Page 14 of ELITE Justice
Gwen gasped and he spun around. Her eyes were wide, jaw slightly dropped in amazement as she took in the outstanding view. This is what he’d wanted. She deserved something very special, that only a few people ever got to experience.
Satisfied he’d made an excellent choice, Jonathan took the bucket and glasses over to a rusty cocktail table set between two beach chairs. Inwardly he smiled. Gwen had followed him, but her gaze was on the brightly lit skyline, not him. He took the tray from her hands without protest and set it down, filling the small table. “This is Mr. Robertson’s private place. During construction, he’d bring his wife up to each floor as it was finished. She loved the city lights. They’d have a drink, and talk about everything, except his work.”
Jonathan lowered his tall body onto the old, webbed chair and poured the bubbly.
Gwen followed his lead and sat on the edge of the other lounger, facing him. As she took the offered flute, she asked, “Do they still come up here?”
He shook his head. “No. She was diagnosed with cancer and passed away right after they topped out. He still comes up here now and then.”
Gwen looked at the battered outdoor furniture. “He must have really loved her.”
“Yes. I believe he did.” Jonathan didn’t tell her about the tears he’d seen in the older man’s eyes when he spoke of his wife. “They’d been married forty years. He showed me pictures of their three children and eight grandkids.”
He took a deep drink of the effervescent wine, preferring the good scotch he’d shared with Mr. Robertson while they’d sat in these very chairs watching the sun rise over the city.
“Do you want kids?” Gwen’s question struck him like a punch to the heart. That would require a wife, at least in his opinion, because he wouldn’t want kids any other way. He’d come from a solid family, unlike so many of his West Palm Beach friends who had multiple steps on both sides. His parents were pushing their thirty-fifth anniversary. His father ran a mid-sized construction company specializing in marine engineering and his mother had worked for an accounting firm all his life. Maybe that was why he’d struck such a chord with Mr. Robertson. He’d love to give his parents a few more grands to fuss over, although his older sister and younger brother had supplied three already.
“Yeah, someday.” He wondered if they could practice in a few hours but said nothing.
She leaned back and pulled her legs onto the lounge. “I want three, maybe four, but at my age, I’ll be lucky if I get one.”
“You’re plenty young enough to have all four.” He couldn’t stop the next question, “Why aren’t you married with four little ones already?”
She didn’t even look his way as she answered casually. “I’ve been engaged twice. It just didn’t work out.”
How could two men be so stupid as to let this wonderful woman slip through their hands?“Were they idiots?”
“No.” She sighed. “I was.” She rolled on her side to look at him now. “Gregory and I met while we were in college. He was pre-med and so we had a few pre-recs together. We dated for two years, and I was in love. We’d talked about working for Doctors Without Borders, traveling together, helping children all over the world. Graduation week he asked me to marry him…the night before I met his parents. His father announced at supper that he was retiring as soon as Gregory graduated from med school and came home to take over the practice. I overheard his father and mother discussing me later that night. He said,” Gwen lowered her voice an octave, “‘She’ll do, but you’ll have to work with her on her social skills.’” She returned her voice to normal and blasted, “I have manners. And use them.” She went on, “Then his mother berated my sorority and outright said she wished I had belonged to a social sorority rather than an academic one.”
“Tell me Gregory had the tenacity to stand up and defend you.” Somehow, Jonathan knew the other man hadn’t.
“No. By the time we moved out of the dorms a few days later, he wanted me to follow him to med school. He expected me to work, supporting him through school, then we’d move back to his hometown and he’d do just as his father expected. He didn’t give one damn about my dreams of traveling and helping kids.”
Jonathan thought he knew the answer, but asked anyway, “Is that when you joined the Army?”
“Yeah.” She downed the last of her champagne, selected a strawberry, and dipped it into the chocolate.
“And the second loser?” Jonathan refilled her glass.
“A Blackhawk pilot who flew out of—” She skipped a beat, and then said, “the base I was stationed at in Afghanistan. Geoffrey was handsome as a movie star and sweet as Chocolate Silk Pie.” She sipped, then bit the end off the chocolate-covered strawberry. “I was a fool to think he loved me. The second week together he asked me to marry him, claiming that he could be killed at any time and wanted to have someone to come back to after every mission and make the most of life in between. Gave me a ring and everything.” She shook her head and fell silent.
“Did he crash?” Jonathan finally asked.
“No, but his buddy did.” She raised her pointy little chin and took a deep breath. “I patched him up, and before we shipped him off to Germany, the guy told me Geoffrey was married and had a two-year-old back home.”
“Fucker.” The word came out before Jonathan could stop it. He couldn’t think about that deceiving bastard while lying down, so he sat up and moved to the side of his lounge to face her. “Please tell me—”
She cut him off. “He never fucked me again, but I fucked him over, big time. His wife was easy enough to find.” She swung those long shapely legs over the side and faced him. Pasting on a big, fake smile, she splayed her fingers as though posing. “I sent her a picture of him and me, naked in a hot tub, celebrating our engagement in Dubai.”
She’d been lied to and deceived by men she’d trusted. And he was going to do it to her, again. He had to.
Jonathan reached over and took her face in both his hands. He gently laid his lips on hers. She wasn’t timid, as he’d expected, after being burned by so many men. Here was the feisty woman who had grabbed a gun away from another woman as easily as she’d cleared a table. She kissed with a determination he’d never experienced before. Without encouragement, she opened for him. After exploring her mouth, she chased his tongue when he retreated and allowed her access. It had to be the most erotic kiss of his life when he thrust back into hers, slowly running his tongue over hers, like two naked bodies seeking their unique rhythm, they went back and forth.
His aching cock pushed against the zipper on his dress slacks. He needed to slow down. Caressing her breast, he swiped his thumb over her peaked nipple.
Gwen moaned into his mouth and his body needed more. But not here. This was not the place for their first time.
CHAPTER7
