BlackJack (A Standish Bay Romance Book 1) (11 page)

Early the next
day, Shannon slowly awoke and smiled as she remembered Cole’s lovemaking. His
warm body still pressed close to hers. He hadn’t let her go even in sleep. He
still held her possessively and lovingly, making her heart swell. Regrettably,
she untangled herself careful so as not to wake him. After donning her robe,
she went downstairs to make certain Cameron was up and getting ready for school.
She found him on the couch eating dry cereal and watching the sports channel.

“Are you all
packed?”

He hopped up
from the couch and put his dish in the sink. “Yup. And by the way, the milk’s
bad, and can I have a few bucks for lunch?” he said, his hand in that palm up
and out way he did so well when he needed money, which was more times than not.
She honestly couldn’t remember the last time he didn’t have his hand out.

She found her
purse on the counter and handed him a ten dollar bill. “Do I need to pick you
up?”

He pocketed the
money in his wallet. “Nope, Tom’s driving me home.”

Just then they
heard the beep. Tom arrived on time as usual. “Bye, Mom,” Cameron said as he
went out the door.

Shannon hummed
and danced to a BlackJack tune around the kitchen as she made coffee and toast,
then put the fireplace on to shake the morning chill. She curled up on the sofa
with her toast and coffee, snuggled under a fleece blanket as she watched a
Boston news station. Only, the television might as well have been off. Her mind
was busy replaying last night in minute detail. It had been well worth the wait.
She hugged her quivering body as it reacted to her memory, and her eyes drifted
closed. Cole was an incredible lover, selfless, giving, gentle at the right
times and not so gentle when she didn’t want him to be. It had seemed as if he
could read her mind. He knew how to play her body in all the right places, and
boy did he make her sing.

As for the
noise bet? She definitely lost it. He’d caused her to scream out dozens of
times. The only disappointment was she’d not been able to explore his body, and
she planned on remedying that the first chance she got. She wanted to hear him yell
out as she tortured him with her fingers, mouth and tongue as he’d done to her.

A short time
later, she headed back upstairs to shower. She didn’t want to disturb Cole, so
she crept softly into the room as he slept soundly on his back. One arm out
from the covers, the one with the fascinating tattoo, and her heart lodged in
her throat at the sight of him sleeping in her bed. She’d dreamed about this
for nearly two weeks. It was hard to believe it was real, that their coming
together as one finally happened. He looked so young in the relaxing state of
sleep that she found it difficult to picture this warm, loving, caring man spending
fifteen agonizing years in prison. Her hand clutched her suddenly aching heart,
and she wondered how had he ever survived? It was several minutes later before she
forced her eyes off Cole and entered the bathroom. She dried her hair and
dressed in jeans and a sweater. After putting on a warm jacket, she headed down
to the beach, but not before she left Cole a note on her pillow.

“
Down at the
beach. There’s coffee in the kitchen. Love S.
”

Chapter Nine

It took Cole a
moment after he’d awoken to realize where he slept. He spent so much time on
the road lately, one hotel room looked like the next, but the minute his eyes
focused he smiled and his heart picked up a beat as he knew exactly where he
was and whom he was with.
Shannon
. His now wide-awake mind replayed in
vivid intensity last night’s lovemaking. He felt his blood flowing to the one
special place south of the border, and his cock strained against the covers. It
wanted out. It wanted Shannon’s delectable body wrapped around it. It throbbed
for her and her alone.

He groaned and
turned toward her side of the bed, his hand reaching out and finding it cold
and empty. After spotting the note and reading it, he smiled again, then got
up, showered, dressed and went out on the balcony to look for her. His eyes
scanned the beach until he spotted her down on some rocks, looking deep in
thought. He frowned, hoping she was thinking good thoughts and not having any
regrets over last night.

Grabbing his
beat up and battered black leather jacket he’d had forever, he meandered down
to the beach. The closer he got to her, the faster his pulse soared. When she
looked his way and saw him approaching, she climbed off the jetties and her
face broke out into a beautiful smile. Instantly putting his runaway thoughts
to rest.

“Good morning,”
she said, her face flush from the cold and her eyes warm with love. Cole walked
up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist, and held her tight. Shannon
leaned back against his hard chest and placed her arms on his. He kissed her
neck and spoke softly into her ear. “Good morning to you. It’s beautiful here. How
long have you lived here?”

“Five years.”

“I thought you
hired a bodyguard. I don’t see him. Is he that good at his job he stays hidden
amongst the sand dunes?”

Her body
flinched. “I did while I travelled. I don’t believe I need one here. I had no
privacy.”

“You need one.
Especially when I’m around you. He isn’t going to attack when I’m gone, only
when I’m with you. He wants to accomplish two things. The first one is your
death and the second is my going back to prison. Please let me make a call?”

“No. I’ll call
the same agency I dealt with before.”

“Today.”

“Yes. I’ll call
today.”

***

“Now that
that’s settled, please tell me, besides your ex, do you have family nearby?” he
queried as his warm breath tickled her ear, causing her body to tingle from
head to toe and everywhere in between.

