Sleeping With the Enemy Read online

  She’d have loved a cup of tea right then, but she wanted to be alone with her schizophrenic thoughts even more. Bridgett would make do with a bottle of water and a bath before bed. “Whatever you have will be perfect. Thank you.”

  When Josie left, Bridgett grabbed her toiletries bag from her suitcase, suddenly remembering Jay’s thoughtfulness in buying her a toothbrush the night before. And the tea. That was twice he’d remembered to let his staff know about her preference for tea over coffee. She shook her head fiercely as she reached for the fluffy robe. He wanted her. Jay had made that clear numerous times this past week. These weren’t small gestures from a man who cared about her heart. It was the rest of her body he was after.

  Ten minutes later, having lit the numerous votive candles surrounding the soaking tub, she sank into the warm bubbly water, rested her head back against the neck roll, and closed her eyes. It had already been a twenty-hour day—and she’d felt every minute of it. The sound of a cork leaving a bottle brought her back to her senses.

  “You’re awake.” Jay stood at one end of the bathroom where he poured white wine into a glass.

  “I most certainly am,” she hissed. “And have you ever heard of knocking?”

  Ignoring her, he ambled over to the tub handing her the glass. “Try it. I’m eager to get your opinion.”

  “Jay! Do you accost all your guests this way?”

  He had the audacity to wink at her. “Not the men.” Jay pushed the glass farther toward her. “Take it, Bridgett. I think you’ll like it.”

  Fuming, she took the wine from his outstretched hand. “Fine, but only if you promise to leave.”

  With a sly grin, he poured himself a glass and leaned a hip against one of the marble countertops, in no hurry to quit the room. Still dressed in his jeans and T-shirt, he’d removed his work boots. The image of Jay standing in his bare feet a yard away from where she sat naked in the soapy water felt very intimate. And erotic. She wanted to hurl the wine at him.

  “How’s your sister,” he asked. The sincerity in his voice confused her already frustrated body even more.

  Bridgett sighed. “It’ll be a bumpy ride, but she’ll be fine.” Begrudgingly she took a sip of wine, hoping it would speed his exit. The white was cool and crisp on her tongue. Its full-bodied flavor was fruity and refreshingly creamy when she swallowed. “Pinot grigio,” she murmured as her eyes slid closed again. The wine had been their favorite all those years ago. “It’s very good,” she said before taking another sip.

  “Hmm,” he agreed. “This is our initial foray in producing the Alsace style. Our first few years, we concentrated on the lighter, less aromatic, lower-alcohol pinots. They’re extremely popular here in the United States. But I wanted the richer, more alcoholic version, like the French drink. I think with some decent promotion, it can be just as trendy as the other pinots.”

  Bridgett glared at him. “So you can get women drunk in the bathtub and seduce them?”

  He laughed, damn him. “I think we proved this morning that I don’t have to get you drunk.” Setting down his wineglass, he reached over his shoulder and pulled his shirt off in one fluid motion.

  She hid her gasp behind another sip of the delicious wine. “You are not getting into this tub with me,” she declared even though her thighs trembled at the prospect. The tub was large enough to accommodate them both comfortably.

  “I’ve been out in the field for the last several hours,” he said. “I don’t think you’d appreciate my sweaty body in the tub with you.”

  Bridgett tried to summon up some gratitude that he wasn’t going to be joining her bath, but the effort became short-lived when she saw him head for the glass enclosure housing the large massage shower.

  “What are you doing?” she asked.

  He glanced over his shoulder at her. “Again with the obvious questions, counselor?”

  “Go take a shower in your own bathroom, Jay.” Realization hit her as soon as the words left her mouth. This was his bathroom. Double damn. She watched as his mouth turned up in a seductive, assured grin. “I’m not sleeping with you in that bed,” she said, her voice hoarse. She told herself the disappointment she felt was only because she wouldn’t be sleeping in the beautiful bedroom.

  “Finish your bath and your wine, Bridgett. We can negotiate the sleeping arrangements after my shower.” He was infuriatingly arrogant.

