“I don’t know,” Julia said, her face thoughtful. “It might not be a bad option.”
She, Claire and Maddie sat eating breakfast in a trendy coffee shop in Glebe—meters away from the property Jack had shown her yesterday.
“It’s not too far away,” Maddie offered.
“It’s the other side of the city.” Claire looked at them as though they were both nuts. “There’s no short cut from Clovelly to Glebe.”
“It’s the other side of the city centre,” Julia said calmly. “Not the other side of Sydney. It’s not as if we’d have to travel to Parramatta. Besides, I like Glebe. It has some of my favorite restaurants. And a real funky vibe. There’s something incredibly appealing about it.”
Claire gestured towards the people sitting around them. “It’s full of students. No wonder you like it.”
Julia pulled a tongue at her. “Yeah, yeah, mock my age. Just because I finished Uni two years ago, doesn’t mean I’m too young to make decisions.”
“I’m not mocking your age—for once. I’m pointing out a basic demographic of Glebe. It’s full of Uni students. And Uni students aren’t our target market. New parents are. Different stage of life. Glebe is the wrong area.”
Maddie looked up from her iPad. “I’m not convinced about that, Clairey. There’s a primary school right around the corner for starters, and I’ve just Googled daycare centers in Glebe. There are at least a dozen in this area alone—and that figure doesn’t take into account the neighboring suburbs.”
“Besides, a shop here opens up business to the Inner West,” Jules said. “Maybe Jack Wilson has a point.”
“We spoke about the Inner West. And the Inner City and decided against both of them,” Claire reminded her.
“Because we preferred the idea of Rose Bay. Glebe was still on the list of top ten suburbs that would suit our needs,” Maddie reminded her. “Look, had we gotten the shop without a problem, we would have taken it. But we didn’t, and I don’t know about you, but I don’t feel like going to court over this. Yes, I’m pissed off. But, I don’t feel like spending the money on a lawsuit. Not if we have a decent alternative. I’d rather pump the money into the two shops or into buying new stock.”
“And if we’re talking money, you can’t ignore the rental price. It’s good. Too good to ignore,” Julia added.
Maddie nodded. “Agreed. You said the shop was nice, Clairey?”
“The shop is perfect,” she grudgingly admitted. “If we could pick it up and plop it down in Rose Bay, we’d be set for life.”
“But we can’t, so let’s not think about that.” Maddie took a sip of coffee. “I think we should take the shop if for no other reason than this is the best damn cappuccino in Sydney. I could get used to working next door to this café.”
“Oh, great reason,” Claire muttered, surprised her sisters were giving the shop such serious consideration. They continued debating the pros and cons of Glebe until their breakfast was done and it was time to meet Jack.
Yesterday, she’d agreed to keep an open mind and bring her sisters through to see the property before work today. Bringing them here was a massive step for Claire, who still stubbornly held on to her beliefs they should have the Rose Bay shop. But frankly? She would have agreed to anything Jack had suggested. Her head had been so full of the delights he’d rained down on her, she’d found she couldn’t refuse him a damn thing.
Feeling suddenly shy about seeing him again, Claire took care of the bill while Julia and Maddie went ahead to the shop. Yesterday they’d been caught up in the heat of passion. What if today Jack showed no interest? What if he’d woken up this morning to find the chemistry had fizzled away on his side?
It hadn’t on her side. She’d fallen asleep thinking about him and woken up the same way. Save the distractions her sisters provided, he’d pretty much been on her mind since she left him at his offices yesterday.
She had another problem. What if in her excitement to see him today, she jumped him—in broad daylight, while her sisters watched? Claire almost laughed at their imagined shock. She hadn’t told them anything about the personal aspect of her and Jack’s relationship. Hadn’t been ready to share the delicious details.
She dragged her heels paying, then took a slow stroll to the store. The door was open, and her G.G. stood inside, talking to her sisters.
Claire’s heart slammed into her ribs, and her knees turned to jelly.
Her little sister, the smallest out of the three Jones girls, flirted with Jack as Maddie walked around the front room, checking out the shelving and paint work.
A wave of jealousy surged through Claire, shocking her.
Jealous? Of her own sister? Or of her sister’s ability to flirt so easily, while Claire got all inhibited around the men she desired? She cleared her throat. “Mr. Wilson.”
He looked up, and a broad smile split his cheeks, showing his beautiful dimple. “Miss Jones.”
