Surprised by the brightness in my face, I spun around in my dress for a second and watched how the fabric lightly settled down from the air that once lifted it. I knew my heart needed to slow down, but I couldn’t help it. I was going on a date with Jett Colby.

***

My heart stopped in its place when I walked out back and saw Jett sporting a pair of dark aviators, leaning up against a vintage Aston Martin convertible in a gun metal grey. His posture was strong, confident and fucking sexy. If I was a photographer, I would have started taking pictures for a car magazine because, damn was he fine, and the car he was leaning on only added to his hotness factor.

The brilliant red color of the leather interior reflected the sun, giving a devilish backdrop to Jett’s appearance. The man was all male and dangerous for my heart, but hell if I was going to miss out on this opportunity.

He pushed off the car and walked toward me. I could tell by the barely-there smirk on his face that, as he walked toward me, he was checking me out and he was pleased. He stood right in front of me and brought my hand up to his mouth and placed a gentle kiss on my knuckles.

“You are absolutely exquisite,” he hummed with appreciation in his deep raspy southern voice.

Lady boner…lady boner!!!

“Thanks,” I said shyly, avoiding kicking the ground and turning my face like a bashful doofus.

“Are you ready?”

I nodded as I patted my little purse that was slung over my chest, messenger bag style.

He smiled and then lifted his sunglasses, giving me an amazing view of his deep blue eyes. He held out my hand and made me twirl around for him as he observed me intensely. When I steadied myself, he lowered his sunglasses back down and smiled that gorgeous smile of his.

“You please me, little one.”

Swoon! Fuck, I was losing it and we had yet to leave the actual driveway. Two seconds with Jett Colby and I was practically ripping my panties off and giving him anything he wanted.

There went all my “I am woman, hear me roar” power right out the window. The minute he said I please him, I wanted to beg him to see what else I could do to make him happy. Woman suffragists are rolling in their graves right now. Sorry ladies.

He guided me to his car and opened the door for me. I thanked him and slipped into the sleek leather of the car. Forget the date, I thought to myself as I figured out every which way Jett could take me in his car. I was on position number twelve when he placed his hand on my thigh and looked over at me.

“It might be windy; I don’t want your flower to fall out.”

“I don’t mind.”

“I do,” he said, as he took it out of my hair and placed it gently in the center console. “When we get to our destination, we’ll put it back in.”

With that, he revved the engine alive and pulled out of the back driveway. I watched as the sinew of muscles on his forearms contracted with every shift he made to the car. His other hand was on the steering wheel, as if he was meant to be a racecar driver. Confidence exuded from his body as he weaved his way through the side streets of the Garden District. Fucking hell, the man was a walking turn on.

Gently pulling my eyes off of the brilliant man to my side, I took in the colorful pastels of the houses surrounding the famous neighborhood, marveling at the wonky trees that flanked the streets and the old wrought iron charm New Orleans emanates on a daily basis. We rode down St. Charles Street, passing the trolley that stopped every hundred yards to pick up a new group of mixed locals and tourists. Beads from previous Mardi Gras parades dangled from the power lines and trees, no one bothering to remove them since they were all a part of the beauty of the city.

I took in a deep breath as fresh air filled my lungs. It had been awhile since I actually left the confines of the Lafayette Club and with the sun beating down on me and the sex god sitting next to me, I felt refreshed, wanted and taken care of.

We drove in silence as Jett navigated his way through the streets of New Orleans, dealing with one way streets, trolley tracks, and detours from construction. We pulled up to the harbor and I watched as he pulled up next to a man in a suit waiting at the curb.

Jett left the car running, handed the man something and then opened my door, holding out his hand to help me out. We were not in an area where there was valet parking, so there must have been a look of confusion on my face wen Jett helped me out of his car because he said, “He works for me. I don’t trust public parking around here.”

“I wouldn’t either if I was driving that penis enlarger.”

Jett’s eyebrow raised as he looked down at me in question. “Penis enlarger?”

“Yeah, you know,” I said, while using my hands to gesture to the car and then to his crotch. “Men with fast cars are compensating for something.”

Jett leaned down and whispered in my ear, sending chills straight to my core. “You know perfectly well, that’s not the case here.” He pulled back as a sexy grin spread across his face. He lifted his hand and placed the yellow and orange flower back in my hair and then looked me in the eyes. “Perfect.”

Grabbing my hand, he led me past the Gumbo Pot and up to a round booth near the water.

“Ever been on the Steamboat Natchez?” he asked, as he pulled out his wallet and asked for two tickets.

“When I was little with my parents.” The memory of them taking me on the steamboat on a bright Saturday afternoon flooded my mind as I thought about the pack of peanut M&M’s my dad got me that I ended up spilling all over the deck. I was so upset, he got me two more packs…just in case.

“Hey, you okay?” Jett asked, as he guided me toward the line for steam boat. I nodded my head, but he didn’t take that as an answer. “Little one, do you not want to do this?”

“No, I do.” I relayed to him the story about when I went with my parents and how it just made me miss them. I needed to go visit them soon; I hadn’t been to their gravestone lately. Guilt washed through me before I was able to tamp it down. I looked like a brat and was acting ungrateful, so I shook out of my funk and followed Jett as we were guided onto the boat.

“This way,” he said, as he walked quickly to the back of the boat where the big red wheel poked half out of the water and half in. He pressed my body up against the rail as he pressed his front to my back and wrapped his arms around the front of me to hold onto the railing. Even if I wanted to move, I couldn’t.

The organist that sat at the top of the boat played classic maritime songs, making me almost feel like I was at a Disney park. Kids ran around the boat screaming like lunatics as their respective parents lectured them and told them to stop running as the remaining passengers boarded.

Jett leaned down next to my ear as his body pressed up against mine, sending all my synapses into overdrive.

“This is my favorite spot on the boat, listening to the water run off the wheel and seeing the wake we leave behind. It’s funny, such a big wheel can cause such a disturbance in the water but then as time goes on, the water goes back to its normal ripple; it always recovers.”

Not quite understanding what he meant, I asked him. “What do you mean?”

His freshly-shaven face brushed against my cheek. “Hurricane Katrina took so much from you, put a huge disturbance in your life, but you are just like the river out here, little one. It might have rocked your world for a while, but as time goes on, you will return back to your normal ripple. I promise you will.”

As I soaked in every last word Jett spoke to me, I pushed back the tears that threatened to fall. The man could be so eloquent, so honest at times and so…loving that it nearly ripped me apart.