Flirting With Temptation (12 page)

That included Kitty Carelle.

She left the condo and within minutes was enjoying everything she loved most about Florida—warm sand, splashing waves and salty breezes. Completely comfortable with the world around her, she ran straight toward the water like a child seeing the beach for the first time, then laughed when a huge wave soaked her shorts.

She was so busy enjoying the freedom and the beauty of the beach that she didn’t even notice that the French doors on the condo that centered the fourth floor had opened, and she didn’t see the gorgeous male who’d always had the power to make her heart stand still step onto his balcony and watch the show.

Jeff had spent the entire day on the brink of frustration, courtesy of Babette and Kitty, even though he hadn’t seen either of his most memorable exes in months. Ethan’s call yesterday had, quite frankly, shocked the hell out of him, with a surplus of information, and none of it good. But that wasn’t what had Jeff so frustrated. What had him so perturbed was the fact that Babette hadn’t made an appearance yet, and he was ready to get it over with. Last night’s date had been horrific due to his feeling that she could show at the most inopportune moment, and he’d consequently sent Kylie home early. Very early, as in before they’d really spent any time together. She’d understood when he said he’d had a hell of a day, but she’d assumed he’d meant his day at work, not his day of learning what his exes were up to.

However, today he actually had had a hell of a day at the office, because he hadn’t been able to concentrate on work, thinking that at any moment Babette would appear with her ridiculous request for him to take Kitty back.

Again, it hadn’t happened. True to form, Babette was full of surprises, and she was throwing him off his game, both his dating game and his work game. Perhaps that was why today’s eternity of conference calls with advertising directors, the Alabama and Georgia store managers, and then his father and Ethan—all discussing typical corporate minutiae—had completely exhausted him.

He entered his condo, dropped his keys on the table near the door and did what he always did upon arriving home, moved to the back of the condo to view the beach. He’d always loved beaches, Florida’s Destin beaches in particular. The sand on the panhandle was whiter than that on the Atlantic, the water bluer, and the atmosphere enough to lift his spirits, even after a half dozen tedious conference calls.

Occasionally, he stayed at home throughout the day and worked. Thanks to the Net, he could conduct business practically anywhere, but he typically went to one of his nearby offices, usually the one composing the top floor of the Seaside store, because it made him feel more like he was “at work.” Plus, it made coming home even more rewarding, that feeling of leaving work at work.

Right now, all he wanted was to spend the remainder of the day away from the job and have a good time with Kylie Banks, particularly since he’d sent her home last night. Jeff had met the pretty brunette at last month’s Destin Chamber of Commerce dinner. She only lived two resorts from White Sands, in a condominium complex much like this one, but due to their conflicting work schedules, he’d never seen her before the Chamber dinner. She’d mentioned that she worked in real estate, and since seeing her that night, he had noticed her photo on several billboards around town. Nice photo. She was an attractive woman with a killer smile, a great combination for selling real estate, or at least for capturing attention with her billboards, and she was easy to talk to. She’d also been extremely flirtatious at that dinner, and had called Jeff last weekend and invited him sailing. The sailing had gone well, with both of them enjoying each other’s company, and with both of them knowing there were no strings attached. Jeff, as usual, had made that clear up-front, and Kylie agreed that fun-and-fun-only was exactly what the doctor ordered for her too. She’d gone through a recent break-up with a long-term boyfriend and didn’t want anything to do with commitment. Therefore, when she had called Jeff again and asked him about making up for last night and enjoying a date that consisted of “forgetting the jobs and having more fun,” he’d agreed.

He liked the boldness of women here; it was different from what he’d been used to in Birmingham, where he’d been raised. And it was nice, given his current non-committal mentality. The women pursued him, and that made it easier to tell them from the get-go that he was all for having a good time, but that was it. Most of the time, they understood, or said they did. If he’d have met Kitty now, instead of right after the fallout with Babette, he’d have told her the same thing. She’d come on strong, relentless in her pursuit to not only date him, but get a ring on her finger. But since he
had
met her right after Babette, and since he was still stinging from the knowledge that he “wasn’t commitment material,” the fact that Kitty thought he was a commitment kind of guy lured him in and kept him there until he nearly tied the knot. He would have, if it hadn’t been for Samuel Farraday and his yacht. Jeff smirked. He should send the guy a thank-you note. In the end, Kitty was like every other woman he’d dated; none of them had it in them to commit. And maybe Babette was right: the reason they didn’t was because he simply wasn’t the commitment type.

