Sin to Skin

JEMMA

Sitting at their usual spot in the teacher’s lounge, the two kindergarten teachers enjoyed their weekday lunch and gossip routine. Except, for once, the gossip did not feature any mention of five-year-old kids and was as hot as a freshly made pot of tea.

“So, is it true? Was Kendrick Brooks on our school campus today? I mean, I knew that Kai was his niece, but he has never dropped her off before.” Maisy bit into her apple and looked across the table at Jemma.

“How is it that I’m the only one who didn’t know?” Jemma sighed. She wished she had known. She wished she’d met that handsome man from the very first day she came into town.

Jemma couldn’t help letting her thoughts wander back to him. She stole peeks at him as he left, walking away in that navy-blue two-piece suit that fit him perfectly.

He closed his jacket button as he walked to his Range Rover but reopened it just before he entered the car. As he was about to sit, she saw how muscular his thighs were through the suit, and she swore her pussy wept.

A fine piece of man like that was just walking around town, and no one said anything to her?

“Well! You are new here. When you get here, people tell you all about Ken Brooks, how he built this town, and how he owns the place, but we don’t generally get into his family history. I’ll give you the rundown, though.”

Jemma perked up, looking at her co-worker and friend expectantly.

Maisy flashed her short blond hair dramatically. “So!” She started popping her tongue. “Kendrick Brooks is the owner of the KB chain of restaurants. These restaurants are world-renowned and one of the main reasons people come to Felora. Kyle Brooks, his younger brother, is the big-shot firm owner. He owns KB and Co., and he is Kai’s dad. Safe to say the Brooks are the richest people in Felora, and half the people living here are employed by them either through their businesses or because of their family. Like Kai, for example. People are employed to be her bodyguards. Her security is always hanging around. I heard that the little girl even has a tracker in her skin because they’re scared someone might nab her.”

“So what you’re saying is the Brooks own the place?”

“Felora would be nothing without Ken Brooks, and I’m not exaggerating.”

“I didn’t come here because of him,” Jemma sassed.

Maisy gave Jemma a disapproving frown. “Whatever, Jordon, but fair warning, if you have your eyes on a man like Kendrick Brooks, be ready for some competition.”

Maisy picked up her water bottle and took a few sips. Jemma’s face must have had a puzzled expression because Maisy flashed her hair dramatically once again, leaning in with a mischief twinkling in her eyes.

“He’s the hottest grab in Felora. Our small town doesn’t have many rich men. Plus, Principal Cole has been chasing after that man for years. The whole town knows about her enormous crush on him. And who can blame her? Even a woman with my tastes can admit that man has excellent genes.”

Jemma blushed, remembering how she gawked at him.

“I was only looking.” She turned her head away, sipping her orange juice.

“Looking into the future at your future kids?” Maisy grinned.

“Please, the last thing I need is a flashy, good-looking man who makes me feel all hot and bothered and then turns out to be good for nothing.”

“Oh, that’s a lot of venom. What happened there?”

“Life.” That was the most accurate way to describe her never-ending disappointment with men. They were attracted to her easily.

She wasn’t being cocky, but Jemma knew she could attract a man. It was after that that was the problem. The men she attracted were takers and never givers.

They came into her life with nothing to offer but sex—and not mind-blowing sex, just average sex; sex she could live without and was actively living without.

She’d never met the man who deserved everything she had to give and who gave her everything he had to give. She was waiting to meet him.

Jemma shook off the lonely feeling that washed over her. Lifting her head, she smiled at Maisy, who was staring at her curiously.

“It’s fine. I’m fine…”

Who needs a man, anyway? She could resist Kendrick, no problem.

KENDRICK

“Since you’re calling, you must have met Jemma.”

“Does she always dress like that?” Kendrick loosened his tie, feeling like he’d suffocate. He hit the button on his car door, rolling the window all the way down.

It was already the end of the day, but he still couldn’t get Jemma out of his mind. Even while at work trying to get his latest restaurant ready for its grand opening, his mind drifted to her.