His gaze swept over her body, from her face, down to her feet and back up again. Desire shone from his eyes, telling her his reaction to her yesterday hadn’t been a crazy fluke. Nor had the chemistry ebbed.
“You’ve met my sisters, I see.”
“They introduced themselves a few minutes ago.”
“I love the shop, Jack,” Julia announced. “Love it.”
Maddie was more restrained. “I’d like to see the other rooms before making a decision.”
Jack held out his hand towards the inter-leading door. “Please, go ahead. Take a look, and make sure you check out the storage section as well.”
Maddie and Julia disappeared into the back room as Jack walked over to Claire. “Good morning, beautiful.” His potent gaze made her breath catch.
She meant to be polite. Honestly. But the second she caught a whiff of his aftershave, of that gorgeous, woodsy scent, her manners scattered, her words vanished and instinct took over. She grabbed his tie, yanked him forward, and stole his lips in a blistering kiss.
Fortunately, Jack was quicker to respond to her advances than she’d been to his. He kissed her back with as much enthusiasm as she kissed him. The instant their lips touched, the chemistry between them sparked and heat tore through her, a scorching reminder of the passion they’d shared in the very room her sisters now explored.
Also fortunate for her, was Jack’s excellent hearing, because Claire lost herself to their smoldering passion. She’d have kissed him for the rest of the day had he not pulled away with a harsh moan—an instant before Maddie walked back into the front of the shop.
“Clairey,” she said, raising an eyebrow when her gaze landed on Claire. “Can you come through to the back room for a minute?”
“Sure.” Claire smiled, but knew why Maddie gave her that searching look. Her cheeks burned and her lips felt swollen and thoroughly kissed. “Excuse us?” she asked Jack.
“Go ahead.” He stepped out of her way.
Fortunately Maddie asked no questions, even though she flashed Claire an I-know-what-you-just-did grin.
It took less than a minute to gauge what her sisters wanted, and Claire knew it wouldn‘t matter how stubborn she was, this particular fight was one she was going to have to give in to.
“We have to take the shop,” Julia insisted.
“It’s perfect,” Maddie agreed. “Absolutely perfect. We could open for business next week. All we need to do is move in, set up shop and put up a sign.”
“Sign the lease,” Julia urged. “Ask if we can add a clause based on profitability. If, as you feared, the store doesn’t break even after the first year, then we can have an option of terminating the lease. Just so we don’t tie ourselves into a contract we may not want in twelve months, but I don’t think that will happen. Sign the damn papers.”
“And give up the Rose Bay shop?” This for Claire was the crux. Admitting there was an alternative scenario she hadn’t considered. A viable alternative.
“The Rose Bay shop has nothing on this,” Maddie said. “Apart from location, this store is better in every way.”
Claire looked from one sister to the other and didn’t bother arguing. They were right. About everything. She’d been so inflamed by the other shop being signed out from under her nose, she hadn’t been prepared to let it go.
Jack had done the impossible. He’d convinced her—and her sisters—that they didn’t have to have the Rose Bay store. Glebe was a good area to open their shop. Maybe not the best, but she suspected they’d do well here.
Which was fantastic for business, but it opened up a whole new problem for her.
If she signed the lease, she’d have no reason to meet with Jack again after he handed over the keys. His grandfather would return to work, and Claire would deal with the old man from then on.
That meant either she and Jack went their separate ways—an idea she hated—or they tried to get to know each other on a personal level, independently of leases and property viewings—an idea that scared the bejeepers out of her.
Great choice.
At Maddie’s insistence, Claire drove with Jack back to his offices. Because there was an amendment to the lease—an option to break the agreement after a year, which he’d agreed to even though he suspected it wasn’t standard practice—the papers needed to be reprinted, and everyone decided it would be best to get it done and signed as soon as possible.
Maddie and Julia shot off to open Li’l Books and Bits, with Jack’s promise that he’d deliver Claire there as soon as business was taken care of.
If he was going to keep his promise, he’d have to deal with the personal stuff first. And he did. The second they walked into the office, Jack closed the door behind him, thanking the powers that be that Big Jack worked alone.
Without giving her a chance to look around, he tossed his briefcase to the floor, backed Claire up against the wall and kissed her like he’d wanted to kiss her since they’d said goodbye the previous day. He fucked her mouth with his tongue, in a hungry, almost savage kiss that had blood gushing to his cock and Claire gasping erotically.
The small talk in the car hadn’t dampened his passion one jot. If anything, listening to her speak in her just-woke-up voice while trapped in a confined space only fed his desire.
