In Paradise Read online

  When a languid, boneless peace eventually settled on his spent body, he leaned forward to kiss her. The curve of her plump lower lip invited him to nibble before she opened her mouth to receive his tongue.

  Once he began exploring deeper, a curious event occurred. He had the sense of sinking, deeper and deeper. Almost like a dream, he took a lethargic free-fall into a euphoric state of...what?

  A niggling thought was on the tip of his tongue. He could almost identify the mysterious spiraling sensation, when a second curious event occurred. He began to harden inside her.

  What power did this woman possess to make him go from completely spent to rock hard in seconds?

  The heat of her sex and warmth of her mouth escalated his desire to an unprecedented high. Whatever power over him she had, he would think about it later. Hopefully, much later.

  CHAPTER 4

  By the time they'd made love in the Jeep, on a chaise lounge in a beachfront lanai, and then in the water with the surf crashing over them, Di could hardly move, let alone walk. She wasn't certain, but she thought her bones had melted and floated out to sea with the final orgasm Jake had given her.

  How she'd ever be satisfied returning to her boring, staid life she didn't want to consider. In a single afternoon he'd manage to shatter her existence, then pieced her back together in an upside down and backward sort of way.

  "Would you like a glass of wine?"

  Di was too busy admiring the way he comfortably moved half-naked about his gleaming stainless steel kitchen to respond until he cleared his throat.

  "Sorry, I don't get out much. Yes, please. I would love a glass of wine."

  "The kitchen stays so shiny because I don't cook, not even a little. I do, however, pop a mean cork." Then Jake laughed. "God, I sound pretentious and corny."

  "Not at all. When I said I didn't get out much I wasn't exaggerating."

  The look in his striking hazel eyes asked her to explain. Could she? She wasn't certain. "My mother is almost an invalid and very difficult. I live with her and care for her in the behemoth family house older than some states."

  "And now you're my neighbor. As it turns out, I don't think I've had a better one. You'll be a hard act to follow." He held a glass of wine toward her and lifted his in the air. "Here's to neighbors. Who knew?"

  She took the full glass, clinking it against his before she took a sip. "The neighbors where I live walk on the opposite side of the street to avoid me."

  "That would be because?"

  "They think our house is haunted. Some say my great-great grandfather murdered his second wife and hid her body in the attic, but it's never been proven. Of course it would take weeks of uninterrupted searching to discover all the secrets the attic holds. It’s a hoarder’s paradise. And the attic alone is a couple thousand square feet. And it’s filled to capacity with years of ancestral junk. I mean treasures."

  "You're kidding. Right?"

  Di wished she was. The family home was an albatross causing her no end of mental disturbance to her since she was old enough to walk. To make a bad situation worse, she paid through the nose for the privilege of the pain. The taxes alone kept her broke. Repairs and maintenance were down on the list of needs to be met on a regular basis.

  "On paper one might assume my mother and I are wealthy. In reality, we're paupers, tied to an expensive and burdensome piece of real estate, and a lot of material things with too much sentimental value to part with. My mother says one day I'll appreciate all the sacrifices we've made to keep it all."

  "How wealthy on paper? Or is that too personal?"

  Di gave a glance around the expensive and very spacious kitchen. She'd already experienced the exclusive beachfront he owned and could only imagine the price tag of his property. Even with all that, she didn't think it would come close to the price of her miserable prison.

  "We haven't had it appraised for a long time. Mom is hoping not to do anything to cause the county assessor to raise our taxes. I think if we were to sell we could probably ask about fifteen million, maybe more. However, Mom will never sell since the house would more than likely be torn down."

  Jake's eyes widened and he whistled. "You never did say what you do to earn a living."

  "I teach at a small private university. Art appreciation, art history and sometimes I lecture for a consulting fee. That's how I got the opportunity to come to Hawaii."

  "I'm glad you did." He raised his glass a second time. "Here's to two weeks in paradise and making the most of every moment. No strings attached, like you said."

