Four
“He’s baaack,” Jamila said.
Swan pushed away from her desk. She didn’t have to ask who Jamila was talking about. “I was expecting him,” she said in what she hoped was a professional tone. “He needs to look at designs for earrings.”
“If you say so. I’ll send him in here.”
Swan was about to tell Jamila they could use the computer out front, but Jamila was gone after closing the door behind her.
Standing, Swan inhaled deeply. How she had finished the books last night, she wasn’t sure. Thoughts of David had been stronger than ever after their night out. When she’d gone to bed, she had dreamed about him. Okay, she’d dreamed about him before, but the dreams last night had been so hot it was a wonder they hadn’t burned her sheets. She had been tempted to do something she hadn’t done in a long time, reactivate her vibrator.
She drew in a deep breath when she heard the knock on her door. “Come in.”
And in walked David, looking sexier than he had the other times she’d seen him. Last night, to stay focused, she had come up with every reason she could think of for why she shouldn’t be attracted to him and why a relationship with him wouldn’t work.
She’d even thrown in the race card. But of course that was thrown out when she remembered her parents and how happy they had been together. Yet she also couldn’t forget how her father’s family had ostracized him for his choice in love. Would David’s family be the same way? There was no reason to think they wouldn’t. And wasn’t she getting ahead of herself for even throwing love in the mix?
“Hello, David.”
“Swan.” He glanced at her desk, taking in all the folders spread across it. “You’re busy.”
“That’s fine. Besides, I need to get those earrings ready for you.”
Now that he’d seen her desk, it would make perfect sense for her to suggest they use the computer out front to design the earrings. But now that she had him behind closed doors, she liked it.
Not that she planned on doing anything about having him here.
“Please have a seat while I clear off my desk.” Today he was wearing jeans and she couldn’t help but watch how fluidly his body eased into the chair. How the denim stretched across a pair of muscular thighs. She quickly switched her gaze before he caught her looking.
“Nice office.”
“Thanks.” She closed the folders and placed them in her inbox tray. She then glanced over at him and caught him looking at her. She followed his gaze and soon figured out why he was staring.
She was wearing a skirt with a V-neck blouse, and when she’d leaned over to place the folders in the tray, her shirt had shown a portion of her cleavage. Instead of calling him out for trying to cop a view of her breasts, the fact that he was interested sparked a distinct warmth between her legs.
She quickly sat down. “Now if you would roll that chair over here, I am ready.” Too late, she realized how that sounded and quickly added, “To look at designs.”
He smiled. “I know what you meant.”
He rolled his chair behind her desk to place it right next to hers. When he sat down, their legs touched. Moving away would be pretty obvious so she let the denim of his jeans rub against her bare legs.
“Now, then,” she said, trying not to notice how good he smelled. “What do you think of these?” she asked, bringing up a few designs on the computer screen.
When he didn’t answer, she glanced over at him and found him staring at her. Sitting so close to him, she could look directly into his laser-blue eyes. It was as if his gaze was deliberately doing something to her, causing a surge in her breath and arousal to coil in her core. She saw the dark heat in his eyes and desire clawed at her even more.
“May I make a suggestion?” he asked in a voice that seemed to wobble in a sexual way.
“It depends on what that suggestion is,” she heard herself say.
He leaned in a little closer and whispered, “I want to kiss you again. Only problem is that I don’t want to stop until I get enough. And I’m not sure I would.”
She had been staring at his lips, watching how they moved while he talked. She slowly dragged her gaze back up to his eyes. She saw need flare in his gaze at the same time that anticipation for his kiss thickened the air flowing in and out of her lungs.
“I don’t know what to say.”
“Don’t say anything, Swan. Just bring your mouth closer to mine.”
She knew she shouldn’t, but she found herself doing it anyway.
* * *
Flipper drew in a deep breath when Swan’s lips were almost touching his. He flicked out his tongue and she gave a sharp intake of breath when he began licking her lips from corner to corner with the tip of his tongue.
