Morgan, Nicole - Sweet Redemption [Sweet Awakenings 1] (Siren Publishing Allure) Read online

And besides, this wasn’t even a date. This was just a night of sex. That was what she had asked for, so Jack, being the good guy that he was, gave her what she wanted. Yeah, right! Jack knew it was much more than sex, he just didn’t know why. Tonight with Tamara was better than any night he’d had with any other woman. Sure, he did like her, a lot. He just wasn’t used to the feelings being around Tamara was causing. It was because of those feelings that Jack knew that tonight was just the beginning for them, whether she knew it or not.

  Jack turned off the lights. He went to his bedside table, pulled out his sports watch, and set the time for 11:59:47. That way, when he was in the tub with Tamara, they could begin their ten-second countdown to the New Year. Was he becoming romantic? No way. Jack Peyton was not a romantic! He had just finished when he heard her start to come up the stairs.

  “Ready or not, here I come.” She walked into the bedroom, saw the candlelight, and immediately followed the glow into the bathroom. “Oh, my…Jack, this is…amazing!”

  He stared at her. “You do not follow instructions very well, my dear. Why are you still dressed?”

  He walked to her and took the champagne from her hands. He set it down on the counter and grabbed the two champagne flutes she held in her other hand. “Get undressed, and that’s an order!”

  His voice was deep and almost a whisper. It was such a turn on! But it seemed to Tamara that everything about Jack was a turn on. She got undressed as he uncorked the champagne and poured two glasses for them. He set them on the outside ledge of the bathtub and put the champagne bottle next to it.

  He turned to her and pulled down his shorts, he wasn’t wearing underwear. She was mesmerized. This was the first time she was actually seeing all of him. She’d seen his chest downstairs at dinner. But this was so much more.

  Jack stood there in front of her. His entire body was covered in muscle, and his cock was already swollen and jutting upward with just a tiny pearlescent drop on the tip of its head. She was in awe of his size. She knew he was large, but just looking at the sheer mass of his entire length took her breath away. His legs were muscled and well defined. Standing there, he looked like a warrior. There couldn’t be any man that had ever looked as gorgeous as Jack Peyton. If she ever needed any further proof of the Greek god theory, she now had it.

  She smiled at him and gazed from his face to the hair that was placed perfectly across his chest and then narrowed down to a v pointing to the area that gave her such pleasure. It was a glorious journey to take with her eyes.

  He got into the tub and held his hands out to her as he said, “Get in the tub with me, Tamara. Come here.” His voice was soft, quiet, and alluring enough even without looking at him. She settled into the tub and shifted her bottom against his hardness.

  He groaned at the feel of her ass leaning against his erection. Since he was distracted, she grabbed the champagne glasses and handed one to him. She turned slightly so she could look up into his eyes, his gorgeous blue eyes that were now burning with desire, for her. She almost couldn’t believe she was here with him.

  He stared down at her. “Here’s to a very Happy New Year!” They clinked their glasses together as he heard the beep of his sports watch. “Ten seconds,” he told her, with his gaze fixed on her.

  They began the countdown together. “Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.” And then he kissed her. Another perfect kiss. It was slow and sensual. His tongue seemed to be exploring her mouth, as if he was trying to memorize every part of it. It was the kind of kiss young girls used to stay up at night dreaming about. If she never had another New Year’s Eve the rest of her life, she would still die a happy woman. Jack had made this night perfect for her. He was perfect!

  Chapter 7

  Tamara woke up to the sounds of something sizzling. Was that bacon? Mmmm, I love bacon, Tamara thought. She was completely relaxed and at ease waking up in Jack’s bed. She glanced at the bedside table and noticed it was eight o’clock. They had spent a couple more hours after the stroke of midnight having mind-blowing sex until they collapsed onto his bed.

  Stretching, Tamara got up and went to Jack’s closet. It was surprisingly organized. The pants were all hung together and organized into categories. All jeans were together. All casual slacks together. All athletic pants were together and so on and so on. Looking at the array of shirts he had categorized in the same manner, she opted for something a little flirty.

