Just Jack (14 page)

How was Jack so damn charming all the time? “You say that now. But wait until you know me, you’ll be desperate to get away from me.” He frowned as his mind went briefly to Mac.

“I doubt that,” Jack assured him as if he knew where Leo’s thoughts had headed. “I know when I’ve found something good, and…” He took Leo’s hand in his, and an expectant surge of emotion rushed through Leo. “I know we only met a couple of days ago and this probably sounds creepy, but I do feel like I’ve known you for longer. It’s been a long time since I’ve wanted to spend time with someone the way I want to with you.” Jack shook his head and released Leo’s hand. “I’m sorry. You probably don’t want to hear this right now.”

Jack was wrong. This was exactly what Leo needed to hear.

“I’m not great at this talking about how I feel stuff.”

Leo grabbed hold of Jack’s wrist to stop him from pulling farther away and braced himself against the cool breeze that momentarily surged up around them. “You did fine.”

Jack really had, and Jack’s stumbled words, in a strange way, made Leo feel a hell of a lot better. For a moment, he had feared his mom was right and he was just falling from one relationship into lusting after another. But if Jack felt something too, then what he was feeling had to mean something, right?

“I like spending time with you too. I wasn’t sure I would and that’s not meant to sound like it did. It’s not you, it’s…”

“You?” Jack looked at him curiously.

Shaking his head, Leo told Jack, “No. It’s neither of us. Mac was a big part of my life, and despite all his lying and cheating, I did love him.” This was going wrong. Maybe he should shut up before he scared Jack away.

“Did?”

Leo nodded. “Did. Past tense. I think I’ve been falling out of love with him for a while now, and I’ve stopped kidding myself that there’s anything there anymore or that I want there to be anything. He’s not who I want, and that’s not who I want to be.” There, he had said it, and hell, it sounded so final. He wrapped both of his hands around Jack’s. “Not when there’s the possibility of something so much better.” He glanced at Jack, worried he might have crossed the invisible boundary between them. He didn’t mean to sound so heavy, but it was how he felt.

He laughed and released Jack’s hand. “I’m sorry. You must think I’m mad or something.” He was surprised when Jack rested his hands on his shoulders and leaned in for a kiss. Leo closed his eyes. Their lips met in what was nothing more than a peck, a ghost of a kiss so gentle and yet so comforting.

“I’m hungry,” Jack stated with a slanted grin.

“Mmm.” Leo opened his eyes as Jack pulled away.

“Let’s eat.” He kissed Leo again. “Then we can decide what we’re going to do tonight.”

Tonight? “What? I thought you were working.”

“Let me worry about that.” Jack laughed. “How about you come to the club about ten and we take it from there? Yeah?”

Leo hesitated.

“Invite Ruby and Nathan,” Jack suggested. “Drinks on the house—vodka shots, cocktails. This doing anything for you?”

Opening his mouth, Leo didn’t know what to say. He was surprised by Jack’s sudden enthusiasm.

“Okay,” he eventually said. “Yeah. Sounds great.”

“Perfect.” Jack opened the door to the coffee shop, holding it for Leo to enter.

Yes, you are.

Chapter 14

“There has to be something wrong with him.” Ruby stirred her straw in her drink as she scrutinized Jack from across the room.

Leo followed her gaze. Jack was behind the bar, helping with a sudden rush of customers requiring service. “Like what?”

“There are some gentlemen left in the world, you know?” Nathan chimed in. “Yours truly, for one.”

Ruby cast her husband a sideways glance, but said nothing.

“He did hold the door for me.” Leo laughed. Leaning back against the leather couch, he took a long drink of the fruity cocktail and watched Jack.

“Well, we’ve established he isn’t an axe murderer. He appears to be single. Webbed feet?” Ruby turned her head.

Shaking his head, Leo assured her Jack did not have webbed feet.

“Maybe he’s just a nice guy.” Nathan looked between Leo and Ruby, and shrugged. “Stranger things have happened.”

“Maybe,” Leo agreed. He flinched when Ruby slapped him on the arm. “I know. I can’t help it, though. I really like him.”

The corner of Ruby’s mouth curled. “Then forget everything I just said.” She sucked on the straw, wincing at the tart pineapple her cocktail was mostly made from. “Does he make you happy?” She placed her empty glass on the table.

Jack had certainly brightened the last few days. Days that could have been described as nothing short of crappy.

“Yeah.” Leo sipped at his drink, eyeing Jack from over the rim of his glass.

