A Kept Man (13 page)

“Good. Now get back to me with an answer. Time is running out.”

“Will do.”

After he hung up the phone, Caleb stood at the guesthouse’s
main window, staring out at the pool. The memory of that encounter at
the pool last night came back to him in living color.

He remembered the way Jess had looked at him. Open. Vulnerable. She’d
looked innocent. She’d felt innocent. But it could have been
one weak moment. Crooks were as prone to them as anyone else. He
wouldn’t be in business if they weren’t.

She still hadn’t told him her story. She was still keeping her
secrets close to the vest. He had no reason to believe in her
innocence other than a feeling in his gut, one that likely was being
overruled by other feelings inside him.

He owed it to Frank and the da Silvas to find out whether she knew
anything. Anything at all that might lead to the recovery of the
emerald.

What he owed to Jess was something he didn’t want to
contemplate, but couldn’t help doing.

AN HOUR LATER, JESS MANAGED to sneak back into the house without
Charlie seeing her. Sweaty and out of breath, she took a quick shower
before retreating to the office.

There was a bowl of fresh fruit sitting on the desktop. The berries
were still wet from being washed. Charlie must have left them while
she was in the shower, knowing she wasn’t coming downstairs.
Jess shook her head. Nice to know that she was that predictable.

The run had done her some good. She felt more relaxed, exhilarated
from the exercise.

Her head, on the other hand, was just as muddled.

She needed to talk to someone, someone who would remind her of the
insanity that was sleeping with Charlie. Unfortunately, her options
were rather limited. This wasn’t a problem she could exactly
open up about with all that many people.
“Hi, the most
beautiful man I’ve ever met keeps trying to get me to have sex
with him. He happens to be the boy toy my sexagenarian godmother
keeps on her payroll, and two nights ago he rocked my world so well
I’m surprised the earth didn’t spin off its axis. Did you
feel it there where you are?”

Yeah, that was the very definition of TMI.

Felicity was out. Jess already knew exactly what she would say.
“You’ve been there more than twenty-four hours and you
haven’t ridden him like a painted horse on a carousel? What’s
wrong with you, darling?”

Miranda had already proven to be wholly unsympathetic. Jess certainly
wasn’t going to call her mother. Worst case scenario, her mom
would try to empathize by offering some anecdote about a sexual
situation involving Jess’s father, and Jess had all the
potential emotional scarring she could handle on her hands already.

Her sister was the best bet. Suzanne was three years younger and her
complete opposite personality-wise. If she wanted a different
perspective, Suz would give it to her.

Jess glanced at the clock. Suzanne was an artist, with the
inconsistent hours that went with that. She lived in Chicago, so she
was two hours ahead of L.A. It would be nine there. There was a good
chance she was either up by now or had yet to go to bed.

The phone rang five times before Suzanne picked up.

“Who the hell is this and why are you calling me so damned
early?”

Jess smiled. She’d cut herself off from the world so thoroughly
she hadn’t spoken to her sister in months. It was nice to know
she hadn’t changed one bit. “I see you’re still a
morning person.”

“And I see you’re still a pain in the ass.”

“What are sisters for?”

“Evidently, they’re for waking a person up when she’s
trying to get some sleep.”

Jess popped a blueberry in her mouth. “Why did you answer the
phone if you were trying to sleep?”

“I just wanted it to stop ringing. I forgot to shut it off.”

“I’m glad you didn’t. I need some advice.”

Suz didn’t say anything for so long Jess almost asked if she
was still there. “You’re calling me for advice? You’re
the older, supposedly wiser sister. I’m the screw-up. I’m
supposed to ask you for advice.”

“You never do.”

“Of course not. I know exactly what you’d say. You’d
tell me to do whatever’s boring.”

“Believe me, there’s nothing boring about my current
problem.”

Jess quickly explained about Charlie, omitting nothing. When she
finished, silence rang over the line.

“I thought you said you had a problem.”

“I do.”