  “That is so not gonna—”

  She was interrupted by a loud crash from somewhere outside the open veranda door. Jay moved quickly through the bedroom as Bridgett heard laugher coming from outside—both a woman’s and a man’s. A string of profanity rolled off Jay’s lips as he sprinted out of the bedroom calling for his assistant, Lincoln.

  Bridgett climbed out of the tub and pulled on the robe, tying it securely at her waist just as more commotion from outside drifted through the open door. She made her way outside onto the terrace where she could see a gorgeous pool lit up by dim lights. Suddenly Jay appeared to tackle a man standing in the shadows. A woman screamed.

  “Jay! Stop it! You’ll hurt him!”

  She cringed as she heard some grunting and the sound of fist meeting bone before Linc’s voice entered the fray.

  “Boss, don’t kill him. Let the cops handle this.”

  “Kill him? Cops?” The woman’s voice was shrill in the dark night. “Jay, leave him alone! I invited him here.”

  The skirmish had stopped. Bridgett could hear the heavy breathing of both men.

  “Does he have the right to be here, Charlie?” Jay asked, his tone lethal. “Does he?”

  Bridgett didn’t understand Jay’s question or the charged silence that followed.

  “No!” Charlie finally yelled, the word coming out on a defeated-sounding sob.

  She heard hushed voices and the sound of shoes crunching on the gravel.

  “Do you really think drinking is wise right now, Charlie?” Jay eventually asked.

  “For your information, jerk-off, I wasn’t drinking. I was just giving Blaine a tasting.”

  Jay muttered something Bridgett had trouble deciphering due to the distance. It was something about the vineyard being private property.

  “Oh, so what you’re saying is that my friends aren’t welcome here,” Charlie shouted. “I should have just gone to Carmel to my own house. I don’t need you playing chaperone for me or my baby!”

  Oh my.

  • • •

  “What was I supposed to think, Charlie?” Jay stood with his tender fists clenched on his hips, staring down his sister. Tears of rage were streaming down her cheeks. “There was a strange guy drinking my wine beside my pool at night.”

  “Oh, come on, Jay,” Charlie cried. “You’ve been angling to punch some guy out about my pregnancy since the moment I told you. Blaine just happened to be in the right place at the right time.”

  “No, he was in the wrong place. Why is he here? Did he follow you from Baltimore?” Jay’s head was aching as badly as his fists right now. “Did you ask him to? If he’s not the father, then who is he to you? The guy’s a freaking weed dealer, Charlie.”

  “That’s not fair! He doesn’t actually sell the stuff himself.”

  Jay didn’t bother responding to her. If the dickhead sold marijuana—even legally—he most likely used it and he didn’t want to hear Charlie defend Blaine with more lies. Nor did he want his unborn niece or nephew exposed to drugs. “I may not know a lot about prenatal care, but I’m pretty sure cannabis isn’t on the recommended diet.”

  Charlie staggered back as though he’d actually hit her, too.

  Linc emerged from the shadows. “He won’t be back.”

  “Ohmigod! What did you do to him?” Charlie pulled out her cell phone, presumably to call Blaine the Pain.

  “Go to bed, Charlie,” Jay said as he began walking back toward the house. “You
need your rest.”

  “You’re a bastard, you know that? And I’m not going to bed! I am so not sleeping in this house.” Charlie all but stomped her foot. “I’m leaving.”

  Jay’s gut told him she wouldn’t leave. Charlie had sought him out for some reason. His instincts told him to wait her out. Hell, it was likely his little sister didn’t even know the reason she was here herself yet. But she wouldn’t take off. Of that he was reasonably sure. Calling her bluff, he continued on toward the house, exchanging a quick glance with Linc. By some slim chance Jay was wrong, he’d have his assistant keep tabs on Charlie. Linc let out an exasperated sigh before nodding his acquiescence to Jay’s nonverbal order.

