She hesitated like she wanted to do exactly that, but finally nodded. “Fair enough. I wouldn’t want pity, either.”

  That was exactly it. Pity. Jack had come from little and made a name for himself in this world. It wasn’t pride talking, though there was a healthy dose of that. He’d fought long and hard to be above the cut. To have been felled so easily stung. It made him feel weak. Helpless.

  Cora pushed to her feet. “I’m going to contract Brooklyn to find this woman. You’ll pay her fee of course.”

  “Of course.” He followed her out of the office, appreciating her brisk tone. Sitting still had never been his strong suit, and doing it in this situation was unthinkable.

  Jack had wanted to handle it himself, but this was so far out of his area of expertise, he didn’t know where to begin. The courthouse wouldn’t talk to him, other than to offer a copy of the marriage certificate. The casino wouldn’t release the footage to him, but they’d assured him that he walked from the casino floor to the elevator by himself and there didn’t appear to be anyone unduly interested in his movements.

  Cora headed into the kitchen. The office faced the street, but this whole side of the house was composed of massive windows to give an unimpeded view of the beach and water beyond it. The living room centered around a large gas fireplace with a truly outstanding television mounted above it. The couches were a pale gray against the sandy color carpet that brought to mind driftwood against the sand.

  The kitchen was a masterpiece. “You cook?” He ran a finger alone one whitewashed cabinet and eyeballed the stainless-steel farmhouse sink.

  “God, no. Neither does Brooklyn.” Cora dug through the fridge, offering him a mouthwatering view of her perfectly rounded ass. She straightened and held up a beer. “You look like you could use this.”

  What he could use was a bottle of whiskey, but he wasn’t going to get it. Jack didn’t take the bottle. “I’m off alcohol for the time being.” Maybe forever.

  If what Cora suspected was true and he’d been drugged, it wouldn’t have mattered if he was drinking water or vodka because the roofie would have created the same effect, but he couldn’t help thinking that he’d have been paying better attention to his drink if he hadn’t had a few shots under his belt.

  She nodded and replaced the beer in the fridge. “Didn’t even think of that. Okay, let me get Brooklyn and we’ll go over this from the beginning.” Cora’s dark eyes held sympathy but not pity. “I know you’ve been racking your memory and trying to figure out what happened that night, but this will help. I promise.”

  He didn’t call her out on continuing to handle him. Maybe he actually did require a bit of handling, because the last thing Jack wanted to do was sit down and go over this for the thousandth time. He wanted it over.

  One step at a time.

  Cora took an old-fashioned teakettle to the sink and filled it with water. “Green tea?”

  “Sure.” If he wasn’t going to be drinking a beer, doing something with his hands while he went over the whole story would be helpful.

  She had to know that.

  Ten minutes later, he sat across the table from Brooklyn, Cora at his side. He suspected that was a deliberate choice on her part, too. Sitting across from both of them would leave him feeling like he was being interviewed—or interrogated. But with her clean ocean smell wrapping around him, he could almost pretend it was him and Cora against the world. Stupid, dangerous thoughts, especially since she’d so firmly drawn the line in the sand between them, but he couldn’t shake the sensation.

  Brooklyn had a yellow notepad and a pen. “This is going to be a little strange, but start back when you planned this trip to Vegas. Walk me through who knew about it, and then every step of the way once you got there. No detail is too small.” She exchanged a look with Cora before she focused those amber eyes on him. “I’m going to start in Vegas and see what I can come up with, but every little bit helps.”

  “I’ll pay for the trip, of course.”

  She smiled. “I know you will.”

  They weren’t coddling him, and they weren’t taking advantage. It still was much harder than it should have been to tell them what he needed to. Jack kept getting held up feeling like a fool because there wasn’t anything out of the ordinary until the blackout.

  “That tells us something,” Cora murmured. “If we assume that you were targeted, they might have picked you out once you got into the city rather than before.”

  “You can’t seriously think this was planned.”

