Chapter Nineteen

JESSIE GLANCED NERVOUSLY AT JACK as the plane started down the runway.

“You okay?” Jack asked, noticing the look on her face. “You look like you’re going to get sick.”

“I hate flying,” Jessie confessed.

The plane picked up speed and Jessie grabbed onto Jack’s hand. He looked uncomfortable at the contact.

“I’m sorry,” Jessie apologized but didn’t let go.

Jack reluctantly wrapped his hand around hers.

“It’s going to be fine.” He looked amused and squeezed her hand.

Jessie closed her eyes as she felt the plane taking off. If only it didn’t feel like it was struggling to stay in the air she might not be so afraid.

Jack started trying to explain to her the mechanics of how the plane worked in an effort to calm her.

“Thanks, Jack, but my Dad has already explained it to me a hundred times. It doesn’t help.”

“What does help?” Jack asked.

“Xanax. And hand holding.” Jessie glanced out the window. “A smooth flight won’t hurt either.”

“So I have to hold your hand for the whole flight?” Jack asked, looking like he’d rather not.

Jessie shook her head. “No. You don’t have to. I mean, unless you don’t mind.”

Jack sighed and left his hand where it was.

Jessie gave him a satisfied smile. “Thanks, Jack. I owe you one.”

Jessie closed her eyes and let the Xanax do its magic, drifting off to sleep, hopefully until the plane touched down in St. Thomas.

“SO WHERE ARE YOU SLEEPING?” Jessie asked, smiling as they stood in the middle of the large suite, staring at the king size bed.

The suite was huge, but there was only the one bed. The tiny sofa in the sitting area was nowhere near big enough for Jessie to sleep on, and certainly not big enough for Jack.

“Don’t worry… I’ll stay on my side of the bed,” Jack teased.

He was trying not to stare at her too much. She looked so good in an extremely short white and blue sundress, her skin already tanned golden by the summer sun even though they had just arrived in St. Thomas.

Jessie just laughed. Despite the weird kiss thing in New York, she was confident that Jack had no interest in taking things any further. She had chalked it up to alcohol and the heightened emotions that stemmed from the argument they’d had.

She stepped out of her three-inch heels and walked barefoot to the door to the patio to check out the view of the ocean.

“Wow, come see this. It’s beautiful. Too bad we’re here for work,” Jessie called to Jack, who came up behind her, wrapping his hands around her waist and bending down to plant a soft kiss on her bare shoulder.

Jessie spun around, surprised. “What are you doing?”

Just the feel of his lips brushing against her skin and the pressure of his hands around her body had started her pulse racing.

Jack laughed. “Just practicing being your fake fiancé. Relax. We won’t pull off engaged couple if you flinch every time I touch you.”

Jessie laughed with him, her face flushed. She hated that he could have such an effect on her with just the slightest touch.

“Let’s go get dinner. I’m hungry,” Jack suggested.

He had taken his hands off of her quickly. He knew he shouldn’t tease her, but it was kind of fun to make her blush.

Jessie nodded in agreement. She was hungry, too. “Just give me a few minutes to change my clothes and get ready.”

THE RESORT HAD SIX DIFFERENT restaurants to choose from, plus a buffet. They hadn’t made reservations, but the French restaurant was able to seat them.

Jessie asked the waiter for the goat cheese spinach salad and then made a face when Jack ordered the foie gras to start.

“Do you know how they make that?” Jessie asked him.

He nodded and smiled. “Yes. I do.”

“How can you eat that? It’s so cruel the way they treat the ducks and geese.” Jessie frowned.

“I’m sure the chickens, pigs and cows that you eat regularly live in luxury,” Jack said sarcastically.

Jessie rolled her eyes. “I don’t want to hear about it.”

He laughed and took a sip of his wine.

“You’ve never been hungry, Jessie. If you were hungry enough, you would eat just about anything.” Jack’s eyes dropped to the front of her top, where she had ample cleavage on display.

“When were you hungry?” Jessie asked, automatically adjusting the straps of her top to try to pull it up a little. The curious look in Jack’s eyes as he gazed at the smooth skin pushing out of the top of her dress made her feel too exposed and on display.

Jack paused. “Marines. They make sure you know what it feels like to be hungry so you can learn how to handle it in case you ever have to be.”

The waiter brought them their dishes and Jessie did her best to avoid watching Jack eat the offensive appetizer.

“Sure you don’t want to try it?” Jack teased before eating the last bite.

“Ugh. No, thank you.”

She also refused to try the lamb he had ordered for his main course. She had gotten the chicken.

