Beautiful Distraction (35 page)

His eyes focused on a point beyond the horizon, and I knew
he wasn’t seeing the serene display of nature before our eyes, but the sweet
memories of a childhood that would always live on in his mind and heart. I
found myself smiling with him, seeing the past through his words, and for a
moment I felt as though I was there with him, seeing the old man through the
fanciful eyes of an innocent boy.

“You must have loved it up here,” I said, gently squeezing
his arm. His stunning eyes turned to me and a bright smile lit up his face,
sending a jolt through my heart.

“We did. That was right before—” His expression
darkened, wiping the gorgeous smile off his lips. Something had happened.
Instead of sharing it with me, he was bottling up again. It wasn’t surprising
given that we barely knew each other, but I couldn’t help the sudden
disappointment washing over me. As strange as it sounded, I wanted to know
everything about him and his life.

“Come on.” Jett gripped my hand a bit rougher than before
and guided me expertly down the slippery slope toward the shoreline. The flat
soles of my ballerinas slipped in the soft earth, but I didn’t argue in the
hope he might still decide to resume our conversation and divulge what he
wanted to say.

Eventually, we reached the shore and stopped a few feet from
the water. Jett pulled me down next to him onto the soft ground and propped his
arm behind my back, the material of his shirt almost brushing my skin. His dark
hair swayed in the light breeze. I closed my eyes and leaned back on my palms,
my face soaking up the sun. We sat in silence for a moment or two. I only
opened my eyes when I felt his gaze on me.

Jett’s eyes were hooded, filled with something dark and
dangerous. His beautiful lips glistened as though he had moistened them quite
recently and the moisture hadn’t dried yet. I imagined the tip of his tongue
brushing over them, then over every inch of my skin, meeting with mine in a
tangled embrace. Would he find me intimidating if I just kissed him? Did our
agreement involve only him getting close to me whenever he felt like it, or
could I initiate sexual contact as well, maybe even during working hours? Such
as now?

Damn sex contracts and their blurred lines! I had never
played this game, so I had yet to figure out the fine print. Smiling shyly, I
ignored the sudden need in the pit of my stomach that was slowly but steadily
venturing down south.

“It must be pretty lonely over there,” I said in a feeble
attempt to conceal my nervousness.

“Probably, but I can also see the benefits of keeping away
from civilization’s stress and hassles, and having one’s kids grow up in the
serenity of nature.” Jett fell silent again, his gaze never leaving mine. The
air charged with tension. I bit my lip and broke eye contact, only to redirect
my gaze to him a moment later.

He was sitting so close I could barely breathe. And while
his proximity didn’t feel uncomfortable, it was almost too much to bear.

“Tell me about your life,” Jett said eventually.

I laughed. “What?” It was such a strange request. Men
weren’t usually interested in my life, past, thoughts, and so forth.

Jett grinned that lopsided smile of his that made my heart
skip a beat. “We didn’t go through the usual interviewing process, so it’s
about time to catch up.”

“Well, we didn’t really go through the traditional hiring
process either.”

He shrugged and his grin intensified. “You have a point. I
could fire and re-hire you, if it bothers you so much. Or—” he turned
onto one side, propping up on one elbow “—you could just answer my
question.” It wasn’t an invitation but a demand.

I moistened my lips as I tried to push through years of
memories in the hope I might find something that didn’t give away too much, yet
still enough to satisfy his curiosity.

“My dad died when I was a teen. I grew up with my mother who
tried her best to fulfill the role of both. After finishing high school, I came
to New York to study, and ended up working in real estate.” Those were the
boring parts of my life; the harmless ones barely scratching the surface.
Usually, they sufficed in sending a guy into a disinterested staring stupor,
meaning they never bothered to ask further questions. I searched Jett’s gaze
for any signs of disinterest, but what I found was an attentiveness that scared
me. He seemed to really listen to me. While there was nothing wrong with it,
the fact that this guy who hired me would be interested in me and in my life
showed me he cared for me in some way. And that scared me even more.

“You always wanted to work in real estate?” His question
seemed polite and harmless enough.

“I like houses. What about you?”