“A gorgeous, sexy man who doesn’t enjoy wearing clothes
wants to have sex with you. Where’s the problem?”

“He’s only doing it because it’s his job.”

“From the sound of it, Felicity paid him to sleep with her, not
with you.”

“And that’s so much better? Have I sunk so low that I’m
picking up Felicity’s table scraps?”

“Yes.”

Jess gritted her teeth. “I’m hanging up now. Thanks for
all your help.”

“If you want help, call me with an actual problem. And for
God’s sake, do it at a decent hour.”

“It’s nine o’clock there.”

Suzanne let out a shriek. “Oh, my God. It was bad enough when I
thought you woke me up at ten. It’s only nine? What’s the
matter with you?”

“Normal people are awake now!”

“I’ve never aspired to be a normal person.”

“Then you should be very happy.”

“Usually I am. I’m not too thrilled about having a sister
right about now.”

There was a beat of silence when they both said nothing, then they
both started laughing at the same time.

“God, I’ve missed you,” Jess said.

“I miss you too. And I’ll miss you a lot more if you’d
call me at a decent hour.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t think that you’d
probably just gotten to bed. I’m seriously losing my mind
here.”

“No one ever went insane from overactive hormones.”

“You haven’t met Charlie.”

“Damn. Sounds like I should get myself a plane ticket.”

“Don’t you dare,” she blurted out without thinking.

“Ooh, possessive. That’s a good sign.”

“No, it isn’t. I have too many things to be thinking
about without Charlie distracting me.”

“Then leave already. Find somewhere else to write the book.”

“I don’t have anywhere else to go. I can’t afford
to move into a hotel, and I was already climbing the walls in my
apartment.”

“Then do him. Get him out of your system. Your itch will be
scratched, and your head will be clear to work on the book.”

“You really think I should have sex with a paid companion?
That’s so sleazy.”

“Why? You’re not a paying customer. You’re just two
people who are hot for each other. Honestly, so you don’t like
what the guy does for a living. Big deal. I dated a mime once.”

“You did? Why?”

“He was really cute. I figured if he looked that good in the
scary white make-up, I had to see what he looked like without it.
Sadly, he was unbearable when he started talking.” She heaved a
sigh. “Point is, nobody’s perfect. I’m not telling
you to marry him. Just have wild monkey sex. I bet he’s really
good at it.”

A rush of heat shot right between her thighs. “I have no
doubt,” Jess murmured. “I don’t know if you’re
really making sense or I just want to do it so bad I’ll buy
anything.”

“Trust me, I’m making sense.”

“And here I thought I was supposed to be the older, wiser
sister.”

“You’ll have to settle for being the old sister.”

“I said older.”

“And I didn’t. Look, it’s as simple as this. What
do you want?”

Well, when she put it like that…
Suz was right. It was
that simple.

She wanted wild. She wanted crazy.

She wanted—

“Charlie.”

“So go for it. As long as you know what you’re getting
into, everyone gets off, no one gets hurt. It’s all good.”

“Nicely put.”

“I thought so. Now stop thinking so much, have your great sex,
and let other people sleep in peace.”

“Thanks—” With a perfect exit line, Suz had already
hung up.

Jess clicked off on her end and set down the phone. She looked up
just in time to see Charlie emerging from the pool below.

She hadn’t even noticed the blinds had been opened. Charlie
must have done it when he brought in her breakfast. Sneaky. He
probably didn’t intend to let her miss the show. If she were a
paranoid person, she’d almost think he was monitoring her
activities so that he’d stepped out of the pool at that exact
moment. Of course, that would be crazy.

At the moment though, she wasn’t sure she wasn’t crazy.
This incredible man had offered her anything and everything she
wanted, the kind of pleasure she could only dream about.

And she was standing there, watching him towel off, failing to take
advantage of his offer.

Now that was crazy.