“Pretty picky about what you put in your mouth, aren’t you?” Jack observed, humor lighting up his eyes as he made it obvious his comment applied to other things besides food.

Jessie played along. “Well, unlike some people I won’t mention, I won’t let just anything touch my lips. I have some pretty high standards.”

“I have standards, too.” Jack laughed. “But I think yours may be too high. I mean, you’re twenty-six years old and you’re missing out on the years of your life when things taste the best.”

“So what do you suggest? I just sample anything that’s offered to me?” Jessie asked. For some crazy reason she was enjoying this weird conversation.

Jack smirked. “No, of course not. But you should be trying new things while you’re young, so you can find out what you like.”

“Are we still talking about food?” Jessie asked, laughing.

Jack shook his head and smiled. “I don’t think we were ever talking about food.”

“What makes you think I’m not doing that? You don’t know what I do when you’re not around.” Jessie felt herself start to blush.

“I just know.” Jack took another drink of his wine. “Jessie, if there’s one thing I know inside and out, it’s sex. I can usually talk to a woman for one minute and get a solid read on what she’s going to be like in bed.”

“So what are you looking for when stalking your prey?” Jessie asked, a twinkle of amusement in her eyes.

Despite his man-whore tendencies, she liked him so much. They always had so much fun together.

He gave her a lascivious smile. “Can’t tell you that. You already think I’m disgusting. If you knew even half of the depraved shit that turns me on you’d probably never talk to me again. Don’t want you to know how fucked up I really am.”

His eyes met hers briefly as his smile faded.

Jessie felt that familiar aching between her legs and she swallowed hard, trying to keep her face impassive. Why was she so turned on by him? The dirtier he talked and acted, the more excited she got.

“So what kind of read do you get off of me?” Jessie asked, curious to know what kind of vibe she put off.

He hesitated and shook his head. “Nope. Not going there. Do you want dessert?”

She nodded. “Yes, I want the crème brulee. But I want to know. Tell me.”

“No way,” he laughed. “There’s no good way to answer that.”

There was no way he would tell her that he could sense that she was inexperienced and would probably be shy and awkward in bed. He was pretty sure she would be very insulted.

But he could also tell that if anyone bothered to take his time with her, she could be so fucking hot. Not him, of course. Jack didn’t think of himself as a teacher. Too much responsibility.

Jack watched Jessie eat her dessert, his eyes drawn to her pretty pink tongue licking the sweet custard and caramelized sugar off of the silver spoon. He couldn’t help but picture that tongue licking on his dick. He knew exactly what he would be thinking about when he rubbed one out later.

She held the spoon up, offering him a bite. It tasted delicious and he imagined if he kissed her right now that she would taste like that too.

He was hard as fuck under the table. How in the hell was he going to share a room with her?

AFTER DINNER THEY WENT FOR a walk all around the resort and on the beach. They were all set to go see Kyle the next afternoon, but there was nothing to do until then.

“Let’s get drunk,” Jessie suggested.

Jack looked at her and smiled, not sure that was a great idea. He could barely keep his thoughts off of her sober. If he got drunk he might cross a line again.

“Come on, there’s nothing else to do. It’ll be fun.”

Jack went along with it. She didn’t know that it took an awful lot to get him drunk. She would be wasted first and he would stay in control of the situation by staying sober and keeping an eye on her.

Two hours later Jack was regretting his decision. Jessie was definitely drunk and he was still stone cold sober.

When Pour Some Sugar On Me came on, he watched her head to the dance floor with some girl she had made friends with at the resort bar. The girl she was dancing with was another cute blonde. Not as cute as Jessie, though. Jessie was definitely the star of this show. Watching her dance with the other girl was sparking some seriously hot images in his mind.

When the dance was over, Jessie came back to Jack, her blue eyes sparkling even more than usual.

She took a sip of her Malibu Rum and pineapple juice and licked her lips. She turned to chat with her new friend and leaned her back against Jack. His hands went instinctively to her hips, trying to hold her at a distance. The last thing he needed was another boner that she wouldn’t be taking care of for him.

After another half an hour they left the bar and Jack tried to lead her back to the room to sleep it off, but Jessie rebelled, walking the other way.

“I don’t want to go back to the room yet!”

He followed her to the beach where she kicked off her heels and walked barefoot in the cool sand.

“Jack?” Jessie looked up at him.

“Hmmm?” He noticed how pretty she looked, the moonlight casting a glow on her face.

“Do you think I’m pretty?”

