Page 15 of Sunsets at Seaside
Her mother was wrong.Jesswas soft and feminine, at least coming from Jamie.
She went up on her tiptoes and kissed him, because if she didn’t, she’d think about how she’d wanted to all night long.
“Yes. I’d love to join you tomorrow.”
She’d have to relearn how to behave between now and then. Step number one…no tequila.
Chapter Four
FRIDAY MORNING JAMIE was up with the sun, after staying up most of the night working his way through emails and thinking about Jessica. He’d been so taken with her that when he’d tried to review the trouble reports his staff had sent him by email, he’d been too distracted and had given up after a page or two. He’d half expected Jessica to push him away when he’d first pressed his lips to hers last night, even though she’d asked him to kiss her. She’d taken him by surprise when she’d kissed him back as ravenously as a starving woman might eat her first meal. And later, he’d seen a shadow of worry pass over her eyes and just as quickly disappear. He wasn’t sure what to make of her, but after a kiss that reached inside his body and awakened senses he hadn’t ever felt before, he wanted to explore the possibilities.
When he went out for his run, Caden had been on his deck ready to go. Now they were closing in on the end of their four-mile run. It was only seven thirty and already the sun was blazing.
“So you’re going to the flea market with her?” Caden asked. “You know it’ll take the girls about ten seconds to get wind of this, right?”
“What makes you think they don’t already know?” Jamie asked.
“Good point, but Bella said you don’t date renters.”
“It’s not like it’s one of Theresa’s rules, or even one of mine. I just…haven’t. Besides, there’s a first time for everything.” They jogged up a back road toward the Seaside entrance. Jamie focused on the cadence of their footfalls on the pavement, a nice, even rhythm.
“And a last,” Caden said. “I’m convinced that something happens here on the Cape that makes couples come together.”
“Yeah? I’ve been coming up to Wellfleet for thirty years and I can count the number of women I’ve gone out with here on one hand.” Jamie waved his hand as they turned into Seaside. “If you haven’t noticed, I’m still single.”
“Did you OneClick her yet? Make sure she’s not a freak?”
Even after eight years, it was still strange to hear his company name in place of Google. “No, actually. I made a conscious decision not to check her out online. There’s so much crap on the Internet, and I don’t want to stare down some old boyfriend on a Facebook page, or worry about some blog that snapped a picture of her at the wrong moment to make her look like a ho.”
“Man, you think that’s smart?” Caden asked. “There are a lot of money-hungry people out there, and you’re not exactly middle class.”
Jamie shrugged. “I can tell if a woman’s after my money.”
“Must be hard to be worth a couple million.”
A couple? Try several hundred million.Jamie had assumed Bella had told Caden by now. Friendships ran deep at Seaside, and now he understood exactly how deep.
Money was something Jamie had because he worked hard. He didn’t think of it as who he was, and he didn’t think it made him any different from anyone else. It gave him a sense of security, but he did what he did for a living because he loved it. Figuring out technical puzzles and coming up with solutions was about the biggest thrill there was to Jamie, outside of the usual male sexual fantasies, of course.
The gravel road forked at the entrance. It ran in a circle through the development with Bella and Jenna’s cottages, the laundry building, and the house where Theresa lived and Jessica was renting down the fork to the left. Thebig house, as they called it, had been the only house on the property until the land was subdivided and the cottages were built. The road circled by the pool at the far end, and Jamie’s, Leanna’s, Tony’s, and Amy’s cottages were on the right side of the community. Jamie and Caden ran down the fork to the left.
“Glutton for punishment? You know they’ll all be together at our place,” Caden said.
Jamie knew there was a good chance that Bella and the girls were on Bella’s deck with comments at the ready, but their harassment would be well worth the glimpse of Jessica if she was out on her deck.
Caden elbowed him. Jamie followed his gaze to Jenna’s deck, where Jessica and the other girls were gathered around the table drinking coffee. Pepper, Leanna’s fluffy white Labradoodle, barked and ran around their feet. Jamie slowed and crouched to pet Pepper. Caden took a knee beside him.
“You think they scared her off yet?” Caden cracked a crooked smile and lifted his brows.
“I guess we’ll find out.” Jamie looked down at Pepper. “Come on, Pep.” Pepper ran ahead of them and leaped onto Jenna’s deck.
“Morning, ladies.” Jamie felt all of their eyes on him as he rested his hand on the back of Jessica’s chair. It took all of his restraint not to lean down and kiss her cheek, and she surprised him when she reached up and touched his hand. He lifted his index finger and trapped hers beneath.
“Well, well, well. If it isn’t the hottest running duo in Wellfleet.” Bella reached for Caden’s hand and leveled a stare at Jamie. “We hear you’re going on a date to the flea market today.”
Jessica looked up and smiled, flashing those dimples that shot something warm and nice through his chest. “I told them that we were going with Vera this morning.”
He moved his hand from her chair to her shoulder and smiled down at her. She was wearing a white sundress and a pair of sandals. The tie of a pink bathing suit circled her neck. He glanced around the table at the others, and they were all dressed similarly, other than Leanna. Her brown hair was pinned up in a high ponytail, and she wore a blue tank top and cutoffs, both streaked with red jam. Jessica already fit in like one of the Seaside girls, and she looked about as comfortable as could be.
