by Janice Lynn
Goosebumps prickled her skin.
Um...yeah, she liked that, too.
Next he got her neck. “Turn.”
Knowing it wasn’t the heat that melted her insides, Taylor turned.
“Here.” He carefully applied fresh sunscreen to her face, then smiled. “You’re quite beautiful, Taylor.”
Despite the lack of make-up and grooming, despite the damage the sunshine and heat from the games had likely done, the way Jack was looking at her made her feel beautiful.
“Thank you.” Her smile was as real as they got, coming from the inside out. “You need me to do you?”
His eyes sparkled.
“Apply sunscreen, that is?” she clarified, her lips twitching as she fought to keep a straight face.
“I’m good.”
She bet he was. She didn’t mean his lack of need for fresh sunscreen either.
A game of Ultimate Frisbee started and the others called them back over.
Taylor had never played with a foot bag but, thanks to Amy, she had played Frisbee on occasion during college. She wouldn’t be performing any tricks, but she could hold her own by making decent catches and throws. It was one of the few team sports she had any experience with as her parents hadn’t pushed for her to play as a child and she’d been busy with work and school once she’d gotten older.
About twenty people divided up into two teams. Skin versus shirts. Taylor was a shirt. Jack was not.
Watching him pull off his T-shirt had the same effect as him unleashing a secret weapon. One that left her slack-jawed and entranced.
The man had a beautiful body.
Taylor and the flower girl seemed on the same wavelength when it came to throws and they often made plays to each other.
Of course, Jack chose to try to block her catches. Tried and succeeded more often than not. Taylor attempted to reciprocate, but his reach outdid hers so he easily made his catches.
When their teams were tied nine each, Taylor decided to take matters into her own hands when Jack’s teammates went to toss him the Frisbee for the winning point.
She leapt on him, wrapping her arms and legs around him.
Surprised, Jack caught her rather than the Frisbee, which landed a few feet away and rolled.
“Woo-hoo, looks like Jack caught more than he bargained for,” one of the guys called out.
Another let out a wolf whistle.
“Are we playing tackle Frisbee or what?” another ragged, grabbing hold of his girlfriend’s waist and pulling her to him for a kiss. “I’m all for a game of that.”
Jack hugged Taylor, then let her slide down his body to stand, still flush against him.
Flush against Jack was hot.
Not because of the sun beating down on them. Or even because he was shirtless—although his damp skin was hot in more ways than one.
What was hottest was what she saw in his eyes, the way she felt his body tighten and his breathing hike up in intensity.
“You know this means war, right?” he teased, low and with a bit of a growl to his voice.
“Oops. Was I not supposed to do that?” she asked with feigned innocence, drawing a laugh from several of their teammates.
“Hey, baby, you can do that to me anytime you want,” one of Jack’s teammates offered.
“See what you started?” Jack accused with a laugh. “Now they’re going to rewrite the rules and we guys don’t stand a chance.”
“Game on.” A cute girl with a painted face, cat ears, short blue denim cut-off shorts, and a bikini top, who was on Taylor’s team, picked up the Frisbee and tossed it to another teammate.
“Here, I’m open,” Taylor called.
“No, she’s not,” Jack corrected, bear-hugging her and lifting her off her feet.
But the guy who’d had the Frisbee had already tossed it and somehow, hiked up in the air in Jack’s arms, Taylor managed to catch it, much to her amazement and the excitement of her teammates.
“We win!” She bounced around in Jack’s arms, waving the Frisbee over her head. “We won!”
Jack tossed her back over his shoulder, bum in the air, and carried her over to his teammates. “What should we do with this one? Pretty sure she deserves punishment.”
A few lewd suggestions went up.
“Put me down, Jack Morgan,” Taylor demanded, laughing so hard she could barely talk, and lightly smacking his bottom.
“Be careful what you start, Taylor.”
For that, she pinched his very nice bottom.
“Remember, you asked for this.” He lifted her from his shoulders and put her on her feet.
His words echoed from her past and a surge of panic hit. Taylor braced, preparing to defend herself, if needed. Her heart beat hard and heavy and she fought wincing.
But all Jack did was lean in and pop a kiss on her lips.
A very sweet kiss that was much more a reward than punishment.
Taylor’s muscles sagged with relief, relaxing from the tension that had overtaken her. She should have known, maybe she had, but old habits died hard.
* * *
Taylor was having fun. Jack could tell by the big smile on her face as they danced to the beat of his favorite band. The group hadn’t started playing until almost midnight. The crowd was really big so they hadn’t tried spreading the blanket tightly folded inside his backpack.
Just as well. He liked watching the gentle sway of her body.
He liked how she looked relaxed and was soaking up the music. There was no hesitancy in her eyes, just trust when she looked at him.
Except for that moment when they’d been playing Frisbee and her big brown eyes had filled with uncertainty and fear.
He’d instantly connected her tension to his thoughtless words.