  "If we make the most of every moment, I don't know if I'll be able to walk."

  "It could have something to do with those high heels."

  "No, it's definitely you. I'm sure of it."

  "Then here's to your chances of survival because I intend to do all within my power to make this memorable for you."

  Di clicked her glass against his. "Trust me. You already have. I'll never be the same."

  For a second his eyes narrowed and darkened as though she'd said something he didn't trust. In the next moment a smile spread across his handsome face. "It's only the beginning. Now on to the main course."

  Di's breath hitched. She didn't think he spoke of feeding her, but maybe she misread him. "I thought you said you couldn't cook. I'm not about to mess up this kitchen. My mother says I can even ruin oatmeal."

  "I can't cook, but I damned well can eat. I want you to jump up here on the counter after we get that dress off of you again." At the same time, he reached to unzip her. She'd had it off more than she'd had it on.

  After the dress fell to the floor at her feet, he patted the counter.

  Surely he didn't mean...? "What did you have in mind?"

  "Something to soothe away the pain I've inflicted on you with my rutting behavior."

  Di had always wondered what it would feel like to have someone give her oral sex. She wished she could have a shower to wash away the taste of the sea that surely clung to her. At least Raul had made sure she was properly waxed for the occasion.

  Jake's eyes darkened again as she wiggled onto the counter in front of him. It seemed a little unsanitary, but what choice did she have? A sexy, sinfully delicious smile guaranteed she'd enjoy herself.

  "Lay back and relax."

  "Relax? I've never done this."

  "Never?"

  "I'd never made love on a plane, in a Jeep, on a chaise lounge outside in broad daylight or in the ocean either. Everything we've done together has been a first for me."

  "Then, hopefully, I'll be able to make this memorable for you. I like being someone's first. Lean back on your elbows and watch me."

  Watch him? Di leaped toward a climax just thinking about it.

  Every fiber of her body thrummed with anticipation of what he would do. Was this normal? Did this kind of thing happen to women every day? Di closed her eyes and made a wish. More than a wish, she took an oath. No matter what happened on her vacation in paradise, she wouldn't go back to her mundane existence.

  And somehow she'd survive without him in her life if she had to. No regrets, no recriminations. Just like she'd promised him...no strings attached.

  "Am I scaring you?"

  Di opened her eyes to look at him. "No. I was making myself a promise that I'd try to do this more often. I mean not let so much time go by before I—"

  The frown on his face stopped her. "I think it's customary to pretend to love the one you're with, not be thinking about when the next one will come along."

  "I wasn't thinking that at all. I'm just being realistic. I'll probably never see you again after I leave here. I think you've changed me. Shown me what I've been missing. You have no one to blame but yourself. If you weren't so good, it wouldn’t have entered my mind."

  When his frown deepened, she stopped talking. He shook his head as if to rid his brain of an unwelcome thought.

  "Right." The sound was more air than volume. "I don't know. That house of yours sounds intriguin
g. Maybe I'd like to come for a visit next time I'm in New York. I'm there fairly often."

  "Are we supposed to be talking right now?" As much as she wanted to think she had a future with him, the thought of Jake seeing her home was like stepping into a cold shower.

  She much preferred to concentrate on what he said he wanted to do to her.

  He finally laughed and then his hazel eyes deepened to green. She'd only known him a short while, but long enough to know what that meant. His gaze left hers to burn into her elsewhere.

  Jake leaned over her to kiss her stomach. "You smell of the ocean and some of that just me I found so irresistible on the plane."

  Then he quit talking to rain kisses downward to the place she wanted him to be.

  When he delivered an open mouthed kiss to her clit, Di wasn't certain she'd survive. She watched his head bob between her thighs and began to come.

  He stopped to raise his head and grin. "You didn’t even make me work for it. You can do better than that. Let me show you."

  CHAPTER 5

  Jake wondered if he'd died and gone to heaven. He'd never met anyone like Di. She challenged him sexually and awakened feelings he hadn't experienced for years. It had been so long since he was carefree and playful with a woman.

