All Hands Below (24 page)
He sighed, feeling guilty at the turn his thoughts were taking. For a man who knew what he wanted, lately it seemed he wasn’t so sure how to go about getting it. Leaning forward, he crossed his forearms on the counter and studied the tempting
it
in question.
His gaze ate up her face, and lingered on her soft lips, one side dimpling when she smiled over something a customer was saying to her. Dark, evergreen eyes, with amber irises that shimmered under a long fringe of toasty lashes, flicked him a teasing look that acknowledged his admiring stare.
He smiled at her, enjoying how her lips parted and her eyes widened as she stared back at him. All too soon the moment faded. She turned to answer her customer’s questions, and the loss of that connection deepened the confusion swirling in his thoughts.
Without a doubt, she had a face that could turn a man’s head, and the sensuous, fuck-me-please body of a…well, he had never seen Jacey naked.
Can we take it slow, Harry?
The bulge under his belt throbbed. He’d agreed to take it slow. It wasn’t an unreasonable request. Not when his no-holds-barred pursuit of her had resulted in a diamond engagement ring winking at him reassuringly on her finger, just two and a half months after they’d met.
He also traveled extensively as a diamond broker. While coming home to the hot welcome of her body was as yet a fantasy, his ring on her finger allowed him to rest easy from the threat of other males competing for her affection. Besides, her body wasn’t the only reason he’d fallen in love with her.
He admired her sense of pride in owning her own business—an indication she didn’t expect him to keep her entertained twenty-four seven. She stimulated him with lively conversation, shared on many levels—from local island economy to business trends, to food and wine. He also loved how her mind wasn’t fixated on shopping, fashion, or dieting.
Once…he’d exercised poor judgment with a woman and had learned a pricey lesson. Jacey had restored his faith in the opposite sex with her refreshing sweetness, her strong work ethic and sense of independence. He was also able to put that cluster-fuck with Brandi behind him.
After this week, he had no intention of being away from Jacey again. At least, not without bringing her with him. He was turning his travel obligations over to a senior manager. It was high time he and Jacey took their relationship to the next level. One that, he hoped wryly, included a bed. With her in it.
“Now, about dinner…” he began, after the redhead strolled out of the store, but not without a farewell wink at him.
“Harry, I’d love to, but I can’t afford to miss the afternoon wave of shoppers that come in about this time…”
Harry checked his mounting frustration. Progress. They were making progress. His ass had delighted in the clutch of her fingers, but he had promised to take it slow.
She’d recently confided that her grandmother, whose care she was responsible for, might not be coming home from the assisted care facility as soon as she’d like. Surely that was adding to her anxiety. The furrow between her brows now struck him as worrisome, and pulled him outside of his own wants and needs.
From what he’d gleaned of her phone conversation, she might be having money problems, too. He could certainly help with that, but would she let him?
She’d turned down every offer he’d put on the table so far, and it was driving him crazy. While money wouldn’t solve the intimacy issues between them, it would go a long way in giving her some peace of mind.
“Jacinta, it’s been over a week since we last saw each other, then I walk in here to a phone call that has you upset—”
She looked up from the cash drawer, alarmed. “How much of that call did you hear?”
“Enough. Who do you owe money to?”
“It’s not your concern—”
“
Mon
a
mour
, what affects you, affects me. If there is any way I can make life easier for you, I would like to know.”
“That’s so sweet of you, Harry, but no worries. I’ll be okay. I have enough in my savings to cover all those checks.”
“Honestly?”
She nodded, but would not look into his eyes.
“Then let me take you to dinner tonight. Please?”
“There is no one to mind the store if I leave early,” she said pensively.
He took a deep breath, and forged on. “I’ve offered to give you the capital to upgrade to a more upscale locale,” he reminded gently, “and to hire more staff. Your landlord is charging you top-dollar for retail space in the last rundown building left in downtown Honolulu, Jacey. I can even buy out your lease, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“I can’t let you do that. It’s important that I do this myself.”
His mouth thinned. Fed up with hearing the word “can’t” he asked, “Then I suppose letting me take care of you is out of the question?”
“Harry—”
“Let me guess…you can’t do that either.” He drummed his fingers on the sales counter and struggled to temper the ache blistering his insides.
He loved her. He was faithful to her. That nearly five months of his adult life had passed without sex was a testament to his willpower. And while his hunger for her racked his nerves, it stumped and aggravated him to know she didn’t even want his money. It made him burn even more hotly for her.
He looked at her, hoping his disappointment didn’t show. “Jacey, I would never interfere with your independence. I love that about you, I do. But, there are some things that a man wants do for his woman, things he can share, but you won’t let me. I find that disturbing. Among other things.”
He paused when the two remaining customers walked up to the counter with purchases in hand. Patiently, he waited for her to finish ringing them up.
“Are you talking about…sex?” Jacey asked when they were alone again.
“There is also that. I won’t deny that I’ve hoped,” he cleared his throat, “we could find a compromise. I haven’t been able to get our last date out of my mind.”
Harry swallowed now as his mind and body endured the memory of those moments in that booth, sliding his finger between her soft thighs and into her hot, wet body. He’d wanted to pleasure her. Wanted to give her something to remember him by—to accept something from him.
“You need me, Jacey,” he’d murmured in her ear. “Let me give you some release.”
He’d slicked his fingers up and down either side of her clit, covering them in her slippery essence so that his fingers might slide easily around her luscious bud.
Her tight canal juiced up with lust, and he’d laughed softly against her neck. “You’re a little cock fountain, darling. I can’t wait to be surrounded by you…”
Gently he pinned her clit between his thumb and forefinger, fondled the tiny, soaked treasure, and ate the moan that flew past her lips. “Shhh…half the valley will hear you.”
“Then
stop
…”
“I
can’t
. Not when your sweet pussy needs my fingers buried deep inside right now. Say yes…”
All she could do was nod.
He plunged one long finger into her tunnel, then two, kissing her mouth; savoring her tiny sounds of ecstasy meant for his ears alone.
He used his thumb to massage around her clit, but only giving the sensitive nub an occasional butterfly stroke to tantalize, to push her toward her climax.
“Harry…” she’d sighed above the sounds his fingers were making as he plunged them in and out of her pussy, “I’m about to—”
He’d kissed her mouth. She ground her hips to an erotic, sexy beat, “Come against my hand, beautiful,” he’d urged, then slipped a third finger inside her, stretching her dripping, tight walls further.
He knew the moment she fired. Her lashes lowered, her body arched and her hips undulated with sensual strokes.
He had loved every second.
He’d taken her shudders and sighs of release deep into that place in his heart, reserved only for her. When she found her breath, she looked up at him, her cheeks wild and pink.
“Don’t you
dare
be embarrassed.”
“But what about you? I can—”
“No.” He’d shaken his head. Having waited this long for her, a hand job just wasn’t going to cut it. “I can wait,” he’d assured her, not realizing back then, over a month ago, exactly how hard waiting for her was going to be…
The slender hand Jacey reached out and placed on his chest jogged Harry’s mind back to the present. To the warning every nerve in his highly aroused body raged at him to heed. It cautioned him to stay away from her. Told him that the touch of her fingers was dangerously close to sending him up in flames, and that his self-control was about to take a flying leap out the window.
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