“Hello,” he replied with a chuckle. He pulled away from her ever so slightly but only to look into her eyes. “I’m sorry I just kissed you like that. You were trying to walk away, and there I go, throwing myself at you.” He chuckled again because he didn’t know what else to do. How could he explain his momentary lack of complete control?
You can’t. That was insane,his lion helpfully said. Jack would be fighting with the animal that lived in his head later when Nora wasn’t there to judge him for talking to himself.
“No, don’t be sorry.” She was still breathless, deliciously still in his arms.
Why did it feel so damn good to have this woman pressed against him? She seemed to fit in all the right places, like she was meant to be there. And her scent.Oh, fuck. Just the scent of her this close was spectacular. It was all freshness and a hint of lemon. Why had he never noticed that before? Or was this completely new?
“I swear,” he vowed with all the seriousness he could muster. “I don’t usually go around kissing women like that.”
“I know,” she assured him. Her resolve made him curious.
“How can you be so sure?” Jack swayed their bodies with the wind because Nora’s arms were around his neck and his arms were around her waist, neither willing to let the other go.
“Well, that’s easy enough to be certain of,” she snorted, which was followed by the sweetest little giggle he had ever heard. “You’re not the kind of man who roams around hunting for prey,” she clarified.
He chuckled. She had no clue that was precisely what he was, but not for the reasons she thought. His lion purred happily at the woman’s presence. “Maybe I’m not the kinda man who kisses women when they try to leave, but still. You came to say something, but I kissed you before you could get more than a word out.”
“It was more like you stopped me from leaving by kissing me.” Her lovely face was overtaken by a smile that made his cock stiffen. The board shorts he wore were hardly protection enough. She was sure to notice the growing length in his pants, and all because they had kissed and were locked in an embrace. What was he, anyway?
Nora would think of him as some untested boy who couldn’t keep his lust under control. Jack couldn’t have that. He was a man. A man’s man.
Oh, who are you kidding? You’re a big softy, which is why we’re in this position in the first place. If you were a man’s man, we would still be…
Jack ignored the rest of his lion’s well-rehearsed speech. He could basically recite it himself as he knew it by heart from the beast repeating it so often.
“Whydidyou kiss me, Jack?” Nora’s question was barely a whisper, and for a moment, he almost didn’t answer for lack of knowing why he would do such a thing.
“I couldn’t think of anything else to do to get you to stay,” he finally said, choosing to be honest with Nora.
“You could’ve used your words, but I’m not complaining.”
He laughed softly, running his fingers through her long hair. The strands were soft like silk, and he was overtaken by the desire to hold this woman forever. “You know this is the most we’ve ever talked. You haven’t broken a cone or left the room or anything. Maybe I should kiss you more often.”
Nora’s lips parted in a gasp, and Jack was sure it was due to his kissing comment, but she surprised the hell out of him when she said, “You notice I break cones?”
He threw his head back with a good-natured laugh. “Yeah, of course, I noticed. I don’t understand why it always seems to happen when I’m around, though. You care to clarify that for me?”
“I think you know why, Jack.” She blushed deeply, and he felt like a jerk for loving it so much.
But there was just something about the shade of red on her beautiful features that made him a little bit wild. He wanted to see how far down that blush went. Did it reach the smooth curve of her breasts? Did it play tricks with the color of her …
And that was enough of that!
He had to stop himself before he started imagining what her bare breasts would look like. What the hell was wrong with him? One kiss, and here he was, losing his mind over a woman who … only a few hours ago … he had barely ever spoken to.
He knew Half Moon Key was one hell of a strange place, but this redefined weird even by his standards.
“Even if I knew why, Nora, does it really count if you never told me yourself?”
She licked her lips, and it happened again.
That strange and impossible to ignore, pull to kiss her.
Jack leaned over her, and he could’ve fist bumped the air when Nora lifted herself onto the tips of her toes to gain better access to his mouth. They were kissing again, a tangle of tongues and limbs. Jack never wanted it to stop, but once again, he was taken by the very real conundrum that anyone passing by could see them.
“Do you want to come inside the cabin for a second?” he asked against her mouth.
Nora closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I really want to say yes, but I don’t think that’s a good idea. You keep kissing me, and that is seriously hindering my thinking skills. I should go. Go home or maybe jump in the lake to cool myself off.”