Cajun Vacation (6 page)

The sweat hung on her nose and he helped her closer to the boat so she could lean against it. She knew he’d be there to catch her anytime she stumbled and fell.

She looked back up, looped an arm around his neck, and pulled him down for a kiss.

Incredible. It was the only word he could use to describe Erica. After the sex they already had, she melted under his hand to have a third orgasm right on the shore next to the boat. He’d never given a woman an orgasm in so open a place before. But Erica sent his inner sensibilities into some untamed area he never knew existed. Even the routine boat trip he had given her amazed him. Other big city media types took his boat trips and either totally ignored the scenery around them while fingering their smartphones; or they gawked and giggled at the sights, like they’d never seen something so exotic as a wetland. She watched everything around her without the silly looks that other media types and she had an undiscovered wild side to her.

In the few hours he’d known her, she’d already affected him more than other women he’d known for far longer. Even his ex-wife hadn’t touched him so deeply so soon after their first meeting. In a few hours, he would show her what she needed to see, and then she’d jet back to New York and never see him again. If that was all the time he had, then he intended to make the most of it. He’d finish her bayou tour and then tempt her into an overnight. It wouldn’t be enough to satisify the intense desire had for her, but he take everything she’d give him and demand more until she said her goodbye.

He reached over to stroke her cheek, but she brushed him off. “We need to do my report,” she said, pulling her panties back on.

He pulled his hand back to his side. “I understand,” he said. “We still need to finish wiring you with the mic.”

Erica held out her hand. “I’ll finish it up. It’s probably safer.”

“I’m a professional,” he said. “Don’t you trust me?” Then he smiled. He already knew her answer and couldn’t help but grin.

“It’s somewhat questionable,” she said. She took the mic wire from his hand and clipped it on her blouse.

He tore two pieces of tape off and held them out for her. “If my professional standards aren’t meeting your expectations, that’s only because you’re the most incredible woman I’ve ever laid eyes on.”

Surprise flashed across her face and then was gone. A slight flush in her cheeks betrayed her calm reaction. “How many other reporters have heard that?” she asked. “Maybe the woman who left these clothes in your cottage?” Her voice was monotone, with a hint of bitterness.

Their playful banter had turned serious, and he wasn’t certain why or how, but he sensed he needed to address it, or risk anything he might want for later tonight.

“I’ve never had any other woman in my cottage except for business. You’re the only one. You’re special, Erica,” he said, and he meant it.

She took the last piece of tape, secured the wire, and then awkwardly pulled her blouse into place. Her eyes passed over his and refused to meet his gaze. If she did, she would see the sincerity in his words. “So what do I see first?” she asked, never looking up.

He had expressed his feelings, although he still couldn’t believe the words had come out of his mouth. If he pushed for any reaction, then he would end up driving her away. Now he needed to step up and do what she had originally come to see him for. A job. And he intended to do the best tour he possibly could. After a few hours and proof that he could actually keep his hands off her for that long, then he could revisit their fling.

“Well over here you see the sandbar, but just under a shallow layer of sand is oil they’ve just left behind and not bothered to clean up…”

Chapter 6

She suppressed her intense irritation at Justin for being true to his word. The last six hours had been the happiest, and most difficult, that she remembered in a long time. He hadn’t tried to touch her once since he made his pledge to be professional. Then, once their work finished, she had bent over ostensibly to stretch. She had hoped that he would take the hint and reach for her dangling cleavage, but he didn’t.

He did his job, and she shouldn’t expect anything more from him. He had shown her all the hidden and silent damage that oil had done to the bayou. Wetlands that remained a danger to the life that needed them to survive. Animals whose eggs would never hatch because a poison in their home had killed them before they even began to live.

Her station prided itself on balanced reporting, even when it wasn’t, and Justin knew how to handle that too. Some parts of the bayou escaped any damage, and many had been cleaned already. He showed her everything, and the quality of his preparation rivaled any producer she knew.

It left her exhausted, and wanting a release that Justin seemed uninterested in giving her. But it also exhilarated her to be out in the field again. She’d spent so much of the last three years in the office, or simply doing local reports in New York, that she had forgotten how much she loved being outdoors and doing something important about it. Once she’d been active in many causes that tugged at her heart, but she had loans to pay off, and the lure of good money won out over working at a lower paying non-profit.

She expected the final report, once edited, to be very powerful. Hopefully, it’d be strong enough to save her job without the sexual obligations. It gnawed at her that she didn’t believe that with any certainty.

She looked at Justin with some regret. He almost had her to her car, and then she’d be off. Her sisters would be worried about her by now. She wanted to call them hours ago, but had turned her phone off after Gary’s call. If she turned her phone back on and called, then they’d be asking what was taking so long. What could she say without lying?
My tour guide is really good looking and I let him have sex with me three times already.

Sara would be appalled and Alicia would tell her to stay the night. Neither bit of advice was welcome, even if she was leaning more toward Alicia’s instincts in this instance.

Her heart melted when Justin glanced back and smiled. She needed to get a grip. Just because he gave her some amazing orgasms didn’t mean that her insides should turn to goo at a simple glance. The dock and her car came into view. She sighed. Only a few minutes until their goodbyes. Should she try something more forceful with him at the dock? The idea of her tossing him to the ground for another bout of sex crossed her mind, but she dismissed it. He had his fun and didn’t want her anymore.

The boat banged against the dock and Justin threw a rope around the post to secure them. He held the boat steady while she stood up. She climbed the ladder and waited while he handed up her belongings. With a single step, Justin pushed himself onto the dock and walked up next to her.

She wanted to get the goodbye over with quickly. Nothing long or drawn out. She raised her hand to shake goodbye when he reached an arm around her back and pulled her in for a kiss. A startled shriek left her mouth before his placed his lips on her and she melted into him.

