Just then he walks in wearing his pajama bottoms with a tray of coffee and fruit.
“You’re awake.” He kisses me on the forehead.
“I was lonely here without you.”
“What can I do to curb your loneliness?”
“Kiss me, please.” I point to my lips.
He sets the tray down, and his mouth softly touches mine. He bites at my bottom lip.
“And here.” I point to my shoulder, and he nibbles. My pussy is aching for his touch, and I know he can’t be too far behind me in his desire.
“Here, too.” I lift my heavy breast to him, and he suckles it, taking it deep in his mouth. I lean back and moan.
“Was that okay?” he growls.
I nod. “But I think I need another kiss.” I point to my pussy.
He pulls the sheets back, and my knees fall together. He opens them and lightly kisses my clit. “Does this work for you?”
I shake my head.
He does a single lick through my slit, just brushing my clit, and I almost explode.
My hands go to my breasts, and I begin to knead the nipples. “More,” I plead.
He gives a deep chuckle. “You want more?”
“Please.” I’m panting.
He goes to work, and his magic tongue and fingers send me over the edge. When I beg to satisfy him, he shakes his head and begins again. He sends me to my climax three times before I collapse in exhaustion.
“What about you?”
“I got off just getting you off.”
It takes some time, but I gather the energy to wander into the bathroom and shower. I’m both exhilarated and exhausted.
Jackson is gone when I return. Putting my bikini on, I grab the cold coffee and some pineapple from the tray and walk out to the pool deck. I find myself a place with indirect sun and enjoy the warm weather until I’m ready for lunch.
When I go back inside, I find Leilani busy in the kitchen with bags of groceries. “Is all of this for dinner tonight?” I ask while I pull together a sandwich to eat by the pool.
She nods. “I spoke with Mr. Graham, and he wants a quiet dinner for the two of you on the cliffs again tonight.”
“Can I help?”
She smiles. “No. This will be a special treat, and I want you to enjoy it.” She takes several things out of her bags that I don’t recognize.
“I’m excited.”
“I’m looking forward to it too.”
I explore the house, but I can’t find Jackson. I wonder where he got off to.
Chapter 17
Corrine
“You ready?” Jackson asks as he hands his bag off to Ben on Monday morning.
“Leilani, thank you for the fantastic food all weekend. I will have dreams of the egg scramble and the ono you made last night,” I tell her.
“When you come back, I’ll make it for you again.”
“Jackson will be back in a few weeks, but I’m not sure when I’ll return.”
She winks at me. She knows. “You two are good together. I think we’ll see you again.”
I smile. I don’t have the heart to tell her Jackson doesn’t keep women around long, and I’ve determined I’ll need to begin looking for a new job when we return.
Jackson and I sit in seats next to one another with our laptops open and work our way across the Pacific. He jumps from call to call on the satellite phone, talking to his team. I sort through my email and his. As I go through, there are several requests for his time, and I begin a list. There’s even an email from a journalist at the San Francisco Chronicle, who I know he’s slept with, asking for dinner.
I don’t know how I’m going to be able to do this—even for a little while. I add that to my list of questions for him.
I see an email from my roommate Angela. My stomach tightens. She and Stacy have been living in the Fairmont while the apartment was repaired, and I haven’t heard much. I’ve been assuming they were okay with being displaced—mostly because Jackson has done more than right by them. I hope this email doesn’t indicate otherwise.
I smile when I open it to find a picture of Angela and Stacy with wide grins and glasses of champagne. The walls behind them are white, and the furniture is all white and robin’s egg blue. It’s beautiful. Then it hits me—they’re in our apartment, toasting to being back with new furniture. “Please thank Jackson,” Angela’s message reads. “See you soon.”
If my apartment is done, I should go home tonight. It’s going to be hard when the Band-Aid comes off, but I might as well do it sooner rather than later. I will miss Jackson at night, but for now, we’ll have our days together. I won’t have to go cold turkey, but I’m determined to keep my heart safe and step away before he does.
When I get to the end of the inboxes, I’ve done all I can do without my phone. I pull out my Kindle for the last two hours of our flight. I’ve given up on romance, and now I’m reading a mystery. But I’ve already figured out who did it, and I’m bored. Nothing else looks good.
I stare out into the ocean. It’s just a solid blue form below us, with ripples and puffs of clouds. The day I’ve been dreading is here, and I can’t avoid the momentous wall I need to climb. It’s right in front of me. Everything hinges on the next few days. I can already tell I’m not thinking straight—I put my wallet in the wrong pocket of my bag and then panicked when I couldn’t
