The Second Time Around (4 page)

“Oops, sorry about that.”

Feeling the heat flowing from his hands, her mouth went dry and her knees trembled. A voice inside screamed for her to move closer. Instead, she flinched and stepped out of his reach. “What are you doing here?” she asked, totally shaken by his touch.

He shrugged. “I spotted Nellie's car in front of her house so I thought I'd come by and walk you home.”

“Why?” she asked, finally finding her equilibrium.

He paused long enough to give her an irresistible grin. “Because I'm a gentleman.”

Gazing up and down the street she returned her eyes to him. “Where's your SUV?”

“I left it in front of your aunt's house.” He gave her a puzzled look. “Is something wrong?”

She shook her head and tried not to notice how relaxed he looked. He had removed his jacket and tie and his shirt hung loose with his sleeves rolled up past his elbows. Finally she shrugged, as if to say, “suit yourself,” and became quiet as he fell into step beside her.

The evening brought on a gentle warm breeze that she was thankful for after a long and tiring day. As they strolled down Main Street she spotted Ms. Pearl at the sunglass shop looking through the window waving in their direction. At the jewelry store it was the same thing. By the time they had made it halfway down the block, she heard Jabarie chuckle. Shaking her hair out of her face, Brenna turned to him and asked, “What's so funny?”

He lifted his brow in amusement. “I think we're going to be the talk of the town tomorrow.”

He was right. At Milly's Tailor Shop, she noticed the redhead with the receiver to her ear, pointing in her direction. Obviously, she intended to be the first to spread the news. Brenna groaned inwardly. Aunt Nellie would know long before she set foot in the house.

“That's why I didn't need you walking me home,” she snapped.

Jabarie was struggling to keep a straight face. “Sorry.”

Brenna glared at him. He wasn't sorry. By the look on his face, he was getting a big kick out of the whole thing. And it angered her. What did he have to be embarrassed about? She was the one who had gotten dumped five years ago.

At the watch repair shop she cut around the building and walked heavily down towards the sandy beach. She kicked off her sandals and hopped across the hot sand down to the cool, wet shore. Why should she care that a few busybodies couldn't mind their own business? But she did. She'd always cared what others thought about her. Brenna took a deep breath and kept walking, ignoring Jabarie as he called her name.

Glancing over her shoulder, she spotted him kicking off his expensive shoes and tucking his socks inside.

“Can you please slow down?” he asked as he rolled his pants up just below his knees.

“Why should I?” she called after him.

“Because I'm supposed to be walking you home!”

Brenna didn't turn around, but she did slow down so that he would have an opportunity to catch up. As she neared a couple of kids frolicking around in the water, Jabarie fell into step beside her. The wind caught her curls, tossing them hopelessly as she strolled down the shore in silence.

Brenna knew he was watching her because the hairs on the back of her neck tingled, but she didn't dare look his way. Walking along the shoreline, she stared out at the rising ocean tide instead. Seagulls screeched overhead. Tourists were sailing and fishing along the pier, others were visiting the numerous shops.

“You're still attracted to me.”

“What?” She halted and planted her hand on her hips.

Jabarie pinned her with a hard look then tossed his head back, his rich laughter rolling over the ocean waves. “That's why you won't go out to dinner with me. And that's why you're angry, because everyone in town has noticed that we're still attracted to each other.”

Brenna stood with her legs braced apart and her sandals clutched tightly in her left hand. “Don't flatter yourself. I got over you a long time ago.” With a roll of her eyes she turned on her heels and headed down the beach again. She could see her aunt's backyard and right now it wasn't nearly close enough.

Jabarie quickly moved up beside her. “Quit lying to yourself, Bren. I know I have. We still have some unfinished business to attend to.”

Not bothering to stop, she glanced to her right and rolled her eyes. “You're a bigger fool than I thought,” she stated boldly. Did he really think she'd admit to holding a torch for him after all these years?

Brenna picked up her step and hurried along the shore toward the house. Anger brewed inside. The sooner she got away from Jabarie the better.

“Hey, slow down,” he suddenly said and grabbed her elbow.