He ended the kiss, and her throat dropped into her stomach.

“Just like I promised. Absolutely professional. The job is done, and now you’re back to your car,” he said. The tremble in his voice shook her. Professional Justin was gone, in his place all the lust and hunger for her flared through his eyes. He had wanted her just as much as she wanted him. He just kept it under control better. Every intelligent thought told her to push him away, and run for her car, but she didn’t.

“Thank you.” It was all she could stammer out. Her head swirled at the possibilities of what more she could do with him, and all the reasons she shouldn’t.

“I’d like to see more of you tonight,” he said. “Dinner at my place. My real home. In the city.”

His hands held her firmly, his face only inches from hers. He kissed her again, their tongues met each other, and she pressed her chest harder against his body.

“Just dinner?” she asked.

His eyes flashed greedily. “Dinner and hopefully breakfast,” he said, and then dipped down for another kiss, his hand stroking along the curves of her back.

She couldn’t say no, even if good judgment said otherwise. Whatever he wanted to do with her, to her, she wanted. “Two hours,” she said, and he nodded.

“Keys,” he said, holding out his hand. She handed them to him while he went into her rental car and programmed the GPS with his address. When he finished, he held her for one more kiss, this time one hand running down her breast, before heading back to his boat. She waited while he threw off the rope and started the engine. “Don’t be late. I’ll be waiting for you,” he said, before he throttled the engine and sped off.

She spun to her car and tore out of the parking lot faster than was safe. Justin was one date she wouldn’t leave waiting.

The drive back passed and she still hadn’t figured out what excuse she’d give her sisters for ditching them.
They’re going to be so angry with me
. This was their annual trip and she’d already missed nearly half of their time together. Being assigned work was bad enough, but now she willingly wanted to spend more time with Justin. Whatever she said, she couldn’t lie to them. After rough patches growing up, she now had a good relationship with both Sara and Alicia. She didn’t want spoil it by being dishonest.

She pulled up to the hotel door and passed her car off to the valet with instructions that she’d be back down in forty minutes to leave again. Her own wardrobe hadn’t improved while she was away, so she needed to make a stop at the hotel store for some more things. The saleswoman from this morning was still on duty and she smile at seeing Erica again. A bright tag said her name was Tina.

“Back for some more clothes?” asked Tina.

“I’m heading out for dinner tonight and need something nicer,” she said.

Tina nodded and headed over to some formal dresses. “What kind of look at you shooting for?” she asked. “Professional? Elegant? Or…”

“Sexy,” she said, surprised at the excitement in her voice.

Tina put the dress she had grabbed back and suppressed a grin. “I think what you’ll be looking for is over here.”

Ten minutes and another heart attack of a retail bill later, she walked out of the store with a dress more scandalous than anything she’d ever owned. She held the store bag under her arm like she was carrying some sort of precious gift that couldn’t be seen by others. It felt right. The entire trip to her room she envisioned all the ways this evening could turn out, but none stood out in her mind as better than any other. Knowing that she would spend the entire evening in Justin’s arms excited and relaxed her. All the naughty things she knew that Justin could, and would, do to her sent her heart racing, while the sheer warmth and security that she felt in his arms comforted her. Her head tried to wrap around this paradox of her feelings about Justin, but she settled with knowing that once she’d cleaned up a little from a day in the sun, that’d she’d look as beautiful as she ever had.

Justin placed the fillets in the pan and heard the satisfying sizzle of the heat beginning to sear them. He took one more glance around his home before Erica arrived. The timing was tight. He made a quick stop for flowers, responded to a few messages, uploaded the footage he shot to the station, set the table, and did an all-around quick clean of his apartment. He’d had less time than he anticipated to shower and get the cooking done. Rushing through that much work at home normally left him with an itch to head out for a hike or a boat ride, but nothing could compare to the woman who had agreed to spend the night with him, so he had forced himself to finish in the time he had.

When he had asked her to dinner tonight, he though she was going to refuse his request. A flicker of hesitation had crossed Erica’s face before he kissed her. He almost felt as if she had become a part of him. Or maybe he had become a part of her, and he just didn’t realize it.

He didn’t care where the feelings came from. It only matter that they existed and when he was with her, pleasing her, everything felt right. And for one more night, he intended to hold onto that feeling and this woman until they parted ways.

On the drive home, he had gone through a dozen ways that he might persuade her to stay in New Orleans with him. Each idea seemed more improbable than the last, until he shoved the thought from his mind. Why would any woman like Erica want to move from the incredible life of New York to move down south? Plus even if by some crazy act of fate Erica did agree to stay with him, he could never allow her to go through with it. New York was the media capital of America, and the opportunities for her career would all be quashed if she left.

He headed back into the kitchen and flipped the fillets.

For her future, and her happiness, he had to put his true thoughts for Erica aside. He’d take her to bed tonight, and walk away feeling blessed to have had her in his life, even for such a short time. However Erica had gotten under his skin so quickly, he knew that if he truly cared about her that he had to let her go. If he didn’t have so many obligations here, he might go with her, but he did.

Who was he kidding? Erica didn’t want a forever after. As much as he wanted to believe that she had developed similar feelings for him, he knew that she was into him just for the sex. Her Southern Boy fling was a weekend only ordeal. He needed get some sense into his head and realize the truth, before he did something to ruin whatever time he did have available with her.

He pushed the fish around in the pan and glanced at the stove clock. She was late. He had her number and could text her to see where she was. His hand went for his cell phone before he paused. If she had changed her mind and decided not to come then that was where their weekend ended. He didn’t want it to end this early, but it was her choice. A call would make him sound desperate. He was many things, but weak and desperate were not among them.

He couldn’t let her get away that easily. His thumb hovered over the send message button when the doorbell rang and he closed his phone.