Chapter Six
“What do you think of this Naugahyde for the booths? It’s the same dark shade of green as the window treatments you selected, and it even has flecks of gold in the material. It’s a perfect match, don’t you think?”
On some distant plane, Kyle heard Jade’s words, but sometime in the past half hour his mind had drifted back to last night’s fantasy, mulling over how he could make that erotic journal entry of Jade’s a reality. It’s not as though he had a rose garden at his disposal. But he was a creative kind of guy—it was just a matter of finding the right opportunity and using it to his advantage. And he was confident the perfect moment would present itself, just like the other times had.
He looked across the table at Jade as she chattered on about the benefits of Naugahyde. They were sitting in a corner booth in The Black Sheep, surrounded by fabric swatches, books of window treatment designs and catalogs of decorative accessories for the bar and restaurant. She really knew her business and had an exceptional eye for design. For the most part, he’d gone with her recommendations.
Since it was Saturday, and warm at that, she was dressed casually in a silky peach-colored camisole that buttoned down the front, and a short denim skirt. Her legs were tanned and bare, and she’d worn flat sandals with peach and gold straps. She looked as fresh and natural as the sweet peach scent clinging to her skin. Even her eyes, today a warm gold hue, complemented her outfit.
“We can use it to re-upholster the booths and the bar stools in the lounge,” she was saying of the Naugahyde, even as she jotted the order on an invoice. “Maybe go with a tuck and roll or diamond tuft design. And then we can use the hunter green and gold tweed in the restaurant to tie the two together. With the window valances and brass trim, the place will look fabulous.” She looked up, her eyes bright and expectant. “What do you think?”
She’d be shocked if she knew what he was thinking…imagining her soft breasts in his hands, the warmth of her thighs beneath his fingertips, the catch of her breath as he caressed her in soft, sensitive places…
“Kyle?” she said, her tone exasperated.
He blinked, focusing on her face and the tiny frown creasing her brow. “Uh, yeah, fine,” he said, giving himself a firm mental shake out of Jade’s fantasy and into the present.
“You’re not even paying attention.” She tucked a wispy cinnamon strand of hair behind her ear, and the thin gold bracelets on her wrists jangled. “Are you okay? You seem like you’re not quite here. Did I lose you somewhere along the way?”
He sat up straighter and gave her an apologetic look. “Sorry, I kind of drifted there for a couple of minutes.” An understatement, but as good excuse as any. “It was a late night and I’m still feeling the effects.” At least that was pure truth.
She reached across the table and patted his hand, feigning a sympathetic expression. “Poor baby.”
“More than you know,” he muttered.
A delicate brow arched. “Excuse me?”
He shook his head, not willing to explain his cryptic comment. “Nothing. Now, what were you saying?”
A charitable, understanding smile touched her lips. “That maybe we need a break.” She closed her invoice booklet and capped her pen. “We’ve been at this for three hours, and we’ve actually accomplished most of what I need to get started. The little things we’ll decide on as needed.”
“Then how about lunch?” he offered, not quite ready to let her leave. They hadn’t had much time for anything but business since he’d visited her at her office. This opportunity was too prime to waste. “I can hardly let you leave without feeding you first. There’s a deli nearby that delivers.”
Her stomach growled as if on cue, and they both laughed. “I guess I am a little hungry. A turkey on wheat sounds wonderful. Mustard, no mayo.”
“A turkey on wheat coming up.” Kyle slid from the booth, headed toward the bar and placed a call to the deli, adding a side of fruit salad, a bag of chips and two sodas to the order.
While they waited for lunch, Kyle helped Jade gather up her catalogs and sample books, and carried them to the trunk of her little car. Their sandwiches arrived, and Kyle laid out the spread of food on the bar. They sat side by side on the bar stools and ate.
“You know, I think those new stained glass lamps you ordered to put over the pool tables are going to look wonderful.” She looked very pleased with herself since they had been her suggestion. Licking a smear of mustard from her thumb, she glanced around the place, her mind obviously still on her work. “And I have contractors who will refinish the floors and bar. I’ll contact them first thing Monday. They can come in the mornings, so that way their work doesn’t interfere with your evening business.”
