An Honourable Seduction
He raised a brow. “She didn’t?”
“No. Mom came from a part of Jamaica where the belief was that when it comes to delivering a baby, a midwife is better than a medical doctor. My father promised to find her a midwife here. Otherwise she would have insisted that I be born in Jamaica and he didn’t want that. He wanted me born in America.”
“So he was able to find a midwife?”
“Yes, but I was born a few weeks early and the midwife wasn’t here.”
“So who delivered you?”
“My dad, with the help of three of his closest military friends. They were stationed at the base here and were visiting, watching a football game at the time. Needless to say, over the years I’ve gotten four different versions of what happened that night. My mother didn’t remember a thing other than it took four men to deliver me. Although Godpop 1 claims my father passed out trying to cut the umbilical cord.”
Flipper laughed. He then asked, “Godpop 1?”
“Yes, my father’s three closest friends, the ones who assisted that night, became my godfathers. That’s how I distinguish them. Godpop 1, Godpop 2 and Godpop 3.”
Flipper nodded. No wonder the three men felt such strong ties to her. “You’re lucky to have three godfathers. I don’t have a one.”
“Yes, I’m lucky,” she said, after the waiter set the glass of wine in front of her. “They were my and Mom’s rocks after we lost Dad, especially when my grandparents showed up at the funeral trying to cause problems.”
Then, as if she realized she might have shared too much, she asked, “So what do you plan to order?”
* * *
Swan thought David had picked the right place for them to have dinner. When he asked for recommendations on what to order, she suggested Summer Moon’s crab cakes and, as usual, they were delicious. The mango salad was superb, and after dinner they enjoyed listening to the live band.
When the band played their last song, she glanced over at David to discover him staring at her. The intensity in his gaze nearly scorched her and she took a sip of her wine. “Thanks for dinner, David.”
“Thank you for accepting my invitation. The place is about to close. Are you ready to go?” he asked her.
“Yes.” Because she knew he would suggest that he walk her home, she added, “If you still have a little bit of energy, I’d like to treat you to something.”
He lifted a brow. “What?”
“A laser show that officially kicks off the summer season. It’s a short walk from here.” Since it was in the opposite direction from where she lived, she would have no problem catching a cab back later—alone.
He smiled as he beckoned for the waiter to bring their check. “Then by all means, let’s go.”
Once the show began, it didn’t take Swan long to decide that David was wonderful company. She could tell he was enjoying the laser lights as much as she was.
She attended the event every year and it seemed the displays only got better and better. Each year, they honored a different state and tonight that state was New York. The New Yorkers in the crowd showed their happiness with whistles and shouting. And when a huge display of the Statue of Liberty flashed across the sky in a brilliant variety of colors, Swan caught her breath.
After that, the showrunners took the time to honor the servicemen in attendance with a flag salute. She couldn’t hold back her tears as she remembered how much her father had loved his country and how, in the end, he’d given his life for it and for her.
David must have detected her weepy state. He pulled her closer to his side.
“Sorry,” she said. “I get all emotional about our servicemen and servicewomen, especially those who sacrifice their lives.”
“You sound very patriotic.”
She pulled back and looked up at him. “Of course I’m patriotic. Aren’t you? You did say you used to be in the military, right?”
“Yes, I’m very patriotic,” he said, wrapping his arms around her. She wished she didn’t think the arms around her felt so strong and powerful.
“I thought you would be, but you said I sounded patriotic as if you thought that perhaps I wasn’t.”
“I apologize. I didn’t mean it that way. I’m glad you’re so patriotic.”
She nodded, accepting his apology. Scanning the area around them, she said, “They are serving complimentary wine coolers over there. Let’s go grab a couple.”
“Sure thing.” He placed his hand on the small of her back.
The contact sent a rush of desire through her that was so strong she had to force herself to breathe. Swan quickly glanced up at him and noticed he’d been affected by the feeling as well. However, he hadn’t removed his hand.