“My parents
live on the Cape, my two sisters both live here in Standish Bay and my brother
lives in Back Bay. I’m the oldest.”

She stood there
enjoying the feel of Cole’s arms around her and the sound of the surf.
Can
life get any better than this
?

“What about
your family Cole. You’ve never spoken about them?” He never had, and she was a
little more than curious. Very curious actually.

It took a while
for him to answer. She tried to be patient. It paid off when he finally spoke.

“My father was
an American who fell instantly in love with my mother during a backpacking
expedition across Europe. They married three weeks later, and my father took
his new bride back to California with him. One year later I was born, four
years later, my parents divorced and my mother took us back to Wales, to her
family. My father stayed in California. I never saw or heard from him again. I
don’t honestly know if he’s alive or dead. I had a stepfather, but he died when
I was seventeen. My mother died when I was in prison. I have two younger
sisters who live in Wales. They’ve never left Great Britain and I’ve not seen
them in, oh God, in well over fifteen years. I’m not sure I would recognize them
if I saw them.”

She heard him
sniffle then clear his throat.

“I wish I could
go home, not to my house in Malibu, but to my home back in Wales.”

“You can’t?”

He groaned. “No,
not while on parole. I can’t leave the country. My lawyer’s been trying to work
out something, but, well it isn’t happening. My sentence was twenty years. I
served fifteen and got out early for good behavior. I still have five more
years of parole until I’m truly free.”

 “Thank God you
got out for good behavior or we might not have met.”

***

Cole closed his
eyes. Yes. Thank God, or they wouldn’t have met. The thought sent a chill up
his spine and he snuggled Shannon closer to make it go away. He opened his eyes
and watched the surf crash on the beach and the sea gulls hunt for their
breakfast. They were nasty creatures as they fought and nipped each other while
fighting over the same dead crabs on the sand. Then he reached for her hand and
led her back to the warmth of her house.

Cole wanted to
make Shannon up one of his special omelets for breakfast. Not many people knew
it, but he was an exceptional cook. However, when he looked into her
refrigerator he outwardly cringed. One sniff of the milk and his nose wrinkled
up. The eggs were old, the shells probably so thick they would never crack open.
The onions were practically frozen solid and the peppers she had in the
vegetable crisper were rotten and moldy and had seen better days. “I think you
need to go shopping and buy some edible food,” he said, shaking his head in
disbelief.

“I know. I will
later today. We won’t starve. We have bread for toast and leftover chili for
lunch.” She walked up to him and kissed him, long, wet and hot enough to engulf
him in flames. “Besides.” She winked. “We have each other.” She went to move
away, but he pulled her back and gave her his most provocative grin. “Not so
fast, I’m starving.” He crushed her mouth to his and feasted to his heart’s
content. Even nibbled her ear and neck for a little extra nourishment. “Hmm,
that should do me for a while.”

“Hmm, you think?”
she countered.

“Actually. No,”
he replied as he slipped her sweater off in one quick swoop. “I think I missed
a few spots.”

***

Before she knew
it, he swept her up into his arms and gently laid her down in front of the
fireplace. They proceeded to have breakfast, lunch, dinner and desert all in
one sitting.

Shannon finally
got to explore every incredible muscular inch of Cole’s body. And when she took
him into her mouth, she took great pleasure in causing him to squirm. And when
he fed her, she didn’t miss a single drop.

Snuggled under
a fleece throw, satiated from lovemaking and enjoying the heat from the
fireplace, Cole and Shannon talked about nothing and everything until the
doorbell rang.

Shannon sprang
up. “Shit! What time is it?”

Cole forced his
eyes away from her naked body and looked at his watch. “Eleven, why?”

“Oh my God! I
forgot my sisters were coming by.”

She ran around
like a mad woman gathering Cole’s clothes and throwing them at him. She quickly
dressed, running her hands threw her mussed hair as she ran down to get the
door.

When she opened
it, her two younger sisters stepped in with bags of food. Rachel was the first
to go up the stairs chatting away. “We brought food because we know what you’re
like, there’s probably not an ounce...oh.”

She stopped
dead in her tracks, and Shannon could well imagine what Rachel was thinking. “Who
is this incredibly gorgeous man with long blond hair, jeans slung low on his
narrow hips and a Rolling Stones T-shirt showing off well-formed muscles in her
sister’s kitchen?” If it wasn’t for the shopping bags Rachel carried, Shannon
imagined her sister wiping the drool from her mouth.

“Hi,” Rachel
said in her usual deep, hoarse voice she perfected years ago, knowing it drove
men crazy.

“Hello.”

“Oh my God,
what a voice,” Rachel crooned.

By now, Bridget
stood beside Rachel, staring at Cole as well. He quickly and carefully took the
bags from their arms and placed them on the counter before they dropped them on
the tile floor. Shannon joined Cole at the counter gently touching his arm.

