Red Tide (Siren Publishing Classic) (11 page)

His eyes captured hers. “That would be wonderful. Any suggestions?”

“Well, there’s a Bennigan’s just down the street. It’s still early enough that they’ll be open.”

He nodded. “Would you like me to drive?”

Jenna stood up and he saw her trying to decide if she was steady on her feet or not. If he had her trust, she would take him up on his offer. She looked at him, brushing a strand of hair away from her face. “I’d like that, John. Thank you.”

They walked out to John’s car. He watched Jenna’s eyes as she appraised the car and knew his standing just went up a few notches in her mind.

“Is this yours?” she asked.

He opened the door for her. “Lock, stock, and barrel. My Christmas present to myself.” He grinned.

She laughed as she slid into the cream-colored leather passenger seat. “How did you fit it in the stocking?”

Genuine laughter overcame John as he held the door for her. She was funny.
Maybe this won’t be a one-nighter after all.

It was a five-minute drive to the restaurant. They got a secluded corner booth, and once the waitress took their drink order, they resumed their conversation. John took her hand in his and gazed into her eyes once more.

“So, why did you get divorced?” he ventured.

Jenna’s eyes saddened. “It just didn’t work out. He’s a workaholic, and I didn’t like coming second to his business all the time.”

“What does he do?”

“He’s a lawyer.” She spat out the words like bitter medicine. “Needless to say, he came out great in the divorce.” She pulled herself out of her musings. “What about you? I don’t see a ring on your hand.”

John believed he honestly liked her smile. “I’m married, but we’ve been separated for several years.” He knew it was a gambit to make that confession to her, but he also knew it would either win her over or drive her away. He was willing to take the risk.

Jenna’s eyes narrowed. “Why haven’t you divorced yet?”

He shrugged. “It was my fault, I’ll admit it. I started to have an affair and she found out. I figure that when she’s ready to put the screws to me, she will,” he added with a wry grin.

Her face broke out in a smile. “You were a bad boy, huh?” She was borderline drunk.

He nodded. “Yes, I was. I haven’t had the need to be divorced, so I never bothered to.” He took another risk. “Never found someone worth going through it for.” He studied her eyes closely. As he expected, they widened a little as another smile caressed her lips.

“Still looking for someone?” she asked.

He nodded again as he took a sip of his drink. “Yep.”

They ordered dinner and sat and talked until closing time. Outside in the parking lot, as he opened the car door for her again, he said, “Will you be able to drive home all right?”

She leaned against the open door and smiled. “How about you drive me home?”

Bingo
.

He let his hand cover hers across the top of the door. “Where do you live?”

She turned her green gaze on him. “I was thinking maybe you could drive me to your place.” She waited for his reaction.

He smiled. “How do you know you can trust me? You just met me.”

Jenna threw her head back and laughed, the breeze catching her hair and blowing it out behind her. Her eyes twinkled. “So, what, you’re saying you’re another Ted Bundy or something?”

He chuckled. “Oh, I haven’t killed anyone in two, three days at least.”

This sent her off into gales of hysterical laughter. When she could speak again, she rested her arm next to his on the top of the door. Her voice sounded husky as she muttered, “Oh, something just tells me I can trust you.”

He caressed her cheek and watched her close her eyes and lean into his hand. John knew she was vulnerable, starved for affection and attention, and at least a little bit drunk.

The perfect combination.

“Then let’s go,” he replied. He got into the car and drove east on International Drive.

“So, your office is in Tampa?” she asked.

He nodded, his eyes on the road, trying not to miss the turnoff to the condo. “I also have a house there, but I prefer it over here. The drive isn’t too bad. When I have to be in early, I stay over there.”

She glanced out the window at the passing scenery. When she spoke, her voice had taken on a serious, cautious tone. “You want to know something? I’ve never done anything like this before.” She drifted into silence.

John chose his words carefully. “What’s that?”

She shrugged. “Meet a stranger in a bar and then go home with him.”

“If you aren’t comfortable, I can take you home or back to your car.”

“Oh, no,” she interrupted. “That’s not what I meant. It’s just that I feel… I don’t know, liberated now.” Jenna laughed, a harsh, bitter sound so unlike her previous ones. “I guess going through the wringer’ll do that to you. When you walk through fire, you either come out tempered and stronger or charbroiled, and I got stronger.”

He had to smile at that. It was the truth.

They pulled into his parking lot ten minutes later, and he offered her his arm as he led the way upstairs. When he opened the door, he quickly scanned the room to see if anything needed his attention. The condo was exactly as he’d last left it weeks earlier—immaculate.

John ushered her in and offered her a drink. He spent little time at the condo, but he made sure he kept it well-stocked for just such an occasion. Jenna perched on a stool at the counter while he fixed her a weak rum and Coke. He made another for himself and carried both of them, motioning for her to follow him into the living room.

She slowed as she walked by a tall, glass-fronted bookcase. “My, you’ve got a selection of books, John.” He watched her as she examined the titles. “Stephen King, Faulkner, Hemingway, Dos Passos.” She turned to look at him. “Quite an interesting collection.”

He offered up a small smile from where he sat at the end of the cream-colored leather couch. “I’ve been told I’m an interesting man.” He made sure he kept all hint of arrogance out of his voice as he said it.

John followed her gaze around the condo. He preferred light colors, whites, creams. He didn’t go in for knickknacks, but he did have pictures on the walls from past trips. And it was immaculate, not a speck of dust anywhere. When he was gone for long periods of time, he had a cleaning service come in twice weekly to make sure it stayed that way. One of the first things he’d done after purchasing the place was to have a special filter installed in the air conditioner that removed almost all of the dust from the air. Some might have called the place sterile since it didn’t have a homey feel to it, but he preferred it that way.

