‘Sick.’ Drew answered Jack direct with an almost shy smile. ‘Tori pulled another McTwist and then nailed her first 720.’
‘Wow.’ Jack’s brows lifted. ‘She’s been after that for ages. Is she here?’
‘Should be soon.’
Kelsi tugged on Jack’s sleeve. ‘You’re going to have to translate again for me.’
‘McTwist, 720, 1080, all tricks—jumps and turns you make on the half pipe.’ Jack twirled his finger in the air.
‘And they’re “sick”?’ Kelsi really needed that one clarified.
‘Awesome, fantastic, rad.’ Thesaurus Jack offered some synonyms.
So ‘sick’ was a compliment in snowboard speak?
Kelsi flushed, felt her smile go natural.
Jack put his hand on her back. ‘The slang is a little OTT.’
‘You don’t snowboard?’ Drew asked, amazed.
Kelsi shook her head, unable to speak because Jack’s hand had slid a little higher up her back and now his thumb was stroking over that small spot of bared skin.
‘You have to go,’ Tahu said. ‘Do it once and you’re hooked.’
Rather like riding Jack himself. Oh, she so had to get a grip on herself.
‘Jack’ll show you,’ Tahu added.
‘Yeah,’ Drew agreed, utterly serious. ‘He’s the master of big air.’
Jack led her away with a slightly pained expression. ‘He meant hot air,’ Kelsi teased, wriggling away from Jack’s marauding thumb.
His arm went right around her waist and he pulled her close. ‘Very funny,’ he muttered in her ear.
He took her to talk to the fans there to meet him. But as they all came together again to sit down for dinner it struck her that the other snowboarders were just as much fans of Jack’s as the people who’d paid to be there. They all watched him, they all hung on his every word. Beside her he rested his elbow on the back of her chair, leaning close as he listened and answered the zillion questions that came from both fans and fellow athletes. Quietly humble and polite in the face of all the adoration.
His attention to her was all politeness, too—he was just being nice, friendly, ensuring she was having a good time. Which she was. He was the perfect PR charmer—who she was so hopelessly attracted to.
Just as the formal part of the evening came to an end, a woman appeared—welcomed with cries from Tahu and Max about how typical it was for her to be so late. She was medium height with long blonde hair, blue eyes and smooth, clear, freckle-free skin. Kelsi gazed at her in awe.
‘This is Tori—New Zealand’s future slopestyle queen.’ Jack introduced the girl who was smiling so brightly at him.
This girl wouldn’t just be the queen of snow, she’d be the queen of the world. Just as Jack was the king. It wasn’t midnight but the dream was over already—Kelsi was the pumpkin in the presence of the real princess. Tori was everything Kelsi wasn’t. And not just in looks—she was sociable, talented and successful in a field others were actually interested in. She had it all.
Kelsi looked around the room and saw all the other fit, fit bodies—male and female. Good genes and talent and determination oozed from all these absolute champions. And the fun she’d felt only moments before tumbled away.
She was so out of place.
‘Dance with me.’ Jack couldn’t wait a second longer to get Kelsi in his arms. To wangle it so he could feel some more of her soft, smooth skin again.
She obliged, but she wasn’t focused on him. She was too busy star-spotting and determinedly not looking at him.
‘There are a lot of really gorgeous women snowboarders, aren’t there?’ she commented. ‘Like Tori. They’re all so beautiful and nice and amazingly talented.’
‘You’re more beautiful,’ he said simply.
He watched the colour flow in her cheeks and her lips tighten. She didn’t believe him. She was really that insecure? He’d seen the way she’d fidgeted with her dress when she’d seen the short-skirt numbers of the netballers. He thought her outfit was far more flattering in the less-skin-is-more kind of way. Although right now he wanted more skin for sure. But she wasn’t comfortable in it, was she—just being in her own skin?
Suddenly he saw what the problem was. The completely obvious obstacle that had made her try to put up all the stop signs the minute he’d walked back into her life.
She didn’t think she was hot.
He swore under his breath and had to consciously relax his hold on her. Didn’t she realise he was the envy of every guy here tonight? That they all wanted to tuck her into their pocket and carry her off somewhere private to do wicked things with her?
He watched her eyes flicker again as another six-foot netball Amazon strutted past. Everything crystallised.
She’d accused him of wanting ‘anything that moved’ because she didn’t think she was pretty enough to attract him. She thought that he’d only hit on her that day because she was there—the nearest body to scratch the itch he had at the time.
Good grief.
Insulting to him, yes. But even more insulting to herself.