  She grabbed one of his dress shirts to wrap herself into. It was white and very large on her. She buttoned all but the top button and rolled up the sleeves. Checking herself in the mirror, she noticed that her nipples were visible though the white fabric, and she also saw that she still looked the way she had last night. A healthy glow around her face made her look as though she had spent some time applying blush or bronzer.

  Tamara had never seen her face this flush or this glowing before. Well, at least not since before last night. It was like Jack was the missing ingredient in her life. Looking back on last night and remembering the way that he made everything feel so right made her smile. Things that should have been shocking to her, or even appalling to her, she had agreed to. It was like he knew exactly how to ease her mind and make her a wanton woman. She had no problem trusting him with everything he asked. Whatever little bit of embarrassment she had felt last night he had quickly made her dismiss. His voice was smooth like melted butter, making everything seem like it would be stranger to not do what he was saying.

  Walking downstairs, Tamara followed the wonderful smell of breakfast being cooked in the kitchen. Standing over the stove with his cell phone in one hand, he was expertly stirring scrambled eggs as he listened to someone else on the other end. She was about to come up behind him and wrap her arms around his waist when she was startled by his words.

  “What the fuck do you mean you didn’t get him last night?” There was a pause as he stopped and listened, then he continued, “I don’t care who you are. Isn’t it your job to arrest people after they break the law? Well, he broke the law, so find him and arrest him!” There was more silence from Jack. He was obviously listening to someone on the other end again. Then he spoke. “Look, it’s not the window. He left a very disturbing message on my girl…well, on his ex-girlfriend’s voice mail. He sounds crazy. If he’s crazy enough to throw a damn crowbar through a window, I’d say he’s crazy enough to do just about anything, wouldn’t you?”

  Was he about to call her his girlfriend? The idea of that quickened her pulse, but she couldn’t ignore the fact that he had stopped himself before the word came out.

  “He can’t be that hard to find. I want him found and arrested. Isn’t that what our tax dollars are for?” With that, Jack hung up the phone and slammed it on the counter.

  Tamara waited a moment and then she cleared her throat to let him know that she was in the room. He turned to look at her. For a moment she could still see the anger in his eyes. The tension on his face and around his brows was evident. Then he moved his eyes lazily and looked her up and down. A huge smile formed on his face, and he held out his arms, spatula and all.

  Tamara walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his waist, hugging tightly, leaning her cheek into his chest, and splaying her hands across his well-defined back muscles. He kissed the top of her head and then rested his chin on top of it.

  “How did you sleep?” Jack whispered into her ear.

  “Like a baby. I don’t think I have felt this rested in years.” She pulled away just enough to be able to look up into his eyes. They held so much. She’d learned last night that they told her just as much. She could tell when he was angry, concerned, or aroused. She loved his beautiful deep blue eyes.

  “Well, I figured after all of the calories we burnt last night, plus the ones you worked off at the gym, that we better get a nice, big breakfast in us, one with all of the food groups. Why don’t you pour yourself some coffee? I wasn’t sure how you took it, or I would have had it ready. Nice shirt, by the
way.”

  He winked at her and smacked her ass before he turned to finish the eggs. He scooped them onto a plate and brought them to the table, where he sat down across from her. He took a big swig of his coffee and stared at her as she did the same.

  They both started laughing. Tamara was almost doubled over in hysterics. They continued to laugh together for several minutes until finally their laughs subsided and they just smiled at each other.

  “Come here,” he said to her.

  Tamara got up and walked over to him. She sat on his lap and put her arms around his neck. He held her there on his lap and looked at her.

  “I’m not sure why you were laughing, but I was just thinking how domestic this whole situation is. I have never made breakfast for anyone before, and it just hit me how normal it seemed to be sitting here with you. That in itself is a huge contradiction to my personality. It took me by surprise.”

