It's a Wonderful Wife (21 page)

Yup, he knew he was sunk when he saw that I-know-a-secret smile; the one responsible for lighting those big baby blues with a nearly blinding sparkle.

The same one that had haunted his dreams since February.

“Oh, poor Pooh. Show me where it is and I'll kiss it.”

Fully focused now and intending to stay that way, Jesse shifted so that they were lying side by side, then slowly started unzipping her jacket. “Well, I'll show you my rusty parts if you show me yours,” he whispered. “And I'll see what I can do about getting them lubed,” he couldn't stop himself from adding—which caused Cadi's hand to still in the act of unzipping his jacket. “Ignoring weird, remember?” he said, rolling forward and kissing her slackened mouth before she could respond.

Although Jesse couldn't seem to ignore Cadi's admission that her brain had already convinced her heart once this evening that this wasn't a good idea, or that she'd murmured something about . . . something being outvoted. That meant there had to be a third player with an opinion and a tie-breaking vote. Trailing his lips down over her jaw to her neck—earning him a nice little mewling sound—Jesse decided to keep
every
part of her too busy to talk to one another.

So while exploring each tender spot on her neck and cheek and the little indent beneath her ear—getting short, shallow pants mixed in with the mewling—he went back to parting Cadi from her clothes. And damn if she didn't start helping him shed his own in the process. Which meant he either wasn't keeping her well enough occupied or he kept getting so distracted by each beautiful, baby-soft piece of skin he exposed that he then had to stop and explore.

It wasn't until he felt the distinctly damp chill of deep water fog on his bare ass that he realized they were both completely naked—on an exposed ridge on an island three miles out in the ocean—and that the sun had set and his campfire was down to embers. He stopped exploring the tender, tasty trail that had been leading down to Cadi's breasts, and rolled to his side and propped his head on his hand while keeping his other hand rubbing her baby-soft hip.

Except he had to stop rubbing in order to capture her hand headed for his midsection, then—while still holding it prisoner—reach over and nudge her chin to lift her
gaze
from his midsection to his face. “I realize I may be a little late in asking, but would you like to go to the camper? To a nice warm bed?”

“Are you kidding?” she said, her eyes filled with . . . yup, that was definitely fully-engaged, no-turning-back lust making them sparkle like stars as she wiggled her hand free and waved it in an arc over them. “This is the very reason you have to keep this ridge just the way it is. Why do you think the glacier scraped it smooth eons ago, if not for lovers to enjoy?”

Five minutes; he'd give a year's salary for just five minutes of seeing the world through those gorgeous, creative eyes. “Okay,” he said with a chuckle, reaching for the packet he'd had the wherewithal to slip out of his pocket when he'd shed his pants. “But I'm stashing an air mattress and sleeping bag up here somewhere for next—”

“Stop talking, Pooh,” she growled at the same time she pounced. “I've got six years' worth of rust that needs lubing.”

And as his deep-belly laugh ended on a whoosh when she landed, Jesse was
completely
sure Maine had just ponied up another Sinclair bride.

SEVENTEEN

Cadi woke up to the realization she was scratching her thigh, and moved her left big toe to scratch the itchy inside of her right anklebone as she opened her eyes to find herself in Jesse's camper, in his big, warm, comfortable bed, covered by no fewer than three puffy blankets. Also realizing she was in bed alone, Cadi broke into a huge, proud-of-herself smile. She'd done it! She'd actually lived her salacious dream of making love to Jesse on top of the high ridge.

Why, she even had the mosquito bites to
prove
she'd done it! Twice!

Well, okay; the second time had been here in the camper, after Jesse had slid into his boxers and gathered up all their clothes—swatting mosquitoes and cursing like a sailor the entire time—then shoved the clothes at her—while she'd been swatting and laughing—and wrapped her up in the blanket, tossed her onto the ATV, and zoomed down the path while swatting his bare arms and chest and occasionally his face and definitely still cursing.

In fact, Cadi had learned some new words.

But then she felt her huge, proud-of-herself smile falter. So now what? Were they dating?

Did
Jesse
think they were dating?

Or worse, would Jesse think
she
would think they were dating?

Cadi felt her smile disappear completely. The guy had said he was interested in her romantically. So did that mean as in happily ever after, or was that just the modern, sophisticated term for wanting to have sex with someone?

Well, of course it is.

Oh, you're awake, Lady Parts!
Heart gave a little giggle.
I would have thought you'd be sleeping in this morning? How are you feeling? You sound . . . different.

Sounds pretty darn bossy to me,
Brain grumbled.

Well, one of us had to take charge last night,
Lady Parts said dryly
. Or we'd be waking up alone in that cold tent again.

Oh, yes, this is much better,
Heart said on a sigh.
This bed is so cozy and warm and doesn't keep deflating on us. I hope we can stay here again tonight.

