The Reluctant Romantics Box Set (The Fall, The Mind, The Heart)

“It’s not that at all. Tell me.”

“Nothing to tell, really. I graduated and got a job making a ridiculous amount of money, did my job well, and mapped out the rest of my life. Day in and day out, from the time I graduated until my twenty-seventh birthday, I had no issue with it. Then one morning I woke up and my life no longer fit. So I turned in my tie and decided to start from scratch.” At that moment, I saw a flicker of something cover his features, but it disappeared just as quickly.

“Wow,” I said, sitting back in my chair.

“The next week, I took a temporary job working with my hands. I had no intentions of quitting work while I figured out what my next step was. So I helped build the Skylit building in downtown New Orleans.”

I nodded with a smile on my face. “My dad’s design.”

“Your dad took an interest in me for some reason and I’m forever thankful. I didn’t have to look around. I didn’t even question it. Once I’d seen the finished building and knew I had a hand in it, I couldn’t wait to finish the next. I stayed on with Seth for a full year before I went back to school and got what I needed to be a builder. And the rest is history.”

“So my dad is like your sensei.”

“Exactly.”

“Now I understand why you don’t want to piss him off.”

“I had to make sure you were worth the trouble. The jury is still out.”

Wrinkling my nose at him, I smacked him on the chest before closing the small amount of space between us.

“So you started out a suit and ended up being a roughneck.”

“I started out a man with a plan and decided my plans were shit. Your dad was there for me, and I learned a lot from him. And as cheesy as this may sound, I don’t want to disappoint him.” Jack leaned in and took my lips gently. “He’s made it abundantly clear over the years that his family is the most precious thing to him. I can see why.” Another slow kiss and I was reeling. “But since the day we met, I haven’t been able to think of anything else but this,” he said between breath-stealing kisses, “to touch you, taste you.”

“I’m glad you came back,” I said softly as I held our connection.

“There’s no way in hell I couldn’t,” he assured me, his voice low and full of heat. “And now I’ve got you all to myself,” he murmured.

An hour later, Jack had told me of his life since that fateful day he turned in his tie. He’d traveled the world, taking on a few international projects, and collecting what he called ‘experiences.’ I envied him in that he’d seen places I’d only heard about in books and movies. At only thirty-seven, Jack had accomplished more than most people do in a lifetime. I wondered how he was so easily entertained sitting in my office with me. He seemed to have wandered around for the last ten years without anything really to hold on to, except his next job or ‘experience.’

The conversation turned to me, and I studied him endlessly as I spoke, memorizing all parts of him. From his boot-clad feet to his long torso, defined arms, and perfectly broad shoulders, he was perfection right up to the flawless head that graced his shoulders. I now knew what it was like to kiss him, and very little of me wasn’t aware that I was still preoccupied with that.

“Something on your mind, Rose?”

“Sex,” I admitted through a long pull of drink. “I haven’t had it in years. I’m wondering what it will be like with you.”

Yep, I totally said that out loud.

Jack chuckled as he gripped my hand in his. We’d

remained side-by-side, sizing each other up.

“What do you think it will be like?”

“Nope, I’m not taking that bait.” I stood to clean up our mess.

He pulled me into his lap. I sat there wrapped in him with a dare in my eyes.

“Why so long?” Jack asked in a whisper.

“I’ve been busy,” I said as his hands held me still while I struggled to break free.

“Bullshit, I can already tell you have a healthy appetite.” He made a trail with his silky lips with a hint of his hungry tongue from my shoulder to my ear. His hands moved from around my stomach and stopped at the top of my thighs with a squeeze. He flicked his tongue at the shell of my ear, his warm breath sending my imagination into overdrive. “And I’m pretty sure I’m going to love every second of making sure I satisfy it. I’m going to taste every part of you. I’m going to love making you come.”

“Jack,” I rasped out as I sank impossibly further into him.

“Just like that. I’m going to draw my name out of you every chance I get.”