Page 88 of Where You're Planted

“I should get a condom,” he breathed.

But Tansy couldn’t bear him retreating now, not even just to fetch protection and come right back. “Wait. Just wait.”

He froze, maybe thinking she wanted to stop everything. Tansy wrapped her fingers around him, and she could tell when he understood what she wanted. She wantedallof him, nothing separating them.

“You sure?” Jack asked, new desire sparking in his eyes, jaw tight with restraint.

“Yes. You?”

“Fuck, Tansy.” He swallowed. “Yeah.”

He pushed into her, slow but deep, and Tansy clung to his shoulders. Rivulets of water ran down from his hair, catching in his eyebrows and his beard. It seeped into her mouthwhen she kissed him, and the excess heightened their boundarylessness, their bodies and the water rushing together. It couldn’t be contained.Shecouldn’t be contained.

Knowing there was nothing between them,feelingevery bit of him overwhelmed her. She felt him getting close,pulsinginside her, and that was almost too much.

For him, too—he let out a sigh that was agonized and impatient, clutching her ass so tightly in his hands, she was sure it would leave marks.

“Don’t wait for me,” she said on a rush of labored breath.

“I’m not fucking coming without you.” His hips stuttered. His back clenched under her hands. “Fuck,” he gasped. “Baby, fuck.”

And then he was coming, and she couldfeelit, and suddenly she wasright there. He thrust into her harder, losing his rhythm but pushing deeper, using his hands on her ass to pull her into him, until she was tumbling toward that precipice. It was the look in his eyes, so unfiltered and raw, that sent her over the edge.

After, Jack kissed her, long and slow, and then steered her under the spray of the water and set about gently cleaning every inch of her with a washcloth. He washed and conditioned her hair, finger-combing it and pressing kisses to the back of her neck and her shoulders. Then he wrapped her in a towel and took her to his bed.

26

Jack

The next morning, Jack had his hand clasped on Tansy’s knee in his truck, his thumb circling lazily at a stoplight. She’d finally relented and let him drive her into work instead of insisting on strict professionalism in front of her colleagues, and he’d taken it as a good sign. She wasn’t walking back yesterday’s agreement, not shutting him out.

She opened her visor and frowned at the reflection of puffy eyes from last night’s tears, which she hadn’t quite concealed, and then closed it back up. “We should have stayed in bed.”

“Want me to turn around?”

But before she could answer, the light turned green. She shrugged as if that was their answer, and he turned into the parking lot.

What greeted them was a fifty-foot pine toppled over the roof of the old library building.

Tansy said nothing as they parked and got out. Some of hismaintenance crew were already there, surveying the damage. Kai paced on the sidewalk. Jack watched Tansy, expecting round two of last night’s emotions, but she hugged Kai loosely and said only, “I’d better call admin.”

He ached to catch up with her all morning, but every spare minute he had, she was with patrons or on the phone. And then, when he knew she would be heading to her story time, after which he could steal a few minutes with her, one of the Madisons intercepted him to say there were a dozen messages on the office phone for him, and he realized he’d been shirking his office duties.

Grudgingly, he listened to the messages, none of which was pressing, and then he opened his work email. Which might as well have kicked him in the stomach. He sank into the chair and dragged a hand down his face.

His Fullton application had been selected for the final round of consideration. He was invited to give a presentation in twelve days.

His heart was a stampede, trapped inside his ribs. He felt sick.

All he could think of was Tansy. Last night, everything had shifted between them. Finally, hehadher. He was still raw from it, like she’d hollowed him out, only to fill the empty space left behind withher.

He’d never told her he’d applied for the grant.Whyhadn’t he told her?

And now, not only had he advanced to the final round while she hadn’t, but he’d potentially even knocked her out of the running. Meanwhile, she was facing the library board’s decision. They could call the end of it, of Tansy’s branch as she knew it. Without that grant, renovating the building was already a long shot. Now, Jack easily could see the board usingthat damned tree compromising the roof as the final nail in the coffin.

Maybe he could call the Fullton people, find out if Tansy was next in line, and give up his spot…

But this was all wishful thinking, a desperate attempt not to have to admit to her what he’d done.

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