  Had he ever been really? Not as far as he could remember in his thirty-five years.

  "Do you think it's safe to put my dress back on?"

  "Damn that dress. I don't know what I was thinking. I don't like the thought of you running around the island in it."

  Jake surprised even himself with his words. It was true. He didn't want to consider anyone else ogling her. What was that about? Since when did he form attachments so quickly? How about never!

  "My mother would have a heart attack if she could see me in this dress. I think I'll wear it everyday while I'm here, since I won't have a reason to wear it back home. Plus it still feels like winter in New York despite being April."

  "I can see you strolling through Central Park in that little number and driving men in the big city crazy. I know I can't keep my hands off you." He'd made love to her more times than he could count and still he wanted her, hungered for her.

  "If I'd known all it took was a sexy dress to get a man, I'd have hocked Mom's silverware. I hate polishing it anyway."

  "Not the family silver!" He laughed. She was a breath of fresh air, so innocent and unassuming.

  "Don't laugh. The silver has been in the family since before the Civil War. It's so heavy it wears you out lifting it to your mouth. I never have enough energy to finish my plate." She stopped talking to shake her finger at him. "Don't you dare laugh. Thankfully, Mom only insists on using it on Sundays."

  "Then sell the family jewels."

  She smiled, then looked away as though he'd embarrassed her. She had the kind of smile that transformed her face from beautiful to extraordinary. How had he ever thought she was plain? Not only was he a jerk, he was a blind jerk.

  "The jewels were the first to go. Mom doesn't care for ostentatious baubles. She says a good set of pearls is all a woman really needs."

  Jake chuckled. "Pearls are good. I can think of several uses for them." Now if he could just get her to let him show her.

  "I don't think you have the same thing in mind as my mother. What could you be thinking?"

  "I'll fill you in later, when you know me better."

  Her expressive eyes grew wide and her plump lips formed an "O."

  She was such fun to tease. "I hope you never have to make a living playing poker. I got it! You could sell the oil painting hanging over the fireplace." For some unknown reason his latest jibe missed the mark.

  She gave him a frosty stare. "If you only knew. The artwork is our family curse and blessing all rolled up into one very complicated package."

  Jake looked at her more closely. So far they'd been great together sexually. It would be too much to hope they were intellectually compatible. "Now you've tweaked my curiosity. I consider myself somewhat of a collector."

  "You are?" She looked around the kitchen as though not expecting to see anything important.

  "In the living room and den, I have several..."

  But Di was ignoring him as she made her way to the back wall of the kitchen. Behind the table, on the wall, hung his most humbling purchase from his pesky neighbor, Boyd. That very painting was the beginning of the end of their somewhat curious friendship. Boyd had even threatened a lawsuit over the miserable forgery.

  "Boyd said you had several Raduskis. This one's surprising."

  Nothing she could have said would've irritated him more.

  Boyd had convinced him it was an original, and then threatened to sue if Jake tried to deny it. "It only looks like a Raduski. That's why I bought it. Do you think I'd hang a Raduski in the kitchen?"

  Di moved closer. "No, it's a Raduski. There's no doubt about it. I'm positive."

  "I've had it examined. It's not. And why is that particular painting surprising if you already knew I owned several?"

  "It's the subject matter. Not even so-called experts are familiar with it."

  "Impossible."

  "No, I assure you, it's true. I'm here to give a lecture on Raduski for a local gallery."

  Jake's temper flared. "Boyd's handiwork. He put you up to this."

  "What are you talking about? Boyd asked me to speak, but he had nothing to do with this picture."

  "Enough of this. I think you better leave. I'm sick and tired of falling for Boyd's tricks."

  "Why are you so angry with me? I'd think you'd be pleased to learn you have a valuable painting hanging in your kitchen."