Ruby leaned her shoulder to his. “It doesn’t have to be all bells and whistles and the next great love. Liking him is enough. Caring and warm feelings are enough. Being happy is enough.”

“Are you drunk?” Leo reached up and ruffled Ruby’s hair.

“Most likely,” she said, resting her head on his shoulder. Her hair fell in blonde curls over his chest. She blew out a breath. “He is cute.” Breathing in deeply, she sat back up. “But not as cute as you,” she insisted of Nathan. “You’re my Mr. Perfect.” She wrapped her hands around Nathan’s neck and dragged him into a drunken smooch.

Leo quirked an eyebrow and watched Ruby maul her man in a show of affection.

“How many of those have you had?” Nathan laughed as he grabbed his wife’s wrists. He kissed her on the mouth.

With a shrug, Ruby slid off her husband and dropped back on the couch. “I think I need to go and throw up.” Squeezing Leo’s knee, she got to her feet, taking a moment to steady herself before stalking across the room toward the washroom.

“Is she going to be okay?” Leo followed Ruby’s path across the club.

“She’ll be fine.” Nathan rested his head in his hand as he leaned his arm on the back of the couch. He screwed up his mouth as he craned his neck in an attempt to watch Ruby for as long as he could. “Though I’ll maybe go check on her in five.” He distracted himself with a loose thread in the stitching of the sofa. “You know if she’s bothering you, you just have to tell her to back off.”

Ruby could never bother him. “It’s fine. It’s why I love her. Why you love her.”

“True.” Nathan glanced toward the bathrooms, then to the bar. “I should probably go check on her,” he said with a grin.

When Nathan got to his feet, Leo spotted the reason for his quick exit. “Hey,” he said to Jack.

“Something I said?” Jack joked and sat down on the couch perpendicular to the one Leo was sitting on.

“Ruby’s a bit drunk, and Nathan’s checking on her.” He waited for Jack to get comfortable. “It’s busy tonight.”

Jack nodded. “Nothing they can’t handle.” He turned to Leo. “I’ve squared it with Abe, and I’m done for the night. So… We can have some more drinks here, or if you wanted, we could get out of here. Go somewhere else.” He pressed his hands together before curling down his fingers. “Only if you wanted.”

“I’d love to.” Leo checked his phone for the time. It was nearing midnight. “How about one more drink and then we head to my place?”

“To yours?” Jack raised his eyebrows. “You sure?”

He was sure. “Yeah.”

Jack seemed to suppress a smirk. “What can I get you?” He nodded to the almost finished drink in Leo’s hand.

“Another of these.” He stared at the glass. He couldn’t remember what the cocktail was called. He thought it was one of the rudely named ones.

“And the other two?”

“A bottle of beer for Nathan and a glass of water for Ruby.”

“Cool. Back soon.” Jack jumped to his feet and headed to the bar.

Leo sat alone for a moment, happy to watch Jack from afar until Nathan and Ruby returned. “Christ, you look like crap.” He looked Ruby up and down. Her dress was slightly rumpled and needed pulling back down over her left knee, her mascara was smudged under her eyes, and her curled hair was pulled back in a rough ponytail.

“Actually, I feel so much better now.” She dropped down next to him on the couch. She adjusted the hem of her dress.

“She’d fallen asleep.”

“I closed my eyes for a minute. Mostly to stop the stall from spinning.” She laughed and leaned back. “Two women escorted him into the restroom so he could find me.”

“They were really sweet.” Nathan smiled.

Ruby held her hands in front of her chest and mimed big boobs.

“Well, that too.” Nathan laughed.

“See.” Ruby tilted her head and looked straight ahead. “Please tell me that’s mine.”

Joining the group, Jack held out a large glass of water to her. “All yours. And for Nathan…” He handed Nathan the bottle of beer, then looked at Leo. “Yours is at the bar.” He turned on his heel, disappearing briefly, before returning with two more drinks—a cocktail for Leo and a short drink for himself. He settled on the free couch and took a drink. “Had a good night?” He nodded in Ruby’s direction, who grimaced slightly. “That good, huh?”

Nathan took a couple of large swigs of his beer, downing half the bottle, before declaring him and Ruby done. “I should get her to bed.”

“At least buy me a drink first,” Ruby said and broke into a fit of laughter.

Shaking his head in despair, Nathan managed to coax Ruby to her feet. With one arm around his wife, he extended his other hand to Jack. “Thank you for the drinks.” He and Jack shared a firm-looking handshake. “See you Monday, Leo.”

