12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

~ James ~

" W hat's your game plan when we hit San Juan? I don't want you following me, you know."

I raised a brow at her and wanted to throw my glass of water at her. She grinned, like the little devil she was.

"I believe you're following me. I tell you to go away, but you don't listen." Her eyes narrowed. "In that regard, you do remind me even more of the Wicked Witch. You don't know when you're not wanted."

I fought the grin as her teeth clashed together. She was so much fun to poke. And really, seeing her like this made my dick all the harder. Not that I wasn't hard most of the time when I was around her.

Even though we had been at the sea for the last two days as we took a slow roll down to San Juan, we hadn't left each other's side. Or bed. The sex was that mind-blowing.

I can't say my partner count was high, but I could say my experience was. I loved trying new things, finding things I liked or didn't. But damn, she had me thinking about new things and that was saying something.

Like morning blow jobs. Weren't always my favorite thing. But she did it with such gusto and enjoyed it; I would never deny her that. Sadly, I wasn't sure I wanted to deny myself that either.

"Shut up, while you're ahead, James!" she uttered through her clenched teeth, and I just shrugged.

"You know, Princess, you can't walk away. You're addicted to all the pleasure I can give you."

"Eh, that's where you're wrong. See, the pleasure I find from you, I can get from a toy, myself, or another man."

That had me clenching the arms of the chair, which she easily noticed, and grinned at.

"Don't you fucking dare talk about other men."

"Not my boss," she said, waving her hand.

I slowly laughed as I stood. She glanced up at me and then gasped as I hauled her over my shoulder, firefighter style, and smacked her ass. Making the fake gasp she uttered turn into a moan.

"I'm your boss when I want to be. And I'm going to fuck that attitude right out of you."

"It's so breathtaking out here in the Caribbean. I could seriously own some land."

"I actually have a buddy who does. He's out in Port Au Prince. I told him we were docking for the day and he's coming to pick me up. I've been out a few times, and I love it. Damn backyard is a private beach."

"Does he need a house sitter?"

I chuckled at her eagerness.

"Get in line. I haven't even had the pleasure yet."

"I have nothing booked for that day. Might just stay on the boat. I knew, though, when I saw San Juan, that this class was going to be a must. It's rum! How can you say no to a mixing class."

"You know, Addison Howser, someone might peg you for an alcoholic or something."

"Nah, just a woman who knows what she likes and knows how to have a good time." She tossed a wink my way and I swear my dick jumped up to join the party.

Down boy, not the time.

For him, and my one-track mind these days, it was the time. It was always the time. There was just something I couldn't put my finger on about this woman that captured my attention like no one had before. And I wasn't keen on the thought of her walking away. Either off this boat or into a courtroom where she was bound to become my enemy.

So, where did that leave me? That was a question I couldn't answer, or that I was afraid to answer. Of course, I did the next best thing; I ignored it.

"After this awesome class where I get to learn more drinks that have rum, any plans?"

"Actually, there is. But it's a surprise, so I can't share it yet."

I couldn't help the grin as she frowned. She really didn't like being in control and it was fun not only to tease her but to see her freak out over that little thing. Again, why I enjoyed teasing her, I wasn't certain.

"I'm not keen on surprises."

"Oh, believe me, Addi, I'm well aware of that."

We walked into Casa Bacardi, where we were told to pair up and pick a table. That each one had a different drink they would be making, and then we would be switching. As the instructor walked around, checking on the teams, he explained a little bit of the rum process and why San Juan had such an outgoing of the liquor. And we were told that once we were done, we not only got to try our drinks but got to have some rum cake. Talk about a drunken fun date!

"This was the best," I watched as Addi hiccupped before she giggled, only to pick up her sentence again, "time ever! Free drinks."

"Let's go sober you up." I took her arm and led her to a back room, where I had reserved a special dinner just for us. I carefully sat her down and forced water into her hand, making her drink up.

Drunk Addi was great, but I wanted to talk to her, to find out things she loved, and what other things made her tick.

"What if I don't want to be sober?" I cocked a brow, willing her to fight so I could push back even more, but I guess the smell of the delicious food heading our way made her stop that path. "Oh, that smells wonderful."

"I sure hope it is." I thanked the waiter as he sat the food down and then waved for her to eat up. "Tell me about you, Addi. What made you become a lawyer?"

"Well," she started, then moaned as she took a bite of the local dish. "That's good. Anyway, I loved fighting and loved proving a point. Like every high school, there was a career week and a lawyer came. She was a family lawyer, but she explained what it was like, and the joy she got after helping people.

"Which gave me time to think. I hadn't thought about the good things that I could do. Sure, there are bad ones, as there are elsewhere. But I wanted to give a voice to those who couldn't. I wanted to help those who were helpless. So, I did."

"That's impressive. Wouldn't have thought about it quite that way. But you're not a divorce lawyer?"

"No, I'm not." I watched as she sat her fork down, thinking something over. "You're a good guy, James. What happened with you and your ex that there seems to be some lies?"

"Honestly?"

"That's all I ask for."

"I love my job; I help musicians all the time. But I'm not married to my job. When I'm with someone, I'm with them. With her, she didn't like that some moments, my job did come first, and there were things I had to do. She also didn't like that I wasn't always doting on her, or spending on her. I was never that type, but she assumed I would be, especially when we got married.

"When things really started going south, I told her I was done, that she could leave. She said I was cheating on her, but that was never the case. I can't say I was surprised when some of the lies started coming out. I should have been expecting them. More surprised that people believed them."

Her jaw clenched and I didn't mean to poke her, honestly. But there was some sick, twisted happiness at seeing the jab hit.