A Chance at Love (A Ferry Creek Novel): (a billionaire romance novel) (28 page)

Sullivan lingered. He squeezed Jess
’
s hand. He stared at the intense
look in her eyes. She was battling herself. Debating what to do. He could sense
that she wanted to cross that line and Sullivan knew with just a single word he
could get her to cross that line, but he wanted Jess to do it on her own.

“
You
’
re trouble for me,
”
Jess whispered.

“
I
’
m the good kind of trouble,
”
Sullivan said.
“
The life changing kind.
”

Jess touched Sullivan
’
s face. She licked her lips.

A small annoying pain started in
Sullivan
’
s back as he
remained in such an odd position, but Sullivan could deal with it. A little
pain to wait for Jess
’
s
lips was worth it.

A few seconds later, Jess inched
toward Sullivan. Their lips touched for a second and Jess pulled back. She stared
at Sullivan and then came at him again. This time with more passion but just
still a single kiss. Jess repeated the move two more times until Sullivan
finally reached his breaking point and put a hand to her hair. His fingers were
quickly lost in Jess
’
s soft
hair as he found the back of her head. He held her to his lips and parted his
lips. He couldn
’
t help
himself as the tip of his tongue tasted Jess
’
s
lips. Jess joined in, slowly opening her lips, offering her tongue. The soft,
gentle kissing soon became heavy breaths and intense kissing. Sullivan reached
with his other hand and touched Jess
’
s
waist. He pulled at her, wishing they weren
’
t
in his car so he could get her closer.

Jess had a hand on Sullivan
’
s shoulder, squeezing each time
he kissed her with his tongue. She began to bounce in her seat like she wanted
to get across the middle console to Sullivan. Sullivan mentally began trying to
plan it all out. How to keep kissing Jess and get her across and onto his lap.

They kissed for what could have
been hours for all Sullivan knew, a make out session that he hadn
’
t experienced in a very long
time. Usually the kissing quickly led to something else that served its purpose
and that was it. Sullivan knew with Jess everything was going to be different. As
much as he wanted to tear her clothing off and have her, he knew it wouldn
’
t be that simple. His most inner
desires wanted to gently strip her. He wanted to caress her entire body. He
wanted to show her what it was like to be loved and to have someone make love
to her.

As Sullivan turned his head, his
nose rubbed against Jess
’
s.
Their kiss stopped with both their mouths open, hungry for more. The tips of
their noses touched and their eyes were locked.

“
Jess,
”
Sullivan said.
“
I won
’
t be able to stop.
”

“
I
didn
’
t tell you to,
”
Jess said.

“
I
don
’
t want to leave. I
mean, Ferry Creek. I don
’
t
want to leave. After everything... happens... I don
’
t want to leave. I
’
m
worried I
’
ll be pushed
away.
”

“
That
won
’
t happen,
”
Jess said.

Her hand moved from his shoulder to
his leg. When Sullivan felt the pressure on his leg, his entire body shuddered.
Everything was happening now. His heart raced and his body was on fire. He was
so turned on by Jess that his mind felt scrambled. It felt better than
business. Better than being drunk. Better than anything Sullivan had ever felt.

He kissed Jess again. She kissed
back. He leaned to her and pulled at the small of her back. Jess straightened
her back the best she could and allowed her breasts to press against Sullivan.
She let out a whimpering sigh and Sullivan responded with a small groan.

He wanted her.

His hand moved down and found the
bottom of Jess
’
s shirt. As
his fingers worked to pull at Jess
’
s
shirt, she let out another aroused sound. Sullivan couldn
’
t handle those sounds. Not in
the position he was in. Sullivan
’
s
hand found skin. Smooth, warm, bare skin. His fingers squeezed and Jess
squirmed as she exhaled hard, trying to resist the urge to laugh as Sullivan
must have hit a ticklish spot.

Even that little detail made Jess
more beautiful.

Sullivan knew his fingers would
never forget that spot. In his mind right then he imagined tickling Jess at the
very same spot, over and over, during different times in their lives together.

Lives together?

Sullivan had definitely fallen for
Jess.

Sullivan
’
s hand crept up her body. His fingertips felt the
bottom of her bra. He moved up and over her lacy bra and Sullivan heard his
cell phone ring. The ringing filled the car with a ton of noise and the kiss
broke. They both looked down and Sullivan let out a breath. There was no way in
hell he was going to take a phone call.

But it was Bobby calling.

“
It
’
s Bobby,
”
Sullivan said.

“
Get
it. Just in case...
”

It pained Sullivan to take his
hands and lips away from Jess, but he had to.

“
Bobby,
”
he said, answering it.
“
How
’
s everything going?
”

“
You
try... and tell me.
”

Sullivan winced.

Bobby was drunk.

He looked at Jess and she looked
afraid.

“
Have
you been drinking?
”
Sullivan asked, sharing the information with Jess more than Bobby.

