His Curvy Beauty by Lana Love
Chapter 1
Sarabeth
Iam way out of my comfort zone right now. I bite my lip and remember what my best friend said when we Skyped this morning.
Sarabeth! You need to come to Spain! The men are to die for and they love women with curves!
I’m not sure I quite believe her, but I’ve wanted to travel for ages and I don’t have anything – especially a boyfriend – tying me down, so I agreed. I have the money for my ticket, though I told Miranda I needed one last tutoring gig. She teaches English online, and she’s convinced me to try teaching online. But before I leave, I’m trying build up an extra financial safety net just in case it takes me a while to get established.
My hand raised to knock on the door, I hesitate. Which is stupid, since he knows I’m coming. You need the money, Sarabeth. The money. You can leave after you earn the money from this gig. I pause, a weird sensation overwhelms my emotions, of wanting to travel so much, but being hesitant to actually do it.
I Googled Jarvis before coming over and I couldn’t believe my eyes. He looked big and tattooed and more intimidating than anyone I’ve ever seen in real life. There wasn’t much information about him, though I found some public Facebook posts that made it clear he races cars and has maybe skirted with the law.
With my hand still in the air, the door opens. Several seconds pass before I realize that my mouth is literally hanging open. Never in my life have I seen a man that just…just moved me, with only a single look. His dark eyes are piercing and intense, never moving from me as I stand there like an idiot. The photos I saw online of him don’t do him justice in the slightest. I take in his tall, muscular, tattooed body, and his chiseled face, and I’m drawn to him in a way that takes my breath away, like it’s something I can’t even control. The urge to wrap my hands around his popping muscles and pull him close and rub my body on him makes me blush. He hasn’t even said a word, but there’s something in his dark eyes and the way he holds his body, that I instinctively know that I would do anything for him.
But, of course, that’s ridiculous. No way in hell a guy like him would ever date a fat girl like me, and he must certainly have a girlfriend. Guys who have a presence like the man standing in front of me are never single.
“You’re Sarabeth, right? Come in. I’m Jarvis.” His mouth twitches at a smile, but doesn’t quite get there as he steps aside and gestures for me to enter his home. He’s nice? There must be something wrong with him. Right?
I nod and try to smile as I walk past him, mentally slapping myself. Get it together, Sarabeth! I wasn’t sure what to expect, but all the leather furniture and dark wood in here doesn’t look like what I expected from someone who races cars.
“Have a seat,” he says, sprawling down on a luxurious, dark brown leather couch. “You came highly recommended.”
“Thanks,” I say, perching on the edge of a fine club chair, quickly glancing around. I’m scared that if I relax, I’ll say something stupid and get myself fired before I even start this job. “Is your daughter here?”
Part of me – okay, all of me – wishes the answer were no and that he’d pin me on this couch and just ravish me. And then ravish me again.
I blink my eyes rapidly and force myself to focus on the words he’s saying. I’m never like this, but my body has just taken over, like it knows something that I don’t, about this man who is a perfect stranger.
“She is, but I wanted to talk to you, first.”
“Of course, Mr. Thornhill.”
“Please. Jarvis. You don’t need to be formal with me.” The words out of his mouth are polite, but the look in his eyes is fierce. There is no doubt that he’s watching me carefully, deciding if he’s going to let me help his daughter.
“Okay, Jarvis,” I say, savoring the feel of his unusual name on my lips. “What questions do you have?”
“Tell me about yourself.”
“Well, that’s a big question.” I smile as an attempt to cover my nerves. “I guess the short answer is that I grew up in a small town in Montana, then moved here for college. As I mentioned before, I studied education. Working with children is all I’ve ever wanted to do. After I finish working with your daughter, I’m going to join a friend of mine and travel in Europe for a while, then eventually I’ll come back and settle into a teaching job with a school.”
“You like to travel?”
“Not sure. It’s my friend’s idea,” I say, carefully leaving out the part about how the men in Spain apparently appreciate a woman with a little meat on her bones. “I don’t have anything tying me down here, so I figure why not.”
What I don’t say is how lost I feel here. I thought moving here for college would help me find a place where I fit in and wanted to stay. All I’ve ever wanted was to feel like I belonged, but despite going to college here, I haven’t really achieved that. One thing I am a million percent certain about, though, is my friendship with Miranda. She’s made it clear she’s not coming back here anytime soon. Everything she tells me about living in Spain is one adventure after another – especially when it comes to men. I have other friends, but Miranda is my best friend and I’d follow her to the ends of the earth.
And I could use both adventure and men in my life. I want to feel loved and like I belong. Seeing a little bit of the world sounds like the kind of adventure I’d really enjoy. One of the reasons I like Miranda’s idea of travelling is so that I can push myself into new experiences, meet new people, maybe figure out where I fit in in the world and find a place I’d like to stay. Really, I want to find a man that makes me want to stay somewhere.
Ever since Miranda and I graduated from college, I’ve been living a predictable life. Work, drinks or movies with friends, brunch on the weekends, rinse and repeat. It’s nice, but I want more than nice. I want excitement in my life, too. I want to be doing things that will make great stories.
Jarvis watches me and it’s hard to read the look in his dark eyes. Just when it feels like my awkwardness is going to overwhelm me, Jarvis nods.
“My daughter, Frannie,” he says, his eyes softening with tenderness as he looks at a picture on a side table, “she’s troubled.”
“She’s seven, right?”
“Yes, that’s right. It’s a messy story, but her mother is no longer in her life. She’s…she’s not taking it well. She can be difficult. I’m trying to get her into a private school. They require a goddamn entrance assessment,” there’s a venom in his voice as he says that last word, “first, and she should be able to read better than she does. I don’t know what her mother…” Jarvis’ voice trails off and he rubs his hand over his face, as if trying to wipe away the memory of something unsettling. “Not a damn thing I’ve done has helped – all she does is resist.”
