Free Sandra Hill - [Jinx] by Pearl Jinx

. .
if
, we’ll have to think of a new marriage name,” she mused. In the past, they’d given names to their four marriages: the Sappy Marriage, the Cowboy Marriage, the Tequila Marriage, and the Insanity Marriage.
    “The Baby Marriage,” he offered tentatively.
    “No. If we get married again, I don’t want it to be because of the baby.”
    He nodded, then his eyes brightened. “I know. The Forever Marriage.”
    It was her eyes that filled with tears then. “Is it any wonder that I love you?”
    “Nope.”
    And then they christened their unborn baby with, what else? A bubble bath.
    Oh, brother! . . .
    There were freckles on Claire’s shoulders and arms.
    Holy freakin’ hell!
    How he’d missed them earlier today in that jogging bra was a miracle. There weren’t a lot of them. But he was having a hard time wondering if they were all over her body and whether she was up for a game of connect-the-dots.
    Not!
    Caleb gave himself a mental thwap for such errant thoughts. He had a serious case of lust overload. Something had to be done about it, or the Pearl Project would be down the toilet before it even began.
    And he didn’t mean jacking off by himself.
    “You!” he said, pointing to the object of his half-erection. “Outside. Now.”
    Everyone was standing around following the meeting, and Claire’s head shot up with surprise from where she was leaning down to peer at one of the maps. Luckily, she was the only one who heard him. “What? Me?” She turned to look behind her.
    “Yeah, you, Tinkerbell.”
    “You can’t be serious if you think I would obey that kind of order.”
    He inhaled, then exhaled with a whoosh, trying to tamp down his temper, and other things. “Would you please come outside, Claire? I’d like to talk to you in private.”
    “No.”
    “No?” He could feel the vein in his forehead pop out, just like it did whenever he was about to lose control, which he would not allow. He grabbed her hand and pulled her forcibly through the library door, down the corridor leading to the kitchen, then out the back door. She dragged her feet the entire way, which was no problem for him, being bigger and stronger. If he didn’t know better, he would think she was stifling a laugh.
    They passed LeDeux and Famosa on the way.
    “You Yankees, ya got no finesse,” he heard LeDeux say to Famosa, and the Cuban responded, “You wouldn’t know finesse if it bit you in your redneck butt.”
    “Let’s go into town. See if we can find some action.”
    “Hell, no! I’m hitting the sack early.”
    “
Mon Dieu!
It’s only nine o’clock! You forget to bring your Viagra with you, old man?”
    “Ronnie and Jake are going to bed, too.”
    “Earth to clueless Yankee.
Bed
is the operative word with them. You need a course in good ol’ Cajun sex education.”
    “You’re as funny as jock itch.”
    “Good one. Ya cain’t expect to get rode if ya don’t enter the rodeo.”
    “I swear, you are as subtle as a shovelful of shit, LeDeux.”
    “Well, you ain’t got no couth, and that’s the truth. Hey, I made a rhyme.”
    Once Caleb and Claire were out on the patio, which was dark, except for a small kitchen lamp filtering light through the French doors, he let loose her hand.
    “Have you lost your mind?”
    “Probably.” He ran the fingers of both hands through his hair and would have pulled if it wasn’t so short. Then he looked at her, which was a mistake.
    She looked unbelievable in that dress that matched her eyes and left bare her arms up to her freckled shoulders and her legs down her freckled calves. The dress shouldn’t have been sexy, but to him it shouted, “Peel me like a green banana.”
    “Listen, I’ve been around the block so many times it would make you dizzy. I never was much of a player, and I definitely don’t want to play games now.”
    “Who invited you to play games?”
    “You did.”
    “I beg your pardon.”
    “You don’t call your ticking-clock comment playing