By the Book Read online

  Maybe she should send the be-ahtch a tub of tennis balls in thanks. At least then the poor woman would have something fun to play with.

  Snorting to herself, she turned to contemplate the manuscripts with over twenty red “insert sex here” notations, and a suitcase worth of research material. Sex books. She had decided she needed a little inspiration. Maybe a little education in the fine art of “doing it”. Since Mike wasn’t that great, she wondered if she was missing something. She wasn’t going to blame herself for her sex life. He’d started cheating on her after the first year of their marriage, so any lack rested on his shoulders. She’d been willing and eager to try new things. He just hadn’t been interested.

  She’d spent the last few years feeling like he was doing her a favor when they had sex. He’d vetoed everything but the missionary position, and when she attempted to take the lead and initiate sex or to suggest alternatives and different positions, he made her feel silly. Laughable. Pathetic. Well, screw him! Joey laughed. Oh no. Never again would she be that desperate.

  Optimistic and yet struggling to see beyond her ex-husband’s negative vocalizations, she closed her eyes and ran through a mental inventory. Joey Anderson was an average woman. With average brown hair, average brown eyes, average chest and body. Average. She knew those words belonged to Mike. It was over and done, she allowed Mike too much airtime in her head. She would start today and pull herself back every time she thought of him. She knew, damn it. Knew she was better than average!

  In Kauai, she hoped to get back in touch with her wild child—her alter ego—Devine La Fleur, erotic romance author extraordinaire. An author who insisted it wasn’t the sex but the story that sold. Yet the books didn’t feel complete without the sex. A woman who could, at least in her mind, entice and maybe seduce someone like Gray Hawk and then transfer the seduction and heat onto paper.

  She needed to write sex scenes. Hot sex. More sex. Creative sex. Or people would stop buying her books. She just didn’t know if she could do it anymore. Sighing heavily, she turned away from those thoughts. No way would average Joey Anderson attract someone like Gray Hawk! She wasn’t really sure what she would do with him if she did, anyway.

  She had a suitcase full of sex manuals and three weeks in Hanalei on the island of Kauai with the mental picture of the Indian god playing in her head. Hopefully all three would spark her imagination. Surely she’d get something written during her time on the island.

  She found a thermos when she looked through the kitchen cupboards. Filling it, she carried a fruit plate, a cup and the thermos of coffee out to the table. Settling in, she picked up the first book. The title suggested they could teach her to satisfy a man every time and the premise certainly interested her.

  The book lost her in the forward, starting with the second paragraph. You have got to be kidding. The author of the book felt that the only reason men strayed from their wives, was because those wives didn’t spend enough time paying attention to their husband’s penis. No one really believed that, did they? The book went on, full of recriminations against women and their lack of worship of their husband’s sex organ. She stopped in dumbfounded disbelief and flipped the book cover over. A woman. A woman actually wrote this book…obviously an insane woman. Several hours and swear words later, in a fit of gaping disbelief, she’d read the thing from cover to cover.

  She found herself wishing the author had been Lorena Bobbitt. At least it would have put an interesting spin on things. Ms. Bobbit would have done a better job. The ending paragraph, with similar claptrap about creating a pleasure bond “as long as you both shall live”, made her scream in frustration and start mentally planning a bonfire. She threw the book overhand as hard as she could toward the beach—and hit Gray Hawk right smack in the middle of his chest.

  “Umph!”

  “Oh, hell! What are you doing here?” she grumbled.

  He looked at her in astonishment, wondering at the look of disgust and anger on her face. Then he bent to pick up the book from the sand.

  “Give me that!” she said as she lunged down the stairs to grab it away from him.

  He moved fast, reaching his hand above his head and arching his neck, he scanned the title. “Whoa. Interesting reading.”

  “It is not. It’s disgusting. Give it back to me! You are not going to rob me of the pleasure of burning it,” she shouted as she hopped around him trying to grab hold of the book.

