by Soraya Lane
When she’d decided to come back to see her dad, to take time out of her normal life, she’d expected to recharge her batteries, hang out with her family, and be itching to get back to work. But now that she was here, just the idea of leaving and going back to reality was like a slowly building headache that had developed from a mild pain into a rapid thump in her skull. And she knew the man behind her had more than a little to do with how she felt.
“How much?”
Jack was standing with a pot in one hand and an open rice container in the other. Seeing him so domesticated put a smile on her face. “Couple of cups,” she said, eyes fixed on him again.
“If we got married, would you cook for me?” she asked.
“Would you put out?”
They both burst out laughing at the same time.
“Trust you to say something like that,” she said, trying to glare at him but unable to shake her smile.
“It’s a fair question,” he said with a twinkle in his eye.
“So was mine.” Maddison was blushing, she knew it, but she refused to be embarrassed even if her skin was betraying her.
“Can I ask you a serious question?” Jack was pouring water into the pot, but his change in tone made her sit back down and listen.
“Would you be here, with me? Or would you be back in the city?”
She tilted her head, nodding. “You want to know if our marriage would be real, right?”
Jack’s stare told her she was dead on the money.
“I don’t know,” Maddison told him honestly. “I mean, I want to see more of my family, and if we’re married I’d want it to be real in the fact that we’d be here for one another, but I can’t just give up the career I’ve worked so hard for. It’s like I’m between a rock and a hard place right now, and I don’t know which way to turn.”
It wasn’t as straight forward as that and she knew it, but thinking about moving back here for good wasn’t something she’d ever considered. Until now. Her dad might not live to be the old man she’d always imagined he would; and now adding Jack into the picture? Would their marriage even seem real if she didn’t move back here, at least semi-permanently? The flight between Billing and Los Angeles was only a few hours, but still. She knew she’d soon tire of it, even if she was spending every other week back here.
“I wouldn’t ever stand in your way, Maddison, not if I could help it. I need you to know that.” His voice was deep now, like he was telling her something that he’d been thinking about for awhile, that he’d been waiting to tell her. “You were my best friend and you probably will be again, and I want you to be happy.”
Maddison felt tears welling up again. Why couldn’t her ex have been more like Jack? Instead of taking everything from her like a bloodsucking leech when she’d done nothing but give in return.
“That’s why I’d marry you, Jack. Because you’d do anything for me, and I want you to know that I’d do the same for you.”
The mood had changed again, the feeling in the kitchen having gone from fun to serious too many times for her liking. And from the look on Jack’s face, it wasn’t going back to fun anytime soon unless she did something about it.
Only she wasn’t ready to change things just yet. Not when she still had something left to ask him.
Maddison took another slow sip of wine, and then another for extra courage.
“What if we did fall in love? What if we did get married, and then things…”
Jack was standing in the center of the kitchen, his eyes burning into her like he was capable of setting her on fire just with his stare.
“Became real?” he asked.
Maddison caught her bottom lip between her teeth, not sure whether to run away or encourage him. Thinking about Jack this way was difficult. After telling herself that she was sworn off men, that she’d never let herself be hurt again, here she was ready to let Jack have his wicked way with her and marry him! But he was Jack – he was dependable, strong… and available. Would she regret not giving them a chance, a real chance, if he met someone else and was taken from her?
She shook her head, forcing the thoughts away. “I, ah, need to check the chicken.”
Jack shook his head too, but his was a slow side to side movement, a wicked smile curving his lips. “No,” he said, walking slowly toward her, “you don’t.”
Her heart was starting to race. “I’m scared,” she blurted.
That made him stop. Jack’s arms were hanging at his sides, feet spread hip-width apart as he stood, staring at her. “Of what?” His voice was low, deep.
“Of you,” she whispered, finding it hard to maintain eye contact with him.
Jack slowly moved closer, his hands rising and catching her arms behind the elbows, holding her in place. When she didn’t meet his gaze he used one hand to tuck under her chin and gently tilt her face up.
“I scare you?” he asked, whispering now.
Maddison swallowed. Hard. “Yeah.” It was as if the word came out on a breath.
“You scare me a little, too,” he admitted, shuffling closer.
Maddison shut her eyes, took a deep breath before opening herself up to him again. “I don’t want to be hurt again, Jack. I can’t be.”
“I don’t want to hurt again either, Maddison. It’s why I don’t want a family. Because I don’t want to hurt anyone else, either. More than not wanting to hurt myself, I don’t want the burden of not being there for someone.”
Could she deal with it just being the two of them? With never being a mom?
She stared into Jack’s eyes, braver now. Yes, she could. For her dad. To protect her family’s ranch in the future, and let her dad see her with a man he already loved like a son.
Maddison stood on tiptoe, hands on Jack’s shoulders as she pressed a kiss to his cheek. “If we do this, I want to take it slow,” she said into his ear, voice almost a whisper even though there was no one else in the room. Even though it was just the two of them.
