Jilted: Promise Harbor, Book 1 (15 page)

Her goal had always been to work for the largest investment bank she could, where there were lots of opportunities for learning and growth, opportunities for advancement, opportunities to earn bigger salaries and bonuses. And look where that had gotten her. Out on her ass without a thought about how it would impact her.

She knew it was business. It wasn’t personal. Tough business decisions had to be made for the good of the company. But still…she couldn’t help but think that there were businesses out there that cared more for their people. Because even though she was a finance girl, she knew that people were a company’s most important asset.

“And besides, we don’t need to be spending more money right now.”

“Is that another problem? Money?”

“Well.” He hesitated, and she sensed his reluctance to admit to the problems the business was having. “It’s not that we’re not making money. Basically I guess you’d say it’s a cash flow problem.”

“Ah. Well, that’s not unusual these days.” She couldn’t keep the edge of bitterness from her voice.

“I know. The real estate market collapsing and the credit crunch have really had an impact on us. Our customers are taking longer to pay. The ones who used to pay in thirty days are paying in forty-five days. Some are paying in sixty days. I know why they’re doing it, but we’re not a big company and we can’t afford to wait that long. We have our own expenses to pay.”

“Payroll. Rent. Stock. Equipment,” she murmured. Now, financial matters were something she could get into.

“Exactly.” He eyed her again. “And that’s all stuff I don’t really know much about.” He grimaced. “I don’t know much about payroll and accounts receivable and accounts payable. I know I have to figure it all out, but…”

“You’re not supposed to know about stuff like that,” she said, sensing how lost he felt in the business problems. “You’re supposed to know about extrication tools and combustion and…and…the normal concentration of oxygen in ambient air.” She’d always been amazed at the kinds of things he had to know and how smart he’d been about the science of firefighting.

His lips twitched. “Yeah.”

“What about getting a business loan?”

“Ha. Not so easy these days.”

She nodded. “You know, factoring might be a solution for you. I think Brewster Landscaping is big enough.”

He frowned. “What’s that?”

“It’s a form of financing designed to solve cash flow problems created by slow-paying customers.”

“No shit.”

She smiled. “You use a company that acts as a financial intermediary between your customers and your company. The factoring company advances your company funds using your invoice as collateral. They hold the invoice until it’s paid by your customer. In the meantime, you get immediate funds to meet your expenses without having to wait sixty days or whatever for your customers to pay.”

“Sounds good. But still…how hard is it to get?”

“Well, it depends on your customers. If you have good customers with good credit, then it’s relatively easy. Easier than other forms of credit. It’s okay if they pay slowly, as long as they do pay.”

“Yeah,” he said thoughtfully. “I think our customers are all good for payment.”

“And to qualify, you can’t have any legal or tax problems.”

“We don’t.”

“Most factoring plans can be set up pretty quickly. Less than two weeks.”

“Shit, Devon. Is that for real?”

She laughed, warmth spreading through her body. “Yes.” The admiration in his eyes made something expand inside her, a feeling of being needed. A feeling of strength. A feeling that for once, she could help
him
. She drew in a long, slow breath. “I…” She paused, swallowed. “I could help you with that.”

He nodded slowly and their eyes met. “That would be…awesome, Dev. Seriously.” He paused. “So, see? I had to come back to Promise Harbor. I told you I had to. And it…” He paused as if his throat might be closing up too. “It fucking killed me when you wouldn’t come with me, Dev.”

The corners of her eyes stung, her lungs seized and her heart thudded painfully against her ribs. “Oh, Josh.”

And then somehow she was in his arms, his big, strong arms, and she wasn’t sure who was comforting whom as they hugged, her face pressed against his neck. She felt his heartbeat and the warmth of his body through the fabric of his shirt, felt him swallow and felt his ragged breathing.

She fought back the tears, breathing in the scent of him, a warm, masculine scent of spice and musk, her arms around his neck holding on as tightly as she could.

