Jack & Jilted (20 page)

He led her to the bed. She leaned forward and took his cock into her mouth, savoring its textures. A guttural moan of pleasure ripped from him as she sucked gently, cupping his balls with her hand. She tickled the tip of his cock with her tongue, feeling it pulse beneath her. Then he pulled her up.

“You’ll have me going too fast,” he said in a choked voice. “I want to be inside you.”

She watched as he got out a condom and put it on with shaking hands. The sight of it, the memory, caused her mood to darken a little. Of course, he was being careful, and she was grateful. But it did bring back everything she was trying not to think about now.

He reached for her, then paused, studying her face. “I lost you there for a minute.”

“No,” she demurred, but he was right. She was quite firmly in her logical mind at this point, rather than concentrating on what she was feeling.

“Allow me,” he said, then nudged her onto her back. She giggled as he kissed the undersides of her breasts, then traced a ticklish pattern down to her belly button with his tongue. When he inched lower, she started to gasp. He put one finger inside her, gently, then used his tongue to work on her clit with sure, swift motions. Soon, all thought vanished, blown away by the sheer onslaught of physical sensation. By the time he sat up, there was a small, smug grin on his face, and she was begging for him, her body writhing for completion.

He turned her over, surprising her, then eased himself in, his hand reaching forward to manipulate her now-moist clit. She’d never gotten much out of the position before, the rare times she’d tried it, but now she arched up, holding the headboard. He glided inside her, circling his hips slightly, moving as surely as he had moments ago with his tongue. The position made him go deeper within her, and the pressure started to build.

“Oh,” she moaned, bracing herself and pressing backward as he pushed forward, the heat of him warming her, the strength of him lifting her. Amazingly she felt orgasm blooming. He reached with the other hand, cupping her breast almost roughly, and her body shivered in delicious response. “Ooooh—”

“That’s it, baby. Move with me,” he muttered around uneven breaths. He started to move faster, a bit harder, and she was throwing herself against him, spreading her legs to take him as far in as she possibly could. The slick pressure of him, the intensity of his fingers moving her clit, the feel of his cock pressing her spot was the perfect storm. She screamed as the orgasm shot through her, almost passing out from the force of it.

“Chloe!” He shuddered and lifted her with the force of his thrust. Clutching both arms around her waist, just below her breasts, it was as if he couldn’t bear to be parted from her. The two of them collapsed against the bed.

She felt spent. She felt wonderful. He was incredible, and she couldn’t believe that she was lucky enough to have found him, even under the circumstances. He withdrew and she just lay there, basking in the feeling. When he’d cleaned up and returned to her side, she snuggled against him, kissing his chest.

“I love you, Jack,” she said. “I could stay like this forever. Thank you.”

He didn’t say anything, and she finally looked over at him. He smiled at her, though she could’ve sworn she saw something, a pained expression cross his face.

She put her head against his shoulder. He loved her. He wanted her. She knew all those things to be fact. And if it came down to it, he’d keep her with him. He was committed.

But something was still wrong.

THEY WERE WELL ON their way to San Diego. Out on the open ocean, the weather was pristine and beautiful. It should have been a pleasure—this was Jack’s favorite kind of sailing, especially since there were no guests to attend to. Yet he couldn’t help but feel a little cabin fever.

They weren’t going to find out definitively if Chloe was pregnant or not until they got back to the mainland; apparently, you couldn’t take the test the next day. The anticipation was beginning to wear him down. In the meantime, they talked about everything but the possible results. And “everything” included the partnership between the two of them regarding the Rascal, a subject that would have been difficult even if they didn’t have this new added pressure bringing more significance to it. At the moment, he was standing up in the steering compartment, following the navigator and paying attention to the ship. It was as close to calm as he was going to get.

Chloe was so quiet walking up to him he actually jumped when she put her arms around his waist. “Good morning, you,” she said, pressing a small kiss against his back.

“Hey, there.” He shook himself mentally. He was getting far too wound up. She needed him to be strong, so he was being strong. He wouldn’t dump his petty worries about all of this on her. After all, he wasn’t going to be pregnant and possibly unemployed if all of this went kablooey.

“Are you going to be driving all morning?” she asked, her voice still light and happy.

“For another hour or two,” he said, knowing that if he spent any longer, she’d know he was dodging her. “Then Jose will take over. Why? Did you want me for something?”

She hugged him again, and he felt guilt pile-drive him into the floor. “Nah. I’ve been thinking about marketing, that’s all. Also, I wanted to run some invoice automation by you—the handwritten ones you’ve got could use work, and I think it’d make the process easier.”

Jack frowned. “I don’t have a computer.”

“I thought we’d talk about that, too.”

He grimaced. “How much is that going to cost me?”

“Well, it depends,” she said. “And if I’m going to go in on this…well, if I’m a partner, maybe I could pay for it.”