He smiled but didn’t take the bait to change the object of
focus. “It’s a strange career choice for a college graduate. Either you were
pushed into it knowing you could make big bucks once you built your portfolio.
Or you had a serious interest in buildings and the market. Which one is it?” My
throat dried up. The guy knew what he was talking about. I wondered whether it
was one of his usual interview questions, or whether he pulled it out of his
repertoire for someone like me.

“You don’t have to answer if you’re not comfortable,” Jett
continued slowly.

“It’s pretty simple. I felt it was the right step.” I
shrugged because that was all there really was to it. Working in real estate
was the right step—at that time.

Jett’s eyes glittered with amusement, and I got the feeling
my explanation pleased him. “You joined the business out of interest, then.”

I groaned inwardly. He wasn’t about to change the topic any
time soon. I forced myself not to pull a face. “Yep.”

“Did you know a lot about houses? Were you fascinated by
them, by the people living inside?”

He knew something was off.

I don’t know why, but the thought hit me the moment he
regarded me coolly—his eyes clouded as though to hide his thoughts and
emotions. My heart thumped hard against my rib cage, threatening to burst out
of my chest. My palms turned clammy, and a thin rivulet of sweat trickled down
my spine.

Stay calm, Stewart.

I knew answering his question would lead to more questions,
until there were no secrets left. I had never told anyone, and I sure wasn’t
ready to share the dark sides of my past with Jett. My throat constricted with
fear. I buried my fingers into the soft grass and ripped it out, barely acknowledging
that the action was revealing more about me than a thousand words.

I wasn’t ready to tell him the whole truth, so he had to make
do with the little I could give him.

“We moved a few times.” I cleared my throat, forcing the
tremor away. “I’ve always liked the notion of having a stable family home. I
figured by selling beautiful houses to people I might be helping them find
stability in their lives. It was a stupid dream. About a week into the job, I
realized the whole business was all about money.”

His long fingers tucked a stray strand of hair behind my
ear. The movement was so natural, it felt as though he had done it—
touched me
—a hundred times before.
“You still like your job though.”

I nodded and smiled. “I do.”

“Because you want to change the world,” he whispered as he
moved closer, cupping my face with his hand and forcing me to look at him. “It
wasn’t a stupid dream. You won’t be able to change the world, Brooke. But your
example might just change the people entering your life.”

His index finger traced the contours of my face, leaving a
tingling sensation behind. The air was thick with the scent of wood and grass,
but I all I could focus on was
Jett
.
He was sitting so closely, I could smell his manly scent and take in every
detail of his face and body. The barely visible laughter lines beneath his
stunning eyes, the faded scar on his chin, the hard muscles of his arms. Those
were all things that made him real. Beautiful. Perfect. I wanted to ask him
about them so his memories would be mine.

“Hey, did you ever play football in high school?” I asked
cheekily and slightly out of breath as my gaze swept over his broad shoulders.

“What?” He shot me a questioning glance. And then a deep
chuckle rumbled in his throat as he probably caught on to my subtle
implication. “As a matter of fact, I did. I’m glad you noticed it.”

I rolled my eyes at the sudden onset of heat in my cheeks.

Well done—inflating
his oversized ego even more, Stewart.

“I bet you were the book nerd who hung out with the whizz
kids,” Jett said.

“What makes you think I wasn’t the cheerleading type?” My
brows shot up. He was spot on, but that didn’t please me. For some reason I
wanted him to think me hot and desirable. I wanted him to think he might have
competition.

“Nah, you weren’t that boring.” His arms moved around my
waist to pull me closer as his green, heated gaze descended into my eyes and
heart, infiltrating me to the core. The way he was looking at me, I felt everything
that mattered fade away. The only thing that existed was the moment we shared.

Jett’s lips lowered onto mine, almost brushing them, but not
quite. “You were clever and stunning, yet you didn’t know it.”

“How do you know?” I breathed.

“It’s not hard to guess. Girls like you keep boys at arm’s
length. I think quite a few of the boys tried, but none succeeded because you
didn’t realize just how gorgeous you were.”