Flashes of her eyes and her lips plagued his mind all day. He was on the edge of his sanity over this woman.

Kyle chuckled. “What if she does?”

On the other end of the call, Kyle had his brother on speaker so he could type on his laptop while they spoke.

“Fuck! You should have told me she was like that.”

“Please. I tried. You’re the one who’s always going on about how you don’t need a woman.”

Kendrick knew that, but now he stood corrected. He didn’t need a woman; he needed that woman.

“She’s perfect, and her eyes are just—You should have said something sooner.” Kendrick felt annoyance at his brother. If the other man had known all along that such a woman lived in Felora, he should have told him immediately.

“She’s just so damn gorgeous—” Kendrick barely got the sentence out when he heard the voice of his niece in the background.

“Daddy! What does gorgeous mean?” Kai’s voice asked. She’d clearly heard her uncle on the other end of the phone.

Kendrick heard Kyle’s shuffling. His younger brother picked up the phone to take it off speaker as he answered his daughter’s question.

“Uncle just thinks Ms. Jordon is really pretty, princess. Now go get your snack from the kitchen and say hi to your mommy.” Sending Kai away, Kyle turned his attention back to his brother.

“Listen, man, she’s not from Felora. She just moved here six weeks ago. Blasphemy, isn’t it? A beautiful woman lives in Felora, and she’s never found a way to approach you?”

Kyle’s voice dripped with sarcasm, but Kendrick took the situation seriously. Women threw themselves at him constantly. Any straight woman who knew of him and his status in this town wanted to be in his line of sight, but Jemma Jordon hadn’t even known who he was.

She hadn’t recognized his face or name. She had flirted subtly, but she hadn’t even tried to slip him her number.

“Jesus!” Kendrick hissed, his mind flashing back. Women threw themselves at him. That’s why he was puzzled as to why Jemma Jordon had seemed to want to run in the other direction as soon as she had realized who he was. She hadn’t attempted to prolong their conversation. She hadn’t flirted. She—

“She didn’t even know who I was.”

Kyle erupted in a fit of laughter. “ Unbelievable! How could such a woman exist?” Kyle teased. How indeed…

Kyle’s laughter died down. “She’s a nice lady. Both Kai and Tia love her.”

“Let me drop off Kai for the rest of the week.”

“Honestly, I need that help, but I can’t have you messing around Kai’s teacher right now. The last thing I need is for her to start resenting Kai because ‘The King of the Bachelors’ fucked with her heart. So maybe that’s not a good idea.”

“Do you want me to answer the phone when you call or not?”

“Kendrick.”

“Kyle.” Ken hardened his tone.

“This is a bad idea. Mom is turning in her grave, knowing that you are bullying your little brother.”

“If she’s turning, it’s to get comfortable so she can watch me get this woman.”

“I swear, Ken—”

“There’s nothing to worry about.” Kendrick cut his brother’s warning off before hanging up the phone. He turned his face into the breeze coming in through his window. His eyes squinted from the brightness of the sun, the warmth of the rays washing his face, and he breathed out.

He’d never known this feeling before. Is this what his brother felt when he first saw Tia? Fuck! Is this how his father felt when he first met his mother?

Kendrick suddenly understood it all. Sure, before today, he’d never spared any woman a second glance, and it may be sudden, but he was sure he could do anything to have her near, and he would.

His mind raced with thoughts of their future together. He wondered where he would take her on their first date. He could take her to one of his restaurants, but no, he didn’t want any other man to feed her.

He’d cook for her himself. He’d show her he could keep her belly filled and her body warm. He’d take her to his place. Fuck! He hoped she’d like his house, but if she didn’t, he’d tear it down and build her a new one.

His mind wandered further than that to two or three kids, no, maybe four. Four kids to remind her every day how much he loved her. If they were lucky, all four would be girls. Girls who would look just like her, with her hair and her eyes.

They’d be just as beautiful and just as sassy, and he’d have to buy guns to protect them.

Kendrick knew he was running ahead of himself. He knew that, but he couldn’t help it. His heart had already decided. Jemma was the woman he hadn’t known he was looking for.