The back gate was wide open.
“Jack?” I called out and touched the wooden fence.
The temperature was on the milder side, with the sunshine out and barely peeking through the clouds. As the light breeze swayed the trees, the sound of dripping ice echoed from the forest. The snow crunched below my knee-high boots, and my tight knitted dress clung to me, wrapping me in slight warmth.
Chip followed me into the backyard, and I closed the gate behind me. My fingertips dragged across the wooden frame until I saw a sight I never should’ve witnessed. Jack. Shirtless, sweaty, and panting as he aggressively hacked away at a wooden stump with his axe.
Jack Timber was ripped. Clock tattoos in black ink decorated his bulging forearms, symbolizing the passage of time; the pocket watches were surrounded by beautiful roses to display how gorgeously magnificent he was. His skin rippled with each whack of the blade. A true sentiment of his wise age. A man unafraid to show his maturity and proud to be at a prime stage of his life. Jack could be grumpy, but he was also deliciously sexy as hell.
My mouth could attest to the fact while I stared at Jack and drooled over him. He glanced up when Chip came into his peripheral vision, and he called his dog inside, but he didn’t see me. I ran my fingers over my lower lip. I had to stop myself from biting the tender flesh in case he...
Crap. Jack saw me. He headed straight for me with a scowl on his face.
My Lord. My panties became soaked while I squeezed my thighs together. The slickness made the skin slide back and forth. The friction made my arousal worse. I couldn’t let Jack see how attracted I was to him.
“What the hell do you want?” Jack heaved at me as both hands gripped his axe handle that rested on his broad shoulder. “Fuck. You shouldn’t be back here.”
“Chip got out. He was all alone. The back gate was open, and I...” I couldn’t finish the sentence because my worry for Jack was far too intense.
Jesus.
I’d worried like a concerned girlfriend when we meant nothing to each other. These past few weeks had messed with me. Jack’s broad chest glistened with sweat. Goddamn it, he looked incredible.
Jack only stared at me. His eyes swirled with questions, intensity, and something I couldn’t understand. I wanted to read his thoughts, but I couldn’t. He closed himself off to me.
“Worried?” Jack released a hand from the handle and wiped the sweat off his forehead. “Don’t be. I can take care of myself.”
I huffed out. “Why are you being hostile toward me?”
I crossed my arms over my chest. The defensive side of me came out to match his edgier tone and challenge him. This wasn’t an argument I’d back away from because Jack had a way of flipping from naughty to nice in a matter of seconds. I knew both sides of him, and I could get my way when the time was right.
“I left the gate open, and you fucking shut it.” Jack stepped an inch closer, and I could see every mean crease on his forehead while he glared down at me. “Snooping around can get you in trouble, princess. You shouldn’t be such a nosy neighbor.”
I couldn’t help glancing at his manly pecs and back up at his gorgeous face while the sexual tension zapped between us. The heated live wires were sure to melt the snow, while his angry eyes lit a fuse inside me.
Christ. I wanted Jack badly. The temptation was unreal with him this close to me, near enough to touch and trail my fingertips along his perspiring skin.
I never knew a sweaty man breathing heavily could be such a fucking turn-on.The bonus?He held the axe in his tight grasp with impressive veins protruding from his brawny arms.
Goddamn it. I even craved to run my fingers through his armpit hair, for Christ’s sake! The aroma of Jack was of an earthy sap on an evergreen tree mixed with a hint of wildwood. He smelled fucking euphoric.
Jack watched me intently with flared nostrils, and I heard a groan rumble somewhere deep within him. I didn’t know if he was pissed off or as horny as I was, but I didn’t care. Something drew me toward him, and I couldn’t help myself as I leaned closer to Jack while my eyelids fluttered closed. I had tofeelhim, be one with him, and experience all of him.
Suddenly, the heat radiating off Jack was gone and replaced by the bitter chill of the breeze. I popped my eyes open, only to see he had stepped away from me. He had created a space between us, a distance that had always been there—a wall I wanted to shatter, but he wouldn’t let me.
What the fuck was I thinking?
I should run out of my neighbor’s backyard and not try to get closer to him. Somewhere between getting to know him and the care he had shown my daughter, I had lost sight of the fact we could never be together.
“You shouldn’t be such a goddamn grumpy old man,” I shot back.
Jack groaned with annoyance and squinted his eyes. His upper lip twitched, and I wanted him to lose control. To let the beast out that I knew he’d caged away inside. I wanted him to destroy me, leaving me no choice but to let him own me, claim me, and devour me whole.
“Go on, little girl...” Jack grumbled and turned his back to me. “Get the fuck off my property.”
“You’re a jerk. Do you know that?” I glared at his broad backside and pushed back. “And here I thought you were coming around, when all along you were being nothing but a fraud. No better than my damn sleazy ex.”
Immediately, Jack spun around and quickly took two steps. He was in my face in a matter of seconds. Our mouths were only inches apart, with his heavy warm breath on my lips.
