Texas Fandango: Texas Montgomery Mavericks, Book 3 (4 page)

“Not hardly.” He chuckled. “Olivia has been pushing me to get back into the dating pool, so no, she won’t care. As far as Jason and Travis go, no reason for them to know anything about what we do or don’t do. We’re consenting adults going on an adult vacation. It’s frankly none of their, or anyone else’s, business. Agreed?”

She held out her hand. “Agreed.”

Instead of taking it, he stood, walked to her and used her extended hand to pull her to her feet.

“Don’t you think this is the type of deal that’s best cemented with a kiss instead of a handshake? After all, we should make sure we’re compatible and all.” The twinkle in his emerald-green eyes along with the realization he was going to kiss her sent the blood in her brain crashing to her toes. Her heart skipped a number of beats as she slowly nodded. She had to nod. The power of speech had deserted her.

He snaked his free hand under her ponytail to the back of her neck and eased her forward. When her lips touched his, a zing of electricity rattled her bones. She’d shut her eyes in preparation for the kiss, but now had to open then to make sure this was real and not a dream.

Thank God. It wasn’t a dream.

For a second, he pulled away, but only to change the angle, then he pressed his mouth to hers again. She parted her lips. Taking advantage of that slight gap, he slipped his tongue into her mouth.

When his tongue swirled and licked, a surreal lightheadedness swept through her head. Once she could regain a molecule of reason, she moved her tongue, tracing along the edge of his. Tasting the tip. Tangling hers with his. When his tongue retreated into his mouth, she followed, bravely thrusting between his soft lips. When he exhaled, she took his breath as her own.

Finally, he placed both hands on her shoulders and pulled his head back.

“Well,” he said with a long exhale. “I’d say our compatibility isn’t going to be a problem.”

After straightening out her curled toes she said, “I have to agree. What time is our flight on Tuesday?”

“We fly out at nine a.m., so we’ll need to be at the airport by seven or so. I’ll pick you up about five-thirty.”

“Okay. I’ll see you then.”

After he’d left, KC fell into her chair. Jazz pawed at her ankles. She picked up her puppy and squeezed her tight. “Holy cow, Jazz. I’m going to sleep with Drake.”

Jazz licked KC’s face.

“Yes, I know,” KC confided. “I’m excited too.”

At five-thirty a.m. on Tuesday morning, KC’s doorbell rang.

“Coming,” she shouted. After one last swipe of her lipstick, she tossed the tube into her purse and jogged down the stairs. She whipped open the door with a bright, “Morning.”

“Good morning.”

Dressed in a white polo, khaki slacks and loafers, Drake looked as good as a chocolate fountain to a chocoholic. It required major restraint on KC’s part to resist the urge to run her tongue from his lips to his toes. Tasty morsel, this man.

“You ready?”

Forcing herself to look away from him so she could speak, KC swallowed the lust chunk in her throat. “I’m ready. It’s those two bags there.” She pointed to two suitcases standing by the front door.

“Got ’em.” He hefted the bags, one in each hand, and KC nearly groaned at the biceps that bulged with the action, pulling the band on the shirt sleeves tight. Seeming completely unaware of the effect that vision had on her, he headed out the door and down the steps.

“Be right with you. Have to set the alarm.” She shut the door to engage the alarm but took a second to lean against the wood to let herself grin like a fool. Then she set the alarm and exited during the countdown.

“Worried about a break-in? I mean, this is Whispering Springs. Worse thing that ever happens here is when the high school senior class puts laundry detergent in the downtown fountain.”

She laughed. “I remember doing that. What a mess. My parents were so pissed when the sheriff’s department called after Olivia and I got arrested.”

He snorted. “Oh yeah. I remember.”

“I was grounded for a month.” She chuckled at the memory. “Anyway, back to the original question. I’m not worried about a break-in. More like I have a thing about fires. My alarm monitors for heat and smoke.”