Kyle nodded in agreement as he swallowed a bite of pastrami. “Great.”
“As soon as you get final inspection on the restaurant, well get started on the decor.” Reaching for the fruit salad, she put a heaping spoonful on her paper plate, then stabbed a piece of strawberry with her fork. “Oh, and I wanted to talk to you about your employees’ attire.”
He eyed her tentatively, wondering what that fanciful mind of hers was conjuring. “What about it?”
“Well, considering all the changes you’ll be making, and the classier image you want to project for the bar and restaurant, your employees ought to reflect that image with new uniforms.”
The word uniform made him shudder. “I don’t know. Uniforms remind me of the military, and the years I had to conform to a specific dress code. I’m not sure I want to put myself, or my employees through that.”
She rolled her eyes at his resistance. “You don’t have to get anything fancy or restricting, but once you refurbish the place you’ll need something dressier than jeans and a T-shirt.”
He braced his elbows on the bar surface, taking her idea into consideration, as he had all her suggestions. The Black Sheep’s current attire was informal and reflected what the bar was now, a casual, laid-back hangout. Though he wanted to maintain that comfortable, easy atmosphere, his main goal was to draw a more expansive range of people to the establishment, and build a clientele that ranged from the middle class to the wealthier population of Santa Monica. He supposed his employees’ uniforms ought to exemplify the standard he wanted to create for The Black Sheep.
He glanced at her, meeting her gaze, a part of him still uncertain. “What do you suggest?”
“Well…” She drew the word out, giving him the impression she’d had her strategy figured out long before this moment. “I was thinking of something along the lines of black trousers and a white linen shirt for both the men and women, and a hunter green tie with the name The Black Sheep imprinted on it. And the guys could wear black suspenders. If you want, you could put the bar waitresses in those shorts that actually look like skirts.”
“I like it,” he said, meaning it. “Simple, practical, but sophisticated.”
“Exactly.” She flashed him a grin and popped a melon ball into her mouth and chewed. “And you could even—”
Kyle placed his fingers over her soft lips, muffling the rest of her words. “You know, I thought we were done talking business.”
She pulled his hand away from her mouth, a sudden awareness leaping to life in her eyes. “Just making good use of our time together.”
“I can think of a hundred other ways to make good use of our time together.” He smiled slowly and turned on his bar stool so he was facing her. The hand she’d captured lifted again, and he drifted his fingers along her cheek, into her silky hair, and cupped the back of her head. “And plenty of ways to keep that mouth of yours busy.”
Her lashes swept downward slumberously, and as he drew her mouth toward his, her lips parted on a welcoming sigh. The easy way she yielded made his blood heat and desire coil deep in his belly. He didn’t think she’d admit it, to herself and certainly not to him, but she was beginning to trust him. He could feel it in the flow of her body toward his, and her willingness to let him take the lead.
His lips brushed fleetingly over hers, tempting and soft, a prelim of better things to come. Needing a deeper taste, he gently tilted her head with the pressure of his hand, but before he could settle his mouth over hers, the phone rang.
She jerked back, her eyes opening. A startled look passed over her features.
A growl of disappointment rumbled in his chest. He pulled back so he could look in her dark, golden eyes, but he didn’t let her go. “As much as I’d like to ignore whoever is on that phone to kiss you, it might be important.” He didn’t get many calls on Saturdays, but considering the construction he had underway and the permits he was still trying to obtain, it was possible an inspector was trying to locate him.
She dragged her tongue across her bottom lip, the gesture utterly feminine. “Yeah, you’re probably right,” she said, her voice husky.
He dipped his head and nibbled on the lower lip she’d just dampened, and she boldly nipped back. The phone rang insistently, and he groaned deeply, in regret, and with a fierce need he was hard-pressed to ignore. “Damn.” He forced himself to pull his hand from her hair and slide from his bar stool. “Hold that thought for me, tiger.”
Amusement danced in her eyes. “It was your thought, not mine.”
The sensual, sassy smile curving her mouth nearly made him say to hell with the call, but he showed incredible restraint and headed for the opposite side of the bar where the phone jingled again. “Hold it anyway, not that I’m likely to forget where we left off.”
