“I’m contractually obligated tonotlove you.”
I laughed, taking another step back. “Fair enough.”
She followed, jabbing a finger into my chest. “I mean it, Jesse?—”
Her voice cut off when I suddenly wasn’t on the deck anymore. Another half-step back and a split second of weightlessness later, I realized that I’d misjudged exactly how close I’d been to the edge. The realization hadn’t even fully formed yet when I hit the water with Jacqueline only a moment behind.
She’d reached for me when I’d started falling, her eyes growing wide when she’d realized she couldn’t stop gravity. It also didn’t help that she was half my size.
Dropping straight into the warm water, I surfaced just in time to see the splash when she landed next to me. There was a brief, chaotic struggle to figure out which way was up. Then her head popped up next to mine, too close for comfort.
Water dripped from her hair, and her hands braced against me like she hadn’t quite registered what had just happened yet. “You idiot.”
I laughed, treading water and trying not to kick her. “You jumped in after me.”
“I was trying to help!”
“I think it’s safe to say you made it worse.”
She held my gaze for a beat, mascara streaking down her cheeks and her hair plastered to her head, and then she laughed. “You fell off a deck. That’s on you, buddy.”
“You were advancing on me,” I protested, my jeans weighing a ton. “I had to get out of the way.”
We were still too close, though. Maybe even closer now than we had been before. Her hands slid against my shoulders as her laughter faded and she refocused on me, but it all happened slowly, like someone had hit slow motion on the world’s remote.
As if she’d also suddenly realized how close we were, her lips parted and her gaze dropped to my mouth. I felt it when the shift happened, that pull to her kicking in stronger than it hadany right to be. The fact that she was looking at my mouth right now…
“Despite you being an annoying pain in the ass, I’m having fun,” she said softly, her eyes darting back up on mine. “Thank you for bringing me with you, Jesse.”
I swallowed, my hands landing at her waist underwater without any conscious thought involved. “Thanks for coming, and for pretending to be mine.”
The second the words left my mouth, something deep and instinctive snapped inside. I didn’t even give myself time to think before I leaned in and kissed her. Soft at first. Barely more than a brush of my mouth against hers.
When she didn’t pull away, I kissed her again, but this time, there was nothing soft about it. It even felt like I blacked out a little, my lips crashing into hers, hungrier and deeper than before. I hadn’t asked for permission, but I also wasn’t leaving room between us for second thoughts.
Her fingers tightened around my shoulders and I pulled her closer until her body was mashed against mine. I could feel every soft inch of her, groaning when I felt her leaning into me like the warm water was melting her.
It was hot as hell, my body responding like it had been lit on fire. I kissed her harder, already sliding my hands down to her ass when reality hit like a bucket of ice straight to the face.You’re pulling the pin on a hand grenade. This will complicate everything.
I pulled back immediately, but it was too late. Jacqueline was staring back at me with wide, stunned eyes, and my stomach dropped. There was no way I could take back what I’d just done. I had no idea how to put that genie back in the bottle.
CHAPTER 18
JACQUELINE
Jesse pulled back like he’d touched a live wire. One second, we’d been in it, caught up in a kiss that had been hot, reckless, and completely consuming, but the next, he was staring at me, his face draining of all color.
“Oh, shit.”
That was all he said.
Notwoworthat was a mistake. Justoh, shit.
Still a little dazed myself, all I could do was stare back at him, still feeling the ghost of him on my lips and the warmth of his hands at my waist. It had been a great kiss and yet, right now, he looked horrified. Completely pale now, the color had drained from his cheeks so fast that I felt my stomach bottom out in response.
“Did you hit your head when you fell in?” I asked immediately, because that had to be it. There was no other explanation that wasn’t utterly insulting to me.
He shook his head, but it happened too fast to be of any comfort. “No. No, I didn’t.”
