Sweet but Sexy Boxed Set (3 page)

Chapter Four

As he walked her home to the beat of the bands from the bars and the lapping of the waves on the beach, Mitchell couldn
’t take his eyes off Jackie. One look at her in the bar and he knew he had to touch her, even if it was only a brush of his hand across her shoulder. One touch, and he wanted to take her away from her lonely seat by the bar and see if the island magic would work for him.

A one night stand was all he was after. His trusted financial officer, Hal, had told him to have some fun. Relax a little. Have a fling. There were plenty of women in Key West who were ready to help him forget his problems and unwind. The dancing girl on the bar had probably helped more than a few guys forget their day jobs. Leaving with Jackie was different. She didn
’t need to dance on the bar to get one hundred percent of his attention.

Walking next to her now, her head just reaching his shoulder, Mitchell felt a little shock of surprise. He didn
’t want to rush her back to her hotel and file her away as a mindless, but incredible, fling.

He wanted something more.

He surprised himself. Since the great Lisa disaster, he had not wanted anything more from any woman than simple satisfaction. And then distance. But now…

He slowed his pace and looked carefully at Jackie. She didn
’t look dangerous. Unless you counted every sexy inch of skin and hair that could add up to trouble. But it might be worth it.

“
When do you leave?” he asked.

Jackie glanced up and he caught her expression in the teasing glow of a flickering streetlight. Her beauty made him catch his breath. Her upraised eyebrows, creamy white skin, and deep blue eyes were so close to him right now. He wanted to stop walking and claim her lips again before they got to her hotel.

Somehow, he knew once he deposited her at the door to the hotel room she said she was sharing with friends, the spell would be broken. There would be no glass slipper and no trail to follow. He had to know when she was leaving on her ship.

“
Leave?” she asked. Maybe it was the lamplight, but he saw confusion on her face.

“
Your cruise ship.”

“
Oh.”

“
You do have a schedule, don’t you?”

“
Of course.” She pushed her hair behind her ears. “I’m just a little flustered. We leave the day after tomorrow.”

“
Maybe it sounds crazy, but I don’t want this night to end,” he said, pulling her close and into the shadows of a southern oak.

****

Jackie tried telling herself it was physical, just a fling. She was vulnerable to temptation, on a sultry island, under the influence of several partially worn off margaritas. She tried telling herself she would forget about him, or remember him as just one awesome one night stand on a certain stretch of beach somewhere near the edge of the world.

Walking next to him on the way back to her hotel, though, everything felt right. And wrong. Her hand fit in his and she thought of how her cheek rested so easily in the hollow of his throat when he held her. It couldn
’t be that simple. Could it?

Loud music exploded just around the corner, but it felt like they were the only ones on the dark street.

“It doesn’t have to end,” she said. “I mean, not really. We could get a drink, maybe some coffee?”

“
Dancing?” he asked.

Jackie laughed and shook her head.
“I get plenty of that with my day job.”

Guilt gave her a little internal shake. Telling lies to a stranger in a bar didn
’t seem so wrong. Now, though, after what happened between them, it didn’t feel right to lie to him about her life.

“
Maybe you could tell me something about yourself over a drink,” she blurted out.

Mitchell backed her up against the trunk of the tree and kissed her on the mouth. It was almost primal, the way his powerful body pressed her against the unyielding tree.

“Maybe you already know everything you need to know about me,” he said.

Jackie trembled at the power of his kiss. She wanted more, and her emotions were giving her the green light. Unfortunately, a little voice inside her head that existed only to keep her out of trouble was starting to insist on being heard. It told her maybe she had taken enough risks for one night.

She playfully pushed Mitchell back just a little. “True,” she said, “looks like I know just about everything except maybe your Zodiac sign and the name of your first pet.”

“
Taurus,” he said quietly. “Rocky.”

Great. Taurus sounds stubborn and Rocky sounds just scary. Maybe
now
was a good time to head for the suite at the Hyatt where she hoped her girlfriends were sober and waiting up for her. Judging from their companions during the fireworks, it was a gamble whether she’d find anyone home when she got back to her hotel room. Still, it was a safer bet than letting herself wade in any deeper with this dangerously sexy man who had nicely tailored shirts, one of which was draped over her bare shoulders. She hated to think about giving it back.

“
It’s late. Maybe you should walk me home after all.”

