Chapter 18Hazel
Chapter 18
Hazel
I can barely grasp what is happening.
No matter how hard I try to put up my defenses and keep Jack out, he somehow works his way back in.
Maybe it was the singing.
Or that dance party I witnessed.
Maybe it was how he spun his niece Ophelia around, and both their faces lit up with joy. And how, as I watched, I felt joy seeping into my own heart, too.
And hugging him a minute ago made me feel so safe . Like I was finally with a long-lost friend, someone I’d searched a lifetime for but had never found.
I think I just asked him to kiss me.
Did I?
It’s hard to remember clearly because now he’s lowering his face, and his lips are very close to mine.
All I can think about is how much I want this.
“I don’t want you to regret this,” he whispers into my mouth.
His breath is warm on my lips.
“I won’t.” My own voice is barely audible.
“You might.” He moves his hand so his fingers touch my chin. I feel the soft, warm pressure of his thumb as he moves it so lightly along my bottom lip. “Your lips… No lipstick this morning.”
“I skipped—” Oh! He moves me so my back is to the counter.
His body, that tall, strong pillar, shelters me.
What was I saying?
Something about lipstick, maybe…
“I love seeing you this early in the day, your morning look,” he whispers.
He… he loves me…?
No, that wasn’t the whole thing. There were other words in there.
He loves seeing me in the morning.
That’s what he said.
The feel of his breath on my lips sends tingles down my spine. “And I loved your red lips last night, too,” he adds.
My body is limp with how it feels to be pinned here by him.
“It was my cherry red—” I try, “my matte Maybelline?—”
His lips fuse to mine, cutting off my words. Our kiss is immediately deep, immediately passionate. It feels as if all the hours we managed to spend apart since our last kiss made us both hungrier.
We were starved—for this.
All the talking we’ve done… right now, it feels like all of that was our way of side-stepping this .
But somehow, this kiss was underneath every single conversation.
This was what we both wanted.
The kiss deepens.
He tastes so good, like sugar and coffee.
I don’t know how long it lasts. The kitchen fades away, then the island, then the whole world.
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There is no future promotion, no company policy to read, and then read again while taking notes on my phone.
There’s only Jack’s mouth on mine. His hand, working up through my hair. His body, so strong and delicious, pressing into mine.
When we part, I know that can’t be our last kiss. We crossed the boundary this time, and there are no innocent ‘mix-ups’ to blame.
I know who he is. He knows who I am.
He’s as breathless as I am. “Ocean,” he mutters.
“Hm?” Air. I need air, and then I need to do that again .
“I want to swim with you in the ocean. Like, today. This morning.”
“What about that eleven o’clock?—”
He quiets me with a kiss.
It’s quick this time.
I lift my eyebrows. “Did you just silence me with a kiss?”
And can you please do it again?
He chuckles. “I had to. You were going to bring up something I don’t want to think about.”
“You mean, the eleven o’clock call with?—”
His lips taste so delicious. This time, when he finishes kissing me, he scoops me up and sets me on the counter.
“I dare you to try again,” he says.
His hands linger on my waist, firm and strong. I love the way morning light from the window cascades over his wavy hair. His freshly shaven face looks so smooth. He smells like aftershave, soap, and a hint of coffee.
I make a show of sealing my lips.
“No, really,” he prompts me, his lip hitching up at one side, inching toward his crooked smile. That dimple.
“Try it again,” he teases. “Bring it up and see how far you get. Double dog dare ya.”
I laugh as I shake my head. “No way. I have no trouble turning down a dare, you know.” I reach out and tap him on his perfect nose. “ You’re the one who seems to be the daredevil, not me.”
“You got me there.”
He fits himself between my legs and keeps holding my hips. I let my arms drape over his shoulders. When I play with the hair at the nape of his neck, I feel it’s still damp and cool from his shower.
“What… What are we doing, Jack?”
“We’re taking a risk.”
“Not my forte.”
“Then let me tell you how it works. I used to jump dirt bikes for a living, so I know.”
“At least I’m learning from an expert.”
The other dimple pops out. “Yeah, for sure. This is my wheelhouse. I once jumped a monster truck on my bike. Flaming barrels on either side of the truck, too.”
“I had no idea you performed in a circus.”
“Haha. It wasn’t a circus, Sport, it was a pro tour.”
“Sounds very circus-like to me. How about Haze, for my nickname?”
“Nope. You get Sport. It stuck to you like glue.”
“Teach me how to take a risk.”
“You have to start small,” he says, eyes pinned to mine.
He inches closer to me and places his lips lightly on mine. The kiss is tender and makes me melt.
“Then, you work your way up. When I was training for a big stunt, I’d practice by jumping hay bales. Then trash cans, then…”
“Monster trucks, flanked by flaming barrels.”
He nods. “Sometimes, even if you practice, the whole thing goes wrong. But even then, the pain’s worth it because, at least for a little while, you got to fly.”
“Flying sounds nice, for a change.”
“You did say you were gonna mix things up.”
“I guess I’ve had both feet on the ground for too long. I could use a little time in the clouds.”
“Then… how about we just hit the beach for a while?”
“I’d have to grab my suit first.”
“Please say you’re gonna wear that black bikini.”
I nod.
He grins. “Today just keeps getting better.”
I slide off the counter. “Want to meet me at my bungalow in fifteen?”
“I’ll be there.”
I feel his eyes on me as I cross the small galley kitchen. I pause by the couch to pick up the computer bag I came for.
I had that intuition that this little early-morning trip to his bungalow would be trouble, but I didn’t know how much.
It was much worse than I feared.
I am suddenly—recklessly—tumbling head over heels into territory I have never entered before.