  When he made it back to his suite, he was relieved to see that Bridgett hadn’t decamped to another room in the house. Wrapped in the fluffy bathrobe, she was seated in one of the wingback chairs with her bare feet tucked beneath her, her glass of wine in her hand. Jay didn’t bother speaking—he had no doubt Bridgett had overheard everything. Instead he headed directly for the bathroom and that shower he needed. He was rinsing his bruised knuckles under cold water when she followed him in with a towel filled with ice.

  Taking his right hand between her two smaller ones, she laid the ice pack over top. She kept her eyes on her task while she spoke. “So, Princess Charlotte is pregnant.”

  “So she says.”

  It was the wrong thing to say and Jay knew it. But the pain from her lie all those years ago still burned. When Bridgett’s eyes rose to meet his, they were wide with incredulous fury. Jay flinched when she squeezed the ice over his sore knuckles.

  “You’re sister’s right—you are a bastard.”

  She started to walk away, but Jay reached out and grabbed the belt of the robe and pulled her against him. “I must be, because after everything that happened that summer, I still want you.”

  Her fists found his chest and she began to pummel him. “I hate you. I hate this beautiful house. This vineyard. It’s everything we dreamed of. And you have it. Without me.”

  Jay let her pound on him, glad that she didn’t pack much of a punch. She was going to think he was an even bigger bastard after he spoke. “If you want it, it’s yours, Bridgett. The house. The vineyard. All of it.”

  “What I want is for you to believe me,” she whispered.

  He wasn’t sure what Bridgett meant by her plea but he was sure he’d never believe or trust her with his heart again. But it seemed that little technicality didn’t matter to the parts of his body that wanted her. “Whether I believe you or not doesn’t matter anymore.”

  Tears spilled out of her sad eyes. Jay pressed a finger to her lips to keep her from responding. He was done talking. “This is all that matters,” he said, replacing his finger with his lips.

  She smelled like the floral bath soap Josie left out for guests. Beneath his tongue, her skin was salty from the tears she’d been shedding. Not wanting to be reminded of her anger or sadness any longer, he urged her mouth open with his own, tasting the creamy, crisp pinot grigio on her tongue as his swept over it. He groaned when her nails scraped along the bare skin of his chest. She’d likely meant for it to hurt him but instead her hands were turning him on even more.

  He let her break the kiss but he kept his arms loosely wrapped around her. “I hate you,” she whispered as her fist made contact with his chest again.

  Jay slid a hand beneath the robe to palm her round ass. She sucked in a breath when his finger traced her wet seam. “I can feel how much you hate me.”

  She head-butted him in the chest. “That doesn’t mean anything.”

  “It means we’re good together, Bridgett,” he breathed against her ear as his finger explored a little deeper. “You can come to the vineyard whenever you want. Live here. It doesn’t matter to me.” She sighed and her body arched against his. “I don’t care if you hate me; I’ll give you this”—he flicked his finger inside of her—“morning, noon, and night if that’s what you want.”

  Bridgett nipped at his chest and Jay was having trouble keeping his pants on. He needed to hurry the negotiations along. “Neither of our hearts ever has to be in play.” She stilled against him and Jay wondered if he’d taken it too far. Losing wasn’t an option, though, so he stroked again, lingering at the spot that always made her come unglued. “Take what I’m offering, Bridgett. You know you want to.”

  She glanced up then and her gray eyes were dark and heavy. “We can’t be those two people again, can we?”

  Something squeezed in his chest but he refused to acknowledge it. “No. Never. They were too innocent to survive.” He leaned down and let his lips hover over hers. “This is what we’re left with, Bridgett. Take it.”

  He kissed her then, his hands leaving her body to tangle in her hair, damp on the ends from her bath. Her own arms stretched up over his shoulders in compliance, allowing him to delve deeper into her mouth. Jay was done with negotiating with his words; it was time to use his body to prove his point. With his leg, he pushed her robe open and maneuvered her so she was riding his jean-clad thigh. He felt her moan at the back of her throat and he continued his conquest of her mouth while she rocked over him.

  His lips left hers to explore her neck as he pushed the robe off her shoulders.

  “Jay,” she whispered when his fingers found her bare breasts. “Please.”