Instead, he pressed his hand more firmly into her back and she felt him urging her away from the crowd and toward a cluster of low-hanging palm trees. Once they stood in the shadows, he turned her in his arms, stared down at her for a long moment and then lowered his mouth to hers.
The moment their lips touched, he slid his tongue inside her mouth, and she recalled her thoughts from earlier that day. He was delicious—and dangerous—with a capital D. And it wasn’t just because he tasted of the beer he’d consumed at Summer Moon, but because he tasted like a hot-blooded man. All the sexiness she’d seen in him was reflected in his kiss.
When she began kissing him back, he wrapped his arms around her and deepened the exchange by crushing his mouth to hers.
She didn’t mind his eagerness. In fact, she welcomed the pleasure of his hunger, his taste, which was getting more provocative with every stroke of his tongue. It had been a while since she’d been kissed, and certain parts of her were reminding her of just how long it had been. Not only that, those certain parts were goading her to keep up with the forceful demands of his mouth. She hadn’t been kissed so thoroughly or possessively before in her life. Or so passionately.
Swan wasn’t sure how long they stood there kissing. It wasn’t until they heard the sound of fireworks that they disengaged their mouths. She glanced up as more fireworks exploded in the sky. Instead of looking up, David trailed his tongue along her neck and collarbone with wet licks.
“Say you’ll go out with me again, Swan.”
There was no way she wouldn’t say it. She looked at him and saw deep desire in the eyes looking back at her. “Yes, I’ll go out with you again.”
“Good.”
And then he lowered his head and kissed her again.
* * *
Flipper had tried everything possible to get to sleep. He’d counted sheep, counted backward, rolled his eyes for a full thirty minutes and had even tried hypnotizing himself. None of those things helped.
He couldn’t remember ever feeling this tight with need. So here he was, close to four in the morning, and still wide awake. Nothing he did could erase the taste of Swan from his mouth and the act of kissing her from his mind.
The kiss would complicate his mission, but it hadn’t been an act. It had been the most real thing he’d done in a long time. He had wanted that kiss. Needed it. It had been inevitable.
Sitting across from her at dinner and watching the movement of her mouth had caused a throbbing need to erupt in his gut, making him rock hard. There had been no way to ignore the delicious heat of carnal attraction spiking between them.
And the patriotism he’d seen in her eyes when she’d gotten teary-eyed in support of servicemen, and then when she’d told him about her work with the city to find lodging for homeless vets, hadn’t helped. Neither had the fact that she’d looked stunning and had smelled irresistibly hot tonight.
Kissing her had made his entire body feel alive. Had revved up his passion to a degree that his libido had him tied in knots and had his pulse tripping. He could feel himself riding the fine edge of intense desire heightened by more sexual energy than he’d felt in a long time.
While kissing her, he hadn’t cared that they could have been seen in spite of the low-hanging trees. He’d been beyond the point of caring. He’d been tempted to drag her to the ground right there.
Damn. How was he going to clear her of anything when the only thing he’d wanted to clear her of was her clothes?
He had access to women whenever he needed them. There were always women who went bonkers for men in uniform and he had no problem engaging in one-night stands. Those types of relationships had always been the way to go for him. He liked being single, coming and going as he pleased, with no one to worry about but himself.
It had been a long time since any woman had kept him up at night and that wasn’t cool.
Grabbing his phone he texted the message: If anyone is awake. Call me.
Within seconds, his phone rang. It was Bane. “What’s going on, Flipper?”
“Why are you up?” Flipper asked his friend.
“Feeding time. Crystal and I rotate.”
“Oh? You’re breastfeeding now?”
“No, smart-ass. The trio are on bottles now. What are you doing up?”
Flipper stretched out across the bed. “I couldn’t sleep. I tried everything. I even tried to hypnotize myself.”
Bane chuckled. “I guess it didn’t work.”
“No, it didn’t work.”
“So why can’t you sleep, Flip?”
He wasn’t one to kiss and tell, no matter who the listener was, so he said, “I still haven’t figured out anything about the situation down here and the CO and the admiral are depending on me.”