Jade laughed, not doubting Kyle’s claim. She watched him pick up the receiver and slip into the capacity of professional businessman, a role she respected and understood. In less than a minute he was engrossed in his conversation, the words permits, fees and inspections filtering her way.
Knowing he’d be on the phone for a while, she started cleaning up the remnants of their lunch, not minding the chore because it took her mind off the tingling sensation still thrumming through her body.
She cast a quick glance Kyle’s way as she stacked their paper plates, thinking how easy he was to like, and just as easy to get along with. He was even proving to be a good friend, something he’d tried establishing six months previously, but she’d been too stubborn and too scared to accept.
She still had a few reservations about their relationship, but those hesitations had little to do with the man she was seeing, but revolved around her own insecurities. After last night she’d seen that, while Kyle was a big flirt, he seemed to be a one-woman man, as he’d stated. She’d seen the women that had flocked around him, trying to attract his attention, and though he’d been amiable, the friendliness hadn’t gone beyond the charm of a bartender.
Once the bar was cleared, and the trash tossed into the bin behind the service area, Jade wandered around the lounge, then into the gaming area. She tried her hand at darts, and missed every shot, lodging the sharp, game pieces into the wall on either side of the dart board. Grimacing at her lack of skill and horrible aim, she moved on to the pool tables.
She’d never played pool in her entire life, and she idly wondered if Kyle preferred women more sports oriented that he could play a challenging game of darts or pool with.
Glancing back at Kyle, and finding him still engrossed in his conversation, she chose a cue stick from a rack on the wall, then began retrieving the balls from a compartment at the end of the pool table. She put the assortment of striped and solid-colored balls on the felt table, letting them roll where they may.
She knew enough to use the solid white ball to hit the other more colorful ones into the corner and side pockets. Leaning over the table, and lining the tip of her stick with the white ball, she drew back and snapped the stick forward. The tip cracked against the white ball with such jarring impact it bounced four times, missing every ball in its path.
She cringed at her pathetic first attempt. Amused laughter erupted behind her, echoing with husky, masculine undertones. She immediately looked over her shoulder, finding Kyle resting his cute rear end on the edge of the other pool table, arms crossed over his chest. How long had he been watching her? She glared, hating the slow heat creeping along her cheeks.
She straightened, and he pushed off his seat and walked toward her, unaffected by her narrow-eyed scowl. “Looks like you’re in dire need of some lessons,” he said with an easy smile. “Here, let me show you.”
The sudden gleam in his eyes, the pure, wicked intent, should have been enough to warn her that his idea of “lessons” was vastly different from her own. But she wasn’t about to back down from the challenge, wasn’t about to let him think she couldn’t handle whatever he decided to dish out.
She sustained her bravado until he turned her back around to face the pool table and his big, warm body crowded her from behind. Her heart raced, and she knew she was in big trouble…like the midnight swim at the pool, like the evening in his office with the peaches.
He reached around her and grabbed the cue stick, positioning it in her hands the proper way. “Now align the tip of the cue stick about two inches away from the cue ball, which is that solid white ball.”
Okay, nothing illicit about that, she thought. She leaned over the table to do as he instructed, and became too aware of just how close he stood. Her bottom brushed across the front of his jeans, and coarse denim scratched the back of her bare thighs. She swallowed hard and focused on that damned white ball, determined to ignore the desire slowly unraveling within her.
“Your form is all wrong,” he chided, his voice a smoky, sexy murmur. “Don’t round your back so much.” Placing his hand at her nape, he slowly dragged his palm down to the base of her spine, softening her posture. A purring sound rolled into her throat, and she promptly swallowed it. Her senses spun wildly, making concentrating on the game nearly impossible.
He placed his hands on her hips, his touch so hot, their position so suggestive, she couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. “Now relax, take aim, and give it your best shot,” he said.
Her best shot missed the white ball completely. The tip of her stick scratched the felt surface with such force she expected the fabric to rip. In frustration and exasperation, she dropped the stick and straightened to turn around, but Kyle’s arms were suddenly around her waist, preventing her from escaping a situation that had suddenly turned intimate and very threatening.
