Californian Kings. Maureen Child
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exactly who Jesse King was.
“Okay,” she said suddenly, before she could change her mind, or listen to the outraged, rational screams rattling through her brain. “You’re on. It’s a deal.”
“Friday night. Dinner and the bet.”
She nodded. “Friday.” Then she lifted her chin, held out her hand and waited.
“You want me to shake your hand?” he asked, glancing down briefly at her outstretched palm.
“Well, yes.”
“Well,” he countered, “no.”
Then he caught her hand in his, pulled her in close and wrapped his arms around her. She was pressed so tightly to him, she felt every lean, muscular contour of his body—not to mention one specific part that left her no doubt as to just how he was feeling about her at the moment.
Bella looked up, met his gaze and held her breath as he lowered his head. The moment his lips met hers, everything stopped. Time screeched to a halt. The world probably stopped spinning on its axis. She knew for sure that she’d stopped breathing.
And more important, she didn’t care.
Every cell in Bella’s body leaped into life. Her blood rushed through her veins like a fiery flood. Her skin hummed. Her heart pounded frantically in her chest.
His mouth took hers in a hard, hot kiss that sizzled throughout her system like an out-of-control fireworks display. She felt alive and tingly and expectant. His tongue tangled with hers and heat dived through her, scalding everything she was, dragging her down, down into a kind of vortex where nothing was as it should be and everything shone with possibilities.
He gave her hunger and fed it.
He gave her passion and stoked it.
He gave her want and nurtured it.
Bella clung to him, pressing her body into his, relishing his hard, broad chest aligned with hers, loving the feel of that rigid proof of his desire for her pushing against her body. And while her brain shut down and her body sang, all Bella could think was, God help her if she really lost that bargain they’d just made.
For the next few days, Bella tried to put Jesse King and that kiss out of her mind. Which wasn’t easy. Heck, the night she’d spent with him three years ago was still fresh in her mind. Having this latest example of his kissing prowess burned into her brain made it twice as hard to keep her mind from straying to him.
Still, if she kept busy, that helped. It was all the downtime, like sleeping, showering, washing dishes, taking a walk on the beach or even watching TV that was getting to her. The moment her brain had a free second, it leaped into thoughts of Jesse.
And her body wasn’t far behind.
She’d almost been able to convince herself over the years that Jesse’s kisses hadn’t been that great. That the feel of his skin under her hands hadn’t really felt like a slow burn. That his body wasn’t actually that buff.
But a few short minutes alone in his office with him had shot down those little attempts at self-deception. Jesse was every bit as amazing as he had been three years ago. Her skin was still humming. And now that it was Friday, it was time to make good on the deal she’d made with him. Tonight, they’d have dinner. And if he managed to really shock her, they’d be having sex for dessert.
Oh, this was so not a good thing.
“Bella?” A voice called out from the dressing room and she walked toward the back of the store.
Desperately grateful for the distraction, Bella asked, “Do you need something?”
A blonde with big blue eyes poked her head up over the dressing-room door and grinned. “I need a smaller size in the silver swimsuit.”
Bella laughed. “Didn’t I tell you?”
The woman was a new customer and, like everyone else who came into her shop for the first time, she hadn’t believed Bella when she’d advised that a well-made swimsuit would fit far differently than she was used to.
“I can’t believe it,” the blonde said, “but yeah, you were right.”
“I’ll be right back with a smaller size.”
“Woo hoo, do I love hearing that,” the woman said with a laugh.
Bella passed three other women looking through the racks of suits, sarongs and wraps as she headed for the hip-hugger bikini section. There she flipped through the suits hung on short plastic hangers until she found the silver mesh suit in a size 10. Smiling, she walked back to her customer, handed it over and went back to the front of the store.
September was generally a slower month than usual. She had plenty of walk-in business during the summer months, but by September, summer was ending and only the hard-core sun worshippers were out in abundance. Of course, she still had plenty of business from the female surfers in town.
When the door opened, she sent a smile of welcome, only to bite it back at the last minute. Jesse King strolled in, looking completely at home. He paused on the threshold, took a look around and smiled at her customers before focusing his attention on Bella.
God, she hated to admit what just seeing him could do to her. He was wearing his own sportswear, a red polo shirt with a collar and the KB logo in gold on the left breast, along with a pair of khaki slacks and brown suede boots. His dark blond hair was wind-ruffled and the sun-carved crinkles at the corners of his eyes deepened as he smiled.
“Morning, ladies,” he said, as he headed across the store toward Bella.
“Oh my God! That’s Jesse King,” someone muttered and a soft giggle followed the declaration.
Naturally, he heard, and his grin widened.
Great, Bella thought. He was going to turn her customers into his groupies. She sensed more than saw the women in the store staring at him and she wanted to tell them all to turn off their hormones. But that would be like setting a filet mignon down in front of a hungry man and telling him not to eat it. An exercise in utter futility.
“Bella,” he said, flattening his palms on the glass counter. Then he lowered his voice until it was just a rumble of sound. “Good to see you again. Miss me?”
“No.” Yes. He’d stayed away from her for three days. No doubt he’d done it deliberately to drive her nuts. Well, it wasn’t working! Oh, she told herself, of course it was working.
He smiled as if he’d heard that stray thought from her sex-starved hormones.
“I missed you,” he said.
“Sure you did,” Bella countered, congratulating herself silently on keeping her voice so steady. “Here to back out of our dinner date?” she asked with a little too much hope.
His grin broadened and, thankfully, Bella was close enough to the counter that she could hold on and keep her knees from buckling.
“Now why would I do that just when I’m set to get you where I want you so badly?” he asked.
Oh, boy. She really was in way over her head.
“No,” he continued when she didn’t speak. “I just came to tell you that I’ll pick you up at seven, if that’s okay.”
“Oh, you don’t have to,” she said. “I can meet you wherever.”
“On our first official date?” he countered. “I don’t think so. I’ll pick you up at your place.”
“Fine,” she said grudgingly, knowing this was one battle she wasn’t going to win. “I’ll write down my address.”
“Oh,