He bit back a sigh. “Let’s talk about it,” he agreed.

“Okay, I’ll be sunning myself on the front deck.”

He turned to see her smiling at him, looking like sunshine itself. He leaned forward and kissed her, marveling at the quickness of her response—the full sincerity and love he always felt when he kissed her. After a long moment, she broke off the kiss, her cheeks rosy, her eyes glowing.

“Don’t be too long,” she said with a wink. “Maybe we can fit in another kind of meeting.”

His smile wasn’t forced this time. “Count on it.”

He watched her leave, then turned back to the steering wheel. Sex was the one uncomplicated thing in their relationship, in a way. He knew that they were phenomenal together and that it was the one place he was virtually guaranteed to make her happy and not screw up. Suddenly he remembered the condom incident, the thing that had forced all of this to a boil.

So it was almost the one place he didn’t screw up. It was the one time he made up for everything else.

Jose walked in. “Hey, have you seen Chloe’s bikini? Yow!”

Jack glared at him.

“Oops. Sorry. But, hey, your woman’s hot,” Jose said with a chuckle. “It’s not like that’s a secret.”

Your woman. Jose and Ace had responded to Chloe’s open status as his lover with aplomb. They liked Chloe and thought she was good for both Jack and the business. “Is something up?”

“I figured you’d enjoy the bikini rather than being stuck up here all day,” Jose said. “The engine’s going fine, although that pump will probably need some repairs. And we’re going to want a tune-up pretty soon.”

More expenses, Jack thought, nodding. “We’ll get it taken care of as soon as we get a break. Anything else?”

“Nothing that can’t wait,” Jose said. “Go ahead. Have some fun.”

“I think I’ll keep driving for a while,” Jack said.

Now Jose’s eyes narrowed. “Uh-oh.”

“Uh-oh, what?”

“Uh-oh…tell me you’re not thinking of cutting bait with Chloe.”

Jack gripped the steering wheel tighter. “It’s not like that.” He let out a deep breath. “It’s…complicated.”

Jose crossed his arms. “Really.”

He couldn’t tell Jose about the pregnancy stuff—sure, they’d been friends for years, but some things were just too personal. “I’m thinking of bringing Chloe on board as a partner,” he said instead.

Jose frowned. “I thought you were hiring her as a marketing person.”

“Well, yeah. Like that,” Jack said.

“That’s different than partner, don’t you think?”

Now Jack frowned. “Actually, you’re right.” And that might’ve been part of the problem he was having with her.

“If you were going to have someone co-own the boat,” Jose pointed out, “I’ve been with the Rascal for three years—and I’ve worked with you on different crews for longer than that. She’s been here for—what—just over a month?”

Now guilt revisited Jack in spades. “I told you it was complicated.”

“No wonder you’re looking like you’ve got demons running after you,” Jose said. “I wouldn’t have pegged her to be someone power-hungry, honestly. Is she pressuring you into this?”

“No.” He closed his eyes. Though he wasn’t doing this entirely out of his own free will, either. “Not exactly.”

“Damn.” Jose shook his head. “This isn’t good, pal. No wonder you’re thinking of breaking it off.”

“I’m not thinking of breaking it off,” Jack repeated vehemently.

Jose quietly studied Jack for a minute. “I’ve never seen you like this with a woman ever, man. What’s different about this one?”

What was different about Chloe?

“She’s smart and funny and she genuinely gives a damn,” Jack said slowly. “She cares about things. And people. She just wants to help. She’s giving and generous and sweet.”

“You mean, you’d take her on as a partner because you feel badly for her?”

“No,” Jack growled. “I’d take her on as a partner because I’m in love with her.”

That remark fell like an anchor. Jose whistled slowly.

“Wow. She is different.”

“Tell me about it.” Jack rubbed his hand over his face.

“That’s an even better reason for why you look like you want to run,” Jose said with a trace of amusement in his voice. “You take her on as a partner…that’s like marriage.”

“I know.”

“After a month? Aren’t you rushing it a little?”

“Maybe. Hell, probably.” Jack felt like chewing on nails. “Here, take over the wheel. The way my head is this morning, I’ll probably steer us to goddamn Fiji.”

Jose took the wheel and clicked it on autopilot, then turned back to Jack. “You sure you don’t want to think about all this, boss?”

“I have been thinking about it. I am thinking about it,” Jack said wearily.

“What’s she saying?”

“She seems to have no doubts whatsoever,” Jack replied. “It’s unnerving. She’s so happy and certain, and it makes me feel like…”

“A piece of crap for not feeling the same way.” Jose nodded sagely. “Man, if you don’t tell her, it’s going to come out later and it’s going to be ugly. I know you. You mean well, but if you bottle stuff up, you snap.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Jack said drily. “But I think I know what I’m doing.”

Jose shook his head. “Whatever you say, Jack.”