“What are you doing?” she asked on a wobbly breath.
“Since you asked...” He captured her mouth and when she closed her eyes on a moan, he reached up and cradled her face in his hands while he kissed her with a greed he didn’t know was in him.
What was there about her that made him accept the primitive part of himself that wouldn’t be satisfied until he made love to her? Was it because she crept into his dreams at night and into his every waking thought? Or was it because an arrow of liquid heat shot straight to his groin whenever he saw her? Or could he blame it on the fact that whenever she touched him, he burned? She made him edgy and aroused him as no other woman could.
It was all of those things and more.
Right now, he didn’t know how to back away. So he didn’t. Instead he accepted the stream of heat in his gut and the crackle of energy passing between them.
Their lips were copulating in a way that sent blood coursing through his veins like a raging river. It was raw, hot and explosive, causing a hot ache to erupt in his gut. It wouldn’t take much to lose control and take her here on her desk. At that moment, his entire body was tight with need, totally entranced by everything about her.
The phone rang and they quickly broke off the kiss, drawing in deep breaths of air. He watched as she reached across her desk to press the speaker button. “Thank you for calling Swan’s.”
At first, no one said anything and then a deep male voice said, “Swan? Are you okay? You sound out of breath.”
He watched as she pulled in another deep breath before a smile touched her lips. “I’m fine, Godpop 1. How are you?”
Knowing who she was talking to on the phone was like a pail of cold water drenching Flipper. He was quickly reminded why he’d been sent to Key West. His admiral would have him court-martialed if he knew what Flipper had just done with his goddaughter. If the man had any idea how many times Flipper had kissed her already and how each time he’d wished they had gone even further...
She turned off the speaker so he heard only one side of the conversation, and from the sound of her voice, he knew she was happy about receiving the call.
Feeling a tightness in his crotch from his still-aroused body, he got up from the chair and walked to the window. If she could have this sort of effect on him just from a kiss, he didn’t want to think about what would happen if he were to make love to her. Just the thought of easing his body into hers had his stomach churning and caused an ache low in his gut.
Knowing he needed to think of something else, he glanced up into the sky. It was a beautiful day. Monday was Memorial Day and he wondered if Swan had made any plans to celebrate. He’d heard there would be a parade and unlike some places in the States, where stores remained open on Memorial Day, the laid-back businesses in the Keys closed up for one big party.
He liked the Keys. When he retired from being a SEAL, he could see himself moving here to live out the rest of his days. The island was surrounded by the ocean and they didn’t call him Flipper for nothing. He loved water. Being in it and being a part of it. Living this close to the sea would certainly be a plus for him. But then there was the question of how he would deal with Swan if he chose to retire here. Even if he could prove she was not guilty of espionage, there was always that possibility she would hate his guts regardless of the outcome, because he had not been truthful with her.
“Sorry about that, David.”
He turned, not caring that she could see his still-hard erection. It was something he couldn’t hide even if he had tried. Was she sorry they’d been interrupted or was she regretting that they’d kissed in the first place? He hoped it was the former because he doubted he could ever regret kissing her. “I take it that was one of your godfathers?” he asked, knowing it had been.
She was staring at him below the waist, but after his question, her gaze slowly moved upward to his face. “Ah, yes, that was one of my godfathers. The other two will be calling sometime today as well. It always works out that they all call within twenty-four hours of each other.”
He nodded and slowly walked back over to his chair to sit down. “I know you’re busy so let’s look at the designs.”
Had he just seen a flash of disappointment in her eyes? Did she want them to continue what they’d been doing before she’d gotten that call? Didn’t she know how close they’d both been to going off the edge and falling into waters too deep to swim out of? Even for him, a SEAL master swimmer.
Somehow they got through the next half hour looking at earring designs. Just as each one of the necklaces were different, he wanted the earrings to be different as well and reflect each one of his sisters-in-law’s personalities.
