Before he posted the pic, sure to draw the attention he needed to garner support on the legal front, he popped his head in the house.
“Hey, Aury,” he called.She poked her head up from the couch, her cheeks puffed like a chipmunk readying for a harsh winter, crumbs stuck to her still-pouty bottom lip.He chuckled.There wasn’t anything about this woman he didn’t find adorable or that didn’t make him wish he could be back where they were an hour ago.But there would be time for that.Now, she needed him in a different way.“You have social accounts?”
“Yesh,” she managed to get out before swallowing and smiling back at him.“Aurybelle, one word.”
“Belle with ane?”
“Um-hm,” she said, diving back into her sandwich.He liked that she wasn’t shy about what she ate or drank around him; it was a refreshing change of pace from who he’d dated in Hollywood.No salads with quinoa and lemon for this woman.
He found her accounts, the profile pictures boasting a stunning backdrop with cerulean water and eggshell-colored sand, the sky clear and as blue as it had any right to be.The only problem was that neither could hold a candle to the woman in the foreground.Sensual skin that he’d just touched was exposed, save for three thin strips of white fabric hiding the most precious parts he’d also experienced.However stunning the photo was, it didn’t let the viewer know that there was a small spot on the nape of her neck, just below her right earlobe, that sent shivers down her spine and led her to call out his name in rapture each time he drew his tongue along it.No photo, no matter how beautiful or evocative, would let anyone but him in on that secret.
It was a secret he would cherish, guard along with whatever else he learned about her.Someday, when he let her go so she could find love and build a family, he’d always have this moment.
He posted the picture, tagging Aurelie for an added shield of authenticity, then dialed Cammie to let her know.Lesson learned, albeit a little late.
Her phone went directly to voicemail.During business hours?He’d have to talk to her about that.The office phone should have at least gone to her assistant.Oh well, now he had a few minutes of free time while he waited for his lawyer to email him the forms he and Aury needed to fight the U.S.government.The marriage, combined with her job at the hospital and pro bono work, should be a solid enough case, but still, Jace was worried.The U.S.government had been a formidable opponent of late.
“That was the best food I’ve ever eaten in my life,” a singsong voice called over him.
“You only say that because our lovemaking session was so intense you’d have eaten anything I put in front of you,” he replied, coming back in from the porch and reclaiming his place on the couch.
“Modesty and good looks.Aren’t you the full package?”she teased.He tossed her a wink.“You’d agree with me if you ate more than three bites of yours.Aren’t you famished?”
He glanced down at the pathetic attempt he’d made to finish his lunch.He’d barely made a dent, and the measly bit he had managed to choke down he hadn’t tasted.Truthfully, he didn’t have much of an appetite, which was so against his normal MO it worried him.Until he felt the long, silky fingers of his new bride rest on his shoulders, rubbing them with a firmness that belied the strength hidden in her delicate features.Suddenly, with a rumble decidedly south of his stomach, Jace knew what he was truly hungry for.
He wrapped his hands around her wrists and pulled her onto his lap, eliciting a scream that would thwart his plans for her if the baby woke.He mimed shushing, and she nodded.Her full lips were turned up in the corners, her eyes sparkling with desire that matched his.He strained to hear anything out of the ordinary, but so far there wasn’t a peep from Maddie.
It took the smallest movement, his head leaning into her, for him to cover her mouth with his.Her mouth met him, open, a willing participant in the dance of their tongues.Aurelie tasted like sweet ginger, the after-effects of the sandwich she’d enjoyed, and suddenly he found himself ravenous, his stomach growling its needs in a Morse code of hunger.
Her body was now pressed up against him, her legs straddling him so that only a slight shift of his weight would mean indescribable pleasure for them both.His hands slid down her curvy hips until they cupped her perfectly round backside.She whispered his name, a sensual purr that urged him to make love to his wife and screw the other plans.
His wife.Two words that somehow had unlocked the power to undo him.So much for distance…
His hands picked up the pace, feverishly reaching for parts of her he’d had in his grasp just an hour prior, but that satisfaction only resulted in more need.How long would that be the case, him wanting her more each time he had her?If this kept up, he’d be the most unproductive rancher in Banberry…hell, in the U.S.But damn, what a way to tank a career before it started.
Just as his hands ducked under the hemline of the slinky shorts she wore, he heard a voice he would have recognized anywhere coming from the back side of Paige’s house.His hands froze along Aurelie’s panty line.
It wasn’t a voice that belonged here.In fact, as it floated up and into the house, it threw into harsh perspective the difference between Montana and LA.
But, no.It was impossible.She couldn’t be there.
“Cammie,” he whispered.
“Excuse me?”Aurelie asked, pulling away from him.The look she shot him was a potent mix of surprise and contempt.He shook his head, realizing how horribly inappropriate that slip was, especially since Aurelie had no context regarding why he’d say another woman’s name with his hands up her shorts.
“No, no, babe.”The pet name slipped so easily past his defenses, but it didn’t sound odd.No, it was…right.“Sorry.It’s just that I swore I heard…” he trailed off as her voice rang through the living room loud and clear.“Shit.It’s her.”
“Her, who?Jace, you’re not making any sense.”
“Cammie.My agent.”
“The one you talked to this afternoon?”
Jace nodded.
“Yeah.”But thewhystill eluded him.He lifted Aurelie off his waist, missing her proximity almost immediately.“I, uh, I need to go figure this out.”
Aurelie nodded, sitting back on the couch, her long, smooth legs tucked up underneath her.An ache surged in Jace’s chest.He hated that his two worlds were colliding here, where his past and future met up.
