Page 19 of Don't Lie to Me

I wanted to give in. To throw myself into his arms and bury myself in him. I wanted to fix whatever he thought damaged him. I wanted to see the confident and controlled businessman he always was, but I thought of Logan, and in the end, he was all I had. He was the most important person in my life and I couldn’t jump into anything, regardless of how much I wanted it, without thinking clearly.

“We need rules,” I said, without even realizing I was actually agreeing to take a chance on this man in front of me.

One side of his lips quirked up in amusement. “Rules?”

“You don’t touch me while I’m working.”

His eyes darkened instantly and he frowned. “I’m not sure I can keep my hands off you now.”

I laughed softly and took another sip of my wine. “I’m serious, Jack. I need to keep a line between my job and whatever else happens. Otherwise….”

He gently took my empty glass of wine out of my hands, set it on the table behind him and pulled me onto his lap. I was straddling him and when he placed his hands on my hips, I remembered exactly what his hands had done to me earlier. I shifted against him and felt his hard erection instantly. How can he do this to me? One simple touch and I want to come apart at the seams.

“Otherwise, what?” He asked, his voice heavy with desire.

I frowned. “Otherwise I feel like you’re just paying me for sex.”

His eyes widened momentarily before returning to a softer haze. He nodded. “Fine. I get it. But your workday ends when I say it does.”

I shook my head. “No. My workday ends at six and five on nights you don’t need dinner; just like always. And no touching me around Logan either.”

He growled in frustration. I watched the gears in his mind turning trying to figure out a way to get me to change my mind. When he thrust his hips gently into me, I groaned and almost wanted to just give in and screw the rules.

Or him. Either one would work.

“Unless I need you for something else before then.” A wicked smile spread across his lips.

I lowered my gaze to him, giving him the same look I gave Logan when I told him I wasn’t messing around.

He threw his hands up in innocence and smiled roguishly. “Get your head out of the gutter woman. I meant any public appearances I need to make. You’ll go with me.”

“I will?”

“You will.” He leaned in and kissed me gently. Our lips met in the softest, most chaste kiss possible before he pulled back.

“I will,” I whispered softly against his lips. I suddenly didn’t care about my rules, or about maintaining a safe distance. All I knew was that the man sitting beneath me, the same man I’d dreamed about for the last few years admitted to wanting me. I wanted to enjoy it for as long as possible, his warnings about being broken and damaged be damned. I was broken. We could be broken together, and maybe, somehow, we could find a way to fix each other.

I sighed regretfully, wiggled off his couch, and almost laughed at his frown.

“I need to get Logan home and put him to bed.”

He stood up, holding onto my hips and then slowly let me go so I slid down every part of him. Once my feet were shakily on the floor, his hands moved to my waist and he pulled me to him, holding me softly against him and smiled down at me. I swallowed slowly, wondering if he was going to kiss me again, or potentially haul me upstairs to his bed, but he didn’t make any other move.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said roughly. “Bring a dress and pack a bag, because after six o’clock you’re all mine.”

His. It sounded good and left me speechless all over again, so I simply nodded before his hands fell from my waist.

I gathered Logan from the media room where he was still happily lost in Mario land and waved goodnight to Jack before we walked out the door. Tomorrow would change everything. I looked back at Jack’s door, wondering briefly, if I had just made a huge mistake.

I was a walking contradiction.

I didn’t want him to touch me. I wanted all working hours to be completely professional. I needed that clear line of boundaries.

Except all I could think about were his hands on my hips, and lower – pleasing me with his soft lips on my neck, chest, and stomach. I snapped myself out of my lustful daze and repeated the importance of boundaries. Then I kept repeating it for the rest of the train ride, as if merely thinking it over and over again would sear the thoughts into my brain.

I bounced my knee, tapped my foot, and ticked my fingertip across my front two teeth repeatedly only stopping when I noticed the other passengers shooting me annoyed looks. Normally I wouldn’t care, but I didn’t want Logan getting concerned there was something wrong with me.

I looked down at him and smiled. He was “reading” his first chapter book – which mostly just meant he was looking at the pictures. But he was totally enthralled in whatever Stanley was discovering on his latest adventure. I loved having a child who had a passion for reading from such a young age. I smiled at him again, and grabbed my own Kindle, hoping I could get lost in my own book to settle my nerves.

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