When he was satisfied with his choices, he stood, convinced he needed to rush back to the hotel and take a cold shower. Sitting beside Swan and inhaling her scent without touching her was one of the most difficult things he’d had to do in a long time.
She was so female that the maleness in him couldn’t help responding to everything about her. A part of him felt drugged by her scent and the intense physical awareness of her. Even now, desire was racing through his bloodstream.
“I owe you additional monies, right?” he asked. A couple of the designs he’d selected cost more than what she’d originally estimated.
“Yes. I’ll let you know the difference after I finish designing them, when you pick up everything.”
He hadn’t missed the fact that when he stood her gaze had immediately latched on to his crotch once again. Was she still hoping to see him with a hard-on? If that was true, then she wasn’t disappointed. He could get aroused just from looking at her.
And why did she choose that moment to lick her lips? She had no idea that seeing her do such a thing sent the pulse beating in his throat and desire hammering against his ribs.
On unstable legs and with an erection the size of which should be outlawed, he moved around her desk and looked at her. “Yesterday I asked you to go to dinner with me again, but you never gave me an answer.”
He figured that seeing how aroused he was, she probably wouldn’t give him an answer now either. She surprised him when she said, “Yes, we can dine together this evening.”
He nodded. “Okay, you get to pick the place.”
She took a slip of paper off her desk, wrote something on it and handed it to him. He looked at it and he must have stared at it too long, because she said, “It’s my address, David. I’m inviting you to dine with me this evening at my home.”
He broke eye contact with her to glance back down at the paper she’d given him. He looked back at her while trying to downplay the heat rumbling around in his gut.
“Do you need me to bring anything?” he asked her.
“No, just yourself.”
* * *
Swan glanced around her home and felt the knots beginning to twist in her stomach. She hoped she hadn’t made a mistake inviting David here.
Today marked a week since they’d met and if she was going to continue to see him while he was on the island, she couldn’t take advantage of his thoughtfulness and expect him to invite her out without ever returning the kindness. However, more than anything else, she needed to keep things in perspective. She needed to remember he was someone she could have a good time with and that’s it.
She didn’t want anything more than that.
One day, she would be ready to explore her options and consider a future with a man, but that time wasn’t now. She liked being single and responsible only for herself.
She knew from Candy that a serious relationship was hard work. And on top of all that hard work, you could assume you had the right person in your life only to discover you didn’t. By then, you would have opened yourself up to hurt and pain in the worst possible way.
The thought that a man had caused her best friend that kind of agony bothered Swan whenever she thought about it. Candy loved Key West as much as Swan did, and for a man to be the reason she had moved away was disheartening.
Swan tried telling herself that not all men were like Candy’s ex, Don, or like William. On days when Swan wanted to think all men were dogs, all she had to do was remember her dad.
Andrew Jamison was the yardstick she used to measure a good man. She’d watched how he had treated her mother, had seen the vibrant and sincere love between them. She had not only seen it, but she’d felt it as well. Both her parents had been demonstrative individuals and Swan had often interrupted them sharing a passionate kiss or embrace.
She still felt it here, within the walls of her house and in the very floor she walked on. All the love that had surrounded her while growing up was in this house she now called home.
She was glad her mother hadn’t sold it after her father died, when Leigh had made the decision to move back home to Jamaica. Instead, she had kept the house, knowing one day Swan would want to return. It was almost too spacious for one person but Swan knew she would never sell it or move away. This house had everything she needed.
She could see the water from any room, and at night, whenever she slept with the window open, the scent of the ocean would calm her.
Her favorite room in the house was her parents’ old bedroom, even though she had not moved into it. It had floor-to-ceiling windows and a balcony she liked sitting on while enjoying her coffee each morning. A couple of years ago, she’d had the balcony screened in to keep the birds from flying into her house, although she loved waking up to the sound of them chirping every morning.
