandwiches and drank the bottled iced tea someone had packed.
Mitchell must have some connections when it comes to rental cars and convenient lunches,
Jackie thought
.
When they finished, they sat on the blanket with Mitchell’s back against the tree and Jackie leaning against him between his legs. It was comfortable, with her back supported against his solid chest and her legs brushing the blanket. She closed her eyes. This was too good to be true.

It wasn
’t the weekend she planned with her girlfriends, but it was incredible. She pictured her friends out on the ocean on a sightseeing tour. Probably spotting dolphins and going shelling on private islands. Maybe even snorkeling. She smiled, thinking of Leah and Teri doing all those wonderful things, so far away from the gray walls of their life in Chicago.

“
You’re smiling again,” Mitchell said. His lips brushed her ear.

“
Can’t help myself,” she said.

“
I was hoping you’d like it here.”

“
Doesn’t everyone?” she asked, turning her head so their cheeks touched and she could see his expression.

“
I don’t know,” he said. “I’ve never brought anyone here before. Jimmy and I consider this our secret.”

Jackie held her breath. Couldn
’t speak. This was wonderful, but it was
awful
. Have fun on his dime? Fine. Get emotionally involved? No. But how was she supposed to pull it off when he treated her like this?

For his part, Mitchell didn
’t seem to be having any trouble drawing her into his arms and making her feel like this was more than just one weekend fling. Was it true what he said about never bringing anyone else here? She saw his face when he said it. If he was lying, he was a world-class liar. She also had to remember he was a businessman. Making deals and getting what he wanted out of people was a way of life for him. Although that certainly didn’t explain his relationship with Jimmy. Something about that had been making her wonder.

“
Jimmy said your dad owned a car like the one you rented today,” she said.

“
Uh-huh.”

“
He said ‘your dad’ like it wasn’t ‘his dad’ too,” she said.

“
A technicality,” Mitchell said.

Jackie waited for him to explain the technicality, but instead he opened his cell phone and glanced at it.

“Has the half hour passed yet?” he asked.

Jackie looked at him questioningly. He was bored with her already. He was about to check his messages. Her former boss and lover had gotten bored with her and traded her in. Even though this was just one weekend…it was going to hurt twice as much. Strangely, though, Mitchell
’s look was anything
but
bored as he tossed the phone aside and raised his eyebrows at her.

“
The official waiting period for swimming,” he explained.

“
Oh,” she said. She took a deep breath. “Race you to the water.”

Chapter Thirteen

It was late afternoon when they dropped the picnic basket and blanket into the trunk of the car. Jackie felt a sting of regret that the day was almost over. It was like watching a romantic scene on TV. It looked perfect, but you knew it wasn’t real and as soon as you clicked the switch, it disappeared. This day was like that. Because their romance was built entirely on not being real.

What if they could go back to last night and start over with the truth? She knew better. If Mitchell knew she worked for him, he wouldn
’t look twice. Especially since she was just a gray cog in the wheel of a part of the building he had never been in.

Playing the part of a woman of mystery who dances on cruise ships and has one-nighters (okay, one-weekenders) with handsome men was more work than she bargained for. And she ran out of desire to play the part just about the time she got in the rusty convertible with him. It was no fun to pretend she was someone she wasn
’t every time he looked at her, touched her, kissed her, and invited her to fall in love with him in a dozen other ways.

And now it was over.

Their day on the beach under the entwined palms was done. Her friends would be back at the hotel, washing off sunscreen and salt water in the shower. And probably waiting for her to come back so they could do what they were going to do in the first place. Celebrate together. Maybe Shelly would even come out of pre-honeymoon hiding. No more games, she would meet up with her friends and then try to get some sleep tonight.

They had a plane back to reality to catch in the morning.

****

Mitchell glanced over at Jackie as he drove back down the lane and realized with a jolt that her eyes were the exact blue of the bottle for which he and Jimmy had named the beach. Maybe she was too precious and beautiful to share with anyone else, too.

But the weekend was over. Tomorrow he would get on his corporate plane back to Chicago and read all the reports Hal had ready for him. He’d face a meeting of stockholders on Monday morning. But he wouldn’t be thinking about them.

Maybe it wasn
’t quite over. If he asked her to spend the evening with him, maybe even the night…would she? Was it smart to wade in any deeper than he was already? After less than twenty four hours, he already knew he was going to miss her smile, her laugh, her blue eyes looking at him the way they did, the incredible curves of her body and how it melted into his.