I long to reach out and wrap him in my arms, this fierce-looking man who looks like he could take on an army. Yet his obvious concern and love for his daughter is a vulnerability he can’t hide. When he realizes I’m watching him, the shutters come down over his eyes and he looks more alpha male fierce than I’ve ever seen a man look. I thought men only looked like this in movies.
“Hey, it’s okay. I understand,” I say, my voice softer. “I don’t just have a degree in teaching, but I specialized in early childhood education. I’m experienced with children who have special needs, for whatever reason. I’ll work with Frannie as if she was my own daughter.”
My heart breaks a little that his daughter has had a tough time, but that makes me want to help her even more. I know I’m not a therapist, but sometimes you can’t but help kids work through things when you’re teaching them. One of my greatest joys is watching kids learn and helping to shape how they look at the world. My greatest joy will be when I have children of my own.
But children are a long way off. Right now, the goal is to make as much money as possible in the next few months, then join Miranda and travel and see if the men in Spain really do like curvy women as much as Miranda claims.
“Jack said you were good. Said I could trust you,” Jarvis says, taking a longer look at me. “My daughter will have a better start in life than I did, come hell or fucking high water.”
“Jack?” I ask, momentarily perplexed.
“Jack Cross. He said you were one of his former students.”
“Oh!” I say, a flush of embarrassment washing over me. “Mr. Cross. I know him as Mr. Cross. He was always formal with us.”
At this, a genuine, deep laugh comes from him. I breathe a sigh of relief, releasing worry I didn’t realize I’d been holding.
“Jack? Formal? Now that’s something I’d like to see.”
The air between us changes, feeling more genuinely relaxed. He smiles at me and once again my skin pricks with desire for him, an instinctual need to touch his skin. But surely he must just be one of those guys who can turn on the charm at will and make someone feel like the center of the universe. Right? When I catch his eyes roaming over me, I bite my lip and fight the way I feel. That’s not why I’m here. As if someone like him would even be interested in me.
I squirm a little and look away, and my eyes land on the prettiest little girl I’ve ever seen. She’s standing in a doorway, her long dark hair tangled in a way that suggests she just woke up from a nap. She has her father’s dark, watchful eyes. Her expression doesn’t change, her eyes riveted on me. She doesn’t move when I smile at her.
“You must be Frannie. Would you like to come sit next to me?”
Frannie’s eyes flare in alarm as she looks at me, before darting to her dad. He holds out his tattooed arms and she jumps on his lap, curling her body against her dad’s. Whatever issues they have with him working on her reading skills, it ends there. She loves her dad. The muscles in Jarvis’ arms flex as he wraps them around his little girl. There is no doubt that he would do anything to protect his beautiful daughter.
“This little one,” Jarvis says, his voice softening and his eyes filling with tenderness as he looks at his daughter, “is having a hard time reading. Which is where you come in.”
“You know what I like to read, Frannie?” I ask, smiling and trying to put her at ease. Once she was in her dad’s arms, she relaxed and smiled. Even though the look on her face is happy, her knee is bouncing uncontrollably and signaling just how nervous she is. I struggle with wanting to hug her myself, to comfort her from whatever is disturbing her. No child that young should be so scared of anything.
At my question, she looks at me, her eyes wary.
“I like to read about dragons.”
“No you don’t! I like to watch dragons on the TV!” Frannie exclaims, her sweet little face now focused on mine. Inwardly, I fist-pump at having captured her attention. She’s a watchful little girl. It’s obvious that she needs to be drawn out. Yet for the first time, her knee isn’t bouncing so much.
“I sure do! If you want, next time I come over,” I glance up quickly at Jarvis, to see him smile and nod his head, “I’ll bring one of my books. Would you like that?”
“Yes!” Frannie’s face lights up and her smile goes deep into my heart. She’s so precious, with a fierce no-nonsense attitude. “We could watch that show. Daddy?”
Frannie looks up at her dad, her eyes filled with hope and longing, and something deep pulls inside of me. This is what I want, eventually. I want this kind of strong connection, first with a man, and then with the children we have. I want that sense of belonging and openness that you only get with the people you love.
“No, Frannie,” Jarvis says, his voice firm, though his eyes hint at his frustration. “We’ll start with books, then we can talk about TV. Okay?”
“Okay,” she says, after a long sulky pause.
“You go back to your room, Frannie. I need to talk to Sarabeth a little longer, then I’ll take you out for ice cream.” Frannie wiggles out of his lap, pausing to give me a bright smile before she leaves us.
“She’s a good kid.” I smile as I hear Frannie moving around in her room.
“Thank you. She’s a handful, but she’s worth it. I’d like to formally offer you the job. I trust Jack, but I wanted to meet you before committing.”
“I completely understand. I look forward to working with her. She’ll be up to speed in no time.”
We make arrangements for me to come over on the following Tuesday. As Jarvis walks me to the door, body heat rolls off him and my desire for him rages, my stomach flip-flopping and an intimate heat rising in my core.
“And I look forward to seeing you again, Sarabeth.”
When I turn to say goodbye, Jarvis takes my hand as if he’s going to shake it. Instead, he just holds my hand, his thumb stroking the side of my wrist and his eyes locked on mine. My nerve endings explode in lust, my mind in overdrive as I imagine how his fingers would feel stroking my breasts and every other part of my body.
“Me, too.” I gasp when he releases my hand. The longing for him to touch me again is intense.
I can’t wait until Tuesday.