“You’re shaking,” he whispered, and when his lips brushed over her hair she wasn’t sure if she’d imagined it. “It’s okay, Dev. It’s okay.”

The skin of his neck was right there, and she let her own lips touch it in the barest of kisses. But his body tightened. His hand slid into her hair and gripped a fistful of it, firm yet gentle, and he tugged her head back. She bit her lip and looked up at him.

Her heart trembled at the heat and hunger in his eyes. Her stomach swooped, and she gulped a mouthful of air as his eyelids lowered over gleaming eyes and hers responded the same way. Josh gave a rough groan as he bent his head and kissed her, finally, finally, oh god, finally.

His arms tightened around her, one hand holding her head, his body big and solid against hers. She sank into the kiss, his mouth warm and firm, insistent yet tender. He slid his tongue over her bottom lip, then inside her mouth, stroking against hers, and she opened wider for him, tightening her arms around his neck and pulling herself closer still.

Her head went empty and she gave herself up to it, the sensation of her aching breasts pressing against his hard chest, the erotic rhythm of his tongue sliding in and out of her mouth making her melt between her legs. She let out a soft little moan, slid her hand into his hair, running her fingers through the thick, silky strands, and kissed him with everything she had.

Jeebus, this was crazy. Hot, but crazy. Stupid. But hot. She remembered his taste and the feel of his lips as if the last time they’d kissed had been yesterday, and yet it was new, new and scary and exciting. She loved kissing him. He’d always been such a sexy kisser, seducing her and turning her into a puddle of lust with his mouth. She ached down low inside, her womb clenching hard with wanting him.

He slanted his mouth over hers, deepening the kiss even more. A year’s worth of yearning went into that kiss, so achingly lovely and sensual. His hand smoothed down her spine, burning her through the sheer fabric of her dress, and heat spiraled through her. Then her insides jumped as his hand moved up over her ribs and covered her breast.

She moaned into his mouth at the feel of his hand cupping here there, squeezing so gently, and her nipples tightened into hard, throbbing points. His fingertips found the edge of the V-neck of the dress, brushed over her skin, and sensation sizzled over her body, every nerve ending tingling.

“Wanna take this dress off you,” he murmured, rubbing his nose along the side of hers. “Want you naked. Under me. Around me.”

His words made flames leap inside her and excitement twisted in her stomach.

“Wait,” she said with a gasp to get air into her straining lungs. She shifted away from him and panted. “Wait, Josh.”

He stared at her, his lips parted, his eyes dark and hungry. “What?”

God, oh god, maybe she shouldn’t do this. She just wanted his mouth back on hers, his hand on her breast, wanted him naked too, but… “I asked you before, but I have to ask you again. If Allie came back…if she said she made a mistake and still wanted to marry you…would you take her back?”

She held his gaze as they sat there looking at each other.

Chapter Ten

Josh stared at Devon, his mind a blank for a moment, his body pulsing with lust and heat, his heart thundering. Then he almost laughed. He almost wanted to say, Allie who? Because she was
so
the last thing he was thinking of just then. For a moment, he examined that. Should he feel guilty about that? Probably, given that a week ago he’d been ready to marry her. She’d been the one to end it, but it was possible she would discover she’d made a mistake and come running back.

But if he did feel guilty, it was only because he now realized…marrying Allie would have been a huge fucking mistake.

After spending this past week with Devon, he could see that what had been between him and Allie had been only a little more than friendship. They liked each other. Their families were close. So many people were happy about them getting married that it had felt like the right thing to do. But it hadn’t been right. It had been so, so wrong.

He closed his eyes briefly at the realization of what a close call that had been. How could he have married Allie when he still had such powerful feelings for Devon? He’d tried to forget her, but now he knew he never really had, and probably never would.

And that just caused a whole new set of problems.

He opened his eyes and fixed his gaze on Devon’s face, so beautiful, her shoulders and arms bare in that pretty dress, so feminine and delicate with layers of sheer fabric wrapped around her slender body, her chestnut hair glinting with red in the firelight, her sexy, tilted eyes gazing back at him apprehensively, waiting for him to answer.

