“I want more than just your bed tonight,” he told her.
Viv lifted her head and smiled. “Then maybe we should start with a shower, where I can thoroughly clean you.”
Every part of Jack’s body tightened as he lifted her off her feet and headed toward the hallway. Viv wrapped her legs around his waist.
“Go to the bathroom in my bedroom,” she whispered in his ear. “My shower is huge.”
Anticipation gnawed at him as he turned the corner to her room. The second he set her on her feet, he grabbed the hem of her tank and yanked it over her head. Icing and cake crumbs covered her lacy white bra. Jack wasted no time in bending down to lick every last bit, until she gripped his shoulders and trembled beneath him.
Reaching behind her, he flicked the closure of her bra until it sprang free. She flung it aside.
Jack fisted his T-shirt and slid it over his head, sending it to the floor. Her eyes raked his chest before she reached for his pants. Jack glanced down, watching as she continued to undress him. Those delicate hands shook as she eased the zipper down.
He toed off his shoes and kicked away his pants.
“I want you in that shower now,” he growled. “So if you don’t want to go in with your pants on, I suggest you take them off.”
Her eyes widened as she quickly went to work, and within seconds she was gloriously naked before him. Jack reached for her, seizing her by her waist. He backed her into the bathroom, keeping his eyes on hers.
“I’ve never had a food fight before,” he told her. “I better be thorough with the cleanup.”
Viv reached between them, covering him with a gentle stroke of her hand. “I like a man who’s thorough.”
Mercy, she was going to be the death of him. There was nothing sexier than a woman who took charge and knew what she wanted.
The corner shower had two glass walls and a rain head. Jack opened the door and reached in to turn the water on, testing the temperature before stepping in and pulling her with him. He positioned her directly beneath the spray, smoothing her hair away from her face.
Droplets dotted her skin. Jack’s hands roamed up and down her sides, needing to feel every bit of her.
“Tell me what you want,” she murmured.
He spun her around until her back hit the tiled wall. “Every inch of you.”
Sliding his hand between her legs, he stroked her. Viv’s head tipped back, her eyes lowered. Every time he touched her, she shook with need—a need he completely understood.
Her hips pumped against his hand and Jack couldn’t take his eyes off her. There was nothing more erotic than a woman about to come undone at his touch...this woman. She was different than any other, an epiphany he’d come to so recently, he was still reeling from the shock to his system.
Viv panted as she turned her head to the side, squeezing her eyes shut. Water trickled over her flushed skin, catching on her lips a second before she slid her tongue out to wipe it away.
The moment her body tightened, Jack captured those lips. He hadn’t been kidding when he’d said he wanted every single inch of her. He swallowed her groan as she gripped his biceps. Having her cling to him was everything right now.
When she finally stilled and pulled away, she blinked against the water and met his gaze. When she bit that swollen bottom lip, Jack removed his hand and reached up to frame her face.
“Whatever you’re thinking, leave it.” He kissed her fast, hard. “It’s just us here. Nothing else matters.”
Wasn’t that what she’d been trying to get him to see? She’d been urging him to live again, to find happiness again. Part of him, a part he’d just revived, desperately wanted to risk his sanity for that happiness. He wanted to know what taking a chance on a relationship would do.
Tears filled her eyes. “I need to—”
He nipped at her lips. “I need you. Nothing else right now.”
Her brows drew in as she studied him. Her hesitation had worry spearing deep inside him. “Are you having second thoughts?” he asked.
“No.” She shook her head and reached up to grip his wrists. “No. I’m just...nothing. I want this, I want you. Are you sure? Because the way you left the other day...”
“Right now, right here, this is all that matters.” He couldn’t express his feelings, was still struggling to come to grips with them himself. “I need you, Viv.”
Admitting that was a leap for him. He never needed anyone, ever. But Viv was his. She had been for a while and he was finally realizing just how much he ached for her...and not just physically.
Her arms circled his neck and her ankle locked behind his knee. “Then take me.”
Jack lifted her against the wall, pinning her in place with his body. She wrapped her legs around his waist and began to rock her hips against his.
Staring at him from beneath thick, dark lashes dotted with water, she whispered, “Make me yours again.”
How could he deny the lady?
Jack gripped her hips and joined their bodies. With no barrier between them, he stilled, taking just a second to bask in everything Vivianna. She was utterly perfect and she was completely his.
With an arch of her back and a moan, Viv urged him to move. She closed her eyes and bit down on her lip as he complied, but he was having no part of that. If she was going to be his, then she was going to damn well know it.
“Look at me,” he commanded.
Her dark eyes locked on to his. Jack kept one hand firmly on her hip and gripped her jaw with the other before crushing his mouth onto hers. He craved more. She was like a drug and he couldn’t get enough. Would he ever?
Her knees dug into his waist as Viv pressed even closer. The warm spray beat all around them and Jack knew he’d never take another shower without imagining her thrusting her body against his with total abandon.
Viv’s body quickened and she gripped his shoulders. He eased back, needing to see her come undone again.
