23:Concession

August 12

Pulling his cap down far enough for the brim to touch touch the tops of his sunglasses, Jon dug his heels into the sand and laced his fingers together over his stomach.  This was what mornings were made for. 

There was a cool breeze sweeping in with the flow of the tide, the sun was up but not high enough in the sky to be scorching and the sand hadn’t heated to the temperature of brimstone.  With a travel mug of coffee buried in the sand beside his chair, he couldn’t ask for better surroundings. 

“So you gonna tell me what the deal is with you and the lawyer?”  It was Matt who was plunking his narrow ass and broad shoulders next to Jon this morning.  Tony and his family had opted for a late breakfast and the pool today.

He supposed he could ask for better company – or at least less nosy company.  His brothers were becoming as intrusive as Lilah, who had asked him more-or-less the same question at dinner last night.  Jon had lied through his teeth saying he tolerated the counselor at the marina for the sake of his kids, even knowing that she would be joining him a short time later. 

Matt was going to be served the same story, but it was closer to the truth this morning. 

The counselor was smoking hot and their bodies were cut from the same sexual fabric, but she had personality issues that he had trouble overlooking.  Her argumentative nature, vindictiveness, incessant sarcasm were present a hell of a lot more than the sliver of her that he actually liked.  Craved.  It required so much exertion to drag Chiara out of Charlie’s baggage that he wasn’t sure the payoff was substantial enough.

That shit last night wore on his nerves.  It wasn’t that he minded the clash of wills in the pool.  Hell, that was part of what got him off. 

No, it was the fact that when he’d actually had a legitimate – considerate – interest in prolonging their… thing, she acted like he was some twisted fuck who was setting her up for an episode of Punk’d.  He hadn’t been into that stuff in high school.  At fifty-three, he had less than zero interest in such juvenile retribution.  Her attraction to him pissed the counselor off enough for him to feel vindicated, but she had turned into a shrew over the whole damn thing.

Jon was pretty sure he’d be single for the rest of his life.

“There is no deal,” he told his brother with boredom.  “Her boys are friends with mine and I’m tolerating her for the duration of their stay.”

“Man, you know I have mad respect for you, but show a little in return.  You weren’t exactly quiet in the pool last night.”

Picking up his coffee with a silent sigh, he let the bitterness that coated his tongue slide down his throat instead of coming out his mouth.  “Anybody else know?”

“No.  Tony was busy screwing Lilah so I was outside smoking by myself.” 

“You shoulda been gettin’ laid, too,” he muttered while pushing the coffee cup back into the sand. 

This turn of events didn’t make him particularly happy.  His relationship – for lack of a better word – with the counselor wasn’t on his list of conversation starters and he didn’t want it on anybody else’s either.  If Matt knew, it was only a matter of time before Des and Tony knew, and then…

He groaned to himself as a stabbing pain started in his right eye.

Motherfucking Lilah.

She was going to paint hearts and roses around this damn thing, turn it into one of those stupid paperback romances that she was addicted to and sign her name as the author because she invited the heroine to dinner. 

This was not a good day, and he now found the cancellation of his evening plans regretful.  At least he ended up with an orgasm after the counselor rode roughshod over him.  With Lilah all he could do was grin and bear it. 

“So…”  After the long silence, Matt’s hand cycled in the air, trying to draw out more information.  “You seein’ her or what?”

“Or what,” he stated shortly before pointing a finger toward his brother.  “Listen, I will give you an extra bonus next tour if you to keep this shit quiet.  I’ll go a step further and say that if Kentucky finds out about this, you’re doing that entire as community service work.”

“Okay, okay!”  Big, beefy palms lifted in mock surrender.  “I get it.  You don’t have to be a dick and play the paycheck card.  Jesus.  I think that earns me the right know how you went from hating her to screwing her, though.”

He could work her out of his system if he knew that very valuable secret of the universe.  Even after having her twice, his body still craved what she gave him, so he could only assume that exposure wouldn’t make him immune.  Unless he had to actually overdose before the immunity kicked in?   If she wasn’t such a monumental pain in the ass, he would be sorely tempted to reconsider that all-nighter.

He irritably willed his stirring dick to lie down and take a damn nap.

“Beats the hell out of me.  One minute we’re yelling at each other, the next my pants are around my ankles and I’ve got her pinned to the guest house wall.”

“Ha!  I knew you smelled like pussy that night!” he crowed as only a little brother could when proven right.

“Jesus.  You make me as nuts as she does.”

“Nuts isn’t always a bad thing.”

His bark of laughter was loud in the relative quiet of the beach this morning.  “Couldn’t prove it by me.”

“Hey.”  Matt nodded his head toward the shoreline.  “Isn’t that her?”

Tracing his brother’s line of sight, Jon immediately recognized the feminine shape with the masculine name and, if he hadn’t, the dog gave it away.  The dog who was trotting toward him at this very moment.

“Yeah, and her damn dog.”

