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

“Oh God,” I whispered as his hands moved up my body to cup my chest.

“That too,” he promised as I melted in his lap and his warm, skilled touch and thick husky voice completely seduced me.

He waited only a minute before he spoke again. “You got hurt?”

I closed my eyes tight, thankful he couldn’t see me. “Yes. Can we do anything but talk about exes?”

“Agreed,” he said easily.

“Are you always this easy to get along with?” I asked as I looked back at him with a grin.

“My hands are all over you now,” he said heatedly. “Why in the hell would I want to ruin that?”

I lifted the bottle off the desk and took a drink. Jack leaned in and sipped it off of my lips.

“I feel good, Jack. Thank you for ending this day with me.”

“It was my pleasure,” he returned with sincerity as he kept me snug against him.

“I should go. I have a shift tomorrow,” I sighed.

He lifted us both to stand, his strength expected and at the same time surprising. “Come on, Rose, I’ll walk you home.”

“I have my car parked out front.”

“Let’s walk,” Jack said, discarding the rest of our drinks into the trash. Though nearly a two-mile walk didn’t appeal to me at the moment, being anywhere with Jack did. The highway in front of the center buzzed with a few scattered late night cars as we made our way toward the lit path.

“You never get scared out here alone?” Jack asked as he took my hand. It felt so natural.

“Never, I know that’s strange.”

“Fearless,” he joked, referring to my parents’ conversation about me the night before.

“I really don’t remember that. I don’t remember being that crazy kid.”

“I was a colorful asshole according to my Aunt Rory.”

“That’s an unusual name,” I remarked as he stroked my hand with his thumb, seducing me with the small gesture. He was extremely gentle with me, and I wondered if had to do with his nature of if I was being handled with special care because of his relationship with my father. Either way, it was endearing and didn’t seem to be forced.

“She’s an unusual woman. I think I’ve seen about a hundred different shades of hair on her. And she dresses like a carnie every day. Not only that, it’s like she suffers from multiple personality disorder, but every single one suits her. She trades in husbands the way most people trade in cars.” Jack laughed and stopped walking before he turned to me with his next statement. “She dropped me off my first day of kindergarten in my Halloween costume.”

“You’re joking!” I said, both amused and sympathetic, trying to imagine a younger Jack.

“Both of my parents were down with food poisoning, and they thought her the safe alternative. I showed up my first day of kindergarten dressed as a zombie.”

“Oh shit,” I gasped out with a laugh.

“It took my mother a solid year to forgive her, although my dad thought it was hilarious.”

“Aww,” I said as I squeezed his hand. “And it scarred you?”

“The first of many,” he said as we resumed our walk. “I think she was trying to disguise my lip, you know, so it would be less hard on me.”

I didn’t pause my stride, but my heart skipped a beat at his admittance.

The stars were in clear view above us, and neither of us could ignore them as we paused next to the water and gazed up at them in admiration.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve looked up,” I admitted freely as I gazed over at Jack who took in the same glittered night sky.