Brain snorted
. Like that's going to happen. Or are you forgetting all those pictures of all those women on the Internet? Now that Romeo got the goods, he'll be heading back to New York to look for his next conquest,
Brain went on with great authority.
Don't any of you know it's the chase men relish? And this guy's, what . . . thirty-four? It's obvious he doesn't have a clue what to do with a woman once he's caught her, or he'd have two passels of kids by now.

Stop trying to scare Heart,
Lady Parts growled.
You're no longer the queen bee here. We're through being shoved aside so YOU can go around pleasing everyone. Well, Miss High and Mighty, here's a newsflash for you—the real Cadi Glace has finally emerged from her cocoon!

Heart started thumping loudly
. I'm with you, Lady Parts! We have wings! We're never pleasing anyone but ourselves ever again!

Hey. Hey. Calm down, Heart,
Lady Parts soothed.
Let's not go overboard here. There's a fine line between being self-assured and being selfish.

And you crossed that line last night,
Brain countered,
when you selfishly threw both Heart and me under the bus just for one night of sex.

Great sex,
Lady Parts purred, apparently undaunted.
Wasn't it, Heart?

Heart giggled again.
I certainly got a workout. I mean, geesh, I haven't pounded that hard and that long in forever. You remember that one time, when he was doing that . . . thing to you? I thought I was going to have an attack.

Come on, Brain, admit it,
Lady Parts cajoled.
You had fun, too. If I remember correctly, I heard you screaming right along with the rest of us when we had the best damn orgasm EVER.

Twice,
Heart added.
We screamed twice. So, are we going to get to do it again tonight?

Why wait until dark?
Lady Parts asked.
I know I wouldn't mind getting a look at that buff male body in the daylight.

“Enough!” Cadi said with a laugh, throwing back the three blankets. “This island is going to be crawling with workmen all day.” She grabbed the top blanket, wrapped it around herself, and tiptoed down the hall. She stopped at the top of the steps and looked down the length of the camper to see it was empty, then continued to the living area and looked out the large window. Too late. The men were already here. She could see the runabout tied up to the pylon-driving barge and Jesse standing beside the man she now knew was Eva Dean's son, Jason, as they watched a pylon being hoisted upright in preparation of being driven into the seabed.

Workmen carrying coolers suddenly emerged from the road leading up from the beach, and Cadi stepped back from the window when she realized they had to pass right behind the camper to reach the point of land where they were building the anchoring abutment. She turned and looked around for her clothes, finally spotting them sitting semi-folded on the island counter with her muddy mud boots sitting on the floor beneath them. So just how was she supposed to sneak out of the camper without being seen?

And why would Mrs. Sinclair need to sneak out of her own camper?
Lady Parts asked.

“Oh, that's right,” Cadi said, scoffing up the clothes and heading back up the stairs. “Thank you for reminding me, LP.”

There was a deep sigh.
You sure you wouldn't prefer to go with SB, for Smarter Brain? I not only made last night happen, but I got us through it without embarrassing ourselves.

You jumped the man's bones,
Brain scoffed.
The first time almost before he got the condom on.

Yes I did,
LP-SB said smugly.
Just like those sexy, confident heroines in the steamy romances you're always scolding our Cadi for reading.

Heck, if it hadn't been for the three she read before Jesse got here,
Heart piped in,
SB might have forgotten what to do.

But it was my idea she drive farther up the coast looking for a town with a bookstore,
Brain apparently felt compelled to point out.
Can you imagine what the Castle Cove gossip mill would have had to say about Mrs. Sinclair buying romance novels?

“Okay, okay, quiet down, gals,” Cadi said with a laugh, dropping her clothes on the bed, then tossing off the blanket. She started sorting through the clothes looking for her panties. “Those books were entertaining, inspirational, and educational. Where are my panties?” she grumbled, lifting her jacket and shaking it.

Probably halfway to Nova Scotia by now,
LP purred.

Or already lining some seagull's nest,
Brain added in a snicker,
because Mr. Macho Man left them on the ridge.

It was dark and the mosquitoes were descending in droves,
Heart said, defending him.
And he sacrificed his very own blood by wrapping us up in the blanket.

Our hero,
LP said on a sigh.
I say we reward him by having sex again tonight.

Cadi finished pulling on her jeans—minus panties—but didn't bother fastening them, then stared down at the warm, comfortable bed. “I agree,” she whispered almost in unison with Heart. “Okay, time to get this show on the road,” she added, slipping her fleece on over her head. She picked up her bra and shoved it in her jacket pocket, and, not seeing any sign of her socks, headed to the bathroom.

Honest to God, she actually moaned when her bottom touched the warm, perfectly shaped toilet seat. Pulling her jeans up again and this time fastening them, Cadi actually felt tears welling in her eyes as she longingly stared at the shower stall. She muttered one of the new curse words she'd learned, grabbed her jacket off the vanity, and headed for the kitchen.