He wondered if she was reading his mind. He gazed at her, thinking that she was probably the prettiest girl he had ever seen. “You’re not supposed to ask for compliments.”

“I’m not. I just asked if you thought I was pretty. You could say ‘no’. That wouldn’t be a compliment.” She laid down on a lounge chair, dropping her heels in the sand.

He watched her close her eyes and he sat in the chair next to hers. He looked at her body, stretched out on the chair, her little skirt riding up so far he could see her light colored panties.

He took a deep breath. Fuck. Tonight was definitely going to be an exercise in self-control.

“Jessie.” Jack said her name.

She didn’t move. He touched her arm and shook her gently. No response. She was asleep.

He picked her up off the chair and she woke up enough so he could set her on her feet and he helped her walk back to the room.

When they got back he pulled the covers down on the bed while she took off her skirt, letting it drop to floor.

She rummaged through her suitcase until she found a cotton tank top. She turned her back to him and lifted the shirt she was wearing over her head and removed her bra with no hesitation, as if she didn’t even remember that Jack was in the room with her. She pulled the tank top on.

Jack held his breath and watched as she stripped down to tiny panties that barely covered the absolute best ass he’d ever fucking seen.

Fuck. His dick was rock hard and it was obvious. He was grateful that Jessie was too drunk to notice.

She climbed into the bed and lay on her stomach. He pulled the covers over her but she kicked them off. Hard as he tried, he just couldn’t keep his eyes off her ass as she rolled over a little on her side, one leg bent a little giving him a nice view in between her legs.

If it wasn’t for her panties her pussy would be on display. He swallowed hard. He couldn’t believe how fucking worked up she had him. He’d seen thousands of sexy, half-naked girls. None had gotten him this hard and fired up just from looking.

He turned the television on and the lights off so he wouldn’t be tempted to look anymore. He was feeling like a lecherous pervert.

How the hell could he help but look? He was only fucking human after all.

He took a shower, mostly so he could jerk his dick off and get rid of his throbbing erection. It only took a minute of visualizing Jessie’s hot body sprawled across the bed and thinking about getting his hands and mouth on her and he was spurting in his hand, relief washing over him.

He got on the other side of the king size bed in gym shorts and watched television for a while. He found a sports channel and tried to focus on it, unsuccessfully attempting to keep his eyes off of the blonde goddess in the bed next to him.

THE NEXT THING JACK KNEW, it was morning and Jessie was lying next to him, watching him sleep.

He focused his eyes on her and realized her hair was wet. She had already showered. She must have laid back down afterward. She was wearing a short robe, tied loosely around her waist.

“Good morning,” she said.

“Hey,” he responded, rolling over on his back. He wondered if she was naked under that white fluffy robe, and his already hard cock jerked against his shorts.

“You were supposed to sleep in the chair.”

“I thought you were joking about that.”

He felt her eyes on him and glanced at her. Sure enough, she was checking him out, her eyes slowly inspecting his bare chest, arms and stomach. Her eyes dropped lower, to the front of his shorts. They widened and then looked away quickly, her cheeks turning pink.

He glanced down and laughed. His morning boner was in full force, pitching an impressively large tent in his shorts.

“Just morning wood, Jessie. It’s normal. Happens every day. Jesus Christ, you act like you never had a boyfriend.” Jack got out of bed and headed to the bathroom.

Jessie didn’t mention that she very rarely had spent the night with Scott, and the few times she had, he must have gotten up before her, because she did not remember him waking up like that. And judging by what she had just seen, Jack was bigger than Scott. Much bigger.

When he was done showering and getting dressed, Jessie was ready to go. She wore a short, light blue dress, sexy but appropriate. She waved her hand at him, showing him the ring she was wearing.

“My grandmother’s engagement ring,” she laughed. “Shall I be the future Mrs. Turner today?”

He smirked at her. “Sure, why not? Our fake engagement is about as close as I’m ever going to get to being married.”

“Oh you never know, Jack. Maybe you’ll meet someone unexpectedly and fall head over heels in love,” Jessie joked.

“That’s about as likely to happen as you going down on me tonight,” Jack retorted.

“So not likely at all then,” Jessie countered, sticking her tongue out at him.

“Wow, what a little fucking tease,” Jack smirked, reaching out to tickle her side.

She screeched and tried to run from him but within two seconds he had her cornered, tickling her until she begged him to stop.

THAT AFTERNOON, THEY ARRIVED AT Kyle’s sprawling oceanfront mansion. Jack introduced her as his friend and colleague.