  “Yeah, I see what you mean. I was laughing for two very different reasons, though, and I am pretty sure I shouldn’t tell you what they are. They’re slightly embarrassing.” She started to look down as a blush formed on her face.

  “Hey, after last night, how could you possibly be embarrassed around me?”

  She looked up at him, surprising herself that she was really going to tell him. “Okay, the first reason was that when I first saw you standing at the front desk last night, I got a little goofy.”

  “Really, I didn’t notice that at all.” He rolled his eyes, teasing her.

  “Stop it. Do you want to hear this or not?”

  “Okay, sorry. Go ahead.”

  “Anyway, I acted that way because I had seen you before, and I was thinking how incredibly gorgeous you were. It sort of took me by surprise to see you working at the desk, mostly because you never do. At least, I have never seen you there.”

  He waited a minute, and she didn’t say anything else. “Okay, that’s only one reason. Why else were you laughing?”

  “Well, this is a little worse. I was thinking how because I was so attracted to you and I had such a crappy day that I just threw myself at you in the parking lot. The things I said to you. Oh, my God. I had never said anything like that to anyone before. It was so unlike me.” She really was embarrassed now. Her face had turned a very deep shade of pink.

  “Tamara, look at me.” Jack used his thumb to make her gaze meet his. “I thought we talked about this last night. I was not complaining when you ‘threw yourself at me.’ As a matter of fact, I loved it. I think that was pretty obvious, though. I mean look at you. You just rolled out of bed, and you’re still so pretty and sexy.

  Tamara giggled a little and then became serious. “Jack, I don’t want you to think I do this sort of thing all of the time. I’ve never done anything like this. I’m normally very reserved. I’m not easy. I haven’t even been with more than a few men.”

  Jack shook his head. “You’re too hard on yourself. After everything we shared last night? How could you worry I’d think badly of you?”

  Giving her a reassuring smile he continued, “I think I already figured that out, honey! I know you’re different. That’s one of the things I like about you. That is also why I would like to take you out to dinner tonight. I know it’s a little backwards, but I’d like to go on a date with you. I didn’t give you any kind of courtship, but I’d like to see where this thing goes with us. “If you’re game that is.”

  She wasn’t saying anything, but instead stared at him. Was she hearing him ask her out on a date? “If I let you buy me dinner, do you expect me to sleep with you?”

  Jack gave her his devilish grin. “Of course I do. And if you protest, I have already figured out all sorts of little tricks to break down all of your defenses.”

  An hour and a half later, Jack drove Tamara home and promised to be back to pick her up at six o’clock. He had offered to pick her up earlier if she wanted to get a workout in, but she knew how busy he would be at the gym today. Jack had explained to her how the first of the year was the busiest time for signing up new members. Everyone made New Year’s resolutions, and they were always eager to sign up quickly before they changed their minds.

  She had felt guilty about keeping Jack so late this morning, especially since she knew how busy he was going to be. But, he was the one who had started it. When he took a look at her nipples showing through his shirt, he wouldn’t take no for an answer. He told her he had to have her just once more before she went home. Tamara was surprised at how comfortable his stairs were. She had never had sex on stairs before. She smiled. It really wasn’t that much of a sacrifice. As usual, with him it was incredible.

  As she unlocked her door, she had the strange feeling that she was being watched. She turned to see a shadow move out of the peephole on Shelby’s front door. So, Shelby had watched her return home. She probably saw her kiss Jack good-bye, too. He had gotten out of the car and was going to walk her to her door when she insisted that he get on his way to work. Tamara entered her apartment with the satisfaction of knowing that Shelby had not ruined her New Year’s Eve. Her betrayal had actually helped make it a night she would never forget.

  Tamara set her gym bag and purse down on the floor next to the door and decided to head for the shower. She saw her answering machine blinking with the number 32. She couldn’t believe it. Thirty-two messages. Jack had told her on the drive home about the conversation he had with the police. Apparently, they weren’t able to locate Brent or his car last night. The pip-squeak was probably hiding, scared shitless, somewhere.