  Jake could feel his face heating. The pain of betrayal overrode his embarrassment. How had he let this happen? How did he allow his enemy's pawn into his life so easily? "So Boyd can make me a laughing stock? What's wrong with that man? Why can't he leave me the hell alone? He's obsessed with bringing me down to his level.

  “Just leave. We can agree to disagree where Boyd's concerned and be glad this thing between us didn't go any farther." Jake walked to the door leading out onto the patio and held it open.

  He wasn't about to give her a second chance to get to him. She already had him doing things he'd never done with a stranger. Still worse, she had him feeling... He wasn't sure what exactly, but at the moment it didn't feel good.

  In fact he was downright miserable. "Tell Boyd it didn't work. Whatever he had planned, it didn't work."

  Di appeared ready to cry as she stared at him with her big, easy-to-read eyes. This hurt her. He wouldn't—couldn't relent. No way was the painting a Raduski. If she lied about that, she would lie about anything.

  * * * * *

  Di didn't have a choice. She turned and walked out of Jake's kitchen the way she'd come. With each step, she prayed to hear his voice calling for her to stop, telling her he'd made an awful mistake.

  What had she done to spoil everything? Why was he being so stubborn about a stupid painting of all things?

  A couple of times she stumbled in her borrowed heels as she made her way down to the beach. She stooped and slipped them off her feet once she reached the sand. All the way back to Boyd's, she held her emotions in check.

  Only once inside the walls of Boyd's house did she let it out. It had grown dark outside before she finally stopped crying long enough to realize it. What had started as paradise had become hell on earth in a matter of seconds.

  How?

  Why?

  Di couldn't find any reason why Jake had become incensed over the Raduski. She didn't doubt the painting had been executed by her great-great grandfather. The picture of the Hawaiian maiden had been a dark family secret. It was more than a secret, the family scandal to be protected at all costs.

  Until the moment she saw the painting she'd believed only a miniature of the maiden had made it into public hands. The one on Jake's kitchen wall clearly revealed the family disgrace.

  Her adulterous ancestor had carried the miniature of his
island mistress on his person until the day he died. In the end she was more than a mistress. He had married the woman, while still married to his second wife.

  Only family would know of this. Why would Jake think there was some sort of conspiracy involving the painting? If she confirmed the painting's originality with the miniature, he would have a painting worth a small fortune. Why wouldn't that information please him?

  She searched her memory for any mention from Boyd about Jake's Raduski. Nothing came to mind. In point of fact, what seemed to interest Boyd was Di's personal relationship with her mother.

  He'd been so sympathetic.

  Under the circumstances, Di did the only thing she could. She buried her face in her hands and cried her heart out. A week later, Di was no closer to the answers she needed. Each day had been an exercise in torture. She didn’t stay locked away in Boyd’s home. She used the time to see the island. Each sighting of Jake brought excruciating pain.

  Why was it, the person she didn’t want to see was the one who continually popped up everywhere?

  It was a toss-up who Di sighted more often—Jake or the elderly lady from the plane.

  To make matters worse, she had promised Boyd not to reveal he'd left the island. While she didn't understand Boyd's request, she knew that bit of knowledge couldn't bode well. If Jake discovered she was keeping it from him and it blew up in her face, she'd never stand a chance with him. Then again, did she really want a second chance?

  The guy had been a jerk. She told herself it was only about the sex, it wasn't about commitment.

  When her appointment to return to Raul's came, she wanted to cancel. But she had a pair of shoes to return and a promise to keep. Raul had turned her from the ugly duckling into a swan. He deserved to hear what happened.

  "He what?!" Raul screamed when Di told him Jake kicked her out of his house without revealing any of the particulars.

  "What is going on between Jake and Boyd Hatcher?" she whispered so the other patrons wouldn't hear.

  "Oh, that!" Raul said too loudly. "That's old news. Those two used to be best friends. They even co-authored their first book. Then Boyd decided he wanted to make it on his own and write nonfiction. Well, as everyone knows, Jake is the one with the big sales. You'd think that would be enough for him.