Jack had been there before, and judging from the reminiscing taking place between them, Jessie surmised that they had had some pretty wild times together. Kyle tried to talk in code when referencing stories that he obviously thought would be too shocking for Jessie to hear.

Jessie excused herself to the bathroom. Jack watched Kyle watching her walk away, checking out her ass in the super short dress she had on.

“Fuck, dude, you hittin’ that?” he asked.

“No. Sorry to say I haven’t had the pleasure.” Jack shook his head sadly.

A sweet little blonde like Jessie was definitely Kyle’s type.

“How long you been trying?” Kyle asked, smirking.

Jack shook his head. “I’m not.”

Kyle looked suspicious. “Why the hell not? She’s sexy as fuck.”

Jack shrugged. “I work with her, man. Don’t want her getting weird on me. She’s more your type than mine anyway. You know I’m not into the whole girl next door, virgin little sister thing. She’s a little too vanilla for me.”

“Yeah I guess you do prefer them a little more hardcore. I like breaking them in.” Kyle laughed.

They resumed catching up and reminiscing.

Jack found that the idea of Kyle with Jessie didn’t sit well with him at all. The thought of Kyle “breaking her in” actually made him feel a little sick.

When Jessie returned, she overheard Kyle and Jack talking.

“That blonde we tag-teamed out by the pool was fucking crazy, dude.” Kyle smiled at the memory.

“Fuck yeah she was, and her ass was…” Jack trailed off when Jessie walked back in the room.

His smile faded when he saw the look on her face. He met her eyes but she looked away quickly.

Jessie couldn’t manage a smile. Jack was right. As hard as she tried not to be judgmental, some of the things he did with women were disgusting to her. So why was her heart still pounding when she noticed him staring at her with that heated look in his eyes?

After an hour catching up over drinks, the conversation finally turned to the real reason for their visit. Jack showed Kyle a picture of Violet Davis.

“Ever met her?” Jack asked, as Kyle’s eyes scanned over the picture of the gorgeous bikini-clad blonde.

“Yeah, I know her. That’s Violet Johnson.” Kyle glanced up at Jack.

“We need to meet her.” Jack glanced back at the picture again.

She was definitely a tempting piece of ass. He would absolutely be down to hit it under the right circumstances.

“Sure, dude. Whatever you need, name it. What do you want me to do?”

Kyle and Jack were old friends and had served together in Iraq. He would do anything for him.

“A casual meeting would be best. Jessie and I will pose as a couple looking to get married down here.” Jack let him in on that much so he could back their story.

They needed to establish if Violet Johnson, aka Violet Davis, had been the recipient of Sam Dennison’s millions. That might not be that easy to do. They would have to play it by ear.

“There’s a party tomorrow night at Mickey Rollin’s place. Violet’s a party girl for sure. She’ll be there. You and Jessie will come with me,” Kyle said enthusiastically. “I know you can’t tell me anything about your case, but I’ve got to tell you… I felt like there was something off about that girl.”

“Perfect.” Jack smiled.

“YOU’RE SURE YOU DON’T WANT to come with me?” Jack asked Jessie for the second time.

He was getting ready to go meet Kyle for drinks. Jessie had opted to stay at the resort for a night in.

“I’m sure. He’s your friend, not mine. I’m sure you have a lot of catching up to do. I’ll just be a third wheel. Plus, what will I be doing when you and Kyle are ‘tag-teaming’ some girl you pick up?” Jessie’s reference to what she had overheard earlier irritated Jack.

“The judgmental ice princess routine is getting old. At least I know what I want and go after it. I’m not going to apologize for that.”

Jack put a shirt on, covering his gorgeous, perfect naked chest. Jessie’s blue eyes all over him hadn’t gone unnoticed.

“No one’s asking you to apologize for anything. I just don’t want to spend the night watching you and your friend pick up women while I sit by myself.”

She turned away from him and back to the book she was reading on her Kindle.

“It won’t be like that.” Jack shook his head.

Jessie looked back at him and rolled her eyes. She was sure that’s what they would be doing and she didn’t want it in her face. She might have to see Jack hitting on girls when they were all out at home, but at least there she was with friends and could leave anytime she wanted. Here, she would be stuck.

“You really think I don’t go after what I want?” She hated to admit that it stung a bit hearing what Jack thought of her.

Jack’s laugh sounded hollow. “I don’t think it, Jessie, I know it. I don’t think you even know what you want. You should lighten up a little and have some fucking fun.”

“I think we have very different ideas about what’s fun. Some stranger putting his hands all over me doesn’t sound very fun. It sounds like being sexually assaulted.”

