The Ties That Bond (2 page)

Then he turned and smiled, raising a hand. “Still okay?”

Rhonda felt an internal warmth swirl through her veins.
Wow.
Standing there, naked, not trying to hide himself at all, this man was most definitely going to be the featured attraction in her dreams tonight. He was gorgeous, but not in a cover-model way. More down to earth and more accessible. “Please, come on in. The water is wonderful.” She moved her legs so that he could get in easier.

He stepped down into the water, careful of her. “Oh, yeah,” he said as he slipped down into one of the molded seats directly across from her. “This is just what I need.”

“Rough week?” Rhonda liked to look at him. He had that sort of face, one you could commit to memory for later appraisal…in your dreams, maybe.

He sighed and relaxed back into the seat, leaning his head back. “It wasn’t too bad. Just seemed longer than usual.” He raised his head. “You?”

She chuckled. “Like you, it just seemed long. By the way, I’m Rhonda.”

“Oh, sorry. I’m Jack. I drive for the firm.” He leaned forward and offered a hand.

She took it, noticing how large it was compared to hers. “Nice to meet you. How long have you been with the firm? I haven’t seen you before.”

He leaned back again. “I’ve been around for about two years. Funny, I usually know everyone who comes up here. Why haven’t I met you before? I would have remembered someone as pretty as you.”

“Oh, my gosh, are you actually coming on to me already?”

“Would that be so bad? We are in a hot tub together, completely naked.” He raised both hands, the crooked smile on his face completely charming.

Rhonda laughed. “You are right. And no, it wouldn’t be a bad thing.” She narrowed her eyes. “Are you being serious, though? We don’t even know each other.”

“Well, what do you say we get to know each other? Since I’ve never seen you before, I’m assuming you drive yourself up to the compound. I’m the company driver, mostly ferrying people back and forth from the city to the compound and I’ve never had the opportunity to drive for you.” He settled back, locking his hands behind his head as if he was getting totally comfortable.

“I do drive up. I like the scenery. I enjoy driving.”

“So do I. What sort of car do you drive?”

“Camaro. Convertible.”

“New or…”

“New. Well, it’s almost a year old now. I tell you, I can’t get enough back-road time with that car.” She loved driving it, top down, hair flying in the breeze.

“Nice,” he said, nodding. “I love driving the company car. Those custom sedans are sleek and sleazy on the road.”

“Sleazy?”

He chuckled. “I don’t know. I just find a sedan to be sexy. The plush leather, the leg room, the smooth ride.”

“You know, I’ve often wondered why the firm doesn’t have a limo,” Rhonda mused, laying her head back.

“I don’t think they’re really out to try to impress people with their wealth. They’re more involved in intellect and strategy. Having the intelligence of the firm shine in the courtroom.”

She nodded, gazing at him through lowered lashes. “You do have something there.” She shifted, turning sideways so the jets could assault other needy parts of her body.

“So,” he said, sitting up in the bubbling water, “I’m assuming you’ve been involved in bonding camp before. Am I right?”

“Yes. How could you tell?”

He smiled. “You appear very comfortable here.”

Rhonda swished her hands in the water. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

Jack shrugged. “It’s just that most women aren’t as open as you when they first meet someone.”

“Open?” Rhonda frowned. “I don’t know if I understand where you’re going with this.”

His eyebrows rose. “Are you serious?” He flipped one hand in the water, splashing her. “I have never met a woman who is so unashamed to be naked in front of a total stranger until I met you. Most women would have scrambled for a towel or something, but you”—he reached for her hand beneath the water, capturing it—“look like you are in your most absolute natural state without a care in the world.” His thumb moved over the backs of her fingers, his gaze intensifying. “It’s very intoxicating.”

Something was happening between them. Rhonda could feel it. There was an attraction she felt toward him so strong her face grew hot with heat. She cleared her throat. “I guess it’s because I’ve always felt safe here.”

“Is this the only place you feel safe?”