“No,” he said firmly.

She swallowed. “Are you sure? You had to think about that.”

“Yeah.” He sighed but held her gaze steadily. “You know when I make a promise to someone, I keep my word.” She nodded. “I don’t take things like that lightly, especially a promise to marry someone. So yeah, I had to think about it. But that’s the truth, Dev. Allie and I will never get back together.”

How could he tell her how he was feeling when they’d just reconnected, when she was leaving tomorrow to go back to her life in Boston, when the things that had come between them were all still there? But he could tell her this much.

“Marrying Allie was a mistake,” he said slowly. “People were pushing us to do it. It seemed like a good idea.” He lifted one shoulder. “I’ve always cared about Allie. We grew up together, we both went through our family stuff together, we were both…alone. But I can see now it was never going to work. If Allie decides she made a mistake running away with Gavin and still wants to marry me…well, I don’t think it will be hard for me to convince her that would be a disaster.”

He reached out and touched Devon’s face, her cheek velvety soft beneath his rough fingertips. “I still have feelings for you, Devon. Clearly.”

She nodded, and though she didn’t say it, he knew she was admitting she had feelings for him too.

So he pulled her back into his arms, bent his head and found her mouth again with his, to show her the feelings he still had.

She tasted so damn good, so sweet, and when her tongue slid along his, his dick jumped in his pants. He was so full and hard he hurt, and he pulled her right onto his lap, one hand on her hip, the other sliding back into her hair. He loved her hair, long and cool and silky, loved wrapping it around his hands. Her mouth opened wider, inviting him in, and he groaned and went for it, kissing her deep and long, lips sliding, tongues twining.

Her body in his arms felt exquisite and right, soft and warm, her dress riding up on her bare thighs, her legs stretched out sideways on the couch, still wearing those sexy heels. He slid a hand down her back to cup her ass, bringing her closer, but it still wasn’t close enough. What he’d said earlier…yeah…naked. Both of them.

The fireplace glowed orange and gold and yellow, the dancing flames casting undulating shadows into the dim room. They didn’t need the heat from it—they were creating a lot of their own—but still it was nice to know she wouldn’t be cold when he peeled that pretty dress off her body.

His hand bunched the skirt of her dress and slowly, slowly dragged it up over her hip, and then he slid his hand under it and found the sweet, soft curve of her butt. His fingers brushed the string of her thong panties, her warm, resilient flesh filled his palm perfectly and he gave a little squeeze that made her moan. He liked making her moan. He wanted to make her moan all night long.

He kissed the corner of her mouth, her cheek, the sensitive spot in front of her ear. He breathed in her scent, her unique female scent mingled with sexy perfume, hers and hers alone. He tugged on her hair to tilt her head and opened his mouth on the skin of her neck, grazed her with his teeth, licked her with his tongue. Her taste filled his senses and he felt drunk on it, like he was high.

“You and me, Dev,” he whispered, his mouth near her ear. She shivered and pressed closer still. “Just you and me. Right now.”

“Yes.” She turned in to him and they kissed again, endless, deep kisses full of longing and hunger and sweet, melting pleasure.

The urge to strip her bare, push her to her back and thrust inside her was powerful, and he fought it back. They had all night. This night. One night.

Christ. One night. A stab of pain in his heart stole his breath for a moment.

It wasn’t enough. Forever wouldn’t be enough.

She was still a part of him. When he’d found her crying in the lobby, he’d been stunned. He honest to god didn’t think he’d ever seen Devon cry. Her tears had been like an arrow in his chest, and when she’d confessed about losing her job, and then her attempt to find that guy and convince him to give her a job—Christ, that was so misguided it was heartbreaking. He ached for her, for how distressed she was, but what really got him was how she’d opened up and told him those things. Because even though he’d wondered how well he and Devon had known each other, there was one thing he knew about her with sure and certain knowledge—she did not like to be vulnerable.