“Rachel,
Bridget, I’d like you to meet Cole Jackson. Cole, these two women staring at
you with their mouths open are my sisters. Please forgive their manners,” she
added with lightness in her voice.

He held out his
hand and Rachel took it first. “Nice to meet you Cole. Are you
the
Cole
Jackson?”

He laughed at
her query. “The one and only…I think.”

He shook
Bridget’s hand next. She stared with detached interest and more than a little
contempt. Cole got the impression this sister didn’t like him much. Some people
had strong preconceived notions about him and this little lady was one of those
people. And he knew from experience nothing he did or said would change those
preconceived feelings just like Shannon’s ex. But what the hell, he could try.

“Nice to meet
you Bridget,” he said with a warm smile he hoped she couldn’t tell was forced.

“Glad to meet
you Cole. I’d forgotten you and my sister knew each other.”

Glad, Cole
mused, that’s a good one. She was clearly anything but glad to meet him.

Shannon gave
Bridget a warning look as she emptied the grocery bags. Rachel stepped up to
help as Cole excused himself and went up to Shannon’s bedroom.

He stepped out
on the balcony, sat on the chaise lounge and proceeded to freeze his ass off. He
wanted to give Shannon time alone with her sisters, and he didn’t want to hear
what they had to say. Rachel wasn’t a problem, but Bridget was not too happy to
see him here. Could he blame her? Hell, if one of his sisters started dating a
convicted killer, whether he claimed innocence or not, he’d be none too
thrilled either.

Being able to
see two sides of the coin didn’t lesson the pain and anger he felt when people
disapproved of him or were truly afraid of him. Afraid he might kill again,
even though he never killed in the first place.

He groaned out
his frustrations and once again proved to himself he should have waited until
he cleared his name before seeing Shannon again. But shit, there was no
guarantee he’d ever clear his name. So what was he supposed to do? Put his love
life on hold because some people didn’t approve of him dating her? Hell, all
that mattered was Shannon’s opinions and feelings for him. Fuck everybody
else’s. If only it were that simple. Cole cared what people thought of him, which
angered him even more. He wished he had enough confidence and self-esteem that
nothing anyone said would ever bother him. But no, he had a soft heart and a
caring nature, and what people thought about him mattered. It may not have
during his heyday, but it did now. And he certainly didn’t want to add more
problems to Shannon’s life. Her ex-husband being dead set against him caused enough
trouble. Her sisters were another. How could they have a relationship with so
many people trying to pull her away from him?

***

Once Cole was
not within hearing range, Bridget let Shannon have it as Shannon knew she would.
Out of the three of them, Bridget was the opinionated one, and she sometimes
spoke first and thought later. She was thirty-one years old and had never been
married. Bridget was the petite sister with short blonde hair, green eyes and
an incredible body. She worked in Plymouth at a fitness and tennis club as a
personal trainer. She was secretive about her dating life. Shannon had no idea
if she had found
the one
yet.

Rachel, on the
other hand, stood tall like Shannon. She had black hair at the moment and green
eyes. She was twenty-seven and worked in a small beauty salon in town. Also
single, but as long as Shannon could remember, she had a string of guys vying
for her attention. She was probably the prettiest of them all, but sometimes it
was hard to tell with her constantly changing hair color, excessive makeup and
unusual style in clothing. But, she was a sweetheart, and a little bit on the
flaky side. Shannon sometimes referred to them as, Shannon the introvert,
Bridget the serious one and Rachel the flake.

They got along
fairly well for the most part. It hadn’t always been that way when they were
growing up. They had the typical sister squabbles, but they didn’t last long
since Bridget was only fifteen and Rachel eleven when Shannon got married. Their
brother, Mitch had been thirteen. God, it seemed like a lifetime ago since they
all lived in the same house with their parents. Shannon often wondered if she
hadn’t gotten pregnant and married so young, would her life have turned out
much differently? That was a question she would never know the answer to.

“What is he
doing here?” Bridget asked in her most demanding voice, pulling Shannon out of
her reverie.

Shannon took
her sweet time answering, knowing Bridget’s anger would be simmering under the
surface, and if she didn’t like her answer it would bubble over. She didn’t
feel like having one of Bridget’s confrontations. And Shannon knew her sister
all too well, nothing she said would change her mind about Cole. Hoping to
stall for time, she quietly put the food away, except the chicken salad and
rolls.

She finally
faced her sister. Hell, she was the older one, why should she have to make
herself accountable to Bridget or John or anyone else for that matter. This was
her life, and she was in love with Cole, and nothing anyone said would change
her mind. Absolutely nothing could change her feelings for him, feelings which
just ran too deep. They were now a part of her.

 “He’s here
because we’re friends, and he came to stay for a few days between concerts.” Shannon
stared at Bridget, daring her to question her answer.

Bridget gave
her the look she had been famous for since she was ten years old and thought
she ruled over everyone. She pursed her lips, narrowed her eyes and stared
until for some unknown reason you had to buck up, tell the truth, and come
clean. Her kids, when she had them, would be doomed.