‘Where the hell have you been?’ Jack asked. ‘I was worried about you. You didn’t tell me you were going out.’
Harper’s dark eyebrows rose ever so slightly over her eyes in an unmistakably haughty manner. ‘Am I supposed to check in and out with you on my every movement?’
Jack let out a rough-edged breath. ‘No, I was just expecting you to be here when I got back. You didn’t call or even send a text.’
She slipped the straps of the carrier from her shoulders, her other hand cupping the baby’s bottom to hold her steady against her. ‘I went out with Aerin and Ruby. We had lunch and they looked after Marli while I got my hair and nails done. Not that I should have to explain myself to you. Last time I looked I was a free agent.’
Jack had to stop himself from pacing the floor in frustration. He couldn’t get his panic back in its box. His worries over her and Marli’s safety were new things to deal with, new concerns to add to his list of responsibilities. Responsibilities he took seriously. ‘But what if the press saw you?’
Harper’s gaze hardened to steel but there was a hint of pink in her cheeks, suggesting she might have already thought of the possibility of being exposed. ‘So that’s what worried you? That I might leak something to the press about us?’
‘Don’t be ridiculous, that’s not what I meant at all. I want to make an announcement about us on my terms. It’s important our relationship is seen as the real deal for Marli’s sake.’ He rubbed the back of his neck, where a knot of tension had built since he left that morning. The hotel management meeting hadn’t gone as well as he would have liked. He had tried to focus to problem-solve the issues but he had been completely distracted, wanting to be back with Harper and the baby. It was so out of character for him not to put work first. To narrow his focus so nothing else existed. He had even pressed a pause button on the meeting so he could go out and buy an engagement ring at an exclusive jewellery store he had heard about from a colleague.
Harper laid the baby down in the bassinet and tucked the bunny blanket around her. She turned and glanced at him, her eyes still glittering with ire. ‘I’ve been stuck in this hotel room for days. I needed to get out for some fresh air. Sorry if that doesn’t meet with your approval but I can’t stay hidden up here like a dirty little secret.’
Jack released another long-winded sigh and came over to her, taking her hands in his. ‘You surely don’t see yourself as that?’
Her gaze slipped out of reach of his, one of her slim shoulders rising and falling in a shrug. ‘I can only imagine what the press will make of me once they hear about us. Your mother already thinks I’m a gold-digger, so I can only assume others will too.’
Jack tipped up her chin with his finger, locking her gaze on his. ‘Not once we formalise our relationship.’ He released her hands to take the jewellery box out of his trouser pocket. He handed it to her. ‘I hope it fits. I had to guess your ring size.’
She hesitated for a moment, then took the square velvet box from his open palm as if it contained something dangerous. She gingerly prised open the lid and gasped at the princess cut diamond. ‘Jack...it’s too much. It must’ve cost a fortune.’ She frowned up at him. ‘It’s such a beautiful ring for a loveless commitment such as ours.’
He took the ring out of the box and slid it along her ring finger, immensely relieved it fitted her perfectly. Was that an omen or what? But so much about Harper fitted him perfectly. Her sensuality was unmatched. He could not remember a lover who had thrilled him the way she had. ‘We love our baby, that’s all that matters for now.’ He took her hand and brought it up to his mouth, pressing his lips against the ring and then each of her fingertips in turn.
Her gaze drifted to his mouth and her slim throat rose and fell over a swallow. Uncertainty shadowed her grey-green gaze. ‘Marriage is such a big step...’
Jack placed one of his hands against the curve of her cheek, his thumb stroking the smooth skin of her face in a slow-motion caress. ‘We’ll be good together.’
She ran the tip of her tongue over her pillowy lips and a drumbeat of lust thrummed in his groin. Was it his imagination or had she leaned closer to him? He placed his other hand on her right hip, easing her closer, his body on fire as soon as her pelvis came into contact with his. She snatched in an audible breath and her gaze focused back on his mouth. ‘Jack...’ Her voice was little more than a whisper, a husky, sexy whisper that sent a frisson down his spine.