  Tamara considered deleting all of the messages, but then thought better of it. Maybe she should leave them so the police could listen to them if they wanted. Maybe it would help them find him. She felt no remorse about the idea of Brent being arrested. He had vandalized Jack’s gym and sounded like a lunatic on her voice mail.

  Heading to the bathroom, Tamara decided to lock the chain on her front door. She hadn’t been thinking clearly last night when she kicked Brent out. He still had a key to her apartment. Even if she did ever get it back, she could never be sure that he had not made a copy. She would just have to call the maintenance supervisor and see about getting the locks changed. Of course, she would have to pay for it, but it would be worth it just for peace of mind. Tamara decided that would have to wait until after her shower and after she contacted the police to make a statement and file a report about her tires. After all that was done, she would be able to file a claim on her insurance. She looked at the clock. It was after ten o’clock. She’d better get moving.

  Tamara turned off the water and reached for the towel she always left hanging on the bar. She couldn’t feel it. She opened the curtain and saw that it wasn’t there. Dripping wet, Tamara ran to her linen closet and grabbed a couple of towels to wrap her body and hair in. She must have taken her towels and thrown them in the dirty clothes. That was strange, she thought. She usually wasn’t so absentminded. Maybe all of that sex with Jack had sucked some of her brain cells out.

  In her bedroom, Tamara sat at her vanity table to brush her hair. She loved this table, a rich, stained mahogany with intricate detail carved around the mirror and two side drawers for her essentials. It was the only antique she had ever, and probably would ever, own. It was her grandmother’s, her father’s mother, and she had always loved to sit there on her grandmother’s lap while she brushed her hair. Her grandmother was beautiful right up until the day she died at age seventy-six. It always made Tamara happy and proud when people said that she took after her grandmother. They had the same coloring, the same hair, even their eyes were the same color. They didn’t look so much alike, like sisters would, but if you were to put their pictures together, you could definitely see the resemblance.

  After Tamara got dressed, she went out to the kitchen to get the phone book and sat at the table so she could start making her calls. One look at the table and she remembered what she’d walked in on last night. She thought it would be better to just curl up on the couch with the
phone and a pad of paper, in case she needed to write anything important down. She would like to burn the table in some sort of ritualistic ceremony, but she decided that not even Brent was worth that much trouble.

  After she got done with all of her phone calls, Tamara got her shoes on to head to the leasing office of her apartments. The manager had told her that in order to change the locks she would have to submit it in writing on their special, official form. Nancy, the apartment complex’s manager, seemed to have a special form for everything. She had even heard Shelby refer to her once as the “form Nazi.”

  Walking over, Tamara noticed that Shelby’s car wasn’t here. She was glad about that. She just hoped she was done at the leasing office and safely back inside her apartment before Shelby got back. The last thing she wanted was to have to run into her and get into some sort of a confrontation.

  Jack had to take a moment to breathe. He went in his office, shut the door, leaned back in his chair, and stretched. They had been busier than expected today. That was great for business, but that little reject Johnny hadn’t shown up again, so they were that much more shorthanded. The sad thing was that Jack had actually considered giving Johnny one more chance. After all, if he had been at work last night, he never would have gotten together with Tamara. But, enough was enough. Johnny was going to have to be fired.

  Picking up his phone, he listened to his voice mails. There was one from Rex really laying into him about all the fun he had missed last night. If only Rex had known what Jack was doing he wouldn’t be giving him such a hard time.

  If Rex had been with Tamara, he might even start to change his ways. Tamara was the kind of woman that would slow down any man and make him smell the roses. There was something special about her.

  Jack shuddered at the idea of Rex getting together with Tamara. The thought of Tamara being with someone else sent his stomach into knots. It was an unusual feeling to him. It wasn’t jealousy, but perhaps possessiveness. Somehow in less than twenty-four hours, he already felt like Tamara was his.