He nodded and wrapped his arms around her, giving her a warm, gentle hug. Maddison relaxed into it, arms around his neck, head pressed to his chest as he held her. It was like every bone in her body softened, her muscles relaxing as if her entire body was exhaling.
It was what she’d needed. To just be held, to feel loved, to make her feel like everything was okay in the world even though she knew it couldn’t be further from the truth.
“I don’t want to ruin our friendship, Jack,” she said, still holding on to him, her cheek firmly against him.
“Me neither.” His response was immediate, mouth against her hair.
“So what do we do?” she asked, not wanting to let go of him. Not ever.
“We take it one step at a time, starting with dinner,” he said.
Maddison shut her eyes, but they popped open less than a second later. “Shit! The rice.”
She bolted to the pot, turning the gas down and pulling the lid off.
“Shit!” It was boiling like mad. She spun around to get a spoon, only to find Jack right behind her, a big smile on his face and a wooden spoon in his hand.
“Looking for this?”
She laughed. “Yeah.”
Maddison turned back to stir the rice, stiffening when his arms encircled her from behind. “Shall we go back to slowing down, now?”
She nodded. And at the same time wondered if she should have disagreed and asked him to go faster.
“Uh-huh,” she said, trying to keep her hand steady as she stirred the rice.
Funny, she hadn’t even thought about her ankle with Jack by her side in the kitchen.
CHAPTER SEVEN
JACK put down his utensils. “That was amazing.”
Maddison smiled at him, but she was avoiding his gaze. She had been ever since they’d sat down. “Not bad for making it from memory, I guess. Plus, being without a few ingredients.”
Trust her to be modest.
“So you didn’t answer my question before when I asked how long you’
d actually be here for. Do you have a date to head back?”
That made her eyes connect with his. “If I want to keep my job? I don’t know, maybe a few days.” She smiled. “But I’ll be back again as soon as this event is over.”
“To be with your dad?”
Maddison didn’t say anything for a moment, like she was figuring out how to answer, what to say. He shouldn’t have asked, but part of him wanted to hear her say that she was coming back for more than just her father.
“Jack, what are we doing?”
He raised an eyebrow. “Eating dinner?”
She laughed. “You know what I mean,” Maddison said, voice low now. “I mean are we actually going to take this further or are we just playing around? What you said before about whether this could be real one day…”
He laughed. “Playing does sound kind of fun,” he teased.
Jack saw the slight tremble in her lower lip, the dart of her eyes – all signs he remembered from childhood. She’d been so daring, but sometimes he’d seen her crack when she’d hurt herself more than he’d realized climbing trees or when she’d been trying to prove herself to the other boys. He’d pushed her too far.
Jack stood and walked around to the other side of the table. “I was just teasing,” he told her, pulling out the chair beside her and tugging it close before sitting down. “It’s not that I’m not thinking what you are, I just don’t have the answers. Not yet.”
Maddison slowly turned her body until their knees touched, bumping together as he leaned forward and reached for her hands. Her smile was shy, but it was there.
“Do you want to marry me?” he asked. “Because if you don’t, I can always settle the estate in court. I’ll never let this land be stolen from me, Maddison, never. So you don’t have to do this unless you’re absolutely sure. Maybe we should just take some time, think it through. There’s no hurry.”
She was nodding, but he could tell that something was still troubling her, that there was something simmering away behind those eyes even though she wasn’t saying a word. They’d only talked about marriage an hour ago, had agreed to take it slow, but something was spooking her. It was written all over her face.
“So what do you say?” Jack asked, squeezing her fingers against his. “Maddie?”
She tilted her face when he said her name, stared at him, then pulled her fingers from his.
He was losing her. She was pulling away…
Holy fuck.
She launched at him so fast, so unexpectedly, that he wasn’t prepared. His chair tipped as Maddison grabbed him around the neck, arms looping around him as she fell into his lap, knees alongside his thighs, locking him into place. Her lips, so soft and pillowy last time they’d kissed, were insistent this time; rougher. And he liked it.
This wasn’t the Maddison he knew. This wasn’t the girl who’d been balking at the idea of whatever was happening between them earlier, the girl who’d been bashful in the kitchen cooking their dinner.
And he’d been wrong about losing her. Something had changed, but for the better.
“Hey,” he said, trying to catch his breath as she stared down at him, mouth still so close to his. Jack had one hand tangled in her hair, the other on her butt.
“You can’t hurt me, Jack,” she whispered, pressing her forehead against his. “Just promise you won’t hurt me. Promise? I need to hear you say it.”
Right now he’d agree to anything just to get back to what she’d started. But he wasn’t going to lie to Maddison. “I promise,” he said honestly. “So long as you can promise me the same.”
She must have agreed, because one minute she was staring at him and the next she was kissing him like a woman possessed, her lips like fire against his, tongue teasing like she was thinking about a whole lot more than just kissing.
And damn it, so was he.
Maddison was clutching him tight, nails digging into his shoulders, like she had no intention of stopping any time soon.