  He stopped her fanatical dance by simply placing one hand on top of her head and straightening his arm, pushing her back and holding firm. At his rumbling chuckle, she realized she looked ridiculous wind milling her arms around him and screeching like a lunatic.

  “Fine!” Spitting the word out between clenched teeth, she moved back and crossed her arms over her chest in irritation. “You can have it.” Spinning on her heels, she stormed up the steps and slammed into the house, making sure to shut and lock the door behind her.

  Silence.

  Joey groaned when she realized she’d locked him out on the porch with not only that book, but with several other sex manuals strewn over the patio table. And her laptop was out there with one of her manuscripts open. She didn’t want to think about him coming to his own conclusions about why she had all of these sex books on the table. Her face blazed with embarrassment. Why me?

  Opening the door, she stuck her head out. Gray sat comfortably sprawled in a chair, eating her fruit and drinking her coffee. Damn the man. He shuffled pages of the book she’d thrown—speed-reading. Sighing, she croaked out, “You really don’t want to read that.”

  He lifted his head, snagged her gaze and grinned like a small boy caught reading dad’s Playboy. “Oh, yeah I do. But not for the reasons you seem to think. This is ridiculous. Not that I don’t want someone paying attention to my penis…but I take exception to what she said about men being able to stand naked on the porch and a slight wind giving them an orgasm. It takes a little more than effort.” Not much, he thought as he watched her. Just the sight of her standing in the doorway flushed and with hair falling in a wild tangle from her ponytail aroused him.

  Okay, now her face caught fire, but her mind couldn’t help wondering… “Uh…what are you doing here? Please put that down.” She worked hard at censoring her lust-crazed thoughts. Gray dressed in khaki shorts showing strong tan legs, and today he wore a white tee shirt straining over his upper body. Damn! The man had muscles.

  He set the book on the table, his eyes rose as he quickly scanned the rest of the titles. “Joy of Sex, The Idiots Guide to the Kama Sutra, Satisfaction—The Art of the Female Orgasm? Great reading material,” he said.

  She’d give him points. He managed to spit the titles out with a straight face. “Research material. Go home, Gray.” She worked at not bolting. Instead she went to close her laptop and started to gather the books.

  “Research? For a book? Are you writing something non-fiction?”

  “I am so not having this conversation with you. Did you come here for a reason or just to torment me?” Her supplies were gathered up, and she glanced back at him, ready to go back into the house.

  Gray looked at her. Quietly. Studiously. When she had been jumping around and screeching at the top of her lungs, she’d been full of fire. Of life. And had looked spectacular. His body responded enthusiastically to her nearness and passion. He could come up with some pretty outrageous fantasies of how she could turn that fire on him. But now, she looked beaten. Tired. Sad. He didn’t like her looking like this. He shrugged his shoulders. “I came to see if you wanted to go for a walk,” he said. “It looks like you need a break. Don’t worry about shoes; we’ll just walk down the beach. I want to show you something.”

  “I don’t want…”

  He cut her off. “Just a walk, Joey. I won’t bite and I won’t pry. And you won’t want to miss this. I’d like for you to see this very special place; it’s hidden and I’m sure you wouldn’t find it on your own.”

  She couldn’t help but be int
rigued but she debated the wisdom of furthering her humiliation. She thought about her internal promise to herself to be open to new experiences, open to things and people that would expand her horizons. Devine would go with him. Taking a deep breath she looked inquiringly at him. “Promise?” she asked softly.

  He grinned. “About the biting or the prying? Yes, I promise, for both. Set your stuff in the house and let’s go. You don’t need to worry about locking up.”

  Jeez, she thought as she turned and went into the house, his grin should be a registered weapon. Her body sizzled and tightened in reaction to his lethal smile. Laying her things on the dining room table, she wavered there for a moment and took a deep breath. Why was she doing this? She sighed. She knew why. Because the book made her mad but it also made her feel like maybe Mike’s infidelity had been her fault. Right now she felt more vulnerable than she wanted to. And she didn’t like the feeling.

