“Not sure, but he was running up credit card debt he couldn’t pay. Then it seems he came into some cash—a lot of cash.”
“And now he’s lying in a hospital bed hooked up to machines, and Jamie is missing.”
He ran his hands up her arms beneath the silky sleeves of the kimono. “I think I need to pay a visit to Hallie LaCroix’s mother.”
“Why?”
“Somehow, Fiso and his wife are connected to all this. There is no way Hallie’s disappearance and Fiso’s death are random occurrences. Palumba’s crime rate is low—a few drunks in public, a couple of thefts from the stores, and some drug arrests. Maybe Hallie’s mother can shed some light on her daughter and her actions before she disappeared.”
“If you’re going to talk to her, I want to come along.” Georgette jutted out her chin.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” He hooked his thumbs in the waistband of his shorts. “Can we take that shower now?”
Georgette nodded, and he yanked off his shorts and slipped the kimono from her shoulders. He led her into the bathroom, swooping down to pick up the toiletry bag she’d dropped. After they brushed their teeth, Jake cranked on the dual showerheads and snatched two clean towels from the stack beneath the vanity.
The shower opened to the rest of the bathroom, no door or curtain around it. He nudged the small of her back, right above the pert curve of her delicious derriere. “After you.”
Shuffling onto the tile, she held out her hands to the spray of water. “It’s huge.”
He looked down at his cock, already stirring to life. “Thanks, but I think you mentioned that already.”
Two red flags flew on her cheeks, and she reached around and smacked his ass with the palm of her hand. “You’re bad. I meant the shower.”
Laughing, he grabbed the body wash and squeezed a generous amount into his palm. He soaped up his hands and massaged her shoulders. “Did you think I was kidding about cleaning every part of your body?”
She sucked in her bottom lip. “I hope not.”
As she stood in front of him, eyes closed, warm water cascading down her back, he ran his hands down her shoulders to her hands. He clasped them together between his own and kissed her soapy fingers.
He skimmed his hands over her breasts and beneath them, swirling his fingers around her nipples until they crinkled into rosy peaks. He twirled them between his thumb and forefinger until she caught her breath and placed a hand on his shoulder to steady herself.
The ease with which he could arouse her surprised and delighted him. He’d expected that a tightly wound woman like Georgette, one without a whole lot of experience, would be slow to ignite. Instead, a simple touch, a word even, caused her to squirm in her panties.
His fingers slipped between her legs, bringing her to climax. He held on to her as she rocked against him, her arms twined around his neck.
She opened her eyes and cupped his face with one hand. “How do you do that to me? When we stepped into the shower, my mind was scattered in a million different directions, and yet you managed to banish all my worries.”
“You speak to me without saying a word—your body, your whiskey eyes, your lips, quivering and tender one minute, pursed and taking me to task the next. You make me hard with one look. You set my nerve endings on fire with a single kiss. You shatter my defenses when you allow me to enter you.”
Her lips formed a perfect O. “I do all that to you?”
“And more.” He massaged her scalp with his fingertips. “Now, let me wash your hair and dry you off. I think we’ve spent enough time in water today, don’t you?”
She drew herself up. “I think I can wash my own hair and dry myself.”
“Iknowyou can. That’s not the point, is it?”
And then, little by little, she gave herself over to him again. He washed her hair and then toweled her dry. When he picked up all five feet, ten inches of her and cradled her against his body, she melted into him, her head dropping to the crook of his neck.
He carried her to the bed, flicked back the covers, and settled her on the crisp sheets, perching on the edge of the bed beside her. “Go to sleep now. You’ve had a rough day.”
Her long lashes fluttered, and her lips formed a pout. “If you think you can get me all worked up in the shower like that and not deliver,” she cupped his sac with one hand, “the goods, you’ve got the wrong schoolmarm.”
Lust surged in his loins as her fingernails grazed his tender flesh. “Oh, I can deliver. You just tell me how you want it.”
“Every. Which. Way.”
They made love all night long, exploring each other’s bodies, bringing each other to dizzying heights, melding into each other until Jake had no idea where her body began and his ended.