The guy certainly had a way with words. I blinked rapidly,
intoxicated by the scent of his skin. He smelled of expensive aftershave and
something else. Something manly. Something—

Him.

My lips parted, begging him to stop torturing me by being so
close. Begging him to kiss me.

And he did, ever so gently. Like tiny butterflies brushing
my skin with their soft wings. I groaned inwardly at the sheer torture. God, I
wanted him so badly it hurt.

“Some guys might be into cheerleaders and flaunted beauty. I’ve
always liked a challenge, and you were the kind of girl I wanted but couldn’t
have,” he whispered.

He flicked his tongue over my bottom lip a moment before his
mouth conquered mine in a long and heated kiss. He circled my tongue, sucking
it deep into his mouth, as his hands roved over my body. I shuddered in his
embrace, and my head fell back as I moaned with the storm rising within my
abdomen. His hand tugged at my shirt, jerking it out of my slacks in one quick
motion. The soft pressure of his calloused fingers undoing buttons set me on
fire with the promise of what they might do to me.

What the hell was I doing?

This place wasn’t secluded. Anyone standing above us or on
the other side of the lake could see us. I should walk away, not let him have
me in a public place where everyone could see us. I wasn’t an exhibitionist,
and doing it on a patch of grass with god-knows-what crawling up my skin wasn’t
my thing either. But my physical needs were getting stronger, screaming for release.
What would it be like to sleep with someone I really wanted?

In an unexpected moment of lucidity, I poked a finger in his
chest and tried to push him away, but my attempt was a feeble one.

“Not here,” I mumbled.

“Why not? No one’s here,” Jett whispered, not backing off.
The pressure of his mouth on mine intensified. His fingers skimmed downward
from my neck to the sheer material of my now exposed bra, circling the pink bud
I’d dreamed he’d caress ever since meeting him. I arched my back against his
rough hand, closing the space between us, vaguely aware that if he continued
his delicious torture I’d be lost.

“I want to know what you taste like,” he whispered, fingers
fidgeting with the bra clasp.

“Let me—”

With a flick of my hand, I undid my bra and rolled it down
my arms onto the green grass.

My pale breasts spilled free into his open waiting palms.

“You’re beautiful,” Jett said hoarsely, his eyes glued to my
chest. As though to prove his point, he let out an appreciative moan and went
about flicking his tongue across one hard nipple, then the other, sucking and
licking in equal measures. He was sending me up in flames in a whirlwind of
passion I never knew existed. Lowering myself onto the grass, my arms moved
around the nape of his neck, pulling him on top of me in the hope he wouldn’t
stop. But Jett didn’t need persuading.

His tongue swirled a few more times, then sucked so hard a
short ripple of pain rushed through me, followed by a cascade of pleasure that
travelled right into my sex. And then he stopped.

“No,” I whispered, my gaze begging him to continue.

From under half-closed eyes I watched him place butterfly
kisses down my abdomen, his hand already fumbling with the zip of my slacks.

He hadn’t changed his mind. He was about to move on to the
next step. Somewhere inside my brain, I could hear that tiny but annoying voice
asking me what the hell this was, but for once I didn’t want to listen to
reason. I wasn’t sure whether to be mortified that he was about to fully
undress me in public, or excited at the outlook of more hot mouth action.

It was too late for second thoughts anyway. Before I knew
it, the slacks were off and Jett slipped a hand between my parted legs, tugging
my panties to the side.

Bloody hell.

I was already damp for him, waiting to be touched.

“Don’t stop,” I said.

“I wasn’t going to.”

Peeling off his jeans, he rubbed his shaft against my
swollen clit until I lifted my hips to invite him in. My breathing came in short
rasps. He opened my legs wide and moved two fingers over my clit, then slid
them into my soft flesh. A deep thunder rippled through me, nearly pushing me
over the edge, and then, as though sensing it, he pulled out.

“Not yet,” he murmured, almost scolding.

“No! Don’t stop.” I sat up on my elbow and our eyes
connected. He looked sexy as hell with his dishevelled hair and that naughty
smile. My clit twitched at the sight of his tongue flicking over his lips.