Her sincere thank you had warmed his heart, and her confession that he’d been right about the Glebe shop had done wonders for his confidence.
Perhaps he could make it successfully in this business. Perhaps, if he did consider it a long-term option, he could help the business thrive and grow. Knowing he’d found a good property for the Jones sisters felt fantastic. One day, Jack might even be able to get used to this kind of work.
He’d never love it as much as he loved teaching, never feel a passion for it. But he’d be able to afford a whole lot more. Like settling down and starting a family…an idea that curiously held endless appeal now that he’d met Claire.
His hands worked on her shirt, yanking it from her pants and tugging it up her waist and over her breasts. For a split second he regretted having to release her lips, but the benefits of hauling the shirt over her shoulders far outweighed the temporary absence of her mouth.
“I guess this means we’re doing the personal thing after all,” Claire said as she helped him, shimmying out of the offensive material.
“I’ve been doing the personal thing with you since you walked into the Rose Bay shop.” He sealed their lips back together again.
Jack didn’t leave it at that. Not when his hands itched to hold the full weight of her breasts. Yesterday his access had been limited by her bra. Today, he reached behind her, unclipped the hooks and tossed the bra to the other side of the room.
When his hands found her ample breasts and cupped them, he again had to break the kiss. This time because a ragged moan tore from his throat.
Heavy, soft, round, womanly.
He never wanted to let them go. He’d be content to caress them for eternity. He pulled away from her to admire her semi-nudity. Admire Claire with nothing obstructing his view from the waist up.
Immediately her arms covered her nudity.
Her actions had shocked him yesterday and they shocked him again today. That she was shy and uncomfortable with her magnificent body was a crime. A sin. No woman who looked like her should be inhibited or hide behind her clothes or her arms.
“No.” His voice was harsh. “Don’t cover up. Not from me. Not ever.”
She looked up at him, uncertainty clear in her eyes.
“Claire,” he whispered. “You’re beautiful. Perfect. You have to believe that.”
Her smile was shy. “You make me feel beautiful.”
“Hold on to that feeling. Remember it always. Because whether I’m around or not—and I plan to be around a lot—you should always feel beautiful.”
Her expression changed. From shy to…naughty? Damn, was that mischief he spied in her eyes?
Her next actions confirmed that it was indeed mischief. Instead of covering herself, she cupped her breasts, holding them together, so when Jack dropped his gaze to her chest once more, he was greeted with two plump, glorious globes thrusting up to meet him and two distended nipples peeking back at him.
He buried his head in their fullness, rubbing first one cheek against a breast and then the other against her second breast. When he could restrain himself no longer, he took her nipple in his mouth and sucked, making Claire whimper.
She did not remain idle. No, Claire’s hands were busy.
“It’s unfair that you’re the only one who gets to play,” she told him.
Her fingers were on his button, his fly, and his pants were being pushed over his hips and down his legs. Not just his pants, his boxers as well. He kicked off his shoes and the pants and boxers fell to the floor. He didn’t give them another thought.
How could he, when Claire’s hot fist had closed over his engorged cock? When her thumb dabbed at the slit on his cockhead, rubbing pre-come over it?
“I want to have some fun as well.”
Jesus, skilled as her hand might be, tempting as it was, he wanted more. Not her hand. Not her mouth. He wanted to bury himself in her pussy. In the same sweet, wet, swollen pussy he’d feasted on yesterday.
Without releasing the nipple he currently laved, he imitated Claire’s actions, undoing her pants and shoving them down her legs. Soon as her knickers reached her knees, he swirled his finger over her pussy lips, and nearly fell to his knees when warm liquid spilled onto his hand.
She laughed hoarsely. “What? No Shakespeare today?”
Jack shook his head, distracted. He could hardly remember who Shakespeare was at this point, let alone identify appropriate quotes. “My head’s so full of you right now, Miss Jones, I can’t think of anything else.”
He buried his finger deep, deep inside her channel, making Claire shudder.
“Jack…” Her voice was a breathless whisper, and he could only assume his finger made her forget Shakespeare too.
He buried a second finger inside her, loving the smooth slide, glorying in the spasm that ripped through her inner walls, trapping his fingers for a second.
“Oh. That feels good.”
Fuck, she was wet. So wet. So tempting. He rubbed his thumb over her clit, and his name tore from her throat.
Her fist pumped his dick, clasping him tight in its warm grasp, making him see stars.
He slipped his wet fingers from her pussy, and remembering her response to his teasing yesterday, slid his hand backward, between the full globes of her buttocks, and found her hidden hole, caressing it.
