The Heart (7 page)

I would never forget the way they looked at each other or the way she’d said his name as if he was the only man in the world who could save her. All I did know was that I loved the exhilaration that danced through me as I bared witness to it. It was the best I’d ever felt, a new craving.

The next day, I’d done everything I could to get Jason to kiss me the same way. At only ten years old, I was chasing that feeling. Frustrated after several attempts, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get it back.

I didn’t realize it then, or even until years later, but that was the night the romantic version of myself was born. A strong and powerful kiss between my parents had awakened the believer in me. I’d spent my early years convinced when I found the person that kissed me like that, I could own that feeling, and with each kiss, I would be able to summon it at will. Lying in my bed almost twenty years later, I knew the rarity of such a gift. That ten-year-old girl had been naïve, but she’d also been right. There were people out there capable of making you feel that way with a kiss, of summoning it with a look. It had never been the act of kissing but the connection between two people that caused such powerful emotion. It didn’t take much to figure that out, and once I had, my search began.

That young romantic grew older and found that person who turned her world upside down with just the feel of his lips. She’d gotten to explore a few short months of free rein and contentment, until the day it ended.

I stopped listening to that ten-year-old romanticist and the woman she grew in to. The romantic in me now remained buried due to years of living in realism and practicality. In my bitterness, it had become relatively easy to ignore her. Years later, she willingly lay dormant and disappointed.

At that moment, somewhere between shaking off the sleep haze and reliving that memory of my parents sharing the most romantic kiss I’d ever witnessed, I wondered if there would ever come a day when that silent part of me spoke again, and whether or not I would listen to her. I put my fingers to my bankrupt lips in an attempt to make sure they were still there and capable of receiving such a kiss, and then I remembered the only man I knew capable of giving it was long gone.

Penance, that’s what this was. I was paying penance for buying that ridiculous car. I eyed it in the distance as I wiped the dirt off the budding summer squash. I’d been all but shooed away by the men I’d hired to tend to the farm, but told them I needed the exercise and a simple task to keep myself occupied. They’d hesitantly obliged. Think of me what they would, but I
needed
to be a part of what was going on with the center in any aspect. It was my driving force.

“Mornin’, Rose.”

Cajun.

I loved the sound of it. It was especially sexy rolling off Jack’s tongue.

I smiled into my t-shirt as I cleaned the dirt off my face before I turned to find him holding two cups of coffee, one extended out to me.

“No offense to your gesture, sir, but a bucket of ice water would have been preferred.” I had been out in the fields for hours and was sure I was covered in dirt.

“It’s iced. I usually have a fresh batch of beignets to go with my apologies, but you Texans know shit about that.”

“I’m offended for all of us Texans,” I said with a grin, “but you brought no donuts, either, and that’s unheard of in these parts. And there is nothing to apologize for, Jack. We made peace with it, right? I’m really not used to having visitors but will have to be more careful once the center opens, anyway. So, in a way, you did me a favor by reminding me of that.”

“Okay, just as long as you know I don’t make a habit of staring at beautiful women in their underwear through their bedroom windows.”

Flattered by his comment but unwilling to acknowledge it, I gave him a simple reply. “Understood.” I grabbed the coffee from his extended hand and took a sip.

He was dressed again in a solid t-shirt and jeans, and yet looking at him always felt like the first time. No woman in their right mind could deny Jack’s appeal. From his blond spiky halo to his sharp perfectly drawn brows, down to his sculpted cheekbones and strong jaw, he was truly a work of art. He’d had no shortage of female attention throughout his life, of that I was sure.

“Seth and I have been friends for years, and I wouldn’t want to ruin our good standing for being the peeping pervert outside your bedroom door.” He winked before he sipped his own coffee.

“No harm, no foul. I’m not traumatized, and I stopped running to my daddy about boys a long, long, time ago,” I insisted in an attempt to drop the subject.

I’d always had an insatiable sexual appetite since I discovered it, and though those thoughts had been the last thing on my mind for the last few years, they were at the forefront now as sex stood in front of me. Scenarios and what ifs raced through my mind as I thought of what might have happened if he’d made an aggressive move last night.

Jack studied my face, but I kept my eyes averted, the air between us charged.

He broke the silence. “We’re installing all of the equipment today and tomorrow. I thought I’d offer to lead you through some of the fun stuff if you want.”

“Sounds good to me. And I really appreciate the coffee. I’m sure it was no easy feat to get it here on that Harley you ride.”

“You’d be surprised how much you can do with a bike.” He bit his lower lip with a quick nod of affirmation, and I found it sexy as hell.

I took another sip of my drink and set it down then picked my work gloves back up. “I wouldn’t know. I’ve never been on one.”

Suddenly, the heat was unbearable. I had the urge to rip off everything covering my body for any kind of relief. The sun was relentless, and the top of my head was beginning to burn. I’d realized I’d been distracted by my thoughts while I’d been working the field and now I was overheated and close to a meltdown. I was blaming it on the Texas sun but wasn’t so sure at that point that was the truth of the matter.

