Chapter 13 #2
We lifted the axe out of the wooden stump.
Another gasp escaped me while his thumb grazed over top of mine, and I admired the way his brawny arms intertwined with mine.
Jack was all man. He had too much ruggedness and not enough gentlemanliness.
I should have run away, slammed my door and hidden in the safety of my bed, but I couldn’t.
I was in for a lumberjack session, and my dad’s best friend was about to teach me a lesson.
I never should’ve entered Jack’s property without permission.
“Have you ever swung an axe before?” Jack asked.
“No,” I whispered.
“It’s simple...” Jack pulled my one hand away from the other and closer to the blade. “One hand here while the other grips the shaft.”
Shaft? Jesus. I was sweating. It was below zero outside, but Jack turned up the heat.
“Excuse me?” I questioned with narrowed eyes. “Are you referring to your dick?”
Suddenly, Jack let go of the axe, and the weight of the blade fell down to the ground. I peered down at my trembling hands while he ambled until he stood in front of me. He placed the tip of his finger underneath my chin.
Jack forced me to stare him in the eye. “If I’d referenced my cock, you’d know it, princess.”
I swallowed hard. “Is that a threat?”
“No, little Elle, it’s a promise.” Jack winked playfully.
Jack tapped my lips with his thumb before he released me and displayed his broad back. Jerk. I didn’t need Jack’s help. I could chop wood all on my own.
I groaned as I tried to lift the blade off the ground, but the damn thing was heavy.
I pulled upward, determined to get the axe to rest on my shoulder before Jack turned around, but being a lumberjack was tough work.
Besides, I had brains, not muscle. Unlike someone else I knew, who sarcastically smirked at my struggle as he handed me a pair of safety glasses.
“Here. Put these on,” Jack encouraged.
“No, thanks.” I shook my head and pushed the plastic safety gear away.
“Yes, please.” Jack placed the glasses on me and forced them up the bridge of my nose. “Safety first, young lady.”
I groaned, but before I could argue, I was back in Jack’s arms.
“What’s next? You gonna cop a feel?” I joked.
“Something like that.” I felt Jack shrug his shoulders behind me.
Instantly, Jack wrapped a hand around my lower thigh and separated my legs in a swift motion.
I yelped at the unexpected movement. He ran his hands back down my arms, repositioning my hand placement to separate one at what he called the shaft and the other dominant hand closer to the head of the axe.
“Really got me gripping the shaft tightly there, don’t ya, Jack?” I mumbled nervously.
“You betcha, Elle.” Jack chuckled and grabbed my hipbone with a hand. “Straighten your back.”
“Okay,” I said.
“Practice bending with me...” Jack made me push out my butt and bring it back in again. “Back and forth. Get all loosened up.”
“Am I holding the axe right?” I questioned.
“Perfectly.” Jack held onto the axe handle with me. “Now straighten and we are going to lift the axe head up.”
I had trouble, but once Jack helped guide me, the process was effortless. Easy enough for me to focus on his chest tensing up against me while we lifted the blade high above our heads and time slowed down to a sluggish snail’s speed where I could see everything happening.
Jack had me snugly squeezed against him, and the proximity had me flushed. Heat rose to my cheeks as I admired the way his muscles flexed in his arms and the veins popped freely. Beads of perspiration glistened in the sun’s rays, and I couldn’t stop ogling him.
Jack was gorgeous in a way I had never considered before until I got a glimpse of him up close—pressed up against his chiseled abs, making me want to turn around while I slid my face up against him.
Sweat be damned. I’d roll down his skin as the slickness dripped and get completely caught up in his manliness.
Christ. I had never realized how damn good he smelled.
The woodsy scent of sticky sap, bark, and earthy tones wafted up my nose.
As flabbergasted as I was by how attractive Jack had become, I was also petrified. I had a blade the size of Jack’s hand above my head, and the sharpness of it barreled down at full speed. A squeal escaped me as we slammed the axe head into the wood with a loud thud, but the stump didn’t break.
“Again!” Jack shouted, and we lifted the handle together with all the strength we had. “Push your tight ass up against me, Elle, and slam the head into the wood harder for me.”
I did as instructed. I bent right over and swung the axe down fast. The chunk of timber split into two pieces.
“Yes!” I cried out.
Letting go of the axe handle, I spun around and leaped into Jack’s arms. I hugged him while my legs wrapped around his waist, and I clung to him, full of excitement over what I had achieved. I’d chopped a stump in half like a champ!
“That’s my girl,” Jack whispered in my ear.
Jack held me securely under my buttocks as I pulled back, and my hands framed his face.
He grinned at me, but I got lost in his stare while my gaze wandered to his full mouth, and I licked my lips.
Instantly, I was famished for a kiss as his face came closer, and I was enamored, consumed to the point I forgot all the mistrust, all the hatred, and every bitter moment between us.
I saw the real Jack Timber. A man who cradled me delicately and peered at me with a ton of passion, and enough lust to steal my breath away, leaving my heart racing and wanting much more of him than I ever thought I’d need.
The glimmer in his deep eyes faded and coated over with an edge of darkness.
A black place I couldn’t reach as Jack released me, and I slid down his body.
Once my boots met the snowy ground, Jack closed up. He stepped back, and the warmth he once left was gone. I was no longer sizzling with heat but chilled down to the bone.
Jack cleared his throat. He snapped his fingers nervously and clapped his hands together. Clearly, stopping himself from touching me because I was off-limits.
Right. We were at odds. Unfriendly. Hated each other’s guts, but had ended up entangled together. Again.
I blurted out, “I need a tree.”
What the fuck, Elle? You need a tree?
Jack stopped.
He narrowed his eyes. “You don’t have a damn Christmas tree yet?”
Right! A Christmas tree.
“Yeah. I don’t.” Awkwardly, I shuffled my boots and shook my head.
“Someone is slacking this year.” Jack rubbed the back of his head.
Christ. This was embarrassing. For both of us.
“I didn’t have time to get a tree with everything going on and—” Jack took two strides toward me, and I lost my train of thought.
Jack plucked the safety glasses off my face. “I’ll take you out, and we’ll chop an evergreen down.”
“Seriously?” I scrunched up my nose in surprise. “Why?”
“Faith deserves presents under a tree.” Jack tapped my nose softly. “We’ll cut one down tomorrow.”
I blushed.
“Thanks, Jack. That’s sweet of you.” I pushed at his shoulder to hide my reddening cheeks. “Didn’t know you had it in you.”
Hurriedly, Jack spun me around and pushed me back in the direction I had come from. My legs had to keep up with his long strides as he opened the gate wide and shoved me out of his backyard. He did a complete one-eighty. One minute he was kind, and the next he was back to his old grumpy self.
“I don’t,” Jack grumbled.
Jack closed the gate in my face.
I stood there for a few seconds with a gaping mouth.
I had wanted to argue with Jack and hit a nerve with his grumpy attitude, but I refrained and shut my mouth.
His bitter behavior only came out after I had experienced a thaw in his frigid walls.
I’d seen a nicer side to my neighbor, and he left me with a smile on my face as I exited his property.