As she turned around she felt the imprint of his fingers branding her with his heat. It took a second or two for her to pull her brain cells together so she could reply.

“Listen,” she began between breaths. “I didn't come back to town for this.” He didn't let go and for some insane reason she wasn't in any rush to move.

“Can we at least talk about it?”

Talk about what?
she wanted to scream.
How much I miss lying in your arms?
“I'd rather not,” she retorted then blew hair out of her face. “Now if you'd let my arm go, I would like to go home and take a long hot bath and relax for the rest of the evening.”

He released her and she started towards the house again, only slower this time. Jabarie moved beside her with a wing tip shoe tucked underneath each arm and his hands buried deep inside his pockets. “Brenna, I would really like to talk about what happened.”

“Jabarie…” she warned. She was seconds away from weakening if she didn't put a stop to this line of questioning right now. “I don't want to talk about what could have been. We were both young and stupid back then. I've moved on, started a new life, a better life, and I don't want to go back and revisit that time…it's over.”

He was quiet for the duration of the walk although she could tell he was deep in thought. Brenna didn't look his way because she didn't trust herself if she did. Instead she stared ahead and allowed the wind to whip around her. By the time they reached Aunt Nellie's gate, the cool wet sand beneath her toes had calmed some of the fire that raged inside her.

Brenna reached down to open the gate, then paused and glanced up at Jabarie standing beside her. He tilted his head, studying her face in that quiet intense way that always made her throat dry and her nipples harden. Feeling a tingling at her breasts she quickly folded her arms across her chest and said, “Thanks for walking me home.”

“You're welcome.”

With nothing else to say, Brenna opened the gate and stepped into the backyard.

“Remember when you said you owed me one,” Jabarie called after her.

She stopped and turned slowly. Something told her she wasn't going to like what he was about to say. “Yeah, so?”

Jabarie grinned. “So, I've figured out how you can pay me back.”

Afraid to ask, Brenna waited for him to speak again.

“I want a kiss,” he said as if thinking out loud.

She couldn't have heard him right. “A what?” she whispered her voice uneven.

“A kiss.”

“No way,” she said shaking her head.

Before she had a chance to react, Jabarie moved into the yard and closed the gate behind him. “You said you're not attracted to me. If that's true then a kiss won't matter, right?”

She stared up at him and felt the sweet slow pull of want rise up in her again. From the moment he'd arrived back at the store she'd felt it. Heck, she'd felt it since the moment she spotted him staring at her from the store window. A rush of desire that was so powerful she felt her knees buckle. It was as if the last five years hadn't happened. Five years of not seeing his face, not touching his skin, not feeling him buried deep inside her. Five long years without a single tantalizing kiss. She swallowed when she saw his eyes focus in on her mouth.

At her continued silence, Jabarie smiled and finally said, “I thought you'd agree.”

Brenna tried to stop the heated desire racing through her body as he dropped his shoes in the grass and took a step closer. Before she realized what she was doing, she tipped her chin and her lips parted. “You probably shouldn't,” she suggested softly.

“I know,” he admitted as he brushed his lips across hers. “But I'm going to do it anyway.”

Before she could even prepare, Jabarie tugged her to him and took her mouth with enough heat to make her forget everything but taking all that he had to offer. As his tongue traced her lips, it occurred to her that she might have lost her mind but she didn't do anything to stop him. Instead she dropped her sandals and enjoyed the feel of his tongue sliding inside her mouth. His lips were hard and hot, and so possessive that Brenna arched up to meet him. His hands came around her waist and held her closer. It had to be a dream. Yet everything that she had remembered about Jabarie was real and it was hers again at last. He explored, teased and tasted like no one else could compare. And that was exactly why she had to fight him. His passion was enough to burn away everything else.

Jabarie was making it hard for her to resist. Desire consumed her. She pushed him away slightly to see how much he truly wanted her, and Jabarie brought her closer just as she had hoped. She sank into the hunger, the taste, the need to meet him stroke for stroke.