When Babette hadn’t shown at his office today, he couldn’t deny that he’d been somewhat disappointed. Not because he wanted to hear her plead Kitty’s case, but because it’d been a long time since he’d seen her and he was looking forward to sparring with her again. The two of them had an odd relationship, with sarcasm and flirtation working hand-in-hand to keep everything fresh and exciting. One thing was for sure, he’d never been bored when he was with Babette.

He stepped onto the balcony, inhaled the warm Gulf breeze and looked out toward the beach. The view always took his breath away, but this time, this view did even more.

He didn’t have to wonder if the woman standing amid the waves with wild red curls tumbling down her back was Babette. It didn’t matter that she’d changed her hair, he’d know that body anywhere, and more than that, he’d recognize her excitement for life anywhere.

Throughout their three years of dating, Jeff had made no secret that he wanted to see her as a redhead again. She’d had the vibrant hue the first time they’d met, and he’d been drawn to it—a fiery red flame accenting a woman equally fiery, equally feisty and equally unpredictable. Likewise, Babette had made no secret that she wanted him to grow his hair longer.
Long enough for me to run my fingers through,
she’d said. Even though she changed her hair color practically every time she went to the salon, she’d refused to color hers red until he grew his out; likewise, he’d vowed to keep his short until she colored hers red. And that pretty much summed up their entire relationship, two stubborn souls butting heads with neither willing to budge.

Her rich, throaty laugh carried on the wind and had people all around the beach looking toward her and smiling. Jeff smiled too. She was too damn cute for him not to, charging toward the waves, the water slapping against her thighs and splashing up to douse the ends of those red curls.

Her head turned a little with the slap of each wave against her legs, but then she merely laughed and ventured out a little farther, bending over slightly to let her hands graze the top of the water. That bending caused her heart-shaped behind, in shorts soaked completely, to tease Jeff from his vantage point on the balcony. There wasn’t a centimeter on that appealing feature that he hadn’t kissed, licked and tasted, once upon a time.

He swallowed, images of making love with Babette causing his throat—and other things—to tighten. She’d made love the same way she faced those waves, with no fear and complete abandon, lost to everything around her except for whatever currently held her attention. Back then, that had been Jeff. Unfortunately for him, every time he’d been with anyone since Babette, he faced the problem of comparison. No one else compared. And damn if that didn’t bite. She was the only woman he’d ever been with who didn’t want to cuddle post-sex, didn’t want to talk, didn’t want to do anything but sleep. He laughed, remembering how spent she’d been after their wild sessions of burning up the sheets, or the carpet, or the wall, or the beach. She put so much into it that she simply had nothing left when it was over.

He’d loved it.

Now she’d returned into his world to convince him to go back to someone else.

He watched as two twenty-something guys prowling down the beach slowed to watch her play. They eventually stopped completely, and Jeff knew both were hoping she’d turn around, notice them and perhaps even offer a sign of encouragement that one of the bastards actually had a chance. It didn’t happen. Jeff had known it wouldn’t. She was completely absorbed in the waves, in having fun, the same way she’d been completely absorbed in making love with him, and in simply being with him, a couple of years ago.

A knock at his door signaled Kylie’s arrival. Jeff took another look at the temptation on the beach, wondered how long it’d be before
she
came knocking at his door, and then went to let his date in.

As usual, Kylie was the picture of a beach beauty. Straight brunette hair cut blunt at her shoulders with a sexy swirl of bangs teasing her right eye. She had on a hot pink tank top, khaki shorts and sandals, with huge silver hoop earrings dangling from both ears and a bunch of matching silver bangles covering each wrist. Kylie wasted no time rising on her tiptoes and softly kissing Jeff, who maintained his distance; he was still semi-hard from seeing Babette.