She resisted the frantic urge to pry his hands from her. “I don’t think pool is my kind of game,” she said tersely.
He didn’t release her, as her tone demanded. Instead, in his usual bold manner, he touched his mouth to her ear and murmured, “Then let’s play another game. One we can both learn together.”
Suppressing a shiver, she closed her eyes. But the images of the kind of game he wanted to play were so vivid, so arousing, she immediately blinked her lashes back open. Damn him, he’d changed the rules on her, using their situation to seduce her. And her body was falling for the scheme, wanting him with an insane, instantaneous hunger she was powerless to resist.
Feeling a surge of panic and needing space, she placed her hands over his to pull them away. He caught her fingers, entwining them in between his and held her hostage. She pulled in a deep breath that did nothing to steady her erratic heartbeat. “Kyle, I don’t think this is such a good idea.”
“Whenever we get close and intimate, you always fall back on that excuse.” His tone was lazy, but the tension radiating from his body was anything but relaxed. “What are you afraid of, Jade?”
The answer to his question came all too easily, and for some odd reason, not looking him in the eye made it easier to blurt out the truth. “Of falling for you.”
“Would that be such a bad thing?” He sounded genuinely perplexed.
“Yes,” she whispered fiercely.
He was quiet for a moment, cradling her gently in his embrace, the heat and strength of him seeping into her skin. His body was so still, she could feel the heavy beating of his heart against her back. She wondered if she’d finally managed to make him realize what he was up against; a haunting, painful past that kept her from giving her heart to any man. Including him. Lord knew every time he tried to get close she did her best to push him away.
She expected him to let her go, but he didn’t. At the very least she expected him to be annoyed—what kind of man would put up with such an ego-damaging answer?—but she detected no animosity.
Instead, in a soft, soothing voice, he summed up her biggest fear. “You don’t trust easily, do you?”
“People take advantage of trust,” she snapped, feeling emotionally defensive and physically trapped.
“Some people do,” he agreed, stroking his thumbs over the back of her hands, the gesture calming her. “And you think I’m one of those people.”
She hated the way that sounded. She’d known him for seven months, and not once had he given her any indication that he’d take advantage of her, control her or methodically steal her self-confidence until she was nothing but a shell of herself. If anything, these past weeks with him had bolstered her, giving her a self-assurance and sensual awareness of herself that radiated from the inside out.
She was confused and torn. “I don’t know anymore,” she said, her throat tight and aching.
“I’m not like that,” he promised. “I’d never deliberately hurt you, Jade. But you’ll have to trust my word and me. Can you do that?”
No! The instinctive, protective answer screamed in her mind. The last man she’d been so naive as to trust had taken advantage of it, using that trust to manipulate her emotions and nearly destroying her in the process. She wouldn’t, couldn’t, allow herself to make that same mistake with Kyle. Her self-preservation and emotional wellbeing depended on it.
“I want to touch you,” he said, his rich, deep voice hypnotic and cajoling. “Will you let me?”
“Kyle, this is all happening so fast.” Yet not fast enough, she thought, unable to stop the currents of excitement racing through her. The thrill was real, as real and hot as the man behind her.
“We won’t do anything you don’t want to.” He seemed to know and understand her fears, catering to them in a way no one but her imaginary lover ever had. “We’ll go only as far as you let me. Just say stop, at any time, and I will.”
Jade bit her bottom lip, debating. She wanted this. She feared it, but she knew she would forever regret letting this moment slip away.
“Okay,” she whispered, her voice holding a slight quiver.
Releasing her, he swept the striped and solid balls to the far side of the pool table. They clicked together and rolled into the pockets, leaving the surface clear. He then braced his hands on the rim of the table, keeping her secured in the circle of his arms. “Put your hands on the table, and keep them there.”
She hesitated, the familiarity of his request startling her. She remembered a similar demand, a cool stone wall and the scent of roses. Even as her mind struggled between an illusion she’d created on paper and reality, her body thrummed in anticipation.