Mitchell raked her with a searching look and toyed with a chunk of her hair. His dark green eyes looked almost black in the dim light and the set of his mouth suggested he had no intention of surrendering easily. With his powerful build and expensive clothes, Jackie guessed he was a man who usually got what he wanted. And what did this man of mystery want?

He answered her question with a single word.

“
Reluctantly,” he said.

****

Mitchell pushed the button for the
fourteenth floor and rode the elevator in silence with Jackie. It shattered the rules of one night stands, but he decided to see her to her door. Even if her door was on the upper floor of the Hyatt. He’d stayed at this hotel only once in his life. On his honeymoon. The mere thought of Lisa sucked the heat out of the tropical night with efficient cruelty.

How many women had used him for his money and his name? Lisa wasn
’t the only one, she had just gotten the farthest. And he was still paying for it. Was there any chance that Jackie…he glanced over at her. Ridiculous. She didn’t even know his last name, hadn’t asked. Besides, she looked almost shy standing next to him in the elevator. There was nothing calculating about her. But there was a good reason why he didn’t want to invest any more than he already had. He didn’t always see what was right in front of his face. A lesson learned the hard way.

They weren
’t alone. The other couple in the elevator pushed the button for the twelfth floor. Mitchell steeled himself and put on his business persona as he planned a smooth exit from this one-night stand. He would walk her to the door of her room, say goodbye, and leave. He’d go to his brother’s house as planned. This night would exist in his memory as a satisfying one-night stand. With fireworks.

It was simple. It happened all the time here in Key West. Just not to him. His emotions were usually firmly in check. He was always in charge. This was a trait that earned him a reputation as a ruthless machine in business, but it also kept him out of dangerous situations. Like beautiful temptresses he met in bars.

This had to end. Now.

He was here to clear his head and make some serious decisions about his Chicago office. He didn
’t need distractions with legs like hers.

The elevator dinged and the doors opened at the fourteenth floor. He put a hand at the small of Jackie
’s back and steered her down the hall. It was only fifty steps, forty steps, only thirty now.

She dug her keycard out of her small purse and paused before putting it in the slot. Neither one of them knew what to do. Kiss goodnight? Say goodbye?

Their eyes met and held.

“
Goodnight,” she said as she sliced her key through the slot, opened the door, and disappeared inside.

Mitchell stood there, looking at the closed door. She hadn
’t slammed it in his face. It was just closed. A done deal. He stared at the door for a full minute, wrestling with the temptation to knock on it, then he turned and walked slowly away.

Chapter Five

Quiet tapping on the door registered in Jackie’s mind before she even opened her eyes. It’s not like she was sleeping anyway. Leah and Teri had been practically unconscious on the two queen beds which came with the suite when Jackie got back last night. They had been thoughtful enough to pull out the sofa bed for her and leave out some pillows. She sunk gratefully onto the bed at first, but then determined around two a.m. that between the lumpy bed and thoughts of Mitchell, she wasn’t going to be getting much sleep. Now there was a faint light outside the drawn curtains. The tapping became more insistent.

She approached the door cautiously. She wore a sweatshirt over a knee-length nightgown. Not sexy, but her friends forgot to leave her a blanket. Besides, there was no one to impress. It wasn
’t going to be Mitchell coming back for more. For sure. If he wanted to see her again, he wouldn’t have walked away last night. That was the sum total and complete substance of all the rationalizing she had done instead of sleeping.

He didn
’t ask for her cell number. He didn’t ask the name of her phony cruise line employer. He didn’t ask much at all. The only thing he really knew about her was her first name. Jackie. She knew even less about him.

His first name? Mitchell. His job? No idea. His home? Well, he implied it was here in Key West, but it was still a mystery. No, she didn
’t know anything about him. Except he was a Taurus and his first pet’s name was Rocky. She wondered what Rocky was. A kitten? A dog? Hamster, perhaps? Maybe even a fish, but the material point was she would never find out.

Yep, he was a mystery and a complete unknown to her. Except for a few facts like how his eyes slowly roamed over her and didn
’t see an accountant who worked in a gray office. Except maybe how those dark eyes turned from fiery passion to tenderness. Except perhaps the exquisite way he touched her and made her feel like she was someone he had been waiting for his whole life. That was all. Not much to go on in the cold light of morning.