  She didn’t blink. “I can’t afford to assume anything at this point. If you were targeted, it’s because of who you are and the number in your checking account. That’s the only reason to pull off this charade instead of just rolling you like normal thieves. Maybe this woman went in to find a high roller and got lucky with you, maybe it was you she was specifically after. The only thing that doesn’t make sense is that she hasn’t come forward yet.”

  “Unless she’s got something else planned.” Brooklyn held up her hands when Cora glared. “What? I thought we’d taken off the kid gloves.”

  “Not that far off.”

  Jack chuckled. “I appreciate the honesty.” He stood and followed Cora to the front door. They stepped out onto the porch, and she shut the door behind her.

  “There’s such a thing as too much honesty.” Cora shot a look at the house. “No matter how we look at this, finding the woman is the first step. We’ll get you your divorce one way or another, and we’ll do it without you losing anything in the process.”

  Losing anything more than he’d already lost.

  So dramatic.

  Maybe that was why he kissed her. The need to regain a little bit control, even in this tiny corner of his life. Or at least, that was what he told himself as he cupped the side of her face and leaned down to brush his lips across hers.

  Jack’s good intentions didn’t last past the first touch.

  Cora made a soft sound of pleasant surprise. He slid his hands over her hips and up her back, pulling her against his chest, and she came willingly. She went up on her tiptoes and traced her tongue along the seam of his lips.

  As if he needed any further encouragement.

  Jack kept one hand at the small of her back and cupped the back of her head, tilting her face up so he could take the kiss deeper. Harder. Twelve years and the taste of her still haunted him in the moments between waking and sleep, the memory of her body against his a sensation he couldn’t have erased if he’d tried.

  And he hadn’t tried.

  He took one step and then another, turning them so her back bumped the side of the house. Their harsh breathing matched the sound of the surf in the background, the wind concealing it from anyone who might be listening. Jack kissed along her jaw. “I missed the fuck out of you, Cora.”

  “You can’t miss something you never really had.” The breathlessness in her voice barely lessened the sting of the words.

  He lifted his head. A flush spread across her chest and cheeks, her lips extra pouty from his kisses, her eyes a little too wide. “Wrong. I had you. Maybe only for a night, but you were mine for those hours—just like I was yours.”

  “I only had sex with you for the damn tape.”

  He let go of her, just like she obviously wanted him to, and stepped back. “The first time? Sure. How the fuck do you rationalize that second time?”

  4

  Cora didn’t have an answer for Jack, so she kissed him again. At least, that’s what she told herself—it was a distraction. In reality, being this close without tasting him again was as futile as resisting the pull of the tide. He punished her mouth, nipping her bottom lip and dragging his teeth over her tongue.

  She loved every second of it.

  Jack ground his hips against hers, letting her feel exactly how much he wanted her. We shouldn’t. But Cora had stopped worrying about what she should or shouldn’t do more than a decade ago. She wanted Jack. He wanted her. Sometimes it was as simple as that. “I want you.”

  Going back inside was a stupid ass idea, if only because Brooklyn would never let her live it down. She looked around. The light had changed while they’d been making out against the side of her house, a riot of colors stealing across the sky as the sun sank below the horizon. The air had something resembling a bite to it, and she shivered.

  Jack claimed her hand. “Come on.” He towed her down the steps to his ridiculous car. It was then that she noticed how dark the windows were tinted.

  She laughed. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  He pinned her against the side of the car, his cock lining up exactly where she ached for him. “Does it feel like I’m kidding, Cora?”

  No. It felt like he might yank up her dress and fuck her right here if she didn’t get inside the damn car. Her pussy clenched at the thought. A few hours from now, when it was full dark, she’d have let him and enjoyed every single second of it.

  Right now, that wasn’t an option. Her neighbors might be mostly missing in action, but there was enough foot traffic this time of year, someone was bound to walk past. It almost wasn’t enough to stop her, but she latched onto what was left of her reason. “Fine. The car.”