Ordered, neat, controlled.

He handed Jenna her drink after she sat down next to him on the sofa. “So, what do you think?” he asked.

She nodded. “You have a beautiful place here. Who says bachelors are slobs?” She grinned.

He laughed again. She really did have a good sense of humor. He was glad the need had disappeared for the night. He wanted to see her again.

He set his glass on a coaster on the coffee table and let his arm drape across the back of the sofa. His fingers traced gentle shapes on her arm, and she closed her eyes and sighed. “If I tell you something will you promise not to laugh?”

John let his fingers caress her. “Sure.”

“You’re the first man I’ve been with since my divorce.” Jenna opened her eyes to gauge his reaction.

“How long has it been?”

“Six months. We were married, if you want to call it that, for five years.”

He smiled. “Then you have a lot of time to make up.”

That brought a smile to her face. “I guess I do.”

He leaned over and brushed his lips against her cheek before pulling away to watch her. He held her eyes with his. “What do you want me to do?” he whispered.

A shiver of pleasure ran through her body. He took the glass from her hand and set it on a coaster next to his drink. He let his free hand rest motionless on her knee.

“Make love to me.” She leaned forward to kiss him.

* * * *

Dawn was creeping into the central Florida sky when Jenna drifted to sleep in John’s arms. He reached over to the bedside table with his free hand, picked up his cell phone, and called the office to leave a message for his secretary. He told her he wouldn’t be in that day.

Jenna had been magnificent, a voracious lover once he had her undressed and found her secret passions. He revised his earlier opinion of her. She proved more complex and had more to offer than he first thought. He wouldn’t be bored with her after only one or two trysts, and decided to keep her around indefinitely.

Or, at least until he had discovered all she had to offer.

His cell phone rang, pulling him from his reverie. Jenna.

He turned down the radio and answered. “Hello, sweetheart.”

“Hey, I’ve had a change of plans, if you’re interested in getting together.”

He smiled.
Well, a fuck would be almost as good as a hunt.
“Sure. What’s up?”

“Kelly just called me. She got in a fender bender.”

“Oh, no. Is she okay?”

“Yeah, but needless to say, she doesn’t feel like going out now.”

He felt his smile widen. “I’m just out grabbing a few things. Why don’t you meet me in an hour at my place.”

“Oh, good. I’ll see you then.”

“Looking forward to it, sweetheart.” He ended the call and ran through a list of nearby stores in his mind to stop at.
At least I won’t strike out tonight.

Jenna showed up on time, and it didn’t take long before they were in bed and making love. Shortly before dawn the next morning, she cuddled closer to him, a smile caressing her lips. “I’m glad this is my day off,” she sleepily murmured.

John patted her on the arm. “Why don’t we grab a little sleep? When you feel up to it, I’ll take you out to breakfast.”

Jenna sighed. “I’d like that very much.”

He closed his eyes and sank into murky darkness, his need in hibernation for the moment.

Mitch awoke on the couch around four the next morning. The awkward position she slept in left her neck stiff and sore. On TV, an ad for a psychic hotline blared. Mitch stared at the screen for a moment, disorientated, before she realized where she was. She sat up and groaned. Pete looked up from where he was curled on the floor next to the couch. She remembered snuggling up next to Ed and then…

He was gone. The sadness she felt surprised her.

After covering Margarita’s cage, Mitch made her way to the bathroom. She studied her face in the mirror.

What does Ed see?

She shook her head and brushed the fuzzy taste out of her mouth before collapsing on her bed. Pete padded in and took up sentry position on the floor next to her. Mitch managed to drift back to sleep despite her sore neck.

The alarm startled her at six. Mitch swore and blindly swatted at the snooze button, her flailing fingers cutting the alarm off in mid-buzz. She felt around for the off button and rolled over. Outside, the sun lightened the eastern horizon to a grey glow over the tops of the cypress trees. She closed her eyes and thought of Ron’s words about Ed.

Yes, he’s handsome. Yes, we get along well. But is it worth risking not only our friendship, but our business as well?

Mitch managed to sleep again, finally waking for good a little before nine, with her head throbbing from oversleeping. She groaned and after uncovering Margarita, headed for the kitchen to start a pot of coffee. She saw the message light blinking on the answering machine on the counter. She hit play.

Two TV stations, a reporter from the
Tribune
and one from the
Times
, and three legitimate customers wanting to charter for the weekend. She wrote down their names and numbers. Then she let Pete out and retrieved her morning paper. Back upstairs, she read the paper over a cup of coffee and bowl of cereal. When the phone rang, she picked it up without thinking.

“Hello?”

“Did you sleep well?” It was Ed.

She sighed. “I have a kink in my neck, and a throbbing headache, but other than that, I’m fine.”

“Any plans for the day?”

She swallowed a mouthful of cereal. “Not really. I’m going to try to get in touch with John about the divorce filing. If I can track him down,” she added.

“I’ll be over at the boat in a couple of hours. I’m going to try to get some chores caught up here.”

“Okay. Then I’ll see you later.”

Mitch stared at the phone for a moment after she hung up. Ron’s words still echoed in her mind. She never paid attention to how Ed reacted to her. He was, well, Ed. She wouldn’t deny she wished her nights were a little more fulfilled. She’d even go as far as admitting she was frustrated at times. But once bitten, as the old saying went.

It still amazed her sometimes that John’s actions bothered her so much. The
way
she’d found out about him.