Having convinced herself it could not possibly be mystery-man Mitchell tapping on the door, Jackie risked a glance through the peephole. Her bride-to-be friend, Shelly, stood on the other side with a drink carrier and four large cups of coffee.

Jackie opened the door.

“
Good morning,” Shelly whispered as she slipped in with the coffees. “I just wanted to run by and see if you all are having a good time. I feel awful about abandoning you during my own bachelorette party, but I just couldn’t help it.”

“
It’s okay,” said Jackie. “Believe me, we’re all having fun anyway.” She gestured toward the sleeping bodies of her two roommates and grinned. “Too much fun. I’m glad you stopped by, but go on…take Denny his coffee and enjoy your early honeymoon. You deserve it. See you on the plane tomorrow.”

Shelly slipped back out of the door after leaving three coffees for her friends. Jackie took her coffee and curled up in the chair by the window. She brushed aside the curtain and looked out at the sparkling blue morning water. What a view. It looked like it was going to be a hot Saturday on the island. She had made some vague sightseeing plans for the day with Leah and Teri in addition to planning some serious sunbathing and lounging around.

She took a long slow drink of the hot coffee. She should have waited a few minutes so she wouldn’t burn her tongue, but it was too late now. Waiting a minute and thinking first last night might have kept her from getting burned, too, but she hadn’t even tried to resist. What made her feel so reckless all of a sudden?

Since her miserable breakup with her boss a year ago, she had erected a stone monument to foolishness around her heart. It was handy for keeping out intruders and reminding her how stupid she could be. Sleeping with the boss? Irresponsible. Thinking she was in love with him despite the warnings of coworkers? Stupid. Getting dumped for a newer and cuter employee? Agonizing.

Even moving to Chicago and getting a new job hadn’t made her forget. Duh. She was never going to be that brainless again.

Why had last night been different, then? Man, would her friends be surprised when she told them. If she told them. She knew she would. They
’d guess something was up as soon as they looked at her. Six months of close friendship in a small office left little room for secrets.

Jackie heard the bathroom door in the other half of the suite close and then the sound of running water gurgling through the pipes. Leah came through the bedroom door and headed straight for one of the coffee cups on the little table.

“Coffee fairy stopped by,” Jackie commented.

“
Shelly?”

“
Yep. She feels bad about leaving us on our own. Wanted to know if we were having fun.” Jackie couldn’t help grinning at Leah.

“
Are we?” Leah asked. She took a few cautious sips of coffee. “I think there’s a good chance my liver will regret this weekend.”

Jackie nodded thoughtfully.
“I think there’s a chance there might be room for some regret. Key West seems to make you…well, it’s not the eleventh floor accounting office, that’s for sure.”

Jackie turned on her laptop and sipped her coffee.

“You’re not working,” said Leah. It was a statement, not a question.

“
No. Just checking us in on our flights tomorrow.”

“
Ugh. Flying. Not sure my stomach will be up to that,” said Leah. “I had a little too much last night.”

“
I thought maybe,” said Jackie. “You can have half my coffee, too, if that’ll help.”

“
No, thanks. You probably need it. We gave up on you and went to bed about one thirty.”

Leah was giving Jackie the explain-yourself-for-my-entertainment look, but Jackie pretended to be very absorbed in her coffee and her laptop. There would be time later for the details, and she might as well wait until Teri was there, too.

She checked in herself and her friends for their Sunday morning flight. They had to get back to work on Monday, or tongues would wag about the whole accounting staff and their wild weekend. If they played their cards right, no one from work would ever know all four of them took off for a southern holiday. It would seem tough to get away with, but their company was famously uncommunicative floor-to-floor. It was like crossing an international border to get off the elevator on any floor other than your own.

When she finished with the airline webpage, she moved on to surfing her work email while she was on the hotel wireless anyway. Probably nothing important happened on Friday while they were all partying in Key West, but it might be a good idea to check.

“I think those frozen umbrella drinks must’ve gone to my head last night,” said Leah when she got a few sips of coffee down and started to look a little brighter. She sat on the edge of the sofa bed watching Jackie navigate their work website. “I tell you, I must have been seeing things last night. At one point I almost thought I saw you hanging out on the sand with our boss.”

Jackie
’s hands froze over the keyboard.

Time stopped.

She couldn’t breathe.