  Jack opened the back door, every inch a gentleman—if it was gentlemanly to plan to ravage her in his backseat. Cora climbed in slowly, letting her dress ride up to give him a peek of her panties. His sharp inhale was reward in and of itself.

  She expected him to follow immediately, but he stood there blocking the open space, his blue eyes forbidding. “Take those off.”

  Cora settled back against the far door and pulled her dress up so she could slide her panties off. She tossed them in his direction, and Jack snaked a hand out to catch them. He slid them into his pocket and only then did he climb into the backseat with her.

  “Really? You’re going to…what? Take them home as a memento? Bragging rights?”

  “Cora.”

  She licked her lips. “Yes?”

  “Shut up. You know goddamn well and good that I’m not a douche like that, so stop pretending that I am.” He hooked her thighs and pulled her to the edge of the seat as he went to his knees next to the seat itself. “And stop pretending that it doesn’t get you wet knowing that I’ll be jacking myself to the scent of you later.”

  Her jaw dropped. “Holy shit.”

  “Now, stop talking.” He nudged her shoulder until she leaned back against the seat. Jack ran his hands up her thighs, spreading her legs farther. “It’s been a long time.”

  There was nothing to say to that because it was the truth. Cora grabbed the hem of her dress and arched off the seat so she could drag it over her head. It left her in only her bra, but Jack’s curse made the bold move more than worth it. She shook her hair out of her face. “It won’t be much longer.”

  He didn’t take his gaze off her as he reached for the center console. “Fuck, Cora.” The blatant appreciate in his tone made her smile despite herself. Jack met her eyes. “This isn’t a one-time thing.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “You. Me. This.” He motioned between them. “We do this, we’re doing this.”

  The words were less than enlightening, but with his thumbs stroking intoxicating circles on her inner thighs, she wasn’t sure she cared. “Fine. Whatever. I need you inside me.”

  His slow grin was foreplay all on its own. Jack traced his thumbs along the dip where her thighs met her hips. “Getting there.” He didn’t give her a chance to curse him. One second he was teasing her, the next he pushed two big fingers into her, filling her in a way that was nothing compared to the main course. She rolled her hips, trying to take him deeper, but Jack just chuckled and kept his strokes light.

  Need built, stronger than it had any right to be. His scent wrapped around her in the close confines of the car, the tinted windows creating an intimate atmosphere despite where they were. Cora didn’t want intimate. She didn’t want soft. She sure as hell didn’t want slow. She grabbed his wrist. “Stop teasing me.”

  “Come home with me.”

  She blinked, surprised for what felt like the thousandth time that day. “What?”

  “Come home with me, Cora.” Jack kept stroking her, his fingers unerringly gravitating to that sensitive spot inside her that could motivate her to do damn near anything. She gasped and he leaned down to eat the sound. His tongue stole her words even as his fingers continued their wicked work. Jack consumed her.

  And then he stopped.

  He pressed one last light kiss to her lips and sat back. “What’s your answer?”

  She wasn’t even sure what the question was. Cora shook her head, trying to clear it. “This is emotional blackmail.”

  “Hardly.” His thumb idly circled her clit, sending a wave of tension through her body. “This is me flat out saying that I want you naked in my bed, to do with as I please for several hours before we pass out. Reality can wait until tomorrow.”

  Common sense said it was the perfect time to stop this before she got herself—and her heart—into trouble. No one had ever seen her the way Jack threatened to. She didn’t relish the thought of being stripped bare, only to be left in the dust when he moved on from his current crisis.

  But if she didn’t jump now, she might never get the chance to again.

  The thought of spending the rest of her life kicking herself for missing the chance to be with Jack again had her finding words she never thought she’d say. “Yes.”

  “Yes?” His cobalt eyes watched her every move, making her feel strangely like prey. It wasn’t a comfortable feeling, but it wasn’t entirely unpleasant, either.

  Cora swallowed hard. “Take me home with you, Jack.”

  * * *

  They didn’t speak on the ride back to his place. Jack didn’t want to say something to make her second-guess her decision, but if he knew anything about Cora, once she made a choice, she was wholly committed to it. For better or worse.

