She peeked at him from beneath lowered lashes. His eyes were big and dark in the low light, watching her watch him. “You think it’s that simple?”
His fingers inched lower, brushed her ear, then her neck, and her shivers morphed from fear to anticipation.
“Ain’t much simple in life.” Even in a low volume, his voice rumbled off the walls.
“But you think we are?”
His lips twitched, but it seemed more habitual than intentional. His eyes were too serious to pull off the smile. “Started that way.”
“This isn’t going to end well.”
“You ending it tonight?”
The correct answer was yes. Get out before she got in any deeper. Before she spent more time with his family, before she missed the sound of Radish snoring on the floor beside her, before those secret looks and private touches went from I’m-into-you to the full-blown I-love-you.
Because no doubt that’s where things were headed. No matter how much she liked him, no matter how easy they usually were, he wasn’t in the long-term plan.
His fingers had stopped moving. Like her, he seemed to be holding his breath, waiting for her answer. The jets in the tub bubbled away, the warm water buffering her body from the realities of the world outside. “No,” she finally said.
“Right glad to hear that.” He cupped her nape and brushed a kiss over her jaw. He drew back, inhaled deep and parted his lips to speak, but Anna pulled him in for another kiss before he could spoil the moment.
Whether they had one or a hundred moments left, she intended to savor every last one.
His hand slid beneath the water to caress her breast. Her breathing hitched, her heart thumped, her blood crashed. Her better judgment slipped away, replaced with her body’s instinctive craving.
She traced his ears, enjoying the little shudder that wound its way through his body.Thatwas easy.
She licked his lower lip, thrilling at the soft texture above the sandpaper feel of his chin.Thatwas easy.
She let him tip her lower in the tub, glide his hand down her belly, between her thighs. His fingers expertly coaxed her into a haze of frenzied arousal while he continued to kiss her jaw, whisper sweet nothings, nip at her shoulders, her lips, making her forget the world outside their bodies existed.
So,soeasy.
She whimpered, thrust her hips against his hand until she exploded in a mass of satisfied, overheated cells. And when she could breathe steadily again, she hooked a hand around his neck and held on tight as her wobbly arms would let her. “Is there anything youdon’tdo well?”
“Probably, but I don’t much care to find out what it is.”
She tugged at his shirt. “Water’s nice and warm if you want to come in.”
He tossed his clothes on top of her neatly folded ones before she had time to process the fact that he’d slipped out of her arms. When he slid into the tub, condom in hand, the water nearly sloshed over the side. When she crawled over to straddle him, it actually did.
“Making a mess there, Anna Grace.”
“I’ll let you clean it up later.”
He chuckled. “That there’s progress.”
“Wanna see a little more?”
He cupped her rear end and pulled her closer. “Always.”
Twenty minutes later, the water was cooling, and Anna was catching her breath and leaning on Jackson’s wet chest. It rose beneath her. She smiled, anticipating another comment on her progress.
Instead, his voice came out quiet and a little rough. “Momma married Russ two months after my daddy died.”
She went completely still. “Oh,” she whispered.
“They were best friends, my daddy and Russ. Played ball together at Auburn, stayed friends even though Daddy was poor and Russ was—well, you saw. Went hunting every fall. I went with ’em onceI was old enough. Craig too. All of us—we were inseparable. Don’t remember a time Momma didn’t invite them over every holiday, since Craig’s momma died when we were little.”