Although neither one of her parents would tell her the full story, Swan knew her father had come from a wealthy family. And she knew he had been disowned by them when he had fallen in love with her mother and refused to give her up. Before dying, Leigh had given Swan a beautiful leather-bound diary to read after her death. That’s what had helped keep Swan sane, reading the daily account of her mother’s life and love for her father and believing they were now back together.
For weeks following her mother’s death, Swan had wanted to be alone to wallow in her pity and read about what she thought was the most beautiful love story that could exist between two people. Her mother had always been expressive with the written word and Swan enjoyed reading what she’d written.
It had made Swan long for such a man, such a love. Maybe that’s why she had been so quick to believe in William and why, once she’d found out about his duplicity, she’d been so reluctant to get serious with a man since.
From her mother’s diary, Swan discovered her mother’s appreciation for her husband’s agreement to make Key West their home. The people on the island embraced diversity and tolerated different lifestyles.
Swan had read the account of when her father had been stationed at a naval base in Virginia and had sent for her mother to join him there. In the diary, her mother had written about the hateful stares they would receive whenever they went out together. The unaccepting and disapproving looks. The cruel words some people had wanted them to hear.
Her father hadn’t tolerated any of it and hadn’t minded confronting anyone who didn’t accept his wife. But to avoid trouble, Leigh had preferred to live in Key West, where people’s issues with an interracial marriage were practically nonexistent.
However, people’s attitudes never kept Leigh from leaving the island to join Andrew whenever he would send for her. Oftentimes, Leigh would take Swan along and they would both join Andrew in different places for weeks at a time.
When she heard the sound of the doorbell, Swan drew in a deep breath. The time for memories was over. The only plans she had for this evening were for her and David to enjoy the meal she’d prepared and later enjoy each other’s company.
She had no problem with them deciding what the latter entailed when that time came.
* * *
“Hello, David. Welcome to my home.”
Flipper pushed from his mind the thought of how Swan would feel if she knew this wasn’t his first time here. How she would react if she knew he had invaded her space without her knowledge. If she ever found out the truth, would she understand it had been done with the best of intentions? Namely, to keep her from wasting away in a federal prison after being falsely accused of a crime?
He forced those thoughts to the back of his mind as he smiled down at her. She looked absolutely stunning in a wraparound skirt and yellow blouse. “Hi. I know you said I didn’t have to bring anything, but I wanted to give you these,” he said, handing her both a bottle of wine and a bouquet of flowers.
He had decided on the wine early on, but the flowers had been a spur of the moment thing when he’d seen them at one of those sidewalk florist shops. Their beauty and freshness had immediately reminded him of Swan.
“Thank you. The flowers are beautiful and this is my favorite wine,” she said, stepping aside to let him in.
He chuckled. “I know. I remember from the other night.” There was no way he would also mention having seen several bottles of Moscato in the wine rack the time he had checked out her house.
He glanced around, pretending to see her home for the first time. “Nice place.”
“Thanks. I thought we would enjoy a glass of wine and some of my mouthwatering crab balls out on the patio before dinner.”
“Mouthwatering crab balls?”
“Yes, from my mom’s secret recipe. You won’t be disappointed,” she said, leading him through a set of French doors. The first thought that came to his mind when he stepped out on her patio, which overlooked the Atlantic Ocean, was that it was a beautiful and breathtaking view. This had to be the best spot on the island to view the ocean in all its splendor.
He recalled how, as a boy, he would visit his cousins in California and dream of one day living near the beach. Over the years, being stationed in San Diego had been the next best thing. He owned an apartment close to base that was within walking distance of the beach.
However, his view was nothing like this. All she had to do was walk out her back door and step onto the sand. It was right there at her door. If he lived here, he would go swimming every day.
He glanced over at her. “The view from here is beautiful.”
“I love this house and appreciate my mother for not selling it when she decided to move back to Jamaica after Dad died. She got a lot of offers for it, believe me. So have I. Mom said being here without Dad was too painful, but she knew I’d feel differently. For me, it was just the opposite. Being here and recalling all the memories of when the three of us shared this place makes me happy.”
