“Oh, dear Lord God in heaven.” Jaci resisted the desire to slap her mouth against his and made herself ignore the heat in his eyes, the passion that flared whenever they were breathing the same air. She grabbed her evening bag, pulled out her own phone and groaned at the five missed calls and the numerous messages on their family group chat.
Oh, this was bad, this was very bad.
Jaci touched the screen to bring up the messages.
Meredith: You have some explaining to do, sunshine.
Priscilla: Screenwriting? Really? Since when? Why don’t you tell me anything?
Ryan moved up the seat so that his thigh was pressed against hers, and her shoulder jammed into his arm. She inhaled his scent and when heat dropped into her groin, she shifted in the seat. Ryan moved her phone so that he could see the screen.
Neil: Ryan? I was expecting you to have coffee with him, not an affair!
Meredith: Admittedly, anyone is better than the moron, but I don’t think you should be jumping into a relationship this quickly!
Archie: Ryan? Who the hell is Ryan?
Neil: My Yank friend from uni, Dad.
Archie: The Hollywood one? The pretty boy?
Jaci rubbed her fingertips across her forehead. Damn, the Atlantic Ocean might be between them but her family still managed to exacerbate her headache. She looked at Ryan and shrugged. “Well, you are pretty.”
Ryan dug an elbow into her side. “Your opinion on how I look is a lot more important than your father’s,” he said, his tone low and oozing sex.
Jaci deliberately lifted her nose in a haughty gesture, her eyes twinkling. “You’ll do.”
Ryan squeezed her thigh in response. “I suppose I asked for that.” He nodded to the phone in her hands. “So, what are you going to tell them?”
Jaci tapped her finger against her lips. “The same thing you told my mother—that it was a pretend thing, that we aren’t in a relationship, that this isn’t going anywhere.” She turned her head to look out the window. “Basically the truth.”
Ryan’s finger and thumb gripped her chin and turned her face to look at him. Jaci stifled a sigh at his gorgeous eyes and gripped her phone with both hands to keep them from diving into his hair, from rubbing his neck, his shoulders. Her mouth wanted to touch his, her legs wanted to climb onto his lap...
Ryan looked at her mouth and she felt his fingers tighten on her chin. He was fighting the urge to kiss her, as well, she realized. His rational side was barely winning and that realization made her feel powerful and feminine and so wanted. She’d never felt this desired. No man had ever looked at her the way Ryan was looking at her right now, right here.
“Your family is thinking that we are sleeping together,” Ryan stated, his thumb moving up from her chin to stroke her full bottom lip.
Well, that was obvious. She glanced at her phone in confusion. “Well, yeah.”
“Not that I give a rat’s ass what your family thinks, but...”
Jaci felt her breath stop somewhere on the way to her lungs. “But?”
“Screw this, we don’t need to explain this or justify this or make excuses for this.”
For what? Jaci frowned, confused. “What are you trying, very badly, to say, Ryan?”
“I want you. I want you in my bed. Screw the fact that you work for me and the film and all the rest of the craziness. I just want you. Come home with me, Jace. Be mine for as long as this madness continues.”
Be his. Two words, two syllables, but so powerful. How was she supposed to be sensible, to back away, to resist? She wasn’t an angel and she definitely wasn’t a saint. Jaci quickly justified the decision she was about to make. He wanted her, she—desperately—wanted him. They were both single and this was about sex and passion and lust... No love was required. They weren’t hurting anyone...
If you fall in love with him, you’ll hurt yourself.
Then I won’t fall in love with him, Jaci told herself. But a little part of her doubted that statement and she pulled back, wondering if she shouldn’t just take a breath and get oxygen to her brain. You’ve been hurt enough, that same cautious inner voice told her. And Ryan would take what was left of her battered heart and drop-kick it to the moon.
“I can’t get enough of you,” Ryan muttered before slanting his mouth over hers and pushing his tongue between her parted lips. One swipe, another lick and all doubts were gone, all hesitation burned away by the heat of his mouth, the passion she tasted on her tongue. His arm pushed down between her back and the seat, and his other hand held her head in place so that he commanded the kiss. And command he did, and Jaci followed him into that special, magical place where time stood still.