“Maybe they’re going to have to accept naval intelligence’s report that she’s guilty.”
“I don’t think so.” Flipper paused. “She cried tonight.”
“What do you mean, she cried?”
“Today was the first day of summer and there’s an annual laser show to commemorate the change in season. One of the laser displays was a salute to New York, where they did an awesome light replica of the Statue of Liberty and American soldiers. She got emotional and cried. Dammit, Bane, a person who is betraying their country doesn’t cry for those in the service. Call me a sucker for tears but I don’t believe she has a traitorous bone in her body.”
“Then it’s up to you to prove it. What about those two people who hang around her shop?”
“The woman who works for her and the tattoo guy? Both seem clean. But I will dig further. I have to.”
“Okay, but make sure while you’re digging for answers that you’re not burrowing yourself into something you can’t handle.”
“What do you mean?”
“I think you know what I mean, Flip. You were sent there to prove her innocence—not to prove she has a passionate side. Remember that. Good night.”
Flipper clicked off the phone and rubbed a hand down his face. Little did Bane know that after the kiss with Swan tonight, Flipper was driven to do more than prove her innocence, or her passion.
He wanted to possess Swan completely.
And he had a feeling the desire wasn’t one-sided. He’d seen the look in her eyes during dinner. He’d felt how her body had responded to his touch. He was certain the same sensations that rushed through him had affected her, too. Kissing her had been inevitable, something they both wanted and needed.
The genie called desire was out of the bottle and Flipper honestly didn’t know how to get it back inside.
Three
Swan pushed away from her desk and took another huge gulp of ice-cold lemonade. It had been that way for her all day. Instead of concentrating on the online orders she needed to fill and ship out, her mind was wrapped around that kiss from last night.
All she had to do was close her eyes to remember every single detail, specifically every sensuous lick of his tongue inside her mouth. Even now, the memory sent multiple sensations coursing through her body, causing pleasure the likes of which she’d never encountered before.
She looked up at the sound of a knock on her door. “Yes?”
Jamila stuck her head in. “Mr. Make-you-have-an-instant-orgasm is back.”
Swan didn’t need to ask Jamila what she meant or who she was talking about. “Any reason you can’t wait on him?”
Jamila smiled naughtily. “I could use the pleasure but he specifically asked for you.”
Swan nodded. “I’ll be out in a minute.”
“Okay, I will let him know.”
Swan reached over and took another gulp of her lemonade. She didn’t want to admit it, but after that kiss last night, David could become an addiction. Besides putting down a gallon of lemonade, she’d been twitching in her seat most of the day, thinking that if his tongue could do that to her mouth, then Lordy...she could only imagine what else he would be able to do...
She quickly stood, refusing to go there even as a naughty part of her mind wished that he would. Leaving her office, she rounded the corner and stopped.
David stood in the middle of her shop wearing a pair of khaki shorts and a muscle shirt. The sight of his muscled abs and strong legs made Swan bite back a groan. Just when she thought he couldn’t get any sexier, he’d proved her wrong.
He must have heard the sound of her footsteps because he turned and smiled.
As if on cue, she smiled back. “Hello, David, you came to make more purchases?” Hopefully he would take the hint that she didn’t expect him to just drop by without a reason.
“Yes. I’m buying jewelry for my three sisters-in-law and would love for you to offer suggestions.”
Swan couldn’t help but smile since she liked making sales. What store owner wouldn’t? “I’d love to help you pick out pieces of jewelry for them.”
An hour later, Swan stood at the cash register to ring up all of David’s purchases. With her assistance, he’d selected some really nice pieces, with a number of the stones chosen specifically because that’s what he’d said they would like. Then he wanted earrings to complement the necklaces, which he paid for in advance. They decided to select stones for the earrings tomorrow since they’d spent a lot of time on the necklaces today and her shop would be closing in less than an hour.
From their conversation, she knew the Holloways were a close-knit family. He’d even pulled out his phone to show her pictures of his young niece and nephews.
“No pressure for you to marry?” she asked when he tucked his phone back into the pocket of his shorts.