“I thought we were going casual,” she said, indicating the white dress shirt and navy pants he’d worn to work. He had forgone a tie, as usual, and his sleeves were rolled up to the elbows, but he was still overdressed for a night of checking out the carnival rides on the Miracle Strip, which was what she’d suggested for their “forget work” night.

“Just got in and haven’t had a chance to change,” he said, deciding not to tell her that he’d used a good deal of time standing on the balcony captivated by the redhead on the beach.

“Well, go ahead. I’ll take in the view while I wait,” she said, and kissed him again before walking toward the balcony.

Jeff thought about that view, specifically the view right now, with Babette playing in the waves, as he changed clothes. By the time he returned to his living room to find Kylie back inside and waiting, he’d made up his mind. He wasn’t in the mood to go out.

“I’m going to have to cancel our fun night after all.”

She sighed, tucked a brown lock of hair behind one ear. “You remembered something you need to take care of? That’s the tough part about being the boss, isn’t it?”

“Something like that,” he said.

“No problem,” she said, smiling, but Jeff didn’t miss the tinge of disappointment in her tone. “Some other time then.” She kissed him, more of an abrupt peck than a kiss, and then headed for the door.

“Some other time,” Jeff repeated, as the door closed behind her.

He waited a moment before he stopped fighting the temptation and returned to the balcony.

She was gone.

Chapter 8

B
abette had planned on talking to Jeff tonight, one way or another. However, after her fun in the waves was ruined when she saw the brunette on his balcony
again
, she’d ditched that idea, opting for a night of pizza, searching for Rowdy Slidell, and watching reruns of
Friends
. So much for making progress getting him back with Kitty.

Her cell phone rang. She picked it up, saw Kitty’s number and dropped it on the couch. She’d answered all of Kitty’s calls and all of her endless questions up until an hour ago, and thanks to Jeff spending yet another night with the Jaguar lady, she had nothing new to report to his ex. So she let the phone ring until her voice mail kicked in, and then she set it to vibrate. It was after 9:00 p.m., and even if Kitty was footing the bill for the trip, she shouldn’t have access to Babette 24/7.

The phone immediately started vibrating, and Babette knew before looking that Kitty hadn’t given up so easily. Voice mail picked up again, and Kitty predictably left another message.

Then the phone buzzed a third time. “No way.” Babette glanced at the caller ID and was pleasantly surprised to see Clarise’s number displayed. She turned off the television and answered the phone. “Everything okay?” Clarise rarely called at night. She was usually too busy getting the twins ready for bed and then spending time with Ethan.

“Everything is fine here, but I was wondering how things are going down there, with you and Jeff.”

Babette propped her feet on the coffee table, rested her head against the back of the couch and proceeded to tell her sister about why she hadn’t even spoken to Jeff yet, much less been around him enough to read his emotions for Kitty and attempt to talk him into giving her another chance. In other words, Babette told her about the rude Jag lady.

Clarise was silent. Too silent.

“Don’t worry. I’ll talk to him tomorrow, assuming at some point he takes a break from his
activities
.”

“I’m not worried about you doing your job,” Clarise quickly explained. “I’m just surprised.”

“About what?”

“That you haven’t spoken to him yet, or that he hasn’t found you.”

Babette dropped her feet to the floor and sat up. “Why would he be looking for me?” Then she shook her head, knowing the answer. “Ethan told him I was coming, didn’t he?”

“Only because I asked him to. I know how important this job is to you, and I didn’t want Jeff to give you a hard time.”

Babette winced. “How long has he known I was coming?”

“Ethan talked to him yesterday afternoon. I kept waiting for you to call and give us an update, and when I didn’t hear from you, I thought maybe you were a bit ticked at us for giving him a heads-up on what you were doing. That’s why I kept calling and checking in with you. I was wanting to see if he heeded my warning.”

“Your
warning
?”

“To be nice, or I’d kill him.”

“Super. Does he know why I’m here too?” Babette groaned.