He deepened the kiss, one hand cupped her head, the other slid down to her buttocks and pressed her against him. She could feel him growing long and hard. And for a moment she allowed herself to remember how good he had felt buried deep inside her wet core. A moan erupted from her throat. The kiss was glorious and wild. He was zapping her senses in a way only he could. Jabarie always had that kind of power over her and he knew it. Slowly snapping out of the dizzy haze he had created, Brenna realized how easily she had succumbed to him, and knew she needed to put a halt to what was happening immediately or risk losing everything she had worked so hard to build. With a firm push, Brenna broke off the kiss, but Jabarie continued to hold her against his beating heart.

“It's not over,” he whispered roughly.

She could feel him smiling as he nibbled hungrily at her earlobe. Did he really think she would forget everything that had happened between them so easily? With renewed anger, she pressed her lips against the warmth of his throat, and bit him lightly on the neck.

“Ow!” he yelled as he jumped back and gave her a confused look. “What did you do that for?”

Brenna's hands were balled at her waist and defiance had tilted her lips. “Listen up, Jabarie Isaiah Beaumont, and listen good…” she began as she tried to catch her breath. “It's over between us, and if you think I'm stupid enough to give you a second chance you better think again.” With that she swung around and stormed inside the house.

W
ith his hands inside his pockets, Jabarie stood there for the longest time wondering what in the world had just happened.
Fool. Did you really think you could just kiss her and that would make everything right between you two?

Yeah, right
. He scowled as his anger resurfaced. He wasn't that crazy, although as he shook his head, he had to admit he didn't know what he had been thinking. For a moment, he had indeed lost his head. While holding her soft, curved body against him, he had forgotten that five years had passed and was back to a time when everything in the world was right between them. All he could think about was tasting those lush lips again. But the instant Brenna sunk her teeth into him, his mind had zapped back to the present and his anger had returned.

Wiping a palm against the side of his neck, he looked down and was happy to see that she hadn't broken the skin.
Stupid.
What in the world had he been thinking? Jabarie scowled. That was the problem. He wasn't thinking. Instead his anger and resentment had been M.I.A since the moment he'd spotted her in the bookstore window.

Still standing in the middle of her backyard, he took several deep frustrated breaths and debated going in after her, but decided against it. For some reason he had a hard time remembering to be angry when Brenna was within several feet of him. Why was that, he wondered then shrugged. It no longer mattered because his anger was back and brewing darker and hotter than before.
Stupid, stupid
. He had no business kissing her.

Briefly lowering his eyelids, he could still see her eyes glaring and her nostrils flaring. Brenna was mad at him? Hell, if anyone had a right to be mad then it was him. What in the world was he doing letting his guard down? Brenna left him, not the other way around he scolded inwardly then opened his eyes and glanced once more at the back door.

Jabarie reached down and while he slipped his socks back onto his feet followed by his shoes, he tried to figure out what Brenna had done that angered him the most.

She still hasn't apologized.

Hell, yes. Yesterday and again today, Brenna had several opportunities since her return to apologize and still hadn't.

Maybe she didn't feel there was anything to apologize about.

His frown deepened. The hell there wasn't. She walked out on him the night before their wedding with a check for one hundred thousand dollars. He still had a sneaky suspicion that his mother had initiated the transaction. However, if Brenna would apologize and explain her reason for taking the money then maybe, just maybe, it might make more sense. Then maybe he could get past that point in his life and move on.

Jabarie moved across the lush green yard and was careful not to brush against Ms. Nellie's massive rose bushes. As he closed the gate, memories of Brenna's deception raged through his mind. It was as if it was yesterday. The pain. The devastation. He remembered that even after his mother told him what Brenna had done, he still didn't want to believe it. Instead, he went searching for his fiancée at her aunt's house only to discover she had packed her things and left without any type of explanation. Completely devastated, he had hoped that in time Brenna would have called and said something so he could understand, yet she neither explained nor returned. It wasn't until his father showed him the canceled check with her signature that reality finally hit him. Brenna wasn't coming back. With enough money to start a new life, she had left him and Sheraton Beach behind. Then to drive the nail further through his chest, a week later, by certified mail, she had returned his engagement ring without bothering to enclose a note. The realization left him both confused and hurt, and to this day he still didn't understand why she left and instead he had come to his own conclusion that they had been too young. And maybe she, like her mother, really was all about the money. But that was the part that he refused to believe because his heart told him it was something else, even though the evidence said otherwise.