Her ex had a lot to answer for.
Thank God that look had been fleeting in her gaze and she’d shaken it off as quickly as it had appeared. Jack wanted her trust.
Wanted to deserve it.
He also wanted her.
But no way could he act on that want without the other medical staff realizing. Not that any of them would care, but being seen leaving Taylor’s tent or her leaving his would cheapen what was between them, make her no different from anyone else he’d ever met.
Taylor was different.
He’d known it the moment he’d noticed the photo at Amy’s and been drawn to it. Amy had come over and commented about how much she missed her friend since she’d married, how she worried things weren’t as great as Taylor pretended. Knowing she was married, Jack had immediately written off his interest, but he’d never forgotten the smiling woman in the photo.
Taylor was unlike anyone he’d ever known and the way he felt about her was completely foreign to him.
So he enjoyed the moment they were in and let it be enough. When the crowd jumped up and down in time to the music, he and Taylor jumped. When the crowd jammed, they jammed.
Through it all they laughed and smiled and laughed some more.
It was an amazing night.
An unforgettable night that he didn’t want to end.
* * *
This was it. It was now or never.
Pausing outside her tent, Taylor swallowed the lump in her throat and turned toward the man who’d become so important in such a short amount of time.
“I don’t want tonight to end,” she whispered. “Not yet.”
She wasn’t sure what she expected, but something more than Jack standing still, staring at her, then closing his eyes.
“I want you, Jack.”
His lashes lifted, revealing tormented blue eyes.
Uncertainty hit her.
“I...” She paused, not sure what to say. Not sure why he looked torn.
He rested his forehead against hers. “Yo
u have no idea how much it means to hear you say that.”
She could hear in his whisper that what he said was true. Her words had affected him.
“But I’m not going in your tent with you.”
Her heart pounded. Was she so terrible at seduction? Should she have started kissing him rather than telling him what she wanted? Should she have just held his hand, unzipped her tent, and led him inside?
“Not because I don’t want to,” he continued. His voice was so low she could barely make out his words. “But because I want to so much.”
Taylor wanted to flip on her phone’s flashlight and put him in the spotlight so she could better see his face. “That doesn’t make sense.”
Yeah, her frustration was audible. Good. Let him know she wasn’t happy about what he was saying.
“Perhaps not,” he admitted, “but it’s true all the same.” Lifting his head from hers, he planted a kiss where his head had just rested. “Goodnight, Taylor. I’ll see you in the morning.”
Jaw a bit slack, she watched him go to his tent. Without looking back and giving her the wink she’d come to expect, he disappeared into his tent.
What?
He was just going to sleep now?
With no more explanation than that?
Forget shining her phone light in his face. She wanted to throw the device at him.
Part of her wanted to let herself into his tent and go for what she wanted.
Wasn’t that what the past few days had been about? That he wanted to have sex with her?
If not tonight, then when? They’d work from four p.m. to four a.m. tomorrow night—technically, that night. Had he forgotten?
Or maybe as he’d gotten to know her he’d decided they were better as friends than lovers.
No. She’d seen how he’d looked at her. She’d felt how he’d touched her, how he’d kissed and held her.
Jack wanted her.
So why had he just gone into his tent alone? Was he trying to be noble? Save her from herself?
Her hands went to her hips and she glared at his tent.
What if she didn’t want him to be noble? What if she didn’t want to be saved? What if what she wanted was to have sex with a man just because she wanted to have sex? Because she wanted what his body offered? Because she felt physical excitement when she looked at him? What if she wanted to not overthink what was happening between them and just feel, just act, just do, and live in the moment?
She bit the inside of her bottom lip. She’d never been a seductress. Although Neil had initially thrilled at her lack of experience, he’d soon pointed out her shortcomings when it came to pleasing a man.
She should go into her tent and be done with this.
She should.
But she wasn’t going to.
Because she wasn’t the love-starved woman who’d married Neil. Neither was she the beaten-down woman who’d finally had enough and walked away from what she’d no longer been willing to bear.
She was a woman who was stronger, who was figuring out who Taylor was, what Taylor wanted out of life, and was determined to enjoy the journey to figuring those things out.
She didn’t fool herself that Jack was anything more than a pleasant stop along that journey. One she’d look back on with fond memories and smiles and maybe even a few regrets.
Was she willing to let this moment pass and not take that next step? Not let him show her what she’d been missing out on for the first twenty-five years of her life? Because she knew sex with Jack would be nothing like anything she’d ever known.
A mosquito buzzed around her and she swatted it away.
Now or never, Taylor. Are you brave enough to go for what you want? Or live the rest of your life wondering what would have happened if you’d gone into his tent?
Have you shed enough of the insecurities of the past to march over to Jack’s tent and do everything in your power to make memories rather than regrets?