He was still mulling Jose’s comments as he walked to the front deck. The sight of Chloe momentarily knocked all thoughts from his head.

She was wearing a bikini, all right.

She turned, looking like a cover model, miles of tanned skin stretching luxuriously over a white towel. There wasn’t much to the midnight-blue suit, just a few strategically placed triangles of iridescent material. She smiled when she saw his expression. “Do you like it? I got it in Oahu.”

He nodded, unable to speak.

“Come on down here,” she said, patting the towel in front of her. “Enjoy the sun.”

He stripped off his shirt and stretched out next to her. The sun heated him up in seconds. “This is nice,” he said, still unable to tear his gaze from her body.

“Thanks,” she said, grinning. “I would’ve never thought of this as work before. Thanks for introducing me to all of this, too.”

He didn’t want to pay attention to that, so he leaned forward and kissed her neck, enjoying her shiver of response.

“Not going to be a lot of time to sunbathe later on,” she said with a reluctant sigh.

“Oh?”

“Two cruises booked back-to-back,” she said. “I know it’s a heavy schedule, but they went for the higher price. I figured we could use the money.”

Jack frowned. “Well, we’re going to have to cancel one of them,” he said, remembering his conversation with Jose.

She sat up. “Why?”

“Engine needs a tune-up,” he said. “And that pump’s dodgy after the storm. I’m all for business, but not if we sink for it.”

She bit her lip. “Damn.”

For whatever reason—Jose’s conversation, his general feelings of frustration—Jack took offense to that. “Listen, I know you’ve been great for business, but maybe you should be clearing more things with me before you book them.”

She looked at him, startled, as if he’d just slapped her. “I was, generally. But you said you trusted me.”

“I do, but you don’t know about boats,” he said. “There’s more to running a cruise yacht than just answering the phone and plunking people in the calendar, you know.”

She squinted at him. “I know that….”

“And after the storm, we really need to give the boat a checkup. Make sure the equipment’s okay,” he explained. He realized his voice was angry, and he struggled to keep it under control. “You don’t know stuff like that.”

“Well, I won’t unless you tell me,” she said, her voice tart.

“I am telling you!”

She stood up. “What is wrong with you? Why are you so mad at me?”

“I’m not mad at you!” he yelled. “I just…I think that you’re great at sales and at administrative stuff and marketing. And I know you’ve enjoyed living on the Rascal. But it’s not like this is one big floating holiday. This is serious. This is my life!”

Bam. There was the crux of it.

“Do you think I don’t take this seriously?” she said, her voice incredulous. “That just because I don’t know how to fix a bilge pump or steer the boat I’m not fit to be a sailor or, more importantly, a partner? That I’m a pretty damned good secretary, but that’s about it?”

“I didn’t say that,” he snapped, knowing she was projecting.

“You haven’t said anything!” She grabbed her towel, stalking past him. He got up and followed her. “I thought everything was fine…no, I knew something was wrong, but you were putting on such a brave face. I can’t believe you’re letting this out now. It’s obviously been bothering you. When would you have told me, Jack? When we were signing paperwork to share ownership? When we were writing up business contracts? Or, worse, after we’d signed?”

“Damn it, Chloe…” He chased her toward the cabins.

She spun on him. “You once called Gerald a coward for not facing me. But what do you think you’re doing?”

“That’s not the same thing at all and you know it!”

She walked to her cabin. “You keep telling yourself that,” she spat out, then slammed the door on him.

He let out a yowl of frustration then went back to the dock, ignoring Ace’s curious face peering out from his cabin.

Jack went up to steering. Jose looked at him, cracking a grin.

“What did I tell—”

“Not one word, Jose,” Jack warned. “Not. One. Word.”

LATER THAT NIGHT CHLOE was still reeling from her spat with Jack. Her instincts had been telling her, despite their Ozzie-and-Harriet domesticity, that something was wrong. That Jack wasn’t quite as thrilled with the situation as she was. And she hadn’t meant to barge in on him with the partnership.

She frowned. Had she?

Ever since her canceled wedding, her life seemed to have been spent on a roller coaster. She’d been reacting to frequent twists and turns, it seemed. She didn’t have a job, Jack needed help, she loved her time on the Rascal, both for itself and for Jack. So it had seemed a natural progression to get a job on the ship—and then maybe making it more than just a job, if at all possible.

Then she’d fallen in love with Jack and things quickly spiraled out of control.

Maybe she should have known better. She paced the narrow confines of her cabin. She wasn’t the type to fall in love quickly and she wasn’t the type to act rashly. In fact, she was genetically predisposed to acting slowly and with lots of careful consideration. No wonder her parents and family members thought she’d blown a gasket. She wasn’t acting like herself.

Why is that?

She didn’t know. She rubbed at her temples with her fingertips. She honestly didn’t know, although she suspected it had a lot to do with Jack.