“Let’s agree to leave the past in its place. What’s done is done. If I can forgive and forget, why can’t you?”
She sputtered. “Forgive and forget? Are you—” Before she could add “kidding me,” he kissed her. No soft press of the lips, but a hungry, hot devouring of senses as his mouth stole over hers.
Shocked at the wealth of feeling from a simple kiss, she couldn’t stop trembling. Her knees threatened to buckle, so she gripped his open jacket to keep her balance. He pulled her in closer, forcing contact between his chest and hers. The man radiated heat, as well as a carnal attraction she was helpless to refuse.
He groaned and put his arms around her. His hands spanned her waist, and when he pulled her closer to his impressive erection, she realized the passion between them hadn’t dimmed one iota.
His tongue penetrated, stroking and seeking as he if had a right. Too bad her body hadn’t gotten the memo that he waspersona non grata. Her breasts tingled. Her panties had grown wet. And her mouth refused to close while she welcomed his invasion.
Jack ended the kiss and traced a path to her ear. His hand crept down to her ass and squeezed. “God you taste good.” He kissed her neck, finding the sweet spot that only he had ever mastered.
“Jack…” Where the hell was her self-esteem? Her discipline? Her inner mean girl? Lying down spread-eagle on an imaginary mattress, that’s where. Calling on every ounce of feminine outrage she could muster, she put a hand on his chest and tried to move back.
Pitiful. Her hand had turned traitor too. Instead of pushing him away, she clutched his shirt and tugged him closer. He seemed far more muscular than he’d been back in high school. So incredibly overwhelming.
“Kiss me, angel.”
She froze. She hadn’t been called “angel” in twelve long years. Part of her mourned being pulled back to reality, because she really wanted another toe-curling kiss. But that pet name had been too much. She splayed her fingers on his chest and shoved.
He let go of her ass and moved a token distance. Not far, but far enough to allow her to her think again.
“Nope. Not gonna happen.” Which would have sounded much more convincing if she didn’t sound as if she’d just left a wind tunnel.
He stared at her mouth. “You sure about that?”
“Like you said, the past is the past.”
He frowned. “Ann… We were kids. Kids make mistakes. Why can’t we start fresh?”
How was he not getting the message? And why the hell couldn’t he do the right thing and just apologize? Was “I’m sorry” too hard to handle?
At that moment it became imperative that he feel what she had. The loss, the confusion, the panic when she’d realized she’d been pregnant and lost it before she could come to terms with having been pregnant at all.
“So you want to start fresh?” she asked.
“Yeah. You and me. Let’s try it again, the right way.”
You planning to dump me in public again? This time I’ll be the one calling the shots, buddy.“Okay. But no more kissing in school.”
His large grin both charmed and irked her. He was like a duck. Everything rolled off his back. “How about kissing in cars? Or bedrooms? That allowed?”
“I don’t get paid by the hour, Bloom. If you want a quick fuck, there are people and places for that. I’m not one of them.”
He stared, as if intrigued. “You never used to talk like that.”
“Like what?” She frowned.
“It’s just… You’re so beautiful. Like a fairy queen. But then you dropped that f-bomb. Who are you, Ann Weaver?”
The woman who plans to finally put Jackson Bloom in his place, that’s who.“I’m all grown up now, Jack. Accept it.”
“Oh, I do.” He tapped his heart and looked her over. “I love this new you, all right.”
She felt her cheeks heat. Turning from those bright blue eyes, she escaped into her room, never so glad to be in school as she was now.
“So if we’re going to do this right, how about a date?” he proposed, hands in his pockets.
She refused to see if his erection had gone down. Looking there would only bring more dirty thoughts that had no place around the story time mat.