He opened the rear door and slid her luggage into the cargo space beside his. She set her carry-on bag on top of the cases and he shut the door.

“What in the world have you got packed? We’re only going to be there a couple of weeks and bikinis don’t take up that much room.”

She climbed into the front seat and belted in. When he opened the driver’s door she said, “A couple of cases of condoms.”

He paused for a minute before he finished sliding into his seat. “I’m flattered of course that you have that kind of opinion of my staying power, but maybe I should remind you that I’m not seventeen anymore.”

She laughed. “I wasn’t sure what we would be doing, so I brought a little of everything clothes wise.”

After pulling from her parking area, he turned toward town and the interstate entrance. “What did you do with Jazz? She’s not stuffed in your purse, is she?”

KC smiled at his joke. “Lydia Henson has her. As much as I spoil that bad dog, I can only imagine how much worse she’ll be when Lydia gets done.”

He nodded, turned on his signal for a left turn and wheeled up the interstate entrance ramp that would take them to the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport.

“Any trouble with Jason about you taking off?”

“None whatsoever. I closed a wrongful termination case last week. My client settled for five-hundred-thousand, so Montgomery and Montgomery got a nice payday. Plus, and I hate to admit this, I haven’t taken any days off in about three years. I think Jason and Margaret—that’s our receptionist—were waiting for me to implode.”

Drake nodded. “Margaret. Nice lady.”

“She is. Runs our office like a clock.”

“So, no vacation in a while, huh?”

“Nope.”

“That’s why you were so keen on going with me on this one?”

She hesitated. He was handing her the perfect rationale for her actions, a perfect out instead of acknowledging her long-time fascination with him. “Something like that,” she finally said, chickening out.

Reaching over, she flipped on his radio, inanely pleased when contemporary country music flowed from the speakers. Thank goodness, he wasn’t a hardcore rap or rock fan. Not a deal-breaker, but still, it was nice they had similar tastes in music.

During the long drive to the airport, they compared law-school horror stories, each trying to outdo the other with the worst teacher or worst assignment, moving on to the funniest or strangest cases they’d come across. As Drake recounted taking the bar exam, KC’s stomach tightened into knots. Then a wave of sympathy for Drake rolled through her. Waiting for her results had been weeks of pure torture. She remembered trying to laugh it off, as though failing would be no big deal, but the reality had been something completely different. Poor Drake. He needed a fun vacation as much as she did, and she’d make sure he got it.

It was close to seven when Drake exited for DFW airport. “With all the luggage, what would you think about me dropping you at the terminal with the bags? I’ll go park in the long-term lot and come back. Then we can check in. Looks like we’re doing fine on time.”

She nodded. “Works for me.”

He found a spot in front of their departure terminal and pulled in. After depositing her with their baggage, he drove off. The airport shuttle rolled to a stop in front of her about fifteen minutes later. When he exited the bus, she couldn’t restrain the smile that edged its way onto her face.

His blond hair was disheveled, as though he’d been running his fingers through it. A sheen on his forehead suggested he’d hurried to get back to her, and that made her insides giddy with pleasure. As if to show solidarity to his facial sheen, a bead of moisture rolled through her hair, behind her ear and down her neck.

“Gonna be a scorcher today,” he said, wiping his face with a pristine white handkerchief.

“Agreed.” She stood, slung her carry-on around the handle of her rolling bag and tilted it. She grabbed the handle of the second bag. “Ready?”

He jammed his hands on his hips and looked at her. “Give me one of those bags. I’m not going to carry one carry-on and a small rolling bag while you struggle with three and your purse.”

She snickered. “Bad for your image?”

“You know it.” He took the handle of the suitcase without the extra carry-on. “Let’s go.”

“Lead on.”

By eight-thirty, they were through security and at their gate. When first-class boarding was announced, he stood, surprising her.

“We’re flying first class?”

“Yep.”

The grin that popped onto her face spread so wide as to make her cheeks hurt. She loved first-class.