Jack rolled his eyes, done with the frustrating conversation. “Got it.”

Just as Jessie had predicted, they ended up bringing girls back to Kyle’s place. A blonde and a brunette, both in their early twenties and hot as hell.

Kyle disappeared with the blonde right away, leaving Jack and the brunette alone.

They got right down to it. They both knew exactly what they wanted with each other.

Within a few minutes the girl was on her knees, unzipping his pants and wrapping her lips around his dick. Jack leaned back and closed his eyes. He really tried to stay in the moment, focused on the hot, wet mouth getting him ready for the main event. He resisted the images of his pretty blonde friend that seemed to come unbidden to the forefront of his mind, but she was too in his head, and when he came unexpectedly quickly, he bit his tongue to keep from growling her name.

JESSIE WOKE UP IN THE morning, alone.

Jack hadn’t come back to the room the night before, which didn’t really surprise her. She hadn’t really expected that he would.

She grabbed her phone and sighed when she saw that he had texted her at three o’clock in the morning.

Jack: Staying at Kyle’s

She took a long, warm shower and got herself together. She put on a bikini, grabbed a towel and headed out to the beach, just steps from the patio outside of their room.

She wasn’t sure for how long she drifted off, but she woke to the sound of Jack’s voice.

“Hey.”

She opened her eyes.

Jack sat on the lounge chair next to her, his hair damp from a recent shower.

“Hi.” She stretched and reached for her sunscreen to reapply it.

“How was your night?” Jack asked, glancing out at the ocean.

“Fine. Yours?”

Jessie starting rubbing lotion over her chest and stomach and Jack turned to watch her. Even with sunglasses on, she could tell that his eyes were on her body.

“Fine. Figured you’d be glad not to have to share the bed with me again.”

Jack picked up the sunscreen and poured some in his hands. He rubbed them together and then reached over to rub it on Jessie’s shoulders and back. She shifted on her chair to give him better access.

“Yes, I much preferred not sharing the bed with you,” she lied.

She wondered if he thought she was totally clueless and couldn’t figure out that he had probably hooked up with someone.

He took his time applying the lotion, massaging her back and shoulders slowly, and enjoying the rare opportunity to touch her. Her skin was so soft. She felt incredibly fragile in his hands.

Delicate.

Breakable.

Fuck, the idea of breaking her was strangely exciting. He felt his cock pulse as it hardened in his shorts.

“You have pretty skin.” The words slipped out before Jack could stop them. His boner was doing his talking for him, it seemed.

“Thanks,” Jessie turned to look at him, smiling shyly. She was surprised. Jack so rarely gave out compliments.

When he was finished he reluctantly took his hands off of her body.

“Thanks. Want me to do you?”

He hesitated and then smirked. “Oh, yeah. I definitely want you to do me.”

She swatted at him playfully. “You know that’s not what I meant!”

He laughed and turned around. His back and shoulders were rock hard as she smoothed the lotion across his skin.

She felt her heart start to beat a little faster as she pressed her hands into his tight muscles.

Why did he have to be so damn hot? If only he wasn’t so sexy maybe she wouldn’t feel so awkward and clumsy around him.

“Do you work out a lot?” The question was out of her mouth before she realized what she was saying.

Jack turned around and looked at her, an amused smile playing on his lips. “What’s a lot?”

Jessie didn’t answer him. She jumped up from her chair. “I’m hot. I’m going to go get wet and cool down.”

Jack was tempted to make a joke about getting her wet, but he bit his tongue. He lay back on the lounge chair and watched her walk to the edge of the water and sit down, using her hands to splash water on her body.

He watched her sit at the water’s edge while he thought about the chick from the night before. He’d managed to get through the rest of the night and two more orgasms with the girl without picturing Jessie in his mind again, but he’d had to force her from his thoughts.

She had him so fucking wound up. He knew it wasn’t intentional on her part, but it felt like she was teasing the goddamn life out of him. Prancing around in those sexy little clothes, stripping down in front of him the other night, always so close but still untouchable. The girl was pushing him to his limits. It was no wonder he was thinking about her when he got off.

He felt guilty. She was such a cool girl. She deserved better than all of the fucked up fantasies he was harboring. She deserved to be put on a fucking pedestal by some guy who would respect her and do anything for her. Not to be on her hands and knees like a little slut, begging him to pound her pussy like he imagined her doing in his demented fucking fantasies.

She turned her head toward him and gave him a smile that was brighter than the goddamned sun. She waved and he lifted his hand in response. Yeah, this girl was definitely one of a fucking kind.