Jack bent down next to me as I gathered my tools, his knees touching mine. “We should remedy that. How about a ride today after I set up?” He brushed a stray strand of hair away from my face and wiped a smudge of dirt off my chin, forcing my gaze to his. Knees now planted in the dirt, I resisted the urge to pull him on top of me so we could roll around in it. I began to pant as he watched me start to melt into a pile of sweat and red hair. He was too close. I couldn’t think straight. And though any passerby who saw us wouldn’t see our posture as threatening or intimate, I could feel the tension between us. It was becoming more overbearing than the incessant sun. Jack seemed to be enjoying the dynamic, cool and confident as ever as he watched me squirm.

“I’m…not…”

Jack chuckled. “Surely you’re not scared considering you just bought one of the fastest sports cars out there? And by the way, when you’ve just gifted yourself a ride like that, you should be anywhere but digging in the dirt. That beauty needs her legs stretched.” There was nothing but sex in his voice. Intentional or not, I was suffocating under the weight of his words.

“I agree,” I said, throwing my tools back down in silent declaration that my punishment was over. “That sounds nice…the ride, I mean. I’ll take you up on that, but please excuse me for a moment.” I stood abruptly, forcing Jack up with me, then sprinted straight toward the pond. Not missing a step, I jumped high, gripped my knees, and cannonballed into the water, scaring the shit out of my ducks.

I resurfaced with an “Oh God, it’s wonderful!”

Jack bellowed with laughter behind me as I pushed drenched, wayward hair out of my face before turning to look back at him with a grin. He stood where I left him, tapping his cup against his leg, an amused smirk on his face. “I’ll pick you up at six.”

“Okay,” I said with renewed energy, loving the feel of the cold water. I watched Jack walk off and pretended not to notice the sun glinting off his gold-dipped hair. I stared in his direction several minutes after he was out of sight. Now that I knew Jack didn’t want to cross the line with me due to his concern over his relationship with my father, I felt a bit more at ease.

My ducks bitched their protest as they moved past me as I started swimming toward my house.

Band-Aid gone. I didn’t know whether or not to thank Jack or the Texas heat. Either way, it had been painless.

I walked out of the house when I heard the rumble of Jack’s motorcycle. I was nervous and dropped my keys twice while attempting to lock my door. I’d spent a few extra minutes knotting my hair on top of my head and a little longer than usual picking out my clothes, but for the most part, it was the fact that I would be close to a man I was so strongly attracted to that was the cause of my apprehension. And the last time that happened... well, it was the last time.

Jack was freshly dressed in dark blue jeans and a chalky white button-down rolled up to his tanned, toned forearms. His boots were shiny black, and he looked afuckingmazing still crouched on his bike, one hand on the throttle and the other resting on his thigh. When I approached, he pumped the handle, and I jumped at the sound.

His chuckle was deep as I narrowed my eyes. “Can we please stick to back roads? I’m not a fan of Texas highways.”

“Sure,” he offered along with a helmet. I took a deep breath as I fastened it under my chin, regretting wearing my short linen shorts the minute his eyes roamed over my legs. My halter blouse was no less revealing, yet it suddenly felt that way. When I’d looked at myself in the bathroom, the outfit had seemed feminine. Jack was staring at me like I was still in my underwear. I watched him take in my high-top Chucks that matched my soft linen shorts then give me a nod of approval.

He gathered one similar out of a saddlebag for himself.

“Hear me?” he asked over the loud rumble of the bike. I smiled as his voice cracked over the speaker inside my helmet.

“Yep,” I replied with a smile. I stood there, waiting as he stared at me expectantly.

“There’s no door to open for you, Rose. You actually have to climb on.” He chuckled as he scooted up a bit further in his seat.

“No highways?” At first, the ride seemed harmless, an easy way to give in and live a little, yet the man in front of me and the machine he straddled started to seem all too intimidating.

Jack’s grin broadened at my hesitance before he spoke. “I don’t want to scare you. I don’t get my kicks out of shit like that. In fact, I want you to like it, so I’ll be a good boy, I promise.” I gave him a smile. He closed his eyes then jerked his head toward the bike. “Come on, Rose, live a little.”

“You too? Geesh, that seems to be the collective advice from every damn body these days,” I muttered, lifting my leg over the backseat then placing my hands at his sides. He gripped them immediately and pulled them tightly around him. All too aware of the smell of his skin, what smelled like a mix of woods and crisp apples, I gripped the front of his t-shirt, twisting it in my hands.

“Wow, you really are nervous,” he said, untangling my hands and clasping them together around his waist.

“Let’s just do this.” I buried my helmet-covered head into his back, and as soon as he hit the throttle, I felt it.

It was instant. My body lurched forward, and I clung to his back like a fraidy-cat with its claws out.

“Whoa.” Jack slowed down just as we were passing the edge of the pond. “No, I’m fine. Just go,” I said breathlessly.

“I won’t do anything crazy, Rose. I promise.”

“Got it, Jack, go!”

He pulled at the throttle, and I jumped again, but this time I was able to keep it mostly to myself. Jack quickly became engrossed in the ride as Bob Seger’s “Night Moves” came through the speaker.

I shut my eyes tight and tried to ignore the sensation that was creeping through me. My shorts offered little to no buffer because it felt like I was riding the world’s largest vibrator. I was humiliated again after only minutes with him. As long as he didn’t find out why, I was safe. It had been so long, I’d almost forgotten what it felt like. I adjusted my body in every way imaginable to keep the sparks at bay. The minute Jack took off out of the parking lot and I felt the full effect of the bike between my legs I knew it was useless.