“None. My parents have been married for more than forty years and are still very much in love. They make sure their kids and grandkids know that. They believe we will know when it’s time for us to marry without any pressure from them. We’ll be the ones to have to live with the people we choose. They just want all their children to be happy.”
She nodded. “I like the way your parents think. I want to believe that, had my parents lived, they would have a similar philosophy. Dad used to tell me all the time that he wanted me to grow up and be whatever I wanted to be and do whatever I wanted to do, and that he and Mom would always have my back.”
She suddenly felt a deep sense of loss. “Appreciate your parents, David. You never know how truly great they are until they’re gone. But in all honesty, I think I’ve always known I had great parents.”
At that moment, he did something she wouldn’t have expected from him—he reached out and took her hand. “They sound great and I know they’re proud of your accomplishments.”
“Thanks.” That was a nice thing for him to say. To avoid thinking about just how nice he was, she slid the bag with his purchases toward him and gave him the credit card slip. He signed it and gave it back to her.
“How would you like to go to happy hour at Danica’s with me?”
After talking about her parents and missing them like crazy, she could use more than just an hour of happiness. She would love to be able to have a lifetime of that feeling.
It wasn’t that she was unhappy, because she wasn’t, but there were times when she wondered if maybe there was more out there for her than what was currently in her life. Perhaps she was shortchanging herself on some things. What those things were, she had no idea.
“I would love to go but good luck getting a table at Danica’s. They have the best hot wings and are always crowded, especially for happy hour. I think the entire island heads over there at five.”
“Since I know you don’t close your shop until five, how about if we meet over there at five-thirty? I guarantee we’ll have a place to sit.”
“Um, sounds like you might have connections, David Holloway.”
“We’ll see.” He took the bag and turned to leave, and just like before, she watched his movements until he was no longer in sight.
* * *
“Wow. You do have connections, don’t you?” Swan said, sliding into a stool at the bar. “I’ve been here a number of times and the best seat I’ve ever gotten is at one of those tables outside.”
Flipper smiled. Like at Summer Moon, he’d arrived early and was waiting for her. He liked seeing her stroll down the sidewalk looking as beautiful as ever.
Today she was wearing a pair of shorts and a pretty top. Her legs were long and shapely and he could imagine them wrapped around him while...
Whoa, he didn’t need to go there. Ever since that kiss, he’d been trying not to go there—no matter how tempted he was to do so. Quickly, he changed the direction of his thoughts.
“I know Danica personally,” he said, trying hard to keep his naughty thoughts in check.
She lifted a brow. “Really? How?”
There was no way he would tell her the whole story. Danica was the godmother of former SEAL team member Nick Stover. Nick had given up being a SEAL a few years ago to take a job with Homeland Security after his wife had triplets. Instead of the whole history, Flipper gave her a modified version. “Her godson and I used to work together.”
“Oh.” The bartender chose that moment to take their drink order.
“I know you used to be in the military at one point but what do you do now?” she asked once the bartender had walked away.
Flipper had expected that question sooner or later and had a prepared answer. “I travel a lot and my job deals with ocean marine work. I guess you can say I’m a specialist in that area.”
“Sounds interesting.”
He chuckled. “Trust me, it is.”
The bartender set their beers in front of them along with a huge plate of hot wings. They dug in.
“Your assistant at the store seems nice,” Flipper commented. “I hope she didn’t get offended when I asked specifically for you.”
“No, very little offends Jamila, trust me.”
“You’ve known her a long time?”
If his question seemed odd, she didn’t mention it. “We met a couple of years ago when she moved to the island. The first time she came into my shop she nearly bought out the place. Like you, she has a huge family living up north and wanted to buy holiday gifts for everyone. Thanks to her, I made my month’s quota in that one day. She earned a friend for life.”
Flipper took a long swig of his beer. What Swan had just told him was interesting. Based on the naval intelligence report he’d read, Jamila didn’t have any family. No parents, siblings, aunts, uncles or cousins. She’d been adopted and her adopted parents had been killed in a car accident in her last year of high school. And they hadn’t lived in the north but out west in California.