More time with her would make his flight to Chicago seem even lonelier.

“It’s not over,” he said out loud without even thinking.

Jackie tilted her face and smiled at him, a questioning look in her blue eyes.

“The day. Still a couple of hours of daylight left and you haven’t seen the best sight of all.”

“
Hard to believe,” she said with a little grin that nearly made him pull the car over right there and take her in his arms. “What have I missed?”

“
Sunset. Mallory Square. Right downtown near your hotel. Everyone goes and says goodbye to the day.”

Just thinking of saying goodbye made his chest tighten a little. He noticed his words were not lost on Jackie. What was she thinking? She gave him no indication she planned to continue their relationship beyond this weekend, had made no demands whatsoever on him. He knew her cruise ship left tomorrow.

Jackie didn’t say anything, but she looked like she was thinking about it.

“
I could drop you at your hotel so you could change, and then we could watch the sunset together,” he offered. He watched her face to gauge her reaction.

“
I know a nice restaurant where we could get a late dinner after the sunset,” he continued. He was afraid she was going to say no. He reached over and ran his fingers over the back of her neck and her bare shoulders. He hoped, if she was waffling at all, his touch might seal the deal.

“
I’ll need about a half an hour,” she said.

Mitchell let out a breath he hadn
’t even realized he was holding.

****

As expected, Teri and Leah were taking turns showering off the external effects of their day of sightseeing. Teri had already showered and was toweling off her wet hair. Leah was getting ready to head into the bathroom when Jackie let herself into their suite with her key.

“
You’re back!” said Teri. “Wait ‘til we tell you all the awesome things we did today. It was the best cruise.”

“
Can’t thank you enough,” said Leah, “But you’re going to have to let us pay you back for those tickets. They had to cost a fortune.”

“
Pay me back?” asked Jackie.

“
Well, yeah,” said Teri. “Your note said…”

“
My note?”

Leah and Teri both looked confused.
“It said you changed your mind and decided to spend the day with Mitchell and that’s why you sent us the tour tickets,” Teri said.

“
You also said you didn’t want us to feel guilty using them because you didn’t want to feel guilty about abandoning us for the day,” Leah added.

“
It did?”

“
Well, we’re paraphrasing a little I think. Blame it on the sun and booze,” Teri said.

“
And you believed that?”

Teri and Leah exchanged a glance.
“We did,” said Teri, “because you’re always nice like that. Now, however, I feel like a total idiot.”

Leah rolled her eyes.
“You didn’t send the tickets. Let me guess, they were from our illustrious boss.”

“
He lied to me,” Jackie fumed. “And basically forged a note from me to you. That creep! Total jackass.”

“
Man,” Teri said. “He must want you bad.”

“
What? You’re taking his side in this?”

“
Not his side, I mean, it was wrong to lie to all of us, but think of his motivation,” she paused and nodded her head slowly. “He wanted you all to himself.”

“
Was it worth it?” asked Leah.

“
Worth it?” Jackie wasn’t sure. Had it been a glorious day? Yes. Had she enjoyed seeing the island with Mitchell, swimming with him, having a romantic picnic lunch with him, having unrestrained passionate sex with him? Yes, yes, yes. Was it probably all a huge mistake? A definite yes.

Teri looked at Jackie seriously.
“Well,” she said slowly. “It’s over, right. Now we just skate through tonight, make a few more memories, and get out of here tomorrow.”

Jackie chewed on her lower lip.

“Uh, Jackie?” asked Leah. “Is it over?”

“
He’s picking me up in half an hour for sunset on Mallory Square and a late dinner.”

Teri nodded.
“You’re setting yourself up for heartbreak,” she said.

“
I know,” said Jackie. “But it’s too late to change my mind.”

“
Because you’re falling for him?”

“
Because he’ll be here in twenty-six minutes.”

“
He doesn’t know who you are,” Teri continued, “and now he’s really going to want to find out. When he does—”

“
I know,” said Jackie. “But, if I play it right,” she flashed a grin at her friends, “he’ll probably send you two free tickets to dinner and a show tonight.”

“
Hey,” said Leah. “I’d like to think I’m not cheap. But I can be bought if it’s for a good cause.”

“
Doing stuff for a good cause is what got us all into this,” said Teri. “Speaking of which, should we invite Shelly or just see her on the plane tomorrow?”

“
Plane,” Jackie and Leah said at the same time.