She eventually found a pen and a pad of paper with a grocery list already started in one of the drawers, added Double Stuf Oreo cookies to it, then tore off a bottom page and wrote Jesse a note. She wasn't sneaking off before he got back, she told him, but was going to feed Wiggles; adding she'd see him later this morning when she returned to borrow the runabout. She drew a smiley face at the bottom instead of signing it, reread the note as she walked to the bedroom, then set it on the pillow.

“There, that sounded like a confident, contemporary woman. So confident, in fact, I'm not making the bed,” Cadi told anyone who was listening as she headed into the hall—only to stop and look inside the fully appointed, surprisingly roomy bathroom again.

She heard a snort.
You're not making that bed because you figure all those women on the Internet wouldn't,
Brain said.

Uh . . . maybe you should go back and make it,
Heart said softly.
You know, just so he won't think we're a slob or anything. I bet it would really please him.

“Enough! Not one more word from any of you again today,” Cadi said, turning away from the beautiful bathroom. Good Lord, why had she bought a handbook on backcountry camping—which showed how to dig several different outdoor latrines—instead of a little chemical toilet? And that stupid black plastic bag with the hose coming out of the bottom; it would have been nice if the box had mentioned it was only a solar shower on days the sun wasn't hiding behind a freaking fog bank thick enough to cut with a knife.

Oh yeah, she was buying the most luxurious motorhome she could afford.

•   •   •

Jesse lowered the binoculars once Cadi was safely inside the lee of the island, then bolted down the short trail leading from the antenna to the camper to change his shirt
again
—having already soaked one through watching her head to the mainland four hours ago. He might as well permanently mount a scope on the deep-water dock, he decided, since buying a safer boat apparently wasn't enough to stop him sweating bullets every time Little Miss Independent felt like going to town. Hell, if he got chills just thinking about the times she'd crossed the reach before he'd arrived, he'd probably start breaking out in hives now that he'd made love to her.

Or rather, had
tried
to make love to her. Cadi, however, had seemed more focused on making up for the time she'd lost during her fake engagement.

Jesse chuckled as he scaled the camper steps, willing to bet it had been a hell of a lot longer than two years since she'd gotten naked with a man. And he did seem to recall hearing what had sounded like
six freaking years
just before she'd pulled him on top of her while he'd been trying to get the damn condom on
despite
her awkward attempts to help. And the last coherent thought he remembered having—until a big fat mosquito had taken a big fat bite out of his bare-naked ass—was that sometimes doing things Cadi's way was better.

Jesse tucked his shirt in his jeans while exiting the camper and headed down the road to the beach, turning his attention to Cadi's passenger and wondering what in hell Nathaniel was doing here. He jogged the length of the dock and caught the gunwale of the runabout when Cadi cut the motor, completely failing to stifle a grin when he saw the lingering terror on Nathaniel's face as the kid sat in front of the console clutching his precious briefcase to his chest. He should have grabbed an extra shirt, Jesse realized when he noticed his protégé's cherished power suit was wet with sea-spray. “Am I going to have to take the keys to the Lear away from you, Mr. Cunningham?” he drawled as he tied the bow rope to the dock cleat.

“For wh-what I do for you,” Nathaniel shot back through chattering teeth, “you should give me the keys to the
Boeing
.”

“Welcome to Hundred Acre, Nathaniel.”

Nathaniel slapped his wet briefcase in Jesse's outstretched hand, then scrambled over the gunwale like a sailor headed for shore leave after six months at sea. “Along with that raise
your wife
offered me several weeks ago,” the kid muttered as he staggered up the bouncy dock with all the grace of a sailor coming
off
shore leave three days later.

Figuring the last thing Nathaniel needed right now was a boss firing questions at him, Jesse turned his attention to a much more pleasant subject, only to find Cadi sitting with her head resting on the steering wheel.

“Another rough day in town starting new fashion trends?” he asked. “Or another gossip-mill ambush?”

“No, him,” she said, waving toward shore without lifting her head. “I don't think I've ever been more embarrassed in my life.”

Jesse set the briefcase down with a sigh, stepped one foot in the boat and lifted Cadi up and stood her on the dock, then stepped out and clasped her shoulders before she'd finished gasping. And then he ducked his head to look her in the eyes, since she was looking at her feet. “What did Nathaniel do?”

“No, I embarrassed myself. Mr. Cunningham was perfectly gracious.” Even though her face appeared in danger of bursting into flames, she managed to lift her head enough to give him a good scowl. “And he's right, he does deserve a raise. He not only didn't say anything to give us away when Oren said he was in luck and could just hitch a ride to Hundred Acre with
your missus
, he didn't even bat an eyelash when . . . when I . . .”

Jesse stopped her from glancing toward shore by using his grip on her shoulders to turn her toward him. “When you what?”

Her gaze dropped to his chest again. “Don't you think you should go check on him? I'm fairly certain this was the first time he's ever been on a boat in salt water, and he—”

“He'll be fine in a few minutes. And trust me, the last thing Nathaniel would want is for my wife or anyone else to see me coddling him.”

“But he's just a boy.”