Rhonda blinked, realization striking her right between the eyes. “As a matter of fact—yes. I mean there’s really no other place you’d catch me sitting in a hot tub, naked, where someone could walk in at any moment.”

The jets of the hot tub shut off, returning to the slow, murmuring bubble that signaled it was in standby mode. Jack still held her hand, lightly tracing her fingers with his thumb. He cocked his head, his gaze travelling over her features. “You’re nowhere near as free back in the real world as you are here. In the city, you’re efficient and proper. You’re serious about your life most of the time, but once in a while someone will catch you smiling a true smile.”

Rhonda felt almost hypnotized by his words. His tone was deep and mellow, easy to hear now that the hot tub wasn’t making so much noise. “You must have met me before. You’ve been to the offices, seen me there.”

He shook his head. “No. I’ve been to the office to pick someone up before, but I’ve never set foot in the building. I always call the person I’m picking up on their cell to tell them I’m downstairs.” He leaned back again, releasing her hand. “What do you do at the firm? It has to be something to do with organization or scheduling. I can picture you being good at that.” He tapped the side of his head with a fingertip, obviously thinking.

“If we’ve never met, how can you know so much about me?” She didn’t know whether to be impressed by his observations or worried that he’d been stalking her.

“I’m good at reading people,” he said, dropping his hand back into the water. “Body language, facial expressions…little things people do that give away what they’re really thinking.”

Rhonda crossed her arms. “So what am I thinking right now?”

He grinned. “You’re thinking that you are attracted to me, but you don’t know if you can trust me.”

Rhonda’s stomach tightened. She swallowed, trying to keep her expression from changing.

Jack stood, water trickling down his body in glimmering rivulets. “You’re thinking this may turn into a very interesting weekend, and you’re a little nervous about that.” He climbed out of the hot tub and reached for a towel.

Rhonda looked up at him, the sweet heat of sensuality coiling through her like a smoky haze as she watched him towel off then slip his swim trunks back on.

“You’re also wondering,” he continued, reaching for the towel she had placed on the chair for herself, “if it would be safe to let me get a little bit closer to you.” He shook out the towel and held it in one hand while offering her the other hand.

Like a woman in a trance, Rhonda rose up out of the water and placed her hand in his. He helped her step out onto the deck and gently wrapped the towel around her shoulders.

“You don’t need to worry,” he said from behind her, his lips so close to her ear the warmth of his breath caused her to shudder. “You’ll be safe with me.”

Jack had never met anyone like her.

“What do you say we go see if we can scrounge up a bite to eat?” he asked, helping her into her robe after she toweled off. They had just gotten out of the hot tub, and he had slipped on his swim trunks as soon as he could without looking like he was trying to hide something. It didn’t help. There was nothing that was going to hide his arousal. He couldn’t help that he had a hard-on, but even though they had just met under circumstances that were not quite normal—both of them being naked and all—he didn’t want to have her thinking all he wanted to do was fuck her.

Rhonda tied the sash of her robe and turned to face him, her liquid-brown eyes holding a curious expression. “What did you have in mind?” Then she smiled, the corners of her eyes crinkling.

Jack turned her, his arm around her shoulders steering her toward the exit. “I could go for just about anything right now. I’m starved.” His stomach took the opportunity to growl loudly.

Rhonda glanced up at him sharply. “It definitely sounds like you’re hungry,” she said.

“Sorry.” He pulled open the door to the outside and stepped back, allowing her to pass. “I haven’t eaten since lunch, and it’s what—almost ten?” He glanced up from looking at his watch. Wow. Time had sure gotten away from him while they were in that hot tub.

He joined her on the path that led to the main house. Dim lights, low to the ground, lit their way as they walked beneath the trees. The bugs and small creatures of the night skittered in the underbrush to the sides of the path. A branch cracked loudly to their right, causing Rhonda to jump and grab his arm tightly.

Instinctively he slid his arm around her waist and pulled her close. “Nothing is going to get you out here,” he said. “Not while I’m around.”