She held his gaze as her body tightened around him, thrusting him into his own release. He didn’t look away, couldn’t if he wanted to. Viv’s expressive eyes most likely mirrored his own. So many unspoken emotions...
Jack clenched his teeth, fighting the urge to say something. Any confessions stemming from feelings during sex were not smart. Later, when they were lying in bed, he’d say what he needed to, what she deserved to hear.
When her body went lax, Jack rested his forehead against hers as he came down from his own release.
“Jack—”
He kissed her. Whatever she was about to say would have to wait. Right now, he was reeling from the fact he was falling for a woman, the first in over a decade. And he had no idea how the hell that would fit into the life he’d created...a life he’d intended to live alone.
Sixteen
He’d wrapped her in a thick bath towel and carefully laid her in bed before climbing in beside her—as if this was part of their daily routine.
Viv blinked back the tears, thankful for the darkness. His feelings for her had changed. Somewhere along the way, he’d started falling for her. She’d seen it in his eyes, tasted it on his lips and felt it with every single touch.
There was so much he didn’t know, so much he deserved to know. She had to stop being such a coward and just tell him, reveal the most damning secret. But the words wouldn’t come. Viv lay in the crook of his arm, her hand resting directly over his heart. “I can’t have children,” she whispered into the darkness.
As if that was the only secret she’d been keeping from him. Nerves spiraled through her as the inevitable conversation hung in the air. But this was at least one truth she didn’t mind sharing. The reality of never having her own children had caused an open wound so deep inside her, she hadn’t revealed it to anyone. She wanted to with Jack. She wanted to share everything...but
the lie that she’d held on to for weeks would likely be the hurdle they could never jump together.
“Have you tried?” he asked. He stroked her shoulder with his thumb, sending a shiver through her.
Viv pulled in a shaky breath. “I’m infertile. I was sick when I was younger. The choice was never mine.”
He squeezed her tighter against his side, turning to kiss her forehead. “That’s why you foster.”
Wrapping her arm around his waist, Viv nodded. “I don’t have to give up my yearning for children, and I can help many. Fostering is the best fit for me. I’m single, so it would be more difficult to raise a child on my own.”
As she explained her reasoning, the heaviest weight she’d ever known crushed her chest.
“You’re an amazing woman, Viv.”
She didn’t want his praise, and she sure as hell didn’t deserve it.
“I’m actually thinking of adopting Katie. I was asked and I... I think I’m going to move ahead with the process.”
The idea both thrilled and terrified her. She was so excited to be a mother, and sweet Katie was an angel. But could she do it on her own? At least with fostering she had gaps between children, could decide when she was ready to open her home again. She could keep her heart from getting involved—though with Katie she was already a goner. But adoption was permanent and Viv wanted to make sure Katie was getting the best life possible. Would one parent be enough?
Jack shifted to lie on his side, facing her. “I can’t think of anything better for you or her. She’s lucky to have you.”
“I want to give her everything,” Viv confessed. “I just don’t want to make a mistake.”
Jack’s soft laugh filled the room. “You wouldn’t make a mistake. When you come into anyone’s life, they’re better for it. Katie... Me...”
Viv’s heart clenched. “Jack—”
“I need to tell you that you mean more than—” He broke off with a muttered curse before continuing on. “Damn it, I want this, Viv. I want to see where this will go, how we can make this work. I can’t promise anything. Hell, this is all still new to me, but I know when I’m not with you—”
“Stop.”
She couldn’t listen to his declaration. Once he knew everything, every last part that she had to share, then he could decide...and Viv knew in her gut that he wouldn’t feel the same. Still, she had to tell him. This wasn’t about the case anymore, this was about family. If they were going to have any chance at being a couple, a family with Katie, he needed the truth now.
In the glow from the baby monitor, she found it hard to look at him. But she couldn’t wait another minute. The dynamics in their relationship had shifted immensely and as much as she wanted to wait for the right time, she knew in her heart such a moment didn’t exist.
It was now or never.
“I—I’ve learned something about the case,” she whispered, tears threatening to clog her throat.
Jack propped his head on his hand and stared down at her. “When? Today?”
“A few weeks ago.” She closed her eyes. “I didn’t know how to tell you.”
“Weeks?” he repeated. “What don’t you know how to tell me? Damn it, Viv, I need to know everything. Don’t worry about how to break news to me.”
Silence settled between them and already the wall separating them was being erected. She’d been building it brick by brick the second she’d opted to keep that journal hidden.
“How the hell could anything you discover be upsetting to me?” he went on. “What could you possibly have learned?”
Viv never wanted to be the one to destroy Jack. His need for justice overrode everything in his life. She knew he had to have all the facts. But even now, on the brink of blowing this case, she couldn’t tell him.
She rolled over, flicked on the lamp and headed to her closet. Without a word, she reached up to the top shelf and pulled down the leather journal. She’d read it front to back, twice. She knew the secrets Patrick O’Shea had kept, knew more than just Jack being his son. She’d read about how his children wanted him to go in a more legal direction, but he’d been hanging on to contacts he couldn’t cut ties with.