  She wouldn’t have to talk to Gray, wouldn’t have to tell him anything she didn’t want to. She could just look at his splendid body and drool. Tease her mind with thoughts of what she’d like to do to him, with him. She wasn’t starting a relationship and this wasn’t a date so she didn’t need to get nervous. It was a walk. Easy. Simple. Grinning after her pep talk, she turned and walked out the door, feeling better already. Wonderful plan.

  Chapter Four

  Joey followed Gray down the soft, sandy beach to the water. It was beautiful here and quiet. “Why aren’t there people on this beach?” she asked. She didn’t want a crowd to spoil her view but you would think there would be somebody enjoying the pristine salt-and-pepper sand. She knew from previous trips to Hawaii that the lighter grains came from crushed coral while the black granules were from lava rock.

  He smiled, sending heat zinging through her already over-warm body. Damn, the man should be outlawed! Her brain took a major vacation every time he looked at her.

  “It’s a private beach and this area is owned in conglomeration by me, the owner of your home and the neighbor who lives down the beach a bit. You can’t see their house from here because of the jungle growth between. But the law requires even the private beaches in Hawaii to allow everyone access. Sometimes, on the weekend, there will be families here or teenagers will come down to play around. There is no surf to speak of as this is a protected cove but the snorkeling is pretty good. And the fishing,” he stated.

  “Oh.” After the sizzle from his smile, her brain shut down.

  They walked quietly for some distance and, though strange, the silence felt comfortable to Joey. She didn’t feel like she needed to rush to close the gap with small talk. They came to the rocky point at the end of the sand, and she assumed whatever he wanted to show her would be here. Wrong. He started up a hidden path that wound between the rocks.

  “It’s not much farther,” he said.

  “You’re right, I wouldn’t have explored this on my own. I would have thought I was trespassing,” she replied.

  “We are. But it’s okay. The owners are friends and I come out here often.”

  Several seconds later, they rounded another bend and the scene before her took Joey’s breath. “Oh, my God! It’s beautiful!” Spread below her, at the bottom of the sandy path, was a pool with a small waterfall on the other side. The mist and early morning sun combined to create a miniature rainbow that arched over the water. Much of the area around the pool was covered in bougainvillea and orchids There were several bushes of bird-of-paradise flowers interspersed along the edge. The water sparkled a clear and vibrant turquoise color. She could see all the way to the bottom of the pond and she noticed most of what lay underneath was sand. A small strip of beach and several low, well-worn lava rock ledges defined the end of the pool. The effect was breathtaking.

  “This is incredible. The essence of a tropical paradise,” she murmured reverently.

  “I knew you’d like it. Want to spend some time here, go down and sit on the ledge to dangle our feet in the water?” he asked.

  “Try and stop me.”

  Chuckling, he followed her along the path and helped her balance while she stepped down a few feet onto the first rock ledge. They sat together with their feet skimming the warm water of the pool. Joey’s vibrant emotions were back and Gray found it impossible to do anything but look at her. She looked beautiful. Her hair shone a warm cinnamon color in the sun and he knew it would fall to her breasts if released from confinement. Even bound in her ponytail, it was a wild mass of curls. He could visualize her hair draped across his body, almost able to feel the tendrils stroke over his aroused and very sensitive flesh. Shit! Good thing he was sitting down.

  She wasn’t very tall, maybe three or four inches over five feet, and her body…well, the only word to describe it was lush. Ripe. God, you could use his cock for a coat hanger!

  Again they were silent. Joey’s eyes darted from one wonderful sight to another, but eventually she relaxed and just absorbed the peace. She could not believe the almost religious serenity of this little pond. Nothing could bother her in this place. Sighing, she turned to Gray. “Thank you for bringing me here. And for letting me have the space to calm down. I’m sorry I screeched at you and acted like a lunatic earlier,” she apologized.

  “There is nothing to be sorry about. I’m not sure what set you off. The book was bad but if you ask me—and I realize you didn’t—it’s men who should be pissed off about it all.”

