“I owe you an apology, Grace. I wanted to tell you every day, but I knew if I did, it would be over between us,” he says, staring straight into my eyes, his gaze unblinking.
Despite my best efforts to keep calm, my lower lip starts trembling. I bite down on it. “Maybe not.”
He narrows his eyes. “Now you’re not being honest. You told me very clearly that the one kind of person you would never date is a famous person. I get it, but, Grace, all famous people are not the same.”
He reaches across the table and takes my free hand. I want to pull it away, but it feels so good to feel his touch. It awakens me as if I’ve been electrified. Warmth spreads from that point, engulfing the rest of my body.
“My life is nothing like your parents’ was, I promise,” he says. “I go to bed at ten latest, and the last time I went to a bar was with you. I’m an actor, not a rock star.” He looks so intense. It frightens me because he’s breaking down my walls.
“I can’t live in the spotlight, Jack,” I tell him. “I can’t stand that scrutiny.”
“You won’t have to. They won’t know about you. We’ll keep our relationship a secret,” he says earnestly.
It sounds so easy, so tantalizing, but he’s asking me to go against all the promises I’ve made to myself. “Until when? They are bound to find out at some point.”
He suddenly looks defeated, and it tugs at my heart.
“I don’t have those answers. I don’t know how long we can keep it a secret, but I do know that we can live a private life. Many people do it. They keep their private lives away from the limelight.”
Oh, God. I want him in my life so badly. But I’m scared. I don’t want to see my dirty laundry aired in public for everyone to see. I swallow a lump stuck in my throat.
“Please say yes, my darling Grace,” he says, softly caressing my hand with his thumb and fingers. “I’ve never had such feelings for any other woman. You’ve taught me to enjoy life again. Give us a chance. Let’s see where this special thing we have will take us.”
How can I say no when he puts it like that? “Okay, but I can’t promise you forever, Jack.”
“No one can promise forever, my beautiful Grace.” He lowers his head and kisses the back of my hand. Then he stands up and comes to my side of the island. He swings my stool to face him, gets between my legs, and cups my cheeks. He kisses me gently.
I start to giggle when it dawns on me that I’m still calling him Jack.
“What?” he says. “I know it’s not my face because you’re used to it.”
“I love your face.” I trace his scars lightly with my fingers. “I don’t know if I can call you Kyle. You’re my Jack.”
“Then Jack it is,” he says and kisses me deeply. He places his hands on my shorts-clad bare thighs. A warm, liquid ache rises from the depths of my body. Jack pulls away and steps back.
“I want you naked. It’s been too long,” he says, his voice thick with desire.
I stand, and we walk hand in hand to my bedroom. He undresses me without touching any part of me. His gaze is hungry as he exposes my breasts and then the rest of me. His scrutiny elicits a surge of heat from me.
He lays me gently on the bed, and I watch as he undresses. All the while, he doesn’t take his gaze away from me. He takes off his shirt and reveals the hard ridges of his stomach. My eyes are drawn to the movement of his hands as he unbuckles his belt and pulls down his pants and boxer briefs. I gasp at the sight of his huge, springing cock. It’s been so long that it’s like the first time I’m seeing him naked and exposed for me.
I welcome him to the bed with open arms. He drapes his body over mine and kisses me while supporting his weight with his arms on either side of me. I thread my fingers through his hair as he kisses me. His manly scent envelops me as I lose myself in the heat of his body. I press my body into his, loving the growls that are coming from him.
“I’ve missed all this,” Jack says, holding my gaze. “I’m addicted to you, Grace.”
I shudder at the intensity of the moment. “I like that you’re addicted to me.” I am addicted too, but I’m not ready to admit it to him.
I caress his massively wide shoulders. He lowers his head to my nipples and sucks on one before moving to the other one. Soon my moans fill the room as the fire in my body goes up another notch.