CHAPTER SEVEN
IGNORING THE FACT Taylor hadn’t budged from where he’d left her, Jack stripped off his T-shirt and shorts and lay down on top of his sleeping bag.
He closed his eyes, the surprised look on Taylor’s face haunting him.
Haunted him because the surprise had been replaced with uncertainty and hurt.
He didn’t want her to doubt herself, or that he wanted her.
But he’d had to step away while he still could.
He’d explain to her tomorrow why he’d had to make an abrupt exit.
The tent zipper gave way.
No.
Yes.
Jack’s heart pounded so loudly everyone probably thought one of the bands had taken the stage again.
He propped himself on his elbows, staring across the dark tent at Taylor’s silhouette, watched as she closed the tent flap, then, looking his way, stripped off her T-shirt and shorts.
Hell.
How he longed for light so he could permanently etch into his mind the memory of what she looked like at this moment.
Darkness was good. He needed to send her away.
“What are you doing, Taylor?”
She didn’t speak, just climbed in beside him and snuggled next to him on his twin-sized air mattress.
Her bare body pressed against his, which was only covered by his underwear, drove the nail home.
He could tell himself he needed to send Taylor away, but it was too late for that part of his brain to take control again.
Pulling her as close as their bodies would allow, he cupped her bottom, keeping her firmly against him as he covered her lips with his.
Sweet heavens. She tasted good.
He caught her soft sigh of relief and then lost himself in the desperation of how she returned his just-as-desperate kisses.
He wanted to see her, to know what was showing in her eyes as he ran his hands over her breasts, her hips, between her legs. But to turn on any sort of light would illuminate them to anyone walking by so he used his other senses to immortalize her.
The feel of her. The taste of her. The smell of her.
When she was ready, he donned a condom, maneuvered to where he was positioned just right, thrilled at how her fingers dug into his shoulders as he pushed inside, fought losing control at her soft whimper of pleasure as he moved his hips and she wrapped her legs around him, taking him as deep as he’d go.
Fighting to hold in his desire to roar, Jack brought her to the brink over and over until she desperately clung to him, quivering with her release, until his own body refused to hold back another moment and he lost himself.
His breathing hard, his chest feeling as if it was going to burst open, he collapsed on top of her. Then, worrying he was too heavy, he went to roll off, but she stopped him.
“Don’t,” she whispered. “Let me enjoy this for a little longer before you roll over to go to sleep.”
Was she kidding him?
No way was he rolling over to go to sleep when she was naked and in his bed. But her words reminded him of how fragile she really was, of why he shouldn’t have allowed what had happened to happen in a tent where they’d had to keep quiet, had needed to limit their body movements, had had to restrain the guttural reactions to just how good the other felt.
Because he had no doubt Taylor had felt good.
His own body tightened again. She’d wanted him to stay where he was, so she had no one to blame except herself when he started nuzzling her neck and running his hands over her body. Again.
Because that’s what he wanted.
To touch her all over.
This time slower, surer, making it all about her, catching her moans with his kisses.
* * *
Jack wasn’t sure what time Taylor had left his tent, but he woke alone, naked, and feeling a lot better than a man should fee
l who’d only slept a few hours.
At least, he thought it had only been a few hours. Stretching his arms over his head, he acknowledged that for all he knew it could be afternoon.
His tent was hot enough for it to be midday.
He dressed, unzipped the tent, and stepped out, immediately looked toward Taylor’s tent. She was nowhere to be seen.
“Haven’t seen her since early this morning.”
Raking his hand through his hair, Jack turned toward Duffy. The older man sat in a chair, a soda in one hand and his cellphone in the other.
“’Bout what time would that have been?”
“You mean when I saw her sneaking out of your tent or when she left to go and shower?” Duffy stared at him with narrowed eyes. “Or later when she came back, put her stuff away, then took off almost immediately rather than talk with me?”
He met the older man’s gaze and knew there was no point in denying any of the accusations in his friend’s eyes. Instead of saying anything further, he opened his cooler and pulled out a drink, took a long swig, then went over to where Duffy was sitting.
“Take your pick.”
Duffy’s stare was uncompromising. “You going to hurt that girl?”
Of all the people to see Taylor leaving his tent, why had it had to be Duffy? Jack leaned back in his chair. “Not planning to.”
“You like her.”
“Yes, and you’re right. I’ll probably hurt her,” he acknowledged. He was the first lover Taylor had had since her divorce and that made her even more vulnerable, made him want to protect her all the more, even when that meant protecting her from himself. “Then again, she may end up hurting me.”
Duffy laughed. “Yeah, right.”
Jack shrugged. “Crazier things have happened.”
Duffy’s brow lifted. “Never known you to get caught up enough with someone to be hurt. Not since Courtney.”
Yeah, Jack wasn’t digging this conversation. Not for a thousand reasons. Duffy knew him well. As well as anyone really. Hadn’t Duffy played a major role in influencing Jack’s decision to straighten his life out? To become a doctor?