“I’m so sorry,” I said. “I shouldn’t have kissed you. It’s my fault and it won’t happen again.”
A deep crease formed between her eyebrows as she stared up at me, and there was something so strange in that stare that I started frowning too. There was no shame in her eyes. No embarrassment, disgust, or understanding either. In fact, she just seemed confused for a minute before she suddenly started laughing. Like, real, extremely surprised-sounding laughter.
“What?” I asked. “What’s so hilarious about this? I’m worried about being the family fuck-up and you’re laughing.”
“I’m not laughing at you,” she managed between laughs. “I’m laughing at me.”
My frown deepened. “Well, I don’t understand what’s funny. And I have a great sense of humor.”
She looked up at me again, finally recovering from her laughing fit for long enough to meet my gaze. “Of all the reasons I thought you ran away, it never once occurred to me you were worried about disappointing your family.”
“Oh,” I said, still not sure I understood.
“I was laughing at myself for all the terrible doubts running through my head,” she said. “My past relationship shook me pretty badly, and I guess I’m also just kind of relieved my worst fears aren’t true.”
“Well, that’s great,” I said. “But my fears are still very much in play.”
I shrugged out of my wet jacket and draped it over a stool at her kitchen island. I kicked off my shoes too, in a terrible mood as I peeled off my drenched socks for good measure. In a minute, I’d text my driver to come pick me up, but right now, I was soaked, pissed off that her douchebag ex that had appeared, and even more pissed off that she was laughing like there was any humor to be found in this situation.
Jacqueline put her hand on my shoulder. “Hey, I don’t think you’re a screw-up. And that kiss was just?—”
I didn’t let her finish. Fuck, I didn’t even think about it. I just closed the space between us and kissed her so hard that it felt like a dam was breaking deep down inside. Everything I’d been holding back, every thought I’d shoved down, and every second of restraint I’d forced on myself for weeks was suddenly gone without a trace.
Her lips were warm and soft, somehow even better than I remembered, and for a second, my brain evaporated. I didn’t give a shit right now about anything except her lips pressed against mine and the taste of her on my tongue, but then I pulled back, my chest heaving slightly as reality tried to catch up with what I’d just done.
Minutes ago, I’d promised I wouldn’t kiss her again and here I was, already obliterating that promise.So yeah, we should probably talk.
Jacqueline’s eyes met mine, wide and searching, but then she grabbed me by the front of my shirt and dragged me right back down into another kiss.Okay then, I guess we we’re done talking.
CHAPTER 22
JACQUELINE
Everything suddenly made perfect sense, now that Jesse had revealed his fears about being the family screw-up. He seemed so wounded and vulnerable. It made me want to kiss it all better, so that was what I did. After he’d kissed me first.
I squealed with laughter when he lifted me clean off my feet and kissed me harder. I leaned into him without hesitation, wrapping my arms around his neck and my legs around his hips. “Bedroom’s down the hall. In case you were wondering.”
“In case?” He started walking immediately, tightening his grip on my thighs and speaking between breathless kisses. “Of course, I was fucking wondering. I’m not fussy right now, though. The kitchen counter would’ve worked too.”
An intense thrill shot through me. Ever since Hawaii, I’d been thinking that his reaction to that kiss had been because he hadn’t wanted me after all, but he was leaving no doubt now that I’d been wrong.
With his tongue hungrily stroking mine and his arms firmly around me, it was quite clear that he wanted me rather desperately, actually. That was good because I was feeling the same way about him. Lust wound around my insides like it would never let go, and I pressed myself flush against him,kissing him harder and relishing every soft, needy moan that vibrated from his chest into mine.
When we reached my bedroom, he strode right in and fell straight onto the mattress with me, like he was entirely unwilling to lose contact with my mouth for even so much as a second. The weight of him on top of me was delicious. The way he was devouring my mouth like he would never need anything else was mind-boggling.
But the best part was when he lowered his hips into the cradle of mine and I felt the evidence of just how much he really did want me. I sucked in a surprised breath at the rock-hard length of him grinding against me, sparks of pleasure already shooting through my entire body.
“Jesse,” I moaned softly, my fingers stroking through his hair before curling into fists around the thick strands.
He let out a deep groan in response, nipping at my lower lip before releasing my mouth to kiss my jaw and down the column of my throat. The front of my dress was soaked at this point, his clothes so wet that even mine were saturated now, and as he kissed a path to my chest, following the low dip of the neckline, I reached for the zipper at my side.
When he heard it slide down, he glanced up at me, then wordlessly reached for the straps at my shoulders and pulled them off. Our eyes locked as he bunched the fabric at my hips, tugging the dress to my feet in one fast, smooth motion.
Since the dress hadn’t allowed me to wear a bra and I’d kicked my heels off as soon as I’d walked into the apartment, that left me in a pair of lacy panties that were barely worth the name. They were so small that they left incredibly little to the imagination. My chest heaved and my nipples were hard.
Jesse kicked the dress to the floor, but when he looked back at me, it was like he couldn’t decide where to stare first. Heswallowed hard when his gaze landed on my chest, a visible rise and fall of his Adam’s apple as his cheeks flushed.
Those full, slightly bee-stung lips parted and it looked like his breath had even caught before he glanced up into my eyes, an almost tortured expression in his own. “God, you’re so hot, Jacque. Seriously, you’re gorgeous.”