Fury rose—who hadn’t told her how beautiful she was? How incredibly sexy? More than that, how attractive she was underneath the skin—how interesting, fun, sweet, talented, strong. Yeah, she was unbelievably strong and determined and bright and articulate… He could go on and on and on because she really did bewitch him. And he couldn’t believe she didn’t believe it.
She was an amazing woman, who should never have lost her confidence in herself like this. He hated whoever it was who hurt her so badly. He wanted to know who and why and how. He wanted to slam out the insecurity.
Desperate desire hurtled through his body, testosterone snapping every muscle to tight tension. And with it came the single-minded determination he was famous for.
He’d prove it to her. He’d prove her gorgeousness. Tonight. Over and over and over again.
CHAPTER TEN
‘WE SHOULD go home, Kelsi.’ Jack coughed to clear the rasp from his voice.
‘It’s still early.’ She turned, surprise flashing in her eyes.
He could gaze into those eyes for hours. Why did she cover them up all the time? He was going to find out. He wanted to know everything.
‘My knee’s feeling it a bit.’ Well, not his knee exactly.
‘Oh, you should have said sooner.’
The taxi didn’t drive fast enough for him. He secured the alarm as quick as he could, then followed her up the stairs. Waited while she unlocked the door to her little flat, standing close enough to see her pulse breakdancing—which didn’t help his ‘knee’.
But she wouldn’t look at him. ‘Um, did you want something?’
‘Yeah.’ He pushed her door open and walked inside. He slid off his jacket and pulled his tie free. The top button of his shirt was already undone. ‘I’d really like to kiss you.’
She was standing by the wall, still near the door. Now she pressed her lips together, her eyes avoiding his.
‘I haven’t slept with anyone since you,’ he said bluntly. ‘I don’t want to sleep with anyone but you.’ He really wasn’t that pleased about it but it was the absolute truth. ‘I want you and only you, OK? And not because you’re the nearest breathing woman. I want you because I think you’re beautiful.’
She said nothing.
‘You don’t believe me, do you?’
She still didn’t answer. Her hands curled into fists, her whole body locking into a hopeless, defensive pose.
Jack breathed in hard and pleaded with his body to slow down. Jumping on her this very second probably wasn’t the best idea—even though it was the one both his brain and body really wanted to fixate on. But Kelsi needed more than that—she needed some serious convincing. That meant words as well as actions. And those actions had to be gentle—remember? He rubbed his hands over his face and summoned some control. And some courage.
‘You want to know what I see when I look at you?’ Did she want to know what he
thought?
She flashed a look at him. Lightning quick before she went back to studying the floor. But she was listening. She was utterly immobile as she listened.
He swallowed. Hoped his voice was going to hold out for him. ‘First up, overall impression is this really feminine woman. I see your collarbones—delicate fine bones covered by this smooth skin that slopes to those breasts that jut out just the right amount. Then there’s this narrow ribcage that goes to that even narrower waist, and then you have those curving hips.’ He paused to take another deep breath. Talking this way was just killing his body—winding him tighter than he’d ever been. But he had to make her understand first, then he could do. ‘You’re petite and perfectly formed. You have these tiny ankles that I can fit my hand around. I remember doing that in the water when I pulled your leg higher round my waist. Your skin is so smooth, so soft…’ He badly wanted to touch that softness now. ‘And then there’s your face. The first thing I saw that day and I thought it was the most stunning face I’d ever seen. These angles.’ He tried to make her understand. ‘You’ve got these cheekbones, and your wide eyes were filled with tears, and you have the perfect tilt to your nose.’ He sighed. ‘Then there’s your mouth. Big, soft lips that first trembled and then kissed me so sweet. And your crazy curls that defy any attempts at control. I like that about your hair. It’s a lot like you as a whole…’ He smiled at her, beginning to really enjoy the confession—the acceleration of his heart and the pumping of his blood. ‘…and you as a whole just makes me think sex. I see your smile, I see the way you lift your chin and I want in.’ He began to lose the battle of control over his body, his voice going totally rough. ‘And I’m so tired of this Eiffel Tower erection I’ve been sporting for months.’
‘You really haven’t…?’ She finally spoke. But she couldn’t finish her sentence.
‘I really haven’t,’ he said flatly. ‘Feels like a hell of a long time.’ He walked to where she leant against the wall, her hands twisted together in front of her waist. And he saw the colour suffusing her face. The way she was shyly watching him—almost believing him. He’d damn well make sure she believed him by the end of this night.
‘And I see your smile, Kelsi.’ His voice did crack then. ‘I see the twinkle in your eyes even though you do your best to hide it. I hear your laugh, your teasing words, the fun that bubbles out when I least expect it. The passion and playfulness like you had that day on the beach—I ache for it. Wait for it. Want it.’ Oh, how he wanted it.