She giggled, a sound he didn’t expect from her, and slapped his chest lightly. “I’ll be fine. I’m just not used to the country. I’ve always been a city girl.” She looked up at him, her face shadowed but her eyes sparkling in the moonlight. “The only thing that scrambles around like that in the city are rats, and I don’t much like them either.”

They approached the front entrance of the main house, soft light shining from the windows invitingly.

“Well, let’s get you inside so nothing else can spook you. I’d hate to have a mouse scamper over your toes.”

“Mouse?” Rhonda squawked, shuffling her feet in a little dance. “You didn’t see one, did you?”

Jack threw his head back and laughed. “I can’t believe you’d be afraid of a tiny little mouse,” he said, opening the front door.

Rhonda rushed past him into the house then whirled around and jiggled one hand at him while clutching the lapels of her robe together with the other. “Shut the door!”

He closed the door and turned back to her, his stomach tightening. “I didn’t mean to scare you, Rhonda. Forgive me.” Damn. Had he ruined it between them so soon?

She blinked rapidly, still tightly holding her robe closed. “I just—I have a thing about mice.”

“But you don’t run from rats.”

She gave him one quick nod. “Right.”

“Can I ask why?” This was confusing.

“Well, mice are small.” She held up one hand, her thumb and forefinger an inch apart. “They can get into places. Places you wouldn’t think of. Small things are sneaky. You can’t trust them.”

“Okay.” He nodded, meeting her gaze levelly. Something must have gotten to her when she was young. Something had to have happened for her to have such a strong reaction to a mouse that neither one of them had even seen. “Come on,” he said softly. “Let’s go have a sandwich.” He held out his hand.

She took it tentatively. Looking up at him with a trembling smile, she winked. “Don’t mind me,” she said. “Some things just make me go off the deep end a bit.”

Jack only smiled and led her toward the kitchen. She was trying to find her strength again, covering up that little dip off the edge she’d just had. She had pulled herself back pretty quickly, but he would definitely like to know more about her because now, he felt the need to protect her. From what, he didn’t know, and he wasn’t even sure she would allow it.

Once they were in the kitchen, Rhonda jumped in to help him prepare a couple of turkey breast sandwiches. He watched her hands as she efficiently layered turkey, lettuce, and tomato on one slice of bread, then smothered the other slice with mayo.

“You’re pretty good at that,” he said, pouring them each a glass of lemonade from a pitcher he found in the fridge.

She smiled at him and started on a second sandwich. “I’ve got three younger brothers.” In the span of a few seconds she had the other sandwich built and both of them sliced into halves, corner to corner. “My brothers ate a lot. Are there any pickles in there?” She peered past him, looking into the fridge.

Jack couldn’t help himself. He caught her around the waist, and when she looked up surprised, he captured her mouth with his. Crushing her lips beneath his, he couldn’t believe how his body came to life. His heart rate felt like it had doubled, heat searing his insides and causing beads of sweat to well up on his skin. Jack groaned when she parted her lips and wrapped her arms around his neck.

He slid one hand lower, cupping the roundness of her ass and pressing her to him. She shifted, sucking at his tongue when he slipped it into the warm wetness of her mouth, and ground her hips against him.

His cock jerked, already thick with need, and he was thankful he only wore swim trunks or he’d be in pain.

The cool air from the open fridge door wafted against the heated skin of his back, adding a tingle down his spine to the surging sensations already running rampant through him.

She tasted of the mellow flavor of merlot and something else he wasn’t quite sure of. Her fingers clutched at his shoulders, as if she wanted to climb him like a tree.

Jack had to pull back. If he didn’t, he was going to take her right here on the kitchen table. He raised his head and drew in a much needed breath as soon as their lips parted. “Damn,” he said, gazing down into her heavy-lidded eyes. Her lips were kiss swollen. She parted them slightly as she struggled to catch her breath. Cheeks flushed from their lip-lock, it was still her liquid-brown eyes that sent molten lava straight to his heart. “I need to let go of you,” he said, his throat tight.