13. Sloane
13
SLOANE
W hen Shepard kisses me, I kiss him back. It’s instinct. Adrenaline. Fear. And he’s sturdy, holding onto me. I pull him closer.
I’ve so rarely felt safe like this, and I hate myself for the way Jack’s able to provoke that in me.
He obliges me easily, pressing us together, lifting me to the edge of a nearby table when my knees knock together.
Jack knows how to kiss. Not a surprise. What is a surprise is the heat tunneling through me, especially at how easily he steps between my knees to eliminate every inch of space between us.
A big hand sinks into my hair, his touch gentle as he tips my head back and deepens the kiss.
God almighty, my muscles are weak with wanting. Desire flares hot and hard as I open to his demanding tongue. A soft noise falls free.
It’s embarrassing.
But he groans in response. The sound vibrates through me, and arousal pools in my center.
I spread my hands across his broad, muscled chest. It’s softer than I expected.
He presses his other hand into my lower back, and my spine tingles from the sensation. I didn’t expect Jack to cradle me this way.
His teeth capture my lower lip in a soft bite, and I’m drowning in lust.
Then, the lights come on, and sense slams back into me.
Shepard takes a step back before I have to push him. Always reading me like a damn profiler . I bet that’s his usual job, not babysitting the likes of me.
His mouth is swollen and red from our kiss. His eyes are full of dirty thoughts before they sharpen.
I hop off the table and step past him. I can’t believe that just happened. That I let it. That I participated wholeheartedly in it.
I’m mortified. And all of that heat transforms into anger as I stomp away. I need to escape.
Shepard is on my heels. I can feel him more than hear him. He catches me at the end of a row of shelves, turning me back to him and his teasing smile. “Didn’t think you would taste so sweet.”
“Stop it. Just…” I shake my head, not even sure what I want to say about this. It’s too much on top of everything else, and I’m pretty sure it was a distraction tactic on his end. The same as this is now.
I march on, wishing I could outrun this even though I can’t.
Especially with how he stays on my heels the entire way, hovering as I grab my things and close down my computer.
Where are Rhett and Cole? Warren?
I can’t linger on this. I need to get out of here. I’m already late picking up my daughter. The school is good to me, but I can’t keep relying on them to stay with her when I have a long day.
Throwing my bag over my shoulder, I turn to find Shepard holding the door out of the office open for me. Amusement lines his features, making him look happy with himself.
Or me.
My chest tightens, but I pull it together and stomp toward him, past him, to my car.
Again, he opens my door before I can, and I clamp down a screech of annoyance. Taking a deep breath, I slip into my car, but he’s in the opening, hand on the door, the other on the roof. He bends down to look me in the eyes.
“I’ll be seeing you later, Sloane.” Shepard winks.
And I’m back to wanting to slap him across his smug face.
He backs away, that small, infuriating smile making me more promises as I close my door and back out in frustration.
The swirl of emotions pings back to embarrassment because kissing him was good. I shouldn’t even be thinking about it.
I’ve been single for days. Days . It doesn’t matter that I’ve been trying to find a way to get away from Alistair’s clutches for the last year. The reality hasn’t even set in yet. I should not be entertaining the idea of Jack Shepard and his mouth.
I don’t want this.
It’s not the time.
I want to be there for Reese and give us time to find ourselves. It’s going oh, so well so far.
Wringing the wheel with my hands, I’m half in despair at having failed at taking care of myself after less than a week on my own.
No, this confirms it. I’m not in a good place to deal with another man in my life, whether just sexual or not.
I rush to Reese’s school, only to find it empty. I get out of my car and look around. Surely, she’s not hanging around here alone, but where… where is my daughter?
Panic grips me tight. Spinning around, I spot her bright yellow backpack hanging off the back of her chair where she sits with Cole at a café.
Fear beats up my heart as I struggle to breathe.
Oh, thank God.
Cole peers across the street at me, and the fury flashes back to life. Why is he here? What is he doing picking my daughter up from school? Why sneak off from work to do it?
I told them that I didn’t want her involved in all of this.
Fists clenching, I look both ways and cross the street to them.
Cole leans in to speak to Reese across the table, and she collects a small pack of crayons and a few loose sheets of paper to stuff in her bag as I approach.
Those gray blue eyes peer up at me, telling me that he sees my anger and he’s distracted my daughter so that I can shelf it.
It’s hard, but I do. My independence is taking another hit, and all the times I was not enough for Reese flare up. The blow to my chest is painful. Sharp.
I swallow back the biting words at Cole’s audacity to intrude in my life.
All three of these men don’t understand the meaning of boundaries. Are all men like this? Do they all think their belief that they know better than me means they have carte blanche with my life?
He lifts a hand for me to wait, but not high enough to alert my daughter. “Finish up that hot cocoa. I’m going to chat with your mom.”
Reese nods and smiles at me, like she wants to be sure I know she’s having a good time.
I let Cole turn me away, and we walk a few steps, and he just looks at me—a similar kind of look from yesterday when I turned down his protection.
“Do you want to explain to me exactly what you think you’re doing?” I’m proud of the fact that I’m able to keep my voice quiet and infuse my you’re-in-fucking-trouble tone I’ve rarely had to use as a mom.
“You needed help.”
I swear he doesn’t even blink. “I didn’t ask for it.”
“You didn’t need to.” His brows twitch, and I hate the way he’s trying to read me. No boundaries. None.
And now, he’s got one on me. “You’d better not hold this against me later.”
That flashes shock across his face, but his stare doesn’t soften. If anything, he’s more intense. “Why would I hold it against you?”
Because now I owe you. When you want something, you’ll use this as leverage to get it.
If I admit that to him, I’ll have to explain other things. Secrets.
When I don’t answer, Cole nods back to Reese, and I go to plant a kiss on her head, gathering her up to take her home.
He’s beside us as we cross the street, opening the back door and tucking her into her booster seat with a soft smile. She doesn’t complain once.
My hands plop on my hips. I would get an I-can-do-it-Mommy from her independence streak.
Closing her in, Cole straightens and pins me in place with a look over the roof of my car before he circles around to open my door for me. “I’ll see you at your place.”
Matter of fact.
No argument.
Hard-ass Boss mode.
It doesn’t stop the look I throw at him.
Cole leans in. “Don’t worry, I won’t even ask to be let inside.”
He gestures for me to get in, and I slide behind the wheel, more than aware of him behind me on the way home.
I park and unload Reese from the car, and true to his word, Cole doesn’t make a move to come inside. I walk over. His window rolls down by the time I make it to him.
“Come on.”
Cole just stares at me.
Reese waves at him to get out, and his expression changes when he looks at her. It makes me wonder if he’s a father. Cole nods, rolls up his window, and gets out of the car.
I don’t wait on him, ushering Reese into the apartment building. There’s nothing to worry about. Cole’s long legs mean he catches the door behind me.
Once we’re closed inside the stairwell, this feels like a mistake. He’s so close, and although he doesn’t say anything, his presence is so big.
Raising a brow when I hesitate, he peers down at Reese.
She tugs at my hand. I take a deep breath and march on. I’ve already set this in motion. I may as well heed my instincts.
On the second floor, Cole’s hand closes around my shoulder, halting me as he slips past.
The door to my apartment is unlatched. My pulse cranks up when Cole holds his hand out to us.
“Wait here.” A gun is in his hand before I can blink, pointing into the gap as he goes in.