“Thank you, Detective.”
I rose from the seat, encased on each side by a wall of muscles and yummy smelling man. Cal with his casual jeans and T-shirt and Jack in a suit, it was the dark and light I needed to get through this. And no matter how it looked, in that moment, I was grateful for both of them.
Chapter 16
It was dark when we got back to the cabin and every bone in my body felt frail and chilled.
“You okay?” Jack asked, shutting the door behind us. I just hugged my arms close to my body.
“Yeah. I just feel…” I closed my eyes for a moment. “Cold.”
Jack’s gaze went dark. He didn’t like the word cold. He’d told me once that when it came to me, he couldn’t work with “cold.” Which was why he kept me hot.
Right then, I wanted to lean in and steal some of the heat radiating off of him. But I couldn’t. I also couldn’t go to the warmth strewing off of Cal. I was stuck, feeling cold, in more ways than one.
“Why don’t you go get into your pajamas?” Jack said.
I nodded and did just that. Pulling on the soft material of my pink PJs was instantly comforting. When I walked back to the living room, Cal was kneeling over the fireplace, poking at the roaring flames, and Jack had just set three mugs of steamy cocoa down on the coffee table.
A smile split my lips because it was clear that Jack took my internal and external heat very seriously.
“Come here,” Cal said, and patted the plush area rug beside him, which was positioned right in front of the warm fire. I sat down and Jack handed me a mug, then one to Cal. He came to sit on the other side across from me.
I took a sip of my cocoa and—
“Whoa, this is good. What’s in it?”
“Whipped cream vodka,” Jack said, and took a drink himself.
“I make mine with love, but whatever,” Cal said in a teasing voice and took a sip himself.
Smiling over the rim of my cup, I took another long swallow and glanced between Jack and Cal. I licked my lips, tasting the sweet chocolate, as I found myself staring down Jack’s perfect mouth. The day’s shadow was on his face and the way the fire lit up his dark eyes was so sexy and sinister, he could be the devil asking for my soul and I’d happily turn it over.
Wait, I’d already done that.
Trying to gain composure, I glanced the other direction to find Cal, his T-shirt clinging to his broad chest and those blue eyes wild with light. He was almost angelic-looking with the halo of orange glow behind him.
“If you keep biting your lip like that, I’ll start to get the wrong idea,” Cal said.
I blinked hard, looked at my cocoa, and took another swallow when I heard Jack’s smile. It was so silent and so engulfing that it could be heard.
I hesitantly met his gaze.
“She’s nervous,” Jack said with victory in his tone.
“Why are you saying that like it’s a good thing?” Cal asked.
Jack’s eyes just stayed on me. “Because it is.”
I knew very well what being nervous around Jack meant. And he knew it too. The first night I’d met him we’d established quickly that when my nerves got the better of me, it was my body responding to Jack. Responding to his heat.
“You still cold?” Jack asked, with a tilt of his head and challenging tone. “Or are you hot?”
“I’m fine,” I whispered.
Jack tsked. “You’re more than fine. I can see it on your face. Admit it.”
“Why?” I snapped back.