“Jill, huh?” Jack looked at me suspiciously.
I smiled. “I guess so, Jack.”
“What brings you to Honolulu, Jill?” He said with an emphasis on Jill, knowing full well it wasn’t really my name.
“Well, I’m on my honeymoon Jack!” I thought my answer was hysterical in my drunken state. Sienna must have too, considering she spit her drink out and almost choked on it, as she joined me in laughing at my statement.
For a split second, I thought Jack may have looked angry, but then he must have realized that we had been teasing. Sienna and I laughed our asses off, but Jack didn’t seem to find our joke as funny as we did. When we finally regained control of our giggling, Sienna looked up at Jack, who was clearly waiting for an explanation, smiled, then turned and went back to Jack’s friends.
I looked up at Jack and he was watching me, his face showed signs of his patience slipping. “It was supposed to be my honeymoon, but we broke up two months ago. The honeymoon was already paid for, so I decided to take Sienna and make it a vacation instead.”
Jack smiled, apparently content with my answer. He reached forward to the bar to grab two bottles of water. His fingers brushed mine as he handed me one, sending an electric jolt that made me pull my hand back. I looked up at him confused.
He leaned down to my eye level and looked me straight in the eyes, briefly searching for something. “I felt it too.”
***
A few hours later we were in the resort’s bar partying with the bachelor party and had made some new friends. The bachelor, Robert, turned out to be a nice guy, who apparently was totally whipped by his fiancé. He spent most of the night getting teased and harassed by his friends, most of who were all still single. Jack played host to the rowdy crowd and most of the staff seemed to have known him by name already.
Sienna was getting cozy with Tyler as the last of the bachelor party said goodnight, leaving just the four of us. The bartender told us he was getting ready to leave and asked Jack if he wanted the keys to lock up later. “Do you work here or something?” I asked confused as he accepted the keys.
“Or something.” Jack smiled, but offered no more information. He walked around to the other side of the bar and reached down pulling out a bottle of water. “Drink.” Was all he said as he handed it to me?
“You’re pretty bossy, aren’t you?” I knew he was right, and I needed to drink water or I would regret it tomorrow, but he didn’t offer it to me, he instructed me to drink it.
“Yes.” He looked me directly in the eyes unapologetically and didn’t waiver the entire time he opened his own bottle and drank from it.
His stare made me dizzy, but I wasn’t going to back down. The arrogant ass was starting to affect me, and it was an odd combination of being pissed off and turned on at the same time. I held his stare as I opened my water bottle and drank from it. Jack finally broke our heated gaze, and for a split second, I thought I had won our unspoken challenge. Then I watched him, as he slowly looked me up and down, his eyes taking their time as they wandered over my breasts and down my flat stomach. When he was done and had taken himself a good long look, his eyes returned to mine again. He didn’t try to hide his visual assault; instead, he enjoyed me watching him do it. I felt a throb between my thighs and shifted my legs in response to it. He caught my body respond to him and gave me a sexy wicked smile with one eyebrow arched.
“Shit, I need to go to bed.” I needed to get away from the mesmerizing man quickly before I did something stupid.
His wicked smile grew, but he didn’t respond.
“Sienna, I’m going to go to bed, you coming?” I yelled to the other end of the bar where she was snuggled with Tyler.
“I’ll meet you up there in a little bit, Syd.”
Jack came around the bar and put his hand on the small of my back. I had to struggle to keep still, as his hand ignited my skin beneath his touch. “I’ll walk you to your room.” Jack tossed Tyler the keys. His hand never left me as we walked and I wondered if he felt my skin burning underneath his big hand.
“So, Syd, or is it Jill, why did Sienna not want to tell me your real name?”
Alcohol was like truth serum to me, insert a few shots and out comes everything you ever wanted to know. “She had a crazy idea that I should have an anonymous fling while we are here to celebrate my newly found singleness.”
“And why is that crazy?” His tone was flat and serious.
I actually thought about the question for a minute, and couldn’t come up with an answer. “Umm, I’m not sure, I guess it isn’t really that crazy, people do it all the time with one night stands.”
He didn’t say anything more as we entered the elevator. He stood close behind me, even though there was no one else in the car. I felt his warm breath on my neck and my body was sizzling from how close he was, he had to feel it too.
Stepping off the elevator to my floor, I was disappointed to lose his body next to mine. His hand returned to the small of my back as we made our way to the door of my room. “So it’s all settled then.”
I was digging into my bag to find my key and looked up at him confused, sure I must have dazed out and missed some of our conversation. He continued, “I already know your name and know you have a great voice, so it can’t be totally anonymity. How about if we limit each other to 10 personal questions, that way we don’t get to know each other that well, and it will still be sort of anonymous.”
My mouth dropped open at his suggestion. I wasn’t pretending to be shocked, I was shocked. “Are you saying you want to have sex with me this week and only get to ask and be asked 10 personal questions?”
“That’s what I’m saying.” His response was dead serious.
“You’re crazy.” I glared at him, my face confirming that I thought he was insane.
“I thought we just established that it wasn’t crazy.”