She stopped breathing. Her fist stilled around his erection.
Jack dipped his finger inside her, knuckle deep, and Claire yelped.
The sound resonated through him, sending a fresh surge of blood to his cock.
“Jack,” she moaned, his name a desperate plea. “Please, God. Fuck me now.”
For a split second, Jack blanked. The world went black. Claire’s begging did something to him. Made molten lava rise in his balls. Turned him on in ways he never knew a man could be turned on. The woman who had threatened him with legal action, who had refused to get involved with him in case she had to involve a lawyer in their relationship, now begged.
The statuesque and beautiful Miss Jones wanted him to fuck her? Who was he to refuse? How could he refuse when images of spending the rest of his life giving her pleasure danced through his imagination?
Easing his finger from her hole, he dropped to his knees, scrambled for his pants, found his wallet, and thanked God he had the common sense to keep a condom in there at all times.
In a heartbeat, his dick was covered, and he was back on his feet, his mouth pressed to Claire’s, his hand on her ass, urging her closer.
She spread her thighs, wrapped a leg around one of his, opening herself up to his searching cock. Her hand was on his erection, holding it, rubbing it, steering it towards her.
And then he was there. Poised on the brink, his cockhead brushing her pussy lips, his heart pounding in his ears.
Jesus, he wanted this. Wanted it more than he wanted air. Wanted Claire more than he wanted his next breath. He couldn’t believe he’d known her for three days. Couldn’t seem to remember a time he’d not lusted after her.
“Do it,” she insisted, no hint of the shy, inhibited woman he’d undressed moments ago. This was a confident Claire, a lover who knew what she wanted. Demanded it. “Fuck me.”
She tilted her hips towards him, and Jack was lost. He did the only thing he could have done, the only thing he wanted to do. He thrust upwards and drove inside her, thunderstruck by the ecstasy that surged through him as he seated himself balls deep in her hot channel.
Jesus, fuck. Even through the condom, her heat assaulted his senses. She was tight. So fucking tight, her pussy squeezing his cock. Clutching it in a loving grasp that blew his mind and made him want to come there and then.
Claire showed him no mercy, gave him no time to recover. She rocked her hips back, sliding right off his cock, leaving the tip inside her then lunged back down, enveloping him once more.
“Not gonna last, beautiful,” he gasped. “Not even gonna make a minute if you keep on like that.”
“Don’t need…stamina, my gorgeous…giant.” Her voice was as breathless as his. “Need you to fuck me.”
There was no holding back after that. No going slow. Jack grasped her hips, loving their curves and feeling undying gratitude for their size and sturdiness. He could hold on for dear life as he drove into her.
And drive into her he did, propelling his cock inside her, plunging in deep and pulling back with uncontrolled momentum—a new experience for him, a freedom he’d never had with other women.
She met him stroke for stroke, matching his eagerness and his strength, crying out as he filled her to the max and complaining as he withdrew. She used his body to balance her own, hanging on to him so her leg didn’t slip as she rocked against him.
Like he’d imagined her doing that first morning they’d met, she dug her nails into his back, scratching at his flesh. He relished the sting, loved the burn. The pain only increased his pleasure, and he drove into her harder, faster.
Jack didn’t restrain himself. He didn’t temper his strokes for fear of causing her injury with his size. She was more than his equal, more than capable of taking whatever he gave, and giving it back in equal measure. He slammed into her repeatedly, his cock surging as deep inside her as he could get.
It didn’t last long. Couldn’t last long. Impossible to sustain this kind of pressure.
Jack’s balls constricted. Come bubbled within. His cock was stiff as a fucking pole, and he was surrounded by heaven.
“Gonna come, Claire,” he warned, wishing he could hold out until she reached her peak, but realizing he was incapable of staving off the inevitable. “Can’t hold back.”
“Come,” she moaned. “Do it. Come.”
That was all it took. Jack plunged into her twice more and lost control. He climaxed, like she insisted, his orgasm tearing through his shaft, semen spurting from his cock.
And as he exploded inside her, she came apart around him. Her inner muscles clamped down on his pulsing shaft, a tight glove holding him, milking him, making him come even harder.
He’d never experienced such a powerful orgasm. Never felt dizzy after sex.
But by the time his breathing began to normalize, his heart slowed to a sprint and his cock shrunk down to half its size, Jack was giddy. High. Intoxicated by his Amazonian beauty.
And if truth be told, already more than a little in love with her.