Jack placed both hands on her backside, fingers inching up to touch the curve of her waist, down to the firmness of her thighs and back again to her butt.To hell with worrying about just being friends. He was ready to be initiated into friends with benefits.
Maddison knew she was being impulsive, crazy even, but it was too late to back down and she didn’t want to. His lips against hers, his body strong and hard, it was doing something to her that had her completely out of control.
No man had ever made her feel like this.
Warmth was spreading through her, curling in her belly, hot. Jack pushed her back slightly, breaking the tight hold she had on him, but when she realized what he wanted, she gave in.
His fingers scrabbled at the bottom hem of her top, tugging it over her head, before his hands were back on her again, only this time against her bare skin. She moaned, neck arched back as his mouth moved down lower, tongue against the hollow under her jaw, trailing to her collarbone. Jack sucked, teased, before she yanked his head back so he could kiss her mouth again.
“Slow down, tiger,” he whispered, his voice husky – sexy as hell.
She laughed, not even recognizing the low timbre of her own voice, feeling more confident than she ever had with a man. Because this was Jack. This was a man she trusted, a man she’d loved for most of her life… just not in this way before.
Maddison grabbed his shirt, fumbling at the buttons, wanting to rip them all off in her frustration. Only Jack’s hands stopped her from doing exactly that.
“Maddie,” he murmured. “What happened to going slow?”
She glanced up, annoyed that he’d stopped her. “I changed my mind. Screw slow.”
He chuckled, fingers playing against her skin, teasing her stomach. “You sure about that?”
“Aren’t you?”
That really made him laugh. “Sweetheart, me checking with you about going slow has nothing to do with what I want.”
Her burst of annoyance had been uncalled for. Jack was giving her a chance to back out, to call her out on her impulsiveness. And a man giving a shit about her feelings was a courtesy she hadn’t been afforded in a long, long time.
“I’m sure, Jack,” she whispered against his mouth, needing to kiss him like her life depended on it. “I’ve never been so sure you in my life.”
“That,” he said, lips dancing against hers in a kiss so soft all the bones in her body felt like they were turning to liquid, “was all I needed to hear.”
Jack’s hold on her went from soft to firm, catching her tight around the waist as he stood and lifted her in his arms. She didn’t need any encouragement, wrapping her legs tight around his waist, locking herself into place against him.
He wasn’t wasting any time telling her what he wanted, either. Jack’s mouth was hot and wet against hers, and she gave back in every way she could. Maddison’s arms were wrapped around his waist, and she didn’t care when he stumbled into a wall, slamming her into it, before stopping at the foot of the staircase.
Jack stopped, but he didn’t stop kissing her until she forced them apart by finding her way to her feet. She glanced back at Jack, his wicked grin and devilish eyes mirroring the way she felt inside.
“Race you to the top?” she asked, giggling as she said what they’d always asked one another as kids.
He winked. “I’ll give you a three second head start.”
He sounded… wicked.
“Why?”
“Just run.”
Maddison bolted upstairs without hesitating, scrambling and laughing as she tried to take two at a time, even as she tried not to put too much weight on her ankle. He was right behind her, she could hear his heavy footfalls, but she only had one step left to go…
“Gotcha.” Jack grabbed her around the waist, his hold firm enough that she knew she’d never get away.
Maddison wriggled and squealed but he had her, and there was no chance she was escaping. Even if she wanted to, and she certainly didn’t.
“Jack
let me go,” she protested, half-heartedly trying to avoid his mouth as part of the game, but desperately hoping it would only make him more insistent.
“No,” he growled, flipping her around so she was facing him full on, before pushing her down against the stairs, head on the top step, while grabbing the lace of her bra with his teeth and giving a tug. “I gave you a chance to back out. Now, you’re mine.”
Anticipation hit her, like she’d just consumed champagne that had gone straight to her head. Goose pimples tickled her skin as Jack reached for her hands and pushed them into the carpet above her head, holding her down.
“What if I want to get away,” she whispered as he trailed kisses down her arms, hands still pinned high above her head. Jack skimmed over her breasts, his teeth scraping against the lace on his way to her stomach.
“You can’t,” he murmured into her skin.
Maddison writhed, half trying to get away from him, half desperate for him to torture her more. She’d had no idea what she’d been missing out on. She’d never felt like this before. Never had a man lavish this much attention on her, be so hungry for her… make her feel so alive.
But having Jack’s hands on her wasn’t enough. She wanted to touch him too, wanted to pleasure him like he was pleasuring her. Wanted her lips on his skin. They needed to be on equal footing.
“Stop.” She said the word firmly. Loud.
Jack’s lips slowly withdrew from her skin, his hands releasing her. He looked up, straight into her eyes, and she regained control of her hands. She’d known he would stop if she asked, because he’d never force her to do anything she didn’t want to do, no matter what he’d said.
“My ankle…”
Jack moved back slightly, reaching down to touch her foot and Maddison took advantage of his distraction, jumping up the final step and racing for his bedroom.