The Guy Next Door - By Lori Foster, S Donovan, V Dahl Page 0,68
because…” Gail stopped speaking and rubbed a hand over her mouth anxiously. “Here’s the deal, Jesse. I learned my lesson with Curtis. I have no interest in wasting my time with a man who’s not on the up-and-up. Honesty is more important to me than anything else. Period.”
Jesse didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at the irony. He was interested in a woman with trust issues rivaling his own, yet he couldn’t give her what she wanted—complete honesty—because of his own trust issues. Not yet, anyway.
“No apology necessary, Professor,” he said. “I inherited the house from my grandmother a few years ago along with part of her estate. I’m the last one of my family who still lives in Key West.”
“Oh.”
It got quiet between them for a long moment. Gail turned to look out on the water, and Jesse was struck by the elegant curve of her neck, the perfect angle of her jawline. He wanted to kiss her there. He wanted to kiss her everywhere.
Without turning back around, Gail flashed her eyes at him, catching him in midgawk. She smiled.
Jesse smiled back.
“This is my first vacation in six years, Jesse. Did I tell you that?”
“No.”
Gail faced front in her chair again, her hands folded in her lap. “You offered up a toast today, a toast to a vacation I’d always remember.”
“I did.”
“Well, that’s what I want. Can you help me with that? Do you have time in your schedule?”
From the depths of his brain, he felt the monster stir. It had somehow managed to stay dormant all day, but the honeymoon was over.
What about his deadline?
Jesse had less than two weeks to get his manuscript in shape. Normally, this would mean twelve to fourteen hours a day at his laptop, breaking only for the necessities of caffeine, food, a punishing workout and sleep when he could calm his mind enough to allow it.
Yet, in Gail’s company, he’d forgotten all about his deadline. Not only that, he’d forgotten how getting involved with Cammy had nearly ruined his life, and that he was attempting to forge a comeback with this book.
Did he have time for Gail? That was a good question. But the real question was this: What the hell am I doing? Am I nuts?
Jesse swallowed hard. “How many days do you have left on this vacation?”
“Eight nights, nine days.”
“And what exactly do you want to do?”
Apparently, Gail had already given this a great deal of thought, because the list tumbled out fast and furious. “I want to learn to scuba dive. I want to go on one of those booze cruises under the stars. I want a naked therapeutic massage. I want to swim with the dolphins and learn to dance the salsa. I want to eat all kinds of exotic delicacies I can’t get back in Beaverdale. And I want to go skinny-dipping.”
Gail paused. She closed her eyes for an instant, and to Jesse it looked like she was summoning the courage to continue. Suddenly, her eyes flew open. “And I want you to make wild, unrestrained love to me, Jesse.”
He sat with that last request for a moment, narrowing his eyes, working the logistics out in his head. “Do we have to tackle everything in that particular order?”
“Not necessarily.”
“All right. Good to know.” Jesse’s heart pounded in his chest. Gail’s bluntness was amusing. It was damn hot, too. “So,” he said, trying to keep a straight face. “Would you mind if we combined a couple of those activities, you know, in the interest of time?”
A wicked smile had crept onto her pretty little mouth. “Like going skinny-dipping with dolphins?”
“That could work.” Jesse reached across the table for her hand, and she slid it into place without hesitation. “Or I could feed you exotic foods while demonstrating the salsa and massaging your naked body under a canopy of stars.”
“That sounds like an efficient use of everyone’s time,” she said.
It was at that moment that Jesse told his deadline monster to fuck off. He told the memory of Cammy to fuck off. The woman sitting across the table from him was one in a million. He’d never met anyone like her. He didn’t think women like her existed, except in the pages of his books. So what if he had to ask for another two-week extension? It wouldn’t be the end of the world.
“All right, then.” Jesse rose from his chair and helped Gail to a stand. As soon as he got hold of her, he yanked her