  The gates to his property closed behind them, and he turned to her. “Tonight, the rules are mine.”

  She raised her eyebrows. “You have something specific in mind.”

  Yeah, he did, though Jack wasn’t about to admit it. He just waited for her to decide. Finally, Cora nodded. “Your rules—for tonight.”

  He didn’t miss the stipulation, but he knew better than to ask for anything after tonight. If he tried, she’d be gone before he had a chance to do more than get the words out. “If you change your mind for whatever reason, talk to me. Got it?”

  She licked her lips and shifted, rubbing her thighs together. “I got it.”

  “Good.” He drove into the garage and shut the door before getting out of the car. Jack didn’t have to deal with paparazzi the way actors did, but those bastards seemed to pop up when he least expected it. Exposing Cora to that was the last thing he wanted. Tonight was for them. Everyone else could take a flying leap.

  He guided her into the mud room and bypassed the main living area, taking the back stairs to the second floor. Jack hesitated at the top of the stairs. He didn’t entertain in his home often, but when he did, he used one of the guest rooms. Girlfriends were one thing, but he didn’t want dalliances to get the wrong idea. They never had, but there was always a first time.

  Cora wasn’t a dalliance. She never had been for him.

  He flattened his hand against the small of her back. “This way.”

  As they walked into the master bedroom, he tried to see it through her eyes. This was his sanctuary, where he left all the bullshit at the door and actually relaxed. The bed was massive enough to fit his six-foot frame without him having to contort himself, the white down comforter kind of ridiculously overstuffed. He liked it. It made him think of sleeping on a cloud, which was whimsical in the extreme. Jack would be the first to admit the television over the dresser was stupid big, but he wasn’t about to make apologies for it. The dark wood bed frame was a piece he’d commissioned from a local artist, the knotted wood giving it the feel of something raw and exposed in a beautiful sort of way.

  Cora turned to face him. “Tell me your rules.”

  “There’s only one.” Jack captured her chin in a gentle grip and stroked his thumb along her bottom lip. “Obey.”

  He felt more than saw her shiver. “And if I don’t get off on that?”

  “I guess we’ll see, won’t we?” She might not have a damn near perfect memory of their night together, but Jack did. At twenty-one, he’d still been figuring out what the hell he liked when it came to fucking, but the way Cora had responded to his commands… Fucking perfection. He leaned in and kissed her forehead, her temple, the shell of her ear. “We both know what gets you off, Cora. You want to fight that, it’s your call. You want to give in and let me take control, I’ll give you the best damn night of your life.”

  He waited a beat, and then another. The only sound breaking the silence of the room was their rough breathing. “What will it be?” Say yes. Give us both what we want.

  Another shiver, stronger this time. “You…” She took a shuddering breath. “I’ll obey.”

  “Good girl.” He nipped her earlobe and stepped back, releasing her in the process. “Undress and wait for me on the bed.”

  Jack didn’t watch her get started. He strode through the bathroom and then into the master closet on the other side. In the bottom draw of the built-in dresser, he found what he was looking for. Though he wanted to rush back to Cora, he forced himself to slow down. He kicked off his shoes and jacket, and then began unbuttoning his shirt as he walked back.

  Cora had followed his instructions—and not a step farther. She sat primly on the bed, her dark eyes flashing in defiance. Jack stopped in the doorway and shrugged out of his shirt. He liked the way her attention slid over his chest to the band on his slacks. He liked the way she licked her lips even more.

  Then her gaze fastened onto the thing in his hand and her eyes went wide. “Tell me that’s not—”

  “It is.” The silk sash she’d been wearing knotted around her waist when they first met. It was a show-stopping red, and he’d kept it after their night together, though he’d never told anyone until now. Jack walked to stand in front of her and held it stretched between his hands. The look on her face said she wasn’t anywhere near ready to talk about why he still had this after all these years, and he responded to her need. “Close your eyes.”

 

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