“
Yeah,
I drank,
”
Bobby said.
“
A lot. Maybe I
’
ll drink more. Where
’
s my older brother?
”

“
Bobby,
I
’
m out with Jess. I
’
m still here, in Ferry Creek.
”

“
Yeah,
well, that
’
s good. That
’
s good then. It
’
s good to be with a woman. I
mean, why not? You came rushing in and swept her away. She
’
s a good woman, Sullivan. Jess,
I mean. Such a good woman. Better than Annie I bet. Yeah, because Annie, well,
come on. She takes the kids and rushes away from me. Hurries to get them back
home. Back to what they know because she
’
s
afraid they
’
ll be hurt.
What about me? What about everything happening to me?
”

Sullivan put his hand over the
phone and whispered,
“
We
have to go. I
’
m sorry.
”

“
No,
”
Jess said.
“
Hurry. Is he okay?
”

“
He
’
ll be okay,
”
Sullivan said. He put the phone
back to his ear and mouth. Bobby was still rambling.
“
Bobby, listen to me. I
’
m coming home, to your place. Okay? Right now. I
’
ll be there soon. Then you can
talk to me and tell me everything that
’
s
happening.
”

“
Yeah,
”
Bobby said.
“
Where the hell am I going,
right? I
’
m in an apartment
above a diner. In Ferry Creek. Looks like life won this one.
”

“
Just
stay put,
”
Sullivan said.

He ended the call and turned the
car on. He peeled out of the clearing and the tires threw small rocks until it
found traction on the road.

“
Shit,
”
Sullivan said.
“
Sorry. But...
”

“
Shit,
”
Jess said.

“
He
sounds drunk as anything,
”
Sullivan said.

“
Do
you want me to come with you?
”
Jess asked.

Sullivan glanced as Jess.
“
For this I
’
d like to do it alone. Seems
this is a brother thing.
”

“
A
brother thing,
”
Jess said.
“
Maybe Bobby is really lucky to
have a brother after all.
”

“
Maybe,
”
Sullivan said.

He fell silent, as did Jess. They
drove back through the darkness into the heart of Ferry Creek. Sullivan wanted
to help. He wanted to fix everything that was wrong and he knew money wouldn
’
t do a thing for it.

Jess placed her hand to Sullivan
’
s.

Sullivan drove, and hoped he could
find a way to help.

With one more kiss, Sullivan said
his goodbye to Jess. He wanted to stand there and watch her drive away. He wanted
to feel that sting in his heart to prove just how much he cared about Jess. But
there was no time to waste. It wasn
’
t
just the fact that Bobby was drunk that bothered Sullivan. It was the fact that
Bobby lived upstairs. All it would take was one wrong step trying to get out of
the apartment and Bobby could miss a step and topple down and hurt himself.

Sullivan ran around to the back of
the diner. The apartment door was unlocked and he burst in like a hard gust of
wind. Sullivan saw Bobby sitting on the couch with his back to him, but Bobby
didn
’
t move.

At all.

“
Bobby?
”
Sullivan called out.

He still didn
’
t move.

Sullivan shut the door and started
to walk to the couch.

“
Hey,
Bobby, it
’
s Sullivan. I
’
m here. Told you I
’
d be here.
”

Bobby still didn
’
t move.

Sullivan started to expect the
worst. Would Bobby hurt himself? Or did Bobby drink himself to sleep?

Sullivan turned to the couch and
found Bobby sitting with a bottle between his legs. His eyes were open and he
stared forward. Bobby had one hand on the bottle and his other hand was palm
up, his cell phone resting in his palm.

“
Hey,
Bobby,
”
Sullivan crouched
down and punched Bobby in the leg.
“
I
told you I was coming back, brother. Okay?
”

“
You
called me brother,
”
Bobby
said.

“
That
’
s what we are. I know we missed
out on a long time together, Bobby, but that
’
s
not our fault, is it? It
’
s
not. Tell me what
’
s going
on.
”

“
Want
a drink, brother?
”
Bobby
asked.

He lifted the bottle and Sullivan
took it. Sullivan put the vodka to his lips and lifted the bottle. The alcohol
touched Sullivan
’
s lips and
he pretended to take a drink. He then put the bottle behind him on the coffee
table and slowly moved to the couch. He took the phone from Bobby
’
s hand and tossed that to the
table.

“
There,
”
Sullivan said.
“
It
’
s
just us, Bobby. Just you and me. Let
’
s
talk. How did everything go?
”

“
He
was all there,
”
Bobby said.
“
He was awake and happy,
Sullivan. You know, I almost caved with Annie. She begged me not to do it. She
begged me to just take the kids and do something else. She did not want them to
see their grandfather dying. I fought it and won. And he was all there. The
kids didn
’
t even realize he
was that sick. I mean, sure, he was in the hospital, but that didn
’
t matter. They talked. They
laughed. He told them funny stories. They colored pictures. Claire sang songs
she learned in daycare. Billy talked about kindergarten. It was... it was
almost like a dream.
”

“
I
’
m glad you all have that memory,
”
Sullivan said.

“
Me
too.
”

Bobby looked at Sullivan with tears
in his eyes.

“
Then
why the drinking?
”

“
She
took them away,
”
Bobby
said.
“
She took the kids
and went home to the house I bought. You know? Then I had to come back here. To
this apartment. To this hell. All alone.
”

“
You
’
re not alone, Bobby,
”
Sullivan said.
“
I
’
m
here. This town is here for you. For our father.
”

“
I
want you to go see him now,
”
Bobby said.
“
It wasn
’
t fair for me to ask you to
wait.
”