Hearing how the loss of her parents affected her made Flipper appreciate his own parents even more. Colin and Lenora Holloway had always been their sons’ staunch supporters. Their close and loving relationships had been the reason none of their sons had had any qualms about settling down and marrying. All the marriages had worked out, seemingly made in heaven, except for his brother Liam’s.
When Bonnie had gotten pregnant, Liam had done the honorable thing by marrying her. Bonnie had always been a party girl and didn’t intend to let marriage or being a mommy slow her down. While Liam was somewhere protecting his country as a Navy SEAL, Bonnie was conveniently forgetting she had a husband.
No one, not even Liam, had been surprised when he returned from an assignment one year and she asked for a divorce. Liam had given it to her without blinking an eye. Since then, Bonnie had remarried, which had introduced another set of issues for Liam. He was constantly taking Bonnie to court to enforce visitation rights to see his daughter because the man Bonnie married didn’t like Liam coming around.
Flipper had no qualms about marriage himself, but he had too much going on right now. Namely, resisting the temptation of Swan while he continued his investigation. That was his biggest challenge. The more he was around Swan the more he liked her and the more he wanted to prove her innocence. It was hard staying objective.
“Here you are,” she said, handing him a cold bottle of beer. “I figured you would like this instead of the wine.”
He smiled. Like he had picked up on her drinking preferences, she had done the same with him. “Thanks. I’ve never been a wine man.”
She chuckled. “Neither was my dad. That’s how I knew when it was time for him to come home because Mom would have his favorite beer in the fridge.”
He opened the bottle, took a sip and noticed her watching him. He licked his lips, liking the taste of the beer, which was the brand he’d chosen the other night at Summer Moon. When he took another sip and she continued to watch him, he lifted a brow. “Is anything wrong?”
She smiled. “No, nothing is wrong. I just love to watch how you drink your beer.”
He chuckled. That was a first. No woman had ever told him that before. “And how do I drink it?”
“First there’s the way your mouth fits on the beer bottle. I find it very sensuous.”
He tried ignoring the quiver that surged through his veins at the tone in her voice. “Do you?”
“Yes. And then there’s the way you drink it like you’re enjoying every drop.”
“I am.”
“I can tell.” Then, as if she thought perhaps she’d said too much, she took a step back. “I’ll go get those crab balls for you to try.”
When she turned to leave, he reached out and touched her arm. He couldn’t help it. The air all but crackled with the sexual energy between them. “Come here a minute before you go,” he said, setting his beer bottle aside. “Although I do enjoy drinking beer, I’ve discovered I enjoy feasting on your mouth even more.”
And then he lowered his mouth to hers.
* * *
Perfect timing, Swan thought, because she needed this. She’d wanted it the moment he tilted his beer bottle to his mouth and she’d watched him do so. And now he was doing her. Showing her that he was enjoying her mouth more than he’d enjoyed the beer. Just like he’d said.
There was a certain precision and meticulousness in how he mastered the art of kissing. First, as soon as his tongue would enter her mouth, he would unerringly find her tongue, capture it with his own and begin gently sucking in a way that made the muscles between her legs tighten. Then he would do other things she didn’t have a name for. Things that made desire flow through her like sweet wine, kindling heated pleasure and burning passion within her.
He rocked his thighs against her and she felt him pressed against her. His arousal was massive. Instinctively, she moved her hips closer, wanting to feel him right there, at the juncture of her thighs.
When he finally pulled his mouth away, she released a deep, satisfied breath. Her mouth was still throbbing and there was an intense ache in her limbs. Right now, their heavy breathing was the only sound audible, and the laser-blue eyes staring down at her sent a tremor to her core.
She licked her lips when she took a step back. “Ready for a few crab balls?”
“Yes,” he said, after licking his own lips. “For now.”