“Yeah, see you Monday.” Leo gave a little wave as Ruby blew him a kiss, and watched the couple head toward the door.

“Sorry,” Jack said.

“For what?”

“For plying your friends with booze.”

Leo chuckled. “So that was your plan. Get them drunk so they’ll like you.”

“Did it work?” Jack raised his eyebrows in amusement.

Teasing Jack, Leo didn’t answer, simply smiled to himself and sipped at his drink.

With a sigh, Jack got to his feet and swapped seats, choosing to sit beside Leo. “I’m glad they enjoyed themselves.” He eyed his glass as he held it between his knees.

“Thank you for making it easy.” When was the other shoe going to drop?

“They’re good people.”

Leo couldn’t argue with that. “And now you’ve got me on my own, what do you want to do?”

Jack looked at his drink as a smile teased the corner of his mouth. “Finish your drink, and I’ll tell you.” He lifted his gaze and seductively met Leo’s eyes.

Desire tightened Leo’s chest. Light from the bar seemed to dance in Jack’s eyes like they were alive. Leo raised his glass to his lips and took a sip, his eyes drawn to the curve of Jack’s full mouth. All Leo could think about was Jack’s plan had better involve going back to his and kissing. Lots of kissing. Naked kissing. Leo blinked. They so needed to get out of there.

* * * * *

They had barely made it into Leo’s condo before the desire to touch and undress overwhelmed them both.

Jack grunted as he was pushed back against the door. He closed his eyes as Leo met him in an openmouthed kiss. The pressure of Leo’s mouth on his sent a jolt through him, and he didn’t care as his head hit the inside of the door with a dull thud. Leo had his hands in Jack’s hair and around his neck, pulling him closer and deepening the kiss. The hunger with which Leo was kissing him amused Jack. Leo seemed so determined and demanding this time around, and Jack felt it only right to give in. Jack relented gladly as Leo wrapped a hand in the front of his shirt and tugged him forward.

A strange ache rose through his body as they moved toward the bedroom. Jack couldn’t describe what he felt, but the tightening of his chest and the tremble of his hands urged him forward. Keenly, he kissed Leo and unfastened the buttons of Leo’s shirt. His fingers brushed skin. He did his best to dismiss the sinking feeling in his heart when all he could do was imagine what the warmth of Leo’s chest might feel like beneath his touch. Leo groaned as Jack’s cool fingertips left a trail of goose pimples across his skin.

“Want you so bad,” Jack said breathlessly. They stopped outside the bedroom. He held Leo’s face and looked deep into his eyes. Their color seemed a shade darker, draped in a glassy layer of lust and need.

Leo’s breath hitched as he ran his hands over Jack’s chest. “Then what are you waiting for?” He smiled, managing to lean forward and kiss Jack despite Jack’s hold on him.

Jack returned the smile and pulled Leo into a firm kiss. Taking control, he steered them into the bedroom and pushed Leo away.

Leo dropped down on the bed and looked up at him. With a grin on his face, he hooked his fingers in the waistband of Jack’s jeans and pulled him close. He rested his hands on Jack’s hips and leaned his head back. His gaze locked with Jack’s as he unbuckled Jack’s belt and pulled down his zipper. Desire flashed over his face as he freed Jack’s erection.

Oh God
. Jack closed his eyes and let his imagination run wild. As Leo leaned forward, Jack ran his hands through his hair. When Leo closed his mouth around him, he curled his fingers down, tightening his hold on the man in front of him. Leo applied pressure to Jack’s dick with his tongue, sucking and licking his length. Jack imagined the damp heat of his lover’s mouth, the warm touch of Leo’s hand as he cupped his balls. Opening his eyes, he focused on his fingers as he threaded them through Leo’s hair. Of the men he had been with since his time as a Frost, why was Leo so damn special? Why did he dare to believe he could feel something for this man?

Damn
. He looked up at the ceiling. Something was different, and he tried to make sense of what he knew was no longer just down to his imagination. The blowjob felt good, and he didn’t care what it might mean. Right here, right now, he wanted more. He wanted touching and kissing and fucking. He clenched his stomach muscles as Leo dragged his tongue along his length, taking his dick fully in his mouth.
Christ
. The head of his dick hit the back of Leo’s throat, and Jack relished the sound of the drawn out hum Leo made as he worked Jack’s length. Jack enjoyed the feel of pressure around his erection and the squeeze of Leo’s hand around his balls. He was so close to just letting go and losing it right there.