24. Natalie
TWENTY-FOUR
natalie
“Oh no, don’t you dare look at me like that.”
This time, I’d brought comfy clothes, shorts and a tank top, and was sitting on Jax’s balcony, the sun high and our coffees hot. Unfortunately, Jax was already dressed for the airport, which he needed to leave for in less than an hour.
“Why not?” he asked.
“Because I know that look,” I said. “And you literally just got dressed. Besides, I’m actually sore.”
“I noticed.” His smile revealed how little remorse he held for that particular ailment of mine. I thought I’d been able to hide it, but apparently walking normally wasn’t on the agenda for this morning.
“My body just isn’t accustomed to the sheer number of times we had sex this weekend.” I took a sip of coffee, looking out to the clear blue sea. I’d really miss this view when we were back home. “What I’d give to wake up to this every morning.”
When Jax didn’t respond, I glanced his way. “You’re looking at me weird.”
“I’m surprised you don’t live on the lake, as much as you love a water view.”
I rolled my eyes. “Working for Finger Lakes Land and Trust is a dream come true, but it doesn’t actually pay the kind of salary that allows for lakeview home purchases. Someday.”
No response. But Jax continued to watch me as if I were some puzzle to figure out. “That’s why you love the inlet so much. It’s like your own little piece of lakefront property.”
Denying it would be dumb. “That, and it is protected land. And the rowing program, obviously.”
“Which could be moved,” he said. “And it’s only protected because the deed hadn’t been looked at in over a hundred years. You know as well as I do, developing that particular piece of property will have very little bearing on the immediate environment.”
“Do we really need to ruin our last hour in Sicily with this?”
Jax frowned. “I don’t want to ruin the best weekend of my life, no. But I’ll be boarding a plane soon, and won’t see you until Tuesday, at the earliest. And I also hate to ruin our reunion but we need to talk, soon. I have a meeting Wednesday morning to meet with Dave to finalize the sale.”
“You have a meeting with Dave Wednesday morning?” I asked, trying to ignore the feeling of a foot being shoved into my chest.
“I do. He thinks the board will approve it tomorrow night.”
“Nice.”
“Natalie—”
“I really don’t want to do this right now.”
But it was too late. The mood was already ruined.
“Fine. We’ll talk about it on Tuesday. Will you come over then? Or Monday night even?”
I’d prefer not to and then just have Jax skip the meeting, not sell the land, and then we could talk about next steps after that. But I kept all of those thoughts to myself.
“Of course,” I agreed. “But the bet will be back on. No messing around.”
Jax stood, walked over to me and hauled me to my feet. “It’s not Tuesday, and we’re still in Sicily.”
I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, more than willing to shove the very real topic of our differences to the side, like we’d been doing all weekend.
“True,” I said. “Which means . . .”
“Which means, I can kiss you for at least fifty minutes straight.”
As if he were going to make good on that promise, he leaned his head down. His lips were warm and familiar by now, and they glided over me, his tongue wrapped in mine, fitting perfectly. Making out with Jax ranked right up there with having sex with him, Jax between my legs and, wonder of wonders, watching him absolutely explode with pleasure as I took him in my mouth. I loved the sense of power that came with it.
“God, I love kissing you,” he said, finally pulling away.
“Then why aren’t you doing it currently?”
“Because I like looking at you too.”
“Same,” I admitted. “Are all Army Rangers so sexy?”
He laughed. “You’ll get to judge for yourself. If we’re still talking after next week. A friend of mine is coming to Kitchi Falls on Thursday.”
“Get out. Who? Why?”
I attempted to concentrate as Jax’s hands roamed downward, cupping both of my ass cheeks and making it really fucking difficult to want to continue this discussion. We had less than an hour together, and I’d much prefer to recreate one of the many sexual positions we’d explored last night.
“Just before we left, I heard there was an opening in the Kitchi Falls Police Department. One of the guys in my unit works for NYPD currently, but he’s been wanting out. He hasn’t been able to get off the beat yet since he doesn’t have a hook. I told him about the opening, and the town, and he’s coming up before...”
He stopped. Jax was about to say, “Before I leave.” A reminder that he was leaving. And this weekend was nothing more than a vacation fling. I ignored the tug in my chest, concentrating instead on the feel of being tucked into Jax’s chest. Of his hands on my ass, as if they were one second away from exploring further.
“Before you leave.”
“Nat—”
“We’re not going to talk about it, remember? Nothing serious in Sicily.”
“I think we said, no land talk in Sicily.”
“Whatever.”
He seemed doubtful. “I beg to differ but will let it go. As long as you come over when you get back.”
“I will. So what’s his name, this Ranger friend of yours?”
“Mason Bennet. But most people call him Mace. He’s a great guy.”
“But you didn’t answer my original question. Is he as sexy as you?”
Jax’s eyes narrowed. Answer enough.
So Mason was sexy too. And if I weren’t mistaken, that was a flash of jealousy. So Jax didn’t like the idea of leaving town just as his sexy ex-Army Ranger buddy potentially moved in?
Interesting.
“Don’t get any ideas,” he warned.
“Ideas? What kind of ideas?”
“Mmhmm.”
I blinked innocently.
“Mace has a girlfriend.”
Oh well, there went that plan. As if making Jax jealous would keep him from selling the land, uprooting his life, staying in Kitchi Falls to be with me.
Except, that’s exactly what I wanted him to do. Silly as it was.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Uh huh.” With that, he kissed me again. This time, it wasn’t gentle. His kiss was hard and rough and claiming. It was a kiss that reminded us that neither Jax nor I knew when we’d be in each other’s arms again. Because the clock was running out, literally, on our pause. Real life was about to intrude on our perfect little getaway.
Which was when his words fully penetrated.
The best weekend of my life.
Maybe, just maybe, there was hope for us yet.