As he moved across the grass, Jabarie glanced over at the small ranch-style house hoping that by the time he reached his SUV, Brenna would have come out on the porch to at least say goodbye. Reaching into his pocket, Jabarie removed his keys and moved across the sidewalk out to the curb. But by the time he climbed behind the wheel, the porch was still empty. Growing increasingly agitated by the second, he started his Navigator, and with a frown gave the front door one final look before putting the SUV in Drive and heading to his parents' for dinner.

Jabarie's fingers tightened around the steering wheel. He was furious because after all these years Brenna still managed to get to him. Kissing her again, it took everything he had not to scoop her into his arms and take her home with him. As he turned the corner, he silently told himself he was going to have to get it together. Even if it meant finding a way to get her out of his head once and for all.

Ten minutes later, Jabarie pulled in the drive of a stone and stucco house hidden from the main road by mature pear trees. As he drew near he took in the three acres of well-tended lawn and the overabundance of flowers that lined both sides of the house. Beaumont Manor was massive. Some would call it a mansion. He always thought of it as being more like a museum. Filled with expensive things that one could look at but never touch. Jabarie frowned. What was the point? That was one thing he had loved about Ms. Nellie's house. It was simply decorated with things that had been made with tender loving care. Walls with framed photographs of Brenna and drawings she had done all the way back in grammar school.

With a quick shake of his head, he erased the thought of Brenna from his mind. He rose from the vehicle then moved over to the porch and climbed the stairs. Before he could knock an elderly black man opened the door.

“Good evening, Jabarie, sir,” said the butler in greeting. He then moved aside while Jabarie stepped into the soaring, two-story foyer. Wayne had been working for his family forever and no matter how often he asked him to drop the formal greeting, he had not.

“The rest of your family is already in the formal dining room.”

“Thanks, Wayne.”

He strolled across a gleaming oak hardwood floor past the gallery of photographs that adorned the walls. Beaumonts, several generations. When Jabarie reached a sweeping turned staircase his younger sister Bianca appeared at the second-floor landing. He paused to wait for her and admired how elegant she looked in a green linen pants suit.

“There you are!” The nutmeg beauty raced down the stairs and launched herself at him. Her luminous eyes crinkled in a radiant smile. You would think they hadn't seen each other in the office earlier. Pulling back slightly, she gave him a long scolding look. “For a moment there I thought you weren't coming. Mother was having a hissy fit.”

Leaning closer, Jabarie kissed his sister's silken cheek, her soft amber perfume lingering in his nostrils. At twenty-two, Bianca could be overly dramatic at times. She had inherited that trait from their mother. He glanced down at her short brown hair, styled and cut into layers, and then to her wide walnut eyes that sparkled with excitement. She looped her arm through his and steered him toward the dining room.

“I heard Brenna's back in town.”

Jabarie silently cursed. No wonder his sister was waiting for his arrival. “Word travels fast around here,” he mumbled, while thinking about the busybodies who were watching them earlier.

“Have you spoken to her?”

“Yes,” he replied as calmly as he could manage.

Bianca stopped walking and turned to meet his expression. “And?” she asked inquisitively. Jabarie had to resist a grin. Despite everything, his sister had always liked Brenna, and even though she was barely seventeen at the time, she had been one of the ones who had tried to convince him to go after her.

“We spoke. No big deal.” He tried to keep his tone as nonchalant as possible but he should have known Bianca wasn't buying it.

She wrinkled her nose. “Who do you think you're fooling? Regardless of how hard you try to hide it I was here and I saw the way you fell apart when Brenna left. And you expect me to believe it's no big deal. I'm not buying it. You loved her since you were ten years old.”

“And look what good it did me,” he replied with a scowl.

“How long is she staying?”

