Something terrifying and exhilarating at the same time.
Something so wrong given their circumstance.
He’s Kayla’s father. Think of Mary Anne. Think of your family.
And there it was. Typical Hannah voice of reason cutting through her bold actions and reining her back in.
As she opened her mouth to slow things down, way down, JP grabbed the back of his T-shirt and yanked it over his head.
Hannah’s mouth dried up.
Reason once again fell straight out of her head.
She gawked at the man as though he were a prized animal at the zoo.
JP’s lips quirked. He dropped the shirt at his feet and strolled over to her as slow as could be while fingering the button on his jeans. “I take it you approve?”
Nodding, Hannah licked her lips. Ink covered his chest and stomach. Not so much that she couldn’t see the tanned skin of his nearly hairless chest, but enough for her eyes to feast on and her hands long to explore.
He was so different than any man she’d spent time with. So much so, she felt as though the guys of her past had been mere boys.
JP was all sexy, mouthwatering man. But he was also fun and kind and deeper than anyone gave him credit for.
He was also off-limits. But she’d already crossed a million lines and couldn’t bring herself to stop from charging past this final one. She stood on the edge of a cliff, and if she jumped, that was it. Her world would change once again. There was no climbing back up the rock face she was about to fling herself from.
Guilt over the mountain of lies she rested on threatened to destroy the moment, but even that wasn’t strong enough to stop her. She wanted him too much.
“I tend to render most women speechless,” he said with a wink.
Hannah laughed. Leave it to JP to bring the levity while she was battling an internal war between her conscience and her body.
“I’ve just never…” She waved a hand at him. How did she even describe what he did to her?
“Never seen someone so sexy? So fucking impressive? So perfect?” The smirk remained, and he arched an eyebrow.
Hannah smiled. God, this man was everything she wasn’t. Amusing, lighthearted, snarky. The fun to her typical responsibility. It was liberating and terrifying all at the same time.
“Yes,” she said as she closed the distance between them. “All of those things.” She lifted her hands to a particularly intricate tattoo of a bird soaring on his chest. A hawk, maybe? “Can I?” she asked before touching it.
He nodded. “If you don’t, I might beg.”
She ran her fingertips lightly over the gorgeous inkwork. His muscles danced beneath her fingers as though responding to her touch. Being able to affect him with nothing but the tips of her fingers had her dying to know how else she could make his body respond. An exhilarating power flashed through her. One she wanted to explore until she made him beg.
“Feels so damn good,” he whispered.
“It’s beautiful,” she whispered back. “What does it mean?”
He tilted his head and watched her with dark eyes. “How do you know it means anything? Maybe I just like birds?”
Shaking her head, she said, “No. It’s too perfect. And over your heart. That’s a special place.”
He swallowed as though struggling to decide if he should share with her. Though they were no longer groping each other, this quiet moment of conversation didn’t lessen her desire in the least. In fact, it only made her want him more. There was something so intimate about standing in his dimly lit room, running her hands over him while they spoke. The anticipation of what was to come hung heavier in the air, but she no longer felt rushed. They had time. All night.
They did not need to hurry, especially if this was to be one of her only—maybe the only—night with him.
“This was my first tattoo. It took more than one sitting, but I got it as soon as Keith bought this house. We all moved in and out of the double-wide we lived in with our piece of shit father. I was underage but had a friend whose older brother was a tattoo artist. He knew my family and the shit our dad put us through. It’s a falcon soaring and symbolizes freedom. No chains holding me down. No more abuse, no more bullshit. Freedom.”
She frowned. No relationship. No permanent job. No desire for children. All the things he’d claimed to want before Kayla.
Pieces of JP were falling into place, and instead of scaring her away with his truth, he drew her in even more. Because this man who valued his freedom above all was adapting his entire life to raise his daughter. It wasn’t easy, and she knew he struggled, but he did it. Did he even realize how wonderful that made him?