  He bent her over his outstretched arm and his mouth hovered over her breasts. “Please what, Bridgett? Tell me what you want.”

  Her fingers dug into his shoulders and she released a throaty sigh when he blew on her firm nipple. “I want . . .”

  Jay let his tongue play with her areola. “What do you want, Bridgett?” he demanded. His own arousal was painful and Jay was desperate to get her into his bed. But he found that he was even more desperate to have her agree to his terms. “Say it.”

  “I want . . . I want you.” She thrust against his thigh when his mouth closed around her other nipple. “Please.”

  “As long as you know you won’t get all of me, Bridgett.” He was breathing heavy now as lust rolled through him.

  “Damn it, Jay,” she cried. “Stop teasing.”

  Jay scooped her up into his arms and carried her to his bed. Shucking his jeans, he slowly crawled over her flushed body, letting his fingers, his lips, and his tongue touch all the places that were once so familiar to him until Bridgett was writhing beneath him.

  “In a hurry, counselor?”

  Her fingers dug into his skull when he settled between her legs, his shoulders pressing them wide. His lips trailed over the familiar tiny birthmark on the inside of her left thigh before his tongue found her entrance. He’d wanted to taste her this morning, but their hookup had been frantic—not to mention incredibly arousing—and he never got the chance. Now he took his time using his mouth to slowly let the pleasure build within her. But apparently slow wasn’t on Bridgett’s agenda today because, like this morning, she came in a rush, her body arching beneath his mouth.

  Jay kissed his way along her smooth inner thighs, giving her a moment to relax, but she continued to fidget. He smiled against her skin before going in for seconds. This time he’d make her relax. Bridgett gasped as he teased her sweet spot, bringing her close and then backing off again and again. Her hands clutched at the blankets and she moaned his name before he finally set her free. This time she collapsed onto the mattress, sated and still.

  Bridgett’s eyes were closed when he braced himself on his forearms above her, and Jay felt a measure of relief. That summer, she had always held him spellbound when they’d made love, her eyes wide-open, giving him a window to her soul. Everything she felt and desired, she let him see. It was heady and humbling all at the same time. But he didn’t want that connection tonight—or any night. What they shared from now on would be strictly carnal in nature. This was about sex and enjoying each other’s bodies. Nothing more.
r />   Her fingers suddenly wrapped around him, the feel of her not-so-gentle stroking forcing his own eyes closed. Jay nuzzled her neck as Bridgett’s hand worked him over, bringing him too close to the edge. Nipping her shoulder, he sat back on his heels. He needn’t have worried about seeing that young innocent girl again because the woman staring at him beneath her half-open eyelids was no innocent. She knew exactly what she was doing when she wrapped both hands around him.

  Jay’s breath caught in his lungs at the picture she presented spread out beneath him, her aroused body flushed from head to toe. Grabbing both her wrists, he reluctantly pulled her hands off his now painful arousal and placed each hand beside her head. Her eyes were wide-open now, daring him to look away but, damn it, he couldn’t do it. She watched silently, her chin set at that belligerent angle that she never used to have, as he rolled the condom on.

  Leaning back over her, he took her lips in a deep, plundering kiss. Jay’s tongue tangled with hers as he slowly slid inside her. Her warmth enveloped him and it felt so good he held himself still and groaned in pleasure. Bridgett wrapped her legs around him, sliding the arch of one foot over his ass before she linked her feet together on his lower back. She sought out his hands and intertwined her fingers with his as he began to move in and out of her. Sucking on his tongue, she rolled her hips to allow him deeper access. Jay couldn’t take it any longer. He set a vigorous pace that was rough, erotic, and nothing like the way he’d ever treated Bridgett that summer. She responded with soft sounds of encouragement while their bodies moved as one. Jay felt her tightening around him just as she pulled her mouth from his.

  “Oh God, Jay,” she breathed. Her neck arched back while a satisfied cry escaped her throat.

  Jay couldn’t hold on any longer, and as he followed her over the edge, his eyes flew open and locked with hers, wide and damp. He swore.