“I didn’t say it was crazy, I said you’re crazy.” I emphasized the difference.
But Jack didn’t respond to my accusation with words. Instead, he reached down and lifted me up effortlessly, pinning me against the door to my room, wrapping my legs around his waist. His mouth aggressively covered mine and he licked my lips demanding them to open. Unconsciously, my lips parted and our tongues instantly collided in desperation. It wasn’t a first kiss. It was THE first kiss. We held each other tight and his mouth devoured mine harshly with a raw need raging between us. His body pressed tightly against mine and every ounce of my body was electrified from head to toe. I felt his erection hard against my stomach and knew his body was as in tune to mine as mine was to his.
He broke the kiss and leaned his forehead against mine, looking into my eyes. We were both breathless and panting. “I felt it the first minute I looked at you. You felt it too.”
I couldn’t deny that he was right. “Yes.” The word came out breathless and throaty, it didn’t even sound like my voice.
“You better unlock that door and deadbolt it quickly, before I stop being a gentleman and fuck you tonight even though you are drunk.”
I bit my bottom lip and he slowly lowered me to my feet, our bodies pressed against each other intimately as I slid down from his waist.
He kissed me on the lips hard and pulled back to look at me. His beautiful green eyes turned almost gray with intensity. “No drinking tomorrow.” It was more of an order than a request.
I opened the door to my room and turned back to him as he stood in the doorway. I could tell that he was fighting hard to control himself.
“Okay.” I whispered and then shut the door.
Chapter 3
I woke the next morning to a knock at the door and was quickly reminded of the night before as I attempted to lift my head. My head was throbbing and I felt as though I had gone three rounds in a heavyweight match, with me being the loser of the bout. I looked over at Sienna’s bed, where she was still sleeping soundly.
I answered the door to find room service with a cart. “Good mornin
g Ms. Aldridge, we have your breakfast ready.” The waiter’s voice wasn’t particularly loud, yet every word felt like a nail being pushed further into my brain.
“I’m sorry, there must be a mistake, I didn’t order any breakfast.”
“Mr. Cole requested that we deliver to your room promptly at 11am.”
“Mr. Cole?” I must have looked as confused as I was.
“He wrote a note, maybe this will explain things.” The waiter patiently stood waiting for my eyes to focus enough to take in the words on the page.
I opened the sealed hotel envelope and read the note. The handwriting was dark, neat and heavily slanted. Good morning Jill. Drink the tomato juice; it will help with the hangover. Take two of the pills too. Eat the eggs, you will need the energy later. The flowers made me think of you. Jack. I smiled and shook my head and directed the waiter to roll in the cart. There were two meals and an assortment of drinks, so at least he was thoughtful enough to feed us both. There was also a bottle of unopened aspirin and a beautiful arrangement of the most brightly colored wildflowers I’d ever seen.
I showed the waiter out and took a sip of the tomato juice with two aspirin. The man truly pissed me off and turned me on at the same time. It was very sweet to send me breakfast, but the note was more like an order to eat then a suggestion.
“You ordered me breakfast? It better be at least noon if you are waking me up.” Sienna groaned as she rolled over, her voice was raspy and her voice sounded like I felt.
“I didn’t order it, Jack sent it. Along with instructions to eat it.” The sarcasm dripped from my voice on the second sentence.
“Jack? Oh. Mmmmm. That man is delicious. You are lucky that I am a good friend who knows you need a rebound fuck, or I would have tied you up in the back of the bar to get first crack at that one.” Sienna got up and went to the bathroom and then started picking at some of the food on the cart. “Let’s be realistic, that man would have found you anywhere I hid you. The way he looked at you made me wet!”
I threw a pillow at her. “You are insane…what doesn’t make you horny woman!” We both laughed and then devoured everything on the cart.
***
By the time we made our way down to the beach, the sun was scorching hot. My headache subsided as I swam in the crystal clear water and reveled in the feel of the soft sand between my toes. I relished the feeling of the sun drying each droplet of water as I relaxed into my lounge chair listening to the ocean waves lightly crash on to the shore. The rhythm of the surf eventually lulled me to sleep as I laid on my stomach listening to the tranquil sound relaxing.
I moaned as I woke to the luxurious feel of the big hands massaging my back. I was groggy and it felt so good as my muscles relaxed under the pressure of the skilled fingers. My sleepy haze drifted, as reality seeped into my fantasy and I jumped as I realized that I was at the beach and had no idea who was touching me. Jack’s strong hands gently but firmly held me down on my stomach in the cushioned lounge chair, as I attempted to jump up. His words were low, but there was no mistaking his sexy voice. “Don’t get up Jill, I untied your top to rub in the sunscreen and you’ll give the whole beach a good show.”
“You scared the shit out of me! Do you make a habit of rubbing down strangers as they sleep?”
He leaned down close to my ear, his front pressed firmly against my back. His voice was low and velvety. “Do you really want to waste one of your ten questions on my habits for rubbing down strangers?”
