Weirder and weirder.
“And what does she want to talk to me about?”
“How should I know? Do I look like her secretary?”
With that, she stalked away. Jack smiled, she actually did look like a secretary. He stared at the house. He was definitely being manipulated. He wondered if he should ignore the summons and wait in the garden until her highness came to speak to him. Oh, what the heck. He’d play. He stabbed the shovel into the dirt, emptied his water bottle and rubbed his sweatshirt over his fac
e before dumping it back on the ground. He wiped his hands on the front of his T-shirt and headed to the front door to ring the bell as ordered.
Two seconds after he rang the bell, the door flew open.
“You came back,” Davina gushed, “I thought you’d gone forever.”
She looked different — shorter, less makeup. Her wild hair was gone. A tear came to her eye, she rubbed it with the back of her hand.
“I’m so very pleased,” she told him. “Let me show you how much.”
And then she launched herself at him. Her arms wrapped around his neck and her lips were on his. For a split second he was too stunned to move and then instinct kicked in. He grabbed her under her backside and pulled her up to him. She wrapped her legs around him as she slanted her mouth to kiss him deeper. Jack held her up with one hand as the other cupped the back of her head. He wanted to wind his fingers into her hair but the ponytail was in the way. He pulled the elastic out of her hair. Thick curls fell to her shoulders. With two long steps he backed her against the wall at the side of the door. Her kisses were deeper, her tongue probed his mouth, she wanted all of him and he wanted her to have him. He trailed his hand down the satin skin of her cheek. His fingers worked at the edge of her shirt, sliding it off her shoulder. With barely controlled fever, he kissed his way along her jaw, down her neck to her shoulder and nipped the spot that made her shudder. She pressed herself into him. Her legs squeezed tight around his waist. With one hand on either side of his face, she pulled his mouth back to hers. He was drowning in her. Desperate for more, his hand reached under her shirt. He caressed his way towards her breast. She gasped against his mouth.
“Davina,” said a voice. “What do you think you’re doing?”
And Davina’s mouth was gone. She peered over his shoulder to the person behind him. Jack desperately wanted her to tell whoever it was to go to get lost. Fast.
“I, um, I wanted to talk to Jack.”
“Interesting conversation you’re having,” Marianne said as she stepped up beside them.
Davina struggled to be free. Reluctantly, Jack let her slide down his body to the ground. She looked up at him. He was so used to seeing her almost eye to eye that it felt strange to look down at her. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes seemed wider without the thick lashes that usually framed them. She was breathtaking.
“Tell your friend to go,” he said, “and invite me in.”
She shut her eyes briefly, full pink lips parted.
“I want to,” she whispered. “I really do, but I can’t.”
She squeezed out from her place between him and the wall. Jack wanted to pummel the vacant space in front of him.
“Thanks, Jack,” Davina told him before she disappeared inside the house with her friend.
The door shut in his face with a quiet click. He stood staring at it. A few seconds later Ken Doll walked past him and into the house.
“Great work,” he told Jack. “Inspiring.”
And then the door shut again.
Huh? Jack sat on the top step. His heart thumped painfully in his chest. His breath was ragged and uneven. There were physical signs something had just happened. But he had no idea what it was. Or what to do next. If he’d had a thought bubble drawn above his head it would have had the word ‘duh?’ in it.
He put his elbows on his knees and placed his face in his hands.
What was he going to do with that woman? His mind was well and truly blank.
“Please tell me we got that, because I can’t do another take,” Davina said to Marianne.
She leaned against the kitchen counter. Every nerve ending in her body was on full alert.
“It looked good to me,” Marianne said.
“Great.” Davina looked back at the door. “Now hold onto me because I want to run back out there and finish what I started.”