Turning back around, she met Jack’s gaze. Those green eyes pierced her from across the room. He glanced at the book she held.
She’d never been more vulnerable in her entire life. Viv stood before Jack wearing absolutely nothing...except the truth clutched in her hands. Completely bared to him, Viv willed herself to push through this, to do the right thing.
With her arm extended, she walked to his side of the bed and handed it to him. Jack kept his eyes on her as he took the journal.
Finally, he shifted his focus to the leather-bound book in his lap. He opened the cover, immediately seeing Patrick O’Shea’s name.
Jack jerked his attention back to her. “You’ve had this for how long?”
Viv swallowed against the guilt, the remorse. There was no going back now. “Too long,” she whispered.
Unable to look at his face, coward that she was, Viv grabbed her robe from atop the comforter and jerked it on before heading to the antique trunk at the end of her bed. She took a seat, facing away from Jack. Twisting her hands in her lap, she imagined each word he was reading. She knew where the bombshell was located within the pages; he had a few more to go.
Each time he turned another, Viv cringed.
Jack’s audible gasp gutted her. Still, she couldn’t face him.
“You read this.”
His accusing tone was like a slap. “Yes.”
“And you didn’t think I deserved to know this bastard was my father?”
Viv came to her feet, tightened the belt on her robe and turned to face him. The pages lay open, Patrick’s dark penmanship mocking her.
“Of course you needed to know,” she said, knowing she had no right to feel wounded. “I wanted to tell you the second I found it. But I—”
“What?” he demanded as he jerked the sheet aside and came to his feet. He reached for his boxer briefs from the floor and tugged them on. “You got too close with the family and shifted your loyalties?”
Stunned he’d even think that, Viv shook her head. “No. Never. I never shifted my loyalties to them. I may believe in my heart they’re innocent, but I am on your side, Jack.”
His laugh mocked her. “Really? I’d hate to see if you were my enemy. How the hell do I even know this journal is real? It could’ve been a plant. Did you ever think of that?”
Viv nodded. “I’ve thought of this from every perspective. But I wasn’t snooping when I found it. The one time I was actually just doing my job, I stumbled upon it.”
In a rush, she explained how it was caught in her desk, but the way it was wedged in, she truly didn’t believe it had been placed there to trick her.
“Conveniently, it was your desk,” he replied in that dry, disbelieving tone. “So why now? You waited until we’d grown closer for what? Because you thought it would soften the blow somehow?”
“No,” she whispered. “I just... I couldn’t keep it from you any longer. I’m falling for you and—”
“Don’t say it,” he demanded. When he started gathering the rest of his clothes, Viv’s heart sank. He wasn’t even going to stick around to hear her defense...not that she hadn’t seen this coming. “Don’t even try to tell me that you love me, or any other feelings you’re having. At this point, what you want, what you feel, is irrelevant.”
He stepped into his pants, shrugged his T-shirt on, then grabbed the journal. “You know how much this case means to me. You’re the only person I’ve confided every damn thing to. I’ve confessed my fears to you because I knew you understood from being on the inside.”
The disappointment in his tone was worse than the rage. He’d trusted her. He’d placed her on
this particular case because he knew she’d always been loyal and honest.
She’d failed him.
“I can’t take back what I did,” she explained, crossing her arms over her chest. “I was scared when I first found it, worried I was being set up to see what I’d do with it. But as I read on, I figured there was no way the O’Sheas knew you were their half sibling. Braden would’ve confronted you. So then I tried to find the right time to tell you.”
“The second you found it was the time,” Jack countered, narrowing his eyes at her. Only moments ago those eyes had held her in place with passion and signs of love. “But you clearly chose the team you’re on. And it’s not mine.”
Katie’s cry blared through the monitor. Viv jumped from the unexpected intrusion, then glanced at the screen. Katie turned, grabbed her favorite blanket and quieted down.
Jack sat on the edge of the bed to pull on his socks and shoes. “Everything you’ve learned, from the journal and otherwise, needs to stay with you until this case is wrapped up. Clearly, you’ll need to stay at O’Shea’s, because the Feds are counting on you, but I no longer need you to do work for me.”
He didn’t look at her as he delivered the toneless speech. Cutting her out of his life was that quick, that final. As much as she wished he’d listen to her reasoning, she knew Jack wasn’t that man. He saw things as black-and-white, and his once-glossy perception of her had been tainted. Quite possibly, his need for justice had been tarnished, as well. How could he take down the only family he had left?
As much as it hurt to let him walk away angry, she truly had no choice. He needed to think, and she needed to let him go. She loved him, more than she thought possible. But for now, she’d keep things professional—and live with the gaping hole he’d left in her heart.
She hoped in time he’d come around, hoped he’d realize that she loved him and had done everything to protect him.
“Do you want me to stay on with the O’Sheas full-time?” she asked.
Jack’s mocking laugh rang out as he rose to his feet. “I’ll text you the name and phone number of the contact from the FBI. You can direct all of your questions to him from here on out. I’ll have your things from your office sent over.”
The Heir's Unexpected Baby Page 13