Shit, I didn’t want to be, but I was instantly turned on. His voice, his confident words, and his bare chest pressed up against my back sent my body into a frenzy. My heart rate sped up and my breathing became more labored. God damn it, control yourself Sydney. “You scared me half to death.” I was hoping that he would buy into that my reaction was from being scared and not to being near him.
“I’m sorry baby.” His voice sounded sincere and I was surprised that the man apologized for anything. “Now if you want I’ll tie that string you call a top back on and you can get up, or we can both take a few more minutes to enjoy me rubbing your back some more.”
I didn’t want his hands off of me. I sighed, pretending it was a sacrifice. “Keep rubbing.”
I heard a devious chuckle before he sat back up and continued to rub my back until I was completely relaxed again. Then he tied my top back on so that I could sit up.
I righted myself in the oversized lounger and caught the first glimpse of him of the day. I had a picture of him in my head as he was rubbing me, but the picture didn’t come close to the real thing. His shirtless body was even more than I imagined. He had strong, square shoulders, toned pecs and a six pack that I thought only really existed in air brushed magazines. His dark plaid swimsuit hung low on his waist, revealing a deep v that pointed to what I imagined was probably also perfect down below. Jack stood and held out his hand to help me up.
I stood and he smiled a sexy devilish grin. “My turn.” He slowly looked me up and down, taking his time to admire all my girl parts. He leaned down to my ear. “Even better than I fantasized baby.”
I laughed and then went up on my tippy toes to whisper back in his ear. “You took the words right out of my mouth.”
He growled, literally growled at me. Then he scooped me up and started walking toward the water.
“I can walk you know.” I pretended to be annoyed, but did a lousy job since I was smiling the whole time.
“I know you can, but I am going to take care of you like a woman like you deserves to be taken care of this week baby.”
I think my heart skipped a beat for a minute at his words. Or maybe it just started beating again finally.
***
I leaned back in my lounge chair and took a deep, cleansing breath in, enjoying the moment. Jack was sitting up behind me, my back to his front and his hands were clasped tightly around my waist, in a possessive hold. We listened to the wave’s crash against the surf and watched the sun setting through an amazing bright orange and purple sky. It was the most beautiful sunset that I had ever seen and it felt so natural to be sitting in Jack’s arms watching it.
“Why did you call off your engagement?”
“Are you cashing in on question number one Jack?” I dared him.
“Yes, so let’s hear it. And remember, I’m using one of my precious chips here, so I want the full story.”
I hadn’t really told many people the full story; it was just difficult to put into words. The people that really knew me just understood and knew I was making the right decision. I wasn’t sure where to start, so I decided to start from the beginning. “I met Michael in high school, we went to the prom together. We were together for six years when he proposed. I said yes, and we planned a long engagement before the wedding.” I paused, contemplating before I continued.
“I don’t think I ever considered not marrying him, it was just the normal progression in our long relationship and everyone expected it would happen. He would have preferred a shorter engagement, but I wasn’t ready yet so I dragged it out as long as I could get away with. He treated me really well over the years; at least I thought he did. He was every parents dream for their daughter. He came from a good home, earned a good living as an attorney and had nice manners. It seemed like every girl’s dream. But as the wedding got closer, I grew more nervous. I started to wonder if I had made myself into who he wanted me to be, instead of who I really was. I started picturing myself having 2.5 children with a white picket fence and having lunches with PTA moms who wore sweater sets.
In the time we had been together, I had stopped singing with a band and went to school to get a music degree to teach. As my wedding date got closer, I was starting to question myself on why I had done that, when I really loved being in my band. Michael and Sienna didn’t get along, and he didn’t like me traveling at night to different clubs, so I eventually gave it up, even though he never actually asked me to.
One morning I woke up with a panic attack. I realized t
hat something was missing in our relationship and that something was me. So I sat down one night to talk to Michael about what I was feeling and he completely flipped out. He blamed it all on my last visit to NY to visit Sienna and her filling my head with crazy unrealistic singing dreams. But the truth was, Sienna never said a word to me. She accepted me for whoever I was and didn’t try to change me.
I told him that I didn’t want to teach and wanted to join a local band again. He told me that his wife was not going to be a stupid band slut traveling around town with a bunch of men. We argued back and forth and then things got really loud and heated when he realized that I had already made up my mind. The next day I felt badly about the way that we had left off, so I went to his office to talk to him and walked in on his secretary on her knees.” I stopped and thought for a moment and Jack tightened his grip around me.
“I left and he tried to apologize again the next day. Eventually, when I wouldn’t accept his apology, he got mad again and spilled that he had been sleeping with his secretary for more than a year anyway. I moved all of his stuff to the front lawn by the time he tried to come home from work that night, and had the locks changed.” I paused and regrouped from telling my sad tale. I forced a happier voice “Everything happens for a reason. I quit my job teaching and started singing again last month. It’s just a job as a house singer at one of the Heston Hotels, but it’s a start on my trip back to me.”
Jack was quiet and didn’t say anything for a moment. “You work at one of the Heston Hotels?”
I laughed, thinking it was odd that of everything that I had just told him, that was the part of my story that caught his attention. Men. “Is that really a question that you want to use your second chip on?”