Why had Jamila lied?
“So you hired her that day?” he asked, grinning, trying to make a joke of what she’d told him.
“No, she had a job as a ship captain at one of the day cruise companies in town. When things didn’t work out for her there, I hired her on part-time.”
He’d read the report and knew why Jamila had been let go and knew about her pending lawsuits. There was a big chance both cases would be settled out of court in her favor. “Is the reason she’s part-time because she’s a student?”
“Sort of. She saw how much money Rafe makes and—”
“Rafe?” He knew who Rafe was, but Swan didn’t know that.
“Yes, Rafe. He rents space in my shop where he operates a tattoo parlor. He’s good and always has a steady stream of customers. Some are so pleased with his work that they recommend him to others. I’ve known people to fly in just to use his services.”
She took a sip of her beer, grinned and added, “Jamila decided to give him some real competition by becoming a tattoo artist as well. I have to admit she’s pretty good. But Rafe doesn’t seem worried. He even allows her to assist him sometimes. I guess you can say he’s taken her under his wing. I think that’s nice of him.”
Flipper took another swig of his beer. “Yes, that is nice of him. Real nice.”
* * *
Later that night, as they waited for a car at the taxi stand, Swan turned to face David. “I had a wonderful time this evening.”
Once again, she had enjoyed his company and hated that their time together was about to end. It didn’t come as a surprise to her that the sexual chemistry between them was more explosive than ever. The kiss they’d shared the night before had ignited something within her. From the way she’d noticed him looking at her, she believed something had ignited within him as well.
More than once, her smooth bare legs had brushed against his hairy ones. The sensual contact had sent a gush of desire through her.
The first few times it happened, she’d pulled away. But finally, she’d decided not to pull her legs back and he’d given her one of those I know you did that on purpose looks and she had smiled innocently and sipped her beer.
He had initiated the next physical contact and she could envision his mind at work trying to decide how to push her sensual buttons. She doubted he could push them more than he was already.
“I’m glad I got to meet Ms. Danica. After all the years I’ve been living here, this was my first time meeting her. She’s nice.”
“Yes, she is.”
“And I definitely appreciate this,” she said, holding up the bag of hot wings the older woman had given Swan to take home.
“I think she appreciated how much you enjoyed them.”
She chuckled. “You’re probably right.”
“What do you have planned for later?” he asked in a deep, husky tone that seemed to have dropped a purposeful octave.
He had taken her hand when they left Danica’s to walk to the taxi stand. The feel of his fingers entwined with hers had stirred something within her, something that grew with every step they took. She was aware of every detail about him as they walked together. Because of his long legs, more than once he had to slow his pace so she could keep up with him.
Swan could have walked home but figured he would suggest walking there with her. She was still cautious about letting him know where she lived. When she left Jamaica to begin living on her own, her mother had drilled into her the danger of letting a man know where you lived too soon. In her heart, Swan felt David was safe, but still...
“It’s near the end of the month and I need to work on the books for my accountant.” No need to mention she had tried doing that very thing today at work and hadn’t been able to concentrate for remembering their kiss from last night.
“How about dinner tomorrow night?” he asked her.
She didn’t answer right away. Instead, she broke eye contact with him and glanced down at the sidewalk. Hadn’t they seen each other enough these last few days? Where was this leading? Wasn’t he leaving the Keys in less than a month?
She glanced back at him. “Why? We’ve gone out twice already. I wouldn’t want to dominate your time.”
“You’re not. And the reason I want to take you out again is because I enjoy your company.”
She certainly enjoyed his. “Can I ask you something, David?”
He nodded. “Yes?” Considering her history with William, it was something she probably should have asked David before going out on their first date. She’d discovered the hard way that a man not wearing a wedding ring didn’t mean anything these days.
“What do you want to ask me, Swan?”
She met his gaze and hoped she would be able to see the truth in his eyes. “Do you have a wife or a significant other?”