Jack lowered his mouth to hers, taking his time, allowing her the chance to pull back if she didn’t want to go any further. But instead of pulling away, she moved forward as if drawn to him by an invisible force—the same invisible force that was driving him towards her. Their lips met in a feather-light touchdown, once, twice, three times. But instead of quelling the need for sensual contact, it fuelled it.
Fervently. Fiercely. Ferociously.
Her mouth came back to his in a kiss that was as hot as fire, the pressure of her lips sending his senses reeling. She opened her mouth beneath the increasingly urgent pressure of his, their tongues tangling in a dance as old as time. Jack knew it was too soon to take things any further, but somehow, knowing they could only kiss and caress for now intensified the contact. It brought something new and exciting to each movement of their lips against each other’s. A sweet poignancy that plucked at something deep in his chest, something he had never felt with anyone else. Her mouth was sweet and soft and yet exotic, her tongue playful and yet determined. Her arms wound around his neck, holding him closer, her full breasts crushed against his chest.
Jack lifted his mouth from hers to blaze a pathway of hot kisses down from below her ear to the scaffolding of her collarbone. Her soft, breathless sounds of encouragement and pleasure sent shivers of delight through him. The chemistry between them on their first encounter nine months ago had stunned him then and it stunned him now. How could a simple kiss, a caress, a breathless murmur of pleasure send his pulse skyrocketing?
Jack shifted his mouth to the delicate shell of her ear, breathing in the scent of her freshly washed hair, which tickled his face. He swept it back over her shoulder, placing his mouth on the side of her neck, his tongue teasing the soft, creamy skin. ‘You taste so damn delicious, I think I’m getting addicted to you,’ he growled deep in his throat.
Harper gave a delicate shudder and lifted one of her hands to his face, sliding it down the rough, late-in-the-day stubble. ‘We shouldn’t be doing this...’ Her voice was still whisper-soft, her eyes dark and lustrous as wet paint.
‘We’re only kissing,’ Jack said. ‘It’s too soon for anything else.’
A faint blush pooled in her cheeks and she lowered her gaze to his mouth. Her fingertip traced the outline of his lips and every nerve reacted to her sensual touch, making him hot and tight and hard as stone. He recalled how she used those clever little fingertips on his body, tiptoeing all over him, teasing him all those months ago, pleasuring him with her lips and tongue and taking him to heaven and beyond.
Jack brought his mouth back down to hers and she sighed against his lips, her arms going around his neck again. Her fingers played with the hair brushing his collar, sending shivers of reaction down the length of his spine. She eased back from his mouth to glance up at him with a slightly dazed expression on her face. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever been kissed like that before.’ She circled his mouth with her finger again, slowly, tantalisingly.
Jack captured her hand and pressed a warm kiss to her open palm, teasing the skin with a poke of his tongue, watching as her pupils flared in desire. ‘Nor have I,’ he said and kissed her again.
Harper knew it was dangerous to kiss Jack. Dangerous and addictive, but how could she help herself? He triggered a need in her that was so strong it overrode every other thought in her brain. All she wanted was the taste and texture of his mouth on hers, the sweep and glide and sexy thrust of his tongue in her mouth that made her blood sing and tap dance in her veins. It didn’t seem possible that she could feel such a powerful rush of desire so soon after having a baby. But that was Jack Livingstone’s power over her. He was able to undo her physically like no one else.
Jack finally released her with a rueful sigh. ‘I’d better stop before I get carried away. Besides, you need your rest. Why don’t you put your feet up while I check on Marli?’
‘Okay.’ It piqued Harper that it was Jack who was the first to break the sensual interlude. Why hadn’t she stepped back first? Why hadn’t she shown him she could resist him? Why hadn’t she had the willpower to keep him at arm’s length?
Because she didn’t have the willpower. She never had.