His agreement to wear clothes around the house only went so far. He
wasn’t wearing a bathing suit, and as he rubbed the towel over
his arms and shoulders, she had a prime view of his perfect physique.
His pecs flexed as he moved his arms. Tiny droplets of water trailed
down the ridges of his stomach, each one glittering in the morning
sunlight. She watched them drip lower, catching in the thatch of
golden hair at his crotch. And then lower, to where his cock swung
low, soft and thick, between his legs.

She felt a burst of warmth pool between hers. There wasn’t a
single part of him that wasn’t perfectly formed. She wished it
was her who was drying him, touching every inch of his flawless body.
With her hands. With her mouth. She’d give anything to lap the
moisture from his belly, to feel the tang of his skin on her tongue.

Except she didn’t have to give anything. She didn’t have
to ask. She didn’t have to beg. He was right there, hers for
the taking.

Unable to watch anymore, she turned and strode to the door.

HE WAS STILL TOWELING OFF, his back to her, when she stepped out onto
the deck.

He knew she was there a second before she called out his name. He’d
become that attuned to her presence. He could feel her. Just as he’d
known she’d been watching him from the window.

“Charlie?”

Her voice was low. She sounded out of breath. Had she run down from
the office? Or was there another cause for it?

He lowered the towel, holding it loosely in front of his crotch, and
slowly turned to face her.

“Yes?”

Her eyes skimmed over his body before—eventually—returning
to his face. He recognized her expression. He’d seen it before,
that night in the pool when he’d brought her to climax. Lust.
Even as he watched, her tongue darted out to moisten her lips. Her
mouth might have gone dry, but the motion couldn’t have looked
more salacious.

He’d never been a vain man or given his appearance more than a
passing thought. He’d had no say in the way he looked. It was a
simple matter of genetics. His looks were a tool, something that made
his job easier, nothing more. He’d had women on other
assignments look at him with lust in their eyes. That was the point.
But none of them had made him feel the way one glance from Jess did.
It awakened something inside of him, something primally male. He
wanted her to look at him. He basked in the feel of her gaze on his
bare skin. It made him want to puff out his chest and strut before
her. It was a turn-on of the first order.

With other women, it was impossible for him not to see the cravenness
in their admiration, the greed. They wanted him the way they wanted
the things they’d either stolen or helped steal. One look
reminded him that they were nothing but thieves.

One look from Jess ignited the same desire in him he saw burning in
her eyes.

He felt his dick begin to stir. Good thing he’d lowered the
towel.

“You know that question you asked me the other night in the
pool?”

He swallowed hard, doing his best to mask the movement. He had no
trouble knowing what she referred to.

Do you want me to take you to bed?

“Of course.”

She wavered for a moment, her posture uncertain. She looked so
vulnerable. Something about that made him even harder. He could hang
the towel on himself.

Then, as though a switch had been thrown, she tossed her hair back
and took a step forward, cutting the distance between them in half.

“The answer is yes.”

A surge of energy ripped through him, from the nape of his neck
straight to his cock. His first impulse was to forget about the bed
and take her right here, on the rough cement bracketing the pool. The
instinct was so primal he didn’t know how he resisted.

But he did. Some part of him held back, knowing that he should say
no. If she was innocent, if she’d played no part in the theft
and had no information, then she’d never forgive him when she
learned the truth. He could give her the experience of her life. It
wouldn’t matter. She would hate him.

He should turn her away. He could spin a web of excuses that would
leave her dazed, putting off the inevitable until she told him
everything he needed to know.

That was what he should do.

It was also what he couldn’t.

It would take a stronger man than him to turn away this woman, at
this moment, handing him an open invitation to everything they both
wanted so badly they both practically buzzed from it.

He wasn’t that strong. The way she made him feel, he was
downright weak.

He saw the play of emotions shift across her face. He hadn’t
said anything for so long that she was about to change her mind.

And the choice was out of his hands.

He stepped forward and extended his hand.

Chapter
Nine

A rush of pure adrenaline shot through her. She wanted him so bad she
was shaking from it.

“Good,” Jess said, reaching for the bottom of her shirt.
“Let’s do this.”