The warmth from his hand at the small of her back had the jumping beans in her belly bouncing off the walls. Right behind her naval, there was a tug strong enough to make her suck in her stomach. As crazy and insane as she’d sounded telling him she wanted a two-week blazing-hot affair, now she was glad her cards were on the table. She wanted Drake Gentry and she wanted him more than she wanted the Cowboys to win the Super Bowl.

Their seats were 7A and 7B in the last row of first class, which worked for her. At least she could stretch out her legs.

“Can I get you a beverage?” a perky brunette flight attendant asked. “Coffee? Orange juice? Water?”

Drake waited for KC to answer first. “Orange juice.”

He nodded. “The same.”

“Do you want champagne with that? A couple of mimosas?”

KC grinned. “Sounds great.”

The woman turned and made her way upstream against the boarding passengers. If Drake had noticed the attendant’s firm ass or big boobs, he gave no indication. He pulled
The Texas Business Journal
from his carry-on and snapped it open in front of him.

The sweet mimosas slid down her throat with ease. The champagne bypassed her stomach and went straight for her brain. The alcohol-induced buzz made reading difficult. Or maybe it was the early departure from her soft sheets. Whatever, the urge to sleep tugged at her until she closed her eyes and gave in.

When she awoke, she was mortified to discover her head on Drake’s shoulder and her arm draped across the armrest between them. She stilled, afraid to move, afraid she’d find a drool spot on his shirt. Finally, she gathered her courage, sat up and was relieved to find his shirt was clean and dry.

“Wow. Sorry about that.” She straightened in her seat. “How long have I been out?”

“A couple of hours. We still have some time before we land. Have a nice nap?” His sizzling smile set off her herd of jumping beans and notched her heart rate up.

“I did,” she said, directing her breathing toward her chest to make sure she didn’t hit him in the face with a blast of bad breath. “Can I slip past you? I need to get out.”

He unbuckled and stood, waiting until she was standing in the aisle before he retook his seat. KC collected her purse from the overhead bin and hustled to the first-class lavatory to brush her teeth. If she wanted to have memories from this trip that would last a while, she should probably forgo drinking for the next couple of weeks, or at least practice some restraint.

They landed at San Juan, Puerto Rico and changed planes, moving from a huge jet to a small puddle jumper that seated ten passengers. They found their seats in row two. As soon as they were buckled in, the small plane began taxiing for its short thirty-minute hop from San Juan to Sugar Island.

The noise inside the craft made carrying on a conversation almost impossible, so she pulled out her digital reader and picked up where she’d left off in the romance she was reading, highlighting a couple of interesting sex scenes that deserved further consideration.

As soon as they landed on Sugar Island and the small plane rolled to a stop, the snap of ten seat belts unbuckling resounded around the cabin. She stood with the rest of the passengers, gathered her things and waited for the door of the small plane to open. Since she’d had to ship her carry-on in the plane’s belly and she’d have to pick it up planeside, there was no reason to hurry.

The other passengers dashed off, leaving Drake and her as the last two to exit. He just shook his head and grinned. “When I’m on vacation, no rushing allowed. I get enough of that in real life.”

“Agreed.”

When KC finally stood in the doorway, a blast of hot, humid air hit her face, sucking the breath from her lungs.

“Like opening an oven,” the co-pilot standing in the cockpit door said. “But the view’s worth it.”

“No kidding.” She looked over her shoulder at Drake. “It’s incredible. Thank you.”

The sultry smile he gave her was steamier than the draft coming in. In response, her temperature shot up a couple of degrees even as chill bumps sprung up on her arms.

She turned back to regroup and took a minute to take in the view. In the distance, a gentle breeze rustled the green palm fronds as yellow and red and white flowers nodded a welcome. Through tropical foliage, she could see the white crests of ocean waves breaking offshore. The breeze carried the tangy sea-salt smell into the doorway.