  She turned and looked at him with a confused expression in her eyes. “Why men?” she asked. “I don’t understand why men should be angry.”

  “Think about it,” he replied. “From the little I read, the author basically said all thoughts, emotions, feelings…everything comes from a man’s penis. The woman could be a raving maniac, incapable of carrying on any sort of conversation, unable to share any part of your life, but if she pays enough attention to your cock, you don’t care. I read a short story in there before you so rudely interrupted, about a man who was deeply in love with his ex-wife. They were still best of friends with many common interests, but she neglected his organ, and so he got a younger, sexier wife who would go down on him anytime he wanted it. The man even admitted he shared nothing in common with his new wife and he felt she possessed no redeeming qualities—she even hated his cat for God’s sake—but the sex was good. And frequent.” Pausing he turned to look at Joey. “Does that say anything to you but a man thinks with his dick?”

  She knew her face turned red, the color spread to her neck and ears, because he’d been so blunt. Yeah, she’d heard the words before—after all, she used them every day in her writing. She just didn’t use them in conversation with a man who made her body clench in repressed longing. Before she could open her mouth to comment, he continued.

  “According to the book you were reading, men are incapable of commitment and love or any kind of dedication to a wife and kids. I know there are men like that out there; there are women like that—my ex-wife for one. But to say if you bow and scrape to a man’s cock, he’ll never leave you…that’s just bullshit! I know people who get laid several times a day and they still cheat on their spouses. It’s not the sex, Joey. It’s something missing inside them.”

  Joey felt a huge weight lift from around her soul. Inside she knew everything he said was true, but hearing him say it, really listening to the way he said it, made her a believer. His wife cheated on him?

  Until he spoke, she didn’t realize she’d voiced the thought aloud.

  “Honey, my ex-wife slept with anyone who looked at her.”

  She glanced at him, still blushing. “I’m sorry, it must have been painful.” And astonishing. This man was hot! What woman in her right mind would cheat on him?

  “It was painful and the experience took me a long time to get over. At some point you have to refuse to take all the blame and realize you weren’t meant to be together. How long have you been divorced?” he asked.

  “A year. Oh, hell. I…”

  “Don’t try and backped
al now. He cheated on you?”

  Huffing, Joey took a minute to think. She decided she owed him at least a little. “Yes, he cheated on me with his tennis instructor. A couple of years ago, he asked me for tennis lessons for Christmas. I gave her to him wrapped up in a pretty little package.”

  Gray snorted. “If it hadn’t been the tennis instructor, it would have been someone else. Is that why you were reading the book? He complained you didn’t please him?”

  “Yes. No. Damn you, Gray. You don’t understand. Yes, he told me I didn’t please him. No, that was not why I was reading the book. I thought it was a sex manual. I intended on reading it for research. My books are supposed to have sex in them and I am having a little trouble with writer’s block right now. I thought I might get some ideas or inspiration for my books,”she stammered. Jumping up, she moved to get around him and start up the path. With the change in the direction of the conversation she lost her feeling of serenity.

  His body shuddered with the memory of her books. She didn’t write sex, she wrote erotic dynamite. He moved to follow her. Damn, she moved fast. He didn’t catch her until she reached the beach on the other side of the trail.

  “Whoa. Stop. Joey, talk to me. I don’t quite understand,” he said as he reached her and caught her by the arm, turning her to him. “Pass that by me again.”

  Sighing, speaking as if she spoke to a child, she explained, “I write Romantica. Erotic romance. They are books for people who like a great love story with hot sex. In my books, it’s not the sex that’s important…it’s the story. The sex is dessert. But if I can’t write the sex, if I have writer’s block, then there is no dessert. No dessert, no money.”

  He didn’t think now was a good time to mention he’d read many of those books. “So…you’re reading the sex manuals to give you ideas for adding sex to your stories?”

  “Yes, hallelujah, he got it,” she snarled.