“Until her aunt's ankle is better.” Ready to change the subject, Jabarie glanced down at the Rolex on his wrist. “Enough about my personal life, we better get in to dinner before Mother has a stroke.” He slipped his arm around her shoulder and steered her toward the dining area, but Bianca dug her heels into the long Persian wool runner that ran the length of the hallway.

“Wait!” she cried, stopping him in his tracks. “Are you going to at least talk to her?”

“Why?” Jabarie asked.

She slugged him in the arm and her frown intensified. “You know why. The two of you need to discuss what happened.”

He raked a frustrated hand across his face. “I already know what happened.”

Bianca narrowed her eyes at Jabarie. “Well at least try to find some kind of closure. You can't keep going on like this.”

“Like what?”

“Non-existing. You need to love again.”

Jabarie laughed bitterly. “Love is the last thing I need.”

“Surely you're not totally against love and marriage?” she asked, apparently appalled by his answer.

“Love is a dangerous thing. And no one knows that better than me. You see what good it did me.” With a wink he grabbed her hand and squeezed it as they moved past an old grandfather clock toward the dining room.

“But it's been five years.”

His shoulders tensed and his jaw knotted. “And there'll be many more to follow. Marriage is not part of my future.”

“Really?”

“Really,” he replied then gave her a quizzical look. “Wasn't it a couple of months ago that you were preaching that love is a recipe for disaster?”

Bianca shrugged. “Actually I've had a lot of time to think and I now understand that college romances don't work. This time when the right man comes along, I'll be ready.”

He gave her a skeptical look. “Does that mean you're seeing someone?”

“No-o-o,” she said musically.

His lips curled in a slow smile. “Good, because I'd hate to have to break someone's legs.”

Laughing, she slugged him playfully in the arm. “Oh, please. When I finally meet the right one there is nothing you or Jace can do about it.” She gave him a dreamy-eyed smile. Jabarie shook his head. After a heartbreak, he didn't think she'd ever bounce back, but she had. If Bianca could, then what was stopping him from getting on with his life as well? The answer was simple.

Brenna Gathers.

Brenna lay across her bed, trying to read a mystery she'd been looking forward to for months. It was one of the pleasures she tried to indulge in on the weekends. However, tonight she was having a difficult time concentrating. Whenever her mind wandered, memories of Jabarie's kiss filled her thoughts. He was a man who knew exactly what to do with a woman. That hadn't changed. He knew how to kiss, how to touch, how to be gentle. Raising a hand to her mouth, she lightly traced her lips. The kiss had been far better than she had remembered it to be. It not only had shaken her, but it scared the hell out of her because it made her feel so much. It was also a mistake. One that couldn't happen again because she wouldn't allow it. But even as she finished that thought, she shuddered as the memory. That kiss had been fueled with five years of pent-up frustrations. Her lips still tingled and her hands shook. After all this time her mouth still knew his. She was amazed at how naturally her lips molded to his and the way her tongue remembered his slow determined strokes. The kiss had been so pleasurable she'd had no choice but to respond with a moan and a throbbing ache down below.

Running her fingers through her loose hair, she took a shaky breath and tried to forget how good it had felt being pressed against his body.

Damn him! How dare he kiss her after everything that had happened between them. Did he really think they could just continue on as if nothing had ever happened? What was even worse was that he thought that while she was in town they would spend time together, then as soon as her aunt's ankle was better, life would return to the way it was again. Taking a deep breath, she realized she was furious at her vulnerability to him. No way should she have allowed him to kiss her, yet she had and enjoyed every second of it. Somehow, she was going to have to find a way to stay strong around him.

Pushing the thought aside, she turned the page and started the next chapter. Brenna had read the same paragraph three times when the phone rang. Quickly, not to disturb her aunt, who was sleeping in her room, Brenna reached over to the nightstand and brought the cordless phone to her ear.

“Hello.”

“Bren.”

It was Jabarie. She knew that deep baritone voice anywhere. It tickled her ear and reminded her of all of the years she spent with that same receiver to her ear talking to him as they drifted off to sleep. A whisper of a sigh escaped her lips. “What do you want, Jabarie?”