Blood in the Water(54)

“I don’t blame you.” They were in complete agreement about Brady’s safety.

“When you come home, can we have our Disney day, Aunt Jane?”

“Absolutely. I’m sorry I had to break a promise to you. Tell you what, we’ll do a movie marathon. I’ll make popcorn, and you can pick the movies.”

“I want to see Tangled again.” It was Brady’s current favorite movie. For a few months, she’d gone through a Frozen phase and Brave before that. “I love when she hits Flynn with the frying pan.”

“Me too.” Jane mouthed a thank you to her friend.

“Anytime.” Georgia kissed Brady’s cheek and set her down again. “Now, we should be heading home, and you’ve got a busy night ahead of you.” She raised an admonishing finger. “Don’t you dare let the fancy room go to waste.”

And then Georgia and Brady were gone.

Leaving Jane to fret about staying the night in a hotel room with Byron.





Chapter Twelve



An hour later, after she and Byron had eaten the takeout he’d brought back to the room, they sat in a somewhat comfortable silence. He’d insisted on lighting every single candle in the room, which gave the space an unnervingly warm glow, almost a sparkle. Combined with the lace and lingering smell of roses, the bedroom had a dreamy, sensual aura.

And it wasn’t…too horrible.

Byron studied her over the rim of his whiskey glass. Something was up. He’d come back with a bottle of Pappy Van Winkle whiskey. She’d refused a drink when he’d offered her some, even though it sounded good earlier and looked even better. She had to keep her wits about her.

Jane was trying to get up the nerve to change into a pair of yoga pants and a t-shirt she’d retrieved from her luggage. They were neatly folded on the chair across the room. Being dressed in comfortable clothes around him seemed like a bad idea, an invitation of sorts.

Although, she didn’t know why she bothered dressing for bed. Getting any sleep tonight was off the menu.

“We’re gonna get more personal tonight.”

More personal? She’d already shared too much with him.

“Tell me about your first time.”

The question came flying out of nowhere.

“The first time I did what?”

“Had sexual relations.” His eyes danced at the formal term. “Made love.”

Perhaps, she should’ve had the whiskey. Talking to him was so much easier when she was drunk.

“Come on, Jane, spill. I want to know you even better. Besides, this’ll make our ruse easier for people to believe.”

“Speaking of, this fake relationship is moving way too fast for me. Why’d you pick a that ruse anyway?” He could’ve gone with the brother and sister option.

“Seemed like the thing to do at the time.” He smirked. “Come on, out with it.”

This had to be some sort of ploy, a seduction.

“Why don’t we talk about you instead?”

“I asked you first.” Jane doubted Byron confided in anyone. Someone like him was bound to have dark and dangerous secrets.

They stared at one another for the longest time as she hesitated.

Jane was reluctant to part with such an intimate tale, but the silence was overwhelming, a giant vacuum in the room swallowing up what little peace of mind she had.

“Okay, fine.” Jane clenched her jaw. “It happened my sophomore year of high school. There was another boy, like me. He had Asperger’s and we were friendly, but not boyfriend and girlfriend.”

“Why not?”

“I was focused on my school work and so was he, but we were curious. No point in doing something if you aren’t going to do it well.”

“My feelin’s exactly.” Byron saluted her with his glass. “And I always get the job done.”

“Anyway, I’d been checking out books from the public library on lovemaking.” Jane lifted her chin. “I needed someone to conduct experiments with.”

The sex education class she’d had in high school was pointless and skipped all the important information, so she’d investigated on her own.

“So he was your lab partner?”

“I suppose so.”

“Find out anything interestin’?”

Jane thought about it a moment. “Unlike the penis, which is multifunctional, the clitoris has only one purpose—pleasure.”

His mouth fell open, but he didn’t speak.

“It has many more nerve endings, which makes it a superior organ in my opinion. I was able to induce several orgasms in a row, but my ‘lab partner,’ as you put it, only managed three.”

“You don’t say.” Byron had a silly sort of smile on his face. “And did this lucky young man pleasure you?”