Before she lost her nerve, she bent forward and placed her flattened palms on the soft, felt surface. With Kyle’s thighs bracketing hers from behind, and his pelvis snug against her bottom, she felt defenseless.
She turned her head, looking over her shoulder, meeting dark blue eyes glinting with something a little untamed. “Kyle?”
He leaned his body over hers, claiming her with breath-stealing intimacy. His hands covered hers on the table, and he skimmed his lips along her cheek. “Ready to stop so soon?”
The fantasy was so tangible, the man behind her so vibrant and real, she didn’t want it to slip away. Closing her eyes, she shook her head. “No, don’t stop.”
She felt him smile against her neck. “Good.”
His palms glided up her braced arms, his fingers feathering into her armpits until she squirmed and shivered at the tickling sensation. His touch was innocent and light, until he came to the buttons securing the front of her silky camisole. His fingers worked the buttons through the loops with an impatience that had her breasts swelling in her bra, and her breathing deepening. The urgency grew, in her and him—she could feel the thick ridge of his erection straining against her bottom until she half expected him to rip her top open. Almost wanted him to.
But he didn’t. Once the front hung open, he unclasped her lacy bra and let her full breasts sway forward. Her nipples tightened, and she curled her fingers into fists against the table, waiting for him to fill his palms, to caress her.
“Touch me,” she urged, barely believing she’d spoken the words in her mind aloud. But she had—his soft, masculine chuckles confirmed it—and she didn’t regret them, especially when he obliged and cupped her breasts in his large palms, kneading the fullness while his fingers grazed over the crested tips.
The heaviness in her intensified, spiraling downward. Seemingly knowing what she wanted, what she needed, his hands moved on, sliding down her ribs, over the waistband of her skirt, until his palms grazed her bare thighs. He didn’t linger, but she didn’t want him to. He pushed the hem of her skirt up, dragging the denim over the curve of her hip and waist, until her wispy peach panties and his jeans were the only thing separating them.
He wedged a boot between her sandaled feet, making her legs move apart for him. His hands returned to her thighs, drawing swirling patterns with his fingers and leisurely drifting up the inside of her quivering legs. He murmured gentle, coaxing words of encouragement in her ear, told her how beautiful she was, and how much he wanted her.
She melted with each caress of his hands and mouth on her skin. Idly, she wondered why she was so helpless to resist him, when she’d resisted every man in the past three years who’d tried to get close. Kyle had a way of weakening her defenses and tapping into her most intimate longings, making her want all the things she’d denied herself for so long, the flesh-and-blood touch of a man, the feeling of being cherished and desired…
He was becoming the perfect fantasy lover, in her mind and in reality.
His thumbs traced the crease where her thighs gave way to her most intimate place, while his mouth trailed hot, damp kisses along her neck. She felt alive, impatient and so aroused she shamelessly pressed her bottom more urgently against his pelvis. In response, he splayed a hand low on her belly and rolled his hips forward in an erotic, reckless rhythm. And then he gently sank his teeth into the curve of her neck and shoulder.
Jade’s entire body arched, and her breath caught sharply at the electric sensations rippling along her nerve endings. She tried to turn, but he wouldn’t let her—she didn’t stand a chance against the powerful, muscular thighs and the strength and width of his chest holding her captive.
Before she had a chance to recover from that passionate, primitive assault, he wrapped an arm around her waist, and with his other hand slipped his fingers beneath the elastic band of her panties. He touched damp curls and found the heated core of her.
She whimpered and began to tremble. She went a little bit crazy, and a whole lot wild, forgetting caution or reason for the all-consuming pleasure his slow, insidious touch evoked. “Please.” The word escaped her before she could stop it.
He pulled her tighter against him, his teeth and tongue grazing her jaw, her neck, her shoulder. “Oh, God, Jade,” he groaned into her ear. “You’re so warm, so soft…so wet.”
His blatantly erotic words, the skill of his fingers ruthlessly stroking, sliding persuasively, then slipping intimately, deeply, into her body sent her soaring. She came on a soft, keening cry. Her entire body convulsed with the wondrous, voluptuous pleasure, her head rolled back to his shoulder.