Rather than chasing after the little beast today, he waited until her stubby legs had scaled the miniature sand dunes and brought her to his side. 

“Hey, Nana,” he greeted the mutt that was actually pretty cute, and scratched her behind the ears.  “You running rogue commando again today?  If I lived with her, I’d try and escape every chance I got, too.”

Matt’s low chuckle rumbled beside him.  “You know what they say about there being a thin line between love and hate, right?”

“Not a fucking chance,” he swore under his breath as the dog’s mistress joined them.  “Counselor.  Still struggling with that leash law thing, I see.”

Pushing her hands into the pockets of shorts that made her look as if she was going on safari, she surprised him by not snapping at him with her usually witty repartee.  Both her expression and tone were neutral when saying, “She likes you.  I figured she’d find you easier than I could.  Good morning, Matt.  Jon.”

The animal in question put her front paws on his thigh, showing every intention of climbing into his lap, so he saved her the trouble of jumping and hoisted her up.  “Why are you looking?”

Oversized sunglasses were pushed to the top of her head, and Charlie’s eyes grazed over Matt before shifting to Jon.  “I have a legal matter I’d like to discuss, if I could have a moment of your time?”

Innocent words, yet they caused the hackles on his neck to rise.  If she was going to bring up that fucking divorce settlement again, he would have his bodyguard brother shoot her on the spot.  No questions asked. 

You think he’s packing something besides his dick in his swim trunks, moron?

As he’d told Matt just moments ago, she made him crazy.

Mentally stuffing down the lawyer-induced psychosis, he blandly agreed, “Yeah, sure.  Matty, you mind?”

“Nah.”  The big man lithely pushed to his feet.  “I need to get a couple miles in, anyway.  See ya, Charlie.”

“’See ya, Matt.”  She tracked his departure to the water’s edge before turning to speak to Jon again.  “Do you mind if I sit?”

Side by side was a far less confrontational position than face to face.  Anything that reduced the chance of a confrontation with her on this very public beach was a good thing from where he sat.  He might have a stroke, but he wouldn’t kill her.

“Help yourself.”

She dropped into the chair that his brother had just vacated and he could make out the outline of her bra beneath yet another light-hued tank top.  This form-hugging model was yellow and not far removed from the tan shorts.  As before, she was barefoot and her painted toes stretched out to kick at the sand. 

“You said something about a legal matter?” he prompted tightly, braced for the worst.

“I did.”  Sliding a hand into her pocket, she withdrew a folded sheet of paper and extended it to him.  “Your non-disclosure.  I signed and backdated it.”

Accepting that which had been the trigger on a very sexy gun last night, Jon was stunned.  When he walked out of the Airstream last night, it wouldn’t have surprised him if she’d taken a match to it and incinerated his trailer.  For her to actually sign it and seek him out to personally deliver it was an impressive turn around.

“Thank you.” 

She nodded silently and proceeded to burrow her toes deep into the beach surface, only to lift them out and allow the grains of sand slide away as though they passed through an hourglass.  Then she used the sole of her foot to smooth out the resulting trench and started all over again.

Content that she hadn’t come to start some kind of verbal brawl with him, he petted the dog and watched that routine from start to finish three separate times without comment.  When her toes dug in for the fourth time, though, he finally asked, “Was there something else?”

“Yes, actually.  I was just trying to convince myself that I’m on the verge of starvation and that the crow I’m about to eat will taste as good as my mother’s lasagna.”

His hand stilled on the dog’s coat at the admission.  The counselor planned to eat crow?  With him?  Was the apocalypse on the horizon?  Something of equally epic proportion must be about to happen if she’d not only come to give him the paper, but to eat crow in the same sitting.

Unhappy that he was no longer lavishing attention on her, Nana twisted around to nudge at Jon’s hand and swipe at it with her tongue.  He took the hint and sifted his fingers through her sandy colored fur while waiting for Charlie to continue with that crow thing.

“You’re not going to ask, huh?”  Her sunglasses still sat on top of her head so when she turned her eyes on him, her internal struggle was visible. 

“Hadn’t planned to.  I figure if you’re still sitting here, you’ll eventually say what you came to say.”

She laughed humorlessly.  “God forbid one of us make something easy on the other.”

That was pretty accurate from his point of view, so it didn’t require anything further from him.  He continued to alternate between petting and scratching the little dog. 

“What I came to say – ask – is about that proposal of yours,” she finally blurted.  “If I try and muzzle my inner bitch, you still interested in that all-nighter?”

Well, I’ll be damned.

That was a pretty frigging big concession.  Not that he thought anybody could fully muzzle that bitch, but the fact that she offered to try was noteworthy.  Besides, the conflict between them fed the sexual tension so he didn’t necessarily want to completely do away with it, anyway. 

“I could do that,” he agreed evenly, spontaneously deciding that the outlook on his bad day had just improved significantly.  Any day that ended hot, naked and sweaty with the smell of sex in the air couldn’t be considered a bad one.  “Text me the address and be ready at five.”