She trembled in the aftermath, the intensity of her orgasm stunning her. The way he wrapped both arms around her when it was over comforted her. The words he whispered in her ear were sweet and endearing.
She waited as her heart rate slowed, fully expecting him to take their foreplay to its logical conclusion. And even though she wasn’t completely certain she was ready for that ultimate act of intimacy with him, she knew she wouldn’t stop him, either.
But once again he seemed to sense her doubts. He eased her skirt back down her hips and gently turned her around to hook her bra and button her camisole. She let him tend to her disheveled clothing, baffled by his restraint. He had every opportunity to take advantage of their very erotic situation, but the fact that he’d held his own raging desires in check was proof that she could trust him.
The prospect wasn’t as scary as it once had been.
Kyle finished with the buttons on Jade’s blouse and finally risked a glance at her face, which was still flushed with passion. Supreme satisfaction filled him, making his own sacrifice worth what he’d gained. Her confidence in him.
She pulled in a steady breath, looking slightly embarrassed. “That was very one-sided.”
“I’m not complaining, tiger. I thoroughly enjoyed myself, and you.” He dragged his thumb across her bottom lip, regretting that he hadn’t had the opportunity to spend more time kissing her. He loved her mouth, the soft texture, the honeyed taste and the silky heat inside. “You’re an incredibly sexy woman.”
Her face flushed a deeper shade of pink, but she didn’t shy away from him or his light caresses. “But what about you?”
He grinned. “I’m a patient fellow.” Though he couldn’t ignore that he was still rock hard and more than willing. “As much as I want you, this isn’t how I want our first time together to be. When we make love, the time and place needs to be as special as you are.”
Her expression softened, and she gave him a sultry, teasing smile. “You’d better be careful, or I could really fall for you.”
He knew she was just humoring him, but he was surprised to realize how much he liked the way that sounded. How much he wanted it to be true. “I’m counting on it, tiger.”
* * *
She couldn’t concentrate, and it was all Kyle’s fault.
Knowing it was futile to continue working on the fabric and tile order for the Briar Estates account Casual Elegance had recently acquired, she closed her invoice book and put the file into her briefcase to take back to work tomorrow.
So much for bringing work home to get ahead on orders. It was too quiet in her guest bedroom/makeshift office, and there weren’t the continual interruptions and distractions the office provided to keep her so busy that thoughts of Kyle couldn’t intrude.
Ever since their encounter at The Black Sheep four days ago, he’d occupied her thoughts during idle times, as did the fact that he’d managed to seduce her on three separate occasions. And every time, usually in some subtle, obscure way, their encounters had reminded her of old fantasies she’d written.
She was certain her mind was playing tricks on her. After three years of being alone and sharing intimacies with a fantasy lover, her subconscious was accepting those fantasies as reality.
It was the only explanation that made sense.
So why was it when she closed her eyes and thought of the fantasy lover she’d created she no longer saw his face, but Kyle’s instead? It was as if the two were merging, illusion evolving into a flesh-and-blood man who made her feel real emotions she hadn’t allowed herself to contemplate outside of her fantasies—passion, desire, need. And most important, with Kyle’s easy persuasion, she was gaining confidence in herself as a woman and lover.
She was beginning to trust him, and her own judgment of him.
Desk cleared and files and sample books put away, she snapped off the lamp and left the office. With the thought of her old journal of fantasies on her mind, she headed toward her bedroom in search of the book, curious to see how similar those fantasies were to the three episodes with Kyle.
It had been over a year since she’d started writing in her sapphire blue journal, and she couldn’t remember where she’d last seen the burgundy one. She checked all the obvious places: in her nightstand drawers, in her dresser drawers, and rummaged through the floral boxes on the top shelf of her walk-in closet where she stashed personal stuff.
Nothing.
Thinking she’d possibly misplaced it when she’d bought her new bedroom furniture, she continued her pursuit, looking in conspicuous places and not-so-obvious nooks and crannies. Her search included the guest bedroom-office, where she kept trade books in a walnut case, and the new hutch in her living room.
The burgundy journal was nowhere to be found.